Arbutus smiled a bit at the question, ah the youth. "Aside from living as long as I? let me ask you this. What makes your mouth water? one human? or a thousand? Hollows consume human souls to feed the hole in their own souls. As time goes one they become stronger little by little. But the wise hollow does not feed on the minnows, but the concentrated power. Eating hollows is a much faster way of gaining strength. Here in the Stones, with out the spiritual power to keep one alive, one must eat just to exist." He wasn't sure he should be helping the Decima this way but it was a fact that most ought to know for survival.
The carriage began picking its way around the bends, but moving rapidly. The natives had surely seen them, but had avoided contact. They knew the Old Man of the Sands had returned. The old man knew attacks would result at some point and welcomed it.
"But before you go off challenging just anyone, know this path is thorny. the stronger the opponent the higher the payoff, but the higher the risk and the greater the chance of being eaten yourself. Consume your foes. That is how we grew. Never waste the power of another if you can help it." Arbutus let that note hang. If Ignion caught it was his gain.
Salte sat on the sill of the cabin watching the passing cliffs, many of the natives were strong ones. Guess all of them had tried to claim power. She couldn't spot the weaker ones nests. "Ya know Grandpa, You never did devour old PantaMargrette." she said sending him a Cheshire worthy grin. Arbutus rolled his eyes. Salte was being cheeky but she was right. "Yes, If I had found a way to beat that soul siphon of hers I would have. And now I must deal with what my actions have caused."
The carriage came out of the stones into a vast open area, a crater easily several miles wide of crushed stone. Bits in the center had fallen into deep pits in the earth. This was ground zero. The crater from the blast that had weakened the barrier. "My ultimate cero did this."He said as the the carriage settled. The draining effect was less noticable in this location. With a wave of his arm and an odd rotation of his wrist, the carriage unfurled and became a platform for the stone. walkways wrapped around it and the cage opened. Stepping out into the crater, Arbutus lifted a boulder of the natural stone and set it next to looted one. He studied them both, gauging strengths, weaknesses and so on. Then he simply sat infront of them staring at the rocks.
Salte stepped towards Ignion, "Grandpa is gonna be like that a while. Think he plans on making the stone grow faster somehow."
Salte Pichi ~Delirium~
Phantom Nephilim
Arbuts will be back next post but Salte is around for now, in case you have other questions about the stones
Posted: Tue Mar 03, 2015 6:11 pm
►Name: Ignion Las Dragunda ►Rank: 10 ►Sexuality: Bisexual ►Mood: Calm....for now ►Current Thought: What his story?
"Rage my be my biggest flaw, but I'll make sure its the last thing you see!"
_Ignion watched Arbutus as he analyzed the stone. Next to the Cillian, Arbutus would be the most likely mentor if Ignion could choose one. He saw something in Arbutus he didn't see in Cillian. Arbutus had power but didn't flaunt it. Sitting on the ground he turns to the Fracciones. Salte was it, whats the story with the old tree? ╚═════════════════════════════════════════════════╝
"Challenge me and I'll turn you to ash"
{OCC: Sorry if it was short, couldn't really think of anything at the moment }
Salte shrugged, "You've been around longer than me. I've only been around 200 years or so. As for Grandpa, hes older than just about all the creatures in Hueco Mundo. He is able to grow things even here, he ruled a fourth of the Forest with his plants, plants he fiercely defended." Salte shivered at the memory of one of Grandpa's fits at a Hollow destroying one of his trees. "He's the one that guided me to tear off my mask. Not the easiest way to get stronger as its not always successful. Sometimes it makes the hollow weaker or stupid." Arbutus turned and pinned Salte with a look, which caused the girl to clap her hands over her mouth with an "oops"
Arbutus stood and turned to the others, "Salte dear, that is a fact we should not be sharing without reason." Looking at Ignion he continued, "If you hadn't noticed it by now my Grandaughter has spilled that little secret. We are both natives of this realm. We became Arrancars of our own accord. A fact that seems distasteful to the Cuna-Borne Arrancars."
Dropping the topic he turned back to the matter at hand. There was no use trying to hide his power from the Decima, plant like or no the Decima did not hold a candle to him currently. He didn't want to reveal his power right away but he needed to be in his segunda to experiment with the time flow of the stone. "You might want to step back a bit." The old man said with a shoo ing motion. Salte beckoned Ignion to follow her and trotted a fair diatance away, "Grandpa gets big in his release."
