The crawl to greatness (Part one)
A/N: The first two parts of this 'arc' will take place in the Forest Of Menos, which if you haven't watched, I'd recommend you do so if you want to understand what the hell I'm writing about.
-The Forest of Menos-
The Forest of Menos is a vast place under the deserts of Hueco Mundo, and the multiple small trees that pop up randomly in Hueco Mundo's desert are actually branches of the gigantic quartz trees that are everywhere in the Forest of Menos. Soul Reapers sometimes led excursions into the forest, which usually ended in disaster, due to the vast amount of powerful Hollows, and earned the name, The Forest of Menos, with even the Hollows above calling it the same. The entire forest is a huge hotspot for the lowest class of Menos Grande Hollows, the Gillian, which either wandered around aimlessly, eating each other and trying to get stronger, or were part of the various armies of Gillians which were led by Adjuchas, a race of Menos Grande Hollows above them. These Adjuchas would often clash, destroying and consuming each other in an endless cycle. The forest would usually echo of ceros and Gillians crying out, giving a haunted feel to the place.
When Baraggan came to, he was lying on the ground, looking up towards the sky, covered in the sprawling quartz branches of the trees. He stood up, using a nearby tree as support, and looked around the area, which was eeriely quiet and empty. Baraggan looked at his hands. They were large and white, with long sharp nails. He looked at his cloak, which was a dark purple, almost black, that covered his entire body from his head to his feet. Looking down, he saw small white spikes that went around his neck, and large, pointed feet which were covered in bandages. He looked around, and realized that he was enormous, around 8 stories tall.
"No... this can't be!" Baraggan thought, lumbering over to a piece of quartz in a tree, which reflected like a mirror. He looked deeply, hoping to not see what he thought he would. "Impossible! This can't be! How could this have happened!?"
Baraggans face was that of a Gillian, a white mask with an elongated nose and beady red eyes. He was now a mere Gillian, a foot soldier, his only defining feauture being his cloak which was a dark violet, compared to the black of normal Gillians. Baraggan cursed and yelled, but his words only sounded like the roars of a Gillian, not able to speak. The sound echoed throughout the forest, becoming quieter and quieter until it was silent again.
"Curse that wretch Arrogante! May his soul rot in the pits of hell!" Baraggan raged, as he swung his fists into the side of the tree, carving a large chunk of it with each strike. "I'll make that bastard pay! How dare he do this to me! The king of-"
Suddenly, the cries of Gillians started to echo throughout the forest, and Baraggan heard their giant footsteps nearing him. He tried to call them puny ants, but only the cry of a Gillian was heard. The Gillians appeared, only being around five. They roared and opened their mouths, charging up ceros. Baraggan started charging up his own, which was only slightly bigger than a normal Gillian. Realizing that he wasn't an Espada anymore, he tried to dodge the incoming ceros, but his lumbering body fell on its side while trying to run. The ceros missed, but one grazed his leg, crippling him. Baraggan charged up his cero again, while the Gillians were recharging in a tight group. He shot the cero, which luckily took them all out in one shot. Baraggan felt relieved, but louder cries reached his ears, reminding him of more Gillians.
Baraggan tried to get up and run away, but could only crawl pathetically away, looking for a place to hide from the incoming horde. He managed to find a hole in between some roots big enough to hide himself away from the mindless horde as they stampeded through, looking for him with an Adjucha leading the horde. Baraggan waited, and snatched a stray Gillian by its leg and pulled it in, and devouring the Gillian, its cries muffled by the horde. After Baraggan had devoured the Gillian, he felt his leg wound slowly start to heal, the pain still burning. "How pathetic," Baraggan thought shamefully. "The king of Hueco Mundo reduced to a Gillian hiding in a cave, like a scared insect. I guess that I really am no longer a god, or perhaps I never was." Baraggan looked around his hiding, spot, scouting it out for danger. "My arrogance almost killed me there, if I wasn't lucky enough to find a hiding spot, I would have been devoured." Baraggan's wound had now fully healed, and he now felt slightly stronger than before. "I feel slightly stronger now after eating that Gillian, which means that I should continue picking off and devouring Gillians until I can fight back." Baraggan was unfamiliar with the hunt, as compared to every other Hollow besides Arrancars, he had never needed to feed and devour Hollows, as he could absorb the Reishi of Hueco Mundo for nourishment. He didn't even need to consume other Hollows for power, as he was simply born a Vasto Lorde, seemingly at the will of Hueco Mundo itself.
Baraggan waited until the horde had passed, and then slowly got up and scouted out his hiding spot, which was dark and gloomy. He felt around the area as carefully as he could and found that it was big enough for him to walk in. He looked back at the entrance, which he could barely squeeze in and out of. Baraggan decided to rest in the cave, to build up his strength for the next hunt.
