First Fragment: Fleeting Dream [private]

The day was slowly slipping away into dusk. Through the leaves of the trees, golden and red light fell to the ground, which was littered with fallen leaves and the usual overgrowth of bushes and vines. Really, the forest looked almost serene and beautiful this evening - even the wind was pleasant, being just enough to rustle the leaves and create a nice sound, but not enough to be unpleasant on the skin. And right through this forest, someone was wandering, long black hair flowing behind her and hiding the weapon on the back beneath it. For someone wearing heeled boots, she had a very safe step even in this forest, and the amber-colored eyes didn't look down onto the ground even once. Really, the frame of this girl looked like a ghost in black and white clothes.

This shadow was Blake - a literal shadow in many ways. And she wasn't here because of the beautiful forest, but because of something that had retreated to this place. She followed a simple scent in the air - one so faint that most people wouldn't be able to tell where it came from, or even what it smelled like. But this smell was clearly blood - not human blood, though. It didn't smell like iron. This smell was the blood of a Guardian Beast - an indescribeable mixture of the usual iron, something that resembled fresh flowers, and many other fragments of smell that shouldn't have any place in the smell of blood.
This was the first time for Blake in the human world - the atmosphere here was different from her homeworld in small, but noticeable ways. Mostly in how much 'weaker' it was - the spiritual power, even so close to a 'hotspot' like Karakura Town, was a lot more miniscule, almost washed out. This was a material world, one that followed laws of physics and logic that was as alien to Blake as a flying turtle with a city on the back was to this world. The reason for her slow advance through this forest was that exact strange feeling - she wasn't able to use her senses to her fullest, or she'd just use the shadows in the forest to move to her target location quickly. But like this, she had to search manually, and follow the smell.

Finally, Blake found the source of the smell. On one of the largest trees of them all, a figure could be seen, leaning against it with its back. The creature looked like an animated suit of armor - it was almost three times the size of Blake. And furthermore... The creature was probably dead. From underneath the armor plates, the blood had stopped - a puddle was all around the creature. Blood that seemed far... darker in color than that of a human. This wasn't a normal Guardian Beast - this was a Shadow Beast, a Nightmare Armor. Blake approached the being slowly - because you could never be sure if a Nightmare Armor was actually dead or not. They were rather simple Shadow Beasts, not all that intelligent - if still alive, and in great pain, it could attack in rage. But it appeared as if Blake was too late - the armor didn't move, even when Blake touched its chest. The lights of glowing eyes beneath the helmet were gone - nothing could help this Guardian Beast now. Who had managed to wound it like that, and how did it escape to this world, only to die here? Too many questions. From how dried up the nearly-black blood was, though... this wasn't the one who had called Blake out of her sleep.

The breeze through the forest was quite nice, something Lilith did enjoy feeling caress her skin as she made her way through the plethora of trees. She had been in this forest before, but not in this exact area. Everything here was so still, peaceful. It was definitely a breath of fresh air from the city. She stood in the middle of a small shadow darkened clearing, closing her eyes, and just relaxing as a small gust of gentle wind moved through the area. Lilith breathed in slowly and then breathed out. Something about being here was so tranquil. It was nice to get away from the crowds every now and then. She continued to stand there with her eyes closed, just thinking when a strange scent suddenly hit her nose. Her eyes snapped open and she looked towards the direction this strange scent was coming from. What in God's name could cause such a smell? Curious, Lilith made her way in that direction, the scent getting stronger and stronger as she closed in on it. Soon, she caught whiff of another scent, one similar to people she has come across in the past, though not many. "One of them, huh?" she thought to herself as she quickened her pace, wondering why a Sugiura would be out here at this moment. Keeping silent and hiding her presence to prevent any hostile confrontation, Lilith jumped into the higher branches of the trees and moved along. She came to the area that she smelled both the blood and saw a young woman just enter the area. Staying quiet, she watched cautiously as the woman also approached this strange suit of armor in a cautious manner. It was then that Lilith noticed the abnormal black blood spread out over the ground in a puddle. Kneeling down on the branch, Lilith got a closer look before deciding to speak up.

"Is it dead?" she asked out of the blue. Lilith stood in a tree probably about twenty feet above the young black haired woman and watched her closely to gauge her reaction. Lilith was wearing her usual outfit; a short dark purple skirt, a lavender colored shirt, a matching sleeveless cloak, with a pink sash around her waist, and a dark purple bow in her hair. On her left hip was a sword; a katana colored white at the bottom with the color turning blue as you moved towards the hilt. "Is there a reason a Sugiura is out here? Haven't seen one of you in a long time. Welcome to the World Of The Living." Lilith said in a polite tone, not exactly meaning to sound rude or assuming towards the woman.

