Wanderers in the Night | NDE | OPEN | PG13

[kara]

"Hayup!" Plush tentacles reached between the cracks in the bedroom screen, squeezing through just enough to separate a corner from the window just enough for the rest of Kara's body to slip through. Going back in wouldn't be an issue, Himiko would find Kara sitting patiently on the windowsill in the morning and was always kind enough to bring her back inside. Eight awkward legs stretched out, a body that couldn't actually breath took in the dense yet cool night air. Beady eyes darted around, checking the area, making sure there weren't any Shinigami patrols within sight. Confirming the absence Kara nodded to herself. This would be a great night for taking a stroll just because she could, and because she wanted to! With that, the plush toy took a step off the window's ledge and tumbled down. Two stories down.

"splatch!" Kara's artificial body smacked the ground in a most unpleasant way. Not in a way that would be painful or anything but... she'd managed to forget about the rainfall from earlier that day and had successfully landed herself into a puddle. "Hm..." Rather than the state of her drenched body, a street light caught the Mod Soul's attention. The light cast by it flickered and would become dim before returning to a semi-semblance of brightness. A dog barked somewhere around a block away but Kara showed no agitation since she'd become familiar with this area. The dog in question was always tied up and with a metal chain at that. She knew because she'd once chanced to taunt the beast, causing it to become far too excited for its own good. It'd tried to chomp at her only to gain the unfortunate experience of choking on the chain around its neck.

Kara smiled, as well as a plush toy could manage to. Tipping her head to the dying light of the streetlamp, she began to move with unguided intent, the squishing patter of her eight feet ascending into the night air. "Where to go... what to see... hmmm..." Kara pondered what to do while glancing at the other houses on the block, most of which were at least two stories tall, including Himiko's. She'd gone as far as the bakery once but without a living body she couldn't enjoy the treats they had to offer there. "Kara wants to eat cake..." The plush complained to itself, choosing instead to head in a direction opposite of the bakery she'd happened to be thinking about. Though it wouldn't do her any good to think about food when she couldn't even enjoy it, Kara would continue to do so anyway...

[Munemasa Iroka]

Coming in, if you don't mind...

---

Iroka had been given leave to do a bit of wandering in the human world. Given her strange origins, it would be rather helpful for her to gain as much knowledge as she could about things and places she was unfamiliar with, and there had been no particular issue with the higher-ups allowing her to do a bit of wandering and observe the people and goings-on of Karakura. Iroka had chosen to go in the night, though. There would be less people around, and as such she would run less chances of coming across trouble, which she seemed to be quite automatically drawn to. It did not help that she was quite a clumsy one at times.

The smell of the crisp night breeze after a rain was refreshing. There was something about this town that Iroka found rather exciting. It wasn't the rain, for it rained often in Seireitei. Perhaps it was the ambient spiritual properties of this town that made it so interesting. In any case, Iroka had decided to simply just stay on a vantage point, out of the way of the general populace, and observe things. She would then try to determine the purpose of the activities she observed, if they did not immediately appear obvious. Humans were quite the curious creatures, after all. They did get up to all sorts of funny things.

There was the sensation of movement out of the corner of her eye. Iroka was stationed on a building, under the shadow cast by a roof, as she looked out across the street from which her perch gave her a vantage viewing position. Something seemed to be scuttling along the street. Even though the streetlamp closest to where the strange thing was moving seemed to be dying, the light had been enough to inform the Shinigami that this creature was a strange one indeed. Was it a spider? But it was too large to be one, and the 'legs' did not seem arachnid. This was certainly something to investigate.

Using shunpo to get closer, Iroka performed a last dart, appearing just in front of the creeping thing. She was in her Shinigami garb, opting not to use her gigai to wander around, as she was going to be visible to everything and everyone, if she did. With her aim for tonight being mostly surreptitious observation, doing so in Shinigami form was much more effective, as only spiritually aware beings would be able to take note of her. She squatted, as she stared at the strange plushie, looking into the beady eyes and apparently unfazed by its creepy smile. "And what might this strange thing be, hmmm?" the Shinigami asked, leaning forward as she spoke. "I wonder if perhaps it can talk."

She was sure the creature could see her. It was not a natural thing, so it had to definitely be a spiritual entity. And it wasn't a hollow. It did not feel like one. If it was, Iroka would have probably run away. She was, after all, not particularly suited for combat, despite the fact that her parent had tried to design her to be so. She was sure Kimyou would have been disgusted by such a craven attitude of hers. But then, Kimyou was never impressed by anything she did....

[Nemesio Oro Leon]

Mist rose off of the paved streets of Karakura to inevitably become fog in the early morning. The smell of petrichor hung heavy in the air and not far away a dog was barking. The night sky was bereft of stars because of the latent light pollution and the moon hid itself behind a dress of clouds leaving only the dripping street lights, traffic lights and the ambient glow of building windows still lit behind closed curtains to light up the town. Things were mostly quiet as far as cities went with only the far off hum of cars and the constant buzz of electric street lamps making a low harmony of background noise that no one who lived here could notice anymore. A dog barked excitedly somewhere off in the distance.

