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

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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 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]