Things Aren't Going My Way Tonight... [Training Thread[Closed/Finished]]

Scenario: The center of Naruki City, specifically the Shopping District. It's night, so naturally, the streets aren't bustling, though you have the occasional hoodlums or other distasteful person's wandering about. A Hollow has just been dispatched, though it may have already attracted unwanted attention...

(No post style as of yet. So bear with me, please.)

Windy. That was how Sora would describe the night so far. The last shop had closed, and the last streetlight had just turned on, as it began to turn evening. Presently, Sora had been running about the town he lived in, attempting to sell his art, but to no avail. In his bag, he'd had three paintings; one, he called "Of Dames and Dukes", a painting depicting a Duke and a Dame both sitting atop a regal throne, while at the bottom of the painting, it showed a slew of atrocities and ferocious beings. All of the monster's he had painted at the bottom were shadowy, no features being able to be made out distinctly.

The monster's formed circles, watching as men used their skill in sleight-of-hand to pickpocket others, were wielding knives to women's throat, attempting to force themselves on women, and various other things. All this time, the two royal people were just looking down their noses. If at first, you noticed the dame and duke first, you might think they were lovers, both sharing a bowl of fruit, and a glass of wine, the painting almost pleasant, then you looked down to see the misdeeds, and only then would it be you would notice the man whispering in the Duke's ear, glowing crimson eyes, a demonic looking appearance.

It almost seemed magical, the way the painting seemed to suddenly change from something so serene, to something so morbid; a protest of how royals treated the people back in the medieval ages. Despite the dark feeling about the painting, it was one of Sora's own favorites, something he had painted with the brush of his soul.

The second was a field; one he had had for a while now. It was a pasture, to be more specific. Cows and bulls were grazing, as a cloudy blue sky was cast overhead. A farmer leaned against his pitchfork, watching the peaceful animals obtain their meal, chewing slowly and lazily. This painting, no matter who looked at it, evoked a feeling of peace, as if, for just the moment, all was right with the world.

Sora supposed the reason that he didn't sell any, was because he had come to town so late. While napping, he lost track of time, and had arrived at the crack of dusk. It didn't help that there was a Hollow to take care of, also. Pesky creatures, they were. In one sense, Sora felt bad for them. Hollow's were spirits that hadn't been saved in time, often, because the Shinigami were too slow. However, there were often those that were made from their own cruelty manifesting itself and instantly destroying their spiritual chain.

It was these Hollows that Sora felt no compassion for. Murderers, pillagers, thieves, rapists, they all deserved what they got, and more. It was Hollows like these that consumed the other, less fortunate souls. It conflicted Sora, but he couldn't ever let it get in the way. If he let his emotions cloud his judgement of what needed to be done, what kind of leader was he? Sure, he was a compassionate man, but when it came to the enemy, he knew he couldn't afford to be compassionate, else lives be lost.

Sora was currently standing atop a building, putting a small paintbrush in the pocket of his blue-jeans, his slightly loose black shirt blowing a bit in the wind. His shirt, like his pants, had various marks upon them from his painting endeavors whenever he would forget where he placed the paintbrush or accidentally touched the paintings. He looked at his feet and to the left, sighing at the ruined murals he had painted and attempted to sell. He had really been fond of them, as he had put a lot of hard work and effort into these. But, no use in crying over spilled milk, he supposed.

Sora turned to the dissipating Hollow that he had just finished off, a gaping hole in its mask, vertical with where the Hollow Hole was located. "You made me miss the last shop." He said, speaking accusingly, though half-hearted. In truth, it was mean for this gentle man to be mean-spirited, near impossible, even. He readjusted the eyepatch on his right eye, fingers brushing the pirate-like skull and crossbones that were embroidered on it. He then moved his hands up to adjust the beanie cap he was wearing, his brown wavy hair that was flaring out from beneath the folds of the cloth moving with it.

As Sora turned to kneel to pick up his broken canvas, he stopped, feeling an odd reiatsu nearby. No, two. Luckily, since his Fullbring was not activated, he wouldn't be detected, unless the Hollow drew their attention. He froze, looking in the direction that he felt the energy signature come from, waiting to see. He hoped that it wasn't a fight, and that it was just a Shinigami coming to dispatch the Hollow he had taken care of, but as his luck would have it, probably not.

Sora may know where Lilly was, but Lilly had no clue about the Fullbring's existence. Hell, she didn't even know what a Fullbring was. With a vanilla ice-cream cone in her hands, she was in a world all her own, a wide grin and delighted eyes dancing along the dairy dessert. "Nyaaahhh~" The sound she made with every lick was obnoxiously loud, which might have been enough to give away her position without her trace of reiatsu. Her own reiatsu was very trace, it being hard to pinpoint while she was not released. If Sora actually sensed for it, however, he'd find it easily.

Lilly often came to the World of the Living for her training. There was always something to eat and places to train. However, recently there had been a lot more Soul Reapers in the area. Normally, this would mean nothing to the little Arrancar, her taking next to nothing seriously, but they were getting in the way of her eating! She would have none of that, so it was at that point where she decided to up her diet a bit. She began eating the low-ranking Soul Reapers in the area, and avoiding the higher-leveled ones altogether. It would be bad if she were hurt in a fight before she could finish her Espada training, and she would not be able to live down the fact that someone beat her before she became an Espada!

Humming, she looked about as she exited the store she usually frequented. The girl was kinda hard to pin in one place, but it was rather easy to find her in an ice cream shop. Best of all, no one ever asked her to pay for anything! It was like she was a princess or something. Maybe she was. Hell, she already had the crown she had made. Maybe they just saw it and knew. "Maybe everyone should know that... They will, though! Especially when Lilly can beat one of the Espada! Imagine that!" She pursed her lips and stuck a pose. "Lillithe Verdente, Espada Queen! All will bow before her!" She giggles happily and she shakes her fist into the air. "Give me all of your sweets! If you don't, Lilly will eat you!" She grins widely and looks around, her grin disappearing into a tight pucker. "Maybe... Lilly shouldn't say things like that... Maybe... Maybe the Espada are watching her right now!" She gasps and knelt on the ground. "Please don't eat Lilly! She doesn't taste like what she eats! She promises!" She walked to stand underneath a flickering street light, holding her ice-cream cone as if it were a puppy.

Suddenly, the girl stopped dead in her tracks. Looking in random directions, she feels a Hollow's reiatsu suddenly dissipate and sighs deeply. "Awww... Lilly was lookin' for that one! Someone else ate him first..." She sighed and sits underneath a streetlight, pouting softly."That one sounded like he would be so tasty, too... " The ice cream on the cone was dangerously close to falling off and onto the girl's belly with how she sat and held it. "Well... Lilly guesses she has to find another one now... But maaannnn... What a pain... Maybe Lilly will just eat whatever ate that guy... But what if it doesn't taste good? Maybe Lilly will give it ice cream first... But not Lilly's..."

Then, equally as suddenly, she sniffs. She perks her head and just... Sniffs. The girl must have looked quite weird for onlookers, randomly perking her head about. "Wait... What's that?!?! Is that... A familiar smell? Yes... Wait... Maybe... Yes!" Lilly squeals and throws her ice cream cone randomly, not really caring about where it landed. There was a new thing to investigate. She also noticed the reiatsu and grinned, recognizing the type instantly. "Ohhh... It's an Espada! Lilly knows it!" Lilly's reiatsu flares up as her emotions do, making her all the more obvious to onlookers. Lilly suddenly dives underneath the bench in an impromptu way of hiding, making a cute, excited noise all the way. Whatever was about, she'd make sure to see it before it saw her. No use sneaking if she was already caught, and there was no catching without sneaking.

She neglected to notice the fact that Sora was blatantly within viewing distance, and could have seen everything...

Crouching in the alley safe from the wind, Rou stared into the eyes of a small green snake that looked right back at her like it could see the spirit. She was crouched down into a tiny ball, her head resting upon her knees. As always her hair was forgotten, its black ends scattered over the paved ground and some even dipping into a dirty puddle. The espada blinked a few times, narrowing her eyes as she studied the tiny snake, noting every detail about it. "Hmm.." It seemed to be what she had been searching for. It body was covered in dark green scales but the more noticeable details where the yellow patches at the base of its head and extra yellow highlighted areas around its mouth where its black tongue constantly flicked out. "That's it!" She cheered, and in a quick movement her entire body was off the ground. Though it was covered by her long sleeve, her hand was reaching out toward the snake in her short flight through the air. However she was only met with a hand full of gravel when she landed on her hands and knees.

