Sand, sand, everywhere...(open)

There was a soft gust of wind that stirred up a cloud of sand. Arawn drew his cloak closer to himself as it hit the group. In seconds it was gone and he spit out some that had gotten into his mouth. Try as he might the sand found it's way into his clothing beneath his hooded cloak. The gray fabric wasn't enough to block the tiny grains the were tossed about as he stepped or wind blew. He turned back to the others as they had already gotten back to work. Barely fifteen minutes since they had entered into Hueco Mundo, and Arawn couldn't shake the strange feeling the place was giving him. Ever since he started learning to be a shinigami he lacked skills in detecting spiritual power, but in the hollow homeland he was ill at ease. It was like he could sense things all around him at every second. One of their escorts had told him that it was a rather natural. A kind of hypersensitivity when entering the dimension. The sand and even the air were charged with energy similar to hollows. Arawn disliked the reaction he was having, but shook the discomfort to get back to his own task. The group had come to Hueco Mundo for a purpose. Setting up information relays to hopefully monitor hollows' movements. If successful this experiment might help reduce shinigami response times by at least 50%. After reviewing the information Arawn thought this was an improbable number. It would give them heads up on the portals the monsters used to travel to the human world, but not their locations. At best shinigami would be prepared for the attack even if not knowing when and where they may strike. as he thought about all this the red-haired shinigami's hands kept working. The silver box before him was part of this detection system. This was the second check of the unit. The power supply was functioning properly. His eyes looked over the small screen located on the front of the one foot cube.
"Readings are stable." he said to the man beside him who was working on a similar unit.

Not far from where the two worked two others were busy digging a hole. It was tedious work pushing the sand aside as they tried to move deeper. Already four feet deep, they sought to go further. They didn't want some wandering hollow to suddenly dig it up. The deeper the better. Arawn looked up from his task to see the others still hard at work. They only had 36 hours to complete this project, and the twenty shinigami were determined to finish as quickly as possible. No one wanted to linger in this place a second longer than needed. Of those gathered only seven of those present were part of the 12th division. The remaining thirteen were from various squads, six of them were veterans of Hueco Mundo patrols. They were the true escorts for this mission. These shinigami had survived long stints in large desert and came back alive. With their hope the remaining members of the group would be lucky to say the same. Arawn spit more sand out of his mouth and turned back to his cube. Almost done. After this set they had another eleven to set-up and bury. Each set would be placed 200ft a part in a grid like pattern. Then back to Soul Society and wait for the results. Arawn could already imagine the long sessions in the monitoring room that awaited him and his division.

It was rather awkward for Tatsu to be given this assignment since he had recently been ordered to die here. None the less he was rather proud to be here on an escort mission to protect the members of the twelfth division while they were doing their mission. Some of them were digging wholes while others worked on gizmo, others seemed like they knew what they were doing as if they had been here before, without actually giving any thought to it he had accepted this mission without realizing how dangerous it was.

There was sand everywhere and the samurai looked out in the distance enjoying the tranquil wind rolling through the plains. The sandals he wore prevented in no way the sand from lodging itself between his toes and every single inch of his body that wasn't covered.

There was only one shinigami in the whole lot that he actually knew, even though it was awkward because he had met him in his time being a rogue. Approaching the shinigami with the red hair Tatsu glanced at him and spoke. ''It has been a while..'' the duty bound shinigami said to him waiting for a reply.

Sitting down near Arawn and nowhere he would be in the way he waited for something to happen, the long range view and his extreme sense of reiatsu, that really bothered him would prevent him of any incoming hollow attack in any way.

"Hmmmmmm?" Arawn said looking up from his work as the other man approached him. He was so engrossed in his work he hadn't noticed that the other person had moved so close until he was upon him. Had the man been talking to Arawn or to himself? It was hard to tell. The wind picked up again and he moved to shield his face from the sand it sent flying. Not that he needed to do so. The special glasses that he wore protected his eye enough. Although not perfect it allowed very little other than air to reach his pupils. It was nice to not be blinded, but the sand still worked it's way into his collar and hair. He groaned and did his best to dust himself off. In dusting himself off he knocked some of the sand onto the cube before him. Leaning close he blew the particles off the unit.

"We won't be here for long." he said to himself a well as the other man. "Almost done." he muttered. Indeed the screen lit up once more confirming his statement. Arawn stood and took the device with him. Despite it's size it was quite heavy. Holding with with both hands he moved towards the other technician. "I'm ready on my end." He commented and placed it next to the other cube. "Have they assembled the housing yet?" he asked quickly. The other man didn't look up from his work, but he gestured toward where the men were digging the pit. There was a box there. It was made of sekkiseki to hopefully prevent the hollows detecting the special beacon.

