Chapter 30: Serpent on the Dunes
2 Months Ago, The Menos Forest
One may now find significantly less hollows in the depths of the Menos Forest compared to months prior, something a particular serpent Adjucha has taken notice of by now.
Sora huffs, "It seems like my attempts to keep hollows out of the living world are working… either that or I've killed just about everyone here…"
Sora begins to conclude the latter, as her looks around to find a barren landscape which is nearly completely silent, "Even Gillians are a rare sight now-a-days… I think it might be time to leave this place behind—"
Just then Sora's senses make him aware of powerful presences nearby. He slithers in the direction his senses are telling him to go, halting before the entrance of a cave. Odd noises can be heard echoing off the walls of the cave. The serpent slithers into the depths, finding that it leads into a massive cavern. The serpent nearly lets out a gasp as he sees something that is far more massive than any Gillian he's ever seen, with a bulging body that nearly fills out the entire cavern. Sora notices the creature is staring down at him with a large eye.
Sora slithers cautiously towards the creature but is impeded by the sudden appearance of a small, humanoid hollow with a white body. The smaller hollow shouts something incomprehensible, causing the serpent to flinch.
The small hollow shouts once more, this time Sora is able to make out "Away!" among the noise.
Sora throws up his hands, "Hey! I don't mean you two any harm! That is, unless you were planning on needlessly preying on humans—I can sense you two are quite formidable."
This causes the small hollow to cease their shouting before looking up at the massive creature behind them.
After a moment, the hollow turns its attention back on Sora, shaking his head, "We no go to world of living… we stay here, where it safe."
Sora nods his head, "So do you two have names? I don't mean what they all call you down here, by the way, but true names?"
The white hollow tilts his head before stating, "Wonderweiss… Wonderweiss Maglerna… he my friend Hooler."
The young sounding hollow points back at his companion, who evidently is named Hooler.
"And you can call me Sora—Sora Inoue. It's good to meet you and your friend, Wonderweiss!" Sora states in a friendly tone, outstretching his hand, which the younger hollow silently shakes quite awkwardly.
After a few moments of silence, Sora decides to break the ice, "So Wonderweiss, how come you and your friend are cooped up down here? As I said earlier, you two are quite formidable from what I can tell, so I don't really see what you'd have to be scared of up there…"
Wonderweiss elaborates, "Serpent kill all. He not discriminate… we all food for him…"
Hooler screeches at the mention of the apparent serpent, flailing about, which is only mitigated by Wonderweiss placing his hands on the creature, comforting it.
In spite of Wonderweiss' solemn tone and Hooler's reaction, Sora cannot help but let out a chuckle, "Oh, is that all? In that case you two have nothing to worry about—I won't hurt you two…"
Wonderweiss widens his eyes, slowly turning around to regard Sora, "Y-you… SERPENT OF DEATH?!"
Sora chuckles further, "Is that what they call me? Well, I guess it's only fair… but to be fair, there aren't exactly that many serpents left down here besides me… if any. You two should've thought it was me."
Hooler shudders despite Sora's jovial tone, however, Wonderweiss seems to calm down slightly, "I no think serpent friendly… you weird…"
The serpent rubs the back of his head, a bit sheepishly, "Well, I can't say that you don't have a point… it is quite odd to be both friendly and a ruthless killer… but trust me when I say I only target those who have it coming—bad hollows. You two seem like decent people, so I've no issue sparing you. In fact, it'd feel wrong to kill you two…"
Sora looks into the air, seeming to have become lost in his thoughts. Hooler calms down, as if understanding Sora's explanation.
Wonderweiss ponders the serpent's words for a moment, before looking back up at Hooler, which grabs Sora's attention, "Hooler… we leave."
Just then, a bright light captures all three hollows and before Sora can even process what happened, the trio find themselves back outside the cave.
"What was that?" Sora asks, genuinely confused about what just happened.
Wonderweiss brokenly tries to explain Hooler's ability, "Hooler have ability called Negacion… we can move fast that way."
Sora remains skeptical and slightly confused, but shrugs, "Well I might not get how that works, but I can definitely see you were telling the truth about that being a good way to get around!"
