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TBA
The race is on for Destiny
With the treason of three of its own Captains, Soul Society is on the brink of disorder and chaos. The impending threat posed by the Arrancar looms overhead as they continue to terrorize worlds while setting their site on eliminating the Seireitei. With the assault that has been launched, few even know the outcome of the future. The only certain thing is that the war will be fought to the bitter end. How will you embrace your destiny?
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Utiha Kappiataitok, Quinta Espada « Thread Started on Mar 3, 2009, 10:41pm »
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Personal Info
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Character Info
Name: Utiha Kappiataitok
Age: Early Twenties
Real Age: 785 (Born in the year 1217 AD, died in the year 1223 AD at the age of 6)
Gender: Female
Alias: She would prefer to be addressed by her first name as few have proven able to pronounce her surname properly. Honorifics confuse her and she wouldn’t hold anyone to them, though, when in the presence of Aizen or one of the other “traitors,” she would make an effort to use them or simply refer to her superiors as “Sir” in most cases.
Height: Five feet, nine inches.
Weight: Two hundred and seventy pounds.
Rank: Quinta Espada!, Formerly Numero 23
Species: Arrancar, formerly an Adjuchas class Menos.
Appearance: With even a quick glance, one would likely get the impression that Utiha is no pushover. It is quite apparent that she is easily amongst the sturdier female Arrancar, if not the sturdiest in general appearance. With at least a good two inches in height over any of the other female Espada and a considerable weight difference as well, Utiha is more than likely the tallest and largest woman to hold an Espada position in the history of Las Noches. She may appear intimidating to some, though, this is generally not intentional and she wouldn’t much enjoy someone cowering in her presence or the like. She does, however, take some satisfaction in the fact that many are forced to look up at her when speaking to her, though most men are of similar or greater height and do not need to do so. Utiha’s skin is exceptionally dark, somewhere around the color of milk chocolate, evidence of her Inuit ancestry during life. As one would expect, it is crisscrossed with various scars and cuts from countless confrontations over the course of her life as an Arrancar, though, where not marred, her skin remains relatively smooth and healthy in appearance.
Tall, sturdy and literally built tough, Utiha is probably not the most agile Arrancar around, but easily makes up for this with her immense strength, both physical and spiritual in nature. By most mainstream social standards, Utiha would probably be considered quite overweight, though she is definitely heavyset, she carries her weight well and puts little stock in the opinions of others when it comes to her appearance. Her arms are rather short and plump, though strong, ending with rather large hands, the palms of which appear a few shades lighter in color and sport the fine, smoothed lines left by cuts and the like over the years. One would probably expect her palms to be rather calloused and rough; instead, they are worn smooth, though the skin is toughened. Her fingernails are left short as she has developed a bit of habit – chewing them down. Unfortunately, this leaves them rather jagged and she is often forced to take the time to file off the edges and such, a task that bores her to no end.
Likewise, her legs are strong and just as sturdily built, though “longer”, leading up into shapely hips and down into rather small feet, the soles sporting the same lighter shade of skin as with the palms of her hands. Her wide, womanly hips lead up to a stocky waist and middle – a waistline a bit over what she would like, though she doesn’t complain about such things in public and a tight fitting, wide black sash worn with her uniform tends to help hide this less-than-desirable pudge about her midsection. As one would expect, Utiha possesses a generous bust, though, her bosom is inline with the rest of her figure and proportional to her body. Thus, this feature is not as overtly noticeable when hers is compared with the physiques of other select female Espada. Utiha’s shoulders are rather broad and strong, easily carrying the weight of her axe or even a person if the need ever arose. Her neck, as well, seems equally sturdy, rather short, though thick and strong. Though she has concealed it, Utiha’s Hollow Hole is positioned a few inches below her right shoulder upon her chest, hidden under her three layers of clothing.
Her face is round with a small, rounded chin framed by chubby, prominent cheeks. Much to her displeasure, a “second” chin will “appear” if she looks downward to any degree. Utiha lips are full and seem slightly puckered, as her small mouth appears almost squished between her pudgy cheeks. Though she wears no makeup, her lips appear to have a slight rosy hue, a few shades closer to red on the spectrum when compared to her overall skin tone. Her nose is of average size and blunt, rounded at the tip, keeping to her overall appearance; soft and lacking sharp corners or angles. She possesses walnut-shaped cobalt blue eyes that can sharpen from a dull, indifferent gaze to a deep, studious stare to wide-eyed interest and perhaps something even friendly or concerned given the right situation. Above these, arc thin, but dark-in-color eyebrows that seem to wiggle, scrunch up or otherwise move about and change to complement and emphasize various facial expressions.
Though she would not admit such a thing as it would likely sound rather vain or something of that nature, Utiha’s favorite personal feature would be her thick mane of dark brown hair. When left unbound, it reaches down her back to just below the ends of her shoulder blades. She usually wears it parted in the front at the very center and, due to its length and thickness; she often puts it up in a large bun at the back of her head using a black strip of cloth to hold it place. Despite this, hair tends to escape and, as such, she tends to loosely braid two large locks of hair starting at her hairline in the front then looping them back, behind her ears and up, incorporating the ends into the bun, beneath the black strip. Utiha’s long hair, usually brushed back and mostly tucked beneath the braided loops and behind her ears (though it rarely stays in place for long) easily conceals the freshly done Number Five tattoo centered on the back of her neck, marking her as he new Fifth Espada. Roughly three and a half inches long, the black Five stretches from her hairline down to the rear collar of her outfit.
Seated upon her head, near her hairline, Utiha’s mask fragments remain in the shape of a small white tiara. The top comes up into a small point and, along the bottom edge, two fang or tusk-like pieces arc downward to just above her hairline.
~
Like all Arrancar, Utiha wears the usual colors and stylized uniform, though, as most do, it is unique in its cut and design, personalized to her liking. Unlike some of her comrades, Utiha prefers a layered outfit starting with the usual undergarments, entirely black in color just to stick to the “black in, white out” color scheme that appears standard with the clothing worn by members of Aizen’s Army. In addition to typical undergarments, Utiha wears a light, tight-fitting, black sleeveless and collarless top and a pair of black cotton socks, both of which could be considered part of her first layer of clothing and rarely seen by anyone as she places modesty high upon her list of things to abide by.
The first layer of clothing actually visible to the casual observer consists of a white long-sleeved, low-collared shirt and the usual white, semi-baggy hakama. The shirt’s sleeves (the only portions of the shirt visible when worn with the complete outfit) end with small triangular flaps of cloth. Hemmed with black fabric, the triangular flaps extend out from the wrists over the tops of Utiha’s hands, the tip of each flap reaching to just bellow the knuckle of her middle fingers. The semi-baggy sleeves are also bound tightly to her forearms by black strips of cloth wrapped no more than two layers thick stretching from her wrists to just before her elbows and completely covering the white of the sleeves beneath them. Like the hems at the ends of the sleeves, the low collar sports black hemming as well and a single black stripe that runs straight down the chest from the collar to her waist. Just bellow her breasts; the black stripe intersects a horizontal stripe that runs around the shirt, circling her torso once.
The divided hakama, held up at her waist by the usual two inch thick black sash, tied at the front in a small, flat knot, reaches to her ankles and the baggy legs of the garment tuck into black boots that reach up to just below her knees. The form-fitted boots sport rounded-off toes and inch and a half raised heels. The soles are white, as are the heels, and bands of white trim circle the ankles and extend upward toward her knees and forward over the tops of her feet from the circles. The boots, though Utiha’s reach higher and lack the up-turned toes, are somewhat reminiscent of those worn by one of the more memorable individuals to formerly hold the position and title of Quinta Espada.
The final layer of Utiha’s outfit consists of a sleeveless, white (the arm holes sport black trim circling them) robe-like over-garment worn over her long sleeved shirt and extending down to just below her knees at the lowest point. The upper half of the over-garment folds similarly to the outer-garment top worn by the Shinigami with their Shihakusho uniforms, the left half folding over the right side. Both halves sport lapel hems in white, though, the left lapel hem sports an extra strip of black cloth trim that runs the length of its leading edge, down to the waist sash under which it disappears. The lower half of the over-garment could be described as gown-like in appearance, though the front of the “gown” is split up the middle, the split starting near the bottom edge of the waist sash. Additionally, in the back, another centered cut rises up to just below her bottom. The “gown’s” leading edges, both at the bottom hem and the insides of the two splits, sport black trim and the interior of the garment, in a fashion similar to the inner colored portion of a Shinigami Captain’s Haori, is a midnight blue overall.
Worn over the over-garment, binding it tightly to her waist and middle and holding it together as well as in place, Utiha wears a thick black obi sash that sports two thin bands of midnight blue trim along the upper and lower leading edges of the sash.
Personality: Strong willed, confident, determined and near always ready for a good fight, with a strong set or personal morals and something of an honor code, Utiha’s personality matches well her stocky and sturdy appearance. Stubborn and highly goal oriented, she will work at something relentlessly to attain or accomplish it. Her tenacity seems boundless, though, when not given a direct task/goal/assignment or mission she tends to laze about, idly searching for a new goal, entertainment or the like. Deep down, she feels it is the “getting there” portion of a goal, more so than the end result that one should savor. Inactivity bores her, as do small, menial tasks, though, she’s not really one to complain or challenge the words of Aizen-sama. In general, Utiha is quite simple in nature, when she’s angry, she shows it, when she’s pleased with something or happy, it usually shows quite clearly as well. Moods are clearly displayed without reservation and rarely hidden unless such things could be taken as disrespectful before her superiors. Though one may easily underestimate her intelligence due to her rather brutish nature, it would be a severe mistake, she is not only quite bright, but a quick and critical thinker as well.
On those points, she is difficult to anger or upset, with emotional skin as thick as her Hierro. Insults and mocking rarely get to her and she’s more likely to just ignore such things or stroll away from someone attempting to get under her skin than become involved in a shouting match. To Utiha, words generally mean little to nothing unless one can back them up with a blade, their fists or a Cero and she would likely look down upon someone amongst the ranks of the Arrancar trying to incite conflict. Though she earned her own position through combat, defeating and killing the former Quinta Espada after he was accused and sentenced for crimes against Aizen’s Army, she is still quite new to the Espada ranks, having gone relatively unnoticed during her time amongst Numeros and now remains on the look out for anyone who would dare to challenge her claim upon the Quinta position.
Eagerly, she awaits a chance to combat the Shinigami, though would not outwardly display this as she would not wish to seem bloodthirsty. She is not motivated by hate or a belief that the Arrancar are inherently superior, more so, by a desire to serve Aizen, he who freed her and the vast majority of the others from their Hollow forms and, for this, she is eternally grateful and impressively loyal. That is not to say, however, that she is opposed to fighting. Quite the opposite, she is honestly no more at home than while in combat, preferably against an opponent of equal or greater strength and/or power. She lives for a challenge, especially a life or death struggle with everything on the line, there are few things that she would find more exhilarating. Though she keeps it a well guarded secret, Utiha is somewhat worried the Winter War will soon end and she will miss her chance to go up against some of the powerful Shinigami Captains and soldiers of Soul Society.
