[Log] 21 - Broken Twilight
Date: 09-26-08
Characters: Alyon, Ulquiorra, Yammy
Summary: The hunt is on. Their quarry is found. Their move is made.
The Menos Forest. It was a dark and nearly forgotten place, known well, however, to a Priveron, though. Where the Menos Grande gather in incredible numbers for reasons mystery to all Arrancar. This is where Alyon had fled to. Suppressing he reiatsu and not using Sonido to keep from gaining the attention of the Menos Grande. They attack and eat anything...even their own. The massive pillars where stalactite and stalagmite meet and form tree like monstrosities.
High up along one of the pillars, the Geisha pauses a moment. Her sleeves wrapping the 'trees' to hold herself to their smooth heights. Pale eyes scanning the ground below. Seeing massive shapes moving in the darkness. She must be careful lest they feel her and attack. She could easily defend some of them...but here...they swarmed. Her sleeves pulled away as she leaps from pillar to pillar with that same ghostly grace she showed in Las Noches.
As the geisha leaps between trees a sound reaches her ears, one she's no doubt been dreading... The sound of reality getting torn as a zipper-like rip occurs near the ground, splitting into a yawning maw leading to a black void.
A moment later a gargantuan white-garbed bald (aside from a black ponytail) man emerges, his eyes gazing about as he snorts.
"You're losing it, I don't see her." He calls back to the still-open Garganta after a cursory glance to his left, his right, and before him. Looking up or on the other side of the Garganta isn't bothered with at the moment.
"....for once try using your senses other than sight," comes the response from behind him. A white shod, black covered foot steps out from between the yet open portal, the other to follow as the smaller, half-helmeted Espada exit, his coattails sliding along behind him before the enormous jaws slowly narrow before seamlessly closing the fabric of the atmosphere once again. His head cocks slightly, green eyes flicking one way, then the other.
"The stillness. You probably don't know what to look for." Ulquiorra turns his gaze towards Yammy. "Come. And at least -try- to put some effort into controlling your reiatsu. We don't need to draw extra attention- it will just be a waste of time."
Her eyes closing as she hears the rip. Confident...even Espada should be wary of the Menos Grande in such numbers. Her own reiatsu suppressed to little more than the whisper of her silk kimono as she looks towards the sound. So, Aizen wasn't pleased with her leaving...and he's sent them to find her. Find her? Don't be a fool, girl. They've come to kill you.
Those pale eyes harden considerably. She'd hoped to avoid ever calling Arrancar enemy, but she's not so soft to not defend herself against them. Espada...she would soon learn just how powerful her fans could be. How many blows they could take before cracking. If they found her. If it came to it. She's no fool, she chose the Menos Forest for a reason; distraction. If she had to fight, she would use the Menos Grande...those uncontrollable monsters that seek soul energy to feast upon.
Using Sonido now would seal her fate. She barely even breathed as she turned and leapt for the next pilar, gesturing her arms forward with those long sleeves to act as elongated fingers. Finding the niches in the stone to grasp and continue her flight.
The gargantuan male Diez Espada cracks his neck as he continues to gaze about, his reiatsu choked at Ulquiorra's request. Well, as choked as it gets. Its at least a little less obvious.
"Feh stupid Forest of all places..." Yammy mutters, now looking about more, actually letting his gaze start to wander.
"It'd be easier to find her if we just demolished this area." He notes, but doesn't act on the impulse. At least not yet. Ulquiorra did afterall tell him to try to control his Reiatsu and be sneakyish.
Ulquiorra steps past his larger comrade, shaking his head. "That would only be more trouble than it is worth." He glances out of the corner of his eye, back at Yammy. "It's likely that she's already aware we're after her." Garganta had not been his preference for travel, but it had been their fastest option at the time.
The smaller Espada continues to walk then, his eyes always moving as they proceed, senses open for any immediate threats, but most importantly, for their quarry. Things will take too long this way, however.
Her eyes cut left, a group of the Menos. She leaps towards them, skirting their ability to sense her as close as she could. Use them to hide herself from Ulquiorra and Yammy. Dangerous game to be playing, admittedly; the game would become so much more dangerous if they find her. Her hair and kimono streaming behind her as she grips to the top of one of the pillars. No fool, she's chosen her black kimono for her flight.
She feels the reiatsu of Yammy suddenly die out. She was gaining distance from them. Good and bad...now she couldn't keep track of them. The air buzzing with a Cero blast as far off in the distance, the Menos Grande find prey. A chilling reminder that if they could, the Menos would make a snack of her and the Espada.
She'd have preferred the sands of the desert, but she must show caution. Even for her this place, the Hueco Mundo, could be dangerous. Twice so being hunted.
"Stupid traitor..." The large Espada mutters, movement catching his eye...
...And drawing it to a pack of Menos. The same one Alyon's skirting at the moment, but he misses catching sight of her personally.
"Tch Menos this close. Any idea where she might be Ulquiorra?" This searching for someone using stealth thing is SO not his schtick.
Menos could be used to his advantage, however he is more accustomed to summoning them in places where they aren't so readily available. To attempt such here could prove to be a risk for them as well as Alyon. Ulquiorra stops again, feeling the far off burst of a Cero. No concern crosses his face as he looks in that direction, and he looks towards Yammy before following his gaze towards the Menos. They've managed to come this far. It is only a matter of narrowing things down further. The half-helmeted Espada thinks.
"...Yammy. Fire off a Cero," he says finally, not an answer to the larger one's question, but it's something to be done. "In that direction. Then follow my lead." He indicates the group of Menos. Alyon is trying to lay low from the natural predators of the forest aside from them, which could be compared to tip-toeing through glass. Perhaps if they stir things up, she might slip up. While certainly they will probably draw attention of many a Menos Grande, it will be considerably harder to be sneaky when the whole forest is in an uproar.
Wincing away softly at the static, chaotic reiatsu of the Menos Grande. They all felt the same, so unlike their evolved brothers. But that buzz of them was also strangely familiar. Hoping to put the Menos between herself and Ulquiorra and Yammy as she continues to fly from one pillar to the next. Now seeking to put distance between herself and her pursuers. This would not be an easy run. She wouldn't underestimate either of them, but Ulquiorra knew her. They'd sat and spoke, well, mostly she spoke quite often. Moreso than any other in the White Desert. Stay the course. He is her enemy now. A moment's regret as she leans up against the pillar.
At Ulquiorra's orders, Yammy's Reiatsu flares up again as he opens his mouth wide, sucking in energy into a rapidly forming pulsating red-range ball right before his mouth. A moment later the Cero blasts out, straight into the center of the group of Menos, and through them beyond into the forest, tearing out a large chunk of terrain. Alyon better hope she didn't leave the Menos directly between her and the Espada.
