Left Speechless (Shinku X Drake) [CLOSED]

A soft sigh came from the lonely cottage as Shinku opened the front gate. Right when she'd run out of oil for it, it began creaking once more. Nothing worse than living out next to the woods when the wrought-iron gate keeps creaking whenever wind blows hard enough. The gate surrounded the house completely, becoming a cement wall away from the front gate itself. The wall was nearly ten feet high and was always thirty feet away from the walls of the house. She frowned slightly after she'd opened and closed it a couple times, rubbing her forehead. "So much to do..." She leaned on the gate and looked to the treeline, distantly going over memories. "What should I do, Ichigo? I can't do all of this myself..."

A low growl echoed out from the forest, seemingly in response. Paling and remembering the black creatures she saw devouring people, she went back inside the gate, slamming it shut. Instead of going back inside the small cottage, however, she crouched into a corner of the cement wall, facing her back to the corner. She tried her best to remain silent, but the beast had already tracked her to her position. The frog-like Hollow leaped onto the top of the wall, looking down upon her with a wide open maw. It's tongue snaked out and attempted to lick her, but it was quickly swatted away with Shinku's watering can. "Leave me alone! Ichigo, please help me!"

Flight, freedom, power... how much he enjoyed such things even though they were cursed, demonic gifts. A hollow-hunting hollow, of all things; quite probably a contradiction in and of itself, but it wasn't something that the Arrancar was unaware of. He knew well he was a demon, but it was as a demon that he had power, so he couldn't simply give it up.

Such was the life he led.

Nonetheless, 'twas patrol time, of sorts. City to city he went, avoiding those black-clad figures whilst seeking out his fellow 'demons,' the beasts of white that assailed people. Precisely the latter he found after a little searching, grateful for having such a high vantage point that allowed him to see nearly everything below. His wings folded a little and turned partly downwards, his body arched, and down the dragon-like Arrancar thus went; almost straight down, in fact. With hardly a care for the other creature's safety, more so the safety of its outstretched tongue, the Arrancar that had come to be known as Drake (whether or not that was his actual name) slammed one front claw forcefully down upon the other hollow's head, rather quickly severing the tongue. Any complaint was muffled from that clawed appendage firmly staying there, the other three planted solidly upon the hollow's back.

And with his prey firmly trapped, Drake opened his maw wide and began to descend it upon the hollow's head, before he blinked and took note of the girl nearby, whose expression decreed that she, unlike most humans, could see them. That made the Arrancar visibly uncomfortable, its jaws promptly snapping shut and the hollow beneath it still trapped with not a single thought put toward it on Drake's part.

'Peace?' he spoke... insofar as it could be properly heard as speaking and not an odd, low 'rowl' sound. Once more he glanced down for a moment to the hollow he'd trapped, before returning his gaze to the girl nearby and tilting his head slightly to the side, uncertain what to actually do at the moment. He wanted to feed, but with how many people that actually could see him panicked further upon seeing such a thing, it didn't seem the best idea right now.

Shinku remained shivering, terrified for her life to even open her eyes to see what was happening. All she could think of was the frog-like Hollow devouring her like she'd seen so many times before. People screaming with fear and pain as they were eaten alive. She had nightmare almost every night about such things, but with luck, something had kept most of them away from the secluded home. She knew that just the hidden nature of the home wouldn't be enough.

Suddenly, a thought ran through her mind. The thing had stopped trying to lick her with it's tongue. She hazarded a glance, slowly opening her eyes, and saw the thing's severed tongue lying on the ground at her feet. She gasped and looked at it, moving slightly out to touch it without looking up. She poked it, as if to make sure it was actually just dead flesh, then looked up. Then she saw the draconic Arrancar pinning the frog Hollow with relative ease. The Hollow writhed as it tried to escape, but it was very clearly no match in strength. She fell back slightly so she was no longer under the pair, staring at them shakily.