Tatsu followed Arawn with his glance, wondering if he had just completely been ignored by the man, he had just tried to strike a conversation but nothing seemed to work as of yet. He looked at the people he was talking too, they all seemed focused on very precise things that they needed be done, and he was just a grunt in all this. Someone dedicated to kill whatever would cause problems to this mission. Everyone tried to stay quiet, probably to keep the hollows away, if a fight happened, more and more hollow were bound to show up and this would quickly become a highly difficult mission.

Tatsu wandered off, trying to find himself a high vantage spot to try and notice enemies from afar before they would actually showed up, took him about three minutes to find one and he was flabbergasted by the scenery. It seemed like this whole world would go on endlessly with sand. Dunes here and there, all made of sand, no chunks of stone corpse of defeated foes. Looking up to the sky knowing some hollows have the ability to fly, all Tatsu could see was the beauty of an eternal black sky. If this wasn't the home turf of the most dangerous kind of enemies shinigami's have, the samurai would most likely enjoy this area.

The wind blew accross what seemed to be a valley in a world of sand, talk about a spot to make sure everyone would end up with more sand than clothes on themselves. Zanpakuto in hand the samurai stood vigil as he looked at the crowd work down below.

The pit was getting deeper by the second. There wasn't much for him to do now that his part was done. Everyone had a part to play and he had done his. At least for now. Once they finished burying the units, he'd be up to bat again soon enough. He took this to make a quick circuit of the camp. Calling it a camp was being generous. It was a sandy area like any of the other desert around him. Those not directly helping with the project were pacing the sands. Not too far apart, but yet not too close together. A flexible patrol of their small safe haven. Arawn was certain that they were all on edge. Who wouldn't be? Here they were in enemy's lair. Who knows how long it would be before they were found. Here in Hueco Mundo there was no telling how much opposition they would face if that were to happen. A stampede of hollow was possible to overrun the small group leaving nothing but a red stain upon the white sands. No amount of preparation could overcome a swarm of opponents. Instead they'd have to keep ever vigilant of any and all possible threats. A shift in the wind, a strange sound, anything at all could be the prelude to a incoming attack. When even a second of hesitation could mean death, being overly cautious was not a bad thing.

Arawn dared not to wander past the route the protectors took. His hand drifted to the sword at his side. Still the numb and hollow feeling. He took a deep breath and took his hand away. The reason he had come here was due to the dream, but now he was too preoccupied with his weapon's condition. What exactly was he going to do once he got here? Look around? Take in the sights? The dream was about the desert splitting and swallowing him whole. Was it really wise for him to even come here? No it wasn't just about deadly situation the dream promised, it was the dream before that. His sudden appearance in the desert and being aided by a hollow. It had been so vivid. It couldn't be a coincidence. He found himself standing next to one of the supply bags. There were several bags they had taken with them on their trip. Other than medical items, there was some rations as well. 36 hours was a long time to go without food. The food mainly came in the form of nutrition bars and pouches. A man stood close to the luggage to prevent people from over indulging in them. Arawn gave the man a small smile as he bent over and pulled an item from the bag. It was a small pouch with a nozzle on one end. He twisted the seal off and placed the open tip in his mouth and inhaled. A soft warm substance spilled upon his tongue. It felt like pudding, but chunk of what he could only guess was fruit was in it. He had just as a hard time identifying the taste. He shrugged and retraced his steps back towards the pit.

He had manged to make it halfway back when a yell came from the direction he had just came. The pouch still hanging from his lips he turned to see two shingami with their swords drawn. Between the two men was something the size of a horse. While it had four legs like an equestrian it was anything but. It was reptilian, at least it had the scales, but his feet were hairy. Instead of webbed hands there were feline footpads complete with large claws. An enlarged iguana's body with a lion's head. The all too familiar white mask, with a frilled lizard's mane. It showed the rows of teeth as he opened it's mouth to roar.
"Quickly get him!" One of the men shouted. The creature spun in place whipping it's tail out as it moved. The long green appendage slammed into the first shinigami while the second dove to avoid it. He got back up quickly as his friend tumbled to the ground. Other shingami were already moving towards the 6 foot creature. "We can't let it escape! It might lead more hollows toward us!" Even as the man shouted the creature gave a swipe of it's large claw forcing the man back. The others were far away to assist as the hollow turned and ran from the shingami. It was fast on it's feet. In seconds it was already made some distance from the group.

