A grin split my mask—too wide, too many teeth. Studying had been repetition, running had been rhythm, but this?
This is a language written in blood and bones
"One I could speak—"
The serpent's claws ranked through my lower torso, slicing upwards, leaving glashes that bled freely Blood dropped against the sand- I tried to dodge the next thrust aimed at my face, but I was too slow. The serpent's claws collided with my shoulder, sending a jolt of pain through my body.
"Ahaha—!"
With a broken laugh,I swung blindly, a two-handed hammer-slam that would've shattered stone—
—if the snake hadn't flowed aside like water, dodging again with its slippery movements
Track. Breathe. Strike.
Every movement screamed finality. The snake's tail writhed, and his glowing red eyes tracked every motion, leaving a trail of heat in the air. He was faster—smoother. This wasn't a mindless fight,not one I could afford the recklessness I'd gotten away with before.
But I was learning
In a battle where every attack can be your final, my smile only keeps getting bigger and bigger as my body screams for a release.
This time, I was facing some sort of thing between a man and a snake hollow, or whatever twisted thing it was now. His lower body was a massive, green serpent's tail, while the upper body resembled a human torso, albeit one with claws instead of hands. His face was abnormally large, framed by a mask from which red lights bled, trailing every move I made.
Each time my claws drew near, he danced away with effortless grace, his tail and body swaying, always a step ahead. Faster than me. The ant and bat were animalistic bigger than me, but agaisnt this snake, our sizes were near equal, and the fight was different.
His attack patterns were similar to a dance.
At first, I was overwhelmed by his speed, by his sheer agility. He nearly took a bite out of me, his mouth gaping wide between our exchanges. Blood began to stain the sand, and yet, I kept trading blows, sacrificing my flesh to leave marks on him. They were light, but a hit is hit.
But then it spoke,his voice like razors cutting deep in one's heart
"All fury, no grace, you move like a human," the snakeman hissed
His tongue flicked out, tasting my blood—then spat it back at me
"You're not even worth digesting"it said with disgust.
That made me freeze for a moment, the first words I'd heard with clarity in this hell… and they were laced with spite.
My grin split wider
"Good,"I rasped, "Means I'll choke you on the way down"I said before slashing my claws at him that, he easily evades.
"That grin of yours… it itches, doesn't it? Like a burial shroud sewn too tight. Let me peel it off for you." he exclaimed with a sadistic smile
I blocked his thrust with my forearms, feeling his claws tear deep into my skin. The pain flared, but I welcomed it—it only made my rage grow hotter
This was spiraling out of control. Wounds piled on top of wounds. I was slowing down, my body betraying me with every cut. I couldn't keep trading hits—I needed to finish this.
"Dance with me, beast. I lead, you bleed—such is the music of Hueco Mundo." he said before spinning his tail, lashing like a conductor's baton
I grabbed his tail mid-swing, digging my claws deep into its flesh. The sensation of muscle and bone tearing made me smile.
"Then play it louder"I snarled, as I finally getting a win in our trades this made me happier than ever.
The serpent's laughter slithered around me like poison. "Oh, I shall." His gaze locked onto mine, and then his mouth opened, releasing a spray of red liquid from his teeth that burned into my wounds. "Let me compose you a symphony of suffering, your end coming in the next three movements."
"Dammit"I groaned of course a snake man would have poison..
As my limbs started to become even heavier, I felt nauseous, barely saw the next strike coming - just a blur of emerald scales, His tail sweeps low, knocking me off my feet. My claws scrape the sand as I struggle to recover.
"Movement one," he said, his voice dripping with arrogance, circling me with some sort of elegance.
I spat blood and charged again, my claws slashing the air as he moved around me with unnatural fluidity. His back arched under me, his tail sending me sprawling. My mask scraped the sand as I crashed to the ground
"You're off tempo, beast." He taunted looming over me, his massive head blotting out the moon. "All passion, no precision. Like a child smashing at piano keys."
I stagger to my feet, blood dripping from my wounds. But then, I feel something. The rhythm of the fight is changing. I move, matching his pace this time—not fast enough to avoid the strike, but fast enough to sink my teeth into his forearm. The taste of his blood floods my mouth, and I tear it free..
He recoiled, genuine surprise flickering in those crimson eyes. "You...learn."
Eating his forearm, I could feel my body start to heal itself, after dying almost three times, I learned that my injuries heal if I chunk down some piece of other hollow.
"Final movement," I smiled, feeling the heat in my chest spread through my limbs, after eating the ant, something changed, I could feel things better, but it came not without a cost.
The serpent faltered—his first mistake. I could see it, the tiny crack in his confidence. I struck.
Not with blind rage, but with something worse: purpose. My claws found his scaled belly, and I tore upward, sending gore spraying into the air. His scream was sweeter than any poison he could have spat.
