Dream no more [Solo TTP Training | Gillian Evolution]
Mar 30, 2023 17:25:29 GMT -5
Hidromielleón Ulfhirthir and Akira Hinosai like this
Post by Deleted on Mar 30, 2023 17:25:29 GMT -5
Hueco Mundo remained in the same stasis it had always been in, unchanging, everlasting. An eternal night, an always crescent moon, vast plains of sand that seemed to lead absolutely nowhere. Maybe the odd quartz tree here and there, but nothing else, nothing more. That day--night?--, however, a strange creature had landed back into their homeland, through a Kumon gate they had just ripped open from the Human World. Behind, they had left their very first friend, wounded after falling in battle against them. Not even a minute after they had landed, the little creature had already plunged into battle with the many Hollows that savored the opportunity to take the open gate to invade the Human World. With Filo split into two, and the rage that only denial could fuel an individual with, Caballero made quick--but not elegant--work of the Strays that wanted to cross into the other realm. They would never allow them to cross. They would hunt them down to the ends of that world, to oblivion if needed.
All to prove that they, too, were a Shinigami. Not the same kind of monsters they were destroying. Despite the exhaustion from the previous fight, Caballero pressed onward and managed to destroy every last one of the monsters that gathered around the portal, just low level Strays that were unable to tear those gates open and could only get closer to those that were able to do so, in hopes to scavenge a kill or two. Killing them continued to increase their Hollow body count, but it did not matter how many they destroyed. They just could not forget the hunger. They just could not let go of the fact that they had been ready to eat one of their friends.
When they had no other targets to distract themselves with, Caballero was left alone with their thoughts, something they absolutely did NOT want to be at that moment. They had no other option but to punch the sands of the White Desert in frustration. The motion seemed so harmless that it only made the tiny Hollow even angrier than they already were, driving their young, child-like mind to do it time and time again, in what could only be described as a tantrum. They made absolutely no noise, no grunt of frustration, no crying because of how pathetic they were. All that was impossible for them, for they had no mouth to scream. So they simply knelt there, venting their frustrations in the only way available to them at that moment.
Of course, punching the sand wasn't going to solve anything. It wouldn't even feel it. In a way, this was not unlike Caballero's previous 'battle' with Colina, the Hollow that had invaded the school in Karakura Town and devoured an alarming number of humans in the meantime. That had been their very first reality check, a clash that they had somehow been able to ignore back then. Colina said that, as a Hollow, they needed to eat to become stronger.
But Caballero wasn't a Hollow. They were NOT! He refused to submit to that truth, even when their delusions could no longer hold themselves together.
Caballero stopped punching the ground, and got back up on their tiny little feet. With grim resolve, they focused their Reiatsu through sheer anger via Focalizar, partially healing the injuries they had sustained through the previous battle with Akira, as well as the scrapes on its 'hands' from punching the sharp grains with reckless abandon. They, then summoned Filo from within themselves: their own personal 'Zanpakuto', drawing its strength from the concentrated, incredibly dense black Reiatsu that formed their body. This sword was different from the first in that the Reiatsu had been concentrated to extreme heights, making it vastly superior to their usual weapon. Not yet. All these strays were not enough. They needed to kill more Hollows to prove they were a Shinigami. More, more, more...!
With blade firmly gripped on their right hand, Caballero began wandering the bleak world that was Hueco Mundo for what could've been minutes, hours, or even days. The lack of any reference point, other than those jagged 'trees' if one could call them such, was all they had to orient themselves. The moon itself always remained above their head, as if locked in place in that otherwise bleak, dark sky.
It would be hard to tell how it all first started. Perhaps Caballero ran into a group of Hollows, perhaps it was only one. At first, the 'Shinigami' took it upon themselves to put an end to the threat. The empowered Filo sliced through those monsters like a burning knife through butter, and since Caballero was using their small size and actual combat experience to their advantage--not just the instinctual, animalistic attacks their kin used--they could hardly react to the tiny being's movements. Whatever the case, once they had vanquished their foe, they did not let go of Filo. They needed more. More monsters to kill, more training to do. More proof that their existence was not like theirs. Before they knew it, an intrusive thought had slipped itself within that equation, cleverly placed by the creature's natural instincts: in order to kill more Hollows, they needed more power. And what was the best way to get stronger...?
