Awakening (SashaxZero closed)

Still looking at her pale hands she wondered why in the world Shinku had done what she had. Being a Quincy meant that she had no connection with the Hollow-breeds. In fact, they were supposed to be enemies. So why had the intelligent creature taken it upon itself to heal Sasha? She must have known that it wouldn’t really change anything. Right?

Frowning she thought about Knight. The tiny Hollow could have been the one behind this. Perhaps he had warned his friend who then decided to help out the wounded mortal. But why?

Shifting through the primitive house in the equally primitive clothes she had gotten, Sasha thought about the sound of the egg’s shell breaking when she had woken up. The odd liquid should have caused her to panic but everything had felt so safe that she hadn’t even wanted to get up at first. It was.. horrible and amazing at the same time. Unthinkable, was another word that came to mind when she had analyzed her situation a bit further. Being in the Hollow realm was unreal. She didn’t belong here, shouldn’t be here.

She bit her lip to hide a part of her stress.

According to Shinku this place was ‘safe’. The ones living in this city of sand were those who preferred peaceful solutions above violence. While it sounded like something logical Sasha knew that the only reason it did was because she was still human. From everything she had gathered about the Hollow kind, this, all of this, was very exceptional. A part of her still wondered if it was a trap of some kind, but being here now didn’t really leave her with another option but to trust the Hollow who’s brought her here. The promise of a safe passage home kept her from freaking out, and her inquisitive nature was encouraging to take this one in a lifetime opportunity and use it for all it was worth.

Hence, she headed out.

While she had to admit that she’s had better walks than the one she was about to start at right now, it still felt special to be out in the sandy streets beneath the dark, Hollow sky. Trying to drink in every detail while standing on the porch, she soon found something odd at the side of her door. At first she only caught the presence of the child. Confused as she was Sasha still wanted to offer it some help, if he would turn out to be needing it, but then the Shinigami shifted, and all of her attention went toward the woman.

In a matter of seconds an arrow of bright blue reishi was directed at the Shinigami mere feet away from her. She pulled it back, tightened her grip on the energy bow and glared. “What do you want?”


471-

The shinigami would stare at Sasha. Unflinching as she drew her bow. Never once reaching down for her blade she only nodded politely before kneeling down to the child. Putting her hand on his shoulder and only uttering a single word "Master". The boy had been lost in his whimsy, dancing about in his mind before raising his head up and blinking a few times. Looking to the puppet and then to the other side and noticing the girl.

It took him a moment to register in his mind that she had finally left the room. As he realized it a look of glea crossed the child's face as he sprung up gleefully to his feet on the spot. "Who... Who are you..." His eyes looking up and down her form before nodding as he stepped side to side. His own height shorter than the woman holding the bow but he was standing on his toes as he wanted to inquire about her. "Where you come from? We don't see many new faces anymore" The smile of glee on his face as he nodded again. Looking as though he might just try and jump onto her arm and cling to her if he got the chance. in his slight fits of energy his collar and chain rattled within his jacket making it rattle out.

The shinigami stood up slowly before putting her hand on his shoulder as though it were a gentle reminder from just jumping literally onto their new guest. Shaking her head slowly before taking in a deep breath and sighing. Her eyes looking away from the girl as she put her hand on the child's head and started to rub it back and forth slowly. "So... are you like guna live here to with us?" the boy chimed in as he seemed to calm down. His head raising up slightly to look at her face and it revealed the signature hole all hollows bared through the dead center of his throat.

"I mean only the nice people come and stay... not like the others... they blow up walls... and homes.. Were tired of fixing holes ya know?" Taking his hands and dusting his clothes off slowly as sand fell out of every crack and crevice. Blinking his eyes a few time in the absence of words while on the other side of the colony those puppets trained in their yard. Some o them clashing swords and clubs as they brawled with one another in and organized chaos.

---

WC: 420
TWC: 899

With tingling fingertips she held her breath. Ready to fire the arrow at the first sign of hostility she was almost disappointed when the Shinigami didn’t move her hand toward the sword she had. Somehow it was almost unnatural to have one of them not jumping conclusions. Perhaps this one -her eyes widened when catching the number- was a slave?

Slightly tilting her head a bit as if trying to get a better look she still kept the arrow directed at the potential threat. Her eyes quickly slid toward the kid on the ground, and when the woman began to crouch Sasha let the tip of her arrow follow her head. There was no way that she would be caught off guard right now. Not here.

