Equality Between Men and Monster's [Closed]

What is your favorite thing to do, that doesn't involve creativity? This was a question Sora loved to ask people. Often, people thought long and hard, a grin overcoming their face as they thought of something, only to be disappointed when Sora often pointed out that that, in some way, involved creativity. Creativity was the most essential thing in human life to Sora, even moreso than love or happiness; purely because, he believed that creativity could lead to these two things.

Sora sat amongst a field of flowers, in a local park, trying to go somewhere else for creativity. He sat with his easel, paintbrush, canvas, palette, and paints, and had gone to town. Often, a passerby would come over and look, usually complimenting Sora on his painting skills. Usually, this is where he would stop and chit-chat with the person, thanking them and then talking of art and creativity. And in fact, this is what Sora was doing, when he sensed it. A normal person might not have sensed it, but Sora had. An explosion; an explosion of spiritual pressure, to be exact, and Sora had some idea who it was. "I'm sorry, I have to go. Excuse me." he said, interrupting the promiscuous woman before him, who had been flirting with him. He dropped everything, spilling a bit of paint on his blue jeans as he practically jumped up.

He ran as fast he could, trying to get tot he source of where the explosion had been. The only thing he could think of as he ran was the small Arrancar who had stolen his heart. (In a strictly sisterly-like way.) Lilly. He hoped nothing happened to her; no, he PRAYED nothing happened to her. In the short time that they had known each other, he had learned a lot about her, and had even become fond of her. "Please.... be okay..." He said, as he ran to where she was, knowing her knack for receiving trouble; or so it seemed, to him.

That looking for something that most likely didn't involve explosions would result in him... well, tracking down explosions, was possibly to be expected, in some form. Alright, so maybe all roads wouldn't necessarily lead to explosions, but certainly to the general type of creature that caused these particular ones. And to think the Arrancar was just seeking out some sort of human with a special power for a specific purpose that he himself unfortunately couldn't fill as a 'demon,' even having to go to a different city entirely after the recent incident in Karakura.

Perhaps it was just his fate that this sort of distraction would come up, as a creature who had made it his life to turn on his would-be peers. Though... what he came to spot was just a bit much, perhaps. It gave him the distinct feeling that his own powers, which were largely heat-based, would only make things worse.

Failing any particular want for that at the moment, he opted instead to perch on the ground a safe enough distance away (which, for he who trusted in his durability, was only about ten feet) before letting out a fierce roar quite comparable to those dragons seen in movies. The obvious threat was backed by flickers of white occasionally drifting from between the Arrancar's bared teeth, semblances of his charging cero. Anything bearing any indicator of a threat, and he was certainly not planning on being hesitant to release it. Otherwise, he was more than happy to wait a few moments and see if this little... meal would be an easy one.

Lilly laid limply on the ground, fighting to stay awake as she continued dripping the searing black refuse. Her clothes balled up underneath her, she continues coughing and hacking up the refuse, making all sorts of pitiful noise. Her chest heaved slowly, but at least he had left. She even watched the car accident with a shocked look on her face. Humorously, she was wondering if he was okay, even though she was teetering on the border of life and death herself.

Suddenly, she hears the roar, immediately snapping her eyes to Drake and getting a scared look. She knew things like that were just like Lilly in the fact they ate what living things they came across! Lilly panted and shook her head. "Lilly's... Not going... To die..." She breathed in slowly, sucking in her aura as her dagger appeared next to her, her Resurreccion losing power. What this did was drastically cut down the time needed to charge a Cero, nearly immediately firing from her mouth. It wasn't powerful enough to cause more than a few burns. It was just to let Drake know that Lilly, destroyed as she was, was not going to die today.

Sora kept running, intent on reaching Lilly, when he felt another presence nearby. It was similar to Lilly, so it was an Arrancar? Either that, or a Hollow. He felt Lilly's spiritual pressure, weak as it was. A sudden burst, and he knew she had either fired a cero or had caused an explosion; there was no boom, so he imagined it was a cero. He didn't know if the Arrancar was benevolent or malevolent, so he started using some of his Fullbringer abilities, and using the fullbring equivalent of shunpo to get there faster, while simultaneously pulling out his paintbrush. Those with a quick eye might see him, but otherwise, most people would just feel a sudden rush of wind as he passed them by.

