What A Year Does To A Girl...

[Ruhe Krieger]

Ruhe Krieger had been staying in the ruins of Cochem for a year or so now, living in the wilderness with Amalia's hidden library to keep her company, insightfully giving her knowledge about events, things in the past, and how she should look at things now from the perspective of a Quincy. She was fifteen now, likely almost sixteen, and the time that passed had been somewhat good for her. She had read much on theoretical practices and theories that develop a Quincy, but sadly enough had no access to the techniques that the new Vreich would have. She had a small arsenal, but she had within the year or so focused and harnessed the abilities she already had. The blue haired girl, almost young woman was resting now, eating a deeply cooked rabbit.

The fat dripped from its bones this winter, and she found herself eagerly partaking, blowing on the fresh meat to cool it off, having rarely ventured into town, and then, only for necessities. The small girl licked her fingers clean as she found herself eating the greens of this land, drinking cool water, and eating the freshest of game. Much time had passed for Ruhe Krieger in the period she had been left here, and she found herself looking at the night sky in the ruins of this castle, preparing to head into one of the inner chambers underground if need be. "It's dark already..." Slowly stamping out her fire, or what was left of it, she head down below into that secret chamber, sleeping on a bed of deer skin and a newly purchased pillow.

Life was good, and she found herself quickly growing used to the lifestyle she had been, having fought off a number of Hollows by now. She knew for the most part, the majority of them she had nothing to fear. She had also in that time become an excellent archer. Curling up, she yawned, hugging a second pillow she had purchased, a deep and dreamless sleep that would greet her to a new morning. A morning where there was more to be done, more to be managed as she left her burrow, went about brushing her teeth, taking care of nature's call, and eventually finding herself eating from a small pouch of nuts on her side as she looked for prey. She was hungry, and likely something else was as well.

A stag would be excellent. A small one that was searching for sustenance in the winter. Perhaps a squirrel if she was desperate for she knew the larvae within them crawled out during the winter. A mistake she had learned through error of cutting open her first squirrel. Perhaps if she were eager, she would even go fishing through the cold running streams. It all depended on what she'd run into first within the wilds. What was it that nature would award her with? What was it that Ruhe would be eating today? What was it that would be coming into sight for her arrows?

Ruhe after a while of looking gradually sat beside her fire camp back at the castle, underneath an overhang where nothing could hide above her and pounce down before her. Beside her was a felled raccoon on a sled, its pelt removed, itself wrapped in aluminum foil, sitting in the glowing embers as she shivered ever so slightly. "A-Ah-Achoo!" A high pitched squeak of a sneeze no louder than a rabbit as it cried it's death throe. She at times longed for company, though she was not sure of what kind. Her only companions had been the sounds of nature, her thoughts, and the bible amongst the other works of the Quincy kind. It almost startled the poor girl, because she almost forgot what she sounded like sometimes.  

[jimbureka]

Quincy.

What does it mean to be one?

Jim didn't know what she could make of her reinstated existence, having only been one for a few years. She never heard of such race until that fated night, walking home with Miss Amai. A sweet woman, often taking note of Jim's reclusiveness in class but never forcing to put her on the spot like most of her teachers did. Miss Amai took her time with Jimen, patient with her process and adjustment to things. She was not one to push; there was no pity or patronizing, and even if Jim never responded most days, Jim never missed receiving sweets from her, a toffee of sorts every day. Small talk was rare, but when she asked how Jim was doing, you can see it wasn't a standard question. She really wanted to know how you were. There was a connection, a real one, an authentic one.

Quincy. She heard of the term on the night she saw Miss Amai get killed right in front of her eyes. The discovery came when Jim saw her teacher smiling at her, and behind her, stood that... that thing.

Hollows. That's what they were called.

Jim's eyes had a glassy look as she found herself staring over a cliff, looking over the vast forests and wilderness where she stood. She pushed the thoughts of the past as she pulled herself into the present.

She was here now, in Cochem. Beyond the wanderlust that brought her here, there was something about this place that made her want to see it for herself. She remembered how her Master Quincy told her of the Quincy's strong roots to Germanic lands, and the story of Yhwach.