She stared at the mess o her sleeve in confusion for a moment before he eyes caught onto movement. "Where are you going?!" There the snake was, slithering out of the alley and away from her. "Mr. Zaltys come back!" she mourned, her brows knitting together. After a moment of pouting she forced herself up to her feet, not bothering to brush of her clothes before she took off after the tiny snake. It'd seem insignificant to anyone else that might pass by it but Rou, being the expert on these things that she was, new better than to pass it off as just some other small grass snake. Oh no it was so much more than that. Right before her was one of the things she had come all the way to the human world for. the common little grass snake held special power. It was an all purpose good luck charm. All she had to do was catch the little creature and then take care of it and in return it would grant her that good luck. The one she had previous kept had run its time and with it gone she had no idea how her luck would turn. In her panic she had rushed here to find a new one to takes its place before she got caught in the middle of a group of devil monkeys. Those devil monkeys truly were a pain to deal with, especially if they were some of the bigger ones. Small ones nearly around three feet tall weren't much of a hassle but when they grew up to their full eight feet they became a problem as any eight foot creature with long claws and intense speed would be. Not to mention they were just all around scary looking. some mix of a money and a wolf, always screaming and tearing things to shreds. Even to a hero like herself they were a bit unnerving though she would never admit to being actually afraid of them. So now in her nervousness of what would await her if she didn't, Rou obliviously was pursuing the fleeing snake in the middle of the street. Anyone who was spiritually aware among the crowd would have been able to see her running around with her arms swinging at her sides. Though it seemed she didn't exactly care about that.

"I've got yo-!" Rou was about to make another leap for the snake when she finally came to a halt. She had stopped mid leap and was now awkwardly standing halfway bent over with her arms stretched out and reaching in the snake's direction. even one of her legs was up off the ground, pointed high in the air that made her skirt slip and nearly reveal all that it was made to hide. Suddenly she had a new interest and despite how much she had previously wanted it so desperately, she let the snake slither away as if it was nothing to her. Now she was focused in on a reiatsu that was oddly familiar. She slowly lowered her leg, turning her head in the direction of that reiatsu. Her hair messily fell over her face, leaving her to only view light blonde hair, which didn't stop her from pretending to look. "Eh?" She shot up, in a flash, suddenly running in that direction. She didn't even notice Sora as she ran right by him, even noticing someone atop a roof and thinking it odd that they would be up there.

Just as soon as she had bolted from her prior task, Rou had stopped dead in her tracks in such at instant that the remaining momentum causing her to fall forward."Ah...too much" catching herself on her hands she murmured the words to herself in s pouting sort of way. She put her knees down, placing her hand upon the seat of a bench to pull herself up some more but when she lifted her head she stopped. She tilted her head to the side, once again unblinkingly staring as she had to the snake just before. Now the object had changed. Rather than a lucky zaltys she was now looking what was another arrancar. "You're..." she mumbled before her face was lightened up by a smile. She recognized the girl and squealed, shooting up to her feet as she simultaneously clapped her hands quickly. "You're..!" though then she remembered that she couldn't recall the girl's name for her life. Maybe i t started with an L? "Ah...yeah!" she recovered, clapping again. The noise was of course muffled by her lengthy sleeves and wasn't all that audible but that didn't hinder her. "Nehhhh, what are you doing here?" she tilted her head again, placing her hand upon her hips. As far as she knew not many arrancars were popping up in the human world for now and her brows knit together in confusion. "We're you looking for a zaltys too?!" she gasped out, clapping a hand over her mouth. "I just saw one! It went..er...ah..." Now she was left to pout for her distraction. She slumped forward, her head falling forward and her hair tumbling over the touch the ground. She had completely lost track of the green snake she had so dedicatedly followed.

Another light breeze, and Sora turned his head. He noticed a young girl beneath a streetlight. Were it not for her being loud and talking of eating people, Sora probably wouldn't have taken too much notice of her. He idly wondered what she meant by eating and such, before he put two and two together. Arrancar were pretty much evolved Hollows, and Hollows eat each other. So naturally, the Arrancar would want to eat the Hollow he had just dispatched. That left a question in his mind, however. Wouldn't Arrancar want to eat other Arrancar, also? He hadn't heard of it, but who knows, maybe they did? Another thought came to mind at this, what were they doing in the World of the Living? They almost looked as if they were just enjoying the world, which kind of saddened Sora as to what he would have to do. One looked sporadically like a wild child; it kind of reminded him of a child he would find on the street. Her blond hair fading into black made it look dirty, and the fact that it was long, and unkempt even moreso added to that thought. The other one, however, looked a bit more exotic. Purple hair with purple eyes, a hollow bone circling her left eye; yup, definitely odd. Though he had seen something like that in an anime once, except the girl had pink hair, and one dude's hair looked like the behind of a chicken... Sora noticed the ice cream cone, and chuckled at his thought; 'Where in the hell did she get that?' Being a Spiritual being with no Gigai or physical form, nobody would be able to see her, so did she make it herself?

Letting his idle thoughts drift aside, Sora gathered his sack of ruined paintings, before standing. He readjusted the hat once again, before jumping down. A few feet down, he seemed to land on something invisible, before he started walking down the air on these invisible steps, as if it were no more casual than walking down the stairs of a house. Once on the ground, Sora stopped, putting his bag down, and placing his hands in his pockets. Casually, he walked up to the girls, a pleasant smile on his face. Immediately, Sora looked for the route to the most open area around, were a conflict to break out; something he just didn't want to happen. But in case it did, he needed to know the environment. It was windy and cloudy, though it didn't quite look like rain clouds. The sun was down, streetlights were on, yadda-yadda. Buildings surrounded them, but thankfully not skyscraper's like in Karakura Town. (Which, despite being a town, was pretty large.) So it seemed they were in the most open area. Okay, that's something Sora could work with were it needed.

"So, um, I really hate to say stuff like this, but you shouldn't be here." He said, one hand reaching behind his head to scratch his back. "I'm going to have to ask you to go back to where you came from. I can't take the chance of endangering the lives of those that are here, you see." He said, thinking they were just Arrancar who lost their way. After all, who would suspect two young girls of being monsters capable of killing without a thought? Especially the condition they were in, mentally. One girl talking of a 'zalltys', or whatever it was, and the other talking in the third person? No, Sora didn't suspect these girls, though he wasn't dumb enough to not be cautious around them.

A thoughtful look appeared on his face, as he turned, walking back to the bag. He picked it up by the strap, returning to the two young ladies. "Here, want some fragments of art? Pretty colors? Stuff like that?" He asked, trying to get rid of his ruined work, while simultaneously getting rid of two potential threats. "And don't get me wrong, I'm not trying to be mean or anything, but.... well... you're kind of dangerous. I can't let you stay here." He said, frowning slightly. He felt bad for kicking these two girls out, but he couldn't allow them to stay. He knew they were far stronger than Hollows, so saying he was tip-toeing would be taking it lightly. He was trying to be calm, concise, and gentle, so as not to startle them and start a conflict. Usually, he could contain a fight with a Hollow, but two Arrancar? That was something different, entirely.

The information the Shinigami he had interactions with and told him all about the Spiritual World had been brief, but Sora had learned much. He was particularly interested in Arrancar. If they were like Hollows, would they still mindlessly feed? Or would they develop a sense of humanity, and be able to live like normal people? It made Sora curious, and almost want to set up a test. At the moment, within The Family, he didn't allow Arrancar, purely because they were considered too dangerous at the moment. What he'd like to do is converse with some, and figure out whether or not they could live in town without risking the other villagers. In fact, Sora thought they'd make good Care-Taker's, but he just wasn't willing to take that gamble.

Lilly jumped slightly at the female voice. She was not expecting there to be another girl about. However, as she jumped up, the entire bench she was under was uprooted and tossed to the side. "Ah, you... You found Lilly! Now... Wait..." Lilly leans into the girl, pressing her nose into Rou's shoulder. Taking a deep sniff, she grins rather darkly. "You the Espada sent here to get me, right? Well... You'll never take Lilly alive! Lilly will one day be Queen!" Lilly jumps out of the way, using a Sonido to rocket into the air before landing behind Sora, taking a defensive stance. She wasn't going to take any chances. After all, she was destined to be the Espada Queen!

Her ear then perks at her question, making her eyebrow rise slowly. "Zaltys? What's that? Does it taste good? Lilly bets it tastes like chicken!" She grins widely, leaning onto and eventually grabbing Sora's armas soon as his hands are in his pockets and he begins to approach them, as if she were his child. "Hey! Go eat the Zaltys instead of Lilly! Lilly bets it'll taste better, anyways..." Lilly giggled happily and looked to Rou. "It sounds kinda creepy, you know? Kinda like a horror movie monster that comes and eats everyone!" She then released Sora's arm, raising her own in a spooky manner. "ZALLL-TYYYSSS... ZAAAALLLL-TYYYYSSS"

Lilly then realizes she was holding someone's arm. She looks up as he speaks and grins. "Go back where Lilly came from? Lilly came from over there." She pointed to a cardboard box with a blanket and six pillows in it. At the moment, there was a homeless man sleeping in it. "He's nice. In return for me not eating him, he lets me sleep there! Although... He's never really told me whether or not he agreed... But he seems not to care, so I think it's alright!" Lilly nods quickly and grins. Not giving her an answer was like giving her permission.