In battle with a worthy opponent, Utiha fights fiercely, as anyone should, however, she would likely not harm or bother with a badly wounded, substantially weaker or defenseless foe unless directly ordered to take some action by her superiors. Even then, she would likely feel some form of reluctance as it would be something of a breach in her honor code. Along those same lines, she will often willingly handicap herself to more evenly match an opponent in a case where they might be at a significant disadvantage, such as setting her axe aside when facing and unarmed opponent or using only one hand upon the weapon if said foe were wounded and wished to continue the fight. She will generally show a high level of respect in combat, usually fighting only one on one and quite reluctant to request help, though, if a foe fights dirty or several gang up on her, the honor code goes quickly out the window.
When it comes to her interactions and general opinions on her fellow Espada, she can’t say a great deal as she has only recently risen to her new rank and knows many only by their reputations, though their reputations portray the majority well. In general, though, she would likely remain civil, respectful though somewhat detached as it is, more or less, in her nature to observe and interject only if necessary – mostly content with staying out of others’ business as long as they stay out of hers and/or do not make their business hers. Comrades are comrades, personal opinions aside, however, and if a fellow Espada or other Arrancar, over or under her were noticeably in peril or the like, she would likely come to their aid without a second thought, even willing to cut a fight short and/or risk her life to lend a hand to someone in a tough spot.
First impressions are usually very important to Utiha and she makes many judgments about a person very quickly based upon these, though, she often keeps her opinions, good or bad, to herself as to not cause trouble. She does enjoy people around, though, generally avoids the “spotlight,” more content with sitting back and watching interactions and the like – unless said interactions are combative in nature. She would respect a pair of fighters in a one on one style fight, however, and not intervene unless the fighter aligned with her side requested aid or she was ordered to intervene by Aizen or one of the other ex-Captains.
When it comes to her Fraccion, Utiha thinks highly of both. Dep and Endriago, she regards them as good friends and would do most anything to help or protect either or both if they found themselves in trouble or facing a problem. She enjoys spending time with them, she trusts them and shares her opinions with them, perhaps it’s gossip, perhaps it’s fact, whatever the case, she feels she can trust her two closest comrades. Endriago, she knows to be quite the gentleman and truly a truly masterful warrior, and, at times, almost like a younger brother or perhaps even son. The lattermost mostly when he bickers with Dep as the two often get into heated debates and arguments. Dep, she knows may not always be the most formal or even the most respectful at times, but she lets things slide, fully aware that Dep is an extremely proficient fighter and formality isn’t everything. One should be judged by their personal strength and she feels Dep is a tough little cookie who deserves respect and should never be underestimated.
When the two get into their siblingesque battles, Utiha has a wide range of reactions depending upon the severity of the dispute. Ranging from soft words, trying to calm both parties down, to physical separation when the two get a bit out of hand in a sparring match or the like. Dealing with the arguments can only be considered similar to a mother’s duty, settling conflict between her children, though Utiha has never voiced this opinion on the subject. The entire notion of such a relationship likely wouldn’t sit well with the two and at the thought, Utiha can do nothing more than chuckle. She is hopeful, though, that in time, some of her stronger morals may rub off on her Fraccion and the arguments will eventually be made a thing of the past. As a close knit unit, she understands Dep and Endriago may need more time to become used to each other. If things can be settled, the trio could become near to unstoppable.
With her little set of morals, sharp mind, strong will and loyalty, Utiha does her very best to serve her master and prove her worth to her comrades each day while clinging tightly to her moral high ground and sticking to exceptionally high personal standards that she seems only to hold herself to.
Hollow Abilities:
Gran Rey Cero: As most of the Espada are, Utiha is capable of producing the frightful Gran Rey Cero, though she has only ever used this powerful attack once in demonstration as she has only recently learned it. Due to her extremely high spiritual power, the technique is not difficult for her to use, though she does find the blood reagent requirement distasteful and would likely only use this form of a Cero after sustaining some form of minor injury, as a way to finish a fight quickly if the need arose, or utilize it in combat against a foe who preferred Kidou or some other form of ranged attacks to level the playing field. Fired from the palm of her right hand, Utiha’s Gran Rey Cero appears Teal in color when used.
Cero: Though she is a bit more inclined to use the standard Cero, Utiha still rarely does so unless confronted with specific situations, preferring melee combat over ranged any day. Her standard Cero is a bit unique, coming in a light blue instead of the usual red or crimson shades though just as powerful as any former Fifth Espada’s. Charged with a bit of a “wind up” – circling her chosen hand through the air in a stroke or two – she unleashes her Cero from three fingers pointed at the target, able to launch the attack from either her right or left hand.
Bala: Utiha’s Bala is also relatively standard, though the color, like her Cero, is a darker blue shade as it seems all of energy attacks sport a blue or blue tinted appearance. Instead of a punch, however, she launches her Bala attacks with more of a flinging motion off of her fingers when held together and out straight, though she usually puts her whole arm into the motion as if flicking water off or the like. As with her Cero, she is capable of launching the Balas from either hand.
Hierro: Like her former idol, Utiha possesses incredibly strong Hierro, perhaps even the strongest amongst the current population of living Arrancar. It was shown to be powerful enough to withstand direct attacks launched against her by the condemned former Fifth Espada, only successfully breached once he released his Zanpakutou. Aside from its immense toughness, Utiha’s Hierro possesses a unique “feature,” an elemental resistance that remained with her from her original Hollow form. Fire/Heat and Ice/Cold type attacks are less effective against her, not to say she cannot be burned by a flame hot enough or frozen by a blast of cold cool enough, she is simply more resistant to these elemental forms. Naturally, this resistance increases with the release of her Zanpakutou.
Caja Negacion: Though she has only recently assembled Fraccion, Utiha would likely have no use for this device as her innate and Zanpakutou abilities would allow her to perform the very same function at will, though it might take her physically grabbing an offender and shoving them into a portal. Additionally, she would likely not choose Fraccion who would cause problems or the like.
Garganta: Like all Espada, Utiha is capable of forming these dimensional tunnels for transportation to and from the real world with great ease. In fact, her Resurreccion abilities are based upon the creation of Garganta like portals making her quite adept at the usage of these gateways and the like.
Sonido: Because she is rather slow and lumbering, hardly a sprinter, acrobat or anything of that nature, Utiha relies greatly upon her Sonido skills to keep up with faster opponents in hopes of catching them off guard or wearing them down with her impressive endurance. As her speed is one of her greatest weaknesses, she has trained diligently to hone this skill though she in still, unfortunately, lagging a bit behind swifter individuals.
Pesquisa: Though she is a fair judge of Reiatsu at close range, she is not the best when it comes to Pesquisa and finds pinpointing the exact locations of spiritually attuned beings over great distances difficult, making her a rather poor tracker at best.
Reiatsu Deflection Pulse: Like most all Arrancar with significant spiritual power, Utiha is capable of repelling and blasting away attacks directed at parts of her body with a well-timed pulse of blue Reiatsu. A sword swing at, for example, her forearm could be repulsed and forcefully driven back by this ability alone without the opponent’s blade ever making contact with her Hierro. As Utiha possesses vast spiritual power, this ability is quite powerful and can repulse strong swings and attacks when used. These pulses can be released over most any part of the body including the hands and, in this form, can be used to forcefully throw an opponent or object if caught or held. It is less effective against energy based attacks, but can still produce a defensive effect when used against attacks of that nature.
Innate Abilities/Fighting Style: (Tacking this on here since I can’t find a better place to put it)
Melee Weapon Master: As her Resurreccion allows her to call forth a wide range of savage weaponry, Utiha is exceptionally skilled with her various Axes, Maces and other such weapons, having spent a great deal of time perfecting her techniques with each, though, out of all of these, she is most proficient with her large Axe, either the sealed form of her Zanpakutou or its improved released version. With such a broad range of weapons to choose from and the experience necessary to wield each or each pair with speed, precision and crushing power, she can adapt to face opponents using exotic weapons and techniques with greater ease.
Hand-to-hand Combat Expert: Even unarmed, Utiha can be a formidable opponent, having honed her skills in a martial art similar to boxing, though it appears to be more improvisational than a specific set of rigid techniques. A lot she tends to play by eye and ear which has both its advantages and disadvantages and, at times, she can be extremely unpredictable. Her strikes are powerful, but against a more hand-to-hand-centric opponent she would likely be considerably slower and lack precision in comparison. Utiha uses these unarmed skills mostly as an emergency secondary weapon or as a way to level the playing field when facing weaker opponents or, at times, whenever she wishes.
Poison/Disease Rapid Immune Response: One of Utiha’s greatest, though, at the same time, least understood abilities provides her with a near complete immunity to various forms of poisons as well as viral and bacterial diseases. This impressive biological response has a limit, however, at least, initially. When exposed to a virus or bacteria through whatever means of transmission or infection, Utiha’s immune system adapts within minutes to combat and quickly eliminate a foreign pathogen and, once a disease has been encountered and destroyed, her body becomes more or less vaccinated against further infection by similar forms of whatever virus or bacteria she had encountered.
When it comes to poisons, be they in liquid form or a gaseous state, the response is similar, though, often takes a bit longer to clear her system of contaminants and develop the immunity as most poisons are more highly concentrated and breaking them down is more difficult than with biological afflictions. Poisonous gas is easier to defeat than a liquid form, though both could take up to an hour or two to fully cleanse and develop immunity to depending upon the strength of the poison. At the very least, Utiha’s immune system could slow the effects of a poison down enough to allow her to continue to fight decently and, given enough time, inevitably beat the effect. Once poisoned or infected, it is only a matter of time before she becomes immune.
Zanpakutou
Zanpakutou:Espacio Cuchilla (Space Cleaver)
Unreleased Zanpakutou:Espacio Cuchilla appears as a massive battleaxe in its sealed form. Making up the center and main body of the weapon, its shaft extends nine feet overall from the gloss black conical counterweight, up the light gray handle portion to the thickened blade mount and ending at the very end, above the axe head, with a spearhead like point, edged with razor-sharp silver cutting edges. The main axe head portion is a solid gloss black with two enormous curved blades at each side sporting the usual polished sliver cutting edges. Each blade extends just over a foot and a half out from the thickened blade mount portion surrounding the main shaft. The distance across the axe head (width), or, in other words, the distance between the curved edges of each blade is just over three and a half feet. The width of each blade, on the other hand, (from the pointed tip of each blade’s cutting edge to the other) is just about three feet with the spearhead point at the tip of the blade mount appears about eight inches in length.
Where the main blades attach to the blade mount, gaps seem to have been cut out of the blades’ bases leaving these spaces open, ideal for catching an opponent’s weapon and, using the immense leverage provided by the long handle shaft, wrenching it from their hands. The gaps are intersected in the center by two triangular pieces of the blades to provide improved strength and less room through which a caught foe could withdraw their blade from. These four gaps are roughly seven inches long and about four inches wide at their widest points.
With its great weight and impressive reach, Espacio Cuchilla is a fearsome weapon, a direct, unblocked strike against an opponent without Hierro would likely spell instant death if landed successfully.
~
Unreleased Zanpakutou Callback Ability/Minor Portal Ability: Even while her Zanpakutou remains in its sealed form, Utiha possesses the ability to open very small tears in the fabric of dimensional space similar to a small Garganta portal, though; these allow her access to two small alternate dimensions instead of transportation to and from the worlds. One of these has nothing to do with her Zanpakutou and appears to be used solely for storing small items within; most are quite mundane, for example: sandwiches. The other small dimension, on the other hand, is used specifically for a very unique and useful ability that allows her to call for her massive weapon at anytime in most any location. If Espacio Cuchilla is stored far away or, even in another world, such as Hueco Mundo whilst Utiha was in the Human World or the like, she needs only to hold out one hand and call for her weapon, within seconds, the axe will appear in hand with a small crackle of purple light.
