The Trickster (Solo)

The night was cold and dark, it bit the hollows flesh like a starving dog. It drove deep into her core and enveloped her exterior like a second skin. She sat on the edge of a tall office building overlooking the city. Where was she? Did it matter in the slightest? She was a hollow, locations didn't matter, it was all about the hunt, her sole existence was to live, she didn't need anything else. Perhaps it was for the best, afterall she wasn't tied down by personal affections or vanity itself. But to be sure, she was somewhere in japan, but besides that she couldn't care less. Her legs hanged over the edge, her arms rested on her legs loosely, her back slightly tilted forward. A fall from this distance would kill her, but for some reason she didn't care, infact she was amused by it. It had only been a few days since her 'birth' and since then she had no time to question anything around her. Whenever she tried to she was overcome by the emptiness inside, the great void within her, it was like some sort of curse. But slowly over time she began to regain some independence, she was free to think about anything she wanted. Why was she here, why did she exist, what was she? And perhaps most disturbing of all, why did she already know so much about the world? Why did she feel a deep need to feed on the innocent? And why didn't she feel anything when she ripped into her prey...She raised one of her hands and held her head, it ached and pulsed as if something was wrong. Was she...Was she asking the wrong questions? Why did her body reject these questions?! Why?! She flared her reiatsu without realizing it, the pale green fire on the end of her metallic tail puffed up before shrinking back down. She casted her thoughts away, she resolved that whatever she wanted to know didn't matter. All that matters is survival, answers won't get her anywhere. She was born into being a predator, so that is what she will be, she decided not to delude herself with repititious questions. She finally stood up, she felt the emptiness creeping up on her again. It was time to eat.

She gave a small hop off the ledge, she began falling at an increasingly rapid pace. Yes, indeed this fall would kill her, but she didn't plan on free-falling. She twisted her body around to face the glass plated office building. She dug both of her clawed hands into the wall, sparks flew as glass fractured and broke off, she sorely felt sorry for anyone lingering near the bottom of her drop, for they would be impaled with thousands of glass shards. After what seemed like minutes her kinetic energy had dissipated until she no longer had the force to cut right through the side of the building, she began to hang by her claws. Thankfully she had accurately judged the distance and her momentum, the ground was only a few feet below her. She slid her claws out from the wall and dropped down, her knees bending slightly as she landed. Her surroundings were just as expected, a few car alarms and three or four pedestrians bleeding and screaming on the ground. She began to prowl north, deeper into the city. Her four limbs walked the cold street, she was in search of a spiritual entity to devour. Any old soul would do, but she had recently found that creatures like herself provided better nourishment than lowly souls, plus she felt much better tearing apart a monster rather than some innocent man or woman, or a child, though Anashi had always left young souls alone, though more because of practical reasons than sentimental ones, the souls of children provided a fraction of the nourishment that adult souls gave. Like many things in this strange existence, it wasn't worth her time nor energy. She continued down the street, for some reason she couldn't sense anything, not even a glimmer of spiritual essence. A bit frustrated, she stopped walking and focused hard. It was faint, too faint to be a hollow, and it was fluxuating rapidly. It must've been travelling pretty fast, and from this she could judge that it wasn't going to be long until it disappeared entirely. With a small burst of energy she started sprinting at full speed towards the fading signal, weaving through alleys and streets alike. She was running much like a beast, using both her legs and her arms. For some reason she just didn't feel comfortable standing on her own two legs, it made her feel unsteady, this way was much more efficient for now.