Yammy does deny the urge to wave the Cero about, instead leaving it a simple line. This way there's still Menos to get riled into an uproar.
"That good, Ulquiorra?" The giant asks as he again shackles down his reiatsu as best he can.
"I expected no less from you." As much of a compliment as Yammy can expect to get right now, but it is something. Ulquiorra watches the resulting for a moment before he looks to Yammy again, and once he catches the larger Espada's gaze, he motions for the other to follow him. His form blurs and he's gone in a blink, but he does not Sonido too far that the other cannot track him. After another glance, Ulquiorra moves again, taking to the high branches of the crystalline trees. He gestures for Yammy to split off and settle somewhere adjacent from where he now stands, turning his head then to watch as the large creatures begin to mill about, and likely turn on each other if any were caught in Yammy's blast. But most importantly, he keeps an eye out for a certain Privaron. If she is not around here, then they'll just have to move on and try again in another section of the forest.
Her eyes widening as Yammy's reiatsu flares. Her lips pull back in a snarl, that muted roar of the cero echoing in her head. She manages to hold tight to the pillar with it's upper midsection simply gone. Eaten away in the red beam. The roars of the Menos were deafening as they turned towards the pair. Damn! Don't be a god damned fool...they can handle Menos.
She turns and her painted face goes suddenly neutral as she stares straight into the face of a Menos. It's maw opening as it roars. Yammy's blast was like turning on a light in the black. Blinded for a moment. "Keibi, Kyoukten." The command given, the fan snapping out with an eloquent gesture.
The bone mask forming over her face. No features on it, but from it's top come three long tentacles that fall down along her hair. Spading widely and writhing of their own accord. Her kimono lengthening, the sleeves past the 'dress' itself. Two large fans open from her as she breathes outward. On the plain mask draw two long black lines where her eyes should be before suddenly opening.
The fan opens as the Menos' cero hits her point blank. So much for subtlety. Her form fading as she uses Sonido to try to step quick and far.
Sonido is used by the large Espada as Ulquiorra ordered. He wasn't as fast as the smaller Espada, but considering his size his speed's downright impressive.
Right as the guesture to break off is given... he sees her. A deflected Cero from a menos, the rushing of a Sonido.
"There!" He calls out, well aware Ulquiorra probably already found her, before he enters his own Sonido, pursuing after her. The problem is, even as a Priveron, she's probably faster then he is. But for now getting clearance from the enraged Menos is mutually beneficial.
She has been found- that allows them to proceed rather than traipse around the forest. So that is her Resurrección, he thinks, green eyes narrowing slightly. Ulquiorra is already leaning into Sonido as Yammy alerts him. Keeping mindful of his comrade's presence, the smaller Espada moves to keep on the opposite side from him, his path kept parallel to Alyon's as she takes flight. He follows from above, darting from tree to tree, locking onto her, trusting Yammy not to lag behind.
They have left the Menos well back, and though there may be more lurking nearby, Ulquiorra decides it best to cut off the woman's flight as soon as possible. He looks ahead of them, scanning what he can that lies beyond the trees. Hm.
A hand slips from his pocket, and with a flick of his wrist he sends several Bala blasts rocketing towards Alyon. They aren't really aimed to hit her, but they are close enough that they just might if she doesn't evade. If he takes out the trees instead, that works just as well, since Ulquiorra's intent is to try herding her.
She can feel them now. They now have her, and she was now in the very position she'd tried so hard to avoid. The massive fans trailing quickly behind her as she now has a new problem on her hands. Does she push everything into escape...and hope she doesn't get caught after using that much energy? Or does she turn and face them?
Which is worse? Standing her ground and dying in battle or being scraped off the rocks because she was caught up to?
The Bala blasts have Alyon's mask moving...even though her face is still forward. Those painted lines, animated...the eyes narrowing. Instead of evading on the ground, she uses her Sonido to come up and then far to the right where she stops. The pool of silk around her framing her as she turns towards them. "Have you come for my head, Ulquiorra-sama?" The black painted lips moving, but her voice echoing all around her softly. "Is he so displeased with my actions he wants my life? Then come!" The fans opening, wide and full. Their surface scrawling with moving scenery as if some unseen hand were painting as she tood there. "I will show you why I was one Sexta Espada." Those tentacles writhing like snakes around her, her sleeves trailing the ground.
Shortly after Alyon strikes her pose and makes her little declaration, Yammy emerges from Sonido basically in her face. Those few seconds being all it took to catch back up.
"Suerte!" He hisses out, with a malicious grin on his face, before he lashes out with one of his tremendous fists in a downward punch aimed at Alyon, calling out as he does, "Just tell me if you want to take over, Ulquiorra!"
But for the moment, he's putting his ridiculous strength to use.
Having successfully pulled her attention to him, Ulquiorra lands at the base of another nearby tree, his cold green gaze falling upon the Privaron. "It was your actions alone that have brought such consequences. You have discarded any chances to amend matters when you left Las Noches."
He does not look towards Yammy even though he feels the other's reiatsu pulse clearly as he nears. Undoubtedly Alyon can feel it too, but he'll draw no attention to the Tenth to allow him what advantage he can get. Ulquiorra remains standing casually, letting his hand slip back into his hakama pocket.
The mask's lips grin as he shows his punch all too clearly before execution. "Careful, Yammy-sama." His fist strikes air as she Sonido's behind him. Her arm gesturing in a snap as the long silken sleeve encircles him before she jerks back and tightens it. Trying to mummify the Espada in silk. Material that can bend and stretch and still hold strong. "Don't underestimate me..." The three tentacles quickly snaking around him, well aware of the bestial strength of the man as she tries to hold him. No, she couldn't attack...but there were so many ways to defend. Keeping the big Espada's face pointed away from her.
"And what would you do, Ulquiorra-sama...if you were named useless? Would you not seek to prove your worth? Is that now crime within the walls of Las Noches?"
Yammy snarls slightly as he's snared, "Is this going to be all this is? I always get boring ones these days..."
With that, he suddenly jerks his arms outwards, putting every fiber of his monumental strength into trying to burst out of the bindings all at once. Or at least loosen them substantially.
"Your reasons don't matter, all those who anger Lord Aizen will be crushed!"
