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Post by Shinzu on Dec 24, 2010 21:24:01 GMT 1
Chapter 1//. The search
Hueco Mundo, that is where my instincts had led me this time. Having not returned to this place in quite some time, the cold grasp of the winds caught me off guard momentarily as they dragged along the stench of death alongside anything else that had become captured by their merciless currents. Though it was hardly something to boast about, I had long since grown accustomed to this scent of rotting flesh and bone, something I couldn’t help but look forward to as I filled my lungs with the corrupt worlds air.
As usual, little else except for sand could be seen stretching across the horizon, with the occasional crystalline tree branch protruding outward from the ground. Almost appearing to be synthetic, I knew full well that these so called branches stretched all the way from the lower levels of this hell; the Menos forest. An area that caused a great deal of reluctance to surge up from inside of me. Too many memories existed in that place, ones I would prefer forgetting.
Finding myself drifting off slightly, a quick shrug soon brought me back to reality. It certainly was an odd blend of colours surrounding me I thought to myself as I strolled across the white desert. Though dull and mostly a mixture of greys and black, I found the scenery almost soothing, much unlike the human world which remained a frenzy of odd colours and shapes, something which still continues to annoy me to no end. Admittedly, I always rather despised unpredictability.
Regardless, I pressed on with my search. In all honesty I wasn’t attempting to find anything in particular, whether it was a rage-filled hollow or a leftover carcass to feast upon; I simply prayed that I would run into something, anything at all that would help pass the time and draw a curtain to the last few agonizing hours of this day. And with this thought fuelling my actions, my search soon yielded me with a truly interesting sight in the not too far off distance: A tall and dark figure, its shape shrouded and hidden amidst its own shadows. How simply intriguing.
Chapter 2//. Discovery
A closer inspection revealed the figure to be a multitude of rocks and rubble, seemingly arranged as a fortress. No, perhaps ‘fortress’ was the wrong label for this scene. Fortresses are secure and impenetrable and yet, this seemed like neither. The cragged walls were broken down, their solid formation crippled into nothing more than piles of boulders littering the area. Clearly a battle had taken place here, one which had cost the inhabitants of this area their home.
Scanning the surroundings, my cold gaze met with no signs of organic life, not even a corpse or two. Were they devoured? Bone and all? Perhaps the inhabitants simply fled upon the first sign of defeat, such being the thought I decided to accept. After all, even a gluttonous creature such as a myself wouldn’t feed himself every last morsel of his downed prey. Regardless of our thirst for flesh, we still had our pride, such being more than enough to restrain ourselves upon reaching those last few inedible scraps.
Still searching, my trail of thoughts soon left me on my lonesome to ponder one last thing. The events that took place in this area, how long ago were they? After all, time was an important factor. Time can decay corpses, erase evidence, burry facts. If indeed the battle that took place in here was one spanning centuries ago then clearly there was no point in delving any deeper. All that mattered was moving forwards, not lingering in the past. A rather common yet ugly trait found in most humans.
Dropping onto my knees, I ran my long dark fingers along the textured debris. They appeared to be laced in scratches or rather small lacerations of some sort, each one digging deeply into the boulders. Suddenly I felt the doubts in my mind extinguished as the cold jagged rock cut into my finger tip; clearly these were fresh scratches, not yet dulled by the ordeal of time. With a strong sense of curiosity blazing within, I decided to delve deeper into this mystery as I rose to my feet, willingly allowing myself to be claimed by the labyrinth of rubble.
Chapter 3//. Tempest of Stone
At this point all that stood around me were a clutter of stone and rubble, seemingly unmovable due to their large mass. Now more so resembling the human realm with their tall skyscrapers, I couldn’t help but grimace under the sight of the surrounding grey. A bleak visage of a concrete jungle, the very same that I had sought to escape by coming to these lands has but caught up with me once more. I simply rejected it. The madness inducing shade of grey.
Though I once considered my tall stature a curse, at this moment in time I couldn’t help but think of it as a boon; my titanic height allowing me to see beyond the rubble and at the pitch black sky. Such being more than enough to save me from the clutches of insanity. Despite this, I couldn’t help but find my very essence swell up in rage each and every moment my eyes wandered forwards only to catch a glimpse of nothing more than a mountain of stone and debris in the distance.