And on the roof of a small building, a rip in space appeared and out from that rip came a purple, clawed arm.

Nemesio stepped into the world of the living through his Ulcera and stood gingerly on top of the building he had appeared over. Almost immediately he leapt from where he had entered and down to the street below, landing in a puddle of water and splashing it against his underbelly. The quadrupedal Hollow turned it's cervine head to look back up towards where he had just been, yellow eyes watching for a moment. If his pursuer was going to follow him here, they would appear roughly in the same location as he had...

Nemesio Oro Leon was there in the world of the living for the same reason he always was; to avoid being eaten. His luck had turned and he had been hunted by some mindless, hungry Hollow and rather than fight and not being able to fully get away from it he had made his get away in the usual fashion, stepping into another world entirely. He planned on being here only for a few scant minutes before heading back to Hueco Mundo. That should be enough time to get his hunter off of his scent. It usually was, anyway.

When the purple Hollow saw no immediate signs of his pursuer he lowered his head and shook his body. A droplet of rain water fell down on him from somewhere and made a hollow 'thud' against his mask. Snorting, Nemesio turned and began to walk down the street, folding his wings against his back and striding at what could be described as a leisurely pace for a horse sized being. All this running had made him physically tired, the less effort he could put into this whole affair the better. Claws and hooves clicked against the pavement and he breathed in the night air as he passed through Karakura in almost a daze as thick as the rising fog. Nemesio never paid much attention to the world of the living while he was there, having no desire to learn about it or become tempted by some wayward human soul. He just wanted to wander around for a bit and then get back to Hueco Mundo where it was, relatively, safe for him.

Subsequently, he didn't noticed the two other beings out on the street a few dozen meters away and closing. His eyes were on the road in front of him and he sensed very little around him. Could they sense him, though?

[kara]

How had this happened!? Kara’s entire body instantly froze before the Shinigami’s sudden appearance. The Shinigami could see her, she could see the Shinigami, but did the Shinigami know that? Thinking this, and noticing the way in which the Shinigami didn’t immediately attack, Kara decided that tonight might be the best night to play dumb. No attack, no aggression. So far all was good. What Kara needed to do now more than anything was get out of sight. Find an escape, before the Shinigami realized that the plush toy standing before her was more than just a simple toy.

What drove the decision making might’ve been hindered by Kara’s innate fear of Shinigami. Adopting a robotic set of movements, Kara turned to face the Shinigami. ”Robot. Beep boop! Nothing to see here. Beep Boop!” Two tentacles angled towards the Shinigami and wiggled like waves while the other six tentacles slowly inched Kara’s plush body away from the Shinigami. Would it fool the Shinigami into thinking she was nothing more than an abandoned toy in the streets? Did Shinigami even know what toys were? Kara knew. She’d been in the world of the living for some time now so of course she knew what toys were. Imitating a battery powered action figure had to be the best strategy for this moment.

”Beep… Boop… You see nothing...” Kara put a spin on her phrase, trying to turn it into a hypnotic suggestion. The Mod soul was too focused on and too distracted by the Shinigami to notice that a hollow had entered the scene…

[Munemasa Iroka]

Iroka's eyes widened as the strange thing on the ground in front of her turned to face her. It could talk! As to whether it was sentient or not, the Shinigami could not really say. Still, she was not really bothered about whether this thing was capable of holding coherent conversations. It was simply a curious oddity, and that was enough to get the young Shinigami interested. Iroka had no idea as to what a toy was, though, having lacked a childhood of any sort, nor would she be able to quickly rationalize the recreational use of a toy. In any case, any attempts to make her disinterested failed woefully.

"Oh, I see you!" Iroka responded to the creature's last words with glee, reaching out suddenly to pick the plushie up. If she was able to, she would rise to her feet and hold it high in the air, like one would do with a baby, and then gently turn it round while carefully scrutinizing its features. Where did it come from? Did it have a power source, or was it alive? "Huh. I'm sure Mother would have immediately attempted to dissect you to know what powers your speech and locomotion," the Shinigami said to the plushie, having no idea that the plushie could not only hear, but understand her. "Yeah, maybe this is why Mother thinks I'm so defective," her voice lowered, as she seemed to remember an event which caused her sorrow, but then she perked up again. "But I'm not gonna dissect you. You're just too cute, Strange-thing-chan, you are, ne!"

If Iroka could sense things, she might have sensed the hollow drawing near. If she had looked to the side, she would have seen the chimeric creature slowly approaching. But she was too busy gushing over this new thing she had found, to know that there was a creature from Las Noches nearby. "What say I take you with me, ne? Yes, I think I shall! But wait, wouldn't that be stealing? If stealing is taking what doesn't belong to me, would it be stealing if it didn't belong to anyone else? But it did say 'beep boop'. Maybe that's the name of its owner... or was that 'Robot'? Aaaah! Thinking about such difficult concepts is making me hungry."

