Derips weaved through the crowd in a rush, though still not as fast as he would like, both because of the sheer amount of beings around him, and second for the fact his body was still sore, even after the healing. Still, he was glad it didn't take that long...he wanted to see the final bout between Hollow and Shinigami when it happened...and it seemed he made it just in the nick of time. While he moved through the crowd, Leiko and some other shinigami women were simply standing there, as if discussing something... and just as he found a spot to sit on, the battle begun, Leiko using a wind based attack towards her opponet...wind...that element seemed to be hunting him now...

Sleep, how it eluded him. Trouble sleeping was nothing new to Malik, as far back as he could remember he had always had difficulties staying asleep, yet the few hours he did acquire each night seemed to be more than enough to keep him going. At any rate, at this age he had grown accustomed to it.

At this hour he had little hope of finding any trace of his mysterious host so instead he decided to simply wander, take in more of the sights. He would be lying if he said that his thoughts did not take him to that little man whom visited him upon his first waking. The endless wasteland of snow, the counter littered with objects and jewels. He still questioned the meaning of it all, was that little man a member of this insidious plot? He doubted it, but he still needed to consider all options until more became clear to him.

While he walked he heard the locals talking about the results of the tournament thus far, how a person leapt out of his body to be a girl whom quickly ended her fight in a single blow. A truly terrible ability if true, though it did sound slightly familiar, as to why he could not yet guess. A few spotted Malik and congratulated him on his victory in which he thanked them and offered a friendly smile, or at least the best one he could possibly muster. He was still unused to smiling expect to a few rare people. His special smile, they called it. He had a terrible feeling he would not be sharing it when anyone ever again, and he could not fathom why.

Soon enough, the Shinigami's ears caught wind of the last match being fought right this moment between a girl clad in black and beast like creature covered in fur. The girl clad in black made him think of Kimiko within an instant, the creature however, well. That made him think of the hollow he saw at the docks.

He turned his 'compass' in the direction of the arena.

He made good time, the locals now knew he was, by either seeing him fight or by his reputation. News traveled fast here, apparently. Climbing through the stands he found himself looking into the arena, to see Kimiko engaged in combat with the creature he assumed it was. What did it call itself? He asked himself, his mind working backwards to the announcement of who was fighting who.

Kenshiki versus Derips Ardyh, Daidouji Malik versus Obselisk Ulquioza, and Howaito Shikyo versus Shikome. Shikome, Shikome... He knew the name. But wh- aaaah yes. The outlaw. However, a name was a name, it being THAT Shikome was unlikely, more to the point this one was a Hollow not a Shinigami. The only way this one could be the correct Shikome would be if...

"Gakushiki Rikou." His fists balled up tightly, all sense of colour disappearing from his hands as he did so. What have you done with Komatsu Leiko? His heart sunk, if such a man had gotten his hands on such a sweet girl... She was dead, surely. That poor, sweet girl. The only worse fate he could imagine would be her becoming a monster, much like that man.

Ironic considering whom he was truly watching Kimiko engage in combat with, don'tcha think?

Taiko appeared from the wings of the stands and took a seat in the front row, decked out in his gear. He was a little miffed that he had still not been called on to even participate in the tournament, even with the amount of money he spent on precautionary items. He did however pause to enjoy the sight of beings he had never seen before, and probably never would after this.

Currently he was watching this battle between what they called a "shinigami" and a "hollow". He preferred the shinigami to win, as the beast like ravaging of the hollow seemed too evil and animal like for his tastes. However, he would not root for either side, as they both would be fierce competitors against his team. Taiko took an arrow out of his jacket and started twirling it in his hands, his dexterity with the item being shown in how fast he was doing it and being careful enough to not cut himself as he focused on the fight,

Derips made himself somewhat comfortable, wrapping a rag he burrowed once again from the medical tent as a very makeshift hood around his head... he had some people whispering and pointing about him, some impressed he was able to get up so soon after the fight, others just laughing at his loss... as much as he would like to relive the stress of his failure, he still felt rather weakened...plus, he could only guess the no killing rule applied to the bystanders as well. So he kept himself low profile, though he did rise his head high enough to see the beginning of the battle, the Shinigami throwing a few metal blades at her and coming down with a slash, which were dodge by the smaller critter before she lunched her own attack.