Over shorter distances, the call is not necessary and Espacio Cuchilla will appear in either outstretched hand when willed, allowing Utiha to recover her weapon if disarmed or even after throwing it and an opponent as a ranged attack. This shorter recall method does not require the same amount of energy to use and, when returning to its master, Espacio Cuchilla will seem to fade out instantly, somewhat reminiscent of Sonido in appearance, and reappear in hand, lacking the crackling purple flash of energy.
The manipulation of these small dimensions is only just a preview of her primary Resurreccion Ability.
Release Phrase:Split the void, Espacio Cuchilla!
Resurreccion: Ideally when releasing her Zanpakutou, Utiha plants it spearhead-point-down into the earth and releases the weapon, calling out the release phrase. At such a point, Espacio Cuchilla flies into the air handle-first, the blades on either side detach from the shaft and shoot out to the sides, away from the main body of the weapon. When the shaft and blades reach a point ten feet into the air and ten feet out to the sides from where they started, respectively, they tear through the fabric of dimensional space, opening three small Garganta-like portals, one above and one to each side, roughly three feet off of the ground. When these three portals tear open and stabilize, three wide beams of blue light, similar in appearance to Negacion fields, fall upon Utiha where she stands, triggering her Resurreccion “transformation”. Though planting the spearhead-like tip of her axes head into a surface, the release can be triggered anywhere, even in midair and the effect is virtually the same, the level at which Utiha is standing becomes the “ground” base point from which the Zanpakutou rises.
When the three portals snap open, the effect is dramatic to say the least and a surging wave of blue Reiatsu radiates from the area outward, causing torrential winds and crackling blue blots of energy to leap into the sky. The process happens quickly and, within only a few seconds, the three portals close and a blue Reiatsu pillar erupts into the havens marking the spot where Utiha stands before fading away with the winds leaving her transformed.
~
Unlike the vast majority of Arrancar, Utiha’s released form could be described as somewhat lackluster, though, as she may not change greatly in physical appearance or clothing, her power, strength and other attributes are greatly increased and several new abilities are granted as one might expect, making up for her lack of flashy appearance change. Physically, the only major change one might notice would be her hair. The color, normally a dark brown, becomes a pure white, the bun and braids come undone and it seems to lengthen somewhat, reaching down her back like a great mane. The second major change comes to her tiara-like mask fragment. The tiara widens and its bottom edge comes down to cover the very top portion of her forehead while the tusk or fang-like prongs along the bottom edge extend down the sides of her face, covering her temples and cheeks, stopping at just about mid-cheek level. The central prong at the top of the tiara extends (up) back several inches and flattens somewhat against the top of her head becoming something like a cross between a crown, a helmet and a Happuri style forehead and cheek guard.
Besides her mask fragments and hair, only her outfit sports further changes and these, on the other hand, are relatively extensive. It appears Utiha’s normal outfit has changed colors, instead of white overall, the robe-like gowned over-garment, long-sleeved undershirt and white Hakama have gone completely back in color giving an almost Shinigami-esque appearance, though, the armor that forms over these garments is anything but Shinigami-esque.
A thick bone-like armored chestplade forms over the upper half of her torso, this armor also covers her back in a single plate forming something of an armored vest. It appears to be molded to fit her form and constructed of two plates fused at her sides, almost appearing natural as opposed to armor plating forged by the hand of man. This “vest” ends just below her ribcage allowing freedom of movement about the waist and mid-section. About the neck, the armored vest sports a white raised collar of the same material that rises about two inches up before sloping downward to the shoulders. At the very front, a V shaped section seems to have been cut out and the collar as a whole sports midnight blue trim along its leading edge. Both plates fully cover Utiha’s shoulders but do not extent out over her arms keeping with the “vest” design. At the sides there are, naturally, arm holes cut out of the plates that allow for a wide range of motion.
Upon her arms, worn over the now-black long-sleeved undershirt and binding the rather baggy sleeves to her arms, she sports white bicep armor plates that come up to the edges of the vest leaving only a slight gap through with the black is visible on the shoulders. The curved plates, seemingly molded around her upper arms reach down to the elbows where they stop just above the joints to provide room for articulation, once again revealing the black undershirt. Upon her forearms, starting just bellows the elbow joints, molded white armor bracers completely encircle her arms and extend forward into powerful white gauntlets, each finger covered in articulated bone-white molded segments. The palms of the gauntlets appear black, however and the tips of the fingers are also black. Due to the articulated nature of the plates, there are no open gaps revealing the undershirt or flesh at the wrists.
Moving down, her pudgey mid-section beneath the vest appears unarmored to provide range of motion and the now-black robe-like over-garment becomes visible for several inches moving down from the armored vest. The thick black Obi sash worn about her waist with her usual outfit has changed in color and design slightly. It is now somewhat thinner and rests lower upon her hips and about her waist more so than her middle, the black is now white, though, the bands of midnight blue remain. A new thin strip of black cloth circles the sash as well at its very center and is tied off with a small knot at Utiha’s left side.
Further down, from beneath the sash, the “gown” portion of the over-garment appears and extends downward to just below her knees as it would normally. The “gown” is black where it once was white, however, and two curved flaps of thick white cloth or a leather like material hang down from beneath the waist sash over the gown and down to a point three or four inches above the knees while covering the sides of the gown and Utiha’s legs. The inside of the gown remains a midnight blue while the black trimming along the inside of the split along the front now appears white to match the color switch. From beneath the very front of the waist sash and hanging down to about mid-thigh, a flap of white cloth with a V shaped leading edge hemmed in black covers Utiha’s pelvic region and appears to be somewhat beneath the spilt halves of the gown.
Beneath the gown, the now black baggy Hakama remains and, as with her normal outfit, the legs are tucked into knee-high boots. The boots, however, have been replaced with armored variants. The shins and “lower” legs appear encased in the molded white armor and this armor reaches from just below each knee to the ankles where the black of the old boots become visible. Covering the tops of her feet and melding with the white heels of the old boots, armored molding appears from the ankle down leaving only the slight gap of black to allow movement at the joints. The heels and souls of the old boots do not change in appearance save for their color, where they were white before, they are now black.
Resurreccion Abilities: With the release of her Zanpakutou, Utiha’s Hierro, strength and speed are upped considerably (the latter of the three is unfortunately quite relative) and the bone-like armor that forms with her Resurreccion adds a second line of defense beneath her already impressive natural defenses (Hierro), though the armor does have its gaps. The heat and cold resistances unique to her Hierro gain a moderate boost, as does the natural immune response, allowing for a swifter reaction to and recovery from poisons and disease. As with most Resurreccion releases, even severe wounds suffered while unreleased are healed during the process, ensuring Utiha is at peak performance while released. Most of the benefits provided by her Resurreccion aim to enhance and maintain her greatest strengths of all, her skills with powerful melee weapons as well as her vast physical and spiritual strength. As long as Utiha remains on her feet and swinging, she remains a dangerous opponent.
Though the bonuses granted by her release may focus mostly upon her melee combat prowess, her control over the small Garganta-like portals has increased granting her a few new abilities to better adapt to different opponents. While released, she gains two new minute dimensions to manipulate and use in various fashions while retaining the two other portals accessible while her Zanpakutou is sealed. The two pre-release portals have a fixed size; the first only permits her Zanpakutou to pass through while the “Sandwich Portal” has a diameter of around two feet at best. Only Utiha’s younger Fraccion, Dep, has proven able to squeeze into the “Sandwich Portal”. Post-release, however, Utiha’s two new portals have a diameter of around five feet as they are more powerful and stronger than her pre-release portals.
First Portal:
Utiha’s first new portal allows access to a small dimension similar in function to what is often referred to as the “Sandwich Portal”. Instead of Sandwiches and other mundane objects, however, this portal contains something of a small armory of melee weapons available for use when called for in a fashion similar to the pre-release call back ability of her sealed Zanpakutou. Upon completion of her Resurreccion transformation, Utiha is left completely unarmed as her sealed Axe breaks into three pieces and disappears into the three tears in spatial fabric during the release process. Besides the improved Axe, she must next use the First or “Armory Portal” to gain a new weapon unless she feels compelled to fight an opponent unarmed for whatever reason. Stored within the portal one would find the improved version of her sealed Zanpakutou, a similarly sized War Hammer, a pair of “one-handed” Maces, a pair of “one-handed” Axes and a final pair of Hand Axes similar in appearance to, though much larger than, the Ulu knives used by Inuit women. Each of the weapons or weapon pairs remains as sturdy and strong as one would expect from a post-release weapon, the resilience of said weapons is not distributed but enhanced.
To access these weapons, Utiha must open the portal with a hand gesture then reach into it and whichever weapon or pair she chose would come to her hands and she would then pull it/them out, a process taking several seconds. This same process is used to exchange a weapon or pair of weapons and the weapon(s) currently in use must be returned before a new one is chosen. In other words, she may only have one “two-handed” weapon or one pair of “one-handed” weapons out at any given time. The only exception to the former starting limitation, however, is her improved Axe. Instead of having to open the “Armory Portal” to access this weapon, it is preset as her default and may be called for instantly through the call back ability.
Each weapon or pair possesses the call-back ability while in use, switching out the default and, if thrown or the like, Utiha can retrieve any of these in the same instant manner that her sealed and improved post-release Zanpakutou uses to return to her.
Improved Axe: Espacio Cuchilla Released improves in its design and lethality, gaining not only a sharper cutting edge, but a larger one as well, allowing the entire top portion of the axe head to be used as a bladed ram. The blades change slightly in shape as well, a more gradual curve providing a larger cutting area upon impact and a sturdier yet seemingly elegant appearance. The handle, too, and counterweight improve and the entire weapon gains slightly over one foot in length overall. The blade catch gaps in the axe head and spearhead prong at the end remain similar to the unreleased version. In general, the weapon lacks none of its old features and gains several new yet relatively subtle ones. As Utiha’a default released weapon, it is only the first of several contributing to her sizeable arsenal of diverse and exotic combat implements.
War Hammer: WIP (Will be done at a later time, reviewed separately and added by Sei/Jjij)
Axe Pair: Utiha’s One-handed Axe Pair is just another surprise from the “Armory Portal.” Unlike her Sealed Zanpakutou and its improved released form, both being “Two-handed” weapons (though Utiha has little to no trouble using one of the larger weapons in only one hand), this pair is designed for dual-wielding. With large, curved blades roughly three feet in length extending just over one and a half feet from the blade mount portions, each weapon is about five feet in total length with a large, gloss black pointed counterweight at each end. Both weapons sport the usual colors, gloss black blades with silver cutting edges and light gray shafts. An interesting change with the one-handed axes, the bottom portion of the blades sport cutting edges right up to the blade mounts. Opposite of their placement upon her improved two-handed axe, these cutting edges appear to have small gaps a few inches deep and several inches across cut into them to provide a more flexible blade catch when used properly. Both weapons are razor sharp and their reverse ends can easily be used like a club or bludgeoning weapon to deliver a less-than-lethal blow. Though these axes are not nearly as heavy as their bigger cousins, they are considerably faster, delivering a hail of swift and powerful blows in a short span to make up for their lighter weight.
