The sun had not quite reached the peak of it's climb into the day, and with not a cloud in the sky, the great fiery orb could nearly be called oppressive to those unfortunate enough to attempt and brave it in the open. This was less a factor in the Second District, however, where the tall trees broke the sunlight into much more manageable beams, which fell helter skelter to the grassy earth.

To any soul who had been fortunate enough to have already been in the Second District, the first great sign of trouble would be a moderately universal one - the animals, woodland critters untamed, had fled the woods totally, flying both figuratively and literally on their path to the North, away from the 'higher' districts and toward the Seireitei and the First District in the way. The second sign would be the terror-filled cries crashing through the air, only moments ahead of the bodies letting the shrill ear-piercing shrieks fly. Any soul unfortunate enough to wait for the third sign would find themselves locked totally within the life-defining conflict of flight-or-fight.

The Hollow came as a wave of all-consuming darkness, cutting mean swathes through foliage, shoddy buildings and the living as they met the onrushing footfalls. A spearhead flying from the Wasteland into the Rukongai, the Hollow were not scattered upon the breach as they normally would or should have been, and instead pounded forever forward with a deadly purpose.

It was after the first great contingent had passed did the second split off, Hollow filling the forestry and getting to work causing as much havoc and strife as possible. Trees were felled occasionally into other trees, as often as possible into what homes could be found that were not being raided by the monsters. This was where the Hollow chose to try and keep the Citizenry from flooding wholly toward the Shinigami, to keep the enemies as spread as possible.

SPOILER: Click to show

Note
The rules for this event's activity are as follows: I will be posting as near to every 24 hours as I can. There will therefore not be a posting order unless a player is holding off on a post because their actions hinge on another's. If a person is skipped three times, they will be exited from the event and docked points. Standard posting rules apply otherwise. This event will be ending in approximately seven days. Let's have some fun!

A man can only run for so long.

He was at the outer edge of the Third, making his way to The Notched Axe. He had spent the better part of the last few weeks canvassing the Fourth District, making note of large bandit groups, mostly intact buildings; things Sengoku might find useful. It was a long way to the bar, but he had most of the day.

A man can only run for so long.

The screams of the hollow and the cries of the dying spurred him ever onward. He was deep into the Third now. He had been foolish; tried to rally a defence. But he was not a warrior, not a leader. The Defenders put up a valiant fight but were ultimately broken and scattered against the horde. He had sought out Sengoku, the de-facto leader of the Third, hoping to try again. But he was tired, and Sengoku was not to be found. Most of the Third's residents had fled already. Those left behind were either dead or dying. Which was he?

A man can only run for so long.

Years of living in the Fourth had giving him the instinct to survive; to evade. The horde had passed him by, charging ever onwards to the heart of the city. He followed in its wake, stumbling over the destruction left behind. The Second was in chaos. He skirted around the edges of it, running on instinct and fumes. He just needed to reach the First.

The First. He was almost there. He could do this. Just a little further. But he was tired.

So tired.

A man can only run for so long.

Aya stood before the collective surge of hollow quaking in terror. The normally high-strung Shinigami was, as far as she knew, alone in this part of the Rukongai, and being alone meant there was no superior officer to provide the direction she desired. She was more comfortable when following orders, as that meant she could assure herself that she was being useful to at least one person.

Here, though, before the terrifying storm, Aya felt helpless and hopeless.

She gripped her sword tightly in both hands, a silly stance, considering her strongest attribute was not her swordplay but rather her pure strength. It was something she hid from others, but Aya's strongest point was not her reiatsu abilities. She belonged to the second division, which suggested a proficiency in reiatsu, but the truth was that her best resource was raw force.

And her strength was best used undirected, unguided. How ironic.

Aya planted a foot against a cobblestone beneath her and lowered her blade. Just then, she caught sight of a Rukon citizen, for she saw he had no uniform, ran near. He seemed exhausted, and Aya wondered momentarily where had he run from to be so far gone. "H-hey!" she called, forgetting her fear of others for a moment. "H-hey, you're going to run right into them! Wait!"

Fear and panic were natural states of being in a situation defined entirely as 'worst case scenario', and with that in mind, it only made sense that some things would go unnoticed while others were made abundantly clear. For instance, the number of Hollow tearing through the Second District was by no means immense - it was the largest seen in the area in many, many years, yes, which put it's immensity rather high when viewed via scale, but numerically perhaps only twenty or so Hollow were in the immediate vicinity.

What made up for the numbers, of course, what made them seem so much more than they were, was the utter effort they put into their destruction, the absolute lust for havoc that fueled them. These Hollow were not simply followers to a feeding frenzy, these were beasts being guided, soldiers on orders to sow discord. And what more could a soldier hunger for than an enemy declaring their own position?

