The lust for flesh, for blood and meat, the sample he had been given had begun a downwards spiral of despair. His master had allowed him, ordered him, forced him, to eat one hollow, then had steered them away from the multitudes of hollows in this god forsaken desert. Weeks had passed, and his training had been intense, but nothing compared to the pain that came with this infinite hunger, a hunger his master would not let him satiate. If you can keep a clear mind after so long feeling this pain, then you will keep a clear mind in battle, and through any pain. He knew his master only had his best interests at heart, but he also hated him for it.
Once a man of such genius his government asked him to perfect weapons of such destruction, now reduced to crawling in the sand, desperate for the next meal. “Get up Dieter.” The rough voice above his head broke through the fog clouding his mind. Opening his eyes, he stared into the red orbs of his master.
“Zachary.” His master grabbed him by the skull and lifted him off the ground. Dieter tried to fight the man off, but he knew it was pointless, he may not be physically weakened by the hunger, but he knew he could never hope to take the man on. The hollow was what was called an adjucha, which was some higher being up the evolutionary ladder, given a thousand years, Dieter would still be unable to take the man.
“Dieter, you have grown well, but now it is time for you to join the team, and together we'll go on hunts, you shall finally have your fill.” The man dropped Dieter to the ground and turned away. Slithering across the sand, leaving his trademark snake patterns as a path, the man led the way. “Come Dieter, unless you want me to leave you to die.” Getting up unsteadily on his legs, Dieter wandered in a zig zag after his master. “Do try and keep up.”
The trek took hours, and Dieter was at his wits end. He had endured as far as he could, forbidden any hunger for weeks, if he were mortal he'd be dead by now, but he was trapped in a deathless hell, not allowed to feed, not allowed to do anything, only allowed to have his mind turn to mush. But now he would be allowed to feed! He had to focus, he had to survive.
“Zachary, what is this?” Dieter stumbled into a circle of hollows, there were only four, including his master. The one who had spoken aloud was some form of worm. His flesh was slick with some fluid, and his truly huge body, a body twenty times as long as Dieter was tall, was segmented and a deep pink. As he reared up Dieter saw the trademark hole of holes in his central segments, it was huge, wider than even Dieter, and the depth of it showed how huge the man was, his hollow hole could easily fit Dieter in it with space spare. He stared at Dieter with a mixture of hate and hunger. Dieter could not help wondering who this man was to question his master, but such worries were being overridden by his hunger.
“Makeith, you know better than to question the master, he only brings the best he can find.” Dieter turned to face the new speaker, it was almost perfectly human in form, it's entire form covered in white bone. It's mask elongated into a long beak, striped with pink lines, and two huge wings of bone spread out from it's back.
“Shut up Heinetar, I will question all new recruits, if I don't like them then they won't join.”
“I suppose our rules do state any one member can reject a new one, but you do have to fight him to earn that right, and if he beats you, your out.” This new one looked feline, about ten feet long and covered in pale green flesh, with a bright green mane surrounding his lions mask, this one actually crept on all fours. “I would just accept him Makeith, he may prove quite strong.”
“Bullshit, Heinetar is too obedient, and your too lazy Prepous. Someone needs to stand against the master once in a while, he isn't always right.”The worm, Makeith, he reared up against the others, trying to throw his weight. Dieter had known his kind before, they felt threatened by change, he thought if Dieter was left too long he may surpass him, and he'd be the runt in a large group, he probably wanted to remove Dieter as soon as possible. “I for one won't stand for it, and since that means fighting him I'll figh...”
Dieter didn't wait for the man to attack him, he shot out a cero at the hollow before he could retaliate. The blow was ineffective, it seemed to have burned a thin layer of slime away, but had not done any damage. “You dare think to harm me? Who do you think you are?” Makeith swept along the sand, small particles of grit and sand sticking to his flesh as he did. Dieter tried firing bala at the hollow, but every attack seemed to only burn off a layer of slime, but do nothing to the hollow.
Dieter struggled to think calmly, the hunger, the bloodlust, it threatened to take over, and he knew to win he must think. He was a man of science, of plans, of intelligence, not a brute thug. “Although being a brute thug may help me.”