[Nemesio Oro Leon]

It became apparently quickly, though not immediately, that, no, neither of them could apparently sense him nor did they notice him. He didn't notice them either until it was far too late in a sense for he had been walking with his nose pointed to the ground and not particularly paying attention to where he was going. When he looked up he froze! There, standing less than fifteen meters away from him was someone. A human perhaps? He couldn't quite tell through the veil of the fog...

Whoever it was, it looked like they were fussing over something. If they were a human he didn't have anything to fear nor did he have any interest in them. He'd decided centuries ago that devouring human souls was more potential trouble than it was worth so even if it was a human soul he wasn't about to go after it. He'd just as soon go on his way - especially if it wasn't a soul at all but a person. He rarely came to the world of the living but he knew that a living human was unable to see Hollows.

A passing car revealed the truth to him just as he was getting ready to step forward again. The headlights from further down the street past the figure cut through the rising fog and for a moment both Nemesio and the figure before him were illuminated. Then he saw her uniform with his yellow eyes, a uniform he'd never forgotten - a shinigami!

The car passed and he was once again hidden in fog but Nemesio's anxiety was peaked! Had he been seen? Could she really not sense him? Admitedly, the Hollow didn't know too much about Shinigami except that they hunted and exterminated Hollows which made her an existential threat to him! He couldn't afford to die here! He'd come here to avoid dying! There wasn't time to thing, he had to act fast!

Fanning his feathered wings out to his side, Nemesio charged forth! Closing the gap between him and the shinigami relatively quickly, the sound of hid claws and hooves thundering against the paved road would be impossible to ignore! Rather than attacking, though, Nemesio leapt into the air and jumped over the shinigami, his flat eel-like tail swishing behind him and smacking into the octopus plush that she had been holding up in the process! He landed on the ground a few meters away from the shinigami and skidded on the wet road! He turned around and looked to see if he was being pursued or not, pausing for only a moment to decide what would be the best course of action from there! He hadn't even noticed his contact with the plush...

[kara]

”No you don-!” Right before Kara could get out her arguing phrase she found herself being lifted off the ground by the Shinigami’s hands. She froze. This was bad. Very bad! A Shinigami now held Kara in her grips. Kara couldn’t remember the last time a Shinigami had come close to her, let alone touched her or picked her up like this. She had to get away, or distract the Shinigami somehow so that she actually could make a getaway.

”No! Kara does not want to be dissected!" She didn’t even wait for the reassuring phrase to follow, Kara immediately began to struggle. Every tentacle engaged itself by either pushing, pulling, or tugging, trying to eject the plush body out from the Shinigami’s hold. This struggle stopped momentarily at what the Shinigami called her and the desire to possess or steal Kara. This of course prompted a matter-of-fact retort from the plush. ”Kara is not Strange-thing-chan. Kara is Kara.” Two tentacles protruded and bent in on themselves like one might do with their arms when planting their hands on their hips to scold someone. ”Kara also cannot be stolen because Kara belongs to Kara.” Kara did pause at the beep boop reference, suddenly realizing she’d just blown her own cover. She was supposed to act like an object or toy from this world in the hopes of disinteresting the Shinigami, but that seemed to have backfired anyway… Kara needed an out and perhaps the mention of food was just that.

”Kara knows an amazing place to get food. Burgers and French fries and fizzy drinks too! There’s one th-” Kara was about to point in the direction that currently a hollow was charging in from. But how had she not noticed the thing until just now? It didn’t matter. The thing was on the offensive and if things went well then this could be the perfect out Kara had been hoping for. ”Over there is where delicious food is” Kara pointed a plush tentacle in the opposite direction the hollow currently approached from, opting to distract the Shinigami’s gaze away from the approaching hollow since it didn’t seem she’d noticed it yet.

Using her quick wit and instinct, Kara anticipated a couple scenarios and luckily she’d prepared her own escape ahead of time. When the hollow leapt over the Shinigami it didn’t quite clear its targeted height and knocked into her in the process, but Kara took advantage of the physical interaction, wrapping several of her tentacles around the horse-like hollow’s tail as it passed overhead. With the suddenness and her own preparedness, Kara pulled herself free of the Shinigami’s grasp and now clung tightly to the horse-hollow’s tail. Had he noticed? Kara couldn’t tell. But it was fine if this managed to get her away from the Shinigami. All this hollow needed to do now was get away from the Shinigami, then she could be free of her fear and work on her hunger. Hunger? Kara hated that she still felt the gnawing hunger antagonizing her mind even though her current body couldn’t physically consume food…

[Munemasa Iroka]

Iroka felt some pity for this strange creature struggling in her hands. But it did seem to prove that whatever this creature was, it was quite sentient. And the creature was apparently called Kara, not a strange thing. "Kara it is, then!" the orange-haired Shinigami said happily. As Kara started talking about food, it became certain that the Shinigami had become all the more enthralled, so much so that she did not notice the creeping hollow, which had now taken notice of her.

