The sands of Hueco Mundo stretched endlessly in all directions, illuminated by the pale, haunting glow of the eternal moon.
It was never day. It had always been night, only remained night, as if this world was stuck in such a cycle.
The air was thick with the lingering Reiatsu of countless Hollows—the strong preyed on the weak, a system where only the strong were allowed to have morals or rights. The weak could only cower in fear and hope not to get devoured.
Gabriel... who had just become a Hollow not even a few hours ago, felt himself growing accustomed to this place. Sure, in his soul, he missed his father. The memory of his dad was probably the only thing keeping him... there.
The only thing stopping him from becoming a mindless beast.
Gabriel could be seen standing amidst the dunes, his crimson eyes narrowing as he gazed at his hands.
He could vividly remember the memory of his first actual hunt—it was burned fresh in his mind. The reptilian Hollow's blood splattered on his face.
He could still feel the sensation of raw power coursing through his veins after devouring the Hollow.
His power seemed to have doubled from what it was before. That was good. That meant he could hunt even stronger Hollows.
Maybe a Hollow that was twice his strength... he could manage that. He knew he had the potential for something great.
He wasn't a mindless beast... for the most part.
He still remembered his human life, though right now, his view of morality was tainted. But hey, you win some, you lose some.
He clenched his fists, feeling the faint reverberations of the power he had consumed.
Though he was curious—he still had a brain and thoughts, and currently, he was curious about that power he had used.
In the midst of battle, he had changed form...
He wondered if he could do it again.
Before that, though, he wanted to see if those wings of his were just accessories or if they were truly useful.
His wings twitched as he flexed them. They felt foreign... after all, he had never had wings before... nor claws... nor walked on all fours. This was a change for him.
He wondered how to use them.
He crouched low to the ground, making sure to spread his wings as wide as he could.
Using his spring-like muscles, he propelled himself into the air, and for a brief moment, he soared in the sky.
Though that did not last long—his flight was quite clumsy, and his wings flapped unevenly. It didn't take long for him to eventually tumble back to the ground.
"Tch. This is harder than it looks," he muttered, shaking off the sand.
The fall wasn't too brutal... still, it kind of hurt a bit.
Though his skin seemed to be way tougher than when he was human.
Gabriel decided to spread his wings again. This time, instead of trying to think with his human brain, he decided to see if the ingrained instincts of the Hollow he had become could help him with this.
If Hollows were mindless beasts... then they had to come with a pre-installed package that basically told them what to do.
He jumped back in the air again.
This time, he wobbled, dipped, and nearly crashed. However, he was getting closer to his goal of mastering this whole flight thing.
It did drain his stamina a bit, but he could fly now. Flying was fun.
Time skip—four hours.
Well, he had become an amateur in the art of flying. He wasn't exactly the best at it, but he was good enough to get out of a sticky situation if the time arose.
"Alright, I can fly. What else can I do?"
As he landed softly, he could feel the sand crunching beneath his feet.
Gabriel reached down and scooped a handful of the fine, silvery grains.
He stared at it for a moment, then focused on the sensation of the power within him.
The memory of his arm transforming during the battle came rushing back to him.
He closed his eyes and visualized the texture of the sand, its coarse yet malleable nature.
Slowly, he began to see the soul of the sand... its essence, one might even say. Gabriel realized he could shape it into whatever he wanted.
He made a hammer, then the sand fused with his hand. His hand shifted. His pale flesh darkened and roughened, taking on the appearance of the sand itself.
Eventually, his whole body became the sand.
Slithering beneath the dunes, he realized... he could still see.
He felt like his power was distributed evenly between several millions, if not billions, of grains of sand.
This should make it... very hard for people to find him... or kill him, for that matter.
Well, this would be his safety net.
Gabriel eventually wiggled his way out of the sand, his body returning to its original state.
Hehehehehehhe.
His fangs became sharper, and his pupils became slitted.
His skin now had reptilian scales. His appearance now bore those different changes.
He was now... adept with his ability.
It was time to hunt.
A/N. If I timed it perfectly, Sora's mom's identity should be revealed,