Two Hollow turned at Aya's cry to the beleaguered Citizen, the nearest some twenty yards past Rip, the other lurking behind a tree only six yards further. The nearest, the visible Hollow, was pig-like in nature, a long curly-q tail sprouting from between cloven-hooved feet, it's frame rippling with musculature as the mask, eternally bound in an off-putting gleeful grin, turned to regard the duo, spaced though they were.

While the Citizen would have made the easier prey, the Hollow was under orders - panic the ones who occupied the Districts, but place the terrorizing of the Shinigami above all else. Therefore, with a great, thunderous bellow, the pig-like Hollow reared it's legs and took to the air in a mighty bound, arcing upward in an impressive leap, the downward momentum throwing the creature toward Aya - an easy missile to predict, of course, as well as one that announced itself, but not one to be taken lightly, perhaps? It could be difficult to tell with these Hollow, who's appearances so rarely reflected their actual ability.

Miroku shook hands with a fisherman as he was shown quite the plump load of trout he had recently caught before a wind started to blow over them. The fisherman's eyes widened as he hit in his tent, as a small tingling feeling came over Miroku's right arm. "No." He said, realizing what it was after a few seconds. Miroku started running in the direction of the first district, going through trees and brush as he collected a few scratches from the local plantlife in the area.

Entering an outcropping of the area, he spotted two people being chased by a....pig hollow? At any rate, the thing had leaped towards one of the two as Miroku continued sprinting. "Get out of the way!" He screamed as he continued running towards them, outstretching his hand as his charms glowed. Joining together, his Bo staff formed in his hand as he took it and sprinted towards the fray.

A miniature expedition into the more thicker and condensed parts of the forest had been Brain's whereabouts this past week. Little had he known, his trip was only minutes from being cut short. Traversing carefully on a covered up path, his eyes are open for predatorial animals. Primarily snakes. It is in this state of alertness that Brain is able to become aware of the growing threat descending upon the Second. Something in distance, akin to a scream echoes faintly into his vicinity. It causes for his posture to erect upright. Eyes widening only slightly, to a normally opened state. "While I am all to familiar with a distress shout, I should not be hearing one within this area. Something is not right, I need to investigate."

The man bolts forward hurriedly, crashing through branches protruding into the pathway, thrashing through bushes that also littered the thin dirt road. Sooner than later, the path broke off and into the opening he was heading toward. While he rushed to the location he was heading for, he notices the lack of animals within the area. This was the second thing that causes him to become slightly more on edge. The area Brain had entered was rather open, a clean-cut area of grass cascading freely around one of the Rukongai's eldest, and most grand trees.

Because the Third Division Shinigami documented his leave on the Division books, it was well-known by his colleagues where he currently was and so with the tip of his index finger, he begins to inscribe into the bark of the tree, a reiatsu-cloaked message.

"To the members of my Division, I write the following. I suspect there is danger in the area, I am about to take to hiding and I will be documenting the evidence. In case I have not returned in the next couple of days as expected -- I write this in fear that I may not make it -- locate my body, and in my satchel, you will hopefully find such documentation."

Above the message, with either his zanpakuto blades, he etches clear to any eye, the Third Division symbol, as well as the small word 'message' so that another member of his Division, would be able to, with some aid, locate this message. After preparing the note, he sheathes his blade and walks around the tree. At the other side of this tree, there is a stump of a branch, wide enough to stand on and so Brain props his hands on it's edges and heaves upward, until at reach enough to swing his leg up and onto it's surface so he could further pull up with the ease of increased leverage. Once up onto the stump-like branch, he locates the next nearest one with his eyes and notices it was thinner than the one he stood upon, making it unable to stand upon. However there was a series of these branches leading around to the side of the tree, where a thicker limb was protruding.

Taking a leap of faith, on a half-assed plan, Brain propels forward and latches tightly onto the branch. Because he lacked the proper strength to partake in these sort of activities, a sort of strain sets on very early. Fighting the strain, the man begins to shake his hips back and fourth, gaining enough momentum to propel forward again and onto the next branch. He repeats this process again, and when he grabs the third branch he hears a crack as well as he feels an overwhelming pain shoot through his left arm. A sweat braks down the side of his faze, and he grunts mildly as he hangs loosely in the air. "Taichou-dono will be disappointed if I die here today. Especially if I die... a meaningless death."

With those dark words of encouragement, he musters up an inner strength that allows him to surpass the strain. he swings to and fro momentarily before heaving forward with a stern grunt. The man latches onto the branch, slamming his chest into the bark. this causes for him to lose his breath and further come closer to dropping. However, clawing at the branch, he did not give in. Instead, he dislocates his left arm from his shoulder whilst yanking upward and onto the branch. At this point in the tree, he would be only at mid point, but because the scale of the tree was grand in comparison to neighboring ones, his elevation was rather impressive. And not to mention his position was shadowed by both ground-bound and aerial-type Hollow thanks to the extensive amount of leaves and protruding limbs.