Blake turned her head when someone spoke up behind her. The Guardian Beast turned around fully when she saw the woman behind her - probably a human, although she couldn't be too sure about that. Any and all human-descending races were similiar in her eyes, as she was not used to them at all. If it wasn't for the diversity of their appearances, they'd probably also all look the same to Blake. Still, she nodded in response - there was no need to be unfriendly to a stranger, after all. Even if that stranger appeared out of nowhere.
"Yes. Something has murdered this Nightmare Armor." she replied, with her face showing a slight sadness in itself. Blake herself didn't really notice that she felt sad for the passing of this creature - they were rare nowadays, only living in very secluded ruins that they still protected for masters that would never return to their command. Beings that were forged solely to serve in war couldn't easily adapt to peace, especially when they were crafted out of nightmares.

The next thing flustered Blake a bit, though, and she shook her head slightly.
"No, I'm not... I mean, thanks, but, I'm... I'm no Sugiura." That word was still odd to her tongue, considering she only recently learned of their existance. "I'm like this one here." Softly, she touched the chestplate of the Nightmare Armor behind her, even if the being could no longer feel her touch. "A... Shadow Beast, I think that is the right term." Speaking japanese still was somewhat odd for Blake, and she had almost said her race's name in the old tongue, which would sound like complete nonsense to a human like this one for sure. Geez, interacting with people was so... difficult... This was just not what she had been made for.
"I'm here because of... a search, really. Something called me out of my sleep. But it wasn't this one here... he died before I awoke. Alone and forgotten... the fate of all dreamers, eventually." Blake felt a bit sad for this giant made from living metal, who had died here all alone. But it didn't matter in the end, because once the dream ended... it would all mean nothing.

Well she didn't react in a hostile manner at all. Lilith hadn't expected her to, but you never know. They were out in the middle of a forest with no one else around except a dead body. Lilith noted the sadness the woman seemed to feel over the Nightmare Armor. Did they know each other or something? Lilith kept a blank face, but inwardly frowned at the idea of this girl having just lost a friend. Lilith took a small leap off of the branch and landed down next to the young woman. "I'm sorry, if he was a friend of yours... I also apologize for my assumption." Lilith said sincerely with a small smile, "You have a similar scent to some of them that I've met. It was wrong of me to make the assumption though." Lilith also noted the fact that Japanese was this young woman's second language from what she could tell. It obviously wasn't her first. She almost seemed to want to switch back to her first language as well, but caught herself. Impressive. It wasn't easy learning a new language above your own. Lilith would have asked her what she was, but that just seemed a little too rude for her. Feeling a slight itch in her nose from the odd smell of this creatures blood, she reached up and rubbed it a bit. "You say... something called you out of your sleep?" Lilith blinked a few times, confused on what that meant. "Something" could mean a lot of things, obviously. Did she even know what she was searching for? "If you need it... I can help you out. I don't exactly have anything else to do." Lilith told her, raising an eyebrow as she gave the woman a concerned look, "Also, my name's Lilith. May I ask yours?" Lilith held her hand out to the girl in a friendly gesture, waiting for her to take up the offer. This situation was a little odd to her. She was on a walk in the forest just a few moments ago and was now offering this complete stranger help with something. Was this a smart thing? Probably not, but Lilith wasn't one to leave someone in distress, though something gave her the idea that this young woman was not in distress. Maybe it was the fact that she had looked so upset upon this creatures passing? No matter what it was, Lilith had offered help and tried to be as kind about the situation as she possibly could.

Blake was surprised at how friendly this stranger acted. She wasn't used to people treating her kindly, but then again... she was probably human. Humans didn't have the prejudices against Shadow Beasts that other Guardian Beasts or Sugiura held within them - so she had no reason to instantly distrust Blake, like they did. It wasn't without reason to distrust Blake, either - she WAS a dangerous monster, deep down, no matter how much she surpressed it. That was simply the truth of being a fragment of Cubia. But there was no reason to tell this woman those facts... So the girl in black didn't. Instead, she fully turned to the woman who introduced herself as 'Lilith'. That was... a really beautiful name, in Blake's opinion. As far as her ability to judge humanoids went, Lilith herself was beautiful as well - while Blake was humanoid herself, she hadn't been 'awake' long enough yet to fully grasp her understanding of beauty.

"My name... In your tongue, you would pronounce it 'Blake'." She explained, stuttering a bit with actually pronouncing her name. It still sounded out of place for japanese, but it was hard enough to make it sound like a human word to begin with. Old names weren't exactly known for ease of pronounciation. Blake wasn't used to human mannerisms, so it took her a moment to raise her right hand, a bit slowly, before shaking Lilith's hand. It'd be obvious that Blake wasn't human in body from that touch alone - her hand was cool to the touch, and the texture just didn't feel right, in a way.
"And really, it is no... trouble. My kind has gotten rare over the ages. Rarer still are those with Shadow origin." For a short moment, Blake looked back at the dead soldier. "He's one of the few of my kind. But still, he didn't call for me... when he was attacked. Either he died too quickly, or... he didn't want help. Nightmare Armors are... not smart. They were forged for only war, and father gave them only life for it. Without war, they're directionless." Blake felt she needed to explain it at least somewhat - Guardian Beasts didn't exactly function like human beings as far as psyche was concerned, ESPECIALLY with the lesser ones like this guy. Higher ranked ones like Blake or her father had a more full, 'rounded' mind. Although really, Blake wasn't supposed to have a mind of her own to begin with. And now she had to deal with someone being... helpful and nice to her. This was so odd... really, she was slightly embarassed, but tried hiding it. Her twitching cat ears mostly gave it away, though.

