A night for Peacocking, Hunter and the Flirt (Social, Vanan)

[Tsajara Dread]

"A raptor's eyes are fierce and bright, for the mouse's pulse to quicken,
A raptor's claws are curved and sharp, for when mouse's fear has stricken-
but wary be the mouse that sees the raptor's plumage and swoons, 
for a mouse who woes the bird of prey, won't live for many moons."

The desert was a pleasant place, if one were fond of such solitudes it provided. As active as it were, with hollows roving around, it was, alas, still a place of relative quiet if one knew the sands less traveled. With her training on hold she sat at the base of a dune, reclined on the cool and soothing sand, eyes cast up to the eternal night that she had so long ago come to accept. 

While it was not perhaps the most productive of habits, she did enjoy watching the starless sky. Having been to the world of the living and seen the stars comparing, she found that she liked hueco mundo's night far more. Sure they locked the speckled wonder that painted earth's ceiling, but there was something far more pleasant about the moon's solitude, as if without those beads of light to distract, one could simply revel in the moon's beauty alone with no other skyward bodies to distract from it's pale elegance. 

She sighed lightly, and could not help but smile softly to herself. Old as she was she really aught to be resting more, though admittedly retirement was simply not in her cards. Not long ago she'd spotted something off in the distance, that palace that so many hollows sought after, Las Noches. Closing her eyes she sighed in a brief ripple of audible frustration and turned over onto her side. She'd never been particularly compelled to visit the place, she'd never even been very close to it, even though she knew that as an arrancar, at one point or another she'd have more attention directed to her than she'd like. But for now, she simply returned to her moongazing, and let such worrisome thoughts drift from her conscious thought. 

[Deleted]

With the lone moon behind him, he kept on going forward not looking back, because his goal was in front of him, Las Noches. He was tasked with the job of figuring out how best to approach the fortress. The only thing on his mind was how the hell did he get forced into doing such a dangerous task as this. He was about to head out and visit his sister,but the Vandenreich had other plans for him and dropped him into the desert ordering him to find a way to approach the fortress without letting the inhabitants find out. There was no way he could say no because of his rank. I really should try to get a higher rank maybe then I won't have to do these tedious and deadly missions.

Vannan allowed his guard to drop because he heard his phone ring out with a text notification. He knew that ringtone very well it was the one he set for his sister. Opening up the text he saw she was upset. “YOU JERK HOW DARE YOU GET MY HOPES UP. I HATE YOU.” Vannan sighed and started to work on a response back to his sister. He had promised her that he would be home for dinner, but because of this mission he couldn't. Just as he was about to send the message he heard it, a hollow screamed out as it tried to pounce on him. Vannan was able to roll away just in time before the hollow jumped on him, however he wasn't fast enough and the hollow had managed to touch his left hand. Even though it was just a slight touch the pain was unbearable and the damage caused his hand to be burned and looked as if the flesh was melting away this was more then enough to make it impossible for him to keep a steady aim with his bow.

“Shit” Vannan could only do one thing for now and that was to run away. He couldn't understand how could he be so careless and allowed himself to be taken by surprised by such a weak looking hollow. Now he was in a race against time for his life. The damage by the hollow wasn't too bad and could be healed if he got back to the Vandenreich base. As he jumped over a dune and slid down the side he saw someone there laying in the sand. Her skin was almost as white as the sand around them. He noticed that she had bandages around her chest and a rather raggedy looking skirt. There was a clear difference between her clothing and what he was wearing. His clothing looked almost new and was clean and crisp while her's looked almost as if it was saved off of others or out of the trash. Still ignoring that she was cute, though he had to wonder why was she here in the middle of the desert in Heuco Mundo. Before he could even ask her anything the hollow that had been chasing him jumped down from the top of the dune.

[Tsajara Dread]

Dread's eyes snapped open as a sound reached her ears, piercing the sands of the desert and interrupting her peaceful resting period, a brief shiver of agitation running along her skin as her favored alone time was so interrupted and abruptly so by the sounds of it. The sounds of running reaching her ears were more than enough to elicit a soft grunt from her as she sighed ever so softly in irritation. Ever beloved the silence one can but grasp in one's hand, the fickle dance of fleeting wings that cary it in and out of our palm as though a fading dream. A dream so unceremoniously shattered.