Reasoning wasn't much of a strong point for Yammy anyway. Ulquiorra doesn't move from where he stands, still watching as the overgrown Espada manages to get tangled in Alyon's silken wrappings. "...if I were named useless then I would not be in Las Noches. I would not even be what I am now. My worth has already been proven." He does not blink as he continues to look on as Yammy strains against his bindings. "You may have had worth, but you failed to convey it to Aizen-sama when it mattered."
Suddenly releasing Yammy and moving quickly to put some distance between them. Keeping both in her line of sight. "Yammy-sama..possibly the strongest of the Espada to date. What will you do if you one day anger him? Will you lay your neck across the block for his pleasure? I've only asked for the right to prove my worth. I do not see how this breaks his law. The Arrancar are my family...But it seems he's taken that from me as well." Her voice growing colder, until it softens, "Tell me I was wrong, Ulquiorra-sama. Tell me that my actions were not justified to prove myself to him. Name me useless to his and your cause..." Her eyes turning to the half-helmeted Espada.
The gigantic Espada actually stumbles slightly at abruptly getting freed, giving her the chance to get distance. He catches himself fairly quickly though, lashing out with a punch towards Alyon in midair... Sending a Balas shot straight at her, while she's looking at Ulquiorra.
"I won't anger Lord Aizen. I strive to make him happy and show obedience. Only a fool without respect would invoke his ire! And to hell with Arrancar like that!" He bellows out, after the Balas lands, be it on her or into the terrain.
Aside from regaining his posture, he doesn't move after launching the Bala. At least not yet.
If there is anything Ulquiorra has learned about Alyon in his meetings with the female Privaron, it is that she liked conversation. She liked to speak and to hear opinions, to gain incite by words, and she proved to be quite a thoughtful one. Those are the dangerous types.
"I will not pretend to know what exactly you spoke of with Aizen-sama. I only know that whatever you have chosen to share with him has obviously not been adequate enough. He is not a man known for giving many chances. That is why you are here. That is why we are here."
If any of Yammy's blasts miss their mark or are deflected towards him, Ulquiorra is ready to sweep a hand out to knock them away. It isn't the best of places to merely be playing the part of a spectator, but he has his reasons.
The Bala impacts, one of those widely opened fans where the deceptively fragile appearing bone holds strong, taking the blast. "Even if it means killing yourself?" The fan slowly closing, revealing Alyon looking at Yammy. "It is now what he is asking of me. To lower my fans and let myself be slain. For over two hundred years I've survived this place and made it my home. I bowed and gave my title of Espada to the stronger as is your right to take it. Now I'm asked to die, even as I strive to prove to Aizen that there is more than one facet to being powerful. No...I cannot attack...but nor can you defend...I have accepted that fact just as you have accepted it. Did he want me to delude myself? Is that what he was truly asking of me? Instead of playing games I decided to take action...and now it's my neck on the block."
She looks to Ulquiorra, "We are not given second chances, Ulquiorra-sama. Pray that you nor any of the Espada misstep. Or perhaps that is why I am hunted...a single Priveron by two Espada...to remind the masses the penalty for thinking on one's own." She pauses and gestures back, "Which is what I thought made us strong...evolving from the Menos Grande into individuals...to think for ourselves...in diversity we are able to rally one's weakness to a strength. I was made to rally the weakness of those with no defense...But perhaps it is not enough, anymore. To be the shield for my brothers and sisters."
Sonido. The gigantic Espada suddenly blurs into motion again, reappearing directly infront of Alyon as he lashes out with another, powerful downward punch. His full crater-inducing force behind it.
"Can't attack? You really are worthless. Just shut up and fight however you can! Lord Aizen's will is absolute!"
The conversation's getting on the giant's nerves. He's never been a big fan of talking. When talking cuts into action, it'll really get on his nerves. And his temper's already flying high at how bad of a fight this is.
It is the one thing Ulquiorra can trust Yammy to do- fight without direction. It's a trait that most of the arrancar have in buckets. The hard part is getting them to stop and deviate from straight-on bashing paths through their opponents. He lets Yammy have his way with this one- he knows that the big Espada had been sore about having to retreat from battle with the Gotei 11's 3rd Seat during the invasion of Seireitei not a month ago, but not that it took much effort to rouse an arrancar to battle.
"You said so yourself- that you were proud of what has become of the arrancar, and that you would gladly lend your strength to forward their purpose. I had said that words are limited to what they convey... and apparently your words were not chosen well enough to impress Aizen-sama when it mattered most." Ulquiorra lifts his head but a fraction of an angle. "Strength of one for the strength of all, isn't that what your belief summed up to? You sounded so certain of yourself then, but now you are on the run." He closes his eyes but briefly, those piercing green eyes finding their focus immediately once he opens them again. "Our words will only run circles in attempts to find fault in the other's reasoning, but such will not be able to change the fact that this is where we are now."
Her mask shifts without her face to meet Yammy as he Sonido's in and brings that massive fist down. Her fan coming up with a small gesture, and rather than facing it head on, it smoothly moves with him to force his momentum aside. The true strength of her fans is in deflection. "It is a pity I could not share one more cup of tea with you. I hope Aizen-sama enjoys my gifts that I brought him the day he named me useless. I will no longer insult you and hold back in hopes of speaking my reasonings to you." The face left 'watching' Ulquiorra is blank. Just white flesh smoothed over like clay. The mask now holding her features as the head tilts a bit before she Sonido's back...into a pack of advancing Menos Grande. Her sleeves wrapping the toed feet of one as she pulls with all her strength and the Menos roars out as it begins to topple. Sonido. Those sleeves moving to try to ensnare Yammy again as the mask moves along her head to look to Ulquiorra. "I trust you'll do me the same honor, Ulquiorra-sama. My words were spoken true...of what I am to my brothers and sisters. My pride is pure in what they've become...I would have this no other way. I would fall to none other than one I might have called friend."
"It's so very strange to feel regret now...I always thought I would die pleased for having fulfilled my duty."
Even Yammy can learn.
This time as the sleeves come at him he sonidos to the side, a bit too slow since his left arm still gets snared, but in the same moment his right reaches the hilt at his side, drawing his appropriately sized Zanpakutou.
"Good, then don't hold back! Show me just how obsolete you are!" He calls out, as he slashes his great blade towards the silk binding his other arm.
Taunts are stayed from his tongue and quite easily. This is not a battle to toy with. They have been sent out with an objective, and both would be loathe to return in failure. Alyon's words do not go unheard, but they do go without response. Ulquiorra has moved.