Mace Pair: WIP (Will be done at a later time, reviewed separately and added by Sei/Jjij)
Hand Axe Pair: WIP (Will be done at a later time, reviewed separately and added by Sei/Jjij)
Second Portal:
Utiha’s second portal is quite a bit different from her others and presents a very useful and deadly ability. When opened with a flick of her wrist, the portal forms and, within a fraction of a second, expands to its full five foot diameter size. This portal leads to another small dimension like her storage and weapon call back dimensions, though, this one, when opened, has the potential to suck up a hostile Kidou spell or most any other form of similar attack directed at her. Hadou, Bakudou, Ceros, Bala, specialized blasts of Reiatsu/energy from all manner of Zanpakutou or Resurreccion abilities can be sucked into the portal from either side when said attack gets close enough. Once an attack or spell is absorbed by the portal, it quickly closes back up. Within the small dimension the attack or spell does not dissipate, instead, it bounces around and, when the portal is reopened, it will shoot back out at whatever or whoever Utiha points the portal at. The power of the redirected attack is neither increased nor does it decrease from being within the cat dimension. In the case of attacks that have a larger area of effect, for example, a Cero, only the five foot diameter center of the attack would be absorbed by the portal as it is only this wide. This is more than enough room for Utiha to crouch behind and use as something of a shield, however.
As it is, most attacks Utiha is liable to encounter won’t be too much for her to handle, or so she feels confident, thus, this “Catch Portal” is used mostly for surprise attacks instead of as a defensive measure but can be used as either depending upon the situation. The only real downside to this, however, is only one form of an attack or spell may be captured at a given time. Meaning that, if a Shot of Red fire was captured, another attack could not be caught until the portal was reopened, the current spell released, the portal was then reclosed and then opened once more to receive a new incoming attack or spell. Spells/Attacks that are broken into multiple parts or multidirectional attacks that are fired or launched at the same time and are of the same type can be fully absorbed, however, as they are still considered one continuous attack. In some cases, Utiha may form the portal over her head or beneath her feet while in the air when dealing with multidirectional types.
As it stands, these Portal manipulation abilities are mostly just tricks up her sleeve or added benefits, Utiha’s power still lies with her impressive defense and crushing melee offense, these alone make up the core of her combat strength. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
History:
~Life~
Whilst on the spring journey from the inland winter camps west, to the costal summer village, Chena Kappiataitok gave birth to the family’s second child, a wide-eyed little girl whom they quickly named Utiha. A birth on the journey was relatively uncommon, likely due to the community’s small population – around forty-five in all, mostly close knit families – and the tribe’s spiritual leaders had little to say on the subject. No stars of any significance provided insight into the girl’s future and no “signs” along the rest of the journey lead to any predictions or the like. Though, little could be read by the spiritual leaders, infant Utiha seemed quite content and quiet as the family and their fellow tribesmen moved on towards the seaside camp. Naturally Chena and her husband, Ipiktok, the tribe’s chief musher and sled dog breeder, were quite proud of their new daughter and encouraged there first child to take an interest in the new addition to the family as well.
Itigiaq Kappiataitok, on the other hand, wasn’t particularly thrilled with the prospect of having a younger sibling and looked upon the girl with mistrust and uncertainty. The nine year old boy had been the center of the family’s attention for his entire life, born under a good sign and praised as a great musher of the future, he had enjoyed a relatively easy and pampered life but now it seemed things were changing and young Itigiaq wasn’t exactly pleased with the way things were going. He had never been forced to share his parents’ attention and love with anyone in the past and seeing his mother spending so much time with his new little sister wasn’t exactly reassuring. By the time the tribe reached their camp on what would later be known as Alaska’s western coast, the Kappiataitok boy was already acting noticeably indifferent and uninterested when presented with opportunities to better get to know little Utiha.
With the summer camp repaired and back in proper order – several of the whalebone lodges had been damaged during their time left unattended over the course of the winter – the Kappiataitok family settled in for what was predicted to be a plentiful whaling season. The elders had been correct and the tribe pulled in several prime specimens, the blubber and meat were quickly cured and prepared to last through the next winter while the other portions were used in all manner of other ways, very little left as waste. Though he was the chief musher, Ipiktok was quite handy with a harpoon and left the sled dogs in Itigiaq’s care while he participated in hunts with the rest of the whalers. Both parents had noticed their son’s attitude towards Utiha and Ipiktok hoped that bestowing new responsibilities upon the boy would show him he was still just as important to the family as he’d ever been.
The fishing was prime as well that summer and when it came time to move southeast for the fall and winter, the tribe’s food stocks and other material resources were bordering on surplus. The journey back to the winter encampment was uneventful and soon Utiha was introduced to her second home. The routine soon became standard and the little girl grew into the seasonal back and forth migrations customary to tribal life in the north. As the years passed and she took her first steps, said her first word and grew into childhood, Itigiaq remained distant from the girl. Utiha couldn’t really understand why her brother acted the way he did towards her, she was too young to understand the jealousy and mild feelings of betrayal and replacement the boy harbored. At around the age of four, Utiha began to take on some small responsibilities and took to the little tasks her mother gave her with enthusiasm. Doing work, any work, around the encampments and such made her feel purposeful and she worked diligently to make her parents proud and hopefully win her brother’s affection as well.
Unfortunately, this more or less backfired on the young girl, her parents praised her, certainly, but viewing this only made Itigiaq increasingly bitter. He’d never been a mean young man, but those feelings of uncertainty he’d felt early on had only worsened over the years and he routinely pushed his younger sister away when she approached him. Many times Utiha had tried to please her brother, but nothing seemed to work and it discouraged her. Young and optimistic she was, however, and his reactions to her gestures of kindness never kept her down for long. As it was, Itigiaq was growing up, he had like-aged friends within the tribe and he often went off with them on small hunts or simply to fool around when their chores and the like were taken care of. Utiha had, unfortunately, few friends. There had been a lack of births within recent years and few children were old enough to play with the girl or too old and busy with other things to spend time with her.
Chena and Ipiktok tried to keep their son on a tighter least, but he was a quick worker and there was little they could do to stop him from venturing off with his friends. Utiha, on the other hand, now around the age of six and a half, was watched closely. She’d never really wandered off, there had been a few times the Kappiataitok’s daughter had “gone missing” but she was always quickly found within the bounds of the encampments. During the winter of her sixth year, however, things would change and end in tragedy.
As usual, Itigiaq would go off with his friends onto the ice flows and heaping hills of snow for fun. At times, they would search for seals’ air holes in the ice and attempt to catch one or two to bring home for dinner and the like, but the outings were generally just goofing off and fun for the boys. For over a year Utiha has watched the boys, her brother especially, go out on their little adventures and she too yearned to be a part of that group, any group. After pondering things for a few days, the young girl made up her mind to follow her brother and his friends and prove to the group that she was fun and should be included in their activities and the like. Of course, she had asked if she could go with them several times in the past but they had always laughed and ignored her. At last, Utiha made up her mind and, after feeding her father’s sled dogs, she followed after her brother and his group, the boys having left the encampment only moments before she had finished her chores.
Sneaking around behind the lodges, Utiha found their footprints in the snow and quickly followed after them. The think so was somewhat troublesome for her, in her haste she’d left her snowshoes back in the encampment, but it didn’t strike her as a major problem. Surely when she would appear, perhaps spring from behind a snow drift and startle her brother and his friends, they would see that she was worthy of “adventuring” with them. Starting off with a smile upon her chubby, youthful face, Utiha trudged along after the footprints. Unfortunately, in was late in the day and the sun was already low in the sky. Winter in the Northern Hemisphere shortens the day length considerably and this would prove fatal to the young girl.
While she followed the footsteps, the encampment quickly fading into the distance behind her, her brother and his friends up ahead were considering returning as the sky was quickly growing dark. The boys were just about ready to turn around and head back to the encampment when one of them spotted several seal air holes in the distance. The group quickly took their bearings and made the decision to pursue the seals to their right before heading back home. When the boys reached what they had believed to be holes, they found only impressions in the ice shadowed by the setting sun that had appeared deeper than they actually were. After the fellow who’d suggested they investigate the “holes” was pelted thoroughly with snowballs, the boys turned and took a direct route back toward the encampment as twilight fell.
Utiha, some distance behind and slowed considerably by the lack of snowshoes, was unaware the boys had turned off to their right to investigate the “holes”, and when the young girl reached the location at which the boys had made their turn, night was nearly upon her. Though she wore her warm parka, sewn together by one of the kindly village seamstresses and the like, the night chill began to get to her. The darkness too, frightened her, and she could only continue on forward hoping to run into her brother and his friends, unfortunately, they were moving in the completely opposite direction, back towards the encampment. When the boys reached the encampment, Chena was in a panic and the other tribesmen were searching the lodges high and low for the missing girl.
By the time Ipiktok and the others set off in their sleds to search, it was dark and a light wind was whipping the beginnings of a blizzard towards the encampment. The footprints were already cold and quickly filled in with the fresh snow and Utiha had begun to panic. She turned around and tried to make her way back toward the camp, but her trail of footsteps had been mostly filled in and it was far too dark to really make them out. With each step she grew increasingly tired, frightened and panic soon took over. Shouting, calling out into the night for her brother, his friends, her family and finally, the tribe’s various gods and other deities, she ran through the snow whipped night. Eventually her strength waned and Utiha decided to take a small rest, sitting down in the snow, but only for a few moments. A few moments stretched on and on, however, and instead of considering getting back up, she began to consider lying down and resting.. but just for a little while. Soon enough, the huddled child had drifted off to sleep, amidst the rapidly falling snow forming around her, as the warmth from her body leached out into the snow, she felt nothing.
When Utiha “awoke” she found herself still amongst the snow, though, the sun was out and the small storm had blown over. Around her, she found many half-filled footprints and sled tracks and a wave of dread washed over her, had they driven right past her while searching? It seemed that was impossible, the footprints were all around the area in which she’d decided to lay down. Abandonment was inconceivable to the young girl and her mind quickly tried to come up with some explanation as to why those who had left the footprints had left her behind as well, that is, until she noticed the strange chain seemingly attached to the front of her little parka. She inspected the strange chain for a time then gently took ahold of it in her pudgy hands and gave it a tug. The chain refused to budge, seemingly attached not just to her parka, but to her body beneath it as well.
Back in the encampment, the tribe mourned the death of little Utiha, her huddled, frozen body had been located by one of the searchers and returned to the camp. Chena wept, Ipiktok was stone faced and solemn and Itigiaq, having realized that Utiha had followed him and his friends out and away from the camp, was overcome with guilt and kept mostly to himself. Out on the ice, little Utiha made up her mind to find her family and set out after the sled tracks. These quickly disappeared, however and she simply picked a direction and continued on. Though she did not understand why, she never grew hungry or tired and trudged along in whatever direction seemed best at the time. Night soon fell once more and, though she was not tired, she burrowed into the snow to hide from the dark. Never once did the cold bother her.
The next day, she rose through the snow and started off again, wandering the icy landscape. The cycle continued, day and night, Utiha wandered on and on in massive circles. At a point she reached the edge of the ice and looked out across the Bering Sea before turning around here, aware that her home was inland of the sea. Her march across the icy landscape continued, fueled by her optimistic child spirit and desire to see her family again, she held out for months. As the season began to change, however, her optimism began to fade, her family and the tribe would be moving away to the summer encampment and leave her behind if she did not find them soon, on top of that, deep down; she began to feel like she would never find them again.
