Birthing Monsters [Viccy, CLOSED]

The scent of blood had spread from the forest for miles. And much akin to sharks of the mortal realm they had come swarming in. They killed each other. They fed upon one another. An orgy of blood and carnage as the simple minded creatures turned on each other for sustenance. And while this had occurred countless times ever since their first most primal ancestors had developed perhaps this was the first time that amongst their mix their mortal enemy, a shinigami, prowled laying low any beast foolish enough to try and take a bit or swipe. So many had been felled by her hand within the past hour or so. A trail of dead and dying hollows left a breadcrumb trail of blood and bodies pointing towards her hide away in the desert. 

She was not the more standard image of a female or any shinigami. Her clothing was mere scraps that clung to her body. Her breasts covered by tattered scraps of uniform tied to the remains of wraps and under clothe. Her once tight fitting pants were now barely more than hot pants. Her hands covered in blood, face smattered in gore, her once proud Roman boots stained dark by countless baths in black blood. Battered and roughly repaired with strips of tattered black clothe and strips of ragged leather. Her hair was greasy and matted. She was a wreck of her former self.

The green pools that were her eyes were blank as they stared into forest upon who's edge she stood. A damp tongue passed crossed Victoria's cracked dry lips. Her ears could pick up the screams of the dying. She could smell a swelling of spiritual power. If smelled different than any hollow she'd killed in her career thus far. This smelt evil. It smelt as if it wanted kill and murder. What could cause such a rabid smelling energy? She had to know. 

With a crack Victoria's body disappeared and smashed into the side of one of the tree's further in. the nails on her right hand bit into the bark with the same savage efficiency that her own fang like teeth would to the flesh of an enemy. Casting her orbs about the directions her head could swivel she took in the forest she now trespassed upon. Still could not see the cause of the rabid energy. She could not hear the screams of the hollows that had been dying. Further in she would need to go. Flicking to another tree she moves higher up into the canopy of the white wooded forrest. 

WC: 432
GP: 8

There. Drip. Drip. Dripping. The blood ran from the Hollow’s talons as he clicked clacked his extremities in morbid anticipation. Click clack. Drip drop. Bleeding, the bark of the tree created the thick black sap that provided nutrients to the Hollow sacks. The arch-predator towered over his comrades who clung from the branches and skulked in the shadow. They feared his intelligence, they feared his cunning but most of all they feared his power.



One began to chant, then two and three. All the same phrase over and over “Vasto Adjuchas” a term that these Hollow gave to the ones of their kith and kin they believed would become Vasto Lorde. With each passing second that chorus began to echo in time with the pulsating movements of the pods. “Vasto Adjuchas” and then again “Vasto Adjuchas” a grinding, groaning cacophony of sound that wailed through the halls of the trees.



“Iko silences them. He speaks to them as their brother. Look at our future, the bane of Shinigami. We are the future of Hollow, no longer do we seek to feed in the shadows. No, now we become messengers of their doom. Go to the Humans and tempt them with gifts, the weapons of beauty that hide in gilded coverings” as Iko spoke the chant of Vasto Adjuchas fell and was replaced with a rhythmic thumping on the trees in time with the Hollow’s words.



“Go to the Shinigami, say we are the Hollow who did not shed their masks, but instead gained sentience and last of all travel into the depths of the forest and awaken the sleeping herds. Let the call echo through the forest! The Hollow are stirring and they have a master” he held one of the pods in his hand, inside the gift of temptation. A fruit so careful and brutal in it’s making that Iko had wondered if he’d truly be able to do it. But so was the power of Frigg, the power stolen from a Quincy. Creation.



Then he felt it, they all did. She could not escape their presence, the combined senses of a hundred adjuchas Hollow. Some vanished, disappearing amongst the trees. She wouldn’t realise but these specific Adjuchas had one task, to block her escapes. Meanwhile Iko would just raise a hand, his muscular haunches compressing to boost his agility and he’d be gone, in a burst of static across the trees.



She’d feel it first, hands she couldn’t see clawing into her flesh. Hands that chilled her to the touch and weighed her down with the sheer force of depression. They would goad her into submission, but this Shinigami was proud, very proud and she’d lasted long in these forests. She’d had to learn their ways, which was true to her appearance and in truth the shadow that was Iko that with a predator’s certainty closed down on his prey with a terrifying ease.



His voice would creep into her ear, despite his presence on the branch above her as she moved across the treeline, mimicking her pursuit towards his dearest treasures.



“Why is it a Shinigami runs towards Hollow and not away from them?”



527 10 GP

A vioce seemed to drip into her ears as she shot towards what smelled the most like blood. It asked a question. An innocent enough if perhaps mocking in tone venture into her motives. Lighting upon a branch where she could see the pulsing orbs of malice. Breathing in she smells the air before drawing it over her tongue. Nothing. The stench of blood and carnage masked everything. She couldn't smell out her enemy. Couldn't feel them over the pulsing hate that was the spheres of palpable life force. An enemy could be on the branches above her and she'd not be able to detect them without looking up and why would she do that.

