Hollow Souls [Aina/Cala]

Cala's jaw tensed as Aina spoke again, understanding now the goal of what she had said, and nodded to show as such. Their eyes downcast now as they mulled over Aina's wise words, things that Cala knew to be true as well, Cala's eyelids drooped slowly as they tried to focus, tried to quiet their mind and marshal their will towards just calming down. They did take Aina's advice and slow their breathing, in and out, slower for but the briefest of moments, only for Cala to jump as Aina whispered in their ear from very close behind. This earned a bright pink blush and an, admittedly, slightly scared reaction from Cala. Their instinctual reaction to having anyone so close behind them bubbled in their stomach, warring with their other tangled emotions, Never mind the goosebumps that peppered down Cala's arms as Aina purposefully shrouded them in her aura.

Cala was a bit worse off than when Aina gave the advice, as both of Aina's actions thus far only made them MORE self-conscious and aware of.....well.... her mostly but also just how awkward and out of place they felt. The only reason Cala next snapped into focus was when Aina touched their chest, particularly, right over their Hollow hole through their clothing, right where their heart would be and before Cala really thought about what they were doing they used Sonido to rush away from Aina in a hurry! Going rather fast for their level of power, so much so that as Cala came to stop they stumbled, panting now, and clutched at their chest while looking back at Aina with wide, more fearful and confused eyes.

Fade began to spill and slither from within Cala's sweater to the ground from their sleeves and roil out from under their feet, Cala's skin growing a bit paler as they coughed and shook their head. THAT action in particular had gathered the exact opposite effect of calmness and, as a result, Cala dropped to their knees and began to puke up Fade. Whimpering quietly in distress as they began to change, their hair lengthening and eyes growing dim as they skull pin in their head expanded and grew down to cover their eyes. Genuinely scared and pained noises leaving Cala as their clothing tore and shifted, erupting out from the nice, form fitting sweater to a tattered black cloak.




Cala's spiritual energy swelled noticeably, now equal to Aina's own, as a series of vine-like spirals of Fade coiled protectively around their body. Cala's spiritual energy and emotions shifted as well, their spiritual energy not only growing more potent but growing.... colder... almost feeling the color grey itself. While their emotions simply shrunk and shrunk, smothered until they simply.... vanished. None of the earnest trust from before remaining as this all-but-new Cala turned their skull-adorned head to stare roughly in Aina's direction. Their chest still heaving with the remnants of their past form's fear despite the emotion no longer being present as they watch Aina very, VERY closely. Their spiritual energy coalescing and focusing within their body as they stood there, tense and defensive as a frightened animal with no fear left.

Cala stared silently past Aina, their skulled face not looking directly at her eyes, but instead seemingly frozen in their thoughtful gaze. After a long, quiet moment Cala slowly shook their head, their tousled hair shaking gently, their thoughts silently playing behind their unseen eyes, unknown, and no doubt much different than the person she had just been speaking to. Inhaling slowly Cala would answer Aina's question of trust by opening their mouth, baring their small fanged teeth and begin to charge a rippling Cero in the depths of their mouth, obsidian energy crackling within their teeth and ablating light off of it's surface enough to create a corona of pure, spinning white light around it. After a moment of charging this attack Cala paused, their own aura fluctuating gently, like seeing a figure move under the surface of a placid lake, before they began to close their mouth. The Cero shrinking and dwindling as their focus shifted, their head turning away, and the remaining energy was fired off into a nearby tree. Only after the tree cracked and splintered in half at the point of impact and fell over did Cala shake their head again, their features not covered by their mask remaining stoic as they murmured.

"We are not...... and we do not."

Lowering their head to think for a brief moment Cala's had turned toward Aina, though a bit off from looking at her face, it was more looking at her stomach. With slow, almost sluggish movement Cala's Fade would slither across the ground towards Aina in a serpentine line of ash, flowing over the ground and ever so softly inserting itself into her aura of plum-like energy, assuming Aina did nothing to stop it. The sudden sensation of her energy being drawn away in a small, chunk, as if a part of her was.... drank like a liquid.... would be pulled into the mass of ash-like substance before it retreated back to Cala. That energy flooding into their ashen skin and Cala would consider for a moment, before nodding vaguely at Aina.

"Do we disturb you, Aina? We fear that both of us are not quite what we seem, for better or worse, and for nearly opposite reasons."

Cala frowned at this, a rather expressive motion compared to their rather stoic demeanor up until this point, before they stepped back away from Aina by a couple steps.

"You are concerned for us, why? Do you consider us a game, a puzzle to be deciphered or a thing to amuse yourself with?"

Despite their words Cala's tone was far from accusatory, instead it was quiet and almost genuinely curious, tinged ever so gently by the quietest bit of sadness. Like the faintly heard echo of a kitten's tiniest, terrified mewl in the middle of rainstorm.

Cala's masked visage would snap with unnatural quickness to directly stare at Aina's eyes as she approached, speaking once more of being startled now, of trying to calm them. If Cala were emotional in this form they likely would have sneered at the concept of being placated like an animal, like a monster. But as they were now they simply viewed the kind words and explanation as what they were, psychological prods and pulls to try and rip them apart. This made Cala bare their rather small fangs in comparison to their mask in a subconscious display of uneasiness. They did not, however, object to her approach. The sensation of their Pesquisa shining down onto Aina like a lighthouse in the darkness impossible to miss as it tracked her every motion with each gentle footfall.

