Sweet Nostalgia

The Games We Play
Hermosa balanced her blade onto her shoulder, her other hand on her hip. She stood so easily in the day of what she, as well as her comrades, would call her home - a ruined city beyond rescue and repair. The original population having been long evacuated, nothing roamed the city but Hollows and other creatures. Right now, she was standing over a roofless building which allowed the sun to beam down without hindrance from the sky itself. The floor felt rather cold, her bare feet gracing it with the soles of the bottoms. Her ears picked up the sounds of cheerful voices and actions from a short distance away, the sounds of the audience watching both her and the one she was facing down.

She ignored it all... and focused on her fighting partner.

It was the beginning of self-training. The blind Arrancar had volunteered to help out the ones in need. It would take several steps to the final goal... but she was determined to get it through to her "student"'s heads. The exercise, one that she had stated herself to "enhance the view of the world around one's self", was being taken by the very opponent she was about to cross swords with again. That opponent had been blindfolded in order to make it - at least in the viewer's mind - even. However, considering that Hermosa had lived blind for most of her life, and her partner could see... well, it was that much of an advantage.

Remaining silent for a moment more, Hermosa readied her blade again and closed her sightless and pale eyes. "Ready?" She asked calmly.

Loly was blindfolded... and she was going to have trouble, the area desolate, and she lacked the ability to do little with no field of vision. The only sense of sight she possessed was the empty darkness of her covered eyes.

"Y-yes." her words were uneasy, this would be troubling... unsheathing her dagger, she flipped it into the middle of her fingers, for a fist-weapon or stabbing feel, incase one were to get close enough, or try to take her down. Letting out an exhale... she nodded.

Time to train.

"Then let's begin."

With this statement, Hermosa charged... or rather, teleported with the use of her own Sonido to re-appear in front of Loly and begin her attack. Her sword flashed, her bare feet moving elegantly across the ground as she swung her blade in quick, rapid, and fluid motions. However, she was slowing down her strike speed enough for Loly to hear the wind being cut in order to avoid accordingly. It would be a test to see how quickly the girl would catch on. If she was fast enough, Hermosa could make it a bit harder little by little... if she succeeded, she would move on to the next stage. However, if she failed...

...well, at the very least, she would be suffering very grievous injuries. Hermosa was merciful... but only to an extent.

On the sidelines were their friends, in their own various positions. Senkaku was watching rather intently, sitting cross-legged against one of the pillars. One of his hands had been oh-so-naturally clasped onto his mouth. Nnoitra was standing, arms folded across his chest, and his usual look of bored interest on his own face. Well.... he would've had his arms crossed, had he not been carrying Melina (who at the moment was sitting on his shoulder). One of his arms had been hooked around her forelegs, easily supporting her with his natural strength. Melina wore her usual smile of cheer, watching the fight with what looked like excitement.

Such was the usual of life in the ruined city.

At least... in terms of training.

Menoly was sitting peacefully with her back against a piece of uplifted rubble, a make-shift chair. And Nacido Soñador had taken her spot next to Nnoitra, watching the battle with intent. Analyzing every detail of their patterns and reaction time.

Loly kept her pace, with each exhale and inhale she perpared her parries, the movements slower due to the lack of vision, and a few slices managed to make it through, but if she swung around too wildly or fast, she would get out of candence and lose... she had to pace herself... waiting for a time to react, she made a quick sweeping motion with her legs to knock Hermosa down.

This caused the blind Arrancar to smile a little. Avirrne's movements were carefully timed, warily executed... now, if that could only be converted into a natural flow, she would be just fine. That was one of the goals that Hermosa sought if she were to succeed in this endeavor. She stepped back as Loly performed the motion, though leaving one foot in the kicking path. Timing it, she raised that leg up before the other Arrancar could trip her, at the same time thrusting a kick into her crouched form as a result. With that very movement, and restriction on Loly's movements, Hermosa pulled her blade back in a quick flip before thrusting the killing edge towards the ribcage.

Senkaku especially took note of this movement... and was quite surprised. This was fighting prowess that Hermosa hadn't displayed in the bouts he had seen her in. His own swordsmanship didn't seem to dominate hers anymore... a bit of jealousy came within him, yet he kept up his serene expression as he watched. Melina herself seemed to be a bit louder in her endevours. Cupping her hands to her mouth, she cheered for the former Numeros. "Go, Loly-chan!" She shouted, making Nnoitra wince a little. Jeez, could she be any louder?

Oh, wait.

No one answer that. She could. He could only pray that she didn't.

Nacido held in a snicker directed towards Melina. Menoly only raised a brow as the battla grew.

Loly waited, perparing herself, she performed a reversal, using her body and flexability to elegently sweep around her foe, taking note of how close she was... a few inches from the blade and now Hermosa's side, feeling the air rush by and the deathly close energy signature. Loly perpared her strike, flipping her dagger to the under-hand position, and thrusting it backwards, not even looking to her opponent, the blade's intent to pierce the arm or shoulder.