Arbutus drew a massive set of garden shears from the scabbord on his back. Blades lone and stright like claymores snapped open as he placed them on his neck,"Snkity-Snak, My dear Eden" The bladse closed on the old mans neck and in a flash of vapor, erupted into a massive tangle of vines, up and up they grew until the behemoth creature reached almost eighty feet tall. Waves of spiritual pressure blasted from him pushing hard against the other two arrancar. With a tremendous effort the creature imploded and shrank again. Compacting with a rush of wind and sound, till a white figure appeared in the swirling dust.
"Do not come near me, either of you. My touch can kill"Arbutus warned, looking hard from withing the white cowl. Indeed the poer flowing off the man was enough to crush salte to her knees. Arbutus wondered how long he had until trouble arrived. Turning to the stones, one natural one stolen from another realm he placed an armored hand on each. The natural boulder began to expand upwards growing taller. The other stone however had a fantastic reaction. It began expanding splitting apart into a geometric lattice work.
Arbutus whipped his hands away, halting the growth. His arm that had been on the soul society stone ached, the stone had still effected him a little, sapping his power. The natural stone had not gotten through the aging field of his armor, this would be a tricky situation.
"Segunda Etapa" Salte whispered from her hunched up position. So much power! Arbutus was the septima, but she doubted that title held any meaning anymore. She couldn't move an inch, it took all her strength to not be crushed by the pressure. She crawled further away from Arbutus, to the point his pressure wasint endangering her. The Decima might be able to stand it, but she was no espada. Even with her new found strength thanks to the alteration process, a segunda etapa form was a monster to behold.
A Natural crawled out from a crevice, a strong but stupid type, lured in by the display the old man was giving. It lunged for Salte its claws out stretched. Salte never even looked at it and in seconds it was a pile of matted fur and blood. Her mace shaped Zanpakto tearing the thing apart. With the voracity of a wild beast Salte began eating it. Bringing truth to the old mans advice of not wasting power. It was just food to her.
Salte Pichi ~Delirium~
Phantom Nephilim
Salte is strong but the power of a segunda etapa from the soon to be segunda espada has got to be a nightmare to be next to
Posted: Wed Mar 04, 2015 5:54 pm
►Name: Ignion Las Dragunda ►Rank: 10 ►Sexuality: Bisexual ►Mood: Calm....for now ►Current Thought: Will that work?
"Rage my be my biggest flaw, but I'll make sure its the last thing you see!"
_Ignion watched continued to watch Arbutus. His blood boiled as the Segunda Etapa form of Arbutus was displayed before him. "HOW, HOW THE ******** CAN I UNLOCK MY OWN? I MUST FIND A WAY TO AT LEAST UNLOCK THE POWER, THEN ILL MASTER IT ON MY OWN! He thought to himself. Then looking out of the corner of his eyes he watched as Salte made quick work of the natural that had tried to attack her and consume it. More of the same type of natural crept out from their hiding places and surrounded Ignion. Ancient Tree wasn't lying, these things were strong, but imbecile as well, and were a nice warm up for Ignion as he defended himself from the small horde. Picking one up he sniff it, the scent causing his primal inticnts to overwhelm him. He vicously gorged on the dead naturals. Two, four, five of them devoured in a matter of minutes. The last two he picked up and moved to Salte seeing how she could barely be near Arbutus. Here Salte. He handed one of them to her and devoured the other himself.
As he ate the natural his attention came back to Arbutus. This form of his was powerful, extremely powerful. The power he gained from eating the naturals allowed him to be able to be just a little closer to Arbutus. Ignion watched the Espada as he tried to come up with a way to integrate the two stones together, then a idea hit him. Ancient Tree? What if you fused them together, do you think that might help in some way? ╚═════════════════════════════════════════════════╝
Arbutus studied the rocks a bit, "Simply adding the two together would be like adding salt to the ocean. However..." Arbutus lifted the natural stone and placed it in front of the other, faces touching. Laying his hands on the stone he tried again, this time the results were the same but he did not have to touch the stone directly. It grew slower, just a bit faster than the natural stone. Arbutus was surprised to see the direction it had taken with this kind of influence. Before it had erupted in all directions, now it was growing away from him. With the padding keeping the draining effects out, and adding a direction for growth, things were looking hopeful.
But the old man's luck had run out, the interference he had predicted struck. A wave of creatures, some sort of reptilian hollows, erupted from the sand. Thy had managed to get close by traveling underground, which had protected them from his spiritual pressure. They latched on to him biting and clawing, more and more piled on top of him, hiding him from view.