At times, she would stop and sit, tears quickly coming to her eyes, begging the spirits or anyone who might be listening to reunite her with her parents and brother. The little girl had no way to know that she was now a spirit wandering the earth, it just hadn’t occurred to her, but loneliness certainly took its toll. Her trek soon became a march of misery and madness. She had not seen another human being in months and soon she began to crack, falling down into the snow and weeping, crying, screaming and begging, but no one ever came, no one ever responded to her peals for help. As the torturous days passed, the strange chain seemed to weaken, the links growing thinner, though Utiha sill lacked an explanation as to what the chain was and let it be as she always had.
The longer she wandered, the more the depression struck, though each time she fell into the snow and wept, as much as she might have wished to just lie there forever, she always managed to get back onto her feet and continue. By then, time had no meaning; Utiha no longer feared the night and simply stayed on the move at all times. Like a zombie, she marched on, a blank stare aimed at the horizon ahead and she moved along, the monotonous routine punctuated only by her breakdowns which slowly became more frequent.
The final straw snapped, however, shortly after a moment of false elation. Trudging along, almost mindlessly, Utiha caught sight of something on the horizon to her left, just out of the corner of her eye. It had been, at the very least, several months since she’d “awoken” from her “slumber” in the snow and the ice had already begun to melt, revealing the brown and sometimes green earth beneath its surface. She knew well that the tribe would be moving out to the summer encampment very soon and when she spotted the raised brown objects in the distance, she bolted towards them. The closer she got the more certain she became, she had done it, she had found the encampment at last!
Sprinting headlong into the circle of lodges screaming and shouting, overjoyed to have found home, she didn’t immediately realize, or perhaps didn’t want to acknowledge the fact that the fires were out, the sleds and dogs were gone and the entire camp had been abandoned as per tradition several days earlier. Within only seconds, elation became panic as the little girl raced about, checking and double checking the lodges, the harsh reality slowly set in – she had missed them. She stopped several times, eyes wide, looking about the camp with a glazed over gaze as if she couldn’t believe what she was seeing. They had really left her, they had left her behind. Shrieking, Utiha raced from the camp and up the road towards the coastline where the canoes and such were usually kept, hoping beyond hope that someone was still there. Halfway to the inlet, she stumbled over something. Picking herself back up and turning, she found a small pile of snow covered earth and rocks strangely protruding from the half-frozen soil.
She barely gave the lump a second thought, nearly turning back and continuing on towards the coast when she saw it. Sticking up from the ice covering the heap, the corner of some fur object was visible. Barely caring, Utiha took hold of the fur object and gave it a great tug. At first, it didn’t budge, but several more tug loosened the frozen earth that covered it and out came the furry object, now revealed to be a very small parka. The small garment was instantly recognizable, it had been Utiha’s first little parka given to her shortly after her birth. Hands shaking, she tossed it aside and attacked the mound, tugging the rocks and frozen dirt away like a ferocious animal digging up a bone or the like. Clawing through the last few inches of earth, horror, shock, pain and uncharacteristic rage gripped the little girl at the sight of her own frozen, buried corpse. Screaming and howling like a beast in pain, she leapt back and sprinted away towards the encampment.
As she ran, the now heavily corroded chain of fate, down to its final link, disintegrated to nothing. Instantly, Utiha froze in mid-step and collapsed to her knees, her little body eroding away in a matter of seconds, reforming as a small, yet vicious looking humanoid beast. Covered in shaggy white fur or hair, the beast rose from the ground to her hands and knees as a bone-white mask formed over her face. Black, empty eyes, horns and sharp, savage teeth added to the sinister appearance, great black claws formed over the little fingers as well, completing the horrible transformation. The beast got to her feet, threw her head back and roared at the heavens, clawed hands held out, slashing at the sky wildly. Hollow Utiha was born.
In an instant, despair gave way to an insatiable feeling of hunger, never in her life had Utiha felt such hunger but then, Utiha was no longer alive and no longer the cheery little girl she had once been. Quickly worked into a rage, the small, shaggy Hollow she had become rampaged through the abandoned winter encampment, shattering the great whalebone frames of the lodges with her little clawed fists alone. With her newfound massive strength, she tore the camp to pieces leaving no structure standing. Once the camp had been reduced to a heap of shattered bone and shredded hides, Hollow Utiha turned to the west. Whether she could remember the direction her tribe traveled in to reach the summer encampment or she was simply able to sense them over the great distance, one could not easily determine, but with another roar, the small furry beast set off in search of souls.
Though the march to the summer encampment took many days, the time seemed to pass the blink of an eye. With each step, the “scent” of human souls grew stronger and Utiha, devoid of all thought besides the great hunger, yearned to reach what she hoped would be a feast. No longer did she think of family, friends, her life or any of the things that had occupied her mind during her months of wandering, only the desire to devour remained and it ruled her mind. Eventually, she did arrive at the summer encampment and watched her former tribesmen go about their routines. During the journey, one of the elders had passed away and his spirit now wandered the encampment, watching over the tribe in his wisdom.
Late in the evening, while the majority of the tribe was asleep, Hollow Utiha burst onto the scene and devoured the elder before he even knew what was upon him. For an instant and only an instant, the burning hunger was quenched, but it soon returned and Utiha scrambled about, hoping to find more souls to consume. Following her encounter with the elder’s spirit, she searched about for other Pluses but there had been no recent deaths amongst the tribe save for the elder and her own months earlier. Eventually, the need to eat became so great; she began to attack the living members of the tribe. Mostly the elderly and very young, theses were the easiest to extract and consume.
With young and old alike turning up dead without apparent cause, the tribe’s spiritual leaders conferred and determined that an evil force had descended upon the encampment. Using the strongest “magic” they possessed, the leaders attempted to place a form of barrier around the lodges to ward off the evil force. The spells they put their faith in did little to deter Utiha, though; a force soon arrived to defend the small settlement from her beastly hunger anyway.
After several weeks of terror reigned, the mindless Hollow prepared to descend once more upon her former tribe and devour a newborn child, but as she arrived in the dark of night, someone stood in the camp’s center to oppose her. The strange black-clad man drew a long, thin sword and aimed it at the great beast little Utiha had become. Unaware of just what the man was, naturally, she charged him, claws outstretched ready to rend the fellow in two. He easily evaded her, however and the two were soon engaged in a full-on battle. The man, a Shinigami, managed to lead Utiha away from the village and began to fight her out in the open scrub grass fields surrounding the encampment. The Shinigami was fast, very fast, and up until that point, Utiha had never encountered such a thing. None of her victims had ever fought back; none had ever stood a chance.
Had she possessed something more than primitive animalistic instincts, Hollow Utiha might have been frightened by the black-clad warrior, but in her mind she saw only an obstacle in her way and another potential meal. Roaring and charging at the Shinigami again, she clawed at him wildly but he evaded once again. Flashing out of the night, the Shinigami’s Zanpakutou whooshed past her mask, just missing her, while Utiha’s own claws could not reach the man. The furry white Hollow was quite a bit smaller than the six-foot-something Shinigami and it seemed to be only a matter of time before he would put forth a bit more effort and finish the young beast off.
Perhaps he was becoming a bit cocky, perhaps Utiha caught a lucky break, but when the two charged a second time, the little Hollow’s claws met flesh and tore into the Shinigami’s right arm – his sword arm. Wounded, the Shinigami managed to keep his grip upon his weapon, but he knew he wouldn’t be able to fight effectively and quickly began an incantation spoken in some strange foreign language. Seeing her foe wounded, Utiha turned and moved in to finish him off. As she charged, however, a strange red ball of energy was forming in the Shinigami’s hand and was soon launched directly at her. Something about the red sphere speeding towards her urged her to attempt to dodge it, but the little Hollow only succeeded to an extent and her own right arm was destroyed in a great blast that tossed her some distance through the air.
Maimed by the Kidou attack, Hollow Utiha finally retreated, scurrying away into the night to the southeast. As mindless as she had become, the instinct of self preservation remained and urged her to move on. She was lucky to escape, the Shinigami didn’t follow her, likely due to his own injuries, but it would not be the last time she would encounter such a creature.
~A taste for Hollow, Menos and Beyond~
In time, Utiha’s arm regenerated and she soon found new prey to the southeast. Other tribes, similar people to those whom she had called family, lived in increasingly greater numbers down the coast and each village and camp seemed to have at least a few recently departed souls wandering about that made for quick meals. When camps were closer together and the inhabitants less nomadic in nature, Utiha often moved around much more in search of Pluses instead of staying in one place and attempting to attack the living members of the tribes. When easy Pluses ran out, however, she often did turn to devouring the living whenever an opportunity for an easy kill presented itself.
The memory of the Shinigami lingered however, becoming instinct and soon Utiha learned to move on after taking a few living souls, semi-understanding that lingering about for too long might draw one of the black-clad warriors down upon her. Further south, along the coast she traveled, feasting wherever she could before moving on, terrorizing, for decades, the native peoples of what would later become the coastal regions of British Columbia, Washington State and Oregon. The years passed and Utiha grew stronger and ever-so-slightly more intelligent as well. Dying young and growing up a Hollow contributed to her rate of growth overall. She’d been quite small, only three and a half feet tall or so when she’d first transformed, now she stood some six feet at least, a frightful and powerful soul devouring machine.
The native people told stories of an evil force, some, Shamans and others with minor spiritual senses began to have sightings of Utiha and other Hollows that fed upon the souls of the native peoples. For nearly two-hundred years, Utiha stalked the Pacific-Northwest preying upon those who called that region home. Her strength and power continued to grow, and so too did her hunger. It seemed no number of human souls, be they wandering Pluses or souls extracted from the living, could satisfy her and she was forced to devour increasingly large numbers to even come close. Eventually she did encounter Shinigami again on several occasions. Sometimes she moved on and attempted to avoid them, others she ambushed and devoured. It seemed like none gave her much trouble, a far cry from her first encounter so many years ago at the summer encampment in the north.
Naturally, she encountered other Hollows as well. At times, she would ignore them, others she would occasionally work with them to corner a common prey and rarer still, she would fight them off to preserve her own hunting grounds. Towards the end of her nearly two-hundred year long romp through the Pacific-Northwest; however, she began to see an increase in competition over the hunting grounds that had been practically hers alone for decades. At the same time, the human souls seemed to do less and less, even in great quantities, and the Shinigami were rare treats, few and far between. The other Hollows who now encroached upon her territory slowly began to appear appetizing.
Soon enough, Utiha found an intruder and attacked, slaying and devouring the other Hollow as she would any other soul. The Hollow seemed worlds better than the measly souls she had been eating and soon enough, her own kind became her new prey. Using her former hunting grounds as a sort of bait, she knew the lay of the land and easily ambushed and feasted upon the lesser Hollows who came to terrorize the native peoples. Over time, her strength and hunger continued to grow, the more she ate, the more she hungered until, finally, she found the lesser Hollows unsatisfying and quickly ventured to Hueco Mundo in search of higher concentrations of larger meals.
