The clash of swords sparks brief instances of light between the tall trees of Rukia's inner world. The sun having tucked itself behind the mountains casts a shadow on the endless forest below. Steel crashes against steel causing shrill screeches of edge to edge contact of the two blades. Each clash between the blades sparks white and red flecks of burning iron from the blades as they duel one another. Rukia battling for control over her body, and her mirror battling for the right to seek vengeance. Each time the blades crack against each other, Hoakita's laughter is quick to fill in the silence of the forest around them. Rukia doesn't speak, doesn't change her expression and doesn't falter, parrying each and every strike from her twisted other half but she's not gaining enough ground to counter attack. Each strike that is swung at her is only blocked and deflected away from her body.

Backing away from the last strike, Rukia flash steps to the side of a tree before quickly stabbing the bark four times around herself. She grips her blade and points it at her copy calling out the name of the dance. "Tsugi no Mai, Hakuren." She declares, creating a massive avalanche from the tip of her blade. "Did someone turn the AC on? It's a little chilly." Her hollow mocks, raising a hand and blowing away the entire second dance with a flick of her wrist. Rukia's eyes widened in horror seeing one of her strongest attacks blown away with barely a movement of Hoakita's hand. "Don't be surprised Rukia, I know all of your techniques, all of your secrets, all of your kido. I am you, I even know you're not using Shirayuki right." Hoakita says, grabbing her blade with her hand and sliding it along the edge. The blood that seeps from the cut to the hollow's hand seeps into the sword itself and drips down Hoakita's wrist. She giggles at the feeling before bringing her hand to her mouth and lapping the blood dripping from the wound.

Hoakita shifts her eyes from her hand back to Rukia before raising the blood covered appendage towards her opponent. Immediately blue reishi begins to collect and condense into a bright sapphire blue light that sparks erratically as reishi spins from the air towards the light like water down a drain. "Uh oh." Rukia says to herself watching the sphere of light grow bigger and bigger. If she dodges early her hollow will just turn and fire the attack as soon as she comes out of the flash step, and there's no telling how fast this attack will be. Her only choice is to attempt to counter it. She stabs her sword into the tree before extending her dominant hand towards her mirror, her other arm grabbing her bicep as a brace as she flattens her fingers as she channels her reishi to her hands. "Ye lord, mask of blood and flesh, all creation, flutter of wings, ye who bears the name of man, on the blue wall of flame, inscribe the name of the dragon that bit heaven, cast out into fear and greed and strike down to earth. Hado number 88 Dragon Strike Heaven Shaking Lightning Cannon!" She shouts. From the palm of her hand, a small sliver of lightning fires outwards before quickly expanding into a massive energy blast from the small woman's palm. The beam is several meters wide consisting of pure energy condensed into a beam with lightning arching off the main column of energy.

"Gran Rey Cero." Hoakita answers, firing her own massive blue energy blast back at Rukia. Both attacks are large enough to completely envelop the trees in their wake, carving a deep trench in the ground.

The cero and the kido meet in the middle of the clearing that their battle had started in. Thankfully neither blast exploded instantly on contact with the other. Though that isn't the case for very long. The Cero is the first one to stop being emitted from Hokaita's palm, and once free of its creator's control the blast instantly explodes. With the cero detonating, the kido follows suit as well. The point where both beams had struck one another explodes, the shockwave from it leveling trees for dozens of kilometers in all directions. Both Rukia and Hoakita are sent flying in opposite directions from each other from the blast. Rukia has to stop herself by dragging her sword through the ground with her counterpart doing the same. "Oh, there's beauty in annihilation isn't there?" Hoakita asks, laughing as she sees the devastation created by the massive blast. "There's no consequence for the destruction our battle is doing Rukia. The trees will regrow and the world heals. That attack took a lot out of you didn't it?" Hoakita mocks, though the distance between them doesn't hamper Rukia's ability to hear the mocking voice of the hollow.

"W-what do you mean?" Rukia asks, trying to catch her breath. "I can do this all day." She bluffs, but she is well aware that if she has to fire another kido on that level she wont have the energy to bring down her foe.

"You're starting to sound as stubborn as Ichi is." Hoakita replies, using a hollow technique to instantly appear in front of Rukia, the noirette woman having zero time to react as Hoakita grabs her by the chin. "Don't lie to me Rukia, as impressive as that was. It's far from what will gain my respect and even further then what it'll take to best me. How have you not realized it sooner I'll never know."