Lilly then looked to Sora, a rather gentle look on her face, considering who's face it was. "Art? Hey!!! You're really good! 'Cept this one's been messed with... And this one... And this one..." She went on like this for a while until she finally let something click in her mind. He had called her dangerous. Well, technically he had called Lilly and Rou dangerous, but Rou would react how Rou would react. Lilly gave a glance to Rou, then pivoted back to Sora, grinning widely. "Oh, Lilly's not dangerous. If Lilly wanted to be dangerous, she'd play with Kamikaze-kun. He loves to make stuff explode! He's weird like that. Would you like to meet him?" She grins widely, as if what she had just said made absolute sense to everyone.

"Here, Lilly will show you!" Without hesitation, and without giving Sora or Rou a moment to respond, Lilly skipped happily to stop about twenty feet from both of them, grinning widely. Reaching into her hood, and laughs and pulls out a small dagger. The beautifully jeweled, ornate dagger bore the distinguishing characteristics of a zanpakuto. There was no mistaking it. Lilly was about to release it!"Hey, Kamikaze-kun! Let's play!" The dagger faded from view without an initial effect, then Lilly's reiatsu skyrocketed, the diminutive Arrancar still holding her stance of holding the dagger high, even though it was no longer there. A large, fiery purple aura surrounded Lilly and she looked to Sora, still holding that wide, guiltless grin of hers. "Now... Catch Lilly!"

Lilly dashed forward quickly on her Sonido, grinning widely until she tripped, sending her face-first into the ground and setting off her aura. The result was a massive explosion that pushed aside all of the trees and even moved some structures slightly. The streetlamps around her gone, probably a couple streets over now. The buildings around would never have survived, were the epicenter of the explosion much closer to them. However, since Rou and Sora were a good distance away, they would have time to see Lilly coming, although they might not be expecting such a blast. Were they caught off guard, they wouldn't have gone far, as the nearby brick buildings would have stopped them.

"Queen?"Rou looked even more confused now, cupping her face with her covered hands. As a heroic knight she should have known about such things but she was left dumbfounded by the girl "But how can that be? I didn't know...ah!" she through her hands up before bringing one down to point toward the girl with her smile returning tenfold. "If you're queen then I shall serve yo-what?" she lowered her hands and looked around. The girl was gone now. When had that happened? Rou scratched at her head, a deep pout turning down her lips. "Queen-sama?" she called out in a troubled tone. but then the girl's voice again caught he attention and she looked up to the rooftop, spotting her as well as the man she'd seen there previously. What he was doing up there she still had no idea. Though figuring that out faded from her mind real quick when she processed just what Lily was saying.

"EHHHHHHHHHHH?!" Her mouth dropped and she shook her head frantically. "No, no! NO!" She cupped her cheeks with her hands and continued to shake her head in horror. "You can't eat a zaltys!" she warned the girl, looking up to her again. "It would only bring chaos and destruction?! Do you understand?! Don't! You' can't!" Rou seemed truly scared as she spoke those words about some creature of legend that nobody else would think of believing in. She was about to leap up to the rooftop herself when the man spoke up. That was surprising. He could see them? Rou wasn't the most all there kind of person but she knew that any normal human wouldn't have been able to see the both of them. She arched her brow and once again she looked confused. "You want us to go back?" the blonde questioned, crossing her arms. "But I can't! I have to find a zaltys or the devil monkeys will come" she explained, hoping he would understand just how urgent this task of hers was.

As she was explaining she got lost in the colors of the artwork Sora was showing them, her eyes lighting up. "Pretty...colors? wait" she shook her head rapidly, snapping herself from the trance of the different colors. "Dangerous?" she repeated, thinking it over. "Well yeah maybe so but-" she was cut off by Lily as she suddenly started speaking of her zanpakuto. She watched with her mouth half open and her eyes wide with joyous curiosity. "Kamikaze?" the girl cheered, waiting to see whatever this 'kamikaze' was. Though when she finally figured it out it was by the time the child had released her zanpakuto. "Ohhhhh!" she finally mused in realization, clapping her hands together. She seemed completely unphased by the new level of reiatsu the girl was letting off. "Pretty!" she twirled like a child on the tip of her toes, keeping her head in a way that she could almost always see the purple aura that flowed like fire off of the other arrancar. In the middle of one of her turns, rou noticed Lily rushing at them, only to trip over herself and begin to crash to the ground. In the middle of her next turn she spotted the begining of an explosion and immediately stopped, her face blank. Out of strong reflexes she launched herself back just as the force met where she had previously been spinning about. She slid to a stop just ten feet out of range, laughing youthfully. "How ungraceful Queen-sama!" she half heartedly scolded, shaking her finally revealed finger out in front of her.

Straightening up Rou finally did something with her unruly hair that was now pretty much covering her entire face. Running her hands back through it she gave the two the rare sight of her full features, including her black markings. The barcode-like marks above the mask fragments on her cheek would especially draw attention. If one looked close enough they would see the gothic style number three on her right cheek at the begining of the barcode. She hadn't been lying when she agreed to maybe being dangerous, being the third espada. However that detail would only be visible for a short time. With hair as wild as hers it soon fell over the marks on her cheeks, covering her right eye as it often did. She picked up her twirling again, completely forgetting about Sora as she looked around at the damage Lily had caused. "Neh I didn't think it'd be so distructive. Kamikaze really is dangerous!" she was giggling again, throwing her arms around herself as she twirled. "Though.." she stopped "I don't think you're more dangerous then those devil monkeys..." she murmured, gasping shortly after as she remembered her zaltys.

Sora was kind of confused, as to why Lilly had been hanging about him. But then again, when he spoke to them, Rou had looked somewhat shocked, so he assumed that it was because he was a human who could see them. Inwardly, Sora had been pleased about the fact that they liked his art, even if it was just for the colors, but he wouldn't allow that to sway him from his mission. He had to get them out of there. "Kamikaze-kun...?" Sora asked questioningly, before the young Arrancar released her Resureccion. It became clear at this point, that there was no way he was going to be able to get through this peacefully. Luckily for him, at the perfect moment, he spotted Rou as her hair was not covering her face, and saw all of her features. Figuring out she was the third Espada, he could accurately gauge her strength a little bit, though he tried not to overestimate or underestimate her too much. He knew the Espada was strong, but before he seriously fought her, he needed to decide the level of her strength for himself.

Sora then realized where Lilly had said she came from. His narrowed, a dumb look coming across his face, as he said, "You shouldn't be sleeping with strangers.... especially if they don't agree to it." He turned, in time to see Lilly running straight at them, instinctively jumping back, believing her to be attacking. Thankfully, he did, or else he might have been a bit closer to the explosion. He sighed, figuring this fight probably wasn't going to go his way. He pulled a paintbrush from his pocket, before calling out, "Paint me a canvas, Shirai." Instantly, the paintbrush elongated to roughly a bit larger than a javelin. Upon the tip of the paintbrush, the bristles were stiff, and a black liquid seemed to float up from the brush, dissipating a few seconds later. Other than all of this, the brush was essentially the same. Though by the way Sora wielded it, it looked a lot like how a warrior might hold a spear.

It was at this point in time, where Sora's reiatsu showed itself. It was proven to be strong, a little bit stronger than Rou's own, even. Sora raised the brush to the air, painting two figures within seconds. They weren't exactly detailed, but they were good enough to be made out as; 1. a guitar, and 2. what looked like a rock with flames on them. Amazingly enough, the figures had been painted on air, and just seemed to float, needing nothing physical to hold them up. "I'm really sorry I have to do this, but you go back, or die." He said, his voice becoming steeled. He wouldn't stop them if they retreated, however he couldn't allow them to remain here. It was a matter of his code of honor. He hated seeing others hurt, or even worse, people killed, but if it meant sacrificing two people for more than a couple lives, well, that was something he was willing to take. It wasn’t the quality of lives he was trying to save, but rather the quantity. Someone as important as the president, for two homeless people? That was a deal he would take, as he would save as many lives as he could.

Sora touched the tip of the brush gently to the rock, where the flames seemed to come to life, flickering and growing, shrinking, even crackling as if it were really on fire. When Sora moved the paintbrush again, it stuck to the end, as if attached, or it had been built on. It moved with the paintbrush, pretty much. It was as if the flaming painting had become a part of the paintbrush. Sora spun around once, twice, before stopping, his paintbrush extended, as the object was sent sailing at Lilly. Inwardly, Sora chastised himself for using such a destructive technique, but he figured it would take a large-scale attack to compete with these two on such grounds, especially since they were so much stronger than what he was used to.