Tapping the side of his glasses, his reiatsu lens focus forward and outward from his position he spots incoming hollow and begins to write down descriptions of them on some parchment from his satchel. Detailing things like appearance, persona, attacks, targets and things of the like. There wasn't one thing he would leave out.

Panic flooded into Aya's mind, washing over her senses and making her dizzy with adrenaline. This was her first fight against hollow in a truly dangerous setting. She had seen them before, but she had always been in a group in charge of healing rather than on the front lines when hollow arrived. To see this one charge straight at her was utterly terrifying.

Luckily, her patron spirit was not so engrossed with terror. Wani's influence caused her right hand to twist her serrated blade around and her feet to plant firmly onto the ground. She wasn't fantastic at combat, but when the hollow approached, shrieking its hog-like screech, Aya let loose her own skin-crawling cry. Her left foot slid broadly outwards and her serrated weapon flicked outwards into the beast's thigh. She ducked to reach this area, and with her frame adjusted to the side and her weapon in its path, she would cut a swath through the pig. All of this happened in just a moment.

The expression on her face as she did so was one of deep and distracted rage. She had already forgotten the other two nearby as her spirit's bloodlust mixed with her fear. These were hollow come to hurt the citizens of the Rukongai and Seireitei. Aya's position as a Shinigami dictated that she stand firm and defend her home and her charges. Like the mother alligator, she gazed predatorily, watching the pig hollow for her chance to hamstring the creature.

Heroes always arrive late.

Yoshiya and his adopted daughter had pursued the wave of Hollow from their house in the Third district, yet they had proved themselves faster than the elderly Rukon, and he had lagged several miles behind, with the recently evolved Hollow staying close to her daddy.

As such, when they caught up to them, the hostile force had already penetrated deep into the borders. Indeed, they had expanded right up through the First, though Yoshiya was not to know this.

"Now, remember what I said. We're going to attempt negotiation. If that fails, be ready with your Cero. Fire on my mark. If things go really badly, run for home as fast as you can."

The bearded man addressed his daughter in a soft voice as he helped her into a tree a good fifteen meters away from the nearest beast. Hopefully they were not spotted.

"Remember your training. Now, I am going to use some words here which should not be used by civilised society. So, please don't let me catch you using them."

He couldn't help but think back to how he addressed Mihamaru during the invasion around harvest time. And here he was, about to be a hypocrite. But his swearing would have purpose this time, unlike the way the other had used them casually.

"And Kurai. I love you. Thank-you for assisting us against your own kind."

With that he would stand, resolute against the wind, an air of confidence flowing from him, staff in hand, bold as the storm, ready to make his opening gambit on this battle. He heaved out his chest and yelled, faux rage dripping from every syllable.

"Right! What the @#&%$ do you think you are doing, you little £^*(? Which %&$?~-brained Hollow had the bright idea to run in here and start messing things up? Do you not see what you $£% idiots have done!? You're a bunch of festering idiots! You're messing #@'& up! What the ?>$£% are you trying to achieve!? Things would have been fine if you guys hadn't started on this idiotic rampage! Answer me! Which %$#@&$%£+ fool is responsible for this shambles?!"

Hopefully that should have gotten their attention.

Fear and excitement coursed through her body as she stuck close to Yoshiya, tiny fingers screaming to grab onto the man’s clothing. However, when she saw the nearest hollow, the predatory instinct woke in her. How she wanted to taste, quite literally, the blood of her kin.

As Kurai and Yoshiya neared a tree, the young girl latched onto his hand fiercely, her fear turning into concern.

“But, I don’t want to leave you behind. What will I do without daddy?” Kurai spoke in a whispering whine. If something terrible did happen to the man, Kurai would be left alone again. Just like Neene. Releasing his hand as he hoisted her into the tree, the arrancar lifted herself further into the tree, crimson eyes scanning the branches for any hollows who took to roosting in the tree.

“Be careful, daddy,” the hollow sniffled as tears threatened to spill from her eyes, “I love you too.” The girl then hid herself among the foliage, readying herself to use a cero, or leap out of the tree if needs be. Her right hand trailed to the zanpakuto tucked behind her, gripping the hilt tightly as she sent out silent pleas.

It was all instinct now. He just needed to get somewhere safe. Too tired to think. Too tired to speak. Just focus on getting to the wall. Getting inside. Getting rest. He stumbled forward. Unnoticed.