As he staggered back, I saw it—the first flicker of fear in those red eyes. His movements slowed, his confidence fractured.
I wasn't the type to let chances slip.
I crouched low, my quadrupedal form coiled like a spring, ready to strike. Pain faded into the background, my focus sharpened to a razor's edge. There was no other option. I would win.
The serpent staggered, his breath coming in ragged hisses. His crimson eyes flickered with fear.
I lunged. My claws raked across his chest, but I didn't stop there. I went straight for his mask—his vulnerability. With a roar, I dug my claws into his face, pulling apart the mask, sending shards flying into the sand.
His mouth opened in a silent scream, but no sound came. Blood poured from the wound, his face crumbling beneath my assault. I sank my teeth into his throat, taking a savage bite.
With a final, sickening thud, his massive form crashed to the ground, his tail twitching in the last gasps of life.
I released him, my eyes narrowed in contempt as I watched his body crumble into death.
The fight was over.
Once again, I felt that strange satisfaction—primal, raw. Winning made my grin stretch wider. Everything was going according to how it should with,me at the top
Seeing his lifeless body on the sand, I drew closer, a strange fog creeping into my mind. A mix of bread and water slid down my throat, but it wasn't the hunger nor the sense of emptiness that consumed me anymore—it was something else.
Something inside me had shifted after devouring the ant. A fog clouded my thoughts, and each fight brought clarity—but it was fleeting, a haze that left me wondering if I was truly there. With each corpse I consumed, flashes of memories from the past slipped through, but they didn't feel like my own.
...Am I losing myself?
_____________________________________
I kept gridding
Pages blurred together, words floated like ghosts on the paper. I wasn't learning anymore — I was just staring, trying to force understanding into a mind that didn't want to listen. Headaches became part of the routine. Then nosebleeds.
But the worst part? The feeling in my head. It was as though my thoughts were dissolving, too light, drifting away, and every second, I felt like I was slipping into darkness. Every blink was a risk. Every time my eyes closed too long, it felt like I was falling.
I pushed through. I had to. I don't want to fail, I couldn't fail. I wouldn't fail.
One day, my body betrayed me. I blinked too long, my eyes shutting just a fraction too much, and I collapsed in the shower. The sharp edge of the sink split my chin open on the way down. Blood mixed with water, swirling pink in the drain. It was the first time in ages I thought I might've passed out from exhaustion.
But I didn't tell anyone. I didn't even pause to look at myself in the mirror. I just cleaned the blood, hid the bruises, and threw on a hoodie to cover the evidence, put alchool,band aid and called it a day. Then I went right back to studying. Because failure wasn't an option.
I couldn't afford to fail.
Opening another book, I start to taking notes, I promised that this time will be diferent this time I won't fail not now ,not ever again, My hand clenched around the pen like it was the only thing keeping me tethered to reality.
Every moment, every second, every mistake—it felt like I was standing on the edge of a cliff. If I tripped, if I faltered for just a second, it all would be over. I'd fall. No, I couldn't fail. The mere thought of failure twisted my stomach into knots, pulling me closer to the edge of a breakdown.
I already made too many mistakes, this has to be perfect IT HAS TO
"Keep going we already made too many mistakes"
"Har—
___________________________-
Cutting back to reality, I felt my body tremble in pain.
"Ahh... what the fuck is happening..." I gasped for air, dragging it through my lungs, I looked around—same damn desert. Same endless sea of pale sand. The same cracked moon stared down like it was bored of me.
First I almost get killed the few seconds I came here, now I'm drowning in rollercoaster memories like my own brain wants to rip me apart from the inside.
No serpent.
No blood.
No battle.
Just me. Alone.
I rose on shaky limbs, claws digging into the ground for balance. My body was... mostly intact. Scarred and torn in places I didn't remember getting hit. The aches were deep now—not from one fight, but many.
But still...
No enemies.
No prey.
No nothing.
So why am I awake?
I used to black out during the quiet. Only wake up when it was time to kill or die. The "boring" parts, the in-between, they were like static. I didn't even exist in them.
But now?
Now I'm stuck in this silence, the stillness pressing down on me like a second gravity. The wind doesn't blow. The sky doesn't shift. Even my thoughts feel too loud here.
Maybe that fight with the serpent knocked something loose. Maybe eating that ant rewired whatever twisted engine keeps this Hollow form running. Maybe I'm finally going insane—and I'm just lucid enough to feel it happening.
I sat down, more from exhaustion than the will to think. My claws curled in the sand.
"Why now?" I whispered to nothing. "Why am I still here when there's nothing left to fight?"
I closed my eyes, expecting darkness, expecting the next memory, or enemy, or nightmare to drag me under again.
But nothing came.
No flashback.
No flash of teeth.
No screams.
Not even his voice in the back of my skull.
Just... silence.
I hate it.