The tension rose, she felt her muscles singing. Blut was waking up, curling through her veins with vigor. But all of that seemed to be unnecessary when the child returned to the here and now. Excited as he was the white haired boy showered her with questions of all sorts. For a moment she just stood there with the weapon still in her hand and eyes narrowed in suspicion. Then, she let it slide down a bit further.

“You can call me Sasha.” She paused, wondering if this was a good idea, then sighed heavily as if giving up on something.

“Japan, I come from Japan.” It was the truth. She had been in Japan, in the park to be more precisely, when things had so quickly turned into a mess. “That’s the world of the living.” Cautiously she added a bit of information. Maybe if she was open to him, he would return the favor. And information was something she was sorely lacking right now. He certainly appeared to be happy to make acquaintance with her. She could use that.

“No, I’m not going to live here. I eh.. I was hurt by,” her eyes briefly drifted to the Shinigami on his side, she couldn’t help but to glare again. “one of them. A friend,” It really was the only way she could describe Shinku as. “helped me to get better, now I’m just spending some time here before going home. When it’s safe.” Well, that was a bit of a lie, but he didn’t have to know much more about her situation.

Ignoring the way the lifeless Shinigami patted his head, she let the arrow disappear but remained on guard. It’s why her attention was quickly pulled by the noise of swords clashing. “What’s going on there?”

Turning just enough to indicate the direction without letting the Hollow boy and his slave out of sight, she waited for him to tell her more.


451/922

The child nodded with each word. Reaching into his pocket with one of his hands. Fumbling around in it like he was looking for something. Slowly the woman reached down into the sand and picked up a piece of metal no bigger than her thumb. Lifting it up and handing it to the boy with a smile. Nodding the boy took it in his hand and showed it to Sasha. It was an old piece of metal that had not rusted or flaked away. It had two holes in it from where at one time it was bracketed to something. Holding it up for her to see better or take from his hands to look at. All that reflected off of it was the scratches in it. Though in those scratches there was a single thing carved into it the number zero.

"This.. this our name.. but you... you sound like" The boy being cut off as the shini opened her lips "Soviet sir, remember back when you made that song up about the curtain falling down? The iron curtain." The boy taking a moment before giggling. "Oh yeah... i did do that didn't I... Oh and miss... this is a world of the living too, we just have different rules... in nature and written" The child smiled innocently as he put a hand on the shinigami's side. "We play later right?"

"Yes sir" she utter before her very form started to wither and crumble away, as though she were nothing more than an ash silhouette of a former person. Her very being going away to the core and within moments all that remained was a small ominous black cloud. Everything she was had dissipated from the world and even her soul was somewhere else now. The smoke reaching up and going under the back of his jacket as he stood there. "Were all alone now hehe." The boy wasn't disturbed or even startled, it was as though this was a simple turn of events that occurred here regularly. "No need to be angry with us... after all our small little town is like nothing else in the worlds"

From down the street some a man would rise out of the sands itself, forming up much in the same way the woman was disassembled. Running over to store house, only to come back outside carrying construction materials to fix some of the other houses in the town. "I wasn't home when the last attack happened... many got hurt cuss of it..."


Turning around slowly to look back and nod. "Oh... that is the others... the people... the spirit men... and the kin... People like to bully us cuss were different... so we have to be ready the next time one decides to try and ruin our home."  His jacket ruffled some but Sasha didn't seem to scare the boy one bit even with her weapon drawn. He felt safe here. "I'm just glad you made a friend or two already miss. Its nice to see new people come and go"

---

WC: 510
TWC: 1409

She watched him fumble with the little plate. By now the tension was mostly gone from her shoulders. Both the bow and the arrow vanished, tiny particles faded in the air around them while she bent forward a bit to get a better view on what he was showing her. It took her some peering to realize that a number was carved into the fairly smooth surface. There were scratches here and there, but the only prominent lines formed a zero.

“I call you.. Zero?” It didn’t seem right, but she didn’t question the boy. Kids had a lot of fantasy, and while she wasn’t sure if this Hollow was as young as it looked like, she figured that it was best to keep it.. excited and innocent, so, she decided not to push it in any way.

No hostility around this area. Sasha could live with that.