He moves in the same instance that Yammy does to try freeing himself, his coattails not even having time enough to properly flap as he seems to go from standing to no longer existing in that spot he had been standing with not even a second's passing. Sonido carries him along, rebounding from the shimmering tree trunks to flank Alyon's retreat. The Menos may as well be trees too for all the mobility they possess in comparison to two Sonido-sprinting arrancar. Ulquiorra bursts ahead of her, throwing his left hand out to release a Bala blast towards them. It flies far faster than the toppling Menos falls, and he anticipates that either way they will react with force. It takes time to fire up a Cero, and the half-helmeted Espada intends not to be there when it happens, retracing his steps, senses ranging between the Menos, Alyon and Yammy.
The mask grins as she moves with her own impressive speed. just under his blade and pulling his arm along. A flick of her wrist as she tries to loop the sleeve trapping Yammy's arm around his neck and use the brute's strength to strangle himself. It's not without it's price. His sword having cleaved one of those spaded tentacles from her mask. It writhes on the ground before shattering and she bites back the cry of pain. "Dance with me, Yammy..."
She looks up and instinct and long habit strikes too deeply. She heaves and releases her grip on Yammy as the Menos falls. Hopefully sending him flying as Ulquiorra begins to move. He gets what he wants, the mouths of Menos opening and beginning to fire. The muted Cero blasts raining down and leaving Alyon to throw both hands up to deflect them. The mask growling and it's face distorting as her fans spread wider and begin to crack. Absorbing the force of more than one Cero before shattering completely and leaving her as she was before summoning her mask. Glancing up at Ulquiorra as she holds out a hand. "End it, then."
The brutish Espada, lowest ranked of the current tier, is getting annoyed. His opponent was a defender and fought via attrition. Not that he knows what attrition is. He just knew this fight wasn't very fun. And she was making a fool out of him. Which was never a good idea, because it got the brute rather angry when he finally caught on.
His arm is snared, but when it does he rolls with the force of his own momentum, rather then letting himself get strangled and thrown. Once loosened, he stops himself by slamming the blade of his Zanpakutou into the ground, causing it to tear through the ground as it anchors him to a more rapid stop. The large brute simply stands back up afterwards, looking murderously livid.
To add further insult to all this, the damn traitor managed to get herself beaten by a pack of menos in the span of seconds. He didn't even get the satisfaction of smashing those fans to dust with his own hands. A angry snarl echoes on the brute's lips, but he has the sense to glance to Ulquiorra for some sort of direction, rather then just smashing her.
Gravity finally gets its chance to catch up with Ulquiorra, tugging irritatedly at his coattails as his feet settle upon the ground again, pulling back and forth at the long folds of his hakama. His hand still remaining out, he lifts it in a vague motion for Yammy to hold for the time being. The Cuarta Espada steps towards Alyon at an almost leisurely pace, those soul-piercing green eyes unblinking as they rest upon her.
"Do not expect mercy. All actions bring about consequences. Such must always be accepted, but how one deals with them is left up to the person in question." He closes the space between them with a sudden step of Sonido, and not a breath after the last word spoken. Carefully observing, ever wary of the Menos that still linger, but more focused upon any changes in Alyon's reiatsu that could pose a threat to him. His hand plunges forward, quicker than a viper strike, black-nailed fingers seeking to be thrust deep into the woman's abdomen.
"...action, consequence, or both?" he says lowly.
Alyon smiles as he is suddenly so close. "It is a pity I didn't get to know you better...I think I was growing fond of you." Her eyes closing when his hand thrusts into her stomach. But rather than blood, the kimono splinters like a spiderweb along her entire body. Even her hair as it still moves. "A shame we will never know, sweet Ulquiorra." The entire body suddenly chips and breaks away. Little more than bone. Sharding to nearly nothing around his hand and scattering at the ground around his feet. A decoy. Misdirection at it's finest. Leaving nothing in her wake but an empty promise.
Hidden within the soul hollow of the Menos Grande on the ground is Alyon. Huddled and weak as the Menos lay, unable to rise again. It's reiatsu masking her own now weak and suppressed soul energy. Listening to the events take place around her, not willing to look for herself and possibly be seen.
Yammy had turned to watch the remaining Menos at Ulquiorra's beckoning to hold back. The gigantic Espada knew there was no need to keep an eye on how Ulquiorra handled things, but there was some value in making sure they didn't get a pack of angry, mindless Menos charging at them Ceroing.
As such, he misses seeing the strange 'death' of their target.
Inwardly, the giant's still seething. At first he had high hopes for a grand battle. Instead, nothing about this battle was to his liking. On a afterthought, he re-sheaths the Zanpakutou after pulling it free from the ground, still looking moody as he watches the nearest pack of enraged Menos.
Green eyes widen, then narrow at the resulting. He watches as the Privaron's body shatters like a fragile shell, fragments falling away from his hand to become a part of the packed ground below his feet. Black-nailed fingers curl slightly, not enough to make a fist, but he lifts his gaze from watching the remnants filter away between each digit, looking around in silence.
Ulquiorra gives the slow-approaching Menos an almost challenging look before he upturns his hand, waving off the fine dust before sliding it back into his pocket. He turns and begins to walk towards Yammy, but not without one more sweep of the area. Finally, he nods at the bulky Espada, a silent signal that they are to leave.
She could never have outrun them...she could never survive truly facing them. She'd used as much of her power as she could chance so that when she switched with the Decoy...not even Ulquiorra would feel her reiatsu. Weak and barely able to stand as she masks what little energy she has left in the hollow of the Menos Grande. She would need rest soon, but she had to make sure they were gone. Pressed back up against the blackness of the Menos, pulling the black sleeves of her kimono over her face so that she was simply more black amongst black. -Sorry I had to trick you, Ulquiorra-sama...but I am not ready to yet die. Let us see how Aizen-sama takes the taste of failure from his precious Espada. At the hands of a Priveron...useless indeed.- She smiles as her eyes close.
The largest of the Espada has no idea of what happened. His eyes weren't on the finale of the battle, and his other senses hardly told him a thing about this.
Sure somewhere in his head he probably found it a bit odd that there was no surge of Ulquiorra's power yet no trace of the traitor's body. But that thought's buried in his head, beneath a foul mood.
He doesn't even bother to speak as he turns to follow his small companion.
Nothing more needs be said, but just because he offers no words to his uncharacteristically equally silent companion, hardly does that mean his mind is at ease. If the task is done then they should feel accomplished. He allows his gaze to slide back and behind them again, but deeming each second wasted towards their lack of haste in reporting back to Aizen, Ulquiorra takes the lead, hand drawn from his pocket, finger tearing a rift in the air whereupon it spreads like a cloth rent to reveal the blackness swirling with violet energies beyond. No words are needed now. They are best to be saved for when they meet with their lord, and if words are not enough, then his eye will not lie.