There were all sorts of names Kara was mentioning. Surely, they were types of foods, but Iroka had absolutely no clue what these were. As the mod soul pointed in a direction that would ensure Iroka did not see the hollow, the Shinigami turned her head in that direction, though it would be difficult to really make out anything with all the fog rising from the road. It would be fun to check those places out, but Iroka was unwilling to do so alone. Maybe Kara would be glad to go along with her. It was more fun discovering new things with someone else, and less embarrassing, as she could always ask her partner questions which everyone else seemed to know the answers to.

The sound of galloping hooves heading in her direction immediately moved Iroka's mind into a wary state, and her grip on Kara weakened, as the noise distracted her. She thought horses were no longer so common in human cities now, what with the invention of cars and other such automobiles. So what was a horse doing--? The Shinigami's thought process froze as a large hollow leaped over her, causing the girl to drop with a scream into a crouched position, her hands covering her head defensively. A better Shinigami would be drawing their zanpakutou to attack the hollow. She was really useless.

Oh yes, her zanpakutou. Iroka quickly drew the weapon from its scabbard, after fumbling a little with it. While she was more of a hakuda fighter, swords looked more dangerous than apparently unarmed people. Maybe the hollow would be too scared to approach her, with a sword drawn. Wait, something was off. Didn't she have something in her hands just a little while ago? As her eyes fixed on the hollow, Iroka took note of its wings, antlers and its tail, and the strange creature on its tail. Kara! She had to save the cute, creepy plushie!

"Kara!" Iroka called out, trying (and failing miserably) to hide the fear in her voice, "please get away from that thing! It is very dangerous!!" She held her sword out in front of her, almost as if it was more a charm than a weapon. Someone with skill in using a weapon would easily see that the only thing she knew about the sword was where its handle was. "I will-- I will try to save you."

She couldn't dare to presumptuously boast that she could save Kara. Iroka suspected that she would probably die in the process. But she could not leave such an innocent creature in the hands of such a mean looking hollow. "Hey, Hollow-san! Get-- get away from that Kara..." whatever a Kara was, "I-- I'm not afraid to use this, so-- so don't come any closer!" Oh, but she was afraid. She was very afraid.

[Nemesio Oro Leon]

So. Not so much pursued as confronted, it seemed. The orange haired shinigami called out to him, sword drawn, demanding he let go of a 'Kara', whatever that was, but made no move to rush him down or attack him. Was she just trying to intimidate him? To resolve this without conflict? That sort of went in the face of his mental image of what a shinigami was and what they did to Hollows, frankly. He didn't really know how to respond, or if he should at all really.

What he did know is that he was glad to oblige her in not getting any closer. Her stance and demeanor didn't seem all that dangerous, but for al he knew that was just to get his guard down and get him to attack her. No thanks! With a snort of air through his nostrils that pushed the night fog away from his face, the cervine Hollow would turn around, fan his wings and take flight! He was gone in a moment and fast, too! Blitzing away through the night sky as fast as his wings were physically capable of carrying him and leaving the shinigami in the dust behind him, for now anyways.

As he rose up over the tops of smaller buildings and flew through the night air, flat tail whipping about wildly and freely behind him, he let out a sigh. "Ooooh, thank goodness! I thought I was going to have to fight for a second there..." he said aloud, ignorant as to any sort of passenger he might have with him for the moment. He tilted and turned through the night, weaving through buildings just as he would the trees in the Menos Forest, and after only a couple of minutes of flight he looked back behind him and saw no immediate cause for concern. Time to hit the breaks on all this high speed running!

Nemesio came to a stop atop a small building, a shop or something perhaps with a large sign hanging over the front door, flapping his wings and landing hooves first then claws before taking a seat and letting out a sigh. "Man I'm tired... I should head back to Hueco Mundo soon..." he said again nonchalantly, speaking to no one in particular. His tail twitched and slapped against the wet roof and, assuming that the little plush from earlier was still clinging on to him, the horned hollow would take notice of the sound difference.

"Hmm?" he mused, turning his head and looking down to his tail where, presumably, an eight legged... thing, would be clinging onto him. Had the shinigami put something on him while he wasn't looking? "What's this...?" he mused, lifting his tail up and taking a closer look at whatever it was that was on his tail. Squinting his eyes, it occurred to him! Aha! Yes! The thing the shinigami was holding earlier!

"Dangerous...?" he wondered aloud, lifting a clawed front leg and batting at the toy (if it was still present) like a cat would!