Caballero was not even conscious of the fact that, all of a sudden, they were using their strange physiology to devour the Hollow or Hollows they had trounced into mincemeat moments before.
Time and time again, the little being had been able to sate the hunger with a simple Hollow kill, then push it down for days, even weeks at a time. But now, it was not about them wanting to feed anymore. It was about them tearing down their opponents, to somehow rebuild the broken belief that they were a Soul Reaper and claim the power that had been at the monsters' disposal right before being struck down by Caballero's blade. Each consumption brought just enough extra power that the tiny Hollow craved more and more, never satisfied. At some point, consumption had turned into twisted validation of their beliefs.
While they had stumbled upon weak Hollows at first, Caballero soon turned the attention to the same monsters that had once hunted them down. Monsters who, while still run-of-the-mill Hollows, already had battle experience and quite possibly more than a few human kills in their stomachs. They cackled, and giggled, and laughed as they strained to open a portal to the Human World through Kumon. In a twisted mirror from their earliest days, instead of hiding and taking the portal after them, Caballero sprung to action to prevent those monsters from invading yet again.
The first one they targeted attempted to block Filo with a chuckle, wondering how something so small and alone could possibly be any threat to them. That same Hollow wailed in pain and horror as its frontal limbs were cleanly cut off its body, dropping to the sands below with a greenish, ghoulish blood. The shock sent its 'companions' in disarray for a moment before they pressed their numerical advantage onto the little Hollow. They closed in, believing to be safe at a range due to Caballero's uniquely small size. They couldn't be further from the truth.
At that distance, Caballero not only used Tendón to smack those monsters around, but with the other hand, they delivered longer-range strikes with Filo. The moment another of the Hollows tried to bite off the dark tendrils, Espinas burst forth, skewering the monster without mercy. By this point, those cowardly beasts realized that this was far from a simple, newborn Hollow. This was something else. None of them got the chance to escape as Caballero struck them down, adding new courses to an already packed to the brim buffet.
The more they ate, the more the Hollow lost themselves in the frenzy, and the most ironic part was that they only did so to prove that they were NOT like them.
It was hard to say whether it was Tendón crushing helpless prey, Filo slicing and dicing whatever stood in their way, or Espinas skewering the surrounding monsters as if Caballero was a frag grenade, leaving them prime for devouring. Their conscious mind knew this was wrong, that this could not be the way. They should have been cleansing the Hollows, allowing them to pass on to Soul Society after having their sins expunged. But it was far too late for it to win the battle against the instincts that Caballero had been repressing for so long. In a twisted way, their strength of will led them to seek a way to perhaps equal Colina in battle, and the monster that they were actually knew what to do to achieve such heights.
This was not enough. No, how could it have been enough? A Shinigami would not let go of their duty that easily. They needed to kill more. See white mask, approach, cut the beast down, consume to replenish their strength, turn toward the next Hollow to destroy. Nothing else mattered. They were a scourge and had to be eliminated, so they could never be able to do something like that again. Six, seven, eight... fifteen, twenty, twenty-five... The tiny being was nothing more than an automaton by this point, fueled by the Reishi flesh of its kin and the singular desire to grow stronger than they already were. They eventually spotted a single, lone Hollow, an easy prey no matter how much one sliced it. Without even questioning themselves, no matter the desperate pleas from the 'Shinigami' within, Caballero brutalized and devoured the monster.
And then, upon that final consumption, Caballero's mind was lost.
The same black Reiatsu that formed their body got out of control, enveloping their entire self in a sort of coccoon, mask and all. All of a sudden, Caballero's mind snapped back to reality, free from the pain and anger that had led them to that massacre of their kin. But this time, the young, childish mind of the little knight no longer had to contain with one or two Hollows. A wave of pain washed them over as their consciousness was wrestled away from command of the body.
In the outside world, a towering figure raised from the black mass of Reiatsu that had taken over the little knight. It burst forth like a butterfly from a hellish cocoon, and the sight horrifying. The rags that had previously formed their "Shihakusho" had been replaced by a black garb concealing the entirety of the monster's body, in an ironic echo of the Shinigami it admired so much. Their oversized mask was gone, giving way to one with a lengthy, pointy nose; the neck boasted sharp, silver spikes. Dwarfing every single Hollow unfortunate enough to be around them, Caballero...
No. Not Caballero. Whatever that thing was, it was the desperate 'Shinigami' no longer.
