A strange little Plus Soul made a rather extreme mistake.
This mistake being, they broke their own chain. The curious little Plus did not know the consequences of these actions, as most of the dead are unknowing of the resulting fallout.
The man vaguely remembered... a car. A boy with orange hair. A woman. And... crying, it all happened so fast.
Reality kicked back in as the soul looked to see itself attached to a bloodied, limp corpse with black, shaggy hair, fair coloured skin, and dead, lifeless silver-grey eyes, he fled from it as the relisation struck it of what had really occured an odd calm came over the soul as it took everything in The orange haired boy on the ground a few feet away, safe save for a few scrapes, horrified and riddled with fear. The woman trying to soothe the boy as sirens blared around them.
The soul observed as paramedics filed out of the ambulance, the orange haired boy saw him. Saw not only his body, but him. He waved at the boy who only burst into tears, the Soul frowned at this. He'd saved the boy, didn't he? Was he still hurt? Surely the child knew better than to look a gift horse in the mouth.
The clinking of broken chains made the soul remember its current state, looking down it made a noiseless 'Oh' of relisation as repercussions of its little hero moment were brought to the forefront.
Not that it really mattered, the soul thought. The child he'd saved would live, and that was enough for him. His own life had been going steadily downhill for the past few years now, his parents had died, he was an only child and thus had no one to turn to.
His own fears, his own depression and his anxiety had slowly been eating away at his resolve to carry on. At least this way it wasn't exactly suicide and he could go out on a high note. The soul left the scene, he wanted to have his final moments alone, he wasn't leaving anyone behind so he had no real unfinished business to take care of, he was just... tired.
His mother and father were his world, it seemed nothing could topple the two of them, they stuck with it through everything despite life trying to step on their hands and make them fall off the metaphorical cliff they always kept their heads together. He admired his parents greatly for their fortitude of spirit. And lamented his own weakness as a consequence.
He was easily scared, easily angered, he laughed too much and attached to quickly, he had many flaws. But through it all his parents always thought the best of him, and encouraged him to pursue his goals.
The Soul blinked to itself as it looked out over the river that ran under a few bridges in Karakura. It slowly walked down to the waters edge and sat down, lying back and listening to the gentle trickling sound of the waters and looking as the sun crested over him. A small presence beside him, drew his gaze.
"Oh... hello kitty, aren't you just gorgeous." He praised softly, a small black cat with bright golden eyes. "No collar huh? You lost little one?" Questioned the spirit with a cocked head, sitting up and placing the cat in his lap, completely ignoring the chain on his chest or the glow of his body.
The cat purred like an outboard motor as he rubbed its belly, the spirit chuckled to himself and cradled the small creature in his arms, nuzzling the top of its head with his nose, "You are adorable. Reminds me of a little cat I used to have. She was a black cat, but with green eyes. Called her Eileen. It amused my parents to no end." Rambled the spirit as he slowly ceased his petting and rested his hand on the cats stomach idly fiddling with some fur between his fingers.
"I think I did the right thing." He confessed, looking at the cat, "Saving that kid. It was best, he'll get to live a full, happy life. And I get to move on without having to kill myself. I'm... not really fit for this world, I've discovered." Admitted the spirit, looking to the waters.
The cat gave him a searching, almost human-like, stare. Trying to dig information out of him with a look alone, "Avarice. I think is my only real sin. And even then it's not a great amount of avarice, I just like to have things sooner rather than later, and I had a bad habit of eating things that were set aside for later... but I usually replaced them. So I guess it's less avarice and more impatience, hmm." Thought the youth with a slight trickle of mirth in his voice.
"Self-reflection is nice and all, but I think I'll go along now." The young man said, nodding to himself. Setting the cat down at his side, "I dunno how well cat's remember things, but I got a good feeling about you little missy." He praised gently, rubbing the cats ear between his thumb and finger, "My name was Menma Uzumaki." Introduced the young man.
He closed his eyes, and let himself drift away, the blue glow encompassing him grew in intensity, the cat sitting quietly next to him. That was until a low, guttural howl broke his trance, the Soul shot up and onto his feet in a heartbeat, a tear in the air that seemed to suck in light.
"Oh sweet mother of-" The Soul was cut off as a clawed hand reached out and pulled him into the wicked, black scar in the air. Eyes widened, the spirits black hair whipping about as a wind-tunnel formed from the sheer speed of the grapple.
The spirit was pulled into the tear without a second thought able to form in his mind and everything went dark.
Hueco Mundo; Menos Forest.