He immediately began drawing a shield, the painting seeming to move with him. He made it to the small clearing where the gun range had previously been. The first thing he had seen was Lilly, in as feeble of a condition as she was. He felt his heart lurch as he saw the closest thing he had to family at the moment on the ground, seeming to bleed out. He got there just in time to see the last remnants of Lilly's cero, dissipating. "Lilly!" He shouted, jumping in front of her, facing the Arrancar, his hands splayed widely in front of him. The shield seemed to move from the direction it was facing, to stay between himself and Drake, though it was see-through.

"Leave Arrancar, and spare yourself the worst beating of your life!" He shouted. Normally, he didn't make his abilities seem more impressive than they actually were; until he went into protective mode. At that point in time, all bet's were off.

'Not going to die,' she said, and the weak cero only served to show that she intended to mean it. Drake, meanwhile, seemed to not even register it; with his hard scales, and her weak condition, there was no way it could really do anything to him but sear slightly across his nose. His eyes narrowed slightly upon the attack; if she was going to go that far in such a condition, he probably needed to obliterate her quickly and thoroughly.

The appearance of what he was certain to be a human, however, he wasn't expecting. Now things were annoying and inconvenient, not to mention confusing. A human, stepping in in defense of a demon? That was new... and surely required some communication.

So, with a light sigh and a harmless dissipation of his cero charge, Drake let out a light, odd growl before his wings suddenly surrounded him wholly. When they returned to their place folded up against his back, he was standing a white-cloaked figure, human-like in stark contrast to his previous draconic appearance. Better yet, he could speak in a way most could understand.

"I'd rather not put up with that right now, so... for now, I'll ask why you're defending a demon, of all things," he inquired calmly, letting his gaze wander between the human that apparently had some sort of power and the 'demon' in question. For the moment, his instinct to see if the man might be able to offer training to someone was quelled for the fact that Drake wasn't certain if he could be trusted. "Especially one that can't even seem to stand on her own right now," he stated, with no degree of malice; 'twas simply as he saw things, and probably wasn't a wholly inaccurate observation, given the situation.

Lilly panted weakly on the ground, her vision pulsing with her weakening heartbeat as she looks to Drake. "Don't... Kill... Lilly... She can't... Die yet..." She spoke just it time, as it seemed, as she went into another coughing fit, expelling yet more of the refuse. onto herself and the ground. She nearly had herself painted black with the thin liquid, making her smell heavily of crude oil.

As she looked up softly, she saw Sora flash in front of her, a smile slowly forming on the broken Arrancar's face. "Onii... Chan... You came... For Lilly... Even though... She's a terrible sister..." She laid back, feeling safe as long as Sora was around her. One could say she felt emboldened, but it would be impossible to tell with refuse covering her shattered body.

Sora smiled at Lilly from behind, before nodding. "Well, I wasn't going to just let you lay here covered in that... gunk." He said, good-naturedly, turning back to the Arrancar before him with a fierce expression. He watched as the covers covered the body of the Arrancar, before he seemed to turn into a tall, almost majestic being. He heard the question, slightly lowering his guard; and by that, I mean he only lowered his hands. His shield was still in front of him, and he still held his paintbrush, but that didn't stop him from lowering it.

"Why would I save her? Well.... because she's worth saving. Is there any other answer than that? She's like a sister to me, and I would give my life for her." He said, his expression less fierce, looking more omniscient and wise than anything at this point in time. "Now let me ask YOU a question. Why would you snuff her life out? What offense has she done to you for you to want to kill her? I saw the cero." he asked and stated, genuine curiosity on his face. If the cero had been fired, he would have jumped into action, despite the fact he believed in the best in everyone; but that doesn't mean he wouldn't give him a chance now to redeem himself, or else be destroyed. That is, assuming he was going to destroy Lilly for the same reason as other Hollow's.

'Sister?' Curse his relatively limited vocabulary at times, another thing he was uncertain of the meaning of. The next question, however, was perfectly easy to understand, and he had but one reason that he'd not ever deny:

"Because she's a demon, like me and all the others out there. I intend to devour them all and keep them away from people that they'd hurt... that's all." So the Arrancar answered, simply and sincerely. A brief inner battle followed before he let out a short, slightly grumbling sigh, resigned to see how things went for now and wait a short time to see what... judgement he might have to pass. That human girl before had shown kindness to him, and he owed her... if sparing another demon was to be a step toward the cost, so be it. "Here, I doubt the stuff she's covered in would be entirely safe for you to touch. I won't do anything to her for now, but only because I'm not a stranger recently to protecting someone that seems worth it to me," he spoke. Even saying that, he didn't want to touch the... stuff that the girl was laying in any more than he had to, so assuming he was allowed, he made a low, short flight to snatch her up out of it. "As for you, then," he spoke, his red eyes turning to the man nearby. "I want you to help train someone I know to use powers."

