With the Captains suffering casualties and heavy injuries on their side, all hope seemed to be lost... until Shinji Hirako appeared, along with the rest of the former Shinigami. Though the aid of the Vizards certainly helped to draw the battle in their favor, it seemed Aizen's power alone proved too much for them.
It was late in the evening and certainly hadn't started out like Jericho had planned. He had run into a young Shinigami that was quite strong for his inexperience in combat. Jericho had won but, it was a fight he had tried to avoid. Things just seem to have gone his way. He sat there tending to his wounds, wincing now and then as the alcohol hit them and stung. His wounds weren't too bad. Now the person he sat next too, his wounds were a little more bad off. He had cleaned and bandaged the wounds that he could and even managed to find some tape so as to keep his ribs from causing a flail chest. Now Jericho didn't know about medicine but, he had been injured and fixed up quite a bit in his life. So he knew at least some of the basics. Not like he could take him to the Las Noches medical group.
After cleaning his own wounds he bandaged them up as well. Both of their zanpakutos sat across the room from them, no need for any violent behavior for at least the rest of the night eh? After the bandages he placed a blanket on the Shinigami, along with a cold compress on his head. "Sorry there not fresh out of the dryer clean kid but, they will do," he said, not really expecting an answer. The feeling was still weird, in all cases he probably should have killed him after their battle, then again, Jericho hadn't killed much since he became an arrancar 3 years ago. He then prepared a fire and sat across from the Shinigami, kinda standing guard and waiting to change the compress. Was the compress effective? He wasn't sure but, it was in allot of movies he had seen.
Izaya opened his eyes to the interior of what he just figured was a cave. Wait...why the fuck was he in a cave? He went to sit up but he felt the familiar pain of broken ribs telling him "no". He threw himself back onto the floor of the cave before he really noticed his surroundings. He had a blanket over him and a wet compress on his head. He wasn't sick...why would someone put a compress on his forehead? Then he began to look around even more and then he saw the reason behind this. The Arrancar had saved him. That pesky hollow had spared him and given him a chance at life again. Why had he done that? They were enemies.
"Just for future reference, compresses are really only used when fever's a concern. Although, don't mind my petty complaints; I'm quite satisfied with this level of care all things considered." He looked over the Arrancar again. Why had he done this? Weren't Arrancar supposed to be fully evil and rotten and vile and primitive and disgusting? Perhaps not all Arrancar were like Celia. Perhaps not all of them were mindless beasts who attacked on instincts such as misplaced loyalty. That was quite possible actually...shit. He had misjudged them and he needed to correct for that.
"Thanks for saving me Arrancar-san. You didn't need to do this. You could've just left me be."
Jericho was surprised to hear even a peep from the Shinigami after so little time. He was obviously a tough one. That was a good trait, though it could lead you into trouble. Hell, he knew that better than anybody. He looked over to him with a kind smile. "Well hey there sleepy head, how you feeling?" He asked, legitimately wanting to know. He listened as he talked about the compress. Ah, so he had been wrong about that. Oh well, not like he was practiced in the art of healing people. Fighting had originally always been his bag. Now that this was no longer the case, maybe he had better learn some new things. But, that was for another time, for now he needed to help this Shinigami get on his feet. "Sorry about that, as you might have guessed medicine isn't my specialty," he said kinda grinning a friendly grin and he scratch the back of his head.
What happened next he did not expect from someone he assumed was a bigot. He had thanked him for saving him. There was a warm feeling he felt, what was that? He had never felt that before. Oh well, maybe he would ask Mikhail later... maybe. "Heh its no trouble kid. Also I kinda did need to do this... but that's something not important right now," he waved his hand dismissively. He then went on to continue with. "An if I had left you alone you would have cracked your head open man. Can't just let that to someone who can't catch themselves you know? Besides, I caused your wounds, and there was no Shinigami I could sense so there wouldn't have been any help for who knows how long. Over all, I kinda owed it to you kid," He said trying to rationalize his actions, maybe he wasn't making sense, he didn't know.
Izaya shook his head a bit to kind of clear his head. How was he feeling? Some of his ribs were broken; that was a problem. But aside from that the damage he had sustained in that battle had been minuscule compared to what he had gotten from his last encounter with an Arrancar. He hadn't lost an arm, there was a small upside. However, he didn't want to be so cozy with someone who was little better than a lowly hollow and had just kicked his ass. Aloof, he must remain aloof.