Just before Leiko lunched her assault, he could hear the small creature shriek out at her opponent...he couldn't make out every word, since he wasn't as close as he would like, in the middle right side of the 3 row it would seem, but the other Hollow was being loud enough to make out some of the words. Rather derogatory ones, most likely calling the Shinigami trash, and not anting to be purified...this was a rather surprising, seeing how he still remembered her usual attitude. This wasn't the timid, frightful little Hollow, especially not one which would like to rejoin her humanoid friends and all...something change about her. This intrigued him...he hoped this shift would hold itself till after the fight so he could get some answers.

But still, there was the fight itself, seemingly familiar to his own. The Shinigami managed to deflect the wind gale, before charging in with a maneuver of her own. If it would be successfully, he could only wait and see.

He pushed his concerns aside, now was not the time.. He could do very little about it, later.. Yes he would seek her out.

Eyes of stone moved over the bout within, who would win? Who would lose? Only time could tell. However, from what Malik had seen of his companion's skill upon the boat, and what he was witnessing the Hollow called Shikome do, he had a sneaking suspicion on who the victor would be. Amusing thought, really that he should be put in this situation. Fate it seemed humbled all, including him.

His gaze drifted, seemingly lazily over the crowd. He was looking for that woman again, that Aki. He owed her a 'debt' and he was one to keep his promises. However from what he could gauge there was no Amazon with red hair to be seen anywhere, however he did happen to spot someone he did know as he concealed his face. Not surprising he would be here to witness what was about to happen to his comrade, the Arrancar's fate was tied to this as much as his own.

He was surprised to see him recovered so quickly however, that healer truly knew his trade.

Moving down through the stands Malik looked for an open seat nearest to the action, all the while still keeping an eye out for those whom he knew. Katsu was no where to be seen, no doubt he was off somewhere drinking his sorrows away forgetting all about the little assignment Malik had entrusted him with. Boys will be boys, he supposed. Sooner or later, Malik would have to mature that one, crack the shell around the boy and pull out the man. A true Captain of the Gotei, proud of what he was, who he was, not shamed. He would not allow Katsu to know the slight amount of pity he felt for him, for that in itself would be a dagger in the boy's side.

Spotting a seat that was open right up front, Malik quickly moved toward it and sat himself down. His head turned if only for a moment to the man he had sat beside, whom appeared to be spinning an arrow with a curious amount of skill. "I hope I am not disturbing you, but may I remain seated here?"

A lone figure, clad in a simplistic black, full body robe that he had nabbed from a miscellaneous denizen with little to no resistance. It covered most of his body, and dragged on the ground while he sauntered silently through the shifting crowds. A large hood would be ruffled and would sit on his shoulders, creating the image of much larger shoulders than his slender frame would allow, while also covering a majority of his lower face, and all of his neck. His trademark horns however would jut out as per usual.

Making his prime debut since his fight, he spotted the audience that overlooked the fights. If he did recall, it would be the final hollow's turn; the, what he presumed to be, Adjucha. To that extent, knowing Derips took quite an interest in it, it would only be natural for him to come to watch as well. After all, their fate laid in that one hollow's paws.

It didn't take but a quick once over of the shortcoming crowd to sight the the rather large Arrancar recently donned Primero. With that, Ulquioza would home in and hurriedly find a spot next to Derips to accompany. Despite the obvious companion-esque gesture of not just finding, but gaining acquisition over an area near Derips, Ulquioza remained silent and immediately trained his eyes on the deciding fight. Ulquioza didn't hide his presence nor make some stealthy entrance, so Derips would not find it hard to sight him, especially due to the proximity being of less than a foot.

Taiko watched the fight with a bit of interest as he looked over and saw the crows being regaled by the fight, shouting and groaning as each action happened. He heard a voice from behind him as he stopped spinning the arrow for a second and looked over, seeing a man dressed somewhat similarly to the person who was fighting in the arena. "Oh no, please go ahead." Taiko said as he gestured his other hand to the open seat.

After his fight with Kurisuna, Ryuu had decided to take things easy for a while and explore the island. After meeting up with Taiki and obtaining a change of clothes and leaving his mask with Taiki, Ryuu was satisfied that no one would be able to recognize him as one of the contestants.

