Stranded (DE, R, Closed)

[Hotaru Kuchiki-Masurao]

Hotaru watched as the woman heard her full name and then seemed to stand up straighter. Obviously, this woman had heard of her family. She wasn't surprised. Most, if not all, of the souls in Soul Society should know of the Kuchikis. She nodded towards Maria when she said it was a pleasure to meet her. It was interesting when she turned back to Asen that her charm immediately came back on. Yeah, this lady was a piece of work.

She watched Asen react to her. He was like her not too long ago. It seems like no one has ever flirted with him either. He was a rather good-looking guy. He asked if she saw the events happen and to tell them what she saw. She could also tell that Asen really didn't like this woman. It was very irritating to him and she was just chuckling to herself. She kept her eyes peeled, but she didn't sense anything.

Then, when the woman said she would remember more if he relaxed, she almost busted out laughing. This woman was being very forward with him and he wasn't catching on at all. He immediately answered with that he had to keep his guard up, staying vigilant even if she wasn't around. It's not what she meant, but it was a good answer. She could feel laughter coming from Rivu~aiasan as well. He was getting a kick out of it too.

While Asen was standing there, she did a quick look around. She didn't see anything abnormal and nothing felt off. She was curious if she had seen anything and hoped that this woman would get the hint soon and tell them. She didn't want to be here any longer than she had to be. It seemed like Asen was thinking the same thing as she was. This woman was really trying a little too hard to impress him. It was annoying her as well.

Finally, Maria was getting down to brass tacks. She obviously thought that she could sway him with her looks, but he shot her down. She said that it started about a week ago. She saw a bright flash of lightning in the middle of the day, which was odd in and of itself. When her and her 'minions' went to go check, they found a smoldering ring in back alleys outside a few buildings.

This made her think. She knew of nothing that would do that. She continued to say that when that appeared is when the disappearances started. They were even finding a shirt and a skirt in the ash from the circle. She was still trying to use her feminine wiles against him. It was now starting to get annoying to watch. She did mention something interesting though. People that go to this circle don't return and she wanted him to check it out.

The next thing made her laugh out loud. Maria moved in for a kiss and Asen side stepped her. She almost fell face first into the ground before she caught herself and played it off. Asen then told her thank you and they needed to get going. When he said right Hotaru, she could tell that he was pretty much pleading with her to leave this place now. She nodded towards him and stood up from the wall.

"Yes Asen, we do need to get going. Also, Maria, you lower yourself when you do what you just did with Asen. Make a man respect you for your mind, not drool over you for your body. It's disgraceful. Also, next time a guy doesn't seem interested, leave it alone. But, if we need to talk to you again, I'll do the asking and hopefully, you can answer me more quickly than you did with Asen. Thank you ma'am, we're going to check out that 'smoldering circle' you mentioned." She then quickly walked out of the store, Asen in tow.

"Wow, that lady did not know when to quit. She was flirting with you Asen. Trying to get you mesmerized by her beauty so she could do what she wanted. Thankfully, that didn't happen this time. Hopefully, that crazy woman won't do that again and we don't have to come back. So, Asen, are you ready to go check out the smoldering circle that she was talking about? Hopefully we won't disappear." Hotaru started walking towards the alleys, leaving enough space so that Asen can easily walk beside her.

[Asen Mahawa]

Asen felt relieved when Hotaru agreed on going ahead and leave. Maria however seemed disappointed that her lips didn't come in contact with Asen's. "Fine fine... Its such a waste though." Maria mumbled as she watched them leave the store. However Maria wasn't through on getting Asen's heart wrapped around her finger. She sighs as she walks back to the back room and vanish from sight.

Asen listened to Hotaru's statements after they left the store. He sighed when she stated that the woman was flirting with him and he knew it too. He just purposely pretended to be oblivious of all the hints and signs. "Honestly if she wants to flirt with good looking men then she's looking at the wrong person. I mean sure she was good looking herself, but it was the way she act, the way she walked is when i could tell that she thinks she could get any man she wants. She would be better off with Kagami because there's nothing attractive about me whatsoever." Another thing is that he's not all that thrilled being in another relationship with someone else.

