Ballet of Blood, Orchestra of Embers

Food for thought?
Myst, the Queen of the Reikon Kyuuban, was on the prowl. Although the ground behind her was as blood soaked as her past, the whole twenty something years that her power called out her, a total swath of blood and gore. She was content, as scary as it was. Coming from the new vampire who had no desire to kill, and now she was their ruler, and few questioned it. The only way one could strip her of that title was to kill her, and only two people have ever come close. Her fangs had tasted three "meals" that night, and it was time for her midnight snack.

Picking up the spiritual sent of a Shinigami in the area, she smirked, Tonight, her hunting would be glorous or not so much, depending on the prey's state of being. Leaving behind the prison that had sated her hunger for many nights, she set in search of this target. She flew, yes, flew, as if she had wings, but none could be seen. Her black garments against the night sky, invisible. The only way someone could deem a human-like form was above them was if they saw the pink, dark pink, hair.

She found the being that set her off not far from her intial "resturant", if the term could be applied. The being was surely female, as even at a distance in the dark, Myst's eyes were as sharp as ever. She had black hair and was well built. She would make a meal all her own. Myst landed nearby with a soft thump sound, and strode over to her.

Dai Sanji was keeping up a steady pace, walking forward underneath the moonlit sky. Body exhaling plumes of mist in the cold weather, eyes reflecting the light that gleamed like newfound hope. Her samurai chassis, and gauntlets worn proudly, her Zanpakuto sheathed contently into the gauntlet on her left arm. Bun held in place, she was sent out here to exterminate a Hollow... which she had.

Now she was returning back to the Soul Society to formally complete her mission. But a walk was always nice...

Myst kept close, using the natural darkness to cloak herself. That is, until the moment when she needed to make herself known. After all, hunting was no fun unless there was a game of wits among the prey and predator, and needless to say, Myst knew how to play a game of wits. She stepped into the light of the moon, dispelling her cover and it didn't matter that the light was right in front of her target's path. "You're a Shinigami, right?" she asked, in a chilling voice. She could tell that the answer was yes, but the game had only begun.

Dai Sanji looked behind her, flinching somewhat at the sudden appearance of spiritual presence and physical known. Brow raised, "Who are you...?" body already tensing. Dai was not one of easy trust, sniffing the air, it felt stale... tainted with the aroma of bad wounds. Not yet answering this newly revealed figure...

Eyes focusing on each detail of the woman, she paid full attention, waiting to see how and what she replyed; analyzing in play.

"My name? Isn't it bad manners to ask that without naming yourself first? Ah well, manners be damned when you live like me. I'm Myst. I'm not a Shinigami, so don't ask who sent me here. I'm hunting, and that's all you're entitled to know, unless you ask the right questions." she said, a humorous smirk on her face. Whoever this woman is, she was as delightful to banter with as good old Shirosuke Kujo, the Flea himself. "Although, I can advise you that if you don't relax, I'm not going to be so kind as to divulge that which you probably want to know."

Dai Sanji didn't plan to 'relax', and she had no intentions to take heed of a person she was a stranger to. But... she could easily fake it, her body untensing as she stood up straight to look at this person. "I am Dai Sanji." "What do you want...?" brow raised once more, reminding herself to breath smoothly as to focus her spiritual wavelength; calming it's consistant unstable nature. Eyes gazing deep into the one she was facing...

"Nothing much. But you did ask the right question. You get to know more. I'm a vampire. Guess what we hunt? Humans and Shinigami. You just happen to be my fourth target tonight. I expected just a quick snack, but you seem like a fullblown meal. It's your lucky night too. I don't kill my food. I just eat what I can. You'll be fine. In fact, tomorrow, you'll think it's all a dream...other than the pinprick holes on your neck, of course. Any other questions?" Myst handed the open invitation to poke and prod at her entire existance. This discourse was a formality, but it also was part of how she played with her "food", by handing out information for no good reason other than to appear polite.

Eyes closed, she waited as the feel of her opponent's spiritual energy brushed against her. Her analyzing was at it's end. "You assume that you can even get that close..." body tensing, she twisted her arm, letting the blade of her Tanto reflect the glow of the moonlight into her opponent's eyes. Attempting to gain the edge in the cheap trick; Dai vanished with the aid of Shunpo.

Reappearing behind her foe, she lunged her arm forward. Her fighting style required that her blade be place in an underhand fashion, and she would bring the blade carving upward; targeting Myst's arm. To decapitate.

Myst's perfect eyesight in the dark was in fact ruined by that trick. No one's so much as thought to distract her like that. Too bad for Dai, her other senses were just as sharp, and her Zanpakto sharper still. She drew the blade from it's sheath with a slight -shink- sound, a dull noise to many, but the clang that was coming would alert any who felt as if their duel of words was too soft. Myst could feel the two swords clash as her eyesight started to become less of a blur. "You are a clever girl. Where did you learn to actually fight? I know the Shinigami don't exactly teach you that, or anything beyond just swinging madly." She could barely see, so she relied on the echoing of sounds to act as her vision for the time being, adding a whole new level to sonar, if one thought of vampire bats.

