Summary: Before encountering Harribel and accompanying her, Apacci is saved by a different Hollow. Just who is he and what does he want? Why did he feed her? Hollow's don't normally do that for one another...right? How much will this strange individual affect what will come to pass when the Shinigami come to Hueco Mundo?

Based on Aizen's appearance when he first encounters Harribel, I assume he had just departed the soul society and was establishing himself in Las Noches. That gives a couple months to a year before the Arrancar arc takes place because there's the bounts and then the vizards so that has to take up some time before Orihime is kidnapped and the whole Fake Karakura Town thing goes down. I think… that's what I'm going with so here we go.

Note: Cover image is not mine, it looked awesome and is appropriate.

"Normal speaking"

'Thoughts'

"Inner voices"

MEANWHILE - light hearted rather disruptive scene breaks

Upon the endless rolling dunes of white sand beneath the gleaming crescent moon in the unending night, there was a Hollow. It lay flat on its back in the moon shade of a tall dune, gazing up at the stars. It was an Adjuchas, the second most powerful of the Hollow evolutions, one step below the incredibly rare Vasto Lorde.

This Hollow's mask covered its entire face with the sides extending to the back of its head into a short mane of black hair. The mask was split perfectly down the centre of the face. The right side of the mask (from the perspective of the wearer), was pure white, unblemished save for a long jagged scar across the eye and forehead that fractured deep into the bone. The left half was pitch black with red stripes circling the eye and brow. On close inspection, the iris' were a bright silver while the pupil and sclera were black as night. Below the eyes, taking up the lower half of the face, a fused jaw of interlocking fanged teeth smiled in a gruesome cheshire grin.

The Adjuchas' eyes closed for a moment as the 'nose' of the mask tipped upwards slightly and sniffed the air. With a deep growl, the Hollow stood up, shaking its head to dislodge the sand from its hair. At its full height on its hind legs, the Hollow was nearly three metres tall. Its back straightened, the white armoured plates lining its spine shifted as the row of spikes running down its back gleamed in the moonlight. At the base of its spine, a long black tail flicked back and forth.

The Hollow's skin was black beneath the scaly white plates covering itself. Each plate was outlined in dark red, as if the scales were embedded into its flesh. At the base of its neck and across its upper body, several large spines protruded upwards, the longest at the base of the neck was nearly two feet long. The wide spines formed an armoured collar that merged into the plates covering the shoulders and upper arms. The forearms were unarmored while the hands sported white plates on the backs and tops of the fingers. Each digit ended in a sharp black claw. The legs were stockier, with more muscle and covered in heavier scales. The Hollow's overall shape was something close to humanoid, but slightly hunched with the spines on its back and its long slender tail.

Dead centre in the creatures chest, passing through the sternum, was its hole: black and empty.

The Hollow crouched and began walking on four legs as it continued to sniff the air. A deep growl rumbled in its chest as it identified and located the scent. Hollow reiatsu, and blood. The silver eyes narrowed behind the mask as the Hollow walked to the crest of the dune. At the peak, the Adjuchas crouched before leaping into the air. The sands were blown back as it departed.

After several minutes leaping from dune to dune, the Hollow neared a small rocky outcropping at the bottom of a large cliff. As it peered over the last dune, its eyes widened as it took in the scene below.

There were six Adjuchas in total, five of them forming a closed ring around the last. They varied in shape and size but it was clear that the group easily overpowered the lone victim. As the black and white Hollow watched, the encircling Hollows took turns attacking the Adjuchas in the centre, which could barely stand.

While the attackers appeared to be hideous and beastial, the victim was slender and elegant. From a distance it looked like a tall deer, with short brown fur covering its rump and hind legs while its front was a mix of pale grey skin and white bone. Its mask was elongated into a snout that encased the head like an exoskeleton. A single white horn protruded from the centre of its forehead with slender antlers rising to the sides. Beneath each eye, a crimson lightning bolt reached down past its jaw.

The deer-Hollow was covered in wounds. Dark blood stained its fur and skin. Its left front leg bent at an unnatural angle, clearly broken.