It only took her a few minutes until her target came into sight, it was surprising how quick the soul was, it took the form of a young girl probably around sixteen years of age. Maybe she was on the track team? She was running faster than any soul Anashi had seen before. Nonetheless she started to pursue the soul. For some reason she was running before she even caught wind of Anashi, this lead her to believe that something else was chasing her, but what? She couldn't feel any other spiritual pressences around, could they be sealing it? If so it would mean trouble, not many hollows had the intelligence to mask their spiritual pressure, and even when they did it was even rarer for them to be able to mask it so perfectly...No, something was up and Anashi didn't like it. She weighed the risks and rewards in her head for a few moments as she pursued the soul, finally deciding a direct approach would be foolish. She peeled off from the chase, taking a detour into a nearby house, she would bust right through one of the front windows, clambering over any obstacles inside of the house. She would then bust through a window in the back of the house, as predicted it lead to a small backyard surrounded by a low wall of sorts. She would hop onto this wall, and from there make a jump for the neighboring houses roof, unfortunately her jump didn't make it by itself and she was forced to hang on and pull herself up with her arms. She could already feel the souls pressence fading, she was taking too much time. She scanned the general direction the soul was heading, creating mental images of pathways she could take across the roofs. There! She found a solid route that would allow her to keep up with the soul. With a few strong leaps between rooftops she found herself running just a few feet behind her, and now she would wa-...The soul took a sharp turn into another branch of the street, Anashi gritted her sharp teeth with irritation, now she would have to somehow leap across the street. She steadied her balance and focused her reiryoku towards her feet, and with one powerful movement she launched herself into the air, the effect was much stronger than intended, and she was set dozens of feet into the air, rocketting forwards, she nearly passed by the fleeing soul. However, like a cat she kept her balance through the air, landing ontop of another roof cleanly and not stopping even once, she kept running as soon as she hit the roof.

She hadn't noticed it before, but a second spiritual pressure did exist, but it was masterfully contained, so much so that there was only a glimmer left, and that could only be sensed if one were to linger in the same area for a period of time. She tried to home in on the new pressence, and to her surprise it was about eight feet behind the fleeing soul. Anashi shifted her gaze down towards the seemingly empty street, she looked carefully, but nothing was there...Wait, no, there was something, almost like a mirage. A fading image, an outline, something strange that Anashi couldn't quite place her finger on. Something was there, but it was as if it was invisible, or at least she could only perceive it as such. Focus, the word filled her mind, her eyes strained as did her mind, and eventually she could see...Something, something out of the ordinary, it was like a blurry outline in the shape of a creature, which was assumed to be a hollow. The creature seemed to be around eight feet tall with an extremely slender body, it was about as wide as a two-by-for and about twice as thick. It had long slender arms that reached down to the ground, just as thick as it's body, it's head was average, round. It's legs just as long and slender, it's feet seemed to be flat and circular, they were almost like pancakes. And it's hands were basically sharp tendrils, it also had a large tail that sprouted from the top of it's head, it split half-way into two small tails that waved about. She could only gather what the outline of the creature was since it was practically invisible. So, why could the soul sense it? Why was it running? Perhaps the pancake hollow did something to let the soul know it was being chased, it didn't see too unlikely. Nonetheless Anashi kept running, she would plan for a way to kill this pancake hollow, perhaps she would even leave the soul alone depending on how filling the pancake hollow was. She felt a shiver travel down her spine as she imagined the pure bliss of devouring her new opponent, she could hardly wait. Perhaps the easiest and most effective way of dealing with the pancake hollow would be to simply cut it off from it's path to the soul, she was confident she could take whatever the pancake hollow had up it's sleeve. But of course there were many lingering doubts left behind in her mind, but she was too confident to let them scare her.

Anashi tilted the angle of her run so she would eventually fall off the roof without worry of being passed by the pancake hollow, but just as she neared the edge she would leap off the roof, landing just a few meters infront of the pancake hollow. She turned around and dug her claws into the concrete, Prepare yourself! she drew on her reiryoku, her spiritual essence filling her body, the potency of her resolve making her reiatsu spike sharply into the cold night air. The enemy hollow obviously sensed this, as it stopped dead in it's tracks and even took a few steps back. Anashi remained still, ever ready for combat, but it didn't come. The pancake hollow remained still, perhaps even more so than Anashi. There was no way in hell she was going to make the first move, she had no idea the capabilities of her opponent, charging blindly into combat would be foolish, and by the looks of it this hollow was going to be tough prey. Anashi took a step forward just to test the enemy, it reacted by taking a step back. Hmm, interesting... Anashi wondered to herself, was it scared? Or was it confused? Or maybe biding it's time? An idea made itself known to Anashi, she remembered the time a few days ago when she gained a strange new ability, she could shoot out her blood and bind foes, bogging them down and restricting their movement. She only used it a few times, but right now would be an excellent moment. If I use that, maybe a frontal assault won't be so foolish afterall... Anashi prepared two gobs of blood in her hands, concentrating the flow of the black liquid, and then without furhther notice she raised her hands towards the opponents legs and shot out both gobs of blood, they shot like bullets. The pancake hollow didn't even have a chance to react before his legs were covered in the blood, which quickly grew into large masses of green muscles, the mixture of blood and muscle stuck the pancake hollow to the ground, despite it's attempts it couldn't possibly free itself. Realizing an opportunity had presented itself, Anashi charged into the fray on all fours. The pancake hollow seemed to cup it's hands around it's mouth before letting out loud screech. The ear shattering sound crippled Anashi, it didn't help that she had a sensitive pair of ears. She collapsed onto the ground, skidding forward a bit as the momentum from her charge dissipated. It was like the battle with the white-haired male, the one with the winged partner that could let out similar screeches.