Salte let out a cry, tossing aside the hollow Ignion had given her. But she stopped. Something was going on with the lizards! They had stopped moving and biting, falling away one by one and dissolving into dust. bleached bones began to litter the area as they died. Arbutus stood among the dead, not a scratch on his armor. He sighed and brushed the dust off himself. "Such a waste"
Arbutus could feel the envy rolling off of Ignion. "The stronger you are, the harder it is to unlock your second form." Arbutus said, "To gain it you must battle to your absolute limit, then and only then can you find the strength, if it lies in you. It is the most difficult thing to obtain, and can cost you your life if you fail."
The old man had not lifted his hand from the stones and they had grown considerably. The natural one was growing taller while the Soul Society variant had stretched across the crater. To his delight, the stone seemed to be growing in more than just one direction. It would take time but he could indeed fill the crater with this technique. For all intents and purposes, this should stem the tide. The only thing he worried about now was how much the stone would expand. If he did not get this hole blocked up soon, more of the barrier would fall.
Salte Pichi ~Delirium~
Phantom Nephilim
not exactly sure what to do now, Arbuts is succeding but its taking time. Gotta ask Fei, but yo can do what you want to
Posted: Thu Mar 05, 2015 6:31 pm
►Name: Ignion Las Dragunda ►Rank: 10 ►Sexuality: Bisexual ►Mood: Calm....for now ►Current Thought: Will that work?
"Rage my be my biggest flaw, but I'll make sure its the last thing you see!"
_See my idea was on the right track Ancient Tree He said with a toothy grin. Ignion watched as the stones slowly grew over the crater. He had heard Arbutus words and smiled. That part is not a problem Ancient tree, as I live for a fight. Besides I like those underdog kind of battles, it pushes me to be stronger. He takes a few steps closer to get a good look at the stones growth, that and to watch Arbutus' back incase they get some more unwanted guests. His hand on his sword Ignion stood, back facing Arbutus, as he kept his eye out for anymore natives as he ran down a list of those who would be able to help him achieve his goal. As it stood Ignion was well aware that he was the lowest ranking Espada. This fact didn't bother him, but it nag at him a lil sometimes, seeing how the others looked down on him cause of this. If he gained power, it wouldn't be to prove to them that he was strong, it would be to prove to himself that he was not as weak as they saw him as.
He came out of his deep thought to continue to watch Arbutus' back, crushing the small naturals as they popped up from time to time. He figured he'd gain his segunda form by his own means, after all he now had knowledge of the perfect training ground for it. ╚═════════════════════════════════════════════════╝
"Can you continue to fight when you have already spent all you have? When your body itself rebels against you? Only a rare few have the capacity to draw out that form. Most die before they can obtain it, or die shortly after when they cannot control it." It would not do to have his fellow espada run off after power to his demise. Cillian was cross enough with him when a minor arrancar was wasted, an espada would surely incur his wrath. But Arbutus doubted Ignion was so foolhardy. If he was, it was not the old mans fault.
Arbutus himself had not moved to defend himself once thus far. No one present could touch him, likely no natural without his own segunda was even able to compete. The fact that he was likely the third or fourth strongest in Las Noches was a harsh reality if anyone crossed him. Returning to the matter at hand, he watched as the stone reached out now to the crater rim. The further the growth got from the center the more erratic it became in shape. A little adjustment to the focus of the stone began a new line of growth that proceeded a bit faster this time, feeding off the existing growth. It was almost like pointing a hose, only with spirit draining crystal.
---
Salte kept behind Ignion, using him as a sort of blockade against the massive power flowing off her grandpa. He was a walking time machine! he was accelerating the flow of things at super speeds. She shook her head, he was growing rocks, rocks! Rocks that her wild imagination decided ate hollows because it was fun. She blinked, where had that line of thought come from? She skipped back against he craters edge, something was draining her and making her sanity slip. Of course! the crystal was getting bigger but not losing its potency!
"Lord Ignion," she called using a proper title, "Be wary! I think the stone Grandpa is making is draining us, worse than the stones!" She wobbled, brushing against a rock face and scowled as she felt her new found cero ability disappear from her arm. It was odd, just having that power she felt like she was armed with a cool death ray. A large hollow dropped on her and was quickly smashed against the rocks, Salte's fist embedded in its face, clear through its steel hard mask. Sitting on her new chair, licking her hand clean she decided to take a piece of home to her new home, it would make a nice target to practice her cero on. A natural stone should be sufficient, it wasn't like she was going to blow things up. Her talents were a bit more....focused elsewhere.
Salte Pichi ~Delirium~
Phantom Nephilim
Posted: Thu Mar 12, 2015 5:35 pm
►Name: Ignion Las Dragunda ►Rank: 10 ►Sexuality: Bisexual ►Mood: Calm....for now ►Current Thought: Will that work?