[kara]

Shinzue…? Kara’s thoughts momentarily turned to her one unique savior among the Shinigami before shifting back to the present circumstance. Shinzue wasn’t here and even if she were she’d previously told Kara that should they meet again they would do so as enemies. So this voice which desperately called out to her now most definitely belonged to the one who’d picked her up. Knowing this fact, Kara affirmed her grip on the hollow’s tail, refusing to let go or listen to the Shinigami’s words. Still, Kara couldn’t help but wonder why a Shinigami would be worried about her at all since all the Soul Society ever wanted to do was destroy her.

Having eight legs to make use of proved very useful with the Hollow’s sudden ascent into the air. He hadn’t seemed to notice his little tagalong but that was fine by Kara if it meant she could get the drop on him with an element of surprise. The experience of flight on a cool damp night would have been thrilling if the modsoul didn’t currently happen to be holding on for dear life. Dropping to her demise might be a negligible consideration though since plush bodies were strangely durable, but even so Kara held no desire to test a plush body’s physical survivability right now... So together they flew over the buildings, and fast. It took most of Kara’s strength just to keep herself latched onto the Hollow’s tail, but she managed somehow.

Ooh! A hollow that wouldn’t put up a fight? Kara’s fabric body jittered with giddy delight at his words of aversion. Targets that didn’t fight back were the best, although Kara wasn’t sure how she’d keep this one from escaping her like it had with the Shinigami… Beady plush eyes stared intently at the steady beating of hollow wings, all the while keeping her grip despite the weaving motions between buildings. Maybe there was a way to keep those wings from working… Eyes turned fully forward, taking in the back of the horse-hollow’s head. Decidedly Kara couldn’t do much while he kept in motion or else she’d risk losing her grip on him and any chance of sating her ghastly hunger. She would have to wait…

When they eventually landed and the hollow began considering his options, he happened to swish his tail, causing a resounding “Splatch” to be heard. Kara wasn’t completely soaked through but she’d acquired enough puddle water to make her body sound differently whenever it forcibly struck a surface. Kara responded with a prompt ”Umph!” at having her body smacked against a solid surface. Despite her verbal reaction, the modsoul’s present focus had become decided. She would act entirely according to her desires.

In what could only be deemed one of those moments when an animated toy becomes the creepiest thing one has ever experienced, Kara’s beady black eyes glistened with a carnal predatory desire, staring holes back into the hollow-horse’s own. One tentacle reached forward, grasping further up along the hollow’s tail before the next tentacle back would do the same. In a series of rhythmic, spiderlike motions, Kara ascended the tail, keeping herself firmly gripped onto her prey. One would almost believe the Plush doll’s face was drooling with anticipation, if it weren’t for the fact that the only reason it seemed this way was due to the fact that a portion of the modsoul’s face was drenched in water dribbling down over her plush mouth. ”Don’t be afraid, there’s nothing dangerous here… Nothing dangerous at all.” Kara assured her target, though the subtle hungering undertones of her words and the way in which she continued to progress further towards the hollow’s flank would do little to assuage such an obvious lie.

[Munemasa Iroka]

Iroka was not altogether certain as to whether her attempt to frighten the hollow had worked, but the hollow was gone. That had been a close call. She was not sure as to what she would have done if she had had to fight the hollow. It seemed so big and dangerous. Since it had run away, the chances that she would have to engage it in combat were gone. The orange-haired Shinigami heaved a sigh of relief, and sheathed her sword happily. And then froze suddenly.

She was forgetting something important. She had not wanted the hollow to come any closer, yes, but there had been something she had wanted to give the hollow... or was it something she wanted? And then she remembered. The Kara. "Shimata!" Iroka screamed, as she charged after the hollow, hoping that by some stroke of luck she would be able to catch up to it. The Kara was an innocent creature. It had to be protected from the hollow. But what would she do, if the hollow decided to attack her? Perhaps she would think about that when she caught up to the hollow. For now, reaching it was the important thing.

There was a question, though. The Kara did not seem particularly organic, and Iroka could not honestly tell if it did have any spiritual pressure. Could the hollow eat it? Well, since hollows always seemed to be hungry, it was very possible that the Kara was in danger of being digested. She had to prevent that from happening. It would be really great to know what exactly a Kara was supposed to be, and she could not ask that from a corpse in the mouth of a hollow.

Following the winged creature was not incredibly difficult, seeing as she could see its large shadow in the ghostly glow that the lights of the buildings below and around cast on the air. While trying to get on the rooftops to follow it was a possibility, it did not seem aware that it was being followed, as it maintained a course quite unlike the meandering confusion a creature would exhibit in order to rid itself of a pursuer. Therefore, Iroka kept to the streets below, focusing much of her attention on simply running and keeping her eyes on it. This was incredibly unfair, that it should have wings, while all she had were her short legs. "Mother should have given me wings or something..." she grumbled silently.