Not this again, such tactics were loathed by Anashi, the sense of hopelessness ate away at her, it frustrated her to no end. She laid there on the street pavement, wriggling around and covering her ears which were bleeding profusely, the black ooze flowed out generously, forming a small pool around her head. Anashi cursed repeatedly inside her mind, the pancake hollow had somehow found her weakness on it's first attempt, luck, intuition, whatever it was it worked. She managed to tilt her head up enough to get a good look at her opponent, thankfully he was still stuck from the gobs of muscle and blood, however she knew that it wouldn't hold him for long, if only she had used more blood. The screeching continued for a minute longer before the hollow stopped, Anashi could only hope that the pancake hollow had a limit on how long it could use that screech. So much blood covered the ground, her head was practicly drenched in it. She stumbled up to her feet, the pancake hollow was beginning to break free from Anashi's blood, she only had a few moments to cordinate herself and decide her next move. Under normal circumstances she would attack head-on, but her head was still ringing and she was light-headed from so much blood loss. It showed with her movements aswell, she could barely keep herself steady, she was forced to plant her hands on the ground for stability. This is bad, I have to think of something...Think, think, think! And in that moment of desperation it hit her. She began rolling around in the large puddle of blood that had accumulated over the past few minutes, she made sure her entire body was covered with a thin sheen of it before proceeding. The smell was revolting, and the feeling of bathing in her own blood was equally as revolting, but she would take any measures needed to survive. If she was covered in her blood she would be able to manuever much better than the pancake hollow, not to mention she'll be able to grapple and even climb it if the need arised. She charged towards the hollow, spraying a thin rain of her blood over the enemy hollow, the small drops formulated into green muscle all over him, this not only proved to be an inconvenience but it also allowed her to see the hollow much easier, afterall it was now covered with patches of green. And just as her opponent regained it's movement Anashi was right infront of it with her right claw extended towards what was presumed to be it's hollow mask. The pancake hollow let out a roar and bent back, somehow it managed to bend it's spine completely back, and as a result Anashi's claw was left to linger in empty space. The momentum of her charge carried her straight into the pancake hollow, this knocked out the pancake hollow's legs, causing both Anashi and her opponent to fall down in a jumbled mess.

Anashi quickly regained her senses, and lucky for her she had fallen ontop of her opponent. She began lashing into the pancake hollow's torso, causing major lacterations, but before she could inflict more than a few wounds the enemy had literally picked her up and flung her into the air with great force. How could such thin arms be so strong? This hollow, it wasn't a low life, infact she began to wonder just how advanced it was. Like a feline she tried to balance herself and turn upright in midair, which worked to an extent. Anashi watched below her, the pancake hollow was preparing to jump, before she could process another thought it had leaped up into the air. Between herself falling and the enemy rapidly moving upwards she wouldn't have any time to properly cordinate herself. She was irritated at the turn of events, dissatisfied with how her plans had turned out. She charged up two gobs of blood near her feet and shot them down, the force was enough to keep her stable in the air for a second or two, the pancake hollow performed another screech that somehow was powerful enough to knock the blood away. She was startled by this, her time had ran out. The fearsome hollow pointed it's right tendril up towards Anashi, where she'd be impaled if she didn't move. The helpless hollow squirmed and shifted herself in midair, but there was little she could do. She would have to wait and use the enemy itself as a platform to manuever on. As the tendril ended arm approached with fearsome speed she planted her foot on the side of the pancake hollows right arm, the tendril clipped her foot, ripping off two claws, bloosh gushed wildly and pain coursed through her body, but adrenaline had disallowed any inhibiting levels of pain. With one of her feet firmly planted on the enemies arm/tendril she would use it as a platform, applying a moderate amount of pressure. She would bend herself back, her arms reaching out to grab another part of the enemies body. Bending back also meant that eventually her foot would slip and she'd be airborne again, which it did in only a matter of a second, but a second was all that was needed. She rectified her spine, straightening it out. With the pancake hollow being so long and slim it was easy to grab ahold of it's leg, she dug her claws into it, using it like a rope to climb her way up the hollow, it must've been terribly painful for the pancake hollow because blood was gushing out and it was screaming and roaring the entire time.