"We do not fear death. We seek power," the words were both hers and not her own. She'd been in this hellish world for so long now that she'd allowed parts of herself to take refuge within her minds deepest parts to allow her to do the savage things she needed to do to survive each day. In the eyes of her peers she was as close to a hollow as one dared to get without being one. She'd come to rely on the terrible primitive instincts for everything. Finding food. Finding water. Battling these beasts that came to find her or she found first. And when instincts were not even to pull her through the struggle she found herself in she could rely on the beast within her to pull her free of the struggle. This life she lived here in these dunes was one where she was constantly finding her edge and exceeding it. Pushing herself past the limit. Obliterating walls and breaking new ground.

One other thing had come from this existence. She'd come to seek power wherever she could. Be it by demolishing threats to her safety. Making her hideaway that much more secure or seeking out a means of escape she as always looking to find a way to make herself just that much more powerful. There were things she'd done that she could only accept because it was necessary. Things part of her had to be asleep to allow her to do. Things that would likely brand her a traitor and a heretic back home. 

She'd felt "hands" upon her for some time now. Whoever, rather whatever, owned them kept itself out of her plan of sight as she scanned the horizon and the floor bellow. Her lips pulled back into a snarl and a low growl rumbled within her chest. The owner of these hands would feel her fury if they continued to hide and keep themselves hidden away. But perhaps it was her own madness creeping over her mind?

WC: 452
GP: 9(17)

“Power? You seek power?” the Hollow nodded and his grin grew wider. All things sought power. It was the natural course of life, but how interesting it was for a Shinigami of all things to admit this. From his experience all Shinigami were obsessed with law and duty. A Shinigami’s way of life was hunting hollow and obeying their laws. There was no compromise at all.

“Iko has power. Iko knows of power. Iko could offer you power but why would a Shinigami accept power from a Hollow? We all seek power Shinigami. Hollow more than any other” he whispered his breath creating steam in the temperature lowering musk that was his spiritual presence. His claws dug deeper into the branch he was holding onto as he looked down onto her, he could easily swipe her from the tree. Dash her brains against the ground, but she was fascinating, her appearance in truth was probably what was saving her.

“Iko wonders. Iko wonders. Iko wonders. You speak like Hollow. You act like Hollow. Yet you wear. . . Shinigami flesh. Why?” the Hollow asked a predatory but inquisitive edge to his voice. He knew why she had survived so long, her nature, the way she felt his presence and reacted. This . . . Shinigami acted much too like a Hollow. It was very likely that the Gillian had simply ignored her as they thought she was an Adjuchas. Hmm, it would be interesting to know how many Hollow she’d killed.

251 5 GP

The female smiled maliciously. "We did not choose this form. We did not want to be this. We sought Elysium. Not this existence of endless war," her voice seemed to echo as she spoke. "We want power to fight off those who would want to kill us. To kill them before they can kill us." She sniffed the air after she finished talking. The air wreaked of that pungent copper smell. It was comforting in a way to her now. She'd grown so used to the small that seemed to permeate her very essence. Such an existence was truly saddening.

She could see what looked like weapons within the orbs. Something within her hungered for one of those savage looking blades. "We are similar yet different Iko... We fight for survival. We seek to forward our own agenda's. We'll do what it takes to see another sunrise. Our difference start in our appearances. You look however you look and we are this. But there is more to us than meets the eye Iko. We are... primal." A chuckle left her lips as she stood there. It was true. A part of her was more beast than man. That part of her was the part that spoke for her now partly. It was the part that had been keeping her alive here and in so many other places over her years of service. Both boon and curse that feral part of her granted her immense strength and durability but at the same time gave her odd features with her ears and teeth. These prevented her from feeling safe in letting others in. Causing her to isolate herself. Here in these sands she felt more like herself in a strange way. There was no fear of being judged only being eaten and being eaten could be prevented by killing that which sought to devour her.

WC: 313
GP: 6(23)

A twisted grin seemed to curl across his face. This grin was something more than the grin he had previously held in entertainment over this Shinigami. This grew was acknowledgement. Despite her appearance and despite her reiatsu her core whether she realised it or not was quite simply – Hollow. Terribly so, her appearance and even the way she spoke only whispered Hollow intellect to him, a beast waiting to break free. It seemed cruel to him that some Hollow somehow made their ways to the world of the Shinigami, that they could be stuck in those flimsy mortal bodies without embracing their true forms.



“Elysium” the word rolled off Iko’s tongue as he placed it in his vocabulary. Lately he hadn’t done that often, the chorus of voices in his head provided a worthy dictionary. Yet such a word deserved a special place in the reservoirs of his mind. Yes. “Utopia” he whispered a similar word. That was what he wished for his Hollow brothers, a kingdom where they weren’t lesser to the half breed Arrancar.



“Iko is impressed, never before has he heard a Shinigami whose heart is so Hollow” a chuckle escaped his rancid innards as he found amusement in his own pun. He dropped down in front of the Shinigami rearing to his full height, a proud predator of the obsidian jungle. The commander of a legion of mindless Adjuchas who fought amongst themselves for power.



