Welcome~ This is a continuation of the previous chapter
Please review or criticise at your leisure =^v^=

Timeline No.: 9
Genre: Romance/Adventure
Word Count: 1757
Date: 27.6.2019
Disclaimer: I do not own Bleach or any of its characters.


Under the eternal twilight sky and the watchful moon of Hueco Mundo, their days became better.

It was not perfect per se as the desert was chilly and barren, and the inhabitants – which were rare and few – were largely hostile. To Ulquiorra, everything seemed untouched by time. Perhaps the terrain had changed, but Hueco Mundo was still as lifeless as it was when he left it long ago.

To his usually animated and heartwarming charge, however, she voiced that she was disconcerted by the animosity lingering in the air… And that it was absolutely not the fault of those "little Hollows" that they were always "hissy and rude", which in Orihime-speak meant that they were just lonely and never had the chance to experience life outside of the cold desert.

The princess had often changed his perspective in viewing life, or the unlife in his case, and this was no different. He thought about how he had the chance to meet this human being next to him and got to know her, which led to discovering the ultimate treasure of his existence. His love for her. Without her, he could have been sullen, bitter and perhaps vengeful. He would have been no different than these Hollows.

"Ulquiorra, look. Horses." Her voice drew him back to reality and towards the distance where some forty bone-coloured horses were grazing. "Are they all Hollows? What type of Hollows are they? Are they powerful?" She asked in a fascinated tone.

Ulquiorra guided them both to the back of a dune that offered a closer view of the herd. From this position, they could see the muscles that each of the horses' limbs contained. They may look pale and fragile but there was an unnatural strength these Hollow horses possessed as they stamped their feet and butted heads with each other.

"There's a fight going on there," his beloved read his mind.

Horses spread every which way as sand swirled and surged within the violence-charged air. At the core of it were six to eight horses, pressed against each other in seeming anger. There was something distinctly different about these horses than the others. One of them threw its head back and let loose a chilling roar, and Ulquiorra instantly knew.

Of course.

How could he forget.

"Those eight are Adjuchas. They are mid level class Hollows. Adjuchas often engage in brutal fights for group dominance such as this." He informed. "Even so, it is quite rare to see them in a group…" The Arrancar trailed slightly, watching the scene without inflection as blood sprayed and three horses had their necks torn out. They crumpled to the ground, hissing with defiance. Orihime flinched slightly and he pulled her into the comfort of his chest. "They just reminded me of someone I used to know. Some idiot I used to travel with."

Orihime's eyes lit up. "Let me see…I've already met Nnoitra and Nel…" She mumbled and he smirked against the top of her head. "Ah hah! It's Grin– Grimmy-kun, right? The one with blue hair?"

"Grimmy-kun?"

His beloved pulled back with a sheepish look. "Well, I don't remember his name. You all seem to have long, eloquent names with at least one alphabet repeated. And that's just in first names!" A wondering look overcame her features. "Come to think of it, do you all come up with your names yourself? Or did you guys adopt your names from pre-Hollow days?"

As an Arrancar who just came about, he'd never thought about these things. When he was born as a Hollow, he had only one objective. And that was a very simple objective: to survive. There was no time to ponder on how he came to be, or why it felt right to be called Ulquiorra Schiffer. By the time that he had time to think about such things, he was already used to it. He was Ulquiorra, he was powerful and skilled, he could do battle for long periods without rest; he was born this way and he would only use it to his every advantage.

"Grimmjow Jaegerjaquez, was his name. He used to be a panther Adjuchas." He replied only. He flicked a finger against her ever-inquisitive forehead before smiling slightly.

Why was he smiling? That was beyond him. He just felt like it now that he had the time to linger on these small moments.

The princess beamed in return and pecked his lips, "I love you." She scooted backwards to stand from their half-crouch; he followed.

"And I, you. Beloved." Ulquiorra took her by the waist and kissed her passionately. "You know what? We should go horseriding. The others." He pointed to the scattered groups of pure black horses, "are trash." A mischievous glint appearend within his emerald orbs. Orihime, having witnessed the few times this happened – and the result is usually amusing or amazing – hid behind her hand and laughed.

"Oh? And how are we gonna do that?"

"We'll have to fight them of course." He answered lightly.

She stopped laughing and slapped his arm. "Really? Well you go ahead first then, Ulqui-chan!"

