Nice to meet you, I will beat you[Amaranta, Hana]

For what it was worth, entertaining days had rarely eluded Amaranta ever since she adapted to her current way of life in the living realm. It came with less battles, naturally, but she could easily make up for those by traveling back to Hueco Mundo. There were plenty of willing fighters there, no doubt, and she still had every intent to pursue the avenues that would allow her to improve on her current level of strength. Some would probably consider her quite the mighty opponent, but the leonine woman wasn't satisfied at her current level.

There was a greater threshold to be reached, and she'd transcend that threshold, going even further beyond that until she was the strongest to exist---or perhaps, pretty damn close. Being the strongest wasn't all that fun when you considered wanting rivals to fight so they could get stronger, too. Whatever. At the moment, she was on the outskirts of Tokyo, engaging in target practice with her cero, firing off meager beams of light in an attempt to improve on her ranged attacks.

Between getting played by that twink Sola, and nearly losing to that diminutive Shinigami Mizu, she wasn't about to let her inability to fire off from a distance be her downfall. Charming as he was, that little midget Klein wasn't exempt, either. She'd defeat all of them soundly. Unfortunately, whatever sea creatures that pop out have to deal with being her unfortunate target. They will be the stepping stone for her improvement. Little creatures should be glad. It just means one less fish in the sea, or alligator... or whatever kept sprouting up.

For Hana Aoyama, the duty of a Shinigami was never her top priority. Until recently, she had found herself content at her power and skill level. The only time she questioned it was when she worried about hollow attacking her friends, when Hiroe gained her shikai, and then when she almost died trying to keep up with a multiplying hollow. If it weren't for Ikari, she'd be dead now. All of this struggle, worry, and even jealousy, created a new-found sense of determination in Hana. She couldn't sit on the sidelines and watch others pass her by, leaving her with this sense of inferiority that she was not used to. She despised feeling this way.

The desire to become stronger was what pushed many people to the next level, so Hana was relying on that to push herself in the same way. During her recent patrol in Tokyo, Hana did her best to take down every hollow she could find. She didn't just wait for calls, but actively took initiative to hunt hollow that were just hiding or hadn't yet bothered anyone. This was her way of trying to find opponents to challenge her, but also prove to herself and to anyone that may be watching that she wasn't a worthless, weak-excuse for a Shinigami, which was really all she felt.

On aspect of Shinigami skill that Hana knew she was repeatedly failing at was the use of Reikaku. She could sense energy of differing levels, but could never identify what the energy was coming from or how different the strength actually was. She also couldn't sense much outside of a rather short range, which kept her mobile. As she was running through the forests outside of Tokyo, an energy caught her interest. She thought it was stronger than the previous hollow she had defeated, but not by much, so she hurried in that direction. Upon arrival, Hana was surprised.

"Wait, what?" Hana said. She had slid to a stop on a cliff near one of the many Tokyo beaches. Luckily, this one had very few people or sea traffic. Her zanpakuto was held firmly in her right hand, ready for the battle she thought was coming. The look of confusion was clear on Hana's face as she looked around, away from the woman she initially saw. Seeing nothing else in the area, Hana focused on the woman, noting the cool gold trim of her hair, and then noting that the energy was indeed coming from her. Hana asked, "Have you seen a hollow near here?"

Ah shit, another Shinigami? Shit. Tch... she better not be like that twerp from last time.

Turning toward the direction of the voice, Amaranta would set her fierce gaze on Hana. It wasn't meant to be outwardly intimidating, of course. It was simply the way her eyes appeared, falling in line with her leonine appearance. Tilting her head curiously, she allowed her gaze to travel around the area. Had she seen any other hollow pass her by? A quick mental deduction told her that the source Hana was looking for likely belonged to her. It wasn't as if Amaranta possessed a device that allowed her to cloak her spiritual pressure to any degree, and that made it inherently difficult to lay low. For now, she simply offered Hana a casual shrug in response to her question.

"Nope. No hollows here, except for me. And I'm guessing your a Shinigami. Man, I tend to run into you guys more than I enjoy these days.'