Wonderweiss and Hooler remain silent at this, continuing to observe Sora who seems to be thinking about something.
Sora suddenly asks, "Hey, could you two watch over the Menos Forest for me?"
Wonderweiss tilts his head, seeming to not understand what the serpent means.
Sora then declares, "I want to leave Menos Forest to go and find my ally, White. I still have a debt to repay him, and it will take much more than simply existing down here. If he's in trouble up there, I must help him!"
Wonderweiss seems to think about this for a moment, "You want Wonderweiss to stop bad hollows and you help White?"
"Yes, I'd appreciate that a lot." Sora states with a nod, glad that his intentions are clear to the white hollow.
Wonderweiss looks back at Hooler, the two sharing a gaze, before Wonderweiss makes a declaration of his own, "We stay here… but you come back."
Sora chuckles, "Thank you, I appreciate it. Also, of course I'll come back! And when I do, I'll make sure to bring White with me!"
Wonderweiss nods at this as Sora turns and leaves, beginning to make his ascent out of the depths.
As Sora leaves, a masked figure in black robes observes the Adjucha, and begins to ponder to themself, "Hollows acting so civilized around each other… how odd."
The figure looks at the disappearing figure of the serpent, "I'd better observe that one more closely… maybe then I'll finally understand exactly what all is happening on the surface."
The figure jumps towards the direction Sora was heading, following him out of the Menos Forest.
Some Time Later, Hueco Mundo
Sora emerges from the Menos Forest, finding nothing but endless dunes in every direction as far as the eye can see. Even the sky is pitch black, save for the oddly comforting light coming from the moon.
Sora remarks to himself, "So this is what the surface looks like…"
The Adjucha stares on for another moment before his thoughts are interrupted by the sounds of shouting and running—galloping to be specific.
Sora looks in the direction of the noise to see a group of Adjuchas pursuing a deer Adjucha not too far away from where he is.
"Looks like they could use my help!" the serpent declares before rushing off towards the group of Adjuchas.
The deer Adjucha gasps as their pursuers are cut off by a red and grey colored serpent Adjucha, with long black hair.
"It's not fair to gang up on someone weaker than you like this… and here I thought hollows up here had more class." Sora declares.
This prompts one of the Adjuchas to step forward, "You foolish serpent! I shall devour you in the name of Lord Barragan!"
The Adjucha charges at Sora, who takes the attack head on.
"No way—" the Adjucha cries as it realizes it is out of its depth.
Sora laments the fact that the surface of Hueco Mundo is no different than the Forest, before spitting acid at the hollow before him. Sora grabs the melting mass of flesh and eats from it, absorbing the Adjucha's power into himself.
The other Adjuchas step back, "Who is this guy?! He took that attack like it was nothing!"
Sora glares at the group while offering them advice in a friendly tone, "I'd retreat if I were you… it'd be a shame if you all ended up like your friend."
The group of Adjuchas begrudgingly do just that, believing that fighting such an evidently powerful Adjucha isn't worth it.
As the group of Adjuchas leave, Sora looks behind him to find nothing.
"Hey! Where'd you go?", the serpent calls out, but there is no answer.
Sora sighs, trying a different approach, "I'm not going to hurt you, I just want to talk, alright. I can sense you're still out there."
A rough, yet feminine voice calls back to the serpent, "How can I be so sure you aren't just gonna eat me?!"
Sora calls back to the voice, "You can't. I very well could… but I have no reason to. If I wanted a meal, I would've slain that entire party chasing you. You're just going to have to trust me."
After a few moments, Sora is about to give up, turning to leave.
Just then, the deer Adjucha hesitantly walks out from behind a large sand dune, "Why did you save me?"
Sora's eyes relay a friendly expression, "Because I can't stand seeing others abuse their powers. I know all too well that these holes we have will never be sated by senseless violence…"
The deer Adjucha's eyes widen at this, genuinely shocked to find such a powerful hollow with a mentality like this.