Soon the opponent would lose momentum and start to fall, it started to use it's tendrils to take stabs at Anashi. Anashi was glad that she covered herself in her blood, otherwise her tactic wouldn't work, she managed to evade all of the pancake hollow's attacks by using her blood to stick to the surface of her enemy, this allowed her to evade much more effectively and without risk of falling. She continued to dodge the hollow's attacks, and just as she was certain she would be fine the hollow made one powerful twist with it's body, facing sideways so that Anashi would take the brunt of the fall. She realized with shock what was about to happen, she scrambled to climb ontop of the pancake hollow but it was no use, she was busy trying to keep herself safe from it's tendrils. The two of them crashed into the cement street, cracks appeared on the ground from the impact. Anashi unfortunately took most of the damage, her bone mask cracked, as did her bone armor. The metal armor under that was dented and shattered, her left arm was broken and she was sure that something was wrong with her right leg because she couldn't move it. It was almost pathetic how quickly the tides turned, she stared up, at the pancake hollow, trying to fight back, shooting globs of blood. Alas the hollow would simply dodge them, he was mocking her, dancing around her body, circling her like a rabid animal. No, it can't end here, i'm not ready to die. Especially not to this bastard. She resisted death, how could she die here? It seemed to surreal, how could a simple, lowly hollow take her down? She was more than just a soul-eating beast, she was methodical, she was a hunter! I can't die here...I can't die here...I can't die here, and not so easily!! She screamed in her mind, she kept denying the inevitabilaty of what was to come, she couldn't accept this fate, she had to change it, the odds didn't matter to her, she had to do it! This has to be some sick joke! I'm not a damn commoner, I can't be killed by someone like this, it can't happen...I won't let it...I'm the predator!! I'm the HUNTER!! I'M THE ALPHA!! With newfound resolve her reiatsu overflowed, her spirit energy flowed around her, an unforgettably black color with a pale green outline. It danced around her broken body with aggression and ferocity.

She grabbed ahold of her left shoulder and pulled with all of her strength, using her claws to dig into her flesh, and with a few good tugs she literally tore off her arm, next she would sit herself up and begin doing the same to her right leg. The pain was unimaginable, and it was so much more difficult having to do it herself, but in the end she succeeded. Meanwhile her reiatsu seemed to keep the pancake hollow at bay, it seemed more interested in Anashi than willing to kill her. Even still, her life was in danger and she knew it. Carne kicked in immediatly, within seconds her leg was back and ready for action. She gathered her severed arm and leg, aswell as some of the blood and mixed it together, Sangre... The blood and limbs shifted and turned, eventually creating a clone of herself. She stood up and shifted her gaze to the pancake hollow, DIE!! She flexed her claws and charged at the enemy hollow, her clone acting as the vanguard. With another piercing screech both Anashi and her clone we left stumbling towards the opponent, desperate for vengeance but unable to carry it out. Damn you...Damn you!! DAMN YOU!!! Her reiatsu flared up once again, using brillante she temporarily voided the screeches power over her and her clone. The pancake hollow, being disoriented by the flash of light, stumbled back, raising it's arms over it's eyes. Anashi and her clone began ripping into the hollow, most attacks were blocked, but the attacks that did get through weakened the pancake hollow's defense. It quickly walked backwards to keep up with the onslaught of blows, it couldn't keep it's pace for long and Anashi knew it. She tried to push herself and put more speed and force into her swipes, but just as she thought the opponent was done for, he vanished, no trace of spiritual pressure, nothing at all. Anashi looked around confused, but just as she began to think he retreated the scum somehow appeared behind her, thrusting a tendril into her shoulder and into her clones skull. Anashi managed to escape the pancake hollow's grasp by ripping it's tendril out of her arm and jumping back to a safe distance. This wasn't looking good, her clone was destroyed in one blow, this hollow was deadly.