"I would assume so, but..." His voice trailed off as he thought about what Maria was saying. He's not sure if it was just him, but he has a feeling that something was off. "Doesn't it seem rather odd though? Maria kind of contradict herself when she said that she and her guys went to check it out. Yet she said that anyone who went into that circle disappeared as well. So how come she's still here?" He asked Hotaru as he was already degrading on what has taken place.

[Hotaru Kuchiki-Masurao]

Hotaru walked and listened to what Asen had said. When he mentioned that she would be better off with Kagami-senpai, she laughed out loud. "I don't think even Kagami-senpai would deal with her. She is attractive, but she tries to hard to get men. I'm pretty sure that Kagami-senpai wouldn't like that about her. But, honestly Asen, everyone has qualities that are attractive to people. I'm assuming what she thought was attractive with you is your body tone.

But, I would never see you in that way. You're a good friend Asen and I have no interest more than that. Though, honestly, I didn't think about the contradiction until you mentioned it. It is odd that when she went to go 'check it out' she remained healthy and safe while everyone else supposedly disappeared. It makes me think that the only reason that she would be safe is because she's the cause of these disappearances or she's working with the person responsible."

They continued walking around the back alleys until she saw it. A huge smoldering circle in the middle of the alleys. Since her energy sensory is so poor, she couldn't tell if anything was different about it or not. But, since Asen was a good Kido user, she figured that he might be able to sense something that she couldn't. "Well, this looks like the place. I can't sense anything odd about it, but my energy sensory is pretty poor. Asen, I want you to go look at this circle and see if you can sense anything. I'll be right behind you, but be careful. We don't need to go disappearing."

[Asen Mahawa]

"And I repeat there's nothing attractive about me whatsoever." He stated in denial. Though he does appreciate it when she said that she doesn't view him that way. Besides he couldn't afford to be distracted by any lingering thoughts such as romantic relationships. He's on a mission and he's making it his top priority. Plus he already made a vow a long time ago that he wouldn't love anybody like that. Anyone who tries to do so, well Maria is a perfect example.

"I'd like to keep it that way, no more than that..." A flash of his past occurs in his mind after he said that. If it weren't for the rain, Hotaru would see that his eyes were watering up. But with the rain pouring down on then it'll be hard to see them. 'Never again will I witness that happening again... In order to do so... I can't let anyone in...' He vowed to himself mentally as they approach the smoldering ring.

He listened to Hotaru's statements while inspecting the ring and everything around them. To him its quite obvious on who's responsible here. But he's going to keep his mouth shut because he's not in charge and as such he shouldn't make the calls. When she said that she had poor sensing for Reiatsu he had the idea of what she was getting at. So he went ahead and sensed the circle or tried to anyway. Its not Kido, but its Reiatsu is similar to a Shinigami. It has him confused now for how could it have Reiatsu similar to Shinigamis? "This is odd I know, but its not Kido yet its Reiatsu is similar to a Shinigami... I'm afraid this is rather unknown to me."

[Hotaru Kuchiki-Masurao]

Hotaru thought that it was interesting that he wanted to keep stating that there was nothing about him attractive. No matter how much he says it, there will still be people that will think he's attractive. They just might not be as forward as that Maria lady was. But, that was neither here nor there. But, it seemed like a weight was lifted off of him when she said that she wasn't interested in him that way.

She just now remembered the weather outside. It was pouring outside. Asen then told her that he would like to keep their relationship as friends. She would tell him that she is already involved with someone, but she wasn't even going to trust Asen with that kind of information. Since Asmoskon was still a Quincy and she didn't know how he felt about Quincies, she kept that to herself. There must be something there that makes him not want to do antyhing like that, but she kept it to herself.

She watched Asen inspecting the ring and then even more thoroughly after she asked him to inspect it. She was looking at it and she couldn't tell anything was off, besides the ring itself. While he was walking around, she stood a little bit farther away from it. Since she didn't know much about Kido and the like, she didn't want to get too close and then something happen and she would be in over her head.

She listened to what Asen said about this circle. He said it was odd because he said that it wasn't Kido but the reiatsu signature is similar to a shinigami. He said it was completely unknown to him and she had no idea. Honestly, this whole mission was a little over her head because she knew nothing about Kido. "Well, that is rather odd. The only thing that I can think of that it would work this way would be if it was engineered by shinigami. And that makes me think of Squad Twelve. But, I don't want to accuse them of something that they didn't do. It could be other scientists. Also Asen, if you see anything that I don't, please tell me. You know more about Kido and related items than I do. I welcome what you have to say."