At least, he was unnoticed. Someone yelled at him. Someone, against all common sense in a hostile environment, called out to him, giving away his and their position. He reacted like any animal that's been spotted; he froze. And when the hollow jumped, he hit the ground. Flattened out as best he could, he scrambled away from the two combatants.

If he stayed low and kept away, maybe they'd forget about him?

Maybe.

There was something to be said for the havoc of a warzone - it could on occasion proved more reprieve than one should imagine.

With the pig sailing over Rip's head, any Hollow that briefly turned their heads to examine the situation rapidly turned away, for the Shinigami had been marked and the Citizen was, true to form, in terror. Therefore, few would be paying attention as the pig-Hollow's landing faultered, a blade biting deep into it's side, compromising it's lead leg and bringing the squealing beast down - and unfortunately toward Aya, in the direction of the taken leg. The full weight of the Hollow would not fall upon her, of course, forward momentum throwing it at an angle, but it's bottom-end would swipe into the girl at least, knocking her off balance as a cost for her crippling cut.

Shrieking and squealing, the hog performed quite the impressive hop-dance to turn it's body to face the Shinigami, though it did not charge or really do much more than make a rather loud, obnoxious, menacing noise at the Shinigami, surely intent to throw the quivering figure off - any beast could understand the ability to lash out in fear, after all, but only a dull monster could think that a show of aggression would stamp down a Shinigami's resolve.

Miroku in turn would be treated to the same regard as Rip - though he came staff in hand, he was still second-banana to the squealing, wounded Hollow. Less fortunate would be Watson, who's hollering and carrying-on did catch a Hollow's attention, but not the one he'd anticipated. The previously mentioned hidden-Hollow, a slim-armed and lanky monkey of sorts, inhaled slowly as it regarded the bellowing figure from far to his side, in the treeline.

Hopping upward, the monkey-like Hollow would take to the trees, coming into the branches near the very edge of the treeline, using a single trunk to peek around and glare at the Citizen from cover as it's masked maw opened, a tell-tale red glow formulating between the mask's teeth. Of course, it wasn't as though there was no fortune to be found in the situation - by leaping into the trees, the Hollow had inadvertently put it's back to the one-armed Shinigami, though it's distance could be measured at something like five meters away. The hubris of Hollow with intent put the lot of them in less than desirable situations - one wounded and staring down a Shinigami with potential back-up, one glowering at a distance at a Citizen who would appear to go unacknowledged for all his cries, but with it's back to another enemy...

A thick red haze covered Aya's vision. She couldn't think. Couldn't focus. There was only her and the hollow before her. All others were irrelevant for now. A voice spoke within her and told her all of these things were true. Her hand clenched her weapon so tightly that her knuckles blanched white as bone and her nails began to cut into the fleshy part beneath her thumb. The pig had knocked her down, but that had only served to anger the growing spiritual rage within.

'Stand up, girl. Fight,' it said, and fight she would. Slowly, Aya found her way to her feet again and scanned for the pig hollow. Her breathing was labored already, but her eyes stared only forward once she had located his frame. Blade in hand, she stepped slowly but purposefully. Finally, as she neared the creature, her feet pushed and she leapt towards the creature, blade sweeping in a broad arc into its side.

It was only then that she even saw Miroku there. Had she been more lucid, she might have been concerned that her appearance did not help his opinion of her. She must have looked like a crazed animal, not unlike the hollow she fought. Her technique was sloppy. She did not think about speed or precision. Her only ability stemmed from her raw strength, which she had now directed at the hollow itself with a guttural scream. Perhaps, though, her strange actions might inspire some sort of fear in the hollow.

Of course, in all of this, she didn't even notice that she might have broken a rib from the hog's sweep.

The situation unfolding before his eyes was rather monstrous. These Adjuchas were lashing and thrashing about in such hectic anarchy that Brain could not believe the level of their energy. By now he has documented over fifteen Adjuchas in plain view, and three in hiding. His vantage point, as well as his augmented glasses, allow him create a makeshift dossier of each Hollow. Even with a lack of a desk, Brain manages to keep steady and organized. It was important for him to create these profiles on the Hollow, because that way when all was said and done, he would go and identify corpses until his little list had been all checked off. Those Hollow who got away would be entered into a database and be considered Wanted. Tedious work. But he loved it, especially when in these sort of situations. A man who cared so little about life, but at the same exact capacity, loved it just as much.

As he was in the midst of his documentation, a monkey-like Hollow appears about twenty feet away, on the same level as Brain. At first, Brain was going to just write down the description, but that's when he saw the all to familiar glow of a Cero being formed from the maw of the beast. It caused for goosebumps to spread throughout his body and before he knew it, he was in action. Brain was already standing on the branch, with his back to the base of the tree and so to move forward and stealthy kill the Hollow would be out of the question. Firstly because he knew the branch would waver and make a shuffling noise and secondly because he was no stealthier than this here Adjuchas, lastly he had a thrown out arm. So with only one viable option in his arsenal, he begins.