Their surprise is short-lived, however, as they voice their own thoughts on the matter, "That is the way things are in Hueco Mundo, though… the strong prey on the weak. It's been that way for over 1,000 years."
Sora shrugs at this, "In that case, you should stay away from me. I hate that mentality… too close minded!"
This causes the deer Adjucha to gasp, before growling at the serpent, "Oi, I didn't say I agreed with it! It's just how things are around here!"
The serpent looks at the deer in silence as the deer catches themselves, fear setting in as they believe they may have crossed a line by yelling.
Sora, however, merely shrugs, "Whatever you say…"
The serpent turns to leave, an action the deer matches, before Sora turns back around and calls out to the other Adjucha, "What's your name by the way, Adjucha?"
The deer glances back at the serpent, "Emilou Apacci…"
Sora nods, maintaining an oddly jovial tone, "I see… it is nice to meet you, Apacci! My name is Sora Inoue—I hope when we meet next, you'll have tried to adopt a more open-minded outlook!"
Apacci looks on in silence as the serpent leaves, before turning and leaving herself.
On a nearby Dune
A masked figure in black robes and a large fur cape with various masks adorned on it observes Sora's altercation with the Adjuchas, greatly confused as to why he spared most of them.
A masculine voice comes out from behind the mask, "He could've become a lot stronger by consuming those hollows… what is wrong with that Adjucha?"
The man ponders this a moment longer before following Sora's trial.
After about 30 minutes of trying to follow Sora around undetected, the man loses track of the Adjucha.
The man groans, "Damn, the sands up here shift so frequently… and dodging the various Adjucha parties is such a pain... but that's not even the biggest issue here…"
The man looks around his surroundings, which look no different than where he first emerged from the Menos Forest, "I don't even know how to get back—!"
After about ten more minutes of wondering around aimlessly, the man comes across a field of corpses of various hollows.
He lets out a gasp, "What is this-? Why would any hollow leave their felled prey lying out for others to-!"
Just then, the man feels a pressure, as if his steps have gotten significantly heavier, but not enough to force him to his knees.
"This reiatsu… it's unlike anything I've ever felt. It's not predatory, nor malicious in any way… it just feels… lonely…", the man looks in various directions, completely put off by the sudden sensation of reiatsu.
The reiatsu leaves as soon as it came, alarming the wanderer, "Ok, this really isn't making any sense! Reiatsu like that doesn't just pop up and disappear—does it?"
The man looks around some more, finding that the field of corpses end suddenly, but can tell that they make somewhat of a curved wall, as if suggesting they mark a round danger zone of some kind.
Before the man can make any further observations, a young feminine voice calls out from nearby, "Hey Stark! It looks like that guy over there is actually alive!"
The man looks in the direction the voice came from to find a young-looking blonde girl wearing a helmet and cape.
The girl's eyes widen in shock, "Woah! They are alive! Stark—get your ass up! I'm gonna go talk to him!"
The man assumes a defensive stance, as if preparing to draw his sword, "You sound surprised to see me alive. Who are you?"
The girl looks confused at the man's sudden apprehension, "Me? Well, I'm Lilynette. Lilynette Gingerbuck. And yeah, of course I'm surprised! Anyone who gets near us dies…"
The girl, called Lilynette, looks down in evident disappointment at this.
The man eases his stance a bit, before asking, "'Us'? What do you—"
The man then notices another man with long brown hair and a cloak, similar to Lilynette's. The man's eyes widen for a moment as he locks gazes with the wanderer, before returning back to a neutral look.
Lilynette shouts back at the man once more, "See?! I told you, Stark! I told you he was alive!"
The man, called Stark, shrugs before laying down against a nearby rock, wearing a bored expression, "I can see that."
Lilynette growls at him, "You should be more excited about this, dummy!"
Lilynette turns back to face the unnamed man, "Oh yeah, that killjoy over there is Coyote Stark—but you can call him Stark for short!"
At this, Stark merely waves before assuming a comfortable position against the rock.
The wanderer stare dubiously at Stark before turning his attention back on Lilynette, who asks him another question, "So you know our names, it's only fair if you tell us yours!"
