Burning Neglect [Training Thread - Closed]

[Sachiko]

[Sachiko]

Sachiko’s eyes slowly slid open to see the crescent moon of Heuco Mundo. She sat up with confusion. “Huh? I must have passed out from exhaustion… Just how long was I walking and what in the hell happened to me?” She grumbled angrily to herself. Her body still ached all over and she could recall no new information as to the events that lead to her current condition. Sluggishly, she rose to her feet and took a look around her while brushing sand from her body and hair. There was nothing, nothing but sand dunes in every direction. She couldn’t even tell which direction she came from, her footsteps erased by the wind blown sands. “I suppose I should consider myself lucky that no little beasties came to devour me while I lay unconscious in this filthy world.” She frowned, lost, confused, it pissed her off. She had no clue where Los Noches was located but she certainly couldn’t stay here. Picking a direction at random she began to walk, each step a challenge for her pained and tired body.
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Haribou Sachiko - Número Ocho - Vizard

[Sachiko]

Hours passed as Sachiko continued her march in Heuco Mundo. Despite her injuries she could feel strength returning to her battered body. Perhaps it was the spiritually thick air or maybe her recent combination with her inner hollow, either way her exhaustion was beginning to fade. With a quickened pace and enough energy to use Sonido, Sachiko was able to make more progress in a few minutes than she had been able to make in the previous hours. Still, with no visible landmarks or traceable reiatsu signatures in range she was traveling blind. A burst of sonido blasted sand in every direction as Sachiko launched herself skywards. A birds eye view would let her better evaluate her surroundings and even if she could spot nothing, being able to avoid the sand dunes would save time during her travel. Staring off in the distance, the faint echo of a hollow’s scream reminded her of the danger she faced in this world. Her strength was returning but she was still in no condition to fight and even a relatively weak hollow would pose a serious threat. Out of the corner of her eye she spotted something. A structure off in the distance that was too far to make out the shape or size but without any other landmarks to go by that would be her destination. Wasting no time she sped onwards.
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Haribou Sachiko - Número Ocho - Vizard

[Sachiko]

A day passed before Sachiko became completely exhausted and was forced to return to the ground to regain her strength. Despite her best efforts and constant travel she had made little to no visible progress towards her goal. Standing wearily at the top of a sand dune she stared at the distant structure. “Still so far…” She spoke between labored breaths. “This place is frustratingly deceptive.” She frowned at her lack of visible progress. Tired and aggravated she plopped down on her rump for a break, kicking up a small cloud of dust as she landed. It was eerily quiet for the land of hollows. Outside of a faint scream a day ago she had seen and heard no signs of life. She expected to see more hollows around. She even expected to have the mindless beasts hunting her given her current state but there was nothing but vast emptiness.

With nothing left to do but sit and recover it was time for Sachiko to examine herself, something she had neglected to do since she came to. Her injuries were beginning to heal, slowly but surely. Most of her superficial injuries had all but vanished and the few cuts and gashes she had over a day ago had stopped bleeding but were still painful. She inhaled deeply and exhaled with disappointment at the state of her clothing which were little more than useless rags stained with blood, sweat, and dirt. Taking another look at the distant structure the green haired girl stared curiously. “Just how far away are you?” With a sigh she laid down and stared upward at the dark sky. It would be a few hours before she recovered enough to continue on and if today was any indication, it was going to be a long tedious journey.
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Haribou Sachiko - Número Ocho - Vizard

[Sachiko]

An unrefined beam of cero roared loudly and parted sand as it engulfed a large lizard-like hollow. What remained of the creature was barely recognizable and Sachiko stared amusingly at the result. She opened and closed her right hand several times while staring at her palm. “Yes, I’m growing quite fond of these new powers.” She giggled cheerfully at how much stronger she had become. It was a week since she started heading towards that distant structure and she still had not arrived at her destination but that wasn’t a bad thing. She was getting ample time to recover and explore her powers with each stray hollow she could locate. She even went out of her way to track a few down using her new found reiatsu detection. Her injuries were nearly all gone, even the gashes that pained her for so long. The large structure in the distance was easily recognizable by now. Los Noches, her “home.” She still couldn’t tell how far away it was and having traveled for a week thus far, she didn’t care to guess. She would arrive when she arrived. Nodding to herself after giving the crumpled remains of the hollow one last glance she continued onward with a burst of Sonido. She loved it, the wind blowing through her hair, she felt so free, so alive compared to how she was before her merger. With uncontrollable excitement she rocketed her way through the sky towards Los Noches with a large smile on her face.
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Haribou Sachiko - Número Ocho - Vizard

[Sachiko]

Sachiko’s hair and dress moved violently in the strong winds of the sand storm she was caught in. Her left arm struggled to shield her eyes from the sand and she could see little as she trekked across the eroding dunes of Heuco Mundo. She was so close, Los Noches was a colossal structure the last time she gazed upon it. “If it weren’t for this damn storm!” She yelled out in frustration. Los Noches was less than a day away and she had been on course to arrive there but then the storm kicked up. She couldn’t even tell if she was heading towards the place anymore. The sands constantly shifted beneath her as the wind continued to kick up more sand. This made it impossible to walk in a straight line and with all the sand whipping around so violently Sonido would likely be suicide. She had been so close. She clenched her teeth tightly in anger. The storm had started hours ago and showed no signs of letting up.
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Haribou Sachiko - Número Ocho - Vizard