A vicious looking Hollow with a malformed mask that looked like the bastard child of a harlequin mask and a chainsaw, snickered as it held onto the juicy little human soul it'd snatched. One of the only real useful abilities the creature had was 'Snap-Garganta' able to open smaller, quicker Garganta's that it could use to move through the human world and Hueco Mundo with much less trouble.
None of that really mattered at the moment however, now the creature had a juicy little morsel to tide himself over the human in his grip was frozen, terror in his eyes, oh but it was delicious! The chain on the pathetic little creature told the Hollow this one was as fresh as they come, it was pristine and still had a slight shine to the metal.
"Delicious!" The Hollow bit down, ripping the soul in half with one bite, and then finishing all that remained with another. The Hollow felt a rise in its reiryoku, it cheered and bellowed loudly, loud enough to echo through the Menos Forest, over all the other creatures therein. Only for it to crumple in on itself, the creature began to writhe, its form rapidly jumping and expanding before just as quickly shrinking in several places.
The sheer agony the Hollow felt was like nothing it had ever experienced.
"My only sin. Is Avarice." Chimed a voice in the Hollows head, before it's eyes widened and it exploded in a shower of black gore. From the remains a single creature emerged.
A small, serpentine creature coated in complete white armour with a barbed, bladed tail. Each segment of armour had enough space so that it could move freely. Atop its mask, which was smoothe, barely a marking on it aside from eye holes, and slits for it to breath through, the Hollow had a glorious set of antlers, like a stag in the prime of its life. The serpent wriggled for a moment, like it was trying to free itself from confinement before a small set of bat-like wings broke from its back, and half a dozen vent-shaped openings appeared on it's 'shoulders'.
The serpent rose upwards, 'standing' in its new form. It was roughly 6 feet tall, a small-fry compared to most hollows, especially a Menos, and even most Adjuchas. The serpent said nothing, it didn't even blink, but its new, golden eyes, shone intensely as it slithered out of the Harlequin's den and poked its head out into the Menos Forest proper.
"Hunger..." It noticed this almost immediately, it was hungry. It wanted food, it needed to eat. Turning back it looked at the dead, splattered form of the Hollow it was 'birthed' from and twitched its head, almost in discomfort, before a split forming in its mask and it opened its mouth, a wide rose of ivory razors, dripping with saliva, and a thick, forked tongue lay therein.
"It will do." The creature told itself. Before it began to devour the scraps of the Hollow that came before, the mask fragments being the most delectable parts. The Snake-Deer-Bat thing licked its chops after a moment, "More." The voice in the creatures head bayed it on, and it responded without a moments thought, the small, defined Gillian slithered out of the den and took to prowling about, its wings tucked in comfortably.
Weeks Later
The little Gillian that could, was able to rip and tear silently through the Forest without many really noticing its presence, the scariest part were the occasional flashes of reiryoku that would follow in its wake, effectively putting the fear of some hidden creature into the Menos Grande, stupid as they were. Or the way it'd figured out how to lure in other Hollows to its den by producing particular scents through the vents on its 'shoulders' .
"Vanilla." Ordered the voice, Snake-Bat-Deer nodded to itself and began releasing the scent, the air from the den being pushed outwards by a few gentle flaps of its wings, the Hollow was pleased it managed to catch an Adjuchas this time, hiding in the shadows.
This Adjuchas was a tall, wolf-ish creature. It had dark red fur in several spots that breached its own natural armour and a pair of horns on its skull. The snake narrowed its eyes in confusion. "Question it." Ordered the voice, slithering out of the rocks the snake whipped its tail, getting the deers attention.
"Heh, so it was you? Some weird lookin' Gillian." Said the Adjuchas, the serpent tilted its head curiously, still releasing the scent, much to the large dog's chagrin. "Stop it!" Ordered the Adjuchas. A red orb forming on the middle horn of its Hollow mask.
"Ca...lm." Ordered the snake, vocal chords not really formed, it came out as a guttural and rough command.
"What'd you say?" Demanded the wolf with a narrowed gaze.
"Now. Say it again. But clearer."
"C...Calm." Struggled the snake.
"Feh, some retarded Gillian you are, trying to speak! You gotta evolve before you earn that right!" Roared the wolf, opening its maw and forming a red orb of spiritual energy.
"Kill it." The snakes wings spread outwards, and with a might flap of its wings the vents on its shoulders ignited the air, releasing a wave of fire that washed over the Adjuchas, the wolf howled in agony as its fur began to crackle and burn. The snake opened its maw and released a white wave of energy as its Cero split into several smaller beams that ripped apart the wolf, taking out its legs and opening its armour in several sections.
The creature's body went into shock, or a Hollow's equivalent as the serpent began to eat and consume.