She had rarely found her way to Hueco Mundo in the past; there just hadn’t really been a need to travel there. Her former prey had remained in the human world, what reason did she have to visit the world of the Hollows? Until now. Fighting and feasting occupied her time, these Hollows could fight back and many aimed to devour her just as she wished to consume them. Soon enough, Hollow Utiha found herself at the heart of a feeding frenzy, beating away attackers and leaping upon the wounded, gobbling them up. As it often occurs in such cases, the enraged and hungry Hollows congregating densely in one area began to fuse into larger Gillian class Menos. Unaware of this, Utiha continued to battle her fellow Hollows until she too, was absorbed into a Gillian and made a part of its Mindless Mass.
~Into Hueco Mundo/Ascent to Adjuchas~
For several decades the Gillian of which she’d become a part of wandered here and there, went back to the human world and grazed upon high concentrations of wandering souls when the opportunities arose before wandering back to Hueco Mundo. The Gillians were somewhat like a herd of cattle, wandering about with little more than the desire to consume, no real strategy or specialization, just overwhelming size and numbers used to corner their prey. Over time, the various Hollows that made up the Gillian fell into and out of control over the larger beast, some could only hold out for so long contested by the others, though, when Utiha rose to control with her immense hunger and powerful rage built up over the centuries, she took control and held it tightly in her clawed grip.
At the moment of victory, the Gillian’s mask morphed and formed features like Utiha’s old Hollow mask; she was now on her way to the next level of Hollow evolution, though it would take many meals to finally reach. Soon enough, she turned on her fellow Gillian. Mindless, slow, easy prey and no match for her slowly increasing intellect, though; this mental growth was certainly relative. Blending in amongst herds of Gillian class Menos, Utiha launched surprise attacks and consumed great numbers of the beasts, growing steadily in power with each meal and further solidifying her place as the dominant Hollow within the Menos. Life as a Gillian was repetitive yet satisfying, her targets rarely fought back and they provided a decent boost for a time, though, as she always had in the past, Gillian Utiha began to desire more.
At a point, a stronger sense drew Utiha away from the Menos Forest in which she’d spent many decades hunting. Something beyond her present domain, out in the sandy wastes, something much more appetizing called to her and she followed, ready for a real meal. What she encountered nearly ended her own evolution. Not far from the Forest, she came up against a small, wolf-like Hollow that looked up at her great Gillianishness with a hungry gaze. Gillian Utiha very nearly made a fatal mistake underestimating the small Hollow. Though he was small, he was an Adjuchas and likely more than a match for her even at such a peak level. The Adjuchas attacked, Utiha responded with a last-second Cero and managed to maim the smaller Hollow enough to dissuade it from a second leap at her mask.
Mercy amongst the Hollows is nonexistent and, as such, she counterattacked the wounded Adjuchas and gobbled it up. For another instant, Gillian Utiha was satisfied, but the feeling, like always, did not last long and she quickly moved further into the wastes in search of more of the delectable “little” creatures. Over time, she encountered several more of these Adjuchas and defeated them, though, this was never a small task and she could only really handle one at a time, if more were present, they were better left alone. Soon enough, Gillian Utiha’s routine became regular trips into the desert to hunt before retreating to the safety of the Menos Forest. She could handle anything that dwelled there, but the Adjuchas were far more difficult adversaries and she learned to seek refuge after kills to avoid being caught in the open and devoured.
After roughly two hundred and fifty years spent as a Gillian Class Menos, the day arrived and, after devouring a particularly plump Adjuchas, the next stage of evolution took place. The towering Gillian she had become compressed in upon itself leaving an eight foot-or-so tall beast that looked somewhat like the Hollow form Utiha had possessed earlier in her afterlife. Covered in the shaggy white fur again, though, now with what appeared to be bone-like armor covering large portions of her body, Utiha had, at last, become an Adjuchas herself. In that instant, the other Hollows who had fought with her for control over the Gillian body were silenced and became only energy to fuel her. Her mind too, evolved and grew decades in only an instant. Rationality, logic, reasoning, strategy and many other adult human thought patterns became available to her, no longer was she a mindless beast. Though, with her mind, came incredible pain, hatred and rage. She could not remember her family, her life or anything of that nature, but she could remember her name and the terrified faces of those countless souls she had devoured, their horror-filled screams echoing through her mind like a hideous chorus.
Part of her understood that she was now some sort of monster; some part caused her to hate what she had become, though no memories could exactly back up why that was. The maddening desire to consume remained, however and partly out of understanding just what Hollows were and what they ate, though mostly to satisfy her own hunger, she launched herself viciously against her fellow Adjuchas. Even other, smaller or weaker Hollows did not escape her tormented wrath; she killed every beast that came within range, devouring everything, leaving not a scrap to scavengers. She despised the madness and this only drove her madder still. She despised the other Hollows, yet she was one of them. These half realizations and contradictions only helped to whip her into a frenzied rage.
Perhaps some tiny fragment of humanity remained within her, deep down, somewhere, but to an observer, she would appear only as an exceptionally savage Hollow. The dunes were now her domain and many feared her reputation. A lesser Adjuchas could fear only her reputation, an encounter with the great, snow-white, though usually bloodstained, beast lead to certain and unavoidable death. The greater Adjuchas hunted her and she clashed with them on many occasions, forcing them back or, at times, being forced to retreat deeper into the wasteland herself, though it seemed none could ever take a bite of her. Soon, only the bravest and strongest Adjuchas in that corner of the desert would dare venture into the areas that Utiha stalked and fewer still returned.
With each kill, Adjuchas Utiha grew steadily stronger, each bite she could feel easily adding to her power, though each new meal never seemed like enough, no matter how strong her adversary had been. Though she herself knew nothing of the final stage of evolution, likely due to her anti-social nature when it came to other Hollows, she was slowly, but steadily, approaching the precipice. She would never become a Vasto Lorde, however, a chance encounter would shift her fate to something much greater, at least, it would be so in her opinion. Freedom from madness, incredible power, comrades and a God King to serve, after nearly four hundred years as an Adjuchas and easily over seven hundred total years spent leading a tormented existence as a Hollow, she would find something better, an afterlife that she would honestly enjoy.
As Utiha grew nearer and nearer to the peak of Hollow evolution, so too, grew Aizen’s new Army and kingdom. His fortress stood out amongst the barren landscape and towered over all natural features, though the scraggly dead trees were little competition. Few Adjuchas neared the citadel; it was soon widely known that Aizen’s Arrancar could make short work of even the strongest Menos with little effort and many feared the great fortress looming on the horizon. Utiha, ever the anti-social Hollow, knew nothing of Aizen’s Las Noches or Arrancar Army and kept to her corner of the desert, carrying on as she had for hundreds of years before the arrival of the traitor Shinigami.
With the Hogyoku in his possession, Aizen began to build his Army, capturing various Hollows and transforming them with the Orb into Arrancar. Some were magnificent successes, increasing in power hundreds of times over, while others were only partially transformed and even a few were destroyed by the process. Soon enough, the growing army required new “recruits” and the Arrancar were sent out in teams to capture and bring in Adjuchas class Menos for Shinigamification. The stronger the Menos, the better and even some unusual lower classed Hollows were brought in as well for their unique abilities and the like. For the most part, the far out fringes of the desert, the territory Adjuchas Utiha called home, had been left unexplored by the Arrancar expeditions, but, soon enough, they began to encroach.
Utiha soon crossed paths with one of the teams and immediately attacked them, assuming the Arrancar would be just as tasty as the Shinigami had been so many years ago. The Arrancar, however, were like nothing Adjuchas Utiha had ever encountered before. One alone beat her down and the others quickly tied her up with restraints that refused to break no matter how hard she tried or how loudly she roared. Off across the desert they hauled her, up to the gates of Las Noches and inside. Roaring and struggling, the eight foot tall shaggy beast was brought before the Lord of the fortress. As the man, clearly a Shinigami, held up the strange spherical device, Adjuchas Utiha had no way of knowing how greatly thing would change in that instant.
The device was activated and the restraints holding Adjuchas Utiha in place shattered, her thick fur coat, bone-like armor and most of the mask disintegrated almost instantly and fell away leaving the rather plump Inuit woman sitting amongst tuffs of white fur and bone fragments upon the cold tiled floor. In that split second of transformation her mind changed as well, perhaps even more drastically than her outward appearance. The madness that had gripped her mind, the constant hunger, the hatred and rage were gone, her mind was left at peace, if only for a moment. She quickly became aware of her surroundings and unclothed state, the Shinigami standing over her and the other Arrancar around the room unnerved her and she grabbed up clumps of the fur and such to cover herself with.
The brown-haired man before her welcomed her and asked her for her name and, in a language that she found foreign to her lips, yet fully understood in her mind, she answered with her full name. Soon enough, she was ushered out of the large room and away from the other Arrancar by a small servant, clothing was provided and Utiha was left alone for a time in a small room with grand amenities that would have stunned her fellow tribespeople. Clothed and taking a moment to think everything over, the newly “born” Arrancar found her mind filled with general knowledge, the vast majority of which she had no memory of ever learning. Her past, background and the like, she couldn’t even begin to remember, though, much of her time spent as a Hollow was present. She could remember the horrid mixture of feelings that had made existence a veritable hell and to now be free of such things felt miraculous.
A mirror hung upon the wall in the small dressing room or.. whatever it was, and Utiha got the first glimpse at herself since she’d looked in a pond as a Hollow and found a bone-white mask staring back at her. For a moment, she wondered if she was somehow human again, but that hope had been washed aside sometime before. The word “Arrancar” surfaced in her mind and, someway or another, she knew its meaning and understood what she had become. Human or not, she was free of her Hollow form and the primitive, twisted mind that comes with said form and quickly decided this afterlife was quite a bit better than the one she’d had.
Left to her thoughts for only a few minutes, a knock on the door drew her attention and she quickly answered it. Another Arrancar, a fellow who seemed to tower above her in both height and perceived power, ordered her along and she followed him as he led her off down one of the immense hallways leaving the little room behind, lost in the veritable maze that was Las Noches. The rather Drill instructor-like Arrancar gave Utiha a snappy tour of the fortress, or, at least, part of it. She had questions, plenty of them, but he just hurried her along with little interest in her queries. Playing tour guide was clearly low on the fellow’s list and he finished up quickly enough. Before he strolled off, he turned around and gave her a scrutinizing look. He immediately asked where she’d left her Zanpakutou and when she couldn’t give him much of an answer he led her about a bit longer. They went back to the large room in which she’d been “born” and the Drill instructor-like fellow asked several servants where their new “sister’s” Zanpakutou had been placed.
The servants couldn’t give an answer either and skittered about, trying to avoid further questioning. Perplexed, the Arrancar gave Utiha another peculiar look and lead her off once more. After quite the long walk, covering a considerable distance of the great fortress, they arrived at something of a large structure. The Drill instructor-like tour guide of an Arrancar explain that it housed the female Numeros and such before spinning on his heel and strolling off. The sooner she was out of his hands, the better. Almost shyly, Utiha entered the enormous structure, though; little of Las Noches that she had seen failed to be enormous. Settling is was a bit strange, there were literally hundreds of rooms to choose from so finding a place to call one’s own wasn’t too difficult, though, she was quickly “greeted” by several other Arrancar out to inspect the newbie. Utiha still found a million questions buzzing through her mind and, quite unaware of the usual Arrancar social standards, asked her new comrades several questions.
