Bleach Hereafter RPG

This place was calm. Quiet. Peaceful, even. As the setting sun set the dwindling sky ablaze, the first few twinkles of stars were beginning to peek out from overhead. A sliver of moon was rising over the trees and open field. She liked it here. Here, where she could take her time. Here, where she didn't have to watch her back at all hours of the night.

Here, where she could take her time to enjoy her meal in peace.

Sombra let out a huff of breath as she raised her large, masked head. Her forelegs were crossed in front of her, her body lain out in the grass as though she were without a single care. Underneath her paw, the bloodied remains of black cloth and a discarded blade rest after the battle. Her wounds had freshly finished healing, and now, she was feeling that warmth and contentment that came only after a good meal.

However, the peace and quiet had been disrupted. She raised her nose to the air, and even through the rain, she could smell an enemy. No, not an enemy, she thought. It felt Hollow on the surface, but deeper than that, it wasn't. It announced its presence openly, without care for being found -or rather, with the intent. It moved quickly, then slowly as she realized it had been riding the train. A mortal, then? But... not.

It was perplexing, and she was content to sit and enjoy the warmth in her bones if it weren't for the next realization to come to her. She wouldn't be the only one to have noticed. No, others would be here soon, as well, then her peaceful night would be ruined. That thought -of others in her territory and ruining her after meal peace- piqued her anger. She could scare them away, but doing so would only announce her presence to more.

No, she had to be more careful than that.

In an act that was becoming easier with practice, Sombra closed her glowing yellow eyes and focused inward into herself. The wind rustled through her fur for a moment, and her tails twitched before beginning to fade from view. The Hollow's large body followed suit shortly thereafter, leaving naught but the figure of a young girl, freshly out of high school, to stand where it had been just a moment earlier.

Sombra opened her large, brown eyes, and blinked against the falling rain. The white dress which hung over her repelled the water with unnatural ability, warming her just the same as had her fur. Her power- her reiatsu pulled inward and became trapped within this new body, where it sat in wait for when it was to be needed again.

Her bare feet crushed the wet grass underneath, before she vanished with a crackle of static left in the air. Her Sonido carried her swiftly and near silently, aided by the sound of the rain, closer to the edge of the town. Most would be hiding away inside their homes for the rain to pass, so she didn't need to worry about being spotted by anyone except the curious stranger. The stranger, mind you, who paid so little attention to their presence that following them was a as easy as taking a midnight stroll.

But, why? That was the important question.

Following after the stranger certainly was that easy. Even in the rain, where following after the mortal's scent was more difficult, the wet plodding of her steps along the ground was trail enough. Even when she finally suppressed her presence, Sombra had no trouble tailing her to her destination nearer to the center of the town.

It was there, standing at the door to an old tavern, that Sombra stiffened at the stranger's ominous humming. Not once had the woman turned to inspect for her presence, or given any signal that she'd known she was being followed, but nonetheless, her words rang true. Sombra chewed on their meaning for only a moment, before she ultimately decided on her course of action.

"You shouldn't do that, you know." Her voice was stern, and carried far more presence and confidence than the facade of the human girl might have suggested. Standing in the rain, with her short brown hair plastered to her face and ears, she blinked to chase the drops away from her eyes for a moment. "Giving yourself away like that is bound to attract-"

No sooner than she'd begun to speak her warning, Sombra's attention narrowly turned to the edge of town. Her power rose from the depths of her soul and from within her disguise, then reached out in a brief pulse as she sought the source of the disturbance with her Pesquisa. She'd wanted to prevent trouble from spoiling her night, but it seemed...

"Attention." She frowned a little, and turned her eyes back to the woman at the door. This small town certainly was becoming popular, she thought to herself: first the reaper, then the curious stranger, and now, more.

The woman's way of speaking was, indeed, strange, but not impossible to sus out her meaning. She didn't appear confident in her choice of words, and with just a little work, her grammar would've been fine enough to pass for day to day conversation. Sombra didn't think about it for longer than a moment or two, as her head tilted a little to the side in slight confusion and accidental mirroring of the woman. No, it was the meaning of her fuddled words that was important.

"Me?" She'd never had anyone look for her before; at least, not that she could remember. The hair on the back of her neck stood a little on end, against the weight of the rain. She wasn't a reaper, but neither did she feel fully Hollow. Still, the thought of being sought after specifically only made her think of others seeking to consume her, and that thought pushed her to the edge.

Yet, even as her attention was torn between the woman's suspicious motive and the attention her actions had brought to this small town, the stranger herself didn't seem to have noticed. Sombra blinked again, and mentally prepared herself for the fight. She'd wanted to sit and enjoy the night and the rain, but if she had to...