Brain quietly removes his zanpakuto from it's sheathe, taking grasp one blade while he perches the other between his lips. With his good, dominant right hand, he steadily takes aim. And because he was skilled in the anatomy of animals as well as pressure points, he would be able to quickly pinpoint the area on the stationed target that needed to be struck for hyper-extension of the neck. Within only seconds of being drawn, he releases his needle-like zanpakuto on a direct, stable course toward upper area of the Hollow's spine. While that portion of his zanpakuto was in flight and on path toward the desired area, he takes the opposing blade from his lips and hurls it toward the lower area of the Hollow's spine. The expected effect of which would cause a series of jolting waves of pain to course from the stricken spot, down through the legs and to the knees. Ultimately a combo to recourse the cero path and loosen the Hollow's footing.

A running creek frothed at the banks, shimmering.

Its reflective surfaces composed a parody of a sprinting woman, a moving distortion of arms and legs as she stampeded down the well-worn pathway. With her image superimposed upon the brook, the Taichou could witness her own approach; it was ghostly, disorienting, but she was a force of nature in league with the current, bedecked in a panoply of arms she wielded with a sleight of hand seldom matched.

She had been among the first informed (how could she not be, as the Captain of the Third?) by a level-headed Unseated from her own establishment, and had spurred her ranks from inaction. But she had gone where they could not follow, and departed in a gesture of alienation, her voice soft, toneless. Smile too symmetrical, too close-lipped, and entirely too suspicious, under a pretense of culling herds of reinforcements from the Rukongai.

It was a veritable pandemonium, certainly, with all the trimmings of one. Her heels kicked into the dirt, and she took to the foliage, maneuvering behind intact clusters of leaves with her bow drawn, and an arrow nestled coyly against the handle. With a sharp, attentive eye, she sighted the swine taunting Aya, and let fly her projectile for the nook of the beast's exposed neck; she had spotted others, a cowering citizen and a more dynamic soul, but they did not appear to be in any immediate danger, insofar as the Hollow's current tactics were concerned.

He was tired. His limbs felt like dead weight. His eyes were heavy. Strange that someone could find peaceful rest in such a chaotic environment. He had moved himself against a fallen tree, pressed into the nook where it met the ground. The First could wait. He just needed to close his eyes for a moment.

Not too long.

Only a moment.

SPOILER: Click to show

Turns out there's not much you can do when your character is exhausted beyond all reason. Go figure.

Nothing. Silence.

No-one had replied to his yell. He waited, staff drawn for any signs of anything, listening. Hopefully his daughter would spy any danger he may have missed.

But then a noise, to his rear. Yoshia spun around and examined, waiting for any sign of the Monkey Hollow and Brain.

Waiting.

The little hollow grew nauseous from anticipation. The waiting for something to attack someone she adored was painful. Why didn't anything appear!? Still unused to her body, Kurai let out a whine, mostly out of impatience than fear for herself. She felt more confident from the training she receive from her father, less afraid for fighting for what was important to her, and that thing was Yoshiya.

She was about to let out another whine when her eyes suddenly caught movement, stomach fluttering as adrenaline started to course through her veins. She held her breath as she continued to stare in the direction of the creature. Her fingers gripped her dagger in a death like grip, the color of her knuckles paler than usual.

"Daddy... I saw something.."

Miroku started to slow down as he neared the ugly beast, noticing the effort Aya had already put in it, an impressive display of strength, but a Pyrrhic victory at best right now. Noises would fill the air, but the expletives of someone could be heard. As he neared, he looked at the pig getting back up before taking a running smack at its side with his staff. Miroku wanted some of that bacon.

[bgcolor=000000]He was watching the madness, or had been watching it unfold for the last little while. He crouched and rubbed his chin, the pipe in his mouth billowing a small amount of smoke. So, Kurisuna has joined the fray. Excellent, this District needed the added muscle. It's decided then. It had been a long time since he had fought side by side with his former Fukutaicho, and two Captains were already doing a well enough job defending the wall, he would be of more use here.

He descended.

"Well then, let's get to work." He said as a greeting, his feet coming down upon the ground, his swords not yet drawn. He glanced to those near by, a pair of Rukongai citizens and by the looks of it, Aya, from the second. Soon after he would turn, look for the nearest hollow and began to recite kido.

"Vindictive martyr, poised as flawlessly as the heavens, tear with thy lustrous claw! Hadou Number Four.."