Dai Sanji kept her blade pushed against her opponent's, smirking to her opponent. "A member of the Second Division never reveals their secrets..." "That, and playing fair was always more of a foreplay." pushing against her foe, she shoved herself back.

Watching as her enemy remained poised, Dai Sanji smirked brilliantly. Using her Flashstep, she brought a copy of herself infront of her enemy, coming directly towards Myst. The real Dai descended from above, attempting to cleave her way downward. Cloaking her signature the best she could in hopes that her foe would be unsuspecting.

That time, Myst had little warning time because her hearing detected movement in two directions. This puzzled her, as there was only one person. Then again, her prey was a member of the second Division. That alone forced the twenty something year veteran of the night to think quickly. One was coming from above, and one from the front. That left her only one option until her sight fully kicked in again. Let the real one land an attack, and counter at the moment she felt the blade.

And just as she planned, Dai's sword began it's cleave. Myst's sole thought was how long it had been since someone other than Ryuichi Ishida, the only Quincy she could respect, had so much as touched her in fair combat. She used her own Flash-step, Ketsueki Butōkai, to get away from the stinging impact, leaving her non-sword arm slightly cut. As shallow as the wound was, it was a clean cut.

Closing her eyes to prevent what would possibly be the most brilliant attack that night, no pun intended, she moved the injured arm into position to fire off the one and only Kyūketsuki Ga Satsuei. It's red glare filled the void of the night like a firework going haywire. The crimson, Cero-like, blast flew directly at where Dai was, and it was moving faster than ever, showing why Myst was, at least as far as she knew, Queen.

On the alert; Dai Sanji eyes widened as the reaction time of this woman seemed so smooth; so quick to react. Body twisting in an attempt to evade the blast, using her spiritual energy to launch herself away in a roll to the side. Albeit; that would not stop the damage that she had attempted to evade.

Her leg had taken quite a bit of the damage, hissing in pain as plumes of smoke rolled off her garb, the spiritual burns wracking her lower half. "Lucky shot..." Standing up slowly, she smirked lightly despite the pain, "But your gonna pay for that...!" gritting her teeth, vanishing yet again. The sound of tinkling bells filled the air...

The twin senbon of Choshinsei's hilt.

All around Myst, the resonating echoed. Intangible images flickered back and forth into existance around her. All sharing an equal amount of spiritual presence, the real target hiding among them. They called out, ringing together, "Come on!"

Great. The woman took out two of her senses. Sight and hearing weren't as trustworthy now, which meant that now, she was as defenseless as a new born kitten. Dai really did know how to disable her, she was as good a hunt as Ryuichi, albeit, Ryuichi had more in the way of killing intent. Regardless of intent, however, it was always the game which lured Myst to strong targets more than the desire to become strong herself. "You shouldn't taunt me. So many people have tried to bait me, and not many have lived that long after."

Dai licked her lips, some of them laughing, some gritting their teeth. The rest remained silent. A total of ten surronded her vampiric enemy. All speaking once more, "You should already know... I don't like being told what to do..."

One rushed directly towards the back of Myst, while two others used Flashstep to come at her from the sides, planning to attack her legs. Blades drawn, they would slice up their enemy with brilliance if done effectively. The rest from the front began vanishing and reappearing once more, quite erraticaly, waiting for her opponent to react...

Waiting to see the openings she was bound to provide. "Ha!"

Myst knew that something, three somethings rather, were closing in. There was only one way out. She focused her spiritual energy and turned into a bat. The now batty vampire royalty took to the skies like a small, furry dart. Finally her eyes adjusted to the darkness, just as they always had, but the clanging threw her for a loop. That was enough to disorient her still. Once she was high enough, she disabled her transformation, turning to normal and decending down slowly. She landed on the tip of Dai's sword, balancing like she had been there the whole time.

The three Dai's cooed as Myst stood upon their blades. "Don't you know a trap... when you see one?" the clones reached their other arms forward. Grasping their opponent's legs. And with that action... three more Dai's rushed forward, blades ready to impale her foe. The real Dai amongst them, "Should have been more careful!" the three attackers triggered a Flashstep; doubling their speed and force into the combination attack.

Myst only needed to hear that it was a trap. She knew that the other woman was more of a challenge than what she expected. Because she didn't know which was real, Kuro no Me was useless at that point, leaving her only her Zanpakto. "Light the sky, Gesshoku." she whispered to the darkness, causing a chain to erupt from the pommel. One fourth of the guage. It was all that was needed. "Hoshi!" she yelled, sending a fireball down as she swung, burning the clones. Needless to say, even though she could now twist herself to remove the fatal aspect of the incoming attack, she still had the three others coming at her.

