Valintine's Training

The Exequias Captain was bored, alone, and cold. It was always cold in the desert that had never known a sun. It was always night time here. Day, night, midnight, noon, none of it mattered here. Time was eternal, but life was not. You either rose to power, or you died trying. Some fell down a level before they ever rose up. It was amusing in a way, and in a way it was terribly terribly sad. But oh well, that was life for you. You had your ups and your downs. Valintine’s life was filled with ups. But he only saw the downs. He wanted to die. Every night he would walk the sands of Hueco Mundo and look to the moon. It was what he did when he was an Adjucha. The Biohazard of this world wishing for death. It was comical in a dark and cliché way. Valintine hated that most about his life. It was terribly terribly cliché.

So as all nights went, Valintine walked the sands of Hueco Mundo aimlessly. He didn’t like being inside Las Noches. It was just a waste of his time. No Shinigami ever brought the fight to them. Except for that Ichigo fellow, but that was ages and ages ago. Now-a-days Hueco Mundo was quiet. The occasional fight between Hollows now and then, but it was essential to building power. You ate to survive. You fed on those below and above you. If you couldn’t, you died. Simple as that. Valintine understood this, and he embraced this. No, he didn’t partake in eating Hollows anymore. He was locked into a position of relative power. He was stronger than any Vasto Lorde or Adjucha. But there are still those above him. That was the funny thing about the world. You are never truly all powerful…just powerful enough.

Valintine wore a white hakama with a black sash belt. His feet were as bare as his chest. It was rare for him to openly show his Hollow Hole, but there it was. Over his heart as it had always been. He always found amusement in it’s location. The one spot that could grant him death was taken from him. Of course there were plenty of other areas that could kill a man, but none represented death so beautifully as the heart. None could show how delicate the balance was like the heart. Valintine’s fingers traced the edges of the hole, and he sighed. On his left hip was his true form. It was him. He didn’t like calling it a Zapakuto. That gave it a separate identity from him. It was his power sealed in a sword. It was his true power. It was a part of him. Why should it have it’s own name apart from the name of his power? Why should he call it a Zanpakuto? A name that is as old as Hueco Mundo itself. He shook his head though. It was pointless to think about.

Hours had passed since Valintine had been back to Las Noches. He could only imagine the mess the Exequias must be in right now. The original Exequias Captain didn’t have a real team. It was just him and idiot carbon copies. Valintine had actual Arrancar. Each with their own gifts and flaws, and each of them Valintine saw as a took to get what he wanted. And that was where the problem was for the Arrancar. He had all this power, all this amazing power, but he had nothing he wanted. What can you do with power when there’s nothing to gain? Freedom? It’s an illusion, you’re never truly free. More power? For what purpose would you want that? It puts him back at square one. He didn’t know what to do. So he did the only thing he could and he trained. He trained and he killed, and he read, learned, grew, and absorbed. He had nothing else to do. So why not prepare? He believed that if you expected the best and prepared for the worst, you’d never be surprised. So far it worked. It had kept him alive and he was never disappointed, only annoyed.

He lost time now. He had no idea how long he’d been gone from Las Noches. He could still see it’s white walls though. Valintine’s green hair seemed to glow in the darkness of night. His gentle and glistening eyes were filled with apathy for the fortress. He sat in a dead tree in the desert and looked out across the land. He thought he saw an awkward shift in the sand, but dismissed it. However, nothing is truly dismissed with Valintine. Any direction he turned his head that patch of sand was in his line of sight somehow. He saw it shift again, and this time he knew something was there. He looked at the sand with murderous intent. Then he felt the reiatsu of a Hollow coming from that direction. ”Tch…” was all he said. Valintine had been challenged before by lesser Hollow. It was what they did. Some Hollow, like him and other Arrancar or Adjucha or Vasto Lordes, retained their senses. They had a dominating mind that allowed them to think, to feel, to speak. Others went mad and became the stereotypical Gillian.