[Asen Mahawa]

Asen nods in agreement as he knelt to the ground for a closer examination. There was something about this ring other than the signature that seemed to be drawing Asen's attention. Its nothing physical about the ring that's interesting, it feels like there's still a presence hanging over this circle. Unfortunately its so faded that even Asen couldn't tell who's signature it was. Just to see what'll happen, he places the palm of his right hand on the outer circle.

However the moment Asen's hand was just inches from the ground, Asen felt a sudden spike of Reiatsu as suddenly two bright orange tendrils comes from behind them so close and fast that Asen couldn't react as the tendrils binds both Asen's arms and Hotaru's as well. In case Hotaru tried anything, two cold blades of steel appears behind Hotaru. However the blades doesn't cause serious damage, though one blade the size of a katana pressed tightly against Hotaru's throat that a trickle of blood would run down due to the slight cut just above her left artery. One move from Hotaru could end up severing her head or just slit her throat. "Move and I'll rip that pretty face of yours." A familiar voice spoke behind Hotaru's right ear in a threatening tone. The other blade was a wakizashi or in other words a short blade version of a katana pressed against Hotaru's abdomen.

Asen knows this better than anyone that this is Horin. Of course with just a flex of his Reiatsu he could've broken it with no problem. Except when he looked over to Hotaru he also saw Maria standing behind Hotaru with blades pressed dangerously close to both of Hotaru's vital areas. "Shouldn't have turned down my offer love, at least i would've saved you for a century before handing you off." Maria spoke to Asen who was still on his knees with both of his arms binded to his side.

"Its never too late though. I could prolong your life if you promise to be by my side." Maria offered as she was making sure that Hotaru wasn't going anywhere by keeping a firm grip on her swords. "Screw you lady." Asen spat as he angry but only towards Maria who sneered at Asen's remark. "How dare you! Just for that I take back my offer! Instead I'll send you to your worst nightmare that never ends! Move into the ring or else I'll remove pretty girl's head here!" Asen was clearly angry at Maria, but he gets up to his feet and slowly walks to the middle of the ring.

Maria's Stats:
Class 3 Shadow

Strength; 125+25%= 156
Speed; 200+50%= 300
Spiritual Pressure; 75
Reiatsu Strength; 75-25%= 56
Light; 30
Dark; 70
Instinct; 125+50%= 188
Senses; 50-50%= 25
Energy Sensory; 50-50%= 25
Healing Expertise; 0
Total SP; 800

[Hotaru Kuchiki-Masurao]

Hotaru watched as Asen got closer to the circle and put his hand over the circle. Right when he did so, she watched as tendrils shot out from it so fast that she wasn't able to avoid the Horin. She knew it was Horin because it had been used against her multiple times by Asen himself. Right when she was captured by the Horin Kido, she felt something appear behind her and felt stell against her throat.

She knew it was a katana. She could tell by feel alone. She has been around katanas for her entire human life. She knows all about them from her father. She knew she could break out of the Horin but with that blade so close to her throat, she wasn't sure that she could break out of the Horin without getting her throat slit by that sword. She could watch Asen's face and he was surprised by this too.

Then, if that wasn't enough, there was a wakizashi pressed against her back. Then the person spoke, saying move and she would rip her face. It was Maria. She knew there was something fishy about that woman. What annoyed her the most was that she was using a samurai's main weapons against her. She had trained with both of these weapons all through her human life. She would try to break free, but that sword was so close to her juglar and the woman was so much faster than her, she knew that she couldn't move without her striking her.

The wakizashi also posed a problem. Even if she could avoid the blade at her throat, that weapon was so close to her back that she could easily stab her through the back. Because, the only way she could think of to get out of the katana blade was to actually give her a body shot. Her second weapon prevented even that. She couldn't think of any way to easily get out of this predicament.

All the while she was thinking this, Asen and Maria were talking. It seemed that Asen's life would be spared if he would stay by the crazy woman's side. He, of course, declined. Then, she demanded that he walk inside the circle or else she would be hurt. She felt the blood coming out of the small wound in her neck. She honestly couldn't move. She watched while Asen moved towards the circle. She wanted to scream no, but the blade prevented her. She just looked at Asen, wanting to tell him telepathically not to do it. She hoped the look would work just as well.

