The Woods Whisper [DP, Hard]

[Kaen Youji]

Mercifully, it did seem the bodies had been treated and there wasn't an awful rotting smell in the air. The room smelled like formaldehyde, and cleaning agents. It smelled sterile. Erina grinned broadly as Aldwin found her joke amusing. "Thank fuck you've got a sense of humor." She added, strutting around the room like she owned the place. She did listen to what Aldwin had to say at least though. "I saw that too. That coulda been a Hollow. They've got twisted bodies sometimes, and they do get pretty big. I'll admit we don't patrol out of the way areas like this much so one could have slipped by our radar. It's possible. Might have been a released arrancar, though we should have picked something like that up." She commented.

"I agree. I'm pretty sure this is spiritual. It's something spiritual anyways. These aren't things a normal human can do. But if it's a Hollow, why didn't it eat them? Hmm..." Erina looked at Aldwin as he complimented her. "Well of COURSE I'll figure it out! I'm a genius afterall!" She boasted, as she suddenly seemed to have a thought. "Wait... strange readings... not eaten.... Not arrancar.... Massive hand..." She seemed to think of something. "Unless the culprit isn't the one who killed them. There is at least one race we have a record of that typically battles by using summoned creatures... And they'd leave the bodies too... They have corporeal bodies, but they feed on reiatsu, rather than the actual flesh... It's possible..." She looked at Aldwin. "We could go and check out the crime scene or go give this Audrey a chat. Maybe check with the families? It's your call. If I'm wrong (even though I'm never wrong), I won't be able to talk to the woman anyways."

[Deleted]

Still far from being well-versed in any of this spiritual stuff as it is, Aldwin cocked his head at the mention of some sort of summoning race. Seemed a little bizarre, even for spirit magic, no? Still though, out of politeness he let her finish what she had to say before commenting. "I think it might be a better option for us to hit up this Audrey first. Better to give the families some time to mourn, hopefully they'll be a little more level-headed for the questioning to come, y'know? Also, before we head out; what exactly did you mean by a race of people using summoned creatures? That's... a little worrisome, no? And that 'feeding on reiatsu' business? Does that make them some kind of spirit vampire or something?"

Aldwin let out a sigh, still trying to wrap his head around that thought. Sure, he knew of Hollows, Shinigami, and of course Quincy, but he more or less thought that was the end of those shenanigans. The world really was larger than he thought, huh? Likely while Erina was responding, Aldwin started to leave the building, and motioned for her to follow, hopefully as a 'walk and talk' kind of thing. That, plus he had no idea how long it'd take the two of them in order to head into the woods to find this place. Could be quick, as he was hoping, but there was also a chance that could very much not be the case, so he wanted to get a head start.