What to do... (Closed)

Thus he'd made it to hell, after stepping out of the portal that 'Sin' who called himself Sloth had made for him. The setting was... well, he hadn't been certain what to expect, but it was certainly curious. Erratic flashes of lightning across the place, pillars dotting the landscape, blackness all 'round...

...and therein lay a certain problem: the relative darkness. His powers, based on light, would only serve him so well in such a setting when he could only manipulate and not create. It made being in his resurreccion form seem a little useless were it not for some light radiated from the lightning and falling lava from place to place, but it nonetheless gave him a more human form to work with, and more so the ability to communicate, that oft-important thing that... in actuality, had barely had any importance to him until quite recently.

No matter, 'twas not the time to be lost in thought. He had things to accomplish here, out of place though the rogue Arrancar plainly was amongst the few other odd denizens he could see. Likely those 'togabito' the Sin had mentioned, but as long as they didn't assail him, he couldn't be concerned about their existence. Rather, he could but press onward, seeking whatever would lead him to the power he'd heard about and so desired, while keeping his perception out in case any came too near.

This place, very likely, would not be friendly to him... but he was prepared for that risk.

"An Arrancar? Here? How odd..." Kira came into visibility roughly an hour of Drake trying to get his bearings in Hell. She eyed him warily, almost like she was purposely giving Drake a chance to study her. The girl looked rather harmless, aside from her slight muscle tone in her arms and legs. She almost looked like a boy, and if it wasn't for her skirt and voice, the Arrancar might have actually seen her as one. However, the most stand-out feature of the tomboyish woman was the massive hammeraxe on her shoulder. It looked as if the girl was exponentially more strong than she looked.

Yet, the girl didn't appear threatening. She was merely leaning upon the massive weapon, giving the Arrancar a curious look. She was as non-combative as one could get in Hell. Despite his initial thought, it seemed his first encounter didn't immediately want to kill him. "So... How did you get here?" She paused for a second and shakes her head. That was a rather stupid first question, she decided. "Actually, don't answer that. I have a rough idea how you got here. More importantly, what could you possibly want that is here?" She hums and looks him over, pursing her lips. "You do realize where you are, right? Well... Maybe you do... Not many people come here by choice, and you're definitely not dead..."

...another of those 'Sins.' After spending a little time specifically pinpointing a few of them for the one he'd met before, it was already difficult for him to not discern their particular spiritual presences from others around. Certainly there was quite a bit of a not very familiar type of presence in the area, but that one stood well above them all.

The problem at the moment? He'd only met one, and then briefly; he wasn't certain of much of anything about them, which was... somewhat concerning. Even so much as whether they were friend or foe to him was yet to be seen.

"Simply put... I'm here for more power, since I heard that there's a way for me to gain some here from that 'Sloth,'" he replied carefully, at the same time answering her last question and, essentially, her first. "He mentioned 'something starting with 'P'' for whatever names are worth; at this point I'm just working out where to find the apparent judgement for such a thing. Any help would be appreciated... this isn't exactly familiar or friendly territory for me."

Honest as he was, he was inwardly looking for a little more information, on both this power to be gained and the girl that had appeared herself. More so on the former; everything else was prioritized definitively below his current quest.

Kira listened rather calmly and hummed, appearing to mull over his words. To be honest, she really didn't know anything about what he was looking for. She only lived here. Anything out of her reach hardly intrigued her to the point of her studying it. Still, wasn't like she'd leave an out of place creature to fend for himself. That would be rather un-neighborly of her!

She nodded and shrugged after a time, coming to an answer. "So... I got no idea what you want. But power... I can help you with that much, at least..." She lifted the massive hammeraxe and sighed. "I can tell you're strong but... I don't think you're strong enough for what you want... Not yet, at least..." She grinned, which would give him ideas that she actually did know, possibly prompting an angered response from the Arrancar. She figured that if he was looking for power, then what was a better way than to fight him? She was rather bored just sitting down here, anyways.

"So here's my proposal... Fight me for a while, entertain me... You do well, I wont kill you. Simple." She raised her weapon high and gave him a deceptively cold look. "Do poorly... And I'll kill you. Also simple." She yelled out a sort of battle-cry and brought the hammer part of her weapon down upon the ground, rattling the entire ground around the pair and creating an ear-shatteringly loud sound to the crack of artillery being fired, and Drake was standing right next to the machine. However, this was only the first of many attacks the Arrancar would have to endure.

'Not strong enough?' Perhaps not, even he would likely admit that... still, he couldn't help but narrow his crimson eyes slightly upon that statement. From how it was already looking and sounding, it seemed this place indeed wasn't likely to be friendly to him. But... if he couldn't survive here, then it wouldn't even feel worth returning to the world of the living.

