Chapter Two: Partnership's
"well your certainly an interesting little thing. Aren't ya?" spoke the lion like hollow.
Takeshi was taken aback by this sudden development. One sec he gets kidnapped by a hollow, then another one tries to kill him, and now he has one seemingly saving him. He kept on edge incase this was some trick and he had to move fast.
The hollow picked up on him being on edge and him not lowering his guard.
"don't worry kid, I'm not going to hurt you. If I was, I would have done so by now." she announced with complete truthfulness.
Takeshi eyed the hollow for a few more moments before relaxing. Even if he had to fight this hollow, he wouldn't last very long. The pain of his earlier injuries catching up to him now the adrenaline had started to go away. Lowering his weapon he addressed the lion hollow.
"my name's Takeshi Kurosaki, you can just call me Takeshi. Who by chance are you?"
"Franceska Mila-Rose. You can call me Mila for short." She replied.
"nice to meet you." He said before groaning at the pain is his ribs.
"you gonna be ok Takeshi? You took a bad shot in that fight." Mila said with genuine concern. After all it would be a shame if the person, she just found who could be her lucky break. Was just to suddenly drop on her.
Takeshi groaned in pain a little more before replying. "yeah, I just need to heal up a bit is all."
"I can help with that war pup." spoke the voice in his head
"how? And just who are you?" He mentally replied.
"look I can explain who I am later, when there's actual time to talk. For now just trust me with this healing thing ok? Go up to the dead hollow and stick your blade in it and I'll take care of things from there, ok war pup?" The female voice stated.
Takeshi thought for a moment about what he was told by the mysterious voice in his head. Eventually he decided he didn't have any better option and went with the suggestion.
"Mila could take a few steps back from the dead hollow. I think my blade can do something with it to help heal me."
Mila tilted her head in confusion at this statement but complied with what the young human asked. If anything she was genuinely curious about what was going to happen.
Takeshi stepped up and stabbed his blade into the dead hollow.
"ok war pup, watch this and be amazed!" said the voice in his head.
The blade suddenly glowed the same silver aura from earlier and enveloped the dead hollow. Soon the dead hollow began to breakdown into tiny particles and began swirling around Takeshi's entire being. They disappeared into his body and he could feel the damage from earlier heal up as if it never happened. His energy felt restored, in fact he felt even stronger once the whole process finished.
Mila watched as Takeshi walked up and stabbed his blade into the dead hollow. Nothing happened at first but then his sword began to glow, and the same glow began to cover the entire dead hollow. Then the dead hollow began to be broken down by the strange aura and be absorbed into Takeshi. She could see some of the cuts and bruises visible on him heal like they never happened. Takeshi's eyes even glowed silver for the briefest moment as well. Once it was over, she could tell with pesquisa the kid had grown stronger as well.
"Holy shit! You can eat hollows!" Mila exclaimed in shock.
"ok I have to admit that was pretty awesome." He spoke mentally.
"Told you so war pup. That's the tip of the iceberg of what we can do together. I'll talk more with you later, for the moment you should focus on your new friend. Till later." then the voice went silent.
"that was something, I didn't really expect all that." he said.
"well as surprising as that is. the fact your able to do that is pretty handy all things considered. How did you know you could do that anyways?" asked Mila.
"a voice in my head told me."
"uh-huh" she replied with concern. "is it the only voice your hearing by chance?"
"yep, why?"
"well I don't know about humans but when hollows start hearing multiple voices in their head, accompanied by a ringing sound it means bad things."
"it's just the one voice and no ringing sound at the moment." He retorted.
"good to hear, now I imagine you'd like to hear what my business is with you." Stated Mila.
"I would actually, why did you save me?" questioned Takeshi
"I'll cut to the chase with you. I'd like to partner up with you, so you can assist me with speeding up my evolution. In return what would you like from me?" she asked
"I just want to go home." He replied
"that could be harder than you think, you see I'll need to be atleast an adjucah's to properly do that for you." Mila said with honesty.
"how long do you think that could take?"
"atleast a few years if all goes well."
"WHAT!?"
"look here's the deal, normally only base level hollows like me can only make pathways from this world to others, just big enough for said hollow to walk through. There called 'garganta' by the way. Who was the hollow that grabbed you anyways? If you happen to know." Explained Mila
"He said his name was 'Grand Fisher' from what I recall." He said.