The pancake hollow started to close in, one menacing step at a time, but just as Anashi began to think of retreating (which she didn't think would work due to the pancake hollow's teleportation) an arc of purple energy severed the pancake hollow's head. Anashi shifted her head to look for the source of the arc, and saw standing upon a roof a most alien looking hollow...

Spoiler:

...Anashi simply stood there bewildered, what else could she do? But she soon snapped out of it, realizing that the hollow could simply be after an easy meal. Shit, today really wasn't her day. But suddenly she heard it speak. "Yo. You okay?" Anashi couldn't reply, but in her mind she was on guard, to be honest she simply wanted to flee and tend to her wounds somewhere far away from town. "Helloooo~? Anybody home? Hey, puppy-hollow, answer me!" Anashi breathed in deeply, then exhaled for a few long moments. I can't talk, you dolt.. Anashi didn't care for communication, but in this particular instance it would be helpful, afterall she couldn't fight this hollow, not after how much energy she depleted.
Oh, and like I'M supposed to know THAT! The hollow's words echoed in her mind, but he wasn't talking...He wasn't talking, and yet she could hear him? Wait, what's going on here...
Wait...What? She thought, dumbfounded by the situation.
I said, How am I supposed to KNOW that YOU can't TALK?! God damn, are you dumb aswell as rude?! The brash and irritated tone annoyed Anashi, but her feelings of bewilderment remained just as strong as before.
That's not what I meant...I mean, how are you listening to me? How am I hearing you?
Oh, that...Well, let's just say I can listen to, read, and interject thoughts. Ever heard of psychics? I'm kind of like that, except less fake.
O-Oh, okay...Then, what do you want with me? Anashi pretended to know what he was talking about, but she really had no idea what was going on.
You know...I can hear your every thought, you don't have to pretend, it's really simple...Anyways, what do I want with you? I want you to join me and my comrads, I sensed your spiritual pressure, it's quite something.
You...You want me to join you and your 'comrads'? Hollows can form groups?
What kind of stupid question is that? Of course they can, we're just as smart as most of those sword-wielding ass monkeys, just have to pick out the ones that aren't completely psycho. Anyways, will you join us or not?
I...I don't want to join anyone, how can I trust you?
You can't. But, I just saved your ass, didn't I? I see potential in you, and i'd rather not squander it. Now, you COULD potentially go head off in your own direction, but you'll never make it to being a vasto lorde. There's strength in numbers, in a group we'll fare better against the world.
Vasto...Lorde? Thoughts and wonderments coursed through her mind, this was all so new, she could never have imagined that something like this would happen...
Ah, that's right, we know quite a bit, perhaps if you join us I can fill you in? Surely you must've been curious about your existence before, and what we are, and what our purpose here is? Anashi thought for a long time, just an hour ago she swore not to bother herself with such trivial questions, no, she didn't care about any of that useless knowledge, all that matters is her hunger for souls and thirst for power. But, perhaps this was an opportunity, besides, she could always leave if she didn't find it to her liking, there would be potential riches in surviving in a group, a most interesting prospect...
I'm not, all of that is useless during the hunt. I'll join you on the condition that I am not treated as your subordinate. The psychic hollow chuckled quietly in amusement.
Interesting, i'm starting to like you more and more, I guess we've come to an agreement. My name is Junichi, and you are?
My name...My name is...Anashi...Fukuzawa...
Well then, Anashi-san, come right this way, it's time to get you acquainted with your new allies. The two of them started walking towards another direction to these presumed 'allies'. What Junichi's true intentions are is a mystery to Anashi, but she saw so much opportunity in this offer, she'd be a fool to turn it down. The starry sky continued to shine down on the dark landscape, it would be a long night...