It had began with an earthquake. Stratus had felt the mountain tremble and had asked what could cause such a thing. Madoka had been less than forthcoming with the answer. There was no hiding his frustration, but he had little choice in the matter. What he had felt when the tremor started was a rush of spiritual pressure. Nothing like what he felt from the arrancar, something massive. The whole of the mountain had shook, he was fearful that it would come tumbling down upon him. Even Amago was tight lipped about the matter. This was a shock as the arrancar was always showing things to him. What was so different about this? In the end Stratus had only wasted his time and his annoyance grew. He gave a growl of anger he left the confines of the mountain and stepped out onto the white sands. Although there was no wind, it felt like a breath of fresh air to be in the desert again. For a moment Stratus paused to take in the vacant horizon. In every direction there was nothing, it was depressing and yet peaceful at the same time.
This helped to take the edge off, but not by much. He considered opening a portal to the human world to vent his frustrations, but then he felt something. It was faint, but he was certain it was what he had felt during the earthquake. Closing his eyes he focuses his sense in that direction. So faint, so very far away. As he opened his eyes he took off running.

The nozzle dropped from Arawn's mouth as the reality of the situation sunk in. He was here as a scientist so the call to arms wasn't aimed at him. Still he couldn't just ignore it. He took several strides in the direction the others were rushing. His hand grabbed the zanpukto at his waist and he stopped. The memory of what had happened the night before quickly came to the surface. His weapon, his zanpukto hadn't responded to his call. What good would such a thing be in a fight. The others were already in hot pursuit of the creature. Three of the group had given chase to the hollow. Arawn could see the cloud of dust being kicked up by the fleeing monster, and then the second cloud not too far behind. Silently he wondered why they didn't just use shunpo to close the gap. A second later the answer hit him; to keep a low profile. While true the flash step would allow them to catch the monster quickly it could also attract even more attention. The last thing they wanted to do was to attract even more hollows to their location. Arawn could imagine a horde of creatures flooding over the horizon rushing at the group. Such a group would rip them all limb from limb. The chances for anyone surviving such a thing was less than 1%. Arawn sighed and turned around. The rest of the patrolling group closed the perimeter around the camp. Short on three men they were being increasingly more cautious. And for good reason, what if the hollow was just a decoy? Draw people away and then strike the weakened defenses. Truly a valid response to the situation. Arawn's eyes searched the each direction for some sign of an ambush. Thankfully such an attack never came.

It wasn't but twenty minutes later that the three that had left returned. They seemed quite relaxed it would seem that they had been successful. The creature had been slain and they were sure to cover their track in returning. During this time the scientist continued with their work. The devices where rechecked, but only to keep their minds off things. Arawn had taken another pouch from the snack satchel and went back looking around the camp. The digging was done and the container completed. Very gently they lowered the box into the deep hole. As the sands were being piled back into the pit the preparations to move were already underway. Arawn didn't have much to do. He could only wait until the official order was given. His hand fell to his weapon once more. He pulled his hand away as if he'd touched a naked flame. With touching the weapon he had felt a tingle, almost like electricity. He touched the zanpukto again, but the feeling was gone. The order to move must have been given as people were already grouping up. Arawn released his sword and moved forward.

Running wasn't enough. As big as the strange signal was, it was also moving fast. How could something so large be moving at that speed? Stratus questioned himself as he started to sonido after it. He flashed in and out of exsistant along the white sands trying to keep up with the target. As he moved other questions started to pop into his mind. Was the thing he was chasing a hollow? There wasn't the same kind a of pressure he'd expect from such a monster. The vicious edge that he felt from the arrancar. Still the power itself was vast as the desert itself. His thoughts had broken the focus needed to preform his technique. Rather than moving forwards he stumbled and fell to the sand. He coughed and spat the dirt from his mouth. Still the signal was moving.

"Where the hell is this thing going." He said aloud to himself. Stratus almost wished for some company on this journey. It reminded him of his trip to Amago's fortress. He took a look behind him, the huge mountain was still visible. The large rock was still mammoth in size even after all the running he'd done. Just like Las Noches. He shrugged and turned his attention back to the chase. Focus he told himself and moved forward again. He kept chasing it trying to pace himself. At this rate he'd tire himself out just running full tilt. Perhaps this was why the arrancar hadn't told him anything. Chasing this creature could be a colossal waste of time. Still he was too curious to stop. He had to know what this thing was. He stopped using sonido and started to run again. Whatever it was seemed to be turning. Where the hell was it going?