Then she heard the thing speak. This, for some reason, greatly assuaged her immediate fear and caused her to look at him softly. "P-P-Peace? You... You want p-peace?" She still seemed a little scared, but she also seemed to be getting better. A thought then crossed her mind. What if this was her guardian angel? What if this dragon Arrancar was the sole reason she was able to live out where she was? She stood up slowly and walked inside her house, as if she didn't fear anything anymore, like she could not care less.

After a couple minutes, she walked back out, a tea tray in her hands. The time she was gone was certainly time enough for him to dispose of the Hollow. She sets the tray down on her stump she usually sat it, looking back up to Drake softly. She still had a timid look on her face, but who wouldn't? "You're... You're the one, aren't you... The one that's been keeping them away... The one protecting me..." She looks to her knees as she knelt in front of the stump, the thick scent of vanilla quickly surrounding the area.

Another blink as the girl stood up, and the Arrancar paused, simply watching her go out of curiosity. The very moment she was out of view and thus wouldn't see what was happening, however, was the moment that sealed the fate of the hollow below him. A re-opening of Drake's relatively wide maw, a quick lunge, and his sharp teeth crushed the pitiful hollow's mask and head alike, promptly ending the life after death it had found for itself with barely a sound and helping to quell the Arrancar's always slowly growing hunger; one which he made absolutely certain never to take out on anything but the 'demons,' as he knew them, lest he himself further become one.

Granted, it was probably far too late for that since he'd progressed all the way to being an Arrancar, and an arguably fairly powerful one, but the thought was still there.

As to what she was saying, though... was he? Certainly he devoured hollows where he found them, but he didn't pay much mind to who was around or what area he was in.

'Possibly...' he spoke again in his odd way, this time a low, slightly lingering sort of growl. But that he could still speak in a way people were likely to understand, but... he was working on it. Or... trying, at least. Whatever the case, he sniffed about slightly until he found the source of the newest scent to arrive, his head tilting slightly to the side as he glanced over it curiously; so long devouring hollows that he practically forgot what normal food and drink were. Alas, he also tended to forget his resurreccion where he could actually talk, but that was a different matter altogether. Besides that was the matter of his name, his actual name of which he often did forget for all those that had come to calling him 'Drake;' thereby the name which he wrote in the ground, failing confidence in his other communication skills. 'Twas something, at least.

Shinku watched him slowly, her pouring a cup of tea softly. Steam rose up from the cup, allowing the thick scent to roll about the Arrancar's face as she brings it to him. "Does that... Does that mean you've been the one that has been drinking the tea I've been leaving out? I... I do it for the one that's been protecting me..." She held the cup out to him and smiled. "Ummm... Please help yourself to some more... I mean, if you would like..." She kept holding that smile, one that would make anyone feel just a bit better, despite what she was looking at.

Despite the fact that he was one of the things she was terrified of, she seemed almost right at home around him. She gave the ground a quick look and raised an eyebrow. "Drake? That is your name?" She laughed softly and sat in front of him. "It suits you." It was unclear whether or not she knew what she was dealing with. Maybe she'd never seen an Arrancar compared to a Hollow before, and just didn't make the connection. Maybe he just looked so radically different than a normal Hollow that she assumed he was another species. Maybe it was solely the fact that it had talked to her. Whatever it was, she was rather comfortably talking to Drake, which was rare in Shinku's daily life.

Had he been drinking this? 'Twas another thing he had to ask himself since there were... moments that since faded partly from memory, likely that he preferred not to remember. Maybe, maybe not, but it was clear enough that he was having a slightly difficult time with the cup. Carefully with one front claw he tried to lift it, before it began to tilt dangerously and he set it back down. Failing that, he dropped himself to somewhat of a seated position and rested both front claws on the sides of the cup, lifting it efficiently enough that way before giving a little nod in response to her question.

Then, an oddity: she was responding perfectly to what he was attempting to say, was she not? Were there actually people that could understand his non-human speech, somehow?

