The hollow in the cell regarded the little pills in the container with mild curiosity. Touching one he explored the hard surface and let his senses range over them thoughtfully. They contained a reasonably powerful reishi infusion and he wondered how they had been made. It was beyond his understanding at the moment. Not because of lack of power or skill, but simply due to lack of knowledge. Some things were too complex or counterintuitive to simply be puzzled out, and this seemed to be one of them.

He heard the adjuchas beside him shift and glanced over at the creature. It appeared to be a rabbit type and he smiled to himself. He always found the prey animals quite amusing, since they were really anything but. They could kill with the best of them.

"Are you hungry?" He asked, glancing over the pills. Really, he should be eating them. His injuries were taxing his strength and his wings still hadn't fully healed. But he could sense that the adjuchas beside him was nearly starving. Soon he would start to regress and the others further down were nearly as bad. The adjuchas just looked at him with the sense that he was an idiot for even asking. "Take one of these and pass the rest down." The ancient hollow looked down the line and counted noses. Six other hollows. He had only ten pills. Scooping up four of them he swallowed them in one quick mouthful, grimacing a little as the energy hit his system. Not fair perhaps but it was better than leaving any of the others out, and he had a plan for later. Then he handed the pills to the adjuchas. "Don't even think about eating them all." He warned and the rabbit cowered for a moment. Despite the cells he took the threatening tone seriously. He passed the pills on and the old hollow watched as every adjuchas took one. He grunted to himself, knowing it would only slow their decay. They would need more and there was only one way he could give it.

The pills really didn't last long. The next day the hollows were ravenous again and the ancient hollow braced himself before forming a ball of energy in his hand. It was like a cero, but not. A much gentler power reminiscent of healing energy, he'd given something like this to his children when times were desperate. He offered it to the rabbit who looked at him with wide, disbelieving eyes.

"Why are you doing this?" He asked and the hollow shrugged.

"No reason you would understand, adjuchas." Compassion for others was largely alien to the lower ranks. The vasto lorde knew it, but didn't really care. He couldn't watch them degrade and vanish before his very eyes. "Take the energy and pass on a portion." He instructed as the rabbit swallowed the power. It was powerful, enough to hold the six of them in their shapes a bit longer. "I hope everyone has the skill to pass it on." He raised his voice, looking down the line. "If anyone stops I will not feed you tomorrow." If anyone stopped this daisy chain he would keep his power for himself. He was healed now but weakening himself this way would eventually lead to his own regression. If that happened… his ears went back and he mantled his wings in silent anger. If that happened, he would not have his revenge.

"My name is Rodono Naffensi." The rabbit introduced himself after he passed the food along, confused and a little humbled. "May I ask your name, great one?" He said very politely, which was only wise when addressing a power so much greater than his own. The ancient hollow chuckled, a soft, amused sound.

"No need for so much courtesy. I am not so great as that." He lied easily. He vastly preferred to be underestimated and there was no one present would could tell the adjuchas otherwise. "I am Vandular Sturmdraggan." He settled back in his cell and waited patiently for something to happen. He was fairly sure he knew what had happened to that foolish arrancar who had 'captured' him, but there was nothing he could do about it. The cages were well made and would contain even his power.

He could do nothing but wait.

Rukia hummed to herself as she worked on her latest drawing of Chappy the rabbit.

Since Halibel's fraccion had come by, her quality of life had gone through a dramatic upturn. Someone must have had a chat with Zommari because he'd provided her with a cooling box. He kept it stocked with eggs, bacon and spinach. He also brought her bags of oranges. That would have made for a rather monotonous diet, but Halibel's fraccion had started bringing her canned foods of every description. She didn't have much in the way of cooking utensils… just a frying pan, a spatula and kido… but she was able to put together some very good meals.

And Halibel's fraccion had brought her more than food. Rukia smiled as she glanced over her papers. She had plenty of paper, pencil crayons and even some pastels. She'd been experimenting with them although the results would win no prizes. They'd also brought her Sudoku puzzles and she was having fun figuring them out. It was still a rather lonely life but she did have their visits to look forward to. They usually caught her up on the gossip and played cards. It was fun, although the cards often devolved into a fight between the fraccion.

Finishing her drawing Rukia smiled at it for a moment before pulling herself up and going over to her little hideaway. She had to keep a watch out for Zommari – she didn't want him to know about her things – but she'd managed to make a secret compartment in the floor. That was where she kept her art supplies and the food the fraccion brought her. Pulling out a half-empty box of chocolate covered biscuits she pulled out one and began to munch. Pulling out a few more she put the box back, then picked up the little group of photos she'd been given.

