returning

Miraya was moving cautiously through the forest.. She remembered the city beyond this place well. She had fought in the battle to take this city so long ago. Many had died trying to defeat those that had entrenched themselves in the city. She wasn't sure if she was strong enough to face anyone like that yet but still she was drawn here in order to continue her search. She knew she wanted revenge on someone but she didn't know who or where they were. She had been searching for a while and she wasn't sure that she would ever find them but she had never brought herself to search karakura. It was a very dangerous place after all. She had wondered very close to city wondering if she would manage to find anyone wondering out to far. She would settle for anyone strong right now. She was craving to devour a strong soul as much as she wanted to find that certain somebody.

Anybody that didn't know that she was an arrancar might mistake her for a human at first. She was wearing her classic simple white dress with her arm length gloves. The dress covered the hole in her chest most of the time which usually gave her some extra time before somebody realized what they were dealing with. The only real give away was the piece of mask surrounding her eye and running down her face in two small lines at either end of her eye. Even with that clue some people didn't realize what that meant because it was so much less then what most other Arrancar had.

She slowly walked through the forest being careful not to draw to much attention until she found someone to pray upon. She knew there were plenty here that she could not fight quite yet but there were plenty more that she didn't care about because they were to weak. She saw several people and felt out how strong they were with her Pesquisa. For various reasons she didn't pick any of them. She wondered when she would find someone she actually wanted to fight.

Cleaning up a mess was always an irksome task. Especially when that mess was your own. Unfortunately, he was the only one he could rely on in this instance. The mission to capture Ruby Rose had left way too much Za Koa in the area, something that would be a warning flag to human forces in the nearby powerhouse Karakura. Some of the strongest humans in the world called that fortress city their home.

For the bulk of the day so far, Styn had been wandering around sucking up all those remnants of his battle with the human. Once again the majesty of the forest struck a cord within the demon. A cord of disgust. For the umpteenth time a bug of some kind landed on his face. With a growl of frustration the demon pushed Za Koa directly into the infuriating nuisance. Then of course he had to bend down and drain the traces of his touch.

He almost stumbled into Miraya who was stalking suspiciously through the forest. The arrancar was unlikely to have sensed his spiritual structure. In his unshifted form, Styn was a spiritual null zone, so long as the person wasn't with in his same tier class. The female form before him was vaguely familiar, but certainly not strong enough to have detected him. That of course would change in an instant if he were to attempt to harm her. Sensing killing intent was something that just couldn't be hidden. Not by any means that Styn knew of.

Using demon magic without incantation was difficult, but not outside of his capacity. A quick flux and twisting of light and he was invisible to the eye as well as the senses. The amount of demon magic he was using was small enough to be covered by his ability to remain undetected. If he were to stretch himself to his full strength then the veil would shatter, in a very visible way in fact. So long as he were to limit himself he'd be able to remain unseen and undetected. Of course, he couldn't see outside the obstruction either, which defeated the purpose of spying on someone really.

So while this series of steps wouldn't allow him to peak in on Miraya without being seen, it did offer some interesting options. Styn closed his eyes and imagined the image of a young man he had battled several months ago. The arrancar looked ready to brawl and Styn was happy to oblige her, after all they belonged to the same organization, if different branches of it. He had finally recalled where he had seen her before.

Miraya had been with remnants of the Espada since the end of world war three, if reports could be believed. Styn wasn't one to dwell on a lady's age, but he was pretty sure she was close to three times his own. Of course, that didn't count the ancient memories injected into his skull from the Dying Game. She was smart, calculating, and careful. It was only freak chance that Styn happened to be stronger then her at the moment. Well lets hope she can take a joke.

This was his goal after all. To play a little trick on the overly serious arrancar. The image in his mind was Arron Deoradh, a young shinigami. The man had been a bit weaker then the creation he summoned now, but Styn figured he wouldn't mind the liberties the demon took. Actually he'd probably be furious that I continue to besmirch his good name. As the creature of shadow was birthed, without incantation, Styn reached out and wrapped its physical structure in another veil of demon magic.

This shrouding would disguise the Za Koa the summoning was formed of and instead make it appear to be a shinigamis reiatsu. The final touch was inflicting the form with a curse of insight. An injection of Styn's curse effect let him corrupt the targets ocular nerve to allow him to tap into it. The effect was very similar to installing a wireless camera into the creation of shadows.