MEANWHILE IN THE THICK OF THINGS

She was barely able to stand to stand, unable to support her weight on her broken leg. Her eyes darted to and fro as she desperately searched for a place to run.

"Hah Hah Hah! Look at her!" one laughed.

"Pathetic weakling!" another jeered.

The doe clenched her jaw in anger. "Is this what makes you feel big!? Huh!?" she screamed. "Hunting as a group so they have no chance!?" She was panting. The pack had been on her tail for the last three days and had surrounded her while she slept. She was completely out of reiatsu, utterly depleted from her constant flight. She had no opportunity to either rest or feed.

Now… she didn't need to think very hard to know what was going to happen to her. Especially given the hungry and sadistic eyes watching her every breath.

The leader of the hunting pack let out a laugh at her defiance. "This one's got spirit! Don't she boys?" The rest of the gang snickered and jeered. "Of course we hunt in a pack! The more of us together the fewer enemies we have to worry about!" The muscular ape-like Hollow spread its arms wide, extending wickedly sharp claws. "No one can take on our pack!" The surrounding Hollows let out a triumphant roar that echoed across the dunes.

The sole female swallowed nervously. Her angry response dying in her throat as the Hollow over twice her size walked slowly towards her. His eyes were wide with sadistic glee as he stared down his prey with a wicked grin.

"First bite's mine, then she's all yours boys!" The Hollows roared in approval.

The doe squeezed her eyes tight, too exhausted to run anymore as her death inched closer. She bit back a sob as a powerful hand grasped her mane and dragged her upwards.

"Heh...heh...you look delicious…" The large Hollow was practically drooling. "I wonder how you'll taste…"

She tried to kick him off but her hoof bounced off his chest harmlessly. His other hand caught her foreleg and twisted. The snapping of her bones echoed in the clearing before the crowd screeched and laughed.

She screamed.

Releasing her second broken leg, the ape-Adjuchas gripped her face and pulled upwards.

The doe went slack, utterly defeated as tears rolled down her mask. She trembled as she waited for the bite to finally end her suffering.

It never came.

Before she could open her eyes to look, she was hurled backwards into the air before skidding across the sand, landing brutally on her already broken legs.

Screams of terror and surprise flooded her ears as she finally passed out from exhaustion and the pain.

MEANWHILE OVERLOOKING THE THICK OF THINGS

From its vantage point, the spiny plated Adjuchas watched the pack leader approach the downed victim. The doe was weak, exhausted and completely reiatsu deprived. It stood no chance against the pack.

As the Hollow observed the scene, the souls trapped within its body ran their constant commentary of hate and aggression.

"Weaklings!"

"They cannot hunt on their own…"

"Pathetic..."

Each voice was different. Some of them were deep while others high pitched. It mattered not as each voice was simply the remnants of a long forgotten meal.

One voice spoke louder than the rest, effectively silencing the cacophony inside its soul if only for a moment.

"Intervene!"

The Hollow stilled, something familiar about that one. The voice quickly faded beneath the screams and whispers of the other souls before it could respond.

"Eat them! Eat them!"

The Adjuchas opened its maw and its forked black tongue flicked into the air. It knew it could kill them, especially while the group was distracted with the doe. The voices were split in opposing camps. Some wanted to eat them all… some wanted to eat the doe… some wanted to go back to gazing at the moon.

Without a goal of its own, the Hollow had hunted and eaten only to continue its existence. It had no desires, no dreams or goals like becoming powerful or important. It spent any time it wasn't feeding staring at the Moon, contemplating its existence and if there was any point to continue.

The Hollow felt there was something inherently wrong about its mind. It's first memory was awakening, lying on the white sand and staring at the moon overhead, with no knowledge of how it got there. It was lost, aimless. Given the nature of Hollow souls and their constant battle for supremacy, it was strange that the voices never tried to assert control, given its ambivalent state of mind.

Considering its options, the Hollow made its choice, much to the dismay of the souls it carried within. The doe Hollow was fighting even when it was hopeless. Did it have a dream? Did it have a reason to live?