As soon as the flaming piece of artwork would hit the ground, it, too, would create an explosion, though not at Lilly's magnitude. While Sora observed Lilly had most likely created the explosion, he would not be surprised if she had actually been killed by another's explosion. Luckily, his flaming art was only a diversionary tactic, so he could get started on painting something bigger in the meanwhile. Sora needed to stall, to give himself some time to prepare; not to mention he had to work with the Espada in the vicinity. He would have to find a way to distract her, too.

As the dust cleared, it was shown that Lilly had made quite a sizable crater in the ground where she had impacted. However, the diminutive Arrancar did not move an inch, appearing to not even be breathing. Trees were bent and slightly uprooted from the force of the blast, and not a window remained intact around the area. There were probably some people hurt, and the homeless guy was long gone, running like a maniac from the random explosion. However, the only sign that she was still alive was that her reiatsu seemed to be growing.

At least for Sora's peace of mind, the area vacated rather quickly. Not a human remained around after the initial blast. Even as Sora's painting descended upon Lilly's form, she didn't budge. One had to wonder if she was still conscious. As Sora's painting exploded in from of her, Lilly budged not an inch as she was covered in dirt. Oddly enough, it looked as if she took next to no damage from the explosion caused by Sora. By this point, however, Lilly was little more than an immobile pile of earth.

Suddenly, as all fell silent, you could hear a soft, sniffling sound. It seemed as if the girl was sniffing the dirt. No... No, more like she was crying! The little Arrancar was softly crying to herself! Still not moving, she was shaking gently as her crying very gradually grew in intensity. Then, she shoots straight up, eyes squinted shut tightly, and began to bawl loudly. She was crying as if her father was scolding her for staying out too late or breaking an expensive vase. She had a scrape on her forehead and a small trickle of blood trailing down the bridge of her nose.

"Wahhhhh!!! It's not fair!!!" She cried out loudly, loud enough to rouse the dead. It was kinda hard to tell whether she was faking it, but then again, she would have to be pretty good to call forth tears on command. "Lilly wants to be an Espada! They're so mean! Lilly could beat all of them, even meanie Caelum-kun! But no! They all ignore Lilly!" Lilly whined loudly, then stops, quieting down.

She rubs her nose, somewhat accenting the little purple light going around the bone around her eyes at the moment. This would, if Sora was paying attention, signal her rising reiatsu as her aura slowly regenerated. She shakes her head and flops onto the ground. "Maybe Lilly wont be an Espada... The Espada don't deserve Lilly... Lilly will go back, human..." She sniffles and looked to her box, decimated between the two explosions. She whimpers, utterly demoralized at this point. Now she didn't have a home.

However, due to Lilly's psyche, she was the most volatile in this state. One stray word would incite the explosive anger the young Arrancar housed within her body, and as Sora might have deduced, the last explosion was only a fraction of her full power. In truth, Lilly could probably decimate the entirety of Naruki with a mere three explosions. She would never think to do that, as she was generally kind. Well, about as kind as a greedy young girl could be. At least she didn't seek out the random destruction her zanpakuto spoke of.

Suddenly, Lilly gave a look around, her teary eyes focusing on Sora's artwork floating through the air. Still tearing and dripping down her cheeks, her eyes quickly took on an inquisitive look. She seemed to be almost entranced by the floating, paper-thin guitar. Then it registered. Sora told her that by staying here, she would die. That was basically a threat that he was going to kill her. For some reason, instead of breaking her down more, it twanged just the right chord. This somewhat made her more brazen, steeling her mind as a warrior would.

Eventually, she stands up fully, shaking off the dirt and straightening her skirt. She points to Sora with a fierce, but not angry, look in her eyes. "Lilly cannot die! Lilly's gonna beat all of the Espada and become the Queen of Hueco Mundo! Then the castle will be my home! No human can kill Lilly!" She raises a fist to him and grins widely. "Come here and say that to Lilly's face! I'll beat you and then eat you!" Her eyes widened to show off her purple irises and she nods, getting ready for Sora to attack her. Now, it was as if he had come to her, seeking a battle with Lilly.

"Or die...?" Rou looked over to the male, her smile fading some into a frown of pure disappointment. She hung her head and once again her face was hidden behind her messy waves of blonde hair. From underneath she glanced over to Lilly where another explosion had just gone off. She knit her brows together, her frown deepening even more. She could hear the girl crying and that was all she needed. "So this is how it is then? There's a greater purpose I came upon here?" She murmured to herself, turning her head to look Sora dead in the eyes. She was smiling proudly now. "You're the villain! Its only natural that the Hero would stumble upon you" She explained giggling light-heartedly. Rou seemed to be doing something within her sleeves, her hands small movements causing the access to sway slightly. All the while she didn't take her large green eyes off of Sora. "Guess my luck carried over some. Otherwise I wouldn't have found you. Isn't it great" Her face lit up like a child's at dessert. With a swing of her arms her hands were revealed, now holding the black butterfly blades she kept hidden on her arms. It was clear the blades had been used often, there golden studded handles stained softly a red tint. Rou did prefer them to actually using the sword form of her zanpakuto anyway.

Before anything though, she had to put on the show of a hero. Holding both arms up above her, the blonde twirled around three times before stopping, striking a pose. The back of one hand was placed upon her hips that was stuck out towards it. The other hand was holding the other blade out toward Sora. Her brow was raised in a smirky sort of way and she grinned widely. "Prepare yourself! Rou Alloway! Tercera Espada is here to judge your evils!" she announced before moving to strike a new pose, her legs crossed over one another with both blades now pointing toward Sora. Not more than a second later Rou was in the air, lunging toward him with deadly intent. Though she was stopped just a few feet before reaching him. She suddenly slammed her foot down which resulted in her stop as well as the cracking of the street. She was crouched down, balanced on that single foot with her swords crossed before her face in the way she would use them for the first cut that never came. However she was no longer looking at Sora, but instead at Lilly.

"Espada?" She asked in a confused way. After her introduction it was clear why Lilly's rant on the Espada had peaked Rou's interest, even horrified her. "Hey! We're not-!" She stood up straight crossing her arms. It was clear she wasn't pleased with what Lilly was saying. "You can't defeat Caelum-sama" she announced, placing her arms straight at her side and pushing her chest out as a noble knight would. "Its impossible for that to happen. the king cannot fall when the Hero is on his side" Her right arm came up and her fist was pounded on her chest above where her heart would be before it quickly to its place straight down her side. "I didn't think a little girl could be a bad guy as well" she sighed now, slouching. Rou should have known evil could take on all forms. She hadn't come here to fight, only to find herself a new zaltys and then go back to await whatever orders would be waiting and find Daxel and try to save him from the aura of boredom that radiated off of him. Poor guy needed her. What would Princess do to survive otherwise?

"But its my duty to take care of these things for Lord Caelum! Even if its Queen.." she told herself and suddenly any disappointment she had been showered with was replaced by overwhelming joyous honor. She sighed out again but this time she was smiling, raising up as her face was colored with a lovely blush. she seemed to be glowing with her happiness to prove herself after so long. If these two could be taken care of then she'd be praised for her work and that was all a heroin could ask for.

"I won't show you any mercy if you keep on in your world of evil!" she began, turning her gaze back and forth between Lilly and Sora. "If you do not realize the darkness in you ways then I really have no choice but to end them myself" Something in her eyes seemed to be pleading with the two of them to see where they had gone wrong even if they had no clue as to what she was speaking of or what she could possibly be rambling on about. But she had to try. A good hero always tried reason when she could. She raised her short blades again, one in Sora's direction and the other pointing at Lilly. she wouldn't attack first, giving the two time to possibly realize the light of goodness that was inside them somewhere, deep down maybe. That didn't mean her guard was down though. she was ready for an attack. Her eyes were narrowed, paying close mind to every detail to watch for any move either of them made.

Sora sighed, as the two declared war, which he figured would result in a three-way battle. He listened to Lilly, frowning slightly. "But... why would you want to be Queen of the Espada? Is it to show your worth? What will the title show? That you're the strongest? What then?" He asked, hoping he could dissuade her from fighting him. Sora really disliked the idea of hurting these two, but if it was to protect others, then it was something he would do. Sora looked on as the few people in the vicinity ran, the homeless man leading them. He sighed, as he placed the finishing touches on another painting he had just finished, larger than himself. It looked like a large tiger, or at least some kind of cat. One could tell it was an animal that walked on four legs and had ears, but that was about it. It was nearly indiscernible as to what it truly was, but the fact it was a predator was also evident, as it had been painted in a stalking position.

