Bleach: Of Fate and Phoenix 49

Chapter Forty-Nine:
Prelude to the Murderous Truth

Our hands that barely touch
Spark more than the strongest flame




Toshiro Hitsugaya had sensed it from outside the Las Noches gates. It was like a whisper of a voice, the tiniest lingering scent of leftover food after a meal; it was the growing presence of reitsu that the captain was quite familiar with. It was Karin Kurosaki's spiritual pressure.

Springing to his feet, he took off without hesitation. He had been advised, though he would have argued ordered, to remain on the lower level to watch for attacking hollows by Nel and Ichigo. As such, he had easier access to detecting spiritual pressures from the area surrounding them. How long would it take Karin's reitsu to reach the pair above him? He was not patient enough, nor trusting of the Arrancar, to wait and find out. Toshiro ran out the archway into Las Noches and flew into the white barren desert.

Though the moon shone brightly overhead, it was still nearly pitch black on the sand, making it hard for Toshiro to see, but he kept running towards her spiritual energy, which was gliding across his senses like a beacon of light down the trails of his skin.

Run Run Run, he chanted to himself, shunpo making his steps farther and farther apart as he flash stepped, Run faster, Run faster, Run faster-

He seemed to run for hours, but it may have been only minutes. That's when he saw her. The spiritual energy connected to the physical presence. Though her hair was camouflaged by the night darkness, he saw her pale skin, the whites of her eyes. Karin Kurosaki was not fifty feet away from him.

Karin, Toshiro couldn't help but stare at her. She looked exhausted, her eyes weary and her clothes dirty, but the moment her eyes met his she gained a sudden burst of energy and ran faster towards him. Toshiro let the adrenaline rush of the moment take hold, and he grabbed her body and flung it against him in an embrace.

She's not dead, he thought to himself as he held her near him, the image of her body prone like Momo's disappearing from his thoughts. He drew himself away to look at her face. "Karin! You-" He suddenly realized where they were and what he was doing and pushed himself away from her in embarrassment, his cheeks pink."Erm-Kurosaki! You're okay." He glanced at her up and down quickly, his brow furrowing, "Why are you dressed as an Arrancar?"

The young Shinigami seemed dazed for a second from his impromptu hug, and forced herself to gather her thoughts. What the...why did he-"T-Toshiro-I-" She breathed heavily, "Yes," she finally answered, "It's a long story-" They had to get out of here...we don't have that much time-

"Why were you running?" Toshiro grabbed her hand and started to lead her with him, "Here," He advised her, "Flash step with me and we'll talk as we go."

"But I," Karin paused, her face exhausted, "I don't think I can go that fast-"

"Don't worry," Toshiro interrupted and lifted her into his arms, bridal style, "You're no bigger than me, so it shouldn't be a problem to carry you."

"Oh-Okay," Karin stammered, somewhat confused as to the position she was in. Is he okay? She asked herself, I've never seen him like this...

"Now," Toshiro started to run back towards Las Noches, "Where have you been? What are you running from?"

"They're Vasto Lordes," Karin's eyes bore into his, and she saw his teal irises swell in horror and rage,

"They're? As in more than one?" His voice didn't falter, but his heart felt as if it would implode from shock. More than one of these hollows? This is bad-

"But the strongest one left," Karin paused, hesitating, "or...the one I thought was the strongest. Anyway," Her voice was tense, "Where are we going?"

"Back to Las Noches with Ichigo and Nel. They're trying to hack-" Toshiro replied, wanting to continue his questioning of these Vasto Lordes, but Karin's scream broke him off.

"ICHIGO?" Her eyes were wide in terror, "He can't see me-"She tugged at the neck of her body suit "-like this!" She gripped the collar of his kimono, "Toshiro, he can't!"

"He already knows," Toshiro countered, in a quieter, stern but almost apologetic tone.

Karin stared at him a solid second before her eyes narrowed, "What? You mean you-"

"Yes," Toshiro said flustered, "I had to tell him before we came here...Karin, you should have seen this coming-"

"Oh no," Karin groaned, her arms covering her face, "Toshiro, how could you! How am I supposed to face h-" Her yelling at him was broken off mid-way as she snapped her head behind them. Toshiro felt the hair on the back of his neck rise.

"Karin?"

"They're coming up fast," Karin's voice was shaky.

