Fingers Furled in Fear [Sabre, Rita]

Tiredness. That was the first thing Rita felt. Dirtied, sweaty, and splattered with dried blood, Rita had definitely had better days and could use a shower. As she awoke, there was a slight wince as she grunted; almost sounding like a low whine for a brief moment as the intense soreness and pain her body felt was complete agony. She had another low groan emit from her mouth afterward as her body slightly shook. Everything felt like a dull, burning pain, and she needed to take it slow.

With another pained mutter, Rita turned herself upward, and the woman slowly adjusted her eyesight to the dimly lit surroundings. That's when a mental check started in her mind and quickly assessed her physical condition. She had her limbs, she was breathing and felt relatively stable apart from the previous injuries made in the battle itself. Still, that did little to un-do her apprehension at the situation at hand. There was an overwhelming sense of lingering dread, but that couldn't be helped since she was in an unknown situation.

Given the lack of creatures around, it was hard to give a reference of where she was, so, for now, she pondered if she was just going to be tortured if they would have another fight, or what the hell Sabre even wanted at this point. So, there was a mental acceptance that had to be formed for the time being if she were to keep her emotions tamed. Fear of the unknown is what drove humans to great distress, and Rita wasn't much different.

To soothe lingering anxiety, a soft, quiet sigh exhaled as she tried to loosen her body's muscles to prepare for any type of physical assault that may or may not come her way.

When ready to speak, her irritated eyes darted back to the woman as a scowl came across her face.

"So, what's the plan from here? Torture me? Keep me prisoner? Or do you intend to kill me?"

Despite her visible annoyance at her situation, the woman had an odd sense of calmness at this point as her words were slowed, focused, and low. Not like there was much she could do until she could recover, anyway. And she somehow doubted the woman would even give her an obvious answer, given Rita believed Saber was just full of shit. But, it was better just to ask and assess the situation further before being too rash and provoking her further. That's ultimately why she was even in this circumstance to begin with.

Rita let out a weary sigh as Saber kept pressing the subject matter of the incident back in their clash. For a moment, Rita did feel a wave of anger flash over her mind and body. She wanted to let off a remark but closed her dog-tired eyes and seemed to be in reflective thought. Internally, the woman made an effort to just set aside her own ego for a moment. Perhaps they did mean something to her? Yeah, they were still living creatures, so it could be rough to deal with the slaughtering of those hollows. Makes sense she would feel a certain way as Rita herself would if the roles were reversed.

Thus, after a few contemplative moments, the woman opened her drained eyes and set her fatigued gaze on Sabre. When her thoughts were together, her voice spoke out.

"I'm not gonna assume what is going on in your head, but it does seem like those hollows meant something to you. For whatever it is worth, I'm sorry about what happened. It was nothing personal, I just wanted to help my people. And I'd guess you are as well if you really aren't just a mindless killing machine like you say you are."

The words uttered weren't forced or coerced and were spoken with relative stillness and repose. If Rita wanted to? She could spit in her face and just keep fighting til her dying breath. Instead, she took the silence and lack of immediate threat to introspect and make her own attempt to emphasize or see the other side. She had no belief or intent of them being used to get her out of this circumstance, as she still felt that once she recovered, she could handle things herself. But it didn't hurt to re-assess her methods since this was a fuck-up.

Regardless of her response, the listless stare of Rita turned back down to the forest as she could see some branches and an endless sense of darkness spiraling out. There was a sense of eerieness in the sense of how vast and deep the shadows extended. Following the observation of that view, Rita's contemplative gaze set itself on Saber as she stared for a few moments before speaking.

"And how do you intend to do that? If you haven't noticed, I'm exhausted."

That was the truth of it, and Rita's voice didn't mince words. Her body felt like shit; she needed time to recover and heal and get herself together. Which made her suspicions begin to come to the forefront of her mind. As if she wasn't in a place to properly execute her power to its fullest, then she assumed it would be done by force. Her mind had led her to believe that since she was an Arrancar and had dragged her out to such a remote location, something forceful WAS going to happen. The only issue was figuring out when the shoe would drop.

Hence, Rita still had her questions to ask as the woman slowly nodded her head to affirm she heard Sabre.

"It's an easy request to fulfill, but tell me: are you trying to steal it? Use it against me? Rip it out of me and make me powerless? There has to be some type of catch. Truthfully, I'm not that trusting of people. There has to be some ulterior motive."

There was any sass or any intent to irritate her further. Rita just spoke in a frank, calm, quiet manner and just awaited an answer as her stare lingered.

Well, that smile was ominous. Rita didn't care for it, but there were worse things in the world than an uncanny smile. For now, she kept her cool and just let her ego take a back seat to think things through a bit more. So while her comments about breaking out of her shell didn't generate a visible response, it was mentally noted. The gaze of Rita was one of deliberation, after all. The quietness of the air and the lack of immediate threat allowed her to narrow in their actions, think things through, and have more care for the words spoken out of her mouth.

"Hm. Alright. When you are ready to cross that bridge to discuss those "ideas" with me, let me know. Otherwise, I'm forced to draw my own conclusions...."

Words drenched in fatigue, skepticism, and unsettledness, her teal eyes kept their tired sights on Sabre as she moved through the gaps in the branches. Although Rita had little to no trust for Sabre, if there wasn't a need for violence right now, it made more logical sense to follow that route. And given how sore her ass felt, she definitely welcomed the idea of resting and recovering. If she was in Hueco Mundo, there was little point in venturing out into enemy lands in her current conditions.

"Aye. It won't get ugly if you don't get ugly then. I'm too tired for that shit anyway."

Rita felt relieved, uncertain, and questioning all at once as her voice remained low as if she were undoubtedly conserving her energy. Still, this sense of "kindness" unnerved the woman. Her eyes did have a look of apprehension and doubt to them as if she couldn't believe the circumstance was where it was now. So, rather than fill the air with useless taunts and insults, she decided to have an actual conversation to make things less...awkward.

"How long is this whole process going to take then? Sounds like we'll be here for a few days from the way you are making things sound."