“In this world woman, Iko sees primality only in Hollow. Only Hollow are truly primal. You walk in fleshy clothes with a beast wanting to break free. Iko questions why not? Why not tear open that hole in your soul that I see burning bright with such a . . . defiant light. Why stay a Shinigami when you could run free with Iko?” he tempted her with his words. Goaded him to join him. He needed a lieutenant in his schemes after all and why not this . . . Shinigami. Her appearance would never do however, she was much too Shinigami for his likings. He needed to strip that away, corrupt her soul and free her mind.



“Iko has sought a being who was distinctly hollow enough to be by his side. Why not stay with Iko here? Discard those shreds of Shinigami you have left on you and Iko will show you your true potential. Become Hollow woman, be free of the laws of the Soul Society” he goaded and whispered. Iko had been here long enough to know the secrets of this forest, there was a place, so rancid in Hollow reiatsu that any who entered it never came out. Where the Menos Grande gathered in such herds that people who entered had two options, evolve or be obliterated. He had gone there once, he was stronger for it.



“Iko is my name. But what is yours she-who-seeks-to-be-Hollow” he felt the presence of his pods as they continued to grow and his smile grew deeper and deeper.


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A smile crept across her lips and the parted showing her magnificently sharp incisors. They'd seen use as weapons here and on Earth. They were great for inflicting wounds when you needed to get the enemy bleeding. Or if you could get yourself positioned well enough to bring them to bear in a close quarter scuffle. So this was "iko". The body-less voice now owned a body. A big hollow. Ape-ish in form. Normal looking hollow head. Bipedal stature with some knuckle dragging perhaps? His legs looked slightly shorter than his arms but that could have been the way he or it was standing. He smelt of rancid power. His energy tasted like curdled milk. His very essence offended her senses.

"We made an oath. We swore a duty for our kind. We do not break oaths. This female does not betray," she said that twisted smirk not leaving her face as her eyes looked back defiantly at the hollow across from her. "She does not break oaths and I do not allow her to die. Because of me Iko she lives on." Fenrir spoke from within her now borrowing her lips as he conversed with the beast before their collective body. True, he was close to hollow. Yes, he could become hollow and force her along with him. But his loyalty had staved off that taint for millennium. Not that he didn't doubt that if he did turn hollow the woman he'd protected and nurtured couldn't fight him into submission. She was brave and bold. Hard nosed and willingly to die for her beliefs. She couldn't hear his words when he spoke. She couldn't call upon him directly to lend her his strength when she needed it. But through other means did he give her the strength to do battle with her foes. 

"Her name is Victoria of Aeserninus and I am Fenrir. We do not seek to be hollow. We seek escape from this realm and the power to survive," still those wicked looking teeth glinted behind her drawn back lips and crooked smile. Compared to the hollow in front of her she was nothing. Small, almost insignificant. Too many hollows in the realm had fought her assuming a quick meal of delicate shinigami flesh. All had found their end to her hands. Could she stand her ground and fight off this hollow if he decided to attack? Could she even damage him should the need come to head? Hopefully this polite if odd conversation would end in a similarly peaceful manner. But if it came to it she, no they, and Fenrir, even if she didn't know it, would stand and fight. They were not runners. Better to die than to live with the shame of turning tale and running.

WC- 463
GP- 9(32)

What was this? What was this difference? So subtle and yet so vital? His tongue uncoiled from the slimy recesses of his mouth and tentatively tasted the air around the girl. This voice? Was this? Her Zankaputo Spirit? Fascinating. It seemed that she had given almost full control to the spirit to speak through her. What an anomaly. Perhaps he’d gaged wrong about this Shinigami? But perhaps the potential for experimentation here was very real.

“You denied Iko’s request?” the Hollow tilted his head. Surprisingly he was okay with that. He seemed to be deep in thought for a while as he mused over the Shinigami’s words. It seemed that the Shinigami was just like any other unfortunately, she was bound by oaths and duty. This was a typical calling card of the Shinigami and one that Iko used to distinguish between Mortals and the Soul Reapers.

“Considering the last few Shinigami I’ve encountered sent Kidou at me, Iko respects you enough to allow you to live” the Hollow visibly twitched as if there was some deep emotional scarring in the far recesses of his mind. It seemed like it had only been yesterday when he’d came into contact with the Shinigami known as Robert Muhle and only got away because he’d managed to perform the Cero Oscuras and taken the Shinigami unawares. His absence from the human world and dissent into the forests of Hueco Mundo was all to consolidate his power, he’d taken the Shinigami’s words on board about him fighting like a child and had refined his methods but in the same instance the neural processing power of his brain had also improved vastly.

Since then he’d vanished into the depths of Hueco Mundo with the empty Zankaputo he’d stolen and Frigg. He’d refined his usage of Cero and Bala along with numerous experiments into merging the parasite with the Zankaputo and succeeded. What was happening now in the forest was the result of much experimentation and it was about to all come to a much needed fruition, an almost physical proof of what he’d accomplished. He was more intelligent than Muhle thought he was and he’d prove it.