Sora turned, giving Rou his full attention as she spoke, too. Villains? Hero? What was she talking about? She was seemingly but a child, though, so perhaps she spoke with a child's mentality? Perhaps she believed in all of that. Since words were just words, that was a gamble that Sora was willing to take. "What makes you think we're the villains, though? Can I not be a hero, too? After all, I'm trying to save a whole town from utter destruction. All of these poor, defenseless people." He said, as he walked to the floating guitar. He was surprised that none of them had actually attacked. Maybe his initial attack had caught them off-guard, and put them on edge? No matter, Sora couldn't stop for even a second. He had seen how fast the Tercera Espada moved, and the explosive capability of the Arrancar just from falling down; he had to be about as careful as he could be.


"I see no darkness in my ways. I'm just trying to protect my people. Would you not risk your life, protecting your Espada? Well these people, in this town, they're my Espada, my family, and if I have to put my life on the line, then so be it." He said, before turning back to Lilly. "And you. What are you trying to prove? That you're strong? That's apparent enough. But there's more than one kind of strong. There's physically strong, than what you're thinking of, and then there's mentally strong. While I don't condone ruling a tribe of bloodthirsty Hollows, if you got discouraged that easily, then you're not strong enough. You need to get stronger. The ones that are truly strong, are the ones that have something, or someone to be strong for." He said, throwing a sidelong glance at Rou, before sighing. He wanted to dissuade them, and send them back home, but that didn't mean he couldn't defend him home while he was at it. This was his ohana, and if they were going to go down, well, he was going to go down with them.

Sora placed an arm across the other side of the guitar, the pose almost looking as if the guitar was being held upon him by a strap. He raised a hand, before lightly running his fingers over the strings. A loud chorus of distorted sound seemed to echo from everywhere, loud enough to pop one's ear-drums if they were too close to the guitar, other than Sora himself, since he couldn't be hurt by his own Fullbring. Not only this, but anything within 30 yards away, or at least onto their backs or down, due to the force of the sonic sound flying at them.

As the guitar sounded, the beast seemed to come to life, a large mastiff-looking hound being formed from the painting, as it charged at Rou. While running, glowing red eyes materialized in the mastiff's face, giving it a ferocious look, almost like a hell hound of ancient lore. It charged Rou, its every step leaving a small crack in the cement. It wasn't very fast, but it was obvious it was pretty strong, especially be the rippling muscles as it ran. Upon reaching a few yards from Rou, it leaped high in the air, drool flying from the sharp jaws as it madly attacked the young woman, teeth ready to tear, rip, and shred at any second, though not expecting a counter that would most likely come.

Lilly grins to Sora, the light getting quicker as it travels around her eye. Then her grin disappeared quickly, hearing Rou's declaration. She paled as she just now realized that her earlier claim had be more true than she realized. She was staring at the Tercera Espada. At first, she didn't know how to react, but then the light stopped and exploded as the aura came back onto play, cloaking her in her bright purple aura.

"Espada!!!" Lilly's aura seemed to only grow as she had a severely hurt expression on her face. She began taking slow steps towards Rou, her eyes riveted to the young Espada. "Lilly gets it now... You were sent to spy on Lilly, so Caelum-kun could know how strong she was!" She growls deeply, her aura already having the feel of being a larger explosion than last time. "Fine, then! Lilly will prove to him that she's more dangerous than anything! She'll do something horrible!"

Lilly stopped, kneeling on the ground and got into a runner's position."The first thing Lilly will do is beat you! That way, you can go back to him and tell him how terrifying I really am! I'll make it so I have to toss you back into Hueco Mundo myself!" Lilly reeled back, ready to attack, then stopped as Sora talked. Now that she thought about it, why did she want to be the Queen of Hueco Mundo? Well, there was always the large amount of food, plus people on hand to feed her. But otherwise, what was the reason? She had always disliked the Espada for denying her entrance into Las Noches, claiming her to not be strong enough.

"Because!" Lilly huffed, puffing up her cheeks angrily as she spoke. "They think Lilly's not good enough! Lilly's going to prove it to them when she's ruling Hueco Mundo! Lilly... Lilly doesn't know..." Her aura seemed to cool down a little bit, her anger slightly assuaged. "Well... Lilly doesn't know what she's going to do after! Maybe eat some more food... she doesn't know!" Her aura rose again as she huffed again, completely ignoring the guitar's chords the best she can. There was still a facial giveaway of distress. "Stop being confusing! Lilly has no one! She's always been alone, so Lilly doesn't worry about stuff like that!"

Lilly actually had been alone her entire life. Ever since her rather sudden death as a human, she'd been alone, eating to survive, and then eating because she was bored. All in all, aside from the moments where she was shadow a human and speak to them, which in all reality had no effect, she was eating or sleeping. If Sora were the type of guy to think about it, he would see that the diminutive Arrancar merely wanted attention and recognition. She went from being a rather popular girl in life, to a nearly totally secluded Arrancar in death. This caused her to crave the attention lavished upon the Espada, seeing how they were all Arrancar as well. Everyone feared the Espada and respected them at adversaries. No one took them lightly. Obviously, with her state of mind, Lilly wanted to be the best one. To be the Espada everyone feared more than most, but also, the one that the Espada looked to for help when they needed it.

Lilly clutched her hands together tightly, grabbing some of her aura and crushing it into a tightly compacted form. With a grin, she jumped into the air, holding the shiny silver orb. "I'll have Kamikaze show you all that I can beat Caelum-kun and everyone else!" However, she hesitated. It seemed she was having a moral dilemma, and that Sora's words had rung true. She wasn't strong enough to stand up to someone like Caelum. Well, maybe in resolve she was, but in actual strength, he would beat her easily. She stood right where she was, holding the compacted explosive aura and shaking gently, trying to make a decision. Her conscience was wavering, trying to pick whether or not to throw the explosive orb and possible harm Rou, but maybe not to throw it, because she didn't want to harm anything that meant something to Sora. He wasn't a horrible person, and she didn't exactly want to hurt him. He seemed nice, and all in all, someone to look up to. Was it really right to harm someone like that?

Lilly finally squinted her eyes shut and threw the orb, sending it hurtling towards Rou's feet at breakneck speeds. She may not know if it was the right decision, but she did know one thing. She was going to be an Espada, and if it took beating each one of them to do so, then she would. When the orb would hit the ground, it would explode, but not any more powerful than the last explosion. This was used as a diversion to get Rou to dodge either back or up, so Lilly's true attack could show itself. Once Rou dodged, Lilly would Sonido forward, aiming an explosive punch into her gut for maximum damage.

Rou was now looking closer to Lilly, gritting her teeth. She really was hoping she could persuade the girl to see what she was saying was wrong. She was another arrancar so she knew of the duty they were to have. They were to serve the Lord she was talking about defeating, dishonoring. Surely there would be some way to convince the girl she was looking at this all wrong. But it didn't seem she was going to be that lucky. And when her own honor was threatened so easily Rou decided at that moment she wouldn't have a choice. One of her targets was confirmed in that moment and there was one left to check.

She listened to what Sora had to say though she didn't lower her blade or even have the thought to. "These people are no good. They are all lost in the same dark as yourself. You're protecting will go without worth! You are only standing in the way." she corrected Sora. "These people will have to bow down to Caelum-sama and hope he shows mercy for the being as they are some day. By opposing me you're opposing Caelum! I can't forgive that! I would not have taken the action of taking your life had you not done so.." She couldn't be swayed by whatever evil spilled from the man's mouth. He may have made sense but sometimes a villain could do that, so lost that he believed what he was doing was right in some way, no matter what he had to do. So here she was left with her second confirmation. He was set on his duty to 'protect'. She exhaled slowly, knowing that she had to targets to take care of. She could tell they weren't the average weakling but then again she wasn't either.

She was almost hesitant, loosening her sword grip when she listened to Lilly again, furrowing her brows. "Lilly..." Again this girl had some reasoning behind her twisted actions, even if those actions seemed a bit extreme. For a moment she thought the girl might change her mind. Though just as she was about to have the thought to let the girl be, something else grabbed her attention. All the while she hadn't let herself completely ignore Sora and when she looked his direction now it was just in time to see him stroke the guitar that let out such a painful sound. She hissed lowly, biting back a groan as the sound rang through her head. She clutched her hand over one ear. As one eye closed the other sharpened, somehow seeing through the hair that was being whipped around by the force. She was sliding over the ground though keeping her ground of standing up when she saw the hellish dog that had sprung to life and was now sprinting toward her with drool being slung every which way. It was too slow though, which played much to her advantage. She didn't need to think twice before pushing of with her right knee that sent her flying in the air towards the thing. She turned mid flight, her back facing the beast now which would seem foolish to any other. However as she flew back, Rou changed her arm position so her blades were now sticking out from behind her. She aimed for the chest of the canine where she figured the wounds from her two blades would do the most damage to the beast. Despite the seriousness of the situation, Rou was still smiling just as cheerily as ever. Though she would have preferred different circumstances she was proving her loyalty to her lord as a hero should.

