A trial by many legged fire [Srath, Rei]

Srath was having an absolutely wonderful time in the living realm. She was admittedly here solely to gather up more plusses to use as bait in her traps, but everything about the living world just was so...invigorating, so she was taking her time. Currently she was simply roaming the streets of a fairly large city, she didn't know the name, that bordered a heavily wooded public park. She'd been using the park as a staging point, taking her haul back in the woods to toss through a garganta into her lair before returning to the streets. She was particularly happy with her latest capture, a hollow of...well for a base hollow it was of considerable strength she supposed. Useful for little more than chattel to her, but still a useful find to bring back.

However, as she made her way back along the buildings back to the forest she couldn't help but pause. There was a...scent on the wind. Something utterly delicious. Something she hadn't indulged in for far too long.

Shinigami.

She felt herself begin to salivate from behind her mask, and made a split second decision to be rid of her current burden. She tore into it ruthlessly, consuming it before she began to follow her nose and spiritual sense for the...small squad of Shinigami, luckily for her she'd already been suppressing her spiritual pressure as she had no desire to kill any of her prey before approaching it, and the likelihood of any prey being strong enough to survive her presence unrestrained was slim, or at least it had been. Before long she came across the squad, a group of five Shinigami, and apparently not the most experienced. She checked the skies for any overwatch and saw nothing, apparently all of them were on the ground, following the trail her most recent meal had left in it's attempts to escape her as she lazily chased it down. She almost laughed at them following a very literally dead trail, but managed to keep silent, wanting to get the drop on the group.

Apparently, however, one of the group was more perceptive than the others, as he suddenly froze, and looked directly at her. His cry of alarm was cut abruptly short as I dropped, piercing him through with one of my arms. The mouth plates of my mask unfolded to reveal my true maw and I hummed gleefully as I raised the dying Shinigami to my jaws and tore off his head in a single bite, swallowing it and casting the rest of the body aside for later as I turned my gaze to the group before me.

One of them took a step back, the grip on their blade shaking, as they spoke, "A-A-Adju-juchas!"

I gave the group a blood soaked grin as I stopped restraining my spiritual pressure, "How perceptive."

Rei would be out on patrol with a small group of other division 8 members. They had been out supporting some other squads, but they had went off to take care of some smaller threats as they would be blind sided by the much larger hollow. Rei would try to speak out to the shinigami that stood before it as she would speak in a horse voice. She could tell that this wasn't a normal hollow, but she would try to get it out.

"H...hey, m.."

As she was about to tell the shinigami to get out of the ray, his head would be bitten off as blood would be splattered over the eye patched woman's face as she would become shocked. She could feel her heart pounding against her rib cage, and her breath becoming rapid as she would freeze in fear momentarily. Watching her adoptive parents in the rukon district being killed by that hollow would race through her head as she would want to scream. However her mind would race from that into her inner world, and through the snowy forest as she would see the wolf staring at her. Almost reassuring her? The shouting of the other shinigami would bring her back to the current moment She didn't know, but as she would come back into the moment she would shake her head as she would focus her gaze onto the hollow in front of her.

"R..Run you three. I'll hold it off."

As she would grab her sword pulling it from the sheath as she would take a deep breath making an attempt to even it out. Her breath would become even as the 3 remaining shinigami would turn to begin running in the other direction to either get help or get away from it. She would bit her cheek until she could taste the faint iron in her blood as she would keep the gaze at the hollow. She would rush forward, and atleast make an attempt at cutting its mask by swinging her katana with both hands over her head.

Srath watched with mild amusement as one of the chattel that had caught her interest stood forward, obviously consumed by fear, yet she was able to stand up and confront her, telling her compatriots to run away! As if that mattered! Adorable.

A glowing ball of red energy formed at the end of her index finger as she pointed at the first Shinigami that tried to run, "Une." The bala fired off with a bang and punched through their chest, toppling them immediately.

She pointed at the second one, "Deux." This time the bala blasted through their lower spine, she ignored the screams of the swiftly dying Shinigami and pointed at the third one.

Before she fired though, she spared an instant to consider this...interesting individual before her. She had to know she was outclassed, but she still stood up, obviously expecting to die, but sill willing to sacrifice herself to give the others time to escape. That kind of self sacrificing nature was hideously naïve, but those oh-so-heroic souls often became the most driven to be more powerful, and Srath was well able to play the long game. To do so however, she'd have to let reinforcements be called so the girl could reasonably escape.

The girl provided the necessary excuse quite handily as she lunged, Srath lifted one arm to bat aside her blade and took the opportunity to alter her aim just slightly, "Trois."

The bala went just slightly off, and instead of blasting the final retreating Shinigami mearly tore a chunk out of their arm. As they escaped she turned her attention back to her current focus.

"Well, aren't you interesting? Planning on a nobile self sacrifice, a last stand? How utterly trite. However, you certainly are more interesting than your compatriots, so I suppose I have time to play. Would you like that little Shinigami, to play?" Srath smiled, the mouth plates of her mask folding back again to reveal her blood and gore stained mouth as she grinned widely at the girl.

"I'll let you make another move first."

Rei would freeze up slightly at the sight of all the blood in the hollows mouth. As she would feel her stomach flip she would let out a small growl from the bottom of her stomach. She needed to let the anger take control here if she wanted even a small chance to come out of this fight Alive. Much less winning the fight herself. She had already failed to save 2 of the survivors, and the losses weighed heavily on her shoulders as she would look up at the hollow, and swinging her blade.