"Oh well, I'm just as good as anyone else who's just had their ribs broken. Can't complain much more than that. It just hurts when I move...or breathe."
"Sorry about that, as you might have guessed medicine isn't my specialty."
Chuckling a little, Izaya thought about how much medicine he had learned in the past year. Losing an arm and breaking a long list of bones tended to make you kind of aware of the medicine behind keeping you alive. After all, without medicine Celia would've easily killed him that day. It wouldn't have taken him too long to bleed out without an arm. Actually, it was kind of a marvel that he hadn't bled out anyway...eh. He would tell this man about the damage he had taken from Celia; he would inform him of his experience with his race.
"I learned a lot about keeping myself alive after an Espada took my arm off, shattered my rib-cage, and otherwise beat the hell out of me with an attack or two. You'd be surprised how much you learn about what keeps you from blacking out due to pain."
Izaya then listened to the Arrancar as he explained why he had saved him. It was pretty faulty logic, but Izaya wasn't in a complaining mood. He had ribs that would need to heal up and he remembered that being a nasty little bitch to get fixed. He didn't care that this Arrancar had kept him from hitting the ground; that was never a big injury anyway. He could've broken one or two more bones which wouldn't matter. It would take a medic a little more time to fix that, oh well. However, Izaya became acutely aware that at this man held his life in his hands if only for a little while. He might as well not piss him off because their recent battle had proven who was stronger.
"You know, you're not very good at explaining things. But, all things considered, I guess I shouldn't complain too much. After all, you at least made sure I wouldn't catch a cold." The Shinigami had added a small little laugh to the end of that to show his joking nature. No need to be an asshole to the powerful Arrancar.
Jericho kinda smirked at the Shinigami's answer and rubed the back of his head. "Yeah, sorry about that I didn't mean to go that overboard. In all honesty I was hoping to not get into a fight with you." He said kinda smiling. "Old habits kinda die hard it seems." He finished. He honestly hadn't but, his old blood-lust had gotten the better of him unfortunately. He would need to work on that. Especially if he wanted to be a peacekeeper or a hero as it were. The Shinigami went on to tell him about his encounter with an Espada. It was indeed impressive that he had survived that encounter but, it wasn't like the Shinigami wasn't strong, so it kinda made sense. Hmm... it was kinda odd though for an Espada to leave someone alive, he wondered if they had been merciful or not. He wasn't entirely sure.
"An Espada uh? Well that is quite a feat, you do indeed impress me Shinigami. Er... I think we sould probably introduce ourselves, just calling each other Shinigami and Arrancar is a little... boring. My name is Jericho Cross, what is yours?" He asked starting out in a light tone and then progressing to a curious one. Now that he thought about it the only Shinigami he had ever talked to for this long was Daigoro Ito, it had been a while since he had spoken to him though. He wondered where he could be and what was he doing. The Shinigami had also gone into him not being able to explain things well which, he had to admit, he couldn't do very well.
"Sorry about that, kinda walking on new ground here. Its different when your trying to turn over a new leaf. As for the complaining its not like you can't I'm not really an expert on health," He said laughing along with the Shinigami. It had been a while since he had laughed while talking to somebody well, in a way that wasn't making fun of them that is.
"Yeah, sorry about that I didn't mean to go that overboard. In all honesty I was hoping to not get into a fight with you. Old habits kinda die hard it seems."
Izaya sighed at this when he reflected on what he had done. He had picked a fight with this Arrancar for no reason other than that he had been pissed at Celia. If he wanted to take his anger out on Celia, he would get back at her pissy fraccion. Adela and Neva, he would fucking get them. He'd fucking get them and make them pay for what Celia had done to him. He didn't care if it made sense.
"Yeah, this was probably my fault. I really wanted to fight an Arrancar to prove myself after Celia."
My name is Jericho Cross, what is yours?"
Hadn't he yelled that out in the fight? Oh well, he could tell Jericho that information nonetheless. He felt that his name couldn't really hurt him in any way shape or form. "My name is Kogi Izaya. I think I yelled that out after my Shikai broke, but I'm not sure."
He just sat there as he listened to Jericho talk about how he tried to turn over a new leaf. He found it kind of depressing. Because, no matter what, Shinigami would continue to hunt him just because he was an Arrancar. And perhaps his past actions actually warranted it. However, Jericho should've known this. But, Izaya felt the need to tell him.
