Second Contact[Kenichi, Saber]

That bitch.
It had been harrying her ever since the encounter. That damn shinigGAMI! Her anger had it's outlet. A hollow shorn clean in two. Them, and the human that they had been stalking, leaving Saber panting, growling as her hackled rose and she glared down at the corpses beneath her. She grabbed onto the dead hollow, latching her teeth and fangs onto it's mask and face before prying them clean off, chomping down and swallowing down before a faint whimpering caught her attention. Those blood-red eyes darting to the side and seeing the human's soul. Torn clean in half. And for just a sheer instant, she stared at them, as if only now remembering they were there. Fear..... and uncertainty written across their face. A look that twisted her own fury into something worse. Something BITTER. And she STOMPED onto the soul. A loud, wet pop as they simply pasted, and she licked the viscera from the underside of her paw before she stalked off. Still hateful and fuming.

She was livid. Angry. And she didn't even know why. That fucking bitch, that BITCH! She'd knowqn Limewire for a long time. They were both covert hollows. The kind of hollows that stuck to the shadows. Didn't make a fuss. They had even attempted to trick eachother into getting killed a few times. It was ... as close to friendship as hollows really got. Or at least as close as Saber got. She respected them. Even admired the spindly hollow's moxy and creativity. Once or twice, they had even collaborated. They were the whole inspiration for her own .... projects with humans.

But... She'd sensed a change in their spiritual energy and .... She wasn't taking it well. Even now, her mind danced to avoid the memory. The boy.

She stopped in her tracks and .... turned to the west, to where she had a vague sense of his direction. Curry would be no help. No, he was an employer, and he wouldn't go taking orders, and manipulating him into attacking Lime would take too long. But .... the boy. That would be simple. She probably wouldn't even need to lie. But .... would he be enough? She didn't know, she avoided Hueco Mundo for the most part. Too many politics. Too many roving gangs of Menos. But .... Lime had disappeared, and now, she sended the familiar hollow from Hueco Mundo. And now it was eating at her. Some hollows had been going around, recruiting others. For arrancar. Tch. She'd detested it the moment she'd gotten wind of the situation. And now, ....well...she needed to know what happened.

She narrowed her eyes, water wrapping around her frame, before she shot off, a burst of speed as she vanished with a flicker, and sped off. It wouldn't take long before she arrived, a subtle rumble of her spiritual pressure before she slunk into the training area. Not bothering to hide herself. She closed in on the human and that veil peeled back. Showing herself as she stopped a short distance away. She didn't do her usual song and dance. No greeting. No buttering up. No prep. She didn't have the time or patience for that.

"I need you for something, Human."

She wrinkled her nose behind her mask as he responded so boldly. But this wasn't a time to be disgusted. She hid her visceral reaction, and ignored the memory of that appreciative whistle. She didn't care, but as he so promptly put on a smile and a confident expression, her eyes narrowed ever so slightly as she braced herself for the next part of this conversation. He was eager. That was good. But for a moment... she narrowed her eyes and seemed to consider the notion. A snort escaping her nostrils before she turned and the air tore apart beside her. The yawning darkness of a garganta promptly peeling itself apart to show the void beyond.

"I'm in a hurry. We'll need to use Garganta to get there in time. Hop on." She intructed him firmly. There was indeed no shortage of urgency in her voice. There was no reason to put on an act. She just needed him to hop on, as much as she detested him riding her. That didn't matter. He seemed..... different.. She wasn't entirely sure what had gone down with the young man. It had been quite some time. But if nothing else, she certainly hoped he had improved since they had last met.

What an utter fool.
The thought crossed her mind unbidden. The sheer audacity to allow a hollow, especially one as cunning as her, to simply bring him into a realm from which he had literally no means of escaping back from was beyond insipid. Something she would never even dream of doing in her most zonked out state. And he did so with sober determination.

Well. That WAS why she'd gone to him now wasn't it? She narrowed her eyes, and afforded the young man a simple peer. As if to see if he would suddenly change his mind. But he wouldn't, she KNEW he wouldn't And so she turned, water wrapping around the both of them, claoking them from the outside waorld before she shot into the garganta like a bat out of hell. The air roaring around them before suddenly it was almost entirely dead silent as the garganta closed behind them. It would be dark for quite some time as she charged through the garganta. B ut it wouldn't quite be the insane journey Kenichi might have expected. The worlds were separate, but the fabric between them was not quite as vast as one might think. After several minutes of racing through the dark, another maw yawned open before them. and she promptly leapt out and into the darkness. Or well, lesser darkness. After having adjusted to the garganta, Kenichi would have a much easier time staring out and perceiving the shapes around them. Tall massive dark pillars. With branches that spanned dozens or hundreds of meters, creating a massive maze likely beyond any sort of Forest Kenichi might have otherwise imagined.

