Bleach Hereafter RPG

Weary as he was, Itsuki's brow quirked against the soft shock of such exuberant energy framed with the joyful little pop-pop-pop of bubbles. He hadn't exactly expected this Arrancar to come at life with as much passion as she did bloodletting-- Wait, was that his own prejudice squatting over his opinions?
    As she continued to speak, Itsuki shot Steve a mildly concerned glance.
    "Shortcut?" He enquired.
    Before he could express much more confusion he found his world quite literally shattered. Mouth agape, much like the yawning maw of the space opened in reality, Itsuki's mind reeled off a dozen different concepts of how accompanying a devourer of mortal flesh and souls into a mysterious hole in existence could go quite poorly.
    Well, they seemed friendly enough. Besides, they'd fought together. If his dinner with Hibano had taught him anything it was that fighting alongside someone was the closest thing you could get to knowing who your friends were. In the short-to-mid term anyway.
With a slight grumble and sound of discontent at the ache of his body, the monk stepped into the darkened gap in the world and wore a pleasant yet suitably nervous smile. "This is safe for living souls, right?"

"Y-yo-you want us to go through to Hueco Mundo?... Oh.."
A generally concerned look on the skittish Shinigami. He knows what Hueco Mundo is, he's never been there for obvious reasons. He isn't confident enough in his own power that he would be able to make it out, if something bad happened.
Thoughts, fears, theories swirled through his head.
"O-Oah-Eeeeeeeeeeh?" Was his reaction upon Garganta opening up, since whenever he saw it, he had to defend mankind or himself from grotesque monsters aiming to devour everything in sight, his instincts were telling him that he was looking into the gaping mouth of a monster beyond understanding.

"I..Italy.. I heard about it when I visited Albion, it must be close to home.. I am intrigued.."
He takes up his shinigami phone device, not breaking eye contact with Milya.

"Steven Svennström reporting in from the 4'th division. Something unexpected has occured, I have a strong lead, its dissapearing though, so I must find out more, please take care of the device for me. These are my coordinates, Latitude: 35° 41' 27.9672, Longitude: 139° 42' 24.3468, Steven out."

He nods at Itsuki and then at Milya.
"Don't know what an Arrancar is, but if you dwell in Hueco Mundo, that must mean you are natural enemy to the Shinigami, but unfortunately I am an unnatural Shinigami, so I'm going to follow you to Italy, so we can fight this Gelato there."

He takes a step towards the Garganta with renewed vigor.
"But this thing isn't going to eat me.. Is it?"

Upon stepping into the garganta, both Steve and Itsuki would be able to notice the small platform that's formed under Milya's feet holding a light pinkish colour. "Oh, no, no, as far as I'm aware, it's perfectly safe for the pair of you, and it definitely won't eat you" they say, entirely truthfully, though tactically omitting that they've never pulled anything through a garganta, nevermind a human or a shinigami, "and besides, it's just a pit stop in Hueco Mundo. Now, don't step off the platform. I don't want to have to fish you out of the depths of empty space." They grin, and start pushing forwards, marking out a safe path for the pair to follow.

Still, the level of trust they both had in Milya was quite endearing. They could just drop them if they were particularly mean, but no good story ended with 'and then they were dropped into a bottomless pit, to fall for all eternity.'  Besides, they kind of like the pair. Turning on their heels and continuing to walk backwards as the reishi pathway forms behind them, Milya looks between Steve and Itsuki. "So, since you seem varying levels of versed in it, arrancars are the intersection between a hollow and a shinigami," they explain as if it's common sense, and as if to demonstrate, poke their hand through the hole in their chest, then tap their longsword, "we have these things, which aren't like yours, but look like yours. And our masks are broken. It's only been a few weeks for me, so it's a little confusing to explain." Then, they turn back around, snapping their fingers as the garganta crackles open once more.

The expanse of grey sand, black sky, crystalline trees spread before the trio, the entire place barren of life as a cold moon provides the only light here. Hueco Mundo, in all its glory. Milya takes a deep breath. "Ah, home sweet home." They gesture in front of themselves, stepping out of the way for the pair to get out of the garganta first, lest it snap shut without them.