Toshiro whipped his head to her, "Wait, what's coming u-"

The blow of a muscular arm smashed into the side of Toshiro's face, blindsiding him against a white dune. Karin flew past him into the sand as well. She quickly looked up to see the striker, her face gaunt with horror.

The chiseled marble body of the Vasto Lorde shone brightly against the moonlight, the manta ray mask casting a shadow across Karin's petrified face.

"Sonido," She breathed a whimper.

"Shinigami," The Vasto Lorde's blue eyes were flames of hate seething from the other end of the mask. It glared at Toshiro, "Shinigami," He repeated coldly.

"You," Toshiro glared. It was the hollow that he'd seen at the Ball. "I believe we've met before?"

"Fat chance he'd remember you."

Karin nearly jumped out of her skin as a lanky arm slung itself around Karin's neck. It was Trigger; Karin forced herself not to flinch as she felt a piece of cold steel held up to her throat by the hollow-girl.

"He doesn't make it practice to remember the names of weaklings," Trigger sneered.

"Let...go..." Karin said slowly, the blade tightening. She didn't recall the hollow-girl carrying a sword earlier, but her neck was held up so she couldn't look down at the sword. Either way, she felt its edge scaping hesitantly across the skin of her neck.

"Oh ho ho," Trigger snickered, "And here you thought you would just sneak off clever and unnoticed. Well, let me be frank," her voice became a rasp, her voice haunting in Karin's ears, "You only got as far as you did because I was waiting on Sonido to return."

"Stop," Toshiro waved his arm out, looking palely at Karin and the drops of blood starting to rise on the base of her neck, "Let her go."

The Vasto Lorde glanced at the captain, "And what would a Shinigami of your status care for the well-being of such a lower subordinate?" It glared firmly, mocking. Toshiro stared up at him in astonishment, amazed he knew what he did.

"How did you-" Toshiro started, confused.

"Oh ho ho," Trigger giggled evilly, "Isn't it obvious Sonido? The little runt has a thing for our little captive birdie," She grinned, her cheek pressed against Karin's, "Is that true?"

Karin stared at Toshiro, wondering in the back of her mind if perhaps the reason for his odd behaviors earlier had something to do with this very notion. But...Toshiro? Impossible. There's no way...

"It matters not," Sonido looked from Toshiro to Trigger, and to the air behind her. "It would seem as if company is coming soon," His voice grew quicker, "Trigger, the girl." He motioned with his hand for her to come to him, and Trigger obeyed, running towards Karin with her blade in tow at her neck.

It's Ichigo and Nel, Toshiro concluded in an instant, glancing from the sand behind him back to the larger hollow. Wait, why is she carrying Karin towards him? Why- and then it hit him. The reason the two hollows had caught up to Karin so fast. The reason he'd been able to gain access outside the Council Hall. The reason he'd escaped Toshiro and Leta Kamaguchi so easily before. This went beyond flash steps or shunpo.

The Vasto Lorde could teleport.

Which means if she touches him... the implications flooded Toshiro's mind. "No!" He screamed and lunged for the larger hollow as the female counterpart reached out to touch him with Karin still struggling feebly in her arms. Not...this...time!

Right as Trigger grabbed Sonido's arm, Toshiro grabbed it as well.

There was a jerk, as if someone had latched a hook onto the inside of the captain's navel and reeled him forward like a fish on a line. The jerk was sudden and without warning the world was spinning and the moon was a strobelight and the only thing not a blur was the cold solid white mask of the Vasto Lorde staring down at him with lifeless dark blue glowing orbs for eyes. Its voice was just as icy as before, but this time it was slower, more deliberate. As if he was trying to make sure Toshiro heard him,

"Shinigami...Heed this warning-"

"Why?" Toshiro burst, his lungs expanding and collapsing rapidly, his eyes blurred with the wind whipping in his face, "Why did you run away? I thought Ichigo was the one you-"

"Ichigo," The Vasto Lorde interrupted, "Kurosaki is of no interest to me." It gripped the sleeve of Toshiro's kimono and leaned its head forward, so it was inches from Hitsugaya's. "Heed this warning: The demons are in the closet."

Toshiro blinked, "Excuse me?"

"The demons are in your closet." The Vasto Lorde repeated slowly, but with subtly growing anger, "If you want the girl to live, I suggest you procure a way to exterminate them." He readied his grip on Toshiro's arm, "Follow us, she is as good as dead," His voice stated firmly.