SPOILER: Click to show

Short entry post was short. Also, an edit as I did not notice the person I had been talking to, was up a tree =o

Philemon had spent the entire invasion lagging behind his lesser cousins in favor of walking towards the main site of the invasion past the third district. The current area he found himself immersed within was a strange forest like area with houses sparse between the trees. The war cry that had just gone off was a good enough reason for him to develop a light jog to watch the events unfold before his eyes. Had he not been so excited he might have though of how close he was going to go before he was upon the scene.

What he watched transpire before him was easily one of the greatest waste of lives he had ever witnessed. All of those little Rukongai citizens being devoured before he could do it himself. 'Ah Well, it isn't like I would outright devour someone.' He had much more respect for the art of devouring, though it would not be beneficial for him to delve into this subject now. The Arrancar leaned against the trunk of a tree with his left shoulder as he watched a female Shinigami carve through some disgusting pig like hollow. Too bad she seemed novice with a blade, she barely even disabled it let alone kill it.

He rolled his shoulders as he leaned off of the tree to stand behind one further in. He doubted hollows would come after him, but it was better to be safer in this kind of environment. Turning against the tree he trapped the two hollow still holding back from attacking the Shinigami in his sight while casually switching his field of vision back over to the girl.

There also seemed to be a boy charging the Hollow with a staff. Philemon didn't exactly want to reveal himself at this point; part of the point he practically crouched the entire way here through those other wrecked districts. Though he doubted it would be possible to pull back from the front line of this battle without being noticed. By at least one of the roaming maggots called Adjuchas. So without further ado he pushed of the tree once more and calmly strolled into plain sight. His hand resting casually on the hilt of his weapon should the need to draw it arise.

At first glance it would appear he was a well off Rukon citizen with his lavish blue and purple Kimono fitting to him with nearly perfect conformity to his every movement. The first sign of difference was the blue hilt of the Wakizashi on his left hip, nor to mention the two white fox ears popping off the top of his head. His hollow hole was the only piece of body not capable of being seen as his Kimono covered it rather well. He adopted a half-cocked grin as he looked to the two occupied warriors, a brief glimpse of another nearly comatose was granted before he lost interest.

There had once been the threat that Aya could have faced true danger, the great porcine monster wailing a shrill war-cry as it's hooves bit into soft earth, preparing to send it flying once again; that possibility was extinguished as the eventuality of comradery overwhelmed the beast, a solid swat to the flank agitating the beast as an arrow pierced the Hollow at a new angle, the head whipping to the side to catch the new threat only to instead catch that flying pin directly in the eye. There wasn't even a final squeal of pain or indignation to send the Hollow off, simply a total collapse as the sharp point found a home in tender tissue, and thus was the first Hollow felled.

Yoshiya, too, would find respite in the form of an unexpected ally - though the monkey-like Hollow was not precisely as brought low by Brain's assault as he'd intended, the beast was certainly more than slightly unprepared for the twin bites of two pin-like objects, and as the twin blades bit the beast's back, it flailed it's body a full turn, shrieking and letting the Cero fly with wild abandon far too high, the deep red reiatsu blast exploding under contact with the top of the tree Brain precariously stood upon, shaking his footing and dizzying the Hollow as well, which fell from it's perch and hit the ground with a disgusting whump, little body properly mangled as it howled a wavering death keen.

These, of course, were surely sound enough to give the jig away by this point, and Malik's chant was indeed caught as a few other Hollow turned from the revelry of mayhem to consider the swarm of enemies. Two beasts, five foot tall monsters sharing some similarities with rabbits, took lumbering, large steps toward where the pig had fallen, their powerful legs indenting the ground beneath them with every step, with one making very distinct, furtive glances to where Yoshiya stood, while a distinctly more canine beast growled throatily at Malik, hackles raised as the thick beast snarled and prowled forward, ready to leap at the first opportunity. The Hollow all were bolstered by the presence of a brother, presumably there to begin the revelry of mayhem alongside them, They hadn't yet seen the archer in the wood, and had yet to begin responding to her presence...

And, as a massive roar filled the area, rumbling so powerfully as to shake the very trees, one had to begin to wonder if they ever would. All the present Hollow faltered at this sign, this symbol of power, this forewarning, and turned their heads toward the trees, toward the deeper Rukon and toward the Wasteland, to gauge the meaning. Those in the area who were paying attention enough would feel a slight tremor beneath their feet, a split moment's rumble before a second's pause, followed in short order by another. The rumbling was becoming progressively more pronounced, which meant but one thing - footsteps. Large footsteps.

And so infront of his eyes, the elderly Rukon witnessed the death of a Hollow. He had not seen Brain. He had no idea why the beast fell. For all he knew, the monkey could have fallen of his own accord.

