Instincts (solo)

"Well you are you feeling any better bright eyes?" Moldale snickered as Stratus continued his meal. It had only been three days since he had come back to Hueco Mundo after his run in with the flame wielding shinigami. The wounds he had sustained during that battle had yet to heal. Rather than remain in the human realm he had gathered what energy remained and spirited himself back to white desert. If he had stayed there he was certain another shinigami might have finished what the big man had started. The mere thought of it made his blood boil. Unfortunately the shinigami had left many reminders of their fight all over the hollow's body. Most noticeably was that one of his eyes was burned shut and his armor had a gap from the missing claw. The one time he wished his regeneration would work it hadn't. Moldale theorized it was due to his over expenditure of energies. He might have been right. When Stratus had finished making the return portal he was weak as a baby. It was his luck that he had arrived near their sanctuary. Much to his shame he hid inside the labyrinth for a day before seeking out his comrades. His energies had yet to recover. Still at his weakest he was able to fend off some small fry looking for an easy snack. His attacker fled, he didn't dare to pursue them. Once he reached their hideout he rest all of the second day trying to recover further. There wasn't much change. Moldale suggested they go hunting the next day.

Now on the surface Stratus had consumed his second hollow and only felt a marginal return. He felt better, but his body still bore the scars of battle.
With the two's help the hunt had only taken less than an hour. As his teeth crunched through the boney limb, Stratus wondered how much more it would take to fully restore his strength.
"You're pathetic." Rei hissed as he kicked the sands and wagged his tail impatiently. The twin headed creature had suggested to eat Stratus when he returned in his weakened state. Moledale had been the one to convince him otherwise. Stratus flexed his arm. There was less pain that before, but nothing close to 100%. Already he could feel some light filter through his burnt eyelid. Too slow. There was no sign of change in his armor other than the wounded portion looked rather scabbed over. "We should have just eaten him and be done with it." The creature said as it's other head curled on the ground and yawned.
"Well then we'd be in a pinch ourselves." Moledale said evenly. "We need a third and this boyo rounds out our group so well. Can't let such potiental go to waste." Rei snorted in contempt of the statement. "Plus you rather eat anyone we come across." Roun silently nodded his head and Rei hissed in frustration. The horse like hollow pawed the ground with his hoof as he scanned the area while Stratus finished chewing what looked like a femur. He spun in place and stared at Stratus for the longest time.

"Alright, that should be enough." he suddenly announced. "Up and at'em boy!" Reluctantly Stratus followed he companion's instructions. He tossed the bone over his shoulder without a backward glance.
"Where we headed next?" He ask rubbing his still aching arm. There was a glint in the other hollow's eye that was more than a little unnerving.
"Oh ho ho." the hollow chuckled "We not going anywhere, just doing some after meal exercise." The words sunk in as the horse vanished only to appear in front of Stratus. Moledale lunged forward thrusting his horn straight at Stratus' head. Such a sudden movement gave the target so little time to move. He tried to move and arched his back at the same time. The jerking motion caused him to fall on his back. Moledale's horn grazed the top of his mask. "Come on boy, you need to do better than that." Stratus rolled off his back and to his knees too shocked to speak. The other hollow took complete advantage of that. Both hoofs kicked out and knocked the kneeling opponent several feet backwards. Both Rei and Roun had their heads up watching the sudden attack.