"Jericho-san, I understand that you're trying to turn over a new leaf. However, no matter what you do they'll hunt you. Whatever you were here to do in the world of the living, you need to not do it anymore. It doesn't matter if it was noble or not. That's just how Shinigami are."
"Celia?" Jericho said with a confused look on his face. "You mean the eighth Espada? Man you sure aim high kid, completely bypassed the ninth one," He said with a little chuckle but, at the same time he proceeded with caution. No need to open old wounds right now. "But I guess I can respect that. Any particular reason she picked a fight with you or you with her?" he asked with a sort of earnest appearance. He wouldn't think this guy would pick a fight with an Espada but, he had been wrong before. He remembered his own fight against an Espada, it had been his first Espada he served, Gillroy. That however was a memory from a long time ago, no need to go into it now.
Jericho listened to the Shinigami as he introduced himself and thought for a minute. "Ah that is right, you did say your name didn't you? Sorry was a little out of it at the time," he kinda laughed scratching the back of his head. "Odd ability by the way, breaking your zanpakuto for a random burst to its effects but, very interesting none the less," He said, complimenting the ability, it had, had him fooled for a second or two. Jericho then listened to Izaya's words as he explained that he would never stop being hunted. He guessed this was true, after all he had said it himself. Old habits die hard and besides, old enemies were definately hard for people to trust. A grim and serious look came across his face with those words however.
"If that is the way things must remain then... so be it. I have made my peace with being instantly assumed to be a monster. However, that does not mean I have to choose to live that way. A being ostracized from the rest of the world. Hopefully one day my words will be a strong enough deterrent, and even if they are not... hopefully my strength will be. No one ever said the life of a hero as an easy one, and this is the path I choose to follow," he finished with still a serious face but, it now had a more determined look to it. It was as if he knew he would achieve what he sought one day, no matter the obstacles. "Besides the few who know who I really am... are the ones who's opinion I really care about," He said smiling slyly.
"Celia? You mean the eighth Espada? Man you sure aim high kid, completely bypassed the ninth one."
Izaya reflected upon this information. She was the eighth Espada...did that mean that she was the eighth strongest Arrancar in Hueco Mundo? Or did it have something to do with seniority like their taichous? Perhaps each Espada was just a leader of a group of Arrancars and they weren't ranked by power? If they were ranked by power, that meant that the eighth strongest Arrancar had been able to defeat him with haste. So there were seven Arrancar even stronger than her in that case. Shuddering at this thought, Izaya decided to ask Jericho if that was the case.
"Celia is the eighth Espada? Does that mean she's the eighth strongest Arrancar or that she's the leader of some kind of eighth division?"
"But I guess I can respect that. Any particular reason she picked a fight with you or you with her?"
"I was dispatched to deal with a disturbance. Her subordinates attacked me after they found me. I separated them and got the other hand in the fight. I was about to slit her throat before Celia intervened. She threw me off balance before she blasted me with some kind of blast that blew my arm off."
"Odd ability by the way, breaking your zanpakuto for a random burst to its effects but, very interesting none the less."
Chuckling a bit at this, Izaya thought of how odd his zanpakuto was. Even by Shinigami standards his abilities were pretty odd. Illusion-type wasn't very common among his people. Elemental abilities were much more common in zanpakuto. He actually hadn't met anyone who had abilities like his as of yet. It was pretty odd to admit that he was in the minority when it came to abilities.
"Well, the entirety of my zanpakuto's abilities are pretty unique. Illusion-type isn't common among the Shinigami. I'm actually quite special."
Izaya sat there and listened to Jericho's speech about not choosing to be a monster. It was a pretty impressive resolve to have, he had to admit. However, Jericho's mindset could easily get him killed if someone like a captain had to intervene against him. Frankly, Izaya had done a bit of damage to him and he wasn't nearly as strong as them; he was closer than most though.
"If someone like a captain were to stop you, they would end up destroying you Jericho-kun. I mean, compared to them even my ability is negligible. Conflict against someone like them would be unfortunate and wouldn't end well for you."
"Besides the few who know who I really am... are the ones who's opinion I really care about." Izaya looked away from the man's smile. Yes, he was thankful that he had saved him. However, he didn't really consider himself this Arrancar's "friend" as of yet. Friendship between their two races really shouldn't exist in a climate of hostility. It would be bad for both involved. Izaya knew this, but he didn't know if Jericho did.