How long had I spent wandering through the labyrinth? An hour, maybe two. No. Though each second felt agonizingly long, so much so that I could feel the very life escaping from my body, in reality I knew full well that my presence in this hell had not spanned much more than over ten minutes. Turning my head to confirm this, I found salvation as I gazed at the short path I had traversed. If it was only such a small distance then I could go back, there was no obligation to continue anymore. Such were the thoughts racing across my head as I strayed from my course and back towards the entrance
Chapter 4//. Herald of Catastrophe
It certainly was an odd sensation. Though I wasn’t running away, I still felt the dire need to justify my actions. Well, whatever the case the matter at hand had ended, or so I thought as I escaped from the rundown fortress. Squinting my eyes, I caught glimpse of a figure hidden amidst the sandy dunes of the desert. Whatever it was, it didn’t seem to be moving in the slightest. Almost as if frozen in time all it did was watch. Watch with a cold gaze and those putrid green eyes.
Before long I couldn’t help but find myself glaring back, almost as motionless as the strange figure out of fear that even the slightest abrupt movement would trigger retaliation. My doubts however were soon put to ease as the figure dashed towards me with little reason to do so other than to devour me. With the large gap between us it certainly did take the other hollow a while to reach me, plenty in fact to study it before the start of our little conflict.
With its shape no longer warped by the surrounding shadows I could just about make out its shape as it scurried along with six stump-like legs. Its body appeared to be almost akin to that of a lizard, minus the extra limbs. Its skin seemed to be laced in crimson red scales, each one jagged and pointed to the point in which it looked as if it could inflict serious gash wounds. The rough looking armour seemed to cover its entire body, ending in a long and slender whip like tail which flailed about aimlessly as the hollow reached within striking distance.
It was hard to judge whether or not this creature possessed the power of speech or not, however intellect was certainly something it had been blessed with, such becoming clear as I leaped away before the lizard initiated by lashing out with its tail only to stop itself upon realising its attack would hit nothing but the rubble behind. For whatever reason this hollow seemed to favour avoiding mindless destruction, or perhaps it simply judged that it would not have enough power to break through the boulder. Whatever the case, reasoning with it seemed to be out of the question.
Chapter 5//. Death and Rebirth
As the strife continued the hollow seemed to be doing nothing more than keeping me at bay with its tail. Though such attacks were easy enough to dodge, I couldn’t help but feel a trickle of sweat rush down my brow each time the scaled whip grew closer to my flesh. It certainly was annoying, the fact that the hollow seemed to reach a height on par with my own despite me being of Gillian class. Almost as if I was being mocked, I decided to answer this insolent hollow with my wrath.
As the hollow moved in closer to swipe me with his tail I built up a charge of reiatsu, surging it through my left hand. At that instant I felt an almost numbness as my arm took on a red hue before abruptly bursting into a torrent of sparks. Such was Resonancia, one of my stronger offensive abilities. With the oscillating reiatsu turning my hand into something comparable to a chainsaw, I took the lizards attack head on, grabbing hold of its tail as it swung towards me.
Upon contact the creature’s tail was immediately decapitated. Falling lifelessly onto the ground along with a spray of black blood. It certainly was an amusing sight watching the hollow flail around in pain, squealing in agony as I approached. Though I felt pity swell up from within I knew full well the extent in which a hollow can hold a grudge, such being more than enough to finish off this downed foe, something I proceeded to do swiftly, however was interrupted as I felt a slight tinge of pain.
“W-What!?”
Noticing the delay in my attack, the hollow seemed to waste no opportunity counting his loses and fleeing into the distance, scurrying along as best he could despite the trail of blood following in his wake. I on the other hand didn’t seem to be so lucky. The pain seemed to be emanating from my hollow hole, expanding outward until at last it burst outward in a flurry of greyish liquid. Despite my resistance the strange liquid seemed to never falter, uncontrollably consuming and drowning me in its substance. What was happening to me? Slowly I could feel it, collapsing over me, forming a new skin, new armour. Blocking out the light. Even breathing was difficult. Was this it? The birth of an Adjuchas.
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