Chapter 8: Bleed it out
I was in a field, but I wasn't alone. In front of me stood a dragon. It had scales that alternated between emerald green, gold and black. Its whiskers were black, with gold horns and green eyes. The dragon felt distinctly male. I looked around.
"Who are you?" I asked.
"Why, I'm your zanpakto spirit, of course!" he said.
"Oh, you mean my kitchen knife?" I said.
"Hey! Don't judge a book by its cover, if you keep it up, I might not tell you my name," he said.
"Then enjoy your short life with my inner hollow because once it takes over, my boyfriend's taking all of our asses out," I said.
"You don't need to get bitchy," he said.
"Apparently, I do," I said. Then he smirked.
"Boyfriend, huh?" I turned red.
"Shut up."
I heard growling behind me. Ah, there's my hollow! I hightailed it over to my spirit.
"What's your name?" I asked.
He whispered to low to hear. "I can't hear you," I said.
"I know. Your fear is making you deaf. Just chill out and take a good look at your hollo."
I turned around and got a good look. I would have laughed if I weren't so freaked. My hollow looked like the bastard child of the Cheshire cat and Disney's Hades. I mean it was one ugly skeleton cat. And as far as that smile stretched, Shinji would've been jealous. I started to calm down; this wouldn't be so bad. I hoped.
I walked closer. Hmmm… how to handle this? Then Cat Bastard decided for me and took a swipe. I dodged and hurled it into a tree. It, in turn, used the same trick on me. I looked at my spirit. He shrugged as much as a dragon can.
"Some big help you are!" I said.
"Hey, you want out, get yourself out," he said. Thanks a lot.
"Wow. That helps me not even remotely," I said.
"What? I'm just being honest," he said.
My hollow jumped me and slashed. I gave a girl shriek and ran into the surrounding forest.
"Hey! Come back! You're not supposed to runaway," my spirit yelled.
"Yeah, well, maybe if I knew your name I wouldn't have to," I said as hollow cat chased me.
"Fine! Since you're in there, look for a red box!" He said. I gave him a "WTF?" look.
"Just do it!" he said.
Whatever. I continued running and looked for the red box. I ran for what felt like forever. I couldn't find it.
"You better hurry up. Your time's almost up. Ten more minutes and your "boyfriend" kills you," he said.
"What do you mean 'time's almost up'?" I yelled.
"Oh, yeah. I forgot to tell you there's a time limit of about an hour. You've hollowfied on the outside. If you don't beat your hollow in here, your ass is grass!"
"I could've done with that information, oh, I don't know, fifty minutes ago!"
I looked around and still no box. Finally, I looked up and 'lo and behold, there was my box… on top of a boulder. I pulled it forward, right on top of my hollow's head. This stunned it for a moment and gave the time I needed to open the box and pull out the handle inside. My zanpaktou came out, only this time it was bigger. I turned toward my hollow. I felt my spirit behind me.
"Say my name," he said.
"Emerado Kasai!" I yelled. I stopped. "That's it?" I asked.
"Just shut up and fight," he said.
I turned and pinned my hollow to a tree. As I buried my sword in its chest, my sword glowed green and the hollow started to absorb itself into the sword.
"This isn't over, bitch," my hollow hissed.
"I'll be waiting," I said.
I looked at Emerado Kasai. "Now what?"
"Now you go back to the real world."
"Later."
"See ya."