His calling, her song pt.1 [Adventure/Sven]

[Redwinters]

“…The dead are all infected.”

Sven would find himself lying down in an open field, white space all around him besides the grass at his feet. Sound of a lone voice echoing through the void, talking to him…talking to anyone who would listen. Sven himself had no choice but to listen, all there was here was the sound of those far off…the unreachable; the untouchable.


“…A sickness that has placed you in a spiral of death and rebirth. A sickness that fuels those infinitely greater than you.”

The voice was calm, understanding…sympathetic. But deep within the echoes were the growls of anger.

“What good is your existence, with that hole on your hand, and that hole in your heart...?”

The world around Sven began to grow silent…darkness began to fill his vision as the place he was in seemed to collapse around him, leaving him blind and numb. All of his senses but his hearing was gone by then. His body had disappeared…he was merely a consciousness.

“You want answers but you only ever get questions. You drive forward with no purpose. You listen for the truth but everything you hear is hollow. Your answers aren’t in Los Noches…perhaps if you can find me; you can find at least one single answer…a purpose. Perhaps you will only end up as you are now…mute, dumb, weak…”

With a sudden flash of white light, Sven would “fall” upon the bed in his chamber. He was back in Los Noches, having been asleep. Though to call what he saw and heard a dream was absurd. Somebody or something had contacted him…taunted him, perhaps even threatened him. But there he remained on his bed, in a cold sweat, with only questions as to what that was.

[Sven Delacroix]

Sven's form bolted upwards as his eyelids sprung open, a frenzied look upon his face, his silver hair covering his gaze, clinging to his face from the perspiration which had lined his face, his chest heaving vigorously with each forced breath. His silver eyes darted across the quarters in which he, the Cuarta resided, from the corner sofa of a pure beige, to the silk sheets on the cold stone bed he was laying upon.

Silence permeated the room, broken only by the steady hum of a large metallic orb levitating in the center of the room. It served as Sven's only redemption to the rising influx of thoughts that plagued him. Sound had always been the only sanctity he possessed. No matter how hard he had tried to rid himself of the Hollow urges, they always found a way to manifest themselves in new ways, more recently in his nightmares. While his dreams were mainly that of men in black slaughtering those before him, this one was of a different source. While Sven grouped it with the others, it held a certain despair in the words, fully targeting the deepest confines of Sven's nonexistent heart.

Reaching upwards to caress his own face with his left hand, he began to run his fingers across the pale skin of his face. A trail of perspiration beginning to form as his brushed the silvery hair follicles from his view. Halting his hand in front of his face, his silver iris leered out through the hole in his hand, the chilling vocals of the girl echoing in his head.... What good is your existence, with that hole on your hand, and that hole in your heart...? The words gnawed at him, a haunting reminder of what he had failed to accomplish time and time again. In the end, Sven realized the truth, that he was nothing more than a mere Hollow, abandoned, lonely, and clinging to the only humanity he had left.

The last part of the chilling dream was still clearly imbedded in his maskless skull, his eyes staring contemplatively at the geometrical designs that lined the ceiling. To find an answer, a purpose... The voice seemed so familiar to Sven, yet he could not place it, possibly a remnant of his fragmented past life. It clearly stated that his answer laid not in Las Noches, but if that was not the location, then where.. Sven's mind would then drift towards that of the vast expanse of white sand under the spectral moon of Hueco Mundo. The dream itself was eerily real to be just a mere dream, that Sven was sure of. It must be a premonition, a beckoning to the source of Sven's person, where he would find the answer he was searching for.

His legs draped over the side of the bed, as Sven steadily pulled himself to his feet, the satin sheet dropping at his feet. A few short moments later, and Sven was adjusting the collar of his coat, the coat trailing behind him as he silently motioned through the halls of Las Noches. Sonido'ing past groups of Arrancar who remained oblivious to his presence, Sven soon exited Las Noches, his figure billowing amongst one of Las Noches' towers. His feet hung close to the edge as he gazed outwards over the Moonlit Desert for any indication that may point him in the proper path.

[Redwinters]

As Sven Sonido’d past his fellow arrancar he would overhear a few conversations from them. Most were uninteresting to the cuatro espada; the majority were commenting on the current situations with the espada…many wondering how fast Karzan would recover, or how fast he would lose his thrown now that they had lost. When he was close to reaching his destination he would pass by two arrancar who were conversing amongst themselves.

“Ever since Karzan’s battle with the human, the land outside of Los Noches just hasn’t felt the same…” One of them said as he bowed his head to their superior espada in respect while walking past him.

“I know what you mean. You hear what the others are calling the impact zone of their fight, the Fissure? It’s like a scar upon the land.” The other one brought up, taking the time to bow to Sven as well. “I’m staying away from there, I heard the place has some weird effect on hollow around it.”

“It would be a pain to check it out anyway,” the other admitted, “There’s a pack of hollow surrounding the area…turning it into some kind of feeding ground cause of all the weaker hollow that get drawn to it.” There voices began to drift off as they walked further and further into los noches, away from the espada. “Without a doubt they wouldn’t take kindly to arrancar encroaching on their territory…”

The last he would hear was the second arrancar, “I just hope this Fissure disappears. Just talking about it…unsettles me.” It certainly was an odd coincidence that they spoke of a destination when Sven was looking for one, but they were ordinary arrancar, no doubt about that; He recognized the whelps.

Sven would be alone again once he reached the tower; looking out from there he would see the vast desert around him. If curiosity got the better of him and he looked for this “impact zone,” he would find that it was too far away to see…but there was certainly a feeling in the air. Like something that didn’t belong, north of Los Noches.

[Sven Delacroix]

Sven's silhouette stood over the tower edge as his eyes scanned the white tundra of sands, few hollow here and there to speak of. The scar upon the land he had overheard the arrancar talking about was of interest of him, though try as he may, the vision his so-called 'Lord' created with help from the human boy was invisible to his eyes.