[Sachiko]

Visibility began to rise as the violent sand storm died down. Sachiko let out a sigh of relief and let the arm that had been shielding her eyes drop to her side. It had been hours since the storm started and left her lost, blind, and disoriented, but now she could see where she stood. Los Noches was will in view but farther away like she had feared. Fortunately it still wasn’t all that far, given that she had traveled slowly through the storm on foot. She stared at the fortress quietly, standing still till the storm fully died down. With the use of Sonido it would still be less than a days travel. There was little remaining of her clothing after all the traveling and exploration of her new powers. She pondered as to what she would tell Ortiga. Surely he would be curious as to where she had been. As the airborne sands waned away Sachiko gave herself a shrug and headed towards Los Noches. First she would bathe. Los Noches lacked the same bathing luxuries of home but even cold water would suffice. After that she would get herself a fresh outfit. She could decide what to tell Ortiga later.

[Sachiko]

Sachiko sat in her room eying the wall while lost in her thoughts. Sin Ruta was an interesting, if not mildly annoying, newcomer. Unfortunately the bastard was so damn strong it didn’t matter how annoying she found him. She was powerless to do anything but go along with whatever he had in store. Of course, the thought of war wasn’t something to fear. She owed the shinigami for what they did to her in the past and following these arrancar would be the quickest way to exact her revenge. She smiled to herself, amused at everything she had seen, learned, and accomplished since she obtained this frail little body of hers. She was thankful to have been given such an opportunity for move forward. She still hadn’t told Ortiga about her latest development, in fact, she never told him about anything pertaining to her powers, new or old. It was puzzling as to why he wished for her to join him, she showed him nothing that would make her valuable but it was best not to dwell on it. Whatever his reasons, she was grateful to no longer be trapped in a cage. She continued to sit in her room while staring blankly at the wall. It was time for her to begin thinking of what she could possibly contribute in a war against the shinigami.
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Haribou Sachiko - Número Ocho - Vizard

[Sachiko]

Footsteps echoed through the empty halls of Los Noches. “So empty...” Sachiko muttered quietly to herself. How they could be considering war with such a low number of soldiers was beyond her. Seemed foolish, suicidal. She would not complain though. Even if the war failed she had little to lose. She had a high risk of death unless these arrancar had some secret weapon hidden up their sleeves but that was of no concern to her. She doubted the spiritual development she had made within this young girl’s body was a once in a lifetime occurrence. No, the damage the shinigami had done hundreds, if not thousands, of years ago was becoming undone with time alone. It was wonderful. The incident with her inner beast did much to boost her ego as well. She smiled cheerfully to herself, happy day indeed. Her place in the war was still undecided. She had a good idea as to what she could contribute but it was ultimately up to Ortiga to decide. As long as she could kill a few shinigami he would hear no complaint from her.

Sachiko abruptly halted her movement as she came to a large double door, her destination. The exit to Los Noches. No doubt the arrancar had much work to do planning for their little war and Sachiko to had work to do. She was determined to delve deeper into the powers she had acquired and become stronger. If there was a war she was going to be sure she was as prepared as possible for it.
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Haribou Sachiko - Número Ocho - Vizard

[Sachiko]

Sachiko’s boots sank lightly into the ivory sands as she walked farther away from Los Noches. She stared forward towards the moonlit horizon. She had no set destination, she barely even had a plan. All she knew was that she had to get stronger. The question on her mind was how to accomplish this task. While she had experimented with her new powers they were still new to her. She didn’t even know what they were called, just that she could use them as she desired. “Hmm. I suppose ‘training’ would be a proper way to increase my strength, but how?” It was all so alien to her. Her soul states all developed on their own, she required nothing but time for them to evolve and increase in power. These were different though. “They feed off my spiritual energy, if I can increase that then perhaps these powers will also grow.” It made sense, just like increasing your muscles made you stronger. “But how do go about increasing my spiritual energy?” She sighed and shifted her body while turning her head to glance behind her. Los Noches was miles away by now though it still remained a towering construct. “I’ll just have to experiment and see what works.” She smirked at the large building before returning her gaze forward and disappearing with a burst of sonido.
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Haribou Sachiko - Número Ocho - Vizard

[Sachiko]

A cero shot along the ground parting sand before dissipating seconds later. Sachiko felt a little silly shooting off random beams of energy but it was the only way to see if constantly using cero would increase her spiritual energy. The results weren’t impressive. She wasn’t getting any stronger this way. “This is useless. What could I be missing?" Sachiko yawned. She was already tired from constantly firing off cero and the perpetual night wasn’t helping. It was time to call it a day, if she exhausted herself any further she may risk being unable to properly defend herself should a hollow come knocking. Sachiko looked around for a place to rest but saw nothing but sand and crystallized trees. “This place sucks. I’m loathe to admit it but I actually miss the human world and all its luxuries.” She grumbled to herself. If she were going to get some rest where she stood was as good as anywhere else she could see. With that she sat down and curled into a ball to retain warmth. Her eyes slowly slid shut. With any luck her rest would go undisturbed.
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Haribou Sachiko - Número Ocho - Vizard

