A Hollowed Heart

Snow in the Desert

Tozase Murciélago"

As the words reverberated in Rukia's ears malevolent black energy with a green trim gushed from y/n but as quick as it came it stopped.

Green droplets rained down from seemingly nowhere and splattered against her skin.

'Rain?' she thought 'no it's condensed reiatsu'

The rain died down and the air became thick with hollow energy. To Rukia it was almost suffocating but since she has spent months with the Arrancar king she did not fear it.

On the bleached sand now stood her sensei and in her opinion newly branded friend, but he was different.

His half helmet now fully and had multiple points protruding from it. The jet black hair that was once resting on his shoulders grew to the point just past them.

Perhaps some of the largest differences where the large bat wings protruding from his back and his clothes had changed into a dress like garment.

What once were green tear marks were now replaced with black lines under his eyes and his zanpakuto had vanished.

Y/n: From this point onward you will face me in this form alone. I shall offer you advice before we begin, you will have to set any personal feelings aside as I have, there are no friends in battle you shall treat me as an enemy.

He paused for a second, allowing his vertically challenged protege to take in the information.

Y/n: I heavily advise you to use your Shikai if you wish to stand a chance, and my last piece of advice to you is , Do not lose your composure, do not break your stance, stretch out your awareness, and do not let your guard down for even a second.

These words sent chills down her spine but she knew they weren't empty threats but to aid her instead.

She held her sword outwards and commanded,"Dance, Sode no Shirayuki" while spinning her blade in a counter clockwise circle.

A cold chill filled the tense air between them. Rukia settled back into her original stance of slightly hunched with both hands on her blade and her feet spread from each other but now it just felt unnatural to her.

Month of training with the Arrancars stance had made it so, so she simply shifted back into her one handed stance.

Y/n on the other hand still had no weapon or at least that's what Rukia believed. With no sign of warning he put his hands together with all ten fingers touching each other then pulled them away.

Green light appeared and stretched into an object almost as long as his body.

"Luz de la Luna", he disclosed to her.

Rukia was unsure of what happened next, all she knew was one moment he was there and the next he wasn't.

She was barely able to bring up her zanpakuto to block the luminous lance trying to pierce through her.

Although she blocked it it sent her skywards where she was able to regain her footing and stand on the air.

Alas it was to no avail because not a second later she was sent flying again by an invisible force.
By using flash step midair she was able to correct herself. A shift in the frigid air behind alerted her of an approaching presence.

With a swift motion she delivered an upward slash partially deflecting the glowing lance that was meant to pierce her abdomen.

Though she had deflected it instead of reeling back for another strike her attacker used the momentum of his staff being sent upwards to bring it back down onto his opponent.

This time the lance struck the short woman on the shoulder sending her crashing to the sands below with a scream of pain.

For the first time ever since his change y/n flinched not out of pain but because the scream emmitiing from the woman he has come to know these past months.

Much to her credit Rukia pushed her way out of the sand ignoring the blinding pain coming from her shoulder.

She knew that there wasn't any hope of winning especially with her right arm being completely unusable.

As her opponent silently landed on the sand in front of her she could see something different in his feline like eyes. The usual coldness was hiding something she was unable to comprehend, perhaps it was disappointment due to the fact she wasn't able to give a decent fight despite the rigorous training she received.

For some reason during this part I just imagine this song playing^

Using only her left arm she made 4 stabs in the ground.

"Tsugi no mai, Hakuren", she said barely audible.

The unrecognizable look in her sensei's eyes seemed to grow as he lifted up his finger and announced,"Cero Oscuras"

A black ball of reiatsu with a green trim grew on his finger.

Both the black orb and the huge wave of ice advanced towards each other, meeting in the middle.

They battled for dominance initially surprising y/n since he believed that the cero would have destroyed Rukia's attack. He knew she was strong but to discover she had grown enough to battle a technique in his Resurrecciòn was pleasantly surprising.

For a split second y/n allowed pride to grow in his chest but then went back to focusing on both attacks.

Eventually,, their battle for dominance ended, declaring no winner.

Instead, both attacks stopped fighting and began swirling into each other, with the new color being a beautiful concoction of green and blue.

With this new attack being formed, it was extremely unstable, evident by the constant vibrations plaguing within the orb.

Suddenly, the attack sailed skyward blocking out the crescent moon in the faux hueco Mundo sending it into complete darkness. It grew larger and larger until 'boom'.

After the book silence ensued. Then the strangest thing occurred. Chemiluminescent green snow flakes rained down upon the two combatants.

With the glowing snowflakes illuminating the two fighters allowing them their sight once more. Green eyes met violet ones and it was like y/n was seeing Rukia for the first time.

Sure, he's seen her before but now he was completely entranced and unable to look away. Nor was Rukia as both made eye contact, unable and unwanting to look away.

Neither looked away but both moved towards each other, y/n took a step but when Rukia tried she tripped in her own feet.

Before she was able to hit the ground a static buzz was heard and she found herself clinging onto a white cloth. Cold hands lightly held her forearms while she raised her head to see her sensei.

His unrecognizable gaze she had seen earlier was now on full display.

"My apologies Rukia", he spoke with sadness?

Yes, that is what it was, he was looking at her in sadness. But why? Even Rukia herself could not answer.

For reasons not know to her at the time Rukia lifted her uninjured arm to his chin and just cradled it. Again if you were to ask her why she did it she wouldn't have an answer.

Perhaps it was just instinct.

End of chapter.

Hey everyone reading sorry for not updating in awhile i'm in my last semester of highschool so I don't have much free time.

I was also sick for like the past week which made me feel like absolute garbage but did allow me to finish my second run of elden ring. As well as moving and looking for a job there wasn't much free time so once more I apologize.

Anyway, I hope you enjoyed the story lmk when you think of it, I appreciate any feedback.

Have a good day or night, whenever you're reading this.