Blood. That one word filled Myst's head as the three swords speared her. It was all she felt, all she thought of. Not one attack was fatal, but it still caused pain to flow through her. How she was able to move away from the lethal attacks and shift around to save her life, anyone could guess and no one would know for sure.

Dai Sanji grimaced at the loss of three of her clones, the remaining seven again dispersed, all standing still. Letting the dull silent winds brush against her senbon, giving the fields a pristine reveberation. Licking her lips, she was enjoying this more then she should have been. "So... I give you another twenty minutes till those wounds drain out all your blood..."

Tilting their heads, the one nearest to Myst cooed. "And I gurantee there will be many more after we're through with you..." all Dai needed to do was keeping playing the way she had been, to fight dirty, to keep her foe on the defensive.

It was her own personal key to success.

Suddenly... all their bodies tensed, "Senmaioroshi!" and the clones vanished one at a time... each would come from various sides, ready to slice her opponent into pieces. The real one being the second to do so if the first failed it's sequence.

Myst knew that unless she fed soon, even her healing wouldn't save her. That's when her unique, even by Reikon Kyuuban standards, transformation kicked in. The only thing other that could save her life, other than turning a town into an all you can eat buffet of course, was her Kyuketsuki Suteji. It's unique properties allowed her healing process to speed up enough to prevent total blood loss, although once the form ended, she'd revert to a bloody mess.

Her transformed appearance was a mild alteration. Her mismatched eyes both became as crimson as what she sought, blood, and her hair as white as the snow. To make it more complicated for both parties in this duel, her already above average senses took another boost, making it a matter of simple movements to block the seven swords that tried to best her.

The first was from the front, and was the first to fall from a counter, in the form of a slash at the waist. The second clone was tossed to the side while the third and fourth were killed in manners alike to the first. Five, six and seven each got lucky shots in, her body feeling fatigued from all the wounds she had aquired. But they likewise fell as the others. The Bloody Queen's gift was different from any other. It's one gift to the user was her power was raised to new hights, and she was much less frail.

Dai Sanji's eyes widened as this vampire took on a more powerful stance. The reietsu was evident, felt all over her skin, giving her goosebumps, applying pressure to her armor and chest. Hissing slightly, she had run out of clones, and now she was one on one with her foe once more. Speed wouldn't be enough anymore... she had to play the next card in her hat of tricks.

"Burn the Earth, and rattle the skies, Choshinsei!", a torrent of flames washed over her own body, seemingly igniting her form in fire. Her Tanto's blade extended another foot, allowing it to become a full Katana. The steel was thick, holes oddly placed in pairs on either side of the sword as they went up.

Suddenly, the waves of spiritual pressure parted, the flames dying off as embers, revealing the new Zanpakuto. Her Shikai.

"Choshinsei, guide my hands to wield you properly..." exhaling a plume of air from her lips, breasts heaving. Her unstable spiritual pressure gradually balanced itself. A slowly... the sight of what looked like steam progressively trickled out of the holes in her Shikai's blade.

Spiritually augmented oxygen particles. Body tensing... ready to wait for foe's next attack.

Myst pondered for a moment on what that was coming from the now released sword. Shikai releases themselves weren't scary, rather, the effects were. And every blade had a new risk, a never-before-seen snare, something. But any that produced smoke, steam or any gas in general was the most feared in her book.

At that moment, Myst held the upper hand because of her form, but at any given moment, that balance could reverse. She could already feel her body screaming from the force that her new form provided her. But perhaps, it was all in her head and it was the previous wounds she aquired during the fight.

"Intersting release. Let's see how in handles against my own." Again, her gauge was only one-fourth full, but this time, it wasn't enough. She needed the next segment to alight before she could deal an effective counter.

Full Potential, Hidden No More!
Dai Sanji paced lightly, just back and forth... taking her time, studying her opponent. She would need to make sure to keep her on the defensive again. That seemed to be key. And if that was really it... then she had an idea of what to do next.

"Something quite amazing really..." eyes focusing down on her enemy, crouching slowly, legs tensed. "Is that those wounds... you won't have to worry about them bleeding out for too much longer." Letting out a growl, she pulsed her spiritual pressure into her Zanpakuto. "Nobi!", her blade's edge seemed to slowly glow a feint orange. The air around the steel vibrated lightly.

"Your time is out!" vanishing once more, her speed had been enhanced thanks in due part to her Shikai's release, and her potential was expanding thanks to her new found abilities, a direct attack to Myst's front. This one in particular... gave her weapon a saw-like effect; superheating the edge so they vibrated at a microscopic level. Searing with heat, the blade would carve through an enemy with ease, and it took speciality in rending an enemy's Zanpakuto in particular.