The spiked Hollow readied itself to strike, not aware of how much this act would affect its own future.

MEANWHILE IN THE THICK OF THINGS

The doe Adjuchas awoke to the sound of her own ragged breathing and the fluttering of sand pinging against her mask. She froze as pain lanced through her body when she tried to move.

Click

Click

Click

Clack

'What was that sound?'

Ignoring the thought that she should be dead. The doe cracked open her eyes to locate the source of the noise. If she wasn't already frozen in panic, she may have screamed at what greeted her.

The Hollows were defeated. All five of them. In a tangled heap of limbs and blood, a few groaned as they struggled beneath their own weight. In front of the pile of bodies, the pack leader lay on his front, writhing and twitching. She noticed his arms were missing… as were his legs… Only a torso with bloody stumps remained.

She involuntarily gasped, the clicking stopping for an instant before resuming. Seated on the sand beside the dying pack leader was another Hollow. The first thing she saw was its mask. Black and white split down the centre with a deep scar and a cheshire grin of pointed teeth. Black skin covered in white and red bone with pale spines erupting from its shoulders. A long tail flicked back and forth, repeatedly striking the mask of the brutalized pack leader, the bladed tip carving into the Hollow's mask with each strike.

The doe slowly looked at the new Hollow's face, its unblinking eyes watching her carefully.

"Who...who are you?" She choked out once she recovered her ability to speak.

The strange Hollow cocked its head to one side and continued to stare at her. It made no movements save for its swishing tail.

Desperate to prolong her miraculous survival, she tried to speak again. "Why did you not kill them...why haven't you eaten them…?" She glanced down at her broken legs that had yet to start healing. Her eyes locked onto the silver slitted orbs observing her.

"Why am I not dead!?"

She cringed. 'Maybe not the best thing to ask right now…'

With a loud crack that made her jump in fright, the Hollow opened its mouth, the mask unfusing as the teeth separated. A long black forked tongue flicked out before retracting into the maw. With a slow movement, the Hollow grasped the pack leader's skull in its clawed hand before hefting the carcass towards her. She flinched as the body hit the sand directly in front of her. The twitching torso spasmed as its eyes locked onto her in palpable dread.

The doe looked back up at the other Hollow as it pointed at the body before her with an outstretched claw.

"Eat."

The voices screamed in frustration at their host. Why was it helping the doe? She was weak! She should be eaten! Among the many souls residing within the Hollow, only a single one was overjoyed by the choice.

As the doe consumed the Hollow before her, her reiatsu began to replenish and her numerous wounds started to close. The Hollow's tail wrapped around an outstretched limb in the pile behind it. With a tug, another body came free and landed messily in front of the starving doe.

She looked at the corpse with some distaste before biting into its mask and absorbing the spirit. They repeated the process until the last carcass had been passed over and devoured, neither speaking a word and watching each other carefully. As the doe Adjuchas finished the last meal, she slowly rose to her feet, gingerly testing her healed limbs. She hopped and pranced with excitement, laughing to herself as she felt her strength greatly increased. She had never eaten that many Hollows at one time before.

The doe froze when she glanced at the other black and white Hollow watching her. The pair stared at one another for quite some time, both waiting for the other to speak. Her temper and impatience steadily rising, she was first to break the silence.

"What the hell do you want? Why did you feed me?" she demanded. 'I've never heard of a Hollow giving food to another Hollow...there's no such thing as charity in this place…'

The Hollow made no reply. It cocked its head to one side as it stared at her. Taking a deep breath, she steadied herself and spoke rather abruptly. "I'm Apacci. Do you have a name?"

"Apacci..?" She tried to ignore the shiver that shot up her spine as it-he-repeated her name. The deep monotone voice was totally flat, absent of any emotion.

Tucking her response to his saying her name into the deep recesses of her mind, she too cocked her head as she stared at him. "What do you call yourself?"

He stared back, blinking slowly as he let out a long hissing breath.

"I don't."

"Why not? Don'cha have a name?

He shook his head. His mouth opened to speak but closed after a moment as if unsure what to say. After several more attempts, he gave up and stared blankly at his hands.