After the incident of the first camp they were even more cautious as they advanced to the next one. Everyone, even the scientist, were told to keep their senses sharp. With all the people in their party on watch it was slow progress. Still they reached the second location without anything happening. That didn't reassure anyone and those making the patrols were sure to keep themselves on high alert. When they arrived they took an extra few minutes to be sure they hadn't been followed nor that anyone was watching them. For the first hour Arawn worked with the other scientist in relative silence. They kept all chatter to an absolute minimum. The fear of something hearing them and attacking had sunk in. They almost didn't have to communicate. Each person knew what they had to do, so they just did it. When done, they passed it off to the next person. It was a very somber assembly line. While it worked the sense of accomplishment was overshadowed by the fear of hollow attack. The same energy and excitement from the first camp was no longer present.

Arawn felt something different. While working his hand glanced his zanpukto's handle. There was no electric shock as he had felt the time before. Instead there was a vibration. At first he thought he imagined it like he had with the electric charge, but this was a constant. Each time he grabbed the handle the vibration was continued to flow through his hand. Between tweaks of the computer and wiring he'd reach for the sword. When he had finished his portion he took the zanpukto from his waist and laid it upon the sand. He expected the blade to case ripples on the soft sands, but nothing happened. Yet when he touched it, there was the vibrations once again. He was called back to the task of setting up the unit and tucked the weapon away again. Much later he felt his sword's handle once again. The vibrations had grown stronger. His whole arm almost shook as he held the weapon. Like his sword was a trying to pull it self from it's sheath.

Since it turned the signal seemed to slow down. Stratus changed direction in hopes of intercepting it on it's new route. The distance between them diminshed, but he still couldn't get a definite reading on it. For something so large he would have to be careful to avoid gaining it's attention. At the same time he wondered how something so huge could survive this long. Why hadn't the arrancar disposed of it? Didn't something that size threaten them in a way? Perhaps it was nothing more than a menos grande, but if that was true why didn't Amago or Madoka just say so. His anger at their silence rose. But he just grit his teeth and continued to chase it. Rather than rely on running and sonido he was doing a series of leaps. It only took a fraction of his strength and energy to send himself skyward. Seconds later the impacted with the soft sands. Over and over he hopped across the desert follow the large spiritual signal.

While jumping around like a flea took less power, he was starting to feel some strain in his legs from the repeated motion of jumping and landing. A light sheen of sweat started to cover the hollow as he moved. This was quite a bother as when he landed it sent up a cloud of dust and sand. With the sweat on his body he became quite dirty. It was bad enough he had to cough ever time he landed, but to now be covered in debris wasn't something pleasant. It annoyed him the way the sand worked it's way into the creases. His thighs felt like they had a chunk of sand paper pressed between them. This trip was shaping up to be a real pain, but going back now seemed even more annoying. After doing all of this he'd feel even stupider for running back without finding some answers. The gap between himself and the large signal was now half what it once was. As he took to the air again he tried to get a visual on the target. There was nothing too see, just miles upon miles of sand and dried trees. His eyes failed him but he could sense something was there.

While the scientist tinkered away the patrols continued their vigil. The lack of communication was disrupting their work in the slightest. Instead they shared nods as their routes crossed paths or a wave to hand signal to someone on the edge of the encampment. Their work didn't require that much talking as long as they did their job right. It was a task they took seriously. Those not involved in the patrolling kept themselves as busy as they could. Not that there was much to do. They didn't want to get in the way of those that were actually productive. Nervous about what they were supposed to do they ended wandering about aimlessly. Nothing to do they resorted to eating even though they weren't hungry. Arawn took note and continued with his work in relative peace. Occasionally his hand arm would nudge his zanpukto and he'd feel the slight vibrations emanating from it. He tried to avoid it would drawing too much attention to himself. The work went without incident and he moved away to observe the others work.

