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Akako's eyes opened, as if awaking from a nightmare. He pushed himself up to a sitting position and shook the sand from his mask. His arms and legs were throbbing, and sore. The entire bottom half of his body was covered with coarse gray sand. How long was I asleep? Did I make it to Earth? He questioned himself. his vision was still very hazy, and he felt like he hibernated on a bed of needles for the winter. He strained to unearth himself from about four-and-a-half feet of sand. The sound of the sand sliding out of his fur reminded him of waves crashing to the shore of long sandy beaches.

When his sight returned to him, alas, there were no beaches, no buildings, nor sun to invite him with warmth. Akako was only welcomed back by the dark starless sky, the mocking moon looking down upon him, and a sea of stark sifting sand. Wh- What? Did I get spit back out of the gateway? He threw his head side to side, looking around for any sign that he was not in the place he was before. Unfortunately, he'd come to the conclusion that he was still in the world of perpetual night. Rage was building inside him, and bubbled up to the point where he could not control it any longer.

Akako's tail contorted and lashed out at the dune he stood on. His claws dug into the sand just before he started taring at the coarse sand beneath him. He ripped and slashed until he found a bone buried in the sand. "It's all... Your Fault!" Raising his paw, ready to strike the bone out of blind fury, a blue light shined brightly. He swept at the bone and fired a Bala, shattering the little bit that rose above the sand. He turned his back and roared at the dark night sky like the beast he'd become.

He was breathing heavily, having tired himself out from his outburst. He panted heavily, and turned back to the dune he'd so viciously assaulted. Some more of the bone was showing, but it stood motionless. Akako stood up and looked down at it curiously. He scratched the sand around it to try and see what it was he'd unleashed his fury on. Carefully, he pushed the sand aside, and even tried working at it with his smooth bony tail. He'd grown tired after about an hour of digging, but he'd unearthed about half of whatever was buried there.

It was a giant skeleton, or at least most of one. The arm was splintered off at the forearm, and half of it's mask had been crushed and hollowed out, leaving nothing but bone. Akako stared at it for a while, but he soon recognized the mask of the huge behemoth he'd befriended when he first woke up in the world of hollows. Did he follow me all the way out here? Did he wait for me to return? How long have I been asleep? These questions burdened his mind as he mourned for the only hollow who he had befriended in this world.

The soft whistling of the tower awoken Akako from his long nap. He yawned quietly, and listened to it echo through the tower. For some reason, he felt calm and mostly safe when he looked around and didn't have sand piled on top of him as he slept. His nap was soothing, almost therapeutic, listening to the soft hum of his temporary home. His head peeked out the hole and saw the wind had died down for the moment. That sandstorm died down. This whole world being a desert, I guess it is pretty frequent to see something like that, he thought, looking out at the wavy horizon, shaped by dunes, and leafless trees. There were few other large buildings like this one that Akako could see, but off in the distance there did seem to be something out there. he then looked up to the top of the spire. It almost seemed to pierce the eternal night sky. He looked back down at the ground to see about how high up he was. He saw the smallest remnants of dust devils quickly surface and fade.

I wonder... Akako thought before saying what was on his mind, "I wonder what is up on top there?" He peeked out a little more, and dug his claws into the large stone pillar. It crumbled slightly, but felt like it would hold his weight. He swung around, ready to climb the tower, but as soon as his hind legs left the ground, he started to slide down several stories, his claws, etching his path. He stopped after digging his claws in a little deeper into the stone wall. His fingers felt like he had pressed them against a thirty foot roll of sand paper, which he essentially did. He was bleeding just a little from his right hand, but he was determined to make it to the top, and began his climb from a lower tier set of pores in the tower.

Akako reached up above, and sunk his claw in the scratches he had just made in the stone, and pulled himself up. The rock seemed softer down near the base of the tower, because his whole hand nearly went through the wall when he tried to get a grasp. He was starting to get second thoughts about climbing the tower, and he wasn't very close to the bottom either. "Maybe this wasn't the best idea I've had since coming here." He turned his head and looked down to see another little alcove just beneath him. Carefully, he slowly slid down to the hole and took a short break. Looking down at his claws, they were red and bleeding a little bit. It stung to put his hands down on the ground so suddenly. He did the only thing he really could do in this form, and licked away some of the blood. It may not have done much as healing it fully, but it made Akako feel better that he wasn't going to be walking around with bloody feet all day.

When he finished licking his minor wounds, he looked deeper into the cave he'd climbed in. The recesses seemed to stretch into almost complete darkness. Still, not being able to climb the tower was one ting, but exploring a cave he was already in was a rather nice alternative. He stood up on all fours, and cautiously started to walk into the darkness. He was tense and alert, and grew even more so the further he continued. He could just faintly see the outline of the ground, but not as much to determine rough from smooth. His heart was racing as he traversed deeper and deeper into the abyss. He saw light from around a corner. It was dim, but any such light would be as bright as the moon outside in such utter darkness. He turned the corner and saw the source of the light: a large hole in the ground. It was almost as if what ever made this tunnel just decided to go straight down. "Where does this... GO!?" While trying to peer down the hole, a small chunk of his footing crumbled and fell down into the light. Fortunately, he was able to pull back far enough to escape it. "That was too close. I should be more careful, and... I... still haven't heard the rock hit the ground yet."