The pair fell into silence as Apacci watched him.

'How can he not have a name?' she wondered to herself. The recently devoured souls kicked and screamed within her but she managed to beat them into submission. Apacci didn't understand.

'How can he overpower other souls without an identity? How is he not devoured from within? Hollows needed a strong sense of self in order to survive. Just how was this one able to do so?'

Shaking herself from her musing, she watched as he slowly stood, his open palms towards her in a gesture of non-aggression.

"A man of few words aren't you?" Apacci smirked. "Well, I want to thank you properly so... can I give you a name?"

He looked at her strangely before nodding his assent.

Apacci stomped the ground with her hoof several times as she thought, muttering to herself.

"Apacci?"

She looked up to see him watching her expectantly, a new gleam in his eyes.

Apacci felt herself brighten as he said her name once more. She had seldom shared her name before, and at least those she told never remembered or died shortly thereafter. It was strangely comforting to hear him say it. She felt...warm… alive...

'I guess there is power in a name after all…' she grinned. 'Few words indeed…'

Apacci broke into a wide smile, not that anyone could tell through her mask. 'That's it!'

The doe carefully approached the humanoid Adjuchas until she was just out of arms reach. She looked into his eyes.

"Kotoba." She said confidently.

He was silent as he played the three syllables over in his mind.

"Ko...To...Ba…"

He spoke slowly, enunciating each syllable clearly as if savouring the word.

"Meaning?"

Apacci giggled, the bubbly noise rippled through him. "It means "words," because you don't say very much!" She laughed. "Isn't it perfect!"

By watching his eyes, Apacci knew he was smiling, even with his cheshire grin of a mouth. He chuckled, the sound reverberating inside his chest.

"Thank you Apacci." Kotoba extended his hand towards her but dropped it once he realized she couldn't shake hands with her hoof. Apacci stepped closer and gazed into his silver eyes.

"Thank you for saving me, Kotoba."

MEANWHILE IN A COUPLE MINUTES

Apacci watched as the newly named Kotoba walked back up the dune away from her. It was strange. Every other Hollow she met had either fled or immediately tried to kill her. The majority were among the latter.

'Why is he different? Why doesn't he attack me? Why is he doing this?!'

The doe quickly made up her mind and trotted after Kotoba as he sat down on the peak of the dune. Her hooves struggled in the loose sand but she managed to navigate up the large hill without much difficulty. As she approached, she noticed he was staring upwards into the sky.

"What are you looking at? Huh?"

Kotoba's tail flicked back and forth behind him. "The Moon."

Apacci tilted her head back as she looked upwards. The sky was dark with thousands of stars dotting the inky blackness. Directly ahead of them, the large crescent moon gleamed brightly.

Apacci sighed exasperatedly, looking back at him as he stared into the distance. His apathy was infuriating.

Every day was a struggle. A battle for survival. Hollows constantly fought and died. Too many times she found herself on the verge of death. It was difficult. Her body was not suited for fighting. She could run incredibly fast and charge her prey but in more drawn out fights she was at a marked disadvantage.

The stress of constantly looking over her shoulder and sleeping with one eye open had broken her down long ago. Apacci didn't completely remember evolving to an Adjuchas, and if she was honest with herself, she couldn't understand how she made it this far.

Being a Hollow, and a female at that, she was a very tempting target. It made her furious. She hated not being strong enough to protect herself. She hated not being strong enough to hunt more easily. She hated herself for getting trapped and almost dying!

'If it weren't for Kotoba…'

The thought scared her.

'He saved my life… does he expect something in return?' She glanced sideways at the other Hollow that showed no sign of acknowledging her presence. He just stared blankly at the sky. Unmoving and unblinking. He just sat, and stared.

It unnerved her. While she didn't see him attacking the pack, the outcome was obvious.

'How could he have taken them down so quickly? Was he really that strong? Is he really only an Adjuchas level? There's no way he could be that strong...'

A small part of her reminded herself that she had no idea how long she had been unconscious while he waited for her to wake up. Judging from the dried blood on the sand, it must have been several hours at least…

'Was he watching me the whole time?'