He divided the two souls within the Shinigami by their names. The girl herself was Victoria and the currently speaking entity was her Zankaputo Spirit – Fenrir. Iko was curious now, why hadn’t they escaped yet? Did this girl not know how to open one of her fancy Shinigami doorways? Or perhaps she had other intentions, maybe the power to survive outweighed how lost she was in the forests of Hueco Mundo.

“Why have you not left?” the Hollow asked curiously “Most Shinigami by now would’ve opened a gate or hijacked a Garganta to the Human World. Seeking escape is much like a Hollow seeking something to eat, it’s easy when you know how” as if to demonstrate his fingers absentmindedly found the fabric between worlds and peeling it, he revealed the black void that the Hollow travelled through.

500 10 GP

"We did not know how. We still do not know," her voice returned to her control. It was true. Such a skill was reserved for officers of which she was not one. So she had no clue on how to tear open the void between the spiritual realms and humanity. She eyed the small opening the ape hollow had made. She couldn't fit through that opening and she had no way of being absolutely sure he wasn't baiting her into making a move so he had just cause to eat her. Though he had that cause just because she was here and he was likely much stronger than her. "We cannot use the demon arts. We do not possess the focus to conjure the dark arts from the void to use against those who'd seek our death. We rely on physical prowess and iron blood to lay our enemies low," she said as she mulled his declaration to allow her to live. 

"We've been unlucky in our attempts to escape. Reaching openings writhing with scores of small hollows and having to fight through them to reach escape only to have it close as we reach it. Or catching a glimpse of one closing in the distance. So we wait seeking another way out. Fighting. Hunting our power and escape with both eyes wide open," she smiled slightly as she continued to watch him. The weird fruits that hung from the tree some distance away still held her attention. Part of her wanted to know what it was these were. The other part wanted to be sure this hollow didn't intend to kill her the moment her guard dropped.

WC- 278
GP- 5(37)

“Very well Victorir” he mashed the two names together because it was more efficient. After all were they not the same entity? All Shinigami lived in a symbiotic bond with their Zankaputo Spirit. It was why if you took their sword often they seemed so powerless and lost. You’d literally taken half their soul by snatching it from them. He’d seen the effects on countless Shinigami he’d toyed with, some once you took their sword became terrified. Others were more arrogant, attempting to shout commands to an armament that wouldn’t respond, couldn’t respond. He’d come across all types of Shinigami and their interactions with their spirit, some did it mentally – physically engaging in a mental debate. Others voiced their communications with their zankaputo spirits whilst Iko would watch on.

The end was always the same.

They always died.

He’d however not met a two quite like Victoria and Fenrir. Where a Shinigami literally gave their entire body to their spirit. Some Iko believed would call this a “perfect” resonance between the two, Iko however wondered by the look of Victoria how much of it actually was possession. Dissection? Possibly an idea. Tear open her heart and see if Fenrir remained? It’d kill the girl though and possibly the spirit. Hmm. He’d need to analyse her more, work out her spiritual composition and then a correct incision in the right place. . .

“Iko will open a portal if you wish to return to the human world but currently Iko must turn to the fruit of his labors. We are at the end” the Hollow vanished from the branch in a burst of Sonido and appeared on the tree where his accursed fruits grew. The Adjuchas around him had been curious of his conversation with the Shinigami and he could see them itching to attack. They were eager to spread these seeds of corruption to the Humans and Shinigami so that they could for once have the upper ground. Alas. That was a good plan, but not quite the one Iko had been thinking of.

One by one the pods popped revealing a Katana, the hilt however had what seemed to be a mollusc fused to the blade, as if they were one and the same. They hung from the branches by their tentacles, the eyes that were inlaid into the tentacle hilts stared upwards at Iko and across at the Adjuchas. These were the Bakkoto, parasitic Zankaputo that grant strength for strength.

“Victorir, witness the birth of my children the Bakkoto. Would you like one? These weapons grant power in exchange for power” one of the Bakkoto detached itself from the tree and seemed to hover in the air seemingly mimicking the same platform constructing that Hollow did. In truth Bakkoto were a sub-breed of Hollow powered by his own essence and grafted onto the Asauchi of a Shinigami to maintain stability.

What he’d done was very simple. He’d birthed his parasite within Freylief and had it grow and learn the Quincy ways of creating things with Reishi. Once it had become more adept with manipulation and in truth more alive, he’d removed it from Freylief. Now came his next big problem, how did he stabilize his parasite to create more? Fate had opened a portal into the Soul Society and through that he’d found an Asauchi of Robert Muhle’s. Stealing the weapon he’d grafted Frigg the parasite onto it and made it make contact with the faceless soul inside. Once that was done, Frigg took over the spirit of the Asauchi corrupting it completely. Thus the mother of Bakkoto was born.

The rest of course was history. He’d used Frigg’s power to birth more of his Bakkoto and now he was finally ready to unleash them upon the world.

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"We seek power but will not simply be handed it. We will take it by force. We shall prove to all that we are capable of wielding power. Please tend to your children," she said still holding her ground in front of who she knew only as Iko. He was powerful. Coherent. He could speak and showed signs of being far stronger than the many gillian class hollow she'd laid low on her approach. And yet sensing these things she, no they, had been brash enough to just about challenge the beast before her. Perhaps they weren't so much about surviving this ordeal as much as they were about kicking a ton of ass and possibly dying along the way? 