'You... understand?' he spoke (this time merely light growl followed by a stranger-sounding one as he, for once, 'spoke' two words in succession), his head tilting curiously to the side. Failing knowledge of what to actually do with the cup now that he picked it up, he meanwhile dipped his head down and simply lapped up some of the liquid... thereby likely making the gesture of picking it up in the first place rather useless. 'I didn't think anyone could since I can only speak like some of the other demons,' came his longest string of little growls and other such sounds yet, on the hope that it would actually, somehow, be understood. If so, he'd surely have to come by here more often; it tended to get a bit frustrating when the only ones who could understand were those being hunted down.

Shinku merely watched as Drake began his attempts to drink the tea, subconsciously wanting to help him do it, but also didn't wish to upset him. She merely watched as he struggled with it, also somewhat staring at him as he struggled.

His next words snapped her out of it, shaking her head. "Ahhh... Yes! I... Well... I can, it's not... Not my native, so forgive me if I... Mistake some of your words..." She fidgeted, blushing softly as her admission somewhat embarrassed her. Out of the twins, she was always the smarter one, so it embarrassed her to be caught not knowing something. She seemed to strain herself trying to discern what the long stretch of words was, but she eventually closed her eyes, getting the gist of it. "I... I hear them so often... I have for years... Over time, the sound you make just... Began to make words. Once I started putting sounds with emotions and actions, I wrote it all down so that I wouldn't forget..." She hummed softly. "Well... It was meant as a precautionary measure, but it's never really helped me until now... Even if I can understand what they are saying, there's very little I can do... I haven't figured out how to speak in the language yet..."

She looked back up to Drake, a soft expression on her face. "Does this really surprise you so much? I... I was merely looking for anything to help me survive if my guardian should fail me... I don't want to be eaten by one of those things..."

Even if he noticed the staring, he spoke not a word regarding it... not that it would ordinarily do him any good to try, which was something he was used to.

'It's... different, I suppose. I didn't think anyone would bother to try,' Drake observed, allowing himself another quick lap at the tea, his tongue hardly having to go anywhere for how close he kept the cup to his lips. Perhaps out of precaution, perhaps simply something else; not that he could be considered normal by any stretch of the imagination regardless of whatever his motives were for such a minor thing.

'Oh, and I can understand you just fine... most of us probably can... so I wouldn't worry about that,' he added, in response to her comment regarding not being able to speak the 'language,' such as it were. 'If you don't want to be eaten, though, is there any way you can fight? I've seen a lot of people that could see me fight with odd powers,' he suggested, tilting his head a little to the side again in that ever-readable expression of curiosity. 'I can help anytime I'm around, of course, but... well, you're nice, nobody's not immediately attacked me or run before. Don't want anything to happen to you, I guess,' he offered.

Shinku listened to him, suddenly looking a bit overwhelmed as he spoke in straight sentences. She merely nodded to the first sentence, as there was really nothing else to say. She'd explained her motives.

She then raised an eyebrow to his first statement. "Well... If they understand, then why do they act like they cannot? Are they just so incredibly cruel that they merely pretend to not understand?" She seemed hurt about this. It was almost as if she could not imagine something would purposely ignore it's prey's calls for help. "Well... At least I no longer have to worry about speaking with them..."

She then fidgeted uncomfortably at his next question, blushing softly. "Well... I must admit... The... The watering can thing I pulled last minute is... About the limit of what I can do..." She held her face down, as if she didn't want him seeing her embarrassed face. What was with him and poking at such questions? "I... I can't fight... I had Ichigo for that, but she died several years ago..."

She shook her head and raised it once more as his last sentence, seemingly in a state of disbelief that he would think so. "Why would anyone attack you? Is it merely because of your looks? Just because you slightly resemble those things is no reason to turn you away..." She hums and smiles. "Were Ichigo still alive, I'm sure she'd love to meet you, in fact! She always did like people that could speak regardless of appearance..."