The tiny being's young mind was lost adrift a see of thousands of souls that had been passed on from Hollow to Hollow through sheer act of consumption, until they had reached Caballero. Hatred, rage, fear, envy, lust for power, regret, disgust... a volatile cocktail of darkness and resentment they could not hope to overtake by themselves. All they saw was nothing but blackness, and only a tiny spark held Caballero together. A spark that bloomed into a glare, taking the form of the people they had met so far.
They attempted to reach out toward their friends. Ren, Celes, Kimiko... even Akira, whom they had almost killed. All of them turned toward Caballero, offering their hands to the tiny being, cheering them on.
"Don't you have a wish, something you want to be?"
"Your dream isn't some childish fantasy, squirt. It's a real weapon against what's coming for you now. Don't lose it."
"I've seen your convictions, little warrior. Don't give in to fear and doubt. Rise up and fight!"
"GO! SHOW ME WHAT IT MEANS TO BE A TRUE SHINIGAMI!"
But no matter what they did or say, they could not reach them. The Hollow's tiny hands were not long enough to take theirs, and they were not strong enough to fight against the myriad souls pulling them back into the darkness. They saw how they receded, fading away into the distance, leaving Caballero alone amidst that mass of Hollows. It was asphyxiating, overpowering, violating. They wanted to scream, even if they could not. How ironic, considering the only ones who would have heard them were the monsters swarming Caballero and dragging them down further into nothingness, like hellions claiming the damned.
Thus, Caballero's consciousness was swallowed by the collective mind, perhaps never to resurface again. A sad destiny for the being who wanted to become a Shinigami, receive their Zanpakuto, and continue helping their friends. Instead, they had grown, but on the opposite path. The monster took one misplaced step after the other, showing no sign of Caballero's old dexterity and making a deep, humming noise as they advanced. The lesser Hollows below were trampled under its massive weight, flattened by those pointy shoe-like feet that couldn't even get out of the long garb.
The humongous Hollow advanced aimlessly, perhaps in search of kin, of more prey to feed on. Those small fry could no longer satisfy its hunger, as it was compounded from all the monsters that formed its essence. It needed souls, and an alarming quantity of them. They needed to consume. Hollows, Arrancar... even human or Shinigami. Caballero's shattered dreams, delusions and ideals would not be able to protect them now.
The poor, not-so-tiny being had evolved. They had reached the first milestone in their journey, in the one journey they were not supposed to take. Every individual detail of the cute, little critter that befriended people and saved Pluses was lost to the terrifying sameness that formed a Gillian. Caballero was now a Menos, or rather, formed part of a Menos Grande. On the inside, a new battle began to unfold: one among the myriad souls, attempting to wrestle for dominance.
The Menos Grande looked up to the crescent moon, and roared.
All to prove that they, too, were a Shinigami. Not the same kind of monsters they were destroying. Despite the exhaustion from the previous fight, Caballero pressed onward and managed to destroy every last one of the monsters that gathered around the portal, just low level Strays that were unable to tear those gates open and could only get closer to those that were able to do so, in hopes to scavenge a kill or two. Killing them continued to increase their Hollow body count, but it did not matter how many they destroyed. They just could not forget the hunger. They just could not let go of the fact that they had been ready to eat one of their friends.
When they had no other targets to distract themselves with, Caballero was left alone with their thoughts, something they absolutely did NOT want to be at that moment. They had no other option but to punch the sands of the White Desert in frustration. The motion seemed so harmless that it only made the tiny Hollow even angrier than they already were, driving their young, child-like mind to do it time and time again, in what could only be described as a tantrum. They made absolutely no noise, no grunt of frustration, no crying because of how pathetic they were. All that was impossible for them, for they had no mouth to scream. So they simply knelt there, venting their frustrations in the only way available to them at that moment.
Of course, punching the sand wasn't going to solve anything. It wouldn't even feel it. In a way, this was not unlike Caballero's previous 'battle' with Colina, the Hollow that had invaded the school in Karakura Town and devoured an alarming number of humans in the meantime. That had been their very first reality check, a clash that they had somehow been able to ignore back then. Colina said that, as a Hollow, they needed to eat to become stronger.
But Caballero wasn't a Hollow. They were NOT! He refused to submit to that truth, even when their delusions could no longer hold themselves together.
