Hidden masters (solo)

Pattaya, Thailand

The sun shone brightly on beautiful city, the wind brew a cool gentle breeze comforting people from the heat. People lay along the shore absorbing the sun’s rays improving their tans, children played in the sand and chased one another, and surfers bailed as the waves crashed upon them. The gorgeous beach and lush vegetation was wasted on Arawn. The only thing he had his eyes on was the hollow creature that darted along the streets knocking cars out of it's way like a bull. He didn't like operating in broad-daylight, but he had little choice in the matter. The hollow looked like a large rhinoceros beetle it had the large mandibles, but had muscular legs with three finger claws. It was only the first day of his patrol shift and a hollows was already crawling out of the woodwork. The one he chased now had emerged from a Buddhist temple he had visited. He had thought to see the sights before sweeping the city. The hollow erupted from the ground nearly wrecking the holy site as it ran from him. Although the temple was spared the rest of the buildings weren't so lucky. The creature bolted right through a neighboring building and began it's lone stampede across the city. Despite it's size the monster moved fast enough to avoid his kido. It moved amazingly fast actually even at a full run he could barely keep behind the hollow. He wanted to cast a kido, but the way the creature zigzagged he feared hitting the humans or buildings. The longer the chase went on the greater the damage to the city. The monster had already wrecked well over ten blocks. It was true he couldn't use destructive arts, but there were still the binding techniques. But what spells did he have to subdue something the size of a small bus? Geki had barely made the creature flinch before it continued running full tilt into a wall with all the grace of a wrecking ball. There was something he had been meaning to try. The chances were low, but it was worth a shot. Problem was he couldn’t recall the words. There were screams as the monster crashed into another building and out the other side. The structure teetered. He had to hurry it up. With a grunt Arawn gathered his reiryoku and pushed with his feet, he shunpo'd. The next instant he was standing in front of the oncoming charge. It was watching a train barreling down the train tracks. Somehow he had to stop it.


"Six pillars line the center. Perched on the upon the edge. Face forth show fear and falter. Cradle thy burden and slavage hope. The air’s saving grace. Bakudo #37: Tsuriboshi!" He held his hands in front of him as at bright blue light flared up. From the light six light branched out and hit the buildings and ground at different angles. The light faded leaving a translucent blue substance. The creature was traveling too fast to avoid the blue wall that now blocked it’s path. It crashed directly into the substance expecting to tear through it like the buildings. It hit the strange wall continued forward slightly stretching the it. Then the branched anchors tensed. The buildings groaned under the stress of the creature’s power. They snapped slinging the creature backwards back down the street. The was a crash as the hollow made a hole in a building this time not of it’s own volition. It lay there upside-down on it’s back stunned. Arawn grasped his weapon and charged forward. While running it’s mask faced downward protecting it from attack. How did it navigate the streets he wondered. It probably explained why it ran into so many buildings. Shaking off the thoughts he made his assault. Just as he reached the target the monster’s daze wore off it raises it’s arm against the descending blade and turned itself. The zanpukto easily cut through the hand splitting the claw down the middle. But it succeeded in hiding it’s mask once again. Fortunately, with only three arms it was impossible for it to run away again. It could still attack. It wildly flailed it’s remaining arms blindly hopping it would knock the shinigami away. The large beast’s attacks were clumsy, but Arawn was able avoid the swings. Already he could see the blood stop running from the cut hand. He slashed at the monster’s shell, his blade glanced off. The monster’s arm swung inward at him he had to dodge again.
“Drift, Haung Long” he muttered and ducked beneath the next attack as his zanpukto changed shape. Sa Shin Mu Beck-Ho His reiatsu flooded his arm. Arawn swung the kukuri blade down. The creature’s arms stopped waving as the blow impacted. There was now a hole in it’s hard shell and Arawn’s hand was elbow deep into it. The creature’s body dissolved leaving Arawn standing there with the golden blade sticking out of the ground. He had to smile despite himself. Striking through the shell to hit the mask was a clever idea. Regrettably his sleeve was soaked in the hollow’s blood. With a sigh he removed his weapon and surveyed the destruction.

