Such A Sorry State [Kita, Amaranta]

Iron fangs tasted blood as her grasp was torn, claws scraping against flesh as she fell into a new position several feet from her opponent, eyes wide and adrenaline rushing. Positioned on her fours like that of beastkind, her fingers tightly grasped the handle of her blade as a course of thoughts went through as the smoke cleared, her mind quieting with the sight before her. Fear and doubt were snuffled like fingers to a candle's wick, replaced with naught but a hunger for blood; a fade into a violent darkness did not drive her actions, no, she wanted blood to spill upon the barren earth, the dusty earth to drink the red of her efforts.

Even with the burn of flames hazing her vision, she'd rush forth, the lick of flames and metal biting into her body as she ate through the strike with little worry, her momentum guiding her to grasp the throat of her opponent and throw her to the ground with her strength and body alone.

The look of her face no longer read a dejected creature, depressed and wandering about.

Even with the throb of her wounded lower body that already began closing up to the dismay of her opponent, there was pure ecstasy in the Arrancar's eyes.

To her dismay? No, there wasn't anything close to dismay here. The moment those fierce sapphires recognized that her body could regenerate its wounds, her excitement elevated to what could only be described as a state of nirvana. There was mutual ecstasy in this ferocious dance of unrestrained violence.

The tigress hand clinched the lioness's throat, but she didn't allow herself to be thrown to the ground, digging the heels of her feet into the dirt as she rushed forward. In a contest of strength, they seemed evenly matched.

Another revelation that brought her no small degree of joy. Amaranta's arm swung through the air with the brutal intention of seizing the woman's throat in return. Nothing but bloodcolored excitement tore across her fierce features as her gaze reveled in the joy Kita's resolve brought her.

Gone was the defeated expression that disgusted her moments prior. Those eyes emanated a bloodlust equal to her own. There was nothing but the sole intent of imposing her will on this wartorn battlefield, and that filled her with an indescribable sense of satisfaction that bordered on pleasure.

"Grrkhehehehahaha! That's the look! Right there! Impose your will! More! More! More!"

Her muscles tensed and pulsed with the rising adrenaline and strain, her reiatsu feeling as if one were standing next to a roaring bonfire that had lit to a furious flame. Golden eyes tinged with green banefully stared her opponent down as her hold on her neck was not stopped or interrupted, keeping the pressure on even as she herself felt the choke. There was no more room for thought or concern, she was doing what she craved. Every little nick, tear, and strain placed upon her motivated her to throw it back in the face of the inflictor with incredible joy, a crackle of heat forming at the palm and digits wrapped so tightly around Amaranta's throat, forcibly tearing the deadlock between them apart with an incredible explosion.

She wanted more? Oh, she would get more! A smile brimming with mirth, she would bring her blade up, to call upon her true power for the first time:

"Level the field, Justicia!" Was spoken with shrill ecstasy, her blade and body growing rapidly in heat before yet another incredible explosion went off from her entire being, most definitely catching Amaranta up in it if she hadn't the reaction time to move, unveiling her self covered in the bones of her bestial self, red hair flowing like flames - not that it would have much time to be pondered as she came in hot with a two-handed strike crackling with sparks to strike whatever it fell upon with an even grander explosion than her concealed self.

Much like she chose to hold her ground, Kita's posture did not budge in the slightest. They were now locked in a brutal deadlock, but such a vicious engagement proved short-lived as a roaring spark flared around her neck. It wasn't difficult to discern what this momentous spike in spiritual energy indicated.

At that moment, she uttered her zanpakuto's release phrase, encompassing the burning lioness within a maelstrom of explosive energy that dwarfed the prior explosion in sheer mass. Much like before, Amaranta braved the torrent of energy as it swallowed her body whole.

Bloodied and unbowed, the bronze woman, adorned in severe burns streaking across her arms and legs, employed sonido to avoid the tigress collapsing on her from above. The explosion that accompanied such a strike only served to elicit a supreme measure of bliss.

"Beautiful..."

Elation suffused her entire being Amaranta raised her claymore high above her head. This was true satisfaction. There was no ounce of playfulness to this murderous clash. Neither opponent toyed with the other, and neither regarded this as a playful affair to be taken lightly. It was sheer madness. Two beasts vying for supremacy in a wartorn country. It was fitting, then, to respond to Kita's relentless fervor in kind.