[Asen Mahawa]

Asen could see that Hotaru didn't want him to do that, but he didn't want to risk her life. 'Not again...' He thought to himself as he was once again felt helpless in this situation. Only this time he could move, last time he was forced to watch something he loved devoured right in front of his eyes. Its why he joined the Shinigami ranks, to have power. That was all he wanted, to have the power to slay every Hollow in his path.

Reluctantly, he obeyed what Maria ordered him to do by walking into the middle of the circle. As he was walking into the middle, the outer ring starts to spark to life with multiple violent currents of electricity flowing in a low circle. Maria just grin as she watches Asen's every step. "Don't worry loves, you won't die just yet. The ring only takes you into a special place. Where there's nothing but you're nightmares coming into life!" She sounds mad as she laughs in that manner. Then she leers at Asen like she was looking at prey. "But first..." The moment Asen stepped into the middle he was suddenly swallowed up with violent yellow electricity from what seems to be coming from the ground. Asen was overwhelmed for it felt like thousands upon thousands of sharp needles were piercing his flesh from head to toe.

He immediately collapsed to his knees as it lasted for only 30 seconds. However he was only pretending to be actually hurt by this Kido. His strength in Reiatsu cloaks his body, which overpowers Maria's Tsuzuri Raiden. But to make it more convincing he purposely collapsed to his knees and his breath was knocked out of his lungs as he seemed to breathless like the 'pain' is too much to take in. Plus it doesn't help that he has a strong pain tolerance as well.

"Now that is more suiting for you. You should bow down to those who are obviously more powerful than you can possibly get." She said as she moves at the speed of 300 to remove the blade from Hotaru's throat and uses Shō to push Hotaru into the ring. "Have fun!" Maria called out enthusiastically to them just before the ring activates and everything becomes black. Like it didn't feel like they were dead according to Asen who had so many close calls of death and even died once when he was human.

The sounds of waves crashing into the shore filled the air. The warmth of the sand pressed against his face was hot but the gentle hot kind. The air smelled of salt and it was pretty humid out here. All of Asen's clothes is dried and is uncomfortably hot against Asen's skin. Asen cracks open his eye that wasn't covered in sand to see that it was sunny and they were indeed in a beach. Then he gets up to his hands and knees to shrug off the layer of sand off his left side of the face. Looking around, over at the ocean is what seems like an endless horizon. Over the otherside was a tropical forest with palm trees dotted on either side of the beach. Laying about a few feet above him was Hotaru. "Where the hell are we?"

[Hotaru Kuchiki-Masurao]

Hotaru watched in horror as Asen walked into the circle. She didn't want him to do this for her, but it was nice to see that she had another good friend in the making with Asen. He was willing to do a great deal to make sure that she wasn't going to get hurt. It made her feel good, but she hated that he had to walk to the center of that circle thing, whatever it was. She hoped that it wasn't going to do anything too bad to him.

Once he started walking into the circle, she noticed that the outer ring had been activated, giving off currents of electricity in a low flowing circle. She tried to even wiggle a little bit, but the katana and short sword kept poking into her too much to do anything. This Maria woman kept rambling about things and then once Asen hit the middle of the circle, he got swallowed up with yellow electricity.

The next time she was able to see him, he collapsed to his knees. She knew that this had to be a Kido that was being used against him. She also knew his reiatsu strength was fairly high. She figured from how weak this Horin was that was binding her, that whatever Kido that was being used in the circle wasn't affecting him as well as he played off. From what she could see, he should be an actor with the performance he was giving.

She was smiling at his act, while Maria was just eating it up. She thought that she was stronger than him. She was fast, but the strength she highly doubted. If it wasn't for her speed, they would've beat her already. But, while she was thinking this and without warning, this crazy woman used her full speed to remove the swords from her and pushed her towards the circle. It caught her completely off guard.

Thankfully, during the push, she easily broke out of the Horin, so she was able to catch herself when she finally stopped falling. Once she reached the center circle, everything went dark. She had a little bit of a panic attack, but she was already dead. There really wasn't too much more that could be done to her already. She took a few deep breaths to center herself. She felt no pain, so that was a good thing.

