As Orihime walked along the cold, desolate desert, she shivered and drew her cloak closer around herself. Her freedom-induced euphoria had long worn off and now the wooly garment of clothing was the only source of protection she had from the biting freeze. The cloak was coarse and rough, but was lined with wool and Orihime had never been more grateful in her life to wear a commoner's garb. The cloak had belonged to Mary, who had insisted that she wear it instead of one of her own, as they were all made of material well beyond the means of the villagers. If they saw a strange girl wearing one, she would be spotted like a hawk and recognized as the princess before she could bat an eye.

"So whatever you do, love, don't take off the hood" Warned Mary as she sent her out with a small basket of pies and a map to the nearest village, to help her with her journey

"It may seem hard to believe, but word gets around Hueco Mundo faster than a balla"

Orihime nodded obediently.

"And it's not just so that nobody reports back to Aizen" Continued Mary.

"The financial problems induced by Aizen and the lengthy absence of your presence has lead to the kingdom treating you as a sort of scapegoat, blaming you for all the problems going on. And these lower level hollows outside Hueco Mundo aren't known for the heads on their shoulders, either. They won't hesitate to attack you out of frustration and despair"

Orihime shuddered as she recalled Mary's words. Were the problems in Hueco Mundo so bad that the common people wouln't hesitate to attack her?

"They loved my brother" She remembered.

"And everytie I went with him to greet them they'd always be smiling and friendly and so happy"

She felt an immense weight of sadness as she formed this theory. The people had always been like family to her and she had always missed them and viewed them as a source of solace whenever Aizen was coming down on her. For the past two years, whenever she was feeling unhappy, she would remember them and seek refuge from her situation in the memories of them. But after all this time, did they really hate her?

Orihime felt a tear slide down her cheek-and suffered the consequences for it when the wind mercilessy whipped the wet flesh a thousand times, amplifying the bitter cold by a factor of a thousand. Orihime actually felt like her cheek was being sliced open. Gasping, she clutched her face.

"You don't have to cry anymore" rasped a harsh voice.

"In a few minutes you will not have anything to be sad about...as I will have put an end to your existence"

Orihime's heart shattered into a thousand pieces as she whirled around to see a massive adjuchas towering over her.

She was well aware that Arrancars only lived within the confines of Las Noches and that the lower level hollows did not look remotely human. But the last time she had seen one was years ago during a Festival of Masks, in which she had witnessed them in the audience or going to the Hogyaku. And even then, she had only seen them from distances. This was the first time she was standing face to face with one. And it would appear that the skewed proprtioning of her memories (that time does to all of us) had affected Orihime's sense of size. For she had no idea how huge an Adjuchas really was. And she was scared.

This one looked like a huge crocodile, nearly thirty feet long with a bizarrely long neck. It's mask was bone white and covered it's entire head, with tusks protruding downward. It's mask was two holes the size of her head and when Orihime looked into them, she felt as though she were being yanked into a swirling vortex of despair from which there was no return...

"What's a pretty little arrancar such as the likes as yourself doing outside of Las Noches?"

Orihime trembled, unaware how to answer without sounding suspicious. But for the most part, there was a smidgen of relief to be found in the fact that he thought she was an ordinary arrancar. She decided that her best option was to keep him under that impression.

But she barely had time to formulate this strategy when the Arrancar spoke again. It's voice hacked into her mind like a rusty machete.

"Don't answer that question. It was merely rhetorical. I was simply observing the niceties"

Even with it's mask encasing it's face, Orihime could tell that the creature was leering at her.

"Now that that's out of the way" Continued the adjuchas

"It's time I get down to buisness. I've never eaten an arrancar before and I'm curious to see how you'll influence my powers"

Orihime whimpered as the fear she hoped was irrational became a very rational one. In her heart of hearts, she didn't really think that she was in danger of being eaten. But was this adjuchas really going to eat her?

"I never really understood how hollows increased in power" Orihime thought as she came to a horrifying realization.

"Every time I asked my brother, he would just tell me that it was too horrible for a girl my age to know. And the same with Mary...Oh my goodness... do hollows really gain power...by ...consuming other hollows?"

A strangled gasp managed to escape her rapidly constricting throat. Her entire body seemed to slowly cave in on herself. A desire to vomit engulfed her

"Don't look so scared, my dear" Chuckled the adjuchas.

"You'll continue to live on...as a part of my consciousness. So don't view this as your end. View this as the beginning of a new existence. As a part of me"

The hideous thing threw back it's head and guffawed. It was a disgusting sound, reminiscent of a thousand sinners being tortured to death in hell.

"I have to run" Said a tiny part of Orihime's still functioning mind.

"I have to run or I'm going to die"

Feebly, she tried to uproot her feet from the sand, but she may as well have been turned to stone. Her halfhearted attempts soon turned into the reason for her existence, as she poured every last drop of energy and will power into trying to turn around and run. She had to. Nothing else mattered. Nothing else was relevant. She had to run or...

"Whoooosh!" Orihime was suddenly jolted with startlement as a flash of light sailed past her and pierced the adjucha's mask, dead center. Orihime was able to adjust her eyes in the nick of time so that she could make out the shape of an arrow. But the moment she took in the shape, it exploded ,as well as the mask of the adjuchas. Moments later, it's entire body was swarmed by a black haze and when this disappeared, so had the later.