Now fully fleshed out and wired for fun, Styn would direct 'Arron' to step out from behind a tree. Styn took particular delight in using the same words that had been spoken to him on the outskirts of Rukongai, with a bit of editing of course. If Arron himself were standing in front of the creation, he would be hard pressed to say it wasn't him. "Your kind is not welcome. I will ask you to leave only once, which is a better offer then most Shinigami would give." 'Arron' would appear to be slightly weaker then Miraya, well within her strike zone, while actually presenting a challenge.

"If you do not retreat then I would have no choice but to fight you." As he issued his final warning 'Arron' slipped off the top of his Shihakushō. His arms and upper torso was ridden with scars. It also revealed the muscles he had hidden in his thin frame. Arron took a fighting stance and waited the arrancar's response.

At least I think that's what the arrogant little bastard did. It had been months, but Styn was fairly certain he had got it mostly correct. Either way it was sure to be a fine show.

Spoiler:

It was taking a while for her to find anybody worth while. She really didn't care how long it took her to find anybody except that the longer she stayed the more chance someone might notice and call it in the the forces protecting this place. She was trying to keep a an eye out in all directions feeling the area out trying to make sure that nobody managed to sneak up on her. She knew the value of a surprise attack when she could manage it but she also knew the danger if it was used on her and a forest was a good place for an ambush. Who would be the person she would fight?

Just as she thought that someone finally showed up in front of her. A shinigami stepped out from behind a tree. Something felt strange about this shinigami but she couldn't place what it was. She started to feel out the area around her while reading the man in front of her. She wanted to make sure that there weren't any surprises waiting for her like reinforcements waiting in the background. She decided to talk to this man just a bit to give herself a bit more time to figure things out. It wouldn't do to take any unnecessary risks.

"A generous offer coming from a shinigami. I take it you would rather not fight then." she said taking a few steps to one side. She was feeling the area out and couldn't find any additional shinigami waiting in ambush. So this one had decided to come alone then? Maybe he had sent for reinforcements to come here later and he would hold her off. But if he offered to let her go so easily then he wouldn't be waiting for others. Maybe the offer to leave was a trick and if she fell for it she would be attacked from behind. So many angles to consider she couldn't tell which one he was going for. Delving into him she could tell that he seemed a bit weaker. It was possible that he was holding something back to surprise her with but not enough to overwhelm her.

She held up her left arm showing off to the shinigami It gleamed in the light reflecting off what seemed to be a metal arm guard over the glove on her left arm. "I wonder though why you don't want to fight. There are several possible reasons. Whatever it is there is just one problem. I DO want to fight." She looked this man over. He was muscular with many scars across his body. He would probably try to hit hard to end the fight with those muscles. She was okay with that but she couldn't be 100% sure that was how he would fight her. She had to be careful with until she was sure what she would be fighting against.

She decided not to show exactly what that armguard actually was to this man yet. Surprise wasn't only useful as a first strike move. It was useful to keep some things hidden and sometimes the best hiding place was in plain sight. She could see his sword handing at his side but her own weapon was invisible to those that didn't know the fact that they were looking right at it. This shinigami knew that she had no intention of leave so what would he do now. He would have to either engage her or run away. She hoped he would choose to engage. That way she would begin to learn how to beat him.

Styn actually knew very little about the way that Miraya fought. At a certain point reports on individuals within an organization just couldn't keep up with the raw size of the force at its disposal. The demon was curious as to what sort of fighter she would turn out to be. Such knowledge would be helpful to him if they were to ever end up needing to support each other in future conflicts. Besides her obvious caution was amusing to the demon. Regardless, it was time to get the show on the road.

'Arron' seemed to weigh the arrancar with his eyes. Finally the false shinigami shook his head as if coming to a judgement. Sliding its foot forward slightly across the dry, shadow dappled ground, it would take a combat stance. “Arron Deoradh, I shall be your opponent since you refuse to retreat.” 'Arron' said with a formal tone and a slight bow of the head. He then started rhythmic breathing, as the creature seemed to focus inward. Since Miraya was content to wait then it would be taking the first action.

In an instant the summon began to shine with a soft blue light. This reiatsu encompassed it, as it clearly steeled itself for the fight to come. 'Arron's' deep sapphire eyes locked with Miraya's own, this soulful gaze was meant to convey its regret at the choice she had decided to make. Although the creation was just an image of the man that Styn had faced, it was still a fairly powerful spiritual being in its own right. Gusts of wind stirred the air and ground as Za Koa, filtered to seem like shinigami reiatsu, lashed the surroundings. It conjured a mighty wind that seemed ready to rip apart any thing along his path. Mostly though, it just stirred up a few fallen leaves and bits of twigs.