"Ow.." Rou stayed in her lying down position, pouting as she rubbed her head. She was over that quickly enough though. Despite her scrawny appearance though, the blonde wasn't so easy to take down. Without even a waver, Rou gave a push with her hands that resulted in her rising to her feet with the utmost grace. And then she was in the air again. She had shot off in a sonido, leaving a crater within the building in her wake as she darted up through her holey trail. She was already holding out her hand, charging up a yellow orb in her palm. A moment later she was releasing wave after wave of decently sized bala in Lilly's direction. She wasn't Naive enough to think it would fully catch her but for now she wanted to distract the girl for a moment.

While still in the air she gave a graceful spin, bringing on leg up so her foot was bent back to the beginning of her thigh. With the flick of her ankle she exerted some reiastu into the air to allow her to sonido from her place in the sky. She was gone in flash, reappearing right in front of Sora, one of her blades coming down upon him over his left shoulder. Looking then she realized her butterfly sword had taken some damage from the explosion it had suffered, a few cracks formed upon its blade. With that in mind Rou thought it best to use her free sword in a different way. Whether or not her first sword landed there was always the back up. Flicking her wrist she spun the sword within her hand so that its grip now covered her knuckles. This is what those rigid studs were for. With all her strength she brought her fist forward, aiming for the man's stomach and if the hit landed the added effect of the brass knuckle like handle would truly make for a devastating blow.

OCC: I did warn the both of you of my lack of maddddddd skill <3 ^^'

Sora sighed, knowing this wasn't going to work. He painted a circle, frowning somewhat, as they responded to him. Not exactly answers he was hoping for, but thus being said, he was not going to give up on just persuading them to leave, as that was the type of person that Sora was. Sora listened to Lilly speak of being the Queen of Espada, and frankly, it reminded him a lot of himself when he was younger. When he had been in a gang, when he first thought his parents had abandoned him, he had created all sorts of mischief, broken all sorts of laws, and gotten into a lot of trouble. Some people thought him a trouble maker, but luckily, there were those that were wiser in the court rooms at the times he was sent to trial. He'd usually gotten off scott-free, other than community service or something like that, all because they saw that he wasn't an actual thug or vagabond, but because he wanted attention he desperately craved from his own parents and adopted parents, more than anything, and that's what Sora was seeing in Lilly now.

"But you know, ruler's don't have to be strong. Have you not heard the legends of King Arthur, or Beowulf? They don't show their strength through their raw power. They show their strength through the ability to lead their men. Why do you need to beat Caelum so bad? Has he done something to hurt you?" Sora asked, noticing he was getting through to her, even if just a little bit. He sighed once more, as he grabbed the neck of the guitar, carrying it with him to the other side of the circle, setting it in the air where it would float once more. Idly, he mused that if he kept it up, he himself would steal the title "The Prince of Sigh's" from a book he had read not too long ago.

Sora couldn't help but cringe at the chaos ensuing, the light of the explosion reflecting off of some of the farther metal surfaces. He listened as police sirens were heard off in the distance, though he wasn't worried. He just figured they needed to wrap this up soon. He listened to Rou call himself and all of his people evil, and shook his head sadly. "But how do you know your own King isn't corrupt?" he asked, letting the question linger in her mind.

Sora turned slightly, thinking he had espied another potential enemy, realizing it to only be a cat. When he turned back around, however, he saw that Rou was immediately upon him. He quickly grabbed his brush, using the painted end to block the slice from his shoulder. What he didn't see, however, was the punch to the gut he took. The brash knuckles did their fair share of damage, causing Sora to cough up a bit of blood. The tip of the paintbrush was just centimeters away from the circle, so with little effort, it touched the painting, and brought it in close, directly in front of Rou's stomach, in between them. Sora placed the tip of his paintbrush through it, a large roaring being heard, almost comparable in sound to the guitar strum from earlier. With the strength of a jet engine, Rou would be blown a considerable distance back, were she caught directly in front of it.

In some weird way, however, Sora understood where Rou was coming from, also. Her dedication to her King was like his own dedication to his people. Well, albeit he saw the King of Hueco Mundo as far more sinister than these people could ever be. But, then again, monsters breed monsters. Now, he knew that wasn't true for all of the Arrancar, as evidenced by Lilly, who just seemed to crave attention, but for a good portion of them, at least. He vaguely wondered if all Espada were like this. Luckily this was the Tercera Espada, the third, no, fourth? He forgot if there was a Cero or not. There hadn't been time to discuss the exact number of Espada's with the Shinigami that had visited, as they had only gotten 1 through 10. He remembered there was something about the tenth Espada, something that was key, but he just couldn't remember what it was for the life of him. No matter, that just meant there were only two others stronger than her, at least, and the rest were weaker. He didn't think he'd have too hard of a time defending the city, for now, though he may need to build up The Family some more, to get more protector's and watcher's of the region. Three cities was too much for one man alone.

Lilly didn't have the skills necessary to break from a full Sonido to dodge Rou's incoming Bala, so the first one struck true into Lilly's chest. She only had time to release a pained, choking noise from her mouth until her aura was set off, exploding fiercely and sending the girl back with much more force than if just the bala hit her. She slams into the wall with a solid thunk, with enough force to completely obliterate a normal human body. She cries out loudly, her hoodie torn from the impact and her chest bleeding rather gently.

Then the other waves of Bala come, striking her and the building solidly. She was sent through the wall and into the building, where if one paid attention, it would sound as if Lilly went through something glass on the inside. The building soon gave way under the impacts and collapsed on top of her, flattening out into a rather uniform pile of wreckage. Once again, the only indicator the girl was still alive was that her spiritual pressure was rising once more from the previous explosion.

However, it didn't look like she was immediately getting up. Anyone would be hurt after an impact like that, even someone used to explosions like she was. Being used to deafening explosions was probably the only thing that saved her from Sora's earlier attack. Still she laid under the wreckage as her brain did a damage calculation of her body. She really needed to be more careful when it came to using her Sonido. She'd never be able to defeat Caelum like that. She found severe damage in places, one place in particular that basically took her out of the fight. Not completely, but it would make things much harder on her.

Lilly slowly gets up into a knelt position, moving aside wreckage to sit somewhat comfortably. She was cut all over her body, bleeding lightly from each one. She removed her hoodie, as it was so destroyed there wasn't a point to wearing it further. Reduced to her black, almost schoolgirl-ish top that matched her skirt, she panted softly. The damage done to her leg was bad enough for her to feel pain using Sonido, so this was a problem. She definitely couldn't keep up with the pain anymore. "She's... Really strong..."

Lilly pursed her lips, holding back the massive urge to cry, due to the pain's effect on the diminutive Arrancar. To get over the thought of crying, she mulled over what Sora had said. A leader could lead his men through power, right? Lilly was almost certain of it. She had power. She could lead everyone through her Kamikaze. She would just have to prove it to Sora and Rou right now. There was only one way the girl could still win without having to keep up with the pair.

She closed her eyes and growled deeply, her reiatsu suddenly skyrocketing. She was gathering every last bit of her reiatsu in her eyes as the light regenerated her aura. Fairly soon, her next aura would hold every bit of reiatsu the explosive Arrancar had. Such an explosion would hit like a nuclear bomb, minus the fallout. The entire area around them would be gone in the blast. She stands uneasily and begins limping towards the pair locked in combat.

"Lilly doesn't need to beat Caelum-kun..." She pants softly, just walking on her lamed leg apparently causing her a great deal of pain. "... Lilly needs to show him she can be an Espada, too... Lilly can use her power to lead the Espada. Lilly knows people do this. Humans do it all the time... It works until another human uses his power to kill the first human. Same with the Hollow. They kill each other to gain power, then use that power to keep everony else in control. If everyone does it, Lilly will, too..." It seemed the stories Sora mentioned had no effect on Lilly because she'd never heard of them. She stops, a little more than twenty feet from them. Suddenly, she grins widely to Sora, that guiltless, childish grin of hers. "Still... You're nice... For a human, anyways..." Lilly then smiles rather softly, almost as if she knew the drain on her reiatsu would kill her. "You should run, human... Tell them to run, too..." She points to the gathering policemen all staring in wonder at the impact sites scattered about the area. "Lilly doesn't want you to die, so Lilly will defeat the Espada for you!"