Hollows are like people in more ways that anyone thinks. Despite their monstrous appearances they breathe, eat, there are even times that they sleep. Their fantastic bodies had fragile organs and when cut they bled just like the humans. Stratus was reminded of this fact as his heart jack-hammered in his chest and a trickle of blood came form the corner of his mouth. He had flown several feet after Moledale had mule kicked him. At the last moment he had raised his arms to defend himself. That reflex had probably allowed him to keep his head. There was no denying that the other hollow was serious. Even in their practice sessions Moledale hadn't release this much power. A part of him knew that if he hadn't dodged that first hit his head would have a new hole in it. There was little time to think about it further as a high pitched sound came from Moledale's direction. When Stratus focused on him he could see the drill on his head spinning rapidly. The horse jerked it's head in Stratus' direction sending the attack of sound at him. Sand was knocked in every direction as the shockwave advanced. If not for the sand it would have been impossible for him to see the attack at all. Quickly he dove sideways. There was a roar in his ears as the sonic wave moved past. Patting himself on the back would have to wait as another wave was already on it's way. Rising from the diving roll Stratus now ran for all he was worth. The second wave hit were he had been standing only moments ago. Stratus had taken Moledale's sound attacks before and it wasn't something he wanted to feel again. That had been practice, but now the attacks had a murderous intent behind them. Each blast seemed to be brimming with the other hollow's fierce spiritual power. Stratus didn't know why Moledale was suddenly trying to kill him, but wasn’t about to let it happen.

The distance between them was the problem. Even as Stratus gathered slime in his hand he tried to move closer to his target. He released a burst of energy and the slime became crystal in his hand. Without looking down he could feel the gemstone pulsate. Another wave came at him and Stratus leaped out off the way. In mid air he aimed and tossed the glowing crystals at Moledale. The other hollow didn't move in the slightest as the twin orbs flew at him. There was an explosion as the crystals hit. Fire burst forth and sand was sent skyward. A column of smoke reached into the night sky and obscuring the spot where the other hollow had been. Stratus wasn't fooled, he knew for fact Moledale was still alive. There was no way that would be enough to kill his opponent. On cue the some of the dark smoke cleared and Moledale stood in the smoldering hole. His body was bigger than it was a moment ago. Thick plating covered his skin. Stratus clicked his tongue and gritted his teeth. Just like his own armor the plates Moledale created were enough to protect him from major harm. The other hollow vanished, and Stratus looked around quickly to see where he had gone. Left was clear, right was clear. From the corner of his eye he couldn’t see anything behind him. Finally he turned his gaze skyward just as a shadow fell over him. A large sphere was hurtling down at that ground with him beneath it. Twenty feet wide the perfect globe was seconds from crushing Stratus. He jumped sideways as it dropped. His leg hit the edge of the sphere as he dove. Just grazing it sent a shiver down his spine. It could of crushed him flat.

Stratus stood up and looked the large ball. It was made of hexagon plates of Moledale’s armor. This was the first time he’d seen such a thing. If he hadn’t moved it would have been the last as well. If the bastard was going to try and kill him there was no reason for him to hold back. His bombs didn’t work, but he still had his cero. Spiritual energy burst out of him and he began to focus it at his mouth. A green spark came to life, but it didn’t seem to grow that big. At the same time something happened to the ball. From each of the empty spaces a two foot spike. Just as suddenly the huge orb started to spin and shot forward sending a wave of sand backwards. Stratus’s eyes bulged as the spiked ball came at him. His incomplete cero fizzled as he turned and ran for his life. Not a good development in the slightest as the large hollow ran from the impending doom. The gap between was closing quickly before Stratus had the bight idea of taking a sharp turn rather than running in a straight line. He turned to watch a the large boulder continued past. The smile on his face faded quickly as the sphere turned and came back at him. And so the chase resumed. His legs tore up the ground as he pushed himself faster. Despite his amazing speed the ball was just behind him. Every time he zigged, it zagged. They had been running for some distance. Stratus couldn’t see Rei or Roun anywhere. Not like it mattered, if he had asked for help the creature would probably laugh. Why had things turned out like this? He expected the two headed jerk to try and kill him not Moledale. As he ran he created more bombs in his hand. He palmed the two glowing stones as he ran ahead of his pursuer. Turning aournd quickly he tossed them at the wrecking ball. There was a flash of flame as they struck and there was a thunderous roar that echoed across the dessert. Even as he stopped the spiked ball came rolling through the smoke after the double explosions. The chase began again.

