Silent Screams

[KaraiValentine]

Chapter 1

She awoke with a start, the black fur she used to keep herself warm falling off her shoulders, leaving her in a plain, dirty, tattered, grey kimono. Her blue eyes scanned the cold, white walls surrounding her, one hand on the dark red hilt of a katana, her thumb on the small, round guard that barely showed where the grip began ended and the blade began. The cave was empty. Fixing her short, blonde hair, she pulled the fur on her she reluctantly got to her feet, holding her sword in one hand and a white, skull-like mask in the other. She walked towards the exit, pocketing a dry few mushrooms on the way.
Reaching the exit that led to a cliff, she looked around and saw bellow a group of monsters with holes in their chests where the heart was supposed to be and white and skull heads skulking around the tall, thick stone trees. After munching on a few mushrooms from her pocket, she put the mask on and jumped down. As she landed, she stabbed one of the monsters in the head and it disintegrated with a howl of pain. The other two roared threateningly as they turned. The second she landed, one of them swung an arm at her but she dodged it and sliced the beasts hand off. With one retreating, she charged the other, dodging one arm, then the other and jumped straight at its head, giving it a deep gash across the cheek before being knocked back by its tail. She was thrown back several feet, rolling as she fell. Jumping to her feet, she barely managed to jump out of the way of the swinging tail that slammed the ground. Running as fast as she could, she charged the beast, dodging its attacks then jumped several feet in the air and came down slashing through its head, killing it. The third was already running away, clutching its injured arm but she chased it down and brought it down by slashing its legs then sliced its head off as it turned to her.
With the last one disappearing, she put the sword away but suddenly had to lean against a tree. She was breathing heavily and trembling. She took the mask off to eat a few more mushrooms but she barely had time to chew when she heard explosions not too far away. After putting her mask back on, she headed in that direction, jumping from tree to see what she was heading towards.
She stopped on a branch when she saw a group of monsters like the ones she had just fought. On the ground was a group of people in black kimonos with a turquoise sash around their waists, each armed with a sword and they were trying to fend off the giants.
Among them was a young woman with long, dark hair. Her kimono was slightly open to show off her shapely chest. Her blue eyes had fear in them but though she was injured and tired, she looked like she would go down fighting. She and the others seemed to be holding their own but they were injured.
She grabbed the hilt of her sword and was about to jump down when the woman with the open kimono suddenly sheathed her sword then when she pulled it out, the blade was completely transparent, like it was made of glass. Seeing that, the blonde almost lost her footing and stood there staring wide-eyed as she sliced through one of the monster’s arms that next went right through her body without touching her. A moment later she killed the monster with a slice through the head. After that the fight seemed to go in the favour of the people in kimonos, at least until the blonde saw something moving in the shadows. It was a gigantic, slender figure with dark skin. It too had large, white masks.
The ones below saw it as well and their courage suddenly faltered. Even the brunette looked terrified when a red ball of red and black light was shining in front of its mouth as it loomed down over the ones below.
That was her queue and she leaped at the giant and slashed at its mask then jumped down. The brunette looked at her surprised but the other hollows retreated when they saw her. The giant did not. She had given it a deep slash across its mask face but it was too large to be taken down so easily. It looked down and the ball of red and black light appeared in front of its teeth again, growing larger and larger.
The blonde put her sword away and put her hands together like she was holding an invisible ball. A red ball of energy appeared between her hands as well. The energy in front of the monster suddenly disappeared then it opened its mouth and unleashed a blast of red energy upon them. At the same time, the blonde let lose the ball of fire and the two energies collided with each other. the two struggled for a few moments, the blonde keeping her hands pointing upwards as if to push the ball of energy she sent until it suddenly pierced the one the monster was firing and blasted its head off, making it disappear just like the smaller monsters.
The blonde turned to look at the woman in the black kimono who was staring at her amazed but moments later she fell to her knees, her mask falling off. The last thing she saw was the brunette rushing towards her before she blacked out.
When she woke up she was in a hospital bed. She was wearing a white, hospital gown, her injuries had been bandaged. But the first thing she noticed was the fact that her sword was gone. She jumped out of bed and broke the chair by the bed, taking one of its legs to use as a weapon, and left the room.
Walking around the empty halls she stayed close to the wall, keeping her senses alert for anyone coming near. She made her way outside, dodging nurses and others in black kimonos walking by, and hid behind a few small bushes by the wall, waiting for the right time to make a run for it. There were a few walking outside the walls that surrounded the building where she was and she had to wait until they were gone.
“Psst,” someone whispered from behind and she jumped away, crashing into the wall. “What are we hiding from?” the man with a rugged face and yellow eyes asked. His messy, dark hair was combed from front to back and he was wearing similar black clothes but with one difference, he also had a white coat over the black kimono, the sash around his waist was a grayish pink.
“Where the hell did you come from?!” she yelled.
“Allow me to introduce myself, Kenta Tetsuko, 4th division captain at your service,” he said smiling and showing a peace sign with his right hand. “And I’ve been following you since you left the room. As head of the healer division of Seiretei, it is my duty to be-”
“A creepy stalker…” she said accusingly, looking at him with suspicious eyes.
“W-what!?” he exclaimed taken-aback. “My sole interest is the well-being and health of all-”
“You lot always talk much, ero-shini,” the blonde said cutting him off then stood up.
The man sighed and stood up as well. “You could show a little gratitude, y’know? You were brought in half-dead. Half of the 13 divisions think I should’ve let you die for being a rogue Shinigami or a thief who made off with an Asauchi.”
“I’m not a self-righteous Shinigami. And I didn’t steal anything. I got my sword the day those Hollows broke into your precious Seiretei.”
“Hmm, that happened?” he asked looking pensive. “Let’s see, today’s Tuesday so that would be…”
“It was five years ago,” a young man with green hair and blue eyes said walking over, his sash was the same colour as the captain’s.
“Hmm, the wind makes funny noises sometimes…” the captain said ignoring the other man.
“Don’t pretend I don’t exist, I’m not going away just because you want a female lieutenant!” the young man yelled at him.
“Noisy as always…” the older man complained scratching his ear. “So you were trapped in Hueco Mundo for five years. That must’ve been rough for you ms…”
“The name’s Junko Takeda. Now, where’s my sword?”
“Well… now that’s an interesting question, isn’t it?” the captain said looking her in the eyes.