Good thing it wasn't as dark here as he'd suspected before upon hearing the place's name, else he'd likely be in real trouble...

Still, such was just how it went; his life as a 'demon' could only naturally be chock full of battle, and now was clearly not to be any different. A quick step back took him what seemed a safe enough distance away from the hammer, before in his left hand formed not one, but five small balls of light. One could say whatever they wanted about his loss to that Arrancar before, but he'd not taken nothing from the battle, and for now only two of the little orbs were sent out toward the Sin, to detonate in a blinding flash of light and searing explosion as soon as touch something, so... sensitive were they. His other hand remained generally idle for now, besides the light that came to wash over it and shape itself into a claw.

Like that Arrancar that had initially downed him before, he could tell this creature was stronger... but he certainly wasn't going down easily.

Kira hummed and lifted the massive weapon once more, looking to the balls of light. Suddenly, she smiles. "You apparently don't know who I am, which isn't safe, so I'll explain..." She then closed her eyes, figuring the balls of light to have a sort of blinding power, and began walking forward. Simple as that, like his attack didn't even matter to her. One of the orbs came near her, but it was hit with a backhand, causing it to detonate and burn her arm and the side of her face. However, the only reaction the girl gave was a hiss of pain from the burn and a slight stumble to the side, then continued walking, as if it hadn't happened.

Suddenly, she disappears, moving much faster than someone with so large a weapon should be able to move around. In less than a second, she was at his side, putting the head of her weapon in the ground to give her an extra push forward. Using her momentum, she would aim a kick right for him. However, the kick wasn't aimed for any specific part of him, as she was doing this with her eyes closed. If the kick landed, it would hit like a freight train, sending him quite far back from her. However, since it was a blunt and spread out blow, it was unlikely that it would do more than leave him sore and thirty feet in front of her.

No luck in blinding her, then? No matter; there was plenty more he could do than just that, as the three remaining orbs merging together into one larger one only had a simple part in displaying. In the meantime, he still had to react, and brought an arm up defensively to do precisely that. Thus far, 'twas all he'd needed; given the pain that arm was soon feeling as he was sent flying back, however, it was readily proven that even with his durability, he'd still likely need more in the near future.

Not that he was just going to leave it at that, mind. No... rather, the orb of light he held discharged itself into a blazing beam of the very same right around the time of impact, perhaps a little hotter than his norm for the increased temperature of what he was drawing the light from to begin with. Unfriendly environment, sure... not to say he wouldn't use it to every advantage he could find from it.

"I know enough... for now," he calmly protested once he finally came to a halt with the help of his wings, and his feet digging into the ground; though it was times like this he would have preferred his normal form, and the claws that could have halted his passage much more easily. No matter, he still had light; more and more, in fact, like a myriad pebbles appearing at his will in his hands. His arm was certainly sore in the meantime, but that was something to worry about when he could afford to. "Though I'm guessing not many... hollows or Arrancar come here expecting to survive."

Kira hazarded opening her eyes when her kick seemed to connect. "You'd need to take away all five of my senses to fully cripple me. I've hunted all my life. I can rely on all of them equally to find you, even if I can't see." Kira widens her eyes in slight surprise when she sees the merged orbs of light fire a beam at her, using her momentum to carry herself forward and out of the beam's way, but only barely. Getting back up and rubbing her head, she smiled. "Maybe you are just about there... Maybe you are strong enough... You seem really good at making the most out of nothing..."

She then dashed forward once more, swinging her massive weapon at him once more. "Let's see you think your way out of this one!" However, the blade was what was coming at him, not the hammer. Were he hit by it, he would be easily cleaved in two. He might not have noticed the very subtle form of her momentum, though. If he simply stood there, he would be hit by the pole, not the blade. This would be a powerful enough blow to break whatever he blocked it with, but if he moved closer to her, or if he moved upwards to dodge, he would avoid the swing entirely. She planned on an upward dodge, and was ready to use the force in her swing to propel herself upwards, though.

Think? No... he didn't have to think to simply avoid a blow, now that he knew to take caution. She was quick, as quick as he was not long ago, he'd give her that, but... after dealing with two Arrancar in succession, he'd become just a bit quicker, enough so to retreat with a quick sonido and come out with naught but a scratch... for now.

"Well... let's see how you deal with this, then..." he idly spoke, before letting loose the number of small orbs he'd brought together. The chain effect, after a mere, pin-like ray of light cutting through one of them, was in fact akin to a crackling variety of firecracker; that was, each one exploded in a noisy flash of light, thereby cutting off sight and hearing, and to an extent, spiritual perception, alike. 'Twas all he needed to go for his strike, with a pointedly low-powered sonido followed by a quick downward slash from the claw he still had formed around one hand.