"Why are you looking for me?" Her words were a little slower, and her voice a little lower than before. For a creature so used to being hidden from the world behind a mask, her eyes gave away everything that she was feeling: caution, suspicion, anger. Then there were the others, slowly approaching from outside the town and dividing her attention. Her feet hadn't moved, except to turn one slightly away and facing further down the road. If she had to, she told herself.

Yes, strange was the correct way to describe the woman -not a Shinigami, not a Hollow, but something in a way likened to herself- standing in the rain. Not only did she laugh, but she claimed to be familiar with her, and quite well. Sombra narrowed her eyes a little, and tensed as the air around the woman turned green for a moment. For that moment, she felt even more like a Hollow, but also even less; something which continued to puzzle her as her eyes easily followed after the woman in the few steps it took to get behind her.

That was clearly not a Sonido, however.

"Interesting." Sombra hummed, her nerves settling just a little. Whatever the woman's intentions, she didn't believe her to be a threat, at least. She also wasn't anything that the Hollow had seen before, not in her time in Hueco Mundo or this world. It intrigued her and piqued her curiosity, only for such feelings to be dashed aside by a sudden shriek in the air.

Sombra's expression soured and turned hard. She sniffed the air once, then twice, as the shackle on her power was undone just a little. Her Pesquisa pulsed again, but even through the rain, she could smell it. It'd come into the town now, and that shriek had been both a challenge and a threat. It wanted to call to its prey, but...

It had only announced its intentions in her territory!

Hidden underneath the call of a trespasser and the beacon that was the woman standing dangerously close beside her, there was another peculiar soul in this town. It had awakened, stressed and startled so that its power fluctuated enough to be noticed. Sombra recognized this for what it was, the frightened act of prey that she knew all too well. However, the soul was weak and meager. The one who hunted it, though, that was another story.

"You're wrong about me." She uttered as venomous malice dripped from her words. A slight distortion hid on the back of her voice, as the Hollow's power rose carefully. It was not enough to undo her disguise, but she may have been able to draw out the trespasser and bait it into doing something stupid. "But they're not far." Her eyes focused with deadly intention in the distance, where the rain and the dark obscured all to mortal eyes. She knew it was there, waiting and listening. She had quelled her hunger only recently, however. She could be patient.

Sombra barely reacted as the woman spoke to her in fragmented thoughts. Instead, her attention was squarely focused on the darkness, and the figure that hid within it. So, when the woman sped off with another flash of green light, the Hollow simply smiled. It was a twisted and hungry look, one accentuated by the return of a distinct yellow gleam to her eyes. Off in the distance, a bright blue light had split the darkness.

The Cero tore through the town without a hint of slowing. Brick and mortar became as rubble in its wake, collapsing and turning homes into tombs in an eerily straight line through the otherwise quiet town.

The grin bore by the flying Hollow's masked visage looked upon this all, its beady eyes shining hungrily like stars in the sky. Its wings flapped almost silently, keeping it aloft in the air while it looked for the result its attack had had on its prey. However, there was nothing to be seen but the destruction it had wrought on the mortal town. Suspicion was just beginning to arise within its thoughts when a bright, ghastly light stole its attention to the side, and it rose quickly higher into the air.

The floating orb of light missed its target by far, only to be joined by five more like it. Together, the ghostly bodies were slow but persistent, and they flew after the intruder as it continued to evade them with ease. A grunt of frustration escaped its throat, soon followed by the bright blue of another build up of massive destructive power.

However, when that power was loosed upon the orbs, they emerged unscathed from the fading light. Down below, the second Cero tore through the town like before, but in the air, the intruder roared defiantly against this infuriating thing giving chase to it.

Then its voice was drowned out, by a haunting and foreboding howl piercing the night air. The new sound built louder than it had any right, overwhelming the intruder's voice and staking its claim to what was rightfully hers. A wide and heavy net of pressure swept over the area, ensnaring the town with its presence. The monster known only to itself as Genin looked behind it, at the white figure standing upon the air itself. Two twin tails blew in the wind, and yellow eyes glared hungrily from behind a slender mask.

"You dare-" Genin had started, only to be cut short by the other Hollow's voice, both distorted and clean in an eerie clash of sounds.

"Quiet!" Sombra snapped at the bat-like intruder. "This place is mine!" While she spoke, as though to punctuate her claim with the Hollow's screams, one of the six floating orbs caught hold of its leg and sunk into the flesh. A moment later, a low pop reverberated through the air, and the Hollow's leg burst, spilling blood on the ruined buildings below it.

