SPOILER: Click to show

Timeline
Takes place about a day after the event.

Darkness had fallen across the land. For the midnight hour was close at hand. Creatures crawled in search in search of blood. And terrorized the neighborhood. And whoever was found, would have to stand and face the hollows of hell. But soon they would rot as a corpse's shell. There was a stench most foul within the air. The funk of many thousands of years. For grisly ghouls from many tombs, had attacked to seal everyrone's dooms. But as they fought to stay alive their backs began to shiver. For few could resist the excitement and the thriller.

BUT THIS HAD ALL HAPPENED MANY YEARS AGO WHEN THE HOLLOW HAD RAVAGED THIS PARTICULAR PART OF THE FOURTH DISTRICT. Except for the part about the ghouls. That happened about a day ago (which explained the smell). But more importantly THE SMELL WASN'T RYUU'S ANYMORE. For he had made sure to combat the smells once everyone abandoned him the day before.

Now some may ask what Ryuu was doing in this spot of the fourth district among the charred ruins of a battle long since past (some of the ruins may or may not have been Ryuu's fault). The answer was that Ryuu was bored so he decided to go for a midnight walk. There he had found a rather mean bearlike hollow and after killing it Ryuu had cut it open to enjoy a midnight snack. Spearing an organ out with his blade, Ryuu kept it on the tip and was currently munching on it. And so Ryuu would enjoy his midnight snack as he looked up at the stars and devoured the raw internal organs of a sentient being. Plus he was also looking up at the stars and thinking about the big questions. Like "should I save some for later?" and "Should I add some spices to this?" AND OTHER IMPORTANT STUFF LIKE THAT.

Today was not a happy day for the young dragon-like hollow. All that nasty stench from yesterday had effected her stomach more than she thought it would and so she didn't get as much sleep as she hoped she would. Kurai walked through the outskirts of the fourth district of Rukongai, her serpentine tail dragging behind her due to her lack of sleeping. How dare those stinking creatures make her lose her food she worked so hard to catch!

Kurai would continue to grumble when she spotted a human-esque creature wandering around close by. Was it another ones of those stinky creatures? Kurai sniffed the air, not finding any of the stench the zombies had permeated. So then, was this creature one of those Rukons or Shinis? The only way for the hollow to know was to use her sneaking skills and sneak even closer to the one known as Ryuu.

Taking another bite into the organ, Ryuu savored the taste and smiled. It tasted quite scrumptious. Had flavor and texture and everything (although maybe Ryuu should add some spices in). HOWEVER THAT WAS WHEN RYUU THOUGHT HE HEARD SOMETHING. Perhaps it was just him or maybe it was something else but Ryuu was now on the alert.

Looking around, Ryuu was unable to spot anything (yet). However Ryuu had enough experience to know that just because he doesn't see something doesn't mean that something isn't watching him. Sniffing the air as he continued to look around, Ryuu was able to identify a new smell. However Ryuu was unable to determine where it emanated from. For while he still had a bit of his more animalistic instincts and traits from the time when he was and adjuchas, they weren't as sharpened as they had been."Are you going to come out?" Ryuu said. Perhaps his guest would take the oppurtunity to reveal themself. It would be a good oppurtunity to prove that they weren't hostile.

Kasha was not pleased. The last few days had been bizarre beyond compare and nothing more so than meeting no less that four Arrancar all in one place. The so called evolutionary species of her race confused her without limit and by the end of the odd encounters she had no clearer picture of their abilities and characteristics than she had before it all began. Well that wasn't true, she mused ruefully; they were all bug ass crazy. What disturbed her the most about this lack of information was she hadn't learned how the change from Adjuchas to Arrancar was initiated. She had to avoid that ill fated destiny at all costs.

Cost. How did she measure such a thing? What was she willing to give up to gain what she wished to learn? The thought had her all kinds of upside down, so much so that she had left the clearing without even dragging the carcass off to nosh upon that Ryuu had left behind. With the way game had been scarce near her hunting grounds that move had been beyond foolish. She desperately wished to learn this secret from the Arrancar but at the same time she struggled with an overwhelming pride that would not allow her to accept the abandoned body to eat. It had been years since she had been forced to feed upon carrion and she had been in no mood to take up the habit again. She was beginning to regret that choice.

By the time she made it into the fourth district, even the thought of those candied eyeballs Ryuu had was seeming like a missed opportunity to Kasha. However, it had been a wise choice to come here in search of prey. She didn't know why the young lovers had decided to come way out here for their little rendezvous, nor did she care. Being stupid and uncommonly inept at defending themselves had not made them taste any less juicy. She had dispatched the man swiftly enough biting clear through his neck with a snap of her jaws. The woman she had taken time to torment; her screams caused Kasha's spirits to rise a bit and did much to give her amusement.