That is what approached him from under the sand. How it got there was beyond him. Valintine just sat there though as it erupted from the sand. It’s white mask gleaming in the midnight moon. It charged a cero and fired it at Valintine. The Captain held out his hand and fired his own emerald green cero. The cero of the Arrancar effortlessly overpowered the Gillian’s. As a result the Gillian-class Menos lost it’s head. It’s body fell over onto the ground with a loud thud. ”Death breed death. Ignorance breeds ignorance…” Valintine sighed softly and shook his head. It was then that the cries of an Adjucha touched his ears. By the sound of it, it was a female. The scream was high pitched, and filled with fear. Valintine didn’t want to investigate at first. But he had nothing better to do.

He used sonido to go deeper and deeper into the Quartz Forest. The target was moving. This wasn’t worth his time, but he was bored. He was alone tonight and had no plans. So this was the best thing he could do right now. Valintine stopped using sonido and started walking. He looked around for the sound. It was getting closer, or he was getting closer to the sound. Using sonido one more time he showed up in a tree that allowed him to see below. He scowled as he saw what was going on. Three adjuchas had surrounded around smaller adjucha female. The three males were all panther like in form, while the smaller girl was more like a puppy. Valintine rolled his eyes. The panthers stopped and looked up at him. ”What do you want? Who the fuck are you?” Valintine sighed and used sonido again. He appeared in a fraction of a second next to the smallest adjucha.

He had slain the three adjuchas in a single sonido. He wasn’t in a good mood. He shouldn’t be here but he was. He looked at the small adjucha. ”Th-thank you…” Valintine rolled his eyes and turned around. It was then that he felt a strong reiatsu, as well as three familiar reiatsu. He turned around and shook his head. He sighed and looked at the monstrous adjuchas and the single vasto lorde. ”Well if it isn’t my least favorite Hollow…how the fuck did you make Vasto Lorde…and who is the kid?” The Vasto Lord was an ex-friend and comrade from his past. It pained him almost, but then he remembered he left his past behind him for a reason. He sighed and shook his head. The Vasto Lord grinned and stepped on the small Adjucha. Valintine couldn’t ignore that. He didn’t care that the Hollow was dead, nor did he care about the Hollow. He did care about senseless killing.

Valintine, never did approve of senseless violence and killing. It was idiotic to do. What is the purpose in it? Nothing, hence the reason it’s senseless. Valintine loved fighting. He enjoyed killing. He didn’t mind it at all. Taking the life of another being, that was what it meant to exist. You either died now or killed now and died later. Nobody saved the world without killing some people first, ruining lives, destroying emotions. Valintine realized the hurting people is inevitable. So he stopped caring. If you don’t care then you can’t be hurt. You can feel pain. You can’t feel betrayal. You grow stronger. You grow tougher. You become the person you’ve always wanted to be. But killing people for no reason got you no where. You weren’t stronger for it. You weren’t better for it. You were neither the hero nor villain. You were nothing worth noting, but something worth killing.

Valintine drew his sword. It’s beauty was exotic for an Arrancar weapon. As it left it’s sheath feathers fell from the blade. It glistened in the moonlight. The long sword of Valintine was constructed of feathers it seemed. This caused him to call it a “wing sword” The Vasto Lorde chuckled. ”Yes, draw your blade on us. I never thought I’d see you again, Biohazard…I’m suddenly happy I dropped by Hueco Mundo. Oh. Here, I brought friends…” The Vasto Lorde snapped and Valintne could feel a shift in reiatsu. Gillians surrounded the area now. Adjuchas came from shadows. ”How the fuck did you get all of these Hollow?” The Vasto Lorde chuckled. [color=yellow]”You of all people should know. Never wound what you can’t kill. Valintine scowled. ”Screw this…” He drew his sword and deflected a cero from a Menos. A large Adjucha jumped at him and he sidestepped the lunge. As the beast came down he brought his sword down on him slicing him in half.

Valintine wasn’t done yet. He put pushed reiryoku into his blade and unleashed a slash of energy. The energy slash cut down several Hollow and trees. He felt claws scrape against his back, but his hierro protected him. He whipped around with his right leg catching a canine Adjucha on it’s jaw. And it went on like this for who knows how long. Valintine wasn’t doing so hot though later on. He was tired, he was bleeding, and he was incredibly pissed. The Vasto Lorde had lost his adjucha friends. Valintine knew some of them, but he didn’t care. He slew them without hesitation. Valintine was panting heavily, and his sword felt heavy. He looked up at the Vasto Lorde male with hate in his eyes. The male laughed and tilted his head. ”Anger doesn’t suit you…by dying…I’m sure dying does…” The Hollow fell from the tree and landed gracefully. He charged at Valintine and stabbed him with his bare hand, narrowly missing his stomach.

