Lock, Stock, and Feral [Gaoh/Amaranta]

Sands invited Gaoh to explore. The endless possibility of what could shift in and out of the landscape, who or what you could come across. It was dreamlike in its own way, while being mindlessly numb in others. A perfect pastime when you didn't have to worry about dying from old age.

So he had taken to the hills and valleys of Hueco Mundo, a garganta delivering him half robed, the garment doubling over itself at his waist. Gaoh rubbed at his wrists, bruising evident across his arms and solar plexus. Hurt, but nothing he couldn't ignore. Most of the swelling had gone down, a deep purple having long begun to fade. With space closing behind him, he ventured aimlessly. As hours passed, he'd follow a faint trail amongst the dunes, ending at the top edge of a deep valley's cliff.

Down in its center, a circle was forced into shape. Consisting more of repaired material than anything maintained, it looked like an arena drawn by a toddler. Still, people fought - if you could call them that. Peering down, he watched a pair of hollows gutting each other back and forth, brutal and mindless. No skill, no thought. A waste of blood and time. With a look of disgust, the arrancar moved to leave as another arrived; smearing one of the combatants into paste.

"Oh." The surprise evident across his face, Gaoh stopped in place before turning back, crouching low, watching.

"Boring. All of you. I'm not much of a stickler for technique, but if this is what you call a fight, none of you will ever reach me."

Voicing her dissapointment at the current display, Amaranta dragged her bloodied feet across the ground as she turned her eyes to the other hollow in the arena.

No arrancar were immediately present today, and though she found little issue in allowing hollow to participate, they weren't exactly technically sound unless they were a little more intellgient on the evolutionary scale. Since that was hardly the case here, she didn't really feel the need to waste any would be spectator's time.

Of course, before she could challenge one of the hollow to a real fight, she recognized an arrancar from afar, outside the corner of her eye. Fierce sapphires locked in on him with interest as she dashed forward in a single stride, sonido closing the distance between her and her wanted guest.

"Dont be shy now. Come down here and say hello, stranger."

"Whew." Gaoh whistled, a half grin forming as the woman closed the distance near instantly. "Fast kitty cat, aren't you?" He half guessed at her appearance as he stood, eyes narrowing. She was strong - not that he couldn't tell from her display of brutality, but with her closing the distance, he could feel it. Still, there was no accompanying sense of danger, bloodlust or otherwise.

Only the itch of desire against his knuckles, that thirst deep within. Just how far his fist could reach, what heights he could achieve. Curiosity killed the cat; this cat wouldn't kill his curiosity.

Having made up his mind in less than a moment, Gaoh leapt from the dune's peak, sliding down with a geyser of sand trailing behind him. Loose robing billowed around him as he did, chest laid bare except for the markings of his estigma. A cloud of dust greeted his arrival, stepping through with a wide smile and laugh as he looked up, meeting Amaranta's glaring sapphire swith burning embers. "And a big one! I just thought they were tiny." He gestured loosely behind her, at the hollow corpses.

This much closer, his skin tingled, hairs on the back of his neck standing. Yet the only expression that crossed his face was a relaxed joy, chuckling as he shook his head at the remark. "Perspective, huh?"

"Don't worry. I didn't think you were much to scoff at first until I recognized the spiritual pressure from afar. Now that we're face to face, I can tell you have the body of a fighter at least."

His demeanor amused her. Most would choose to be reactionary, standing so closely before the other. He, on the other hand, seemed at ease in her presence, as though in his natural element. Fierce sapphires met crimson embers. The bronze woman tilted her head with curious eyes, momentarily observing the man with a grin. What was his deal? What made him tick? What was up with that outfit? There were several questions, but did he intend to answer them? Or was he here to test his mettle in her arena? Part of her genuinely hoped the latter held true. To wash away her current ennui would be a welcome change of pace. Now then, his purpose...