She shuddered, a mix of emotions flooded through her.

'Why didn't he kill me?... Better yet, why did he save the Hollows for me rather than eat them himself? He could have made better use of them…he's obviously stronger than I am...so why?!"

Without realizing, she had been pacing back and forth along the edge of the dune. Her front hoof caught in the sand, nearly tripping her.

"Fuck!"

Apacci stamped her hooves several times in frustration once she steadied herself.

"What are you doing, Apacci?"

If she wasn't so full of self loathing and anger she may have realized it was the longest sentence her new acquaintance had vocalized thus far. However, she did not notice and instead continued to grumble angrily to herself.

Finally having enough of her spiraling thoughts that were taking her nowhere, she rounded on the seated Hollow. "Alright, talk! What the hell do you want?!"

Kotoba lowered his gaze from the gleaming crescent and turned to look at her. His tail stopped twitching and coiled itself beside him. "What do you want?"

"What?" His reply knocked the wind out of her sails as she stared at him in shock. Kotoba looked back up at the Moon. "You want to know why I helped you."

She nodded numbly.

Kotoba unfurled his tail and patted the sand beside him. "Sit."

'What's he trying to pull here…I've got my eye on you...'

Apacci carefully padded over to him and gently lowered herself into the sand, her legs folded beneath her. She shifted uncomfortably.

"What do you feel right now?"

She frowned. "...angry...frustrated…" she trailed off. Apacci looked out over the moonlit desert that went on further than she could see. 'This view isn't bad…'

After a minute she continued albeit much quieter. "...confused...afraid…grateful..." she watched him from the corner of her eye.

Her companion nodded thoughtfully. He pointed upwards with his tail. "Look at the Moon and tell me how you feel."

"I don't see how that's going to...to...oh…"

Apacci's mouth fell open.

The Moon was absolutely beautiful.

High in the sky it hung, unmoving yet gleaming in the darkness. It was always there, she knew that, but it was always there. The one constant in an endless battle where each moment could be your last.

She gasped in shock as realization struck.

Something settled over her like a warm blanket. Her tense muscles let go, unwinding her stress as she lost herself in the clear light. Her angry thoughts drifted away and she lost track of them as the questions buzzing in her brain broke apart.

'What is this feeling…'

It was as if everything she struggled with every day meant nothing. She was overwhelmed by the comforting embrace of the gentle light shining upon her. She felt calm… for the first time in ages.

'I never noticed this before...how?'

Satisfied with her reaction, Kotoba hummed softly to himself, the sound easily crossing the short distance between them.

The pair sat together in silence for an unknown time as they stared upwards, eyes fixed on the light.

"You understand now?" The black haired Hollow looked over at her, his eyes flicking across her body before focusing on her thin antlers.

"Sort of…" she trailed off, gathering her thoughts. "It's the only constant in our world, apart from hunting and feeding." Apacci looked over at Kotoba, meeting his gaze. "You saved me so my life wouldn't end. So I could keep existing…"

"Precisely." Kotoba nodded. "…and something told me I should help you…" he added softly.

He leaned forward, resting his elbows on his knees and clasping his clawed hands in his lap.

"I look at the Moon because it reminds me that I exist. I don't know how I got here or why, but if nothing else, I want to keep looking at it." He voiced his thoughts without concern.

The doe eyed him warily. "So you say, but why did you help me? Look at me!"she exclaimed. "I'm weak! I can't fight! You had no trouble killing those Adjuchas so why haven't you killed me or left yet?!"

Kotoba's tail flicked over and wrapped gently around her foreleg, giving a soft squeeze. "You gave me a name."

She looked away from his powerful gaze, focusing on his tail holding her, her heart racing.

A blast of reiatsu drifted over them from somewhere off in the distance and a small mushroom cloud rose on the horizon. The two Adjuchas watched the dust cloud growing higher, further away than either of them had ever ventured.

Apacci was first to break the silence. "What was that?" To see and feel such power from so far was both awe inspiring and terrifying.