"The thing is, I... I have followed every obvious signal I can find. Not many things could really disturb my dreamless sleep." Really, Blake wasn't too happy about being awake - dealing with 'emotions' was hard work. She prefered being the mindless body part of something larger. "If I can't find it, then... That means, it is either hiding... Or my sleep was never disturbed. Which would mean, it just... ended." Blake took a deep breath and looked to the ground, her amber eyes glittering a bit in the light.
"Both are... equally terrifying thoughts. I dislike this... dream. It may sound weird, but... you are human, correct?" Blake asked that question now, because it was a bit embarassing to even ask it. She SHOULD be able to just tell what race someone was by looking!

Well it seemed that the two of them had one 'strange' thing about themselves in common; they were both cold. When Lilith took the hand of another, she was used to feeling warmth. This time she did not. "Blake? A unique and lovely name." Lilith told her with a sincere smile and then chose to apologize about her assumption. Blake said it was no trouble, but Lilith felt she should have known better. With so many years behind her belt, assumption should not have even come up. Anyways, Lilith listened to Blake explain the rarity of her race and then glanced over to the armored being. "Rare, huh? If I may ask, what do you mean by 'call' for you?" she asked. It was upsetting to see something rare having been killed in this manner. As Blake talked, Lilith did notice the ears on her head twitching a little bit. She hoped she wasn't making Blake uncomfortable in anyway, but if she was, how was she supposed to change that? Lilith was instantly confused about this talk over being woken up and dreamless sleep. She really knew little to nothing about Sugiura and anything of the like, especially Guardian Beasts. She had not come across many, and when she had she didn't exactly ask them about the specifics of what they were. She'd rather become friends with one before prying into their background. Lilith said nothing until a certain question came up. Was she human? That was an odd one. She was once a very, very long time ago, but that had changed. Sure, the answer was obvious, but she wasn't usually one to explain what she was either. Though, since this young woman was so polite and generous with her own information, it would be extremely rude not to show the same courtesy.

"Well, no. I am not." Lilith said, rubbing the back of her head, "I'm actually what I have come to call a Sōnansha. I was once human, but after an incident in my past, my body and the way it works changed dramatically, causing me to survive a lot differently than humans do... It's actually a very long story and quite hard to explain... There are a large amount of us, but we're not known to many. In fact, I only thing those of the Soul Society and the Vizards were made aware of our presence. And I only did that to make sure there would be no cold blood between us all." Lilith let out a short, sincere laugh and then glanced off into the forest. She didn't know why, but something about this situation was off. Had something called for her like she mentioned before? Or did she just randomly 'wake up', as she explained? If something had called for her, where was it? The thought bothered her a little, especially since she wasn't sure whether something was around them at this very moment. She wasn't one to enjoy being confused and unaware. At the moment, she felt both of those.

"A new... species, then. Odd, but... interesting." Blake nodded in understanding, her ears having stopped twitching for now. Without any movement from them, they looked just like a cute black bow on her head now, instead of animal ears. Like this, she appeared a lot more human than before. This world just became more and more 'alien' to her, and that wasn't exactly pleasant.
Blake even had a smile on her face for a short moment, this was as close to a compliment towards other 'dreamers' as she was going to get currently. Guardian Beasts were the oldest sentient race, yet even their excessive advantages over human culture of the current day couldn't save them from two wars that nearly whiped them out. To see a race as young as humanity grow in both strength and diversity was... strange. All of this wouldn't be possible if not for him, though. The one who had defiled the dream... But Lilith probably didn't know about that old war, and even if she did - why would she care? Humanity - or, in her case, the Sōnansha - had no stake in those old stories. The ONE human within them was no reason for Blake to dislike their kind, either.

"Rarely is it ever easy to explain how a living thing works. But the call, at least, is... rather simple." Blake moved some of her long hair out of her face, before explaining the actual details. "I was no longer needed by my people. So I left the dream to them, for the time being, and went into the dreamless sleep. Of course, I had to make sure that they could wake me up if needed... So if a Shadow Beast needed me, they could simply call for me. Or if my purpose returned, so that I may join it once more, to end my dreaming. I heard the call, so I woke up, but... Neither are here. Nobody who called for me, and my purpose has not yet returned." With a sigh, Blake looked back at the dead Nightmare Armor one last time.
"I should remove him. Humanity is not ready for the secrets of how to animate a suit of armor." Placing her left hand on the chestplate of the dead warrior, Blake closed her eyes - an aura, not unlike Reiatsu, flared up around her, in black and violet colors. Slowly, the aura spread out over the Nightmare Armor, and it began to 'sink' - right into the shadow of the tree under which it had died. Soon, the only thing left was the puddle of blood, and the aura around Blake disappeared again. "Nobody should find him now." Blake's voice almost sounded a bit tired - she wasn't used to moving something so massive through the shadows, this was normally a skill used for fast self-transportation.