Of course, she knew he was the progenitor, his blood running on through every vein of a Quincy, the magic hunters of this realm. Or so they say. But it was less of the history that appealed to her but more was the story of his unique ability. At birth, Yhwach already gave parts of his soul to others, helping them with his innate abilities. Helped them heal, helped them get stronger. It also helped him in a way, helping restore his hearing at one point. Whether symbolic or to be taken literally, there was something about sharing one's soul more deeply to others. Strength and restoration came with connecting with others.

How did Yhwach do it, connecting so easily to others? How does one connect? It was something she found difficulty doing over the years. Other than the saintly souls like the late Miss Amai, she can hardly recall having other connections, or friends as they say. Probably from how she rarely left the house in her younger years, being in a school for the deaf or the way she was raised, connecting with others is something she has yet to work on. Her chance encounters with her Master Quincy are rare and far inbetween, and this, she could hardly call a connection as she severed it recently...

After a quick trip on the town nearby, she was able to get a map of landmarks in the area. Everything felt so... foreign. It was all new to her. And there was something about being in a place no one knew who you were that gave her ease. It was a start of a new leaf, a chance to begin again. And a chance, to learn and discover one's self.


Quincy.

"Am I truly one?"

One of the landmarks in the area is the Cochem ruins. There was exposition on the lore of it being a castle of one famed Yhwach, as Jim recalled as she focused on the owner of the store's lips as he went on. She did not linger much in the town, though there was a chance for connection, every time she was around people the need to fade out grew strong in her, making her leave without a word oftentimes and just taking an off-road into the mountainous forest terrains, searching for this ruin.

The sun was starting to set when Jim found the legendary Cochem ruins. She stood for a while, taking in the scene as the warm orange sunlight lit up the fallen castle grounds. A soft breeze blew against her, as if the wind was telling her that there was reason to be here. And perhaps, her questions would be answered, one way or the other. In a way she wouldn't expect.

| Cochem. | → | No one. Yet. | → | Pensive. | → | Traveling to search for the Cochem ruins. |

SPOILER: Click to show

{OOC}

[Ruhe Krieger]

Jim was likely misunderstanding the situation as they walked into the odd forestry, seeing the wild flower gardens which rested in the embrace. However, there were definite signs of someone living here within this area. Other than the odd worn road, they'd see a clothes line with a few odd articles of clothing being dried and hung. A bucket of water had been placed by the side of the area. If any more evidence was to be needed, the presence of a girl sitting alongside a fire, stirring the aluminum wrapped meat in the coals was definite sign that there was indeed someone. However, as Ruhe raised her eyes briefly, looking into the eye of this invading figure, her eyes widened not in fear, but genuine surprise. Slowly gazing at the figure, Ruhe had thought that Jim was a genuine boy initially. Rising to her feet, she'd gradually look ahead, before brushing her long blonde locks behind her head to smooth the wild hair out.

She wanted to look semi representable. She'd speak in German. "Gutenmorgen. I didn't expect to find anyone here. Did you come from town?" However, if there was any sign of confusion on this new person's face, she'd proceed to rub the back of her head before replying in English. "Did you come from the town? My name's Ruhe." She wasn't the best with pantomimes, but she'd simply wait for some form of response, gazing her guest over, well...maybe guest was the wrong word. She didn't own the place. She simply lived here, off the land, and did as she wished to learn, to grow as an individual in this location. "Ehem...would you like to share lunch with me? I haven't had any visitors here before." Smiling cheerfully, those beautiful cerulean eyes gazing over her, slowly twirling around and pointing to the fire. She stood at the unimpressive 5'4" or so, she hadn't exactly had a good measurement of herself.

Having grown a bit taller, she had lived well, gotten slightly more tone as she lived in the area. Seemingly normal, there was a definite aura about her that she could see in Jim and likely vice versa. Ruhe however paused as a loud howl filled the area. A howl that left the particles vibrating against her skin and sending a shiver up it as the small Ruhe quickly recovered herself, mostly calm as she stepped forward, raising her left hand as she took a deep breath. "Lezt Stil." The Last Silence. With it, she had formed her bow in her left hand, a spiritual glove wrapping around her right hand as in the distance, she strained her eye, the standard blue bow raised as she took a deep breath. "Strike the enemy with hollow steel. Hohle Schneide." With a sword forming in her right hand, it proceeded to shrink down, warp with her mastery into a spiraling lance like arrow of sorts with a crossguard.

