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| This article, Hunger and Greed: Unveiled, is part of Bleach: War for the King's Seal, which continues on from the opening segments of the site's former Fanon Canon project. Use of this page's contents is determined by the author of this page, unless otherwise specified. |
This article, Hunger and Greed: Unveiled, is the first chapter of the Hueco Mundo arc, which is part of Bleach: War for the King's Seal. It serves as a sequel to the events depicted in the journals kept by Akira and Ashido. Ashido and Gundinger serve as the main characters. Averian makes his first physical appearance after several references and off-hand comments.
We kept our heads down, making sure to keep the quartz-like trees between us and the battle waging ahead, whilst ensuring that our own movements were as silent as the grave. It was always dark in the Forest of Menos -- Hueco Mundo itself was wrapped in perpetual night, after all -- so keeping low, controlling your reiatsu, and not doing anything stupid to specifically draw attention to yourself generally allowed you to evade most of the surrounding Hollow.
In my current company, I didn’t even need to worry about that.
Gundinger Drelairn was a former Espada, specifically the Cautro Espada, and I remember him telling me his Aspect of Death was Solitude. Makes sense, looking back. He was certainly a difficult fellow to get to know, but it seems Akira was right; he’s been as good of a comrade to me as some of my old Shinigami friends. By all accounts, he had been a member of the Espada sometime prior to what Akira told me was called “The Winter War”, and hadn’t been around to be assigned a three-digit number when Aizen took control. With company like him, only the most autonomous Hollow came anywhere near us.
“Stop,” Gundinger hissed, suddenly alert.
Or more alert.
“What is it?”
“... I thought I was imagining it before, but now that we’re closer, I’m positive: the large power is getting stronger.”
“Akira did tell us he empowered himself by killing… but-”
“It’s strange to feel it happening first-hand? Me too. This isn’t natural,” Gundinger finished.
“Exactly. We should get closer.”
There were still quite a few Hollow and Quincy signatures ahead, but the group had been cut to below half its original number in the small amount of time it took for us to get this close. Which was worrying. Those Soldat? According to Akira, they had been more than a match for the rank-and-file Shiniagmi of the Gotei 13 during the Blood War. And the Hollow who dwelled this deep inside the Forest? They tended to be the strongest of the bunch, with plenty of Adjucahs to be found, hence why I actively avoided exploring too far and straying too deep.
And the large power was extinguishing the smaller ones with what I could only describe as casual ease! This definitely wasn’t good.
“Keep low and stay close,” I whispered to Gundinger. “I should be able to hide us both.”
I didn’t get a reply, and thankfully I don’t surprise easily, because otherwise I would likely have given our position away. Akira certainly would have. Gundinger had just finished plucking his left eye from its socket when I turned my head to look in his direction!
“I’m hoping that this is some Arrancar trick?” I asked.
“It is. Just keep us hidden; I’ll show us everything that happens later.”
“... If you say so.”
And so, instead of fighting, we stayed low and waited, hidden safely beneath a concealing Kido curtain. Gundinger’s eye floated away, blood dripping in its wake, and the Hollow and Quincy power sources continued to dwindle as we did nothing but wait. A lot of battles in the Forest played out this way. If you didn’t pick your battles carefully, you could quickly find yourself outnumbered and outmatched.
There was never anything you would describe as over-the-top from the large power. No sudden spikes in reiatsu, no flashy attacks like the kind Akira employed with his mask donned, and certainly nothing to indicate that this wasn’t anything other than easy. Gundinger was following the ebb and flow of the battle as closely as I was, despite the fact we were working solely on a perceptive level right now. But that was enough, to be honest. I could see the sweat running down his cheek and falling from his chin. He was hesitant. And who could blame him? This wasn’t like the Espada topside, or the even the surviving Sternritter. This was an altogether different kind of beast.
“I think we’ve got enough,” Gundinger whispered. “There’s only a couple of Quincy left. The Hollow have all fled. We should go, now. Whilst that thing still has something to distract it.”
“Yeah, and see exactly what we’re dealing with.”
Gundinger was responsible for clearing us out quickly through use of the same swirling void of blackness that I leapt through when I first came to the Forest, the act hidden courtesy of my Kido. Rather than take us to his own territory, he dropped us right inside the cave that had been my home for centuries. My Kido lights were still smokelessly illuminating the darkness, my stock of snowgrass and associated herbs and plants were neatly arranged in something mimicking a stone rack set into a natural indent in the far wall, and a spare cloak was neatly folded close to the furs on which I slept.
The only thing that was missing was Akira.
“Now, let’s see what we’re dealing with.”
Gundinger plucked his floating eye from the sky, the yellow iris staring accusingly at the roof, and crushed it in his palm! From the blood and gore swirled what I could only describe as dust, of all things. I honestly didn’t think I’d ever understand these Arrancar and their weird abilities. The dust swirled around us, twisting and coiling, before eventually coalescing into something vaguely resembling a rectangular sheet of glass floating mere inches from my wall.
“What is this?” I asked.
“Essentially, it’s a broadcast. Think of it as Arrancar TV.”
“... What’s a TV?”
I’d never seen the usually serious Gundinger adopt such a deadpan expression before. The silence was beginning to become awkward when he finally spoke.
“... Seriously? You don’t know wh- Okay, okay. I forget how long you’ve been down here. Never mind; just watch!”
Images flashed before our eyes and sounds reached our ears. I’m sure if Akira were here, he’d have a wise-crack for me that would have followed hot on the heels of Gundinger’s expression, because I’m sure I looked ridiculous as I watched my first TV. At the heart of a one-sided bloodbath stood a solitary figure, male, clad in white, wiry but powerful, with long white-coloured hair. Red eyes flashed with hunger and greed, his movements were akin to an alpha predator, and there was no waste. He exuded power and confidence with every step!
“I can barely register his Sonido,” Gundinger mused. “See there? He’s introducing additional steps, creating after-images. I haven’t seen anyone do that since the former Septima Espada Zommari.”
“Yeah, it reminds me of the Shihoin.”
Now it was Gundinger’s turn to look confused. He didn’t ask after the name, though, and we instead looked back towards the gla- TV. The Arrancar wielded a red triple-bladed scythe, each blade growing progressively shorter, and sported a large length of cord attached to the bottom. He controlled the trajectory of the scythe, at times attacking at incredible range, by swinging the scythe in sweeping arcs. Thickened Hollow hide or Blut-enhanced skin may as well have been a silk sheen before that scythe, because everything it was directed at died in a single strike. And when that had happened, we had sensed this Arrancar’s power increase.
“Wait, what’s that blue fire he’s using?” I asked, as the image began to fade. “I’ve never seen a Hollow use something like that.”
“We’re in a lot more trouble than Akira thinks,” Gundinger said as the image winked out. “That was a technique used by the Quincy. If I'm not mistaken, then it appears he also absorbs some measure of the victims skills.”
I grasped the situation quickly.
“If he should kill a Captain, an Espada, or one of the Sternritter-!”
“He would quickly rise to a level where few could challenge him. If we’re going to act, we need to act now.”
Even as we spoke, Gundinger’s missing eye began to heal, the eye restructuring itself right in his empty socket! Why hadn’t he healed his injuries before now? Hotaru’s followers had critically injured him before Akira jumped to his defence a few years ago. A question for another time.
“We need to warn Akira,” Gundinger said.
“Agreed.”
It seemed that, for the first time in centuries, I’d be leaving the Forest of Menos after all.