"Very well done." Praised the voice, Snake felt a swell of pride as it consumed its fellow Hollows mask, its own body bolstering and bulking up with the new hefty amount of reiryoku entering its body, "After this, seal the cave and sleep." The voice ordered, Snake nodded silently as its teeth took little time to rip and carve up the body before it, with a crack of its tail rocks began to rise from the black, dirt covered floor of its den and bar the entryway of its little hidey-hole.
The creatures form was encompassed in a glow, the small Gillian actually grew, changing shape somewhat. The serpentine body expanded, and like a caccoon burst open. Revealing a bipedal creature beneath, roughly thirteen feet tall coated in segmented, glossy armoured plates of armour vaguely resembling a knight. Its fingers and toes were exposed, and each bore a wicked, clawed nail. The smooth, skull-mask remained and the serpent's hide becoming some kind of cloak the was attached at the spine, the very end of it remaining as a tail.
Its mask began to slim down somewhat, instead of the bulky, edged oval of its previous form. It was now a it grew into a shape resembling a humans skull, his antlers remaining in place but now accompanied by a smaller pair of horns rising from the masks forehead. His teeth mirrored on the masks mouth. Other than that it was rather featureless.
The antler-bearing biped continued to sleep, uninterrupted by the transformation, the vents on its shoulders shrinking slightly but remaining.
Months Later, Menos Forest Proper.
Having left the cave behind the large Adjuchas wandered through the Menos forest, hunching slightly as its wings were tucked down, and the hide of his old form covering him like an armoured cloak, the only real distinguishable part of him was the antlers and his overall size. The Menos Grande towered above him, peaceful, sedated by the visible aroma his shoulders emitted. One of them knelt down and picked him up in the palm of its hand, he jumped atop its head and gently commanded it forward.
He was seeking the other Adjuchas of the forest, as he was more than ready to begin consuming them in proper. The sound of air cutting drew his attention, the creature leapt from the Menos Grande and stuck to one of the nearby pillars of stone that acted as faux trees, the figure that had attempted to attack him did the same, the Hollows claws dug into the stone as it looked to the figure.
A human, it had to be, wearing a dark brown fur cover over black robes, a sword in his hand, a katana, the creature's nostrils flare beneath its mask as the man had the audacity to wear a deer skull whilst attacking him.
"You'll have to forgive me, Hollow." Began the human, though sounding anything but remorseful, "I cannot allow you to leave the forest and cause havoc."
"Speak. Say our name." Ordered the voice in the creatures head.
Golden eyes widened with fury, "I Menma. And you human. Have made a terrible mistake." Snarled the Adjuchas angrily, wings flaring out of his back, easily half and again matching his total body length, in the blink of an eye the creature vanished.
"Doesn't even know what a Shinigami is, eh? Must be a newborn." Thought the man as he readied himself, dashing to the side and slashing with his sword at the Hollow's reappearing form, the sword scraped against the armour of its body, but only made an insufferable screeching sound.
The Shinigami's eyes widened under his skull helmet only for pain to blossom on his side as the Hollows claws slashed at his ribs, the Shinigami flashed away in a Shunpo and his hand glowed green pressing against the wound and sealing it.
"Pretty pathetic sword you've got there." Goaded Menma with a narrow gaze, "What kind of human has the gall to come into the forest and attack it's inhabitants!?" Demanded the Hollow with fury.
"I'm a Shinigami, and eradicating Hollows is my sole task." Informed the man.
"Seems to be going well for you." Menma said, standing on the air, his same, relaxed, hunched stance as when he walked.
The man said nothing but the slight tense in his forearms revealed an angry tick at that bard, "Hollows, from what I understand, are a natural part of the universe. Without them, a link in the chain that connects existence would be lost." Hypothesized the Adjuchas before standing to its full height, cloak folding in on itself revealing his body in its full form, "What right do you have to tamper with the natural order?"
"It's not a right, Hollow. It's a duty, the duty of all Shinigami to protect innocent souls from monsters like you." Snarled the man.
"You've done a good job. Not but a few months ago I sacrificed myself to save a child from a car, and in doing so, died. Where was my Shinigami?" Questioned the Adjuchas with a low growl, the mans fingers twitched slightly, surprise, "I imagine I was just about to pass on to whatever equates to heaven, as ultimate all things considered there must be some kind of afterlife, but a Hollow snatched me up before I could 'transcend' into the pearly gates." The Hollow did an oddly human action as it made air quotes with its disturbingly macabre looking hands.