Figuring that a normal human wouldn't be able to sense anything, considering they never noticed Hollows under normal conditions, Ruhe figured Jim would never notice anything. Never notice as she pulled her arm back, her arrow tensing as a monstrous creature began to rapidly slither from the surrounding. "HRAAAAAAAAAGH!" It was a salamander like thing, and with it, she released her shot, soaring with bullet speeds, whipping through the grass and air as the Salamander swiftly dashed forward, hopping into the air, swerving its body as the arrow flew past it, beginning to shoot its tongue out at a rapid speed towards the Quincy girl. A poisonous tongue that could leave her dying on the floor if she was touched. The meal temporarily forgotten, it seemed that their lives were in some manner of danger? Some manner of threat that could leave them troubled. 

That was until her bow changed color, simply turning silver as that arrow which was flying, rapidly twisted, before hitting the underside of the creature's neck, blasting a gigantic hole in the Hollow's head before vanishing in a brilliant blue burning. It was almost as if the flames of hell had wrapped around this disgusting creature, warping it into nothingness as she lowered her hands. Ruhe was a Quincy. Perhaps not a traditional Quincy, but one that had rapidly grown in skill over the last two years or so. As her glove and bow faded into nothingness, she clenched a small pendant around her neck, a silver cross formed from her own Reiatsu as it sucked energy in from the surrounding. It was weird though. Something was odd. Why did a Hollow appear so close? They normally stayed out in the wilderness sections, not near the castle itself. It still happened of course, but it was odd. Rare.  

[jimbureka]

As soon as the prestige wore off, the reality of things start to sink in. A clothes line. Items littered about like a bucket, and the smell of smoke from a bonfire... and meat? A barbeque?

Her eyes scan the area quickly, which was looking more and more of a campsite of a squat than a revered place of monument for a Quincy. Her eyes immediately fall on icy blue ones, which was owned by a rather young girl. She seemed childlike, her pale skin smooth and easily reflecting the warm light from the fire, her hair wild and rather out of place, as if she was playing house with an actual historical landmark. The child noticed her, and immediately sprung up and approached Jim, who could not keep her face neutral, her eyebrows crunched up and her eyes wary, as this was a rather unexpected scenario she'd come across in.

The child speaks, but in a language Jim didn't understand. The lip reading made her feel like the young girl was talking gibberish. The lack of response, and the look on Jim's face she presumed was enough for the youngster to switch to a more, common readable tongue. Jim stared at her lips, taking in the movement of her words, as everything was silent. She can't hear the crackling sound of burned wood, the wind, nothing, as usual. But of course she didn't want this child to know that. Jim's eyes dart from the child's lips and back on to the scene, processing quickly that this young one was living here, or made camp here for quite a while. But why? Surely the town was close by. What was a child doing in a place like this?

The answers to her questions were left unanswered, as she felt the hairs on her back stand, sensing an all too familiar spirit signature close by. Hollows. Here? Perhaps this place had connections to Quincy after all. Instinctively Jim turned to look towards the source of the spiritual pressure, stretching out her two hands to have her Quincy bow materialize, but stopped, as just then she immediately felt another reiatsu behind her, as the young girl formed her bow and a lance.

Well, this somehow answers her question, in a way she didn't expect. There's no doubt about it; the child was a Quincy. This raised more questions, as the young one made her shot, which blew past Jim and hit the slithering lizard-like Hollow that came running towards them. The arrow seemed to have missed by the evading Hollow, but to Jim's surprise, twisted and contorted to make its mark at the Hollow, which exploded in a blazing blue flame of nothingness.