“What was that insect?” Makeith's tail slammed into Dieter, sending the young hollow flying. “Are you planning, do you really think you can beat me? Cero, bala, fire, lightning, throw anything at me, my skin secrets slime which cannot be breached. Even blades slip off my hide.” Dieter recovered, staggering as he stood the hollow stared at Makeith with cold, uncaring eyes.
“You truly are a disgusting worm, but if that slime protects you, all I have to do is remove it.” Summoning his power, Dieter shot forth waves of webbing from his hands and mouth. As he did so he sonidoed around his enemy, wrapping the worm in his web, weaving a cocoon around it. Makeith couldn't keep up, but to Dieter, it didn't seem like he was trying. Just before the trap was finished Makeith shot out, his body moving at lightning speed.
“Now do you see? Your power is worthless.” The hollow had slipped from the webbing with ease, not a single strand clung to him, his slime offered a coat for the stuff to stick to, and Dieter could see that inside his cocoon was a thick layer of goo. “You did well to remove one layer, even if I let you, but I continually create this stuff, even in an inferno I will not be touched, you cannot breach my defense.”
Makeith leapt into the air, using his entire body's power to thrust him high, Dieter watched as he did so, saw his enemy above him, and knew what was going to happen. Using a simple sonido Makeith shot down, using his weight to crush Dieter. The other hollows around the pair of fighters sighed in dismay. Each one of them had hoped Dieter could match Makeith, he had seemed more interesting than the worm.
“See, he was not fit at all, he is done, like the fool he was.” Makeith lay on the sand, slime oozing off his body, not caring at all. He was laughing, his mind filled with ecstasy. “I am far beyond any ordinary hollow, who was this insect to think he could beat me.”
“My name is Dieter Webb, and I am not, in any way, an insect.” The sound came from within Makeith. The worm turned with confusion, swivelling on the sand, he could not see anything, and as he moved he didn't feel anything. “It's true this slime is extremely annoying, so I had to think, if I can't remove it, I just have to hit you were there is none.” Makeith's eyes widened, suddenly he understood.
“No, bastard.” Rearing up he felt something dig into his center. Hanging from his central hollow hole was Dieter. The man had somehow stepped there to avoid being crushed, had moved with Makeith so as not to show where he was, and now hung there.
“I wonder how tough your hide is without that sick slime?” Red energy emerged on each of his finger tips of his right hand, before falling and pooling in his hand. “Lets just see.” Makeith roared with anger as Dieter unleashed his cero, the red energy ripping upwards through the beast, splitting him in half. As Dieter fell he grabbed at chunks of hollow meat, before falling into a feasting frenzy.
“Forgive him his manners, I have been starving him for weeks.”
“It seems he can even fight during the lust and pain such starvation brings, considering he's new to all this I'd say he's pretty amazing. And beating Makeith, that is a feat even we may struggle to do, although you would never have such trouble master.”
“Nor would any of you.” A new hollow dropped down beside Zachary. Tall and almost human, the woman strode beside Zachary. Her flesh was a deep green, covered with yellow swirls over her body. Large black wings hung off her back, the style of which seemed batlike. Long blue hair cascaded down to her waist, emerging from behind her perfectly formed, plain white mask.
”Ah, Nefrim, you grace us with your presence after so long away.” Zachary almost bowed to the woman, Heinetar actually did bow, while Prepous just slumped into a deep sleep. “I take it you were watching?”
“Of course, I couldn't stand that man, I'm glad he's gone, I may even join the team again now. Depends how interesting this new guy is.”
“His ability to learn and acquire hollow techniques is fast, almost too fast, he is a genius of such styles, he only needs to actually learn to fight.” Nefrim yawned in feigned boredom.
“You know fighting does not interest me, but I take it he isn't just another brute?”
“No, he is simply a scientist, and apparently a good one, from what I gleaned in the world of the living, who knows, if he gets strong enough maybe Komui will take him in.”
“Well for now Zachary, he is ours, and I think I shall stay, even if only for a while.” Dieter looked up from his meal, he could feel complete sanity return, the pain of being a hollow subsided, and he was able to think clearly, completely. This woman, he could sense her power, the level of it, it surpassed his master, why did she submit to him? “So Dieter, how do you feel.”
“I feel like myself again, I must wonder, what do we do now?”
“Now, now we hunt. Like a pack, and you will learn the full ways of the hollow.” Zachary smiled as he spoke. He was both proud that his newest subordinate was strong, and that his old one was back. “Lets go now.”