Hermosa's eyes widened.

Although she pulled her blade away and performed a Sonido in order to get away from being cut, the knife had managed to still deliver a shallow gash to her sword arm. She could feel the warm liquid drip down her arm for a moment, wincing a little as the air stung the open wound. "You're starting to get the hang of this already..." She commented, lowering her blade. "I thought it would've taken much longer.... impressive."

Loly smirked. "I strive to impress." Watching her step, Loly began to walk side to side, waiting for the next motion, if one. It would be intresting to see how far Loly could go.

Menoly on the other hand watched, smiling at her friends height in skill. Nacido only analyzed as she usually did...

A small, coy smile came across Hermosa's own face. "Then you wouldn't mind if I push this a little harder."

Immediately, she boosted herself from the ground, blade at the ready. her body was self-thrown towards the instructee, and once she came within range, she unleashed a stronger assault. This time, she would make it as hard as possible. She masked her spiritual energy in order to keep Loly from sensing it, and her sword swings increased to a more terrifying speed. The whirring of the winds could not aid her; she was swinging so quickly, it seemed like from one whirr came one swing, when there were actually two. That ultimately eliminated the senses of sight and hearing... but she felt confident that Loly would pick up quickly.

As they clashed, Nnoitra shifted his eye to look in the direction of his.... well.... girl. She seemed to be watching as intently as Senkaku was... were they that interested in the fight? They must be bored, because he wasn't getting anything out of it! He couldn't help but wonder if she was truly watching, or simply staring into space... willing to find out, he walked over to stand beside her, bent over a little, and wrapped an arm around her shoulder. "Enjoyin' the fight?" He asked casually, smirking.

Loly watched herself as she twirled around, using her single dagger to hold it in a grip, but her unawareness only lead to the blade grazing Hermosa's, and the Zanpakuto's came forward, slashing through a few strands of her hair, and snapping one of the pony-tail bands. Her hair falling downward, only a single pony-tail now standing upward. Quite a mess as hair fell infront of her face, and onto her shoulders, lengthy due to her not cutting it, and usually as she kept it in the pig-tails of hers. Growling, she waited again... she could parry if fully.

Nacido broke out of her stare, glancing to Nnoitra. "Huh? Oh, kind of, just checking the reaction time." "Not very intense though." Admitting to her 'man'.

"Well, of course not!" Nnoitra grinned even wider, even as he witnessed Hermosa pick up her attack to keep Loly onto her toes. "Hermie doesn't cut loose in sparring matches.... otherwise, the Numeros would've been dead by now." At least from the blindfold... he could easily note who was the better when it came to naturally fighting blind. With a rather carefree nature, he leaned his head against hers for a moment, though slightly disliking the fact that there was a skull helmet covering the top of her head.

Nacido would still feel happy with it. Smiling to him, she nodded. "Sounds funny enough."

Menoly glanced over to the two... such an odd pairing.

It was so unfortunate that Hermosa could only "see" what she was aiming at, and not truly seeing...

SLICE!

For at the other moment, she had slashed the other hairpiece.

Immediately, whatever Nnoitra's next comment could possibly be was immediately silenced as the hairpin was plucked from Loly's head, forcing the other side of her long hair to fall over her shoulders. His eyes immediately widened in shock, and his mouth gaped open a little. Senkaku, on the other hand, had a rather uncharacteristic look of dumbfoundedness and shock, even more so than Nnoitra. "Uh...uh...uh...." Was all he could manage, not believing what he just saw.

It wasn't the fact that Hermosa had cut the hairpin.... it was how Loly was looking!

"Huh?" Immediately, Hermosa stopped, lowering her blade for a moment. "What's wrong?"

Loly blew in the air, wafting away at the hair in her face. Menoly soon followed the shock, she hadn't seen her hair down before, atleast not in a long time! "You've kinda given Loly a new hair-do. Looks great." Loly stifled a laugh, unsure if there was sacrasm or not.

Nacido looked over. She smirked. "Not sure if this is aimed for entertainment or for combat."

Loly only let out a ''gah. ''

"Auuuuuuuuuuu!" Melina couldn't help but let out a rather cute whine - and, unfortunately, Nnoitra was still managing to carry her (god, what strength!) "Don't look so pouty, Loly-chan, you look cute!" To emphasize, and what could've been something for laughs, she used her index fingers to point the corner of her mouth upwards in a smile, her eyes squinting into the upside-down U-shape. Maybe she'd even ask the woman if she could re-do her hair!

Loly began to glance around, growling, she lunged (for where she thought) was the direction of Hermosa. In an attempt to tackle the girl while they we're all off-guard.