Yet he too felt a tug pressing on him, an urge coming from the north. It had been a while since he relied on gut feeling alone, but for his own discovery he would obey the urge this time. He knew not what the strange pull was, but it intrigued him. Perhaps this was the 'scar on the land' they spoke of. Well, Sven would find out soon.

"Le vent raconte une histoire...." would usher from Sven's lips, as his finger rose to check the direction of the wind that had been blowing his long silvery mane around. The wind felt as though it originated to the south, which served Sven well. "Parfait.."

His form would push himself off the tower edge, as the wind cause his robes to flutter violently at his sides as he descended. Kicking his foot into the marble structure of the Las Noches tower, Sven launched himself forwards, disappearing soon after with a burst of Sonido, as he headed northbound.

The Espada's feet landed in the rough sand as another burst of Sonido launched himself forward, followed by several more bursts, heightening his paces, while leaving behind not much more then a footstep every 20 feet, which soon was washed away by the tides of sand blown across. Sven rapidly approached the pull which drew him nigh....

[Redwinters]

Sven’s feet lightly touched the dead sand at his feet with each burst of speed and movement. Some arrancar around the border of Los Noches looked on with confusion as one of their strongest seemed to run off so randomly, but none dared to stop him. Each step forward Sven took only made that feeling that tugged at his insides stronger; it pulled him towards his destination as he believed it would. Whatever had happened at the end of their battle, the fissure’s effect on the realm would last for some time.

To his left and right, the roaming of some smaller packs of menos were seen. Some adjucha’s, some Gillian, but they moved across the sands, drawn in the same direction he seemed to be going. Many seemed to be trying to keep up with the esapda, who’s sonido’s would allow him to easily separate them from him if he wished it. Perhaps they were racing him to his destination, hoping to beat him there. Perhaps it was some form of entertainment to try and keep up with an espada, a test to see how strong they had become.

The cuatro espada would continue on his way from then, but his speed would need to slow down as he began reaching an “overgrowth;” an area thick with the quartz trees that grow below in the forest of the menos. Overgrowth's were areas with enough reiatsu to cause the trees in the forst of the menos to grow to enormous sizes, and jut out into the sands of the desert. The intertwining of trees and branches made some form of a cave path in shape. It was rare to see such a place so close to Los Noches, but after what the espada had heard about the fissure it might not be so surprising. "Infected..." That feeling was even stronger here, inviting him into the path ahead.

Should he choose to follow it, he would find himself going a downward path that the trees and quartz floor laid out for him, slowly descending him into the "ceiling" of the forest. "weak..." His attention would divert, however, as reiatsu seemed to gather up directly behind him. A cero would be fired at the arrancar, as he would soon see a group of five adjucha's; ones that were among the packs following him earlier. It seemed they didn't like where he was going, and aimed to stop him. After the first of the five "wolf-like" hollow fired a cero his way, the others leapt towards him with their claws outstretched to pounce on the arrancar.

[Sven Delacroix]

As Sven flew through the air with each step lightly touching the sand beneath his feet, his head would tilt slightly to the side, as he watched the Hollow gather, following him through the vast desert. The Adjucha's barely kept up with the steady pace he was running, the towering Gillians hovering behind them, as Sven merely smirked. It was a natural thing, to ascend to the top of the heap. Most of these hollow sought evolution into something greater than themselves, their efforts to keep up with Sven just another test to show they can keep up with the arrancar, who've surpassed them in nearly every way. Only the Vasto Lorde themselves could keep up with arrancar and potentially surpass them. To prove his point, another burst of Sonido sent Sven ahead of the pack, finding an odd sort of comfort in this game of chase that drove the Hollow, soon gaining distance on the primal creatures.

On the other hand, Sven knew that his own reiryoku drew them, a strong meal that could spell their evolution. Sven's feet would suddenly come to a halt as the looming crystalline growths loomed up overhead. It was rather odd for Sven to see such structures illuminating the empty desert without traveling too far into the vast tundra of sand. Yet, a lingering voice echoed in Sven's ears, urging him forward.…The dead are all infected. Infection.... The area had been under the influence of excessive reiatsu, the so called scar upon the land Sven had overheard the likeliest cause. While he didn't believe it was that plausible for such a concentration of excess reishi to exist, the trees of quartz seemed to contradict his logic.

Taking a step forward into the abundant forest, the air became think with a energy current as Sven took a few more steps into the oddly made cavern. Even despite the fluctuation of reishi in the area, a odd influx of the spiritually rich atmosphere seemed close by, as though something was steadily drawing in the spiritual essence. Sven would halt again as his face turned behind him, his silver eyes catching the unmistakable glow of the red Cero.

Apparently, five of the hollow who had been trying to keep up with him had caught up as Sven casually made his way into the quartz forest. Sven's grin grew as his right foot was brought around pointing towards the leader of the pack, his body soon following as he turned to face the group. Raising his left hand in front of his face, Sven lined up where his Hollow hole was under the glove with that of the oncoming Cero, muttering a single word."Cero...." The flash of white light seared through Sven's glove as the pieces of burnt fabric fell to the floor, his own Cero rocketing towards the group.

Sven's Cero itself would most likely overpower the Adjucha's and blast through the group with relative ease, even engulfing the ones who had begun to lunge at him. Of course, Sven wanted to use as little effort as possible should he need it later. Though he didn't care much for the eradication of his own lesser evolved brethren, survival of the fittest was the universal code for Hollow. The Adjucha's just had the misfortune of meeting someone stronger than themselves.

But just in case,the fingers on Sven's right hand would grip tightly around his zanpaktou just in case one survived. At the very least, Sven could give them the honor of dying as painlessly as possible. They hadn't done him any harm, they merely were following instinct.