She ate of her fill of the woman and then drug the man off to a different location. She intended to have him for breakfast after a good sleep. So it was that she found a hollowed out tree to rest within. She tossed the man inside and then lay upon his body in the sheltered space and let her eyes close. Sleep came swiftly as it was greatly needed.

"Are you going to come out?" Kasha's eye popped open and she scented the air. Had she been dreaming? Surely that was not Ryuu? And then his smell wafted toward her on the night breeze mingled with that of another. Brilliant. The Fates no doubt were having a heyday with her. She thought about calling out to him to be quiet and let her sleep, but held her tongue. Perhaps he hadn't detected her but instead was hailing this other person. Keeping still, Kasha decided to wait things out a bit longer.

Shi did not repeat his previous mistakes, eyes darting around as he approached the distract from the wasteland. At set short intervals the short Arrancar would glance behind himself to make sure he wasn't being followed and then scanned the area before him while he walked. It was clear that there was something amiss though as he reached his destination, and it hit him as soon as he got within range. There was an unusual scent that frankly would have been commonplace in the wasteland, but to his knowledge not the Rukon Districts.

Something was up and Shi needed to know what and if at all possible, take advantage of the possible opening into the Rukongai districts. Keeping to the shadows and alleyways, Shi began weaving his way around to try and locate the heaviest source of the foul stench. Though it was not long before he caught the sound of a voice, and immediately began weaving his way towards it. It sounded familiar, and given who he knew, the list of suspects were few.

Andra or Ryuu. It was one or the other, he had met them both and could recognize their voices decently enough. Perhaps they had come to investigate after catching wind of the stench after the little encounter the day before. Shi curled his lips before stopping short, and sticking his back flat against the wall of the semi-ruined house, looking around to see if he could spot Ryuu.

Kurai stiffened when she heard the voice call out, "Are you going to come out?" That only meant one thing... Kurai was a horrible sneaker!! Realizing this only hurt the hollows pride. Kurai sadly slunk out of her sneaky hiding place, showing herself to the odd looking humanoid figure. Hopefully it would see how pathetic Kurai really was and let her live.

"Please don't hurt Kurai! Kurai was just trying to find her way to her favorite fishing spot to catch more of the yummy fishies! Kurai doesn't want to cause any trouble!!" The hollow kept her fairly large body low to the ground and her wings firmly pressed against her body, hoping she seemed harmless enough.

And his plot worked. Identifying a few other smells that were out of place and didn't belong to Kurai, Ryuu made sure not to lower his guard. However he would allow himself to appear as if he did in order to lure out any more guests. Perhaps it would work and the guests would come out peacefully. If not then at least Kurai would be able to be a good distraction so Ryuu could escape.

Giving Kurai a kind smile to calm her down, Ryuu was able to see that she was genuinely scared. It was odd to see a hollow so squeamish but Ryuu had seen a few odd things recently. Besides Ryuu saw a great oppurtunity to manipulate that fear to his own advantage. He would convince Kurai to join him. Then he could get a black cloak and ride on her back and they could go hunt fat hobbits with rings. JUST LIKE THAT ONE STORY. The one where the twist was that the psychic guy in the black armor was the hero's father.

"Kurai was it? There's no need to be afraid, I believe you were the one who helped me yesterday. So relax and have a bite to eat." Ryuu said while indicating towards the hollow that he had recently killed. Perhaps that would be enough to calm the hollow down. Although Ryuu was bit interested on why Kurai seemed to be so intimidated. Well that and what she was doing out in the wastelands if she was going to a fishing spot. THIS SOUNDED LIKE ANOTHER MYSTERY.

Kasha Cocked an ear straining to hear the voices of the two as they conversed. Kurai? Who was that? The voice sounded female but one could never tell. And she sounded scared as well. This too was difficult to tell as people were prone to affectations.

She resisted the urge to sigh and remained quiet instead. The Arrancar and some other person. It could prove to be entertaining of sorts. Her stomach was full and she was in no immediate danger. So she surmised...

And then the wind brought to her yet another scent...it was the one who taxed her so with his words. Arrancar. Her whole life without encountering them and recently they were as prevalent to her existence as fleas. She lay her head down upon her forelegs and remained very still and alert. Things could get very interesting indeed.

Shi stiffened as he heard not Ryuu's voice but another's. Whether or not it was Hollow was impossible to tell without actually seeing the speaker. But he did at least catch Ryuu's and quietly began approaching while sticking to the shadows. His eyes darted around swiftly, taking in everything possible and scanning for any other being possible. It was unwise to believe that he could approach without detection; that much was obvious. Though frankly Shi was more inclined to believe that only another Hollow could detect him easily, given his low experience with any other form of tracking outside of the five natural senses.

Shi cocked an eyebrow at the small exchange; Kurai? A Hollow helped Ryuu? With what exactly? What occurred the day before, after Ryuu left? Perhaps they encountered Andra as well, perhaps not. There was much to resolve and Shi could not do so without approaching further. Carefully he continued and then stopped short immediately upon catching a glimpse of Ryuu and slipped up against a set of barely salvageable boxes. His eyes darted to the rooftops and then any other little places that another Hollow could hide in. At least, another Arrancar perhaps.