The Exequias Captain coughed up some blood and glared at the Vasto Lorde. Valintine was done playing. He was the damn Exequias Captain. He would not be shown up by a damned Vasto Lorde. The Hollow removed his hand from Valintine, and threw a kick at him with his left leg. Valintine caught the leg though. He fired off three bala at point blank rang into the Vasto Lorde’s chest. While he was dealing with the pain, Valintine charged a Cero and fired it at the head this time. The body went limp and fell over. He was finally done with his past. He had killed all that linked him to his adjucha life. Or at least all that wasn’t apart of his new life, and that was good enough for him.

Valintine was chasing an intruder through the sands inside of Las Noches. The eternal day of the Arrancar home was beating down on him. He had gotten the call about this man. It was a Shinigami. Go figure. The day after Valintine was saying how Shinigami never come here, one shows up. How the hell he even got here is beyond Valintine. Valintine activated his EXIT. It unfolded and covered his right eye. His screen was a dark blue, and it matched his hair rather well. He spoke into it. ”Valintine speaking. Where the fuck is this guy?” Valintine was speeding through the air of Las Noches. He was looking around for this guy. He was said to have been in this sector of Las Noches. ”Sir. He was last seen in Sector four quadrant three. According to our readings, you should be right on him.” Valintine sighed and responded. ”Then where the he- Never mind…I got him.”

Valintine saw him appear out of thin air. He was familiar with this Bakudo. It was one that hid people from site and covered their reiatsu. But he was there now. Bad timing on his part. Valintine dropped from the sky and landed on his feet with cat like skill. He rose up and fired a bolt of lightning at the Shinigami. The intruder turned around and swore. He ran behind one of the red pillars and Valintine sonido’d. He appeared in front of the running Shinigami. ”You shouldn’t run. We always catch out target…” The Shinigami glared at Valintine. It always amazed Valintine what people would do when they weren’t sure how to react. Glaring seemed to be the first option.

Valintine and the Shinigami clashed in the sky above Hueco Mundo. His Exequias forces formed a circle around the two men. Valintine had ordered them to not interfere. This was Valintine’s kill. The Shinigami had released his Zanpakuto into it’s Shikai form. It was a giant fan with the capability to fold up into a large blade. At the flick of his wrist, it could unfold into a fan again. This fan was a perfect defense. Every cero and bala Valintine fired was deflected. Valintine couldn’t get in close enough for hand to hand combat. As such, he had to use his sword. He didn’t mind using his sword but he preferred not to.

He held his sword in his right hand and spun it around once. The feathers fell, and Valintine moved in to attack. The jian allowed him to make quick strikes and stabs. His movements were fluid yet unpredictable. The Shinigami was clearly skilled though with this unique Shikai. He had managed to parry most of his blows, but Valintine wasn't an amateur either. Nor was he to be toyed with. Everytime the Shinigami made an attack, Valintine was there to cut it short and move in for a counter attack. The two of them battled like this for quite some time. Valintine stood there in air looking at the Shinigami. The Shinigami stood there facing the Arrancar with his fan unfolded.

"Why are you here?..." Valintine asked flatly. The Shinigami grinned and scoffed at Valintine as if the answer was obvious. "Such an idiotic question. Arrancar may be strong, which I have yet to see, but they are also idiots..." Valintine chuckled. "What is your rank?" The Shinigami folded his fan and looked at Valintine defiantly. "Kisu Armanta third seat of the eleventh division!" Valintine chuckled and shook his head. This man was a joke and a half. Valintine held out his blade and pointed it at this man. He was done with words. He allowed his reiatsu to flow. He was done toying with this enemy. He had seen enough of this joke.

Valintine stood over the dead body of the Shinigami. He looked to his squad and snapped his fingers. With a slash of his sword he flicked some of the blood off. His men moved in and removed the body. He put the sword back in his sheath and walked away from the scene. He activated his EXIT. "Target is dead." He hung up with the person, and his EXIT went back to being dormant. He walked the sands now looking up at the daytime sky. It was always like this. It was never nighttime inside. Valintine found it weird, but that was the cost of having this place to call home. He was now however being paged. The Exequias Captain had learned a lot in his time being the world's errand boy. He learned what he was capable of. He studied, and absorbed. He grew, and he learned. He didn't take what he saw as just being part of the job. He took it for being a lesson. He would soon put what he learned to the test.