Once more, Akako cautiously approached the hole and looked down to see something similar to what was above ground: a large sandy wasteland, but this underground area had monstrous trees that stretched up , and may have even touched the ceiling of this giant cavern. It almost looked like the vast sandy surface was only like a cover for what was underneath. He studied this underground world, when finally, he heard the thud of the piece of rock that he had pushed down. "That is... quite a drop..." He said nervously.

Not long after it hit, a loud monstrous roar shook Akako to the core, as well as his high hiding place. He quickly scanned about the underworld to see what could have made such a noise, and there it was, stepping out from behind one of the giant trees. It was a gigantic, masked, black shrouded figure, large enough to make the giant above ground look like an ant. Next to the rock that had dropped, it was like a pebble compared to this monster. Akako observed it carefully and quietly. "A white mask... and a hole in the chest. Is this thing a hollow too? This gargantuan monster?" The giant walked around the tree mindlessly, and Akako was too stunned to even move, but he didn't feel like he was in any immediate danger. He didn't even think the giant had noticed him. He wanted to keep it that way and started to head back to the surface, when the hollow grabbed the massive tree with it's large bony hand and a large red ball started to form around it's mouth. Against his better judgment, Akako wanted to stay and see what it was going to do. His tail was swinging back and forth like a cat, ready to pounce it's prey.

The large red ball shot out like a laser and punched a hole right through the tree. Akako's tunnel shook and the hole in his floor started to grow. He was nearly pulled in again, but he quickly turned tail and ran. Cracks and light multiplied in the tunnel as he tried to make his escape. He could feel the stone and earth beneath him giving way and falling to the lower level; to the monster among monsters. "I don't think I'm going to make it. Am I... Am I going to die?" He grew panicked and he ran faster. He could almost see the light at the other end of the tunnel. He was almost free, but to his horror, he saw sand start to fill up his passage. "The tower is sinking?!" Frantically, he clawed his way up to the exit of the cave, and leaped out, just before it sunk below the shifting sands.

Akako kept sprinting for several meters after he made it out, and looked back at the crumbling tower. It was sinking so quickly, but it was like watching a tape in slow motion. He was so excited to have made it out alive that he collapsed in the sand, panting like a dog, and watching as the monument was swallowed up like the last piece being pushed into a giant three dimensional puzzle. by the time it had settled, no more than four meters of it stuck out of the ground, and it looked just like the barren trees scattered all over the desert "So that is how those are made." He stood up and approached the tree, looking at it from top to bottom. he smiled and chuckled softly as he raised his hand and tapped the tip of the top, "Looks like I made it."

shizoku stepped forward as he looked around the forrest located within muchos. his cold, blood crimson red eyes gazing upon the glory of hueco mundo as he then pressed is knuckles together, cracking them each as he was about to begin his training. he'd heard of something known as the acidic touch, a technique which added the forc of a hollows attacks with a very special acidic property. in quote one could sinder the fles of another off with this technique. t souded helpful no doub, so shizoku began instantl. he stanced himself, bringing his fist upward as he then began to use a nearby tree for a punching bag. unlike the soul reaper aademy which had the finest dummies and training aterials, hollows had touse what they could find. shizoku despised this. soul reapers thought they could run existense, and control all. they were wrong. soon enough, shizoku would step into the playing field, and render the shinigami down to size, then kill every single one of them, till none remained. soul society would become shizokus personal playgrond soon enough..

he began thrusting toward the tree, delivering blows from both his fist, and his kicks, but nothing seemed to be working. a flawed and effortless attempt? he sought to try againand again, till results were formed. smashing his left hand into the tree in the form of a palm strike, it began to sinde slightly, melting as if made or spilled upon by the compound which was acid. shizoku felt pride and joy from this, for he had performed his first hollow technique once agai. hw he had missed firing ceros from the palms of his hads, but oh well. greater rewards were to come soon enough. shizoku began smashing the tree over ad over, plam striking it with unstoppable frce, as the trees began to collapse around him, cutting down like scythes from the bases being melted away from shizokus acidic touch. this was such a fun technique to use. some times, he thought of just rubbing the palm of his hand upon a small childs face, melting its flesh off instantly as he smirked at his own thoughts. how morbidly twisted they had become. such was the price of losing power. it made one thing lss and less about the human society. but who cared, it was all going to come crashing down anyway. shizoku had decided humans were the true monsters, and deserved the treatment they sentenced to prisoner whom had done no wrong. death...

shzoku decided it was time to lern a new,helpful technique as well, one whch would poise quite helfully in transportation. he had grown tired of finding gargantas to hop through, so why not make his own? learning the garganta ould pose such a nice, unique technique which could be used to travel to earth, and back to hueco mundo when on the run. a great escape route he thought. cracking his neck to the side once, then to the right, he touched one more tree, burning its braches to nothing but smoldering ash as he stepped forward, ready tolearn this new proprietery technique, which would bring him one step closer to endin gte human and soul reaper races. shizoku was plotting as he trained, deciding maybe it was time he learned and created a group of rebels to help him in his conquest for domination. it wouldnt be easy finding willing occupants, butr he had found one he belived. asura wouldprove so useful in the coming stormss.
head hung high, and arms crossed, shizoku began to concentrate, focusing his menality pon creating a garganta...
(acidic touch mastered.)