It seemed to let its spiritual pressure fill its being before releasing it. It then channeled the strength towards its leg. One of the few things it had as an artificial life form was strength and construct immunities. Right now it was using that strength to lunch itself at Miraya. The hard forest floor cracked with the force it used to close the few feet with in a second. By using a short burst of power, it could lunch itself at near shunpo speeds, control was something else entirely though. Not only that, but the distance it was able to travel with these rushes was a fraction of a real shunpo. However, it would allow the construct to maintain some level of competitiveness as long as the fight didn't turn into a dashing contest.

”Hadō Number 1: Tessho” 'Arron' began its Hadō-like move as it closed the gap. Once close it moved its left hand into an open palm strike. The strike itself had enough power to break through an arrancar's hierro, if barely. 'Arron' aimed this attack to the right of Miraya's sternum to maybe hit the clavicle or scapula in a attempt to break one. Its goal was to create strain on her right arm. From what Styn remembered, this had been what the Shinigami had opened with. There might have been some kido as well, but his summonings just weren't capable of such advanced level techniques.

The demon continued to watch the show from the sidelines, albeit through 'Arron's' eyes as his own ability to see his surroundings was still hampered by the demon magic veil he had thrown up. He couldn't believe that Miraya had actually let him use as much of the previous sequence as he had. It was all Styn could do to repress his desire to chuckle as the fight unfolded.

Miraya was paying close attention to her opponent. She needed to know exactly what he was planning on doing so she could react appropriately. She figured that he would probably pull out his sword now that he knew she would not be running away. Other possibilities coming from a shinigami were that he could use a kido on her or try to engage her in hand to hand. One of those might be harder for her to deal with then the other. She herself was fairly used to hand to hand. She thought that since she herself hid her weapon he would probably use the advantage of range to defeat her but she was getting fully prepared to handle any attack.

She braced her legs and raised her arms in front of her getting ready to fight. If he drew his sword to strike she would be ready to catch it on her armguard. If he tried a kido then she would be ready to use her sonido in order to try and dodge the effect. If he tried to go in hand to hand then, well she was skilled enough there to figure it out. She wondered about the wind a bit but it wasn't enough to any damage to her so she figured it wasn't anything important. Just a reaction to him charging up his reiatsu not an actual attack from him. She waited patiently for him to make his move.

When he finally got done preparing himself for the battle to come he made his move. She kept her eyes glued to him and while he braced himself to move towards her. She saw that he didn't pull his weapon out and if was going to move toward her then it wasn't kido. That meant he was going to come at her with hand to hand. She knew that she wouldn't have much time to react but she was good at quick thinking.

As he dashed toward her she watched his hand reach out toward her with his palm. She quickly ducked down and grabbed his wrist with her right hand. Her left arm she pushed out toward his abdomen her open palm resting against it. Using his own moment she pulled his arm over her while with the other hand she pushed in and lifted up pulling him off of his feet. She turned her body slightly turning her head to find a good spot. She saw a tree not to far away and launched him toward it. With any luck he would slam against the tree with he back and break it but she didn't rely on luck.

She turned herself in the direction she had thrown the man and launched herself forward with her sonido as he would be landing. One foot would plant firmly on the ground the other would flash outward toward his opponent targeting his abdomen again. After that strike she would leap backwards to put some distance between them. She didn't want to waste energy needlessly and those two moves would certainly leave some impression. She needed to measure what would happen now. "You made a mistake shinigami. You should never have challenged me. My name is Miraya. One day I will surpass the espada I serve." she said staring at him. Maybe it was to late to be civil but such niceties were largely lost on her. "I am not as nice as you are though. I will not simply allow you to flee."

It was all Styn could do not to sigh in frustration as Miraya went on the offensive. How many times had he wished that an opponent would engage him in some sort of grappling contest. All he needed as a demon was physical contact to attack the very structure of his opponents core. A simple application of any one of his debilitating curses would have put a stop to that well executed toss. Sadly, his creations were not demons. It was certainly something to devote further thought to at a later date though. If he could bring fully functioning demon's to his side during battle, it would add a much greater variety to his attack options.

