Antebellum[Shio/Blod]

Shio's wall held up to the explosions surprisingly well, falling apart after a moment or two, and leaving him standing on thin air once more.  He still couldn't see a thing, however; whatever attack the beast had used, his senses were utterly deafened by the incredible force of those bombs going off.  He held his hand in place however, unwilling to risk releasing his binding on the off-chance he had landed a blow on his opponent.  The other one rose, clutching his zanpakuto, and as he swung it up in a wide, sweeping arc, it once more seemed to take the form of an enormous, overly heavy blade that would've been quite efficient at blocking the incoming bala...if he could see them.  Instead he felt himself pummelled by half a dozen before he could raise up a hasty defense, the attacks shattering against the all-too-familiar golden array of his Bakudo.

He closed his eyes tightly shaking his head back and forth, and blinking rapidly.  Anything he could think up to buy himself a bit more vision, to let him see what was going on.  The area was growing slightly easier to notice, but his enemy was still hidden behind that strange miasma of reishi that it had release, little more than one blur in an entire cloud of blurriness.  And entering the area, Shio could see two more splotches of blurriness; no doubt his two comrades-in-arms, here to lend aid.  Or to critique, undoubtedly.  He clenched his hand into a fist, speaking to himself.  The words spilled out now, at breakneck speeds, tripping over themselves.  He'd get this kido out if it killed him.

"The crest of turbidity seeping out, the...shit!  An insolent vessel of madness, boiling up and denying, numbness, blinking, obstructing slumber...fuck, -no-!  Too quick!  There's a pause in there...somewhere...fuuuck!"

He was so caught in his own world, he didn't even notice as one of the shinigami took up to his side, pressing a palm to his wounded, swollen hip and murmuring to himself.  Shio managed to blink back some tears, noticing a familiar head of blonde hair.  And just like that, the tears were back...leaving his sight blurrier even than it had been after the stars.

"What are you doing...?  I'm not the priority."

"Like hell you're not.  I'm not watching anyone else die.  Stand back and let us-"

"No.  I started this, and I'll see it through."

"...Whatever you say.  Just don't let this thing land another hit like that."

Shio was almost too distracted by the presence of these unexpected allies that he couldn't even tell what the enemy was doing.  He could see a glowing red light, growing brighter and brighter...but it seemed almost unimportant, his mind seeming to reel from the fact that he was no longer alone.  How was he supposed to fight with these two watching, standing so close by?  How could he do -anything- without worrying about putting them in the line of fire?  Without worrying of what they may have to say afterwards?  This wasn't simply a battle anymore, it was...a competition.  It was yet another way for them to lord the heirarchy over his head once more.  And oh -god- how he wanted to fight back, how he wanted so badly to just show these two up, shame them into silence and go back to his life.  But it wouldn't work, he knew.  There was no way to shame these sorts of...people.  There was nothing he could do to change them.

All he could do was hope to weather the storm until it passed, until he was no longer worth their focus.  And that meant...being patient.  And most importantly, being boring.  Offering nothing but the most basic of responses, saying absolutely nothing until prompted.  He wouldn't beg, he wouldn't fight back, he'd just...wait.

It wasn't until he felt a hand against his cheek, felt the stinging pain of his comrade's strike, not until he noticed the approaching projectile that he truly came back to the scene.  He reached a hand out, clasping his ally's without a word, and disappeared in a flicker of motion.  The two of them both reappeared roughly ten feet away, one of those many stars safely between them and the beast.  The blonde shinigami was almost baring his teeth at this point, and Shio swore he could see a speck of foam on the corner of his mouth.

"What did I -just- say, recruit!?  Fuck, you're useless!  What were you -thinking- stepping in here alone?  Hoping if you just walked into a hollow's mouth you could get a discharge?  Denied!  I just told you, no one's dying on my watch!"

Shio shook his head, listening to the man's response.  Yes, it was...furious.  Yes, there was anger there.  Perhaps even hatred.  But why did it feel so...different this time?  Why had that slap carried...concern?  Why was this man still healing his hip, even as he was spouting these snide remarks?  It was one thing to heal him and play nice and smile until the time was right...but this wasn't even feigned comradarie.  This was something else entirely.

"Why...?"

"It's my job.  Like it's your job to kill that thing!"

Shio shook his head once more, grimacing and glancing over towards their ally.  Surprisingly, the lone recruit had risen his hands into a rather familiar fighting stance, and was casually, almost calmly swatting aside bala by the dozens.  He was still suffering strikes to the chest and arms every few blocks, still being pelted by the heavy red projectiles, but they didn't seem to be overwhelming him...yet.  He would be able to buy himself a few more moments.

"Go...go help him.  I'll handle this."

"Oh shut up!  You're going to sit here gawking all over again, and get someone -else- killed!"

Shio wasn't sure what was going on anymore.  None of it made sense anymore.  All he knew was that this was getting too hard to handle, too much for his mind...and it was on the verge of shutting down.  Catatonia was the only safe response, no?  There was no way to hurt him if he went elsewhere, to a place none of them could reach.  He closed his eyes, almost prepared to leave all of it behind.  The fight, the pain, the heat and light, the entire world that had let him end up in a circumstance like this.  Only one thought stopped him, echoing through his skull with the precision of an ice-pick, aimed directly at his heartstrings.

