Back to the Fold [Shadow Fall Mission][FINISHED]

Hueco Mundo, a place of filth and rot. As far as the eye could see it was desert. No hope to speak of, no fabled oasis, no time for such petty things as hopes and dreams. If there was such a thing as hell, Hueco Mundo exstited on a plain below it, no life thrived among its endless sands. There was only carnage, only death. The very laws of nature twisted, contorted into an obscene mockery of what should be. For here in the land of hollows…it's eat, or be eaten.

He stood atop a grand statue made of the same material that covered one half of his own face. It was a simple structure though massive in size, it lacked any sort of real complexity. Why it had appeared, when or how? It was anyone's guess for as much as he knew it just simply had been. These grand white structures seemed to appear in one form or another across the land. But why? It was as if someone had placed them there purposely, but that was not possible. Because in Hueco Mundo, to take the time to dream such art meant death. Turn your back for even a second, and God knows what would swallow you whole. So then what were they? Some sort of life form perhaps? To Ulquiorra, it was as if the land itself was saying something. A song, an elegy, spoken as these large white pillars. Notes that when pieced together would perhaps form a message of some kind. The notion was immediately cast aside. It made no sense. Hueco Mundo was anything but alive. These monuments, whatever they might mean, did however remind him of days long gone. When he too was unique, and different. As he pondered a life gone he watched a battle, between two hollow putting their lives on the line. They tumbled, and scratched and snapped at one another before crashing into one of the giant pillars. Cracks appeared, tracing pathways along its surface, digging deep, scarring the pillar. A wound that would never heal. Soon, it would fall, like everything else in this land.

It wasn't fear, nor anger or sadness that over took him. But a desire deep down to know these things. He knew, that for whatever reason he should relate himself to such constructs. To feel some connection with the warring hollow that dotted the land. And of course with the ivory structures, as he too could still recall being so out of place in a world of ebony. But as he reached for the emotion, that which gave the humans what they call life. It escaped him, just beyond his reach. Such was his fate, as he'd come to know it. The ceaseless struggle to fill the void. A dream, perhaps some might call it. Doomed to never come true.

His train of thought was suddenly interrupted, though looking at him you'd never know it. He stood statuesque, not turning his gaze from the cracks he'd watched form earlier. Whatever it was that approached him now was little more than a blip on the radar. Noted, but of no concern. The pit pat of feet came inching towards him. Step, by slow gradual step. It was surprising and did show whatever the creature was it had enough guts and power to at least approach him, though should it pose a threat he would simply discard it's severed head to the hungry beast below. So he turned, facing the creature. Hands in his pockets and over all relaxed as his emerald gaze fell upon a creature the likes of which he'd never seen in Hueco Mundo.

It was human but at the same time not. Before him stood some forgotten bum who finally begged his way out of the slums, and into hell itself. It wasn't that he lacked the ability to look presentable, moreover, the will. Like he hadn't even attempted to wash his clothes in the last year. It reminded Ulquiorra of the human teenagers, walking around their homes lazily. Lazy, that was the word. With the man's scuffed shoes, and sloppy fashion sense and tired eyes, he looked lazy.

There was a pause, as the creature looked like it might not know exactly what to do, or what brought it here but finally it spoke. He bowed low, polite, formel and then made some request, and Ulquiorra's eyes widened.

There would be a sudden release of spiritual pressure, far more than enough to freeze the creature in its tracks, distorting his view of the world. One moment the Espada was standing harmlessly with his hands in his pockets and in the next, his right hand was raised with a finger outstretched. This was the end for the creature. The disgusting vermin who'd approached what amounted to a God in this realm. Because there was no pity in Hueco Mundo. It was eat, or be eaten.

''Cero.'' Came words like an icy mist from his lips.

An orb of energy formed instantly at his finger tip, and then shot forth just as quickly. There was no hope for escape, for repentance, or for survival. The blast had far more than enough power to obliterate any creature below Vasto Lorde class in an instant, and would even leave a section of the pillar on which they stood carved out. Styn had surely thanked whatever supreme being he worshiped for this chance at life, and said his last farewell to life.

But the Cero shot past him, the force of the blast and the roar of its might ringing in his ear. Ulquiorra had shot not at the Demon kid, but at a hollow that was planning to seize the day, and attack the intruder. Why he'd chosen to save the unknown boy? Call it inquiry, or a whim. But in reality he was simply disgusted such a peaty creature had been brave enough to join him atop this pillar. You don't fuck with an Arrancar in Hueco Mundo.

''Needs?'' He asked in a mocking tone. ''Do you mean to say I cannot fend for myself, here, in my own land?''

Another green orb of energy formed at his finger tip, now pointed directly at Styn. ''Just who are you, boy, and what is this Shadow Fall?''

The boy was lucky. Had it been any other day 400 years ago he would have simply done away with both he and the hollow that now scattered on the winds at the same time. But a questioned lingered in the back of his head. ''Shadow Fall, could they be responsible for my escape from death?'' he wondered.