The eyes of the male were not unfelt as they briefly ran along her body, in a manner she was rather unfamiliar with as of late as it was rare for holows to incite such higher levels of recognition of another object as anything but food or power. It was unnerving but the least of her concerns for the time being. The hollow crying out as it too ran over the hill was grating heavily on her ears and deep in that core of cores a slow red mist trailed itself through her veins like a frothing sea of rage. A brief rage so potent that she spun, rising to her feet with eyes ablaze. Rounding on the incoming hollow she opened her eyes wide and bared her teeth, letting out a very raptor-esque shriek, startling the hollow into attempting to skid to a stop as t tried to get a handle on the previously concealed being. Though at this point she had no plans on concealment and she flexed her spiritual pressure as her hand reached out to snag the beast by it's throat before promptly choke-slamming it to the ground, her palm soon joined on it's throat by her foot on the beast's chest as she pinned it down.

She took but a fleeting moment to wrap her fingers aroudn the beast's masks, taking hold of that white before her entire body went into a wrenching motion, her torso flexing and her foot pushing down as she tore a chunk of the hollow's mask from it's face, a small spatter of blood casting fleks of red along her forearm before she promptly planted that jagged fragment back into the hollow's face by a point, causing a rather abrupt cessation of it's struggles.

With the noise now long gone, Tsaj turned her attention to the quincy, her expression bland as she stared with an uneasily calm visage, as if she were a store clerk looking up from a particularly unpleasant 3 hour shift rather than someone who had just murdered a hollow with a piece of it's own face. While she was waiting for his reply she took a brief moment to dip her eyes down to the mann's attire as it was very clearly something of a higher standard than her own attire. Though speaking of which she turned her attention to her cloak, which she'd had on the ground to lay on. Kneeling she collected the cloth and wrapped it about her body, that ragged cloth proceeding to shroud her form as well as her makeshift clothes as she waited for some sort of verbal response to her actions.

[Deleted]

Vannan wasn't expecting to see this girl move into action so fast,but he was glad she did. He could only watch as he saw this girl take the hollow's mask and break a fragment of it off and use it as a makeshift dagger. Vannan couldn't see the hollow, but he did hear it cry out in pain as it died. He had gotten use to hearing that noise it was rather comforting to him now for some odd reason. There was only one way to describe what he saw amazing and barbaric. It was almost animistic in the way she attacked the hollow, yet it was amazing how it seemed that she wasted no movement at all in killing the hollow.

Vannan could only keep quite until he saw it was over and she was reaching for something in the sand. It seemed to be a rather ragged coat that she had. “Well I can sure say that you are a sight for sore eyes. That hollow got the jump on me before. I'm Vannan so what can I call someone as beautiful as you?” After he spoke he blew a kiss from his lips to her. True to his nature he never allowed the chance to flirt with a beautiful girl pass him by at all. Even in this desert he wasn't about to pass up the chance to try to get to know a girl better. He had forgotten all about the reason he was here in the first place.

Even though he should have been more careful about what what he flirted with. He had no idea that this girl was an arrancar. Her clothing had covered her hole and her mask fragments were no where to be seen to him this girl looked human.Still he had to wonder what she was doing in this place after all this was Hueco Mundo one of the worst places to be if you weren't an arrancar or a human. Speaking of clothing her's were really lacking in actually being real clothes they just met the requirements for being clothes, but just barely.

“Hey Come on down here I think you could use something better than those rags to wear.” Vannan took off his Vandenreich jacket and held it out to her with his left hand. Under it he still had his blue shirt he never wore the just the jacket all by itself. His arms were exposed and while his arms weren't huge they still had great muscle tone in his arms. He really didn't care too much about the jacket the only reason he ever wore it was because it was part of his uniform. Sure he would catch hell from his captain, but it would be worth it especially if he got a chance to get this girl better.

[Tsajara Dread]

It took Dread all of eleven seconds to cease any semblance of trust she had for the man, as he took even less time to begin flirting with her. Admittedly the gesture was not unwelcome, being flirted with was always something that she had enjoyed ohso many ages ago in the human world, but it did make her feel rather pretty, and beautiful was much better than "cmere you whore" that she usually got in the menos forest. In any case she simply watched him very....carefully as he went through the motions of conversation. He had proven himself to be a rather...poor runner to say the least, as the hollow had managed to get the better of him, and not a particularly strong one at that, though seeing an arrancar out here she hadn't the slightest idea why a blade wasn't at her throat. In Hueco Mundo it didn't matter if someone saved your life, you watched them carefully, though not....exactly like he was watching her now. In any case she wasn't entirely sure he was from Las Noches, but then again what the hell did she know about the place? She'd only met two arrancar from there so she could hardly make a census on their behavioral patterns.