The man seems to contemplate something for a moment, before removing the mask from his face to reveal a masculine face with brown hair, "My name is Ashido Kano."
Lilynette's eyes seem to light up from the man's actions, before offering the man a mischievous smile, "Hey, so Ashido you'll be our friend, right?"
Ashido sweat drops at this, giving the girl a surprised look, "Uh… sure…"
"Yes! Hear that, Stark? Our first friend!" the girl calls back to Stark, who simply nods in reaction, looking at the wanderer dubiously.
Ashido flinches in reaction to Lilynette suddenly running up to him, too close for his comfort, looking up at him with an enthusiastic smile, "So, Ashido, what is it that friends do? We're new to this!"
Ashido sweat drops again, "Well, uh… they play games, I guess…"
Lilynette's eyes light up, "You mean like tag?"
Ashido nods hesitantly.
Following this, Lilynette slaps Ashido's arm, "You're 'it' then, Ashido!"
The girl rushes off in a direction, Ashido's gaze following her.
Ashido then looks over to Stark, who simply shrugs, "Just play along with her. She'll get bored after a while."
A Few Hours Later
Ashido did not plan on playing tag with strangers he found in the middle of Hueco Mundo for multiple hours, but here he is.
Lilynette looks up at Ashido with a bored expression, "Well that was fun, but I'm really sick of tag now… are there any other games?"
Ashido deadpans at this, "I, um…"
Stark comes in with a save however, "I think he's had enough games for now Lilynette… besides, you've been meaning to ask us more questions yourself, haven't you?"
Ashido's eyes widen at this, realizing that Stark is more observant than his lazy persona lets on.
Ashido nods, before voicing his thoughts, "You two look like normal humans, but clearly you are not… and you can't be Shinigami either because I'd have felt Shinigami reiatsu from you… so I have to ask—"
Ashido's gaze matches Stark's as he phrases his question, "—what are you?"
Stark sighs, rubbing the back of his neck, "To tell you the truth—we don't know. One day the two of us just woke up here… but I do believe we were once the same being, a hollow, probably."
Ashido's eyes widen at this, "Hollow?!"
Lilynette looks concerned at this, "What should it matter what we are—"
"IT ALWAYS MATTERS!" Ashido declares, causing Lilynette to flinch.
Ashido continues, "Hollows are self-centered, vile creatures that will do whatever it is that gives them fulfillment—which just so happens to involve murdering humans and Shinigami… my brothers in arms!"
Lilynette gives Ashido a sad look, "But not me and Stark… we don't want to hurt anyone…"
Ashido's gaze softens at this, as he apologizes, "You're right… I can see that. I apologize for lashing out, it's just… I have a hard time tolerating hollows after what they did to my friends…"
Both Stark and Lilynette wear looks of sympathy at this, the latter phrasing a question, "Can we still be friends, though?"
Ashido shrugs, "I'm not sure I could allow that—a Shinigami and a Hollow can't be friends."
Lilynette looks down, seemingly willing to give up, when Stark voices his disapproval, "I'm not so sure that's the case. I'm not sure what the history is between Shinigami and Hollows—but I don't see why we should continue that history, especially when we get along. I mean, if you really did feel we couldn't be friends, then why did you indulge Lilynette like that?"
Ashido's eyes widen as he considers Stark's words, before looking back at him, "But I've killed countless hollows while I've been here in Hueco Mundo…"
Stark wears an irritated expression at this, as Lilynette asks a question, "Did you kill them because you were a Shinigami?"
Ashido looks at the girl, "While I will always consider myself more aligned with the Shinigami than any other faction, I have no idea of the happenings of the Soul Society… I killed those hollows in order to help protect the humans in the living world."
Stark sits down, having lost interest at that point while Lilynette shouts excitedly, "That means we can still be friends!"
Ashido snaps, "How can you just ignore this?! I've slain your kind!"
Stark sighs, "Just go with it."
Ashido gawks, before murmuring to himself, "What is wrong with all these hollows lately… or maybe… maybe some hollows can really be better…"
Just then, Lilynette tugs on his sleeve, "Hey, can we play another game?"
