The Egg Cracks

[Maria Ashwin]

' being  Second  best....isn't  so  bad' 5 paragraphs 5 paragraphs total so far

1.) smell of iron hung heavy in the air as cold breeze blew through the bowels of the Menos forest, the cry of Menos grande echoed through the darkness with great rapture and force every few seconds. The sound of shifting sand and heavy breathing lay just beyond one’s eyesight within this subterranean pit of horror.

2.) hollows stalked these lands packs evidence of previous hunting lay within the many clearings of the Menos forest. Mutilated and Gnarled corpses dotted the land the sand stained a deep black where the bodies lay, this was the world hollows called home the realm Marik called home. Through her many years of violence and slaughter.

3.) It was easy to survive if you simply knew to keep your head down and be on your guard. Otherwise, a fool would fall and fall hard out there among the trees, and dunes above would swallow you whole and Marik wanted to be anything but another hollow on the path to success swallowed by her own hubris.

4.) Time itself seemed to pause as the air seemed to lurch and warp as is straining to hold itself together , with a loud warbling cracking noise , the air would be rended open by a moderatly sized Descorer. Stepping out from the crack in reality was a single lone female arrancar , a gentle breeze carrying the scent of death would blow through the area

5.) Marik for the first time in a long time would sigh in both frustration and relaxation as she could no longer see las noches in the distance , no resposibility , no orders , no friends , no enemies, she was alone in the world the weight of all her choices dancing in her mind. all the blood she waded through to get here her sins crawling upon her back.

[Maria Ashwin]

' being  Second  best....isn't  so  bad' 5 paragraphs 10 paragraphs total so far

1.) Marik would walk forward through the dust and rubble of Las Noches's once greatest enemy , thinking back to Kitai and his dumb smile. 'im gonna miss being that dumbasses friend' she would think to herself  as she rounded a corner a cob web getting her in the face causing her to sigh and wipe it off.

2.) coming upon a crude carved quartz throne , the sound of her heels clicking upon the dusty stone floor as she made her way forward sitting down upon the cold hard throne. She would take a deep breath and then exhale as she closed her eyes finally being to rest for the first time in years how long had it been since she did this...

-Dream Sequence-

3.) The scent of honeysuckle was the first thing that registered. Marik wrinkled her nose, a smile tugging at her lips. Honeysuckle wasn't a scent she associated with anywhere familiar. She cracked open an eye, expecting the stark white of her pallaces ceiling, but instead, was met with a kaleidoscope of color. Sun-dappled leaves, the vibrant blue of a summer sky, and plump red roses, all blurred together in a dizzying display.



4.) Sitting up, Marik took in her surroundings. She found herself nestled amongst rose bushes, their soft petals brushing against her bare arms. Panic gave way to wonder as she surveyed the sprawling garden. Lush green grass stretched out before her, dotted with vibrant flower beds overflowing with blooms - lilies, daisies, and sunflowers taller than her head. A gentle breeze rustled through the leaves, carrying the sweet melody of a hummingbird birdsong.

5.) Slowly she would begin walking , the sound of light snoring would echo reach her ears. 'who the hell...' she would think to herself as she slowly began to walk through the forest of flowers and barrage of scents and bird calls. untill she came upon herself ; more so a version of herself laying benath a great oak a smile on his sleeping face.

[Maria Ashwin]

' being  Second  best....isn't  so  bad' 5 paragraphs 15 paragraphs total so far

1.) She stood in shock as she examined the sleeping man that lay beneath the tree , a humming bird resting atop the mop of messy neon green hair that sat atop the mans head. His face her old face boyish without any sighns of ageing a reminder of the life that was stolen from her , her eyes would water slightly as she examined him.

2.) a bloody branch sticking out of the sleeping male figures chest where his hollow hole was on the left side of his chest where his heart should be. Her own hollow hole acheing in tandem as she witnessed the branch then the world would go dark once more , her body rapidly falling to rest atop her past self. When she once again awoke she was standing before a very familiar scene once more.