He'd mentioned something about a portal. A way out. True it wouldn't be a direct route out of this god forsaken sand box and grove of petrified timber and rock but it'd get her one step closer to home. A sort of midway point. Yet she'd not told him yes or no. She'd simply been a proud stubborn fool and basically challenged the blighter. And it was moments like this had she had a shinigami wing man that they'd be asking her if she was bloody mental. And the answer would likely be a yes. Challenging a being that could crush her skull with merely a flick of its massive digits. Not what most would consider smart.

He'd used a word to refer to his "children". These bakkoto. She barely understood Japanese at this moment. Had she had her full mind to turn against this word she did not know she may have deciphered something within a few minutes or simply grown irritated with yet another word she didn't know. One had detached itself from the tree that the others hung from. It looked like Zanpakuto or ones she had seen. To be truthful her own sat quietly in her barracks room awaiting her to call upon it someday. That day hand't come yet nor would it today most likely.

That, however, hinged on if this Iko decided to cave her head in or simply laugh at what was arguably a barking puppy at the fence between it and a fully grown tiger. Either way, something was going down with that strange tree and these bakkoto's or whatever it was they were called. She'd stick around if Iko didn't blow her up or kill her in some other way and try and figure out what these things were. After all their birth had brought her in to see what the commotion was and had given her opportunity to kill several hollow along the way. Perhaps if these strang swords did as the hollow said she would pick one for her own if the offer still stood.

WC- 466
GP- 9(46)

Victoria’s response was very mixed and honestly Iko wasn’t sure if she wanted one or not. In the same instance she’d said she didn’t want power, but she still said that she’d rather take it. Which made no sense to Iko and wasn’t a coherent response enough for him to make a choice. The Bakkoto itself with a gesture from Iko moved closer to Frey, its flickering singular eye staring deep into hers. Almost enticing Victoria into taking it with the hypnotic gaze of the bakkoto, all it would take would be for Freylief to accept the weapon into her flesh, for it to enter her veins and suffocate her bloodstream with its parasitic temptations.

“Regardless of what you choose to do Victoria, Iko does not care too much. Take the weapon, but if you dare show it to anyone within the Soul Society and it’ll kill you” to demonstrate the tentacles on the blade seemed to grow and throb as if to consume Victoria in one go. The Bakkoto was an instrument of power but it was also an instrument of trust. As far as Iko was concerned this Shinigami would actually be the only bearer of his Bakkoto.

“As for the rest of you” his voice turned to the Adjuchas that were on the trees, staring at the other pods as they began to pop one by one. As the sickly rank contents was revealed the blades seemed to hover in the air as the tree was stripped of its fruit. “Iko lied” the Adjuchas all tensed at his words, some dropped from the branches and began to approach him, as if retaliation was a viable option. Others were already charging Cero in their maws or their claws, approaching the one they called “Vasto Adjuchas” with intent to kill in their eyes. They knew what Iko lying mean, they knew it was bad and their instincts told them to retaliate immediately.

“The Bakkoto were never for the Shinigami or the Mortals. They were gifts for all of you” and the Hollow’s grin grew so wide that his laughter began to crack through the forest. It resounded off the branches, as the Bakkoto began to wrap their tentacles around each and every Adjuchas. The Adjuchas now distracted by the Bakkoto balked as they frantically tried to remove the weapons from their arms. Some were taken almost immediately, the tentacles burrowing into their flesh and taking over their mind. Other collapsed to the forest floor to be devoured by Gillian, their bakkoto being eaten in the process.

“The Bakkoto cull the weak. They trim the crop. If you Adjuchas were strong you would survive their eating. You see this was Iko’s plan all along, to create the strongest weaponry, I needed the strongest Hollow souls. In truth of the fifty Adjuchas that stand here, forty will be consumed and will die with their Bakkoto. The remainder will form the basis of my ten perfect symbionts” even now they were beginning to collapse. The burden of the Bakkoto was already too much for some of them as they were utterly devoured by the blades, leaving an eyeball spinning in the air that flew towards Iko. He snatched them one by one from the air as they came and bit into them, savouring the taste.

“When I said my Bakkoto were fruit, they were. I needed power so I made my own way to easily harvest you all. Fifty on one? Now that isn’t fair, but a simple display of power showed how mindless you were and how easy it was for Iko to dominate you” twenty were left. Twitching and writhing in agony as they fought to tame the tentacles that consumed their bodies. Then suddenly there were ten, then nine and then eight.

More time passed. More death. More souls consumed. Three. Oh this was an unlikely outlier. Two. Huh maybe he’d underestimated his own genius? One. Oh. Zero.

The last Adjuchas was consumed and suddenly Iko was left in a curious predicament. He’d just consumed fifty odd Adjuchas and his experiment had failed and yet. And yet. He felt a strange success.

“Ah” he said softly.