Palpitating beats in his breasts slowed and steadied. Something about seeing Steve's cautionary display spurred no amount of solidarity in fear or caution. Instead, Itsuki's heart spoke of something altogether different. Stepping forth across the small gap between them, the Fullbringer reached out to the Shinigami and gave him a reassuring pat upon the shoulder.
    His reassuring gesture was layered with a subtle desert heat layered beneath his parm and a solitary orange spark drifting free. More than anyhting else it was a whisper of showing Steve that his power was still present, one which by the priest's measure had been enough to dwarf both of these ally's own tasteful displays of spiritual might.
    With an expression aligned closer to mirth than misery, our pious bartender held the spirit policeman's shoulder as the yawning maw closed before them. Somehow this felt just like escorting children around on trips for the first time. A light sound of faint amusement escaped the bloodied man, perhaps all that adrenaline had gone to his head and burnt out any idea of sanity that dared remain in the face of the bizarre and unusual spirit worlds laid out before him.
    Something within him stirred, stomach churning as their transition down into the basement of the worlds that made his spiritual third eye spasm and roll in its socket. For but a moment the man imagined he'd seen all of himself rendered of the same free flowing glow as these spirit particles he'd been bending to his will. As the image faded from his mind, the greeting of the sandy spiritual plane with the naked moon leering down like an ever watchful eye froze him in place. Tension seized him as eyes flit to and fro, watchful for opportunistic troublemakers. Could the Arrancar and Hollows perhaps smell them more easily down here, was it more difficult?
    Either way, the anxiety in his heart had returned. Blended thoroughly with amazement and wonderment best expressed through wide eyes and raised eyebrows, Itsuki's grip of Steve's shoulder slid free as he took first satisfying step out onto the strangely pale dunes.
Admittedly, it wasn't unlike stepping onto a beach. Regrettably, it also wasn't unlike stepping into a sniper's scope.
    Clearing his throat and gathering his wits as best he could, the onmyoji of a fullbringer turned back to Milya with a trusting smile and awaited the next set of directions.

Reaffirmed by the hand on the shoulder, Steve didn't feel confidence from it, he was reminded of his time with the Gotei 13, and how he generally was to be escorted around the battlefield, since he was a medic with little to no combat prowess. His Asauchi had developed into a Zanpakutou, yet it still hadn't spoken to him.
Stepping through the Garganta, he ran along the mystified road of reishi, it had the colour of Milya's reiatsu. He followed it closely, taking deep breaths along the way. But by the time the jaws of spacetime had reached an end, and Milya was waiting, he jumped out first. With his legs spread out, ready to land like a crab. As he was taught is the proper ship departing stance.

When he lands, he does not find the water of a beach, he does not smell the salt in the air nor does he feel the humidity.
Dry, cold, coarse, dark. These were keywords Steve would use to describe Hueco Mundo.
As he stood there, beside Itsuki, Beside Milya, he leaned down and touched some of the sand.
This sand was made of residue reishi of fallen hollows. Steve thought to himself.
He looked up at Milya.
"It is very lonely here, how would you build stuff with only sand available?"
Asking the question and pondering what the answer could be, he looked over the horizon once again, as the pale moon greeted him with a nod - almost.
Wondering if the dead souls of the whole world went to Hueco Mundo as hollows, or if there were regional branches to Hueco Mundo as well. I'll have to ask Milya later, he thought to himself.

"Well, here we are. Never thought I'd find myself here, and I can't tell anyone I have, but it's quite cool."

With a light step, Milya lands in the dunes, a small poof of sand unsettling itself from the ground as they land. The reactions of their companions were... different from what they expected. Though, on thinking of it, Milya didn't exactly know what they did expect. Wonderment isn't something that they associate with this place, nor buildings, really. Admittedly, Las Noches was a magnificent building, but it's one of very few. In their view, the sands themselves are less a home, more a hunting ground.

"I don't know, in honesty," they say as they clap their claws together, the garganta shutting, "I've never attempted to build. I used to just shelter in caves, before... well, it's a long story." A grin spreads on their lips as they clap again, and another garganta opens, slightly to the left of the last one as they hop in, another reishi path forming. "But, I'm glad you enjoyed your brief trip here, now, Italy?" Leaning against the edge of the garganta for the others to go first, Milya almost makes a small bow at the trick they've pulled off.

