The Gathering

The Arrancar walked for what seemed like a lifetime, and each step just seemed to be a repeat of her last with little change to the scenery around her. The bird had been left behind, her last ditch attempts at making him follow her were all for naught as the bird was too stubborn to realize what her offer could make him further down the line. Never the less, her goal was still set in her heart and she refused to back down no matter what the cost. Las Noches was in a sorry state, she was the only Arrancar left since the Quincy invasion, her predecessor Ino had gone missing some time just before she removed her mask, and though she wished to know what had happened to him, it was not high on her list of priorities. As she searched for intelligent beings amongst the sands, she had heard tale of colonies gathering as the Hollows attempted to band together to survive, rather than follow their instincts to rip each other apart. To enter one of these colonies, alone and without invitation would be a suicide mission for any normal Hollow, for despite their new comradeship with the others in their group, they still found it hard to trust new arrivals which often ended in a complete massacre due to their inability to talk first then rip second.

Timari was heading for one of these exact colonies and as far as the colonies went, the one she aimed for was the largest and most sought after haven in the desert. Their numbers were in the thousands by this point, and increasing with every minute that passed, their leader was not one to be messed with according to her sources for he was a Vasto Lorde, capable of creating a Cero so powerful it would rip your average Hollow to pieces in a flash. Smirking slightly, Timari thought on how she would gain the Vasto's trust, for many had approached him before aiming to either take the position from him, or to try and form an alliance with another colony, but each time they had been sent away or killed on the spot. "Sanctuary" was the place she was heading too, or that's what everyone called the maze of tunnels that wound their way down through the sands and in literal terms, created a sanctuary for anyone allowed to enter.

She had no idea if her plan would work, though admittedly she didn't really have one just yet, all she aimed to do was turn up and try to either persuade them through words or by force to join her cause. On her travels, she had slain a Vasto herself, one with silk sprouting from her shoulders to appear like wings. They hadn't done the Vasto much good, but Timari like the feel of them, and wrapping several layers around her neck, shoulders and lower face protected her from the sands, while hiding her identity pretty well. Her disguise wouldn't fool many, but against the extremely small groups which consisted of a maximum amount of five Hollows, it worked pretty well and allowed her to join them to rest and eat.

From her current position, which wasn't too far from the entrance to the Menos Forest, it was only a few kilometers to Sanctuary, but still everything around her seemed the same, as though she were walking but the sands below her moved against her, preventing her advancement.

Wc: 491

Timari was close to the entrance of the Sanctuary, she knew this much for she could feel the Reiatsu of the Hollows beneath her, vibrating up through the sounds like a speaker on full blast. Taking a few more steps, the entrance came into view and she had to admire how they had thought it through, for it literally was a sheer drop into darkness below. No doubt their leader had posted Hollows of average level to guard it, each hiding somewhere in the darkness and no one would notice due to their Reiatsu being hidden within the general waves of the others in the tunnels. Drawing her blade, she gave it a cold look wondering why she had yet been unable to find the power all previous Arrancar had possessed: The legendary Ressureccion. She had tried and failed on many different occasions to call upon her power, and yet, each time she had been left to fend for herself with a sword because she had failed to activate her release. Her only reasoning behind this was that she hadn't done something to allow herself to unlock her power, though what she hadn't done yet, was something completely unknown to her.

Returning her thoughts to the task at hand, Timari shuffled closer to the edge, leaning over to get a better glance at what lay below. As she did so, sand from the edge fell into the darkness below like a waterfall going over the edge of a high cliff.

"Shit, now they'll know I'm here, so much for the element of surprise.

Feeling more disappointed in herself than anything, she spread her arms wide to balance herself, before taking a small hop over the edge and allowing the darkness to consume her. The fall was a much larger one than she had first thought, staying in the air for what felt like forever, but in reality would have been no more than five seconds. When she finally touched ground, her right leg flicked out to the side in a perfectly straight line while her left coiled beneath her, causing her body to slant to the right slightly. Her left arm curved at the elbow to guard her face, while her right arm ran parallel to her outstretched leg, the long blade in her hand ready to strike anyone who so much as attempted to attack her from the shadows. To her surprise, no attack came and when she raised an eye brow while attempting to catch a glimpse of anything moving she wondered why they would abandon their defenses so quickly. Of course, there was always the argument that they never had anyone posted here in the first place, but only an idiot would drop into a pitch black hole without thinking of being attacked upon entering.

There was definitely no one around her, for it took little time for her eyes to adjust, and even if she couldn't see, she could still sense that the Reiatsu she felt was coming from a much lower point in the tunnels. Switching her blade round so it lay in a reverse position in her hand, she steadily rose from the position she had landed in, remaining low, keeping quiet and yet moving still with efficient speed. Ahead of her lay a passage, and she didn't take any time to hesitate before darting down it to find from that point on, torches lit the way at regular intervals from brackets along the walls. Almost running, she darted this way and that, taking turns completely at random and judging her position based on the Reiatsu Signatures below her.