Characters: Alyon, Ulquiorra, Yammy
Summary: The hunt is on. Their quarry is found. Their move is made.
The Menos Forest. It was a dark and nearly forgotten place, known well, however, to a Priveron, though. Where the Menos Grande gather in incredible numbers for reasons mystery to all Arrancar. This is where Alyon had fled to. Suppressing he reiatsu and not using Sonido to keep from gaining the attention of the Menos Grande. They attack and eat anything...even their own. The massive pillars where stalactite and stalagmite meet and form tree like monstrosities.
High up along one of the pillars, the Geisha pauses a moment. Her sleeves wrapping the 'trees' to hold herself to their smooth heights. Pale eyes scanning the ground below. Seeing massive shapes moving in the darkness. She must be careful lest they feel her and attack. She could easily defend some of them...but here...they swarmed. Her sleeves pulled away as she leaps from pillar to pillar with that same ghostly grace she showed in Las Noches.
As the geisha leaps between trees a sound reaches her ears, one she's no doubt been dreading... The sound of reality getting torn as a zipper-like rip occurs near the ground, splitting into a yawning maw leading to a black void.
A moment later a gargantuan white-garbed bald (aside from a black ponytail) man emerges, his eyes gazing about as he snorts.
"You're losing it, I don't see her." He calls back to the still-open Garganta after a cursory glance to his left, his right, and before him. Looking up or on the other side of the Garganta isn't bothered with at the moment.
"....for once try using your senses other than sight," comes the response from behind him. A white shod, black covered foot steps out from between the yet open portal, the other to follow as the smaller, half-helmeted Espada exit, his coattails sliding along behind him before the enormous jaws slowly narrow before seamlessly closing the fabric of the atmosphere once again. His head cocks slightly, green eyes flicking one way, then the other.
"The stillness. You probably don't know what to look for." Ulquiorra turns his gaze towards Yammy. "Come. And at least -try- to put some effort into controlling your reiatsu. We don't need to draw extra attention- it will just be a waste of time."
Her eyes closing as she hears the rip. Confident...even Espada should be wary of the Menos Grande in such numbers. Her own reiatsu suppressed to little more than the whisper of her silk kimono as she looks towards the sound. So, Aizen wasn't pleased with her leaving...and he's sent them to find her. Find her? Don't be a fool, girl. They've come to kill you.
Those pale eyes harden considerably. She'd hoped to avoid ever calling Arrancar enemy, but she's not so soft to not defend herself against them. Espada...she would soon learn just how powerful her fans could be. How many blows they could take before cracking. If they found her. If it came to it. She's no fool, she chose the Menos Forest for a reason; distraction. If she had to fight, she would use the Menos Grande...those uncontrollable monsters that seek soul energy to feast upon.
Using Sonido now would seal her fate. She barely even breathed as she turned and leapt for the next pilar, gesturing her arms forward with those long sleeves to act as elongated fingers. Finding the niches in the stone to grasp and continue her flight.
The gargantuan male Diez Espada cracks his neck as he continues to gaze about, his reiatsu choked at Ulquiorra's request. Well, as choked as it gets. Its at least a little less obvious.
"Feh stupid Forest of all places..." Yammy mutters, now looking about more, actually letting his gaze start to wander.
"It'd be easier to find her if we just demolished this area." He notes, but doesn't act on the impulse. At least not yet. Ulquiorra did afterall tell him to try to control his Reiatsu and be sneakyish.
Ulquiorra steps past his larger comrade, shaking his head. "That would only be more trouble than it is worth." He glances out of the corner of his eye, back at Yammy. "It's likely that she's already aware we're after her." Garganta had not been his preference for travel, but it had been their fastest option at the time.
The smaller Espada continues to walk then, his eyes always moving as they proceed, senses open for any immediate threats, but most importantly, for their quarry. Things will take too long this way, however.
Her eyes cut left, a group of the Menos. She leaps towards them, skirting their ability to sense her as close as she could. Use them to hide herself from Ulquiorra and Yammy. Dangerous game to be playing, admittedly; the game would become so much more dangerous if they find her. Her hair and kimono streaming behind her as she grips to the top of one of the pillars. No fool, she's chosen her black kimono for her flight.
She feels the reiatsu of Yammy suddenly die out. She was gaining distance from them. Good and bad...now she couldn't keep track of them. The air buzzing with a Cero blast as far off in the distance, the Menos Grande find prey. A chilling reminder that if they could, the Menos would make a snack of her and the Espada.
She'd have preferred the sands of the desert, but she must show caution. Even for her this place, the Hueco Mundo, could be dangerous. Twice so being hunted.
"Stupid traitor..." The large Espada mutters, movement catching his eye...
...And drawing it to a pack of Menos. The same one Alyon's skirting at the moment, but he misses catching sight of her personally.
"Tch Menos this close. Any idea where she might be Ulquiorra?" This searching for someone using stealth thing is SO not his schtick.
Menos could be used to his advantage, however he is more accustomed to summoning them in places where they aren't so readily available. To attempt such here could prove to be a risk for them as well as Alyon. Ulquiorra stops again, feeling the far off burst of a Cero. No concern crosses his face as he looks in that direction, and he looks towards Yammy before following his gaze towards the Menos. They've managed to come this far. It is only a matter of narrowing things down further. The half-helmeted Espada thinks.
"...Yammy. Fire off a Cero," he says finally, not an answer to the larger one's question, but it's something to be done. "In that direction. Then follow my lead." He indicates the group of Menos. Alyon is trying to lay low from the natural predators of the forest aside from them, which could be compared to tip-toeing through glass. Perhaps if they stir things up, she might slip up. While certainly they will probably draw attention of many a Menos Grande, it will be considerably harder to be sneaky when the whole forest is in an uproar.
Wincing away softly at the static, chaotic reiatsu of the Menos Grande. They all felt the same, so unlike their evolved brothers. But that buzz of them was also strangely familiar. Hoping to put the Menos between herself and Ulquiorra and Yammy as she continues to fly from one pillar to the next. Now seeking to put distance between herself and her pursuers. This would not be an easy run. She wouldn't underestimate either of them, but Ulquiorra knew her. They'd sat and spoke, well, mostly she spoke quite often. Moreso than any other in the White Desert. Stay the course. He is her enemy now. A moment's regret as she leans up against the pillar.
At Ulquiorra's orders, Yammy's Reiatsu flares up again as he opens his mouth wide, sucking in energy into a rapidly forming pulsating red-range ball right before his mouth. A moment later the Cero blasts out, straight into the center of the group of Menos, and through them beyond into the forest, tearing out a large chunk of terrain. Alyon better hope she didn't leave the Menos directly between her and the Espada.