"Probably a Shinigami or a Vasto Lorde. They come here sometimes." Kotoba scratched his chin thoughtfully. "Something tells me I knew one…" Apacci looked over in surprise. "I don't know for sure...I have trouble remembering things…"

Apacci felt the ambient reiatsu growing denser, more intense. Kotoba noticed her sudden tension. "Watch for the shockwave."

"What are you taking abahh-!" A tremendous pressure assaulted her, slamming down on her entire body as a sudden burst of wind blew over them. "Holy shit holy shit holy shit!" Her head collapsed as she wasn't able to support herself in her previously relaxed posture.

She was petrified. Her eyes squeezed shut as the pressure kept increasing. 'What the hell is this!? There's this much reiatsu from a fight so far away?!'

'Maybe climbing the dune was a bad idea...there's no shelter here so I'll have to wait it out before I can move again…'

A thought struck her suddenly. 'What about Kotoba?'

With a great effort, Apacci managed to open her eyes enough to see her companion. "Hey! Are you alright!?" She nearly had to shout to hear herself over the storm. To her immense surprise and confusion, he appeared totally fine.

Kotoba was staring towards the cloud with a tranquil gleam in his eyes, despite his grinning mask. Over the powerful wind Apacci swore she heard him say something but she couldn't make out the words. The spiny Adjuchas was sitting comfortably, appearing completely at ease as the intense wind billowed around him. Apacci's leg shifted as the sand beneath them eroded, pinching his tail. He looked over at her before appearing to realize something.

In the next instant, Apacci felt a surge of reiatsu enter her body. She looked around in confusion before focusing on their linked appendages. 'Is he giving me his reiatsu?!'

Before she could question his intentions, she felt the pressure on her body vanish completely. The wind was getting stronger and she felt it blasting against her but she felt fine. Better than fine!

She was blown away when she realized the transfer she was receiving was almost as much as the Hollows she has consumed not hours before! 'Just how strong are you, Kotoba?'

Eventually the reiatsu storm dispersed as the wave passed yet neither of them moved for some time afterwards.

She felt warm, the steady stream of Kotoba's vibrant reiatsu flooded into her and she felt herself bubbling. She giggled. It felt weird.

Suddenly and without warning, he retracted his tail, she almost moaned in disappointment as his touch slipped away. Apacci looked over at him to find him eyeing her with concern. "What?"

Kotoba gently pressed his hand on her forehead, accidentally brushing her horn. She shuddered, feeling as if she was going to melt. "You alright?"

Her eyes gleamed as she stared at him. "Never better!"

Kotoba began to lift his hand away, watching in confusion as the doe pressed her head against his fingers to prolong the contact.

"Apacci…"

"...y-yes?..."

"I need you to fire a Cero. The biggest one you can. Right now." Kotoba was beginning to sound distressed.

"Whyyyy?" Apacci's words had begun to slur like she was intoxicated. She continued to prod his fingers with her snout.

"I gave you too much of my reiatsu, you need to release it." He forced his hand away, looking away when she did moan at his absence. Kotoba quickly stood, disrupting the sand half burying them and taking a step away from the possessed doe.

Apacci stared at him sadly, her disappointment palpable. "Why though? It feels so wonderful…"

'This is bad...if she doesn't force it out…' A warning seared itself into his brain.

The voices were starting to come back.

"Kill her! You have to kill her!"

"She won't stop!"

"This is your fault! You did this to her!"

"Hahahahaha what a fool!"

Kotoba watched in frustration as Apacci started crawling towards him, her eyes clouding over in desire.

"Not again!"

'...again?'

"APACCI!" He yelled, raising his voice for the first time. She flinched briefly before trying to drag herself closer. He doe shakily got to her feet and bent low, her eyes locked onto the taller Hollow. "Stop!"

With a possessed scream, she flung herself towards him.

Kotoba leapt to the side, over the edge of the dune. Apacci sailed through the air he had just occupied with a manic cry. The reiatsu addicted Hollow skidded on the sand before diving down the dune in pursuit.