Kido Training:
Bakudo #37: 869/470

The damage to the city was pretty extensive, but there were only six deaths. Arawn took it as little consolation since he had the task of erasing the memories of all those gathered. The first thing he did was call for back-up. They could only spare one other person, so he instructed to begin applying the memory chikan from his current location and someone else would begin at the starting point. The wreckage was less severe except for the teetering building the hollow had ran through, but he worked on people on the street first. He moved from person to person. The small explosion of smoke and the people fainted one by one. He had to act quickly he didn't want to impeded the rescue efforts the police and fire department were making. A crowd had gathered to watch. Invisible he moved through them. To be safe he used the device on a couple of people he heard talking about the incident. Scared people began to retreat thinking there was some toxin in the air causing the fainting spells. The police put on protective masks and the EMS went to check on the victims. Arawn had little choice, but to continue. He couldn't have people remembering a giant beetle running amok through the city. As he moved on to the next person a young man wearing a baseball cap ran into him. Normally one would dodge when someone came at them, but being a shinigami he only had to worry about buildings not people. The fact the teen physically touched him was a shock. Even more shocking was the boy grabbing the Memory Chikan from his hand and running down an alley.
"Oh shit!" Arawn took off after the young man hie footsteps echoing off the pavement. "Hey kid stop!" the boy kept running.

Arawn was at a disadvantage here, the boy obviously knew his way around. They made twists and turns through the streets, but the efforts to lose his pursuer failed. In truth little by little the gap between them shortened. The initial head start had helped, but now Arawn could see young man's back more clearly. He could have caught him if not for the narrow alleys. A single shunpo and this silly chase would end. The way he moved was astounding. Over boxes and crates like a gymnast. It reminded him of something he had heard about “street running” or something like that. He decided it was best to focus on the chase. He rounded a corner to find the young man gone. The alley was a dead end. There were trash cans on the ground, but he didn’t think the man would try to hide in there. No doors or side streets he didn’t lose sight of him. He noticed the fire escape running up the side of the building. That was the only way. With a leap he rose into the air and landed on the edge of the escape. Sure enough the young man was raced across the roofs. Arawn was impressed, but now it was time to end things. With a rush of energy he shunpo. In one flash step the gap was reduced to less than half. The second shunpo put him ahead of the young man.
“Stop!” he shouted.

The young man skidded to a stop. After all that running his face barely had any sweat upon it. In contrast Arawn was already breathing hard. The running hadn’t winded him, but the back to back shunpo had taken some effort. On the open rooftops there was no way for the other man to escape. But it would seem he would try anyway. Turning on his heel the boy spun and ran the opposite way. Rather than expel more energy into flash stepping he instead funneled power into his legs and performed a horizontal jump. He zoomed by the shocked boy and arrived at the other end of the roof before him. It was Arawn’s turn to skid to a stop. He flashed a smile.
“Now give me back my device.” he demanded, holding his hand open. The boy backed up. “Don’t run, we both know I’m faster.” well that was a bluff. Arawn couldn’t keep this up all day. Still those first two shunpos did give the impression of high speed. He wasn’t about to tell the truth in this situation. He took another step forward as the boy took another step back. This continued until the young man’s back was too the wall. Finally he stopped. There was nothing but empty space behind him. There were buildings located by the other two sides. Arawn took this time to examine the fellow. A shirt with a strange logo, a vest, and a backwards cap. He looked like a common street kid. He wanted to ask him how he could see spirits, but was too tired to be bothered with such details. “Just give me the device and I’ll go.” Arawn stated again. The boy took a look over his shoulder then back at the shinigami. With a smile he closed his eyes and stepped backwards over the roof. “NOOOOOOO!” was all Arawn could scream as he raced forward. It was too late as the boy disappeared over the side.

Arawn ran over to the side of the roof and looked over the edge. What he saw made his eye widen. The boy stood on the wall completely horizontal to the ground. Before he could even formulate the question the young man attacked. It looked like a punch, but there was the loud pop as if balloon bursting. A burning sensation filled his chest and then he was airborne. He landed on the roof on his back. Too stunned he lay there for a few seconds of staring at the sky. This wasn’t a dream, the boy had hit him and sent him flying. He recalled humans with spiritual abilities, but this boy looked no older than 16, how could one so young have such a skill. He rose, his chest still hurting. The young man stood on the edge the roof with a broad grin on his face.
“Guess I get to keep this shinigami.” he spoke. He raised his leg it looked like an exaggerated step forward. The he raised his other leg and rose into the air. The young man was literally walking on thin air! Well damn that explains how he survived the fall. It was a technique shinigami employed, but for a human it was quite an amazing skill. It also explained how he got up the building so fast. He suddenly grabbed at his head. “My hat!” sure enough his hat was gone no doubt from his gravity defying stunt moments ago. His brown hair hung over his face. “Damn it! I like that hat!” he screamed. Arawn was at a loss of what to say. “Just for that I’m going to beat you bloody!” He dove at the dazed shinigami.