"So that leads me to think two things." The Hollow held up two fingers, as it continued speaking, the Shinigami idly noted this was probably the most eloquent Hollow he'd ever met. "One, you're here on some misguided attempt at extermination, the consequence of such will make me rather angry. Or Two, you think just because something is different, and strange, that it must be destroyed, which in itself is like point one, but somehow worse to my ears."
"You talk a great deal for an Adjuchas." Observed the Shinigami.
Menma looked at his hands and then to his feet, and cracked his fingers before saying, "You'd be amazed what a little bit of willpower can do to preserve one's own mind, Shinigami-san."
The man seemed to tense at that, "Wait. You say you remember being human, you even still associate with your human name. What kind of Hollow are you?" The man questioned, Menma noticed the slightest slackening in his grip and used his next response as an excuse to move slightly, getting into position.
"As I said, my name is Menma Uzumaki. I remember my human life, yes. I remember quite a bit about it, I had my own conscious voice, guiding myself as a Gillian. I still do sometimes, but there is also another thing, Shinigami-san." Informed the Hollow as it stretched out, seemingly an innocent action.
"And that is?" Questioned the man, admittedly curious at this point.
"I'm still a Hollow, and I'm always hungry." Ashido Kano felt pain once more blossom in his side, though it was followed by more pain in his chest as the Hollow disappeared and reappeared before him in a naught but a heartbeat and ripped out his ribcage, Ashido gasped in horrified pain, the faces of all those he lost flashing before his eyes.
"And I don't take kindly to your helmet." Ripped the sword from the mans hand Menma stabbed his foe through the throat, the fur falling off, the skull masks audible shattering as it plummeted to the ground.
Pulling the sheath free as well Menma plundered the Shinigami's sword, a useful tool for later to be sure, and placed it between his wings, feasting on the defeated, very dead, man in mid air Menma once more felt his energy take a great leap, but thankfully, no evolution occurred, he was happy to feel the Shinigami's energy mingling and mixing with his own but he was far too new to being an Adjuchas to skip ahead again, he didn't even know what the next level was. He never bothered to speak with his prey for more than a few moments before devouring them.
Menma stopped his floating and hit the ground with a slight kick-up of dust, he grabbed the sword from his back and held it, sheathed, in his right hand. He kept walking for about two hours, this was a rough estimate as he didn't have a watch. Before he felt an odd pulling sensation in his hand, looking to it he saw black lines forming over his unarmoured fingers, vaguely following the bones therein and meeting his armour, in a small flash of energy his hand had now... changed somewhat.
It had blackened fur along the wrist and darker armoured plates over each segment of his digits, his nails remained unchanged thankfully as claws were incredibly useful, but the sword itself began to ooze energy, black energy, into his hand, Menma was curious about this he figured it'd be a good idea to stop this, but at the same time, didn't his human curiosity refused to waver.
Fear no longer an issue, anxiety all but dried up, all that was left was a steely calm the permeated his entire being. After several moment the swords green sheath was stained black, the tsuba had mutated into a dark red pentagram and the hilt was covered by an ashen grey cloth, capped with a black metal pommel.
The Adjunchas didn't comment outwardly but was interested nonetheless. A buzz filled his mind for a moment but he didn't bother, instead he began using his Sonido to cross the enormous expanse of the Menos Forest, the Hollow passed hundreds if not thousands of Menos that became docile as he passed them, only to return to their previous waddling and random roaring as before.
Menma leapt into the air with a final jump and flared his wings out, opening his mouth he released a white rush of energy "Seperacion Cero!" The shotgun like spread of energy poured through the Menos forest, the Adjunchas began ripping and tearing his way through the Menos Grande, he was hungry and the meagre helpings that they provided were enough.
"What does this sword do?" Questioned his inner voice.
One Year Later
Effectively, his little rampage had made him the bane of the other Adjunchas that dared to approach him, but from them, he learned of the surface, and due to that had a new goal in mind. To this end he began practicing with everything at his disposal, performing Sonido in place of walking to build up more stamina, firing off hundreds of Cero's a day to work the reiryoku in his body like a muscle fiddling with this 'Dark Hand' the Shinigami's energy had given him, he found it was insatiable, much like himself, and could directly sap reishi from a Hollows soul.
He devoured his way through the Forest, now dubbed as the 'Cazador', Hunter, which amused him to no end.
"It's like the name of a bad villain from the 80's." Thought the Hollow with mirth as he crossed the threshold and exploded outwards into the dunes of Hueco Mundo above, Menma shook himself free of any sandy debris.
"Impressive." Commented a feminine voice in his mind, the dulcet tones soothing to his soul, the Zanpakuto, Mugetsu. 'Corrupted and Changed' by Menma's reiryoku, now some macabre mix of Ashido's own power and Menma's. The human mind within the Hollows body, riddled with Shinigami and Hollow power.