As an outsider looking on, Styn might have been able to manage some sort of counter to the throw. With enough perspective he was sure he could have landed a blow to make Miraya pay for closing to such an intimate distance. As it was, his eyes were limited to what 'Arron' could see, and the arrancar was far too skilled to telegraph her attack in a face off. Instead, the demon was forced to clench his teeth against the disorientating tumble as the summon was dashed against a nearby tree.

The throw was hard enough to shatter the thick wood into an explosion of small shards at the point of impact. A few feet above the landing zone and a few feet below just didn't exist in tree shape any more. The much larger, and still intact, top of the tree was also propelled backward to crash into the woods, toppling another two trees with the force of its motion. These other two trees were then caught up against two more trees which were able to weather this chaotic storm that Miraya had unleashed on the poor defenseless forest.

A a summoned construct 'Arron' didn't really need to breath, didn't feel pain, and if examined closely, didn't really have any sort of internal organs to rupture. Attacking any part of the pseudo shinigami would be like attacking the hardest and most worthless part of a human body, everything was disposable. Except maybe eyes, Styn was kind of using those at the moment. Regardless, it was able to react to the blow far faster then a living creature would have, grabbing the hilt of the 'Zanpakutō' at its side in time to intercept the brutalizing abdomen kick.

'Arron' did not draw the blade, but drew the entire structure, scabbard and all. Holding it with both hands spread evenly apart, the creature would take the kick and push lightly, sending its own body in a backwards roll. It helped that Miraya would have had to hesitate a fraction of a second before initiating her sonido, if for no other reason then to determine 'Arron's' altered landing point since he had blown so clearly through the tree. At the moment it seemed as though the fight had been reset.

In Styn's mind nothing could be further from the truth. Without a movement technique of its own, and lacking a force multiplier to give sufficient threat to Miraya's armored form, the demon knew that his construct was doomed to failure. He could hardly allow the fight to end so soon after it had begun. It would be shameful to fail to provide a proper challenge. It was time for a bit more deception. Fortunately the arrancar was kind enough to allow for a brief pause in the combat for Styn to work with.

His maximum capacity in summoning was fifteen creatures around three tiers lower then his own tier. The creature he had formed was markedly less powerful then that. Its fleshy substance, voice, and aura were all products of demon magic and his imagination. Meaning he had hardly tapped into even a fraction the spells full range. In fact, Styn had been holding the spell energies in reserve for just such a situation.

"That was an impressive feat," 'Arron' said in response. Of course now Styn was out of phrases. He could try to improvise, but it was sure that something would seem off about the words. It's not like he went around pretending to be other people on a regular basis. For his next trick he lowered the creatures voice to an almost inaudible level. It mumbled something unintelligible and then threw the Zanpakutō toward Miraya. Before she would get a chance to do more then realize it was flying at her, the spiritual structure would unravel. As a summoned creature, Styn was not able to maintain any pieces of it that were too far from the core.

Hopefully it didn't look like that though. The demon's intention was for this to appear like a shinigami's shikai release. Allowing the demonic summoning to finish just as the Zanpakutō was disappearing caused the shadows around Miraya to boil. From their depths three six foot tall, samurai armored forms would leap outward. Their reiatsu was a match for 'Arron's' own. Styn would have liked to create a full fourteen, but even at the reduced strength, such a feat would be sure to break his sight veil. Even if Miraya still would not have been able to sense him, she would certainly be able to see him. The gig would be up then for sure.

Instead, at the same time as an apparent release of very shinigami seeming reiatsu, three forms would strike from all sides. Unlike traditional samurai, these beings did not have katana blades. Styn didn't know the first thing about sword fighting really. Instead, the samurai had blade arms, which the demon was much more used to having at his disposal. The blades were cleaver thick, single edged, and about four feet long. A total of six crushing strikes would decent on the arrancar should she choose to remain within their circle.

The samurai struck like butchers, chopping at where tendons and joints would be on a human body. Given Miraya's human shape, they had an ample selection of targets. Although it might seem to an outside eye that the attacks happened simultaneously, it was hardly an instant set of blows. The samurai worked in perfect harmony. One attacking low while another attacked high. In the space of an instant where a reaction from Miraya would be expected the third would strike. Then the pattern would repeat with a middle blow, followed by another low blow, and finally a last middle strike to potentially critical organs.

