Learning From The Enemy [Liltotto/SOLO]

Just a common day’s work brought her out into Georgia’s forests, apparently there’d been a hollow attacking campers and hikers, overall disturbing the general peace of an otherwise rather peaceful place. Even if it was work, she appreciated the return to a familiar environment in a way. As much as she felt at home in the City of Lights, the cold white of the city was completely alien to what she grew up with.

She had been out for several hours, having set up a camp for herself and trying to get a fire going. There hadn’t been any hollow scent at all for her to track it down, probably was a slippery one - her favorite, plenty of sarcasm intended. That was gonna be a pain in the ass - it was something she was told to subdue rather than kill, which was reasonable but just made her job harder. There was always the option to load the place with traps, but regular humans could get caught up in them, that was hazardous. She needed a good idea at least of where it was lurking before she could even think about laying stuff down, else that’s just a minefield.

A tiny shriek tore through the song of the forest before being quickly silenced, a hare lying dead with an arrow jutting from it’s skull - a regular arrow, rather than of Reishi. A low sigh came from the woman as she lowered her bow, putting it on her back, and walked over to the felled creature, crickets beginning to sing as night fell. Crouching over the tiny body, she’d gently pull the arrow from it’s brow with a great amount of care for something so seemingly insignificant, placing it aside and gently clasping her hands together, as if in prayer,

“Vielen dank, mögen sie in frieden ruhen,” Her voice was a soft whisper to the lost life; it was a hunting prayer she had practiced since she was rather young, to give thanks and respect to her prey’s life so that she could eat. It was humbling, in a way.

Later on, she had eaten her meal, and any remains were placed in the fire to be burned up; she tried to make sure she left nothing around to rot, watching the flames lick away at hair, skin, and bones. It was nostalgic, in a way - she didn’t forget about her mission, but she was enjoying the peace and quiet to herself. There was no sign of the slippery bastard anyway, she could take a moment. Not like she’d be entirely lacking in work til she found the thing, it was a good place to practice, anyway; no one seemed to be around, especially due to the hollow attacks.

…

An oppressive darkness was the only thing in sight. The world was small, tiny, in fact movement was impossible. Any attempts to turn around or pull out of the suffocating space were in vain; Stuck. It felt as if a great weight was pressing down on her body, threatening to crush her beneath both an invisible force and actual rock. Yet, she persisted, uncomfortable but alive. She almost wanted to cry out for help, but no words escaped her. She was alone, unable to move, unable to see.

Unable…

…

A sound desperately wormed it’s way into the silence, except it was much less a sound… More like a sensation, it was hard to describe past it being a stimulation on the senses of some unrecognizable level. It almost came across as… Crying. Something was with her, weeping signals in the abyss, pulsating with both a great sense of loss and frustration. It reminded her of an abandoned child, in a way. But still, she couldn’t call out to it, she couldn’t reach it, she couldn’t do anything to alleviate it’s distress.

All she could do was think, and with the unnatural way it cried, she threw some frivolous hope that maybe it could hear her that way - it was better than letting it agonize without trying. Words of assurance, words of comfort, words of stories, she tried to think of anything she could to commune in this silence, and as she focused on the weepy presence, it was almost as if the sensation it was giving began to wane, quieting down, as if hushed.

Everything was going to be OK.
…

A loud rattle pulled her from her trance, eyes shooting open and feeling a tug on one of the Reishi chains she wrapped around her arm, her hand firmly grasping the Heilig Bogen. Dispersing all chains except the rattling one, she quickly made her way to the source, which was…

Just a deer, bleating caught in a trap she had embedded in one of the chains, the teeth-like structures harmlessly keeping the struggling creature in place. Sighing, she’d quickly move to disperse the trap, muttering apologies as she got the buck out, only to get a nice kick in the jaw and a fleeing animal, having gotten knocked onto her side, unhurt but irritated,

“Fucking hell.” She’d mumble, slowly getting back up, dusting twigs and leaves from her hair. Definitely had enough of resting, might as well get some practice in. Though, she did rub the back of her head, feeling like she was doing something before… But she couldn’t remember it very clearly anymore.

This had to have been the tenth time she had that feeling in two weeks…

Ever since she recovered from eating a hunk of that giant lizard, she had been trying to consider ways to have more punch in a fight. She wasn’t ever able to get much past a typical human’s level of strength, her body just didn’t appear to be capable of doing so past a certain point, even all grown up. Though she did see an increase in physical ability, it was overall the expected outcome of jump cutting through puberty and no longer having twiggy grade schooler limbs or a tiny body.