When the Shinigami collapsed into nothing more but a cloud of dust she realized that this wasn’t a real ‘being’. Somehow, the little boy, was creating an illusion, or a puppet, of some sorts. It was quite fascinating and really unexpected. From her perspective it would have been way more realistic for the woman to have been a prisoner of this city, of the white haired Hollow.

“I’m not angry, I just don’t like Shinigami. She, or whatever that was, looked like one.” Slowly pointing at the now empty space she knew that Zero understood her. The boy was small but far from stupid, at least that’s the impression she had by now. There was more than what met the eye.

Still slightly turned toward the noise, she threw a look over her shoulder. If he would strike now then she would know that turning away from him had been a mistake, but, fortunately, he didn’t. Peaceful, eh. Different from the majority of their kind.

Sasha had to admit that she did like the idea even if it was odd. That, or someone was lying. She shook it off, silently.

“Yeah, I’m glad she decided to heal me. Those bruises around the ribs were really painful.” Rubbing her now perfectly fine side she let her face twitch into an expression of pain and agony, but quickly dropped it with a wink. It was obviously a joke, she hoped that he knew.

“Have you been here for a long time?” Stopping, she turned to the ground next to her door. “I mean in this ‘city’, but now that I think about it.. why were you sitting here on the ground?”

A sudden wave of suspicion.
Had Shinku put down this kid to guard her?


441/1363

Smiled innocently and nodded to her words. Lowering that tag down and putting it back inside of his pocket. He sighed happily as he patted the pocket after tucking it away. "thats are name... at least thats what anyone has ever called us by... In life we never had a name just that." His arms reached up for a moment to reach to the dark heavens above. His jacket only stretching up so far, but the cuffs slid down his arms enough to reveal his wrists. The worn flesh there from a lifetime in shackles showing before he put them back down. His fingers slowly dripping as he let out another breath.

"Those... those people as you call them... their the reason i'm like this..." The boys head twisting towards you as his eyes changed just for a moment before going back to normal. "They left us... never found us when we called for them... so we took the cycle into our own hands" Reaching up with a hand as he cracked his own neck back into place from turning his head so far. "I mean, your a nice girl... why are you not afraid of the monsters?"

"But to answer your question...I have been here since the beginning..." Waddling a few steps away before spinning on his foot in the sands as he pivoted about. "I know each and every face, each smell. I'm one of the last ones who even leave their homes... many left but we remain." Lifting his nose to the air for a moment and closing his eyes. "Your the only one... who smells of something else here... the outside... Do you even know the name of this place?"

shaking his head as he started to crack his own spine and arms. Stretching his body out slightly. "Were getting so stiff anymore..." opening his eyes slowly as his eyes shifted and just one settled on Sasha. "We were just curious about who you were hehe. Wanted to see if you were awake and walking, we never have company and its gets boring playing alone." Leaning back till his body started to tip back as a chair rose out of the sands and caught the boy. Forming up much like the random man did as he sat there in it. A hollows mask decorated the top piece of it as the legs started to grow out and move. Riding his walking chair a few steps as it rocked back and forth. 

He knew this world was full of bad people, but there were good ones as well. All of the worlds had them. He could see their faces, everyone inside of him, all of their loved ones and their memories. Good people were always diamonds int he rough. Though if enough gathered together good things could happen too.

---

WC: 472
TWC: 1881

Something heavy slid from beneath his sleeves when Zero moved his arms. Only now did Sasha notice the cuffs and shackles present. Rubbed down skin was visible around the edges and she couldn’t stop herself from staring at the bruised spots for just a little bit too long. Unsure if by ‘them’ he was talking about the mortals or the Shinigami, she didn’t dare to ask about it right away. The topic was nothing if not sensitive, she assumed. That’s why she silently moved onto the next topic, thinking about the question he had posed her. It was a good one, a natural one, she decided after chewing on it for a few moments.

“Hueco Mundo,” she offered, still thinking about a way to formulate her own answer. It wasn’t as if she wasn’t scared, she simply didn’t view all of them as monsters. Damaged souls, of which some were worse than others. Still, not everyone who had mental problems was a serial killer. The same went for Hollow-breeds, right?