Kurai would blink her crimson eyes as she sniffed the air for the hollow corpse the arrancar was motioning towards, catching the dead meats scent as well as another faint one coming from behind Ryuu. Her head would raise slightly at the thought of a free meal. UNLESS, the arrancar had some ulterior motive. If that was the case, two could play at this game.

Out of all of the words only "Have a bite" and "you were the one who helped me", but mostly the partaking in a free meal part caught the younglings attention. The hollow would creep closer to Ryuu and the dead hollow, keeping her eyes fixed on the arrancar.

"What is creature in front of Kurai? Creature looks like shinigami but creature not wearing shinigami clothes. Does that mean creature is human? Hmm, Kurai don't know... And Kurai didn't help anyone, at least Kurai don't think so."

Smiling at Kurai, Ryuu noted that she still seemed unsure about him. Which quite honestly was probably one of the more intelligent things to do when interacting with him. BUT NO ONE KNEW THAT. Well no one outside of dead people really knew that. But they didn't count. Although technically Shi would also know that but that was more of an instinct so he didn't count either.

"I was once and Adjuchas like you. But then I evolved into what is known as an Arrancar." Ryuu said in response to her question. A bit unsuprised by how she didn't remember him Ryuu decided to give her memory a prod in the right direction. "It was yesterday during that attack. You killed that flying thing. Now feel free to relax and eat as much as you want." Ryuu stated to the hollow with a benevolent smile on his face. Perhaps that would help jog her memory and put her at ease.

Still smelling the smell of other Hollow (although he still didn't have their exact location), Ryuu decided to risk calling out again. "For the other hollow who are skulking about, I would appreciate it if you would come out into the open. If not then I will assume that you want a fight." Ryuu said to Iyashii and Shi (not that he knew it was them or where exactly they were). However he would soon have to start blowing things up in order to flush them out if he was unable to identify their presence as hostile or not.

Upon hearing Ryuu call out for those who were hidden to reveal themselves, she snuffled air through her nostrils in a loud snort. She had hoped to hear him speak more about this evolution thing to the one who called herself Kurai. As he seemed to be the talkative sort, she didn't suppose her moving from the hollow tree would actually put a damper on his propensity to be verbose. This talk of him being helped had also piqued her interest. Perhaps he was not so adverse to the notion she had proposed concerning forming friendships as the Shinigami and Rukon folk did after all. If recent events had been a wealth of confusion for Kasha then one thing was clear, our kind appear to be congregating more than in the past. Some sort of change was in the air.

Rising to her feet, Kasha emerged from her sleeping chamber leaving the dead male to lie where she had deposited him. As she paced across the rubble strewn ground, she placed herself with respect to Ryuu and Kurai so that the three of them would form the points of a triangle. Her voice cut the silence gently so as not to project more of a menacing figure than her wolven aspect already did. "Hello Ryuu. It seems you have found yourself yet another friend this day. I was just resting after my meal looking to get a little sleep." She offered up this bit of unsolicited information so as to make it known she would not be a contestant for the free meal he had offered to Kurai.

She turned her massive head toward the Adjuchas, her barbed tail lax behind her in a relaxed manner, and noted her unique aspects. Winged creatures had always fascinated, if not annoyed, her. They were too unpredictable to face in battle for her own tastes, preferring to face a foe who had all their feet well placed upon the ground. Kasha had overheard the talk of an attack and this one had seemingly killed another flying sort of creature in Ryuu's defense. Quite the interesting tid bit. "Kasha is my name. Did I hear something about an attack?" The news of another flying creature attacking made her at first think of the flight of Adjuchas that had interrupted her meeting with the Arrancar from the other day. Were these creatures increasing in number or had they been the same group that had flown into their midst, having tracked Ryuu after he had left the site of their first meeting?

Shi narrowed his eyes but did not curl his lips in irritation. It was a credit to his fellow Arrancar that he was at least gifted with good senses to detect him. Though Shi only thought such as it meant he still needed to perfect his approach and increase his stealth tactics. There was always room to improve, perhaps he could learn swiftly how to mask himself better or at least figure out a way to render himself difficult to detect. Side thoughts that followed the particular line were pushed away as he waited until he saw the familiar unknown Adjuchas and a strange winged one move.

Only then did he step out of the shadows, right hand lingering over his zanpakuto. Even when in the presence of neutrals such as Ryuu and the two Adjuchas, Shi was not one to keep his guard down. "And attract the attention of Shinigami and Rukon Citizens? That is the desire of a fool, not me," He stated coldly, glancing momentarily at Kurai and the now identified Kasha. "And keep your voice low Ryuu, my purpose is to investigate. You should know assumptions and I are incompatible."