"Realized what?" She squeaks out, the pressure on her jaw and cheeks slightly compressing her mouth making it harder to talk.

"That you're a hollow now, so you have to fight like one. You're using your head when you should be relying on your instincts. Attacking any moment you see the slightest opening and not relenting even for a second. What is holding you back? Is it fear? Is it because you're afraid of what happened to Kaien?" Rukia begins to tear up when Hoakita says his name. "Get over it. You never failed him, he failed himself. He didn't ask for help when he needed it against that hollow, even when you offered he turned you away. Stop blaming yourself for his death when you weren't the one to eat his soul. You exercised the shell of a shinigami that was being eaten from the inside out by a hollow."

"THEN HOW WILL I NOT HAVE HIS FATE WHEN I HAVE MY OWN HOLLOW?!" Rukia yells, forcing Hoakita's hand from her mouth. Tears begin to stream from Rukia's eyes at the painful memory and the anxiety she feels knowing that she may share the same fate.

"Revenge." Hoakita answers. "Aizen made that hollow, he made the hollow that bit Kaien, just like he made the hollow that bit you and birthed me. He has hurt us more than you could ever know. I am a part of you whether you like it or not. You wont have closure until you forgive yourself for what happened that night, and until we kill Aizen."

"How... how will we do that?" Rukia asks, looking up at the blank version of herself.

"That's something you have to figure out for yourself. Among the other problems you have, the most glaring is how pitifully you use Shirayuki." Hoakita says, right before kicking Rukia in the stomach, sending her flying into the stump of a destroyed tree. 'Utilizing just your reishi to create attacks, when you could be drawing on the reishi from around you, from others. Using everything to your advantage to win. With hollow power you need to think like one as well. Use power from any place you can rip it from. You're just using the reishi within your body and nothing else. Even now your sword is melting because your power is dwindling." Hoakita explains as she twirls her own sword about, completely different to how any of Rukia's other dances would begin.

Hoakita twirls her crimson blade like a ballerina of death, its silk sash flowing elegantly behind her as she twists and moves. The movements allow for the sword tail to flow around her body like gentle wisps of fog. The air immediately begins to grow cold, with Rukia's breath beginning to condense and become visible. With a twirl of her wrist, the blade flies upwards like a saber toss from a color guard dancer. Ice begins to fly off the blade as it twirls gently in the air. "Shi no Mai, Ochite Kuru Ha." Hoakita whispers as it begins to snow. Each flake that gently floats to the ground carving long thin streaks of ice in the air, the fallen trees and along the ground. Hundreds of razor thin and razor sharp strads of ice hold perfectly still in the air as the hollow catches her sword. "Fourth dance, Snowing Blades." Hoakita says before catching her sword, giving it a quick and powerful strike. The movement of her sword causes the strands of ice to expand outwards becoming near invisible whispers of death. As soon as the first one makes contact with her wrist, her skin is split open just like if she had been caught by the blade of a sword. Rukia quickly flash steps away from the deceptively gentle attack before raising her hand and chanting a defensive spell. "Bakudo number 81. Danku!" She declares creating a pillar of impenetrable reishi. The thin strands of ice bounce harmlessly off the reishi wall but their impacts are clear as long scars and scratches appear on the layer of reishi created by the spell.

"You only utilize a fraction of Sode no Shirayuki's full potential. She is the most beautiful zanpakuto in the entire soul society... and the most deadly. Use it, beauty hides ill intent how many animals look beautiful but kill with poison? Sode no Shirayuki is no different." Hoakita explains.

'Use what's around you.' Rukia thinks to herself, looking at the wound that traces the length of her right arm. Blood leaking from the entire deep cut that spans from her shoulder to her index finger. Her tattered robes exposing bruised and cut skin beneath, and nearby the frozen and shredded landscape around her. Focusing her energy and sensing what's around her, Rukia takes a deep breath and exhales, her eyes glowing a deep violet color and her breath creating snow. She turns to her bloodied arm and exhales along the length of the wound. The blood that had trickled from her cut is pushed towards her hand as it begins to freeze. She brings the melted remains of her sword to the blood on her other hand. Dipping the melting tip against the droplets that stained her pale skin. Hoakita looks on in amusement watching what her adversary is doing. Rukia draws upon her own blood, the frigid air as well as the ice that has crystalized the ground beginning to reforge her weapon in the depths of this frigid tundra. The beautiful white blade now taking a slight lavender hue as her blue reishi mixes with the blood that she froze to reforge the blade. When it takes its full shape once more the sword causes the very air to crystalize and drift to the ground as snowflakes. She stands to her feet, twirling the sword about by the long silk tail. The air it cuts through instantly turns to ice as the silk tail gets closer and closer to the pommel. Once it uses up the rest of its length Rukia snatches the blade and stabs the ground.