Jim simply stood there, an action that can be easily mistaken as shock, but Jim was on alert. There was a Hollow in this area, there's no doubt there will be more of those things here. She moves back, her arm outstretched, which would seem like she was reaching out for comfort, but was more of a protective stance. Even if the child was a Quincy, she was still, a child. And for Jim, she was making sure the kid wasn't going to get hurt.

| Cochem ruins. | → | A young girl. | → | Confused, then alert. | → | Finding out the castle is inhabited by a little girl, and encounters a Hollow attack that the same little girl took care of. |

SPOILER: Click to show

{OOC}

[Ruhe Krieger]

Never did Ruhe imagine that the man that she had met right now was a Quincy, or that he was a spiritually aware individual at all at that matter. However, upon seeing the widened eyes and recognition, she could tell tell that this person, whoever they were was someone of a spiritual origin. With a hand outstretched, blocking her from the woods, it became clear there were indeed more Hollows. More of them slithering out at this new deaf visitor coming forth. It was something rare that she didn’t think she’d get to experience again...the presence of a Hollow horde. However, with it, she slowly nocked an arrow, raising her bow high into the sky as she took five paces back. “Rain death from above…”

As her arrow flew into the air, likely none would think much of it, and certainly the Hollows approaching didn’t as they urged closer and closer to Jim as well as Ruhe herself. However, using the Quincy passive ability to split arrows, they’d multiply as she momentarily held her cross, closing her eyes as her cross suckled in energy from the horizon as they neared closer...and closer still. As she drained more energy from her cross, she brought her bow down, pointed to the earth, and suddenly from the sky, a whistling noise came forth, a bright blue light washing through the clouds as she took a deep breath, “Hear my prayers. Oh said Emperor and God. If you heed me, bring me mercy, bring me strength, and bring death from above.”

Suddenly, the arrows poured in a bloody haze, washing over several Hollows as they cried out in agony, impaled along various parts on their gigantic bodies, several disintegrating as the arrows poured as if an army had rained it. As if the army had timed it to bring divine retribution and punishment upon the horrible creatures that wished to bring punishment down upon those that dared to harm the Quincy. Yet? Some remained persistent. The remainders, they had quick to scream, break the arrows from their bodies as one proceeded to sweep it’s monstrous tail to shatter the arrows which lay in the ground in half. It wanted them.

The few damaged ones, the survivors, the lucky were the ones that lumbered forward, looking to devour the rich and tasty soul of a Quincy. A rare delicacy that one could find ever so rarely among Hollows. A fricassee or sou vide that could tantalize and tease only the richest of the Hollow kind. It might become aware to this fellow here now that Ruhe had not been a pushover anymore, at least not to Hollows this weak. She was in another tier of Quincy, and after training and living in this environment, she could wear the label Quincy with pride. Pride compared to herself nearly two years ago...only capable of utilizing Hohle Schneide and a shabby Quincy bow with no unique powers. Her experience and solitude and pain helped her to mature and grow from a small seed into a beautiful rose. However, much like the beautiful plant, all roses had thorns.

A half dozen, perhaps one or two more lingered for Jim. Ruhe had stepped back at this point, wanting to see what it was about this person. What was it about this human being? Were they also a Quincy? Were they something else? She had seen a few Quincy now so that she could be able to tell but...all they had to do was release some of that spiritual energy, or even just form a bow. Some form of identification that could make do to really push her forward in the direction to identifying just who was this person. Namely because...she didn’t know what she ought to do depending on the answer. But she most likely thought it might be time to move on.

[jimbureka]

The young one continued to show her Quincy abilities with ease, the shots precise and almost an art form. On any given day Jim would be hella impressed. She is, actually, there's no doubt about that. But for Jim, showing off your abilities with that many Hollows just slaps a target sign on your forehead. The reiatsu needed and released for the flurry of arrows was a basically a marker, somewhat like a telltale scent that led to the one that conjured it. And there's no surprise that the remaining Hollows had all their attention at them. This would make disengaging and slipping away a fat chance in happening, even if Jim tried it. And with the little girl showing off, it was a dead giveaway to the Hollow creatures that they were the special kind of souls worth KILLING OVER to eat.