Quite the combination.
It should be state, she was not always Mugetsu, in fact she'd explicitly told him on numerous occasions she had eaten the previous inhabitant of the blade and took its place. Which was... nice, he guessed.
"Not really." Rebuked Menma, looking out at the sandy expanse.
"How so, Master?" Questioned Mugetsu.
"There's nothing but sand as far as I can see. At the moment I disagree with your assessment, but there's got to be something out here for all the Adjuchas to have lost their tits over." Theorized the human mind.
The Spirit of the blade hummed quietly to itself, "Very well, Master." Menma looked around and narrowed his gaze, as though it would help him see better, the antlered Adjuchas sighed for a moment before pulling out his sword, twirling it in his fingers and throw it into the air, catching it before hit the ground the blade pointed... north? Maybe? Whatever, sheathing the blade and tucking it into one of the newly formed segments on his waist so it would be snug and safe his wings unfurled and he shot into the air.
The Hollow looked over the vast expanse, small lenses sliding form his mask over his eyes to shield them from wind damage as he took it all in. Now that he was higher up he could see there were some interesting landmarks, far in the distance, some form of mountain range to his south that barely managed to peak over the abyssal sands.
A few dead trees here and there, all in all in his immediate vicinity it wasn't exactly interesting, but it was a fuck-ton better than just sand.
Hours upon hours Menma flew, idly amazing at the exhilaration he gained from flight, no matter what he may have said to the Shinigami, his human mind had been warped considerably during the change. When he was calm and placid, he could formulate coherent sentences, he could theorize on his new existence, he could breach subjects of philosophy with Mugetsu.
But during battle, when his blood began to boil and the hunt became his only priority, his mind released its controls and the instincts took over.
It was pretty much the only way he was able to eat without throwing it all back up.
His mind tingled for a moment as Mugetsu spoke, "Master. A presence is below, it is very powerful." Menma immediately dive bombed pointedly ignoring Mugetsu's sigh of discontent, he landed with his wings fanned out and looked about, a figure clad in a full body-suit of white armour sat on a dead trees branch, it had slightly pointed protrusions from the sides of its mask, the only holes being for its bright green, slit eyes. It hollow hole firmly in place in the middle of its sternum. A pair of large black bat wings grew from its waist, though they were currently slack and relaxed.
The creature looked at him, golden eyes met green, the Adjuchas tried to get a read on the creature, its gaze inquisitive. Standing to his full height Menma's cloak rolled back, revealing his body in full he rose a hand in greeting, "Good day."
The creature did not respond. "What is this?" It thought to itself upon seeing the oddly shaped, rather tall, Hollow.
"I apologise if I'm bothering you, friend. I sensed a powerful presence and curiosity got the best of me." Explained the Hollow.
The creature, still did not respond. "Such thinking is odd for a Hollow. Do you know nothing of this world?" Silently questioned the bat.
Menma tilted his head, "Are... are you able to speak? I'm sorry if that's rude but I'm trying to avoid sounding like a fool later."
This time, the creature shook its head. "At least he is not unintelligent. And forthcoming. Why is he still here?"
"Ah, I'm sorry then... are you alone?" Menma figured he'd go with yes or no questions, just to make life easier on the bat-hollow.
It nodded. "I have always been alone." It thought.
"Ah." Menma said simply, Mugestu chimed into his mind.
"It appears to be something... greater than a mere Adjuchas Hollow, Master." She informed. Menma's lips creased beneath his mask.
"Do you have any kind of objective in mind?" Questioned the younger, it'd have to be a guess but the Bat looked like it'd been around for a while.
The creature shook its head. "Nothing. I have no purpose. I have no meaning. I am alone."
"Would you like to come with me?" Menma asked curiously, green eyes narrowed in confusion for a moment, the creatures head tilted as it seemingly, silently demanded more. "Well I just figured, the two of us are alone, I have only just breached the sands of Hueco Mundo myself and figure now would be the best time to try and... gather some kind of group. I've been on my own since I was born, aside from a voice in my head, I've nobody." Menma silently requested Mugetsu ignore that as he didn't want to reveal her sentience.
The sword acquessed to its masters wishes silently.
The bat hollow stared at him, and stared. "A curious creature, an Adjuchas? Coming before me, unafraid of my power, and seemingly wishing for companionship. He has been alone as well? He knows of this... vacant existence?" The bat slid off its perch and walked towards the larger Hollow, Menma lowered himself to continue eye contact. "What manner of creature are you?" Quietly questioned the bat.