Hoakita notices far too late that this was the birth of a new dance for Sode no Shirayuki. From the point which she stabbed into the ground, a trail of ice flash freezes the dirt and soil upturned from their fight. The flash freeze traps Hoakita's feet to the ground, having frozen her to the stump of a tree that had been blasted over by the Kido vs Cero exchange. She smiles seeing Rukia gain the upper hand. The shinigami herself quickly pulls her sword from the ground and points it outwards with her other hand opening as wide as it can. She quickly brings her hands together on the hilt of the blade. The air and reishi around her hollow immediately freezes to snow, being pulled to the hollow by the direction of the dance. Ice accumulates rapidly around Hoakita's body completely immobilizing her. "Go no Mai, Hyogaki Machibuse." Meaning Fifth dance, Ambush of Ice.

"Much better." Hoakita says as she watches Rukia walk up to the hollow ready to strike the final blow. "You have earned my respect, Rukia." Rukia doesn't answer, instead she raises her sword up ready to strike Hoakita down. Before she can swing, Hoakita breaks through the ice causing Rukia to take a step back preparing for a new attack. Instead Hoakita bows to Rukia before standing. "Now we go kill Aizen." She says before flash stepping in front of Rukia, the shinigami's eyes widen in horror expecting a strike but instead Hoakita grabs Rukia by her gi and pulls her into a kiss.

To say Rukia was shocked is an understatement, she's so stunned she couldn't tell herself to either stab Hoakita or break away from what her hollow is doing. It lasts barely a moment though as the hollow separates from her then begins to fade. "I shall become the chariot to draw you into battle, the armor that protects you from your enemies. The mask that hides the queen's face from leering eyes that arent her king's. When you need me, say my name and I shall aid you." Hoakita says as her body disintegrates into red and white reishi. The spirit embers of the hollow surround Rukia collecting themselves as Sode no Chimamire Fuyu on her hip at her right side. Crimson snowflakes gravitate to her lips, staining them as red as blood and dying the white robes beneath her shihakusho the same hue.

Her inner world soon fades to black as consciousness returns to her. When she becomes cognisant of what's going on, she finds herself in a heavy blade lock against Renji looking at him from behind the mask. The hollowfied skin that covers her body sheds itself, cracking away and disappearing into ice that melts to the floor. Leaving her sporting the full mask of the snow fox. Renji notices the change in Rukia and catches her as she falls forwards, the energy that her berzerk body had expended now showing her the consequences. She brings her hand to the mask over her face and pushes it aside. "I won." Rukia says, greeting her best friend. "W-where's Ichigo?"

"He came to shortly before you did." Renji answers, wrapping a hand around her shoulders and helping her to her feet. "Though it would have been nice to know the two of you were a couple."

"How do you know?" She asks.

"Your hollow self was all over him like an overly affectionate cat, and he shot ceros at anyone who even looked at you. One of them was so strong he put a hole through the fucking mountain above our heads." Renji says pointing to the massive circular hole that leads to sunlight. "When did you get a second sword?"

"It was hers." Rukia responds as Renji helps her get to Ichigo and Byakuya. The former of which is laying flat on his face still wearing his mask.

"Rukia." Byakuya greets.

"Nii-sama." Rukia answers, "S-sorry if the other me caused any trouble."

"Kurosaki was the troublesome one. Your hollow only lashed out after Abarai slashed at you and Kurosaki trying to separate the two of you." Byakuya answers, reaching down he picks up Ichigo from under the shoulders and hoists him over his back. "Let's get you two to the fourth squad."

"You're not mad about Ichigo and I?" She asks.

"I asked him to protect you, to care for you where I failed. If this is how the two of you see fit, then so be it. The elders will want you to be married now that you are courting him, but that is a conversation for another time." He answers.

"Yeah, let's get you and carrot top healed up, you look like you got stepped on by a Menos." Renji jokes.

"I practically fought a hundred of them." Rukia answers as the Lieutenant and Captain escort her and Ichigo to the fourth division medical center.