Bleach Hereafter RPG

Like two great beasts, Sombra and the hound eyed one another for longer than was comfortable. She, wary of its mystery, and it, wary of her size; neither felt inclined to make the first move. However, one would eventually have to do just that, and it was the Hollow which took the aggressive approach.

With a great lurch of frightening speed, Sombra leapt at the hound with her claws forward and her teeth bared amidst the crackle of static and displaced air. The hound yelped in surprise, and collapsed underneath her weight as she bore down upon it in an instant. One paw had pushed it over and down by its midsection, but the other missed crushing its head underneath her weight. Her jaws, however, were quick to find soft flesh and a crunchy center as they closed around its shoulder and neck.

In a single jerking motion, she felt the life leave it without a fight. Keeping her paw pressed into the creature's midsection, Sombra pulled and tore the creature in two, until she could swallow the head and front shoulders with ease. It was hardly what she was used to, but her hunger cared naught for the difference in taste and mouth feel. For just a moment, she felt the pain sated and relished in sweet relief...

Until a howl drew her attention again.

Off in the distance, the pair of hounds twisted and dug into the dirt to halt their run towards the population mass within the town. Their noses guided them to the presence of something greater than mere humans, and their snarling mouths drooled at the thought of such a meaty soul to devour. First one and then the other, they leapt at the figure which charged towards them faster than the eye could see for moments at a time.

Meanwhile, Sombra had broken off into a run towards the old barn. Four hounds now sought to intercept her, but the thought of confusion how there was now an extra found itself brushed aside. If she'd had a heart, it would be quickening with excitement and hunger! Greater numbers only meant a more substantial meal for herself, after all!

Of course, it also meant for a tougher fight. As the four drew nearer, Sombra vanished on a bed of static and displaced air once again, and like before, she tackled one of the creatures from its side and knocked it to the ground. However, before she could deal the killing blow and taste its flesh, two bodies were upon her. The Hollow bellowed in pain as teeth sunk into her flesh, but before anything more could be done by the hounds, she'd swiped them away with her tails like a brush.

Sombra snarled and growled deep in her throat as she eyed the group, now circling around her like the pack they resembled. Already, the damaged flesh on her flank was busy knitting itself back together; repairing the harm done to her hide and covering it again in white fur. Rage welled up in her throat, a feeling which she vented with an echoing roar that sent her reiatsu billowing out in all directions like a heavy mist rolling across the hills.

Meanwhile, off in the distance a few short moments pass and as the largest of the canine beasts charges in toward the barn their white frame standing more stark than the rest against the dark of the night - flashes of darkly light begin to strobe off in the direction of the two hounds that had broken off from the rest. The light that comes striking is purple-black but enough to create flashes of illumination through the shadows like bolts of lightning striking and fading just as quickly.

Koshou finds himself moving as fast as he can push himself, the golden blade of his Zanpakuto shifting this way and that as the man dances between the two Hellhounds that snap and nip at him with probing bites and small gouts of flame that come gusting from their snouts. The Soul Reaper seems somewhat familiar with this particular brand of beastie, and reacts and adapts to the way they move and fight. In the span of seconds, his blade flashes once, twice, thrice as he pushes and probes back at the hounds in a way that's not unlike playing with his own prey. The howl of pain that cuts through the air seems to catch the man's attention though, so eerie in its keen and so very much NOT one of these Hellhounds! His head turns for just a moment, but it's enough. One of the hounds takes the chance and leaps toward him with maw open and claws that seek to rip and tear, the swirl of flame beginning to build up in the back of the monster's throat.