The female Arrancar laughed and several mocked her lack of “common” knowledge. One, something of a dominant figure about the “barracks”, was bold enough to threaten Utiha, stating that the barracks were under her watch and stupid questions weren’t allowed. When the lot realized the newcomer possessed no visible Zanpakutou, they only increased the ferocity of their verbal attacks. Shocked and certainly taken aback to be greeted with such a response, Utiha began to slightly reconsider her decision that this afterlife would be better. She said nothing and felt it better to just move on, hopefully there were others about who would be willing to answer her questions or, at least, show some level of decency. As she walked away, the ringleader of the bunch followed after her, drew an exotic looking bladed weapon and shouted at Utiha. Calling her defective, the female Arrancar quickly caught up in the wake of Utiha’s lumbering gait.
Turning around slowly, just as the belligerent woman reached her and thrust the weapon at Utiha’s face, stating that she’d need to “learn her place”, the “newer” Numero reach out with her left hand, caught the weapon by its blade and stopped the attack in mid-jab. The ringleader looked almost shock and had little time to react as Utiha’s right hand shot forward and gripped the smaller woman’s face. Though the other Arrancar quickly took hold of Utiha’s right wrist with her own left hand, she could not break free. Quickly enough, Utiha had realized the threats made against her had been real and, to secure her peace, at least in front of this group, a small show of force was in order. Lunging forward, keeping control of the weapon and a firm grip upon the smaller woman’s head, she, more or less, thrust her attacker halfway through the stone wall of the hallway, headfirst.
The other Arrancar seemed to loose consciousness and her grip upon both the weapon and Utiha’s wrist lessened. The others, down the hallway, quickly slunk away from the scene and left Utiha alone. With no interest in causing further harm to her aggressor, the pudgy woman released her hold and set the weapon aside before giving the scene one last look. The ringleader was still breathing, that was good enough for her, and certainly hoping she wouldn’t get in trouble for the wall, she strode off to find a room.
Over the next few days, Utiha settled into the Arrancar life. Most of her questions were answered, she was told of her number, Numero Twenty-three, and what is represented, she was told of Aizen and the goals that had been laid out for the grand Army to accomplish. She learned more about the Shinigami, the Hollows and the war that more or less raged between the races. With most things clear to her, Utiha began to feel like she had somewhere stable to belong. Aizen had freed her from a wretched existence, the genocidal Shinigami were now clearly, as they had always been, her enemies and she quickly made up her mind that she would fight for that man who’d given her a second chance with all of her strength and will.
Amongst her peers, Utiha managed to find at least a few decent individuals, even these folks, however, seemed quite quick to violence when confronted with certain situations. It seemed most of the Arrancar were as vicious and they had been while still Hollows and it was rather disappointing. Utiha had hoped for a less combative existence, there was, at least, in her opinion, more to life than fighting. Though she attempted to remain detached from the majority of her comrades, her unusual lack of a Zanpakutou still brought trouble and conflict to her. She proved herself remarkable strong with decent Hierro, though; lacking a true weapon quickly became a major weakness. She found herself beaten down on several occasions by stronger opponents and it was, to say the least, frustrating.
Around this time, she began to formulate deeper opinions. Unnecessary aggressive combat was something she preferred to avoid. Was she some sort of pacifist? Certainly not. In defense, she fought back with terrible ferocity and beat down her fair share of attackers, though never took a life. Amongst the small number she did consider friends; however, honorable sparring type combat was another story entirely. She excelled in unarmed forms as she had no other weapons to fight with. Her Hierro, unlike the majority of her peers, seemed to strengthen slowly over time as well. The cocky Arrancar who’d beaten her senseless weeks before found their strikes could not cause her harm any longer. The sparring grew only more enjoyable over time, there was little else to do besides eat, sleep and partake in fair and honest fights and the lattermost soon became Utiha’s favorite activity.
The challenge and thrill of combat became rather intoxicating. Utiha’s opinions on unnecessary conflict remained steadfast, however, and she developed something of an honor code. Never would she kill an opponent who fought with their all, proved themselves respectful and honorable or one who was considerably lower in terms of power and combat skills. Though her peers had no inhibitions and death was a relatively common occurrence early on amongst the Numeros, Utiha never compromised her morals. Had she beaten attackers to within an inch of their lives? Yes, but it all depended upon how they acted. Did she ever start a fight without a valid reason? She did not.
Her opinions drew unsavory attention often, unfortunately, and she was mocked for these, called a coward and a weakling, but never responded aggressively to words. Rarely did she respond at all to taunts or the like, but when an aggressor made the mistake of taking a shot, she always struck back quickly and viciously. Though she never did find peace for long, she did earn the respect of some and frightened off others who might have considered harassing her. Despite the hostile environment, she found the greatest number of friends came from new “recruits”. Giving a warm welcome, unlike the one she’d received originally, won her respect and admiration from some.
Though life was stable and decent in Las Noches, possessing its ups and downs, Utiha still could not figure out the mystery of her missing Zanpakutou. It made no sense; all of the other Arrancar possessed the weapons in which their Hollow powers were contained. Where the hell was hers? She could never attain the level of power her comrades aimed for, she could never serve Aizen to the best of her abilities either, without it. Lacking the weapon, however, forced her to rely upon herself a great deal more than her peers and her Hierro, physical and spiritual strength and hand to hand prowess continued to improve at a rather unusual rate.
Her long lost weapon would reveal itself soon enough, however, while the Numeros were trained in the creation of Gargantas. The new technique was easy enough for Utiha to pick up; they certainly weren’t allowed to open the portals to the human world, lest they draw the attention of the Shinigami, but training could be conducted within Las Noches moving no farther than one end of the dome to the other. The pudgy Arrancar quickly had the move down, it was simple to create with her already vast and growing Reiatsu and something about the portals just clicked with her. While attempting to aid a few friends in Garganta practice, somehow, Utiha opened a portal to a location she had never been aware of. Occupied with explaining the technique to one of the other Numeros and not pay attention to her own portal, a fairly large black, silver and gray axe shot out of the portal and caught Numero Twenty-three in the stomach.
Launched backwards, Utiha tumbled across the sandy ground and came to a stop. The impact had just barely pierced her Hierro and drew blood, but the sight of the strange weapon, clearly a Zanpakutou, now standing up slightly with a blade buried in a sand dune, drew Utiha’s attention instantly away from the minor scratch. The other Numeros were as surprised and confused as she was as she got to her feet and slowing approached the weapon. Was it? Could it truly be? Gripping the handle of the weapon, the name flashed instantly through her mind, Espacio Cuchilla, Space Cleaver. Lifting the five or so foot axe from the ground, she knew without a doubt that the weapon she held was her strangely missing Zanpakutou.
Clearly it had something to do with the portals, exactly what, she couldn’t determine quite yet. Simply having the weapon now, her power and Hierro only continued to increase. Not simply content with just possessing the weapon, she took to mastering it with all of her will and it came easily. It was like the axe had been made for her and simply holding it, swinging it, using it in even the most exotic ways seemed only natural. With several months past since her “birth” or, as she like to think of it, rebirth, she soon laid eyes upon the man who would become her idol, very nearly her executioner and, finally, her target to surpass in all things. That man’s name was Nnoitra Jiruga and he’d only recently achieved the position of Octava Espada in Aizen’s grand Army.
Utiha knew of the Espada, certainly, but had never really interacted with them. They were above the Numeros in most every conceivable way and just sauntering up and introducing oneself wasn’t exactly proper and, depending upon the Espada, doing so could easily lead to trouble. Miss Numero Twenty-three understood this well enough and made an effort to stay out of the Espadas’ way, never disrespecting any of the great warriors in any form. She heard stories of their strength and prowess and, when the Espada came about to select Fraccion she was always one of the first to line up, hopeful that she would be chosen to fight beside one of them. Each time the Espada selected, she was never chosen and it was somewhat discouraging watching others around her move up.
Determined to prove herself, she trained madly with her Axe, the weapon changing ever-so-slowly in appearance and size as her own strength and power increased. While most of her comrades’ spiritual power and the like had reached something of a plateau, Utiha only continued to improve at a decidedly unusual rate. Soon enough, Utiha became aware of the Great Nnoitra, supposed master of his own Axe-like Zanpakutou. He was such a strong fellow and seemed awfully tenacious and proud as well. Miss Numero Twenty-three soon learned of his “struggles” against Neliel Tu Oderschvank, the Tercera Espada at that time and, blinded by a bit of idol worship and admiration, she failed to see the true nature of the situation. Nnoitra wasn’t the man she thought he was.
Though she never spoke with either Espada, she had formulated extensive opinions of the two, naturally Nnoitra could do no wrong and the evil Neliel was keeping him down. From then on, Utiha made it her goal to become the Octava Espada’s second Fraccion member, second only to the young Tesla fellow whom he’d already chosen. Shortly after her first successful release of her Zanpakutou, Utiha worked up her courage and went to the man himself, hoping to somehow prove herself to him. This was a grave mistake. Nnoitra was in a putrid mood, he’d recently been defeated, yet again, by his “Rival” and, when the pudgy Numero strolled up hoping to impress him, he quickly found a suitable punching bag to take his frustration out upon.
Clubbing poor Utiha around with his large crescent-shaped weapon, he mocked her and asked her what authority or right she had to even speak to someone as grand and powerful as he. He asked her why he would ever consider someone as weak or pathetic as she as he pummeled her into the ground. It was quite the terrible shock, her idol was attacking her and she couldn’t exactly fight back or defend herself. Whatever she’d admired in him was tossed aside and she realized instantly that he was little more than a Hollow in a very tall, skinny man’s body and nothing more. He continued to beat her around, a kick delivered to her side sending her tumbling like a ragdoll into a large red pillar. Just before she lost consciousness, however, the Tercera Espada whom she had unjustly grown to despise returned and stepped in, halting Nnoitra’s rampage.
Though it was never clear whether or not he had intended to kill her, Utiha would never be certain, but she did find her opinions on the two Espada changed completely following the incident. Nnoitra was revealed for what he truly was and Neliel was instantly redeemed in the eyes of the Numero, everything became clear. Instead of trying to prove herself to the Octava Espada, she chose, instead, to aim to remove him from his position. She would never get the chance to repay Nnoitra for what he had done, but she would attain his rank and surpass him in skill, strength and many other aspects that he had once been known for, save for his venomous demeanor.
The next few months, following her recovery from wounds suffered during the encounter with Nnoitra, she concentrated heavily upon mastering her axe and increasing her overall combat effectiveness. Her portal abilities were perfected quickly and she worked on her released form abilities as well, as often as possible without drawing unwanted attention and potential conflicts from other Numeros who might have designs upon her goals as well, or simply felt they could take her down for the sheer challenge. When she discovered her Armory Portal ability, she quickly made it her goal to master each weapon and weapon pair found within it, each unique, yet all felt so natural to wield. As it had since “birth”, her power and strength only continued to grow and she began to feel that her end goal might just be achievable.
She never got the chance to thank Neliel, though she had wanted to. Strangely, the Tercera Espada disappeared without a trace and the Espada ranks were restructured. That peculiar Szayel Aporro Granz fellow was promoted back amongst the Espada and the hated Nnoitra moved up to claim the Quinta spot making Utiha’s goal seem only that much farther away. While things were changing at the top, Utiha came to know two fellow Numeros who would both become her Fraccion once she’d finally achieved her goal. Endriago Masquíerra and Dep, both met at different times, different circumstances, but they would be the two she would choose, or, rather, offer the positions to.