Kira stands up straight and drops the massive weapon, humming and looking to the Arrancar with a slate expression. "Going to attack me first?" She then grinned impishly and nodded. She was beyond entertained at this point. She was downright delighted to have found him before anyone else did. "Let's see what you got, then..." She felt like she could handle anything the Arrancar had up his sleeve and then some, but that was because she rarely fought something she couldn't handle.

However, she didn't expect such a loud explosion to echo out from the light orbs as they detonated. This caught her off guard and caused her to drop to her knees, rubbing her eyes. "Errggh.... Damn... Nice one..." Still, even though she was technically the one on the defensive, she was enjoying herself. As Drake claws embedded in her shoulder, she gasped out, probably the most girlish noise Kira would ever make and grabbed his wrist quickly before he could retract it.

However, she didn't use this as an opening for an attack. She yanked his claws from her shoulder, and gently kissed his bloody fingers, stained with her own blood. Then she released his arm, dashing forward with a harsh punch at nothing, but in reality, she was aiming at his gut, which would devastate him. She didn't exactly know where he was, but she could still approximate, despite her dilapidated senses. She was also quickly recovering her hearing rather than her sight, as she was trying her best to ignore the ringing in her ears to find him once more.

What... oddity? She was physically stronger than him, he could feel that in her earlier kick and now grabbing his wrist in a grip he was certain he'd not be able to escape without a degree of damage, yet she... released him? All this, and still he wasn't any closer to determining whether this 'Sin' was friend or foe...

Therein was an inherent problem, then: he wasn't completely certain what to do. Not in combat, no; after a century filled near to the brim with precisely that, 'twas not something that eluded him in the slightest. Rather, it was an uncertainty what to do about all this, and it cost him a nice blow in the stomach, forcing him back for already a second time. Thank goodness for his cloak that was of a like nature to his plated scales in his normal form, but even then the impact didn't leave it unscathed, considering the fine dent. Even that, however, didn't keep him from retaliating with a hastily-formed ray of light aimed straight at his present opponent, only to precede another swift, charging strike from his claw that had even grown slightly since the previous.

The answer to Drake confusion was simply this: Kira was not trying to kill him. She was only fighting him. She was entertaining herself by going surprisingly easy on the Arrancar, and not even going for any serious blows. This was the first actual threat she'd had in quite some time, and she was milking it for as much entertainment and pleasure as she could. She had her eyes closed by this point, letting them regenerate her sight as quickly as possible. She wanted her sight back so she could fight him a little more easily.

She felt the reiatsu of a ray of Drake's light coming for her, making her dodge to the side to avoid it with a quick roll. Then, as Drake came forward for another claw strike, Kira opens her eyes, grinning widely and thrusting her palm forward. If he didn't break off the strike, his claws would sink right through her hand, but it would also cause her hand to snap shut over his, most likely breaking his hand.

Worry.

'Twas an odd thing, but one he was starting to feel lately, even after so long of having little issue crushing everything in his path, particularly after achieving the power of an Arrancar. But, ultimately, if he was going to progress... something like that most certainly wasn't going to stop him. Pushing all the force of hierro he could into his hand, he let it spear through the Sin's and shortly thereafter felt a small crack; his durability wasn't quite enough, it seemed, but in the current position, that was hardly the concern.

If she was going to take a hand in such a way, particularly with his other arm still hurting... so would he. While it cost him some further durability, a point that already seemed rather moot, the claw that surrounded his hand seemed to sink into it, replacing that defensive and offensive tool with naught but blazing heat. And with that, another quickly-formed ray of light from his other hand directly toward the Sin's face.

So maybe he couldn't overpower her as he had done so many hollows before, but he didn't wield light itself for nothing.

Kira groaned in pain as her hand burned, still keeping her grip on Drake's hand as he burned hers. She shook gently and looked up to him with a wide grin, apparently easily working through the searing pain her hand was in. "You're just full of surprises..." He was hurting her, so why was she so nonchalant about it? How could she take impalement so calmly, giving only a soft shudder in response?

She hummed as she saw the beam of light form, instinctively leaning her head back to avoid it. Instead of being burned through, the beam skimmed her forehead, making her hiss in pain as she still was burned by it, leaving a nice burn up the middle of her forehead and the bridge of her nose. However, she merely stood back up, a wicked grin on her face. "However... This game is over..." She then opened her palm, allowing him to tear free if he put enough effort into it, but his claws were jammed into her bone. It wasn't coming loose easily. Kira simply reeled back, laughing as she dove forward with a powerful punch aimed for his chest, then one for his gut, then another in his chest, then one in his shoulder. Basically, she was repeatedly punching him with force that would make him feel like he was a normal human being pelted with baseballs. The blows would continue landing until he could jar his claws out of her hand, which was no longer gripping him. Of course, he could wait until she aimed the sharp uppercut that would jar him loose for him.