"Rage my be my biggest flaw, but I'll make sure its the last thing you see!"
_ Ignion tilted his head to the words and smirked. I may be lower in rank than all of the espada, but that doesn't gauge my fighting spirit. I fended off two captains and a lieutenant by myelf while Lobo dealt with Pinky. Plus I went toe to toe with Maiban so I know I have the will to fight beyond my limits. Im a determined lil b*****d. But im no fool, I know that great power ultimately corrupts. He said to Arbutus with a smile.
Turning he heard Salte as she gave her warning and flashed her a smile. Yeah Salte, I know but who's going to watch Arby's back if your too busy eating and playing with the naturals huh? He said with a laugh ╚═════════════════════════════════════════════════╝
No one knew what Ignion meant better than Arbutus. The old man's mental strength tempered his power. The very reason he never flaunted his power. Even now he would not use it unnessicairly. In his seald form he could take several of the espada, right now, not even cillian was certain to win. He wondered what the sandy haired young man would think of his power. The names the man spouted off meant nothing to him unfortunatly, but they must have been adversaries among the Soul Reapers.
Arbutus raised an eyebrow at the odd nickname. He had not heard that one before and let it slide. It was not like Ignion was being condescending about it. Salte fumed at Ignion, "Who's Playing?!" she exclaimed glaring at the espada, but she grinned a moment later. "My playing is about as effective as your protection, don'cha know. Nothing out here that's worth fighting."
By now the crystal had filled half the crater had been filled with the crystal form. It was growing in a crystalline form rather than stone, thus it was jagged and pointed. Not very good terrain. Also, Arbutus noticed that the sense of draining was growing the larger the crystal got. Arbutus pondered the lack of any substantial resistance. Granted he was a power that almost all would be afraid of here, but once the crystal was complete his segunda might reseal. He was not expending energy, but he did not know the time limits of this form, if it had any. He had been relying on the passive ability of the armor and it was doing fine.
Salte Pichi ~Delirium~
Phantom Nephilim
Posted: Fri Mar 13, 2015 8:42 pm
►Name: Ignion Las Dragunda ►Rank: 10 ►Sexuality: Bisexual ►Mood: Calm....for now ►Current Thought: How much longer?
"Rage my be my biggest flaw, but I'll make sure its the last thing you see!"
_ Ignion laughed heartily at Salte. I guess you're right Salte. Its not really a challenge anymore huh? He smiled as he was beginning to have trouble breathing. She was right earlier. The stone, now crystalline structures were becoming stronger in their effect. He tried his hardest to stay standing but eventually he caved and fell to one knee.
Dammit, I thought I could handle the effect of the stone. DAMMIT! He roared as he crashed his fist into the ground. Catching his breath he was able to stand again. At this time he felt two pressure, faint, as small as a candle then poof it was gone. One of the pressures felt familiar but it couldn't be, no it could never have happened even in his worst days. I wonder what the hell that was just now? He snarled as he looked into the distance. As he pondered a natural had snuck up from below him knocking him away from Arbutus & Salte and pursued to devour Ignion in his weakened state.
Standing to his feet he parried the natural with his sword. His cero mastery was no good as the crystal had drained that out of him. The natural came after him again and manage to slash Ignion across the face. YOU REALLY ARE STARTING TO ANNOY THE ******** OUT OF ME YA DAMN NATURAL! He roared as he manage to slice of an arm before parrying a few more strikes. The natural had Ignion beat in strength, but as most know, that only excited Ignion more, and the fact he was pissed was adding much needed fuel to his fire.
Ignion knew he had to finish this rather large monster or he'd be its lunch. Fueled by his excitement & anger his head became clear and level as he saw his chance to beat it in six moves, and if timed right kill it. The first move from the natural was a wide arc swing downwards, then moving into a sweeping grab. After that the natural sent a few jabs in Ignion's direction, he blocked with his blade. The final moves of the natural was another sweeping arc then it jumped into the air only to come barreling down to smash its clasped fists on Ignion. As it came toward him, Ignion saw the right moment and once it hit the ground he had jumped back and then leaped forward impaling his zanpakuto into the beast's head. It struggled under Ignion as he pressed his blade further into the natural's skull. Oh just give up an die already relic! Twisting his sword the natural ceased to move.