[Redwinters]

Sven’s cero fired off, near instantly decimating the hollow who dared to attack him. The kick up of dust and the quartz material close to him would temporarily obscure his vision, though the reiatsu signatures of the adjucha’s would all have seemed to have vanished the instant his cero had passed through them. However, just as the cuatro espada would let his guard down, the smoke would be parted as one of the adjucha’s pounced out from the shadows and collided with the espada’s chest. The creature was severely burned and bleeding profusely, but it still desperately clawed at him as the two would stumble backwards, falling down the large sloped entrance to the cave.

Chaotically, the two rolled down grabbled together for quite some time. Almost instantly, they fell off the main “path” created by the quartz trees and landed further below in the thick forested area beyond. When they finally landed on the ground and their movements stopped, the adjucha had long since died; the constant ramming against the quartz tree and ground shattering it’s skull upon impact and leaving nothing but a limp body, lay atop the arrancar. Sven on the other hand, beyond a few scratches and minor bruises, was unharmed though most likely surprised by the last ditch attack.

Looking around him, he would see that he was somewhere deep within this overgrowth, possibly within the actual Menos Forest territory now as opposed to the sands above. There was no clearly defined path where he was, but a thin presence of reiatsu would be felt, giving him some general direction of where to walk. Moving forward would bring about a tense feeling, similar to his dream. It felt like he was being watched, followed, but the trees were motionless and the floor looked untouched from where he was.

He was alone…until he heard something. A lone cry of another adjucha, it was off away from the trail of reiatsu that he would be able to follow. Though not positive, the cry would remind Sven of cries for help…a desperate Adjucha that would most likely be devoured…or a clever Adjucha leading dumber ones into a trap or ambush. Beyond that, his path was clear to keep moving forward if he desired.

[Sven Delacroix]

The stirrup of dust caused from the backlash of Sven's Cero blew around him as the silver beam engulfed his adversaries. As the last bit of energy exuded from Sven's palm, the sudden emergence of one of the Adjuchas caught him off guard as the creature flew through the dustcloud, its claws rending into Sven's flesh as Sven bit his lip, his hands reaching around the Adjucha's throat in an effort to overpower the Hollow.

As Sven's pushed the Adjucha back, he could see the desperation in the Hollow's eyes, no longer any sense of being lurking in them, just pure raw survival instinct, as Sven pushed the violent snapping jaws of the hound away from him, holding the masked skull to his left to avoid any fatal damage, while his knee positioned itself upwards in an attempt to kick the creature off of him. As he did so, him and the hollow began to roll down the oncoming slope, Sven reacting with an impulsive chop to the adjucha's spinal cord as they tumbled. Yet even in spite of the strong chop, the Adjucha still squirmed under Sven as his head thrashed against the quartz of oncoming trees that lined their descent.

A thud and Sven's back hit the bottom of the path with a deep grunt emanating from his throat, the hound landing on top of his frame, stationary and most likely dead. Pushing the creature off of him, the Adjucha's body rolled off to the side as Sven pulled himself groggily to his feet. A bit disoriented from the ride, his silver irises turned to the Adjucha, who had been bruised, bloodied and overall beaten, fragments of the hollow's mask still clinging to its face. Running his fingers over his person, Sven quickly accessed the damage that had been done to him.

Aside from the claw marks bleeding across his chest, Sven seemed to be in overall good shape, suffering nothing more than scratches and several bruises across his body. Shaking off the dizzy spell, Sven's Pesquisa detected the faint lingering reiatsu deep into the forest he had fallen into, most likely the hunting grounds of the Gillian. As he moved steadily towards the direction, a familiar sensation came over him as the words in his dream still strove to inflict further damage upon his conscience. What good is your existence, with that hole on your hand, and that hole in your heart...? Yet, in light of the eerie words and the unknown feeling that gripped at him, Sven pushed himself forward.

More unusual than the odd reiatsu was that around him, the unwavering silence that engulfed everything around him. The trees remained still, not even wind changed their stationary nature. The dirt at his feet was still as well, any of the lesser hollows that made up the rich ecosystem nowhere to be seen, not even a lone insectoid hollow squirming underneath the rocks. It appeared that no one dared to tread this path and the silence was started to make Sven uneasy. Was he walking into a trap? With such deafening quiet, surely his mind was at wit's end, though he still moved forward.

His solitude was soon broken by the faint howl of another being, echoing faintly through the forest, as Sven's ears listened to the welcomed noise that broke the silence. Though not positive, Sven would assume it belonged to a Hollow, a smaller one perhaps from the way the sound resonated, thin and stretched as opposed to the booming of a larger hollow. It could quite possibly be another Adjucha.

Gripping the fresh wound on his chest, Sven wondered if it would really be wise to tread so carelessly into the abode of the creature. It could be a trap, a wounded hollow serving as bait for stronger Hollows. Or it could actually be a hollow in need, one that might be of some use to Sven. Even if it was a lure, Sven himself was an Espada, he couldn't back down from his title which proclaimed him as one of the strongest Arrancar in Hueco Mundo. His mind having been settled, Sven's pace redirected towards the noise, his eyes cautiously surveying the landscape and treeline for any indications that Hollows may be watching him......potentially scouting their next meal....

[Redwinters]

www.youtube.com/watch/?v=QzDx3PCbXig&feature=relmfu

The first thing Sven would notice, besides the cries of the hollow becoming clearer, was the thin trail of reiatsu rapidly disappearing from his senses. It was like…walking off the trail of a familiar path, into the unknown. It was not just him distancing himself from the reiatsu, it was like it was forcibly removing itself from his senses…like some sort of punishment. As he would move further and further away it was more unlikely that he would be able to regain his bearings; by leaving the only reiatsu he could sense he placed himself at the mercy of this unnatural forest. A strange substance began flowing from above, reminiscent of snow, it was some for of petals that fell from the quartz branches above. Falling in drove's, it painted peaceful imagery despite the area.