The memory of the last blow was fresh in his mind, Arawn was quick to dodge. Sure enough there was that loud sound again as the boy’s fist neared the concrete. The stone exploded in front his fist, there was now a hole in the roof the size of his hand. Had the boy held back on his first strike or had Arawn’s own defense prevented such damage? He didn’t want to test it. He could use a kido to disable the boy, but he was sure Soul Society wouldn’t like him picking fights with humans. It would seem running was his best choice. Still he didn’t want to leave something like the Memory Chikan in such a violent boy’s hands.
“What the hell are you doing here Dejil!” the young man shouted. Dejil? Was that some slang term?
“I came to see what was keeping you so long.” Arawn spun around, there was a second young behind him. This man had short white hair and wore a sleeveless shirt. “What are you doing? What’s taking you so long?” he asked.
“This guy lost my hat!” he screeched. Arawn could only stare in disbelief. What was this kid’s problem?
“I did nothing of the sort!” he yelled back. “You stole my device and then dropped it when you stood on that wall and hit me!” he retorted while pointing at the burn mark on his uniform’s chest. Arawn turned to face the blonde man. “If you could convince him to give me back my tool. I’ll be more than willing to help him look for his hat.” Perhaps the other man would be more reasonable. He then realized something; how had he gotten up on the roof? There were no buildings in that direction. And then something really did hit him. The white haired man was suddenly only a foot away from Arawn and his hand shot out. Arawn could feel five objects stab into his stomach. He looked down to see only the man’s hand. His finger piercing his flesh as if it was made of clay. The blonde man named Dejil didn’t look at Arawn, he kept his gaze on the other boy.
“Cerres, don’t waste time, we have a meeting with master.” The man jerked his fingers free and Arawn could feel the blood flow free from the new holes. “Now stop playing around.” He shook crimson liquid off his hand as he turned to walk away. Arawn fell to his knees clutching his abdomen.

He awoke in an alien and yet familiar place. Plain walls and the smell of ammonia. There was no doubt he was in the 4th Squad's treatment center. He sat up and sharp pain from his stomach stopped him. He pulled back the white sheet and looked at his bandaged torso.
"So it wasn't a dream after all." he muttered, he reached and touched the wrapping.
"No, it wasn't a dream." Arawn turned his head, barely noticing that someone else was in the room with him. Sitting in a chair at his bed side was Master Sung. Arawn tried to sit up again, once more pain preventing such a motion. "Lay down, rest." the old man said softly while pushing the young shinigami back down.

Arawn hadn't seen Sung since the incident a month ago. Their lessons had stopped completely. As happy as he was to see the old man, he wished it wasn't under such circumstances. It felt awkward he wasn't sure what to say. The silence was almost deafening.
"How did I get here?" he finally asked. An easy enough question.
"They found you on the roof after you didn't report in." he stated his eye wandered down to the Arawn's stomach. "You had lost quite alot of blood."
All Arawn could do was sigh. He was lucky the man hadn't killed him, but still he was surprised that to be attacked like that. From what he knew the Alliance between Soul Society and the human's own forces was tentative at best. Such thing would be bad for either side. Arawn really didn't want to cause alot of trouble over a misunderstanding. Even if he himself didn't understand it.
"The person that attacked you used Iron Claw," Sung continued. "It's an old art that gives the user hands like steel and a strength to rip through stone or in this case human flesh." he paused and looked at Arawn. "You are lucky that he only pierced your intestines and not rip them out." A small chill ran down the young shingami's spine.

The old man shook his head and stood up. Arawn wanted to say something, but the words didn't come. Sung stood and walked to the door and then paused.
"Your training is far from complete. Rest yourself, when you are well we will finish your lessons." With that he exited and left Arawn alone smiling.