1.
In which our pedophile leader calls yet another meeting, and my best friend acts like a total dumbass.
Gray
It was back again. The dream I always have. In all honesty, it's not much. The only people in it are me and two others whose faces I can't seem to remember. I'm driving somewhere. Don't ask where. I couldn't tell you even if I wanted to. All of a sudden, there's a crash, a blinding flash of white light, and then everything dissolves into darkness. After who knows how long, I can feel someone shaking me. A girl kneels over me, her blonde hair whipping around her in the storm. Her faces is blurred out, but somehow I can tell that she's crying. Another girl kneels beside her, her hair almost black. Also a blurred face and tears. Out of nowhere, a voice laughs, almost evilly. No one else seems to be able to hear it. Then it speaks, with a woman's voice as sharp and cruel as the lighting flashing around us. "I've got you now," it says, but it too disappears as I once again fade into blackness, this time not waking up.
I shake myself out of it quickly and sigh. Every night for the past two weeks, it's been haunting me. I check my window to see if it's morning. That does me absolutely no good. Here in Hueco Mundo, the Hollow World, there's nothing but desert and eternal night. So no sun for us. I yawn and stretch my tanned arms over my head. You might wonder how one would get tan when there's no sun. I don't know that. I was always this way. Or, at least I think I was. I might have gotten tan from living somewhere nice during my human life, which I currently have no memory of. A loud knock comes to my door. Instantly, I know who it is.
"Just a sec," I yell. I hop out of bed and pull on my uniform. Uniform, you ask? Why would you need such a thing? It's simple. I am part of the Espada, an elite ranking of the ten strongest Arrancar. Now, Arrancar are simple. We are Hollows (spirit monsters) who have been granted the power of Shinigami (soul reapers). So technically, we're stronger than both. Our uniforms are always white. Mine is just a simple long-sleeved white dress, relatively short. I sling my zanpakuto (sword) over my back and yank open the door. A boy waits outside for me, with pale blue hair, electric blue eyes, and the bone jaw of an animal on the right side of his face. He grins.
"Took you long enough."
"Shut up, Grimmjow." This guy here? His name is Grimmjow Jeagerjaques. He is currently ranked as six in the Espada, and he's my best friend. He always complains to me about how he's stronger than six, that he should be ranked higher, and that since he isn't ranked at least four, he isn't treated fairly around here. I always tell him to shut the hell up and deal with it. His response is to complain more. Now you might be wondering where we're headed at who-knows-how-early in the morning. Well, every once in a while we have these meetings in which all the Espada gather up and talk about things. The Espada are as follows: 10- Yammy Riyalgo. An extremely large and buff man who believes that no opponent will ever be able to defeat him, even though he is the weakest of us. 9- Aaroniero Arurerie. An odd creature whose head is actually two small heads in a bubbling jar. Loves fighting, and hates the sunlight with a burning passion. 8- Szayel Aporro Granz. A creep of a guy who considers himself to be the "perfect being". Always tries to shove his tongue down my throat. 7- Zommari Leroux. A seemingly quiet man who actually turns out to be very rude. Considers himself to be the fastest of the Espada. He hasn't seen my speed yet. 6- Grimmjow Jeagerjaques. A cruel, sadistic guy who thinks he can beat any opponent he takes on. Has a fierce rivalry with Substitute Shinigami Kurosaki Ichigo, who Grimmjow says one thing about: "I hate those eyes. Those eyes that think they can beat me no matter how hard he's beaten up." 5- Nnoitra Jiruga. Kind of an idiot. His weapon is a huge scythe which he carries out in broad daylight. Overly proud of his strength, and hates me because he thinks a woman shouldn't stand higher than a man in battle. 4- Ulquiorra Schiffer. A seemingly emo boy with perfectly white skin and night-black hair. The only color he has comes from his eyes, which are a brilliant dark green so hard to describe that I had to nickname it "Ulqui green". 3- Tia Harribel. Before I came along, she was the only woman in the Espada. She's even more tan than I am, with bright blonde hair and oversize breasts. Keeps to herself most of the time. 1- Coyote Starrk. A quiet, lonely man with chin-length brown hair and gray eyes. The only one around here that I look up to. In fact, he's probably the only one in the world that I look up to. And then there's me. 2- Gray Avi. Technically, I shouldn't be ranked as two. I'm stronger than Starrk is. But that's a story for another time. I have thick, curly, auburn hair, bright green, eyes, and an odd loathing for shoes (or, rather, having anything on my feet). Oh, look at that. I've been rambling for so long that we arrived already. I shove open the huge double doors, and Grimmjow and I take our seats. Once the rest of the Espada arrive, our leader, Aizen Sousuke, sits down at the head of the table.
"Good morning, my dear Espada," he says in his slimy snake's voice. The sound of it sends chills down my spine. "I have a very important announcement to make concerning the Shinigami."
Grimmjow grins at me. I bet he thinks we're going to head straight into an all-out war with the Seireitei or something. He loves all that fighting shit. I roll my eyes at him. Knowing Aizen, it'll probably just be some infiltration mission or something.
"One of you is going to go on a mission in The World of The Living to gather some information for me." I smirk. Knew it. "But the thing I called you here today for is selection."
His eyes scan the table, glancing across all ten of our faces. Everyone looks either nervous, bored or excited. Grimmjow rolls his eyes. Infiltration doesn't interest him a bit. Aizen looks around for a little longer until- what do you know? Those snake eyes rest right on me. He smiles.
"Gray."
