Coos stalking diary

As the huntress approached the mist wall, sparks started to fly around, and the sound of combat started to be heard, suddenly, her instincts kicked in, forcing her to jump away, just in time to see a wave of black energy pierce the mist and dispersing it away.

“-TENSHO!!!!” was shouting Ichigo. She could see him now crossing his blade with a huge behemoth of a creature. A stone golem with a white mask in what looked to be it’s torso, with 4 arms, two with scythes like a Mantis and another two with hands, a strange snake-like body composed of black ooze and stones formed what could be defined as his lower half.

Nora and Weiss were currently a bit shocked from the sudden release of energy, not being used to this kind of attacks yet, but the Pandora, other than a bit covered on dust, was more than used to this kind of bullshit.

“Ohoho! He’s a BIIIIG boy!” Nora said taking a few steps back, winding up the hammer behind her back. “Let’s see how good he is at blocking this!” The huntress then swung her hammer in front of her, jumping forward, as the ground under her exploded, propelling her forward at the enemy, gaining momentum. After the blink of an eye, the sound of cracking stone could be heard, the huntress hammer being blocked by the two stone arms of the beast.

Using the opportunity, Ichigo tried to slash at the ebast as well, but his blade was stopped by the scythes of the monster. Unsure of Nora’s toughness, he decided to not fire his attack at close range. “Tch! I hate it when they have multiple arms!”

“Not it!” said Weiss and Nora at unison, as Ichigo sighed. 

“I guess I will go.” Said the Shinigami, as he calmy walked towards the stone. He stood in front of it, silent, for a minute. The Huntress could sense he was using his own skills to percieve what the stone was. Then, he finally poked it with the tip of his blade, which he made appear with a flick of his wrist. The whole clear was now completely covered in black mist.

“-TENSHO!!!!” was shouting Ichigo. She could see him now crossing his blade with a huge behemoth of a creature. A stone golem with a white mask in what looked to be it’s torso, with 4 arms, two with scythes like a Mantis and another two with hands, a strange snake-like body composed of black ooze and stones formed what could be defined as his lower half.

“You said it, Boss!” Nora said with a big smile before taking out her granade launcher and, despite the worried looks on Weiss and Ichigo’s faces, shoot 3 times straight at the rock.

The explosions could be heard, the dust flew everywhere… But all that was left were a couple craters around the still standing stone. Nora looked confused for a second. “That usually works.”

Although unsure of what she expected to begin with, Pyrrha was not thrilled by this outcome, however grateful they hadn’t all exploded along with the rest of the world. “ so, it’s resistant to damage, ” she commented. she so badly did not want to approach it, but it was looking like the only way they could figure out the trap was to walk into it. 

The team looked around for a couple minutes, and other than finding that there were some unconcious animals around, no other being was found or even felt. There was a weird static in the atmosphere, but nothing else.

“Well… I’m not fully versed on it yet, but… I can try.” The young Schnee then took out her rapier and created a glyph, from it a small dog-like creature came out and advanced. The phantom grim puppy reached the stone and sat next to it before disappearing.”All I know is that the mist around it is not natural… But…” Weiss shrugged at Pyrrha.

“Well, it’s a trap, that much we are sure of!” Nora said, quickly turning her hammer into a grenade launcher. “What if we blow it from a safe distance and then we go in?”

“That could be dangerous, that mist may be flammable, and there may be more underground. That could blow everything here into pieces.” Ichigo stopped her. “I can feel a faint reiatsu from that mist, but… It’s weird.”

With a smile, the cerw assembled and rushed out, led by Ichigo, who sensed a strange spiritual energy outside the town. Although Him and Pyrrha could have reached that place in a matter of seconds, the inability of Nora and Weiss for high speed movement forced them to take the longer route.

As they advanced though the city they saw people unconscious everywhere, and every light from an electrical source turned off… Weirdly enough, they could still listen to some radios here and there transmitting static.