Mila immediately let out a growl of anger at the name. "that bastard is responsible huh?"
"you know him?" wondered Takeshi
"Only by reputation, he's a real bastard even by hollow standards. If you don't mind me asking what exactly happened?" Mila asked
Takeshi went through the whole story of fisher's attack and how he wound up in hueco mundo.
"figures the bastard would do something like that." she spat "he likes to target and eat women because he takes them for easy prey. He's a coward for the most part to, he doesn't hunt other hollows really. It why he's still base level hollow despite how old he is. the fact he managed to bring you here is honestly surprising. It was either a sheer stroke of luck or he has some ability that allowed him to pull it off."
Takeshi took all this information in and thought about it, after a few minutes of contemplation he offered his proposal.
"Mila I'll help with your growth and evolution how I can. In return I just want to be able make it back home even if it takes a few years to reach that point. Also I want to find Grand Fisher and kill him myself for what he did. Those are my terms aside from you watching my back and I'll watch yours." He offered.
Mila contemplated his offer and quickly came to her decision. "you got yourself a deal Takeshi." Then she lifted up a paw as means of shaking on it. Takeshi walked up and took the paw in hand and shook it.
"so do you have a decent place to hide out at? As much I would like to get started, I honestly just want to rest first after all that has happened today."
"no problem." Said Mila "I'd figured you'd want to do that. I know just the place but first you may want to deactivate your powers, so we don't draw any unwanted attention as we travel."
Takeshi nodded his head in approval and went to turn off his power. Problem was he wasn't sure quite how to do it. he thought about for a moment and decided to focus on his energy and mentally focused on turning it off. Suddenly his weapon and body were covered in a silver glow and then it quickly disappeared. Revealing his pendent back to its normal state around his neck.
Mila tilted her head in confusion at this. "hold on, so your necklace was all of that?" she questioned.
"apparently so, in all honesty I don't really understand it all myself. though I have a hunch this voice in my head has the answers to that. I never had some voice in my head until I awoke these powers of mine." He replied
"Make sense to me. Anyways let's get going I know where to go." Mila spoke as she lowered herself. "climb on top of me, will move faster that way."
"sounds good." With that said, Takeshi carefully hoisted himself on Mila's back. adjusting himself so he was properly secure and gave the signal to go.
Mila then stood up and took off in a leisurely jog of sorts. Takeshi took in the environment as they traveled. He quickly came to a conclusion.
"everything looks almost exactly the damn same in this place." He proclaimed.
"yeah, not a whole lot of originality in hueco mundo. It annoys me at times too." Mila replied.
"can I ask something?" questioned Takeshi
"shoot" she replied
"how do hollows come into existence?"
"well, there are a couple ways for it to happen. Firstly, when the soul of a dead person lingers to long in the living world it will eventually become a hollow. How much time it actually takes, varies from person to person. This process can also happen when a normal soul is attacked by a hollow."
"I see, what this evolution you talk about?"
"hollows have essentially four stages. The first being a base hollow like me, next you have the gillian. There giant and lumbering, and honestly not that smart, comes with the price of the evolution at that stage. Needless to say I'm not really looking forward to that. not to mention the danger that comes with evolving into a gillian."
"what do you mean?"
"you see, when a base hollow transform into a gillian, all the different beings said hollow consumed fight for dominance in a sense. So, I could lose my body by chance to someone I previously devoured or no one succeeds in gaining dominance. Then at that point, said hollow just becomes a truly mindless gillian."
"that…. I don't really know what to say Mila. that honestly sounds pretty scary."
"I won't lie, while I am very confident that I will be just fine. I will admit I am a little nervous none the less. Can't be really helped I suppose all things considered."
"so what comes after gillian?" asked Takeshi.
"after gillian you have the adjucah's stage. When a hollow becomes an adjucah they will take an appearance that a bit different but still very similar to their base hollow form. Adjucah's are fewer in number compared to gillians and base hollows. Adjucah's also have to keep eating otherwise they risk reverting back to a gillian. If that happens' they become just another mindless gillian forever."
"so what's the final stage?"
"the final stage of hollow evolution is vasto lorde. They are so few in number at most times, that you could count their total number on a single hand. They are also the most powerful hollows around. No one except another vasto lorde dares to fight one. Vasto lorde's are also human in size and look but will still carry traits of their adjucah state. Also once a hollow makes it to that level, they no longer have to feed."