"Fan the flames, Rebelión!"

Subsequently, an orb of luminous gold encompassed her body, accompanied by an immense heat wave. From the glowing orb of spiritual pressure, Amaranta stepped forward, her eyes afire with the thrill of battle, her body a walking embodiment of her title. A floating mane of fire, incandescent arms, and claws, a burning tail. Like a meteor shot from a cannon, she rushed forward again, launching an explosive strike toward her chest, her booming laughter filling the air.

"That look on your face just now... you're having fun, too, aren't you!?"

With the growth and expansion of her opponent's spiritual pressure hammering back on her, with the blow of hot air whipping her hair and scorching her skin, her eyes only grew with terrible excitement, a manic toothy grin on her face as her chest was aflutter with joy that brought quickly vanishing tears to her eyes. She couldn't truly articulate it in the heat of the moment, but this was the kind of fighting she had craved - a battle with an equal.

As that explosive strike rushed for her chest, Kita's body engulfed in a cloak of sparking fire, aggressive spitting flames set off only by that blow crashing into her, the crush of bone being reciprocated with an overwhelming explosion, as if Amaranta had just foolishly set off a powerful bomb - it was somewhat stronger, with slightly more bang and presence than her initial strike, the feline arrancar wheezing and spitting blood as she grinned at her opposition.

"Fun... Yes! My soul is filled with merriment and joy! If this is fun, then it is fun!" She'd call out before coming in with another swing of her blade to her fellow burning cat, threatening to cut into her arm if not clashed against.

The explosive feedback her body exuded the moment her fist clashed with her chest filled Amaranta with an even grander sense of excitement. What sent her body reeling momentarily was merely another obstacle to adapt and overcome with sheer might. Such a phenomenon, transcending common thought, felt considerably close to the power afforded by her release form, but that was mere conjecture at the moment. Whatever the method behind that explosive burst of flame - akin to striking a bomb - was, the Burning Lioness intended to explore it thoroughly, with her own two hands.

The Sparking Tigress, unfazed by the violent blow across her chest, roared in for a counter. An act that brought the leonine woman no small amount of pleasure. In that short window, Amaranta's fist rose nigh-simultaneously to clash against Kita's blade, aiming to push it downward through monstrous physical prowess. Though it hardly compared to the bombastic nature of her current opponent's explosive capability on contact, Amaranta's strikes were capable of exerting a similar force, even more so when she focused her reiryoku around her fists.

"Good! Whatever you're feeling right now, seize it! Embrace it, and don't you dare let go of it! True Apex Predators fall only when one has truly wrested the life out of their flesh! We don't hide, waiting until someone else leads us by the hand. As the ones who stand at the top of the food chain - we hunt our prey and fill ourselves until our bellies are full!"

These apex predators continued to carve permanent proof of their battle into this wartorn plain. Upturned earth. Falling Debris. Explosive torrents of energy encompassed their entire area, crushing any beast who would dare encroach upon their dance. If the deflection of her strike proved sufficient, Amaranta would lift her finger, positioning it as though she were leveling a gun upon her beloved foe, firing an orange beam of energy at her chest.

Cero, Sonido, Perquisa... Amaranta wanted to employ any and every tool, though none of them were employed with desperation in mind. No, each was merely a display of the honorable joy she felt in fighting a worthwhile opponent, one who was rising above her own limitations as the battle progressed, satisfying her beyond measure.

The struggle, the tension, the scent of blood, sweat, and heat scorching her senses as her strength met Amaranta's own, her opponent's words drumming her ears and further fuelling her excitement, her stubborn grip refusing to cease pushing against that which threatened to crush her. Was this what it felt like? To truly enjoy a fight? Rather than to mindlessly tear at prey, or to be suffocated into submission? Is this the joy she had been missing out on in her complacency? Then it was only appropriate she survived, to grow stronger, to be able to continue enjoying this bliss in violence!

Flickering orange caught her gaze, her instincts acting before her thoughts, a burn in her throat as her lips parted to reveal a light with a strong hiss and smoke crawling past the corner of her lips; A Cero at the ready. The heat in her throat was intense, as she would then fire the beam - however it was no ordinary Cero, as when it made contact with anything, an explosion far more powerful than the beginning would set off, blowing dust and debris in it's wake.

Her flames only grew hotter as the battle progressed, her thrill rising.