Yammy does deny the urge to wave the Cero about, instead leaving it a simple line. This way there's still Menos to get riled into an uproar.
"That good, Ulquiorra?" The giant asks as he again shackles down his reiatsu as best he can.
"I expected no less from you." As much of a compliment as Yammy can expect to get right now, but it is something. Ulquiorra watches the resulting for a moment before he looks to Yammy again, and once he catches the larger Espada's gaze, he motions for the other to follow him. His form blurs and he's gone in a blink, but he does not Sonido too far that the other cannot track him. After another glance, Ulquiorra moves again, taking to the high branches of the crystalline trees. He gestures for Yammy to split off and settle somewhere adjacent from where he now stands, turning his head then to watch as the large creatures begin to mill about, and likely turn on each other if any were caught in Yammy's blast. But most importantly, he keeps an eye out for a certain Privaron. If she is not around here, then they'll just have to move on and try again in another section of the forest.
Her eyes widening as Yammy's reiatsu flares. Her lips pull back in a snarl, that muted roar of the cero echoing in her head. She manages to hold tight to the pillar with it's upper midsection simply gone. Eaten away in the red beam. The roars of the Menos were deafening as they turned towards the pair. Damn! Don't be a god damned fool...they can handle Menos.
She turns and her painted face goes suddenly neutral as she stares straight into the face of a Menos. It's maw opening as it roars. Yammy's blast was like turning on a light in the black. Blinded for a moment. "Keibi, Kyoukten." The command given, the fan snapping out with an eloquent gesture.
The bone mask forming over her face. No features on it, but from it's top come three long tentacles that fall down along her hair. Spading widely and writhing of their own accord. Her kimono lengthening, the sleeves past the 'dress' itself. Two large fans open from her as she breathes outward. On the plain mask draw two long black lines where her eyes should be before suddenly opening.
The fan opens as the Menos' cero hits her point blank. So much for subtlety. Her form fading as she uses Sonido to try to step quick and far.
Sonido is used by the large Espada as Ulquiorra ordered. He wasn't as fast as the smaller Espada, but considering his size his speed's downright impressive.
Right as the guesture to break off is given... he sees her. A deflected Cero from a menos, the rushing of a Sonido.
"There!" He calls out, well aware Ulquiorra probably already found her, before he enters his own Sonido, pursuing after her. The problem is, even as a Priveron, she's probably faster then he is. But for now getting clearance from the enraged Menos is mutually beneficial.
She has been found- that allows them to proceed rather than traipse around the forest. So that is her Resurrección, he thinks, green eyes narrowing slightly. Ulquiorra is already leaning into Sonido as Yammy alerts him. Keeping mindful of his comrade's presence, the smaller Espada moves to keep on the opposite side from him, his path kept parallel to Alyon's as she takes flight. He follows from above, darting from tree to tree, locking onto her, trusting Yammy not to lag behind.
They have left the Menos well back, and though there may be more lurking nearby, Ulquiorra decides it best to cut off the woman's flight as soon as possible. He looks ahead of them, scanning what he can that lies beyond the trees. Hm.
A hand slips from his pocket, and with a flick of his wrist he sends several Bala blasts rocketing towards Alyon. They aren't really aimed to hit her, but they are close enough that they just might if she doesn't evade. If he takes out the trees instead, that works just as well, since Ulquiorra's intent is to try herding her.
She can feel them now. They now have her, and she was now in the very position she'd tried so hard to avoid. The massive fans trailing quickly behind her as she now has a new problem on her hands. Does she push everything into escape...and hope she doesn't get caught after using that much energy? Or does she turn and face them?
Which is worse? Standing her ground and dying in battle or being scraped off the rocks because she was caught up to?
The Bala blasts have Alyon's mask moving...even though her face is still forward. Those painted lines, animated...the eyes narrowing. Instead of evading on the ground, she uses her Sonido to come up and then far to the right where she stops. The pool of silk around her framing her as she turns towards them. "Have you come for my head, Ulquiorra-sama?" The black painted lips moving, but her voice echoing all around her softly. "Is he so displeased with my actions he wants my life? Then come!" The fans opening, wide and full. Their surface scrawling with moving scenery as if some unseen hand were painting as she tood there. "I will show you why I was one Sexta Espada." Those tentacles writhing like snakes around her, her sleeves trailing the ground.
Shortly after Alyon strikes her pose and makes her little declaration, Yammy emerges from Sonido basically in her face. Those few seconds being all it took to catch back up.
"Suerte!" He hisses out, with a malicious grin on his face, before he lashes out with one of his tremendous fists in a downward punch aimed at Alyon, calling out as he does, "Just tell me if you want to take over, Ulquiorra!"
But for the moment, he's putting his ridiculous strength to use.
Having successfully pulled her attention to him, Ulquiorra lands at the base of another nearby tree, his cold green gaze falling upon the Privaron. "It was your actions alone that have brought such consequences. You have discarded any chances to amend matters when you left Las Noches."
He does not look towards Yammy even though he feels the other's reiatsu pulse clearly as he nears. Undoubtedly Alyon can feel it too, but he'll draw no attention to the Tenth to allow him what advantage he can get. Ulquiorra remains standing casually, letting his hand slip back into his hakama pocket.
The mask's lips grin as he shows his punch all too clearly before execution. "Careful, Yammy-sama." His fist strikes air as she Sonido's behind him. Her arm gesturing in a snap as the long silken sleeve encircles him before she jerks back and tightens it. Trying to mummify the Espada in silk. Material that can bend and stretch and still hold strong. "Don't underestimate me..." The three tentacles quickly snaking around him, well aware of the bestial strength of the man as she tries to hold him. No, she couldn't attack...but there were so many ways to defend. Keeping the big Espada's face pointed away from her.
"And what would you do, Ulquiorra-sama...if you were named useless? Would you not seek to prove your worth? Is that now crime within the walls of Las Noches?"
Yammy snarls slightly as he's snared, "Is this going to be all this is? I always get boring ones these days..."
With that, he suddenly jerks his arms outwards, putting every fiber of his monumental strength into trying to burst out of the bindings all at once. Or at least loosen them substantially.
"Your reasons don't matter, all those who anger Lord Aizen will be crushed!"
Reasoning wasn't much of a strong point for Yammy anyway. Ulquiorra doesn't move from where he stands, still watching as the overgrown Espada manages to get tangled in Alyon's silken wrappings. "...if I were named useless then I would not be in Las Noches. I would not even be what I am now. My worth has already been proven." He does not blink as he continues to look on as Yammy strains against his bindings. "You may have had worth, but you failed to convey it to Aizen-sama when it mattered."