Jim shrugged, a tone of annoyance and resignation to an inevitable encounter. But she'll avoid it for as long as she could. Without a word she turns and starts moving towards the ruins. Deadly for some as this can be a cornered animal situation, but to Jim, it gives her options. She reaches out to grab at the young girl by the arm, tugging her to follow her. The movement was effortlessly fluid, and the speed kicked up pretty fast, but of course this triggered the Hollows to make moves as well.

To the young girl, Jim might look like she's just running away, but the focused stoic look on her face would prove otherwise. She made ground and established distance, but of course, she was only using her base speed and the Hollows were still hot on their heels. As soon as they got into the Ruins, the isolated stones that scattered about would be enough to streamline the Hollows from one opening. All according to plan.

Jim skids to a stop and does a quick turn, a ginto tube slipping from her sleeve right between her middle and ring finger, and while she could not hear the hissing and snarling from the wretched creatures, she could feel them, their stampede creating tremors that she could sense with the soles on her feet. Should the girl allowed herself to be taken by this mint haired stranger, she'd see the stranger started to move her hands, and to some it would look like she's doing some anime hand stances, but in actually she was using ASL, her hands making the signs of the incantation for her Ginto tube.

"Feel the wrath of battle and accept this sacred chalice..." Her hands make quick work of the signs, and the Ginto Tube glows. And with the last word, she speaks in a flat monotonous tone.

"Heizen."

Calculated, she said it just in time for the appearance of the first Hollow that caught up with them, as well as flinging the heated tube towards the raging beast, who immediately took an erupted tube to the face which ignited and released a bright beam of energy in a straight line, cutting it straight in the head like a laser, and the blast went straight for a hundred feet, hitting the other Hollows that where behind the Hollow.

There was something wrong with her speech, there's an obvious stilt and lazy roll of the tongue with how the trigger word was said and created the rather strong almost unstable beam from the Ginto tube, but this was enough to reveal that Jim doesn't speak in the conventional sense as she was deaf. But this didn't hinder her with her ability to make workarounds.

This took out the first Hollow and heavily injured about 3 Hollows from the dangerous straight line produced. Jim wasn't going to release her bow yet. Not just yet. She turns to the young girl, her piercing gaze pointing at the young girl then towards one of the higher levels of the Ruins, the ones that were climbable and stable looking at least. She needed the girl to get an eagle's eye view and snipe them out. Jim can stay below and keep the Hollow streaming from one opening.

| Cochem ruins. | → | A young girl. | → | Annoyed, resigned, focused. | → | Heading to the Ruins and using it to make the Hollows funnel in one spot and used the Heizen technique and then giving instructions for the young girl to snipe from a high elevation. |

SPOILER: Click to show

{OOC}

[Ruhe Krieger]

They were chased. In these moments, she suddenly felt a tug on her arm, causing the blonde girl to turn and look towards the mint blue one with curiosity, and with understanding of intention, a simple nod of her head, Ruhe had followed after her. A scrambling of feet as they went off together into the distance, only to find them in a narrow opening, the street filled with rubble and other obstacles to slow down the enemies before her. They were stopped, together in this battle, and to curiosity with Ruhe when these mysterious motions were made by an even more mysterious stranger. Just who was this person? What she knew was, they had some sort of spiritual connection, or so she would imagine.

Ruhe...Had never seen a Ginto Tube before, so it was quite the interesting marvel to see one for herself in these moments. However, she had little time to think about such while the simple blue laser seemed to cut and pierce through every Hollow within a hundred feet of that straight line, the beam piercing straight through the mask of such a creature, it's mask exploding into fragments of white and dissipating into blackness followed by perhaps...two? Three others? When ordered by this mysterious Quincy to head up with a simple glance upward to the battlements, Ruhe understood, suddenly blurring out of existence for a moment, out of sight in a step technique. The Quincy unique step Hirenkyaku.

Suddenly, she would appear at the edge of the wall, bow in hand, looking down overhead the castle's inner walls, whatever was left of them anyways, seeing Hollows of various sorts and sizes. Holding her hand along her Quincy cross for a moment, she sucked in another stream of energy from her usage, looking at the enemies before activating a bow property, her shrapnel forming, bowstring being pulled back as she took a deep breath. Ptwang. The vibrating noise as the tension of that string was released, yet another arrow falling down before the pile of rubble, the arrow shattering apart within a moment's notice of her desires, littering the tight opening from above with a sudden rain of shrapnel, clasping over them all.