It was as still a tense atmosphere had diminished only a little. The other scientist began conversing in whispers. It was funny that they felt the need to talk now that the work was done. The units were connected and the synching process started. But the hole had yet to be dug. He found that the persons responsible for the packing of the gear had misplaced the tools. It was to be expected in panic of the attack something was bound to happen. Arawn helped himself to a snack. He didn't feel like talking with the other scientist. His thoughts kept drifting back to the pulsating weapon at his hip. It felt so strong now, he was afraid of anyone accidentally grazing it. So he moved off to the side while the low voiced argument unraveled about who was responsible for the missing shovels. The red haired shinigami tore the wrapper to the brown looking bar and took a reluctant bite. Again he was greeted by a mixture of tastes. Some kind of mixture of sweet and sour. He was certain he tasted tomato. As he lowered the bar from his mouth his elbow bumped into the hilt of his weapon. The vibrations nearly made him drop the bar. His free left hand grasped the sheath and pulled it from his waist. The blade itself was shaking, but he felt nothing when he grabbed the sheath. Arawn stared at the weapon in his outstretched hand. He was quick in lowering it. His eyes darted about the camp to see if anyone had seen his sudden motion. No one seemed to be looking in his general direction. The extra shinigami had found the shovels and had begun digging the next pit. As for the scientist they were still hunched over the device finishing the last steps. He was on the eastern edge of the camp, so he was practically alone, but not out of sight. Arawn sat down on the sand and placed his zanpukto on the ground before him. He was sure to place his back to the group. This was the most privacy he could get at the moment. Absentmindedly he nibbled on the ration bar as he stared down at the weapon. The sand touching the handle didn't even quiver in the slightest. Was he the only one to feel it? He was too afraid to find out the answer.

So he sat in silence munching on the strange bar troubled by the strange reaction the weapon was having. After a few minutes the bar was gone. Noisily he crumpled the wrapper in his hand and peeked over his shoulder. It was almost if nothing had changed. He continued to compress the plastic in his hand smaller and smaller. Maybe coming to Hueco Mundo was a mistake. The strange dreams, the odd occurrence within the inner realm, maybe it was all a coincidence. He sighed and stuffed the wrapper into his pocket. They were told not to leave anything behind, a hollow might come across the litter and track them. With his left hand he retrieved his weapon from the ground and stood up. He took a little time to dust the sand off himself. Arawn took another look around the camp. The sooner this was over the better. His right hand stretched out to touch the handle and paused. Very slowly he touched the hilt with his index finger. With just that digit his whole body began to shudder. The strong vibration made him quickly retract his hand. But the vibrations didn't stop. He dropped it, but the shaking continued.
"EVERYBODY MOVE!!" someone screamed "We're under attack!" It wasn't until he heard the shouts around him that he realized that the vibrations weren't coming from the weapon. The whole ground was shaking violently. White clouds rose as the area shook. As Arawn bent to retrieve his weapon and head back to the others there was an explosion of sand. More screams as the sand was shot into the air and rained down upon them. Weapon in hand he moved back toward the main camp. The other shinigami had drawn their weapons and stood ready as more geysers of and erupted around them. He could feel it, the sudden surge of spiritual pressure. It had surrounded them, there was nowhere to run. There was another chorus of screams as tendrils shot from the ground attacking the clustered shinigami. The dust cloud obscured their vision leaving them at a severe disadvantage Arawn felt something grab his ankle as mighty roar emanated from the ground. He was hoisted off his feet as earth swelled and a huge head pierced the surface.

Spoiler:

He eyes widened in disbelief as he gazed at the mammoth creature. This was the same creature he had seen in his first dream. The monstrous creature that had attacked the cat hollow and himself as he walked the desert. He was now seriously doubting if it was truly a dream. It had been so vivid. How was it possible for him to imagine such a creature during slumber and meet the same beast in reality? All this popped into head as he was dangled upside down by the hollow. Every time he tried to right himself the creature waved him about violently. The best he could do was try to hold onto his weapon. He was not alone as other were being flailed around while those not captured began their assault. A blast of red light struck one of the tentacles and the monster gave a howl releasing the shinigami it held. Another slashed at the tendril only to be swatted away by another. The creature had only partially emerged from the ground yet it was giving the soul reapers a hell of a time.

And suddenly it was gone. In the blink of an eye the signature he was following had completely vanished from his radar.
"Impossible." he muttered to himself as he stopped moving to completely focus on finding it again. Stratus closed his eyes shutting out all other stimuli. Nothing not even a trace. Even as he shifted his attention it he picked up a new group of signals. Whatever he had been chasing had reappeared, but it was not alone. It was fuzzy, but he was certain it was the tell-tale signal of shinigami. The mystery of larger spiritual pressure was not joined by the question of how so many soul reapers had come to Hueco Mundo. Was it possible they were here the whole time? The thought that there were shinigami constantly roaming the Hueco Mundo seemed preposterous. Still as wide and huge as the desert was it was impossible to keep watch over all part. Much like the human world there could be patrols of them drifting about. Opening his eyes he turned towards the direction the piddling signal had come from. It didn’t take much to find them. There was a large cloud just to the right from the direction he was already facing. He was sure it wasn’t there when he closed his eyes. It must have just happened. The large cloud obstructed his view complete, but thought he saw something moving within it. Should he go? Shinigami were there, it was possible it was some sort of trap, and yet he was too intrigued to step away. Stratus stomped his foot several time on the ground as he thought it over. Finally he grunted and rushed towards the disturbance. He had said it before; he wasn’t about to go back empty handed. Be it a trap or not, he was going to head right into it.