Jericho gave Izaya and odd look at his question. Had they not been teaching their Shinigami about the Arrancar Hierarchy? That seemed rather... unintelligent. After all, to know ones enemy was useful while combating them. The Arrancar had been taught about the Gotei 13 at the very least. Oh well, he supposed it was no use now. "Well.... both actually. She is labeled as the 8th strongest and runs the 8th group of fraccion she appoints under herself." He said, clearly educating the Shinigami. "Why haven't you been taught this? I would figure it would have been wide news by now. Oh well." He said with a shrug. "Its kinda like your Captains, but we are ranked by our strength." He finished, it was about all he thought the Shinigami would really want to know about it anyway.
Jericho then sat and heard Izaya's tail.. It was a rather good one and it had clearly been the reason he had attacked him with no reason at all. "I see... Well the important thing is you lived right? Don't need to be self destructive with the life that fate saw fit to give back to you." He said with a slight smile. Was he being wise? Nah, that wasn't like him at all. Jericho kinda smirked when he went on to say he was a special Shinigami for his abilities. Whether that was true or not was of o matter to him. "Now don't get to big-headed, it may be unique but it is still not fully matured," he said with a sly smile. This kid certainly was confident, that was for sure. "But, have no worries, I'm sure you will be very strong one day," He said trying to be nice, though, he was also a pretty good judge of character. At least he thought so.
"Well if I do happen across a Captain, I will be sure to give it my all. Assuming that I will die will only secure my defeat, I like to think with perseverance I can overcome allot. Besides, I might be even stronger by then," He said with a I know I can do it attitude. He showed no hint of fear. Then again, he always saw stronger opponents as an opportune challenge anyway. Then he chuckled, "Then again, that could very well be my downfall as well." He smiled when the Shinigami thought he had a good policy. It was quite a relatively new one, he was glad it had a fan already. "Heh, us talking like this reminds me of a lieutenant friend I have, well, that is if he is still a lieutenant I guess. He actually had this same talk with me. I really do hope hes OK," He said with a little bit of worry on his face. Daigoro Ito, was his best friend after all. He really probably should have made more friends with his own kind but, that never really happened it seemed.
As he sat there, Izaya shook in a kind of terror at the news that he was defeated by the eighth strongest Arrancar. That meant that there was seven Arrancar stronger than her who could also probably defeat him. Shit. No...no! That couldn't be right. There was no way that so many Arrancar would be stronger than him. That just wouldn't work out for him. That was...no...that couldn't be. There was no way that so many lowly fucking Arrancar could defeat him. HIM. That couldn't be right...no.
"There's no way that as strong as she was she was only the eighth strongest of you. That's just not possible."
"I see... Well the important thing is you lived right? Don't need to be self destructive with the life that fate saw fit to give back to you."
"Sorry Arrancar-san, but that's just not how I feel. She almost took everything from me...she owes me for that. If I just let that go then she's won and that's not something I'm willing to let happen."
"Now don't get to big-headed, it may be unique but it is still not fully matured. But, have no worries, I'm sure you will be very strong one day."
Izaya grit his teeth at this. What was Jericho even talking about at this point? Wasn't he already plenty strong? No. He wasn't strong enough to kill Celia...not yet. He was going to get that strong easily he was making leaps and bounds since his fight with her. But he wasn't that much weaker than Jericho right now, and that pissed him off. He didn't like being talked down to so much by someone who had barely defeated him in the first place. But, he kept quiet...he was going to leave soon anyway.
Jericho talked about what he would do if he ended up fighting a Captain. He seemed to not understand; there was a great gap in his current power and that of a captain. It was almost immeasurable in most regards. A captain would be able to defeat him easily; a captain had bankai. He was going to have to tell him this. Not because he wanted to burst Jericho's bubble, but because Jericho needed to know this. If a Captain used bankai, he would have to flee.
"A Captain will be a lot stronger than you or I Jericho-san. Not only will they be more experienced, but they'll also have Bankai which will greatly augment their strength." He tried to lean up a little more to see if he would be able to leave on his easily. His ribs hurt, but it was nothing he wasn't used to. He could open a Senkaimon and leave on his own soon. He didn't bother to listen to Jericho's ramblings about his lieutenant friend; he wouldn't have cared if he'd heard it.
"Jericho-san, I should probably be getting back to the Seireitei soon."