There's No Equal

She watched from the sidelines as steadily one-by-one her fellow Arrancar fell to the blades of their enemies. It was a gruesome, heart wrenching sight. The Arrancar were not monsters, she was not a monster, despite how the arrogant Shinigami had made them out to be in their stories. Didn’t the Shinigami know that Arrancar had feelings and dreams of their own? It was not their fault that they had to feed on souls to survive, that in was simply in their nature to fight. No one can undo what nature herself has created. The Shinigami should have known that.

Had she been braver, she too would have joined her brothers and sisters in their inglorious battle. But, alas she was only a coward. And yet, perhaps she was the only wise one of the bunch, for she had not let honeyed words of poison obscure her commonsense. In all honestly they, the once great Arrancar, had long since fallen from their high status. The moment the strongest of them pledged their loyalty and lives to a Shinigami of power, deflected or not, was the moment they became nothing more than disposable slaves.

She couldn’t blame them for their choice. She too wanted to be more than what she was; she too called him master. She took his muzzle and collar willingly, just like everyone else. She was weak after all, much weaker than many of her hot-blooded, battle ready comrades. Some of them she had known well, others not-so-much. But the loss of every single one ripped her heart ever more open. It was a wound that would not bleed openly, that no one could see, but she could feel it; only her.

Her somber gaze travels to the short zanpakutō at her side clutched in a white knuckle grip. A pained scream of defiance jolts her back to the present and she nearly drops the ninjatō at the gruesome sight that greets her. Her eyes narrow, the in pain in her heart sharpens as she watches a proud lioness fall beside her sisters in battle. Their bodies hit the ground heavily, the sound of bones breaking in their already lifeless bodies ricocheting within her mind. Like a rubber band that has finally been stretched to its limit, a part of her psyche snapped, unable to take anymore abuse.

Who are the real monsters? It’s hard to tell when both species are spilling so much blood. She muses apathetically, unable to feel anything anymore. In a state of shock, she stays until the very end, until there are no more Arrancar alive on the battlefield, only the victorious Shinigami. As her gaze roams the rubble and finds what’s left of her fallen brethren, she catches the gaze of a battle beaten Shinigami. He pauses and tightens his grip on his crimson stained blade when he spots her.

‘Why? Why does it have to be like this?’ Her eyes pleadingly ask what her mouth cannot.

His dark eyes narrow questionably at her still, blank faced form. After a moment his grip loosens and she swears he has the decency to look ashamed of what he and his kind had done. Perhaps he can see the pain tearing at her, or maybe he hadn’t the heart to kill one as pathetic as she appeared in that moment. Neither would ever know and he would never forget the hapless look in her eyes, an Arrancar. She blinked slowly, her sad gaze traveling over his every feature. She would remember him, that one repentant Shinigami, for as long as she lived. He was something worth remembering at least.

With one last lingering glance at his shuddering blood soaked form, she turned away. Robotically she opened a Garganta and stepped through. She could only return to her home, the wistful empty desert land of Hueco Mundo and the fallen white fortress, Las Noches. The white sand desert was vast; no Shinigami could survive there for long. It was in that emptiness where she was born and where she and all others of her kind were safest. They had followed that Shinigami straight to their graves. She would make a new, better future for herself all the wiser and warn others of their mistakes, of her mistakes and hope that any who listened would never take the same path.

She had to sneak her way back into Los Noches, as Shinigami were still wandering around. She hoped that they would leave soon and never come back. Shinigami didn’t belong in Hueco Mundo. Her whispery soft footfalls made no noise as she neared the rubble of what was once a battlefield. Drying blood was smeared all over the white stone walls and crisp sand. She felt her stomach clench and jerk violently, but quickly glanced away knowing what was coming. She couldn’t bear to see it again, not another one. A raspy groan of pain caused her to pause. She scarcely dared to breathe; it could have been one of the stray Shinigami.