While she was in the middle of another thought, she heard something that she had never really heard before. Waves. She felt the ground and it was pretty hot on her face. She got up as quickly as she dared. While she was getting up to a standing position, she started to look around. It was actually the ocean. She had never been able to see the ocean while she was alive, so she just stared at it. It was a big as she had read about and just as beautiful. She stood mesmerized for a minute before Asen said something.

It was him talking that snapped her out of her staring out to the horizon. She then looked around to see the rest of the area they landed it. She tried her energy sensory, but since it was so poor, she couldn't feel anything. It only meant that there wasn't a huge presence close to them, which she assumed was a good thing. She did see the forest on the other side of this area. She's never seen one of those either. This place was interesting. "Honestly, Asen, I have no idea where we are. She said that the ring would take us to a 'special' place where our nightmares come to life. I've never been to a place like this. Have you?"

[Asen Mahawa]

Of course this wasn't the first time he seen the ocean for he once went to the beach near Karakura with Yukari. That felt so long ago though, yet it was still fresh in his mind. The memories of that time caused him to smile as he stared off into the ocean. He wasn't getting any funny thoughts of course, but he can't help but wonder what Maria meant by their nightmares coming to life. If Asen didn't know any better, he would've assumed that this was paradise to him.

After carefully looking around and scanning for Reiatsu, he came to one conclusion at least. "Well good news is that we're still in the Soul Society, so we can get back still if we can make some kind of transport." Then his crimson red eyes scan through the beach on all sides. "I would like to suggest that we have a look around and see what this place is like. Hopefully we can find fresh water and food along the way. But of course its your call Hotaru." He had mentally reminded himself that she was the superior officer here, so naturally she makes the call as a leader.

There's also another thing that he finds odd is that there's no unusual Reiatsu here. No Hollow Reiatsu, or even a Soul's Reiatsu for that matter. Then again his sensing can only go so far, right now though Hotaru needs to make the call. Plus Asen has a feeling that the real danger is at night. Judging from the sun's height in the sky, its around midday now.

[Hotaru Kuchiki-Masurao]

Hotaru continued to stare at the ocean while the sun beat down on her. She knew that they couldn't just stand here all day. They needed to get provisions and some kind of shelter. But, there was at least one good thing about this place, she could finally see the ocean. Thankfully, they didn't lose anything they were wearing, so her zanpaktou could help with cutting down some trees and his kido could help with that as well.

She turned around when Asen started to speak. He said that the good news about this entire situation is that they were still in Soul Society. That was good news. If they could make some transport they could get back. They would have to salvage for that as well. It was going to be a little difficult, but hopefully nothing they can't handle. He also suggested having a look around and see what this place is like, hoping for find fresh food and water. She was going to say the same thing.

"I was going to suggest the same thing, Asen. We definitely need to take a look around this area. Especially the jungle over there. If I know my animals correctly, the worst ones that could live in that jungle will be out at night, so we need to find shelter, make a fire and get provisions like you suggested. I'm assuming most of our provisions can be found in the jungle, so we might as well head in there."

Since she decided to head towards the jungle, she started slowly walking off in its direction, hoping Asen would be following behind her. She would suggest splitting up to get things done quicker. But, since she had no idea what was waiting for them in a place like this, it was far better to stay together and tackle things with two people instead of just one. Once they reached the edge of the jungle, she could hear all the animal noises within. At least they could get meat. "Alright Asen, let's head in."

[Asen Mahawa]

Asen was no longer being the depressed guy, though he's also focusing more on survival than anything else. At least his eyes are burning with life now. Heck if you compare how he was earlier to now, you can see the difference. There's just one thing that he still lacks though. He still lacks the motivation on being happy, so he's not all the way back yet. However it is a start.

He looks around as they approached the jungle. Though he couldn't help but notice some coconuts high up on the palm trees. His hand points up at them as they were walking by them. "There's some coconuts, we can use those to keep us hydrated for a while." He tells her as he does has some knowledge on some things. Only problem is that he doesn't have anything that's sharp to crack open the coconuts. And he's pretty sure Hotaru doesn't want to use her Zanpakutou either.

[Hotaru Kuchiki-Masurao]

Hotaru watched as Asen did perk up a bit. It was a good start. Maybe focusing on their survival in this place was actually helping him. It made her feel better, but they were still stuck in this place. It was a nice place to visit, but she didn't want to get stuck here for too long. Once they actually got to the edge of the jungle and she got the chance to look around, the forest was a lot thicker than she thought it would be.