"A new species... Yeah." Lilith glanced away for a moment. She didn't exactly consider her species new, but in comparison to other races it could definitely seem to be. Well, yeah they can be considered new. They were only two thousand, one hundred years old in fact. For an entire species, that was new. Though, Lilith felt old as hell. She was once human and wasn't exactly born thinking she was going to reach the 21st century. Blake was then kind enough to explain what she meant when she was referring to being called. Blake had a pretty interesting story behind her. How could it feel to no longer be 'needed' by someone? She almost made it sound like she was thrown away, treated as if she had no use. It was odd for Lilith to hear and did make her feel rather sorry for the young woman, though she also felt like it would be insulting to pity her. "I see." was the only thing she felt comfortable saying in this situation. Blake looked back to the creature behind her again and mentioned removing him. "Need any he-..." Lilith was about to step forward to aid her, but stopped when she watched the scene unfold before her. The being began sinking into the shadow beneath it. She probably should have realized that Blake would have some sort of ability to remove the creature, but there was no harm in asking. "No... I don't think anyone will find him." Lilith said with a small chuckle and then realized how tired that must have made her, "Are you alright? If you need some rest, you should do so..." Not exactly sure of what the two of them were going to do now, Lilith glanced off towards the City. Blake had said that she couldn't sense anything and that the person who had called her, so was there any point of staying here. "If you wanted to, we could head to the City and get a bite to eat? Unless there is something else that you needed out here... I offered my help and will give it." Lilith told her, setting a hand on her hip as she pushed her hair back.

Blake was still slightly surprised at how open and outright friendly this woman was to her. It was nice, though - she didn't exactly enjoy being around people, but Lilith turned out to be both interesting and a good conversation partner. If she was to be forced to dream this dream for longer, then finding out about both humans and these Sōnansha to a higher degree would be helpful... They were both such young, vibrant races, and no matter how similiar they looked, they couldn't be more different from the Guardian Beasts in so many ways.
"Well... Yes, a bite to eat sounds nice... Thank you." A short smile rushed over Blake's face. Not that she knew much about what a 'smile' really meant, but it was an instinctive reaction. At least most body language was the same between the races, even if humans lacked other expressive parts to their bodies, such as tails or beastial ears. Speaking of these ears, Blake reached up to her head, and adjusted the bow over the hidden cat ears a bit. Mostly so she wouldn't freak out any humans in the city - they weren't exactly used to people like her. Really, nobody was used to Guardian Beasts besides other Guardian Beasts and maybe some Sugiura.

And Lilith was right, too. Blake was a bit tired right about now - sending this armor into some shadow where nobody would find it wasn't the easiest task, in addition to searching him earlier. So the Guardian Beast followed Lilith's short glance towards the city, and did a small step forward - mostly to test if her sense of balance was fully functional. A bit wobbly, but mostly working, that seemed to be the current state. Good enough to walk towards Karakura Town, though, hopefully together with this interesting woman called Lilith. It was only when Blake started walking that she noticed something odd... something that shouldn't even happen.
Why exactly did eating a bite with Lilith sound 'nice'? What was the meaning of such emotions? Really, Blake looked a bit worried now, but tried to simply walk towards Karakura Town without calling attention to it.
"I hope I won't stand out too much. Could humans grow suspicious of my form?" Blake asked towards Lilith, mostly to shift her own thoughts away from trying to decypher emotions. The question wasn't entirely out of the ordinary - Blake's outfit and the fact that she was carrying a weapon on the back both didn't seem entirely normal. Her eyes could maybe be accepted as just some rare color... At the same time, Lilith herself would probably stand out a bit amongst normal humans, if only because of her heightened beauty, hair and eyes. Blake, of course, had no idea that Karakura Town was more used to the 'strange' than most human settlements. "This form was formed in a humanoid shape, but it might still be a bit... strange."

Slowly, the light of the ending day grew dim. The golden shine through the leaves of the trees grew more dulled in color, and it wouldn't be long now until night came with full force. And really... that also fitted quite nicely with Blake's motivation. If not for Lilith inviting her on something to eat, she probably would've stayed right there in the forest until nightfall, before just returning to the ruined former castle she called 'home'... The heart of the end found this current turn of events preferable, which was odd. Wasn't she supposed to not feel anything?

