Post by Deleted on Sept 5, 2018 16:17:58 GMT
Gage tosses in his sleep, the same nightmare haunting him again ripping him from his sleep. A massive hollow, no Arrancar or Quincy. Just a beast like hollow shredding the world. The first time that he had his dream was months ago, the first few times brushed off as residual fear from encountering the Arrancar that attacked the middle of the human world. Then as it came again and again he couldn't help but wonder if something was wrong. He had too much pride to go visit a therapist, not sure of how he would have gone about explaining the 'issue' without explaining the ties to the spiritual world. Turning over he buries his face in his pillow, letting the cool cloth wipe the sweat from his brow as he fades away into the dream.
Gage stands at the base of a deeply wooded hill, a set of old stone stair winding their way up the hillside to a dilapidated shrine at its peak. Ivy grows from small cracks in its walls, moss on the red roof tiles with patches of unkept grass spotting the grounds around. Overhead a single bird circles, its feather so black it seemed to sheen red, far beyond the detail of his normal eye but he just knew without having to be up close. It was a raven, circling the shrine alone, silent as it scans the sky above. Descending slowly it perches upon the highest peak of the shrine, its wings flapping to maintain balance on the tip of the roof.
Fading away the scene changes to the inside of the shrine, a single man with a makeshift shield tied to his left arm repeatedly slams his shoulder against a door in the back of the shrine, rotating enough for Gage to see that the shield is in fact the mask of a hollow with its bone white sticking out against the black uniform of the man. Shouldering the door again there is no sound, just the silent image of the man desperately trying to break through the door, his face filled with rage.
The world shifts again, like water running over glass his vision adjusts to a new world, Gage standing amongst several Shinigami all with blades drawn. Before them, his heart skipping a beat as his eyes come to meet it, stands a hollow. Its energy just resting was drowning, the Shinigami all acting in unison to attack, blades flashing in a flurry. The hollow was not massive but was still larger than an normal human standing upright with its mask at nearly ten feet tall. Its body, the black skin absorbing light, appeared to be a mass of rippling muscles with a mace like weapon in its left hand. Two Shinigami catch the mace to the ribs in a single blinding swing, sliding to a stop several feet away, dead before they hit the ground with their mangled bodies tangled together. Another charges, diving blade first only to have its steel like skin stop him in his tracks. Reaching out and grabbing the Shinigami by the face black retched energy seeps into his face, the Shinigami's veins turning a vile black before the struggling stops. Releasing the head the hollow looks to Gage, dropping the man on the ground where the impact sounds comparable to that of a bag of slop hitting the ground.
Light fades and Gage stands alone in pitch black, not even enough light to see his hand in front of his face. Memories and worries of the hollow passed as if they were never there.