-Deserts of Hueco Mundo, 600 years ago-
Baraggan was having trouble keeping up with his master and king, Edvairn. Baraggan's Sonido had always been something that he was proud of, but it was nothing compared to the kings, his easily crossing hundreds of metres in the blink of an eye.
"Come on now Baraggan!" Edvairn shouted. "I'm going to leave you behind if you can't even keep up at this pace. The prize is going to die of age before we get there if this keeps up." Edvairn grumbled and stopped, Baraggan appearing a second later.
"Your majesty, your Sonido is on a different level than mine, how could I possibly keep up?" Baraggan asked, his legs shaking slightly from the strain of so many Sonido.
"That is no way for a king to behave Baraggan." Edvairn said sternly. "A king shouldn't put himself beneath another, their pride and arrogance must be unshakable, a pillar of their being. Your Sonido is not as refined and potent as mine, yes, but it is the potential of a person, not what they are now, that matters." Edvairn explained. "That is why I chose you as my heir, you have more potential than me, and that is how it has been for millennia. Now, let's get moving, your break is now over." Edvairn left a sonic boom after his Sonido.
"Yes your majesty." Baraggan bowed, following shortly thereafter.
When Baraggan had arrived at the place where Edvairn said the quarry was, he couldn't spot Edvairn anywhere, until a furry claw reached up and pulled Baraggan under the sand.
"You fool, Baraggan." Edvairn hissed. "The prey might have sensed you. You must mask your presence if you want to succeed during a hunt."
Edvairn slowly lifted his head, along with Baraggan, to scout out the quarry. It was a Hollow, an Adjucha on the verge of becoming a Vasto Lorde by the looks of it. It had the lower body of a horse, with the upper body being more humanoid in appearance. It had white armor covering most of its lower body and legs, with beige fur poking out in between. The more humanoid upper body also had armor covering it, with almost no gaps. Instead of normal arms, it instead had lance shaped weapons on the ends of its arms. The armor was rounded at the chest, showing that it was a female Hollow. Her mask resembled an ordinary skull, with two horns like a rams curling downwards on each side. Flowing, aqua green hair was visible coming out of the back side of her helmet, hanging all the way down to her lower body.
"That's the prey Baraggan, and it's a big one this time." Edvairn whispered excitedly to Baraggan. "It's on the brink of becoming a Vasto Lorde, which could be a waste but the crave for the hunt kept on calling to me. Edvairn turned to face Baraggan. "Listen, I'll distract the prey by using Sonido to catch it off guard, and then on my signal, use your Respira to surround it, ok?"
"But sir, my Respira isn't-"
"Can it Baraggan, you will do this. Understood?" Edvairn interrupted.
Baraggan sighed. "Yes your majesty."
Baraggan waited for Edvairn to Sonido away so Baraggan could get into position, and watched the prey closely. Baraggan then heard the sonic boom of Edvairns Sonido, and then used his own Sonido to position himself a short distance behind the prey. He saw the prey Hollow react in shock from the sonic boom and the towering Vasto Lorde in front of him. She brandished her lances and prepared herself for battle.
"My name is Nelliel Tu Odelschwanck." She declared. "state your name, foe!"
Edvairn roared with laughter. "State your name? Very well then. I am the 8th king of Hueco Mundo, Espada Cero, Edvairn Louisenbairn!"
Neliel backed down in fear, recognizing that name, and attempted to flee, but suddenly, a black and purple cloud appeared, trapping her in with Edvairn. Knowing that she had no other way out, she readied her lances, but suddenly, a hole appeared in the cloud, which she fled through as fast as she could before Edvairn could react. The cloud then disappeared entirely, revealing a heaving and exhausted Baraggan on his knees. Edvairn stormed over to the exhausted skeleton.
"I'm dissapointed in you Baraggan." Edvairn said, growling.
"I'm sorry your majesty, I haven't yet mastered my Respira and it still needs some-"
"This is the consequence of you slacking off during your practice and going to stare at the moon." Edvairn said coldly. "From now, until you fully master Respira, I will personally see to your training so that you don't slack off. Understood, my disciple?" Edvairn asked?"
Baraggan didn't answer, looking at the ground in shame and frustration.
"Answer me Baraggan, do you understand?" Edvairn asked again.
"Yes... Yes your majesty." Baraggan said quietly, as Baraggan made his way back to Las Noches behind Edvairn.
A/N: The flashback might have been a little too long compared to the rest of the chapter, but I wanted the start of Baraggans rise to be in the next chapter. You might be confused about seeing Nel 600 years ago but I feel like she's old enough so that it's possible. I kinda just guessed on Nel would have looked like as a full Hollow, so if you don't like it then blame me I guess.