Halcyon Days Bygone Summers [Reida]

"So you are ignorant of my gift then?"

She shook her head like she was a little bit disappointed by the whole thing. Oh well, she had to forgive them sometimes. She was selective when it came to chosing vessels believe it or not: status, location, and so on, these were all factors in her selection for seeding her reiatsu into targets.

"That's not how barginin' goes, Darlin'. Though feel free to attack me, you might kill your friend in the process though... Maybe I just need to force some more poison into your system to wake it up. You can handle that much, right, or is the tough girl look just an act?"

The mocking voice shot back with a cackle. Her reiatsu leaked out a little bit, this body was like trying to fit a lake into a soda can but it didn't mean she'd let it pop. A delicate process was required to make sure that it all went well.

This was a bad situation, for more reasons than the obvious immediate problem. Reida didn't know what she was dealing with, but she didn't know what this mysterious entity even wanted, either. For all she knew, it really did have the wrong person. Was that possible? It had to be, right?

"Ya gotta be a little clearer, whatever the hell ya are. Wake up what? I ain't just goin' along with somethin' without any explanation."

It wasn't necessarily that Reida was stalling for time. After all, who was going to show up here? That was the whole reason she and Brae always came here, it was out of the way and nobody was going to bother them. Maybe she was stupid for that, but it meant right now, she couldn't rely on anyone but herself.

She felt like she was trying to teach a baby how to do math, maybe it was her fault for always giving them too much credit, was it bad though to hope that humans might show enough potential to not be looked at so pathetically by her? She suppose it was.

"Alright. Clearer it is."

Her face looked annoyed but she jumped in the air with a little bit more strength than a normal human should be capable of. Hands remained in the pockets of her camo jacket and twisted to kick Reida across the face, she'd just have to beat her until she got through. The toxic green reiatsu beginning to leak a little bit into the air around them to stain the air to a hue of green and the hollow sensation resonating through her.

"Don't worry. I won't kill you."

What the hell? Whatever she was dealing with was obviously way above her paygrade, considering how quick that kick had actually been. Reida fell back into the dirt from the impact, the taste of blood filling her mouth. Fuck. Spitting onto the ground to empty her mouth, crimson splattering into the mud, she stood back up, eyeing the body of her friend again.

"I'd hope not, wouldn't help wake up much'a anything, would it..."

Internally, there was a burning in Reida that she couldn't ignore, but she also couldn't place it. Was it the Hollow pressure around her? No, she'd been around a Hollow attack before, this wasn't just because of that. The injury in her mouth itched, felt wrong, and she kept feeling it over with her tongue as if to make sure it wasn't getting worse or something.

"Gotta at least gimme some kinda guideline here, ya know."

"The more a fruit endures, the sweeter it tastes when you eat it, right? By that logic you should be one of the sweetest by how unwilling your power is to bloom and how much I'm going to make you go through."

This wasn't helpful for Reida though, she understood that. How would she bring out the juvenille's powers? The most effective she'd witnessed was dragging them to Hueco Mundo where it resonated with the environment but exposing them to her reiatsu was usually enough.

"A guideline... How about you stop overthinking it? Just act on instinct, like you're an animal. Aren't you upset at the idea that you might never see your friend again? I said I wouldn't kill you but that doesn't mean I'm not willing to tear your limbs off. Fight me for your life, Reida. You'll live but I'll make it the worst life you could have if I need to."

Of course fighting back was the smart thing to do. She was in a dangerous position, so she oughta just fight for her life, right? Sure, in most cases, Reida wouldn't have thought twice about it. But this particular opponent was using the body of someone she cared about, so she didn't exactly want to hurt it.

"'Course I'm upset, you rat fuckin' bastard. How's about you stop hidin' in Brae's body then and fight me for real, 'stead of bein' so chicken shit scared you gotta hide behind a teenage girl?"

Despite the insinuation from Reida that she was holding back simply because of the situation, the reality was that she'd already started to succumb, at least in part, to the weight of the Hollow reiatsu around her, and more specifically to this exact Hollow. The injuries in her mouth had begun to heal far more rapidly, but she hadn't even noticed. She was too busy growing overconfident, goading a fight she had no business trying to get into.

"You should be thanking your friend. Having to hold back like this is the only reason you haven't been crushed into a fine mist thus far. If I wasn't in this body that kick might've sent your head flying from your shoulders."

She sneered at her like a snake that was hovering over a mouse. This girl's attitude was so delicious. She was rebellious, full of energy, and overconfident. So proud of her own identity and thinking she was breaking out of the yoke of society. It was pure vanity but should she expect anything less that came from her? It needed to know its place though.

'You're upset and angry, that's good, but I don't want to fight you. So I'll make it a lot easier for us both."

The harsh voice stated while reaching into the camo jacket to pull out her host's own knife. She could really turn this into a brawl but that was messy and troublesome. It was a lot easier to just point the knife at her own throat instead.

"If I slash her throat I'll come out of it just fine but it won't matter since your friend won't have a body to come back to."

Damn it. Reida didn't know what to do here. She couldn't just fight whatever this was, not without maybe hurting Brae, too. That wasn't an option, but the hell else was she supposed to do, just listen? That didn't sound right either, but she was running out of options here.

"Tch. Least then you'd've been honest about it."

She didn't have any other choice. This creature wanted instinct, Reida had to at least try. All at once, she tensed up, far more power than she typically should have had welling up beneath her, and launched herself toward whatever this creature was. She wasn't trying to attack her, just to get the knife out of the equation somehow.

If things got violent, she didn't know what she'd do. She'd figure that out. She was trying not to think about it.

"Eh?"

Restricted by the otherwise powerless human's body she didn't appreciate being pressured like this. Something was happening though, it was what she wanted so she couldn't complain but it did succeed in getting the knife away from her throat.

It went from holding a hostage to slashing at Reida in its own attempt to inflict a superficial wound that'd double down on that flight or fight response and drive her closer to instincts.

Ideally, she would've gotten the knife out of the way before a slash could have happened, but Reida hadn't really expected to be quite that lucky when she made this offensive. She'd at least practiced knife stuff with daddy now and then, but this was a whole different situation. As the knife swung toward her, Reida had little option but to let it hit her, the blade leaving a good stroke of crimson as she attempted to grab at the arm holding it.

"Surprised I got this kinda thing in me?"

But, even if she herself was hardly aware of it, Reida wasn't quite operating in the same way she normally would have. Her heart was racing, her eyes were almost frantic in their attention toward whatever was possessing Brae, and the wound she'd taken only made the adrenaline pump more. What next? She had to do something.