Shinku wasn't aware of the masked woman standing in the tree that was behind her, dark red eyes that mimicked Shinku's riveted to Drake's form harshly.

'They're... um... predators, I think the word was?' Drake considered, glancing thoughtfully upwards for a moment. 'Twas the best way he could think of to describe the generally thoughtless and hunger-driven beings other than 'demons' that he knew them as. 'They don't really seem to care about much besides eating and fighting,' he added, mentally noting that it was quite the same for him... albeit targeted quite differently.

Still, upon the revelation, he blinked and gave a slight nod. Naturally, he didn't know directly how it felt -- no memories remained from when he was a human, and there were no such attachments he'd made as a hollow -- but he could imagine, at least. 'Just because I'm a demon, I suppose; I can't really blame them,' Drake shrugged, a slightly difficult maneuver for his body form. 'Your sister might still be around somewhere, though... I wouldn't know, I'm not great at sensing spirits, just demons...' he suggested.

The woman seemingly deemed Drake as not a threat, because just as fast as she had appeared there, she was gone, only giving the Arrancar time to blink before she vanished. Since she was wearing a Hollow mask, she was giving off reiatsu of a Hollow, but with the other parts as well.

Shinku looked back as she hears the rush of wind off of the woman's Flash Step from the branch, initially thinking she was another Hollow, but relaxed when she saw nothing. Shinku traced her finger along the outside rim of her cup as she thought over Drake's words. "Well... Even predators must stop and give pause at times..."

She gasped as he referred to himself as a demon, shaking her head. "Absolutely not! You're the furthest thing from them. If anything, while Ichigo was alive, she was more like them in the fact that she loved to fight. You seem nice and well put together. I could never think of you in such a way!" She pursed her lips, lowering her head.

She perked up once more at the mention of her sister, smiling softly. "You think... You think Ichigo could still be out there? But... What if she's one of those things? What if she turned into one of them because she died how she did..." She mumbled something incoherently and shook her head. "I couldn't bear to see it..."

Only briefly did Drake's own eyes turn to the presence of the flash step, but too late... whoever it was was apparently gone, without even much of a threatening presence so far as he could tell. Some 'demon' energy, which was a little odd, but not entirely unseen by him before. Perhaps one of those people in black that could apparently summon masks that looked like that of the demons?

And... it seemed he might have said something a little wrong, bringing a slight frown to a mouth not completely suited for the expression. 'She... could be, but if she's as strong as you're suggesting, probably not. I've seen a few spirits that could fight back pretty well,' he offered, as some means of comfort. Carefully he set the now nearly empty cup he held back on the tray, affording himself a light stretch as he returned to all four legs. 'We could look a little, if you want... or just get a view from up high. I've always liked just flying around out of view of anything and watching everything down below,' the Arrancar suggested with a little grin, his wings spreading some to leave sufficient space on his back if the answer would be 'yes.'

Shinku nodded softly. "I couldn't imagine her as one of those things. It would be terrifying... I've seen her fight off guys twice her size before, so turning into one of them..." Shinku shuddered and shook her head. "There wouldn't be much stopping her... Then again, even if she were one of them, I don't think she'd be so mindless..." She put a thoughtful finger to her lips and smiled. "Kinda like you..."

She then imagined his suggestion. She'd never been off the ground in an actual plane before. She hadn't even considered flying. Why would she, when everything she needed was a short drive away? She didn't want to put him off, however. She stands up silently and walks over to him, somewhat timidly, and examines his wings. She had yet to see a Hollow with wings, so it was new to her. Her soft, extremely well-taken-care-of hands ran over them, almost feeling for weak points in the structure.

Eventually, she looked back at him. Without saying a word, she walked around to his side, climbing on top of him. However, once she was there, she immediately flattened out along his back, wrapping her arms around his neck. "I... I do... Just... I've never done... Anything like this before..." She squinted her eyes shut and spoke timidly. "Please... Be careful..."