Seeing was believing and while Halibel's fraccion hadn't been able to bring anyone to see her, they'd gotten a full set of photos as well as several letters from her brother. Rukia smiled as she looked at the children. Tigre was squalling about something as Hisana tried to look innocent. Grimmjow was in the picture, clearly scolding the girl for something. It was a candid shot and very cute. The next shot showed Hisana hugging her brother as he sniffled. There were plenty of other pictures of the kids… Byakuya holding Hisana with a smile, Hisana jumping after a grasshopper, Tigre eating a worm as Grimmjow laughed and Ichigo tried to get it away from him…

Rukia sighed and put the pictures away before going to the fridge and opening it. She wouldn't mind an egg. Checking the carton she frowned as she realized there was only two left. Then she blinked and examined the contents of the fridge more closely. She was completely out of bacon and nearly out of spinach. She was down to half a loaf of bread and just two oranges. And she'd been eating plenty of the food Halibel's fraccion gave her. What was going on?

Counting back the days Rukia stiffened as she realized that Zommari was at least a week overdue. That was extremely unlike him. He wasn't punctual, exactly – he gave her no set dates for his comings and goings – but he had always made sure she had sufficient food for the time he would be gone. The main problem before had been monotony and lack of nutrition, not lack of quantity. If she'd been depending on just the food he gave her she would have been starving. What was going on?

"Rukia-chan!" Rukia looked up with a smile at that familiar voice. Excellent timing, she could ask them where Zommari had gotten to.

"It's san, you idiot! Why are you so stupid?" Cyan Sung-Sun sounded quite annoyed with her fellow fraccion. Apacci's raspberry wasn't very nice and Mila Rose sighed, shaking her head as Rukia came through the door.

"Oh, hello! We brought some smoked salmon for you." Apacci said before offering her the package. Normally she would have been thrilled – smoked fish had been a treat when she was a girl – but now she had larger things on her mind.

"Do you have any idea where Zommari is?" She took the salmon before grimacing. "Not that I want to see him but I'm almost out of the food he gave me. Something must be wrong." That really was very strange. Mila Rose exchanged a glance with Cyan as Apacci cleaned out her ear with one finger.

"How long has it been?" Mila asked and Rukia tried to quantify it. It really was hard in Hueco Mundo.

"Three weeks? Something like that." She guessed and Apacci scowled.

"I happen to know that jackass is supposed to send Tosen a report every two weeks. Hmph! Shinigami must have lost track in the shuffle." She said but Rukia's attention was caught by Mila Rose. She was looking like something horrible had just occurred to her.

"Three weeks… shit! The adjuchas! Cyan, Apacci, come on!" She shot out of the room in a burst of sonido and Cyan and Apacci looked briefly confused before Apacci cursed. Then they vanished as well and Rukia went after them without thought. She was halfway through the fortress when she suddenly realized she'd left Zommari's wing. He'd ordered not to do that using her collar, but she'd just disobeyed. It hadn't even been difficult. What…?

The fraccion came to a halt and Rukia's thoughts trailed off and her eyes went wide as she saw what lay behind the bars. This was a lineup of cells, holding hollows that might be strong enough to be converted to arrancar. The limp form on the ground stirred, great bat wings unfurling as the hollow dragged himself to his feet. But this was no bat. Rukia examined him, fascinated.

This was the first time in her life she'd seen an unbroken Vasto Lorde and he was truly impressive. He was tall and lean, with a body that seemed designed for speed yet also held the promise of explosive power. His mask was mostly human yet vaguely lizard like, with two curling horns that pointed upwards. They seemed more ornamental than functional. His hair was dark on the sides, with a thicker ruff of gold running down the centre. It reminded her of a crest. His hands were normal enough but clawed and his feet were oddly birdlike. He had a long, lizard like tail that lashed slowly behind him. Rukia blinked as she realized what he was supposed to represent. Had dragons ever been real?

"You came just barely in time. I am close to regressing." He said with surprising calm. Rukia knew that was the worst fear of any hollow, to fall back to the lower ranks. Once it happened it was irreversible. Mila Rose winced and began making pills for him, quickly handing them over. The other two hurried down the line and began feeding the other adjuchas. "Thank you." He thanked her politely as he swallowed the reishi pills.

"They're all fine. How are they fine? You were completely out of pills!" Apacci sounded awed and the old hollow shrugged. It was the adjuchas beside him that answered.

"Vandular fed us on his energy." The rabbit adjuchas also sounded awed but the vasto lorde just sighed, resting one clawed hand through the bars. Rukia noticed the claws were dead black and looked wickedly sharp.