Genin screamed, the pained voice of a human mixing into the primal rumbling of a beast's cries. It flapped its wings frantically, and sped off away from where the five remaining orbs had converged on its location. Already, the bleeding had staunched itself, and the nub was beginning to lengthen again as it healed, but the sound of a burst of static distracted it from focusing on such things.

Sombra swiped her paw, and felt the intruder's body go limp underneath her as she sent it careening to the ground. The ground shook by the impact, and the quickly parting cloud of dust revealed the intruder struggling to lift itself without one of its legs. She was just about to speed down to the intruder again to pin it to the ground when it opened its mouth and roared, though this voice was different from the one it'd spoken with before.

This new voice reached to her very bones, and she found herself stuck in place as she fought back against the compulsions that had entered her mind. In the distance of the darkness outside of the town, more voices returned the call.

On the street below, a flickering street light revealed the intruder's face, its menacing sneer marred by the paw-shaped burn mark that had been seared into its mask.

Try as she might, there was no clearing her mind herself of the voice. It commanded her on a primordial level, forcing her to listen. To obey. To succumb. That thought terrified her; of giving herself to the Hollow's will. Losing what still made her herself only to help satisfy this other's hunger was unthinkable. It was-

Sombra screamed, her cry filling the air as teeth and claw rend into her flesh. However agonizing, the pain did help to clear her mind, and she snarled and twisted to try and reach the attackers with her jaws. On the second attempt, she tasted flesh and the blood underneath, and the winged snake that had been attempting to wrap around her was torn away by her teeth.

The snake Hollow wasn't held off for long, though. In seconds, it was upon her again, and she felt its body coil itself around her throat. Try as she might, Sombra couldn't shake it free, and the other two were only cutting deeper with every passing moment. As frustration and pain ate away at her, five orbs of ghostly light converged on their creator. Three disappeared from view, one into each of the Hollow, to be followed by three immediate pops that were easily drowned out by the continuing cacophony.

One gulped breath after another passed her open maw, as Sombra felt the bodies slide from her of their own weight. Her white fur had been stained red, but already, the wounds underneath were beginning to sew themselves shut. She inhaled slowly, but before she could locate the intruder, more Hollow were already rushing her in the air. With a burst of static, she vanished and avoided the duo's attack.

Battle was never easy, but it did tend to only last but a few brief moments for her. The conflicts that stretched out were the outliers. They were more rare. To put it simply, this was more tiring than any simple battle for food. Her very bones ached as fatigue began to set in, only to be forced to move by straining muscle and flesh.

In particular, Sombra was quickly overusing her Sonido just to keep alive tonight. She was good at it -damn good at it, if she were to brag- but it was tiring to use so much in succession. One after another, the Hollow surrounding her were attacking her all at once, forcing her to keep on the defensive. The air was full of noise, a cacophony of roars and explosions that was nearing to be challenged simply by the bursts of static as she leapt from one place to another.

However, she was too drunk on the thrill to worry herself over something so small as her own limitations. What was it about these moments, where the line between life and death blurred until it was unrecognizable, that was so... so exciting?

With another burst of static, Sombra appeared on the ground beside the comparatively smaller yet extremely well-armored Hollow which had shot spines at her. With a small spin, her tails swept themselves underneath its body, grabbing its legs and lifting until it had flipped over for just a moment. Then her teeth found something soft, and the creature cried out in pain as she tore into it and crushed anything vital that had been found in her jaw.

Everything else found itself lifted by her mouth and thrown aside, into the path of the mosquito Hollow and its sword-like nose. The weight seemed to slow it, just enough that her body weight and jaws found something just as fragile, and its thrashing form went limp underneath her as she twisted and snapped its neck and spine between her teeth.

When she lifted her head again, Sombra's chin was dripping with blood and viscera. Her fur was truly given a new color now, and despite the continued deafening sound of battle, something new found its place in the air: laughter. It built slow, finding its confidence in this place as her lips peeled back beneath her mask and her jaw opened unnaturally wide. Like the cackle of a woman gone mad, her voice pierced the cacophony with sharp precision to make way for the distorted wall that followed.

"Come!" Her voice lilted almost musically in her enjoyment. "You can do better!" In the shadows, she could see more of her brothers and sisters hiding. They moved about, unsure of what to do next for just a moment or two. Then the first brave fool leapt out, using its frighteningly long limbs to pull itself across and through the rubble as it ran at her, only to be followed by the massive throng that was the small horde.

She was gone before it had reached her, replaced only by the lone orb of ghostly light that the Hollow had haphazardly collided with. A few seconds later, its body swelled and expanded, until the skin could stretch no further and it exploded with a loud pop. Several Hollow were upon its remains before it had come to rest fully on the ground, and the rest turned their heads to find their target again; her continuing laughter always a source to follow.