Myst tried blocking the incoming strike but found that it was carving her sword like warm butter. She tried to push back and dislodge the now twinned swords, but it did little to help her. In fact, it made matters worse. Her Zanpakto, in a matter of moments was half severed.

Deciding that a sacrifice was to be made to continue the fight, she kept Dai locked in their little stance until Gesshoku was almost entirely split, and at the final moment before the vibrating sword poked through, she ducked and pulled the golden Zanpakto down, breaking the blade in twain, but it meant she could continue the fight, athough her weapon was now less useful as such, but it's powers were still useful.

"Uchuu." she uttered, the gauge now half-full, in an ironinc sense. The cramped cubical prision appeared around Dai at Myst's command.

"About time that actually did what I wanted it to. By the way, you've got two minutes to find a way out, or else."

Dai smirked lightly, "Whatever that means..." gazing to her foe, she smirked, bashing her heated up blade against the barrier keeping her imprisoned repeatedly. Picking up speed and power with each strike, letting out a battle cry as she provided the last strikes to break free.

"Suishin!", her body felt electrified as her chaotic spiritual pressure vibrated through out her body. She was supercharging her system, her metabolosim would heighten beyond it's limits. Her nervous system was on overload, filled with energy it would need to let out. It would give her the neccesary speed she needed; but only for a short time, or her internal body would shut down from the burn out.

Appearing infront of her foe, she wasn't using her blade... but her hand to grasp her opponent's neck.

Myst felt the grip around her throat. A strangled URK passed her lips. "C'mon. You have to mean it if you want to kill me." she rasped before reaching up to the hand around her neck and started prying the thumb and ring finger apart, using only a fraction of what she could actually do in order to prevent undo bone fractures, to either of them. Once the hand was away from her throat, she pushed Dai back, her lips curved into a smile, a faint one, but still a smile. "You honestly expected that to take me out? As my idiot brother would say about me, I'm the Queen of all 'Fuck-mothering Vampires.' However, I give you an A for effort girly. Usually, Uchuu knocks out my enemy before too long, but you somehow were able to keep from passing out. You deserve my praise."

Dai Sanji looked to her foe, stumbling slightly backwards. The foe was a worthy one, and it was close to time that she brought her next technique into play. "Time for Choshinsei to show you one if it's neat tricks..." the ability to produce spiritually enhanced fire, and transfer it into molten shrapnel. Effectively; a spiritual version of a real world bullet.

"Kaso!", pointing her sword at her foe, she shot off the first round towards her foe's chest; dead center.

Myst felt the projectile before she saw it. Her senses were slowly degrading, a sign she was under seventy percent of her overall blood. The small item shot through her like a normal bullet, but her healing couldn't close the wound, even if there was no blood pouring out. She hissed as the flame-shot seared her flesh. "You've really been a riot to toy with. However, time's running out for both of us. I can feel it."

To counter, she again held her arm out, palm facing Dai. The red glare of the KGS again filled the night sky, but something changed. Thanks to her transformation, Myst's version was bigger and badder than the last one, but it took more blood to charge it as a payment of sorts. Like before, it sped to her target.

"Nokobiri!", opening her mouth, she began to spew out a large amount of fire towards the oncoming blast, hoping to counter it the best she could. And with the enhanced spiritual oxygen in the air, her fire doubled in power.

But not for long.

The blast pierced her aggresive defense.

Little was left on the field but smoke and ash, with the exception of a Shinigami with singed clothes. Shikai barely in hand, she looked up to her foe. Smirking, "Preety clever... hn." huffing at the end of her statement. She was already depleted down to her last reserves, and she could not fight her opponent anymore. Shikai resealing itself due to it's power source dwindling...

"But... I don't plan to be taken by the likes of you..."

Myst expanded a whopping twenty percent of the blood in her body to use that attack with such destructive force. She resealed her Zanpakto and her transformed body as well. "Actually, you weakned me too much. If I were to just feed on you, you'd die, from both your wounds and the drain itself. I've honestly got little time left before I pass out."

Walking closer to Dai, she knelt down and whispered in her ear. "As a reward, I will give you a choice. You can go on living as you are now, a Shingami slave. Or, this power of mine, I can share it with you. What do you think? Sure you have to bite a few necks, but it's a small price to pay."

Dai smirked to her, "You know... as tempting as that sounds, but I don't give on the first date..." licking her lips, she leant up to whisper into her opponent's ear in exchange. '''"Hado 21, Sekeinton...". '''An explosion of deep red smoke occured, shrouding them both, as well as the entire surronding area in it's veil. Whispering one last thing, "Maybe next time..." she was wounded, but she would not be altered, or caught.

And no one told her what to do.

With a flashstep... Dai vanished.