The farther they went from the town, the stranger things started to look. trees were slowly looking more and more dry, so was the land, almost like they were getting into a desert. Up ahead they could see a clearing with a black stone in the center, covered by a weird purple-ish mist. Ichigo then stopped looking at the rest, in case anyone had a plan about how to approach this aside of jumping in and attacking anything.

Pyrrha immediately sensed danger upon arriving at the clearing. her instincts were telling her that approaching the stone directly would not end well for them. what if it was explosive ? what if the mist sucked out their energies ? She was slightly worried that Ichigo did not seem to recognize it. It was not from her world, either. 

“Well, it’s a trap, that much we are sure of!” Nora said, quickly turning her hammer into a granade launcher. “What if we blow it from a safe distance and then we go in?”

“Gonzui is an ability Arrancar have to absorb the souls of living beings nearby. In this case, it only took energy from then this time.” Said Uryu. “I believe it would be wiser to leave some people in town to make sure nothing weird happens.”

Inoue, who just walked out of the kitchen agreed. “I will stay back, my skills are better for defending after all.”

“Very well, a small strike team will have to go. I will take care of covering the town, so Pyrrha! You will be leading the assault team. Choose your partners.” Yoruichi said with a big smile. Ren, Chad, Ichigo, Weiss, Nora and Uryu looked at her, waiting for her decision.

After a moment of consideration, Pyrrha decided on her team. “ Nora, Ichigo, Weiss, you’ll come with me. ” She knew Nora and Weiss’ fighting styles, who balanced her, and Ichigo was well-versed in fighting the creatures from his world. In an all-out battle against an Arrancar, this team would be good for her. 

As they advanced though the city they saw people unconcious everywhere, and every light from an electrical source turned off... Weirdly enough, they could still listen to some radios here and there transmiting static.

“Gunzui.” Said Yoruichi, to what Chad, Uryu and Ichigo answered with a concerned look. “Not sure how strong it was, but I can guarantee that soul energy from everyone here was absorbed.”

Ichigo looked at Pyrrha and the otehr Huntsmen. “This mean there is an Arrancar around. But how does that explains the blackout?”

Ren then answered. “From where we come, there are creatures called Grim. It’s possible one of them also came to this world and has the ability to feed from energy.”

Yoruichi nodded. “I guess this means we should prepare for combat. Pyrrha! Anything you would like to add?”

Inoue, who just walked out of the kitchen agreed. “I will stay back, my skills are better for defending after all.”

Pyrrha was able to find their pulse, everyone was still alive. As she went downstairs, she saw the rest of the crew talking. They stopped as Yoruichi looked at the Pandora “Everyone upstairs are out cold as well?”

Ichigo looked at Pyrrha and the otehr Huntsmen. “This mean there is an Arrancar around. But how does that explains the blackout?”

Ren then answered. “From where we come, there are creatures called Grim. It’s possible one of them also came to this world and has the ability to feed from energy.”

As orders came and went, booze was drank and youngling got touchier… Not just the boys though. Night kept going, and this 3 extremely overweighted ladies had just cornered Pyrrha, as they badmouthed her dress and her skininess, explaining how that showed she was no more than a vulgar night woman trying to snatch their wonderfully wealthy husbands… Things were starting to escalate quickly with shouting and yelling until…

Silence.

Silence and darkness.

After blinking a couple times, Pyrrha could readjust to the darkness of the blackout. it looked like all the guests were unconscious on the ground and there was no electricity in the whole town, maybe even further away.

It was taking all of her willpower not to snap, but she thought of Yoruichi and just ignored them. She knew better than to engage, even though on the inside she was burning with frustration. It didn’t help that her Pandora abilities fed on her anger and made her more susceptible to lashing out.

  but she was getting better at smothering that. better than most pandora, anyway.

Once Pyrrha arrived to the top floor, she was met with a challenging sight of things to come. Over 50 people, a third of them small children. Based on their clothes and accessories, all of them were from some kind of high class, and after listening for a bit, she could figure out a coupe of them were political figures.

Not 30 seconds after, she felt a hand grabbing her butt, a small hand to be more exact. After turning around she saw a boy with a big smile, with another 2, looking at them and proudly saying “I’m gonna ask my father to get her as my babysitter now!”