With only the crying hollow to guide him, Sven would have only one direction to press onward now. The oddities did not end though, as the hollows crying became clearer to the arrancar. There was something odd…wrong about the way it cried, it did not sound like the animalistic cry of the hollow…no, it sounded like a human tears. The crying was raspy now as the arrancar would be close enough to see a small figure behind the large quartz trees, masked by the heavy branches. Being this close the voice of the “child” sounded so familiar that it would unsettle the arrancar.

What would unsettle him more was what he would see once he finally pushed past those branches. A boy with small, tear filled, silver irises. He wept on the bloodied ground next to him, standing above the mutilated bodies of those with him. Deep down, Sven recognized those bodies, the screaming faces that had sent him down the path of the hollow long ago. They were here now, staring at him, judging him. The boy’s cries of sadness grew to anger as leapt upon those bodies and attacked them ripping pieces off of them and spreading the gore around the forest.

Just when the scene could not have become anymore macabre, it faded. The cuatro espada would awake from the daze he had just entered as the cries of the child returned to the “ordinary” sounds of the hollow’s cry. What he had seen was a dream, or some form of illusion.

What truly lay in front of him was one lone hollow, human in characteristics and only about the size of a small child. He lay sandwiched between the ground and large quarts trunk that had fallen. His body was covered in the bone-like material of a hollow, hidden underneath a brown tattered cloak; his mask was only 3/4ths there, revealing his left eye and tuft of teal hair. When the boy realized his crying had caught the attention of another…he held his mouth closed and went silent, holding his breath like a 6 year old child. Fearing for his safety, he would “regress” against the tree…hoping the individual would just go away.

[Sven Delacroix]

As Sven's form drifted steadily towards the trace of reiatsu, he suddenly found himself dislocated, the reiatsu vanishing without a trace, as even Sven's senses begun to dimmer. He no longer knew where he was, the lingering reiatsu being his only form of navigation, now long gone, as the Espada's head tilted upwards, his silver irises drifting over the treelines. His eyelids closed as Sven's ears twitched, the Arrancar attempting to pick up some form of sound that may indicate his position.

As the only sound was that of a chilling wind rustling through the leaves above, constantly changing, Sven's chin would remain pointed upwards, as something soft landed on his forehead gently, causing him to reopen his eyes as he gazed upwards to see the splendor of several flakes of white hovering gently down. Reaching out his hand, Sven allowed several of the flakes to pile in his open palm, as his head lowered to observe the odd phenomenon. Sven had not seen snow since he was human, brief images flashing through his mind of a time that had long since passed away, indiscernible faces lining his fragmented memories as Sven stared blankly towards the flakes in his hand. It was so familiar, yet it was altogether new to him... Running his thumb through the mess in his palm, Sven spread the flakes around as they glimmered in the unnatural light that shown through the area.

They appeared to be from the trees, as such a occurrence like snow was physically impossible in the land under the moonlight. Tilting his hand to the side, Sven let the flakes of quartz flutter from his hand, as his eyes rose to the scenery of the white flakes lining the floor. It really did look like snow, and it painted quite the serene image across Sven's eyes. As Sven gazed over the unnatural beauty of the place, a small whimpering broke him out of his trance. As Sven's head turned towards the source, the whimpering had seemed to break out into steady sobs, as Sven began to motion towards the noise.

A cry of an Hollow was to be expected, but the prolonged sobbing noise was closer to that of human. As Sven pushed through some underbrush, the motions of a creature caught his eye, struggling though the branches masked what the being was struggling from. As Sven's body squeezed through the branches, he was greeted by the grotesque image. Amidst the bodies, a boy sat there weeping. Sven dropped to one knee, immediately clutching his forehead, as a sharp pain shot through his mind, his eyes clenching shut as his teeth began to grind against each other. As one of Sven's eyes opened, he stared through his fingers at the macabre scene. Blood soaked the floor, handprints smeared across the tree trunks of the forest, each corpse seemingly returning his gaze, as their faces, contorted in sheer agony, pleaded out towards him.

Sven's opened eye widened as he gazed upon the boy, who watched him through his sulking, the tears trailing down the face of the solitary juvenile. Sven's eye would meet the boy's, silver irises looming into his own as though he knew the boy. "Are you... ....me?? " Sven's voice would call out weakly towards the boy.

As the boy seemingly reacted to Sven's voice, his sobbing ceased, his face breaking into a demonic grin. In a flash of anger, Sven watched the boy lunge on top of the nearest body, the boy's knees digging into the man's back as fingernails begun to reach into the man's eye sockets, pulling back on the man's skull as his frame gave way, a shrill scream ushering from the man's lips as a sickening cracking took way. As the blood splattered across the floor, the boy would continue to the next body, attacking the next more savagely then the one previous, the crimson ribbons splashing across the white flakes on the ground, a portion of the blood hitting Sven's face as he merely gazed at the horror speechless, as the man's head rolled at his feet, the bloodied, pupil less eyes staring at Sven. As he glanced up, the boy was drenched in the blood of his victims, smiling before Sven, as he held a human limb in his hands, clutching it closely with his right arm as his left reached out towards Sven.

Sven's eyelids would clench shut once again before the kid who he was sure he knew from somewhere. As Sven's eyes opened slowly, the boy was gone, not a trace of the gore to be found. Sven was losing it, that was certain. As the sound of the hollow's cry resonated, Sven pulled himself to his feet shakily, grabbing a nearby tree for support. Nearing the source of the original noise, Sven noticed the hollow trapped underneath the fallen tree. However, there was something very peculiar with the Hollow. While most of the Hollow seemed normal, the mask was broken, as Sven noticed the hair issuing from the broken portion of the mask, the human eye surveying Sven as the Hollow's crying stifled.

