A Little Track and Field

Sekkou stepped from the Garganta he had opened into the endless white desert that was Hueco Mundo. He glanced around and saw nothing worthy of his attention…except…a cloud of dust that seemed to be moving with considerable speed toward him. Sekkou looked closer. It was a Hollow, resembling a hyena or dingo or something canine, anyway, though it was several times greater in size than the average hyena or dingo. Sekkou made eye contact with it. It looked at him, and then its tongue lolled out and licked its “lips.” Damn…

Sekkou braced himself by bending his long, almost gangly legs and waited for it to near. As it came within ten meters of him, it pounced, its jaws opening in a clearly desperate bid to consume him. Sekkou had expected this- he jumped, planted his feet on its back, and pushed off. This second jump carried him slightly higher, and sent the hyena/dingo Hollow into the ground. As Sekkou hit the ground, he turned to see the other Hollow’s predicament. It had removed itself from the ground and was again staring at him with a hungry expression. It charged.

Damn…thought Sekkou again. He began running, occasionally glancing over his shoulder at his pursuer, who seemed to be able to easily keep up with him, despite Sekkou’s long legs. This desert was a terrible place to meet someone stronger than oneself- there was nowhere to hide…usually.

His lungs heaved as he felt himself approach his limit. He turned to look again. It was closer, and not only that, but did not seem tired at all. Damn…Sekkou thought for a third time. He jumped to the left and began running at a completely perpendicular angle. Sekkou looked over his shoulder again. Hmm…so he could turn corners faster than the other Hollow could- it had to run in a circular path to turn, and so here Sekkou had a glimmer of hope. And an idea. He saw a slightly larger dune up ahead of him and pushed himself to reach it. His sprint carried him closer and closer to it, upon reaching the bottom; he jumped almost straight up and landed with a puff of sand on the other side.

Sekkou breathed out hard, sending his smoke-like breath out to make it look like he had continued running. The other Hollow leaped over the crest of the dune and began to run. Sekkou leaped and brought it to the ground; quick as a flash, he buried his teeth into its neck and ripped upward. The Hollow cried in pain and tried to fight back, but it was finished. Sekkou ripped out another chunk- the Hollow jerked a couple times and went still. All of a sudden, he was insatiably hungry. Sekkou tore into the Hollow’s corpse ravenously, ripped off chunks of flesh and swallowed them whole, until nothing remained.

He chuckled to himself. The fatigue he had felt from running had vanished. Perhaps he should add other Hollow to his palate…after all, Pluses, and even Shinigami could get boring…

+2 speed

Sekkou glanced around the desert. His reiatsu seemed to convey a sense of disdain- as if he felt such scenery was beneath him. He spotted a Hollow on the horizon. Sekkou ran towards it; as he got closer, it was obvious that it was feral, and possessed minimal intelligence. “Chase me…” muttered Sekkou. This Hollow was fairly generic; it was very brawny and had dull gray skin. Its reiatsu was average. It leaped at him, its jaws already gnashing. Sekkou ducked under it and began to run; he glanced over his shoulder as he did so to make sure it was still chasing him.

The Hollow ran on all fours; curiously, its arms were longer than its legs and it ran with a sort of loping nature. Sekkou ran hard; he swung his arms in a steady rhythm, using this rhythm to goad his legs into an equally steady pounding against the sand. His lungs worked like a pair of bellows to allow his current speed. Sekkou ran and ran, his feet hit the ground over and over; the sound was completely mirrored by the footsteps of the Hollow behind him.

Sekkou lost track of the time he spent being chased. He lost himself in the run, allowing the adrenaline to reach his brain and push him on to greater speed. Sekkou glanced back again. The Hollow was tiring, that was clear. Now was the time to make his move. Sekkou faded from sight. He had eight seconds. As the Hollow continued to run, Sekkou tensed, and then jumped. The sand made it difficult to use invisibility to his advantage (as he would have left footprints) so this was necessary. Sekkou landed on the Hollow’s back, and then bit hard into its neck, severing its carotid artery and drinking in the literal spurting of blood.

+1.5 speed

Sekkou was jogging with considerable speed across the desert of Hueco Mundo, his long legs carrying him extremely quickly through the white sand. The expanse annoyed him very much; not only was it boring- it was also a bad place for one who fought as he did to fight. Still, it was the best place to train himself to reach greater speeds.

He glanced around as he jogged, searching for a Hollow that he could allow to chase him. Sekkou’s eyes gleamed as he spotted a potential candidate. This Hollow looked lupine in appearance. It growled at him, and then gave chase. Sekkou laughed, and then turned and began to run.