"Bastard!" Toshiro's eyes flashed with fury, "She's not done anything to you! I'm ta-"

"Fool," The Vasto Lorde, in this close proximity with Toshiro, was now whispering, so only he could hear, "She will not die by my hand. I promise you this." He slowly leaned away from Toshiro, "Do not try to find us." And he shoved Toshiro away from him.

The captain yelled out to the hollows and Karin, but his body reeled and fell backwards into the spiraling abyss of fading light, his mind as dizzy as his body was sore. A loud THUD erupted behind his back and the spinning world was suddenly deadened night and spilling sand. Toshiro could only look up into the starless sky but he knew exactly where he was; he was back in Las Noches.

"There he is!" A voice called out in the night sky, a feminine ringing voice, "Mr. Hitsugaya! Mr. Hitsugaya!"

He felt a soft hand reach under him into the loamy sand and lift him into a sitting position; Nel's hazel eyes stared at him with concern. Toshiro closed his own eyes and opened them again. Ichigo was now knelt down beside him, brown irises narrowed with more irritation than concern,

"Toshiro," Ichigo breathed, "What happened? Nel said she-"

"I sensed them," She replied without warning, her face pale, "Two of them?"

"Apparently there's more," were the first words out of Toshiro's mouth to them. "But..." He paused abruptly, his face pensive.

Ichigo's brow furrowed, "But what? Where's Karin? I sense her..."

Toshiro didn't know what to think. So much had just been unravelled for him while he'd been in mid-teleport with the Vasto Lordes. He didn't know why, but for some reason he suspected the hollow had spoken in some sort of code to him.

"This is complicated," Toshiro slowly laid a hand across his forehead, "but I think the Vasto Lorde was trying to help us just now."

"What?" Ichigo blinked.

"Why?" Nel asked with high curiosity, her doe-like eyes wide with surprise.

"For one thing, the Vasto Lorde was never looking for you Ichigo," Toshiro glanced at the Substitute Shinigami, "But I think others might be-"

"As in more Vasto Lordes?" Nel's pale face looked even more stricken.

"I'm not sure, but this hollow and his counterpart seem to be acting rogue," Toshiro paused and looked around suspiciously, "And it seems we have more to worry about."

Ichigo stared coldly, "Such as?"

"This may not make sense," Toshiro scratched his head, "But I think the Vasto Lorde is protecting Karin."

Nel and Ichigo gave the diminuitive captain incredulous stares.

"Hear me out," Toshiro countered defensively, which made his voice seem childish. "It doesn't want us to follow him or his partner, but I think that's because our spiritual energy will draw attention to their whereabouts, which would place Karin in even more danger."

There was an pregnated silence, before Nel slowly observed,

"That could be true-"

"That's stupid!" Ichigo frowned deeply, "Why didn't he just give us Karin and open a Garganta and let us escape? The Soul Society would have been safe enough-"

"Maybe not," Toshiro interrupted, mulling over the Vasto Lorde's words. "Nel," He turned to the female hollow, his teal eyes suddenly intent as if realizing something important, "We need to go back to Las Noches," Nel looked towards him as Ichigo stared frustrated, "There might be some information in those computers that will solve all of this."

********

There was a popping sound in the sky, and the world stopped its perpetual spin; leaving Sonido, Trigger, and Karin on the sandy earth once again. Karin fell to her knees but was instantly back on her feet, her navy eyes blazing with hatred at the tall muscled hollow in front of her.

"You-you-you bastard!" She screamed, not caring how she cursed at him, "How dare you! How could you-"

"I dared and I could quite easily," Sonido replied with barely any emotion, wiping the sand off his marbled shoulders.

Karin felt her face grow hot. She wanted to dismantle him, destroy him. She had been this close to seeing her brother again, this close to freedom. She felt goosebumps across her forearms; the lingering spiritual pressure of Captain Hitsugaya lingered like a melting morning frost.

From behind her suddenly, Trigger flung herself forward. She had been half buried in a dune, and was looking about as happy as Karin.

"For the love of-" She spat a mouthful of sand, glaring at Sonido, "Was that longer-than-usual teleportation necessary?" She eyed him with a glint of curiosity, "Just why did it take us so long to get back here?"

