Shadows In The Sun [Veralia/Amaranta]

"What people see in this place is beyond me. But at least there is a lot of sun here."

A small horned Arrancar, Veralia, seemed to mutter to herself as she walked through the endless plains. As the unending glare of the sun blared down on the barren wastelands of Africa's outlands, all the woman could see with her eyes was dirt, corpses, skeletons, and an endless blue sky above. Despite the dead space around her, something fierce was alive out here and caught the Arrancar's attention.

Veralia walked a few hundred feet before coming upon a scene of carnage. A tall, chiseled woman lay on the ground, her midsection a grotesque tableau of burnt flesh and sinew. The ground was pockmarked, splattered with blood—a clear testament to a fierce battle. Veralia's sharp eyes noted the woman's Arrancar-like energy signature and a curious eyebrow arched on her face.

"Yeah, you're fucked up. Do you need a hand? I'm guessing you have an aumentar like me if you are skewered that badly and not regenerating."

Content sapphires were drawn away from the crimson sky above. Remnants of sparks danced toward the ground in slow descent. Like raindrops, each spark touched the wartorn soil with an audible hiss. An observational eye of any degree would discern the ruination spanning several meters across what was once a graveyard filled with the bodies of dead hollow and human alike. In the ring of that destruction, marvelling at each symbol of destruction wrought by her hands, Amaranta glanced in Veralia's direction, responding to the woman's words with a boisterous peal of laughter.

"Bingo. I never bothered with the idea of ever focusing on regenerating my wounds. Worrying about one's longevity regarding their body breeds stagnation. Battle scars are the mark of a warrior's pride, wouldn't ya say?"

To be certain, her condition mattered little to her at the current moment. The small-horned arrancar might well prove amusing entertainment in the wake of her battle. An answer over assistance. That was the approach chosen by the leonine woman.

"Can't say I'm a warrior, but I am a fighter and survivor. And as a fighter, being strong enough to not even need regeneration sounds more ideal than not. So yeah, I agree with ya."

Veralia nodded along with Amaranta as she continued to observe her injury and the battlefield around them. The sight of the woman's skewered guts caused memories of Veralia's own battles from a hollow to an arrancar to come to mind.

As far as Veralia was concerned, the battles of Hueco Mundo were chaotic and devoid of honor; each a desperate struggle to survive and grow stronger. With her eyebrow twitching involuntarily as these reflections continued on in her head, she wondered how anyone could have that mentality of warrior pride given the brutality of their home.

Despite those thoughts, however, the rancid scent of burning flesh and death yanked Veralia's thoughts back to the grim present. In response, those bloody eyes of hers continued to linger on Amaranta as if she were studying the larger woman. When the silence passed, her cool and calm voice spoke out:

"Where do you want to go to get treated? Even if you are strong, in your condition, it looks like you are gonna bleed out."

She pondered their options – returning to Hueco Mundo, seeking refuge in a city – each fraught with uncertainty given the nature of their kind and the aftermath of the battle.

"And I'd hate to overload you with questions since you look like hell right now, but do you know what is happening on this continent? I've been wandering out of Hueco Mundo and I have no earthly idea why there are so many hollows and arrancar fighting on this dirt ball."

"Fighter. Survivor. Warrior... all three of them go hand and hand, if you ask me. A warrior fights to survive. Some thrive on the glory of victory, others thrive on the adrenaline of survival. It all depends on perspective."

Foregoing self-preservation in favor of strength - that was the path she chose. Veralia seemed to share a similar view, from her current perspective, though perhaps hers wasn't so cut and dry. Whatever the case was, Amaranta stretched her arms as she rose from the ground. The crimson canopy above was still ever present, but her attention was wholly focused on the woman who approached her momentary domain.

"Heh, with the perception of our kind putting people on such high alert nowadays? I'm not sure. Hard to imagine many willing spirits out here that would readily heal an Amazonian arrancar out of the kindness of their heart. Well, if worse comes to worse, I'll just use my flames to cauterize my wounds. "

Amaranta cocked her head to the side, a playful grin dancing along her expression as she rubbed the back of her head. An interesting question, to be certain, but she would humor her nevertheless, curious spirit that she was. As it stood, she was no more aware of the why than Veralia was. A baseline knowledge was all she had regarding the events of this madness.

"Honestly? Hell if I know. I haven't been able to figure that out myself. A chasm opened up and Hollow and Arrancar have been running wild ever since. It was enough to force Shinigami and Quincy to join sides to fend off the enemies. Man, I'd love to fight one myself before they handle the issue... if they handle the issue, that is."

As her eyebrow twitched involuntarily, Veralia felt a pang of envy for Amaranta’s carefree attitude. How blissful it must be to wander life with such ease.

"You aren't wrong. People can find beauty in the suffering and pain, whereas others can see the ugliness of life through the bloodshed."

Closing her eyes for a moment, Veralia took time to process what Amaranta had said. Perspective can make a person feel as if they are the king of this world, or lower than the dirt itself. And because of that, she knew her point of view was corrupted in envy, contempt, and bitterness and couldn't always be reliable. Hence, Veralia knew to take her perception with a grain of salt.

"Can't say I'm entirely selfless. Given how small this world is, one kind act here, one act of grace there and you have a network of people you can depend on. It's ugly, but I speak the truth of my motives."

She nodded in agreement with Amaranta's skepticism about their kind's charity. Sure, Veralia didn't want to see people die if they had done nothing to her. But given the strength of the other woman could lead to her benefit, she could see the shallowness of her interaction. It was hard to believe any unconditional kindness or love existed in this world.