She heard Asen tell her that there were some coconuts that they could use for hydration. She looked around and saw a lot more coconut trees. At least they had some water. But, how to get to the coconuts. She decided to actually climb the tree. She didn't tell anyone this, but she was a fairly good climber. She looked to Asen. "Guard my back, I'll be right down." She then made sure her zanpaktou was fastened securely and started up the tree.

She started the climb up. It wasn't too bad, just not a tree she was used to. She slowly made her way up the tall tree. She kept looking down to make sure that they were in the clear. She kept going until she got to the very top. Once she got there, she looked around to try to see the setup of what they were actually in. It looked like they were on an island. The ocean was on the left, jungle to the right for as far as she could see.

Once she got to the coconuts, she was able to pretty much hit them hard and they were loosened enough to fall. "Look out below!" She was able to get a few coconuts down from the tree. Then, she made her way even more slowly down the tree. She didn't want to fall off and get hurt. Once she made it down the tree, she knew that they had to find a way to open these coconuts. She wasn't going to use her zanpaktou to open them.

She looked around for any pointy rocks. Thankfully there were a few that dotted the shoreline. "Hey, just bash these coconuts against these sharp rocks. That would be the easiest way to crack them open." She started to bash her coconut against the rock. After a few swift hits, she was able to crack the top open. She got the top off and then slowly drank out of the coconut. Thankfully, they didn't need to worry about that for a bit.

She walked over to where Asen was. Hopefully, he wouldn't have too much trouble with his coconut either. She thought about their next course of action. It was midday, so they didn't really need to worry too much about shelter yet, but they were going to need to get meat somehow. "Okay, we can either both try to hunt down some meat for us to eat, or one of us could hunt while the other starts to build a temporary shelter and fire. What are your thoughts on the matter?"

[Asen Mahawa]

Asen nodded as she said she would climb up. As soon as she starts climbing, he turns his back to the tree while keeping an eye out for any hostiles or even signs of life. Knowing that this is probably an island, there had to be some life forms such as birds, animals, or even snakes and such. He can only hope that there isn't any unnamed natives living here. Things would be both interesting and not good if there were natives on this island.

However with a quick scan for Reiatsu around them all he could sense was multiple wild lifeforms. So as far as he's concerned there's no natives here. Unless there's souls here who's signature is like an animal or is good at hiding their Reiatsu. Which he doubt's the first part, but if there is human souls out here then the second part would seem the most likely choice. As for Hollows, he doesn't detect them in the area around them. Of course he can't exactly get a clear picture for the island is a decent size but still big. But he's confident that there's no Hollows around them yet.

He had his hands tucked in his sleeves of his robes as he honestly feels like there's not much to worry about for now. His crimson eyes scanning their surroundings to make sure that there really wasn't anything like a charging Hollow or something coming for them. Thankfully it seemed his sensing for Reiatsu was correct. There's nothing big and hostile coming their way, but still its best to use all of his senses rather than just half assing on things. Last thing he needs is to slip up and there might be a large Hollow charging at them.

About 2 minutes or so passed since Hotaru started to climb up on the tall palm tree. Nothing much was happening down here, until he suddenly hears "Look out below!" He just looked up in time to see a couple coconuts falling down. One of the coconuts almost smacked on his face, but it just brushed past his hair and landed behind him. The other landed a little ways to the left with a loud thump on the ground. Just hearing that to Asen sounded like it would've hurt if it happened to have smack him somewhere.

Asen turns to the coconut behind him and kneels down to pick it up in his hands. It felt kind of rough on touch and honestly felt like it could be as hard as a rock. He proved his point as he finds a pointy rock nearby and smacks the coconut into it a few times. Of course he doesn't have much strength to begin with, but he doesn't even put a dent in it at all. He frowned at it as he thought how to crack it open without chunking it into the ocean.

Then he figured something out, and might as well try it since he has no other alternative really. He holds the coconut in a firm grip towards the ocean for he's not sure if this would work or not. Then he places his index finger on one end of the coconut. 'Byakurai.' A flash of pale blue lightning pierces right through the coconut. "Heh, think you can't break on me is the wrong idea." He was talking to the coconut before he places the coconut with the hole pressed to his lips. The water pours out and seeps into Asen's mouth.