Shi scowled, despite being the shortest of the Hollows present. Then again, his mind was already at work breaking down the anatomy and skeletal structures of the trio swiftly. It never hurt to be prepared.

And then there were four. Another humanoid looking creature and one of her own. If there were a brawl to break out, she knew that she was going to be in trouble.

"If wolf is talking about the stinky monsters, then yes, Kurai participated in a fight. The flying stinky things weren't playing fair so Kurai taught them a lesson. Kurai still doesn't remember saving that one though." The young hollow would point towards Ryuu, not really knowing what he was.

Kurai would forget about the dead hollow Ryuu had offered once the other weird humanish one appeared. This one seemed more grumpy than the other one, but Kurai would not let her guard down. Not one bit.

AND IT APPEARED THAT TWO MORE CHALLENGERS HAD ENTERED INTO THE FIELD OF HONOR. Although field in this case meant a slight clearing in the ruins that was currently occupied by an adjuchas, an arrancar and an adjuchas corpse (also known as a midnight snack). In addition to the fact that honor in this case would most likely be referring to a lack of it. BUT EVEN SO IT SOUNDED DRAMATIC.

Smiling at the new arrivals, Ryuu had to admit that it was quite a coincidence. NOT ONLY WAS IT HIS NEW BEST FRIEND BUT SHI WAS THERE ALSO (who unsuprisingly had already said something negative). It was quite a coincidence that the two of them were the hollows that were spying on him and Kurai. Was that the reason that they decided to come out of hiding or was it because of Ryuu's threat? Although what confused Ryuu is why they decided to hide at all.

"Keep my voice low for who? I doubt there are any shinigami or rukons out here this late at night. Although now that you mention it, that might be the case after what happened yesterday. Yet even so I'm sure one of us would smell them before they even came within earshot." Ryuu said in response to Shi. Giving a smile and nod to Kasha as a way of greetings, Ryuu then took a seat and indicated to everyone else to sit too. "Besides if you want information it's usually better to just ask, like Kashi did, instead of eavesdropping." Ryuu added as an afterthought to what Shi said.

Now that the gang was all here and not spying on each other, Ryuu figured that he might as well tell everyone what happened before they all started to ask. "So assuming no one tries to kill each other or throw any more insults, I suppose that I'll answer Kasha's question for everyone because I'm assuming that is what you were investigating Shi and because Kurai here seems to need a bit of a reminder. If you aren't interested then feel free to leave." Ryuu said before giving a slight pause so anyone who wasn't interested could leave.

"So I suppose the story begins a few nights ago when I saw a few odd creatures, the stinky things as Kurai so eloquently said, shambling around out here in the wastelands. Now normally I wouldn't think much of it but I also noticed a shinigami following the thing. Deciding that it was worth looking into for important reasons of my own..." It was at this point that Ryuu gave a cough or two. "...I then found myself in the third district just last night. And long story short there were a lot of different weird creatures attacking people and most of the ones I found I then proceeded to blow up. The things were pretty much walking rukon corpses that were mutated. One of them was a huge mass of muscles, another was a quick flier, a third was a blind thing with large teeth and there was finally one with a large eye. A large number attacked so I was forced to defend myself. Luckily I didn't run into any shinigami while doing so but they were definitely in the area. However there were too many and at one point a flier got me which Kurai then dispatched. However that was when I learned the true danger of these creatures. Even a single scratch will leave a person paralyzed. It seems like the shinigami had cures that they were distributing but some rain fell and i found myself cured. I also noticed one of the zombies go back to looking like a normal person when the rain hit. And thats what happened last night."

Leaning back a bit after finishing his story, Ryuu observed the listeners. It was a bit odd to see a group of them not trying to murder each other in violent and painful ways. Was actually a nice change of pace for once. Thinking about the scene that was before him along with the events of the previous night, Ryuu was then struck by an idea. A wonderful idea. A horrible idea. A wonderful and simultaneously horrible idea that may in fact have crossed the boundary to terrifically terrifying."So a sudden thought just occurred to me. Anyone interested?" Ryuu said with his trademarked smile.

Kasha was relieved when Shi finally stepped out of the shadows and revealed himself. However, the spines that framed the outer ridge of her bone face mask rose momentarily. The cold gaze he directed upon her made her feel challenged and she experienced a sudden desire to establish her dominance. It was purely a predatory instinct and exceedingly hard to fight.

As difficult as it was for Kasha to maintain a semblance of passivity, for this had been her stance on that last meeting between herself and the gathering of Hollows, the flickering of her spines was fleeting before relaxing once more. She was not so certain this was the right strategy; it was so foreign and risky. Taking risks got people killed. Yet she could not take the path she had always trod upon either, not with three of them here. If she was hostile, aggressive, lashed out, attacked or killed, as her incessant hunger drove her to do over and over again, she would never learn what it was she so desperately needed to know. Without that knowledge, she would lose her strength and everything that made her who she was. If she was not wolven, Adjuchas, then what was she? Her eyes went to Ryuu and then to Shi; Arrancar? No, that she must avoid at all costs.