The Vasto Lordes said nothing, which made the rising anger in Karin momentarily freeze. Did it take us longer to teleport here than usual? She wondered. She had passed out the first time they'd teleported, so she couldn't recall.

"Hellooooo," Trigger frowned, her curiosity turning to suspicion, "What was the hold up Sonido?"

The Vasto Lorde turned to Karin, his glowing blue eyes lingering on her hair and face. "Do you dislike me, Shinigami? Because I took you from your brother?"

Karin felt a lump of heat rise in her throat, "Yes."

"Because I took you from your chance of escape?" He asked, with more coldness.

"What do you think?" Karin's face grew redder.

"Or perhaps," Sonido walked to the side a little, "It's because I took you from your precious captain-"

"Shut up," Karin growled, "He's not my captain-"

"Interesting," Sonido stopped at her side, only ten feet from her. Trigger was watching him intently, "that you say such things."

"I said 'Shut up,'" Karin clenched her fists at her side, the contracted palms shaking.

"Because to me," Sonido tilted his head to the side, "It looked as if he was more than a captain to you-"

"SHUT YOUR MOUTH!" Karin flew towards him, and in her rage she involuntarily called out her sword's name "YAKYUU!"

Her hand was struck by a blunt object, cold and yet warm at the same time. Plagued by both surprise and uncertainty, she looked down, and gasped.

It was her sword resting in her palm.

Without hesitating to think, she roared, "Surrender, Yakyuu!" and flames burst from the sword's tip, engulfing her body. The white Arrancar clothes crumpled in embers and she started firing punches at Sonido. The flames from her fists were flying balls of magma touching the sand and leaving patches of clear crystal in their wake.

"Ah!" Trigger leapt out of the way, slipping on a patch of the crystal as she did, "Glass!" She looked incredulously at the young Shinigami, "She turned the sand into glass!"

"Because of you," Karin screamed, kicking her leg at his, simultaneously sending a fireball at him; to which he dodged both it and her leg. "Because of you! It's all because of YOU!"

She threw a right hook towards him, then a left, but he was dodging with such speed it was as if she wasn't even trying to punch him. Sonido dodged another punch and then gripped her right arm with his left hand. Karin focused all her power into that arm, and it burst into an intense flame, magma pouring off her arm and over his hand. Sonido let out a low groan of pain, but didn't let go. He took his other fist, and in the moment all her power was in her arm, punched her hard in the stomach.

"Ooh!" Karin let out an exhale of pain, a trace of blood jutting from her lips, as he let go of her hand and she crumpled to the sand, grasping her stomach and curling under him in a fetal position.

Trigger slowly rose from the rock she'd hid behind, "Geez..." She clicked her tongue in false pity at the young Shinigami.

"You did well to focus all your power into your arm," Sonido held his hand up in the air,examining it. The magma had cooled over his hand, making his fist look like it was encased in a hardened black ball. Blood dripped down his wrists from where the skin met the magma casing. "Had I been a normal hollow, your power would have spread over my entire body and killed me."

"Sonido..." Trigger said in a soft voice.

"But you were foolish," Sonido ignored Trigger and stood over Karin's crippled form, "By focusing all your power into one area of your body, you left yourself wide open."

Karin slowly tilted her head so she could look up at him, "Wait...why...why are you telling me this?"

"You," Sonido reached down quickly and lifted her up into the air with his free hand, his blue eyes glaring daggers, "I could kill you with this hand right now if I wanted to!" He yelled, and his voice took on an even more gravely, demonic pitch, causing Karin to shake as a chill rose over her body.

He threw her to the ground hard, and she landed with a loud THUMP. Karin forced herself into a sitting position in the sand, her black hair stringy in her face.

"You dare tell me to shut up," He shook his head with anger, and grabbed Karin's zanpakuto, brandishing it into the air in front of her. "Did you even realize you had this sword with you the entire time?"

Karin blinked in confusion, "What?"

"I brought you this sword!" Sonido roared, causing Trigger to back away cautiously, "I gave it to," He pointed to Trigger, who stopped moving instantly, "her! She held the blade against your own throat, but did you even notice?"