The male dug his claws into the sand for extra grip and deftly jumped upwards, away from the dune as the doe gave chase.

"Apacci! Snap out of it! You don't know what you're doing!" He tried to reason with her, not that she was very responsive.

"I NEED MORE KOTOBA! GIVE IT TO ME! GIVE IT TO ME KOTOBA!"

Somewhere in his collection of souls, the familiar voice reached out to him. "Bite her. It's the only way to pull your reiatsu out and stop her."

Kotoba was about to respond to the voice when the smaller Hollow rammed her horn into his side. The sharpened spike easily penetrated the gaps in his armour and cut deep into his flesh. He hissed in pain as the rabid doe screamed at him in her delirium.

The pair fell to the ground in a tangled heap. Apacci's horn slid from his flesh with a wet squelch as his blood coated her length and dripped onto her mask. As a droplet reached her mouth, her tongue dove out and collected the liquid before retracting. Her eyes widened sharply as she tasted his blood, like a drug hitting her system full force. She shuddered in sadistic pleasure as she pressed him down with her weight and lapped madly at the whole in his side. Her long tongue dove into his wound repeatedly, desperate for more as she tore at his flesh.

Kotoba frowned in contemplation as he observed his new acquaintance devour his blood in a rabid frenzy. He was torn between confusion and irritation. 'No one's ever done this to me before...is this normal?' He shook his head as Apacci continued to force herself on him. 'Definitely not normal…'

With some reluctance, Kotoba slammed his fist into the side of her head, making sure to avoid causing any damage to her mask in the process. The sudden impact caught her completely off guard and her neck snapped to the side. With his other hand, Kotoba grabbed one of her antlers as her head came back around. Holding her head steady, ignoring her cry of pain and confusion, his jaw snapped open and he drove his fangs into her neck.

"AAAHHHhhhnnn...mmmm…" Apacci's sudden cry turned moan at his bite unsettled him but did not dissuade him from the task at hand. Through his teeth embedded into her flesh, he concentrated on pulling back his reiatsu and sucking it from her body. Her system was completely overloaded. Just from his bite, he could tell she had been overfilled after consuming the earlier Adjuchas. With his own transfusion, she was holding far too much and it was clear she was reacting poorly to the situation.

Kotoba was alarmed by her response. 'Did I do this?' As his reiatsu finally began to recede and return to him, the other Hollow went slack, her eyes fluttering shut and she let out another moan.

As she finally slipped into unconsciousness, Kotoba slid her body onto the sand beside him. The ground shook softly as she sunk into the sand, drawing her legs closed to her body. After a moment, he released her antler and examined her face. Her horn was coated in his blood with much of her white mask stained crimson.

Kotoba's tail began twitching. 'What to do…'

Extracting his teeth from her neck with a squelch, a small burst of steam escaped his maw. Her blood ran in rivulets down his jaw and dripped onto the sand. With a loud crack, his mouth flexed shut and his fangs fused together once more. A small portion of her flesh remained within and his tongue wrapped around the small piece of meat.

'Delicious…' it was the first time in what he could remember of actually eating another Hollow. On the rare occasion that he fed, he would simply absorb the reiatsu by stabbing his tail into the other Hollow's mask and draining them. There was something different about actually eating flesh that seemed to trigger something within him.

Kotoba knelt beside the prone Apacci and examined her neck. The dozens of teeth marks lining her throat were bleeding steadily, her regeneration not yet kicking in. For several minutes he stared, unsure what to do.

The Hollow souls within him began speaking again. It was strange to him how often they fell silent and didn't try to influence him. This time they were even more subdued, only whispering too softly for him to make out any words. The silence lasted only for a moment.

As he sat in contemplation, a distinct voice made itself known, rising above the others like clouds breaking on a mountain peak. "Fool...why have you done this? Do you even know what you've done to her?" The voice was brimming with rage, the distorted feminine sound giving an intense heat like corrupted flames. "Never should have listened to her...she will only lead you astray!"