"Is that a yes?" Menma asked uncertainly.
The bat paused for a moment, gold on green. Before nodding. Menma's eyes twinkled with joy he offered his large hand to the smaller Hollow. "Wonderful! My name is Menma... I know you cannot speak but it's only courteous that I give my name." Menma said, his eyes having creased with his smile.
"Menma?... You cannot hear me, companion. But I am, Ulquiorra." Mentally introduced the bat, looking at the hand questioningly.
"Ah... my apologies. This is a handshake, the memories of my human existence showed me this is how they greet a new friend." Menma informed, the creature stuck its hand out, Menma gently clasped it in his own and shook it before retracting his hand, Ulquiorra looked at his hand and then to Menma, nodding.
"Forgive me for saying so soon, friend. But I am glad to have met you, I look forward to our travels together." Menma said, tipping his head slightly.
"Glad to have met me? I have never heard of such things. You are curious to me, Menma. Show me, what is a 'friend'." Ulquiorra quietly mused on the concept of a 'friend' as the taller Hollow looked about.
"Shall we away? The Adjuchas in the Menos Forest told me the other Hollows up here were much stronger, I would like to test myself against one." Ulquiorra nodded, his wings twitching as Menma's own extended out, the antlered Hollow gesturing his new friend to follow as they took off.
Two Weeks Later
Menma learned a few things as he was around his new friend, one. The man was incredibly good company, silent or no his presence was a comforting one and often they would travel in a comfortable silence for hours on end, enjoying the presence of another.
Two, he was a Vasto Lorde. The pinnacle of Hollow evolution. Menma knew his friend was strong, but not so strong that he was an entire evolution level above him, he took quiet comfort in the fact that his friend never seemed to look down upon him for being an Adjuchas and took to guarding his safety rather seriously if nothing else.
Still no name, though given the fact that his friend was effectively mute because of his mask, he couldn't really do anything about it.
"Friend, I pose a question to you." Menma stated abruptly, gaining Ulquiorra's attention. "Would you be adverse to more joining us at all? I ask because we have been together for a short while, and I've enjoyed your company immensely, but surely you must be sick of me talking your ear off all the time? Would you like a new person to have around?" Menma questioned.
"Sick of him? Absurd. He is my kindred spirit, he knows the despair of loneliness. He has shielded me from that, at the cost of a companion without a voice, he is my friend." Ulquiorra grabbed the Adjuchas' wrist and firmly gripped it.
Menma looked down at the action, curiosity in his eyes, "Have I upset you?" He questioned quietly.
"Yes. How dare you think you could be replaced?" Ulquiorra nodded silently.
"Because I suggest a third?" Prodded the taller Hollow.
"Damn this mask." Ulquiorra shook his head. The Adjuchas hummed for a moment, contemplative.
"Let's see... what could it have been?" Menma murmured to himself, thinking for a moment.
"Perhaps he thinks highly of you, Master, and took exception to you assuming him to be sick of you?" Suggested Mugetsu. Menma looked to the intense gaze of his friend and relayed this question.
"He understands." Ulquiorra thought with relief, eyes showing as such, and nodded.
Menma chuckled quietly and nodded in return, "Very well, I am sorry if I have upset you, friend. I did not mean to." Ulquiorra merely nodded and released his arm, Menma paused for a moment before picking Ulquiorra up and placing him atop his head, between his antlers.
"As an apology you can sit atop my head." Menma said with an audible grin, Ulquiorra's eyes widened.
"Such kindness... I can only hope it is not sullied. My moonlight, in this dark, desolate existence." Thought Ulquiorra fondly, looking at the branching horns atop his companions head.
It seemed almost like fate had struck a chord, as not an hour later Menma's feet were nearly sucked into a sand trap, he flew back and bared his claws, Ulquiorra standing atop his head with his wings spread, looking furiously at those who dared to attack his moonlight.
"Come on out cowards!" Ordered the Adjuchas with a ferocious snarl, Ulquiorra was used to this tone, Menma used it only when around others of hostile intent, hiding his gentler nature.
Out of the sands rose a centipede like-hollow with several branching tendrils dripping with a mysterious purple liquid, and following it was a quadruped lizard covered in spines and thorns a thorny-devil or thorny-dragon depending on whom you spoke to, both of their masks were identical in nature framing their skulls primary in chitinous armour, bones framing their eyes predominantly.
"Stupid bastard, should have just let us kill you." Grumbled the centipede. Ulquiorra's eyes narrowed at the creature hatefully.
"How droll, you assume I'm on to walk blindly about the desert." Snarled the antlered Hollow.