The gleam in his eyes merely brightened as he fought down a chuckle, and before she knew it, the Arrancar had led them both to a small group of horses isolated from the others. These ones were peaceful as they grazed and were relatively small, about the same size as a normal adult stallion.

The horses flicked their tails nonchalantly as they approached and Orihime noted that their eyes were located behind a bone plate like a mask. Each horse's eye colour was different from the other, but every one of them was intense.

As Ulquiorra neared, the closest Hollow turned its head towards him and curled its lips seemingly into a snarl. This one had yellow predatory eyes and slit pupils that seem to become narrower by the second. The others had already paused in their grazing but did not appear concerned.

Orihime smirked, causing yellow eyes to shift to her in suspicion.

It was then Ulquiorra released the spell that kept his human façade in place. A near-choking level of reiatsu fell upon the vicinity before he reigned it in, directing a commanding yet apathetic gaze at the horses. They immediately lowered their heads in submission to break away the tension as Ulquiorra looked smugly at the woman by his side.

He singled out two horses behind the supposed leader of the small group. One with purplish eyes and the other with pink eyes.

"I'm envious of Hollow eyes," Orihime remarked as they trotted off.

Perplexed by how the woman kept leaning forward to squint idly at something (and he was sure her horse, the purple-eyed one, was too), Ulquiorra quirked a brow at her.

"They have so much feeling in them …And such rare shades too!" She murmured, then chuckled a bit.

A long time ago Ulquiorra would have instantly rebutted her statement that Hollows have no feeling and their eyes were perhaps a lure for the foolish. The Ulquiorra of the present merely gazed fondly at her speculations, half amused and half curious.

"Silver eyes are rare too," He nudged his steed forwards. "Rarer than green. Does that mean you are more Hollow than I?" His shoulder brushed against her left as his steed picked up speed. Its legs' pad-pad-pad turned into a slow pounding rhythm on the sandy ground.

Behind him, the woman pouted. "Don't make fun of me, Ulquiorra. I've told you I like green the most. How can I possibly compare?" She tried to make her horse go faster. "Hollow or otherw– OW! Are bones really that hard?!"

Ulquiorra turned slightly to see her thighs clamped tightly around the horse's flanks, one hand glowing gold as she soothed her feet. When she looked at him pleadingly, he returned with a somewhat careless shrug.

The princess continued with her painful efforts to match her companion's speed. She glared balefully in his direction. "Fight the horse, did he say?"

A few moments later, as the backwards moon of Hueco Mundo was making its way eastwards to sleep, two riders could be seen laughing raucously as they raced across barren sands. One of them was very graceful as he held on effortlessly to the horse's mane and steered clear of his opponent. His horse galloped fast, always seemingly a few paces ahead or quick to catch up.

The other, however, was quite a strange sight. The rider gripped the horse with one hand, but her left was extended outwards. Her steed was very wild in appearance. Out of fear or excitement, it was quite hard to tell. Perhaps both.

"How's that for a fight, Ulquiorra!" The female rider shouted.

A few footfalls ahead, Ulquiorra smirked at the sight of her recreationally perusing her Santen Kesshun. Her hair burst like a hungry flame from the light of her powers, strands tangling with each other from the heavy riding. Under that, sweat trickled down her tanned skin, past a concentrated but smiling expression, and into the high neck collar around the column of her neck. He knew her breasts were usually bound but the movement of the powerful horse under her may have shaken the cloths loose.

It was enthralling and rather arousing.

In her voice was the challenge he longed to hear; And while it was tempting to just end this petty competition between them and bury himself into her heat, it was so much more fun to burn beside her.

Thinking of this, he sonidoed to her side, standing mid-air but still following her pace. Ulquiorra bent down to whisper in her ear, "Just the beginning, Hime."

His hand sneaked unawares to her waist and stole away her clothes sash. It was too late when she caught on; he was back on his horse with the fabric fluttering innocently on his sword hilt. Her clothing split open, showing something that had their horses snorting at the Arrancar's audacity.

The princess flushed brightly and her reiatsu stuttered. She pushed on however, intent on winning. Who says only men had kami-sized egos? If he wished to play this kind of game, he should have said so. Her embarrassment transformed into complacency as she slipped off her sleeves in two blinks then loosely tied them into ribbon knot below her bellybutton.

"You're so dead, Ulquiorra." She muttered under her breath. Her horse snorted like a bull and its galloping hooves seemed to fly. "I'm not letting you go so easily, you shameless thief!"