From the maw of the tigress, an explosive torrent of energy was released. The luminous orange that flickered around the tip of her finger shot forth to meet the blast that portends destruction. Two beams of light whirled and clashed in an explosive array of chaos as another explosion filled the desecrated battlefield that surrounded them, their bodies swept up within the tornado of annihilation. Dust and debris accompanied the upturned earth, and, recognizing an opportunity, Amaranta flashed through the air, vanishing from one position
in the air to another, punching each piece of heavy debris toward Kita.

Of course, her assault didn't end there. The Burning Lioness was far too enraptured to approach this battle with such elementary technique. Following the wave of debris, a tactic she doubted would impede her explosive foe, Amaranta hovered above the woman as she prepared another cero. However, the application differed in that, whereas opposed to firing her first using her enhanced reiryoku as a catalyst, this next deluge of energy would employ a coordinated fusion between her unfettered flames and the destructive spiritual energy encompassing her form. Motioning her hands forward, energy whirled around her palms like a violent tornado, Amaranta summoning her effusion of energy as a maniac's grin tore across her bronze features.

"Come."

There was a mindful acknowledgment that the Tigress would pursue her, but she welcomed whatever onslaught she sought to enact. Amaranta would not compromise her attack until it reached its zenith. After all, this was a battle worth exchanging her finest creativity. She would dare not offer her fellow predator anything less.

The tigress remained stanced as flaming debris clouded her vision, searching with Pesquisa for her opponent's whereabouts, glowing eyes darting to and fro until she caught her shape - up in the air, her body twisted to respond to the incoming debris, a curled fist spiking the solid piece with an explosion to render it naught but small shards of flaming rubble flying through the air away from her. Each piece would receive the same explosive response, her explosions growing more and more violent as her blood pumped with her rising excitement that had yet to find a true ceiling.

Then she saw her, and the menace she presented in the form of a growing Cero. That manic grin was returned, the terror of facing such a formidable attack was instead the Arrancar's greatest joy, to be able to battle one at their full extent! Though her red form did not advance upon her opponent, rather it held to one place, a hand raising to her mouth. A gentle cough would betray a line of red coming down from her lips, her palm extending out to reveal it too had been painted scarlet.

With a pointed finger and pure enthusiasm lighting her eyes, she would speak the attack's name with an odd sense of calm as a ball of crimson light formed at the tip of her finger, "Gran Sangrienta Cero."

Pointed to the sky, a brilliant flash of explosive energies would climb, seeking Amaranta's defeat.

Myriads of euphoria suffused her soul. The unyielding will of her foe was proof that even a feeble beast could rise from their inadequate lot in life. Or, perhaps, she was merely projecting her philosophy onto the woman. What if she had always possessed this level of unrestrained violence and vigor for battle? What if all she craved was a catalyst? Someone to justify her bloodlust? Ah, how maddening. How exhilarating. The maelstrom of energy imbued within her hands reached critical mass. The luminous orange of hollow energy and almighty hellfire whirred around her body in preparation to meet her fellow predator's attack head-on.

"Infierno Cero!"

Voicing those two words in exultance, her soul lost in euphoric bliss, the flame-infused beam of energy shot forth like a tempest through the air. This was nothing but the result of her using her adaptive nature to surpass her limits. The splash of creativity orchestrated by facing a worthy opponent in battle. The thought of whether or not her attack will land is secondary.

Crimson and orange met in a murderous dance. Blood clashed with fire. The Burning Lioness felt Kita's will to overcome her behind her attack. The crimson flourish of energy felt slightly stronger than her own, but Amaranta was by no means offended. Such is the nature of battle, where one would find true nirvana. To overcome the enemy in a glorious battle, to invent something that might well seem impossible in theory.

To face her with anything less would be a grave dishonor in their battle. As such, she thrust her body deep into the vortex of conflicting energy, coating her body in incandescent flame, descending toward Kita like a shooting star, burning brightly in the crimson-colored skies. Claw-like strikes cut into her hierro and pierced her flesh with reckless abandon, but that only seemed to excite the woman as she pressed further downward. Like a blade of judgment, Amaranta's claw swept through the air to release a flaming pillar of energy akin to a sword. No matter how long this battle went on, the leonine woman could truly call this woman a worthy foe, one worth facing several times over.

"What an exhilarating woman. Now, this is someone worthy of life!"