Of Duties and Dangers [Closed]

High above the streets of Karakura Central, the sky cracked. There was a strange distortion, and a moment later a garganta ripped the sky open. From behind it, a blue hair figured came slowly walking out, dressed in the garb of the old Espada; Aizen’s Espada. His hands where shoved into his pockets, and he walked with a slight hunch as he cleared the gateway and entered Karakura Central airspace. Grimmjow took in the city with hungry eyes, scanning the area.

How long had it been since he had last been here? 400 years? Slightly more or less perhaps? Since his second battle with Kurosaki Ichigo; that was how long ago. In the 400 years that had followed their previous battle, Grimmjow had not set foot in this place once. But now he had returned, with a purpose. Of all the cities in the world, Karakura was the one that seemed to be the most heavily guarded and patrolled. That meant that, if he wanted strong opponents he would be capable of finding them here, somewhere within the vicinity of this city. From the hollows he had found, questioned, and devoured, he had heard that many humans with special capabilities, like orange haired girl Aizen had held prisoner, had appeared in this city and around the world. Another reason why strong opponents would congregate here; to protect the weak.

Not all strong opponents would be here for that reason, but some like that Shinigami would be. Hell, perhaps he would be lucky and find that particular shinigami, and they could continue their battle from all those years before. Most likely, his opening of the garganta would have set off alarms within the city and Soul Society, so it was only a matter of time till something showed up. The quality of being that showed though was the question. Grimmjow stood in the air for a few moments before closing his eyes, and sending out a pulse; pesquisa. He frowned; there were no strong opponents in the area at all; at least not yet.

If they didn’t show up because they had detected the Garganta though, maybe they would if one of their own was in trouble. Grimmjow looked down, towards the rooftops of the city and towards a square where he had detected a Shinigami’s spiritual pressure. Surely he could lure stronger opponents out if he put one of their own in dangers. He smirked turned in that direction, starting forward. Then he vanished.

Oi! Shinigami!” his voice boomed like thunder over the relative silence of the square. He stood on the other side of it from the church, looking up where Otahu stood, his hands still in his pockets. His Zanpaku-tou hung loosely at his side; unless someone really entertaining showed, he wouldn’t have a use for it this night. Then again, maybe he’d get lucky.
”Tell me, are you the strongest one in the area?” he called out again, a light smirk playing across his features; while she had appeared to be when he had used pesquisa, others could be around suppressing their spiritual pressure. One could never be too sure.

Grimmjow watched as the Shinigami took notice of him, and as she closed the distance between them. He had to give her credit; instead of running, which would have been foolish, she met him face to face and took up a defensive position. In truth, this was a more suicidal option, facing him that was, but at least she had the courage to do so; that was more than he could say about some beings. He tilted his head slightly as she responded to him. She affirmed his assumption of her being the strongest Shinigami she knew about in the area. Kind of a pity; she wasn’t hard on the eyes, but she was the only target in the area.
”Then you’ll have to do with being my bait.”

He was in front of her in a moment, a foot or two away, hands still in his pockets as he lashed out at her with a kick. In those 400 years, he had only gotten faster. This girl couldn’t have been more than a seated member of some sort within the Gotei 13. The balance was really tilted in this case; not that Grimmjow cared. He was a hollow, and she a Shinigami. The fact that he hadn’t outright murdered her yet was only due to the fact that he needed live bait to get the best response. If the bait was cold, then the prey could take all the time it wanted to decide how to come at him, and that would be boring for him. If they had a limit on time, in this case how long till Grimmjow grew tired of playing this game, they would be forced to hurry.

The made his mind turn to a question he had. He looked down towards the Shinigami.
"Oi, you ain’t dead already are ya? I got a question for ya,” he called out as he floated down to the ground.
”400 years ago, there was a Shinigami named Kurosaki Ichigo. What ever became of him?”

It was proving impossible to still the fluttering of her heart and the light tremble in her hands as she held the sword out in front of her. Doragonkawa was there with her, though and she took comfort in his ancient presence.

”Then you’ll have to do with being my bait.”

Bait? Her eyes widened and she had a sinking feeling she knew just what he meant by that. In less time than it took her to put some of the pieces together, he was suddenly there. She began to move to try to deflect the blow, but he was simply too fast.

The impact of her hitting the small building knocked the breath from her lungs as she lay in the rubble inside the building. How could that much power actually exist? She coughed and winced at the pain found in her side as she looked down and saw the decent sized splinter of wood impaling her side. Pulling it free and biting back the cry of pain as she pushed herself up to stand.