Her eyes went to Kurai, shifting her stance so as to leave her a direct passage out of this rubble strew environment should someone of the three make an advance. She didn't particularly care for the way Shi held his hand at his long knife, but she supposed without claws it gave one comfort to do so. Listening to the flying one's words, she began to get a sense that this attack had not been by those ones she had seen before.

She snorted and sat herself down, as Ryuu indicated he wished them all to do, once he had finished speaking. She was a rather large wolf standing five foot at the shoulders, and as she listened to the Adjuchas speaking of the attack, the spines about her head flickered in response again. Kasha didn't like the sound of these creatures. First in one form and then another after the rain? It was like unto something from the nightmare ages long before her time. What was evolving in the world? Her thoughts went back to her one moment of frenzied speech when last she was in the company of so many Hollows.

Congregating. Forming packs. But look at them? Predators just as likely to tear each other to shreds as much as their common enemies would do. She couldn't help but think that there was a better way. And then Ryuu spoke of an idea and bared his teeth in a menacing fashion. The muscles in her legs quivered with the sudden urge to leap at him as her spines fluttered. Change was hard, but she was not prepared to be foolishly trusting either. With marked control she responded contrary to instinct. "What's on your mind, Ryuu?"

Shi cocked an eyebrow at the strange Adjuchas, Kurai, who seemed to be referring to itself constantly. An odd mannerism but the action certainly had little effect on it's intelligence and Shi merely filed the thought away. The mention of stinky monsters however made Shi lower the eyebrow, especially where saving Ryuu was hinted at. Did Ryuu lower his guard or were these unknown enemies a possible threat to even an Arrancar?

He had no way of knowing without information. The short Arrancar frowned for a moment before staring flatly at Ryuu, wondering if for a moment the Arrancar was deaf or hard of hearing. If so, the thought of how on earth Ryuu could survive with such a disability flickered through Shi's mind. He merely snorted and curled his lips in reply, not frankly caring what Ryuu believed he was doing when the obvious should have been clear and kept his voice silent.

And lo and behold, Ryuu could make an accurate assumption! Praise to whatever being created their kind or something of the manner, would be Shi's sarcastic thought. The Arrancar remained standing, hand hovering near his zanpakuto out of habit and instinct, listening attentively and dissecting everything Ryuu divulged. Each piece of information Ryuu gave made Shi's gaze harden as his calculating mind went to work, contemplating possibilities, scenarios, and ideas revolving around these creatures. By the time Ryuu finished, Shi had come up with several conclusions but one important fact; this was not a new species per say but some sort of infection or disease. Worse, it was unknown and new, a volatile combination in his opinion and the infected were dangerous if they could have just a few known variations.

The fact that another Arrancar had been surrounded proved that the infected could overwhelm through numbers. Whether or not Ryuu used all of his power or not was unknown but it was factor Shi did not ignore. If they could overwhelm another Arrancar, would Ressurrecion make a difference? He needed an answer, even if it was just a guess as Shi frowned and slowly moved his arms over his chest.

"Did you use your full power on these infected?" Shi questioned, cocking a single eyebrow up as he pursed his lips. "And depends on what this thought is."

Honestly, Shi had little intention to follow and was more interested in investigating the area and any possible bodies to see if he could figure out how the infection spread. But if Ryuu had a possible idea that could provide a distraction or useful, he was not going to ignore it. That is, if it held merit. Even if it didn't, Shi felt assured it was just another clue to Ryuu which would still benefit him anyway.

Kurai's eyes widened in recognition once Ryuu had told the story. She tried to hide the giggle that threatened to burst through her maw when she finally remembered who the arrancar was. And here she was scared of the creature in front of her.

"Kurai remembers you now! You smell a lot nicer than you did that night. Must have been because of the stinky monsters." The young hollow would smile innocently as she pointed at Ryuu, the giggle finally escaping her lips as spoke. "Kurai was happy to help, er... umm, Ryuu, was it? Kurai didn't like how those flying stinkies weren't playing fair."

Kurai would flick her gaze to both the wolf hollow and the white haired arrancar, almost forgetting they were around until they spoke. How did they know one another? Were they friends, or even better, a family? The young hollow was about to ask when the one known as Ryuu asked an interesting question. She was most definitely interested as to what the arrancar had to say.

Observing his audience as he told his story, Ryuu couldn't say he was completely suprised by the reactions. Shi continued to act cynical and annoyed. Kasha was suspicious and wary. And Kurai was...well Kuraish. But at the very least Kurai seemed trusting of him. Doing his best to ignore the confirmation that it was his SMELLY SMELL OF NOT GOOD SMELLINGNESS that drove Sui away. Ryuu at least consoled himself with the fact that he had now driven the EVIL SMELLY SMELL AWAY. And thus Ryuu would never against allow those evil stenchs to take over. AND THIS WAS A PROMISE THAT RYUU WOULD KEEP...for maybe a few days then forget about it later on.