As Sven approached the Hollow which he assumed was a Pseudo Arrancar from the unmistakable human features under the mask, the child only seemed to recede out of fear. Brushing his hair out of his face, Sven kneeled down in front of the child, a warm grin crossing his face as he spoke gently to the Hollow. "Child, yuu muzt be lucky to have not been devoured by the others.. If you'd like, I can help yuu out of zhere."

[Redwinters]

The eyes of the child hollow clenched closed as the espada approached him, like a little boy trying the whole “If I can’t see it, it isn’t there,” trick on boogiemen. The eye remained fearfully closed and his body braced for something horrible when Sven knelt down before him. Surprisingly, nothing happened; instead Sven offered to help the boy in his accented voice. The yellow eye of his mask opened towards the arrancar with his warm words, followed by his more human cerulean left eye. “Y-you’re not with the others…?” The boy’s soft, quiet voice asked with curiosity of a normal boy his age…not like the curiosity of a hollow.

“The others forced Atrocidad to flee or be killed. Atrocidad didn’t understand where he was or what had happened, but they didn’t care!” He claimed tearfully, repeating seemingly what his name was. Sven would be reminded of a what the arrancar said before he had left, that there were a pack of hollow supposedly camping around The Fissure, praying on weak hollow. Was it possible that this Pseudo-Arrancar was talking about the same thing.

“Atrocidad just opened his eyes and saw an unfamiliar place; sand and trees and swirling light everywhere! Then the others started yelling, and threatening…Atrocidad didn’t understand. They forced him to run, Atrocidad never run before but he ran for a long time…then tree fell on him in the middle of all his running! Oooooh….!” He groaned out as his little hands pushed against the quartz that pinned him. Clearly he was too weak to move the thing on his own. “Atrocidad doesn’t want to die…but you wear white, like the man who brought Atrocidad here! You could just be trying to trick Atrocidad too…”

The boy’s worried voice seemed to talk on and on, mentioning things that would not make any clear sense to Sven most likely. However even the hollow realized he had no chance of escaping on his own and it was essentially Sven’s choice to decide his fate. “Why would you help Atrocidad? No one wants to help him…” He sobbed quietly again as he relaxed against his struggles against the trunk, planting his head comically into the dirt at his feet.

[Sven Delacroix]

Sven's grin remained across his face as he moved forward, placing his palm on the boy's head, ruffling the patch of teal hair on the boy's head. It had been a long time since Sven had interaction with a youngling such as the one before him, most of the innocence and purity of the psuedo arrancar Sven could clearly see in that cerulean eye of the psuedo arrancar. Strange it was that purity and innocence were among the first of the words that entered Sven's mind, as those words didn't often apply to Hollows, let alone when they had begun their transformation. Yet, when compared to the Espada Sven often associated with, this hollow child seemed rather harmless, though the frightened words of the child seemed to catch Sven's curiosity. "I know not of zhese otherz yuu speak of, mon petit, but I darezay I am not among them. "

As Sven's palm left the psuedo arrancar's skull, he rose steadily to his feet, avoiding any rapid movements that may further frighten the small hybrid. As Atrocidad's rambling continued, Sven would nod with the hollow, closing his eyes briefly as he would try to let the visual form in his head. The typical sight of a lone hollow, in this case, a hybrid, running frantically for his survival. Such things were commonplace in the Hollow world, but Sven couldn't help but feel sympathy for the little psuedo arrancar. As Sven's head tilted upwards, his eyes would slowly open, as his silver irises drifted towards Atrocidad, his lips moving slightly as they formed words. "Vhy vould I help yuu, yuu azk? Vell, it'z simple, ve are very zimilar, yuu and I. Iz zhat not a valid reazon to help a fellow Hollow?"

As Sven's voice subsided, he would raise his left hand in front of him to allow the boy to see the unmistakable Hollow hole. Originally, it had been covered up by a white glove, but the glove had all but been incinerated with the Cero directed at the Adjucha from earlier. Now just the pale fingers of Sven's hand stretched outward, as Sven's face retained a solemn expression. " At our root, ve arr ztill Hollow, ve devour thoze unfit to zurvive while keeping our enemiez cloze, hopefully to rize above zhem. But ztill, ve need to lend a hand to zhose who could pozzibly benefit uzz...." The last portion Sven said was a reference to the current Lord and the act of treason that had been planned against him, overthrowing the Arrancar only to renew the cycle of hatred. Such was the way of the Hollow. As Sven clearly understood the philosophy behind it, it still saddened him as his eyes remained on Atrocidad. "Zo, I guezz you'd like zhat tree trunk off of yuu now?"

Upon Sven's statement, Haciendose Viento was drawn, the blade itself lined up parallel to Sven's face, his eyes radiating with his silver reiastu, as his free hand ran across the rapier's edge, fingers trailing across the glinted silver as Sven muttered the words, "Destrozando la Tierra" Upon muttering the word, the blade seemed to glow with white light in Sven's hand, a steady buzz emanating from the surface, as Sven glanced towards the boy. "Child, I vill now remove zhat which ailz yuu." Rotating his wrist, to bring the blade around, Sven lunged towards the fallen quartz tree, the blade slicing through the tree with a heightened screech, as Sven brought the rapier upwards. As the blade reached skyward, Sven's wrist would turn the opposite way, sending the blade back down, missing Atrocidad's face by mere inches, as Sven resheathed the blade. The psuedo arrancar would now find himself no longer restricted by the quartz tree, as Sven had cut through the trunk, leaving several large shards of quartz next to Atrocidad. Sven now watched the boy curiously to gauge the reaction of the hybrid child.

[Redwinters]

The boy’s hands clasped the top of his head and he released a yelp from behind his mask as the power behind Sven’s sword strikes flew past him all over, causing the trunk to collapse into harmless pieces around the little boy. Even after he had been freed, the pseudo-arrancar remained with his body planted into the dirt, shaking slightly from fear and once again pretending like Sven couldn’t see him. Carefully, he lifted his right hand from his hollowfied eye and saw the pale arrancar standing before him with his zanpakuto sheathed.

