Tracking Down a Friend

The water shimmered as the rising sun reflected off the Irish sea. Ri starred at the sparking water from the ferries railings. His latest lead on Kurama send him back to his native land, Ireland. The ferry move far to slow for Ri liking but though his strength was returning he still was stuck in the gigi which meant till he could shed this form he was stuck using human transports.

When the ferry reached Dublin port he was the first one off the ship and within only minutes he was roaming the streets of Dublin. He blended easily with the crowd and his accent sound identical to most of the Irish. Being back in his native land put him at ease. He listen carefully to the crowds as he pass through them, looking for an word of strange occurrences.

He moved through the city center and made toward the Phoenix park. Other then Dublin, he had no other leads so the park was as good a place as any to search. When he was mortal he'd enjoyed this park though in his time it was a private hunting grounds for Lord Ormonde and what at the time was considered the higher class.

“Kurama, where are you” Ri said as he collapsed on a bench out of a combination of hunger and fatigue. He tried to think of where and why Kurama would be here but nothing came to mind. He watch a herd of deer leap around as he contemplated his next move

It had taken some time but he'd found what he was looking for. Though unfortunately the dwarf was serious about his tobacco and drinks... He wouldn't let Kurama use the portal without his fix. So now he found himself in Dublin once more, hoping he wouldn't run into the Soul Society's foot soldiers as he searched for "some good ol' fashioned Irish brew and another pound of tobacco." Luckily that wasn't too hard to come by around here...

He walked into the closest pub he could find... "Hole in the Wall... Right..." He'd considered paying but then remembered that he didn't exactly have any money on him after his last gigai was incinerated. 'Well, I'm already an outlaw.' Kurama thought as he snuck behind the building and exited his gigai. He left the body behind a dumpster, sitting propped up against the wall. It looked like a drunk who'd simply passed out back here, which would actually work to his advantage if someone stepped into the alley while he was still inside.

Kurama stepped through the wall and looked about, it was a smaller crowd but it still looked like more than the usual amount for this time of day. Perhaps they served breakfast too? He didn't really care, as long as they weren't paying attention to the shelves behind the bar. Kurama looked over the selection... 'Hmm... Jameson 18 year old whiskey should do just fine...' He nabbed up the bottle and lowered it to examine the seal. 'Still unopened, that's good.'

"Ghost!" "Look there! The bottle is floating!" Kurama whirled around to see some early drunk was now standing over his toppled stool, pointing directly at him. "Shit..." Kurama lept over the bar with the bottle and exited the front door as the shouting followed him. "Thief! Whatever it was took the whiskey!" That's all the drunks needed to hear to start a mob... About six or seven people ran out of the bar after him, though they could only see the bottle. Kurama dipped in the alley, put the bottle in his gigai's hand, and placed an invisibility kido over it. The crowd rushed passed, only taking time to poke their heads in for a moment before continuing down the street. "Well that could have gone better... and I still need the tobacco! Fuck my life!" Just then, Kurama sensed a familiar spiritual pressure from not to far away...

Ri spent sometime thinking about his next move but his stomach soon made his mind up for him. So he set out at slow pace toward the city centre. As he moved through the park he wandered into on coming crowds checking pockets at random for loose change or a few notes. Normally Ri wouldn't resort to stealing but if he didn't eat he was never going to be free of his gigai. After picking a few pockets he managed to scrap enough money for a decent meal.

The street of his homeland had grown larger and taller then he ever expect. In fact everything had changed and a vast amount made little sense to Ri, the big metal pole on the main street completely baffled him. Somethings didn't change though to Ri's delight as he found his old haunt. It look modernized but kept its character as a traditional pub. Two men stumbled slightly as they came out of the pub. One of them was speaking loudly and Ri couldn't help but over hear.

"I swear..(hic).. I was just sitting there then...then I felt cold really cold. Then a bottle started to move all by it's self off the self and then it zoomed right out the door." The drunk rambled. His friend didn't seem to be listening but Ri was. " It was a ghost I tell ya. We chased it but the bugger gave us the old slip. But I've always said that Fibbers was haunted...."

Ri turned on his heel as the men turned the corner and took off at a fast paced walk toward Parnell Street. He knew the pub well and the man was quite right it was haunted, normally by Ri when he was in the area. It didn't take long to get to the pub nor did it take long for everyone in the place to give him a different story about the floating bottle. Ri never really was listening to any of them, instead he was focusing trying get a hint of any spirit pressure that might be lingering but it was hard through a gigai.

Failing to pick up the scent in the pub Ri went around to alley behind the pub. The alley was common to all the stories to it was worth a look. The alley like many around the city was disgusting, vomit and stench of stale drink made it nearly unbearable. He moved past an overspilling dumpster and felt a inkling of pressure. He spent a few minutes but other then assuming the pressure was from a kido he didn't figure anything out. He didn't know how long ago the kido was used and his senses were so dull he couldn't even feel any pressures nearby.

Grafton Street... That's the most information Kurama could gather from random street folk. So now he walked southeasterly, figuring it'd take about an hour to walk six kilometers. The invisibility kido had been dispelled shortly after he'd used it, figuring he didn't want to leave his reiatsu all over the place. He decided it'd be best to ignore the spiritual pressure that he'd sensed, he couldn't quite put his finger on it, but Kurama knew he'd recognized the signature. A close friend... but it definitely wasn't Sal or Jack... 'Who could it have been?' He checked to make sure the bottle of whiskey was still safe within his poncho. His hand fell to the inside pouch and grasped the glass neck of the bottle. 'Yep, still there... but wait...' something was missing. "My badge! No! No no no!" Kurama whirled on his heels and raced back in the direction he'd come.