Strolling near one of the audience areas, Ryuu heard the sounds of cheering and realized that another fight was going on. "I really should keep track of these things." Ryuu said to himself with a chuckle as he entered the seating area and looked for a free space. Noticing both Malik and Taiko and recognizing them as othere competitors, Ryuu wondered if he should take a seat near them or somewhere else. As he pondered this, Ryuu's attention focused back to the match that was taking place between the hollow and the shinigami.

Nyeh...so this were the actual spectator stands. Looked pretty nice...had a good view of the arenas, so if he managed to walk around and find a good seat he could enjoy the show which caused him to get himself on this island in the first place. However, there was business to do before pleasantries. He had failed to find Taiko, and after spending the night in some rundown shack, he really felt the need to actually regroup growing. especially with Kagami still being with him... the girl was pretty tired,and snoozing as he carried her on his back piggy back style, making sure she didn't fall of his shoudlers.

He went here because he guessed that this was one of the few things to do on the Island, so it was a good place to stare. While it did take a bit of looking around, and the noise from the crowd wasn't helping , but as lucky as he was, he managed to spot the blond archer, twirling around his arrow as he observed the battle.

Deciding that it was safer to cradle Kagami in his arms for now, he pushed his way through towards Taiko, trying not to bump into others (But not to a huge margin, so it was possible he would bump into one of the bystanders) before finally making his way to the blond and saying " Finally...Geez, where the heck were you? Me and Kagami had been searching for you since yesterday...and for Mihamaru, but he just vanished into midair as well...how did you're fight go? Did you have it already anyway?" he spoke, now wondering just what to do with the small girl in his arms. He hoped she would wake up soon, he didn't want to lay her down on the ground, and he doubted Taiko would carry her for him from now...he didn't mind that much, but he was kind of tired from all the carrying.

SPOILER: Click to show

Entering with Kagami since the last topic we were in had us together, and he wasnt active for some time. If any complaints are made Ill correct acordingly

Malik nodded his thanks to the archer, wasn't a stretch really to guess that much about the man, the arrow in his hand the gear he was wearing, the appearance of overall skill. He rose a leg, his left to be exact, and place his foot upon his right knee. A relaxed sitting position, in his experience such a stance made one seem open and friendly, easier to talk to. It couldn't hurt here as he too wished to learn what he could.

He was about to speak to the archer when a rather large fellow sauntered up next to the pair, carrying a child, or perhaps just a small woman. In all honesty it was quite hard to tell with one so big. He found himself repeating a question to himself again. Why is everyone so tall here? Perhaps it had to do with the drinking water.. It was worth study, he would need to speak with the Captain of R&D Division, Ryosei yes that was his name.

Listening to what the large man said, he watched as Kimiko and Shikome came to a stalemate in their bout, a clash of powers that canceled one another out and disarmed the Shinigami combatant. A tough spot to be in, weaponless and in that close proximity to a creature with such reach. It would not be easy for her to continue on.

"Oho?" The Daidouji mustered, his eyes turning away from the fight and to the archer beside him. "You are in this tournament too? I was not aware mortals were competing as well." A lie, but perhaps not an obvious one. He knew Quincy were fighting, and this one could be a Quincy. He saw no cross, and the big man did not strike him as the Quincy type, but if the Quincy lacked their spiritual abilities as Malik did when not in the ring, they would go for a bow and a quiver full of arrows to defend themselves, or so logic dictated.

However this lie might prove useful. This Mihamaru, half giant and Archer may be other humans competing as well. If not, then perhaps the red headed amazon with the whip, this Aki, was one of their allies. Either or, more pieces of the puzzle could be filled by simply being in the right place at the right time, whilst bending the truth ever so slightly.

SPOILER: Click to show

After talking with Haru I'm going ahead and posting this to make a gap in between his two characters so that he's not posting back to back.

From the first clash between the two combatants, Derips had a hard time guessing just how long it would last...with the maneuvers made, Leiko managed to do something he could throughout his entire fight with the white haired bastard, work our a rather clear advantage. Having a Shinigami weaponless , his blade on the ground before you...he could use an advantage like that. The question was how well the small creature would capitalize on it...but seeing how she started of, he could see it was not the small confused child like Hollow which was figthing now...this one was determined to win, and that of course pleased him.