As her blood eye drifted off in the distance, the words Amaranta spoke of the hole in Africa brought her to ponder what even was in there. Was it worth getting involved with? That was hard to say as sometimes it was better to mind your business than jump into a conflict that doesn't concern you if there isn't any benefit to be had. So she looked back down at the taller woman before nodding.

"I guess I'll observe things from afar. I doubt it's the time for me to meddle in whatever is going on there."

Muttering to herself, she then let out a gentle sigh before an emerald flame appeared in her hand and she looked at the wounds Amaranta had on her gut.

"If you want, I can cauterize it for you and give you some energy to stand if you need it. I'm no medic, but no point in letting you die out here in the middle of bumfuck nowhere."

"If I can have my way, I'd love to go back there at least once. Fight one of those hollows."

Amaranta chortled casually as she continued to observe the horned-arrancar hovering around her. There was no real opinion on her yet, but she seemed amicable enough. Any other arrancar or hollow would have certainly taken the opportunity to take advantage of her in a weakened state like this. Hell, she was even willing to cauterize her wounds for her.

With each ounce of blood leaking out at the moment, it would be a foolish offer to refuse. If her motives were to have someone to depend on, the leonine woman wasn't particularly against the idea of forging some form of alliance with her. For now, she simply nodded her head, presenting her belly before the woman with an amused grin.

"Fine. Do as you will. I'm not exactly looking to pass out here, either. If you're not aiming to get caught up, I can play bodyguard for a few hours until we split paths. What's your name, arrancar?"

"Eh? If it's just a hollow, I'm sure there are plenty back in Hueco Mundo or even this planet that you could fight. There aren't any shortages of them, y'know."

Veralia tilted her head curiously, tapping her chin as she pondered Amaranta's interest in fighting a unique hollow.

"But I guess I could see the appeal in fighting something rare like that so I won't fault you for it."

Eyes beginning to dart over to her emerald flame, there was a comfort in having her element be brought to the material world. However, before she could dwell too much on that, Amaranta had asked for her name. This caused Veralia to unconsciously blink as she had gotten so caught up in the moment she must've forgotten it. Chuckling in an amused way, she nodded her head and spoke up:

"Veralia Espina is my name, but you can just call me Veralia. Pleasure to be of service."

With introductions aside, Veralia’s expression turned focused and intense as she regarded Amaranta’s wounded belly. Taking in a soft breath to steady her nerves, the horned arrancar scattered her embers across the abdomen of Amaranta. The heat from the fire sizzled the skin as the wound started to seal itself up. Of course, the smell was god awful as burning flesh wasn't exactly a treat for anyone to smell. So, Veralia wrinkled her nose, covering it with her free hand.

"If you need me to pause for whatever reason, let me know. I'd imagine this hurts since I've got nothing to numb you."

"Rare is one way of putting it. These monstrosities are nothing like I've seen in Hueco Mundo. The minute they hop out of the hole, they seem like they come equipped with sentience and know exactly where to go. Hard to describe it, but these things are nothing like your average hollow."

Amaranta had been here long enough to know that. These were anomalies. Wherever they crawled from, like a moth to flames, Amaranta wanted to discover it. She always lived on the edge, and couldn't exactly imagine avoiding that chasm even in an injured state like this. If anything, a reckless prospect like that excited her even more so. For now, she simply contented herself with allowing the Veralia to cauterize and mend her grotesque wound. As expected, the smell was anything but pleasant, but that hardly bothered the leonine woman. She merely maintained her grin as the woman healed her.

"Nah, this doesn't bother me one bit. Name's Amaranta Valeria. Nice to meet ya, Veralia."

Well, at least the woman was strong-willed. Veralia didn't feel like dealing with someone squirming, thrashing, and making a scene so Amaranta's pain endurance made this far less of a headache than she imagined. This also allowed her to focus more on Amaranta's words, her eyebrow slightly raising in intrigue at the mention of unique hollows.

"That is unique. Do you think they give a shit about us regular Arrancar and Hollow? I dunno, I was weighing whether or not I'd find anything of value by poking my nose over there."

Veralia mused with a chuckle before continuing to speak.

"But another part of me says sometimes the best move is to mind your business."

And speaking of business, her eyes still were fixed on the gnarly sight ahead of her. Since she was able to apply her powers with a bit more force, Amaranta may notice the emerald flames becoming brighter and hotter. It wouldn't be much longer until Veralia would seal that thing shut and at least prevent her from bleeding out or getting any wounds.

So, the next step would be to transfer some energy into her so the woman could stand on her own feet and figure out a way to receive actual proper medical care. Given how durable and strong the other taller arrancar was, she figured she could manage that.

Veralia let out a gentle sigh, focusing her energy. Amaranta's body became enveloped in an emerald glow, a wave of powerful emotions – envy, loathing, and smothering power – swirling around her. Veralia wasn't one to exploit the vulnerability of another if they weren't her enemy; instead, she channeled her envious power into Amaranta, infusing her with revitalizing energy.

"How ya' feelin' now?"

"Dunno. From what I've gathered, they usually attack anything in their direct vicinity, regardless of race. I'm not even sure they're capable of being tamed. The only value I'd imagine being found in that hellhole is analyzing them before they expire completely."

Exhaling softly, relishing in the energy suffusing her body, Amaranta clenched her fists as she regarded the arrancar with curious sapphires. There was something decidedly peculiar about this energy. From a small sample alone, she could effectively "taste" the smothering flavor of envy and loathing that emanated from this woman. It wasn't a particularly unpleasant taste, but it elicited a visible grin from the leonine arrancar. Rising to her feet, standing over Veralia, Amaranta ruffled her hair as she held her gaze for a moment.

"Good enough to flex my muscles and run around. That's good enough for me. That energy... just now, though? What was that? Tastes like envy and loathing. An interesting flavor to say the least..."