“This was . . . a failure”

“Yet one is left”

“And I am not disappointed. . . “

He felt the new power run through him

“Iko wanted an army but a Hollow’s priority is to eat so I why do I?”


“Feel so satisfied?”

He’d disappeared into the forests to refine his skills and become a better fighter. Muhle had shaken him to his core and through that he had come to understand more about himself. He’d mastered the Cero but he wanted to go further. He’d finished up his parasitic experiments, the idea that had been coined in his head from the beginning with the construction of that parasite in Frey. But through that he’d learnt about reishi and reiryoku and with this . . . . This new accumulation of souls he understood something more.

“Victoria. Regardless of your decision about my only child. You’ve seen what it can do. So take it as a gift. Iko wants to ask something of you, fight with me Victoria. At my fingertips I have reached a new understanding. Please. Witness the accumulation of knowledge that the Bakkoto have allowed me to understand” Yes. The Cero. The flow of Reiryoku. The understanding of how reishi all tied into that and how his own body was a medium for this power.

918 18 GP

For some what played out beneath her feet on the floor of the forest would have been stomach turning. Many would have had to turn their eyes away from the butchery and carnage. But to a being who'd spent days committing acts of similar brutality and who had, at least for a moment, shirked off the humanity that separated shinigami from these bestial beings it was nothing new. The violence and savagery had become a part of her existence. Watching as adjuchas were consumed by their lesser more numerous gillian counterparts or by the weapons themselves did nothing for her emotional state. Perhaps within she saw this as a good thing. These powerful hollow were now no longer a threat to her. They were dead and she was not. She lived on to see a minute or so more while they were converted to whatever it was a spiritual being was converted to when they were devoured. 

She cast an eye to the blackened blade that was the bakkoto. The abomination of hollow and asauchi forms that before her had killed fifty hollows. Devoured them completely and left nothing but as husk it seemed. Her two eyes stared back at the solitary one of the weapon as it tempted her and appeared to throb its tentacles at her. Iko was speaking but she didn't hear. Within her she could see the chance it was to take this weapon. She could see the danger and at the same time the potential for great power if one could control the weapon and keep from being devoured by it. Much to weigh and think about.

Iko had taken to devouring the fruit like eyes that made it back to him after their hosts had been consumed. This too was no surprise to the feral shinigami. They were spiritual energy containing spheres and hollows consumed spiritual energy. This was not surprising. Fifty and one bakkoto born. Fifty devoured by either Iko or the swarming gillians bellow. Now only the one before her, hers and hers alone, remained. She could reach out and grasp the vile abomination. Take it up and feed it her energy little by little and build a bond with it then call upon it when the time came and harness it for her own selfish uses.  Or she could take hold of the blade and be consumed. She was brash and arrogant enough to think that she could dominate such a wicked creation and yet still she was aware of every possibility. Then Iko spoke again as he had been for sometime and this time she heard his words.

He wished for a fight. She hesitated for a moment. He was more powerful than she was and with that she didn't doubt that he was faster. More importantly if she declined would he let her walk away? She doubted it. Her eyes narrowed slightly as she stared at Iko from her branch. He'd not moved as had she. Her hands closed slowly. She'd made her decision. Lunging forward suddenly she through her hard forhead at her hollow host. If one lived with hollows you learned to fight like one. Violent. Sudden and by putting everything into every strike and aiming to kill with them all. And if this Iko was truly stronger than her she'd need to hit harder and without warning.

WC- 561
GP- 11(57)

Breathe. Draw from your knowledge. You understand Cero more than anyone, you’ve mastered the Oscuras, you’ve studied the Gran Rey, and you watched the ebb and flow of reiyoruku in the air of Hueco Mundo. Like the tide it’ll guide you and become your mantle. Hold steady Iko and it will all fall into place, you can do this.

He breathed in the reiyoruku around him and let it flow through his body and into lungs. He filled his lungs with spiritual energy, revelled in the power that was at this fingertips. He let it run through his veins and through his muscles until he understood every particle that existed in his body. Then he breathed out, a wispy black smoke curled from the edges of his mouth and began to rise off his arms.

As Victoria processed his words more and more smoke began to drift off his arms. As she made her decision it would become clear that the smoke itself was his condensed spiritual pressure. He already knew she was coming, she’d betrayed herself with the tiniest motion. He crossed his arm against himself and attempted to gather the smoke but to no avail, she broke through and he heard the bone crack as it dented from the impact of her forehead.

“Impressive” a word trickled from Iko’s rapidly thinking mind. He sonido’d backwards to create distance. He breathed and called upon his knowledge of Cero and how they formed, shaping the smoke into sparks of black energy that danced along his arm and seared his flesh. He needed to breathe more, he needed to steady his racing heart. He needed to remember the key concepts of Hollow anatomy, the regenerative cells in his body and most of all how Cero was created.

This time the sparks coiled around his skin, forming a layer of condensed energy. A Cero so thin and so flat that it formed armour against his skin and his flesh being so attuned to the properties of the Cero weren’t harmed at all by it. It was like Hierro but it was better, unlike Hierro which reinforced a Hollow’s innate defensive properties. This technique formed a concentrated lattice of consistently produced Cero around his arm. Not only did this protect him, it also gave him an “explosive” touch but Victoria would soon learn about that.