"Name's Amaranta Valeria. What can I call you and what brought you here? Were you, by any chance, aiming to earn some attention from yours truly~? No need to be shy, if so. I'm right here.'

"Gaoh." The man replied, not surprised, but pleased with Amaranta's attitude. Refraining from a bow, his back stiff and footing sure, even amongst the sands. Instead, he crossed arms as she spoke, acutely aware that her disposition was afforded by strength, caution weighing on his heels. To treat her joviality as a sign of her temperament could end as a fool's errand - but still, his knuckles itched.

How to do it was all he could imagine. Even while listening, he thought of how Amaranta would strike, how to maintain the balance he'd need to stay out of her range. Bigger, more spiritual power by magnitudes - ah, if it came down to life or death, he had no chance.

"Can't say I know you. Can't say I know what I was looking for, either. Mark that down as a 'maybe', then." A momentary flick of eyes back to the bodies, before tilting his head back to better match the giantess' view, a toothy half smile. Each word dug deeper in his mind, more movements playing in his head. Catching a limb, a backhanded blow, but no imagination could cover the divide.

"What about you? Out looking for blood, or are you aiming to earn some attention?" Laughter danced in his eyes as Gaoh matched her gaze, a spark among crimson seas. She would need to be a kindred spirit, as much as she was a mountain to be climbed. Likelihood growing higher that he'd have to release as combinations flicked behind his eyes, exhilaration simmering; the sound of a knuckle cracking filling the air.

"Hahaha! You're cute. I like you, Gaoh. Suffice it to say, we've both earned each other's attention now, haven't we?"

Most in this land usually regarded her with fear or submission, but this man simply gazed at her with what she could only describe as joyous anticipation. In those eyes, she could tell he was no stranger to combat, a pair of crimson rumbling with curiosity perhaps?

What was going through his mind? His strategy? Azure pierced crimson as Amaranta hovered over him with a grin. Since he was the center of his focus now, he would make a suitable opponent for today. After all, he stood in the center of her coliseum now.

His spiritual pressure didn't stand out to her at all, at the moment, but perhaps there was more to this present she had to unwrap? One foot stepped forward, a bronze fist shot toward his chest like a bullet at high velocity. A rudimentary blow to be certain, one meant to test his mettle and will all within a single strike.

"Show me a good time, Gaoh~!"

She was fast. If Gaoh had been giving Amaranta anything short of his full attention, faster than he could react. But with eyes wide open, and a dozen combinations moving in his mind's eye, he managed, still far from enough. Both arms raised, one palm rising to meet her wrist, the other towards her elbow. Rocking back onto his heels, Gaoh's stance braced with tightening muscle, attempting to pull and throw the woman with much of her own force. Yet the lioness was not so easily tamed.

Where the arrancar's grip met Amaranta's limb, it could not succeed. Her strength was momentous, barreling through like a cannonball. Eyes widening, Gaoh grit his teeth as he attempted to shift the blow by any margin, and braced for impact. A day late, a dollar short.

The man's mind went black, impact cracking like thunder as it sent him flying into a geyser of sand. A ragged breath escaping him as consciousness returned, the momentary blackout having stained the corners of his mouth red, chest imprinted with Amaranta's fist. Air hissed from between clenched teeth, Gaoh blinking as he stared at the sky. There was some pride to be had in knowing his assessment was correct, not that it did anything for the pain.

Rising upwards, Gaoh drew his focus inward as his skin reddened, and speech cracked his lips.



Red turned to black, and the arrancar forced a smile, light cracking his skin. A step forward and the cracks gave way, shattering to reveal the four-armed behemoth beneath. An arm reached across, tearing the remains of his top without care as Gaoh loosened a glob of blood, wiping his mouth with the back of another hand. "Knew it'd be a mountain!!" he roared with gravel, another step forward. "Just didn't know how steep."