At the other end of the garganta, barely a speck from where they are, but increasingly obvious as they get closer is a bustling little village, opening into a town square, centred on a well. Situated around the edges of the square are countless little stalls, selling everything from jewellery, to clothes, to items determining your fortune, to street food and gelato. The food has a strong scent, one that's tangible even through the garganta.

Steve's comment sketched crayon-outlined pictures of sand castles and trenches dug by the hands of Arrancar and Hollow both, working tireless under the pale moonlight. Some small, soft token of a smile arose at the thought of so innocent an expression displayed in this place.
    If only they truly were as babes.
    Milya's self-observant remark pierced his flight of fitful fancy, drawing an odd look from him prying wordlessly before easing away. Painful pasts are as plentiful as pennies.
    Up rose his gaze once more, peering at magenta-eyed Milya. Flickering memories of tea and ceremonies whispered in the back of his mind. Perhaps she is an exception to the rule of the wild after all. Then again, that doesn't mean she supports his proposed rule of man's persevering spirit.
    Some breath locked deep in his ragged lungs knocked upon the inside of his ribcage with a muted spasm of his heart to be set free. The quiet hiss of his muddled sigh secrectly held hostage slithered free. This is ridiculous, they too are simply a symptom of samsara. Even good can be found in evil.
    The ringing of a bike bell brushed against his awareness. Distant chatter of some lyrical language lingering beneath the lilting rythm of some string instrumental busking. Warm mediterranean breeze stirred the sands, spilling yellow sunlight onto the bleached bone dunes. Out stretched his bloodied hand, fingertips kissing the edge of the golden rays.
    Italy!
    Tour guide and escort, ringmaster and magician, Milya bowed. Captive audience and ardent admirer of spiritual magics, Itsuki offered raucous applause. Something about this spectacle was a whole rollercoaster beyond what he had imagined upon first seeing an Arrancar suddenly appear earlier.
Just as he was about to head out of that wide open mouth, Itsuki realised something. HE experimentally rubbed his thumb and forefinger together. Something sticky, tacky, was clinging to his hands.
    Ah, the blood, right.
    Awkwardly haphazard, the still-living among the group knealt low and scooped up the corpse-sands, dusting himself with them. Rising up to his full height the man gave a shrug and sheepish smile.
    "I may draw eyes for rolling on the beach but it's better than being reported for looking like I just crawled out of a murder scene. Shall we?" It felt like he'd been rooted in place by this odd dimension for an eternity. It didn't take much to push himself to step over and out of the garganta.

The applause brought a grin to Milya's face. It was so rare for them to have individuals around who enjoyed their theatrical approach to their powers, so this was positively delightful. Though, they tipped their head at him covering himself with the sands. The reasoning Itsuki explained made sense, of course. Just... well, surely ignorance is bliss when it comes to the sands of a dead realm.

"Right," they say, "oh, I'd best... hmm. Where did I leave it...?" They move from the garganta, nearing a rock and digging a little, bringing out a yellow peacoat, swinging it on and fastening it up over the hole in their chest, before stepping through the Garganta. "A giant hole is likely just as disconcerting as a half-dead man, and I'm not quite sure how to cover it yet," they chuckle as they wave Itsuki through.

On the other side, the wave of heat hit them like a wall as they stepped through into the alleyway beside the town square. With some effort, and concentration, Milya makes their spiritual presence physical, though making sure to leave the broken fanged mask in the less-tangible realm. With a wave, Milya bids adieu to Steve - some very fast spoken words about how he was needed elsewhere that led them to believe it was urgent, therefore forgivable. But, finally, their attention returns to Itsuki.

"Somewhere to sit and eat would be best for you then?" they ask, "There's a café nearby that I frequent that should be discreet." They offer out an arm to support the man. Indeed, even with the sands over him, they knew that the blood loss was certainly still present, and they haven't the slightest idea of how to heal a human nowadays. Apparently leeches was no longer the answer.