Karin's face washed with horror. That...that was Yakyuu? Which means...she could have escaped from Trigger. She could have summoned Yakyuu as she just did and escaped with Toshiro. She had been given the perfect chance and didn't even realize it. She turned to Sonido, staring at him in terror and even further confusion, Why did you want to help me escape? She wanted to ask him, but the words were tightly fused to her throat, refusing to break free of her lips.

"Because of me?" Sonido's voice calmed down, but was still laced with rage, "Because of me you had the option of your own escape. Because of yourself," He glared down at her, lowering the sword, "you squandered that chance." He spat at her feet.

Karin slowly rose to her feet, still gripping her stomach. She wanted to tell him how much she hated him, how much she didn't understand...but nothing would come out. Instead, she merely gave him a cold stare. Trigger walked past her and to Sonido's side. She rose on her tip toes to meet him, "What now? What about the Gathering?"

"Later," Sonido replied bluntly, "She comes with us." He stared back at her, "Her fate has been decided."

Karin gulped quietly.

********

Sonido settled onto one of the wooden benches in the main room of the Elder's abode. He shifted some of the papers on the table out of the way and sighed, laying his head in his hands. Trigger clapped the dust off her hands as she walked through the main door to join him, plopping down beside him.

"Where is she?" Sonido sighed through his hand.

"In the lower levels," Trigger crossed her arms across her chest, leaning against the side of the table, "The Elder regrets that she hadn't sealed off all the exits on the Second Level, hence why she escaped so easily before." She smiled triumphantly, "But the lower levels are being sealed as we speak, so no escape for our little birdie."

"It's just as well," Sonido said in a defeated voice, "She won't be here too much longer."

"Sonido," Trigger turned her body to face him, "Stop being so cryptic. You haven't said a word about the Gathering since you came back...what's happened?"

The Vasto Lordes was silent a moment. "They know she's here."

Trigger's breath caught in her throat, "Here? As in here here?" She gapsed, looking around the room in panic.

"It couldn't be helped," Sonido ran a hand over his smooth mask, "The night I went to take her, the Great King sent another Arrancar to kidnap her as well."

"And the Arrancar?" Trigger's eyes widened, "Did it see you?"

"No, but it knew another had taken her," Sonido continued, "The Gathering is not blind; they saw the Elder wasn't at the Arena and assumed the logical."

"That the Elder had taken her?" Trigger breathed.

"Who else would have the means or the power?" Sonido looked at Trigger, "But the Gathering has not suspected us yet. We are free from suspicion for now."

"What are we going to do then?" Trigger sat up, her rose colored eye wide in anxiety.

"Our plans must be put into motion immediately," Sonido rose to his feet. "I have a mission for you..." He glanced down at his counterpart, "It will not be safe, though, nor easy."

"As if I'm scared of a challenge," The hollow-girl stood up, glancing upwards into his blue glowing eyes. "What is it?"

"You are to go to retrieve our candidate," Sonido said firmly.

Trigger's eyes widened, "We're doing this that soon? Now?"

"Yes," Sonido nodded, "We only have a few days before the council puts their desires into motion and before that they will come here for the Shinigami," Sonido looked toward the door where he knew behind Karin was being locked up, "We must implement action now."

"It's going to take a little while to locate him," Trigger said aloud to herself, looking away.

Sonido's eyes lit up with slight amusement, "Oh? Do I detect some hesitation? I thought," His voice turned to light playfulness, "you weren't easily thrown from a challenge?"

Trigger spun her head towards him, her frown slowly changing into a smirk as she recognized the tone of his voice. "What's this? You must have heard wrong," She gave him a broader grin, "Did I say it would take a while?" She turned from him, towards the door. "I'll find him in a day."

The hollow-girl opened the door of the Elder's home and took a step outward. Sonido glanced at her with a hesitation in his voice, before saying, "Speed."

Trigger glanced at him for a second, then gave him a lingering smile, before exiting the abode and shutting the door behind her.

Sonido stared at the closed door for a few minutes in silence, then turned from the table.

********

Drip.

Karin sat in silence in the basement of the Elder's home. It was dark, but the darkness had an almost green lighting to it, like the goggles she'd seen advertised in stores for "night vision." She looked around the cell she was chained in; the walls were damp and slimy with blackened green algae, and a constant drip of water was tapping against the wet stone floor. There were no windows in the basement, only a black steel square cage and moldy surroundings, with Karin in the center of it all.

Drip.