"Oh ff-" Koshou turns just in time to see the animal mid-leap. He raises his sword arm at the last moment, but finds himself barreled to the ground by the force of the leap and the weight of the beast. In an instant, the other hound is rushing in seeking to join in on the kill with jaws that look to snap at any flesh they can get ahold of. There's a roar of pain, and anger of his own as Koshou feels the nails of the hound atop him claw and rake into the front of his abdomen and chest. All isn't lost however, the length of his Zanpakuto appears to be sticking out of the back end of the hound, as black ichor-like blood drips from the wound to cover his hand and the hilt of his sword. He tries to lift his right arm, to push at the maw of the beast but teeth and acidic slobber have already found their way into his shoulder as the second hound finds bloody purchase in his flesh. "Gyaahhhh!" A fresh scream, this one if possible more rage-fueled and even filled with some sense of desperation. With his own kind of feral roar, Koshou gathers the energy within himself and lets it channel through the blade of his sword, as little ripples of electric arcs begin to spark along its length .. and then a  large blast of uncontrolled reishi comes surging forth straight up into the air as it travels through the sword and thus through the hound that's pinning the Soul Reaper to the ground. "BYAKURAI!"

To the lupine Hollow still mostly unknown to Koshou, this release of Reiatsu is uncontrolled and raw but it's also like a beacon of blazing light in the back of their mind that pinpoints the location of that battle as well as screaming 'SHINIGAMI' to any other spiritual entities in the area. Even from this distance, the feel of charged electricity on the air can be felt in the wake of that blast, like the air after a heavy thunderstorm.

Sombra Bosque

When lesser beings would cower, these creatures returned her roar with renewed snarls and biting aggression. One of the hounds leapt for her, only to be knocked back by a swipe of her tails. However, that gave its opposite the chance it'd needed to land on her flank again, and to sink its teeth into her hide once more. Sombra barked at the pain, and turned sharply to snap at the beast with her jaws.

The hound on her flank howled as her large jaw closed down on its flailing back end, and blood spilled upon the ground as it was torn away and thrown towards another of its kind. She hadn't bitten cleanly through, but by the looks of it, the creature's hind legs were now useless. The other three kept their distance for just a moment, looking between their prey, their wounded brother, and the thing watching over all of this from the shadow of the barn.

That, however, was about the time that a large spike of reiatsu ripped through the air like sparks of electricity. The Hollow and the hounds all turned their attention momentarily, just in time to see the Shinigami kill the creature that had been pinning him to the ground.

In the shadow of the barn, another figure rose from the dark ground and snarled anew. It looked between the two groups, then to its greater for a brief noise of confirmation. Then the newly resurrected hound broke off into a run towards the Shinigami, ready to continue the fight as though nothing had happened.

Sombra turned her hateful gaze back to the group assailing herself, but felt her attention drawn inevitably towards the wounded hound. Instinct told her to attack the weakest link and to weaken the pack, but what had she just seen? Would it not do her any good to follow such an impulse? Her mind, honed by the thrill of the battle, raced for the few moments she had left before the intermission ended. Two hounds leapt upon her again, but their teeth never found soft flesh like before.

On a bed of crackling static, Sombra had moved so quick that neither foe had the opportunity to change its course. In this battle, their numbers were certainly a challenge, but individually, neither seemed able to match her speed. With a monstrous snarl, her jaw closed around the back of one of the hounds, and she jerked its body swiftly before releasing it in a harsh throw. It, like the other, landed on its side and panted heavily, but was now unable to move.

She now had a plan.

More static filled the air, joined by a new sound as again, the large body of the Hollow bore down on her prey. The deep, monstrous cackling of her laughter bellowed out and grew louder. Before, she was driven only by the need to consume and to survive, but now? Now, this was becoming something... fun. None of the hounds could keep up with her so long as she kept moving, and were as easy pickings so long as she fought the urge to kill them outright. So, she laughed. She laughed in sadistic joy as the hounds fell to her greater size and strength.

In the shadow of the barn, the larger figure began to stir. With a huffing breath, embers fanned out from its snout and into the air, dying after illuminating the beast's hellish appearance only briefly.

Now with a proper strategy, the hounds' defeat came swiftly and decisively. One by one, the lesser beasts fell to the larger Hollow, left broken and wounded but still very much alive -for what that word was worth. True to her suspicions, a glance towards the creature hiding in the shadows didn't reveal-

Oh wait. There were more hounds appearing from the darkness. However, these rushed off immediately towards the Shinigami, who appeared to have been the one to dispatch them. Well, that did help to confirm what she'd been thinking about these beasts.