"I suppose becoming a vasto lorde is the main goal for all hollows?" he asked.
"pretty much" she replied.
"That is all pretty interesting. Though I have to say being a human in this place, it does make me a little worried outside the obvious." Chimed Takeshi
"what do you mean?" Mila wondered.
"it's just if ever die at some point in this place. I'll be pretty much guaranteed to become a hollow myself is all." He said with concern.
"don't worry too much about that. you have me to help watch your back after all. Besides, even that does by chance happen, I'll still be around help you out." She retorted.
"really?"
"sure, I mean if you became a hollow, it doesn't really change our deal to much. Just some of the variables will be different is all. Anyways we've arrived." Mila announced
Takeshi looked at his new home to be for the time being. It was a cave of sorts built into the side of large hill that was very uneven and covered completely in very jagged and sharp looking rocks. He followed Mila inside; the cave was actually quite spacious. There were multiple small holes in the roof of the cave allowing enough light in to clearly see inside.
"wow, this actually pretty nice all thing considered." Said Takeshi
"thanks" replied Mila "there's lots of room in here and the outside of the place forms a nice natural defense. Plus this place is tucked away in one most secluded spot's in the forest, so it's highly unlikely anyone will be able find us."
Takeshi wondered around the cave a bit taking in its lay out. In the very back he noticed something interesting. The entire back wall of the cave he noticed was covered in some sort of moss. He reached out and touched it and noticed it was surprisingly quite moist.
"hey Mila, what's with all this moss?" he wondered.
"oh that? the stuff is seemingly the only thing that actually grows here in hueco mundo. Not sure how though, I have no use for the stuff, but if you figure something to do with it. your free to have as much as you like." She replied.
"fair enough" he said as suddenly he gave out a huge yawn. His tiredness form all that has happened catching up with him.
Mila gave out a slight chuckle. "come on let's rest for now and will head out to hunt tomorrow." She spoke as she lied down on her side. "you can lay next to me if you want for the warmth, if you think you might get too chilly while sleeping in here."
Takeshi simply nodded his head in response and walked over to Mila and laid down next to her with his back against her belly. He laid his head on a leg with the back of it against her mane. The warmth instantly felt wonderful to him.
"Good night Mila"
"night, Takeshi"
With that, both drifted off to sleep for the time being.
*Takeshi's inner world*
Not long after Takeshi had fallen asleep, he suddenly found himself in all new place. He looked around taking in his surroundings.
It was sunny and in the middle of some desert. He was standing in the middle of some sort makeshift town. There were plenty of building's, but they looked as though they were made with all sorts of random bits various metals and woods. Everything had a look as though it had been out here for while if the dirty and somewhat rusty look of things was anything to go by. There were all sorts of scattered junk piles all around too.
"what the hell is all this? I feel like I'm in a mad max movie. How is that possible? I was just in hueco mundo with Mila." he muttered to himself.
"I can answer all that and more for you war pup!" exclaimed a voice.
Takeshi spun in the direction of the voice and gasped a bit. Standing some 15 feet away from him was a woman.
She was tall just over six feet in height. She had golden tan skin with silver hair that shaved down on both sides. With a wide patch in the middle spiked up in a mohawk. He also noted she had silver eyes and tattoos that resembled claw marks over her right eye.
Her outfit looked like she found an old beat up leather jacket and ripped of the sleeves to make it a vest of sorts. It adorned in various aged looking trinkets. Her pants looked like a pair of torn up and beaten jeans that hugged her shapely figure. she also wore a roughed up pair of combat boots, she had leather looking cutoff gloves on her hands. Underneath her vest was a grey colored tube top of sorts that left her toned belly exposed and hugged a sizeable pair of breasts.
Takeshi was had no idea what do at this point. Sensing his uncertainty the mysterious woman approached him until she only a few inches away.
"don't worry I'm not going to hurt you. As I said I'm here to help you war pup." She said
"just who are you?" asked Takeshi.
"I'm your fullbring of course."
"my what?"
"your fullbring war pup. You're a fullbringer. Which is a human that can manipulate the souls that exist in the objects and things of the world to their will. Granted if you have strong enough attachment to particular object you can form a direct bond or imprint of sorts you could say." She stated
Takeshi thought about what she was saying then it suddenly hit him. "my necklace! You're the soul of my necklace then!?" he exclaimed
"correct war pup!" she chimed "glad to see you catch on fast. You see when you were about to get killed earlier. You essentially awakened your dormant powers in the heat of the moment and formed a bond with me."