Facing Kurai and giving her a warm smile Ryuu then said, "Yes it is Ryuu. And it was fortunate that you were able to take that flier out. Had you not I'm not sure what might have happened next. Or even how much I would have learned due to this little incident." Ryuu figured that it would be useful to be nice to Kurai in order to gain her trust. Although Ryuu was a bit suprised by the fact that Kurai cared about playing fair. In his experience that generally was something that most people didnt care about.

"No I didn't use my full power Shi. If I did I'm sure the shinigami would have tried to hunt me down too. Even if I did I'm not sure that I would have been able to take on all of the creatures that attacked. There were a lot of them and as I said, one injury seemed to be enough to take you out of the fight." Ryuu said to the arrancar after facing him. Ryuu figured that being honest would be the best policy in this scenario. Especially for what Ryuu had planned next.

"So anyway back to my idea. Given that we haven't tried to murder each other upon first meeting each other this has got me thinking that we should stick together. We each have our own skills that we can contribute. Not to mention skills that each of us can develope in order to contribute to the group. I know due to our unique lifestyles it may be difficult at first. However if we can do this then I know that we can become a formidable fighting force. It will increase our odds of survival out here and it will increase the odds of achieving our own personal goals. Besides as this recent event has shown, trying to go alone will put you at a distinct disadvantage when facing this new type of foe. But not only should we form a pack but why should we stop there? The wasteland is teeming with potential allies who we must merely convince to join our group. Rukons, Shinigami and even this new presence too if we can get of them to join us. As long as we can trust them then we can let them into our pack. So what do you say? Do you want to continue living by on your own hoping that the next creature you meet is weaker than you so you can eat it? Or do you want to be a part of someting bigger than yourself? Something that will destroy our enemies and find new allies to join us. Something that can adapt to this new presence. Ryuu said to the group. Would this monologue work and turn this ragtag gathering of hollows into an actual group? Or would it fall apart before it even began?

Ryuu for one felt like he had a good idea on how each of them would react. Kurai would probably agree to this idea. Afterall Kurai seemed to trust him and she seemed like the friendly type. Kasha would also probably seem to join. Ryuu could tell that she was interested about the arrancar and this would be a prime oppurtunity to join. Not to mention that she also seemed to recognize what friendship was and its value. That just left Shi who Ryuu was unsure about. On one hand he seemed to have some trust issues (to put things mildly). Not to mention that he was mean, rude, arrogant, mean, socially inexperienced, mean and not very nice. But as Ryuu had said in his speech it would give him help with achieving his goal. And while he might initially only view this pack as a tool for him to use, Ryuu felt that it might grow on him more than he might have anticipated. If not then Ryuu would at least be able to use Shi's own goals to the group's advantage and if Shi's unreliability proved to be too hazardous to the group, they could always get rid of him.

Making this judgement within a few moments while waiting for each of the hollow's responses, Ryuu maintained his usual warm and benevolent smile as he waited. Would this night be the night that a new pack would take form? Or would things take a radically different turn? The next few moments would answer this question. AND PERHAPS CHANGE THE FATE OF THE WASTELANDS. At least if one felt like being melodramatic about the narration of what was occuring.

Kasha was intrigued by the number of personalities that she had encountered of late. She was not used to being inundated with the thoughts of others. Here in just so very few days she had been hit with numerous persona. People; she supposed she would call them. She was not used to having people in her life ever since before time innumerable; there was much to consider.

Shi's words concerning Ryuu's full power was intriguing. What was it the Arrancar was hiding that he had to withhold from action, to the point of risking his own hide, in order not to draw the attention of the Shinigami? Surely something of great power. And Kurai's words concerning fair play were of interest as well.

What motivated such a response from an individual and for a total stranger? It was an oddity to her and Kasha didn't like things she could not readily understand. But then Ryuu began speaking of her own words and there was something satisfying in this. The troubling times had sparked a need in her to form a pack for she felt it was the only way to prosper, to do more than merely subsist. But when he spoke of teaming up with Rukon and Shinigami, Kasha reacted negatively.

Rising to her feet suddenly, she bristled all over. "Have you lost your mind Ryuu? No Shinigami nor Rukon would ever consent to live in conjunction with Hollow kine. Their one goal is to see our extermination." She shook her head and snorted. "Suppose though you do find those who would agree to aid us in our mutual prosperity? What then shall we eat?" She did not mind playing with her food, there was nothing wrong with a little entertainment before dinner. But to make of it a friend? Unthinkable.

Shi frowned, more at the answer than anything. There was no way of knowing if the infected beasts could handle the power of Ressurrecion or not. Not that he wanted to test the theory, it was simply logical and smart to obtain as much data as possible about them. Then again, now he had a slight hint that Ryuu knew of Resurrecion as he did, which was something. Not much, but something.

