Flying spider (solo)

He had been sitting in the remote cavern in the great mountain for quite a long time. If Stratus had a watch he'd know that it had been nearly two hours since he sat down for a much needed rest. He'd been on edge for the last few days. It had been a busy time dealing with the thoughts the of what he had seen. The birth of an arrancar was no small thing. How it had a occurred puzzled him to no end. Stratus wasn't much of a thinking, but the possibility of gaining power by submitting himself to the same treatment had quickly flashed into his head. Still something in the back of his head told him that it wasn't that easy. That nagging doubt was the only thing keeping him from jumping right in. When he had seen first hand the birth of a simple hollow there was that feeling that there was more to it. If there wasn't why wouldn't Amago just amass a huge army with that method? He could have a legion of arrancar in a matter of days. The thoughts puzzled Stratus, and in the end he simply stop trying to understand it. Now he just relaxed here in the deep dark cave. Peace was so rare for hollows it was either hunt or be hunted. This rest was broke as Stratus sensed something was drawing close to his position. He'd learned to sleep with his senses active he sat up quickly, but relaxed slightly when he recognized the spiritual signal; Madoka. Standing up Stratus decided to meet the arrancar before he completely breached his sanctuary. The other hollow seemed to stop as he too sensed Stratus moving towards him. In less than a minute the met in a tunnel.
"Come, it's time for you lesson." The big man said and turned around not waiting for a response.
Stratus was perplexed not sure what the other meant, but knew that asking wouldn't gain any information. His only choice was to follow the other and see for himself. They continued in silence through the tunnels. A left, then a right, and several forks later Stratus had no clue where they were headed. The mountain was a literal maze of pathways. There was probably twenty ways to reach the same place within the mountain. At first he wondered how anyone made their way around in the place. One trick he had learned was to orientate himself by the spiritual signals he felt. Most times it was just blindly trying paths until he drew closer or farther from the cluster of signals of the main chamber.

In what seemed like an hour later they rounded a turn and appeared outside. The dark sky seemed bright to those having been traveling in near darkness. The white sands stretched endlessly in all directions. Madoka kept walking and Stratus continued to follow not sure what was going to happen next. It wasn't possible that were going to another trip to the human world, but why the long walk? The arrancar could have just opened a gate from any place within the mountain. As he was thinking of this he didn't notice that Madoka had stopped moving. The arrancar turned and grabbed Stratus. Before he could react he found himself hurtling skyward. In less than a second his feet had left the ground and he was dangling from the other man's arm. Quite shocked the hollow looked down. The mammoth mountain they had navigated looked almost like a dot way below. How high had Madoka taken them in that brief instant? Already he had experienced the large man crushing him with brute strength now he got to see that he had speed as well. It was obvious the had even spiritual power to boot. Still all this took a back seat as he faced the current situation.
"What the hell are you doing?" he asked as grabbed onto the arm for support. It felt like grabbing a onto a rock as he dangled over a cliff.
"This is your flying lesson." Madoka simply said. Stratus vaguely recalled the hollow mentioning it before, but had completely forgotten. It would seem that Madoka had not. As they hung in the air so high up a bad feeling flashed through Stratus. "You know sonido, so you should be able to fly." Of course the method by which the arrancar currently stood on the ground was related to the flying technique hollows used.
"Can't we do it on the ground." Stratus asked trying to support himself on the Madoka's arm. His feeling was slowly becoming a sharp pang in his gut.
"No, this is the better method." came the reply. "You instincts will help you, trust them." With that he gave his arm a sharp twist dislodging the adjuchas' arms from his own and dropping him.

Stratus was surprised, but at the same time wasn't completely shocked. It was obvious it was going to happen, but there nothing he could do to stop him. He didn't even scream, he wouldn't give Madoka the satisfaction. The hollow began his plummet to the ground the wind whistled as his heavy body dropped like a stone through the air.
"Shit." he muttered into the howling wind. He knew hollows could heal, but wasn't sure if he could survive such a fall. It was best for him to try to avoid such a situation. He started by gathering his slime, and letting it stream out of his pores. This proved to be ineffective as the high wind literally pushed the slime off his body before he could gather in large quantities. He's survived a crash to the ground encased in crystal before it was possible to work. Had the arrancar planned this? "Shit, shit, shit." he continued to curse. The ground looked so far away, yet he didn't know how quickly that would change. He had to learn to walk on air, to fly, like the arrancar otherwise he was going to be kissing the sands. Stratus continued to tumbling through the sky falling fast. As he fell he tried to reflect on what he had been told. Madoka had mentioned it was related to sonido. The quick movement technique he had learned. He steadied himself in the air as best he could. With the wind whipping about him he managed to get into a somewhat vertical position. Next he focused his energies and tried to it to stop his descent. Imagine his surprise when he stopped for a second than then rose into the air. Apparently he had accomplished the stop for a moment only to launch himself sideways. Now he was falling again, but now he went into a continuious barrel roll across the sky. The black sky and white sand switched places rapidly after his first attempt. It was quite dizzying.
"Almost" he grunted and tried again to steady himself. It would seem he had done it, but not quite perfectly. Once more he focused trying to push himself from the ground. This time things didn't go so well. He jolted forward and skipped across the air like a pebble on a lake's surface. It took some time to stabilize himself. When he managed to regain control he could see that the ground was much closer than it had been minutes ago. "Fuck!" he gasped both tired from the effort and anxious from the impending crash. Gritting his teeth he pushed again this time trying to use less power and at the same time hold it. Finally he stopped as if a brake lever had been pulled, Stratus speed dropped and he came to a halt. Breathing hard he looked around as he hung in the air unsupported. He looked down and saw the ground holding place below him. "Great." he sighed "But how do I get down?" Silently he hoped Madoka would come and get him. He couldn't sense the arrancar at all. While he figured how to stop his motion he didn't know how to propel himself forward. Stratus took his time to memorize how this 'stop' felt. After several moments of concentration he released it and continued to fall. He made sure he was facing down when this happened. The timing had to be just right as he waited for the ground to come up to greet him. Faster and faster he fell. He ignored the fear of the crash and focused his energies moments before the possibly fatal impact. At least ten feet from the ground Stratus froze in the air. With a deep breath he released himself once again and landed lightly on the sand. He took a moment to look around and spotted the mountain in the distance. It seems he had gone pretty far after all. He silently swore revenge on the arrancar and started the long trek back.