And then, of course. Would be the energy. Not JUST the powerful, far-off energy of menos. But the very air itself was saturated with a dull humm of keen energy.

The Menos Forest. And they weren't alone. In the distance, there would be massive hulking figures strewn about the ground. None of them alive. The herds that usually roamed had since dispersed. All ..... save for one. A massive, hukling beast shrouded in a dark cloak, it's mask a narrow pointed thing like a hawk's beak. Howling into the dark forest as ..... Saber stared from afar.


Limewire. It was .... hard... but she could still just barely recognize that spiritual pressure.
"We're going to wear it down. Do NOT kill it Human." She hissed over her shoulder. There was no sugar coating this request. This was more than what they'd faced in the past. The sheer spiritual energy radiating from the monster was large. Larger even than the huge beast they had fought in the past. And of all things, Sabertooth was asking to restrain it rather than outright kill the thing. But well, there was more than just the task at hand for him to take in. She'd see just HOW dedicated he was to helping her.

Sabertooth's gaze was transfizxed on the distant figure, her brows furrowed behind her mask as she stared. Hatred and concern twisting inside of her. How dare she, this ... bitch. Talking so high and mighty. But now look at her. She had such a powerful will, even though she was careful, she was decisive. She hated that about her, she was a damn blowhard.

However.

Seeing this was ..... concerning. She knew of many worthless hollows that weren't worth the salt in their bodies. But .... Limewire.....she'd assumed that...

"No. we were not friends. As a matter of fact, I had planned on killing her. But .... this .... is not quite her." She murmured. This ....thing....looked nothing like her. And yet, she could sense the woman's spiritual energy in there. So distinct, that strange citrusy aspect to it. She hated it so damn much, she could sense it basically anywhere she went and it annoyed her to no end. But this creature that was giving off that distinct energy.... it didn't seem like her at all. So she wanted an explanation.

"We're going to pry off her mask. And then I'm going to eat her. You're free to leave if you're feeling like having second thoughts." She noted firmly to him. Hiding the fact that she very much hoped that would not be the case. She had to do this. Lime was a stupid cunt and she was going to enjoy breaking her. But ..... for such an...intelligent and willful hollow to lose herself. To become this ...unrecognizable thing. She knew that losing your mind as a menos was common, but ....even Lime? THAT was why she needed to do this. To get some.......confirmation that Lime was SOMEWHERE in there.

She HAD to be.

And it was then that the creature slowly turned it's head their way, it's glowing eyes narrowing as it affixed to them. And a low, rippling growl spilled out loudly, so loud in fact that it seemed to shake their bones as it slowly rose up to it's full massive height.

"If you plan on running away, this would be the time to do it. But don't expect me to go looking for you to take you back home."

Insipid as ever. It wasn't a matter of mettle, if nothing else, the human's..... tendency to allow himself to geyt roped in was suicidal. Something she, frankly, would never quite understand. But that didn't mean she wouldn't exploit it.

"I can certainly appreciate your own specific brand of stubbornness. But no, we won't be using the same strategy as before. Frankly... I have no idea what abilities she has. She was always quite secretive of them. You'll be running diversion. Meet her head on, but if at all possible, avoid physical contact until we have a better idea f her abilities. You had some manner of ranged attack, did you not? You should use whatever ranged options you have to get her attention." She murmured as water coiled around her body and slowly clouded her frame, suppressing her spiritual energy as she melted into her surroundings and slowly started to slink around the parameter.

As for Kenichi? That beast Lime was slowly starting to prowl towards him, that massive frame seeming to leer directly at him, not at all seeming bothered by the sudden disappearance of Sabertooth, it simply focused on what it could sense, and it's maw opened up, and a low buzzing HISS escaped it's beak! the yellow frill around it's head slowly spreading open and starting to glow. At first just a shimmer, before slowly it began to light up with growing intensity, and soon enough, the entirety of the forest seemed to be lit up, almost BLINDING light blared towards Kenichi as it stalked toward him. Of course, it gave him a very clear sight of where it was. But as it lumbered closer, he'd find it rather difficult to actually see what she was doing through the light itself! He was hardly blinded, but he'd find himself having to squint to make out the silhouette of the massive gillian.

However, it suddenly stopped a short ways away, crouching over one of the many corpses and ROARING out toward Kenichi. As if territorially defending it's food. That light would brighten before suddenly it dipped. And Kenichi's vision would suddenly reel, having to adjust from that bright light, no doubt his vision would be covered in dark purple overstimulated spots. But he'd still be able to hear the crunch as the beast hurriedly started eating. As if terrified that Saber or Kenichi would rob it of it's meals. IT certainly was a territorial beast.