Rou was pleased as her hit landed right in its target, even more so when she saw her punch had created the damage she want, spotting the blood that Sora had hacked up. Looking to her left she watched as Lilly too took impact, much more than she had been expecting. She had only wanted a distraction so she could take care of the man but she had gotten so much more. She wasn't as pleased though, still thinking Lilly had a chance at being saved from her ways, in which she was slightly thankful to Sora for but she could never repeat such a thing. Being thankful to a villian only brought up trouble in one's heart, especially a heart of goodness. She would be tainted, owe a debt to the man. she couldn't have something like that holding her back. Her choice was egged on by what Sora next said to her. She stiffened up, taking a few heavy breaths. She sheemed to be shaking, no longer smiling and her eyes were dark. "How dare you..." she glared up through the shadows of her hair. "How dare you even think that of Lord Caelum!" He had no right. She would take insult to herself but when her King was brought up in disgrace, it was all she could do not to turn to dark ways herself. So rather than showing gratitude, the blonde went on in for another attack. She had pulled back her other fist and was about to strike when the guitar was again strummed.and just as she brought her fist forward she was met with its force. She held her ground for only a moment before she was sent flying backward with speed. She clamped her hands over her ears, though there was still a loud leftover ringing sounding throughout her head which cause her to whine. She had nearly lost focus when she realized she was just a few feet off the ground now. Rou twisted her body in flight. However this just wasn't enough for the landing she desired and she was left crshing down on her shins, sliding backwards with the left over momentum until she smashed into the cement exterior of a building behind her.

She was shaky when she got up and when one looked to her legs it was clear as to why. From where she had landed on her knees and driven her shins back through the broken street her boots and stocking had become torn to shreds and were now soaking up blood that seeped from deep gashes in her legs. Not only that but evidently she had had a worse impact than she imagine, Lodged into her right thigh was a sharp piece of cement that didn't seem like it had any intentions of removing itself. Closing her eyes Rou reached down, taking firm hold of the chunk of stone before ripping it forward. Little did she know that the back end of the shard was much thicker and she accidently caused an even bidder would to from that nearly caused it to break the skin of her outer thigh. She didn't try to hold back her cry this time, unable to really. Though she couldn't stop now. She hissed as she pulled herself up to her feet but none the less she was successful. She held herself up on a spacious crack in the wall for a moment before daring to let go, finding that the first steps she took weren't all that easy as her legs simply wanted to give way. Her hair was covering her face and she didn't mind it as much for her enemies couldn't see the way she was gritting her teeth nor the water that was forming in the corners of her eyes.

When she had finally come to some calm, she flipped her head back so she could see again and when she looked up she spotted Lilly standing in front of her. She heard everything the girl said and hung her head. all hope was lost now. "Lilly...think about what you'r doing. Going against the espada, and therefore Caelum-sama. Aren't you the least bit disturbed?!" she barked in a worried tone. This girl was setting herself up for death because of her evils. Her face told of pleading but then green eyes told of how serious she was about her duty. She got in a read stance. One hand was drawn back, ready to slice while the other was lower down, preparing an orb in her palm though it was weakly charging for the time being. If it came down to it she would fire a cero at the girl if she attacked. She had the thought to release to her resurrecion but at the same time she didn't believe this battle would be going on for much longer. She'd need to tend to her bleeding leg soon enough before it was permanently damaged.

"And you.." She moved her eyes to Sora. there was still disgust in her voice form her anger at the man from earlier. "what will you do?" she wondered if he'd really leave the girl to fight and take off like a coward. something told Rou that he wouldn't. Even if he was one of the bad guys, he didn't seem the type to do so. She became more alert, expecting them to attack her all at once and just in case she had her better leg pushing against the ground need she have to leap up for some kind of escape if her reaction was soon enough.

Sora sighed, as he watched the interaction between the two, before Lilly addressed him. "But if you continue the cycle... you'll just end up like the King before you. You don't want to die, do you? Things don't have to be that way." He said, as he stepped back, bringing his paintbrush to his side again. He saw what Lilly was doing, and had a vague idea what she was going to do, since he knew she specialized in explosions. Quick as a wink, (Not literally, of course.) he painted what looked like a spade in midair, which followed Sora as he moved, always floating between himself and the other two. Sora turned, looking at the police men. "Get out of here! There's a bomb in the vicinity, and I'm going to disarm it! There's no time for the bomb squad!" He shouted, which caused most of the police to peal out of the park. Sora turned back to Lilly, pleading in his eyes. "Think about it, you don't have to do this. You don't need to prove yourself to them." He said, also giving Lilly one more chance before she or he did something that one of them would regret.

Sora thought for a moment, having an internal debate with himself, before he finally spoke up. "In fact, if you gave up your goal of becoming Queen, you could live here. We'd have to watch the explosions, but I'm confident you could control yourself enough to not need to do that. I said earlier that you were a danger to the World of the Living, but you can become a thing for good. You can fight for something truly righteous, for the people that are getting the chance to live that you didn't get. You were unfairly turned into a Hollow. You could help me stop that from happening to people who don't deserve it." He said. "All you have to do is drop this goal."

He heard Rou address him, turning to watch her, seeing the way she had glowered at him. Sora sighed, shrugging. "I don't know yet." He said, as he walked to where he was still a distance away, but he was able to see both of them, as if he were a spectator of their fight. "It doesn't have to be like this. All you need to do is leave." He said to Rou. "And I won't bother you, or your King." He said. While doing this, Sora painted a curved line in midair, a straight line connecting both tips. He then painted another line, perpendicular to the other two lines, forming what looked like a bow and arrow. Sora placed the guitar on the large arrow, the guitar attaching and seeming to become a part of it.

The moment either of them moved to attack each other, this arrow would be released, flying true as if it didn't have the guitar on it at all. It would land between them, and the sound of the guitar slamming against the ground would have the force to send both of them away from each other, though both items would be destroyed in the process. And throughout this whole ordeal, the shield kept maneuvering to stay in between the two quarreling females and Sora himself, as if it were protecting him, though its purpose was yet to be known.

Sora took another deep breath to sigh, before he began coughing, spitting out blood once more, a hand flying to his chest. "Damnit, she really got me good." He said, as he ran his fingers along his chest. He lifted his shirt, looking down at it to see that there was a large, purple and yellow bruise forming where she had punched him, that spot on his chest slightly more indented than the rest. He fell to a knee, coughing some more, vomiting a little bit, as his body was just now registering the full effect of the punch, the power numbing that spot on his chest for a moment. Sora figured he needed to end this fight quickly. He was beginning to run low on the ability to keep using his techniques, something that he would have to work on in the future. He raised a tanned hand, wiping sweat off his brow as he looked at the two, breathing half-haggardly. Not only was he running out of energy, but he needed to get checked out, so as to make sure it wasn't going to be a permanent injury, or even fatal.

Lilly panted heavily, her reiatsu peaking and surrounding her like a wildfire. The aura reached into the sky ten feet above the diminutive Arrancar's head. However shaky Lilly stood on her lamed leg, she had a determined look in her eyes. "Lilly can't... She's gotta be strong... Lilly's not proving herself to them... She's making them see how wrong they were! They were wrong! They didn't let Lilly into Las Noches because they didn't believe how strong she was!" She had denied that she was doing it to prove it to them, but then she just went and contradicted herself. Still, she believed what she was doing, simply had to be done. There was a principle involved.

Then she looked to Sora and gave him a sad look as it seemed he was staying right next to her. She then looks back to Rou darkly, her resolve seeming to be shaking. "If... If Lilly dying is the way the Espada can see how great she is, then... Then..." Lilly tears up and sniffles. She then wipes her nose on her sleeve. "... Lilly will die. It's not disturbing. It's Lilly's dream. therefore, it must happen!" With a huff, she begins to limp in Rou's direction, holding out her hands as if to catch herself on Rou's shoulders. "Lilly begins with Rou-chan... Then... Caelum-kun... But all of you will see..." She grins darkly. "Lilly's an Espada! You just don't know it yet!"

Suddenly, Lilly freezes in place, a pained expression on her face. She gasps and falls to the ground, her aura instantly dissipating and her knife falling to the ground next to her. "Ka... Kamikaze-kun? You..." Lilly makes several pained noises and shakes, her resistance to pain while in Resurreccion all but gone. The pain of walking with a destroyed leg takes over the child's mind, making her unable to move or do anything. She gave a look to Rou, suddenly expecting the Espada to kill her, as Lilly wouldn't be able to fight back. Kamikaze had effectively ran out of juice when Lilly tried to force everything into one attack, already having been used once.

She then looked to Sora gently, her pained expression waning quickly. It was replaced with a worried expression, one that was asking to help. Lilly suddenly began to believe she was going to die. She'd made some stupid tactical decisions during the fight that cost her dearly, and her zanpakuto reacted to her wants, leaving her power before she was able to use it. She wasn't able to use Kamikaze for senseless slaughter or random destruction. Suddenly, she wanted help. She couldn't walk. She was too used to not feeling her pain by using Kamikaze's power as a resistance to it.