Downstairs, Uryu looked at Ren. “You sure she can handle that?” The Huntsman remained silent and avoided eye contact.

  oh Dust, what have I gotten myself into ?

Pyrrha forced a sweet smile and stepped forward out of his grip. in this kind of company, reprimanding him would only get her in trouble, but she was not going to be anyone’s babysitter. without a word in response, she continued to serve the guests, making sure they were well taken care of.  still, these discussions were quite interesting. 

Silence.

Silence and darkness.

Seeing her in the kitchen, Yoruichi smirked before shouting her orders “TAKE THE UPSTAIRS, MAP OF THE TABLES IS AT THE DOOR, 3 ORDERS DONE, GO!” Then she proceeded to join the team at the Stoves, with such speed and precision it made everyone doubt they actually were needed. One hard stare from the Shinigami later, and everyone understood this didn’t mean ‘we are good’, but ‘get good’.

As the Huntress walked out, Uryu quickly gave her the information about her area, a party was going on of recently wed, couple of possible alcoholics that she should keep an eye on. With a gentle smile he wished her good luck before going to take care of his tables.

Not 30 seconds after, she felt a hand grabbing her butt, a small hand to be more exact. After turning around she saw a boy with a big smile, with another 2, looking at them and proudly saying “I’m gonna ask my father to get her as my babysitter now!”

Chad managed to smile back at her before Pyrrha went to the back. As she approached the service entrance, a powerfull feeling of dread and danger started to fill her. Was this a Grim? A Nova? What was this feeling of imminent danger?

As she opened the door, all of her senses well into full alert, gladly it was fast enough to avoid a Knife, that was now stuck in the brick wall behind her. The sight before her could be easily be compared with one of the rings of Hell. Flames, chaos, crying, and most importantly, a beautiful woman with a giant fork in one hand, emanating such a killer intent that made even the Huntress unable to freely move, shouting at the poor unfortunate souls to do her biding.

Weiss was running like crazy, trying to finish the frosting details in several desserts, Orihime was running with pots filled with some delicious smelling but unknown to the Pandora, meals, Ichigo and Nora were dealing with 4 stoves each, with their burners full of different ingredients. At the other side of the small counter dividing the Front Counter and the kitchen, Uryu and Ren could be seen, darting from one table to another, doing their best to keep the service going and the customers pleased as the food was getting ready. The pile of orders written next to Yoruichi showed that more than help, they needed a miracle now.

It was like the apocalypse in here. She had never known a restaurant to be so incredibly busy. Even with basically the entire team helping out, they were still overwhelmed. She had a lot of faith in her mates, however, and went into the fray with a positive attitude.  Luckily, in her teenage years she had helped out with family friends at a restaurant in Mistral, and it was like muscle memory.

It felt like months since the last time she was able to go for a walk like this. The cold breeze of the night pampered her skin as she approached the commercial district where Yoruichi’s bar was. The sound of merry, and drunk, locals started to get louder and louder. The place was packed, and there was quite the line in front of the establishment. Even the tables outside were filled to the brim.

At the door, like an impenetrable wall, stood Chad, who quickly took a knee to adress a small old lady who apparently had a reservation.

As she opened the door, all of her senses well into full alert, gladly it was fast enough to avoid a Knife, that was now stuck in the brick wall behind her. The sight before her could be easily be compared with one of the rings of Hell. Flames, chaos, crying, and most importantly, a beautiful woman with a giant fork in one hand, emanating such a killer intent that made even the Huntress unable to freely move, shouting at the poor unfortunate souls to do her biding.

As she took they key out, it cracked and turned in some weird gray dust, which quickly scattered by the wind and disappeared. Pyrrha remembered that Kisuke was going to be out with Mephisto tonight, but she had no idea where. Waiting at home was an option, but on the other hand, Yoruichi may know where they went.

There wasn’t anything else in the paper as much as she could see. The room was starting to feel colder, though, and she could hear the door behind her start to creek into a close due the wind. Even if it was doing it slowly, it was probably best for her to go back home.