From the way the creature angled, it was aiming for a landing. Finally! Iroka thanked whatever lucky gods had decided to be favorable to her, as she reached the foot of the building, out of breath and with throbbing legs. But now was not the time to rest. Using shunpo, the Shinigami made the ascent, but somehow did not manage to clear the roof of the building as she had hoped. Instead, she was able to clutch the edge of the roof, laboriously pulling herself up on to the top of the building, where she came face to face with the hollow... and the Kara climbing its tail.

The scene before her did not make any sense to her. The Kara was supposed to be in danger from the big, dangerous hollow, but it seemed to be climbing the hollow's tail, approaching the beast, while the hollow seemed to be watching it. Iroka would have said that the hollow seemed curious, but the mask on its face had about as much facial expression as her sandal sole. So her brain simply veered off onto an altogether wrong premise. "Everyone is safe, sugoi!" she exclaimed happily, pausing to catch her breath. Then a bit of sense kicked back in. Wasn't that the hollow she was chasing? The Shinigami quickly dropped into a practiced battle-ready stance, one palm facing outwards towards the hollow. Then she remembered that her zanpakutou looked more dangerous, fumbled with pulling the sword out, and took her slightly awkward pose again.

"Please, Hollow-san, step away from the Kara," the Shinigami said, taking a nervous step forward. But presently, the hollow did not seem to be holding the Kara. If that was the case, perhaps the Kara could escape. "Run for your life, Kara!" the girl said, deciding to change her strategy, this time to try persuading the Kara to flee the hollow, since the Kara did not seem restrained. "That thing is very dangerous! I will protect you while you escape."

[Nemesio Oro Leon]

Whether or not this thing clinging to his tail was still, frankly, unknown, but it was definitely creepy for sure, without question! The way it moved like a spider, the water dripping off of it's plush face, the way it was trying to assure him that it wasn't a threat - everything about it made his skin crawl! And the way it spoke - it sounded just like a Hollow that was trying to close in on him! Did that make this thing a tiny Hollow or something!?

A shiver ran up his entire body, making his tail wiggle and his yellow mane fluff outwards as he shook his antlered head and feathered wings. "Ew! Ew! Ew! Ew!" he cried out, sitting back on his haunches and reaching back with both of his clawed forelimbs to repeatedly strike at the plush, again very much like a cat would do, raking and batting at it until it was off of his tail and back onto the roof at his feet! He didn't stop there, though, shifting his body and stamping on the many-limbed-maybe-Hollow several times, all while the shinigami from earlier made their presence known to him once again.

Nemesio had been far too distracted by the ominous thing to have taken notice of the orange haired woman making her way up onto the roof but as she called out he looked over to her as she was panting. He stopped his stamping and stared at her momentarily, only acting again once she... requested? he move away from the thing... the Kara? Was that what this was? Was it not a Hollow? Whatever the case may be, the chimeric hollow gave one last swiping press with his claw down at the plush octopus before making his move.

Leaping backwards a couple of meters, Nemesio would rear himself up with his hindquarters raised up and his wings fanned out. His tail lifted up and the ending bit of flesh peeled itself back to reveal a wicked stinger which he plunged forward in front of him twice, striking at the roof of the building like a scorpion and leaving in his wake not holes, but flowers. Beautiful, stunning, attractive pink lotus flowers bloomed immediately out of the spots where his tail had struck and once they had he took even more steps backwards. Normally, this technique worked to buy him some time in Hueco Mundo. Hollows couldn't resist them, they were just too tempting. But what about Shinigami? Or Kara for that matter? Were they just as susceptible to his tempting flower? He had to know... from a safe distance, of course.

SPOILER: Click to show

{Technique}Technique Name: Loto: Flor de la Pereza (Lotus: Flower of Sloth)

Technique Class: 7, 5, 3
Technique Type: Hollow

Usable By: Nemesio Oro Leon

Technique Element: Apathy

Technique Cost: 10 Reaitsu per flower.

Description: Loto: Flor de la Pereza is a technique whereby Nemesio creates a small, vibrantly pink flower out of ambient reishi in the air and his own reiatsu. The flowers themselves bear the appearance of a pink lotus flower and are enticing to behold in all aspects - especially so for Hollows, regardless of the variety. Visually appearing, possessing an enchanting floral scent, soft to the touch and, most importantly, absolute ambrosia to ingest. Nemesio creates these flowers by stinging something and, instead of imparting his venom as in Picadura de Apatía, consciously choosing to create a flower instead. The flowers are designed in such a way as to invite inspection and curiosity, almost as if radiating an aura of delectableness so alluring is their presentation.