He held his pitch black arm coated in shimmering spiritual energy up towards Victoria. Arcs of indigo jumped from points to point in it, as unstable spiritual energy crisscrossed the concentrated latticed cero covering across his arm. “This is the culmination of my experiments, the humans would call this “Hollow Flash Armament” it’s effectively a Cero bent in such a way that it has become like a second skin” but now he would show the true power of the Hollow Flash Armament, for the strength of it didn’t lie in the spiritual power covering the limb. The power lay in the unstable latticed Cero, Cero that were charging all at once but at a super decelerated rate drawing on the power of the reishi around them.

He reached out and touched an obsidian tree that was next to him, it was then at that moment the unstable stalemate that the latticed cero were stuck in was disturbed, releasing an immense torrent of energy right into the tree and destroying it.

“Cero are innately explosive. Hollow can only create Cero. It's the only form of “magic” we are capable of. But I thought to myself, if Shinigami can create barriers and bolts of lightning and Quincy can fire arrows themselves? Why can’t a Hollow manipulate Cero to assist in his defence? Why can’t a Hollow increase the ferocity of his punches by utilizing the explosive power of Cero?” Yes this was all because of Robert Muhle telling him that his attacks weren’t refined enough. So he’d thought about what that actually meant and had decided that only meant one thing he needed to refine what “Cero” was.

He stared at the fault in the armament, where his torn and damaged skin from the explosion shone through. He grinned through the pain, in time his body would even grow accustomed to the explosive shock that tore his flesh when he used this technique, but for now? For now? He was happy that he could at least manifest it.

“Hollow Flash Armament” he said curling his fist and watching the latticed cero reform over it.

“Watch out Victorir, this is more terrifying than a Bala and designed for close range”

And he sonido’d forward swinging his fist.

754 15 GP
Ooc: Tbh I can totally see a timeskip happening now where they train for a bit but it’s up to you. If you wanna try out some new Hakuda things go ahead.

So she could hurt him. She'd felt the bone give way slightly as her head connected with it. A smile tugger at the corners of her mouth at the realization. The hit had been solid enough to push the hollow Iko back. Make him take stock of his now foe. To bring up his weapons. His new toy to try against her. She had no toy's like this controlled cero variant. What she did have though was a heightened instinct for fighting it out at close range. A mind sharpened by decades of fighting many enemies and the capacity to analyze and enemies strengths and adapt to exploits their weaknesses. 

This variant promised destructive power. It had done well in vaporizing the tree Iko had simply touched with it. Interesting. If it could blast stone trees to oblivion then in theory it could rend her limb from limb. Her eyes narrowed slightly as he expounded about the creation of this ability. What he had thought as he sought to bring this thing to being. It didn't matter to her. None of it did. What did was understanding how it worked. Right now, from what she'd seen, this ability of Iko's couldn't be shot like a regular cero but instead relied on impact with a target or surface. That didn't mean it couldn't be if his will so determined that was what he wanted it to do. More pontificating. More talk. It seemed everyone she ran across wanted to run their gob while they were fighting. She had no need for it. Talk was cheap and distracting. She preferred breaking their jaws so they couldn't speak. 

He told her to watch out and she made ready. Was this some kind of game for him? Warning a sworn enemy about an incoming attack? Or perhaps it was confidence that she'd either run or be killed by it. She wouldn't run. No. The daughter of Galia and Roma would stand her ground and fight her enemy even if her mind was withdrawn to shield itself from the horrors it faced here. The positive to that withdrawal was an almost heightened instinct beyond the realm of combat. A with what sounded like sand in a glass dish he was gone and then appearing before her his right fist in motion with that devilish technique.

In a flash her mind weighed the options and reacted. She could duck the blow and sweep his legs. She could duck the blow and try and deliver some punishment to where on her would be his liver. She could simply evade. Or she could do what her body had immediately moved to do on its own. A quarter step in with her left foot. A violent twist that started in her hips and up into her back and up into her rising coiled right hand. The lifting of her right foot as she spun on the ball of her left foot as momentum pulled her whole body through. Then a suddenly violent, yet very controlled, extension of her right hand with all the speed and momentum of her body behind it aimed at the side of his head. Planting that right just moments before her right fist would impact she follows that blow up with another from her left directed towards the center of his body just bellow the very end of the sternum. Stun and wind. Leave the enemy reeling while their body fought for breath. 

Most would take this opportunity to take a step back. Not her. Not Victoria of the fifth. This was her element close quarter brawling.

WC- 602
GP- 12(69)

ACTIONS(in case they were confusing.):
I basically used the angular momentum of throwing a big right hand at the side of your head to side step your punch. 
I threw as stated above a big right hand at the side of your head.
And I followed that up with a body blow with my left hand. 