She had no choice, she had to do something...anything...

"Kayou no Joukai Doragonkawa." Her sword shimmered and she closed her eyes.

The use of Shunpo greeted Grimmjow with a rather strange sight. She sat in the air with the Zanpakuto across her lap, no longer a blade of any kind. She'd shrugged out of the sleeves of the shihakushou, revealing a sleeveless robe beneath. Tattoos lined her arms intricately and the way she held her right hand was with her pinkie and ring finger tucked against her palm; like a dragon's claw.

”400 years ago, there was a Shinigami named Kurosaki Ichigo. What ever became of him?”

Her fingers stilled on the watery strings that formed and she began to play with a surprisingly gentle skill. The notes dulcet, but there was a undertone of combat that was unmistakable.

"Kurosaki-taichou? He is a Captain of the Gotei..." Spoken in a breathless voice as she played. She just needed enough time to get to the Second Verse and she'd be able to defend herself a little easier. He looked a man of ego, she hoped her guess was correct.

"You are the Espada that bested him, are you not? Grimmjow Jaegerjaquez. I heard stories of you within the Academy. An Espada with a taste for destruction. One of the better fighters Kurosaki-taichou was forced to face. They say you beat him with but one arm. They've written music about that fight..." Hoping he would want to hear more of how he was known now in Seireitei or better...to hear the song and allow her to build up verses.

She ignored her pain, ignored the drip of blood from the wound in her side and the tight throb in her left shoulder where he'd kicked her. It made her fingers numb, but Doragonkawa assisted in her play. Offered her his strength.

He raised an eyebrow at the shinigami’s reappearance; he didn’t miss the changes here though. Her blade was different, too unwieldy for a girl her size to use as an effective weapon given the amount of physical strength she seemed to be in possession of. Then again, he could have been wrong; he kept that thought in mind as he started walking towards her. He stopped though, when she began to speak. She answered his question quickly, and Grimmjow’s face shifted from the slight grin that had covered his features to an almost serious face, his eyes regarding the shinigami’s, seeming to measure the validity of her statement. He was taking in her appearance and the changed; the change in weapon meant she had released her weapon to Shikai, the highest someone like her would be capable of achieving. The tune in the air was a beautiful one, but Grimmjow had no doubt that it was a cover for some kind of power. He felt the slight build up of reiatsu as she played.

Then his face was split by the maniacal grin he was known for.
”Oh? So he’s still kicking eh?” he said with something that could only be described as gleeful curiosity; Kurosaki was ‘alive’, and that meant Grimmjow may still get his chance to bury the bastard. The shinigami ahead of him continued to speak, and Grimmjow graced her by bringing his attention back, the grin fading almost as quickly as it had appeared. She spoke of how he was apparently known within Seireitei’s walls, and how his battles with Kurosaki were more or less legend; the Shinigami had gone on to become quite the hero indeed. She said they had composed songs about the fight, and for a moment Grimmjow pondered whether or not that was the song she was playing.

She was stroking his ego. He realized that from the get go; by the fact that she had dropped her defensive stance and was no focusing on the weapon held in her lap, it told of her intent to use the weapon as a means of defense based on whatever its power was. Grimmjow could pick that much apart with a glance; he wasn’t threatened by it. If she had been stronger, then maybe he would have bothered to stop her playing. However, based on her power she wouldn’t be able to actually harm him. So she was allowed to continue to play.
”That’s right, shinigami. Tell me, where can I find him?”

It was not a cover for some kind of power, the music itself was the power. She attained the Second Verse and watched him carefully. This was going to be a hell of a trick and it would only buy her seconds. Seconds that she didn't know what she would do with. It was not enough time to open a Senkai Gate and escape him. It was not enough time to hide, though with all the rubble around her, it could give her a head start if she needed to run.

The real trick was holding the Second Verse and not moving to the Third. The Third Verse was offensive and she doubted very much she'd be able to do any harm to Grimmjow's body.

”Oh? So he’s still kicking eh?”

"Yes, he lives and thrives within Seireitei." She didn't think this to be intel of any kind. Everyone knew Kurosaki-taichou was a Captain. Or at least everyone she was aware of.

Her fingers continued to expertly pluck at the strange strings, the music of the koto in her lap was shades more pure than any instrument created by hands. The Second Verse solidified.

”That’s right, shinigami. Tell me, where can I find him?”