"Wait Loly... horns, black arm, white wings... I think that's Cazador!" Whispered the devil to the bug, horrified.
"Like I care about that, Menoly." Scoffed Loly, tendrils coiling up to whip out at their foe.
"How about the fact that there's a Vasto Lorde on his head!" Snarled the reptile, Loly paused all movement as she looked up to see the white bat Hollow standing atop the Adjuchas.
Quivering as best a body such as hers would allow Loly quickly began digging back into the sand, "Run!" She screamed, her sister in hot pursuit, Menma blinked for a moment as their signatures quickly fell off his radius.
"Hm. First time that's happened." Admittedly there were a lot of stupid Hollows that attempted to harm his friend.
"That's right you filthy wretches, flee! Your cowardice is unwelcomed!" Internally snarled Ulquiorra, sitting back down, wings folding up.
"Well. Here's hoping the next one we meet won't be so quick to flee, eh friend?" Menma said amusedly.
"Indeed, Moonlight. Indeed." Silently Ulquiorra positioned himself to lean comfortably against the thick antlers of his friends head.
Menma's body stiffened for a moment as more signatures entered his range, this time there were at least half a dozen in number. A vertible gaggle of Hollows quickly approaching his position, all of them appearing in a storm of Sonido.
All of them looked fairly nondescript, but all of them were quite large, quite strong, and very hungry looking. "Oh my." Murmured the Knight-like Hollow, his armoured plates making the slightest of noises as he looked around at those surrounding him.
"Well... look likes we got a snack for the road boys!" Chuckled one with a star-like mask, "We'll snap this little fucker like a twig, and his little friend, and then continue on our way to Las Noches."
"Yeah boss! You always were great at summarizing the current events so no one gets lost." Said another with an oval shaped mask, vaguely resembling some kind of cat.
"Exposition is your forte, boss." Agreed another, this one resembling a macabre fairy of some kind, with a warped, malformed mask.
"What tripe, these fools are nothing before us." Scoffed Ulquiorra, Menma chuckled beneath him.
"Well gentlemen, you see... I'm quite the calm fellow usually, but one thing that sets me off is arrogance. And the idea that you think." Reiatsu rising rapidly, it began to cloud the air, making it thick and hard to breathe in, pheromone laced jets exploding out from the holes in his shoulders.
"You can harm my dear friend!" Snarled the Knight grabbing Mugetsu and igniting it with dark energy, "Getsu Tensho!" Screeched the Hollow, the cat, the star and another hollow were swallowd up and bisected by the horizontal tensho the burnt right through the hierro.
"Get 'im!" Snarled one of the others, Ulquiorra fired a green Cero from his finger directly through its mask, killing it instantly, and repeated this action with another, destroying its leg.
White energy arced across Menma's white arm as he thrust it forward, "Speraccion Cero!" The spreading cero ripped the creature apart, none of his attackers could harm him, so he turned on his heel, sheathing his sword as he did and plunged his black hand into the mask of the last, maimed Hollow who barely clung to life.
Menma gently placed Ulquiorra on the ground, "I apologise for what you are about to see, friend. Try not to think less of me." Menma tipped his head slightly as Ulquiorra watched him rip and tear through the Adjuchas whom had attempted to slay them, and failed to such an extent even Ulquiorra was surprised how weak they were.
Feasting heartily and licking his lips and cleaning the blackened blood off his mask Menma moved to the next Hollow, Ulquiorra looked at his Moonlight for a moment, "He is a kind Hollow, one I am fortunate to have met, yet has the resolve to harden himself to slay, and survive. He is above these animals, he is... more." Thought the bat, bordering on reverence.
"He is concerned I will leave him, this fear is his only flaw. I will never leave his side, I will ever be your shield, Menma-sama." Were the quiet, resolute thoughts of the Vasto Lorde as it watched over the Adjuchas.
It took only a few minutes to fully consume all the Hollows before him, Menma felt his energy skyrocket from the amount of Adjuchas flesh he'd devoured, his whole body tingled as he shook himself out and turned back to Ulquiorra, smiling beneath his mask.
Menma silently approached the creature and offered his arm, Ulquiorra took the hint and stepped onto his Moonlight's hand, the larger Hollow placed the bat atop his head and continued onwards, though this time his aim was the direction these Hollows were going.
"I say we find this Las Noches, I'm curious as to why these Hollows were so intent on reaching it." Menma said jubilantly, Ulquiorra merely nodded, leaning into his antlers once more, as they began their trek.
One Week Later
Progress towards Las Noches was slow going, wherever Menma was born, it was far away from pretty much everything of interest, he had no idea how far the Menos Forest stretched but he'd never hit an ending wall in his life there, that being said he rarely tried to explore it in proper.