The entire ordeal had gone down in seconds and Orihime felt so stunned by it all. Her entire body seemed to have collapsed in on itself and her bones must have forgotten how to keep her up. Why else would she have slumped to her knees and crumbled into the sand. Then came the tears.

If Orihime hadn't been shocked and relieved, she might have felt tempted to scold her self for sobbbing on the ground like a three year old. But she couldn't stop. All her sense of reasoning had been deactivated and she felt reduced to a child. And children don't know better than when not to cry or how to stop.

Orihime was bawling so loudly and violently that she didn't hear the footsteps approaching her.

"Are you allright, Miss?" This new voice was unlike the voice of the obliterated adjuchas. Although it was slightly nasal, it was soft and gentle. Like it was still familiar with compassion and was not above dealing it out. There was something in it that made Orihime feel safe. A feeling that she hadn't genuinely experienced since her brother's passing.

Tentatively, she peered up at the voice's source. Kneeling down with a hand outstretched was a boy about her age. He had jet-black hair and stoney-blue eyes that were bluer than any shade Orihime had ever seen. They looked incredibly out of place in the dull desert. They were lightly masked by a pair of lenseless glasses. Like her, he was also completely humanoid and wore the standard white apparel of an arrancar. Perhaps the glasses were the remnants of his mask, like Szayel Aporro Granz, the Octavo espada-royal scientist. But unlike Szayel's they lacked the bones-white frames. Now that Orihime had come to her senses, she began to analyse his outfit. She was aware that no two arrancar's uniforms were similar, each one personalizing it to match their variety of quirky tastes. But this boy's uniform was on the verge of bizarre, even for an arrancar. He was wearing a long-sleeved dress-shirt and a cape that appeared to have it's majority sliced off. There was a blue belt around his waist, strapped on at an odd angle. and he had shoulder pads seemingly studded with rhinestones. She nodded her head to answer his question.

Suddenly, Orihime forgot about his attire as she remembered that if an arrancar was here in the desert, he was most likely a soldier from Las Noches sent to retrieve her. Aizen must have gotten wind of her escape, despite her precautions.

"Are you an arrancar?" Said the boy, curiously.

"I was under the impression that your kind didn't live outside of Las Noches"

Orihime gulped. If this boy didn't know that she was the princess of Hueco Mundo, and had simply thought that she was just an arrancar, how could he be a part of Aizen's army? Who was he?

"You-you aren't an arrancar too?" She asked curiously

The boy threw his head back slightly. He gave a huff of indignation.

"I am a Quincy prince!" He said hotly.

"This is the standard attire of a Quincy!"

Orihime gasped. When she was a little girl she had often heard legends of the Vandenreich, a mysterious kingdom shrouded in mystery. Little was known about it and Orihime didn't know much about it aside from the natives being called Quincies. But here was a Prince of that kingdom standing before her, in the flesh! She was getting all kinds of firsthand experiences today!

Remembering the common courtesy expected to display before royalty,Orihime got to her feet and dipped her head as part of a curtsy.

"A thousand pardons, your highness!" She fumbled.

"I had no idea that you were a Quincy. It's just that I-I thought your outfit looked just like the arrancar wardrobe! Be-because arrancars also wear white"

"WHAT!" yelped the boy.

"Are you telling me that arrancars have copied the Quincy's traditional white wardrobe! THIS IS AN OUTRAGE!"

Orihime whimpered.

"I'm very sorry. But we can't have copied the quincys. Nobody knows anything about the Quincies in Hueco Mundo. And you're the first one I've ever seen here. Pardon me for asking-but why are you here? People usually don't come to Hueco Mundo"

The prince rubbed his temples

"I have come here acting as ambassador to the Quincy. I wish to go to Hueco Mundo to discuss the possibility of an alliance between our two kingdoms. If my sources are correct, then the current princess of Hueco Mundo is about the same age as myself and is waiting to come of age to take her place as rightful ruler soon. I plan to ask the current regent and legal guardian for her hand in marriage"

Orihime turned the color of her hair and placed a hand to her mouth. A fit of giggles began to tumble out of her mouth.

The prince didn't seem to notice.

"I have brought with me, my bodyguards; Yasutora Sado (you may call him Chad) and Ichigo Kurosaki, a substitute Soul Reaper"

He gestured behind him and Orihime's face turned even redder when she realized that she hadn't even noticed the dark-skinned giant and the orange haired boy in black standing behind him.

"I-I-it's a pleasure to meet you too!"

"Miss" Said the boy.

"Would you be willing to guide us into Las Noches? We have been traveling for many days and nights and we haven't been getting any closer to the castle than when we first set off. Perhaps with an arrancar who knows the landscape by our side, we could finally reach our destination. Not to mention the fact that you could teach us some customs of the arrancar"

Orihime was reminded of her escape from the castle with a pang. All kinds of scenarios involving Aizen asking what she was doing outside of the castle when she brought the newcomers filled her head.

"I'm terribly sorry! But I can't! I-I'm so sorry"

And with that she rushed off, ignoring the trio's feeble protests.