Of course, no one gets such an attempt on the first try.

"Wrong way."

Even as Hermosa's voice spoke from immediately behind her, she didn't cease the next series of movements that came to hand. Using Loly's distraction as an opportunity, she allowed her sword to fall from her hands. Then, she used one of those hands to grab her opponent by the sword wrist, the other grasping the shoulder. With a forceful pull, she sent the other Arrancar to the dust with a WHUMPF!, twisting her arm every so often so that the body would be stomach-first on the ground. All it took then was a matter of placing a knee on her back and bending the captured arm behind her in order to subdue her.

Loly began growling, trying to get up, but the force at which she landed knocked the breath out of her. Soon, her irritation built up as she couldn't get up. "Umm-nnnh... ugh!" Trying to buck her off, she winced as her arm was placed into the hold. Laying there with her hair blown about, she couldn't beat a master at their own game. Finally... she laid down, submissive to the hold, and sadly, to the loss.

Menoly watched.

And Nacido smiled to Melina and Nnoitra, wanting to see their own reactions.

"Herma-chan won!"

The first to react was Melina, who unhesitatingly jumped off of Nnoitra's shoulders (much to his relief) and ran over to the two. As she approached closer, Hermosa closed her eyes and let go of Loly's arm before getting off of her. "You were doing great up to that moment...." She commented, stooping down to pick up her fallen blade. "It was just a matter of letting outside distractions get in the way." She flipped her sword around for a moment, seemingly in a show of flourish. "But I do apologize for the inconvenience. Those two slashes weren't supposed to be aimed towards your pins."

"I hope not." The two hair-pins were long since gone. And she'd have to go find some more elsewhere or here... "May keep it this way for awhile... just not as wild." Loly snickered at the thought. Menoly rebuttled, "A wild style fits your nature." Loly only scoffed back.

"Wild?" Deciding to take part in the conversation, Nnoitra allowed himself to speak up for the first time. As Melina bent over in order to help Loly up, his eyes was directed towards the female Arrancar's new hairstyle. "No offense, but you look kind of like those...uh...witches..off of... I forgot the name of it...what was it, uh..." He used two fingers to pinch the bridge of his nose in thought. "Left for Dead...or Alive? It was some sort of video game. I don't think Tiger Boy would've gotten near you with that look...." He turned his head to the side...

...only to see Ggio nearby, leaning from behind a pillar with an ":D" on his face. The "leader" yelped, almost jumping back and away from him right then and there.

"Someone mention me?"

The word witch was going to be rebuttled, but the appearance of Ggio ceased this. "Thank you very much Nnoitra for your... 'opinion', but I'll be keeping it like this for awhile." It was just for spite's sake. If it annoyed Jiruga... it made Loly smile. And smile she did.

"Thank you, Melina." A thanksgiving. Removing the cloth from her eyes, she blinked slowly as the world became clear again. No more darkness.

"Hey..."

Surprisingly, Melina's voice was a bit shy. If Loly had turned to her direction, she would've seen the girl with a nervous trace of red on her face, as if she was almost embarrassed to be asking. "When you do decide to re-style your hair again.... could I..." However, she managed to muster up the courage. Pulling away from the standing woman, she clasped her hands together. "Could I help you style and fix it?" She finished off the sentence quite cheerfully.

Why the nervousness? Why the blush? Maybe she'd learn later... if it meant anything other the slight embarrassment...

"I'd be glad if you could." A warm smile placed, "Really..." a tender expression touched her face, she brushed some of her hair aside. Not many besides Menoly ever wanted to help her out. Atleast not voluntarily. Besides with training of course...

"So... how'd it go?" Senkaku immediately stood up, addressing the former Fraccion as he walked towards him. The "subordinate" had his arms folded across his chest, golden eyes staring into the ones of his "leader".

"Well, it looks like we're in the clear for now." Ggio explained. "The Hollows in this area are pretty much cleared, so we're the only ones that're in this area as of now." That made Senkaku nod in acknowledgement. "There are a few signatures, but as of this moment, they're pretty much too far away."

"Just in case, how strong are they?"

"One of them's Espada-level, sir."

Loly stayed with Melina, out of the conversation... but Menoly was a different case.

"Intresting." Her ears had overheard it... "Might be time to see who or what it is." "Training to good use and all that..."

"I do believe that one was also farther ahead... it's been drifting, but every minute, it closes in on our location. I think whoever it is, its aware of our..."

As Ggio continued to explain the situation, Nnoitra couldn't help but overhear the conversation and roll his eye. If Sen wanted sensing, then why didn't he just get him for it? Promptly, he dropped Santa Teresa, letting it fall to the ground with a loud CLANG! Then, he placed his hand on the ground, unleashing a Pesquisa. He closed his eyes, trying to wait until the signature got close enough...

...strangely... it seemed familiar...