He knew well, even before the punches began to come, the rather bad situation he was putting himself in by binding his hand so. The trouble, for him and perhaps for the Sin as well, was that he didn't particularly care. Sure, he could barely dodge in the present situation, and he would only last against so many of those blows even with his high durability, but then...

...that was what the intense heat was for, wasn't it?

Not just his hand, but his arm, his head, his body, his wings; everything on him became steadily enveloped in a light glow, and a plainly radiating heat that the other would undoubtedly feel. And then his hand whipping fiercely out, whether or not that arm was still somewhat injured, bathed in the very same heat and reaching straight for the woman's face even as he felt that uppercut jar him fairly badly, even if it had only crossed part of his chin thanks to a quick tilt of his head to the side. Whether or not he was in a progressively worse shape after the blows, dents showing on his cloak from them, he was most certainly not backing down.

"It's hardly over just yet... I'm not that weak."

Kira continued punching him, feeling his Hierro cave underneath her blows as she didn't let up. Then his body heated up, caused her to groan in pain, then start to laugh. She was laughing wildly, a wide grin on her face as she was being seared. However, this didn't stop her. In fact, she was merely urged forward, punching him slowly, but with more solid hits that would do more damage. All the while, even though the flesh on her hands was searing and even melting away, she was still going at him.

"You... Are so much fun!" Then she reeled back and surged forward with a particular deadly punch that would jar him loose and send him back quite a ways. Of course, this punch was strong enough to break a weak zanpakuto or punch a hole straight through a Vasto Lorde. It wasn't one someone could shrug off. However, after the punch, Kira sighed and looked to her hands, maimed and scarred as they were, and smiled softly. "That'll be enough... I really don't want to kill you..." She flexed her fingers as they began healing, walking over to him and looking to him. "Can you still walk?"

As if he needed more pain, the final blow was the worst, suffice it to say; and only naturally threw off his latest assault. He had to thank his power for one thing, if nothing else; his hand removed itself cleanly from hers thanks to how much it had burnt as he was sent flying back yet again. Stumbling and falling back once on the way, he nonetheless made it to his feet in due time. And whether or not he was having a hard time standing at that point, he was still, most decidedly, standing.

And still, he found, he wasn't certain which side of friend or foe he should place this particular Sin on. Sloth was very tentatively the former, but that was only for the bit of assistance; thus far, there'd been none of that here, strictly speaking.

"Naturally," Drake replied. Walk, yes, and his left arm was... usable. His right hand, however, would take a little time to recover after the pressure that had been put on it earlier. "I'm not going to be brought down by just this... not especially when there's still something I'm after here..."

Kira smiled widely, apparently overjoyed that he was still in mostly working order. "Glad to hear it! Confidence and firepower always wooed the ladies of my time!" She laughed and turned her back to him, sighing in a sort of happiness. "Well, at least you're more entertaining than the last couple things that weren't Togabito... Everything dies too easily down here. However..." She turns around and grins impishly. "You are the first in a couple hundred years I can say that I've enjoyed! Lucky you~!"

She laughed again, having an almost weird quality to her happiness. In fact, she seemed a little out of it. She waved her hand and smiled disarmingly. "That means that, you the while that you're here, I wont try to kill you~!" She pounded her maimed fists together and nodded. "Also, while you're here, I suppose that since you want to get stronger, I don't mind sparring with you. I do need something to occupy my time other than killing... I suppose that I can help you as well..."

Against that sort of power... the rogue couldn't exactly disbelieve the statement of things dying easily. With his level of power, until late, that was precisely what had been happening for him for some time. It even reached a point where he often forgot about this alternate, more powerful form... so why was it that everything seemed to be suddenly changing, in that regard? 'Twas like some sort of karma or fate was suddenly catching up to him, or something of the sort...

...not that he particularly cared; all that mattered was moving forward.

"I suppose that would only be one step... I still need to know more about this power I'm after in the meantime..." he spoke, idly wishing he were in a different environment. Perhaps this 'Hueco Mundo,' home of the 'demons' that he'd heard of; perhaps the air there would have helped him recover more quickly, but it was a bit late to be considering that at the moment. He'd just have to take his recovery at the rate it was now, and deal with how to leave this place once he'd gotten what he came for. "I still only heard something about a 'judgement,' and fighting some of the local creatures around here... 'togabito.'"