Ice would appear on the sheath, and blade of her sword as an arc of ice would fire towards the spiders mouth as she would rush forward, and attempt to swing at one of the spiders legs.

Srath closed her mouth-plates and raised an arm to slap through the wave of ice, she had no reason to fear from someone who hadn't even released their Shikai yet, assuming the Shinigami had even unlocked it, but was curious to taste the girls power. The wave was...interesting. It spoke to potential ability in the future, something that could become entertaining to fight, to dissect, to consume. However for now all it did was pleasantly cool her down, maybe stung a bit. She wasn't entirely confident letting it hit her mask, any damage to that was too much and an unfortunate side effect of it's articulated nature was a weaker structure, but she was unworried over all.

As for her other swing, Srath lashed out with the leg the girl had been aiming at, aiming to bat aside her blade without disarming her, and simultaneously struck with the next closest leg, aiming to bash in the side of her torso. She even made sure to pull on that internal part of her soul that would pump out her venom, hoping to inject her with the spikes on her legs and hopefully begin to fuel a brief descent into paranoia that would have lingering effects so she could quietly direct the girl to keep seeking her out.

"Really, no responses? Children are just so rude now, how about we try again. I'll even introduce myself! My name is Srath, and I'm sure we'll have so much fun together. Now your turn."

The woman would be knocked away, and punctured by one of the Spikes as her hand instinctively moved to covet the open would. She would be down to one knee as she would force herself to her feet as she would look at rhe monster in front of her. Hatred running through her mind as she had figured maybe she should play along? She still needed to keep herself alive just for a little while longer. Just until the reinforcements would show up, and hopefully they would take care of the beasr in front of her.

"Rei....Hara"

*As the girl would run towards the spiders back legs, and she would attempt to get on it's thorax. She had figured if she can get there then she has a free shot at the mask? Maybe there truly was a chance she could exercise this hollow herself? As unlikely as the statement would sound even in her head. As she was moving through she would feel a sharp pain in her ribs as apparently that leg had did more damage internally than she had previously thought. However, she was going to let the adrenaline take her through this fight. It was truly her only chance.

"There, now was that so hard?"

The girl was making an attempt to get to Srath's blind side, a tactic that most would use, and would even be effective in most cases. After all, for most it's hard to react properly to anything behind them. Unfortunately for Rei, Srath was not most people. In fact, she didn't even bother dodging, just bent her spinneret up and under her as she raised up her torso and front half, and let loose with a blast of webbing. As strong as her own person the sticky substance would undoubtedly prove to be an extreme hindrance if the girl couldn't dodge.

"Such a good try! But, then again, all your able to do is make failed attempts isn't it? Attempt to damage my mask, attempt to get under and behind me, attempt to save your pathetic allies?" Srath laughed, a cold, cruel sound, "I suppose I should count myself lucky you're trying to fight me instead of defend me! With your current track record you might actually cause my death in that scenario!"

Rei already had confidence issues and what she was listening to was hurting it further. She would get hit by the web and could barely move, but just for an instant she would hear a voice in her head. "Use my power to free yourself, girl."

As she would attempt to swing the ice at the web to cut it off her as she would look up at it.

"I..is that all you can do?"

"Oh, I can do so, so much more than that, but I'm surprised you asked!"

Srath made a show of holding her head in one of her arms while one of the others waved about lazily, as if she had nothing to worry about. Of course, as far as she was concerned she didn't.

"Or maybe, do you enjoy the carnage? Are you secretly a bloodthirsty little monster like me?"

Srath pointed a finger at Rei, and the telltale glow of a Cero formed at the top of her finger, and then she moved it. Pointing just above the girls head, at a skyscraper across the street.

"How many people are in that building right now do you think? Do you want to watch it crash down, hear the metal screaming and stone cracking? Hear the cacophonous send off to an unknowable number of lives? Perhaps if you survive this I'll find a way to let your precious Goetei know that you caused this. That you asked me 'is that all you can do'. Let them know that I simply felt I had to meet such a challenge! I wonder how they'd receive you then?"

The Air would crackle with the sudden introduction of another spiritual pressure, one that would no doubt startle both Rei and the Adjuchas as the crackle of Arrancar spiritual energy would weigh down on the area, an instant before another woman clad in a shihakusho would suddenly burst into existence. A soft crackle and burst of dark energy coursing through the air as the woman seemed to simply teleport into existence, an Asauchi drawn as spiritual energy coursed along it's blade, purple reiryoku clinging to it's edge. A Cero of her own.

With an upward slash, Hisana aimed to slash vertically and cut into the arm that was holding Rei, whilst also connecting solidly with the Cero that had been pointing towards the skyscraper, intent so that even if the Adjuchas managed to fire, she would cleave the attack in two and blast it upwards and into the air in a bright twisting surge of clashing attacks.

And in the very next moment, she aimed another downward chip with her free hand, a thin vine snaking out from her sleeve, before an enormous scythe suddenly sprang into existence in the free hand. Depending on her experience, Srath would possibly recognize the energy coming from that vine and scythe. An Arrancar's Zanpaku'to, just before it slammed down, aiming to completely sever the arm that was holding Rei. Intent on quickly freeing the surviving Shinigami and placing herself between them and the Adjuchas.

"Seventh Division Sixth Seat, Hisana, responding. Are you alright?" She called out to Rei, keeping her eyes on the Hollow as she spoke.