Book I - Overture Crescendo

                                                                      THE HEALER AND THE HOLLOW

"This battle wasn't supposed to flow like that... Dammit!"

A trembling shinigami with blood on his face, cursed silently in dispair and fear. Before him, a blond shinigami agonized with a hemorrhagic wound on his abdomen that insisted to bleed, infusing the white snow with crimson heat. The trembling shinigami from the Third Division was kneeling beside his fallen companion, with the right hand standing couple inches above the wound. The healer shinigami pulsed over his chiyudo, managing to control his companion's dangerous wound bleed, before it could be stitched. The face of the healer was stressed and concentrated, pale and rigid, as his concentration ordered to all his muscles to not move.

"Hold on, Soren...", he whispered anxiously, "Don't lose it..."

Explosions, impacts and roars raged around them, while other four fellow shinigami struggled in a despairing fight against three dreadful Hollows. The fog chose that night to cloud the field's vision on those Apennine wastelands. Around them, barely frozen trees struggled to survive amongst rocks and snow. Through the mist, a vibrant city sparkled like thousands of ghosts. From his stance, the healer couldn't see clearly his companions and wondered how long they would handle with that low range vision. All the healer could trace was the fluctuations of their reiatsu and what he felt, was just no good. The Hollow's reiatsu was dreadful, making his guts feel like they were going to freeze.

The shinigami were in obvious disadvantage and the Hollows seemed to toy with them in a sadistic game. Two shinigami released their zanpakutous and for what the healer could tell from his sideline, their power was not enough. The Hollow's collective strenght reduced the officers' effort to a childish move. With his large body, the healer protected his patient from the battle splinters that splashed on them. The spiritual pressures from battle clash made the fog dissipate, revealing the healer's position. His fellow shinigami were keeping the Hollows distracted while he tried to save his companion from bleeding to death. He knows he must be fast!

"What about we make another hole on your body, shinigami?", one of the arachnid Hollows said on shouted on scorn to the already tattered fighters.

"Or maybe confiscate a leg of yours!", continued the second arachnid, "You guys move too much, ya know?"

The healer could see clearly now. There were three hollows as he suspected. The reiatsu from the stronger one was covering the other two's. It was impossible that a hollow from his grade could make such a trouble to a team of skilled officers. The healer could see and sense his allies had many ugly wounds that made the battle even more difficult.
Without a warn and lightning fast, the third Hollow used his scorpion-like tail to try stabbing the brunette girl that rushed to attack him from behind. On a quick reaction she was able to block the thrust with her sword being projected meters away, landing on the blood stained snow.

"LEILA!", shouted desperately a male shinigami with a long ponytail, "BASTARD! PIECE OF..."

After he could finish the insult the two arachnids ganged up on him, using a sticky material that came from their throats to immobilize the shinigami. The young man screamed in pain while the two Hollows tortured him with their talons. Frustrated for not being able to help much in that situation, the terrified healer cursed his lack of power and experience. A howl after a crackling noise caught his attention. The arachnid Hollows got so immersed in their sadistic pleasure that they failed to notice the three shinigami who manage to stab them in the back. The Hollow's skin was thicker then they thought making the pierce superficial. The failure of their backstab attack gave enough time for the scorpion beast push them away with a tail raging trust.

"Oh God, this wasn't supposed to happen.", thought the desperate healing shinigami trying to hide his reiatsu to not catch attention from the Hollows, "It was just supposed to be a safe mission. Find the Hollow. Purify the Hollow. But they were three.... C'mon Soren... Work with me!"

When waking up that morning, the exhausted healer imagined a normal day on his routine. He never thought that he and his friend from the Fourth Division, Maya, would be sent along with four officers from the 13th Division to purify a C+ Class Hollow on a village near Salzburg. It was supposed to be easy, since four higher rank officers were going with them. One of the officers was Soren Lauritzen, whose he knows since the days in Academy, when the Nordic officer was still a senpai and he was a freshman. His job was just to perform precautious support in case of need. Never in the world would he have expected to see so much blood on that winter night. It wasn't just one Hollow. There were three of them. With the higher level one, two level D+ parasites showed up and the odds turned completely. They got overpowered and needed to call for help.

Suddenly, the exhausted shinigami felt two dreadful reiatsu rushing aggressively on his direction. The Hollow's already figure out their strategy and were coming out for his head.

"AURELIO! WATCH OUT!", screamed Maya, a short girl with a childish pin on her hair, "HADOU #4! BYAKURAI!"

The blast of white lighting summoned by the bruised girl hit the Hollow that was closer to attack, giving Aurelio enough time to carry Soren away from the arachnids and dodge the talons assault. As always, Maya had a quick reaction, as it would be expected from a Fourth Division's member.

"You little bitch!", cursed one of the arachnids, "Do ya think this crappy ol' spell of yours will even make us a scratch?"

"Those bastards have a healer with them, Mojai! Let's eat him first.", suggested the other arachnid, looking at the scorpion leader for approval.

"Feast on him, I'll have the rest of them.", Mojai, the scorpion titan, ordered with his guttural voice.