The noise came again, still just as soft and pained. Curiosity over won her fear and she cautiously approached the downed pillar a few feet away, where the noise had come from. Her eyes widened when she peered over the fallen pillar and saw a fellow Arrancar lying in the sand, bathed in his own blood and turning the sand around him the same gruesome color. He was cut up worse than imaginable. How he was still alive with those wounds she didn’t know, but he was, and if she left him he certainly would die. He might die anyway, even with her help but she couldn’t leave him in such a pitiful state.

Even in his state of half-consciousness, he noticed her presence. A soft, defensive and completely feral hiss left his lips, his hazy eyes unable to make her out to be either friend or foe.

“Peace. I mean you no harm.” She told him softly, still wary. Even in his pitiful state she was sure he could hurt her as a last ditch effort to protect himself if he felt threatened and she was not cautious enough. She was just out of his immediate reach.

He blinked rapidly trying to shake the haziness from his vision. Her voice was vaguely familiar, but he didn’t trust his dulled senses. He saw her blurry figure shift closer and tensed a hiss ready on his lips.

“Must you be so stubborn?” He heard the voice speak, her tone forced to be humored and careless. He blinked, the growl dying on his lips. Those words were familiar. It was then he caught her soft scent among the potency of his own blood.

“You,” He croaked with a groan, his eyes closing. Whether it was in relief or annoyance, he didn’t know.

“Yes, me,” She returned gently. It was the only way she knew how to speak he guessed, for he had never heard her raise her voice or darken her tone towards anyone, even him. It was unnatural for an Arrancar to be so soft, so human.

His eyes snapped open when he heard her kneel down right next to him, in his blood. Her long white kimono was going to have a permanent stain now.

“Go away,” He growled weakly. He hated the pathetic image the situation gave off. He wanted to die in peace and her pitying eyes staring at his beaten form was annoying.

“No.” She said with conviction. “I won’t leave you here alone. I’ll save you.”

He was certain the last part was not meant for his ears. Had he been able, he would have scoffed and laughed in her face, fangs bared.

“Stupid bitch,” He shot instead. The nasty comment was completely ineffective, as her reaction was a small smile.

“You call every female that, but, it has long since lost its potency on me.” She told him kindly, her soft peachy hand coming into better focus.

He involuntarily flinched when her comfortably warm palm touched his face. Her thumb rubbed gentle circles on his cheek bone, before the thin deft fingers trailed upwards and sunk into his blood matted hair. How she could touch him so freely was a mystery to him. He was a disgusting lump of barely-there flesh and she was loving on him as if he were whole. Females were strange, this one especially, but he found that he liked it. If these were to be his last moments then they weren’t so bad.

He closed his eyes, unable to keep them open any longer. He was growing weaker with every second that ticked by. Death might not be so bad after all. He could kick the bastard ass that put him in this state repeatedly when he got to hell. He mused in dark humor, a cruel smile twitching on his lips. He heard her shifting and the soft crunch of sand under palm next to his ear, but ignored it. Let her do whatever, she was only trying to save her own soul anyways. Not that trying to help him would make any difference. He jolted, his eyes snapping open when he felt something moist and soft on his lips.

He froze in shock, every muscle locking into place and causing more pain. She was kissing him, her timid tongue poking shyly at his closed lips. It took him a moment to realize what she was doing. He had forgotten her unique ability. She never used it enough for him to figure out the details. He nearly laughed at her sudden brazenness, but acquiesced to her unspoken demand. His eyes fell closed once more. She shuddered and goose-bumps erupted all over her skin when his tongue weakly flicked her own in wanting. She tasted his blood; the heavy metallic taste was almost repulsive. She bit back the urge to pull away and inhaled, before exhaling and feeding him all the souls she had devoured within the last two months.

Along with the souls, she gave him as much of her Reiryoku as she could spare, to help speed his healing process. That was her unique gift. He could already feel his wounds stop bleeding. It would take more than those souls and more than half of her Reiryoku to fully heal him, but what she gave was enough to bring him back from death’s door. She let him feed for a few more moments before she pulled back, her breathing ragged. He attempted to follow, but her trembling hand on his shoulder stopped is greed. His eyesight was clear now and he noticed that she was now the one with hazy eyes. She looked close to fainting, her healthy peachy color all but faded. She had given him too much of what she had.