'I feel powerful. Stronger. Confident.' Another arrow pulled as she assisted in raining hell. However. Boom. Another blocked street in the back was soon opened before Jim, A few remaining Hollows having followed an alternate path to block off the spiritually rich meal. It was a war on two fronts in most regard. Yet, was there anything to fear? Simple creatures. Simple Hollows. Simple monsters. Ruhe frowned though at the larger congregations of these beasts. She had never seen so many ever since the day Amalia had left her. Which made her wonder, if there was possibility of a return that had caused such an event. Her eyes narrowed, her bow focusing as she launched three arrows more, curving and exploding into shrapnel as she began running along the wall.

Utilizing her Hirenkyaku another time, she would return back to ground level, grasping Jimen's hand and leading them down these familiar streets she had seen for quite some time, leading her from the Hollow Legion assaulting the kingdom, settling toward the castle's great keep. It was sturdy, and a good place to make defense against the remnants of her enemies. However, it was also near the secret hiding place of which Ruhe had been calling a comfortable hideaway home for the past few days. Her stockpiles of food went there, her place of comfort was there. Seeing Amalia no longer seemed to live here, or visit, she had come to imagine herself as Princess of this long forgotten kingdom, a princess with no subjects. Hrm. Perhaps Jimen could be the first. 

A little inner joke to herself as she had taken a few deep breaths from running so much, her bow still in hand as she looked to see more of the monsters. Though many looked hurt to say the least, and if not, there weren't many of them left at this point. They had the battle almost done and dealt with. "I don't know who you are, but it seems that you're a Quincy like I am. Let's fight valiantly until the end shall we?" Her bow flaring with energy, she took some deep breaths as she knew that there was only so much she was going to be able to do here. Shrapnel was excellent, but there were just...so many of them. It was definitely annoying. 

[jimbureka]

Precision. Excellent execution. Each shot made by the child made its mark, and the towering monsters fell with holes on their heads and masks. It was remarkable to see such youngling handle techniques in a manner that was professional. It reminded her of her days with her mentor, but of course... those days have passed.

Jim, for a moment, was lost in her thoughts until a hand took her and pulled her away just in time as a wounded Hollow fell like timber, crashing on the ground making it shake. She glances at the child, unsure where else to go, but she could sense the Hollows were restless. What attracted them here? The child? Does the child know how to suppress her reiatsu to make it undetected? Or was there more to this Ruin perhaps that was once Quincy grounds?

She noticed the mouth of the child move, speaking to her. The child assumed her as a Quincy, and wished to fight valiantly. She stopped in her tracks, looking at the child, unsure how to respond to her properly. She could not speak well, not in the conventional sense. She could not hear the Hollows, or the tone the child may have in her voice, but she could feel the pressure around them, the vibrations on her soles, her skin. The thuds and the roars all translated as vibrations in the air. She kept her greenish blue eyes on the child, pausing, a hesitance, before resuming her neutral face.

"Jim." She says, her voice monotonous, the syllable rolling out of her tongue in an odd manner. She spoke, but it sounded odd. But enough for the word to be recognizable. The child did not know who she was, might as well give a name.

Then without a word, she makes a quick turn, her hands drawn out in a position as if she was holding something, and a vibration was concentrated in her hands, materializing and forming a bowgun from thin air right where her hands were positioned. She made quick work, making two shots that were far apart on both ends. The shot placement was rather odd, as the Hollows, what was left of them that is, was right in front on them, and nowhere near the shots.

But Jim had a plan. Her eyes, dead focused, waited as the Hollows stumbled towards them, getting closer and closer in a matter of meters...

| Cochem ruins. | → | A young girl. | → | Cautious, focused. | → | Introduced herself to the girl verbally and materialized her bowgun, and made two shots that were far apart from each other on each side. |

SPOILER: Click to show

{OOC}

[Yuki & Yui Tsumugi]

47 paragraphs counted, so that's 235 TP total!