Training You Was Part Of My Plan(Inv)

And...there it was.

An interloper, some lacky patrolman who would have stepped into the wrong place at the wrong time. He hadn't been paying mind to much outside of his own thoughts, and honestly would have been taken by surprise. But this one, he chose to show himself and that was the first mistake. Theocelese took one long, deep drag of his cigarette. The exhaled smoke trickled out of his nostrils in a draconian fashion, blue-green wisps twirling around and rising into the air only to thin out and dissipate. The Arrancar turned slowly, all that was on his mind before, now gone. Satoshi's eyes met the golden hues of Theocelese, and the Arrancar made sure to keep them that way.

“Young man, haven't you any respect for the old? We just wish to be left in peace to our own thoughts,” The sheathed blade kept at his left side moved up the leather, his right hand gripping the handle tightly. “Some of us are known to be quite ornery when disturbed, and I find your presence more than enough to make my blood boil.” The blade finally cleared leather, and Theocelese held it pointed at the Shinigami, the flat of the steel meeting the sky.

“You should have attacked me when there was no doubt you were going to hit me.”

In earlier days, in that time he reminisced and distastefully longed for, he wouldn't have even drawn his blade and instead, would have resorted to his famed silver tongue to do the fighting for him until absolutely necessary. There were few Shinigami who could attest to this, some within the Gotei who had come to visit him on that very patio not too far away. The Arrancar took another pull from his smoke, letting the cherry illuminate his bearded face. The Sun had dipped lower into the horizon, and it was just a matter of moments before darkness befell the city. Apollo's chains could no longer restrict him.

“Draw your blade, I don't kill unarmed soldiers.”

The Arrancar's stance stood unwavered at the Shinigami's words. In his eyes, Satoshi could see contemplation simmering. Theocelese dropped the sword, though did not put it back into the weapon's sheath. “I will grant your request.” He spoke only these words before tapping the now night sky, opening up the portal that would lead them to Hueco Mundo. Of all the things Theocelese could do, it would be to humor a Shinigami. He always humored them in the past, and as of recent it became a rather droll thing to cut them down for approaching him. Personally, Theocelese didn't like where the conversation steered. It was a mighty fine way to get on his bad side, but if he was going to act out on that, he would have done so sooner. He needed time to think, something he did a lot these days.

“You will make this quick, do not doddle and do not, for your own sake, attempt to soften me up with your words. Now go.” He pointed inside the Garganta with his blade, this obviously not a request but an order. So far, the Shinigami appeared to be playing his cards in a way that kept him from harm's way. All the other patrolman that came across him did so with blades drawn, this one did not. Perhaps he was a defector in the making, perhaps he could make for a formidable ally in some way or another. If there was anything he was short of these days, it was someone welcome at his table.

And so it was, the Shinigami made his motions to step into the portal leading to the world of the Hollow. The forever night, a cursed place only made redeemable by the fact that it was his eternal proving grounds. A place in which the sun never existed, a place away from the curse of Apollo. Terror would come to all who deserved it, and Theocelese would render their judgment as he saw fit. It was here that he, an Arrancar, would listen to the words of the Shinigami. It was also here that the Shinigami would come to find his own judgment rendered. Satoshi's fate was in his own hands, and his next choosing of words would be the deciding factor as to what Theocelese chose to do with him.



In the White Expanse, Theocelese stood not but three or four yards from the Shinigami, his feet slightly sunk into the alabaster grains. His expression remained the same since they first exchanged words, unamused and irritated. In another time, in another place, he would have invited the Shinigami back to his hovel for a drink of the Gotei Soldier's choosing. Tea, coffee, alcohol. Maybe even a slice of cake, or another sweet snack. Was a shame that time was seldom to be had again.



“Tell me what it is you wish to speak about, and I would highly recommend you getting to whatever point you feel the need to make.”

An interesting story, but it was one he was ever so privileged to hear time and time again. Theocelese thought it interesting that he happened to come across all of them, no matter their history or their reasoning, it was all the same in the end. It was the same to this place, it was the same to him, and it was the same to every being in Hueco Mundo. As ridiculous as he thought it all to be, he would continue to humor the Shinigami and would help to some extent, but this would be quite the learning experience for Satoshi. Theocelese held up his left hand, the index, middle and ring finger held up while the remaining digits kept tucked against his palm.



“I will teach you three lessons, and you will leave this place with a greater understanding of Hueco Mundo and its denizens.”



Theocelese's index finger fell against his palm.



“You will need a sizeable force to even storm this place. The only thing keeping the native Hollow from attacking you outright is my presence. This is a place of kill or be killed, that is our nature as Hollow. The weak are nothing more than a fuel source for the strong to get stronger. And your forces will either need to be tactically sound, or powerful to deal with the oncoming assault waves. Our numbers are...limitless. Your numbers will be not. All of Aizen's followers are dead, dead at my hands. I shared the gift of a glorious demise with every single one of them, and you will not have those fanatical zealots to aid you. I've spread the words of a free nation across this landscape, and in the endeavor of total and singular domination, you will not have my aid. I stand before you now, as your enemy, to whom you have revealed your plans to. Should I will it, all you have deemed to want in your heart could be put to an end in but a single moment. But I like a challenge, and as much as I've cared little for the weak scouts I've broken, I will take an exception to you.”



Now the Arrancar's middle finger fell against the inside of his hand.



“Run. This is the second most important lesson I could ever teach you. I mean that in a future tense, but I also mean that in the present as well. Your return to this place will result in you being hunted down until you die tired and exhausted. Your ability to keep your distance from me is what will give you a few more minutes of agonizing life. You wish for me to train you? I oblige, but if the rumors I hear about your Eleventh Division Captain are true, him and I follow a similar protocol. If you train with me, you must be prepared to put everything on the line, no matter what it is I'm willing to help you with. And I choose to help you with your Shunpo and your ability to push its body to its limits. We start now.”



The Arrancar's hand now fell into a fist, the last of his “lessons”, it seemed would come at a later date. Satoshi, right now, had a much more threatening visage before him. At the front of his knuckles, Theocelese was charging a Cero, and not a moment too soon after its conception did it fire. The Arrancar was holding nothing back, and a direct hit would eradicate any limb should they be caught and in the event the Shinigami took the blow head on...Then there wouldn't need to be a third lesson to be taught. There would be no future “impending doom” for Theocelese to look forward to, no trace of any war to stir and rile his blood.