Lilly was considerably more relaxed with Sora around her, the refuse slowly tapering off in flow. It seemed her wounds were shut at the moment, there was just the issue of the cracks running along her body. She grinned weakly up to Sora, or rather, his back, since he was facing the assailing Arrancar currently trying to eat Lilly. Lilly wouldn't let that happen, though, as she gently gripped her small dagger in her hands.

As Drake said he wouldn't bother her for the moment, Lilly relaxed completely, no longer hindering her body's regeneration. Still, at this rate, it would be quite some time before the little Arrancar was in fighting shape once more. Then she was snatched up quickly, making her whimper in pain and tear up once more. This prompted her to lightly tap his head with the jeweled hilt of her dagger and pout. "Be careful, meanie!" At least her personality wasn't broken...

"Be careful with her." He quickly spoke, his body going rigid as he watched the Arrancar snatch Lilly from the ground. He listened to what Drake said, nodding understandingly. So the Arrancar before him, like Lilly, had been touched by somebody. Not in the literal sense, but yeah, you get the idea. The eyebrow above his eyepatch raised delicately, as he wondered what the Arrancar meant. Either way, he saw this as an excellent opportunity. Clearly, the Arrancar had more though than most, and seemed to be good, if he's protecting something he cherishes, or even has something he cherishes at all. Perhaps he was another like Lilly? He was trying to wipe away what he considered the blight that was his race, so since he was trying to protect people, he had to be good, right?

"Alright, very well. I'll do what I can do, on the condition that you join my family." Sora said. It was a bit odd, a man asking someone to join his family; a man he had just met at that. "And by that, I mean the Family of people we have that are protecting this region." he said. "We look out for each other, and all the other's that can't look out for themselves. It seems like you'd be a valuable ally already." He said, noticing how earlier the cero had seemed to rebound off of his scales, noting that he must have had a good hierro or defense. "If you agree to my terms, I will agree to yours." He said, compromising with the Arrancar.

Drake grumbled slightly upon the tap from that dagger, but that was all. It was already taking a fair deal of his patience to quell his instinct to crush this demon that wouldn't even be able to defend herself; he didn't need any more to deal with. That he was being given a condition for his request when it was already essentially made, in a way, in exchange for the safety of the one he'd extricated from... whatever that stuff was, he still wasn't certain, wasn't quite helping, but... all for the end goal at present, he supposed.

And at least the purported purpose of this 'family' was something he could generally agree with.

"Fine; it's basically what I do already, even if I have to avoid a lot of people most of the time to do it," he confirmed. "I'd prefer to leave soon enough since I promised her I wouldn't be away very long, but if there's anything you can do about... her," he spoke, casting his gaze momentarily to the Arrancar he still held up for now, despite temptation to drop her, "now would be the time. All I can really think of to help is feeding her another demon, and there aren't many around."

Lilly softly looked between the pair and smiled. "Well... Lilly always feels better after eating, but..." She looks to the hole in her chest. "I kinda think that it might not work... It might just come back out..." She hums and purses her lips. "Hey, Onii-chan... Maybe do me like you did my leg last time!" She nodded and winced from moving so much, resuming her limp lay in Drake's arms. "Nyeehhh... Onii-chan... Lilly accidentally killed some humans trying to get a door open, the a guy and a bird attacked her." She huffed and looked to Sora. "That's how this happened, just in case you were wondering." She poked Drake's neck. "He didn't do it."

Sora sighed, as he heard Lilly's explanations of what had happened. He took off his sweatshirt, before digging his fingers into it. He tore it vertically, so it would be long enough to tie about Lilly's small body. He walked over, tying it around Lilly where he could. "That's the best we can do for now. It'll have to heal on its own. I don't know anyone who could heal it." He said. He knew Lilly was probably in a lot of pain, but frankly, there's nothing he could think of that would work for her. He had noticed the deep pit that was inside of her, realizing that normal drugs and anesthetics probably wouldn't work on her.

He turned to Drake, giving him a nod of approval. "This will make things much easier for you, then. There will be less people trying to destroy you." he said, since making him a part of the organization forced the others who had joined to leave him alone. "But I'm ready whenever you are." Sora said, following right behind Drake, as he worriedly watched Lilly from behind, to make sure she was no longer leaking any gunk. Truth be told, Sora was somewhat disappointed about the murder. He wouldn't punish her, though; the fact that he seemed to not be addressing it would be punishment enough. He realized, if he knew her as well as he thought he did, that it would probably psyche her out, or cause her to worry that he was mad at her. He wasn't, truth be told; but it was something he'd rather talk about later.