Since the cloud hid them from view he could only think they couldn’t see him as well. As he approached he suppressed his spiritual energy as best he could. At the same time he tried to keep his own sense sharp. Drawing closer the cloud was even larger than he expected. The way the desert made things look small was quite bothersome. Stratus stopped short of the mammoth cloud. He took one final moment to detect those within before stepping forward. It was like fog. A very dirty fog. The millions of grains of sand hit him and nearly blinded him as he moved. Still he could feel nothing near him. That didn’t last long there was a flash of light as a burst of fire came flying at him. Probably not at him, but near him. The tongue of flame arched past his head and swept to the right. Something shifted, but again it wasn’t directed at Stratus himself. He could hear the voices now of the shinigami as they barked orders to one each other. Above that was the huge roar of what could only be the source of the large signature. He had done a good job in hiding himself, but the attackers and the defenders were just as hidden to him. The roar came again and the ground shuddered beneath him. Of course it was the monster he was chasing, it was finally above the surface. Screams of the beast and the shinigami sounded throughout the clouded air. Tentatively he moved forward into the storm. He had barely made it fifteen steps when he senses something behind him. There was no time to turn before he was knocked sideways. His flight ended when he collided with something and fell tangled to the ground. As he tried to stand it turned out what he had hit was a shinigami. The battered man groaned as the hollow pushed him away. The haze of his mind vanished as he realized what had happened. He leapt to his feet drawing his weapon .There was no where for Stratus to hide. The shinigami raised his hand and shouted. A burst of yellow light fired from the hand and struck the hollow in the chest. The accompanying explosion sent Stratus tumbling back to the ground. Of course the shinigami wasn’t about to give the hollow a chance to recover and dove at the down opponent. Shaken, but not out Stratus rolled off his back and into a kneeling position. The man’s weapon was coming down only to be stopped by the hollow’s up stretched arm. Sparks flew from the armored forearm where the blade hit. Stratus’other hand thrust forward stabbing into the surprised shinigami’s chest. For what it’s worth the man pulled away from the creature’s claws and still clutching his weapon. His free hand now clutched the gaping wound. Blood ran down his arm and dropped upon the sands. The man didn’t look like he was about to run even though he was seriously hurt. It could be a problem if the fight drew on. But the real problem was that Stratus was no longer suppressing his spiritual pressure. There was the faint rattle of his armor as the ground shuddered again. Something grabbed around his waist and Stratus was sent skyward.

The blood was rushing to Arawn's head as he dangled by his foot. His every attempt to right himself was thwarted by the tentacles constant motion. The efforts of his companions to free the others only further agitated the monster. With every attack them made Arawn was shaken even more. The phone pole thick tendril seemed to tighten it's hold with each attempt. Arawn could feel his leg falling to sleep as the slimy tentacle slowly crushed his leg. The creature's cry of fury was mirrored with Arawn's cries of pain as it's grip tightened. It wasn't fun to be at the creature's mercy. As he hung there he hoped that someone would try to free him as well. He could hear the sounds of battle, but couldn't see anything. The sand cloud the creature's initial appearance had created still hung in the air obstructing everyone's vision. Thanks to the special glasses he wore there was no sand in his eyes, but he could see no better than the rest. Another tremor ran through the creature and Arawn was jerked sideways. After the sudden shake he felt himself rise. The owner of the tentacles had pulled further out of the sand. As it rose so did it's captured prey. Now above the could of dust he could see what exactly was holding onto him. By no means was Arawn happy with what he saw. Nor was he happy to see that he was being drawn closer and closer to the waiting mouth. The creature's maw was open wide enough to swallow a 747 jet whole. Rows of rows of teeth the side of Volkswagen beetle awaited him and the other captured souls.