She shifted in place; Karin was sitting on the floor, examining the chain wrapped around her ankle, that tied off onto a heavy concrete ball on the floor. Sonido or the Elder one had taken Yakyuu away again, so she felt just as powerless as before.

Drip.

"Dammit," Karin sighed, tugging at the chain link around her ankle. It refused to even budge. She grit her teeth and attempted to pull it off her, but to no avail.

Drip.

"I would give up on the chain," a steady voice came from outside the cage, causing Karin to stop what she was doing and move herself against the wall. "It won't go through the bars of the cage even if you yourself could escape." Sonido's face appeared outside the cage. Karin stood up angrily,

"So," She brushed the black hair from her face, "You've come down to torture me more?" She eyed him with a white hot rage, "Wasn't enough to take my sword, my freedom, my friends...now you want my pride too?"

Sonido glanced at her considerably, "I hardly think it's fair to say I've taken your friends," He observed casually, "seeing as how they're all alive. As for your pride, the hollow in me would daresay it's no more interested in that aspect of you than your hair color."

Karin shifted her weight, eyeing him curiously, "And just what would the hollow in you want of me?"

"Your soul of course," Sonido answered nonchalantly, which sent chills down Karin's spine, "But," he mused, "I suppose that's out of the question?"

"Just a little," Karin's eyes narrowed.

"Pity," Sonido sighed. "Shinigami," He turned his back on her, "May I ask you a question?"

Drip.

Karin tilted her head to the side, curiously, "I guess so."

"You knew of your brother Ichigo Kurosaki's history as a Shinigami?"

The young Shinigami hesitated before answering, not sure the intent of this question, "Yes," She finally answered. "Some parts of it."

"Then," Sonido paused, "You knew of the hollow abilities he had...what he was capable of?"

It was true; she knew, or somewhat. "I knew what people told me, yes." She said after a while, staring at the back of his head.

"And if it were true, and you knew you had the power capable to fight him, to silence his abilities," Sonido glanced back at her, "Would you?"

Karin wanted to know why he was asking her this, what its significance was. The wheels in her mind turned a little more and she suddenly realized,

"I'll answer your question," she slowly gathered her courage, "If you answer me mine."

The Vasto Lorde held his stare at her a little longer, his eyes slowly tracing the lines of her face, "Fine," he said finally. "You first, though, Shinigami."

Karin sighed impatiently, "I wouldn't try to silence him."

"Why not?" Sonido was quite persistant with this answer.

"Because," Karin shifted uncomfortably; how would she answer this question? "Just because he has abilities similar to yours...he's my brother...and I love him," She finally said, and her face broke into a small smile as she shook her head. "It's okay-you wouldn't understand."

"If he was a hollow you wouldn't attack him?" Sonido asked immediately after she finished.

"Well...that's a different question," Karin began nervously, unsure.

"I'll let you ask me two in return," Sonido countered strongly.

"I wouldn't attack him unless he lost all control and hurt others," Karin answered, "If I had no other options, I would exterminate him in order to clense his soul and send him to the Soul Society...that's all." She gave him a nervous stare. "But it would be as a last resort," she looked down at the floor, "I wouldn't want to hurt him unless I had to."

The Vasto Lorde considered her words, slowly nodding. "I see...very well."

"Answer me my questions now," Karin demanded.

"Ask away," Sonido sighed with a tiny groan.

"Why do you and Trigger have nicknames?" She asked immediately.

Sonido glanced at her with great consideration, and then burst into a dark laugh, which made Karin take a step back.

"That's what you ask me?" He shook his head in amazement. Karin hadn't found it nearly as funny, and her expression marked this. Sonido suddenly saw her reaction and waved his hand dismissively, "Nevermind, nevermind...it's...Hmm," he glanced around him and slowly spoke, "We have nicknames because we are in exile." The look on Karin's face did not seem impressed, so the Vasto Lorde continued, "We were once members of the Vasto Lordes, but due to..." He hesitated, then anxiously added, "...circumstances, we were both exiled from the court of Vasto Lordes, never to return."

"Unless summoned," Karin noted aloud.

The Vasto Lorde frowned, "Until summoned yes," He shifted in his stance, "Our names are our most prized posession," Sonido stared at Karin. "Once we became Hollows, our names were the one thing that tied us to our mortal coil. Without it, we have nothing to ground us..." Sonido's fists were clenched, "When we were...exiled...our names were taken and replaced; and so we lost the one shred of humanity we'd kept for ourselves."