3.) She was once again sat next to her mother , she was healthier this time a smile on her face as she rocked in her chair knitting the now male marik a simple sweater. The crackling of embers filled the small hut they called home , she felt at peace in this moment but like all good things they would come crashing to an end as the sound of her father bumbling through the door reached her ears

4.) her heart acheing as she slowly turned to see his looming figure , the hate that burned in his coal black eyes reflected in her own as the world around them shook reality coming undone. Her father had waded through his life not caring for anyone ,not caring for anything...and she saw herself in him and it disgutsed her

5.) in an act of eldritcian horror her fathers face would morph into her own , she had finally come full circle in her own realization she didn't hate him because of who he was...but because of what he represented 'this....uncaring monster was always me' she would think to herself as reality once again fell away as she began free falling through the void.

[Maria Ashwin]

' being  Second  best....isn't  so  bad' 5 paragraphs 20 paragraphs total so far

1.) Arms wrapped around her as she fell in a warm embrace , her mental barriers falling as she felt her mother's warm embrace envelope her. her spirit energy that had once always felt volatile and sharp had settled as she returned her mother's embrace for once something in marik's life mattered and she knew she mattered to them and that would never change.

-Dream end-

2.) The cry of menos grande would pierce the ear drums of the slumbering marik , causing them to slowly open thier eyes as they looked up only now realizing they had been surrounded by gillian on all sides , spirit energy leaking off of her in waves as she looked onward her face the perfect image of calm bored even as she witnessed the hoard.

3,) "seems my nap has drawn a crowd" she would say with a light yawn and a smile as she stood from the make shift throne. Her spiritual pressure intensifying several mask's cracking amongst the Menos Grande before shattering as she began her approach. Something felt different now she felt at peace with herself and the  world around her.

4.) Drawing her false zanpakuto she would dash foward landing on a menos grande's nose , performing a diagnol slash upon its mask carving away at the flesh below jumping to the next menos grande before the previous had fallen her blade work a dance amongst the menos as she flitted about like fairy of death upon the battle field.

5.) She didn't need praise , nor love anymore she simply wished to be herself scars , tears , sins and all. 'i am me , every drop of blood , every single hair , they belong to me the rest of you....are flesh made ruin and i will help you all see what lays ahead' she thought to herself as she sonido'ed into the air charging a cero and letting loose bathing the area in neon green light.

[Maria Ashwin]

' being  Second  best....isn't  so  bad' 5 paragraphs 25 paragraphs total so far

1.) The taste of iron filled mariks mouth with each bite as she shoveled piece after piece of hollow down , savagely biting down and ripping free the leathery flesh of the Menos Grande. returning to her baser instincts for just this moment the goal of consuming and absorbing ones foe taking her with the wind.

2.) As her jaw clenched around the meat once more she would pull back standing up , her jaw sore as she began to chew once more. the once hundreds of Gillian that surrounded her where now down to fifty she had spent days simply eating her mind blank as she moved from one corpse to the next.

3,) this was so much easier when she was a hummingbird , when had she lost the ability to compress the souls she ate. was it like a muscle once you stopped it would fall out of use. With each meal she could feel her power growing expanding and yet it gave her no elation but drowned her in a sense of serene calm she hadn't felt since she was a child.

4.) As she rounded upon the last hollow her from covered in bile and blood she would lean forward ripping into the beast once more. It would take hours but eventually she felt it...her hunger was all but gone a new bevy of souls swirling within her mind and soul their screams silienced in an instant as they melded with her soul.

5.) An invisible wave of riatsu would wash over the sands as marik reached a new apex of power , her mouth would open as if to speak but no words would come but instead a mighty and powerful multi-toned cry of a hollow would echo across the sands as she released a massive wave of grav pressure making herself known to all of hueco mundo.

[Sieglinde P. Krantz]

250 TP~