Target Practice [INV]

A dark night, with a few stars here and there, but for the most part the sky was filled with dark clouds as she walked down the streets of Karakura. It wasn't anything special in this town other than the fact that it was a supernatural cesspool filled with trouble. She hasn't truly had a moment of peace since she came. Immediately upon arrival she was attacked by a hollow, then encountered an odd man who knew exactly who she was. He was also accompanied by a Quincy, of all the damn things. She walked with her hands shoved into the pockets of her dark blue denim jeans, her eyes looking down to the ground as she was lost in thought. Her black hair was pulled back into a pony tail hanging down to about shoulder height, laying a top the black shirt she had donned.

Around her there were a few taller building, but most of them were normal heights of a small shop or home. She ignored them, at this point in the night most lights were out in the buildings and very few people would be walking around outside, if any. She imagined most would be in bed now, having to go to school or work in the morning. Still, her train of thought was broken as she felt a familiar feeling in the air. She stopped and looked around, she didn't see any rips in time and space, so perhaps she was imagining it? Her eyes narrowed. No, she didn't really do the whole play it off as mind games thing. Someone came, she just couldn't find them yet. Deciding to play it cool and not totally give off the fact that she was onto whomever it was she kept on walking. Though this time her sense stretch to its limits as she watched for whoever it was. The minute they entered her range, she'd know and if she found them to be a threat. Well only God would be able to help them.

As the feeling of the garganta disappeared she felt nothing following it, and decided to dismiss the matter. Though it did bother her still so she didn't drop her guard, if anything she was more on edge now than before. Annabelle continued to walk, scanning the area periodically just to be safe and still she could sense nothing. She did however have the nagging feeling that someone was watching her. Perhaps she was simple paranoid. It was either that or her stalker was skilled in hiding his presence. For a while she walked, turning here and there as she went and still no one showed themselves. Then just as she was about to conclude the whole thing was a product of paranoia it happened.

For one fleeting moment she sensed reiatsu above and behind her, then it disappeared. She found it again just a moment later directly above her, high up in the air. It was definitely a hollow. She didn't waste anytime as she felt the build up of energy she covered the area above and around her with reishi and stood waiting for the barrage that was to come. As the volley of bala crashed down into her shield Annabelle was already planning her next move, pinpointing the hollows location using her reiatsu senses she took aim. As the volley ended she dispersed her shield and fired a blast of reishi from within the dust cloud that she was hidden. She would make this hollow rue deciding to choose her as it's next meal.

She sensed the fluctuation in reiatsu as the hollow that attacked her panicked and she smiled, she'd clearly caught it off guard. She was hoping it would be enough to take the creature down, but it seems that wasn't the case at all. She heard the familiar buzzing of static and knew full well that the hollow had just used it's high speed movement technique. It brought back memories of that wretched arrancar. He wouldn't stay still long enough for her to get a proper hit in, eventually she had to learn to move at his speed on the fly. She tracked the reiatsu, following it to a building ready to take aim and fire again before the smoke cleared, but then it was gone. She scanned and scanned again, but still she couldn't find anything.

This was probably why she couldn't sense the hollow earlier until right before it attacked, the thing was she wanted to know how the beast accomplished such a feat. Her reiatsu senses were very very sharp, and right now they weren't picking up anything. She gritted her teeth and walked out of what remained of the dust cloud she had been standing in, her senses pushed to the limit as she waited to see if the hollow would attack. Nothing came, as of yet anyways. She would wait, and see where it was that the hollow came from. Once she figured out exactly how it was disappearing into thin air, then she could formulate a plan for taking it down.

As she waited for the hollow to show itself, she noticed that the shadows around her were behaving oddly. They started to creep closer and closer, and the entire she could hear this sinister laughter. It didn't take her too long to figure out what was going on. Still she didn't make a move, she wanted to see if he would do anything else besides this. Eventually the entire place went dark, of course by now she had reached into her pocket and grasped a small black capsule. She waited and waited, listening to his maniacal laughter until she felt his reiatsu appear again.

She sensed him right above her coming down and at that point she flicked the black capsule in her hand up into the air, her own eyes already closed. The capsule would explode soon after she threw it up, releasing a bright light that would hopefully blind the unaware hollow. Should she get the moment of surprise she was hoping for she would disappear using a quick step, reappearing behind the hollow with her right index finger aimed at his head, the reishi already gathering and condensing around the tip. "You should really pick your prey carefully, you just might become the hunted."

That was all she said just before the blast of reishi fired at the back of the head of the hollow.

Her attack went off without a hitch, another dead hollow and she could go about the rest of her night. At least that's what she was thinking until she felt the odd flow of reiatsu coming the body in front of her. Normally hollows just turned to dust immediately upon death, but this one wasn't fading. No if anything it seemed like a bomb.

"Fu-"

Then boom. She was much too close to throw up the shield she had earlier and so resorted to her last line of defence, quickly activating her blut causing her body to be covered in blue lines as reishi entered her blood stream and made her more durable. It still didn't stop her from getting blown away by the blast though and sending her crashing into some near by building. While it didn't hurt much, she did get the wind knocked out of her. Annabelle fell to the ground trying to pull air into her lungs as she put herself onto one knee. If this hollow wanted to play games, she would play games.

After finally refilling her lungs with the precious air that had been forcibly removed for a short moment the black haired Quincy stood to her feet, noting that once again she was surrounded by darkness and shadows. This was a clear indication her little playmate hadn't left yet. Patting her shoulders she proceeded to dust them off as she tried to sense the little scavenger again. Once more, nothing. He was still cowering away in the shadows. She only had a limited supply of flash left and she'd much rather not waste them in a effort to find this thing and then lose it again. Instead she would be patient and wait for it to come to her. If that were the hollows strongest attack she would be fine, especially since she already saw it once.