In this world there was two types of fighting. The ones who used their muscles and the ones who used their minds. Iko was a Hollow and quite logically from anybody’s experience, most would instantly assume that Iko would opt for close range. This was the brilliance of the armament, it was a cleaver from demonstration, a blunt tool to be used at close range. This was merely Iko demonstrating the offensive ability of the technique. A willing performance of what was the power of the armament was capable of. But no, the armament was always meant to be a final defence until he could work on strengthening his own natural defences, a powerful supplement to the “Hierro” he naturally lacked.

Thus he was not wrong when he said it was “designed for close combat”, he had done a common magicians gambit and distracted Victoria from the true meaning. Ah, he breathed in her scent, the smell of sweat and adrenaline. She was an amiable fighter and he would test her limits so that he could slowly shape who she was. He’d leave imprints on her consciousness and body. Flaws in the resilient armour of the person she’d become when she returned to the soul society. Then when the day came and they met again, he’d exploit those weaknesses and take her for his own.

His instincts began to flare up as Victoria threw a punch at his head, he let it impact along with letting Victoria’s body blow make contact as well. Spinning on the axis created by the impact of the punch on his head creating momentum to allow the left punch to punch him and cause him to spin in mid-air. He let out a light growl at the heavy bruising that he’d sustained as his head rung from the collision of Victoria’s punches.

Grabbing vaguely onto his senses he kicked away from Victoria’s proximity, hurtling downwards and pointing a singular talon up at the Shinigami. Energy crackled at his fingertips as a Cero roared to life in the gap between them, hurtling upwards and devouring the gap between the two combatants. Iko had been kind, the Cero was the weakest of the arsenal that he had access to. Victoria was a clever fighter but Iko needed to rely on the armament less, he’d been caught up in the thrill of being able to use it.

It was a defensive mechanism. He needed to remember that. He let go of the armament into the air, its existence fading away in coiling black smoke. If he let Victoria get close again then the fight would start nearing its end. It was time for the woman to play on his terms, to fight and dance between torrents of Cero. He would teach her to dance between a Hollow attacks until she simply couldn’t take it anymore and then? And then? He didn’t know what happened then, he didn’t know if this battle would ever end or they’d just dance into the blackness of the forest.

506 10 GP

The wolf was not satisfied with the depth of the wounds she'd inflicted on the ape. He fell away towards the forest and she considered pursuing him and had been about to when the glinting of gathering spiritual energy focused to a point and erupted forth. Stepping off the branch she drops like a stone the blast ripping past her shoulder scorching the skin and burn small patches off. The pain penetrated her minds focused rage but did not deter her from the pursuit of the ape. Raising her hands above her head as she fell she bends forward sharply forcing her body to begin to somersault. Tucking herself up tightly the spin increases in speed as she rockets towards her quarry. 

Nearing her the ape as she shot for the forest floor her hands shoot from their positions to grab for his legs. If she could grab hold of him she'd use her rotational force to send him flying faster towards the floor.


((SHIT POST))


WC- 164
GP- 3(72)(claimed)

Cero is a primal power, drawn from the well of all magic. When the Hollow were first created, it was those that studied lightning that learnt to draw the Cero. They saw these Shinigami bend the ancient magic of creation to their will and use them in battle chanting phrase after phrase from their mystic knowledge. The first Hollow roared and commanded the energy to take shape, to bend unto their will and form the powerful beams of light that shone across battlefields and scorched their enemies.

It was said that the first Cero were what burnt the Forest of Menos in such a heat that the wood of the old oaks turned to obsidian. Perhaps that was why all Hollow came here? To learn the whisperings of the old trees and learn their secrets. To perhaps gleam some knowledge from those first primal Hollow. The first Gillian, the first Adjuchas and even the first Vasto Lorde?
Perhaps Cero armament had always existed, used by the first cero-wielding Hollow to overcome their brothers who fought with tooth and claw. Perhaps so many things, lost to the annals of time. For that was the nature of the Hollow, a lost race. A race without a purpose. A race who had lost what it was amongst the only thing it knew that it was destined for “Hunger” and perhaps Iko was destined to be another nameless Hollow, lost amongst the white tide.

Or not.

He traced her movements through the air and in his mind he saw her actions lay out before him. Her movements despite erratic and wild, were clockwork for a beast who had fought amongst beasts. She was nigh but a fledgling, whilst he? He was a predator!

As he fell through the air he thought to himself. Who was she to fight him like this? He who was merely testing his limits to a weaker foe. This Shinigami who wanted to be like a Hollow, who survived nigh by the skin of her teeth. He was a predator first and foremost and now it seemed his patience with her had quickly dried up. It was replaced with something else, a mixture of that eager desire to watch her thrive and an endless desire to see her nurtured as a Hollow Breed.

He let her move, grabbing his legs and twisting him through the air, casting him downwards faster to the forest floor, he impacted with the ground feeling his back heavily bruise. He pointed his hand towards her and sent a cero roaring to life directly at her, as with the other hand he opened a garganta below him and slipped into it.

They would meet again.

And when they did he’d make her a Hollow.

But right now, he knew how to use Armament and that was what mattered. He knew how to use Cero for his defence and he knew how to use them for his offence, next time he met Robert gone would be the “child-like” style the Shinigami had called him out for.

509 10 GP
Total: 110