The tragedy was not the death of a single Hollow. It was that he would never know this beast's story, never hear in his own words what had happened to him, or what he believed had happened to him, for to know these things would be to exist in the mind of this monkey himself, so all he could do was to observe this ape and pity him. But the battle was not over, there were Hollows to fight, very dangerous Hollows, whose attacks on the Rukongai would affect his career, and perhaps the rest of his life. He stood there for only a moment, looking over at the body, and then he turned, to face the rabbit. Internally, for some reason, he called the deceased 'Stanley'. Perhaps living with a young child had caused him to become soft.

That young child. He would raise her to be the future of their factions. Perhaps there was a way within her to bring peace to this universe. He would care for the precious bundle who was perched above him. He had promised her that.

Another enemy, he stared the rabbit down, and mouthed words at him. Or so it appeared to the hare at its distance, for it could not hear his words. Only one was close enough, and she would hear the following.

"You are doing well, my love. Daddy is proud of you."

But the best laid plans were not to be, for at that moment the ground shook, some large beast came to approach.

"We don't have the luxury of interrogation anymore..." "Kurai, fire at that rabbit-like-hollow then get down off that tree," he ordered to his daughter, releasing his staff into its second form and giving it a decent toss at the beast. He moved towards the tree, ready to help the girl down as his staff spun towards the foe, a deadly horizontal buzz saw of scythe, pick, hammer and axe. Though he was careful, he threw his weapon so that even if the bunny bounced out of the way, it would still come to a rest about eighteen meters away from Yoshiya.

With the pigbeast felled, Aya had a moment of clarity surpass her thick rage. She found her hands trembling fiercely, her blade unable to maintain its position for more than a split second. The thin girl didn't think herself the sort to lose herself in combat, but not only had that been the case, she had liked the feeling, the chance that she might die with any passing second.

And like that her ribs ached from the attack she had recieved a few moments before. She didn't have the time to tend to herself though. Chances were that something was broken from the attack, but she forced the pain away. Something of that sort would dull her ability to be useful to her allies and superiors. Not only had Soutaichou Malik shown up, but indeed, there stood the third division leader as well. She had very nearly saved Aya's life as well.

"M-my apologies," she stammered out to the third division captain, her head bowed low. A hacking cough caught in her lungs, and her blade was at her side, knuckles white as they held onto it. She tasted blood.

Suddenly, the tremendous boom of the cero explosion caught Aya's attention. Her gaze lifted skyward, and she stared momentarily at the blast. Though, what happened next took far greater priority. The two rabbit-beasts came from the trees, and Aya involuntarily backed away. Her steps took her near Yoshiya and Kurai, the former of which she nearly bumped into before realizing what was going on. A moment of panic crossed her face and again she apologized and stepped rapidly to the left, shaking visibly in terror.

She felt the rumble. Something was coming now.

Kurai clung desperately to a branch of tree in order to keep herself balanced as she watched the monkey-hollow fall to the ground, her tongue licking at her lips. She would have to remember to find its body later, after the battle. If she survived, that is. Her eyes moved from the now dead hollow, glancing over the ground where Yoshiya stood. The rabbit like hollow caught her ruby orbs, already preparing herself to charge a cero.

Her blood suddenly turned to ice at the roar, her body frozen in terror as the noise nearly shook the tree she roosted in. Once the roar dissipated, the child would look over her shoulder, lettin out a pathetic whine, all training gone from her mind. Flee, her mind told her. Escape. But she couldn’t move. Her fingers were glued to the branches they were latched to.

What finally got her out of her current frame of fear was her father himself. She turned her gaze back to the rabbit-hollow, eyes hardened as she began again the charging of her cero. She would, have, to fight in order to see the life she’d always wanted. To change the way people thought of all hollows. And the only way was to fight against her own kin.

"Fuck." he murmurs as he notices the cero's course redirection. Before he could attempt to leap from his position, the cero impacts the area of the tree overhead Brain and so, the man's footing is loosened. Trying to regain his posture, large chunks of bark collide with his body and in this state of attempting to balance, he is completely thrown off the tree. "Ahhhhhhhhhh-shhhhhiiiiiiii-" Brain would be hollering in his descent before being cut off from his body impacting the ground. Luckily, sort of, for him, there were a series of branches that slowed his fall and while it did result in the breaking of a few ribs, the landing was much softer than the Adjuchas' landing.

Speaking of looking on the bright side, he was still conscious too!

Brain plants his knuckles firmly into the ground and with his upper body he heaves himself upward in a push-up form. Then he props his knees up, one-by-one, to relieve the pressure on his knuckles. With each heaved knee, he release a groan and winces in pain of his broken ribs. Momentarily, he he quickens the pace of his breathing before he shoots up into a standing position. Resulting in him shouting outward, "Hnnn! For fucks sake!"