'No problem... it'll be a first for me as well, so I won't go as fast as I usually go. And I'm sure your sister's fine, wherever she happens to be,' he offered, broadening his wings to their full length before bringing them down in an initial, powerful beat. Even with that, there was a feeling of being rather lighter, before the second beat picked them up a few inches off the ground. With the third, Drake began the ascent, steadily further and further up and beginning to move forward once he'd ascended beyond the height of the house. Once he reached a certain point, there was no more sudden ascent with each flap of his wings; rather, 'twas just calm, forward-bound flight.

'Should be alright, we're up as high as I'll go for now,' he spoke, turning his head a little so his present passenger would be better able to hear him. 'Best view in the city, I could argue; lets me see most everything going on below,' he added, perhaps proving that point by bearing down a white, slightly flame-like cero blast toward the ground after a few moments, catching an errant hollow below rather off-guard. 'Twas but one of the perks of having the gift of flight. 'So how is it so far, then?'

Shinku felt herself moving, but didn't dare to open her eyes. In fact, the only time she hazarded a glance was when she felt him level out and begin to speak once more. She only opened one eye at a time, but when she did, she gasped and opened her eyes wide. "Oh, my goodness! I... I'm in the air... We're so high up..."

She continued to clutch Drake's neck tightly, but gave quick looks to the surroundings. She watched him quickly and easily take out the random Hollow, mentally marveling that such a strong being was so nice and well-spoken. She continued watching the town go by her as Drake continued flying, smiling softly. "This isn't bad... It's actually kind of fun. You know... were I not partially scared for my life..." She drew herself further up his body and sat up partially, still holding on, but more gently. "It's beautiful, to see the world from up here... I wish I had wings... I would fly every day..."

'May be around often enough, so I could probably take you up here like this from time to time,' he offered, glancing back once more before keeping his eyes ahead. 'And I certainly wouldn't let you fall or anything, I make sure to only ever hurt those demons,' he assured in turn, tilting his head slightly as he thought over a few things.

'Maybe there could even be some sort of power to fly, or... something,' he considered thoughtfully, even though he'd not seen such a thing before in all his years, at least to his recollection. 'I'm sure you could find some sort of power... you certainly don't seem weak, being so comfortable around a creature like me. Just have to... find some way to bring it out, or something, I suppose. I don't know too much about that sort of thing since my power grew through experience with it...'

Shinku mulled over the thought, listening to him strictly. He wanted to keep coming around, that was a plus. This made Shinku smile widely, hugging him tightly. "Oh, I'm glad you want to come about more often, Drake... I'll be sure to keep everything neat so you wont feel out of place when you do come around..." She leaned on his head, closing her eyes.

"The power to fly..." Shinku smiled happily as she laid upon Drake, almost completely comfortable with the fact that she was several hundred feet in the air. She giggles, imagining herself with angelic wings, and lifts her head. "What an amazing thought... But I am weak... I've always been the weaker of us... When our parents died, I cried and secluded myself, while Ichigo began training so that she could protect me... I'm definitely the weaker one..."

The Arrancar blinked at the sudden hug, and gave a little grin. Peace, for once... 'twas an odd feeling, suffice it to say, but one he could possibly get a little used to. Not too used to, perhaps, since he still had a self-given job to do... but at least it was something different, for once.

'Maybe, but... you still came out once you were ready to, right?' he hazarded, not exactly used to dealing with such situations. A shallow turn came shortly after, lest he drift too far away from where she'd come from. 'And nobody stays weak forever. You don't really have to be stronger than your sister to be strong... and you don't really have to be alone without someone to help you out either, if it comes to it,' he suggested with a slight, albeit also slightly uncomfortable, shrug. 'I figure everyone has their own strength.'