His mind raced as to where he could've dropped it. Without it, he couldn't leave his gigai, which meant he couldn't return through the portal. For a super-special secret mythical portal, it sure had a lot of restrictions to its use... 'Goddammit! It could be anywhere!' He thought as he searched the road he'd followed. 'For all I know, it could be back at... the... pub...' Then it dawned on him, it'd been in his gigai's hand in the alley when he shoved the bottle of whiskey into its hands... "FuuuuuUUUUUUCK!" He began sprinting back to the alley. If whoever he'd sensed had traced him back there, they may have come across it already. If so... he was done for...

A door burst open behind Ri and a large man came flying out head first. He smashed into the wall and feel into a heap on filth riddled ground. A bartender shouted curses then slammed the door. Ri took a step toward the poor bastard but to Ri's great surprise he wobbled to his feet and made his way out onto the street, laughing all the way. "I remember those days" Ri said laughing at the drunk.

"And I remember I've seen enough sick cover alleys too" He said shoving his hand into his pockets. As he moved toward the street the something caught his eye, he kept walking for a moment then he realized what he'd seen. It was a badge, a shinigami's badge. " Someone will be looking for this" Ri mused as he picked up the badge. He pushed the badge into his chest and for a moment his hope soared but they faded after a moment when nothing happened. He heaved a sigh and took a seat against the cleanest looking wall.

He started at the badge annoyed over how easily it had but him in a bad mood. He turned the badge around and instantly forgave the badge. It bore the symbol of the captain of squad ten, Kurama Himhura. Ri started to laugh, quietly at first then in grew into a side-aching laugh. "Outcast from the squads and he still finds the time to get hammered" Ri said as he worked hard to stop himself laughing.

Kurama skidded to a halt as he reached the alleyway. His gaze now fixated on the man leaning against a wall, badge in hand, laughing to himself. The captain could sense the familiar spiritual pressure emanating from this man though it was much too weak to belong to who he thought. Not only that... he now realized that the person who's spiritual pressure he was sensing was supposedly dead.

Upon realizing that someone was watching him, the man looked up. His features were a little different than the original's but Kurama recognized the gigai as one of Ri's. Whoever this was, Kurama surmised, must have been using the gigai to lure him into a trap. Though it wasn't exactly the reason Kurama came back, he still felt furious that they'd stoop to that level.

Kurama clenched his fists and snarled. "You are going to regret ever entering that gigai, Shinigami." With that, he charged forward, arm cocked back ready to bust this guy's skull open. Though Kurama wasn't exactly a practitioner of Hakuda, he'd been in a few bar fights in his day. Most of them with Ri bye his side. It was ironic now that he was about to use his brawling skills to kill whoever had possessed Ri's gigai...

(OOC: Up for a little Mortal Combat? What? Bad Pun? Well suck it! Also, in case you didn't know, I'm in Someone else's gigai.)

Ri jumped to his feet he was joined by the badges owner returned. A smile sprawled across his face and he was on the verge of throwing his arms out in welcome when he snapped at him and charged straight at Ri. The smile never left Ri's face as he gracefully rolled out of the way. He kicked hard off the ground and grabbed onto a fire escape ladder, out of reach for the moment.

"Should of thought of this." Ri said still smiling from ear to ear. He was sure it was Kurama, his pressure was unmistakable this close. " I say this must be weird for ya but its really me self. Guess I'll have to prove it"

Ri launched off the ladder and returned to the ground. He took his stance while trying to control his happiness, he'd found him. He laughed softly.Just how many times had he faced Kurama before?, it felt like old times expect they both looked different.

Kurama dashed passed were the shinigami had stood only a moment prior. He turned on his heel and glared at the man as he dropped back to the ground, smiling... 'He dares to keep up this ruse even though it's obvious I know it's not him?!' Kurama looked around the filthy alleyway and spotted an old rusty pipe lying beside the dumpster. Grabbing up the blunt object, he charged the man again. "You son of a bitch! I saw his body carted off!" Kurama swung the pipe, missing the man as he jumped to the side. "I felt his utter lack of reishi!" He swung again, as the man continued to dodge. "I saw his cold lifeless eyes as he lay on the medical table!" Kurama wrapped the pipe around a light post as the man ducked. "You expected me to believe you're him?! I'll kill you for disgracing his memory!" Utter rage filled the ex-captain as this man pulled at his heart strings. A black pit that could never really be filled, such things were always left when a close friend dies... but to have such a close friend murdered was even worse. Kurama could feel his spiritual pressure flooding the area, it couldn't be helped... His mind was a like a raging typhoon. It wouldn't be long before someone else sensed him...

Ri dance around Kurama attack, fighting out of rage usual made one rather easy read. Ri smile though still strong was fading quite quickly now that he realized he'd no way of proving who he was and even if he could he doubt Kurama could see sense through his rage. The air was growing cold and heavier or at least Kurama's pressure made it seem so, Ri could feel a weight begin to build on him. If Kurama didn't stop releasing his pressure like this Ri wouldn't be able to stand much longer thought he that was the least of his worries because before that happened they'd have every hollow and likely any shinigami in the area on them.

"Kurama listen to me. I was killed by one of the stealth force" Ri said as he rolled out of the way. "Calm down!. I hide my soul in my Zanpakuto. It wasn't easy and it was mainly luck but I manage to get my soul into a giagi. Kurama it's me! Damn it listen to me. Stop releasing your damn pressure you'll get us both caught and give me a bloody cold"