Any possible improvements would have to be done spiritually, and as much as she’s gotten more skilled with using her quincy bow, she knew full well she wasn’t limited to her quincy abilities, such abilities themselves being limited - she couldn’t even use basic spellcraft much less Hirenkyaku, so on a few fronts she was on her own to figure something out to fill the holes. By some stroke of cosmic irony, turning to Hollows seemed to be the key to that; she already developed some power from eating them, though she really only came up with her traps and sword in far more recent times out of necessity.

The easiest thing she figured, was to try to recreate a Cero, and by extension Bala. That big guy had a real nasty one, maybe she was hoping a bit of that rubbed off. It was just a high concentration of energy blasted from a point of focus, should be easy to figure out, at least that was her initial conception. Turned out, not as easy as she thought it was going to be. While she was able to get the motions down it never seemed to have enough oomph to really go off like a Cero, not even like a Bala, it was more like she was doing a light show than an actual attack, which pissed her off.

Even practicing in the woods, all she got was a whole heap of not what she was looking for. Frustrated, but giving herself a break, having sat down to eat chips and think about what she could be doing wrong. Stupid-brained Menos Grande could spit those things like nothing, what was she missing?

Skid marks.

Something big and and fast was running through the hiking path, the shape of the tracks telling her it couldn’t have been more than a day ago, and by the scent in the air... That definitely was a hollow, likely the one matching the report. Keeping her footsteps careful and purposeful, she’d try to follow the trail as best she could, but her nose caught a familiar smell well before her eyes - Blood. Whatever it was chasing it got a slice in, judging by the size of the splatters. It didn’t smell fresh, either it attacked someone or had a bite to eat not too long after she got to the forest.


No, no she wasn’t going to assume the worst until she saw a body. They could have gotten away, they could have escaped, there weren’t any deaths reported yet, just visuals and disturbances. Hurried steps carried her, the scent of old blood growing stronger and stronger until..

She didn’t get away.

A body splayed between two bushes, the life robbed of it, torn clothing and missing a shoe that she had caught a glance of as she chased the trail. Her lungs grew cold as it set in, a young woman had her life taken. Solemn and quiet, she would take a circling of the corpse, examining closely with just her eyes. No acid burns, just carnivorous bite marks - she was dealing with a bestial hollow rather than a humanoid one. The girl had been dead for over half a day at the absolute minimum, the color of her skin and the stiffness of her body made that clear.

She was hoping she didn’t have to report a death, that she would have found the hollow before anything could have happened, but that wasn’t in her cards…

Walking, searching for some lead, anything, her gaze directed everywhere, almost desperately grasping for some trail, and begging that the metallic scent of blood didn’t catch her again. Intrusive thoughts prodded at her busy mind as she searched; Wasn’t she a piece of the Soul King, some powerful entity? Why wasn’t she anywhere near the level that Mazda was? Why was she so useless when it had to count?! How was she supposed to fill that gulf of power if she couldn’t even do one spell, couldn’t find one hollow, couldn’t save one girl, couldn’t even put a dent in that fucking lizard!?

A growl rose in her throat that escaped into a frustrated yell, “WHERE THE FUCK ARE YOU?!” panting soon after fraying her vocal chords, though the cluster of trees wasn’t quiet. Actually, she heard an odd noise… Was that barking? That couldn’t have been a hollow, and she was a long ways away from anywhere residential.

Lo and behold, a medium-sized dog was yipping and barking at her not too far away from the body. The brindled mutt must’ve been happy to be found, it’s pink and white striped leash entangled in a bush, hopping on it’s hind legs whimpering and pawing at her. Was this her dog? She slowly approached, not knowing if the dog was aggressive or hurt or anything, extending a hand to let it smell her while hushing it, petting it as she’d try to detangle the leash with her other hand. Poor thing seemed hungry and thirsty, but as soon as it was freed it went bolting off in a different direction, damn near knocking her over.

“No! Come here!” She’d call after whistling to the dog, but the mutt stopped some distance away from her, looking her way, shuffling in place with a whimpering bark before bouncing a few more inches away, but still staring back at her. Was it trying to lead her somewhere?

Anytime she got closer, it just kept running in one specific direction, panting and whining. A bit of a drop was ahead, and she caught scent of something she was earnestly hope she didn’t - Fresh blood. But it was nowhere near as strong as the last scent, and from what she could tell it was a spiritual presence comparable to a human she caught onto - someone was alive, probably hurt, but alive.