Sekkou relished the feel of his feet pounding against the sand of the desert. It was a feeling that for some reason, he labeled the “runner’s high.” It was euphoric, and almost made him forget his hunger and the reason for his running. Almost. Sekkou turned to look behind him, and saw that the lupine Hollow, although only slightly above average in terms of speed, showed no signs of tiring.

He shrugged. The Hollow did not have to be tired for him to kill it. Still, it was excellent motivation for him to run a little while longer. Occasionally he would turn and fire off a couple of Balas to encourage it to keep up.

Finally, Sekkou felt the feeling that he was waiting for- the burning in his muscles, the drained feeling in his lungs; exhaustion. He could feel the lactic acid in his muscles slowing him down and his gasping breath told him he should end this. Sekkou turned and braced himself. It was likely that the lupine Hollow would leap at his throat…and it did! As it neared, Sekkou fell backwards and kicked up, catching it in the gut and sending it upward. Sekkou quickly sprung back to his feet and jumped after it. He grabbed it with his claws and pulled it close.

Sekkou’s maw closed around its back; he yanked and ripped out a chunk of spine. As the Hollow spasmed, Sekkou quickly devoured the rest of it. As he felt the welcome renewal of energy, Sekkou laughed and began running again.

+1 to speed. ^^

Sekkou faced Sukauto, the fastest member of his little band of Hollows. “I want you to train me in your art of speed,” he said.

“Awright, let’s do this then,” replied Sukauto. “Just try to catch me.”

Sekkou let his reiatsu flow to his legs and feet so he could reach maximum speed and endurance. Sukauto’s reiatsu began to pulse around him. “Here I go!” He turned and began running away, obviously not at top speed, but still at a decent velocity. Sekkou took off after him; he swung his arms and legs in a steady rhythm to maximize his efficiency. It was all about rhythm; all about feeling the hammering of his feet against the sand. All about letting the blood pounding in his ears mimic the solid beat of his pace.

Sukauto was a motivation. He was something to be caught, something that he had to reach, absolutely had to in order to succeed. More of Sekkou’s reiatsu poured into his limbs. He began to accelerate; his feet hit the ground at a rate of four times a second. Sekkou’s lungs opened and closed like a pair of bellows- steadily supplying him with the oxygen he needed to continue on.

As he looked back, Sekkou saw that his footprints were far in the distance- it was impossible to tell how far he had run. And yet, he had not tired. His determination to catch Sukauto overcame the intense burning in his muscles; it was more than enough to let him push himself to his absolute limit. Sekkou became focused on one thing. Sukauto. With a feral roar, he increased his reiatsu to its highest point and continued to charge. He continued to accelerate. His feet were hitting the ground at an astounding six times per second. Sekkou jumped and swiped at Sukauto.

Somehow, Sukauto anticipated it (perhaps he heard Sekkou’s footsteps stop?) and turned, using his overlarge fist to block Sekkou’s strike. “What the hell man!?!?” he complained.

Sekkou dropped to the ground. “My apologies…I got carried away.”

+1 speed

ooc: this is just for .5 speed, so no nagging if it seems a little short

Sekkou stood on top of some building in a city of the Real World. Sukauto stood beside him. He had arranged for a sort of obstacle course to happen here so he could train his speed. Sukauto was the objective- that is, Sekkou was to catch him. "Go!" he commanded. Sukauto took off at full speed. Sekkou growled and followed after him, leaping across the gaps between buildings.

Sukauto disappeared over the edge of the next building and Sekkou followed. Sukauto plummeted down and swung from a streetlamp, propelling him further. Sekkou mimicked Sukauto perfectly; he swung right after him- gaining no ground, but nor was he losing ground. Sukauto began running through traffic, dodging cars expertly as he ran the wrong way. Sekkou followed him doggedly and continued the chase.

A Bala exploded next to him, forcing him into a car. Sogekihei...thought Sekkou irritably. How is his aim so good? Sekkou continued to chase after Sukauto, who had gained some ground. He ran hard- until a small cylinder exploded in front of his face. Bakuhatsu! Quickly, Sekkou ducked around a side alley, hoping to predict Sukauto's path and intercept him. He did, tackling Sukauto and sending them both tumbling to the ground.

"Nice job, Sekkou. Didn't even get to Kougakusha's part," said Sukauto.

+ .5 speed and locked. Haha and no nagging was involved.