In agony and with hands clasped tightly to his sides, he goes to retrieve his Zanapkuto from the Hollow corpse.

Miroku smirked as the hollow feel down and seemed to not move, a hopeful sign that it was dead. He had started to walk to Aya before a red light engulfed the area and two speedy hollows made their way to the nearby shinigami. Miroku took his staff and placed it in front of him with both hands in a defensive position. He was ready to assist the shinigami before a large rumbling could be felt, shaking him off his feet slightly. This could not end well at all...

[bgcolor=000000]His eyes narrowed, focusing on the canine Hollow who's throat rumbled out a threatening, angry growl. Well, I was bound to get something's attention. He remained still, the energy gathered snapped and crackled beneath his skin as he readied himself, he would wait for an opening. When it pounced or...

The roar was near deafening. His eyes shifted toward the source, squinting as they did so. Oh wonderful. He thought, his eyes quickly moving back to the canine who's gaze had turned toward the source of the noise. That'll do it. His hand shot out, two fingers extending toward the beast's face and under his breath her muttered. "Byakurai!"

The bolt of kido would erupt from his extended digits in a stream of bluish white, aiming to cleave and pierce through the creature's neck. Whether this attack was a success or not, Malik would take a step closer to Aya and draw his zanpakuto, each blade catching the light and shining bright. "Can you still fight, Aya-san?" He felt the ground move, albeit slightly, he ground his teeth.

"Something big is coming."

The arrancar made to move closer to the trees at his back, the group seemed disoriented beyond the point of noticing such a small addition. He almost adapted a defeatist attitude once he realized the sheer number of people within the vicinity. Though it seemed that the roar was effective enough to instill that feeling into them. Philemon attempted to disappear into the thicket of trees, and though he might have thought it unwise to go any closer to something with such a roar he figured that he had a better chance with a hollow rather than being so close to those who fight his kind.

Another roar, a monstrous cry to put weight on the air that bowed the present Adjucha's heads in turn, a universal wince - the lowly sand-draggers knew the nature of the cry, had witnessed the beast in the past, and as one was felled by lightning, all thought of even the attempt at retribution fled the communal mind of the Hollow, their resolve and religious fervor stricken clean by the beast that approached.

Those present who had never before witnessed absolute terror saw it now, the Hollow scrambling and breaking ranks, splitting from the scene as rapidly as possible - Yoshiya's overestimation of his strength prevented his flying weapon nearing his opponent even almost, the awkwardly weighted weapon perhaps making some eight meters of the separating twenty before clattering to the ground. This left Malik's charge as the only recently felled beast, but it would amount to little as, from the treeline, a large hand broke into view.

The hand was at level with the tops of the trees, where it would plunge into the bushiest, leafiest areas before shoving the tops away, curling them downward with mighty cracking noises to make room for the great head that followed. The beast was as tall as the surrounding trees, covered head to toe in massive, ropy strands of fur. The mask was elongated at the face, coming forward in a maw full of daggerlike teeth, the scar-covered mask locked in a feral grin even as a bloody froth pooled at the edges of the beast's 'lips'. The left eye of the monster bore a fresh rend, a deep gash that took the light from that orb and dribbled it's own gentle contribution to the bloodflow - if this beast was not mad by nature, it was clearly mad by pain and anger, having been dealt some serious blows.

The nature of it's beating did not seem to be inhibiting it much, however, the monster letting fly another mighty howl, it's back arching and face to the sky as it expressed it's anger, hate and pain. It moved into the clearing then on massive, rat-like feet, kicking over the tree to it's left as it moved, putting distinct threat to the archer-Taichou's well being as the great piece of lumber rumbled downward in her direction.

Any hopes that the Hollow either did not see or perhaps did not care for the assembled masses left in it's wake as per the fleeing Hollow would surely be dashed in short order, as the beast looked down and, upon seeing the potential victims, did not step forward but instead took an impressive leap, body dropping even in the air, desirous to land on all fours and summarily squash it's gathering targets, all but Brain, Kurisuna and Philemon in immediate danger of the falling limbs.

Upon seeing the behemoth of a hollow, Kurai felt absolutely nauseous. The sight of the same hollow she heard had yet again broke her concentration of charging a cero as she let out a strangled, terrified scream. This was not the place for a newly formed arrancar child. She let out a gasping sob to Yoshiya, tears threatening to spill from her eyes.

Then the dreaded giant rat leaped into the air, its landing zone in the midst of where Kurai trembled in the tree. It was then that Kurai remembered the last words her adopted father yelled up at her, leap from the tree. And leap she did, not towards the man she loved, but away from. Her eyes were closed tightly, her stomach lurching violently as gravity pulled her towards the ground. If worse came to worse, she’d break a wrist and leg.