Looking off the cliff, she saw the form of a boy - older teenager, definitely not looking too good, the dog at his side and licking his face, his hands weakly lifted to pet it, her ears catching the dog’s name - Millie, and how happy he was to see her, the dog’s tail wagging so fast she swore it’d take off into the sky with elation.

Carefully sliding down the drop, she’d catch the poor guy’s attention, brown eyes looking wide with fear but a bit of relief to see a person and not a monster. Slowly approaching, she’d keep her hands up to show she was no threat, “Hey kid, Vandenreich personnel, i’m here to help you out.”

“Thank god, I thought I was gonna die out here..” His voice was weak, above a whimper, he seemed to be understanding he had a chance of getting out alive, “I-I think I broke my ankle or something… I haven’t been able to move..”

“Let me see it,” No time to waste, that thing could show up at any moment, she needed to get this kid in good enough shape to move. She left most of her medical supplies back at camp, all she had on hand were small, she didn’t expect to need much past the basics. Well, she had bandages, tape, and a few good-sized sticks lying around, it’d have to do.

“Alright.. Up, arm over my shoulder. Make sure to lean on me.” Calmly and carefully she’d get the boy upright, poor guy cringing as they managed to get into a mobile position, “Hang in there, it’ll be a bit of a trek. Deep breaths, stay focused on matching my pace. Everything will be OK.”

Everything will be OK…

“What are you doing out here?” A while into their walk back, she made sure the two were walking on the beaten path, she tried to get a bit of an interrogation in, albeit making sure she didn’t sound too abrasive or harsh, “There’s been warnings about this place for a good while. The entrance was even taped off.”

“..My sister, she.. She told me that she found dad..” He’d croak out a response, already seeming to get teary eyed again, “She just woke me up.. Told me to get Millie on her leash.. That we’d go see him… But that didn’t make sense, dad had been gone for months, he went to camp and didn’t come back. We thought a bear got him or something.”

The kid took a shaky, pained breath before continuing, as if scrounging up the memory hurt more than his injuries, “But she was insisting she found ‘em.. So we came and.. I don’t know, I can’t remember. I just know I was running away from something awful, maybe a bear, and fell and…” He was holding back tears.

“I see…” Liltotto would breathe in response, a tint of sympathy in her tone, "That must've been a terrible night, i'm sorry."

“..Did you see her?” A weak question came, “Angeline? She’s got brown hair and w-was wearing her favorite jacket, it was.. It was hot pink I think. Yeah, yeah that’s right. Tied around her waist.”

Her face grew still, inexpressive, “No, sorry. I haven’t seen her. I’ll look for her as soon as you’re safe.”

“..Oh.” A shaken, sad reply came to her, “Thank you... I hope she’s alright. Mom was so heartbroken when dad vanished, I…”
“Relax, you need your energy.” She wasn’t going to do it. She wasn’t going to tell this kid his sister wasn’t out there. Not right now. He needed safety and help long before the truth, "Focus on getting home to your mom. She'll probably be upset, but i'm sure she'll be happy to see you're alive."

Silence once more as twigs and leaves crunched beneath their feet, it seemed like it’d be a peaceful walk back… Until that chilling, familiar scent caught her nose, and Millie started barking and snarling.

Sulfuric eyes gleamed from the darkness of the underbrush, the two stopped dead in their tracks, staring widely as the entity crept toward them, nothing but hunger in it's gaze.

Hollow.

“Ca..leb…” The hollow spoke in a distorted, unhinged voice as it crept towards the two, sounding like it was once an older man, “Y-you’re… H..ur..t…?”

“Dad?” The kid would speak in a low, shaken voice, disbelief creeping in. The beast’s jaws were barely parted, drooling, eyes barely having a speck of sense left in them. She’d seen hollows like this before, ones that were just normal people, barely holding onto their humanity even after their shape was corrupted, the final traces of it withering away as they were worn down into mindless, hungry beasts. It was possible the man died and roamed the woods as a plus, and simply didn’t get discovered by a shinigami in time. The sightings only stretched back around a month, it’d match up.

“Is that you dad-”

“That is not your dad, not anymore.” Liltotto quickly cut in, unable to hold back the sharpness in her voice, she did not want this boy making a deadly move in a moment of passion, “Your dad’s gone. I have to take care of this.”

“But he’s-”

“GONE.” She stressed the word, eyes kept on the hollow that seemed a mere twitch of the muscle from lunging, probably kept back by whatever strains of humanity that didn’t want to act on his instincts and eat his son, “He is gone. This thing may sound like him and even used to be him, but it is not him anymore, all that’s left is a hungry animal - He. Is. Gone.”