Endriago, she met through sparring practice. The man proved himself immensely powerful and exceptionally skilled with his enormous spear of a Zanpakutou, even dwarfing Espacio Cuchilla in length. Some of her fondest and, without a doubt, best matches were fought against him. Both improved through this practice, but Utiha’s accelerated rate of power increase and the like put her ahead of the curve and, toward the end of her time as a Numero, a bit of a power gap developed, but in skill alone ‘Driago remained up to snuff and despite any power difference, sparring with the former warrior from the middle-east remained high on her list of favorite things. He was an honorable fellow, not exactly adverse to killing those who threatened and attacked him, but Utiha’s morals were her own, not really something to force on others. Quite the gentleman when out of the ring and the like, Masquíerra proved himself pleasant to be around and work with. Without knowing it, he’d secured his position at her side in the future.
Some time later, though, as her matches with Endriago remained regular affairs, she eventually met the scrappy little thing to whom she would offer her second Fraccion position. Dep, spunky, mischievous, stubborn and above all, quite the powerful and speedy little Arrancar, had gotten herself into a bit of a situation with several other Numeros. At least four of them, angry fellows whom she had somehow provoked through some unseen action or another. The lot seemed content with pummeling her into the ground when Utiha happened by. The unfolding scene was quite the reminder, bringing back memories of the bastard Nnoitra and Miss Numero Twenty-three involved herself, lobbing her now massive Zanpakutou overhand into one of aggressor’s backs. All hell broke loose and the two, Dep and Utiha, proceed to beat the snot out of the remaining three. Before she’d even stepped in, Dep hadn’t looked a bit worried; she seemed to be a confident one and quickly won the older Numero’s respect.
Exactly what Dep thought of her in return, she couldn’t be certain exactly, however. It was generally best not to ask at times. If folks respected her, it was Utiha’s philosophy to let them come to her, she’d had her brush with going to people. Whatever the case, she made an effort to wave or make other friendly gestures or the like when she’d see Dep about.
Several events would soon be set in motion and Utiha would rise up and grasp the Espada position she had longed to achieve, the only dissatisfying thing, however, she couldn’t take said position from Nnoitra. Another would take his life from him, though Utiha would end a fellow just as loathsome in the end. Thanks mostly to the acts of one Ichigo Kurosaki, she would get her shot.
~Ascent to Espada/Present Day~
When the Kurosaki boy and his friends launched their mission to steal back the Orihime girl from Aizen and the like, the news that Las Noches had been breached quickly reached the Numeros and Utiha, amongst her comrades, was chomping at the bit to face one of the intruders, but Aizen forbade them from launching random attacks. It seemed he had a deeper plan for the lot and the Numeros were ordered to remain around the barracks and sit tight. Of course it was frustrating, sitting about while the enemy paraded around within the great fortress, but Utiha kept complaints to a minimum, her faith in Aizen-sama was as strong as ever and she did as she was told. Things became a bit more unruly around the barracks; however, when word got out that the Novena Espada has been slain and even more so when it was reported that the Shinigami had sent several of their fabled Captains to aid the intruders in their rescue.
Three more Espada fell and a fourth was nearly killed in battle against the Kurosaki boy himself. When it was over, the intruders retreated and Utiha learned that Nnoitra had met his fate at the hands of a man named Zaraki Kenpachi, a Captain of the Gotei Thirteen. The newly opened Espada ranks were quickly refilled despite Utiha’s attempts at proving her strength. Replacing the Novena, a younger Arrancar named Umi Kumo, the Octava, a wretched and arrogant woman who seemed to live only for a fight by the name of Ikumi Haruo. The Séptima was filled by a rather quite but pleasantly decent fellow named Zephon Kumori while the Quinta position, the one Utiha had been after was given to a very strange new fellow named Oscuridad Doyle. As bizarre as he was, Doyle really hadn’t harmed Utiha and thus, Miss Numero Twenty-three was at something of a loss as to what she ought to do. She wouldn’t attack the man and try to steal his position, that was exactly what Nnoitra had aimed to do to poor Nel.
Undecided on what she would do, she simply dove back into her training, perhaps the Doyle fellow would get himself killed or something and she’d be able to try out once again. How much more would it take? How much longer? She was certain she was close. She’d seen the Ikumi woman practice and show off her released form and the surging Reiatsu she gave off to impress and intimidate felt downright weak to Utiha. What would it take to be recognized? She told her friends, at least, she thought of them as such, of her problems, Dep and ‘Driago and the others and pondered long and hard. It seemed the only way to gain a spot was to either take it or hope Aizen-sama noticed her for her skills and power and made some changes to the ranks in her favor.
An opportunity would soon arise, however, when Doyle was caught red-handed after committing quite the terrible crime. No one ever did learn why he did it, they simply knew he had. For some unknown reason, the mysteriously silent and reclusive Quinta Espada stole away one night and slipped out from Las Noches. He found himself the rarest of Hollows, a Vasto Lorde, a new soldier, a vital part for Aizen’s Army who, through the use of the Hokyoku, could have been transformed into a powerful new Arrancar. Where any other Numero or Espada would have attempted to capture the beast and return it to Aizen, surely winning his favor, Doyle did not. He slew the creature, destroyed it and cost Aizen another potential soldier in the war against the Shinigami. Whether he believed he had gotten away with it or not, Doyle returned to Las Noches that night. The next day, he was called to Aizen’s throne room, tried, convicted and sentenced by Aizen himself. That night, several of Rudobon’s men followed him out and witnessed the destruction of the Hollow before reporting back.
To anyone who could stand and execute the now disgraced former Quinta Espada, the Quinta position would be theirs as a reward. Surprisingly, none present tried, Doyle was a mystery and generally feared by the Numeros, he was rumored to have been naturally created and a Vasto Lorde and the strange air about him simply left many Arrancar uneasy. Utiha had not been present for the “trial” but was quickly informed either by Dep or Endriago, one of the two, she could never remember which, that something was happening with the Doyle fellow. In a rush, Utiha raced to the throne room and arrived as Aizen presented his challenge once more, Oscuridad standing before the vertical face of the throne showing all of zero emotion at the prospect that someone might try to kill him.
Walking to the center of great room, peering up at Aizen and his two Shinigami compatriots, she announced in all serious that she would defeat Oscuridad Doyle in Aizen-sama’s name. Unarmed, having left her Zanpakutou in the Barracks, she didn’t appear at all prepared, but Utiha had a trick up her sleeve. Her portals, through a specific one, the Transfer Portal, she could recover her weapon from anywhere at anytime and promptly held out her hand for it. With a sharp buzz, almost similar to the sound of Sonido, Espacio Cuchilla appeared in her outstretched right hand. The massive axe, now somewhere just over nine feet in length was ready for blood. The Doyle fellow placed his hand upon his exceptionally long, black sword and peered across the room at her. Only seconds later, the two were locked in fierce combat, Utiha grunting, roaring and grinning as she hefted her axe about. Doyle, on the other hand, remained as silent, cool and collected as ever.
It quickly became apparent that Utiha had the fellow seriously outmatched in terms of strength, though Doyle was extremely quick and evaded many of her swings, kicks and thrusts, strangely, without ever once using Sonido. Utiha continued to swing and easily blocked her opponent’s swifter yet weaker strikes. A few she failed to block or evade in time, but each time, her extremely strong Hierro protected her from these rare hits. The fight dragged on and Doyle seemed to run circles around Miss Numero Twenty-three, she simply could not land a hit. A few grazed him, one managed to draw blood, but he was just too quick. On the other side, however, he had not once managed to penetrate Utiha’s Hierro and she could only hope he would slip up or tire or some form of pattern in his attacks would reveal itself so that she could deliver a killing blow.
Once, twice, she managed to predict a lunge and land a glancing hit, though, Doyle’s Hierro was appropriate for the rank he’d held and he often rolled with the hits to lessen the impact as well. How long the battle lasted, Utiha had no idea, but when it seemed she was finally gaining on him, he broke away from her and attempted to release his Zanpakutou. As she wished to avoid using her Sonido to better match her opponent, Utiha charged madly across the throne room and pierced Doyle’s side in mid-release with the spearhead point at the end of her axe. The point punch straight through his body and she pinned him against a wall. His release was only partially complete and it seemed she had prevented him from achieving it. This was a false assumption however, as Doyle then unleashed the blade that had formed upon his forearm and punched it through Utiha’s Hierro, through her side and into her right lung. Shocked by the stab, she loosened her grip upon her weapon for only an instant and that was all the former Quinta needed to deliver a snap kick to her midsection beneath the axe with his partially released Resurreccion strength. Utiha tumbled backwards across the floor, leaving a fair trail of blood in her wake.
Doyle tore the axe from his side and tossed it aside before completing his Resurreccion and mostly healing his stab wound. As Utiha managed to rise to her feet, the taste of blood in her mouth and her right side on fire, Doyle was upon her, slashing away cleanly through her Hierro and into her flesh. He seemed so much faster and infinitely stronger and it seemed Utiha would either be forced to release her own Zanpakutou or die trying to reach it. She had strongly hoped to finish Doyle without using her own Resurreccion but that seemed impossible now. Still determined she managed to recover Espacio Cuchilla and ward off several more strikes. She knew well if she did not release or find some way to end the fight within the next minute or so, she would be killed.
As Doyle flashed by, slashing at her left shoulder like a terrible black blur, she saw her opportunity. With her axe in her right hand, she reached out with her left and took hold of Doyle’s ankle-length hair. Holding on firmly, Doyle never knew what hit him, he was moving so quickly and Utiha had caught so much of his hair, his feet slipped out from under him and he fell to the ground upon his side to Utiha’s right. The freshly healed stab wound was fully visible and Utiha launched her attack. Bloodied, slashed, pummeled and perforated in multiple places by the former Quinta’s forearm blades, Utiha raised her axe, outline gleaming with a blaze of blue Reiatsu and brought it down upon the man’s side. There was slight resistance at first, but this soon gave way and Espacio Cuchilla’s blade sliced cleanly through the fellows waist, cleaving him in two and ending the fight and life – the first life Utiha had ever taken as an Arrancar.
As she stood over the body and looked up at Aizen-sama, she knew she’d come within an inch of death, but it didn’t matter, the wounds didn’t matter either, the pain was irrelevant, she’d won. After receiving medical treatment, she was presented with her Quinta Tattoo and given the former dwelling place of the late Oscuridad Doyle, of course, its stark interior required considerable redecorating, but it was soon a fine home. Shortly thereafter, Utiha offered her two friends the positions as her Fraccion and, to her delight, they accepted. Not long after, on the order of days, the arrogant Ikumi Haruo too, was removed from her position and replaced by a much more competent Arrancar by the name of Aleta, purgeing the Espada ranks of their last undeserving member. Save for, perhaps the Decima and Sexta, Utiha felt confident that she was now amongst some of the best, brightest and most competent Arrancar in existence. The current team, she felt, would be unstoppable and victory would be achieved for Aizen and the Arrancar Race!
With plans for massive attack against Soul Society only weeks away, Utiha is prepared and has faith in her fellow Espada and her two outstanding Fraccion. She has no doubt, whatever may come their way, they shall be victorious.
RP sample: WIP (Will be done at a later time, reviewed separately and added by Sei/Jjij)
I concur with everything Gina has stated about this profile, and any problems can be directed to me for confirmation. That said, Gina is the lucky first recipient of.......
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