Step. Step. Step.
Always moving. Always searching. The hunger burned, burned brighter than the solitary moon overhead, the only source of light on this abysmal plain. It was the full moon that night, the sand shone like billions of tiny, scintillating diamonds underfoot. The soft crunch punctuated the otherwise silent air, there was nothing and no one for miles and miles around; and the hunger burned hotter for it. He'd run out of little beasts to eat it would seem; they'd figured out there was a hunter on the loose and retreated to their burrows and hidey holes.
Not that Doukeshi remembered eating any of them; even with the fresh blood still dripping from his maw and the trail of gore stretching endlessly behind him, he had no idea that he'd ever eaten anything. His gullet burned, ached for a fresh kill to dull the pain of starvation. No, the little beasts where no longer satisfying him, even for an instant. He needed larger prey, he needed something bigger and stronger and more powerful to fill the void now. He needed...
He needed...
He needed another demi-hollow.
He needed to eat one of his kin; the others like him. The other 'weaklings' and fodder for the bigger hollow. He was already fairly large among them; the more cognizant of them he ran into whispered of his coming evolution with great fear; Doukeshi held no fear of them anymore, he could feel when something was stronger than he was, and he'd run into none of his type that could match him anymore.
The trail of gore continued to grow. Feet and yards and mile after miles the trail stretched behind him. How many had he consumed already? How many had died to his hand and his maw? How many of the native beasts had he eaten? Had he decimated the local population, or where they all just hiding?
Who knows. Who... knows.
Doukeshi didn't care. He couldn't. The hunger was overwhelming. In the very back of his conscious mind he could feel himself struggling to change, to become more than he was at the moment. His evolution was coming; but he lacked something still. Energy, power. The animals could never fuel his evolution; he had to take out another like him. Another proper hollow; or so the hollows that where once humans thought of themselves. They considered the animals to be beneath them; lesser beings because they where animals and rarely showed any sort of power or ability. They where fodder at best, or so the 'highers' believed.
"HROOOOOAAAWR!!!"Speak of the (literal) devil. That roar was too small and alone to be anything but another demi-hollow. Perfect. Perfect in every way. It was close as well, not right over the next hill, but still very close.
"HROOOOOAAAWR!!!"Doukeshi roared to the winds, calling and taunting and demanding that the other demi-hollow come to him, come to fight; come to it's death. That wasn't to say he wasn't moving toward it, he used it's angry reply screams to hone in and close the gap between them; claws bared and dripping acid in anticipation. He would kill this demi-hollow and consume it; consume it and become more; evolve into an Unchained and move on to bigger and better foods and battles. Glorious battles and tasty foods; humans and shinigami and other beings that would sate his hunger, easy the emptiness in his soul. Yes... Yes.... Doukeshi would feed on his brother and leave his brothers behind and become better. A focus at last; if only for the moment. Yes...
Bodies clashed under the moonlight; screams of rage and pain and anger and joy rang out through the night. The demi-hollows lunged for each other; teeth and claw and acid drawing blood and scaring their tiny bodies. How tiny they where, compared to what they would be. Doukeshi was unafraid; this demi-hollow was strong; but he was better. he was faster, stronger. He would be the victor, he had to be. He could never let himself fall to the likes of Gripper. Gripper was weak and stupid and had no mind of its own; not like Doukeshi that was smart and alive and ready to become better.
Claws dragged across masks, chests, backs, legs. Marks bled and smoked and screams of pain echoed. For long minutes the fight dragged on; or maybe it was hours; even days. Neither had any sense of time, nor could they have been bothered to care. Time was irrelevant in a fight like this; they would go on until one or both of them was dead. It was pure luck when it happened; a well placed slash at the legs of the other hollow sent it flying to the ground; unable to stand anymore because it's right leg was no longer attached at the knee. Doukeshi's sharper claws and stronger acid had finally come through for him; he'd hit the joint of Gripper's knee just right to sheer it clear through; leaving only a bleeding stump and a useless limb twitching on the desert floor.
With a terrible roar, Doukeshi leaped upon the beaten hollow and began feeding; strips of flesh ripped clean from it's body one at a time, not dealing a killing blow for a very long while. He wanted to watch the defeated suffer, torment it until death came for it; slow and agonizing and long and oh so fulfilling. The edge came off the hunger within him, and for the time he cannibalized his former brother hollow he could feel some level of his inner emptiness filling up. Little more than skeleton remained before Gripper was finally granted death; Doukeshi could sense the life fleeing from the body of the defeated hollow and he wanted to be the one to end it; the finishing blow administered via the throat; throat and spine ripped out through the front of it's neck in a gore fest fit for a hollow. In the moment of death, the power contained within Gripper's form was transferred entirely to Doukeshi; granting him an instant of pure bliss where the hunger was fully sated and he was full. The perfect moment of existence for a hollow, the moment they all strive to achieve ad infinitum.
And in the instant that moment of bliss had ended; Doukeshi was struck by the weight and pain of his various injuries, as well as a new pain, something coming from deep within his own form.
His evolution had begun.
WC: 1086 +531 = 1617
- Demi-Hollow NPC:
Name: Gripper
Rank: 1 (Demi-Hollow)
Abilities:
- Acidic Touch:
Name: Acidic Touch
Type: Offensive, passive
Description: When a Hollow grabs someone with any of their appendages, the spot where the person was grabbed is burned as if acid were poured onto it. These wounds seem to allow the Hollow's Reiatsu to seep into the person, causing great pain to the victim. The wounds can heal if given enough time.
Cooldown: /
Cost: N/A, Hollow starts with.
- Regen 1:
Name: Regeneration 1
Type: Healing, passive
Description: The bodies of Hollow are not extremely durable, but they have a natural ability to heal themselves over time to circumvent this. The first level of Regeneration will heal small cuts, burns and other minor damage over the course of two (2) posts. Medium sized damage such as second degree burns and gashes will heal over five (5) posts. Larger, non-fatal wounds such as first degree burns and deep gashes will heal over ten (10 posts), while lost limbs and the like will heal outside of the topic as long as suitable in character time is given. (consider the length of ~15-20 posts.) Fatal wounds/mortal injuries will not be healed under any circumstances.
Cost: N/A, Hollow starts with.