However at the mention of her....attire, she raised a brow, her head canting to the side before her eyes shifted to her left and right, then refocusing on the male before her as he removed his coat and offered it to her. A surprising gesture for someone who had only just met her, but then again he did seem to have some sort of interest in her though was not being quite so pushy about it as she was so used to. Looking to the jacket she accepted the item, looking it over and, conveniently, managing not to touch the man as he handed it over as she herself remained ever-silent, watching the man and forming her opinion of him. To be frank she thought he was.....entertaining at least. And he seemed kind enough, though in hueco mundo the kindest were often the most.....negatively motivated.

She reached to her side and puller her zanpaku'to from it's sheath at her side, but did not point it at him, but simply sank the tip into the stand, ad then hung the jacket over it before she spoke.
"You are going to explain who you are.....what you are.....and what it is you're here for. And then I will decide if I should thank you for your.....cloth. Or if I should stab you to save myself trouble in the future." she explained in a calm, civil manner. The second part was a bluff of course, seeing as she did so resent taking more...sentient life. The mindless hollows that rampaged about were.....suitable for hunting and killing. But a creature with a calm and collected mind was a terrible thing to waste.

[Deleted]

Vannan was expecting more of a response from this girl then he got. She was sure quiet as she took his jacket he offered her. He was at least expecting a thank you from her, it was at least common practice to thank someone for giving you something, but he guessed that she had spend too much time in the desert of hueco mundo and had forgotten that. Her silenced bothered him more than it should of, he didn't know why, but he felt like there was something important he wasn't noticing about her.

He kept quiet as she pulled out a blade and shoved the tip into the ground. Vannan realized he made a big mistake. He only knew two races that used swords one was shinigami, which while they were bad in their own right the other race was even worse. Arrancar, hollows who gained shinigami powers, with just a touch arrancar could burn quincies skin just like hollows, however they were much stronger and even worse they could actually think unlike hollows. Vannan didn't even think that she could have been an arrancar. She had no mask fragments or a hollow hole like he had been told about. There was fear in his eyes for his life, however his face hid that fact. If there was one thing he was really good at it was acting.

"You are going to explain who you are.....what you are.....and what it is you're here for. And then I will decide if I should thank you for your.....cloth. Or if I should stab you to save myself trouble in the future." Her words didn't exactly ease any of his worries however at the very least she didn't know what he was yet. He was a bit annoyed at the fact that she didn't exactly pay attention to his name the first time however maybe that was for the best now, seeing how he felt as if he was in a situation that could very easily lead to a fight that he wasn't prepared to fight. Still he needed to tell her something, but should he tell her.

“The name's Harper and that's not how you thank someone for giving you a gift so how about you say your name and actually thank me? After all a cutey like you shouldn't be so hostile.” His best bet for now was to take an offensive side with this girl although he couldn't help but flirting a little more, it was part of who he was. All he could hope was that this girl was a shinigami and not an arrancar. He was ready though to take her on though if she was, even if he couldn't use his bow there was still other ways he could fight and if that failed he could still run.

[Tsajara Dread]

Dread wasn't particularly surprised that the male didn't seem to get the message, though the flirting was rather....odd. The enjoyabiliy was wearing slightly thin. However at the very least the male seemed not to be aggressive. Looking to the jacket she looked along them, tilting her head for a moment and licked it. The residual reishi on the jacket was....odd. She shifted her attention back tot he male and folded her arms across her chest at that, those eyes narrowing before a soft smile spread across her face. She shook her head and sighed softly as internally she relaxed. It was...strange...not having to keep her guard up.

"So I see....I appologize as....it's not often that someone is here that's not...looking for meat. " she noted, with dual meaning. She had a feeling he was giving her the more-than-once over. And her expression reflected that as she folded her arms across her chest calmly, lightly tapping her foot as she took a soft breath.
"But...you neglected to answer my question.....you don't smell hollow. " she stated calmly.

[Deleted]

She licked his jacket.... that was the only thing he could focus on at the moment and what a strange thing it was. What kind of person would lick an object of clothing that they have been given. He was sure that this person wasn't normal at all. He couldn't imagine what reason she could have for doing something like that. At the very least she wasn't attacking him for the moment so if licking his jacket was the secret to keeping her from jumping down his throat he would take it.

