Striking at the Moon [Santa, Sola]

Santa regarded the young man closely as he gave that incredulous snort, and certainly she could understand why he would say such a thing. But it was .... interesting to hear from a hollow. Work ethic was not exactly a common trait, Hollows won by whatever means necessary, which didn't always mean getting stronger. Sola's insistence was.... interesting.

"You think so?" She ventured, in the very same breath that those half-formed hands would lurch up from the ground to grab onto the young man's calves and ankles with sudden ferocious strength. Unlike so many powers held by others, hers was not truly a creation, it was an extension of her body, and so the sudden force that clamped down onto the man's legs would be comparable to her own vicious strength. A hold meant to hold him in place as she raised a hand and pointed another finger at him. The air screeching as energy piled into her fingertip before blaring out, aiming to fire straight into his chest.

It wasn't a particularly strong Cero, just meant to burn the man's chest and knock him onto the ground, where that tangle of bare muscle, bone, and sinew would clutch at him and sink claws into his flesh. Sharp points testing his hierro and aiming to dig shallow little lines into his bod y and hook into his flesh. Certainly nothing he couldn't pry himself free from, though if he wasn't able to avoid those grasping claws, he wouldn't be able to pry free without tearing chunks from his own flesh.

Interesting. The sudden flare of Cero reminded her of Tier, that, after all, was how SHE had dealt with the Garden as well. She narrowed her eyes ever so slightly as her next cero nailed him in the thigh, her reikaku following him as he leapt up into the air and hopped onto a Reishi platform. A reasonable and common response to the Garden. Until he felt the hot squish of flesh beneath him as a set of teeth rapidly grew from the platform and CLAMPED down with that vicious strength, aiming to lock him in place in the very same breath as Santa appearing just above him, the crackle of Sonido sounding as she aimed to kick him straight in the chest with full force, a strike that would spike him straight back down into the ground, which by now had grown a field of thin sharp spikes of bone ready to greet him.

The garden however shifted, growing faster now. Initially the growths had been rather slow. But between herself and Sola firing off Ceros, the growth had sped up. After all, it was hard for her garden to grow without spiritual energy to feed off of , at least in the world of the living. But if his instinct was to fire ceros at it, then that suited her just fine.

"I suppose from your point of view, I'm pretty weak willed." She murmured, eyes narroing as she slowly fixed her gaze on the man. How long had it been since she'd had something concrete that she wanted? Honestly how long had it been since she'd fought anything? Anyone? Certainly, Sola was stirring things inside of Santa she hadn't felt , hadn't HAD to feel in a very long time. "But you seem to be the one on the back foot. Shooting ceros at my Garden isn't going to help you beat me any faster. Or are you intentionally losing so that you'll become stronger?" A hint of sneer to those words.