No pain, no gain (Tenshineko)

Madoka slowly rose higher and higher with Stratus under his arm like a toy dog. Stratus had quite a bit on his mind that the embarrassing position was the last thing he was thinking about. His experience while at the bottom of the deep pit had rattled him. Under the arrancar's other arm was the newly spawned hollow. Seconds ago it had been a human soul. Stratus shuddered in memory of the black shadow that hand engulfed the shade. After that it was the monstrosity before him. That shadow. There was something frightening about it. Fear wasn't a new sensation to the hollow, but it was one he wasn't fond of. It was getting brighter as they ascended form the depths of the dark hole. When they had jumped down they had taken minutes to fall, rising seemed to take less time. Perhaps Madoka too wasn't too keen about going down there. Honestly Stratus wasn't about to ask instead he just enjoyed the rather uncomfortable ride.

It didn't take long from them to emerge on the edge of the hole they had dropped down. Madoka was quick in releasing his wards. Stratus inelegantly dropped to the cave floor. The newly made hollow gave a hiss of displeasure and reared up at the arrancar. The man merely glanced at the creature and a blast of spiritual pressure made it quiver. A moment later it was cowering like a dog before the relentless assault. It was smothering. Nothing like what he had felt at the bottom of the pit. There was something cold and unsettling about the sensation he had felt. The choking he felt now had an intensity of a different type. He didn't feel the same fear, nor the sense of imminent doom. Whatever lurked down there couldn't be a hollow. Stratus struggled to stand, but his body wouldn't respond under the crushing weight. With a growl he released his own energies. Everything he could muster. The surge helped him to his knees. Madoka must have noted this and increased his reiatsu. It felt like someone dropped a tank on Stratus' back as he was floored by the strong flow. Snarling like an animal Stratus pushed with both his arms and spiritual power. His muscles strained and his energies pushed against the arrancar's. Neither of these could over come the gap in power. The poor hollow was already rendered unconscious while Stratus struggled to just stand. Then as suddenly as it had started Madoka withdrew his reiatsu. In the absence of the other man's power the hollow's energy flooded the room. He pushed off the ground and met his eyes with arrancar.
There was no denying the rage he felt bubbling up. But he knew even with all his reiatsu he didn't stand a chance against the seemingly human opponent. He snarled again and turned away. Stratus was wise enough to know when not to fight. This was one of them. Madoka smiled and walked over to the prone hollow. He lifted the creature and walked from the large chamber.

Ren felt two SP rise from a distance and went running. Stratus must be back now how to get him to train with me? He may be stonger than me but i still need to train what better way than with him? she thought as she saw the older Hollow in view. Leaping into the air planning to land on him, she shouted, "Stray-kun!!!!!" Then she noticed the other Hollow and created her Aura Wings to stop herself. "What with the ray of sunshine over there?" she asked. She walked over to the new Hollow and sniffed him. This guy is wierd he's cowering like he saw something that scared the crap out of him. she thought tilting her head.

"So where did you guys go to?" she asked seeing the other Arrancar with Stratus. Where they looking for new Hollow's or something? she thought. She felt the heavy air again as she struggled to stay on her feet, and trying to breath properly. "Can you two lighten up of the Spiritual Pressur please, it's starting to get hard to breath." she said through clentched teeth.

He watched the arrancar retreat the room. Stratus was oblivious to Ren's entry, his rage still bubbling. Even without her asking his spiritual pressure receded. There was no need to exhaust himself. Madoka was gone there was no need to keep his energies so high. The more he thought about it, the more it infuriated him. No matter how strong you are there's always someone stronger, but the gap between them was vast. A monstrous chasm that not even he could leap across separated the two. It would probably take less than a thought for the other to rip him asunder. Knowing that he was so much weaker was what enraged him. Stratus stomped his foot upon the stone floor. The stone didn't have a chance against him, the ground shattered like glass and his foot sunk into the rock. A small bit of dust lifted into the air from the sudden explosion at his outburst.

Breathing heavily the bloodlust slowly faded. The anger had only diminished so much when he noticed motion in the chamber. As for the first time he laid eyes upon Ren as she hovered in the air. What the heck is she doing here? he thought to himself. Then he recalled meeting the other hollow while touring the area with Amago. As nice as it was to see a familiar face he really wished for one less familiar. He had tried to kill Ren several time, and she him. Why she wanted to be so friendly was questionable. The fact she had survived so long was proof that the hollow had some measure of power. Amago might find some use of the creature. "What do you want, cat?" he asked bitterly. If he ran now the hollow would chase him. Might as well confront it head on.

Ren landed to the ground making her wings dissaper. With a scowl on her face she folded her ears back. "You don't have to be snappy about it. I was going to ask if you wanted to train. But I see you too busy pouting over the strength differance between you and Madoka." she said trying to itemidate him. She walked passed him to head out side. If she could not train with him then she would have to train on her own or go to the World of the Living to obtain some souls, or get the possibility to run into a Soul reaper. She stopped and tried to make one more way to get on Stratus' nerves, "Or are you scared to get beat by a Hollow that's a cat and a female, Stray-kun?" she asked with a small smirk on her face.

"Stray-kun?" The hollow was annoyed by the flying cat's words, but he didn't know what to think about the creature's nickname for him. He slapped his palm against his face and sighed. The frustration of dealing with Madoka was welcome in comparison to the flying gnat. He had hoped to avoid her completely, but it would seem that she had identified him by the spiritual energy. Her taunt was ineffective. Stratus was already angry and she lacked the push to send him into a rage like Madoka. Still he was calm enough to see the simple trap. Ren wanted him to train with her. It would seem that she had changed from their earlier meetings. All those other encounters Ren had be defending people from Strats' assault. Not just people, shinigami. Stratus scoffed at the thought. Now here she was looking for a fight. What a strange creature indeed. Honestly Stratus had nothing to do. Moledale had sent him here for gods know what reason. Amago thought he was a representative of some sort and had him joining Madoka in various activities.

The thought of the arrancar made Stratus' temperature rise. Perhaps training would take his mind off of things. A good way to work off the anger, stress, and nervous energy he had built up sitting in mountain hideout.
"Fine" he growled "Let's get this over with." If he didn't do it now, the pest would probably bother him about it later. Madoka had mentioned that the hollows were forbidden from killing each other, but Stratus figured that accidents did happen from time to time. If the other wasn't careful she might fall prey to such an incident. With that thought in mind he walked in the opposite direction. He didn't feel like going outside, but there was a huge cavern not too far from the current chamber. Without looking to see if the Ren was following walked down the far tunnel against the wall. After two turns he had arrived at his destination. The large cave was like the human made stadiums on Earth. Rather than an open sky it was a dome of solid stone above them. It couldn't be more than 100ft up. More than enough room for Ren to fly, but not enough for her to get far. Stratus could probably jump that high if he tried Didn't want to give the chance to run completely away. Stratus walked out to the middle of the large room and started to flex his claws.