The boy let out a defeated whimper, her making slow movements to lower him to the floor and reign in the barking dog, pushing the shortened leash into his hands. It was like a snap into action - the Hollow lunged, she quickly slapped down an immediately tripped cage trap to protect the kid and his dog, forming a sword in her hands to swing at the creature’s face, claws slamming against the cage but quickly recoiling as a roar of pain shook the air, the blade’s acid eating at the creature’s face.

Subduing was entirely off the table - she had to kill this thing.

Flashes of blade and claw sent sparks flying as the heat of battle was on, Liltotto keeping up with the movements of the beast but she couldn’t get a proper hit in. Damn, it was like cutting into stone, each of her swings and kicks weren’t doing much to slow it down. She didn’t have enough strength behind her attacks to do anything incredible.

She usually had backup to support her, but she was on her own with a rough fight. There was always the option to bite it, but she couldn’t get a clean opportunity to do it, not without possibly endangering the kid, her being the only thing between his life and the hollow’s jaws.

“Caleb.. CALEB.. CALEB..!” The distorted voice gurgled as it shuffled off it’s feet for an additional lunge. She didn’t think exposing her spiritual pressure was going to be enough to lure this thing away, it was fixated entirely on the kid and the dog barking wildly behind the durable teeth of the cage. It was saddening - he was probably a loving father being driven to eat his children, and had succeeded with one; it was a terrible situation for everyone here, no one asked for this.

“AGH!” She’d yell, a large paw batting her into the nearest tree, the hollow now clawing at and biting the cage, the Reiryoku construct bending and fraying with each attack. The boy was staring wide eyed, kicking at the claws coming for him, Millie’s frantic howls and snarls in some futile attempt to protect her remaining owner, only to be struck and left whimpering.

Everything was happening so fast, and yet so slow in her mind. The kid would be eaten if she couldn’t kill this thing fast enough, seeing it’s gnashing teeth. Without much of a thought, she rose a hand in the creature’s direction, a shaking palm slowly rising to line up with the monster’s head, her golden eyes wide and fixed on it.

The motion she practiced came to her with little thought, some part of her thought it was the best thing to try, most parts of her weren’t really thinking, her eyes maintained a powerful focus - if she wasn’t careful, she’d kill or maim the kid too.

In that moment, in a way, she realized what she was missing in the construction of a Cero. Hollows didn’t think. Hollows simply did. They had no time to think, or plan attacks, all they had was seconds and the built in fervor for survival.

It was… Instinct, like someone spoke the answer to her, or was it her telling herself?

A rapidly increasing globe of blue translucent energy formed in her palm, having bloated in size, before suddenly compressing, the outer edges of it rippling with pitch black as the very air seemed to swirl into the form like a vacuum.

And with a brilliant flash of energy rushing forth… The hollow grew limp. It’s head was gone, cleanly erased from it’s shoulders, along with a clean conical shape in the trees where it’s head was positioned. It’s dark body was dissolving, Liltotto panting and sweating, her hand quaking as it fell to her lap.

Did... She do that?

The kid and his dog were safe, the authorities contacted and he was brought into an ambulance. She parted rather quickly from the chaotic scene, making some calls, reporting her findings and the result. She'd give more details when she got home, having directed the authorities to the unfortunate girl's corpse. Her brother would find out about her death sooner or later, but she hoped he'd at least get some rest first.

After everything died down, she was on her own again, having made her way back to her camp and packed things up. Deep in thought, she recalled those final moments, that flash, the trees... She needed another look at the trees when she got a chance. As far as she could tell, that was definitely a Cero, or at least her best model of one.

And it turned out, her 'best model' was a lot stranger than she would anticipate. Returning to the scene, she looked over the foliage she destroyed, all the way down to the leaves, plucking one and viewing it closely. A blast like that would've knocked the trees down or at least stripped any leaves in it's path but, no.. It was like.. They were rapidly eaten away, rather cleanly on top of that, a disturbingly perfect circumference formed in the shape of the attack.

She had to replicate that again, on a smaller scale, just to be certain of what she was seeing. Rather than extending her entire palm, she pointed one finger, positioning her hand like a gun, and pointed directly at the trunk of a tree. Once again she recalled those motions, and then the final burst of light...

An egg-shaped chunk was taken out of the tree chunk with hardly any noise or destruction, it was just... Gone, as if it were absorbed...

Absorbed...

She'd stare at her shaking hand, her twitching digits closing into a fist. A theory or two crossed her mind on what's happening, but any and all of them told her one thing - This was a power she had to use with great care and caution.