What evoked mixed feelings was the companionship which arrived in the arena. While clad in a robe, he didn't really have trouble guessing just who took the place near him, with the horns protruding from under the hood... he wanted to talk to Ulqizoa from the start of this whole ordeal... but right now he wasn't really in a favorable position. He sighed to himself, knowing that it was something he couldn't avoid... Closing the distance which was between them, still observing the fight himself, he said "Hnh... I'm not sure how you're fight looked, but our little companion is faring much better then I did...didn't suspect she would have it in her...". He didn't directly start the subject of his failure, since it wasn't something he wanted to talk about himself. He wanted to test the waters with Ulqioza, wanting to see just what he would say to him, if anything.As much as he hated to say he was in a much better position currently then he was...

The two fought; the Shinigami and the Hollow, and truly, it would be a surprise to anyone how much spunk this small, docile hollow was showing. Ulquioza was entirely surprised to say the least, to watch the hippie hollow turn into an agitated adjuchat. He only came to watch its certain demise, but it was fairing its own, and for that, he held it high in regards.

As to Derips speech, Ulquioza did not make an immediate reply, as if ignoring him, but in reality he was slightly captivated by the twist of a fight. With belatedness he said, "Its true, this little dog thing may just manage to win, and send us to whatever higher plains of showboating there are." With a slight pause, as if wondering if and what he should say, the Arrancar spat out, "I'm glad you lost, you know. I wanted that Shinigami man for myself." With that semi-approachable end spot, he ceased his speaking.

Taiko

Taiko looked at the man dressed in a robely manner and nodded as well, before his attention turned to Kenta coming over with an unconscious Kagami in his hands. "I didn't even have my fight. According to the gossip i've been hearing, our team's two fighters already beat their opponents, so I don't have to fight I guess." Taiko shrugged as the man from before said something to him. "Indeed, 'Mortals' are competing, and I am part of the human team in this tournament. The lack of a fight for me bores me though." he said, as he turned back to the fight continuing before them. "Sit Kenta, its a time to relax for now and to watch others." he added, extending his hand to the other open seat next to him.

Watching the vortex of wind that the hollow created knock away the shinigami's zanpakutou, Ryuu gave a small chuckle. This was quite an entertaining sight. A shinigami on the defensive against her foe. It made Ryuu feel warm and fuzzy inside despite the fact that he wasn't the one fighting the shinigami.

Briefly shifting his attention back to the other competitors, Ryuu smiled when he recognized some other familiar faces among the spectators. There was the big man who he had fought before and even more suprising he was carrying that pink haired girl who he had met in an alleyway a while ago. Barely managing to catch any of the conversation that they had over the sounds of the audience, Ryuu could make out something about someone vanishing and the human team. However there was something that Ryuu was able to catch which made him smile even more. The archer had addressed the big man by name. "So his name is Kenta. I'll have to remember that." Ryuu thought to himself as he shifted his attention back to the fight.

Derips

It seemed that the fight was carrying on, with the Shinigami managing to make some distance between herself and Leiko. As she sheathed her blade and then went for the weird metallic stars he said "She just possibly could indeed...this Shinigami seems to be much less...experienced then their Leader..." he mused, after seeing her Shunpo in back into close range, trying to outsmart the little wolf like shinigami via their flash stepping technique.

As this transpired he said "Well, you still would get a chance, since wouldn't be able to finish him of now...though would you honestly say you would be able to do better in a duel with him then me?" he said with a smirk forming on his face, more because of what seemed to be imminent impact of the Shinigamis flesh and Leiko's feelers. Though the sarcastic doubt in the Hollow next to him was also present, just not the main source this time around.

Kenta
Kenta blinked hearing Taiko's words at first, before saying himself "Well...that good for you...though sucks I wont actually get a chance to see what you're made of, hehe. But ahh well, I hope the next round goes as smoothly as this one...did you see how the other two guys did?".

Turning his head towards the whit haired robed guy, who as far as he saw was pretty much as high as he was (which was something he truly did not see often) he said with a slightly confused, awkward tone "Sooo...how is you're team doing, from whichever...plain of existence it may be from..." Hollows were one thing, but seeing beings which looked exactly like humans and claimed to not be them was a pretty freakish experience for Kenta...Like this whole tournament seemed to be. Carefully placing Kagami on the seat next to Taiko, and then either taking another seat in close vicinity or just standing there if there was no such seat he concluded "Well, it wasn't that much more exciting for us here...spent most of the night looking for you with Kagami. Met some weird women along the way, but she talked crap about me carrying Kagami around and then ran of... some kind of crazy wench..." he concluded shrugging his arms...before sneezing rather heavily. Weird...he wasn't catching a cold was he?