"so what's your name by chance?" he asked
The woman got a smirk on her face before responding. "you can call me 'Reaver'."
"so Reaver, where are we right now?"
"where in your inner mind scape war pup. It basically your subconscious world. normally I would wait for you to get here yourself but considering your situation I decided to pull in you in myself."
"for what purpose exactly?"
"we have a fair amount to go over and explain you see. Normally I'd wait and let you gradually figure this out but again. Due to the nature and danger of your situation, you need to learn as much as you can and fast."
"hmmm, that does make sense I suppose? So where do we start?" he questioned.
"first thing first war pup. Let me explain where your powers come from. You know these hollows you come to know about in a very short time?"
He nodded his head.
"you see your fullbringer powers originate from them."
"WHAT! HOW!" said a shocked Takeshi.
"well, when a human is attacked by a hollow and survives some of that hollows power is left on them. When they have a child that power is passed on to their child thus allowing the ability of fullbring. Granted the nature of a fullbring a fullbringer uses and when they awaken is different for everyone." Reaver explained.
"so that means it was a hollow that attacked my birth parents that day all those years ago?"
"that's correct, since your mother survived the attack atleast long enough for you to be born, that how you received your power for fullbring."
"so what's the nature of your powers?" wondered Takeshi.
"more like our powers war pup." She began. "anyways you'll have access to a few nifty tricks in time. One you already do have, is the ability to absorb dead hollows."
"yeah, I noticed that healed me restored some of my energy and I felt stronger than before from it."
"yep, I lean little harder on my hollow origins than other fullbrings, but you can also use that trick on other spirit beings and even the living if you really wanted too."
"that's a little disturbing in all honesty at that point." Deadpanned Takeshi.
"what can I say? I'm a thirsty girl." She retorted "anyways you have variant of this available to you as well to use in fights. You see if when you cut a target with me, it will create a connection that allows me to drain their power and empower you with it. the more hits you put into a target the more connections I have to better drain a target. Granted you can only use this on a single opponent at a time."
"What's next?"
"next thing to know is, you can use me to harness your energy and use me in all sorts of ways. Want to make shield with your energy? you can do that. want to launch a bad ass beam of power to nail your enemies with? You can do that. essentially what you can do with your power from an offensive and defensive standpoint. Is only limited by your power reserves and your imagination. Though seeing how you only just awoke everything it will be a little time before you can probably due any of that."
"ok now that is pretty awesome." Replied Takeshi.
Reaver simply chuckled a bit at that. "I figured you would like that war pup, now the last ability I have to go over with you at the moment. This is more of a general fullbringer move, it's called 'Bringer light'. It's a trick that allows for high speed movement on the ground, it can even allow you similar high speed movement in the air and on water. I want you to focus on learning this one first and foremost, it will drastically increase your fighting and survival potential."
"how do I do that?"
"all you need to do is focus your energy around your feet and try manipulate the ground, air and water around your feet. It will usually be accompanied by a burst of green light when you first activate it." Reaver explained.
"this is a ton to take in at once."
"I know war pup." She said as she placed a hand on his head. "I wouldn't dump so much at once usually but as I said before. Due to your unique situation, you need to learn this all as soon as possible. Your survival, my survival and I dare say your new friend's survival all depend on it. speaking of which you need to find some actual food too."
"I thought absorbing the hollows took care of that?" Takeshi asked.
"only partially, since you're still a living being you still need some sort of physical sustenance. Absorbing hollows can stave it off but for only so long since hollows are technically spirit beings."
"well, there's that moss in the cave I suppose that should do? not much else in hueco mundo from what I'm led to believe." Explained Takeshi.
"that might actually do just fine. See, everything is coming together just fine. Between me and your lioness friend, you'll grow into a proper warlord in no time!" Reaver said with excitement.
"Uhhhhh….sure." Takeshi spoke and sweat dropped.
"well, I'll be letting you go for now war pup, you have big day tomorrow. Remember if you need to talk to me, just speak to me mentally and if want to come back to your inner world just focus in on it like your meditating."
"I see, thanks for the help Reaver. I'm sure I'll be coming back to you at some point."
"I'm sure you will, till next time." Reaver replied, and with that everything began to fade away into darkness.