"Shit..." Lilith had not expecting Blake to actually accept the offer. The first impression that Lilith had gotten was something along the lines of recluse, someone who didn't like being around too many people. Oh well, she wasn't going to back out now. Though, it was a stupid offer to had spouted out like that. Lilith didn't eat!! Some of her kind did, but it wasn't needed! They got sustenance off of their Affinity, not food like humans do! Sure, she could probably just enjoy the taste of it, but even when it hit her belly the energy would break it down, though it gave her nothing more than a full feeling in her stomach. Of course, each Sōnansha was different, some being able to eat for some sustenance, though food could never replace their Affinity. Moving on from there, Lilith began heading to the city with Blake by her side. "What do you mean?" Lilith spoke up after Blake mentioned something about standing out too much. Looking to her, glancing from her head to her toe, Lilith remembered her ears. "I don't think you'd have to worry too much... People are getting used to the idea of spiritual beings. Sure, some might not be to accepting, but you can ignore them. They're not important." Lilith said in an attempt to reassure her. Lilith wasn't one to care what others thought, and frankly if someone made Blake feel uncomfortable, Lilith would just try and make them leave her alone. Even Lilith carried her weapon around. She wasn't going to put it down for anything and there was no point in someone trying to make her do so. She wouldn't hurt anyone as long as they didn't attack her or Blake, so it was smart to just leave her alone about it. In fact, there was one restaurant in Karakura that she knew for a fact wouldn't bother her about anything. It was just a small family owned restaurant, but the food was amazing and they treated her no differently than they treated the non-spiritual beings who came around. Sure, they didn't know the specifics of Lilith's race or anything like that, but they were still kind people.

"Well if you're that uncomfortable with the idea, I know a place that's quite accepting of people, so you wouldn't be bothered there." Lilith said and nodded to her with a smile, "If anyone gives you a hard time, ignore them. Humans have a tendency to insult anything that they're insulted, intimidating, or confused by. It's in their nature." Soon, the two of them would come to the city and walk through out the slightly busy streets. Night was coming, so it was about the time that it would get slightly busy with people who just got off of work, young people hanging out with friends, and families who needed to get certain things done. So, it was starting to get busy, but Lilith wasn't bothered. She only hoped that Blake wouldn't be to bad off in this situation. "If you feel uncomfortable, stick near me, kay?" she said, "It's hard to move through a busy city when you're new to it, but the restaurant isn't that far. We'll be there pretty soon." Since Lilith didn't eat, it might be odd for her to know these people who own the restaurant, but that was merely a story for another day. As a quick hint, they were being attacked by a Rogue of her kind and she took him out without hesitation, so they feel they owe her.

Lilith's kind words calmed Blake down a bit, even if she wasn't too overly worried about people not treating her fairly. That didn't matter too much to her - instead, she was more worried about scaring people. But if the people here were growing used to the spiritual slowly, then she shouldn't be too frightning, as long as nothing forced her to use the shadow magic flowing through her blood. The thing that mostly made her feel weirded out was how many people there were here, so she followed Lilith's advice and stuck close to her. Both of them stood out amongst normal humans, if only because of their outfits alone, but nobody attempted to outright call them out or stop them. Probably good for them, neither of these women was one you should mess with lightly.
The last time Blake had seen this many people so close together was during the old war - even during peace times, Guardian Beast populations were spread out, thanks to the sheer size of their world, which bordered on the endless by some assumptions. Blake had never cared to check if it really was infinite, as such a test could possibly take a few years. And how would you ever prove it was infinite, to begin with? Such metaphysical questions weren't anything humans had to worry about - in a way, their simple universe was something to be jealous of.

"It is... odd, to see this many people. But not entirely unpleasant." Blake commented as they were moving through the city. Thanks to this many people, spiritually strong or not, being so close together, it confused Blake's extra senses somewhat, especially since many living beings also meant many moving shadows, which were an integral part to her being. This was one of the many reasons why she didn't notice that something was actually wrong with the shadows in the town. They were a lot... darker than they should be with this little light - stark outlines of black, but nobody really took notice of it. Because when was the last time you really paid attention to your shadow?
"Humans are... interesting. Some so powerful... others so weak and quick to judge..." Culture shock? Yep, that was what Blake was going through here. Sure, as far as actual technology went, they were still centuries behind what the old empires of Guardian Beasts had before the fall, but it was their minds that were so strange to Blake. But now, something ripped her out of the pleasures of simply wandering this town with the beautiful Lilith accompanying her. Someone was passing under a street lantern right in front of the two - just some random teenager with a hoodie that was hiding his head. But for some reason - maybe instinct, maybe sheer luck - Blake was looking at the young man's feet. He had two shadows.
"Lilith, BACK!" The shout was sudden, and Blake's right arm rushed upwards to block the path of her companion - and something horrible happened right in the sight of both of them. A bone-chilling scream came from the teenager, as one of his shadows rose up like a swarm of beetles and swarmed around him - the cracking noise of bones, the slurping sound of flesh and blood being devoured. It took less than a full second, but the youth was completely gone - just his empty, slightly blood stained clothes remained. Franticially, Blake didn't pay attention to that - instead, she looked down on herself and Lilith, but thankfully, no second shadow. In her panic, the fragment lapsed back into her mother language.
"Vashta Nerada!"
From the voice alone, Blake was really showing strong emotion for the first time - fear. This was a Shadow Beast, but one without intelligence or mercy - translated, Vashta Nerada meant 'the Shadows that melt the flesh'.

