Above the sandy plains of Hueco Mundo, a thin beam of energy shone, shooting out into the sky. Its point of origin was a gargantuan structure that dwarfed the quartz trees surrounding it like a skyscraper dwarfs ants — there was simply no similarity between the two. The beam's point of origin, more specifically a lone window of the vast castle of Las Noches —a barred window at that — held behind it a room with two occupants: Ulquiorra Schiffer, an Espada of Aizen (the former 5th Squad Captain of Soul Society), and Aizen's 'guest,' Inoue Orihime, who was currently yelling at him for firing his Cero.
"What are you doing?" she shrieked, quite astonished by Ulquiorra's random actions. After all, he had simply opened the door, closed it behind him, lifted his hand and blasted a Cero out the window. Ulquiorra, however, maintained his general apathy towards his task, speaking out loud,
"Blood-Thirst Stone. I should have expected those bars to be made of such a material." Ulquiorra turned towards the door and opened it, turning to Orihime and bluntly stating, "Come. We're leaving Las Noches. We may as well go while we're able."
Orihime simply stared, slack-jawed. What is Ulquiorra doing? she thought. Ulquiorra, however, was tired of waiting, and consequently strolled out, calling out behind him,
"Stay if you wish." Orihime snapped out of her reverie and chased after Ulquiorra, rightly remembering to close the door, seeing as this was — Is that what this is? — an escape. She caught up to Ulquiorra just as they turned a corner and ran into Yami, the Décimo, or Tenth, Espada.
"Ulquiorra!" he grunted, "I was comin' to get you, Aizen's called a meeting... What are you doin' with her?"
Before Yami could blink again, he was chopped in the back of the neck by Ulquiorra following a short buzz, and with a second buzzing Sonido step, Ulquiorra carried (the now unconscious) Yami to Orihime's room, shut him in, and returned to Orihime with a final Sonido. Ulquiorra walked past the now completely flabbergasted Orihime hands-in-pockets, maintaining his rigidly upright stance and cool gaze as he spoke,
"Follow me, woman, if you still wish to depart." Orihime turned, peering at the sable-haired figure, as if she's met a completely different man. No, not a man... A Hollow... And yet...
Orihime soon caught up to Ulquiorra and began questioning him,
"Ulquiorra, why are you doing this?" To this, the Cuarto Espada had nothing to say. He simply kept walking. Orihime grabbed his left arm, trying to stop him, which he did. He turned and their eyes met. And she saw his face. His green, slit eyes juxtaposed the horned, ivory half-helmet that gleamed dully upon his head. Thin, blue tears streamed perpetually down his face. He turned back around, walking out of her grip, as he answered, ever in the same, cool tone:
"I don't know."
Inoue began to slowly follow him again, pondering the basis for his recent actions. They had been walking for a good, long 15 minutes in awkward silence before they reached a staircase. They ascended for a time until they reached the top, where Ulquiorra had to open a hatch to allow himself and Inoue through. Orihime looked outwards as Ulquiorra closed the hatch. They were at the top of one of the many randomly placed spires inside of Las Noches.
Ulquiorra walked forward, Orihime standing expectantly behind him as he raised his left hand to fire a Cero into the imitation sky of Las Noches. Before he could charge the attack, though, he was forced to lower his arm to deflect an immensely powerful sword strike that thrust a huge gust of wind past Ulquiorra and into Orihime. The girl was almost swept off her feet as she covered her face from the strong gale. Ulquiorra stared at his assailant as he questioned him,
"What are you doing, Grimmjow?" Grimmjow, who was hanging with his sword on Ulquiorra's arm, merely smirked and pushed off of the green-eyed Espada. To Ulquiorra's irritation, another voice sounded out that grated on his ears (though he showed no reaction thanks to his dedicated stoicism); the voice of Nnoitora, the fifth, Quinto Espada, resounded,
"What are you doing, Ulquiorra? Don't you think Aizen-sama would be a little pissed to find you running away with the woman, especially considering your rank, Cuarto Espada?" Those last few syllables were infused with true venom, and as Nnoitora walked with a giant smirk on his face, he dragged his enormous Zanpaktou along the ground, held upside down in his hand. The scraping reverberation also grated on Ulquiorra's ears, but he wouldn't show any emotion, least of all to Nnoitora. Ulquiorra, in turn, repaid the spite in full, albeit unemotionally.
"Did Aizen-sama send you to stop me? If that is the case, then I'm afraid to admit he's losing his touch." Nnoitora's grin was suddenly replaced by a scornful frown, but before he could rebuke, Grimmjow chose to speak up, taunting Ulquiorra as he sheathed his zanpaktou,
"You know, Ulquiorra, I thought you'd have some more self-restraint than that. Just what are you gonna do with the girl, huh!? Like Nnoitora said, Aizen's gonna be pissed, and he's probably gonna have you punished anyway... But considerin' that girl's powers..." Grimmjow disappeared with a Sonido, reappearing behind Ulquiorra with his left hand pulled back, a crimson Cero charging in the palm, "...I'll just kill you once myself!"
Grimmjow thrust his hand forward, engulfing Ulquiorra in a scarlet light that exploded a split-second later, leaving behind a thick streak of smoke and a deafening shock-wave. The Sexta Espada studied the smoke, looking for any signs of Ulquiorra. When the smoke cleared, Grimmjow's expectations were confirmed: Ulquiorra was unharmed — not even his defending arm was burnt, but for the sleeves of his shirt. Grimmjow spat, unimpressed by the result of his attack. Ulquiorra turned his head to Orihime, who was watching the battle intently.
"If there's a time to raise your shield, then it's now," said Ulquiorra, turning his head back to Grimmjow and Nnoitora as he drew his sword, "This may get out of hand."
The Cuarto Espada sped out of sight, charging towards his opponents...