Nice to meet you, I will beat you[Amaranta, Hana]

"Keh, what can I say? You're not wrong. That's what all you soul reapers are told. Hollow bad. Hollow needs to be cleansed. I get it. It's your duty, but half of you guys just go running in ready to risk your lives without a second thought."

Amaranta turned to the woman by the tree as she paused in her target practice, lips curving into a grin as she chuckled at the woman's disbelief that she hadn't taken her life. It really wasn't some noble act on her part to prove that Arrancar were a kind people, not by any degree in fact, but she supposed her lesson wouldn't have meant a damn if she died. How could you learn from the grave?

"I didn't kill you because I told you I don't enjoy fighting those below my level of skill as a fighter. I wouldn't say I care about you, but I do care about wasted potential. How could you learn a lesson if you died, hm? Your bravery was commendable, but you really need to learn how to pick your battles. Not every Arrancar is looking to start a fight, but for those that are, you don't go running in and getting yourself killed. I mean, fine by me, if you don't value your life, but I know you guys probably got parents, friends, or lovers you want to go back to, yeah?"

Parents? No. Lovers? Pfft. Friends? Yeah, she had one or two. Running in like an overconfident fool would do her friends no good. How would Hiroe feel if she found out Hana had died because of some stupid mistake? Hana did not think it was really her fault though. She sensed practically nothing here. Amaranta must have been hiding her spiritual pressure; Hana should have considered that in her plans.

"Wasted potential, hm?" Hana said, deciding to get up, using the tree as a brace. Great, an Arrancar saw potential in her? What the hell did that mean? It didn't really create confidence in her abilities. "And what exactly is my potential? I doubt much."

"With an attitude like that? Easy. Zero."

Doubt? Amaranta wanted no part of that. She could sulk on her own if she decided to start going on about her lack of potential. Far as she was concerned, there was something to be said about someone brave enough to fight her to begin with. Her senses betrayed her, true, and the leonine woman wasn't going to pretend that she didn't keep her spiritual pressure dampened to avoid a boring confrontation. Even so, she wasn't in the mood for sulking.

Comparably speaking, Amaranta knew what it felt like to be at the bottom of the totem pole once. Before her evolution, she was but a mere hollow cub who satisfied herself with the superior beast's leftovers, a bottomfeeder whose survival was predicated on the hunt of anyone else but her. In other words, an excuse of creature who only valued perseveration. Yet, she grew a pair, persevered, and ended up where she was now. Doubt wasn't going to help Hana, and Amaranta simply shot it to her straight, ridiculing the woman.

"What? You gonna start doubting yourself after you got knocked on your ass? Pfft. I guess your confidence didn't amount to much, after all, huh? You might as well retire now and live out the rest of your day's being protected by someone else. Potential is a two-way street. If you doubt there's anything there to begin with, you don't really need to explore it."

Amaranta groaned softly, shrugging her arms as if she truly couldn't believe the woman understood what it meant to believe in her own potential. She wasn't going to motivate her, tell her something she felt she ought to understand. For a moment, she was actually rather amused by the guts it took to soar in for a strike. It was stupid and reckless, but it still took guts. Precisely because she was stupid and reckless herself, she thought she saw something here... but maybe she misjudged her.

"I can't answer that question for you, brat. I will say this, though. I fought two soul reapers before. Hell, one of them attacked me just like you did. Honestly, walking away from those battles, I had fun fighting them. Those two are destined for great things. Tento Zefa. Morikawa Mizu. When faced with adversity, they sought to impose their will against me no matter what. They fought me like they wanted to defeat me. If you can't enter a battlefield with even a semblance of conviction like that? Go home and retire. Live out your days being protected by someone a little more capable."

In other words, from her point of view, that is what she felt the woman lacked. Conviction. Life wasn't easy, and it'd kick your on ass nine times out of ten, but that's what made the struggle so worthwhile. Overcoming the odds and coming out on top stronger than you were before. Evolution through the survival of the fittest. That was her philosophy, and so far, after being impressed for a minute, she's slightly disappointed now.

"Do you realize how much you talk?" Hana said, sighing. As she leaned against the tree trunk, the knot in her stomach was tightening with Amaranta's continued lecture. When Amaranta mentioned Mizu, her attention was caught. So, Mizu fought someone like her? An actual Arrancar and came out on top? Hana scoffed.

"Who gives a damn if I need to be protected or not," Hana said, snapping back in anger. "I don't. In fact, the idea that every person out here should be able to fend for themselves is exactly why so many just suffer through life because they can't get a foothold in a world where people like you constantly knock them back to the d-"

"Forget it," Hana said, standing up straight. She brought her zanpakuto in her hand, staring at it. It recently transformed into something more than a basic asuachi, but that didn't mean shit. "My apologies for wasting your energy," Hana said. "I am no Mizu, and I never will be. So, this ant is returning home."

There was a dull change in Hana's eyes. Something in her mind clicked off. She turned on her heel and began walking away, turning her back on an Arrancar that could easily kill her. Yet, she did not care. Stab her, it wouldn't matter.