The paging was coming from his lieutenant. A man by the name of Grim. Grim was as foolish as he was violent. The only reason he was lieutenant is because he had a shit ton of common sense. Valintine met the man at the forest and wondered what this was all about. Grim just jumped down from a branch and attacked. HE swung his axe to Valintine's neck and Valintine dodged. "Explain yourself!" Grim just growled. "I'm tired of taking orders. You are too passive, too weak! Screw you and screw your ways! It's time to move out of the shadows and into the light!" Valintine rolled his eyes. Another one of these?

Valintine fired a bolt of lightning. The enemy avoided it. Valintine fired another, it hit a tree and the Arrancar lunged at him. This Arrancar's sealed form was that of a large battle axe. He swung the axe and Valintine blocked it with his jian. He wasn't going to back down to this idiot. Valintine kicked him in the chest. He released his zanpakuto and blew apart the trees. "I'm not fucking around. I'll kill you here and now." Valintine fired lightning after lightning at him and Grim took each one painfully. Valintine shot a large bolt of wind at him and it blew Grim through a dozen trees before he came to a stop. Grim stood up and released his own zanpakuto before Valintine could get to him. His body turned into a moving fire. It looked like a cheap knockoff of the Human Torch. He threw a fireball at Valintine. He used La Tormenta to deflect it.

The two Arrancar clashed time and time again. Their sswords rang through the Quartz forest. Valintine figured if this kept up it would attract unwanted attention. He had done some studying in his free time. He learned that Arrancar with extra power to spare could tap into a power that lay within them since they gained abilities of their own. That power was called a Segunda Etapa. It was extremely powerful. Valintine had desired all those missions for that sole purpose. To get powerful enough to tap into that inner power, and bring out his divine wrath. He still hadn't tried it. It was one of the main reasons he was out tonight. So that he could learn to tap into it. He fired lightning bolts to keep Grim away. He tried to center himself. He thought about the power and feeling when he went into this form. He thought about his will power. He wanted to get stronger. He wanted to be strong so that when he died, he died in a fair fight where he was giving all he had. He wanted to die so bad. Grim moved quickly and fired fire in a missile like shape. Valintine was hit and the explosion ripped some of his skin off.

Valintine lay there in a small pool of his own blood. Grim grinned at him. "I don't usually waste that on people. I just developed it and all. It's raw power. Have another..." Grim charged up a fireball in his left hand and fired it pointblank at Valintine. Valintine was blown away and in the process took heavy damage. He could barely get up now. His body was heavy. His blood was running into his left eye. Part of his reformed mask was broken. He couldn't feel his lower body. Valintine was having trouble breathing. Grim stood over him and spat in his face. The spit burned. "Oh how the mighty have fallen...bitch." He raised his sword and brought it down. As the sword fell all Valintine could think about was how far he'd come. He had worked so hard to gain true strength. He tried so hard and for so long. Only to die at the hands of a primate. He wasn't happy to die. But as he thought a single word came to Valintine. "Ba..jar..." His reiatsu exploded over the area. Grim was blown away and Valintine rose up. A tornado came down to surround him, but it was upside down. Lightning struck everywhere and Valintine was encircled with green light he rose up to the bottom, or in this case the top. As he neared the bottom a large lightning bolt struck and shattered the tornado, blowing a large gust of wind in every direction. There Valintine stood good as new in this form forced onto him by the idea of dying without being at full power.

Valintine vanished with incredibly speed. He reappeared and kicked Grim away. The kick effortlessly shattered bones. Valintine reappeared next to Grim again after vanishing in Sonido. He smiled down at him "This aggressive enough for you?" He stepped on Grim's throat and killed him. Valintine looked himself over in this new form. He had to get out of it quickly before any of the Arrancar returned. If it was his word against some random Numeros, he'd win. But against an Espada...he'd rather not think about that. Valintine opened a garganta to leave the area until he could seal up his power again.


:: FIN ::