~Going in blind.~

"Shiro??" Turning around she waves a hand in front of his face."Hello?Anyone home?Stop spacing out already!"

Shiro snaps to attention and then stares at Altria's waving hand. 'um... oh... sorry..... I just.... had a flash back... sorry" >.> he rubs his hair with embarressment.

"Right.." Shaking her head she turns around and surveys the cave."Hey Miyuu,is there another exit here?And are those," she gestures at the statues,"only placed in here?"

Looking at Shiro with amusement she nods absentmindedly."Yah,they are situated about this cave only.I'd say someone dragged 'em here.Over there is another tunnel.It goes further down,though I didn't follow it fer long.Come on,I'll take ya.." Moving quickly she disappears into the gloomy darkness upon leaving the faint circle of light created by the orb.

"Come on Shiro,don't space out." Following after Miyuu quickly as to not lose her something catches her attention as they pass more statues.She rubs her eyes,"I must be seeing things,light playing tricks..but just in case.." Wearing off to the left she stops before one of the statues,lifting the orb higher to shine light on its face.She utters a soft gasp,blood draining from her face."M-m-mugen?!"

Shiro hurries after Altria, he stops, staring at what seems to be someone laying on the ground. "!!"

Noticing they've fallen behind Miyuu turns around and heads back.Slightly irritated she pokes Shiro,"Hey.Why are ya two wasting time lagging here?"

Kneeling near the prone unconscious form she checks for a pulse,letting out a relieved breath upon finding one,albeit weak."Alive.." Checking for injuries her hand brushes over an arm far too stiff and she pulls away the sleeve to reveal his left arm,eyes widening.From knuckles to the elbow the whole arm has been turned to stone.Her gaze darts from it to the statues and back. "What..they're..??"

"I wonder what's going on with the others. It's not enough to just feel there reiatsu to locate their location."

shin kneels down and focus his reiatsu. with a blank ink, he draws a circle and divided it into four. he starts casting spell while he concentrate in focusing his reiatsu.

"Heart of south, eye of the north, finger of the west, foot of the east, arrive with the wind and depart with the rain." "Bakudo # 58 - Kakushitsuijaku"

a lot of number locations appeared on the circle he drew.

"Damn it! Not really good at this...how am I suppose to know?! Oh wait, here...finally!!"

shin stands up and looks at kaoru..

"I'll go on ahead. I seem to found their location. I should get there before they start to leave."

Altria brushes her fingers over the stone part of the arm,it feels slightly warm to the touch,just like the statues.Understanding dawns."They're..they were..and someone?" Shaken she jumps up,feeling sick and angry at the same time,turning to look at Miyuu and Shiro."Shinigami..they were real shinigami," her horror filled voice trails off into a whisper,"what..what should we do?"

Shiro seems somewhat bewildered, then looks at the shinigami statues in thought. "........ I...... wish I knew what we could.... do...." He looks down discouraged.

shin is near the cave. he slows down trying to look for the hole that the others fell into..

Making a "tsk" sound and shooting Shiro a "how stupid are ya?" look Miyuu shakes her head in exasperation,flicking her tail back and forth in agitation. 'Hopeless.' Moving closer to Altria she places a hand on her shoulder."Sorry Altria-chan.But..we have ta keep moving.Not everything's lost,ya know.This is a Hollow's power,they usually can reverse it.So we find the Hollow and make it undo..this,"she motions at the cave."So don't look like that,there's still hope fer them.Oi..Right,Shiro-kun?" Miyuu smiles encouragingly while un-noticeably elbowing him.

shiro flinches at miyuu's sudden nudge, then hastily nods. "er... Right..."

~somewhere deeper into the cave~

A distorted garganta opens, and mikiru stumbles out. he leans heavily on his scythe and takes a few paces forward before pausing to catch his breath. "huff.... ouch...." he seems a bit uncomfortable, as his injuries are still pretty severe.

~Somewhere deeper in the cave.~
Kurai follows Mikiru out of the garganta,taking a look around their surroundings. "It is much like playing a game of chance. One never knows were one may end up.This place is.." Tilting his head to the side Kurai concentrates before smiling. "My,my,this is a fun place indeed.But are you certain pushing oneself is wise, Mikiru-kun? You just got on your feet."

Mikiru forces himself to stand up straight, while leaning slightly on his scythe. "...... I'll be fine.... you know me... I can't stay in one place for that long..... " His gaze moves slowly from Kurai to something off in the distance. "..... We're not alone..... there are many different spiritual signatures in that direction, slight hollow signature to..." he coughs slightly but remains focused on the signatures.

~Somewhere deeper in the cave.~Kurai.~
"Yes indeed.A fun place.." Following Mikiru's gaze Kurai seems to be counting something seriously before smiling once again."A few shinigami, one Arrancar, some wrong shinigami and of course Hollows, about adjucha level it seems.This place must be a lair." Picking up something else his smile widens."My,my.Some of those signatures are actually familiar.I do believe that's the cat," there's a mischievous glint in his eyes."Well then,shall we be off Mikiru-kun?"

~In the statue cave.~
Getting a strange feeling Miyuu shivers,looking around hastily.'Must be imagining it..yah..' She shakes it off,looking up at the hole in the ceiling from their little fall as her ears twitch,catching something.Lifting a hand she gathers a small breeze around it before flicking it upward.(The breeze speeds up through the way they fell and then forward until it reached Shin.It then proceeds to whirl around impatiently,tugging at his sleeve.) Signal send Miyuu kneels near the unconscious shinigami to take a better look."Oi,what are ya gonna do with him?" She glances from Shiro to Altria.

"yes... we shall..." Mikiru heads off deeper into the cave, occasionally stopping to cough, but continues onward despite being in pain.

~Somewhere deeper in the cave.~Kurai.~
"Do be careful." Kurai follows after Mikiru patiently,looking around with interest and occasionally humming a tune.

~back with Altria, Miyuu and Shiro~

Shiro senses an odd presence farther down in the cave, and begins to feel a sharp pain in his left shoulder. "ngh..." (in thought) 'wha-what.. is this? and why do I feel this... pain?'

~Back in the statue cave~
"We should send him back to Seireitei and then investigate further.Like you said,find this Hollow and make it undo..whatever it did..Shiro,could I borrow your soul pager?" Altria looks up at him,noticing something off."Shiro??Are you ok?What's wrong?"

Shiro snaps to attention, but the pain in his shoulder doesn't fade. "i .... i don't know... here." he hands her his soul pager. then focuses back on the unknown presence. (in thought) 'this pain.... it's.... like before... uhg! visions? blood... a scythe... maniacal laughter... .... pain.. so.. much... pain!' Shiro winces and looks like he's in agony.

Mikiru pauses suddenly, and stares into the distance. "..... odd" his gaze seems fixated on something in the distance.