This time Stratus managed to pull ahead of the menacing ball. He had to think of a way to stop Moledale, but nothing came to mind. Cero wouldn’t work he didn‘t have enough time, and his bombs had proven ineffective. What else could he do? Seconds later the obvious hit him; his slime. He dropped out of his run and turned to face the monstrous globe. The slime was already building up within him. His mouth opened wide and the slime came out in stream. It hit the sphere directly, but the effect wasn’t what he expected. Rather than hold the rolling orb the slime spun around it cotton candy. The green coating did nothing to hinder it’s movements. Soon it was covered in white sand as it continued forward. Stratus didn’t have time to move and was hit head on. One thing the slime did do was blunt the spikes that covered the ball. Thankfully he wasn’t skewer when he got ran over, but there was still the crushing weight. The sand cushioned some of the impact, but it was by much. When the pressure faded Stratus picked himself up. The ball had retreated, but it was turning around to make another pass at him. He stood. There weren’t many options; run or die.

“Damn, damn, damn it!” he snarled as he turned and ran. Running wasn’t going to do anything, but prolong the inevitable. His mind drifted to his armor, perhaps they could repel the mud ball. Since the injury they he had yet to get any kind of reaction from them. They didn’t even rattle since the beginning of this ordeal. With them he could hold the sphere at bay and launch his cero. The idea hit him only a moment later. He came to a halt as he began charging his energy for the attack. Closer and closer the giant ball rolled. A small green ball started to form as the sphere was nearly upon him. Stratus kept his focus on the growing green energy. He quickly tensed his legs and jumped. At the last possible moment he went up and over the in coming boulder. As he rose higher into the sky the green energy grew bigger. The ball had continued on it’s path, and had just begun to slow. “Too late!” Stratus said triumphantly as he felt the gathered energy pulsate. It was ready the looked at his target below. From this high up it looked so small. CERO. The beam launched down upon the orb and then there was a mammoth explosion. He covered his face as the shockwave hit blowing sand into his face. The area below him was now black and smoking from the intense heat. There were patches of flame amidst the black field he had just created. “Take that your bastard!”

“Thanks boyo, I was wondering how to get that gunk off me.” Came a voice from above him. He looked up, but he already knew what was coming. Sure enough there was Moledale standing on the air as if it was completely normal. The backside was smoking from where the fire had touched it, but otherwise he was unhurt. And now Stratus’ clever maneuver had become a grievous mistake. He was hanging in the air with his enemy above him. Already he was starting to fall. Yellow energy began to gather at the point of Moledale’s horn. A large sphere of energy took shape as he looked down at Stratus “Let’s see how you like it.” The cero came rushing down at him. He gave a scream of defiance as the energy filled his view. The intense heat and light was blinding. Stratus closed his eyes. The heat vanished and he found himself crashing into the sands. The jarring impact was surprising next to the fact he wasn’t incinerated. When he hit the ground a crater formed. His head was buried in sand. As he rose he spit out a mouthful. Then came the explosion. The cero he had expected to hit him was striking the ground some distance behind him. A gust of warm air struck him.
“Oho!” Moledale exclaimed from high above. “Managed to avoid it? Don’t think you’ll be lucky twice.” Another burst was already formed. Moledale released the next shot. Stratus struggled to dig himself free. He managed to pull one of his arms free of the pit before the burst reached him. It happened again; he crashed into the ground a safe distance away from the path of the oncoming destruction. This time he felt something as it happened. He was alive, but he wave very confused. “Not bad kid, not bad.” Stratus hadn’t noticed the other hollow drop from the sky and appear behind him. Moledale gave a shrill cry from his horn. The ground began to tremble as Rei and Roun’s head burst through the sand. “What I tell you?” Moledale beamed.
“So you were right.” Rei growled. “I still think we should have eaten him.” with that the head dove back under. Stratus only stared blankly as Roun nodded to him and dove back under as well.
“Well, that was a good session, you’ll have to work on that bit later.” Moledale continued as if Rei had never showed up.
“Work?” He had already forgotten that the other hollow had tried to kill him just moments before.
“Don’t worry about it, got time. Rest up, tomorrow will be a busy day.” The horse was already walking away leaving Stratus standing alone by himself.

Sonído training: 1936/1000