Catching sight of these flowers imparts a desire to investigate them. Inhaling the scent of these flowers imparts a desire to taste them. Consuming one of these flowers gives a sense of absolute euphoria, a feeling of fulfillment and completeness that one has never known. Such a feeling is fleeting, however, a high that demands to be chased again. Thus, the flowers created by Loto: Flor de la Pereza are an addictive substance that erodes the will of those that give in to it's temptations - so much so, in fact, that imbibing a flower imparts a temporary Skill decrease in Strength of Will of 1, if one has the Strength of Will skill to begin with. At Class 5, this technique can affect those who have a 3 in Strength of Will who would otherwise be immune to temptation effects such as this. At Class 3, Loto: Flor de la Pereza is able to affect those with Strength of Will 4 and Strength of Will is decreased by 1 per flower ingested up to a maximum of 2. If a victim does not have Strength of Will, it is almost impossible to resist eating another flower once one has been eaten and the desire to eat more only grows with each flower imbibed.

This is the case for every race, except for Hollows. For Hollows, the effects of Loto: Flor de la Pereza are much more powerful because, unlike every other race, the flowers of Loto: Flor de la Pereza actually sate the hunger of those Hollows who eat them completely. The desire - the need - to eat souls temporarily vanishes along with the accompanying euphoria which, once eaten, thus makes them exceptionally enticing for Hollows especially. The effects of these flowers are short lived, lasting only 1 post for most races and 2 for Hollows. Use of these flowers can be used as a distraction, a quick get away, a trap or even a method to enthrall others over a long enough time frame in a way that only an addictive substance is capable of. In a pinch, Nemesio can even use these to help sustain him through long periods of not eating, as he himself is not subject to the addictive effects of his own flowers.

How to Use: Sting something with the intention of making a flower.

Drawbacks: Despite how enticing the flowers are, being designed in every way to invite ingestion, there is nothing about them that actually compels anyone to eat them. It is only when they are inspected, particularly when one gets close enough to smell them, that physical impulses for hunger kick in which while further increasing the chances of one to eat them do not actually compel anyone to so. The addictive side effects of these flowers can be combated with a Healing Expertise of 150 or greater alone, meaning they become less addictive the higher one's Healing Expertise is which, in turn, can aid one in simply stopping if they have eaten a flower already.

Incantation: N/A

Made By: Nemesio Oro Leon

Reserved?: Yes

[kara]

To hold on or avoid dangerous slashing claws, those were the choices facing Kara when the hollow veered back and attempted to forcibly remove her from its back. The latter choice was an obvious one given her current body was nothing more than threads and fluff. Even if she couldn’t directly feel the pain with a plush body claws could do a number on the artificial strings holding her existence together. Kara did the only logical thing and released her grip on the horse-hollow, preparing to dodge and weave around his claws.

Kara was mildly successful in her endeavor… Avoiding the first couple of swings as gracefully as she could given the current state of her plush body. If it weren’t for the added water weight attached to her and the uneven terrain of the hollow’s back, Kara might’ve been capable of putting up a better fight against the relentless assaults seeking to remove her from the top of her prey. But it made her slightly more sluggish than she’d anticipated and the unfamiliar terrain only furthered the hollow’s own advantages. In mid jump to avoid one claw, Kara caught the full flat of the hollow’s other one, sending her splatting onto the rooftop.

”Mergh…” Kara groaned in complaint at being thrown off her target. She looked up just in time to notice that the horse hollow wasn’t quite yet finished with its assault, but she was on a solid flat surface now and had eight legs free with which to maneuver herself. Coiling her tentacle legs for better springing actions, Kara timed herself to roll out of the way with each footfall. She carefully chose her designated escape zones to be both random and advantageous so as to be as far away from the next footfall as possible while still remaining underneath the beast. This play of back and forth stamping and dodging lasted only until the Shinigami reappeared however…

The hollow leapt back, releasing a rather unusual ability which Kara promptly ignored. She had absolutely zero interest in whatever tricks the hollow cared to pull, all she wanted was to sate her unusual hunger and for that she needed the hollow itself. ”Nooo…! Kara is hungry! Come back!” A pleading tentacle reached towards the retreating horse-hollow. He’d gone too far now and she would certainly lose the opportunity to feed upon him if he took back to the air now.

Kara instinctively took a few spider-crawl steps back, shying away from the Shinigami when she approached the hollow. This was bad. If the Shinigami managed to defeat the hollow then she would surely purify it as well, which meant no lunch for Kara… ”No! It belongs to Kara! Kara found it first so Kara calls dibs!” Six legs positioned Kara between the hollow and the Shinigami while her two forward most limbs crossed over each other to form an X. Despite her confidant wording though, the plush did its best to remain off to the side, not blocking the Shinigami’s direct path to the hollow should she decide to actually advance towards him.

[Munemasa Iroka]

Okay, nothing was making sense now. Iroka just stared in abject confusion as the hollow fought to remove the Kara from itself. Was it not supposed to be trying to eat the strange thing? Oh, she had been corrected that it was not a strange thing, but a Kara. But weren't hollows supposed to be doing the eating? Why did this one seem eager to get itself away from the Kara. Maybe the Kara was inedible, or tasted bad, or had some of those cool biological defenses that she'd read some animals possessing.

