Guilty By Association [Solo]

"So you in?"

Saber's eyes shifted in the direction of the speaker. A smaller hollow that had been hounding her for all of the last fifteen minutes. The two of them were in the mountains, overlooking a trail. At the very top of a cliff, a couple of climbers were heading toward the summit. Naturally, Saber had deigned it an excellent opportunity to hunt. When this small, batlike hollow had decided to approach her. She narrowed her eyes in their direction, briefly taking a moment to swallow the annoyed, hateful response she had instinctively prepared.

"What are you even talking about?" She asked irritably. Having barely even parsed what it was this little imp had been asking her in the first place. The hollow smiled, seeming entirely unbothered as it raised it's head and spread it's wings.

"The Hollow Association! Didn't I just tell you?! Think about it: When's the last time you ever saw Shinigami out en masse?" He asked, excitement clear in his stupid little voice.

She gave him a wry look, before her gaze shifted back to the two climbers scaling the cliff. "I wouldn't know." She snarled lightly. She didn't even know how long she'd been a hollow. She'd only been ....cognizant for a month or so now. And immediately the smaller hollow seemed to glean as much, shifting from foot to foot.

"Errrr, right. But let me tell ya. It used to be WAY worse! Shinigami would be all over the place! In GROUPS! Let me tell ya it was a pain in the tail. Back then they had communication, you couldn't eat a low ranked Shinigami without their buddy officers rolling up on you! But that was ages ago, you see?"

She grimaced, the very thought of SEVERAL of those things made her stomach turn. A pack of them just sounded like a headache. A dangerous headache. "Is there a rest stop between now and the point?"

He chuckled nervously, seeming....surprised that she wasn't more interested. "So uh, a couple of us smarter hollows started thinking: Why not form a little organization of our own? Travel in groups! Organize! We could be just as scary as the shinigami!" He scooted in, turning to the side so that he seemed to be secretly whispering. She was not fond of the added closeness and briefly considered ripping one of his little wings off.

"Besides, hollows are a lot smarter these days! Look at you! You're pretty new. But you're already aware of your surroundings! That used to be pretty rare! Now we have lots of thinking-capable hollows. If we can just corral the dead-heads. We could do a lot, ya know?"

She turned away from the hikers and peered incredulously at the smaller winged hollow, leering briefly. He was serious? It sounded like an absolute failure. The very notion of trusting other hollows sounded like a trap. She knew what happened in Hueco Mundo. Once hollows grew to a certain stage, any notion of cooperation went out the window.

But she knew better than to pass something up. If there were ever an easy meal: it was from the stupid.

"And who might this be?"

Saber was immediately on edge, as they approached the other hollow. Immediately she could tell it was a stronger sort. Just by the way its tall slender form craned down to look at them. But that wasn't the most perturbing part. She didn't like the intelligence behind it's eyes. It wasn't the dim sort like the little bat that had brought her here, this creature wasn't just looking at her. It was....considering.

"Sabertooth Striker! Told you she'd be interested! She's smart too! Show him the thing!"

She cut a glare at the winged idiot, and promptly narrowed her eyes. Immediately she considered just beating him into the ground and eating him. But seeing that calm, expectant stare from the taller hollow she immediately felt .... anxious. She couldn't just act how she liked. For now. And so she allowed herself to shift, that thin film of water wrapping around her, until her body faded into barely a shimmer before them. She said nothing, but simply watched as that tall thing narrowed it's eyes.

"See? Told ya! I only spotted her because of my sonar." The little idiot chimed, a bit of pride in his voice. And the fact that she could HEAR how much that imp wanted to impress this taller fellow made her nauseous.

"So you've found someone very interesting. Interesting is good. Why don't we have a little....test? I imagine Shrill has Told you much. And you don't strike me as the type to talk. So why don't you join us for a hunt?" It reached out and peeled away the garganta they were gathered in. Showing the veil that opened into the world of the living. A small town. Almost instantly Saber felt a spike of tension.

"Trust me that much already? Awfully eager aren't you guys? And where's the rest? Don't tell me this 'association' is just you two?" She asked wryly, at which the taller fellow chuckled lightly.

"Do you think hollows can stand hanging around in groups? No. The association is more ...loosely knit than that. Consider it more like a ...network than a pack. Otherwise, some errant Shinigami Captain could still in and wipe out all of us." He noted, widening the garganta before gesturing in a way she hadn't seen outside of in humans. He bowed and waved her in. "Ladies first."

If she were visible she would have grimaced. But all the same.... she stalked through the opening and kept her guard VERY up as she looked out to the town itself. She ... smelled a LOT of strong souls.

"You don't need to do any direct fighting. You seem more like the stalking type. You and Shrill just sit back. He'll tell you when to move in." The slender hollow clicked before promptly striding out toward the very center of the town. And Saber just .....was so confused. What was going to go down? She glanced at Shrill and frowned when she saw him looking her way. Annoyed at his ability to locate her. But she turned her attention back to the hollow approaching the town. Curious what was going to happen.