Blake was actually sort of cute in the way she was acting. Lilith, having just met the girl, sort of saw her as slightly insecure and maybe a little shy. From the information that had been told to her, Blake must have been sleeping for quite some time. She assumed it was some sort of hibernation type slumber from what was said, but there was no need to get into that. Hearing Blake talk about so many people being in one area, Lilith looked around slightly confused. Blake obviously wasn't used to a place like this. She wasn't sure whether the girl needed comforting or not. For now, since it didn't seem to be too bad, she'd leave it or not. With Lilith's luck, she was probably misunderstanding what was going on anyways. She was good at reading humans, not any of the other races. "Well you're right about one thing..." Lilith said in reply to Blake's next comment, looking back to her with a smile, "Humans to have a tendency to be quick to judge... They're not a very thoughtful race. I assume it's because they don't live as long as others. When you know you die quickly and easily... it's hard to learn everything needed to accept the world and people for what and who they are." Lilith was so busy letting out her opinion that she had no notice of the two shadows that one of the people had. She was about to look back forward to walk normally when she suddenly heard Blake yell.

"Lilith, BACK!" Lilith's eyes widened as she stopped in her tracks and was forced to watch a horrid scene. She wanted to stop it, but there was nothing she could do. She just stared on as the life of a teenage boy was taken in front of her. His scream shook her core, making her heart race when she couldn't even imagine what he had just gone through. The cracking of bone, the sucking sounds that were being made. This boy was eaten!? "Blake, what is that!?" Lilith said in anger, though not at her, but the situation at hand. She readied herself, grabbing the hint of her blade as she looked around at the citizens on the street who looked on in horror. "GO GET OUT OF HERE!" she screamed at them all, snapping them out of their looky-loo state and sending them fleeing away from the area in a panic. Panic or not, she wanted them away from here. Hearing the way Blake was speaking, she could tell that she too was frightened. Those things had come out of nowhere! Lilith couldn't even sense them before hand! Something that someone as skilled as she was not sensing something is more than frightening. Lilith stayed at the ready, keeping a sharp eye and listening closely to everything around them, wondering what's going to come next.

Lilith was right in one thing, Blake was afraid. No, she was terrified and nearly froze up from fear alone. The people around them were running away, screaming, as fast as they could. Maybe they'd get away, but the chance was small - the Vashta Nerada were a fast swarm, and incredibly deadly. That was the reason why Blake was so afraid - even a Guardian Beast like herself could get eaten in under a second if they managed to surprise attack her. It was only because of Lilith's words that Blake actually spoke instead of franticially looking around, searching for that one shadow that moved on it's own.

"Shadows that melt the flesh!" That was only the first reply - spinning around, because she was sure something behind her had moved, it was just the shadow of some bird flying by under a street light. With all of the fleeing humans, it was incredibly hard to see which shadow was autonomous here! And right on queue, another poor soul was dragged right into the ground beneath him, as the Vashta Nerada, sensing the frantic fleeing, decided to eat this victim from bottom to top to mask itself better. While not really intelligent, it had the instincts of a much larger predatory species.

"Count the shadows, and stay in the light! If one moves on it's own accord, retreat from it - if you have two shadows, then you're already dead!" Blake looked at Lilith, for just one moment, trying to establish eye contact. Within Blake's amber eyes, which had formerly only shown minimal emotion, looked incredibly worried. And right now, Blake had no time to think about why - this was the first time she had ever feared for her own life, and for the life of others like Lilith. She didn't WANT something as beautiful as Lilith to be harmed in any way - because Lilith was beautiful in more ways than just in the physical one. And maybe that was all that was needed to calm Blake down slightly... and take a deep, incredibly regulated breath. Even in the screams of the people and of the man who had just been eaten like the first victim, the sound of that breath cut deeper and was so incredibly calm and controled that it seemed completely out of place.
And in that moment, a black mist seemed to rise all around Blake, like a cloak or aura, clining close to her, but also dispersing itself into the air. This was a legendary, forgotten martial art - the 'Ripple', a power derived from sun and moon. Furthermore, Blake's origin turned it into the Black Ripple - a power based on the eclipse. While it wouldn't keep the Vashta Nerada away directly, it'd allow Blake to strike it if they showed near her.
"Each of them is small, like a tiny hair. Destroy a lot of them, and their swarm disperses." Even Blake's voice was incredibly controled now, none of the stutter from before, even if her pronounciation suffered because of it - she certainly sounded NOT japanese when saying that. It was a necessity, not only because of time, but also because regulated speech meant regulated breath, and a regulated, specialized breathing technique was the basis of the Ripple.