“That's fine, but don't forget that not everyone wants to kill. Besides I don't see someone as beautiful as you as meat in any sense of the word.” Vannan was looking over her, but only to see if she had a hollow hole somewhere on her body. The only place he couldn't check to see was where her bandages covered. He assumed that she had covered her chest to keep from exposing herself,but he couldn't help but wonder if she wasn't hiding her hole there. He didn't have any ill intentions while he was looking her over this time.

He had hoped that she would at least tell him his name the next time she said something, but no, she got right down to business. Pointing out he didn't say what he was. Her words at least seemed calm so he wasn't too worried at the moment. Still he didn't want to take any chances. Before he even spoke he took a few steps back making sure that the space between the two of them was a good ten feet, giving him enough time to turn and run if she came after him. “That's because I'm not a hollow. I'm a quincy, but what are you?” He had done it, there was no going back from his words now, he had told her he was a quincy he could only hope she was a lost shinigami and not an arrancar.

[Tsajara Dread]

She simply stared for a moment, looking quite calmly at the man for several long moments as her mind seemed to flit about the words he had spoken to her, narrowing her eyes for a moment as she looked off to the side thoughtfully before looking directly back at him, noticing a very different type of looking on his part. He was looking for something, probably her hollow hole, something that many hollows even were curious about. So she could not exactly blame his curiosity in the matter as well, far more violent individuals had had such curiosities, so he had a running start when it came to her favor.

Needless to say she tilted her head at the explanation of what he was. Quincy? Weren't they extinct? She heard about them mildly, but from what she'd read they mostly hated hollows for the most part. Well, it certainly made little sense, if he was a quincy why had he run from the hollow earlier? Surely he would have been better off dispatching it on his own. Was this some sort of child quincy? She couldn't be sure unless she asked and she hardly thought he'd answer. However for now....

"If you're looking for my hollow hole it is under my sarashi. My mask fragments are behind my ears and are rather small. Suffice to say I think you know very well what I am. And knowing what you are I'm surprised you're not attempting to kill me." she noted lightly, taking a seat in the sand, crssing her legs and resting her chin in the soft bed of flesh that was her palm, those brilliant pale eyes watching him calmly. "Not that I'm complaining."

[Deleted]

Well Vannan's worst fears had come true she was an arrancar, however she didn't seem like she wanted to kill him. Which was a good thing seeing as he didn't want to fight. Still he didn't let his guard down at any moment she could pounce on him and that wouldn't be good news for him at all. “Well I guess that makes sense. You still haven't told me your name cutie.” Vannan could just hope that as long as he kept her talking she wouldn't attack him. After all he was a quincy and she was an arrancar it would make sense for the two of them be at one another throat.

Still seeing her sitting down on the ground did let him think about other things like how was he suppose to get home and what she was doing here. It was odd, shouldn't she be in Las Notches or at least not here in the desert? “So what are you doing here? I mean shouldn't you be in Las Notches with all the other arrancar?” Vannan couldn't help but to pry into her life, she was the first arrancar he actually met, however he had heard of the stories from other people and so far she was nothing like what they said she would be. She wasn't a blood thirsty monster in a human form. She was a semi logical person.

His phone started to vibrate and ring, it was his sister calling him. While keeping an eye on this arrancar he pulled his smartphone out and answered it. “Hey sis whats up?” Even in this situation he couldn't deny talking to his sister. If there was one person he let walk all over him without saying anything it was his sister. “Hey look I can't talk right now I need to get back to work I love you talk to you later.” The whole time he was on the phone he watched her hoping she wouldn't attack him.

[Tsajara Dread]

Dread raised a brow slightly at his mention of her....avoidance of his question. That was true, she certainly hadn't exactly been the most focused when it came to his requests, probably because she didn't care what he wanted. Well...somewhat. She found him...unusual, and that counted for quite a lot. He was interesting in a considerably bleak and colorless place. She could be doing any number of other more exciting things and could be enjoying herself far less. Sure that was because exciting usually meant deadly, but she digressed. Taking a deep breath she folded her hands across her lap, taking a moment to glance waywardly off to the side, those soft pale eyes gazing serenely off into the horizon for but a brief respite from the worries she had of interacting with the cowardly quincy. If he only had a heart. She couldn't help but chuckle softly at her own inward joke before those pale eyes moved to look back to him.
"Tsaj Tsej Dread. My name that is....."