[Sachiko]

Sachiko’s eyes shot open at the sound of a loud howl in the distance. She was quick to rub the sleep from her eyes before standing and staring in all directions to locate the foul creature responsible for waking her. It didn’t take long to spot movement coming far east of her current location. Sand kicked up in every direction as a large hollow burst from beneath. It was a far enough away for Sachiko to relax but she knew it wouldn’t stay that way. The creature was disgusting, best described as a mixture between ape and insect. It possessed the upper torso of a gorilla, even from the distance she was at she could make out its large muscular form. Trailing below and behind it was the long segmented body of a millipede. Hundreds of sharp tipped legs causing the creature to seemingly glide along the sand as they all worked in unison to move the beast towards her. If she was going to resume her rest then this would have to be dealt with, the sooner the better. Wasting little time she shot off towards the creature with a burst of sonido.
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Haribou Sachiko - Número Ocho - Vizard

[Sachiko]

Appearing out of thin air in front of the beast, the hollow halted its movement, let out a howl, and swung with a large muscular arm. “How simple.” She remarked before shifting her body just barely dodging the attack. Drawing her right arm back she thrust with it at full force. Reiatsu sharpened around her fingers as they plunged into the hollow’s arm. The creature screamed and jerked its arm back, Sachiko unfortunately still attached. Her eyes widened in surprise before she managed to pull her blood soaked hand free and jump back. Her left eye twitched after realizing how little her attack accomplished. Size was definitely to this hollow’s advantage.

The hollow eyed its prey intently after regaining its composure and charged. If hand-to-hand combat wasn’t going to work then perhaps… Sachiko let her right arm point forward towards the oncoming beast with two fingers pointing directly at it. A small red sphere appeared between the two fingers before growing. ”Cero.” A large beam of energy shot forth and engulfed the upper torso of the beast.

The insect portion of the creature with bits of the upper torso still attached writhed in agony. The upper torso was gone, destroyed by the cero. ”Well, that takes care of that.”
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Haribou Sachiko - Número Ocho - Vizard

[Sachiko]

Sachiko brought up a hand to cover her mouth as she yawned while watching what was left of the hollow continue to writhe in agony. She had no way of telling how much sleep she may have gotten before she was interrupted. With no sun or clock to tell the time all she could rely on was her internal clock but that was completely out of sync after spending several months in perpetual night. Ah well, what could you do? She was still plenty tired so it wouldn’t be too hard to get back to sleep. Hopefully she wouldn’t be disturbed this time. She waited until the hollow lay motionless before turning to walk away but she sensed something that made her stop. Glancing back at the creature, it seemed it was still alive, but how?

The beast stirred and wriggled around before rearing up most of its long centipede body. Sachiko stared curiously since without a head, surely it should no longer be alive. Her question was answered though as the beast towered over her. A mask was imbedded into the ‘belly’ of the centipede’s body. ”Well, if that don’t beat all." She muttered as the creature rushed at her. She could have used sonido to get out of the way but decided against it. Something inside her wanted her to play with this creature and destroy it slowly.

The creature slammed into her and launched her several feet along the sand, her body bouncing like a pebble on a pond before coming to a grinding halt. Her body was half buried in the sand before she stood up and brushed most of it off. It didn’t hurt much at all and clearly this wasn’t going to be as enjoyable as she had hoped. Despite its size, compared to her, it was weak, not worth her time.

She stared into the creature’s glowing yellow eyes as it charged once again. As the hollow got close Sachiko jumped towards its mask with a clenched fist, a spark of energy traveling around it. Right as it seemed the creature would swallow her she punched forward releasing a point blank bala into the creature’s open maw. An explosion of blood and innards and the creature’s body began to dissolve.
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Haribou Sachiko - Número Ocho - Vizard

[Sachiko]

Sachiko stared with disappointment as the last of the hollow dissolved away. Despite this her body tingled with excitement. The creature had stirred something inside her, the want to fight. “Is this a result of becoming one with that disgusting doppelganger or a result of becoming strong? Maybe its both.” She chuckled to herself. “Whatever it is, its intoxicating. Perhaps fighting is the answer I seek.” She began to walk off in a randomly selected direction and slowly increased her pace as her excitement grew until she was at a full run. She had to find more hollow to satisfy this thirst for violence, to dominate a creature through sheer force. Closing her eyes she began to tap into one of the senses she gained when she merged with her inner self. The ability to detect reiatsu at greater distances than she ever could as a mere human. Yes, she could sense it, hollow in the distance, scattered through the desert. Her eyes shot open, excitement was clearly visible and with a thunderous clap she vanished.
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Haribou Sachiko - Número Ocho - Vizard