Elsewhere in Hueco Mundo
Sora notices a castle in the distance, unable to prevent himself from voicing his thoughts, "Woah! Now THAT'S a castle if I've ever seen one. And the hollows there are powerful, too!"
Sora is about to turn around to avoid the castle when something occurs to him, "Wait… White could be there!"
Sora slithers as fast as his body will take him towards the castle, barreling through any of the Adjucha parties in his way the closer he gets to the castle. After a few minutes of this, the sand around him starts to shift violently, prompting him to draw to a halt.
A booming voice calls out from the sands, "Who dares think they can trespass on Las Noches?!"
Sora's eyes widen as the form of a giant hollow with an obscure mask is formed out of the sand.
Sora doesn't back down, however, "I, Sora—steadfast ally of the dragon White, do!"
The massive hollow seems to flinch at this, "W-white?! You lie! White has no allies!"
The serpent is confused at this, "No allies? That can't be right…"
As Sora ponders this, the massive hollow seems to have realized something about his opponent, "Wait, I've heard of you, serpent! You are the hollow who reigned death upon the Menos Forest! Those who escaped spoke of a vastly powerful serpent…"
Sora's eyes widen at this, unsure of what to make of it.
The sand hollow continues speaking, "Of course, those who did escape were killed quite easily, most of which seeming to think approaching Las Noches was a good idea—the fools! Nothing gets past Runuganga!"
The serpent speaks in a serious tone, "Do you know where White is now, then?"
Runuganga laughs, "Probably in some sorry corner of Hueco Mundo dying like the fool he is! No one survives fighting Lord Barragan!"
Sora's gaze becomes intense, realizing where this hollow's allegiances lie, "So you're White's enemy then…"
The sand hollow's laughing pauses as he looks down to meet the serpent's intense glare, "And what of it?"
The serpent hollow begins to ooze acid from its hands, "That will make killing you easy for me."
Before Runuganaga can react, acid has been thrown all over his body, causing him to scream in pain. Sora isn't done yet, spitting acid at the hollow's mask, causing it to melt down. Sora finishes by launching a red cero from his mouth, causing a small crater to form in its wake.
Sora looks around to check for any movement before starting to slither away but is impeded when a giant hand comes out of the sand, grabbing his tail. Sora can hear the booming laughter of the hollow he thought he just killed.
The face of the sand hollow starts to reform in the sand, "Foolish serpent! I am the desert! I am Runu—"
The hollow is cut off as Sora spits acid in his face once more, prompting him to scream. Sora struggles to release himself from the hollow's grasp and is too late from preventing himself from being flung against a nearby rock formation, wincing from the impact.
Runuganga finishes reforming his body, "It is futile! The desert is boundless, and I am directly connected to it! You have no chance of winning!"
The sand hollow begins to whip up tornados that draw Sora in. Sora attempts to regain his bearings, but is unable to as the sandstorm catches him, flinging him in the air and lacerating his body as it does so.
Once Sora reaches the top of the sand tornado, Runuganga brings his giant fist down on the serpent, slamming him into the sand below. The sand hollow charges a cero to finish the serpent off, but notices that the hand he used to punch Sora is melting down from acid. Sora lauches a cero of his own to counter the massive sand hollow, the impact causing a small shockwave, forcing Runuganga to rematerialize a distance back.
Runuganga looks at the debris to find Sora isn't there. The sand hollow feels a sharp pain on his back prompting him to swing his large arm around, catching Sora in its wake. The serpent takes this as an opportunity to wrap his body around the arm of the sand hollow, secreting poison from his pores as he does so. Runuganga screams in pain as his entire arm melts off.
Sora uses Sonido to appear in front of Runuganga's face, spewing acid from his mouth followed immediately by a cero. As Runuganga's face and torso crumble, the sand hollow uses his other hand to brew up a sand tornado that is twice as fierce as the previous one. Sora, realizing this is a battle of attrition, refuses to get caught in this a second time, spewing acid from his body, which mixes in with the tornado, causing the acid to fling in every direction across the desert sand.