She trailed off for a few moments, closing her eyes as she leaned foreward and rested her elbows atop the strong base of her knees, making a little table with her limbs for her to rest her head upon. Another sigh breezed from her lips, another ghost of her ancieties escaping the confines of both mind and thought. Really she needed to find some sort of stress management. Maybe a vacation to the world of the living.
"I took off my own mask. I never really ran into any others. I've seen Las Noches off in the distance, but never felt inclined to go there." she noted with a soft shrug of her shoulders. A playful smile crossing her lips as she watched him pause, speaking to what was apparently his sister before looking back to her, another gentle laugh escaping her as she sighed and got to her feet. Gently she brushed herself off, freeing the sand from the confines of her clothing before yawning, her eyes closing softly before she arched her bck, slowly leaning back until a gentle popping reached her ears. For now, she simply seemed to be....waiting for him to continue steering the conversation.

[Deleted]

Took off her own mask? Was that even possible and was that how arrancars came from hollows? He didn't know the exact details of how an arrancar came to be from a hollow, but apparently it involved removing their mask. It was a good thing to make a note of, it could come into use later. Still she wasn't anything like the stories he had heard. It was a shame that she was an arrancar if not he would of kissed her hand. Her saying that she never had any intention of going to Las Noches reminded him of why he was here.

He sighed as he looked at Las Noches. He had to at least try his mission before giving up and returning home, but he did want to at least learn a bit more about Tsaj, after all he didn't know when the next time he would meet an arrancar that didn't want to kill him on the spot. “Hey Tsaj I have to go to Las Noches to do a little snooping around. You can join me if you want or not either way I do have to leave. Oh, but keep my jacket it looks good on you.” With a smile and a joking tone he finished off what he had to say to her. “Maybe next time I can get you a pair of pants or a skirt to replace go with it.” With that he turned away from Tasj

He didn't know if she would follow him or not, it didn't matter he needed to get his task done and he was still very far away from Las Noches. It would be a long walk, but he could manage it. He had his phone so he could text and if worst came to worse he would just call it off and say that there was no way in, although he did want to at least try to get in first. There was a rumor that some of the female arrancars that lived there were really a sight to see.

[Tsajara Dread]

Dread stared for several long moments, her eyes suddenly wide as she stared at the quincy in disbelief that he had asked her of something so casually. To spy on the arrancar in Las Noches. She retained that look of disbelief until very slowly her eyes narrowed into a glare at the man, her temper slowly beginning to rise as she grabbed her blade from the ground and closed the distance between him and her almost immediately, her teeth clenched as she reached out, aiming to grab the quincy by the throat as a low, vehement hiss escaped her, her anger very clear as she restrained herself from squeezing down on the male's throat.

"Rogue as I may be I do NOT betray my own kind QUINCY, and you would do well to stay the-." and all at once she suddenly realized what she was doing. If she had managed to grab him she'd immediately release him, staring straight ahead as she realized the spike of anger she'd just had, looking down to her hand she'd osed to try and throttle him before she slowly closed her eyes, taking a deep, cleansing breath to try and rid herself of the anger that had plagued her for a brief moment.
"You should leave....." The woman murmured softly, moving to pick up her cape as she turned and began to move off toward Las Noches, admittedly she was going for the hole that led to the menos forest, though she was still heading to the place regardless. It was time she went and investigated this place herself. He could follow after her, but she wouldn't stop to let him speak as she went, and it wasn't as if he could grab her to try and make her stop.

[Deleted]

Vannan couldn't believe what just happened as he jumped back just barely avoiding getting grabbed by Tsaj. He saw the anger in her eyes and then it all clicked for him. She aimed for my neck, that was a killing blow. So they were right arrancars are only monsters that want to kill and eat I can't believed I was fooled by this person. Vannan only heard her talking about how she wouldn't betray her kind. That's all he needed to make up his mind even though he wanted to stay friendly with her it seemed as if she had other plans. He wasn't about to die in this place without a fight.

She was walking off, but he wasn't going to let her fool him again it was another ruse and he wasn't about to fall for it. Forming his bow in his hand he shot out an arrow that flew past her head. “Ok Dread you think you can just attack me and then walk away? You put up a good act, I'll give you that, but I'm sorry your charade is over.” He had no way of knowing that her lunge wasn't meant with a killing blow, all he saw was the anger in her eyes and her going for his throat.


(OOC: Thread over continuing as a PVP in another thread.)