"Shadow's that melt flesh?" Lilith thought and began looking around at the shadows she saw. The thought of a creature so deadly wouldn't be settling to any person, including Lilith. And seeing a person who knew what they were so terrified of the situation, there was no way Lilith wasn't going to be on her guard. When Blakes head spun around to spot a moving shadow, Lilith's gaze followed and noticed the bird. Is that what she was to look out for? Moving shadows? Great! Spotting a moving shadow in a place like this wasn't exactly hard! They were everywhere, which made this all the more dangerous. "Two shadows?" Lilith was merely processing the minor bits of information that Blake was giving her. Two shadows? She looked and saw her one. Okay, so she wasn't dead, but now what? The look in Blake's eyes was something that Lilith had only seen a few times in her life; someone worried for her safety. There was a distinct difference in a normal worried expression and being worried for another, and Blake was showing it. Were these creatures really this terrifying? She understood the danger, but she almost felt like she too should be panicking.

And then all changed. Something changed within Blake and she was able to calm herself down and regain control. It was a more comforting sight to say the least, but something still didn't sit right with Lilith. She wasn't used to not knowing what exactly she was going up against. She had her own little idea of how to take these things out, but it'd be extremely dangerous and there was a small chance of success. In the long run, was it worth it? She didn't know. Instead, she watched Blake and hoped that the woman familiar with these creatures could tell her something. The now calm young black haired woman was seeming more focused. She explained that if you destroy the lot, the rest scatter. Understandable, but there was a problem. How did you get to the lot if they hide in the shadows and strike to fast for one to realize? Lilith felt that if she and Blake focused, they could bring them down, but there was high chance of one of them getting hurt, and Lilith would not ever allow or risk it happening to Blake. Now, this aura of black began rising around Blake and Lilith dared not take a step back. It was tempting, but she doubted Blake was about to bring out something that would hurt her by standing near it. Lilith too took in a deep breath and readied herself. And with a blink, her eyes began to glow a bright red. If anything happened that she could prevent, she would. It was now time to wait.

There was nothing to fear, not anymore. The panic was dulled away - still there, but without meaning, as it should be. Filled with the Black Ripple, Blake was now closer to these monsters she was fighting in spirit than she was to Lilith - but unlike a human in a similiar situation, she could control this dark energy, as it was simply part of her. The ability to control the own evil was far superior to any 'control of evil' a mortal could even hope to learn. Lilith's red eyes shone in the dark of the night, and seemed brighter than the street lamps - Blake's eyes also seemed to shine in their amber color like small lamps within the black, swirling Ripple energy.
Then, something finally happened - only a few seconds had passed, but they had felt like an eternity. One of the street lights flickered and went out. Of course - they were going for the lights! Without lights, there wouldn't be any shadows - only black darkness. In that darkness, the Vashta Nerada were virtually invisible, and could devour their victims without resistance... Unless, of course, their victims happened to have perfect dark vision. Too bad for them that both of these women had such eyes. And Blake flew into action right as the Vashta Nerada slithered up from the ground where they had been hiding in a shadow, as they were attempting to float up the street light right next to the two, to take out that lamp as well. She moved with such grace and speed that one could be forgiven for thinking Blake had just teleported multiple feet into the air, spinning her body around, and drawing the katana from the sheath on her back in one flowing motion, raining down multiple wild, ripple-enhanced strikes right at the lamp post that the Vashta Nerada were trying to climb. The screeching sound of metal was echoed by the screech of something different, very high-pitched, and quite deafening - the death cry of multiple Vashta Nerada, as the rest of the swarm scattered away from the lamp post like a black cloud, free-flying in the air, attempting to disappear back into the shadows on the ground. That was when Blake raised her voice, just as multiple of the smaller black clouds were turning around in mid-air and attempted to dash at Blake herself. Not too good...
"Now, Lilith!" she shouted, while dashing upwards in the air, attempting to escape from the parts of the Vashta Nerada cloud that was attempting to devour her whole. The fast movements and raising her voice had broken the effects of the Ripple - the black aura around Blake had disappeared without a trace.

Just by her quick change in demeanor, Lilith could tell that Blake had a plan. These creatures were aiming to take out their light, unaware of the fact that Lilith had the ability to see in the dark. Of course, it took until Blake moved for her to realized that Blake also had the ability to see the way she did. Blake moved with grace, her movements being quick and fluid. She used her katana to slice in the metal and Lilith knew that she would soon have to jump into help. Clenching the hilt of her katana, she waited for a single or opening that would allow her to aid her new friend. Blake, in mid air, was moving away from the now attacking creatures and Lilith knew this was it. Yes, Blake confirmed that, yelling out for Lilith to do something. Lilith needed to move quick to make sure her friend did not become harmed. There was a mere turn of Lilith's head before she seemingly just stood there looking up towards Blake. A very, very short moment later, she appeared between Blake and these creatures. She unsheathed her sword and swung the blade with the tip of her sword pointed towards them, sending a continuous blast of ice towards them before re-sheathing her katana again. The ice moved at a high speed, following down the trail of the Vashta Nerada until every single one of them were consumed, forming a curved pillar of ice from where Lilith stood down to the ground below. At this time, an 'image' of Lilith vanished from the ground below.