If you step away from all of this, then you'll come back changed.  A flame, snuffed out, can never be revived.  Only replaced.

Shio's eyes snapped open, grabbing the arm of the shinigami that had been shrieking at him up to now, turning in a half-circle and tossing him towards their third ally.  With a flicking motion of his hand the familiar greenish lantern of reaitsu formed around them, shielding them from...whatever was about to come.  Something, Shio was sure.  He didn't know what, but whatever this beast was about to do, it wouldn't end well.  He swung his zanpakuto around in a wide circle once, creating an oddly egg-like shape around himself, this time.  The barriers were connected by a thin band of wax this time, just barely visible in the light.

The light that suddenly increased to painful, burning levels.  The light that blasted all else from his mind.  The light that left Shio unable to think, unable to breathe or respond at all.  He felt himself pressed against the closest of the barriers, eyelids closing reflexively...but it may have been too late.  He may already have been blind.  The blast slammed into his barrier, forcing it against the opening into another dimension, squeezing him through like a grape through a mouth.  And like a grape, Shio would be smashed flat within seconds, in this new world.  He impacted forcefully, the wax crumbling around him, melting once more into nothingness.  And this time as he hopped into the air, crossing it like steps, he felt...oddly at peace.

His comrades may have been dead.  Or they may have survived, fully intact.  Or the Kido Soshi may have left their last ally to his grisly fate, arriving at the last second.  But none of that mattered anymore, did it?  Did it really change anything, whether or not he knew what would happen two or three moments from now?  All he knew was that there was a job before him, and there was no one else to do it.  This beast was...powerful.  That much was obvious.  And if he was any judge, now was the perfect time for a counterattack.

He ducked back through the garganta, his uniform singed and still racing with flames.  His eyes were still sightless, his face burned red and bubbling up angrily from the damage done.  He wasn't even sure he'd survive the strain it'd take to recite the incantation.  But now, filled with the strange sense of...zen.  The words seemed to fall into his head, like dice rolling along.  He spoke clearly, his voice ringing out through the barrier.  Even reaching to the ground below.  It was his voice, but...moreso.  It was a voice with confidence, a voice with purpose.  It was the voice one would expect from a shinigami.

"The crest of turbidity, seeping out. An insolent vessel of madness. Boiling up, denying, numbness, blinking, obstructing slumber. The steel princess who creeps. The mud doll, ever disintegrating. Unite! Oppose! Filling the earth, know your own impotence!  Hado number 90: Kurohitsugi!"

Nothing, for a moment or two...just a quiet, pregnant silence.  Shio wasn't even sure he'd oriented on the proper spot for his attack, being forced to rely primarily on his ability to sense reaitsu.  But his opponent, seemingly certain in its triumph, wouldn't work that hard to hide its presence any longer...would it?  Surely he had the right target in mind.  Surely he wouldn't waste-

No.  No, there was no room for doubt here.  Doubt would shatter the hado's effects.  He inhaled once more, screaming with a voice that nearly tore his throat muscles, sending a fine haze of blood into the air.

"Hado number 90!  Black Coffin!"

The first flickers of black flames, tinged nearly purple at the edges, appeared around the adjuchas's feet ever so slowly, almost lazily.  One almost could've believed this was a new star coming to life...until the flames suddenly began to shoot upwards, forming a box that consumed nearly half of the barrier itself, terminating only at the very top.  Upward escape would've simply ended in a nasty headache, before hundreds upon hundreds of thick projectiles, made of the same darkened materials, slammed into the box, skewering it from head to toe.  Shio stood with his hands outright, blood trickling down from his lips as he waited for some sign...any sign at all.

Blind, shrouded in absolute silence, Shio could feel oblivion pressing in from the outside.  But he would not let his light be snuffed out like this.  He had fought for this moment, for this day.  He had fought to become a shinigami, for just this purpose...and now he had it.  He wouldn't crack first.  He couldn't.

Darkness.

There was no more worry, no more fear.  There was nothing eating away at his mind, no need for all the ridiculous mental acrobatics to try and turn the face of the person before him into the face of evil.

There was only darkness.

It was oddly liberating, he found.

Shio's minds' eye flourished, giving him a clear view of the two shinigami still alive and well, for a given value of well; his barrier, slightly more flimsy than the wax constructs formed from his own shikai, were suffering burns across most of their body, rather than just the face as Shio did.  He disappeared in another flicker of motion, plucking them both up and carrying them across his shoulder like sacks of meal.  He was silent even as the others zipped past, clearly prepared to close the entry-way before another creature arrived.  He oriented on Blodeuwen's reaitsu, and with another flickering motion landed just before her, placing both of the other shinigami on the ground between them, and bowing his head.

For some reason, he wasn't even worried anymore.  He seemed beyond worry at this point, after he'd just taken down an adjuchas-level hollow.  Or perhaps it was the adrenaline fighting its constant battle against the pain.  Or perhaps it was simply that Shio couldn't tell just how angry the Kido Soshi must have been at that exact moment.  He'd even shut his minds' eye off, allowing himself to be as blind to reishi as he was to matter, simply staring dead ahead at the spot where Blodeuwen should've been.  He inclined his head ever so slowly, and finally spoke.  His voice was still firm and in control, laced with a lesser quality of that same steel he'd carried just a moment ago.

"Soshi Hirashi.  The threat has been eliminated.  Did you have any other orders for me?"