When nothing else happened, the boy safely removed his other small hand and sat up onto his bottom. Looking around curiously, he saw the effortless damage the espada had done. “W-wow!” He exclaimed as he picked up on of the smaller shards in some form of excitement. “You’re so strong, mister! Strong like Atrocidad’s father. He’s much scarier looking though…” The boy mentioned casually a title that was seldom ever used in heuco mundo, father. It implied that this child was not a lost soul, but a naturally born hollow within the sands, something that was so incredibly rare that it could not possibly be true.

With small childish grunts the boy climbed up onto his stubby legs and waddled over to Sven, which really showcased their height difference. This boy was barely up to Sven’s knees, his mask was practically as big as his chest and head combined which hid most of his body, the rest of which was hidden under the cloak. “You helped Atrocidad…but Atrocidad isn’t sure how he can benefit someone so strong. Atrocidad has never fought anything, and doesn’t really know anything…’cept that the others don’t like him.” The little boy admitted, kicking the ground in a rather defeated motion. “Atrocidad just wants to go back to his father, but they won’t let him.”

Looking up at the man, his innocent eye scanned the arrancar and asked simply, "Why are you here mister, did you run from others too? Most people are so mean here."

[Sven Delacroix]

Father? The word would ring in Sven's ear as he looked curiously at Atrocidad who had shuffled towards him. That was an interesting word for being in Hueco Mundo, though Sven assumed it meant the hollow had a pack leader, as he had heard hollows use the term father once before when referencing the leader of their pack. So it was that Sven merely brushed off the term, as an actual father was impossible for one who dwelled in Hueco Mundo, or so Sven thought.

Though perhaps this 'father' could shine some light onto his quest, to potentially clear his head from the nightmares that plagued him more frequently than usual. Smiling at Atrocidad, Sven's hand would come to rest on the kid's skull once again as he knelt over to speak to the psuedo arrancar. "I believe I have found something that could be of azzistance to me." Sven's voice spoke warmly to the child as he continued. "Thiz fazher of yourz, do yuu kno vhere he iz right now?"

As Sven rose back up again, he glanced towards the opposite direction into the woods, still relatively unsure of where he was. "No, I vas attacked and now I zeem to be lozt." His right hand would raise and run through his silver hair as the Espada let a huge sigh escape his lips. Atrocidad was his only chance of finding his way out of these woods, which seemed to even elude his own Pesquisa. "If yuu kno vhere your father is, I'm zure I can help yuu return to him." Sven had no other option, helping the hollow would be his greatest chance in finding his escape and finding the answer to his journey, what it was he sought he didn't even know.

[Redwinters]

The boy blinked a few times when Sven asked for the location of the man he referred to as his father. Hesitantly he cupped his hands and stood upon his toes to whisper back, “Atrocidad knows.” His answer sounded worried, though, as he looked to the left and right to see if others were around to hear. He tilted his head to the side a bit as Sven’s hand rested atop his mask. Still whispering, he continued, “But father told others to chase Atrocidad away or worse… They will try to hurt us if we try and go back to them.” The boy warned as his human eye could not hide the dread he was clearly feeling. “Atrocidad was forced to run away because ‘others didn’t want him, not even father.” He admitted with a defeated sigh.

The pseudo arrancar waddled a few steps forward across the quartz forest, patting away the debris that clang to his mask and clothing. “Atrocidad owes you, though. If showing you to ‘others will “benefit” you, Atrocidad will show you the way. It’ll be dangore-us...but Atrocidad needs to see father again, and he needs to help him and you.” The young boy reasoned to himself, his large masking nodding up and down with his reassurance, “and with mister-strong with him, he could do anything.”

Waddling back to Sven, he leapt up onto the arrancar’s back without warning before scaling the man onto his shoulders. There his legs would wrap around for balance. Pointing his right hand forward his voice called out “Thatuhway!” When he pointed an odd effect happened, as a trail of teal reiatsu followed the direction the boy had pointed. The reiatsu in question was clearly some kind of cero, teal in color like his hair. “Cero Unido.” He said the name excitedly as he hopped up and down on Sven’s shoulders, “I can find father no matter where he is with this. Atrocidad is supposed to be able to help his father no matter what, creepy Man in White said it would give him poorpuss…whatever that means, haha!”


"Now let's go, mister!" With that, he pointed once more, preforming the technique again which sent another trail of light for a few seconds before dissipating again. Sven would notice that once again he had difficulty sensing the reiatsu being fired even seeing it first hand. Somehow, this area was screwing up his Pesquisa. He would need to remain close to the child at all times if he planned on following this cero of his.

[Sven Delacroix]

Smirking at Atrocidad's flattering speech, a sneer briefly formed across his face as the hollow perched itself on top of Sven's shoulders, the chubby legs of the psuedo arrancar wrapping around his neck, as Sven shrugged the feeling away. At the moment, Sven needed the small hybrid, so he couldn't just abandoned the hollow. Even though he didn't care much for the ecstatic bouncing on his shoulders, Sven's eyes noticed the odd variation of a Cero Atrocidad had performed, serving as a beacon.

As the ray of teal reaitsu shot outwards, Sven nodded briefly as his frame soon darted towards the direction Atrocidad had pointed, his feet soon breaking out into a sprint as he followed Atrocidad's technique. "Hold on, zhis may get rough for yuu." Atrocidad would find himself having to hold onto the espada as Sven weaved through the forest, the brief trails of reiatsu formed from Cero Unido causing Sven to rapidly change his direction as he kicked off a nearby tree, his form soon going aerial as he employed his airwalking on the typical reishi rich atmosphere of Hueco Mundo, guided only by Atrocidad's ability.