Come to find out that Asen was indeed dehydrated from both being soaked by that rain and also from basically getting roasted by the sun. So he practically drank all of the water from the coconut that he held in his hand. Black was definitely not a good combination with the sun bearing down on them. Of course he can ignore the heat all day long, but he can't stop from being dehydrated. So he removes his upper part of his uniform as it practically hangs around his waist due to his sash. Then he places the empty coconut down to the vegetation ground before turning his attention to Hotaru.

When she asked which would he prefer to do such as setting up a suitable shelter or go hunt. In truth Asen wishes to take up on hunting. However he only has Byakurai as his primary lethal weapon, so anything that he strikes with it is more likely going to have a searing hole in them which can run the meat. Plus she has a Zanpakutou which can be used to just as easily cut down the animals. That and he's sure her Zanpakutou doesn't want to be used to cut down trees and such. "I think I'll go a find a suitable shelter near the shore so that way we will have an easier time getting to the spot where we can build the raft."

Byakurai - 25
Reiatsu; 1835/1860

[Hotaru Kuchiki-Masurao]

She listened to Asen say that he would go find a suitable shelter so they can build a raft. It was a good idea. Hotaru didn't want to put her zanpaktou to the trees to chop them down for the shelter. Asen was starting to get out of his funk a little. She could see the officer in him show through. She knew it was always in him, but he was just so depressed, he didn't see it himself.

She quickly finished off her coconut water and nodded her agreement to Asen. "I agree with your assessment. It would be a lot easier for you to cut down more trees, and a lot quicker, than it would be for me. I'm assuming that they have something like deer in this jungle. Hopefully, I can get a big enough animal for us to eat. I don't know aobut you, but I haven't had much food today, and being under the sun like this, it's going to sap our strength more, so we need a lot of protein."

With that, she too took off the black part of her uniform, letting it hang down by her sash. She then adjusted her zanpaktou on her belt to adjust to the new outfit. She would've cut the sleeves off of the white robe underneath, but it would've made her burn quicker in the sun, which is not good. So, she would endure some of the heat, to keep her body from completely burning.

She then slowly made her way through the jungle. She wasn't much of a tracker, but if she could move slow enough and silent enough, her energy sensory can tell her when she's fairly close to animals. She picked her way through the jungle and from what she could see of it, it was massive and vast. It was an amazing jungle. She wished she could actually enjoy it, but she had a job to do.

After walking for about twenty to thirty minutes, she faintly heard a stream flowing. Well, it seems she found another source of water, which was good. It was also good because she was more likely to find animals around the stream, since every animal has to drink water. She walked even slower now. She stretched her senses to their limit, hoping to hear something coming out of the foilage.

She got lucky. She felt an animal presence, but she heard it before she felt it. She knew it was a good-sized animal. Once she saw the clearing, she looked for a place to see her new prey. It was a deer. Well, something that looked like a deer. She's seen the animal before as the jungle equivalent of a deer but she couldn't remember the name off the top of her head.

It was definitely good-sized. They would definitely be able to eat well tonight if she could snag it. Also, they could use its hide for warmth and the shelter as well. She slowly walked over to where it was. She had to be super careful. One snapped twig and the deer would bolt, and there goes dinner. Thankfully, she was able to find a path that took her to the same side of the stream as it, but she hadn't gotten close yet.

She unsheathed her sword while she was still far away from the beast. She closed in on it. Its ears were continuously moving, but it seemed her that it hadn't noticed her yet. She slowly made her way behind it, standing about five feet away from it now. She could tell that it was almost done drinking. Using her full speed, she ran up and stabbed the beast in the jugular vein in the neck. Well, she just stabbed all the way through the neck.

It spasmed a little before finally going down. She looked down at the poor beast. "I'm sorry, but we will use all of your body to help us with our needs. This was out of necessity. Thank you for providing for us." She then grabbed the deer by the front legs and hoisted it onto her back. Due to her irregular strength, she was able to carry it, but just barely.

It took her another thirty to forty minutes to get out of the jungle and back to the shore. By the time she had gotten back to the shore, she could see Asen. But, she was completely exhausted from carrying the meat back to camp. She had various small cuts on her arms and face from carrying the deer back. She, on shaky legs, slowly made her way to Asen. She dropped the animal near him and said, "Here is our meal." Then, she passed out on the shoreline.