Slightly insecure about the conclusion she made herself, she curiously watched him as he formed a chair from the sand behind him. Something about the scene left her smiling. On a subconscious level she was attracted by him putting something together so easily. Her fingers briefly twitched. The idea to build a sandcastle blossomed in her chest, but she ignored it for better or for worse.

“About me and being afraid of monsters,” pausing she rubbed her hands, the clashes of weapons still echoed across the sandy street. She still wasn’t sure what Zero meant by them having to be ready, but assumed that it had to do with training and living in a hostile environment.

“it’s hmm.. difficult to explain, I guess. Having met those of your kind who are willing to communicate instead of rush in and try to bite off my head, well, I’ve had to conclude that Hollow were as different as the mortals. Not all of you are monsters, don’t you think?” Her eyes hung on him while he sat in his self-made chair, it was then that she realized that she was waiting for his opinion on his own kind.


366/1729

The wood creaked as the chair took each step. His chains rattled as the chair started to lean back wit him in the chair. Nestling into the depths of the seat as his eyes looked up into the heavens of that dessert. In his mind the world had slowed down each and every day. Nothing had ever changed here, it was still a battlefield, a hell of sort, Even if the gates on the outside of this place had their signs carved into them. This place was his home, but that did not mean it was always safe. 

Blinking his eyes slowly as he leaned his head back to look up the top of the chair as it leaned back further and let him look at Sasha. "We are monsters though... When i was a youth for our kind... I could have filled a sea with all of the blood i spilled... Humans... Quincy... Shinigami... Hollow... When i was young... I was a real monster, we just bore with the slaughter... or at least we did."  He knew deep down he was as broken the day he died. Nothing would make it right for a monster like him to exist. "If you want to know how to make an animal into a monster... just look at how they lived. If you lived with no qualms... no regrets would you just pass on... or turn into something like me?" His eyes breaking their contact with Sasha as he looked up. Holding his hand up and into the air as he seemed to draw something. The darkness of his miasma raising out of the sands. 

Tiny rivers of gas would raise up around us and from different spots in the sand and pool into an orb like shape above us. Inside of it you could see something forming before it burst open in a small section and a child fell from it. A solid hand of gas moved with the child to lower them to the ground beside us as he looked over them.

The monsters outside of these walls are still to young to know how little they matter." The boy seeming to smile for a moment. "Just think... this is the face of my mortal life... but my mask is a demon who still makes the living tremble... How many times do you think they thought I was an abomination... A hollow that bore the signs of a Quincy"

The boy who had just been born of the darkness already falling to pieces before Sasha, his body seeming to age hundreds of years in a moment before becoming nothing but more gas returning to the orb above us. From its core something thicker, much larger formed. The chains formed within the orb to hold it back as it slowly lowered out of the orb. The scarred form of Sin being lowered out by his arms and legs. Though it was just a husk he had made off of muscle memory it still bore the appearance. Sin's large Quincy cross like mask hanging out of that orb. The bone plates that made up its body nestling in each spot. Slowly the arms would fall out of the orb and you could see them dangling there with the shackles that matched the boy's. 

"I do not hate anyone... We do not blame anyone... We just know the reasons for our madness unlike others of our kin." The body being pulled back in before the orb seemed to release. The gasses scattering over the colony before sinking back into the sands. The boy looking at Sasha with a blank expression on his face. In his mind he had only showed this woman a view of the past, but to her it might be some twisted form of their insanity. Never the less he tried to reveal some truth to her. "This world... these worlds all have secrets... you just need to listen to the old ones to learn of them"

---

WC:667
TWC: 2548

Proving with his words that his looks were a mere deception Zero took on the narrator’s role. Words flowed from his lips like water down a cliff, and even while she wasn’t sure if she truly understood what he was on about, she listened. Her eyes were on him until something changed and the sand broke apart. Before she knew what it was that came floating up from the ground her body was already moving back a few steps. In the end she was still in the Hollow realm. Who knew what this child was capable of? It wouldn’t be beyond one’s imagination to think that he might be insane in one way or another.

With her eyes on the shifting orb above them, she readied herself for battle should it come to that. While not entirely recovered from the fight with the Shinigami she was still pretty sure that she could take a stand during an emergency situation. The atmosphere was heavy with reishi. Eagerly she let it seep into her body, feeding her. Infusion, the word scratched at the back of her mind while she found it suddenly easier to breathe.