"Suppose it's... a start, then," Drake said with a light shrug, referring to both this whole 'organization' deal and the one apparently called Lilly's current condition. Healing was well outside his own forte; all he could really do was feed into her a little of his own power, for what it was even worth. That he was doing such a thing to begin with was something he never would've expected of himself before, but... all for the sake of his current goal. His own personal mission otherwise could spare one... so long as she stayed out of trouble.

Nonetheless, it was about time to get moving, back to where he'd left his... current protectorate, such as it were. "It'll be a bit of a trip if we just walk, so... hm. Might as well go by wing, it'll be quicker that way," he said, setting Lilly lightly on the ground and backing away a few steps in preparation for what he had to do to such an end. Strength-wise, he could carry them both, but particularly with the girl injured, it would be... inconvenient in his present form, to say the least. Good thing he had one more suited... however...

"You can both ride on my back... shouldn't be too hard. Just don't expect me to speak in my normal form; you probably wouldn't understand me anyway," he warned, before his wings suddenly came to cover him again. When they parted, he appeared again in his normal draconic form, which was indeed of a sufficient size at least to carry two people, without much difficulty. Like that, he lowered himself closer to the ground to make things easier for them, a little anxious in the meantime to get back to where he'd promised to return.

Lilly wouldn't be an issue to carry, considering the girl weighed next to nothing. She was set back on the ground, Lilly letting out a soft sigh as she flattened on the ground. "Nyaahhh... Thanks for not eating Lilly... She wouldn't taste very good right now, anyways..." She grins impishly and looks to Sora. She holds out her arms as if she were wanting a hug from her brother, smiling with a hint of uncertainty. The seeds of discontent had already been sowed. Lilly was terrified of having Sora's back turned on her, but she told the truth, right? That counted for something, right? She hummed softly as she awaited what Sora would do.

Sora looked to Lilly uncertainly, having a derp moment where he didn't realize she had wanted a hug. He looked confused for a moment, before reaching into his pocket. He realized he'd had a sucker, and wondered if she had smelled it. He shrugged, pulling it from his pocket, as he handed it to her. He then turned to Drake, listening to what he said, shaking his head when he offered to carry him. "I can get there on my own. I have my own means of going fast." He said, as his shield dissipated, his brush growing smaller once more. He placed it in his pocket, replacing where the candy had been.

Sora wondered what he was going to say to Lilly. How was he going to approach this? He wasn't angered at her, he just wished she would show a little bit more restraint. They were at a gun range, so perhaps she had gotten hurt or something? It would be possible, though it was impossible to tell in her current condition. She'd said she wanted in the building, though, so perhaps she couldn't open the door? Sora knew he was going to need to think long and hard on this. He wouldn't punish her, but more like he needed to decide on how to approach her about this without upsetting her; he was sure she felt bad about the whole ordeal. Or at least, he was hoping she felt bad about it. Shaking his head, he went to pick up the jacket that was nearby, figuring she could use it later on; and judging by the style, he figured she would like it, anyway.

Drake rose a brow slightly, insofar as he even could in this form, before letting out a slight sigh. He'd already been away this long, he really didn't have time for this nonsense, not while he was still holding back his instinct to devour the nearby 'demon,' despite her thanks for not doing so. Said 'demon' was easy enough to pick up partly with one clawed hand and work her steadily, and as gently as he could, onto his back. That would be step one complete, and then there was step two. That he said he could get there fast on his own be damned, he was the one that knew the way and possibly had the quickest means with which to take the route, and he was the one whose patience and instincts were being tried. So far as the Arrancar was concerned at this point, his way or no way at all.

So he let his wings pick himself and his current passenger steadily and carefully into the air, and once there swooped down in full intent to snatch the human up with a front claw under each arm, making certain even then that the sharp tips wouldn't be a problem... provided of course the human didn't get away in the short time Drake gave him. One way or another, he intended to fly them there per his offer as likely the easiest way to get there, and that was all there was to it.

Lilly, at not being picked up, teared up and almost started bawling. She miraculously held it in, not wanting to appear weaker than she already was to the stranger Arrancar. She just pursed her lips and looked to Drake, since Sora couldn't pick her up while she was covered in refuse, anyways. She had merely swallowed the sucker whole, not wanting to disappoint Sora further than she already had. One thing was for sure. She would be brooding over that for quite some time. With a sad look and silent tears dripping onto Drake's back, she just laid down, not moving an inch.