SPOILER: Click to show

With how porifles work now decided to do something like this to save some time. If anyone midns Ill edit acordingly

"Well, you still would get a chance, since wouldn't be able to finish him of now...though would you honestly say you would be able to do better in a duel with him then me?"

Ulquioza didn't shift his glance from the ever changing battlefield. Truly, this was a surprising bout between two unknown combatants. As far as Leiko went, it's like her entire personality shifted from one extreme to the other -- pacifist to, well, hollow.

As soon as Derips said his last words, the arrancar let out a small, seemingly berating laugh. He simply shook his head, which may look like he was mocking or looking down on Derips. However, as soon as his actions were undertaken, a prepared response was spoken immediately afterward. "No." It should have been clear at that point that he knew he was no match in terms of raw power with the Shinigami leader. No, he was not hardly a contender. This was more of a pride thing, something he had to see through. Last time he was ganged up on, and forced to flee for his life. His companions were struck down, his title tore from his identity. Yes, this was a matter of pride, not victory.

Watching the fight unfold, Ryuu held his breath as the hollow's attack connected. However instead of the sweet sounds of pain and terror there was only the sound of the shinigami surrendering. It somehow felt unsatisfying to surrender in a match with such tension in the air (even though that was exactly what Ryuu did).

Just as he turned to leave, Ryuu then stopped as he heard the voice speak out. Apparently he wouldn't get to see any more fights for now. However Ryuu noticed that he could feel reiatsu again and after a few tests he also found out that he could harden his limbs again now that the barrier was down. "This'll be fun." Ryuu said to himself as he hurried out of the stadium. Determined to head off the crowd before they all reached the docks.


[Exit]

Derips

Derips didn't really pay much mind to the laugh, since he honestly couldn't say what it meant. But the response came, and as short it was, it did say a bit about Ulqiozas sentiments. Giving a chuckle of his own, he said "Me neither...and I think that poses a problem which needs a solution...". His small speech went into a loud laugh, his palm clamping against the wall he was leaning on as he saw the Shinigmai submit, and that Leiko had won the battle. His cheer passed as he heard the announced, basicly saying it was time to leave. Confused, but not really ready to wait for things to clear up, since he guessed the following rucks would make that hard, he briefly turned to Ulqioza saying "Time to make our leave..." before he made his way out of the arena, and of the god forsaken isle itself

Kenta

Well, it seemed the battle ended as son as it really started to get good. The human looking girl conceded after taking a hard blow...not the most satisfying result. What was really bad was the announcement that they had to evacuate the isle, seemingly the whole ordeal over. Well, he wasn't looking forward to a rush towards those ships. Once again cradling the pink haired girl in his arms, he turned to Taiko and said "We gotta find that damn Mihamaru now...lets get out of here and try to find some quite place to figure out just what to do..." before he and hopefully his archer companion would leave the arena.
(Exit)

Ulquioza didn't quite understand what underwent; a short pulse of joy when the Hollow had won, then a pang of annoyance at the announcement that things were setting to end. So without another word, he turned around and headed away from this crazy nonsensical island and its unworldly inhabitants...

[Exit]

As the fight ended, Taiko looked back at Kenta and the unconscious Kagami with him. "Excuse me sir." he said to the robed man as he stood up and followed Kenta out of the arena.

[exit]

SPOILER: Click to show

Yay for being back with a crap post which is crap! XD

Underwhelming, he wasn't surprised by the turn of events though he would be lying if he had said he wasn't a little disappointed in the performance of his teammates. However, a lesson to be learned by this upset, there is always a better out there that rule applies to everyone no matter who you are. Arguing this is simple ignorance.

Standing Malik quirked his head to one side and listened to the announcement that the tournament was now over. A surprising development. Shrugging it off as something as something unimportant, Malik turned on a heel as the archer excused himself, not bothering to respond Malik did the same and left this god forsaken island soon afterward.

[exit]