Another voice broke through immediately after, incensed and offended, appearing on opposite ends of the valley of cloud. The two peaks stared at each other across the sky, unable to reach one another yet their anger shook the world. "If he did nothing, he would not change! He would not grow! Look at him! He has a name again!"

"Irrelevant! Names mean nothing!"

"SILENCE!" The second voice shrieked. Like a frozen blizzard, her presence clashed against the burning rage of her opponent. "You have not been a part of him as long as I have! You do not know what he used to be!" She sputtered in disgust and rage, the intense heat and chill caused a massive storm to developed between them. "To be reduced to this….it is insulting to have watched him fall so far!"

The first mountain rumbled angrily, shedding snow in an avalanche that quickly morphed into lava. "Wrong! I have been with him longer than you! I know what he used to be! I know because he consumed me! ME! A VASTO LORDE! To see my host showing mercy to a pathetic Adjuchas is the true insult here!"

Kotoba listened absently to the voices in his head. In the endless nights of his existence, they had never been so tumultuous before. He felt himself churning. Something within him was stirring, turning over within a stone tomb buried deep underground. His tail went slack, falling limply to the sands with a dull thud. The Hollow's eyes closed and his head hung forward as he found himself drawn to his inner world for the very first time.

He awoke on a small grey cloud, high above the mountains and valley of fog. As he peered over the edge, he recognized the two peaks some distance apart: one a blazing volcano and the other a frozen peak encased in solid ice. Between them and covering the valley below, a massive black storm cloud raged and boiled, streaks of lightning shot into the sky. Their voices were much more subdued now yet the air shook with their rage.

Responding to his will, the small cloud rapidly descended until coming to a hovering stop directly between the clashing peaks and above the eye of the black hurricane. The two voices instantly fell silent upon recognizing him.

"You...how did you get here?!" The flame demanded. "Silence you fool! Do not disturb him!" The ice cried.

The two resumed their bickering once their shock wore off. "Now look what you've done, Candle! You pulled him here! He is not ready for this!"

"How dare you Popsicle! If you hadn't told him to intervene then none of this would have happened!" The peaks were several kilometers apart, yet somehow their voices crossed the distance as if they were right next to one another.

"ENOUGH!" He screamed, his voice sent a shockwave powerful enough to blast away the clouds covering each peak and stilling the black hurricane for a brief moment. "I don't know who or what you are but be silent and cease this pointless screaming!" His enraged eyes turned and glared at each peak in turn, effectively silencing them as each seemed to shrink before his gaze.

He looked below at the storm as the vortex began to dissipate. As he watched, it became clear that the black swirl was an enormous collection of souls...perhaps the remnants of his feeding. 'I don't recall consuming that many Hollows…'

Noticing his gaze, the frozen peak called to him in a tentative, almost nervous voice. "Do you remember anything?" Kotoba turned from the vortex and his cloud brought him closer to the mountain. As he neared, he saw the very top of the peak abruptly ended in a small flat surface with block of solid ice encasing the peak. A figure appeared to be suspended directly in the centre of the ice yet he could not make out any of its features.

"Are you the one that told me to help Apacci?" He asked as he drew closer.

"Y-yes… that was me…" Gone was the rage and righteous intensity. She sounded ashamed.

Kotoba stared at the body encased in the ice. "Why?"

In the distance, the volcano kept erupting angrily. "Do not speak to her! Trust nothing she says!" The other peak was desperate, fear lacing her words.

The ice shook as the inhabitant reacted in anger. "How dare you! You keep him from the truth of what he is!"

Frustrated by the endless arguing, Kotoba slammed his fist against the ice. "Be silent! Both of you!" The impact shook the entire mountain, shards of ice fracturing apart and falling into the dark clouds below. The storm surged again as if empowered by the violence.

Within her tomb, the frozen body shrieked in pain. "No! Please stop! Don't release me yet!" She cried, helplessly, as her foundations began to crumble. With a terrified scream, the ice encasing her shattered into billions of fragments. The powerful blast launched him backwards into the air as he stared in shock at the crumbling peak. The last thing he saw before being engulfed by the black hurricane was a slender body entirely made of ice, suspended in mid air, writhing in agony.