But if that was the case, then why was the Kara asking the hollow to come back? And the Kara mentioned that it was hungry? Things were getting more and more confusing. Was the Kara a hollow? But it neither looked like, nor felt like a hollow. The hollow did. So how come the hollow was not the hungry one, but the Kara was. Also, if the Kara was hungry, why not go to all those places that it had said it was going to show Iroka before the coming of the hollow?

"Eww," the Shinigami said in response to the Kara's declaration of ownership. "Why would you want a hollow? Even if I found it first, I would rather not own a hollow. They're scary and they eat things and they do bad things. And if my memory serves me correctly-- wow!" Her admonishment to the Kara about the dangers of cavorting with hollows were brought to a quick end with the blooming of the flowers on the roof.

The hollow was still there, though. Its tail looked quite dangerous too. And with its frame reared up and wings outstretched, it looked much larger and more menacing than it had before. But the flowers looked so pretty. She wanted to go to them and smell them. But wasn't it the hollow's sting that had caused them to bloom? Was it trying to set a trap? If she drew closer, how could Iroka tell that the hollow wasn't waiting to attack her when she tried to examine the flowers?

But the flowers were so lovely. Iroka took two steps forward towards the beautiful blooms, her sword-gripping hand dropping, although she still held the asauchi. Her chartreuse eyes were fixed on the closest of the flowers to her, a golden and purple magnificence. She took a third step, then suddenly seemed to remember that the hollow was still there, and fled back about five steps the way she came, before readying her sword again. "If you are hungry, Kara, why not go for the burgers and Gallic fries and fuzzy drinks you mentioned?" Yes, due to the fact that she had absolutely no idea what these food items were, Iroka simply butchered the names of the items the Kara had mentioned.

All of a sudden, her head snapped up, as though a sudden realization had struck her. "Um, Hollow-san, you can talk, ne?" she asked warily. She had heard, or thought she had heard, it speaking (its sounds sounded awfully like words, and intelligent hollows were known to be capable of speech), when she had climbed the roof. "You have to answer my question as honestly as you can, because even though we're enemies, the search for knowledge and the furtherance of science supersede any physical, mental or spiritual divisions. Here goes my question: if you stung my head, would it turn into a flower? And if yes, would I still be able to see?" An apparently nonsensical question, but if anyone thought Iroka was the sanest card in the deck, they were dead wrong.

[Nemesio Oro Leon]

No good. Neither of them seemed to go for it, which was unfortunate but not exactly unexpected. His loto flowers didn't have anything about them that actually compelled anyone to eat them after all, they just looked and smelled so good that most people (Hollows. He basically only ever used this on Hollows before now) ate them without question. The Shinigami looked like they were going to take the bait for a moment, but at the last second she regained her senses and retreated back, hand back on her sword.

'Damn... this is getting serious...' Nemesio thought to himself, unaware of just how not serious this whole situation was for him. His fear of the unknown was practically at an all time high and he suddenly found himself wishing that he was back in Hueco Mundo, running away from a bigger, stronger Hollow! At least his flowers would have worked against such a situation! At least he knew what to do in that scenario! As things stood, faced with some eight limbed tiny thing that was trying to eat him (was that even possible?) and a shinigami who he assumed was out to kill him at any cost at this point since she'd followed him after he broke line of sight, he really was going to have to fight his way out of this! That was so much trouble! Was it too late to just take an ulcera back to Hueco Mundo? Was he too trapped for that to be a possibility?

Thinking all of this, Nemesio completely missed what it was that the shinigami and the plush were saying to one another, just standing in a vaguely threatening position without actually taking any actions. It wasn't until the shinigami addressed him directly that his attention snapped back to the present moment rather than focusing how to escape it. Surprisingly, she wanted to... talk? Huh?

"What?" Nemesio replied, flabbergasted by the quick speech and sudden questioning that was directed at him. "Yes I can... Wait, what? No, that isn't... what kind of a question is that!?" he asked, raising his voice in response to being caught so off guard by the questioning. He kept his body in the same position, ready to strike or take flight as needed. "I'm not obligated to tell you anything! But if you must know, no, your head wouldn't turn into a flower. I don't turn things into loto, I create them! If I stung your head a loto would bloom from it if I wanted it to."

He paused for a moment. An opportunity? That little thing had said it was hungry, right? So that means... "They're not actually dangerous, believe it or not. They just fill your belly and make you feel really good, euphoric even! How about you guys eat them and let me leave, huh? I'm just trying to not die right now, ok!?" Not exactly the most elegant proposal, but the deer headed hollow was grasping at straws at the moment. If one or both of them at his flower, he could make an escape. Fly away or open an ulcera, either would work since he didn't think either of them were actually fast enough to keep up with him. At the very least he wouldn't have to fight if they listened to him and eat his lotus flowers.

The question was, could he be so lucky...?