Suddenly releasing Yammy and moving quickly to put some distance between them. Keeping both in her line of sight. "Yammy-sama..possibly the strongest of the Espada to date. What will you do if you one day anger him? Will you lay your neck across the block for his pleasure? I've only asked for the right to prove my worth. I do not see how this breaks his law. The Arrancar are my family...But it seems he's taken that from me as well." Her voice growing colder, until it softens, "Tell me I was wrong, Ulquiorra-sama. Tell me that my actions were not justified to prove myself to him. Name me useless to his and your cause..." Her eyes turning to the half-helmeted Espada.
The gigantic Espada actually stumbles slightly at abruptly getting freed, giving her the chance to get distance. He catches himself fairly quickly though, lashing out with a punch towards Alyon in midair... Sending a Balas shot straight at her, while she's looking at Ulquiorra.
"I won't anger Lord Aizen. I strive to make him happy and show obedience. Only a fool without respect would invoke his ire! And to hell with Arrancar like that!" He bellows out, after the Balas lands, be it on her or into the terrain.
Aside from regaining his posture, he doesn't move after launching the Bala. At least not yet.
If there is anything Ulquiorra has learned about Alyon in his meetings with the female Privaron, it is that she liked conversation. She liked to speak and to hear opinions, to gain incite by words, and she proved to be quite a thoughtful one. Those are the dangerous types.
"I will not pretend to know what exactly you spoke of with Aizen-sama. I only know that whatever you have chosen to share with him has obviously not been adequate enough. He is not a man known for giving many chances. That is why you are here. That is why we are here."
If any of Yammy's blasts miss their mark or are deflected towards him, Ulquiorra is ready to sweep a hand out to knock them away. It isn't the best of places to merely be playing the part of a spectator, but he has his reasons.
The Bala impacts, one of those widely opened fans where the deceptively fragile appearing bone holds strong, taking the blast. "Even if it means killing yourself?" The fan slowly closing, revealing Alyon looking at Yammy. "It is now what he is asking of me. To lower my fans and let myself be slain. For over two hundred years I've survived this place and made it my home. I bowed and gave my title of Espada to the stronger as is your right to take it. Now I'm asked to die, even as I strive to prove to Aizen that there is more than one facet to being powerful. No...I cannot attack...but nor can you defend...I have accepted that fact just as you have accepted it. Did he want me to delude myself? Is that what he was truly asking of me? Instead of playing games I decided to take action...and now it's my neck on the block."
She looks to Ulquiorra, "We are not given second chances, Ulquiorra-sama. Pray that you nor any of the Espada misstep. Or perhaps that is why I am hunted...a single Priveron by two Espada...to remind the masses the penalty for thinking on one's own." She pauses and gestures back, "Which is what I thought made us strong...evolving from the Menos Grande into individuals...to think for ourselves...in diversity we are able to rally one's weakness to a strength. I was made to rally the weakness of those with no defense...But perhaps it is not enough, anymore. To be the shield for my brothers and sisters."
Sonido. The gigantic Espada suddenly blurs into motion again, reappearing directly infront of Alyon as he lashes out with another, powerful downward punch. His full crater-inducing force behind it.
"Can't attack? You really are worthless. Just shut up and fight however you can! Lord Aizen's will is absolute!"
The conversation's getting on the giant's nerves. He's never been a big fan of talking. When talking cuts into action, it'll really get on his nerves. And his temper's already flying high at how bad of a fight this is.
It is the one thing Ulquiorra can trust Yammy to do- fight without direction. It's a trait that most of the arrancar have in buckets. The hard part is getting them to stop and deviate from straight-on bashing paths through their opponents. He lets Yammy have his way with this one- he knows that the big Espada had been sore about having to retreat from battle with the Gotei 11's 3rd Seat during the invasion of Seireitei not a month ago, but not that it took much effort to rouse an arrancar to battle.
"You said so yourself- that you were proud of what has become of the arrancar, and that you would gladly lend your strength to forward their purpose. I had said that words are limited to what they convey... and apparently your words were not chosen well enough to impress Aizen-sama when it mattered most." Ulquiorra lifts his head but a fraction of an angle. "Strength of one for the strength of all, isn't that what your belief summed up to? You sounded so certain of yourself then, but now you are on the run." He closes his eyes but briefly, those piercing green eyes finding their focus immediately once he opens them again. "Our words will only run circles in attempts to find fault in the other's reasoning, but such will not be able to change the fact that this is where we are now."
Her mask shifts without her face to meet Yammy as he Sonido's in and brings that massive fist down. Her fan coming up with a small gesture, and rather than facing it head on, it smoothly moves with him to force his momentum aside. The true strength of her fans is in deflection. "It is a pity I could not share one more cup of tea with you. I hope Aizen-sama enjoys my gifts that I brought him the day he named me useless. I will no longer insult you and hold back in hopes of speaking my reasonings to you." The face left 'watching' Ulquiorra is blank. Just white flesh smoothed over like clay. The mask now holding her features as the head tilts a bit before she Sonido's back...into a pack of advancing Menos Grande. Her sleeves wrapping the toed feet of one as she pulls with all her strength and the Menos roars out as it begins to topple. Sonido. Those sleeves moving to try to ensnare Yammy again as the mask moves along her head to look to Ulquiorra. "I trust you'll do me the same honor, Ulquiorra-sama. My words were spoken true...of what I am to my brothers and sisters. My pride is pure in what they've become...I would have this no other way. I would fall to none other than one I might have called friend."
"It's so very strange to feel regret now...I always thought I would die pleased for having fulfilled my duty."
Even Yammy can learn.
This time as the sleeves come at him he sonidos to the side, a bit too slow since his left arm still gets snared, but in the same moment his right reaches the hilt at his side, drawing his appropriately sized Zanpakutou.
"Good, then don't hold back! Show me just how obsolete you are!" He calls out, as he slashes his great blade towards the silk binding his other arm.
Taunts are stayed from his tongue and quite easily. This is not a battle to toy with. They have been sent out with an objective, and both would be loathe to return in failure. Alyon's words do not go unheard, but they do go without response. Ulquiorra has moved.