His only way out of the area rested with the boy, as Sven well knew. While he didn't care much for the fact he had to rely on Atrocidad, he had no other option. The boy turned out to be more use then Sven first imagined. Biting his lower lip, Sven only hoped he wasn't running headon into a trap.

[Redwinters]

“Waaah!” Atrocidad flailed around atop the espada as they maneuvered around the trees at nimble speed, as he desperately hung onto the taller hollow. The two would travel quite a distance, the pseudo-arrancar’s cero being fired every so often to create the beacon Sven needed to stay on a steady trail. When they took to the air, the cero’s trail too would appear right below the arrancar’s feet and dip down towards the ground; no matter where he stood the light began wherever he was but would always guide him on the direct path towards this “father” of Atrocidad.

For a time nothing happened, Cero Unido continued to light the way through the labyrinth Sven had fallen into, hastening what would otherwise be an incredibly long and confusing path. It seemed at this rate the two would reach their destination in record time. The forest had only grown thicker and more difficult to traverse as they got further in; it seemed they were in the center of this overgrowth. The center was always known as the thickest part, meaning the further they traveled from here, the easier it would be until they could find a path back to Heuco Mundo’s surface. Another activation of the boy’s cero; when this one fired however it’s trail suddenly stopped as if hitting an invisible wall.

With a gasp Atrocidad grabbed hold and pulled back on Sven’s forehead as he yelled out “Stop!” But the speed at which Sven had been traveling and the abruptness of the command would leave little time for Sven to react as his body would crash against a barrier of energy, which pulsed on contact and sent both him and the pseudo arrancar sliding back onto the ground. Looking up they would see the barrier of red reiatsu that materialized after coming in contact with Atrocidad’s cero, which shattered upon contact with Sven’s body.

“There it is.” A voice echoed from where the barrier had been in place. “You’re not very good at hiding your movements, I heard you from miles away.” As the individual spoke, he would step forward from the quartz trees that had hid his body. Bone like protrusions hid a humanoid body; a cage like hollow mask shadowing the human like face within. His arms lifting up to show their grotesque, bone like clawed forms and tail hang loosely from his waist. He stood hunched over, but still managed to be a few inches taller than Sven. Hidden behind the cage like shape of his mask revealed glowing yellow eyes common among hollow. Tilting it’s head, the adjucha looked upon the arrancar, “An espada...? Here?”The creature said, clearly surprised. “No one said anything about the Lord’s Subjects looming around our territory…now I'm interested.” He muttered, slight annoyance tickled his echoing voice.

“Listen here!” He pointed his long clawed finger forward at the downed arrancar, “I don’t know what interest the Lord of the deep has with el atrocidad, but step away from it; it is vile that must be destroyed.” Hunching forward just a little more, the hollow readied its claw like appendages as it glared down the arrancar, “This will be your only warning, espada. Reylius rules this territory, if he wants this spawn killed than it shall be done.”

"T-that's Cazador; He was one of the Others father sent after Atrocidad when he ran away!" The boy flailed in fear as he tried pushing Sven back onto his feet desperately to protect him. "Stophimstophimstophimstopheeeeem!"

"Hey, that's isn't my name you dolt, you should know that!" The adjucha called out in frustration, "Remember? That's the title I was given by Reylius for being an excellent hunter! Just like he gave you your name for being the garbage that you are! ...You're such a little pest." Cazador revealed in his anger. It seemed the name the Pseudo-Arrancar kept referring to himself was not a true name, but merely a title. This pack that claimed The Fissure as their territory used some form of titles to represent the strength of its members, much like the espada's numbers. To be called "the hunter," must have meant that this one was particularly dangerous.

[Sven Delacroix]

The trees steadily became closer as Sven found himself having to dodge the quartz branched that suddenly appeared in front of him. Weaving in and out of the enclosing trees, Sven's frame shot through, most likely terrifying the small hollow perched on his shoulders. Sven was so focused with getting to his destination, he didn't pay attention to the cero of Atrocidad, which suddenly dissipated in front of them. As Sven blindly rushed forward, he would feel Atrocidad's fingers grip his silver hair, as his head was tugged backwards, the pseudo arrancar's voice screaming to stop. As Sven grimaced at someone pulling his own hair, his body suddenly collided with an invisible barrier.

As his body hit the barrier, he could feel a chunk of hair being torn from his scalp, as Atrocidad would find his fingers gripping nothing but a ball of fine silvery follicles, Sven's disdain clearly evident at the loss of his perfectly maintained hair. The impact not only sent the younger hollow flying backwards, but Sven soon followed, as his shoulder crashed into the rocky outcropping. His form would soon rolled across the sandy porous surface, as he went face first into a small dune of sand. Irritably, Sven pulled his head out of the pile of sand, as he glared angrily at Atrocidad, spitting out the sand that he accidentally swallowed upon his collision.

Pulling himself to his feet, Sven would continue to brush himself free of the sand, which had dirtied his uniform, before running his hands through his hair to remove any of the grains which had taken home among his follicles. "Don't ever do zhat again." Sven's comment would be directed towards Atrocidad as he referred to both the sudden stop in addition to the loss of his hair. However, Sven would soon be interrupted.

The emergence of the Adjucha and the voice that soon accompanied it caused Sven to turn his head in the direction of the individual. While Sven had heard something moving along with the sound of rushing wind, he simple passed it off as lesser hollows rummaging around beneath him. Seeing that it was indeed an Adjucha instead, it merely caused his lips to form into a casual grin, seeing no threat from the Adjucha. Despite this, Sven would remain wary of the creature. The incident with the previous pack of Adjucha echoed through his head. He had let down his guard and he had been attacked. He would not let that happen again.

His ears twitched slightly as he listened to the Adjucha, Atrocidad piping in to inform him of the Adjucha's name, Cazador, The Hunter. The Hunter suggested to Sven that he specialized in the art of killing, yet the hollow was far too cocky for his own good. Muttering a brief statement towards Atrocidad, "Ztay here....", Sven would make sure through his Distorcion Airelibre techinique that only the psuedo arrancar would hear him, the sound inaudible to Cazador. Taking a step forward, Sven's grin grew as his figure soon disappeared as Cazador was soon distracted by the younger hollow.