Caballero stopped punching the ground, and got back up on their tiny little feet. With grim resolve, they focused their Reiatsu through sheer anger via Focalizar, partially healing the injuries they had sustained through the previous battle with Akira, as well as the scrapes on its 'hands' from punching the sharp grains with reckless abandon. They, then summoned Filo from within themselves: their own personal 'Zanpakuto', drawing its strength from the concentrated, incredibly dense black Reiatsu that formed their body. This sword was different from the first in that the Reiatsu had been concentrated to extreme heights, making it vastly superior to their usual weapon. Not yet. All these strays were not enough. They needed to kill more Hollows to prove they were a Shinigami. More, more, more...!
With blade firmly gripped on their right hand, Caballero began wandering the bleak world that was Hueco Mundo for what could've been minutes, hours, or even days. The lack of any reference point, other than those jagged 'trees' if one could call them such, was all they had to orient themselves. The moon itself always remained above their head, as if locked in place in that otherwise bleak, dark sky.
It would be hard to tell how it all first started. Perhaps Caballero ran into a group of Hollows, perhaps it was only one. At first, the 'Shinigami' took it upon themselves to put an end to the threat. The empowered Filo sliced through those monsters like a burning knife through butter, and since Caballero was using their small size and actual combat experience to their advantage--not just the instinctual, animalistic attacks their kin used--they could hardly react to the tiny being's movements. Whatever the case, once they had vanquished their foe, they did not let go of Filo. They needed more. More monsters to kill, more training to do. More proof that their existence was not like theirs. Before they knew it, an intrusive thought had slipped itself within that equation, cleverly placed by the creature's natural instincts: in order to kill more Hollows, they needed more power. And what was the best way to get stronger...?
Caballero was not even conscious of the fact that, all of a sudden, they were using their strange physiology to devour the Hollow or Hollows they had trounced into mincemeat moments before.
Time and time again, the little being had been able to sate the hunger with a simple Hollow kill, then push it down for days, even weeks at a time. But now, it was not about them wanting to feed anymore. It was about them tearing down their opponents, to somehow rebuild the broken belief that they were a Soul Reaper and claim the power that had been at the monsters' disposal right before being struck down by Caballero's blade. Each consumption brought just enough extra power that the tiny Hollow craved more and more, never satisfied. At some point, consumption had turned into twisted validation of their beliefs.
While they had stumbled upon weak Hollows at first, Caballero soon turned the attention to the same monsters that had once hunted them down. Monsters who, while still run-of-the-mill Hollows, already had battle experience and quite possibly more than a few human kills in their stomachs. They cackled, and giggled, and laughed as they strained to open a portal to the Human World through Kumon. In a twisted mirror from their earliest days, instead of hiding and taking the portal after them, Caballero sprung to action to prevent those monsters from invading yet again.
The first one they targeted attempted to block Filo with a chuckle, wondering how something so small and alone could possibly be any threat to them. That same Hollow wailed in pain and horror as its frontal limbs were cleanly cut off its body, dropping to the sands below with a greenish, ghoulish blood. The shock sent its 'companions' in disarray for a moment before they pressed their numerical advantage onto the little Hollow. They closed in, believing to be safe at a range due to Caballero's uniquely small size. They couldn't be further from the truth.
At that distance, Caballero not only used Tendón to smack those monsters around, but with the other hand, they delivered longer-range strikes with Filo. The moment another of the Hollows tried to bite off the dark tendrils, Espinas burst forth, skewering the monster without mercy. By this point, those cowardly beasts realized that this was far from a simple, newborn Hollow. This was something else. None of them got the chance to escape as Caballero struck them down, adding new courses to an already packed to the brim buffet.
The more they ate, the more the Hollow lost themselves in the frenzy, and the most ironic part was that they only did so to prove that they were NOT like them.
It was hard to say whether it was Tendón crushing helpless prey, Filo slicing and dicing whatever stood in their way, or Espinas skewering the surrounding monsters as if Caballero was a frag grenade, leaving them prime for devouring. Their conscious mind knew this was wrong, that this could not be the way. They should have been cleansing the Hollows, allowing them to pass on to Soul Society after having their sins expunged. But it was far too late for it to win the battle against the instincts that Caballero had been repressing for so long. In a twisted way, their strength of will led them to seek a way to perhaps equal Colina in battle, and the monster that they were actually knew what to do to achieve such heights.