"Can this not count as my next question if I ask it?" Karin inquired with a soft voice.

Sonido glanced at her with a grimly amused expression, "Depends on the question."

"Okay," Karin didn't like that reaction, "Suppose you were to use your real name around each other or another Vasto Lorde-"

"Around a Vasto Lorde," Sonido cut her off, "We would be instantaneously eradicated. Our nicknames are punishment; to use our original names again would be in violation of this. Around ourselves," Sonido gave Karin a harsh stare, "We could, but it would still be a violation even if the Vasto Lordes never caught us..." He trailed off, obviously not wanting to continue.

Karin gave him a look. It wasn't pity, but it wasn't empathy either; it was a compassionate expression. One that made Sonido look away from her, not out of embarassment, but confusion. Why does she look as if she cares?

There was a subtle moment of silence, before Sonido turned back to her,

"Your other question?" He asked quietly.

Karin pondered how to phrase this question, but finally looked up at the Vasto Lorde, her navy eyes stern, "Why was it you who kidnapped me and not the other Arrancar?"

"Clever," Sonido noted, eyeing her with amusement again, "That question is not so simply answered, but I can tell you what I can."

"Which is?" Karin interjected impatiently.

"Your brother is a threat to my kind, and has been since the Shinigami Aizen Sosuke came to our world and began collecting hollows for the attack against the Soul Society on Earth." Sonido shook his head, "The Gathering believed that your brother would still be a danger if they had plans of another," He cut himself off, to Karin's great dismay, as if wondering how much to tell her. "The point is," He finally continued, "they believed if they had you, they could lure him here and get rid of him."

Karin narrowed her eyes, "But you took me instead of the one they sent to the Soul Society..."

"I don't expect you to understand the extremity of emotions we hollows feel such as emptiness..." She didn't know how but she could suddenly tell he was smiling underneath his mask, "...or revenge...but there are things at work here that go beyond you or your brother."

His words suddenly struck a chord in Karin that did not feel comforting. "What are you planning to do with me?" She asked with worried eyes.

Sonido only smiled underneath his mask.

********

Of all the places he could hide, Trigger grimaced as she walked slowly down the edges of the corridor, He chose this dump?

She was in the middle of two rock faces, constructed of compacted hollow masks. A Vasto Lorde had no doubt ransacked the area eons ago and the decomposing hollows had formed this mini fortress in the sand. Not that the fortress was unnoticeable; that's not what made it undesirable to go near. But Trigger could smell the consistant flow of blood and decaying flesh; as if something was constantly eating in the cavern.

Disgusting,. she stuck out her tongue in a gross fashion, No wonder he doesn't have to hide his spiritual pressure...

She wouldn't have dared to go near here, but the urgency of her partner encouraged her to simply clamp down her nose with her fingers and move inwards. She turned a corner in the corridor and was suddenly in a spacious open area; the center of the cavern. It was littered with bones and rotting flesh, the floors stained in crimson. Trigger made a gagging noise; even for a hollow such as herself, this was unacceptable.

"Good Lord," She griped, staring at the figure ahead of her, "Didn't your mother teach you to clean your plate when you're done eating?"

"I didn't have a mother, you little bitch," the voice responded angrily, "And even if I did, I doubt she'd be concerned with such bullshit."

Ahead of Trigger was a hastily constructed throne of bones and hollow masks tinged in pink, half in the shadows of the walls above the fortress. The figure sitting at the throne was masked in shadows, but his pale hand was stroking the arm of the throne with slight impatience, like a cat's tail twitching.

"Good to see your mouth is about as clean as mine," Trigger grinned, moving cautiously forward. "I have news for you," She dodged a crumpling rock that fell towards her head from the ceiling, "News you'll be interested to hear-"

"Would you just spit it out?" He groaned, "All of ya are so long-winded...it pisses me off-"

"You've been chosen," Trigger ignored him, placing a hand on her hip.

The shadowed figure stopped talking and his hand stopped stroking the throne arm. He leaned forward from out of the shadows, and though his face was still shrouded in black, Trigger could make out the edges of a white mask attached to the side of his face; next to a large smile gleaming under the frazzled locks of turquoise hair,

"It's about damn time."