In a burst of Sonido, Sven was right behind the larger adjucha, his forefinger pressed up against the neck of Cazador as the adjucha would soon find himself silenced, unable to finish his statement, for sound no longer emanated from his throat. Sven hunched forward, with a serpentine smile forming at the Hollow's arrogance, speaking coldly into the ear of Cazador.

"Haz anyone told yuu it probably benefit zey both of uzz if yuu juzt didn't zpeak? Now lizten to me clozely, I'll give yuu one of two options.......... lead me to zhis Reylius. Second opzion, if yuu do not, yuu arr nothing more zhan a hindrance to me. I vill kill you on zey spot and locate Reylius myself. An Ezpada's buziness is their own, but under no zircumstances, is the young psuedo arrancar to be harmed." Removing his finger from Cazador's throat, Sven smirked as he continued. "Now, vhat vill it be?" As Sven backed away from the large adjucha, he'd let his fingers trail downwards, pushing the fabric of his cloak aside as the numeral four shown clearly across his exposed skin, detailing his rank. Sven expected the latter of the choices, as his fingers soon after found their home on the hilt of Haciendose Viento.

[Redwinters]

“…Oops, sowry.” The masked child embarrassingly apologized as he realized he had managed to pull some of Sven’s hair out with all his flailing. Before he could say anything else though his mouth clasped shut when Sven told him to stay where he was. The mask that hid his closed mouth nodded quickly up and down and the child waddled behind the closest quartz tree, still close enough to keep track of but out of the way of the potential fight.

During this time, Cazador had been speaking his threats to the espada and throwing his small fit about Atrocidad thinking that “the hunter” was somehow his actual name. "…You’re such a little pes-” As he hammed up his speech, he was dramatically silenced as Sven sonido’d behind him and used his manipulation of sound on the base of the bone like carapace around his neck. The bright yellow eyes that shown through his silhouetted face dimmed, narrowed, as the espada gave Cazador his terms for this encounter. The adjucha remained motionless due to being taken off guard by how quickly the arrancar had been; he was not prepared for Sven to move that fast all of the sudden.

“You will regret not using that moment of surprise to kill me.” The adjucha boasted rather nonchalantly as he turned himself to face the cuatro espada, unphased by his rank. His talon like fingers lowered to his waist and red energy cackled between them briefly before he his echoing voice spoke once more. “I’m afraid, Espada, there is no scenario where that thing may live, it is unnatural and must be destroyed. If your intent on protecting it than I will simply have to hunt you as well.” With that his body dropped down onto all fours, his eyes never leaving the arrancar. The energy from his fingers clawed into the ground spreading from his hands to the dirt and trees beyond. For a brief moment red reiatsu seemed to fade into the area around them.

“Now that I think about it...when Reylius hears that I have not only killed the abomination but an espada as well, he will surely allow me to tap into that power once more! Perhaps encountering you was a potential boon for me, espada!” Cazador seemed gitty as it looked as if his reiatsu was beginning to flare…the reason it looked and didn’t “feel” was because like earlier, Sven’s presquisa was still somehow being tampered with. He could see the reiatsu building up, sure, but had no means to judge its strength…or trace it. Once the red energy began cackling around the adjucha’s body it would travel up into his right arm, creating a whip of energy that extended as he swung it right at the arrancar. It made howling sound as it seemed to burn through the very air between them.

SPOILER: Click to show

Stats + ???

Reiatsu: „‚ + #<!’ = No clue bro \ 0_0;/
Attack: 115 + 35 = 150
Speed: 155+ 35 = 190
Weapon Skill: 135 + 35 = 170

[Sven Delacroix]

It figures, Sven wasn't expecting the adjucha to cooperate. In fact, just the mere fact Sven silenced the creature was enough to trigger Cazador's rage, as any other hollow would already have been enraged at the fact that they were shut up by such a noncourteous gesture. But it was merely because Sven just plain didn't want to hear the Hollow speak, the speech patterns of Cazador annoyed him greatly.

Checking back to make sure Atrocidad was out of harm's way, Sven's head whipped back around as the crimson aura began to rise around Cazador. Sven's head tilted curiously towards the unknown reiatsu, his Pesquisa still failing him, though he didn't have one of the greatest Pesquisa among Arrancar, so he wasn't too reliant on it to begin with. It merely served as a layout and guide, as a second sense when his 'true senses' weren't active. A chuckle escaped the Espada's lips as Sven mocked Cazador.

"I'm pretty zure I told yuu to keep quiet. It actually makez yuu appear intelligent if yuu don't speak. But apparently, yuu don't take pieces of friendly advize. Yurr loss, not mine." Sven was intentionally was mocking Cazador now, as he spoke of taking on an espada as a minor feat, underestimating his opponent before the battle even started. Yes, the air stung Sven's skin through the excessive reiatsu in the air.

Sven's hand drew Haciendose Viento, pointing the rapier towards Cazador. "If yuu inzizt, hollow." Another buzz and Sven had disappeared once again, his form appearing above Cazador, as the sound of rushing air alerted Cazador to Sven's blade crashing down upon the Hollow, soon escalating into a shrill shrieking noise as Sven manipulated the resonating of the blade, Destrozando la Tierra evidently taking effect as the vibrations across the blade edge couple with the silver light made clear Sven's intentions.

While the Hollow's hearing would no doubt be deterred by the screeching frequency of sound waves, Sven's blade would attempt to cleave the ignorant Hollow in half upon the first strike. It wasn't anything personal, Cazador just happened to be an obstacle between Sven Sutoikku and his goal. It just meant he had to be disposed of, a fate Sven would be more than glad to provide.