Finally, her destroyed leg buckled and she fell to the ground, unable to remain standing on it. She groaned and turned her head to Rou, grasping her dagger. "Lilly... Can still fight... She's not done yet..." She wasn't going to die. Not even if both Lilly's arms and legs were broken beyond current use, she wouldn't admit defeat. She rolled onto her back and panted, the pain still showing it's effects on her. She looked to Rou fiercely, opening her mouth and gathering the energy for a Cero. "You... Can't win! Lilly's... The best there is... She's the Queen of Hueco Mundo!" However odd it may have sounded for her to say that in her condition, she still fired a Cero from her mouth that would definitely give Rou nice burns, should it hit her. However, the Cero was only at half strength, so it didn't have nearly the destructive power.

Lilly, after firing the Cero, dropped her head to the ground and looked to Sora one last time before passing out, the overwhelming pain taking the child. However, she was unconscious, but her eyes were still open, staring at Sora eerily. However, she wanted him to protect her. She didn't want to die yet. Even as the purple dulled in her eyes, she was thinking about what Sora had said. She didn't understand his meaning when he said she was unfairly Hollowfied, or even what he meant when he said she could become something good and fight for something righteous, but one thing was for sure... She was definitely sticking around him to get all of the answers she could once she woke up.

The tercera was through giving out warnings that would not be taken. She had tried to show some mercy because the girl was troubled but lily wasn't going to see the darkness lingering in her betrayal against her own kind. No matter how much she disliked it Lilly was going to keep on going until Rou had no more options but to kill her and it wouldn't take much with the way the child was limping toward her so brokenly. She retightened her grip on her blade and slowly let the await cero power up even more. She really didn't think it'd take all that much to finish off this job then head to the man to finish him off shortly after. Just as she was about to lunge for a likely fatal stab the girl froze up and her reiastu level dropped dramatically. It was over without her doing anything more. There was nothing Lilly could do in such a state, or so she had thought. The orb charging up in her hand slowly dwindled away until only a spark was left.

Loosening her grip, the espada lowered her hand to her side, using the chance to take a deep shaky breath. Honestly standing up the way she was was begining to take its toll. Her legs shaking terribly. She looked down to Lilly, for once not showing much of any of her usual peppy joy instead she kept a straight face though stricken with pity. The blonde saw how she looked to Sora, silently begging for help despite anything she had said about dying for her corrupt dream. The way she looked now made Rou's throat tighten up for a moment in discomfort. She wasn't the brightest out there but she knew what the other arrancar was feeling. "Queen,..." she took a step forward, raising her right hand to get ready to give a final judgement on the wicked. It would be an easy task to end her. "I'm afraid I do have to.." she murmured with a hint of regret in her high voice. There were times when a hero would be faced with heartbreaking decisions such as this but a hero always had to keep strong and do what must be done. If she did not this evil would only come back some day and become an even greater threat, which just could not be gambled with. Her eyelids drooped halfway and she allowed a frown. "I'm sorry.." Just as she spoke Lilly announced just how far from done she was, even in that state. At the same moment Lilly released the cero from her mouth rough threw her other arm forward, palm out. Using what power she had she separated the Cero around hero with one of her own though the moment she fekt the other end she moved her hand out pointing to the sky so the remainder of her own blast wouldn't harm the girl until she could end it which was only a second later.

when the dust from their brief encounter faded some, Rou looked back to the girl, seeing her now motionlessly lying on the ground. She let both arms drop to her sides and her knees finally buckled though she didn't dare fall to the ground. She wasn't that weak. She stared at Lilly for sometime before looking up to Sora. "You'll stay out of Lord Caelum's way?" it was directed as a question though it sounded more like an order. "You're words aren't of any good purpose but they seem to effect her some" with her eyes she pointed down to the fallen arrancar then back up to the man. "You can get her to at least see that what she wants isn't right, even if its with your own beliefs" She didn't want to end the girl like she was now. Even if it left her in darkness Sora taking her would at least give Lilly something to do rather than dare think of taking the life of her king. "Whether you do or not I don't think she'll be much of a problem after this" In that state she didn't think Lilly would last long enough to even have the idea of another attempt on the espada.

She let out a deep sigh, leaning back against a fallen piece of some building, which one she couldn't be sure of anymore. She looked down to the ground and low and behold despite all the chaos a snake was slithering its way over the debris. "Mr.Zaltys!" she exclaimed, her face once again bright with a cheery smile. Pulling up her sleeves, she returned her butterfly swords to their holsters on her thin arms. That done she leaned down, offering her hand to the green sake. Seemingly gladly it made its way into her grip. "I guess I can go now.." She stood up straight with some effort and a tiny hiss but she was still smiling. Draping the small snake over her neck she used her hand to tap the air and where she did a garganta ripped open the space there, revealing the darkness withing it. "Neh! Bad guy!" she called out as she waved her arm around. "I think you should thank Mr.Zaltys for your good luck!" If the snake hadn't come along she probably would have attempted a further fight with the man. It was the only thing she had come here for and she wouldn't have left with out one. "You better not mess with us Bad Guy!~" she warned in a voice all to sing-songy to be taken that seriously even if she meant it. With a giggle she managed the steps it took to enter the garganta that closed soon behind her.

Sora stood up, his stomach starting to lessen in pain, though it felt at any moment he would vomit the rest of the contents out. He watched as Lilly fell, pity on his face as she did so. He shook his head, as he turned to Rou, to see what she would do. He listened to her demands, nodding. "So long as he leaves this World alone, I will leave him alone." He said, knowing that eventually, the treaty would be broken, but it was a good compromise, he thought. He listened to the deadly-calm in her voice, which was a surprise compared to how it had been when he had first heard her speak. When he saw her find what she had come here for, he smiled, despite the gut-wrenching pain he was experience right now. He waved a hand, and all of his paintings disappeared; the shield, the guitar, and the bow.

Sora turned around, surveying the wreckage. It had been a little skirmish, but there had been dire consequences. Luckily, some of the buildings that had been blown up had been evacuated at the mention of a bomb, but there were still those that were trapped beneath the wreckage, though none seemed to be in sight, oddly. What had once been a park, had become a battleground. What had once been a lush, grassy field in the middle of an urban environment, now became what one might think was a construction site. A pity.

Sora turned back to Lilly, seeing the empty look in her eyes. For a second, he thought she was dead due to the fact that her eyes were open, but without the light of consciousness in them, and she seemed to barely move. He walked over, placing a finger against the corner of her jaw, feeling for a pulse. There was one, but it was very weak. Gently, he put his arms underneath the small Arrancar, carrying her out of the park. He used some of his remaining power to create physical reishi steps to help him get on a building. He had to stop, however, once on a Skyscraper, as his chest was still hurt and sore. He placed her down once again, so he could vomit off in a little corner, before going back to her, picking her up once more. His house wasn't far now, just a few blocks. They were close.

Though it didn't show much on the outside, Sora was glad that the match had ended the way it had, despite the large-scale chaos. It could have been a lot worse, Sora knew that much. After seeing her Resureccion for the first time, Sora would have expected that Lilly would have caused many more explosions than she had, though thankfully it was down to a couple handfuls. Not to mention Rou, being an Espada, hadn't released her Resureccion at all. If she had, things could have turned really ugly. All in all, while the fight could have been more destructive, it wasn't, and Sora was able to minimize what deaths he could, so he was pretty jovial about the whole ordeal, his wound not seeming to affect his mood any.

Sora arrived at his home, having descended from the skyscraper's, or what was left of them, long ago via the hardened reishi steps, landing in the backyard of his house. He looked at the shed, before an idea came to mind. It would have to wait for later, however. He walked to the back door, setting Lilly gently down upon the patio, as he fished his keys from his pocket. He unlocked the sliding door, taking her in, where he set her on the leather couch inside. He grabbed some thread, a needle, some salve to speed up the healing process, and bandages where he proceeded to fix Lilly up to the best of his ability. Which wasn't all that well. Still, the bleeding was stopped, the wounds all bandaged, so he was he was done.

After cleaning up, Sora went into his own room, flopping on the bed, fully clothed. Idly, he wondered whether bringing Lilly here was a good idea or not. She may be mad at him, and try to blow his house up or something, but it was a risk Sora was willing to take. He wanted her to become something better than she was, despite not knowing her all that well. That was just one more flaw of Sora Watanabe; he always saw the inherent good in people, and always tried to help them follow what he considered the right path. This girl just seemed misguided to him, so he was confident that he could help her, knew he could help her. He closed his eyes, and got a falling feeling as unconsciousness started to take him.

[END OF THE TRAINING THREAD]