Sunset's Crucible

Questions
Lyon, France.

Rolling hills spanned the rural expanse, with farm houses and vineyards scattered about modestly. Outside the outskirts of the bustling Lyon was the lush French countryside. However, in spite of its' beauty, its' newest guests were not there for some R and R or to check out the popular vineyards. No, they had business to attend to.

"What a waste of a day!"

Sannoto leaned against a tree, avoiding the glare of Avenon's number one redhead. They had taken a rest at an abandoned farm house deep in the countryside. The natural surroundings may have been something for him to admire, but the house was far more than just rustic—that word had become an understatement years ago, he bet.

"I won't let Asuka off easy for giving us such poor directions," Liza moaned. She stepped closer towards Sannoto. "Nothing to say, really?"

"First off," Sannoto said as he threw a hand up, "You need to calm down. There's no way for her to have given us specific directions on a mission that deals with weird anomalies in this entire area. Use your head and cut her some slack."

Liza twisted her lip in disgust. "Nothing like a rookie lecturing me. I don't care how quick you picked up on the training, smartass."

"I'm starting to wonder if it's that time of the month for her, what a bitch, " Sannoto shook his head at the thought. He quickly turned his head to the right as he felt a stir in the air. In that moment, Raiho landed before them. "Any luck, man?"

"Nothing in particular, " Raiho said. He lifted a hand and removed the white mask from his face. His mid-length, black hair falling down lazily over his brow as usual, Sannoto always found Raiho's mellow appearance amusingly contrary to his rather uptight disposition. "I haven't a felt even a tingle. And you two, did you learn anything interesting?"

Liza shook her head. "We talked to some folks around these parts, well, we tried. But...." She said nervously ".....my French isn't what it used to be. We did meet one couple that spoke English, hadn't heard of any weird stuff. I'd say the citizens are rather unaffected for now."

Sannoto watched from afar as Raiho and Liza carried on about their current predicament. Since they had arrived in the area, they had only gained more questions rather than any solid answers. How could they hunt down something they couldn't find? He sighed at the thought.

"I have a bad feeling about this, " He pondered. This was all he could think about, it consumed his thoughts. The rookie stuff back in NY had been one thing, but now they were in the hunt for hollow.

"You guys look a tad mopey."

All three of them looked back to see Hizen step through the home's rusted front gate. His attire wasn't the usual at all. Sannoto found Hizen in a gigai to be interesting for lack of better words.

Hizen narrowed his eyes. "Just tread carefully, guys. I think we may be dealing with a rather tactful hollow, " He said. "To be honest, amongst the Hollow in the living world, they are the most dangerous." He turned looked up at the sky. It was a brilliant scarlet as the sun began to set.

Raiho took a seat on the grass. He looked towards Hizen, "It's getting late, it's probably best we stop for now."

The shinigami nodded in agreement. "I concur, " Hizen said, "I'll be heading out to get us some dinner. Play nice while I'm gone, you two." He smiled as Liza and Sannoto's glances locked onto him.

"Just get us some dinner, Hizen," Liza snapped, turning away.

Sannoto learned three things about Hizen in the past two hours. One, the man didn't fret about breaking into an old house to use the kitchen. Next, he was a hell of a cook. Finally, he didn't plan ahead well.

"So, we're just gonna sleep in that old house?!"

Liza stomped towards Hizen, who had made himself comfortable on top of a dusty blanket he had found in the old farmhouse. Her face didn't show any mercy in the smallest at all. Though, Sannoto knew she would yield before Hizen. Not because of his rank, but some odd respect. Apparently, the redhead had been discovered by him near her hometown.

"The discussion is over, Liza," Hizen said calmly. His hands were behind his neck and his sword by his side, the man didn't bother to open his eyes an meet the redhead's glare. "Just relax out here for now. But, I'll be heading inside later. Raiho and Sannoto seem fine with it."

Liza gritted her teeth, it was a task to hold her peace like this. She turned away and made her way towards Sannoto, the young man sitting on a tree stump. "Entertain me, Sano, " She said sharply.

Sannoto arched an eyebrow, "Not sure what you want me to say."

"Ugh," Liza sighed with a frown. "Avenon needs more women. I'm alone with you clowns."

In that moment, Sannoto felt something whoosh behind him. "What the hell, " He thought, shooting up from his seat. He looked around to survey the area, ignoring Liza's questioning. What was that? A bad feeling began to well up in the pit of his stomach. The tricky hollows were the most dangerous, Hizen had said something like that earlier.

"Wait, did you hear that?" Liza said through a confused look. She stood completely still. The moonlight shone over her. Something was very wrong here, a brief shiver ran down her spine.

Hizen's eyes shot open. His hand shot over to his blade as he rose to his feet swiftly. There was a stir in the air. "Raiho!" He commanded sternly.

"I know, " Raiho said, taking a fighting stance. In his hands were a pair of odd looking knives, connected by what seemed a long, metallic rope. Sannoto drew his zanpakutō slowly, he felt something click in him. They were....surrounded. That, he could feel in his bones.

A low growling sound began to echo around them. But, it didn't sound like that of some animal, but a person imitating an animal. How many were there? He had seen quite a few things, but Hizen couldn't be sure. It didn't feel like any hollow, and in no way did it feel like a shinigami. Suddenly, he let out a gasp, shooting a look towards Liza's position.

"Liza, move!"

Two figures descended from the sky, bearing what looked like claws. It was hard to make out their appearances against the moonlight. Liza's eyes widened in shock. Her hand glided over to her necklace, but it was too late.

CLANG!

Sannoto's blade met their claws head on. "Pay attention, " He said gruffly. Sparks flew as he held them at a standstill. Suddenly, they released and darted backwards. Sannoto arched an eyebrow, unsure of two things. Why they yielded and what they even were.

"Shit."

Others began to emerge from the trees all around them. There were easily over a dozen of these guys or whatever they were. They were clad in black and had helmets on. What was weird was their posture. They approached like caveman, no, like animals—like some sort of primitive bow legged strut.

Liza twirled her scythe around her, watching either side of her carefully. "Hizen, " She said quickly, "What are these things?"

"I don't know, but we can't afford to make any wrong moves. Eliminate them and cover Sannoto. Forget the hollow, we need to protect our own necks first."

A Bloody Waltz in the Moonlight
"Byakurai!"

A raging bolt of lightning flashed through the darkness. All around them was the enemy. Hizen's senses were cloudy, he couldn't nail as to why. All they could do was fight. The moonlight glimmered off the blade of his katana. His eyes followed the movements of his comrades. "What are these things?"

Steel screamed through the sound waves, sparks flying about as Sannoto spun around, parrying each every one of his enemy's attacks. He skidded backwards as he was pushed back. "Hizen, " Sannoto shouted, "What the hell are they?" Two of the attackers lunged quickly at him in a bee line. Sannoto clenched his teeth at the oncoming enemy, this looked like it could only get worse. He would have to use that.

"I'm wondering the same too, " Hizen answered quickly, swiping away an attack with his blade. The enemy were clearly human-like in appearance, they were clearly not humans, however. Too fast and too strong. They were definitely not shinigami. They began to stand together in front of Hizen, not paying mind to their comrades fighting with the other Avenon members.

Hizen's ear caught a low growling sound, yet they began to stand in a composed manner. Their clothes were black as night and their heights were not very imposing. Hoods covered the top of the metallic helmets over their heads that hid their faces behind their eery craftsmanship. Hizen raised his blade. Some way down the local road was a family-owned farm, he would not let their lives get pulled into this. Hizen took a deep breath, "Stand strong, guys. We must contain them, no excuses."