Hana was surprised, but it clicked rather quickly as she got a little closer. This woman was the hollow, but... No, she was an Arrancar. Hollow didn't look like that. Hana's mind raced through the possibilities here. Depending on how powerful this woman was, she might have stumbled into the worst situation ever. She couldn't turn her back either; Arrancars needed to be dealt with, and if she turned her back, she expected this one to attack. She really hated her skill with reikaku now...

"So, you're an Arrancar," Hana said, stating what was obvious to them both. She raised her sword toward the woman, trying to seem threatening. "I have yet to fight one of your kind. As a Shinigami, it is my duty to exercise you. Prepare yourself!"

Hana sounded like she rehearsed the lines. It was like she read them out of a book and waited for a moment to finally use them. And even though her words gave the hint of it, Hana's actions did not allow any sort of preparation. She just charged forward with the intent to strike Amaranta down. The moment Hana found herself in range of a sword swing, she attempted to make a horizontal strike to cut open the Arrancars right arm. Hana wasn't thinking critically... She just wanted the kill.

"Eh?"

What type of response was that? As she expected, she was exactly like that twerp. Find an Arrancar whose merely minding their business, assume they've come bearing bad intentions, and attack them without hesitation. Even worse, her words sounded so rehearsed, voiced with such an utter lack of conviction that it made the leonine woman grit her teeth in response, as though she were bearing witness to a terrible performance. Raising an arm to block the horizontal strike, Amaranta regarded her with a gaze so overbearing that the atmosphere itself seemed to flare in response to her exasperation. Under normal circumstances, she would have simply walked away, brushed the little pup off with a middle finger, continuing on with her business. This, however, was something that could not be ignored.

"Oi. This a game to you? You haven't even taken a moment to think before you act. Is it your duty to die like a fool, too?"

In the space of a single second, Amaranta roared forth with a vicious counter, slamming her fist against the woman's jaw. If it happened to land, and she was sent stumbling a few meters backward, Amaranta would approach her with a raised eyebrow.

"No preparation. No conviction. You just came rushing in like a fuckin' bafoon. What is this? Heroic Shinigami vanquishes the foul, beastly hollow? Nay. I daresay, if this were anyone else, you would be dead right now."

In a mocking tone with equally mocking words, Amaranta clenched her fist. To her, lacking the conviction in one's words to say they would exorcise her was a grave offense. Battle was not something to be taken lightly, no one in their right mind should rush to their deathbed unless they desired it against all else. Perhaps, she would make that lesson known to the woman here and now.

Hana had been on a roll. She already slayed three hollows today, two yesterday, and four the day before. She hadn't even been injured. Maybe that allowed her more confidence than she deserved. Maybe doing so well caused her to act irrationally, dangerously... foolishly. Her attack was easily thwarted. Hana's eyes momentarily widened, a look of surprise before a fist came at her. She turned her head just enough that the impact wouldn't break her jaw, but it did cause her own teeth to cut the inside of her mouth. She stumbled back, a hand on her face as she spit out a small amount of blood. Eyes still wide, she looked up to Amaranta...

"I don't understand..." Hana muttered, holding her cheek, and then thinking, "How are my senses always so off? I practice my reikaku like anyone else, but I can't tell the differences between strengths and species. I couldn't tell she was so powerful..."

In hearing Amaranta's mocking words, Hana's eyes narrowed in anger. She gripped her zanpakuto firmly and readied herself again. "Anyone else?" Hana said, raising an eyebrow, less in curiosity and more in mocking disbelief. "Are you trying to claim there are non-beastly hollow? Some Arrancar can think rationally and exhibit forms of self control, yes, but that does not mean hollow are anything more than ravenous monsters. When your existence hinges on the deaths of dozens, maybe even hundreds of innocent people, you cannot be called anything but corrupt."

"Do I look like my existence hinges on the deaths of hundreds of people? Don't get me wrong, you've got one thing right. Nine times out of ten, you'll run into more ravenous monsters than you do those who are sentient enough to reason with. That's not my point here, stupid."