A sonido was almost expected at this point and the fresh summons would be quick to chase the arrancar where ever she moved. Meanwhile, 'Arron' was watching for an opening as well, he would attempt to intercept Miraya to allow for the samurai to catch up with their brutalizing chops. The 'shinigami' would mostly be very defensive, but still try to close the distance and interrupt to the best of its ability.

A small bead of sweat began to make its way down the side of Styn's face. It wasn't so much that he was exerting a large amount of power as it was that he was testing his control to its capacity. He was pushing the limits of what his skill in demon magic was capable of, making up for it by raw guts. The air around him began to quiver as the sight veil disguising his position became unstable. Tightening down on that allowed for flares of Za Koa to bleed forth from 'Arron's' aura. Damn its too much after all. I suppose...its possible she might not notice? Somehow Styn doubted it.

Miraya was a little surprised when the shinigami broke completely through the tree and continued onward but it didn't do much to her plan so she continued onward. He managed to pull out his blade and block her kick by drawing his blade though it was still in the scabbard. He would be using that weapon in the fight after all. Maybe he realized that he wouldn't be able to win against her in a hand to hand so he decided to try out a different approach. If that didn't work would he try something else later? She wondered if this was the type of man the shinigami was. To keep trying something else until something eventually worked. It usually took some time to deal with when that happened but they usually weren't as skilled in any one area if they played around.

She watched him carefully planning her next move not sure what this shinigami would do at all. The last thing she ever expected was for him to throw his sword at her. What kind of strategy was that anyway. She didn't quite realize that he had been mumbling under his breath about something. When the Zanpakutō disappeared she was especially confused until she saw the shadows. She stared at the ground when the shadows around her began to act strangely becoming those samurai looking things.

Was this his Zanpakutō's released form? Creating these things with those weird arms, it was certainly a strong ability. But this shinigami didn't seem like he would be that strong to be able to use something like this. Certainly some of them hid their strength so use it later but she wondered how and why he would have kept this hidden. It didn't make sense to risk taking an attack when you could create something to take it for you. She couldn't take time to think about it just yet. Not surrounded by creatures with weapons for arms.

She had very little time to think with three of them around her. She moved herself away from the attack that came from low but there was another one that was coming from above her. She raised her arm guard up to catch that attack but then another attack struck her in between the first two. She realized quickly that this was a dangerous situation. There were to many attacks coming at once for her to deal with fast enough. She didn't even know if attacking these things would do anything at all. They had come from the shadows after that shinigami threw his sword at her so he probably controlled them and if they were made from shadows it was possible that her attacks would simply go right through them.

She had one real choice in this situation. Before another attack landed she would push up with her arm guard forcing away the attack that had come from above. She moved away from the strike that had hit her in the middle and used her sonido to move upward toward a tree branch that she would land on. That strike that had hit her was bleeding a bit which would slow her down a little but she was sure she was still faster then this shinigami and hopefully these things. She noticed they seem to be following her. She would quickly jump away from the branch as another attack would cut through it where she had just been.

So these things wanted to chase her around did they. They would attack wherever she went. She had to think of something to lose them or strike back. She had a few ideas but she wasn't sure which ones, if any would work here. The first one on her list she head toward a nearby tree behind her. She turned her back toward the tree which would keep them from surrounding her again. At least that would appear to be her strategy. This tree was fairly think and wouldn't be cut through easily.

When those attacks started coming toward her she would jump upwards catching a branch and pulling herself up. Those blades were dangerous but they very well could get caught in the wood of the tree which would give her some time. Just then she sensed.....something. What was that? She knew that something wasn't right but she couldn't place her finger on it. She sense what felt like Za Koa but there were slight remnants scattered about most likely from an earlier battle. She wondered about it but only for a moment. She couldn't afford to focus on that problem with this one right in front of her and there was only a little time before those samurai would be on her again.

From her branch she would use her sonido again this time moving toward the shinigami. She wasn't sure that an attack against these samurai would be effective but she knew that attack him would be. If those samurai continued to follow they wouldn't be able to attack as freely without risk of hitting the shinigami. She herself would appear behind him. She closed her fist which caused her arm guard to burst into outward four blades appearing over her knuckles and two more at the sides of her fist with three staying on her forearm. Each blade was no longer then a dagger would likely be but with 6 holes in someone it still would do a lot of damage. She would punch her fist forward into his lower back. If the blades didn't cut something vital then her fist could still break his back. She wondered what he would now, and where that Za Koa had come from.