That was until the orb broke. Pale skin was the first thing she noticed. It took her a second to put the picture of a child together. Somehow there was nothing endearing about this one, though. There was no part of her that wanted to take care of it, or help it. All she felt toward it was some unexplainable pity and disgust. The feelings lingered when the child faded into thin air.

Still pumped with reishi she stood there, silently wondering why Zero had decided to show her this now. The next scene he let play before her had the young Quincy’s jaw tightening. For a moment she thought he was trying to summon something.. another Hollow, a pet of his?

That moment passed when the image disappeared just like the child had. All of it left her frowning, unsure about why any of this was taking place. At first the kid had been so cheerful, seemingly excited and open, but now, he spoke like something much older.

Sasha didn’t like it.

She didn’t like the tone or the lecture. It’s why the frown marking her forehead deepened.

“Who’s ‘they’ and why do you keep on saying ‘we’?”



392/2121

Looking back at the girl as he smiled. "We... we are we." Raising a hand up slowly he put it to his own forehead and held it for a second "All hollows are broken... in body... or mind." His voice seeming to fade away to something less than a whisper but his lips seemed to make out the word "Soul" leaving him only to nod as he went blank for a moment. His head tilted to the side but his eyes were open. Slowly his eyes visibly shifted colors. He sat there for a few moments before blinking like he had come back to life and looked at the girl. His eyes had changed to something more human like. Reminiscent of a deep blue that seemed to betray his face as he looked at her with human eyes.

"Oooo. Yes your new girl here, you want to play with us? We don't have many things to do out here though." The child seemed to pout for a moment before the chair crumbled away and he plopped softly back onto the sands. Tilting his head left and right up at her as he patted his thighs before standing up and brushing himself off like nothing had happened. Taking his time before reading her face as he put a finger on his chin. "Miss... are chu angry... You dun look happy... Maybe your hungry... There is a human foods place if you want to come and relax" The air around him seemed to change entirely. Even the combat training in the distance had quieted down immensely to just one man yelling at the others.

The boy and his big eyes looked at her as something seemed to click for a moment. "Maybe you met big brover... He keeps us safe here, keeps all the monsters outside.. he rambles a little..." Giggling childishly as he smiled up at the woman whole heartily as he could. "Brother keeps safe, so we can go play. We almost all that left here." The boy slowly turning around to look at all the houses and spaces before looking at sasha. "He the last of us... last keeper of this place" The boy seeming to waddle on his legs like they were made of jello for a moment before putting a hand on her forearm. "Miss, we hope you not angry with brova. He just... different"  Putting his hand on her forearm seemed to be his way of holding up his own weight. His own legs trying to stand up straight under his pants with his legs shaking slightly from just this little bit of movement. He was light though, and his form seemed frailer than one might expect.

---

WC: 451
TWC: 2999

Unsure if she was simply tired because of the ordeal she’s been through and the healing that had come with it afterwards or it was his cryptical behavior that was draining her right now, Sasha waited somewhat impatiently for the Hollow to behave at least a little bit normal. With a thin crease that marked her growing frown she crossed her arms in front of her chest. The thing was mumbling something but seemed to be coming back to its senses. The boy, that’s how she had christened the excited Hollow personality, was back. Whatever vision or attack he’s just had was over, thankfully.

The atmosphere shifted. It seemed that he had noticed the grumpiness rushing through her. She had to give him some credit for that. “No angry, no. I think that I’m a bit tired. Some food would be nice, yes.” Nodding politely she followed the dying sound of battle coming to an end. She followed the empty street toward the sound with her gaze, but saw nothing but more sand.

“Who’s ‘big brover’?”

Frowning some more she expected his hand to sting when it touched her. Blut was raising to meet the attack when she realized that this wasn’t an offensive act. The kid Hollow had stumbled and used her to help himself stabilizing his balance. The touch didn’t hurt, it wasn’t a trap either, so her glare softened a little.

“How about we go to get some food and you tell me more about this ‘Brova’ who’s the garden here. Hmm?” Carefully sliding away from him to make sure both of them had some personal space during the walk, she then waited for Zero to kick off in whatever direction the restaurant was supposed to be.

Of course she didn’t expect a six course menu or anything out of the ordinary. A sandwich would be more than enough if you asked her. A bit water would be nice too.

“You’ve sounded like there used to be more of you here. Where did they go?”


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