• "Heeey! Bay-chan! Wait up, you old biddie!" Bay's eyelid twitched as her adopted sister ran up behind her, screaming the whole way. She stopped and turned to glare at the little girl, fists clenched at her sides and her foot tapping impatiently on the dirt.

    "Watch yaoh tongue, ya lill' brat!" her words sounded weird, strangled as they were by her strong accent even though it wasn't as bad as when she had first shown up in the Soul Society. Back then, no one had been able to understand her and no one had tried till Bay had started holding back when she talked. Talking slowly helped but when she was annoyed her Irish heritage came out full force and like now, made people stare or laugh. Like her sister.
    "...Bwahahahahaha! You sound like a dork, sis!" straight black hair and perfect pale skin, Bay's little sis was the exact opposite of her. In fact, Bay had yet to find anyone who liked like, with light blonde hair, messy with curls and cream skin, a spattering of freckles across her nose. Bay sighed, exasperated, and continued walking
    "What do you want, May-Lin? I told you not to follow me. Its dangerous out here." May-Lin's cheeks puffed out as she pouted at her sister's back, trailing along behind Bay.
    "So? I'm old enough to do what I want! I can follow you annnywhere and you can't stop me!" She ran up to walk along side Bay, trying to match Bay's longer stride with her shorter one.
    "You're 6, May-Lin. You still need me to do your hair, take bathes with you and didn't you say you didn't want your own bed because 'I wanna sleep with Bay-chan!'. Hmmm?" Bay smiled down at the small black head as her side as her sister started dening everything and claiming that, since Bay was being rude, maybe she didn't want to sleep with her. But as they got farther away from their home, May-Lin stopped chattering and moved closer to Bay, clinging to her hand. Bay to stopped talking and concentrated on their surroundings. This was the "in-between" as some called it, the empty waistland between Bay and May-Lin's town and the next town. It was rarely used but Bay needed some of herbs to help one of the elders in her town and the herbalist didn't have any yet. Bay glanced around nervously, wipping sweat from her brow and gripping May-Lin's hand tighter.
    "Bay-chan, it's really hot out here. Can we stop for a little bit?" May-Lin was panting and looked ready to fall over but they were almost to the next town.
    "We're almost there, May. Just ho-" May-Lin screamed as the ground around them exploded, men leaping from beneath blankets covered with sand to look like hills. Baring knives and shouting vicously the men charged Bay and May-Lin.
    "Run May! Get to the town! Get to the town!" Bay screamed pushing her ahead of her as they started running. Before them, men in the town were grabbing weapons and running out to meet the attackers, shouting and slashing the air. Bay had May-Lin by the hand and was pulling her along when May tripped, her hand jerking out of Bay's as she fell to the ground. Bay skidded to a stop trying to turn and run to May but one of the town men had her and was pulling her away.
    "Bay-chan!" May-Lin screamed as one of the attackers grabbed her, throwing the small child over his shoulder as he ran
    "May! MAY!! Bay screamed as her little sister became smaller and smaller in the distance till she could no longer see her or the man who had taken her "MAY!"
    It was 4 hours before the men of the town went after the attackers, another 4 spent waiting in agony for some news for anything. Bay refused to drink or eat, screaming at the women who tried to dress her wounds and eventually sobbing herself to sleep. When she woke, it was night and she could hear voices. She was in a small room at an inn, just off the main room. Through the crack between the door and the frame she could see movement They found her! They found May! Scrambling to the door Bay through it open. 4 of the men from the search party stood in the middle of the room and all of them looked up when she came in "Where is she? You found her right? You found May-Lin, right?" Her joy overwhelmed her so for a moment she didn't notice the mens faces or how the looked at their feet when she spoke. Joy faded to confusion then to a cold slimy dread that swamped her body as no one answered her. She rushed to the nearest, a young man about her age, clutching his arm "Where is she?! Where is May-Lin!? Where is my little sister?!
    "I- I'm so sorry. We-we didn't get there in time before they... I'm sorry." he looked away from Bay, away from her agony as she fell to the ground and screamed till she could not feel anything. Till she felt nothing at all.
    Baylie heard of the soul reaper and their society sometime after this and decided right then that she would do anything to get to this place. To become apart of this ruling body of order and peace-keepers, to join them in their fight.
    And if when people walked that empty road between towns, if they saw those road markers made of bone and flesh, of heads, arms and legs, they made no mention of it. Just continued on with a mutter and a prayer to the Sparrow.