Styn could see the gears whirling in Miraya's head. Her face might be blank and emotionless, but it did little to conceal the shine of a brilliant mind. It was there in the smallest flickers of her roving gaze. The slightest tightening of her eyebrows. The initial hesitance at meeting a slightly unexpected situation. From three new sets of eyes, Styn had a front row seat to the show. In a way that would be impossible if his own body was doing the moving, he was able to study the arrancar's face and form.

Still, none of this actually slowed her down. Taking only minor injuries from the first scuffle, Styn was impressed to see her wasting no time utilizing her superior mobility. The samurai were able to push off the ground in bursts of speed, much as 'Arron' had done at the beginning of the battle. However, their strength was in numbers and the multitude of angles they could strike from near simultaneously. Miraya's sprint forced them to spread out in an attempt to anticipate her motions.

Certain things would quickly become apparent as she dashed about the battle field. More then mere blades were impacting the physical world. Every armored boot was crushing the surface of whatever object it pushed against, both in stepping and rushing. Moist earth was kicked up with every heavy stomp and twist. While the body moving the armor might be little more then swirling shadow, the armor itself was clearly physical. If it had been a shinigami's shikai, her next actions would have ended the fight immediately.

The setup was a beauty in itself. Styn was unable to properly anticipate her motion and several seconds of 'Arron' dashing around were all but wasted. As soon as Miraya achieved the initial distance, Styn moved only one samurai at a time, provoking motion and trying to use the other two to head her off. Sonido usage normally moved in a straight line, but the arrancar was changing things up by involving a third dimension, making it that much harder to cut her off. By the time her back was to a tree he had only a single samurai close enough to rush in for a strike.

As anticipated the samurai lead with a lunging thrust. Her quick upward leap just barely missed a second swinging swipe from the beast's second arm. Wood chips were kicked outward in a spray from that second strike as two inches of blade ripped a line in the tree. The thrust had gone all the way through the tree, leaving the samurai buried up to the shoulder in the trunk. Styn missed the look on her face a bits of Za Koa bled into the air, he had a bit on his mind at the moment trying to stabilize the barrier after all.

After a struggle he locked it back down almost missing the sonido from the new vantage completely. Miraya hadn't let the odd energy signatures slow her down in the slightest. Even as the first samurai found itself stuck for a few seconds more, the other two were spreading out around the tree, left and right, their center point being 'Arron'. The movement from the arrancar was quick, and Styn barely had time to direct his creations accordingly. The blow was not possible to avoid with the level of power and speed he had to work with. He could however turn his pseudo shinigami to face toward one of the approaching samurai, thereby forcing Miraya to change her desired position ever so slightly.

Styn cursed how human he had been forced to make 'Arron' to allow the creation to speak. It had been great for some laughs, but resulted in what was surely the weakest presence on the field. The force of the strike shattered vertebrae in 'Arron's spine, even as dagger like blades shredded important muscles all over the lower back. This summon was pretty much out of the fight, its lower body useless and the energy that powered it dissipating by the moment. Reaching back, 'Arron' grabbed at the wrist of the penetrating arm, body going limp in an attempt to overbalance the arrancar.

This was not so much a way to bring her to the ground as it was a method of depriving her of the control she would need to sonido away. Even as this was happening the two free samurai were maneuvering to close the distance and attack. The first lead with a thrust toward Miraya's mid section, it was expecting 'Arron' to be used as a shield and the force of its blow was designed to punch right through the fleshy shinigami and still contain enough force to make it an inch or two through her hierro. It's second strike was a sweeping cut from its second arm, aiming toward Miraya's much thinner neck, or at least where it suspected her neck would be after using her newly minted shinigami shield. If such a blow was impossible it would cut with the best of its ability at whatever open limb it could sink its cleaver into.

The trapped samurai ripped its arm free from the tree in another explosion of fresh wood splinters during this time. It positioned itself as best it could to get back into the battle, but was hardly in a position to contribute anything but a fourth set of eyes. As Styn was sure he was well on the way to losing one of his pawns, the extra vision certainly helped him plan his next series of strikes. She certainly moves well, I can't take that away from her.