shizoku looked over the area, smirking as his mind was set to learn his next technique.the garganta. a technique used to travel between dimensions of earth, caer paelyn, anywhere in general. turning his head, he looked over at asura, seeing his progress with the bala as he closed his eyes, blinked a few times, and sighed. he supposed it was time to act, and act now if he were going to learn this technique. he had so, so many more to learn anyway. extending his hands, shizoku closed his eyes, focusing all his spiritual energy into his finger tips as he extended them. his reshi was compacted tightly into the tips of his fingers. it was a great feet he was able to do this so quickly. before him, the swirling torrent of power and energy which was the garganta beganm to form right before him and asura.it was unstable, tearing through the fabric of reality and time itself. but it was a garganta no doubt, and was slowly begining to go through the progress of stablization, becoming part of reality.

"alright, now for the fun part, the creation of bending it to reality for good." in short terms, he meant making it actually able to withstand being within the fabric of reality without tearing apart the fabric of muchos, hueco mundothe garganta began to widen larger and larger, crackling with an intense purple lightning as it tried to stabalize. shizoku kept his posture, making sure he kept his hands extended forward as the garganta slowly began to close down, shirinking to about the size of a door, which one even he size and muscularas he was, could fit through.
"almost done."he said through gritted teeth as he finally claped his hands together, sealing the torrental energy forming within his hands. with sudden urge to try out his own creation,shizoku dashed forward, flying right through his own created garganta, as it closed behind him. after about two seconds, another garganta formed, shizoku flying through it as he landed on his knee. the process was complete, and he had learned to use the garganta . but that was just the least bit of his problems.
now it was time to learn the gonzui, a technique used to harvenge souls into a hollow, and devour them to bring one physical, and spiritual power, returned to there corporial body...

(garganta mastered.)

shizoku smirked as his counter part had jus leraned the same exact technique he had. Together they were both making so, so much progress. It was rapid really. Tgether they would learn the techniques amd traits of the trade before even the night was trough. Even though it had just so very begun. Shizoku thought for a few seconds. Remembering what it felt like, what a rush it was, to be locked in battle with the hollows from earlier that night. So exhilieraring. To fire cero after cero, and use his sword from the old days. Kiba. Kiba had been the sword, his first sword actually, and only one he would ever recieve, that he trained daily with. It wasnt till he turned 16 that he created a blood oath with his own sword, amd sworn to use it till his death. The oath was kept, for shizoku took his own life with kiba, repeatedly cutting himself with the blade till death. The samurais of old would frown upon this, for they belived death to by battle to be the only way of leaving the mortal world, which they reffered to as a dream. Shizoku crossed his arms, looking back on the days as he trai ed daily, learning the ways of the blade..

(flash back.)
Shizoku unsheathed his dark, silver blade katana. His eyes glancig over t as he ready into his stance, the one e was commonly known for. Ken-jutsu. His thumb was firmly placed on the guard of his blade, as he readied it into the draw stance. Sighing quickly, he unsheathed it at blindig speeds, cutting down the three fence post which had remained right before him. They fell over lopsided, laying there, motionless. The calm, collective breeze swayed throughoutthe valley as shizoku sheathed his sword back into its silver sheath, and sat down cross legged, placing the sword upon his lap. He loved this sword, it was just so different from any and every blade he had ever laid his eyes upon. It had value. So much value, he'd decided to give it a name. Kiba. Why he had chose this nake he would neber understand. Maybe because he felt such a spiritual connection with his sword, it had spoken to him, telling him what name to give it.
"i vow you and i shall never part.." shizoku muttered under his breath. Looking up, the pale blue sky washed over him, blanketing him as if he were being protected by it. But that had all just been in his head. He wasnt ever truly safe, it was just what his mind had allowed for him to comprehend. Shizoku was always alright with this notion, as long as he could do what he pleased, and have free will to keep on going, the mind could do whatever it pleased. That was, untill it came up with the synical idea shizoku should mutilate his arm.

Those had been the old days. Shizoku missed when he could live within the human world, un bothered. But you know, life, and the afterlife had a funny way of ******** you up the a**. Turning his head in a fit of frustraition, shizoku extended his fist, a dark. Purple energy firing out of it as it smashed against a nearby tree, ripping through it, and continueing forward. Had this been a bala, alreadu mastered for shizoku?
"fine with me, as long as it will kill.." so much pent up anger and frustration within his heart. Shizoku wanted nothing more then to burn soul society, and earth to the ground. Once the primera espada, he could do so, sending all the espada out to battle would surely he more then enough to end all of both worlds. The black, dead heart which was shizokus was growi g more and more black. It almost didnt have any emotion what so ever. Didnt matter to him either way. Turning to asura, he smirked.
"how you holding up?" he was curious for his new partner, and was ready to defend and help him out till the end..