Waiting to be rescued seemed less and less likely by the second. Arawn decided it was best he try to free himself before it was too late. He looked at the tentacle that held him bound. With a grunt the reached up and tried to pry his leg free. His hand slipped from the slimy surface and he fell back down. Bending from the waist and reaching it was hard enough. He thought of using kido, but it would definitely result in him injuring himself. If anything he'd like to leave that as a last resort. Instead he turned his attention to the other weapon he held; his zanpukto. When he had been captured he had grabbed the sword. Now it could be his salvation. Still clutching the weapon with this left Arawn tried to grab the handle as the tendril continued to jostle him. In the end he had to press the weapon against his body and then try to draw it. When his hand touched the handle a shock flowed through his body. The vibrations that ran through the sword rattled him to the core. He could feel his teeth clattering in his skull. Arawn feared the weapon would jump out of his hands. He released the sheath so he could put both hands to keep it steady. The distance between himself and the black pit of the hollow's huge mouth had dwindled significantly. Wasting no time Arawn swung forward and brought his weapon to bear upon the tentacle. At that moment the vibration of the blade ceased then his sword exploded in flash of golden light.

It was obvious that that the shinigami was relieved to see the hollow leave, but Stratus was less than pleased. The initial shock wore off and was quickly replaced by rage. He dug his claws into the tentacle holding him. His talons cut in the sticky skin and drew purplish blood. The reward for his resistance was a bone cracking squeeze, but that wasn't enough to to stop him from attempting to escape. Stratus redoubled his efforts of tearing the tendril off of him. A chunk of the tentacle was cut away as he was shaken back and forth. Being shook like a rag doll only further angered the hollow and he started to punch and claw more. He raised his hand to give a mighty blow when something grabbed him. Another tentacle had joined the fray. How many of these things does this thing have? Stratus asked himself. He could only imagine how the shinigami could handle such an attack. The one around his waist felt like it was trying to squeeze him in half, and the one holding his arm felt like it was going to tear it clean off. If he was a shinigami only having one arm would make escape impossible. Thankfully Stratus wasn't limited to his arm. Almost on cue his arm separated and his own tendrils jumped forth. As the shot out curved. The razor edges cut through the tentacles that bound him with ease. While he enjoyed his restored freedom he had forgotten that he was no longer on the ground.

Stratus no plummeted now that he was released from the creature. In the seconds of his struggle the creature had hefted him a good twenty feet up. It was a small drop, but he grunted as he landed slightly kneeling. His tentacles remained out hovering around him like angry snakes. Stratus got to his feet and removed the remainder of the slimy member from his waist. The are beneath it was still tender, but he could move without much pain.
"That bastard I'll_" his words were cut short as a golden light flared and a gust of knocked all the sand from the air. Stratus flinched and turned away to avoid being blinded by the light. When he looked back the cloud was gone and something hovered shining in the air. There was a strong pulse of spiritual power radiating from the light like a star. With the smoke gone there now a clear view of the creature that had assaulted him. Any threat he had thought up was quickly forgotten as he beheld the mammoth beast. While it's height rivaled the menos it's size was many times greater. Only the head had emerged from the sand's surface, but he could see the bulge from where the rest of it's body was hidden. Even the shinigami were speechless before the behemoth. They all stood froze like deer in the headlights. But there was something was bothering him. Amidst the various signals there was something else. Something sinister. It had emerged seconds before the burst of light, but he had felt it. He looked around, but couldn't quite pinpoint the source. It was then that he noticed that his tendrils had stopped moving, they all hung stiff pointing to the side of him. Finally he saw what the his body already knew; two figures standing in the middle of the battlefield.

Spoiler:

The white garb was what instantly stood out, arrancar, and Stratus had a feeling of dread come over him. It was at this time that he shinigami noticed the addition. Those that had been stunned by gazing upon the monster realized the new thread. Some drew their weapons as they backed away. The woman with the purple hair didn't seem to notice them. The little girl beside her raised her hand at the large creature.
"Baopo, mistress is not happy with you running off like that." She said and the large creature froze as well. "If you don't behave she will punish you. The mammoth creature gave a soft roar as the short girl nodded her head. Stratus looked from the creature to the women and back again. They controlled this beast!? What possible connection would the monster have with arrancar? What did it have to do with Amago? Something told him that asking these two such a question wasn't wise. He could feel the murderous intent coming off them just as strong as reiatsu. His desire to fight shrunk significantly. It seemed like everyone's did, but it became evident that Stratus wasn't the focus of anyone's attention. He took that moment to will his tendrils to retract. They seemed happy to comply with that order. Wasting no time he focused his energies, it might get him noticed but he had no choice. He hated the fact he was retreating, but staying would undoubtedly lead to his death. With a flare of his power he used Sonido to flee from the area. He appeared some hundred feet from where the monster and arrancar stood. He wanted to stay and watch, but had a feeling it was best to take victory in learning something of mystery of the earthquake. But as he turned to leave he realized he was only leaving with more questions.