The last samurai did not rush the arrancar. Instead it circled around to be behind Miraya. It was waiting for her to use a sonido to break the one on one match up. Without hesitation the creature would push off with both feet, launching itself through the air as fast as raw power could make it travel in such a case. The aim would be two downward sweeping strikes, basic up and down snaps toward Miraya's left and right shoulders. If the arrancar was adamant in standing her ground then it would move to attack from behind in a very similar fashion. What she decided to do with the near certain knowledge that the creature she held was not the shinigami she had thought would be interesting in its own right. The game was about to enter a whole different level.

Most people would feel a certain amount of pleasure and joy in being able to seemingly outstrip their opponent so completely. She was able to move fast enough that even with the advantage of numbers on her she still had the upper hand. These creatures couldn't catch her or stop her. She felt no joy in these facts. Something didn't quite add up about them. They had all moved against her at once when they were first created but then they started to move individually. Was it some kind of strategy to try and catch her somehow? Was there a limit to the amount of control this shinigami could place on all three of them at once? There were a lot of questions being created while not very many answers.

Her solution to the situation was the most logical. When fighting multiple opponents the best move is to either take out the weakest link to reduce enemy numbers or to take out as many of the opposing forces as possible to achieve the same objective. The shinigami himself presented the least amount of threat and defeating him should have cause these creatures that he created to stop as well winning the fight outright. She could feel his body being torn apart under her fist and blades. He was definitely out of this fight even if this wasn't a death blow. What she wasn't expecting the reaction coming next.

She was expecting the fight to end so she didn't react fast enough to stop the shinigami from grabbing her. It wouldn't have been enough to stop her from running away but he couldn't hold himself up anymore which meant all of his weight was pushed onto her. She saw one of those things coming at her and she assumed he was trying to take her down with him. She maneuvered herself so that the shinigami was in between them and she expected that samurai thing to stop. She didn't expect him to sacrifice himself even more then he was already injured to stop her. She felt that blade piercing her through him. She managed to move just enough to cause the second blade to slash slightly into her right arm instead of her neck. Her punch may not have been enough to kill him but that blade going through him certainly would. Why would he kill himself to try and kill her?

She didn't have much time to think about it as a second one of those samurai was closing in on her from behind. She knelt down on her legs bending them trying to get some force into her legs. She moved her body so that the blade in her arm would come out and she started to charge her right arm. It would slowly start to glow black as the charge in it grew. The focused reiatsu in her arm would cause her hierro to grow even stronger. Hopefully strong enough to stand up to those blades on those samurai. She still couldn't sit there and take those attacks coming at her. She forced her legs up with as much force as she could muster to push the shinigami forward. Rather then hanging on her he would be forced forward farther onto the blade and fall onto the samurai.

She would turn on the second samurai that was coming at her as her arm finished charging. She flew towards him catching his first blade on her weapon and the second strike she would move her right arm so that it would graze her and be forced away from her body not wanting to risk her hierrro not being quite strong enough yet. After she forced that second blade away she would pull back her arm and punch the samurai through the abdomen which should at least force it away a bit. There was still that third one hanging around so she jumped backwards and up into a tree. She looked around now that she had at least a little bit.

No shinigami that she had ever met would actually sacrifice himself just to take down an opponent. She didn't think that this one would be so different. Besides even after being so gravely injured those samurai things were still moving around as if nothing had happened to him. The logical conclusion was that the thing she had attacked wasn't the shinigami she had thought it was. Possibilities that existed were many. First was that this shinigami had somehow replaced himself with one of those samuari. In that case she would need to take out all three of them. Another one was that the shinigami had created a fourth thing from the shadows and that was one of them. It would mean she needed to find him to take him out. Another one was that she was never fighting a shinigami at all. Just someone making her think it was a shinigami she was fighting. That meant she would have to figure out who and what she was really fighting.

She remembered that strange feeling of Za Koa from earlier. She had written it off as a left over residue from an earlier battle like she had felt around before that but if she was wrong. Maybe this was all some creation from a demon. She knew that some were capable of making other creatures to fight for them. She wasn't sure how he could make it feel like she was fighting an actual shinigami but based on the evidence it was certainly possible that that was the correct situation. The question would then become how strong was this demon if it existed. She couldn't quite rule out the other two possibilities either. With her last action it was possible that she had taken out three of the four combatants at least temporarily. She had to find her real target no matter what the correction assumption was. She focused on feeling out energy trying to find any small differences that might exist to give her a clue as to where her real opponent was. "Where are you?" she would say a bit quitely.