Runuganga finds himself unable to restore his body fully, "You—! Why can't I restore my body—?!"
Just then, the sand hollow lets out a gasp, just now seeing the sand around him coated in Sora's poison.
The serpent, wheezing from the strain of using so much of his poison, explains his plan, "You were a fool to use that attack on me a second time—especially after seeing my ability… ordinarily, I would have nowhere near enough reishi reserves to coat this amount of area in my poison… but thanks to your tornado… I was…"
The sand hollow assesses Sora, prompting him to scoff, "It matters not… you are on your last leg from the looks of it, and the next attack will decide the victor! And the victor shall be me!"
Runuganga rushes to slam his good arm down on the serpent, but right before the attack can connect, Sora disappears with a distorted noise.
Sora reappears before Runuganga, who gasps as the serpent pulls back his arm, balling his hand in a fist, "Looks like you also forgot… I can use Sonido!"
Sora's fist forms into a spike coated with poison, the last of his energy, as he rams the blade into Runuganga's mask. The sand hollow screams as his mask starts to crack into pieces, along with the rest of his body. Sora uses Sonido once more to retreat back a sufficient distance as Runuganga explodes into thousands of pieces, causing a shockwave that can be felt across the desert.
Sora lies on the ground, completely winded. The bits and pieces of Runuganga lie strewn across the ground, which Sora crawls to and devours one by one, gaining his strength back, until he is able to stand. After that, Sora devours the rest of Runuganga's corpse, marked out by his poison. The result is the serpent feeling a massive boost in his reiatsu.
Sora doesn't care about that, though, as he stares at the castle, "I'd better not go to this Las Noches yet… from the sound of it, the hollows there are on another level than this guy was… I need to find White before anything else."
The serpent slithers aways from the battlefield in search of his comrade.
On a nearby Dune
A distance away from the battlefield stands Apacci, who is with three other hollows which include a lion Adjucha, a snake Adjucha, and a small blonde humanoid hollow with appendages reminiscent of a shark—a Vasto Lorde.
Apacci steps forward, "That was the serpent hollow I told you about, Lady Halibel! The one who seemed to have a mindset like yours…"
The female Vasto Lorde, called Halibel, remarks, "If that were the case, then he would not have so needlessly provoked—and killed—Runuganga in the manner that he did."
Apacci and the other two Adjuchas are silent as their leader seems to be considering something.
Halibel continues, "Although, this helps us. One less of Barragan's henchmen on these sands is only ever a good thing."
This causes the snake Adjucha to agree in a feminine voice, "I could not have said it better myself, Lady Halibel. I do find Barragan and his group utterly revolting!"
Halibel closes her eyes, before voicing with a hint of disgust, "I hear that this serpent cleared out the Menos Forest. If this is true, then based on what you told me, Apacci, that makes him nothing but a foolish hypocrite! In this world, sacrifice is always required…"
Apacci tilts her head in mild confusion, "If he were a bloodthirsty hollow like that, then why the hell wouldn't he kill me?"
The snake and lion Adjuchas also seem confused about this, the latter regarding Halibel with a question, "Should we follow this hollow to try and gauge his motives?"
Halibel opens her eyes, having finished playing around with her thoughts, "Yes. Once his true motives are made clearer to us, I shall approach him. Until then, we will keep our distance."
Present, Hueco Mundo
Sora finishes recalling the events that transpired over the last two months as he stares absentmindedly at the corpse he just devoured.
Apacci calls out to the serpent, "Oi, Sora! We're moving on! You comin'?"
The serpent nods, "Yeah, I'll be right there!"
Sora then briefly stares into the distance, before slithering away to rejoin his new pack, "I'm sure we'll meet again soon, White."
Author's Note:
In the original 'White' fanfiction, Ashido was killed off insanely quickly. He just had a throwaway line of dialogue before White one-shotted him… it was a little dumb, but understandable given how Ichigo was characterized. Still, it was such a waste of a character… he has so much potential to be good and cool in this scenario, which I plan to take full advantage of!
The next chapter will return to Ichigo's plotline.