Shinku herself felt a little odd for hugging the beast, but then again, it felt normal... Like the creature deserved one speck of happiness amid a sea of darkness. That is what she lived for. She loved making that spark of good intent burn away the darkness. She looked to Drake softly and smiled. "I came out because when I no longer had Ichigo, I needed to do things for myself. It was merely required..." She felt the turn and leaned against it, humming softly as her eyes were cast upon his head. "I could never be Ichigo's strength, nor would I want to. I just want to be me... Whatever that entails. I feel like I should be more powerful, so I can protect people like you do, or like Ichigo would..."

Drake gave a slight nod in turn, tilting his head slightly to the side in thought. 'Well... I guess I needed to be stronger to be able to survive like this, but if there's any good reason to want to be stronger, it's probably that,' the Arrancar admitted thoughtfully. 'You don't really have to be that much stronger, I think, if you have people around that can help you out... and being nice as you are doesn't hurt,' he offered, letting his eyes wander as he began to approach the girl's home again. If that sister of hers was around anywhere, he figured it wouldn't be very far from said home.

'So... what do you want, then? Without worrying about what anyone might think you should do,' he inquired curiously.

Shinku nodded at Drake's words, believing them completely. "Maybe... Maybe I should try to be better at protecting myself..." She hums and lays back down against his Hierro-hardened skin, letting out a soft sigh. "I guess I can start some kind of training or something... But I wouldn't know where to start, honestly..." She looks at him gently, letting out a somewhat despairing sigh. "I don't know what I want. I want to be able to protect many people. There are many spirits that I see once, then never again, and it breaks my heart... I want to protect them..."

'Well... not all of the spirits get eaten, some of them get sent on by those people in black,' Drake assured, glancing back for a moment or two. 'As for training... um... I don't really know, but I guess you could probably start with trying to feel spirits better? Then putting that into actual spiritual power...' he hazarded somewhat uselessly, uncertain where to go in that endeavor. Whatever he'd done during his time as a spirit (presuming he'd spent any time as such; he didn't much remember even that), his time as a 'demon' had been spent fighting to live and destroy his fellows; gaining power just came naturally from there.

'Not sure I'd be much help for any of it, but... I could try at least getting you more familiar with spiritual energy, I suppose,' he offered; the best thing he could think of to offer, suffice it to say. 'Maybe better to in my other form rather than this one.'

Shinku nodded softly, almost seeming to sleep on the Arrancar's back. It was that comfortable, as he flew flawlessly across the sky, like a knife cutting through butter. "The people in black... They come around every so often. One even thought I was dead, since I live alone and all that..." She hums and smiles, imagining her with power. "Maybe I'll be akin to an angel, healing my allies and banishing the darkness... Like in the storybooks..." She kept being relaxed until he talked about his other form, making her perk up. "You have another form? As in something better than your current form?" Shinku smiles widely and giggles to herself. "I've seen some weird things, but never a dragon that could turn into something else..."

He chuckled lightly and gave a little shrug at her suggestion, picturing her for a moment or two in the way she'd spoken of. It seemed to fit, to him at least, but perhaps that was just the fact that nobody had particularly cared before speaking. Who knew. 'I think that'd fit you pretty well, considering your personality,' the Arrancar offered.

'As for the form, I guess it could be called better, since I can use more powers that way... more human-like, too, though I often forget I have it,' Drake explained, a little grin coming to his features. 'It seemed to come from having my mask mostly ripped off,' he added. 'Could show you, but of course we'd have to land again first.'

"You think? I think it would be glorious to have a pair of wings like that... All feathers and beautiful..." She smiled and looked to him softly. "I'm glad you think so... If I had the power, I'd gladly help the spirits rest peacefully..." She then purses her lips, giving him a gentle look of uncertainty. "You forget that you have an easier form to work with? Ummm... How would you? I would never forget it if I could switch forms..." She hums softly. "Well... Maybe if I rarely used said other form..." Shinku looked down to her home and smiled. "Well... You can if you want, but I understand if you need to go soon. You said you were protecting others, after all..."