Striking at the Moon [Santa, Sola]

The wastelands certainly were their own sort of Monster. Santa was well aware of her ...limitations. Not only in what she was capable of, but in what she could actually DO to enforce her ideals on the world. Especially with these new powerful enemies making waves, she ...could only do so much. And so even she had put it upon herself to make her way toward a more desolate area. A space filled mostly with hollows, and those living in fear of them. Or in valiant spite of them.

So she walked, searching the wastes. She wasn't going to get any stronger just with wishful thinking and hopes and dreams. She needed to recover from severing her connection to Ajora and Verdada. And well, this was the easiest way she could think of to build herself back up. And so she walked, her spiritual pressure like a beacon, no doubt catching the attention of most anything in the area. As her spiritual energy would not simply radiate from her body, but resonate from the air around her.

It shouldn't be long until she drew attention.

Huh.

The shout belted in her direction was almost nostalgic as she heard the individual vying for her attention. The air around her twitched slightly as that dull radiation of spiritual energy seemed to react, turning his way and blinking with a bit of a surprised expression. Her time in Hueco mundo had certainly given her plenty of experience with hollows that wanted to get one's attention. IN a world of savagery, cannibalism, and 'Winner takes all'. The familiarity of the situation was almost overpowering as she tilted her head to the side.

This wasn't a human. She needn't worry about misinterpretation. She was still learning about humans, but she knew hollows very well. This one was either trying to lure her into a fight, being overconfident, or being stupid. Or any number of combinations, from her experience. And ..... there was something ....else? Something that made her ... angry for some reason. IN the past, this had been simply a matter of course. But as her mind drifted to those important to her. She felt something she hadn't actually ever felt before.

She felt insulted.

And so, instinctively, she raised a hand , er middle and ring fingers raising to point in the young man's direction before a loud PANG blared. A Bala fired and aimed for the center of Sola's chest, with enough force to knock the young man on his ass. So quick had this instinct kicked in, that regardless of whether this attack landed or not, Santa would blink, seemingly surprised by her own course of action. Ah shit.

"Did you need something?" She asked, her voice stern despite having surprised herself.

She stared at him for several long moments. Her brows knitting together for just a moment as she listened to his little chatter. But not really. Those bright blue eyes were scanning him from top to bottom. His body language. How he'd sidestepped that Cero, but not fully. He wasn't quite as fast as... her? It took only an instant, but instinctively Santa recognized that this man.... was weaker than her?

She vanished with a Sonido of her own, fully a stel above his own use of the technique, she appeared beside the young man, closing the distance between them and flashing a hand out to try and grab Sola by the scruff of the neck and lift him clean off the ground. Santa was ... decent in a number of areas. But sheer, unadulterated physical strength was one of her strong points, and if he wasn't able to evade, she'd have him up in the air like a bad puppy.

"Why are you trying to pick a fight? You don't seem very strong... I'm not even that great at Cero and you couldn't dodge it completely. Are you okay?" She asked with a tilt of her head, furrowing her brow just a little.

Something stirred just a little in Santa as she watched him look at her with those insolent eyes. And her grip on the back of his neck. Slowly. tightened. Applying a slowly building pressure until he'd feel her fingers slowly digging into the skin and pressing into the chorded muscle that protected his neck.As this little punk spoke of strength. But, she did seem to understand. He just wanted to fight? To make himself stronger? She didn't know why but that made her ...angry.

WHACK.

She slammed him down and into the hard ground. Her grip ensuring that the side of his face connected with the unforgiving flat surface. Not enough to damage the ground, but enough to try and knock that arrogant look from the arrancar's face as she stared straight ahead, that grip continuing to tighten. A light THUMP as her other first connected with the ground right beside his face, and he was treated to the sight of those knuckles pressed to the dirt right before his eyes.

"No...... no not really. It's actually hard to think of a time when I didn't feel....weak somehow." She murmured very quietly. That grip unrelenting. Fully expecting him to strike her. Hit her. Dig at her hand, or the grip she had on his neck. She didn't mind that. She'd let the hits fall on her. Bruising her. Drawing blood. But that wouldn't make that grip loosen even the slightest. Or maybe he'd just sit there as she slowly pressed down with her other fist. The muscles tightening along the back of her hand. Crik. A soft pop, the sound of a bone breaking. Crunch. The bone being pushed out of place, pressing up in a little sharp bump along the back of her hand, before being followed by the next bone in her hand. Before that sharp bump slid clean and out of her skin. Not as broken bone, but as a slow, curving claw that glided out of her skin. Her broken bones regenerating in their own ...unique...adaptive manner. Until those bloody claws gleamed inches from Sola's face. As her own far-off gaze stole off into the distance. Past it all. Looking at something further than her eyes could actually see as she was lost in her thoughts.

"I don't mind wrestling." She noted quietly, slowly dragging those claws along the ground, until they gently slid to a stop just short of Sola's shoulder. Slowly growing longer. Sharper. Like blades. "Maybe we're just from different parts of Hueco Mundo." She thought aloud, before promptly throwing him a short distance away, not sure where all this ...aggression was coming from bubbling up inside her. But well, he seemed to want it. "But if you change your mind. There's always hide and seek." She ventured, as if to ask:

Do you want to run?

Santa stared calmly at Sola as the arrancar took his lumps and got ready for her. Slowly starting to stalk around Sola, those bladelike claws already a solid nine inches in length and slowly growing serrated. She could tell that he was hyped and ready to dodge. Of course, that took a fair bit of concentration, didn't it? Or was he just amped up and alert? As for his words, she wasn't entirely sure what he was trying to say. Was he trying to get at her own inner thoughts? Take shots at what she was feeling? She had to admit that she was frustrated. But as he went on to imply she thought this would make her stronger, she paused. and stared at him for a little. Confused.

"I don't care about getting stronger. Everyone I knows was stronger than me. All of my friends...." Her voice trailed off. Thinking to all the ones she'd met. Algos. Calypso. MAzda. Tier. "And almost all of them are dead now. Being strong doesn't fix anything. It wont' make you happy. They were the strongest.... and most burdened people I've ever known. I wanted to help them. But I couldn't. But that had nothing to do with my strength." She murmured as her spiritual pressure slowly smothered the area. Not because of it's weight, but simply because it suddenly seemed to echo from everything around him. And all at once, he'd feel a hand suddenly clamp onto his ankle. The sands turned red as flesh, mucle, and bone spread along the surface. Hands. Faces. Legs. Eyes. Teeth and gashing mouths. What was once a smooth and plain stretch of sand suddenly was growing.

A Garden that sought to snake up his legshold him down tightly. As Santa's soul bled out into the world and infected it.