Kira hums as she taps her hips, mulling over his words. "Well... There is a bit if trials that go on down here, but I can only seem to remember the one the Sins have to go through when they are killed and sent back to Hell... As for Togabito, they are all over the place. I can even summon them at will." She shrugs and goes to her massive weapon, hefting it back onto her shoulders and nodding. "Here, I'll call a couple. You... May wish to cover your ears..."

She hums and swings her hammer back, then drives it into the ground at a sharp angle, creating spires of clay to erupt out of the ground in a straight line from the impact and create a loud, shrill noise was was likely to cause piercing pain if he didn't cover his ears in time. Kira herself even winced when the sound echoed out. However, fairly quickly, three Togabito were there, knelt before her. Kira grinned and nodded. "Ah... Suppose I should tell you. I'm known as the Embodiment of Envy, but you can call me Kira..." She smiled to him and looked to her Togabito. "That would be why I can summon them so easily. Of course, as you now know, that would also be why I am so powerful..."

"So it seems..."

So he spoke after the shrill sound passed, considering the general situation. There was still rather little he knew, about this place or the creatures here, but... he was making a few steps forward, at the least. 'Twas just a matter of seeing where that got him. "So you 'Sins' are the rulers of this place, then. Where would those trials you mentioned be, exactly? Maybe I can find something there to get me closer to what I'm looking for," Drake inquired, lacking any other ideas at the moment. He only had vague ideas yet; he needed something more solid before he could progress.

Kira raised a brow and seems to think about it for a good minute before shrugging, sighing softly. "Dunno. Guess it just happens wherever. At least I know that it happens on this level of Hell... Still wanna know exactly what you plan on doing, but it seems you can't remember, so I can't help you..." She rubs her forehead and points to a Togabito. "You. Go get me a change of clothes. These ones are wet and bloody..." The Togabito nods and dashes off, leaving her with a smile. "Hmmm... Maybe you have to kill a lot of Togabito to get what you want..." The two Togabito left gave each other an odd look and looked back to her, giving her a fearful look. Did she really intend to sacrifice them to the Arrancar, whom she had just met, no less? She turned back to Drake and nodded. "Well... I guess we'll just have to study up on it. I could always find another Sin and ask them at some point."

"Not really that I can't remember, I never knew in the first place. I don't exactly... maintain relations with anyone or anything, especially not the other hollows," Drake spoke with a little shrug, neglecting to mention the fact that, recently, what he'd said was starting to change. Just a little, though; not enough to really speak of it, particularly considering why he sought the power he now did here. Yet... at least there were some things working to his advantage, perhaps more so for the fact that he was a rogue. "Though I get the feeling from what Sloth said that there may be a specific togabito, or type of one, that I'll have to look for. Besides that, I do have to wonder... why help me at all, much less not intend to destroy me? I can't imagine most hollows would live all that long here, and I'm not associated with any of them... far's I can tell, there's nothing to really gain," he curiously inquired; perhaps even riskily, but there were simply things he needed to know if he were to move forward, not just power to obtain.

Kira hums as she was asked that question, looking to him. "How odd... Why would you ask that? You must have been the child that asked why he had a birthday while you were alive..." She shrugged and laughed softly, grinning to him widely. "Simple, my clueless friend... I like you. You entertain me. Since I'm very rarely entertained, I want to keep you alive and give you reasons to stick around. Like... For example, I'm probably the nicest thing you'll meet in here at the moment. Or... I'm currently your only lead to growing in power... Those types of things..." She laughs and spins on her hammeraxe like a giddy child and sighs. "You have no idea how ecstatic you make me, Arrancar... The fact that I can hit you like that and have you survive without so much as a shattered Hierro makes me so happy..."

'Birthday?'

No, never mind. Probably not important. Nonetheless, it seemed he could at least tentatively chalk up 'friend' for this particular Sin, even though her reasons were... curious. He could say to one of them that no real intention of staying here for long, but... who knew what the future held. Perhaps it would even come to a point where he'd have to return to this place from time to time...

"I'm nothing if not durable... have to be with all the hollows I go after," he idly spoke, flexing his partly broken hand slightly only to barely wince. Not there yet... but it was recovering. At least the place was not so unfriendly as to deny that. "As for the last thing I'm curious about, then... I'm curious about what leads the hollows in Hueco Mundo, where I've never been just yet. After some things happened recently, I'm sure there must be something..."

Such was, indeed, his last point of interest... along with a masked curiosity of where this Sin might stand in regards to it. Right now, he couldn't be certain.