Ignion held his face as it was throbbing. He dragged the corpse back to his guarding position and began to devour it as he sat down near Arbutus. Still holding his face with his right hand & munching on his prey with his left, his head slightly turned to Arbutus. Any indication as to when this thing is going to be finished Arby? His tone was much more.........different this time. Something change in him a lil after his encounter with the natural. What was going through Ignion's head? Was his sanity slipping? Or was he finally at terms with his current power. ╚═════════════════════════════════════════════════╝
Arbutus watched as Ignion fell to one knee, the effects of this stone were going to bee strong. Perfect for keeping the Sea of Purity at bay. But as Ignion fell into intense combat with a natural, the old man grew concerned. He and Salte had lived here before, able to survive without their spiritual power. But with out it, Ignion was pushed ito a harsh battle.
While Salte could be heard cheering Ignion on in his fight, Arbutus' attention was distracted to the horizon. His brow furrowed, what could this feeling mean? It was fleeting, hard to sense out here in the stones and at such a distance. What was happening back at the palace?
The conclusion of the battle drew his attention back to the present and he moved to finish the stones growth. They were needed back quickly. With a final battle cry Ignion had finished of his foe. Arbutus was a bit peeved at the boy calling the natural a relic, if that beast was a relic what did that make him?
The old man did not miss the change in tone. Ignion was losing himself, where that was a normal battle mode or not he did not know. Best to finish and return as quickly as possible.
"Quite soon." The crater had been filled two thirds of the way. Now came the tricky part. In order to get teh stones to grow in the third area, Arbutus would need to stand ON the crystal as to not be trapped by the new growth. "You two need to get out of the crater. Stick close to each other." He didn't need to explaine why, with the formation almost complete Arbutus was safe from all but the stone itself. The two would likely face opposition alone, but it was necessary.
Salte met with Ignion at the craters edge, Zanpackto at the ready. THe odd weapon did not have an edge. Rather it was a smooth sphere on the end of a coiled shaft. She hoped neither of them needed to release, but this was home turf for her. She watched the Decima's back and kept her eyes on the stones, picking out the places ambushes could hide in.
Salte Pichi ~Delirium~
Phantom Nephilim
nice work, even though we are now in an area that we cannot use spiritual powers, release forms are still available, but ranged effects will have less effect here
Posted: Mon Mar 16, 2015 7:00 pm
►Name: Ignion Las Dragunda ►Rank: 10 ►Sexuality: Bisexual ►Mood: Calm....for now ►Current Thought: How much longer?
"Rage my be my biggest flaw, but I'll make sure its the last thing you see!"
_ Ignion drug his meal to the edge of the crater as he felt Salte covering his back. He felt a lil better knowing she was watching out for them. As he feasted on the corpse of the natural he began to think of his purpose in Hueco Mundo. What was he brought there to do in the first place? He'd have to ask Cillian once they returned. ╚═════════════════════════════════════════════════╝
using two pieces of stone for his hands and a rapidly shrinking stone for a foot hold, Arbutus struggled to finish the construction. The growing crystal was not only going around the crater floor but up into the air as well. Parts he had finished were continuing to grow. The fields from the crystal were beginning to weaken him.
Just in time he finished the crystal p[lug and leapt from the center of the formation with a sonido. Landing on the crater rim he dragged the two away and bounded over several ridges to get away from the sever drain of the complete crystal. He hadn't needed to grab them physically, as doing so would have been damaging to them, but his sonido sucked them along at such close proximity. Finally away from the drain Arbutus released his Segunda, this time however it simply went back to his sealed form. Just in time as Salte Pichi came sailing into his arms.
Letting her down, The tall old man surveyed what they had done. A conical formation of crystals now replaced the crater. drawing in more spiritual power than the natural stone had. They were safe from the sea for now.
"Let us return home my friends." Arbutus rumbled, growing another plant carriage. This one was smaller than before, but had been done so intentionally. It no longer needed to carry anything but passengers.
Settling into the chairs in the carriage, Salte taking the front seat, Arbutus sitting heavily in the rear."You comin' or are ya walking Iggy?" Salte called. "Salte espada may call each other whatever they like, but you need to show proper respect. At least when we are in the palace, right Iggy?" Arbutus said with a grin. Kinda felt like a little revenge for the 'Arby' comment earlier.
Salte Pichi ~Delirium~
Phantom Nephilim
Posted: Tue Mar 17, 2015 4:44 pm
►Name: Ignion Las Dragunda ►Rank: 10 ►Sexuality: Bisexual ►Mood: Calm....for now ►Current Thought: How much longer?
"Rage my be my biggest flaw, but I'll make sure its the last thing you see!"
_ Ignion stil covering his face looked to the carriage as he finished the last bite of the natural. Gaining some of his strength back, he entered the vehicle and sat next to Arbutus. Im just glad we're done with this. I have to go to my temple and change clothes before going to see Cillian. ╚═════════════════════════════════════════════════╝