Things continued like that for several more minutes, until eventually she came upon a well lit room, huge in size in comparison to the rest of the complex, and even more populated. The whole Sanctuary populace must have been gathered inside this one room, ledges had been carved out of the rock to create seats for each of the Hollows present, and all of these ledges ran in a huge semi-circle to focus on one point. Peeping her head round the corner more, Timari nearly gave away her position by laughing, as at the far end of the room, steps led up to a make-shift throne, which like everything else had been carved out of the rock, and upon there was no denying the appearance of the Vasto Lorde, sat with both his legs over the right side of the throne and raising his hand as if he wished to speak.

"My fellow Sanctuary brothers and sisters, please welcome our humble guest but with as little noise as possible, I wish to know what she is doing here. Though, I am even more eager to hear why she is so far from home."

Wc: 812
TWc: 1,303

Timari couldn't help herself, seeing not only the figure before her but also his purposeful deep voice, immediately sparking her amusement which ended in her uncontrollable laughter, echoing through the caverns around them. The Arrancar was met by malicious hissing and whispering as others stepped from the shadows surrounding the throne before her, though she took no notice of the lesser evolved species around her, and instead, after controlling her outburst focused her attention on the Vasto Lorde whom leisured before her. Now able to focus on him more intently she noticed he was more or less what she had expected, being some form of lizard when he started his life as a Hollow, and probably through various means of corruption he managed to worm his way to his current position. His skin was dark green, speckled with gray, blotches of which were still scaled over. Though the caverns were dull on the eyes, she could see upper body was covered in a red longcoat, folded intricately across the throne to follow the contours of his body. While this picked at her interest, the darkness made it difficulty to see any further details of both the Vasto Lorde and his various followers in the vicinity and her right hand instinctively crept upwards to rest with her fingers wound around the comfortable grip handle that slightly released her blade from its sheath.

Her actions were immediately met with hostility, before she could even think of unsheathing her weapon, three Adjuchas class Hollows had her surrounded each pointing their various forms of weaponry including claws and a demonic looking spiked tail. Thinking fast, Timari withdrew her hand, holding both up in an attempt to show she had no wish in fighting.

"Now now my subordinates, we all know we have no wish to kill the only being with the position to free us from this dusty habitat."

Sighing with relief, the three that surrounded her withered back into the shadows along with their fellow comrades. Deep down she knew she'd make it out alive if blows were to be exchanged, but it appeared those who stood before her needed her help as much as she needed theirs.

"It would appear you have a sense of judgment, knowing which is the right call and which is the wrong call. Thankfully today, you've made the right one, but not only that, you need me to help each and every one of you. Yet, before me sits whom I believe to be a king on a throne if appearances are anything to go by, but you're all still here which tells me, he's no king at all. I am the Primera, and why should I offer someone so evidently fake my help? What can you do for me in return? If you convince me, we'll have a future whereas if you don't your being will cease to exist this day."

The Arrancar threw a look of smugness towards the being on the throne as she turned a full one hundred anf eighty degree spin on her left heel, bearing to all in the room the black "1" on her left shoulderblade. When her spin came to an end, she was oncr again facing the throne, her blade unsheathed in her right hand to show she was more than willing to back up her words with actions. Doing so caused a shift through the small crowd, as each was unsure of what to do regarding the matter before them. Every eye in the cavern was focused on the throned being, whom stood with what appeared to be all the effort it could muster, throwing his entire figure under a single beam of light.

"It would appear a slight misunderstanding has taken place here, and I wish to apologise for all my subjects in case they offended you mistress. You see, we are here because we once served an Arrancar like yourself, but with them gone, we were driven here by the mindless freaks on the surface, and here we have waited for a day like this, where a new Arrancar rises for us to serve."

In a single motion, each being surrounding her bowed before rising to face her once more, and behind each of their eyes she could see the burning passion her presence had instilled in them. Despite this, she felt untrusting of these so called "loyal subjects" and so she devised a plan that would not only test those before her, but would also potentially find her extra hands to make the work she had in store that bit lighter.

"Very well, in that case I'll give you two sleep cycles which here in the endless desert is the equal to two days of a Humans life to find as many others as you can. Each must have some form of intelligence, willing to work and also willing to follow orders without question. If you succeed I'll allow you to serve as you so wish, while if you fail or flee, I'll deal with you when the time seems fitting to me. You have your orders, now if you'll excuse me."

With that the Arrancar swept from the room immediately blasting into Sonido as the caverns entrance came into few, flapping through the air as her clothes whipped around her in the sudden gust of wind.