He would have blurted out a rather witty remark, if Shi even knew what witty meant or the concept for that matter. Though the short Arrancar did listen and mentally mulled over the idea; it was at the basics, similar to Andra's though at least it sounded at least far less visionary. And at it's core, survival was top priority, an alliance to ensure the survival of a group over an individual. There was merit yes, but also downsides of course as individual goals and dreams would be put aside. Shi weighed the options for a moment before pondering; could it be possible to convince a Rukon Citizen? The boy of a beast thought and then scoffed at the thought; they would have to be mad beyond compare to even consider the option.

But, the major distinct difference between Andra's plan and Ryuu's was the scope and the simple fact that he didn't frankly seem to give a damn about the where. Just survival, something Shi could ultimately agree with. Not the entire plan of course, he didn't like the idea of being around so many. Then again, Shi was intrigued by the possibilities, and was not about to ignore an alliance where possible as he glanced at Kasha and scoffed.

"The enemies of this assumed pack clearly, fool," Shi deadpanned, glancing at Ryuu. The idea had merit, as he said before, though Shi didn't think about just joining and changing his ways. No, to survive and achieve his dream, Shi needed resources and information; which others had, such as Ryuu for one or at least, could be used to gain it. "I am not one to ignore survival... however, there is now assurance none of you won't try to breakdown anyone's skills and help yourself to a buffet with it's guard down," Ever cautious, Shi was not going to just join a group where everyone was a potential threat.

He needed allies, assurances that he could see through and plan around. That's how he survived, through cunning, intelligence, and being without mercy to any fool who crossed his path.

Kurai, being young and innocent and all, thought Ryuu's plan was amazingly genius. How wonderful it would be to finally be able to go catch some lovely fish without having to worry about people trying to skin her dragony hide! In a way she had already gotten four shinigami under her spell of complete adorableness, so how hard could it be to get more to fall for her charms? Not too hard, she supposed. Kurai smiled happily in her thoughts when they were brutally killed by the spoken thoughts of the other hollows. Should the young one keep the knowledge of befriending shinigami to herself or share them?

"Kurai has already befriended four shinigami... Shinigami even helped Kurai get fish to fill Kura's tummy! If Hollows want, Kurai can try to gain more of the shinigami's trust." Kurai sat uneasy, unsure if the hollows were going to lash out at her like her mother always did. Just to be sure, she was ready to run at the hint of danger.

Continuing to calmly sit still with his usual benevolent smile on his face, Ryuu watched as suprisingly enough Kasha was the first one to lose her cool and raise some objections. Ryuu honestly thought that it would be Shi who would be the first to (possibly with a witty remark). But then again Ryuu shouldn't have been too suprised. Afterall he barely knew Kasha or Kurai for that matter. But even so her objection wouldn't be too hard to shoot down.

Allowing Shi to speak followed by shortly by Kurai, Ryuu despite being suprised was still able to maintain his smile. BUT THEN HE LASHED OUT VICIOUSLY AT KURAI...with an even kinder and more reassuring smile. "Thats quite interesting to hear. I'm sure all of us would like to hear more about it though first I would suggest that we all finish up with this current issue." Ryuu said to Kurai. Hopefully the other two hollow would get the message and not put Kurai under any pressure in a bid to gain information. Afterall Ryuu was able to see that she was now nervous and was ready to run if the other two tried to make a move though he couldn't say the same for Shi and Kasha.

"So back to business. Kasha if you would be so kind as to take a seat. And Shi if you would please refrain from antagonizing Kasha." Ryuu said while giving an indication towards Kash to sit back at her spot. "So first, about the Rukons and Shinigami. I'm not saying that there will be any of them that will join us. Although as Kurai has just said there are at least a few that were willing to help her. So there's a chance there are a few of them who may join us. Anyway my point is that if we find anyone who wants to join us then they get to join us regardless of what they are. It would be impractical for us to turn down any potential help at all. Besides as Shi said we'll still have plenty of food to eat in the form of any foes we encounter." Ryuu said after a brief pause to allow Kasha to calm down and take a seat. Hopefully that would quell any doubts that Kasha (and possibly Shi and Kurai...well probably not Kurai but just in case) would have in regards to working with Rukons and Shinigami if any were willing to join the group. Although what Ryuu did neglect to mention would be the fun bit of irony that if any Shinigami or Rukons did join the pack then it would be them, the supposed "bad guys" according to the Shinigami and Rukons, who were more accepting of others and open minded than either of those two factions. Not to mention how funny it would be to prove that Rukons and especially Shinigami would be swayed over to their cause.