Aurelio could see Maya and the others trembling in terror on the idea of being eaten alive by the Hollows. They knew their enemies were too powerful and they would eat them if the reinforcement didn't come soon. It was just a time game. Even tough, the four shinigami stood bravely protecting Aurelio, pointing their swords towards the aggressive spiritual beasts in a challenging attitude. Aurelio noticed that for some reason the red haired officer forgot to pick his zanpakutou from the field.

"You might want this, you big pile of crap!", Leila provoked the Hollows, making a gesture with her hand that Aurelio thought as not proper for a lady.

Aurelio almost wanted to punch those people for their stupid idea. They were getting owned by the Hollows and came to have a suicidal idea as poking the beasts.
Flamed by the shinigami's cheap provocation, the arachnid Hollow's rammed at their direction with their rancid mouths open wide, while the scorpion leader followed them from behind. When the Hollows got close to the abandomned zanpakutou on the field, the red haired officer snapped his fingers with a taunting smile on his face.

"Say TABAYA now, fart face!!", he barked at the two careless Hollows.

In a fraction of seconds, two dozens of bombs exploded from below the thick snow, creating a colossal crimson fire pillar. The impact was so strong that it completely wiped the snow on a radius of almost twenty meters. Sudenly, Aurelio sensed the Thirteenth Division's officer's reiatsu increase rocket like. He quickly understood they were holding back their their power for that oportunity. Before the explosion could cool down, the officer's executed the two arachnids that vanished into the air with a last roar.

"What the heck...", Aurelio commented, completely astonished by the officer's unexpected strategy, "On a battle like this they had time to set this hardcore trap... I-Incredible.."

"Crimson Pillar Bombing. 13th Division Tactical Technique Number 27.", explained a weakened Soren that just woke up, "You know... Ouch! We are the Thirteenth, so, "Just Trust Us!""

"Thank god you are awaken!", Aurelio said, with a enormous excitement, "Now please don't move. The wound may open again.."

"Sorry to make you miss a battle like this to baby-sit me...", Soren apologized with a sarcastic tone on his voice.

"My fight is to keep everyone alive. You know that.", Aurelio cranked out with his usual serious tone when talking about his role in battle, "And I said DON'T move!"

"But don't worry! Aich! It's not over." Soren said looking above them, "Our scorpion psycho is back... and his looks bigger now, don't you think?"

In fact it was true. The Mojai's armor was bigger and thicker, showing pikes that were ready to pierce at will. It was a terrifying sight of a killing machine, with tallons that invited to a slow painful death. Aurelio started to doubt about the chances of returning to Seireitei. All that effort to save a comrade was in vain...
When he behemoth landed on the ground, the three officers surrounded him, while Maya stood a bit far from them, for her own safety.

"Which one of you should I skew first?", the Hollow asked on a dangerously tone, "Of course, THE HEALER!!"

A panicked Aurelio felt the reiatsu flow from the officers' zanpakutous. They were about to release. He could also read on their reiatsu that it wasn't enough to break trough the compressed energy from the beast's armor. It was so solid that it made itself easy to read the pattern, although, it was unpredictable and shifty, confusing the enemy's sense. As he analysed the Hollow's spiritual energy, Aurelio found out something really convenient...

"MAYAAA!!", he shouted at his colleague, "TAAAG!"

Maya knew that Aurelio had an idea. With a accomplice smile, she used a basic shunpo move to get aside Soren, while Aurelio rushed into the front line. She wondered what he had on his mind and for a moment, she feared for him and his safety. As their eyes crossed, her eyes accused at the same time, worry and concern.

"He is really something, isn't he?", Soren inquired the concerned girl standing next to him, "He avoided my death using a low class spell such as Tereiki... Really impressive..."

"He surprises me everyday...", Maya answered without take her eyes off the battle, "Now please try to stay still, Soren-san. Your condition is still frail. I shall proceed with the wound control."

On the battle field, Mojai roared loudly, making the snow feel it could liquefy in any moment. He stabbed his bulky spear tail, missing the exhausted shinigami group by a scratch. The officers, covered in bruises and wounds, struggled hard to avoid being sliced apart as they tried to break through the enemy's steel armour.
Looking at the tall shinigami that joined the surrounding, the Hollow barked an unpleasant cacophony of scorn. What the hell would a weakling like that do against him? Offer himself as a free dinner? It sounded great to him. Moving the other officers away with a tail swing, Mojai focused his attention on Aurelio.

"You came here deliver your flesh to me, shinigami?", the self confident Hollow spit as disdain, swinging his tail.

"Not tonight, Joséphine!", Aurelio amusingly answered, "By the way, my name is Aurelio Navarro, member of the 3rd Division, please treat me well, 'kay?"

Aurelio smiled sarcasticaly at the scorpion giant, trying to not demonstrate that he was scared to death. That strategy would only work once and he prayed he wouldn't die in the process.

"... and don't underestimate me... bitch.", he snarled, with his zanpakutou firmly grasped on his left hand.


[continues...]