"In Seireitei..." She glanced away from Grimmjow then, would he be so stupid as to go there for Kurosaki-taichou? He'd be killed. It was...curious to stand in front of someone from the other side of the coin from the Winter War. She should be afraid for her life and yet she sat here curious of the story from his side of the coin. Some Shinigami she was.

Grimmjow frowned; if what the shinigami was saying was true, then getting to the Shinigami was going to be a far greater hassle than he had originally thought. There were ways for him to get to the Shinigami, the least practical of those plans being just breaking into Seireitei and looking for him; that was practically suicide, and Grimmjow knew it. The smarter plan at this point was to continue what he was doing; causing chaos within Karakura and neighboring cities. Sooner or later, he’d manage to get his target out here. He could send this shinigami back with a message for Ichigo to come and face him, but part of him wasn’t sure the Shini would do it. The last time he had shown up, he had been after his friend. It’d almost be a smarter idea to find one of the shinigami’s friends and use them as bait as he had done before.

He also could use this shinigami to send a very different type of message. He could decide on that later.
”I see. So, being a captain I bet he doesn’t leave Seireitei much anymore does he? What would it take to draw him out of there?” he asked the Shinigami, and started walking forward. As he did, he released just a small amount of his reiatsu, hoping to set off any sensors that would be looking for Arrancar reiatsu. She had maintained the same string of notes now for a little while; whatever it was she was planning, she had probably set it up by now.

”Would someone show up if I were to continue attacking you? I guess we’ll find out, eh Shinigami?” he asked, though it wasn’t really a question. He vanished, and was there, mere feet from her once more, and had brought up one of his legs for a straight kick, to launch her back and down towards the ground once more. Hopefully this wouldn’t take much longer; he had grown bored of this already, since she wasn’t capable of putting up much of a fight.

”Would someone show up if I were to continue attacking you? I guess we’ll find out, eh Shinigami?”

When Grimmjow vanished, Otahu pulled her right hand in. The second he appeared before her again, her hand shot out. Her fingernails striking the chords and there was an explosion of reiatsu centering in on her. The Second Verse activated and Grimmjow would be able to just barely hear the warning roar of something big...warning him to stay away from the girl. It was Doragonkawa, raging within the inner world.

The girl was so far away from attaining Bankai it could do nothing to aid her. Except try to warn away the Espada from continuing this course of action. The sound was rage.

The Second Verse was an outward explosion of the built up reiatsu and anything within 10 feet of Otahu was suddenly blasted away from her. Almost as if the very air within that bubble was disgusted with what was within and sought to expel it. It wasn't a a head butting of power and because of that, even Grimmjow would be subject to it's effects.

Of course...once the Second Verse was played, the built up reiatsu needed to play it was gone. The koto suddenly shrunk and was a sword again in her hand as she charged forward in the wake of the Second Verse, seeking to drive the sword into his chest.

The attack would have been frighteningly effective...if the tip of her blade didn't skate across his Hierro.[/b]

The rush of pressure wasn’t what he had expected, and the roar of sounds was slightly disorienting. What surprised him more than anything though was the fact that her attack, as weak as she was, pushed him back and away from her; while it may have cause no actual damage, it had succeeded in relieving the pressure he had been putting on her at that moment. If only it hadn’t taken so long for her to build, it may have actually been practical in combat. Because Grimmjow had been about to kick her, he was pushed back off balance, and actually stumbled slightly, removing his hands from his pockets to regain his balance quickly.

She charged forward in the wake of her attack, and thrust forward with the intent to impale him with her attack. The blade slammed harmlessly into his chest, unable to pierce his hierro. He stood still only a moment after the blade had landed, before he decided he had tired of this game and made his own counter-attack. His reiatsu flared, he thrust forward with his right hand, and felt all but no resistance as his hand pierced the shinigami’s stomach. His reiatsu dropped, but did not vanish to the point it had been before as he looked down at the shinigami, lifting her up slightly to look at her.

”Pity; you would have maybe been a fun challenge had you had another couple hundred years to grow,” he said before he lowered his hand a shook, removing her from his hand and allowing her to fall back down towards the earth. He gave a noise of disgruntled annoyance; he had now lost his only bait, though he had garnered a few good pieces of information if nothing else. He now knew where to find his prey, and the only thing that was left was to do was find a way to draw it out of its hiding place. Perhaps his actions now would stir the self-righteous shinigami to action; if not, he could just begin hunting for one of the Shinigami’s friends. He sighed; where to go from here?