The flash of light was surprising enough, but he didn't expect the rush of warmth that flooded through him. The warmth increased and his sword felt like it was on fire. Even as the pain in his hands increased he couldn't release the weapon. As the heat surged through his body there can a roar. It was not the creature, it was coming from his zanpukto. It increased, but he wouldn't know that he was the only one to hear it. The energy he felt pumping through him started to rise and fall. It felt like a heartbeat hammering away in his ears. Arawn's own heartbeat was erratic in his chest. The two rhythms conflicted. As one beat the other paused, and when the other paused. This tug of war continued what seemed like an eternity for Arawn. While it seemed like forever it was only a matter of moments before the light faded and the dueling energies continued their exchange. He couldn't breathe for those seconds his body was paralyzed by the rampant energies. Spasm after spasm caused his unseeing eyes to bulge in their sockets. He was completely oblivious to the outside world. He hadn't noticed that his attack had been successful in freeing his leg. Arawn fell from the sky. The red haired shinigami landed upon the sands with a dull thud. He didn't feel the pain from his fall in the slightest although the impact did fracture some bones. Arawn lay prone half buried in the sand. No one moved to check on him as the arrancar made their appearance.
Although his eyes stared up at he black sky, his mind was elsewhere.

Spoiler:

Arawn floated in the empty space. Unlike his physical body his eyes were closed as he drifted through the ether. Without opening his eyes he knew he was no longer in the normal plane of existence. The warmth that had assaulted him now vanished instead there was now a chill all around him. There was no wind, but he felt something move past him. Again he couldn’t see, but he knew is was the asteroids that occupied this world. Although he could hear them passing all around him, but not one collided with him. He could feel them pass close around him in a lazy orbit. Then came the growl. Arawn tried to open his eyes, but could not. Still without his vision the presence told him all.
“Welcome back, Huang Long.” he croaked. His mouth was dry and his voice was weak.
“Welcome…back.”
“Welcome….back.”
“Welcome…..back.”
Although it was barely above a whisper there were echoes all through the realm. But Arawn was quick to notice that the voices were not his own. They continued on and on into infinity. It was moments later that the voices stopped. There was no other sound after the voices had stopped. “Huang Long?”
There was no answer. “Huang Long?” he asked again the desperation creeping into voice. The chill vanished and was replaced by the pain from the fall.
“Huang Long!” Arawn shouted as he sat up. There was already a shinigami above trying to tend to his wounds. Light headed he lay back down quickly when pushed by the man caring for him. “What happened?”
The man shook his head and looked at Arawn. “We’re heading back.” the man muttered. Turning his head somewhat he looked around at the battleground. The monster was gone, a huge hole where it had been sat a few feet from their location. People lay injured all around them. There were some bodies that were wrapped in blankets. “The project is cancelled, we can’t continue on. This is the best I can do for you. The real medic was killed.” The man himself had one of his eyes bandaged. There was sand stuck in the folds of the blood stained cloths. Arawn nodded in agreement. Just at a glance they had lost at least half their numbers. Arawn didn’t have the will to argue with the man. He doubted anyone would want to proceed with the smaller and inured group. Those that could still walk and move tried to tend to the wounded. While those in better shape tried to set up a small perimeter around the hasty camp. They had just suffered and attack, but they were unable to move. Most of the equipment was ruined. Even though it had been destroyed their did their best to collect it. They didn’t want the hollows to get their hands on such technology. After piling the gear and backpacks they made a pile of the dead bodies that would accompany them. The process of making the gate home was different than the usual method. Arawn observed from some distance as three men stood an equal distance apart from one another. Each man drew their weapon and drove them into the ground. A fourth man approached the three weapons with his own and proceeded to touch each before driving his weapon against the center blade. The sand trembled as the space around the three zanpukto trembled. A perfectly circular gate appeared. Rather than the sliding door it was a swirling multicolor haze hanging over the sands. One by one those that could walk were ushered through. Arawn was the fourth one to approach it. He was assisted by the man that had given him treatment. His own arm in a sling and his leg in a small splint he hobbled forward. Arawn took one last look over his shoulder at the bodies of the fallen and gear.
“They will come after we get the wounded out.” the man beside him spoke. Together then stepped into the portal home.