Things were certainly heating up as Styn witnessed what he felt was the first piece of substantial damage to be inflicted on Miraya. The demon Knight wasn't sure how he felt about scoring such a wound on the arrancar. She was already likely not to really see the humor in her situation, and now this prank had turned into an actual injury. Sure, she would be able to see the ninth circle for healing just as easily as anyone in Shadow Fall could. However, Styn knew first hand that although skilled in restoration, there was much to be desired from getting treated by the same people who were in charge of interrogations.

Miraya certainly wasted no time, despite the surprise nature of finding herself not only still engaged in combat, but holding a completely ineffective human shield. The Samurai who had managed to pierce through her armored flesh was now left with the dead weight of 'Arron' to deal with as the arrancar rushed toward the one that was closing with her from behind. Even more then that, the mass of the 'shinigami' was pushed forward with a good degree of force, unbalancing the first Samurai. Styn still had three sets of eyes on the field, but Miraya's speed was difficult to match with his inferior pawns.

The skilled arrancar executed a fluid block and parry combo, forcing both of the blade arms wide, completely exposing its chest to the next attack. Styn was unsurprised to see that Miraya wasted no time in capitalizing on this opening. The initial slashes had relied on the mass of the second Samurai's forward charge, as well its innate speed to carry the day. As such Styn might have over committed its momentum, since he found it impossible to turn the creature from the brutalizing punch leveled into its midsection. The armor around the summoning's stomach area crunched inward as Miraya was able to punch a hole straight through.

Before the second Samurai could get in a hit of its own the arrancar was once again in motion, leaping backward into the relative safety of a nearby tree, leaving it swinging at air. Although the glance would be brief, Miraya would no doubt notice the interior of the beast that she had pierced with her attack. Instead of a human shaped body, there were instead fleshy looking coils of black material, as if the armor was filled with hundreds of thin snakes. Styn had been especially proud of how these creatures had turned out and might use the design again in the future. Regardless, the armor has served its purpose by keeping the second samurai in the fight.

More importantly, from his multitude of vantage points, Styn was able to see that the current developments were clearly making Miraya question this entire business. Then again the summons wouldn't last much longer anyway. Since he was still in the game though, it was best to keep things interesting. Perhaps in the end the arrancar would just be content to have seen a few of the things her demon allies were capable of. He was hardly going to let her sit in the tree and brood about it though. The best way to keep his playmate engaged was to keep the pressure on.

The third Samurai, which had formerly been the one trapped in the tree made its move. There was one last trick the demon Knight had up his sleeve, one of the main reasons he had designed the armored beasts in the way he had. As Styn had watched the flow of battle and advanced this third pawn ever closer, both sword arms had been turning circles. At first this spin was very fast as whatever twisting shadow cords that made up its insides wrapped and coiled around each other like an organic spring. Much like a spring the tension soon began to force the quick spin to a gradual stop, blade arms practically quivering with kinetic potential.

This was the state that the third Samurai was in as it rushed Miraya's position on her tree limb, mere moments after she landed. In never quite stopped, although it did slow down, pointing its blades toward the arrancar. Much like before, it seemed poised to leap at her position, instead both blade arms shot forward like corkscrew missiles. The almost four feet of heavy single edged swords were pushed off at where a wrist would be on the armor. A mass of black coils connected those flying blades to the rest of the armor, fully exposed now in the light of day. The first shot was aimed right at Miraya, but Styn hardly expected the straight forward attack to hit, this wasn't all he could do after all.

The second blade arm was launched in an arc. It wrapped around the outside of the tree that Miraya was perched on. A twist of the coils that powered this mass of metal through the air then directed its velocity to sling shot around the wood and come at Miraya from the side, the timing put the arcing shot a fraction of a second after the straight shot reached her. Meanwhile, the first Samurai, freed from the burden of 'Arron' was also reading its ranged capabilities. The second Samurai, having had no dead weight to slow it down was already prepared to fire. However Miraya managed to deal with the third Samurai's attack, she would have two more blade spears to worry about from the second.

With all that Styn had to concentrate on, he was hardly in a position to hear any words beyond at least a regular speaking voice. His actions would hardly have changed if he had though, since it was already in his mind that Miraya would be suspecting something at this point. The fiction that had allowed the battle thus far was certainly something he would like to have continue, but it had always been his intention to reveal his identity at some point. It was only a matter of how much longer before his skilled opponent was able to end his creations.