With his pack finally formed, the winged creature had finally found what he had been searching for many a countless night. And for the first time in he could not count, he managed to fall to sleep comfortably, without a sense of fear and dread of having his face torn off by fangs while he slept.

I cannot imagine that would be the best wake up call myself either.

And so he slept, snoring softly little plumes of grey smoke rising from the nostrils upon his mask as he did so. And then all of a sudden, he he awoke with a start. His head craned back and bobbed this way and that as he tried to make sense as to why he was on high alert. Something was near, stalking him! Peering at his sleeping family gathered around his mask seemingly twisted into a confused frown, nothing.. But then he glanced down at his left front claw and blinked not once or twice in befuddlement, but several times.

A simple red ribbon was looped around his sharp digits and tied to it was a stick of some sort. Craning his neck to one side he lifted the object up and pecked at the stick with his beak. It did not appear to be a stick as he knew it, it tasted of.. Well he didn't know, not of wood or stone and certainly not sand, live in a desert as long as Veza had and you'll know the taste of sand very well. Blasted sandstorms..

Removing his fanged beak from the stick he turned his head to the side and gazed at the silver object with single eye for a very long time in silence, but then.. Something very unusual happened, the creature's red eye or eyes actually, turned into a brilliant white and in a trance the beast spoke.

"Help me, Christmas spitit."

As the entranced Hollow uttered those magical words, a cloud came into being far above Hueco Mundo. This cloud was different from the rest in that it had two things no other cloud did: a pair of jolly eyes, and a large red hat. Neither of these, of course, would be visible from beneath, which meant the dark cloud was invisible in the night sky, more or less. But it had been summoned, and it would do it's duty.

The Great Christmas Spitit saw it's victim far below, staring at the sand with it's bird-like eyes, and from deep within it generated a fierce snrrrrrrrrrrrrrrt noise. Suddenly haaaaaaaaaaack-ptooo! and a fierce glob of cloud-saliva was rocketing through the air. Because of the incredible height and speed, the wad of cloud snot partially solidified before striking the Hollow dead-on at the top of the head. Somewhere between snow and ice, the slush-spit sent Veza deep into the land of dreams, where he was met by another vision: that of a young man, standing behind a counter in pitch darkness, who smiled softly before nodding his head to the Hollow.

"Good morning, Veza-san, and happy holidays."

Goobered and dazed Veza blinked at the tiny man behind the counter, or he assumed he was tiny.. He was certainly fresh looking, ripe for the picking as it were, made the Hollow's stomach grumble. Giving his head a bit of a shake the beast righted himself and sauntered up to the smiling man, cautiously as he sniffed him out, all the while his temper rose as fury began to consume him.

Smelled good too, was making Veza's mouth water.

"What.. What are you talking about? Where am I? Where's my family? Answer quickly or I'll chomp your head off!"

"You are in the land of the Holidays, Veza-san, and the others are back in Hueco Mundo. What I am talking about, is the silver scepter attached to that ribbon." The young man's slight smile didn't fade, and he didn't bother speaking much faster than he already had been; after finally not having to be in that bad place, even dealing with a Hollow was a reprieve.

"You have the Silver Scepter, one third of the Scepter of the Thunder Queen, an artifact from an ancient time. In my possession is another piece to the scepter, one half of the sapphire head; some other soul, somewhere, owns the third piece. If you would like, you may purchase the sapphire half from me at the price of one hundred thousand yen; otherwise, I can buy the scepter from you at half that price. If you choose to keep the scepter, I can hold on to it for you with total anonymity for free, or you can keep hold of it yourself. As well, if you really want, I could try to come up with a quest for you to prove your worth of the second piece in my possession." The young man's smile widened just slightly mid-way through the total explanation, and he simply paused and waited once it was over, to see what the Hollow's choice would be, provided he had no other questions.

The hollow halted its advance, smoke billowing from the nostrils upon the mask. A scepter, to a staff hm? Veza stared at the item for a moment, dangling there from his claw due to the very nice ribbon tied to it. At first while staring upon the silver item he simply thought 'Good, my family is safe, and this one will return me back to them or die in agony.' He then pondered what usefulness this item would be to him.

A staff required hands to hold it, something he lacked. Yes, if he righted himself up upon his black legs he could grip it with both his front limbs, but carrying it around constantly would be an unending hassle. He could see it tied around his frame while trying to fly, whacking off his knees.

"No, I don't want it." He stated flatly, returning his angry gaze to the man, who's smile unsettled even a creature such as him. "I would like to keep the red fabric though."

At the Hollow's decision to forego the item, the man behind the counter simply maintained his smile, either unflappable or perhaps he simply had yet to open his eyes; either way, it would become shortly clear that the scare tactics had little effect. "Of course, the ribbon was a gift free of responsibility." The young man spoke mirthfully, and his hands extended forward over the counter; in them appeared a satchel which jangled thanks to the loose change within, and as it appeared, so did the scepter vanish from Veza's person, sitting beside the spare sapphire as though it belonged in just such a place.

With the scepter gone and the ribbon hanging loosely in his claw, the hollow sat back upon his haunches and eyed the all too happy fellow with red, angry looking eyes. This beastie defiantly did not understand the concept of good will towards men.

"You brought me here, now send me back... Along with that money you promised." Why such a beast would want money is unknown, but more curious things have happened... Like this entire experience honestly.

The young man smiled a moment, then nodded again, his teeth peaking through his lips. "Of course, Veza-san." And then, the stirring sands of Hueco Mundo suddenly surrounded the Hollow once again as he snapped back to consciousness. The scepter was no longer on his person; instead, affixed to the little red ribbon, was the sack of coinage which jangled merrily, as though to sing a bell-like carol.

[Five points earned, post allotment with exit]

Suddenly back in the desert, he glanced this way and that his head bobbing from side to side with bewilderedment and confusion. How did that fiend get him from there to here so quickly, who was he, why was Veza soaked?

Blinking he frowned the best he could with a bird mask for a face and slipped the little bag of metal beneath his wings as he curled back up to sleep. Surrounded by his kin, what else would he need?

A towel. Yes, he could use one of those.

[end all to endurance please]