This was not enough. No, how could it have been enough? A Shinigami would not let go of their duty that easily. They needed to kill more. See white mask, approach, cut the beast down, consume to replenish their strength, turn toward the next Hollow to destroy. Nothing else mattered. They were a scourge and had to be eliminated, so they could never be able to do something like that again. Six, seven, eight... fifteen, twenty, twenty-five... The tiny being was nothing more than an automaton by this point, fueled by the Reishi flesh of its kin and the singular desire to grow stronger than they already were. They eventually spotted a single, lone Hollow, an easy prey no matter how much one sliced it. Without even questioning themselves, no matter the desperate pleas from the 'Shinigami' within, Caballero brutalized and devoured the monster.
And then, upon that final consumption, Caballero's mind was lost.
The same black Reiatsu that formed their body got out of control, enveloping their entire self in a sort of coccoon, mask and all. All of a sudden, Caballero's mind snapped back to reality, free from the pain and anger that had led them to that massacre of their kin. But this time, the young, childish mind of the little knight no longer had to contain with one or two Hollows. A wave of pain washed them over as their consciousness was wrestled away from command of the body.
In the outside world, a towering figure raised from the black mass of Reiatsu that had taken over the little knight. It burst forth like a butterfly from a hellish cocoon, and the sight horrifying. The rags that had previously formed their "Shihakusho" had been replaced by a black garb concealing the entirety of the monster's body, in an ironic echo of the Shinigami it admired so much. Their oversized mask was gone, giving way to one with a lengthy, pointy nose; the neck boasted sharp, silver spikes. Dwarfing every single Hollow unfortunate enough to be around them, Caballero...
No. Not Caballero. Whatever that thing was, it was the desperate 'Shinigami' no longer.
The tiny being's young mind was lost adrift a see of thousands of souls that had been passed on from Hollow to Hollow through sheer act of consumption, until they had reached Caballero. Hatred, rage, fear, envy, lust for power, regret, disgust... a volatile cocktail of darkness and resentment they could not hope to overtake by themselves. All they saw was nothing but blackness, and only a tiny spark held Caballero together. A spark that bloomed into a glare, taking the form of the people they had met so far.
They attempted to reach out toward their friends. Ren, Celes, Kimiko... even Akira, whom they had almost killed. All of them turned toward Caballero, offering their hands to the tiny being, cheering them on.
"Don't you have a wish, something you want to be?"
"Your dream isn't some childish fantasy, squirt. It's a real weapon against what's coming for you now. Don't lose it."
"I've seen your convictions, little warrior. Don't give in to fear and doubt. Rise up and fight!"
"GO! SHOW ME WHAT IT MEANS TO BE A TRUE SHINIGAMI!"
But no matter what they did or say, they could not reach them. The Hollow's tiny hands were not long enough to take theirs, and they were not strong enough to fight against the myriad souls pulling them back into the darkness. They saw how they receded, fading away into the distance, leaving Caballero alone amidst that mass of Hollows. It was asphyxiating, overpowering, violating. They wanted to scream, even if they could not. How ironic, considering the only ones who would have heard them were the monsters swarming Caballero and dragging them down further into nothingness, like hellions claiming the damned.
Thus, Caballero's consciousness was swallowed by the collective mind, perhaps never to resurface again. A sad destiny for the being who wanted to become a Shinigami, receive their Zanpakuto, and continue helping their friends. Instead, they had grown, but on the opposite path. The monster took one misplaced step after the other, showing no sign of Caballero's old dexterity and making a deep, humming noise as they advanced. The lesser Hollows below were trampled under its massive weight, flattened by those pointy shoe-like feet that couldn't even get out of the long garb.
The humongous Hollow advanced aimlessly, perhaps in search of kin, of more prey to feed on. Those small fry could no longer satisfy its hunger, as it was compounded from all the monsters that formed its essence. It needed souls, and an alarming quantity of them. They needed to consume. Hollows, Arrancar... even human or Shinigami. Caballero's shattered dreams, delusions and ideals would not be able to protect them now.
The poor, not-so-tiny being had evolved. They had reached the first milestone in their journey, in the one journey they were not supposed to take. Every individual detail of the cute, little critter that befriended people and saved Pluses was lost to the terrifying sameness that formed a Gillian. Caballero was now a Menos, or rather, formed part of a Menos Grande. On the inside, a new battle began to unfold: one among the myriad souls, attempting to wrestle for dominance.
The Menos Grande looked up to the crescent moon, and roared.