A single step of Sonido was all she required to close the distance between them. Gazing down at Hana, Amaranta growled exasperatedly, annoyed more by the woman's stupidity in racing in without a gameplan than her whole spiel about the nature of a hollow. Far as she was concerned, none of that mattered. Whether good or evil, hero or villain, running into a battle without the conviction to follow through was the same as jumping into a vat of acid.

"That punch for example? That was a warning sign. I don't get off on fighting people below my paygrade as a warrior, but you need to learn a lesson. Either improve your spiritual sense or develop a real killer's intent. True conviction is going into battle with certainty, not charging in without knowing what your getting yourself into. Half of you soul reapers talk about how its your duty to cleanse us hollow, but the lot of you fail to realize the danger you find yourselves in."

She wasn't even worth striking again. Without hesitation, Amaranta allowed her spiritual pressure to truly dominate the atmosphere, bringing each iota of energy to bear to press down on Hana's body like a colossal weight on her shoulders.

"Look around you. Is there anyone here to save you? Sure, you could call for backup, but in the time it took you to do so, I could soar in and slit your throat with my hand before a single word exited your lips. Then, I'd devour you until there was nothing left. That is what a ravenous monster would do."

Was Hana supposed to answer that question? By being an Arrancar, yes, her existence meant the deaths of many other people. That's how hollows worked, that's how Arrancar worked. Otherwise, they'd never evolve. Hana was no longer sure mouthing off was okay here though. She was starting to sense these quick sparks of energy that just outclassed her own. At first, she didn't think they came from Amaranta, but the angrier the woman got, the more those little sparks ignited her senses. Hana went to take a single step back, but as she did, Amaranta closed that gap and stood over Hana like she was nothing more than a mere child.

The punch was a warning sign? Hana, unable to move, her eyes stuck staring into Amaranta's like she was too scared to look away. She could still feel the sting of this woman's fist hitting her face. She barely moved away enough to go back home with the ability to chew, and that was a warning shot? And if Amaranta's words rang true, she was only concerned with Hana's impulsivity in battle? A weird Arrancar.

And then it came... the wave of energy that she had been feeling momentary sparks of overwhelmed her like a tsunami rolling over a city, crushing people, knocking down buildings with no care to what was in its way. Hana felt like there wasn't a thing she could do or say here. She only thought of the possibility of death, the stupid decision to run at this woman without understanding her opponent...

"Shameful." Hana thought of herself, accepting her death, before her eyes rolled into the back of their sockets and she collapsed on the ground. She wasn't out for too long, somewhere around twenty to thirty minutes. When she woke, she laid silently and looked around, taking a minute to remember what happened. When the memories came back, she rapidly sat up and looked around... "I'm... alive?"

Amaranta stretched her arms, cocking her head to the side as she witnessed the woman collapsing onto the ground. Her spiritual pressure was pretty fierce, huh? Shit. Now that she realized, releasing her spiritual pressure in one titanic wave could lead to others being attracted to the energy, hollows included. Groaning softly, she supposed there would no point in teaching the woman a lesson if she actually died, left to be eaten alive by hollows attracted to her own energy.

She could already imagine Khaana chewing her ear out for a stunt like that, but goddamit, this Shinigami needed to learn a lesson. If it meant imposing her spiritual pressure on her to show her how easily her life could be snuffed out if she ran into the wrong people? Then so be it. After returning to her prior activity of firing cero at unsuspecting sea animals for target practice for thirty minutes, the leonine woman direct her her azure gaze toward Hana.

"Yep. You fainted from my imposing spiritual pressure. Welcome back to reality."

Hana's question had been more to herself since she didn't expect the Arrancar to still be here and had not yet spotted her. When Amaranta's voice caught her attention, Hana's gaze snapped her direction and she tried standing up. The rush was a bit too much, however, and she realized she didn't have the strength, or even the desire, to try and get to her feet. She kept scooted herself over to a tree, leaning against the trunk and focusing on breathing normally. She still felt lightheaded.

"Why didn't you kill me?" Hana said and then realized she was no longer holding onto her sword. She looked around and spotted it a couple feet away. Leaning over, she went to grab it. "I don't expect an Arrancar to care for the life of a Shinigami."