"As for what you said Shi, yes you do have a valid point. None of us can say for sure that one of us won't merely attack anyone else at the slightest oppurtunity. But that person would then have to deal with all of us. And a three on one fight wouldn't end well for them. But more importantly is the fact that if we do decide to stick together then all of us need to be able to trust each other. That means that any of us are hurt or exhausted then we will be able to rest without having to worry. It means that if any of us are in danger then we will be able to trust in everyone else to come to the rescue. And it also means that the thought of betraying anyone else for an easy meal would be unthinkable. If we aren't able to have that kind of trust then I doubt this idea will work out. I'm not saying that it will be easy to establish or get started. But we will need to develope that kind of trust if we want this to work." Ryuu said to Shi.

"So unless anyone else has any objections then I would like to know. Are you three in or not?" Ryuu asked. Ryuu was pretty confident that Shi and Kasha would join unless they could come up with more objections. As for Kurai it seemed pretty obvious to Ryuu that she was in. Although he wouldn't be able to say for sure until everyone answered.

Kasha was not at all pleased by the tone being bandied about, but she took her seat as directed despite her ruffled spines. The knowledge that Kurai had received aid from not one but four Shinigami more than astounded her adding to her current speechlessness. That indeed was, as Ryuu said, interesting.

After Ryuu's speech she remarked a bit hesitantly, "Do not count me out, if not exactly in just yet. The idea of committing myself to anyone is still a new one, though attractive in theory." She would need to see more of how they interacted with each other.

Shi shrugged in response to Ryuu's lengthy speech. Ever paranoid and cautious, he still wasn't yet willing to put his trust completely in his own race. "I'll consider it, but I will take my leave for now," he said, then took several slow steps backward, with his eyes still on the group before turning and sprinting back off into the distance.

[Shi exited]

SPOILER: Click to show

Shi exited as per the activity rules. Points will be docked accordingly upon thread end. More information can be found here. [link]

Kurai hopped up from her seated position, ruffling her wings. Her dream would finally be coming true! No more being alone or having to fend for herself! Now she could protect others and be a true hero!

"Kurai wants to join Ryuu!" Oh, how wonderful Ryuu's plan was! Everyone would finally be one big happy family that didn't fight or kill each other. At least, she hoped so... There was only one way to find out, follow Ryuu's guidance!

AND OVERALL RYUU WAS SUCCESSFUL...kind of. Sure Shi was undecided and took the oppurtunity to leave and Kasha hadn't agreed to joining yet. But at the very least she seemed pretty interested and Ryuu was sure with the right push he could get her to agree. But Kurai seemed enthusiastic about the idea so overall Ryuu would say that his plan was about 53.793% successful. Give or take a few percentage points. BUT IT WAS DEFINITELY BETTER THAN A 51.3249% SUCCESS RATE.

"Glad to hear, Kurai." Ryuu said to Kurai in a kind tone of voice. And thus after selecting the imaginary "Join the party option" Ryuu could definitely say that KURAI HAS JOINED THE PARTY. After a taking a few moments to finish going through the options such as job selection and whats stats to focus on, RYUU HAD HIT THE SAVE BUTTON AND WAS READY FOR LEVEL GRINDING AND QUESTS AND LOOT.

"So is there anything else that you want to hear about my idea? Or would you rather think on it for a bit?" Ryuu asked Kasha. Perhaps if there was anything he could clarify, that might help convince Kasha to join on the spot. Afterall she seemed like she would be good for the rogue job and it would help balance out the party. PLUS IT MIGHT UNLOCK SIDEQUESTS FOR LOOT AND MORE LEVEL GRINDING.

"None for now," Kasha replied after her stomach began to gnaw at her again despite her earlier meal. For now she would drag the man away whom she had hidden in the hollow of the tree and abscond to an obscure location to partake early in her second meal. She would just have to hunt again sooner than she thought.

[Kasha Exited]

SPOILER: Click to show

Kasha exited as per the activity rules. Points will be docked accordingly. More information can be found here. [link]

And once again, it was just Ryuu and Kurai, the only two who could save the world! Or cause mayhem, you choose, but it would still be awesome to behold the sight! But alas, for it was then that Kurai's stomach would rudely interrupt the awesomeness of the two. How could she forget that she was on a hunt for the yumminess that is fish. Kurai would nod her head at Ryuu as a wave goodbye.

"Kurai must go now, to go fill her tummy before she has to sleep. If Ryuu wants Kurai to get more enemies on Hollows side, Kurai will do her best!" And with that, the young hollow would skip off towards the wooded area of the second district of Rukongai, hopes of those scaly fish filling her tummy.

[Exit]

Watching as Kasha decided to leave, Ryuu gave a shrug. Sure he was hoping that Shi and Kasha would decide to join but at the very least they were considering it. Plus Kurai had decided to join him so at least there was a starting point. However before Ryuu could at least suggest some reliable way to meet up with Kurai she had already said her parting words. Watching Kurai leave, Ryuu decided to enjoy a bit more of his kill and home and picking the corpse up, Ryuu would bring it back to his cave.


[Exit]