As the Shinigami dealt with the lesser hounds in his way, Sombra broke off into a run towards the same target. Was she siding with her enemy now? Of course not! If he destroyed the larger beast, however, then it would be less of a meal for her when all was said and done. So, she vanished, speeding along ever faster with her Sonido, and while he was busy with the lesser beasts, she opened her jaw and closed it down around the flank of the larger hound.

The creature howled in pain, but leapt out of the way too quickly for her to get a better grip or push it to the ground where it would've been that much more vulnerable. To complicate matters more, the ground was shifting nearby, and the head of a lesser hound was taking shape from the darkness.

Sombra didn't have time to worry about the smaller beasts, though. Her foe was upon her, snarling and breathing a gout of flame that caught hold of her fur. She howled in return, shouting in pain as she spun in place and swiped her paw at its face. The larger hound recoiled back, attempting to nurse its wound for a moment, now sporting a paw-shaped burn over its eye. It huffed, and Sombra's monstrous breath let out a chuckle at her handiwork.

Both of the lupine beasts reacted similarly to the explosion of voice and splintered wood that came as the Shinigami burst through the side of the barn. Sombra turned her masked face down, and used her tails to protect her flank while the fiery hound hid behind the flames that encircled its neck. When she looked back up again, the Shinigami was once more engaged with the lesser hounds that he continued to kill, despite their immediate resurrection.

Sombra made a sound that could only be a scoff, though it became distorted on its way out of her throat. She couldn't worry about the man, however, as the larger hound was recovered, too, and leapt at her with embers dancing between its many teeth. She barely thought about the fight in the moment, as instinct seemed to do her quite well. It wasn't like the beast was giving her the moments she'd needed to do so, either.

The hound's snarling bark fought with her echoing voice as the two collided, and Sombra felt herself pushed over onto her side. However, she continued to roll with the momentum, and found herself atop the hound as her teeth sought its soft underbelly. Again and again, the pair rolled across the ground. Claws became utterly worthless as tangled as they were, leaving only their gnashing teeth to find and tear through skin in search of something vital. The hound had an extra weapon, however.

Its flames still burned her, and with a yelp, she kicked off and away from her foe. By the time it had stood again, Sombra was shaking the last embers from her regrowing fur, though her skin still burnt and itched underneath. She could feel fatigue settling in, and growled at the beast while her mind thought fruitlessly of what she could do to put it down for good.

Unaware of from where the idea had come, her tails coiled in around themselves near her back leg. The large hound charged again, seeking to take from her the time to do anything, but Sombra vanished again in a cacophony of crackling static. In her place, several balls of light were left floating aloft, only for one to explode violently in the hound's face. As it recoiled, she reappeared several meters to the side, only to immediately pounce upon her foe again!

Sombra's tails fully unfurled, loosing more orbs of ghostly light that joined the others to make five total. As she fell upon the hound, her teeth sank into its back with furious speed, and the wisps of her creation flowed into its body in kind. One after another, two low blasts echoed across the field as the exploding wisps further wracked the beast's bones from without.

The fiery dog shrieked and struggled, but its Hollow foe only bit down deeper until something broke in a sickening crunch. The hound's cries died to a pained whimper, its legs and even its flames ceasing to move a moment later.

Sombra stood stoic in her victory, huffing each heavy breath while her prey still hung limp from her jaws. Around her, the smaller beasts were already beginning to die in their leader's wake. The shadows underneath their bodies writhed and rose, pulling at their legs until they sank in much the same way as they had first risen. She didn't relax, however.

Her yellow eyes turned to the Shinigami, and narrowed in cautious wary. He was strong, and she was tired. She wanted to enjoy her meal in peace, but would he allow it? The remaining translucent orbs flowed to her and gathered defensively. She would still fight if need be...