Emerald Water And A Sickening Scent

Gentle waves crashed against the beach. It was a pleasant day among many terrible months in the human world. A soft breeze blew over the large lake in Scotland, a small village looked over the mass of water from beyond the cliff which hung right over the green water. Murky and full of filth the lake lounged about in a quiet state as its tides swept in and out, leaving small amounts of foam decorating the sand. Driftwood piling up for scavengers to pick up later, for every penny counted in these times. The sun rose from the East that fine morning, as a cloudless sky could be witnessed for miles from the grass, fresh with last night's dew. The temperature was a calm 53 degrees Fahrenheit, and the time being exactly 4:36 AM. Yet, nobody ventured near that emerald green lake, for days not a soul entered and walked the soft sand beach. Unclear water, which disrupted all sight from those looking from above and to those not used to looking while underwater, but to one it was crystal clear.

Swimming beneath the waves, a dark form was present beneath the cliff of the small village in Scotland. A being full of souls which it has devoured over numerous years, and defended by the cavernous underwater cave systems and crevices below the surface. Slowly and carefully, this hollow has lived in this lake, devouring the populace and all who come near to not arouse suspicion. One after another, humans vanished from the surface, and those who dared venture into the deep depths of the lake were never heard from again. The lake receiving the reputation of being the abode of a sea demon, a monster of sheer raw power and destruction.

A beast loomed these depths, and it traveled across the deep lake bed which was more than enough to cloak a hollow of 70 feet with pure ease. Hydra, an ancient beast of lore lived in this area, its territory spanning from coast to coast of the lake which spanned for miles on end. No trees dared grow near the water, for it had been tainted and could not sustain plant life. No physical protection on the beach, and with forests in the distance, the only remaining thing of note was the village upon the cliff, which spanned for less than half a mile, before dropping altitude.

Hydra waited, silently, as it rested on the lake bed, sleeping contently, with a full stomach.

A young man with long red hair landed on the bank of the loch ness, a slight smile. The blue eyed youth had always wanted to visit Scotland, it reminded him of his not to far away homeland ireland. But he wasn't here for fun. Jack o'Reilly, a member of the capture or destruction of dangerous humans squad was sent to investigate recent disapearences. He stood by the shore, tossing stones in. He hadn't sensed a damn thing all day. Very few people seemed willing to talk about the disapearences with him, and the local shinigami care taker was nowhere to be seen.

So now he stood by the shore skipping stones and waiting. If something was here, it would reveal itself eventually, and Jack was a patient man. He touched the container on his right hip and pulled out his revolver, checking the ammo, giving the chambers a spin and checking it over in general. He had other guns, but the revolver was his own design, and made by his old mercenary companies gunsmith. The ammo, he made himself using his reiatsu and some special theqniques the gunsmith showed him. Jack put the gun away and cycled trough the inventorys of both containers, checking for every thing. Once satisfied, he sat and waited, relaxing a little.

As the sun rose across the distance, its flaming colors decorating the deep depths of the lake, Hydra slept on. The day passing by as ice cream melts in the sun. The giant hollow dreaming of its future, vague ambitions of rising in the Espada, to finally achieve more power. Though as these technical day dreams slipped into time and space, the sun rose higher and higher. Six hours passing on by through the day, the water starting to warm up from the night's cool night. Hydra laying across the lake bed, shifting the rock and sand as it stretched, it silently opened its fourteen eyes, each head looking around its surroundings with its monstrous eyes. Its former bed scorched from its acidic touch.

Waving its tail in the current, Hydra rose from its murky depths just slightly, as it swam across the large channels of water and currents, eating fish who unfortunately could not escape the giant mouths of the beast. Twisting and turning across the under water caves it exited the maze of rocks, until it came but a mile off shore of the small village it had been feeding on to survive. Swimming closer it slipped its enormous mass deep into the water as to not make a visible trail, its spiritual energy still being suppressed. Stopping closer off shore, it let its scaly tail exit the surface of the water, but a few feet, looking more like a floating log covered in moss than anything else. Drifting closer, and closer, Hydra thinking what it should do today.