I'm still looking for a beta. Come on peeps, surely someone out there wants to be the first to see my new work??

I spent the entire weekend out of town. The only thing that got done was my laundry. I'm getting behind in my buffer and not liking that fact. But guess what? Chapter 7 will have violence, so stay tuned!

Chapter 6

"What is reiatsu?"

Vellena asked this after she'd used it to intimidate Szayel? Grimmjow gave a snort. She'd gone and put on her plate while he waited in her sitting room, on her couch. Now she was back out in the room. He got his first real good look of the armour when it wasn't caked in gore, and had to admit it looked pretty impressive with all the spikes and skulls and blue-black metal. She didn't look at all peaceable. The cape was a nice touch too. But he was glad she wasn't wearing the helmet right now. Her head looked better – pointy ears and all. Pity she felt it necessary to wear that pile of tin at all, the arrancar uniform had looked good on her.

"What is reiatsu?" Grimmjow repeated her question, grinning. He leaned languidly back on the couch and let his power roll off of him in azure waves. She stiffened and watched him. Then he felt an answering wave from her, thick and red-black like clotted blood. It resonated with his own – one predator to another. He smiled. "Yeah, you got it." He said. She'd probably be a match for most arrancar, he thought, but probably not the Espada. Maybe not. They both reined in their power.

"You can track by that?" she asked.

"Yeah, you give off a small amount all the time. I can feel when you move around, as long as I'm nearby. You can probably learn to track others by watching their reiatsu. Everyone's is different. Most of us hide ours, though, when we don't want to be tracked."

She looked thoughtful at this.

"You know, you probably don't have to wear all that armour around here." He said after the silence had gone on too long for his tastes.

"I like my armour. I have trained extensively with it." She responded.

"Yeah, well, running around in all that tin around here is like inviting someone to come test it out." He drawled. He wondered how someone would go about undressing her in all that plate. It would no doubt kill the moment, he thought. Funny how his thoughts kept returning to that subject.

"They can test all they like. I don't mind feeding foolish people steel." He had to smile at that. She might seem like a frigid bitch, but she had some attitude in there. That pleased him. He'd been curious about the extent of her battle skills since he first saw her. Maybe seeing her across the practice floor with steel in hand would help him focus on what she did when she was in her armour, rather than what she might do out of it.

"Of course, if you're looking to keep in fighting form, we have a sparring room." He grinned at her. "Though I think Aizen would probably prefer if there weren't any fatalities." Which was a shame, really. He'd find it immensely entertaining if she were to kill someone like, say, Nnoitra. He'd often cursed the fact that the Espada were discouraged from killing each other.

She considered. "I would not mind sparring with your comrades. Thus far, the creatures in this world fight differently from what I am used to. If I am to be of use to Lord Aizen, I should be able to face his enemies with some knowledge of how to defeat them." She said.

Well, that made sense. It would also give them a chance to learn her abilities. Though she seemed an ally now, Grimmjow knew these things were never all that certain. With a gesture, he opened a garganta. Wordlessly, she entered it. She was really taking all this in stride, he thought. It was clear her world was completely different from this one, yet he had yet to see her react. It was kind of frustrating, really. What a cold fish.

The garganta took them to a large, very high-ceilinged room. There were benches lining the room, and in one part there was exercise equipment. Grimmjow knew from personal experience that it was ruggedly designed with Espada in mind – it was no flimsy living world equipment. The weights started at 200 pounds and went up from there, for instance.

In the centre of the room, Lilynette was squaring off against that bootlicking fracción of Nnoitra's, Tesla. Starrk was on a bench, snoring quietly. Nnoitra was nowhere in sight. There were some números using the equipment.

"This is where we practice," Grimmjow stated, stepping from the dark passage of the garganta. The Death Knight followed him through, the gate closing behind them. She crossed her arms and shifted her weight languidly to one side, apparently watching Tesla and Lilynette. As she and Grimmjow watched, Lilynette flung a light green cero at her opponent, who dodged. It was a piddling cero, Grimmjow made a disdainful noise at witnessing it. Vellena just narrowed her eyes, watching the fight. Did she know what cero was? Lilynette's cero was pathetic, though.

Vellena watched impassively as the two fought. Grimmjow watched her out of the corner of his eye, keeping the bulk of his attention on the combatants. He thought Lilynette had the upper hand here. The green-haired fracción swung her huge sickle-like blade at Tesla like a berserker. The taller arrancar was being forced to give ground against the little girl's onslaught. He backed steadily towards the wall. When he reached it, he yielded.

Seeing her opponent capitulate, Lilynette rapidly sheathed her zanpakutō. She gave Tesla's hand a perfunctory shake (Grimmjow wouldn't have even done that, and he doubted many of the other arrancar would either), then she scampered over to the bench where Starrk was sleeping. The little arrancar jumped up on the bench, and when her master did not move, canned him viciously with her heel. Grimmjow tried not to wince. Vellena stared.

Starrk howled, jerking awake. "What was that for?" he demanded in a hurt tone, moving so that his poor junk was protected from the tyrannical little girl.

Lilynette leaned her head close to Starrk's, unblinking pink eye fixed on his. "I won the match. Cheer, lazy!" she demanded.

Grimmjow heard something that sounded very much like an amused snort from the night elf. A part of him – the part of every male that cringes upon witnessing a guy getting his nuts stomped on – was a little horrified that she could find that funny. Another part of him was slightly relieved that she had an emotional expression other than complete deadpan.

"Lost again? Tesla, you're a worthless fracción." Grimmjow's head whipped over to the entrance, where Nnoitra lounged, long arms crossed over his chest.

"Mushiwake arimasen deshita, Nnoitra-sama," Tesla said softly, bowing very formally to his master. Nnoitra scowled.

"Quit fucking losing, Tesla. You're pathetic." The lanky Quinto sneered at his subordinate. "Get out of my sight." Tesla slunk out of the room, head hanging.

Now, Grimmjow never babied his fracción, but they had been his companions for a long time. He maintained his position at the top of the pack, yes, and he wouldn't mourn overmuch if they got themselves killed, but he gave them a modicum of respect. The Sexto disdained the way Nnoitra treated his fracción. The only thing more disgusting was the fact that Tesla nevertheless seemed to maintain his worship of Nnoitra no matter what abuse was heaped upon him. What a lickspittle.

"Che." Said Grimmjow.

Nnoitra's sole eye flicked over to where Vellena and Grimmjow were standing. His mouth curled into a cruel grin, showing lots of upper teeth. Grimmjow suppressed a sigh, trying not to shift his weight. The Quinto's misogyny was legendary, and he knew Nnoitra was still pissed off that the Sexto had been assigned to the night elf. Grimmjow wondered what kind of bullshit Nnoitra was about to pull now.