Lilith soon shifted into a different stance, seemingly pushing off of the air she stood on, and then shot towards the ice. Her body moved into a cyclone, spinning rapidly as she passed over the pillar of ice. While doing this, she unsheathed her katana and sent it slicing through the ice over and over again before she landed on the ground, re-sheathing her sword once again. She stood up straight and looked back, the ice suddenly shattering into hundreds, if not thousands of pieces and falling to the floor. "Would that have done it?" Lilith asked to make sure that the two of them did not miss anything, "Do you think there would be more around here, or would this have been it?" Lilith looked to Blake for a moment, but then kept her eyes on the ice that had fallen to the floor.

Blake landed softly next to Lilith, with a step as light as air. A single, flowing motion, and her katana went back into the sheath - and then she took a quick 'look' around. Not just with her eyes this time - but also with her senses of a Shadow Beast. She could hear a faint whisper, slowly dimming down and disappearing, like a bad dream. The yellow glow disappeared from Blake's eyes as she took a deep breath and nodded.
"Yes. The ice was cold enough to kill the Vashta Nerada, they are not very robust. The remaining ones will flee the city and hide in trees somewhere, their natural breeding ground... For centuries. Karakura should be save from further shadow attacks for now." She explained, while taking a closer look at the damage done to the area. Not much - the one lamp that the shadows busted, and the one that she had cut into pieces, but apart from that, just some drops of blood on the floor where to unfortunate humans had been consumed. Now that the rush of battle died down, Blake felt a weird... disconnect with herself. There was no 'adrenaline' equivalent in her body, no enzyme or hormone to create panic or strong emotional reactions to death. Yet for some reason, she felt bad for these people - random humans, fragments of the dream that she didn't even know personally. This shouldn't happen, at all - it was like feeling sorry for furniture. Blake had to get her mind off of that, or she'd go crazy.

"Well... I guess now you know why Shadow Beasts are not exactly favored citizens in my world." She said, while trying to do something akin to a smile. But really, Blake looked rather sad or maybe even depressed. "But... this shouldn't have happened. Vashta Nerada only appear when their home is threatened or destroyed. And they eat their prey - they didn't kill the Nightmare Armor in the forest. This all just... makes no sense." With a sigh, the Shadow Beast tried once again to smile.
"But I'm glad you didn't get hurt, Lilith. ...Glad... so strange..." It was like a nagging headache, very small, but constantly there. The knowledge that she was doing the unthinkable. Blake was... changing. As the Heart of Cubia, she was, for all intents and purposes, a divine one. And divines, shadow or light, never change. It was impossible for them to change. Truthfully, that thought scared Blake more than the Vashta Nerada did just a moment ago. "A dream that changes the dreamer... Just what is happening with me..." None of that made much sense just strung together, but at least it was clear that Blake seemed not as happy as she should be after successfully helping with the dispersion of a swarm of living shadows.

"I see..." Lilith stepped to one of the puddles of blood left over from the death of the young boy that was taken first. She kneeled down and set the tips of her fingers in the middle. "He was so young... I can tell by the smell that he was a hard worker, kept himself healthy... Probably seventeen years old... Too young to go like this." With how many people Lilith has had to feed off of in her life, she knew the differences between bloods and could get a few details out of it through smell and taste. "It's too bad we had no warning..." she said with a sigh and then glanced off to the right. "You're dead." Lilith said when she caught the sight of the two people that were killed here. They were souls now, but they had been taken so quickly they had no idea what was going on. "I'm sorry we could not save you, but you need to have a Shinigami take you to the Soul Society as quickly as possible, alright?" Lilith turned away from them and made her way over to Blake. She may have been nice enough to explain to them the basics and tell them what they need to do, but she wasn't one to sit and babysit them until help arrived.

"Well... I guess now you know why Shadow Beasts are not exactly favored citizens in my world." "Yeah, I can definitely see that..." Lilith sighed and wiped the blood off. You'd think she would lick it, right? No. She isn't like that. Those two died. She wasn't going to eat the blood of the dead. She has more respect for people than that. What Blake said next bothered Lilith. If they were acting so out of character, then was this town safe from them? Would they act even more out of character and attack more? She sighed in frustration at not knowing. "But I'm glad you didn't get hurt, Lilith. ...Glad... so strange..." Lilith blinked and looked to her with a surprised expression, but then smiled at her. "If you don't mind me saying... I think if you so easily recognized the feeling, it was probably naturally there in the first place..." Lilith told her, "It's just not used very often, if ever. Now, it seems you have a reason to use it." Lilith looked off and sighed when she realized something, "I'm sorry, but... I think it's time for me to go. If you ever need me... Well... I don't know how, but find one of my kind and ask them where I am or something. I travel a lot so... I do hope we meet again." Lilith nodded her head towards Blake and waved, smiling to her in a friendly manner, before the image faded away and Lilith was gone.

Exiting Thread. (Your post should be the last unless you want it here.)