His senses pinged, two Hollows. He form blurred, sand being kicked up around his previous location, Ulquiorra woke up at the sudden movement and blinked, "Ah, more Hollows... is he worried I may leave him unless he evolves? He seems far too driven to evolve for something a simple as survival." Questioned Ulquiorra looking down at the Adjuchas he was sleeping on sadly.
"Do you think so little of yourself, my Moonlight?" Mused the bat, he'd heard slips of self deprecation from his companion throughout their time together, and he was not amused that his guiding light seemed to hold himself in such low regard.
Menma narrowed his gaze at the sight, a deer Hollow, roughly seven feet tall from hoof to head, and five and a bit from hoof to back, brown fur decorated its body and a smaller pair of antlers grew from the back of its mask, a single horn growing from the forehead. A few armour plates over its shoulders and flank.
It was facing off against a large quadruped reptile hollow with two heads and a whip-like tail. Its mask was like a starburst, no real shape to it aside from looking like someone took white paint and threw it at a canvas.
Menma immediately sided with the dear. Call him biased, he didn't care.
"Do you require assistance?" He questioned loudly, standing between the two, looking over his shoulder at the deer.
"What's your angle?" Demanded the feminine voiced dear.
"New traveling companion? My friend and I wander about and I'm sure he's sick of hearing about just me." Responded the Knight-like Hollow with good humour, Ulquiorra shook his head but refrained from doing much else, content to sit where he was.
"Uh... sure." The deer said uncertainly.
"Marvelous!" And then he turned to the lizard and held a finger up, "Cero Oscura." A black orb formed at the tip of his dark arm and fired off a giant wave of energy, glassing parts of the desert on contact, and incinerating the lizard Hollow, save for a head sized chunk of its mask.
Menma held it up to the deer, "Sorry about that." He apologised sincerely, "Got a big carried away, just figured out how to do that a few days ago."
The deer was wide eyed and just nodded, idly taking the mask fragment from his hand and eating it, but the shellshock had yet to wear off.
Menma grinned beneath his mask, "So, what's your name I am Menma. This is my friend, he is unable to speak for the moment." He introduced with a slight bow, in doing so showing off the placid Vasto Lorde on his head.
"E-Emilou Apacci! Nice to meet you." She greeted nervously, Menma cocked his head slightly.
"You needn't worry my dear..." He almost wiggled his brows but settled for a 'tada' with his hands, "We won't bite, I assure you." As she soaked this information in the antlered Adjuchas placed his hands on his hips and hummed quietly.
"What do you know of Los Noches, Apacci?" Menma requested idly.
The deer looked surprised for a moment before finding her voice, "It's where the current, self-proclaimed, King of Hollows, Barragan Louisenbairn rules from, members of his army, or scouts at least, are most of what you'll be meeting around here."
Menma paused and contemplated this, "How curious... a King of Hollows. Is he a good king?" He prodded further, looking directly at her with shining golden eyes.
Apacci scoffed harshly, "Fuck no." How blunt! "He's a garbage ruler and the Hollows under his command are more feral than those in the forest, he just collects the rabble and rouses them to do his bidding in some vague attempt to control Hueco Mundo."
"Friend I have a suggestion for our next activity." Menma said, looking upwards, Ulquiorra leant forward placing a hand on his friends skull to let him know he was listening. "We dispose of this despot and take his position for ourselves, surely we could do a better job of ruling than a fool who thinks collecting a bunch of animals in one area deserves kingship."
Apacci looked at him like he was crazy, "You're going to fight Barragan!? But you're just an Adjuchas!" She protested fervently.
"Not right away, Appaci dear." He chuckled to himself, such a poor pun, but he reserved the right for witticisms. "When I evolve I'll be much stronger, and if we can make it so you evolve that's all the better! Think of it like a long-term goal, my new companion." He placed a hand on her neck and gave the deer a soothing pat, Apacci seemed conflicted.
"I'm not saying you have to fight him, Apacci. But it'll give us a goal to work towards. Now come on, training starts now!" He said with a cheerful jaunt in his step, Apacci raced after him, eager to not be left alone to fend for herself anymore.
"This one did not run. Even from me. Consider yourself worthy, for now." Were the thoughts of the bat, As it stared intently at the deer.
End.
Lemme know whatcha think. If you liked it, if you didn't, hopes for the future, that kinda stuff.
This little idea was rolling around in my head for a while now, and I just felt the need to write it up after reading a few amazing Bleach fanfics, hopefully no-one thinks I'm trying to steal anyone else's ideas though, as that is not my intent.
Raxychaz!