He licked his lips greedily, still very much hungry, but still weak enough to not be able to take all she had by force. She teetered for a moment before falling back onto her behind. Her head dropped, her shiny dark carmine red hair covering her face. Having a better feel of his surroundings he watched her half-predatorily half-curiously. She stayed like that for several minutes, before she gingerly brushed her hair behind her ears. The remains of her Hollow mask dangled from her ear lobes in the form of long, solid earrings, the ends brushed the tops of her shoulders. She smiled softly, a blush touching her cheeks when she noticed his stare.

“You’re an idiot.” He stated bluntly, his eyes and over all demeanor cold. He was well aware that she had just fed him a great deal of herself, but still that didn’t change the fact that she was an idiot.

“Indeed,” The word left her bruised lips in a wispy sigh.

He growled lowly in the back of his throat. She obviously didn’t care. She had no self preservation instincts whatsoever. He wondered how she had even survived long enough to make it to an Adjuchas-class Menos. Luck, that had to be it. She was just lucky; lucky someone like him hadn’t found and eaten her before that bastard Aizen did.

“Well, are you going to get off your lazy ass and move me out of full view before we’re spotted or what?” He growled with narrowed eyes when she just continued to sit there. He could still die and she was lost in her own little world.

She blinked slowly, unperturbed by his rudeness. She gave him another one of her patient, overly kind smiles and he spotted the barest hint of her much smaller fangs. He snorted at the irony. Her species was supposed to have a high bite force quotient, one-hundred and forty-two to be exact, but she was about as vicious as a snail. He continued to glare at her as she took her sweet time to pick herself up off the ground.

She eyed him for a few thoughtful minutes, before she stepped up behind his head and grabbed his one better off arm. She yanked, as gently as she possibly could, but he didn’t budge. Of course she was much smaller than he was in both weight and stature, so moving him was almost impossible. She made a soft disgruntled noise he barely caught and dropped his arm. Her naturally dark rimmed glaucous blue eyes narrowed thoughtfully.

“You’re heavy.” She commented not-unkindly. He hissed at her. She blinked and tilted her head to the side like a curious puppy.

‘How appropriate,’ He thought to himself considering her species. “Hurry up, dog.” He snapped tired of roasting in the artificial sun and just plain tired.

The dark red haired female spotted his discarded zanpakutō and picked it up, slipping it through her black obi sash for safe keeping. With great effort she looped her lithe arms under his muscular ones and began to pull with all her strength, walking backwards. Her movements were slow due to his bulk and he was growling, hissing and cursing in pain with every other movement.

Finally, almost three full hours later, he felt the humid temperature drop slightly and his feet were no longer being dragged through gritty sand. She grunted and suddenly shoved him sideways. He expected to meet the cool hard surface of the floor, but was enveloped by plush cushion instead.

He cracked an eye open to see where the female had dumped him and was surprised that he had no idea where he currently was.

“This is my private room. No one knows about it and the Shinigami won’t be able to find us here.” She informed him when she noticed his curious gaze. He scoffed.

‘Den is more like it.’ He silently corrected, eying the way the room made an oval shape at the back wall and how small the entrance was. Just like a den. He didn’t make another sound even when she cleaned and wrapped his wounds. She had stashed medical supplies in one of the cabinets for emergencies a while back. He was just glad that she was thoughtful and halfway decent in healing.

After his wounds were cleaned and wrapped, the carmine haired female collapsed on a large fluffy pillow. He honestly thought it looked like a human sized dog bed, which it probably was. He watched, with half lidded eyes as hers’ slowly closed and she stretched out, trying to get comfortable. She had to be tired. She’d fed him not only her own meal, but her Reiryoku too. Then she dragged him back to her den and finished where she left off. His eyes flickered to the white stone ceiling. After a while, her breathing evened out signaling that she was asleep and would probably remain so for a good while. He yawned widely and let his eyelids drop, quickly joining her in the realm of peaceful slumber.