Post by Hanbei Karatsu on Jan 1, 2016 17:40:36 GMT -5
There had only been two times in Hanbei’s life where he had felt truly dwarfed in existence. The first was when he had first witnessed a Captain of the Gotei release their bankai and unleash their full spiritual pressure. The second had been the impact of the punch connecting with his face as a human invader had knocked him out with a single hook, putting him out of action during the Ouken Eclipse.
Seeing the sheer size of the Menos Forest was the third. It was impossibly gargantuan, easily rising twice over the tallest building in the Seretei. It was intimidating, because anything could be lurking in there, something stronger than a captain could reside there, release its reiatsu, and Hanbei doubted it would even touch the edge of the forest. In fact, there could be several beasts of that enormity within, possibly dividing the forest into territory that he would be completely unaware of.
At first he had thought to maybe ascend the giant trees, perhaps obtaining a better view of the forests floor with an aerial advantage. But the threat of even more and deadlier Hollows above had kept him away: the weaker animals were always better off in the brush below than exposed to the predators in the sky.
Despite his concerns, Hanbei had braved himself and entered, the hard-headed shinigami on constant edge as many eerie sounds and sights plagued him within. After only hours of losing himself amongst the dead flora, he had seen many fearsome Hollows that had passed without detecting him, the luck of which was not wasted on him. The trees began all looking the same, and the odd topical change began feeling repetitive.
A rustle to his right: a slight turn of his head brought him to sheer awe. The movement was so subtle, that at first he didn’t realize its implication. It appeared like the whole forest on his right was moving, slowly rising, and soon the optical illusion passed and he froze. What he thought had been a ridge, was actually a slumbering Hollow, so immense that it could be mistaken for landscape. The leviathan lurched as colossal trees fell and forced Hanbei to take action unless he wanted to be crushed. The resulting sound of every crash felt like a sonic boom to Hanbei, who began to beeline for the hulk before him. The reptilian head never turned to acknowledge the shinigami, instead snorting then slightly opening its mouth to draw in breath, enlarging it even further. Its opposite end could not even be seen from where he had stood.
I must be insignificant in its eyes, a fly on the wall. Guess I’ll hitch a ride if it doesn’t mind.
It took several flash steps to climb to the back of the Hollows, and he quickly hid himself amongst the ridges of its back as its four legs lumbered forward, carrying both further into the forest.
This is the most ridiculous thing we have ever done. This is like something out of a children’s tale.
I’m more than happy to do the ridiculous if it serves a purpose. I think us too… inappropriate to be recounted for a child’s bedtime story, but hopefully we’ll get the happily ever after that seem so popular in them.
And there, Hanbei found sleep for the first time in days, nesting himself on the behemoths back, hidden from the other Hollows that might have otherwise wished to have eaten him. Nodding on and off again as his faux mount waddled, Hanbei thought to his encounter before arriving at the forest: his words exchanged with Yuki Arisawa, and her menacing hint to find a cave within the forest. She seemed to have no qualms with helping a shinigami find revenge against another Arrancar. But that was a key difference between the Hollows and Shinigami. Amongst Soul Reapers, betrayal was less common and not to be expected of, whereas every Hollow from the get go was out for themselves, and the Arrancar were the epitome of that sentiment.
Hanbei remained where he was until his ride finally settled again, and took some of the time to use a minimal amount of kaido, as to not set off the enormous Hollow beneath him, to ease some of his previous wounds from his time in Hueco Mundo. Steadying his resolve again with a thought that had driven him since leaving the Soul Society, he leapt off the towering beast to the ground.
I’m coming for you Ipos.
He quickly left the proximity of his recent Hollow train, not wanting to incur its wrath, and returned to what he had spent most of his time doing in Hueco Mundo: wandering. Luckily, he did not need to do so for very long before finding something else of interest.
Amongst a particularly small and crowded cluster of trees, he found a makeshift camp. Before stepping to close to it, he looked around to see if there were any inhabitants. A quick sensing told him no, so he approached the camp, looking to the minor features that made it stand out from its surroundings. Placed logs, that seemed to be hacked into the form of a bench and table, encircled a small pit, which was empty. A small bag was atop the shoddy table, and Hanbei was quick to pick it up and scrounge through it.