It was not until Aina raised herself up, closer to their face, that Cala moved back. Their hand coming up to grip Aina's wrist and hold it, firmly but not tightly, their mask-clad face snapping down to meet her eyes. Black, empty holes of compressed ash staring down into her vibrant purple eyes without a word, the lower half of their face remaining expressionless as they made no motion to release her wrist, Instead their voice came out in a slow, soft murmur.

"Selfish?"

Cala would step back, releasing Aina's wrist away from them, and contemplate for a moment before their lips twitched just the tiniest bit in a gentle, unknowable gesture.

"You would make of us a tool, a servant, a shadow. It is a part that feels familiar. You wish to peel apart our soul to further map your own."

There was no real judgement in Cala's voice, merely cold observation, and Cala slowly crossed their arms as they tilted their head back to stare.... up... for no discernable reason. Their pale neck being bared to her as their throat worked in unspoken, sub-vocal syllables, only for them to lower their mask's visage back down to stare blankly in Aina's direction.

"We've obligations already. A senpai that trains us, friends, it is very little....... you would tear us away from these things? Entrap us, ensnare us to face an unknown you do not wish to seem to face alone? We would be at your beck and call, lest you would have to travel with us extensively, even to Hueco Mundo, or else bind us. This is..... unusual and only one of us trusts you."

As Aina explained herself Cala actually relaxed their stance ever so slightly at her admission that, in a way, they were using them. Aina's following words were met with a blank stare, for the moment, until they nodded ever so softly and allowed her to continue what she wished to say. Cala was not the best at processing their emotions, in either form, but could at least decouple themselves when in this one from almost all of them. This was a boon for the Arrancar as, when Aina stopped speaking, they responded in a curious mixture of both instinct and analytical analysis of their own mental state that was just a tiny bit too fast to be entirely intentional.

"No....."

Taking a moment to divert their head to the side a bit Cala gave off the distinct impression of someone who, if they had visible pupils now, they would be flitting back and forth in rapid signs of cognition before they nodded, slowly, and raised their masked visage to look directly at Aina. Now expressing their more complete thoughts.

"No we do not wish you to disappear. You are.... interesting.

Taking the briefest second to further compile their thoughts Cala almost bared their fangs again in distaste not at Aina but at themselves for struggling so much with them.

"We do not fear having friends, commitment, or pain. Trust..... Trust is more foreign, but we d trust, if not equally between us. We fear..... LOSS.... No we are ehmm....."

For the briefest of seconds their speech faltered much like it would in their prior form, before they all but hissed in displeasure and all but bit the words free from their mouth.

"You are beautiful, as are Igen, our Senpai and Arianda.... you have all LOST. Experienced LOSS, and yet you live, yet you breathe, like a set of beautiful cataclysms propelling themselves forward in time."

Not quite giving much time for Aina to mull over those words Cala took a step toward her, an exertion of their spiritual energy funneling into their Pesquisa as they truly, completely, gazed upon her as much as their senses could alight. As if putting her wholly under the microscope of their senses they stayed silent for a tiny moment before withdrawing their rather invasive perception and muttering.

"We would accept an accord, to be friends and more, that you may use us to map your soul as you wish whilst you allow us to feed in the wake of your loss. To be close would allow us to be there should it change, should it deepen, though we suspect.... we suspect somehow we may end up biting the hand that feeds.... and for that we preemptively apologize. We are, after all, a monster."

Cala stood stock still as Aina moved forward to hug them, not moving or really reacting to the show of physical affection, though their Pesquisa remained trained on Aina their masked face continued to stare ahead pensively. Strangely enough it was Aina taking their hands that made Cala turn their head down to look over her shoulder, their head slowly tilting in thought before they gave a slow nod.

"Yes, we are glad you accepted."

As Aina asked if their situation was beautiful, however, Cala thought for a brief moment before shaking their head.

"It.... is not yet. It remains to be seen if something beautiful comes of our friendship. I am.... not familiar with how things may progress, and I fear I may end up harming you."

Cala gently raised their hands, placing them on Aina's shoulders, and demonstrated. With slow, methodical motions would their Fade emerge from within Cala's clothing, spiraling out in an embracing mass of ash-like vines, softly embracing Aina and, where it touched her skin, it would cause a numbing sensation as it ripped and pulled her energy away in slow, gentle motions. Like water vanishing down a drain, like light falling into a black hole, never to escape, Cala drank from her. Not aggressively, driven by instinct, as they usually did and it would not be a lie to say Cala enjoyed feasting on Aina. Her energy was... different than that of Shinigami or Hollow, and like someone enjoying a new flavor of dish, Cala's fingers dug ever so gently deeper into her shoulders. Those clawed hands lightly stinging the skin, but not breaking it, as that tingling, numbing sensation would spread from every point the Fade touched.

Cala did not, however, drive their hunger deeper into Aina's being. Much as a small part of them may have wished to devour her they kept their hunger in check, kept that tingling theft of power reserved only to her skin without greedily attempting to smother her into nothing. During this, all of this, Cala's masked face lowered to gaze at Aina's eyes blindly. As if they were watching her for discomfort despite their eyes being useless. Like a spider softly, slowly entangling a willing prey in their web Cala studied and observed every reaction until they had taken their fill and gently, slowly, pulled away. Their hands, acting both to hold Aina in place, also supported her if the process left her too drained, holding her up as those writhing vines pulled both energy and loss from Aina's being. One smooth, dexterous hands of ashen white softly moved up her neck to cup her cheek and, softly, Cala would ask.

"You are...... still whole?"