Gaoh's eyes - all four of them - focused on Amaranta. Pain wracked his chest as arms shifted with open palms, inviting in their own way. He shifted his stance carefully, feet widening before making an advance. Daggering movements, sharp, precise, quick to adapt; aiming to reconvene while not giving an inch. Incoming blows would be met with multiple limbs, defensive measures being taken with utmost caution, crimson glare tracking even her slightest twitch.

"Hahaha! Question is, do you find this mountain worth climbing!?"

His defense left something to be desired, but there was something about his movements that were wholly impressive. His defensive stance, for example, and his initial aim of trying to defend and disrupt her blow, stood out most.

Even now, as he entered ressurecion, there was a nimbleness about his frame that belied his bulkier form. Indeed, she wonders if those four arms accompanying his form enhances his offense and defense, fierce excitement pulsating through her body as though enlivened by electricity.

In comparison to his prowess, there was no strategy behind her reckless offense. As before, she roared in, somewhat slower this time to even the odds, proceeding to strike at his form with a flurry of blows, each aiming to push past those four arms and assault his four-armed frame.

There was neither form nor substance in her attack, each movement resembling the wild predator she resembled. Furthermore, as a result of her current belief in his strength, she was holding back enough to make this bout entertaining, as if to voicelessly tell him to earn a higher degree of her physical prowess by proving himself.

"Show me what those four arms can do!"

One was met with four; the Lionesss' blows faster, harder still, even if lacking in formal training. They needed to be respected, in order to climb. So four hands shifted to deflect her one - the first a grip, the second a palm, the third a fist, and the fourth a chop. Alternating in sequence between both of Amaranta's, shifting the lead hand with each shift in target. Grip, fist, chop, palm, grip, grip, fist, chop, palm, palm - each contact blowing the arrancar backwards, dealing significantly reduced damage as he pushed off incoming attacks, lucky enough to divert some in their entirety. But he could not advance, relying solely on the output of his released form to inflict some kind of damage.

Gaoh could tell, instinctually; that wasn't going to matter. There was only one way to overcome this.

Each palm stung, weariness taking hold in his forearms. Stray blows dotted his chest, each one stinging with a heavy welt. Attempting to direct the woman's force required incredible timing, even a fraction of a fraction increasing the amount of force he needed to counteract. Each arm mattered, each movement - a breath with absolute focus, darting eyes from her movements shifting forward, crimson watching the sapphire's hunting him down. "I see you, Amaranta Valeria."

Gaoh's rhythm switched. From four to one-two-one; alternating between elbows and palms. Retracting into an elbow with the opposite arm on strike, the window between his movements sharpening razor thin. No movement was wasted, no thought was given to footing, to anything around them. If he had no chance to match her raw physicality, then they'd dance, one woven so many times before. A hair split off course, friction to light a match.

Their world slowed to the pace of fists.

Savagery was met by discipline. Even under the violent whirlwind of fists, he held up relatively well through martial prowess. His technique was unlike anything she had ever witnessed from a warrior occupying these lands. Hueco Mundo wasn't a place for conventional technique. It never had been. Prompting her to wonder about his experience.

What a strange foe! Where had he learned this? Even if he wasn't pushing through in the conventional sense, he was maintaining his defense and adapting to battle flow - all through sheer discipline and impeccable form. Possessing four arms didn't hinder this man. No, it merely enhanced his effective ability to contend with her on even footing. Sapphire met crimson. A soul burned with curiosity.

Who would emerge victorious? She who fought with brute force or he who fought with coordinated purpose? The pulse of excitement burned ever brighter. And then, he shifted his rhythm. Altering the tempo of their dance in the blink of an eye. A traditional clash of fists without any additions. Two to one. To match such boldness, she met him in kind. Two fists would meet two. At times, growing ever bolder, she would shift the direction of her strikes, striking at unpredictable angles in an attempt to overwhelm him.

"Come on! Don't stop! Continue enchanting me with that peculiar technique of yours!"

An excited cry akin to a roar, implored him to break through.