He was craving cherries, and Hueco Mundo was painfully void of his favorite fruit.
WC- 911/911. GP- 18/18.
Seeing the sheer size of the Menos Forest was the third. It was impossibly gargantuan, easily rising twice over the tallest building in the Seretei. It was intimidating, because anything could be lurking in there, something stronger than a captain could reside there, release its reiatsu, and Hanbei doubted it would even touch the edge of the forest. In fact, there could be several beasts of that enormity within, possibly dividing the forest into territory that he would be completely unaware of.
At first he had thought to maybe ascend the giant trees, perhaps obtaining a better view of the forests floor with an aerial advantage. But the threat of even more and deadlier Hollows above had kept him away: the weaker animals were always better off in the brush below than exposed to the predators in the sky.
Despite his concerns, Hanbei had braved himself and entered, the hard-headed shinigami on constant edge as many eerie sounds and sights plagued him within. After only hours of losing himself amongst the dead flora, he had seen many fearsome Hollows that had passed without detecting him, the luck of which was not wasted on him. The trees began all looking the same, and the odd topical change began feeling repetitive.
A rustle to his right: a slight turn of his head brought him to sheer awe. The movement was so subtle, that at first he didn’t realize its implication. It appeared like the whole forest on his right was moving, slowly rising, and soon the optical illusion passed and he froze. What he thought had been a ridge, was actually a slumbering Hollow, so immense that it could be mistaken for landscape. The leviathan lurched as colossal trees fell and forced Hanbei to take action unless he wanted to be crushed. The resulting sound of every crash felt like a sonic boom to Hanbei, who began to beeline for the hulk before him. The reptilian head never turned to acknowledge the shinigami, instead snorting then slightly opening its mouth to draw in breath, enlarging it even further. Its opposite end could not even be seen from where he had stood.
I must be insignificant in its eyes, a fly on the wall. Guess I’ll hitch a ride if it doesn’t mind.
It took several flash steps to climb to the back of the Hollows, and he quickly hid himself amongst the ridges of its back as its four legs lumbered forward, carrying both further into the forest.
This is the most ridiculous thing we have ever done. This is like something out of a children’s tale.
I’m more than happy to do the ridiculous if it serves a purpose. I think us too… inappropriate to be recounted for a child’s bedtime story, but hopefully we’ll get the happily ever after that seem so popular in them.
And there, Hanbei found sleep for the first time in days, nesting himself on the behemoths back, hidden from the other Hollows that might have otherwise wished to have eaten him. Nodding on and off again as his faux mount waddled, Hanbei thought to his encounter before arriving at the forest: his words exchanged with Yuki Arisawa, and her menacing hint to find a cave within the forest. She seemed to have no qualms with helping a shinigami find revenge against another Arrancar. But that was a key difference between the Hollows and Shinigami. Amongst Soul Reapers, betrayal was less common and not to be expected of, whereas every Hollow from the get go was out for themselves, and the Arrancar were the epitome of that sentiment.
Hanbei remained where he was until his ride finally settled again, and took some of the time to use a minimal amount of kaido, as to not set off the enormous Hollow beneath him, to ease some of his previous wounds from his time in Hueco Mundo. Steadying his resolve again with a thought that had driven him since leaving the Soul Society, he leapt off the towering beast to the ground.
I’m coming for you Ipos.
He quickly left the proximity of his recent Hollow train, not wanting to incur its wrath, and returned to what he had spent most of his time doing in Hueco Mundo: wandering. Luckily, he did not need to do so for very long before finding something else of interest.
Amongst a particularly small and crowded cluster of trees, he found a makeshift camp. Before stepping to close to it, he looked around to see if there were any inhabitants. A quick sensing told him no, so he approached the camp, looking to the minor features that made it stand out from its surroundings. Placed logs, that seemed to be hacked into the form of a bench and table, encircled a small pit, which was empty. A small bag was atop the shoddy table, and Hanbei was quick to pick it up and scrounge through it.
He was craving cherries, and Hueco Mundo was painfully void of his favorite fruit.
WC- 911/911. GP- 18/18.