He moves in the same instance that Yammy does to try freeing himself, his coattails not even having time enough to properly flap as he seems to go from standing to no longer existing in that spot he had been standing with not even a second's passing. Sonido carries him along, rebounding from the shimmering tree trunks to flank Alyon's retreat. The Menos may as well be trees too for all the mobility they possess in comparison to two Sonido-sprinting arrancar. Ulquiorra bursts ahead of her, throwing his left hand out to release a Bala blast towards them. It flies far faster than the toppling Menos falls, and he anticipates that either way they will react with force. It takes time to fire up a Cero, and the half-helmeted Espada intends not to be there when it happens, retracing his steps, senses ranging between the Menos, Alyon and Yammy.
The mask grins as she moves with her own impressive speed. just under his blade and pulling his arm along. A flick of her wrist as she tries to loop the sleeve trapping Yammy's arm around his neck and use the brute's strength to strangle himself. It's not without it's price. His sword having cleaved one of those spaded tentacles from her mask. It writhes on the ground before shattering and she bites back the cry of pain. "Dance with me, Yammy..."
She looks up and instinct and long habit strikes too deeply. She heaves and releases her grip on Yammy as the Menos falls. Hopefully sending him flying as Ulquiorra begins to move. He gets what he wants, the mouths of Menos opening and beginning to fire. The muted Cero blasts raining down and leaving Alyon to throw both hands up to deflect them. The mask growling and it's face distorting as her fans spread wider and begin to crack. Absorbing the force of more than one Cero before shattering completely and leaving her as she was before summoning her mask. Glancing up at Ulquiorra as she holds out a hand. "End it, then."
The brutish Espada, lowest ranked of the current tier, is getting annoyed. His opponent was a defender and fought via attrition. Not that he knows what attrition is. He just knew this fight wasn't very fun. And she was making a fool out of him. Which was never a good idea, because it got the brute rather angry when he finally caught on.
His arm is snared, but when it does he rolls with the force of his own momentum, rather then letting himself get strangled and thrown. Once loosened, he stops himself by slamming the blade of his Zanpakutou into the ground, causing it to tear through the ground as it anchors him to a more rapid stop. The large brute simply stands back up afterwards, looking murderously livid.
To add further insult to all this, the damn traitor managed to get herself beaten by a pack of menos in the span of seconds. He didn't even get the satisfaction of smashing those fans to dust with his own hands. A angry snarl echoes on the brute's lips, but he has the sense to glance to Ulquiorra for some sort of direction, rather then just smashing her.
Gravity finally gets its chance to catch up with Ulquiorra, tugging irritatedly at his coattails as his feet settle upon the ground again, pulling back and forth at the long folds of his hakama. His hand still remaining out, he lifts it in a vague motion for Yammy to hold for the time being. The Cuarta Espada steps towards Alyon at an almost leisurely pace, those soul-piercing green eyes unblinking as they rest upon her.
"Do not expect mercy. All actions bring about consequences. Such must always be accepted, but how one deals with them is left up to the person in question." He closes the space between them with a sudden step of Sonido, and not a breath after the last word spoken. Carefully observing, ever wary of the Menos that still linger, but more focused upon any changes in Alyon's reiatsu that could pose a threat to him. His hand plunges forward, quicker than a viper strike, black-nailed fingers seeking to be thrust deep into the woman's abdomen.
"...action, consequence, or both?" he says lowly.
Alyon smiles as he is suddenly so close. "It is a pity I didn't get to know you better...I think I was growing fond of you." Her eyes closing when his hand thrusts into her stomach. But rather than blood, the kimono splinters like a spiderweb along her entire body. Even her hair as it still moves. "A shame we will never know, sweet Ulquiorra." The entire body suddenly chips and breaks away. Little more than bone. Sharding to nearly nothing around his hand and scattering at the ground around his feet. A decoy. Misdirection at it's finest. Leaving nothing in her wake but an empty promise.
Hidden within the soul hollow of the Menos Grande on the ground is Alyon. Huddled and weak as the Menos lay, unable to rise again. It's reiatsu masking her own now weak and suppressed soul energy. Listening to the events take place around her, not willing to look for herself and possibly be seen.
Yammy had turned to watch the remaining Menos at Ulquiorra's beckoning to hold back. The gigantic Espada knew there was no need to keep an eye on how Ulquiorra handled things, but there was some value in making sure they didn't get a pack of angry, mindless Menos charging at them Ceroing.
As such, he misses seeing the strange 'death' of their target.
Inwardly, the giant's still seething. At first he had high hopes for a grand battle. Instead, nothing about this battle was to his liking. On a afterthought, he re-sheaths the Zanpakutou after pulling it free from the ground, still looking moody as he watches the nearest pack of enraged Menos.
Green eyes widen, then narrow at the resulting. He watches as the Privaron's body shatters like a fragile shell, fragments falling away from his hand to become a part of the packed ground below his feet. Black-nailed fingers curl slightly, not enough to make a fist, but he lifts his gaze from watching the remnants filter away between each digit, looking around in silence.
Ulquiorra gives the slow-approaching Menos an almost challenging look before he upturns his hand, waving off the fine dust before sliding it back into his pocket. He turns and begins to walk towards Yammy, but not without one more sweep of the area. Finally, he nods at the bulky Espada, a silent signal that they are to leave.
She could never have outrun them...she could never survive truly facing them. She'd used as much of her power as she could chance so that when she switched with the Decoy...not even Ulquiorra would feel her reiatsu. Weak and barely able to stand as she masks what little energy she has left in the hollow of the Menos Grande. She would need rest soon, but she had to make sure they were gone. Pressed back up against the blackness of the Menos, pulling the black sleeves of her kimono over her face so that she was simply more black amongst black. -Sorry I had to trick you, Ulquiorra-sama...but I am not ready to yet die. Let us see how Aizen-sama takes the taste of failure from his precious Espada. At the hands of a Priveron...useless indeed.- She smiles as her eyes close.
The largest of the Espada has no idea of what happened. His eyes weren't on the finale of the battle, and his other senses hardly told him a thing about this.
Sure somewhere in his head he probably found it a bit odd that there was no surge of Ulquiorra's power yet no trace of the traitor's body. But that thought's buried in his head, beneath a foul mood.
He doesn't even bother to speak as he turns to follow his small companion.
Nothing more needs be said, but just because he offers no words to his uncharacteristically equally silent companion, hardly does that mean his mind is at ease. If the task is done then they should feel accomplished. He allows his gaze to slide back and behind them again, but deeming each second wasted towards their lack of haste in reporting back to Aizen, Ulquiorra takes the lead, hand drawn from his pocket, finger tearing a rift in the air whereupon it spreads like a cloth rent to reveal the blackness swirling with violet energies beyond. No words are needed now. They are best to be saved for when they meet with their lord, and if words are not enough, then his eye will not lie.