"It was nothing. But when will we be removed from these cells? I grow weary of this prison." He said before glancing at Rukia. "A shinigami, I see." He observed and the fraccion gave her a startled glance.

"Hey, you followed us! I thought Zommari ordered you not to leave the wing?" Apacci asked and Rukia shrugged helplessly. She didn't understand it either. Mila frowned as Cyan spoke, her hand over her mouth as usual.

"I wondered what would happen if the Espada controlling the collar died." She said cheerfully and Apacci grinned as Mila frowned more fiercely. "Good riddance. He was a jackass anyway."

"Sometimes you two are thick as hell. What could have happened to him?" Mila snapped and there was a chuckle from the hollow in the cell. They all looked at him and he explained patiently.

"He was slain by my enemies. I warned the fool… warned him that I just barely survived my battle, and only by a final piece of trickery." The dragon shrugged, his wings rattling with the movement. "But he did not listen. He saw only a weakened, battered thing and I had no energy left to prove my strength. So he took my directions but not my warnings and no doubt met a painful end. Such is the mercy of Hueco Mundo." His tone was gently sardonic. But then it took on an ugly note of hate. "My enemies must be your enemies. Why else would strangers with strange powers come here and destroy the nests of the vasto lorde? Take me to your leaders so I can pledge my loyalty and gain your loyalty in return. For good or for ill, I will have my revenge." The fury in his voice felt like a lead weight, heavy and remorseless.

"…Revenge for what?" Rukia asked, almost dreading the answer. But the vasto lorde calmed and answered in a tone of deep and profound sadness.

"For the death of my pup and my mate." He said softly and Rukia could feel the pain radiating from him. She was astonished by the depth of feeling she could sense in him. Zommari had never been anything like this. Was it because he was a Vasto Lorde? Zommari had been an adjuchas before he'd been changed. But Halibel's fraccion seemed to have human emotions so maybe it was just personality.

"What happened?" Mila Rose asked softly and the hollow paused a moment before recounting the past…

I was hunting for my mate and pup when it happened.

Our pup was very young. She was conceived when we wandered the wastes, hoping that the shinigami invaders would leave us in peace. With a little one to support we cautiously ventured back to the mountains, taking up our old den. At first we were wary but nothing happened and we settled in to raise our youngling.

I wish I could say I felt something, but I did not. My mate was a young vasto lorde and my pup was nothing at all except to me. Disaster came over them and the first I knew of it was when I returned to our den and found the bloodstains, found the scent of my mate's power and the terror of our pup.

You cannot imagine my rage. Not for centuries had my den been raided. No other Vasto Lorde would dare touch me this way. And I had been on the lookout for shinigami energies. They could not have slipped past me. But this power was new, something I had never known before. In my fury I gripped it in my mind and flew to free or avenge my mate and pup.

I came upon an encampment of strangers. They stank of an alien power and I attacked with all my strength. The lesser ranks fell before me like birds before the hunters, but soon enough a stronger one among them came to face me. A female, she tried to enslave my power and use it against me.

That was a mistake. She took my power but failed to enslave it, and my awareness was split. This is something that I have experienced before, a long time ago. A hollow succeeded in breaking my mask but the part of me he took remained aware inside him and I devoured him from the inside out before reclaiming myself. And so it was with this female. I ate her as she screamed and took her essence, everything she was.

But that fight gave enough time for the true power behind the invaders to come face me. He was a great power, far greater than any I had ever faced before. But I fought him fearlessly, desperate to find my mate and pup.

Truly, it was a clash of titans. We filled the air with our power and even the mountains suffered to feel it. He shot great arrows of light and I filled the air with my lightnings. But perhaps warned by the death of his woman, he did not try to enslave my power. And finally I was overcome, bleeding from a dozen wounds, my wings ripped and torn. But I have a final defense. Like a lizard shedding its tail to escape a trap, I can sacrifice a very tiny portion of my power to create the illusion of my death. And so I did. My pale copy died at his hand, vanishing as any hollow would and I slipped away, fleeing towards Los Noches.

Long ago, I fled from the shinigami with brown hair. I wanted nothing to do with his ambitions, with his upsetting of the natural order. Now I no longer care. For good or ill I will have my vengeance and you will give me what I need… allies who will stand beside me and enough power to destroy my enemies.

So it is and so it will be.

Hisana leapt through the grass, catching crickets and eating them.

To her the world was a marvelous place that she was just beginning to understand. Grass and dirt felt good under her hands, the sun felt nice on her skin and the blue sky above her was simply marvelous. And crickets were delicious. Hisana giggled as she leapt and caught a very tiny one. She munched contentedly before her eyes went wide. Then she hunkered down, her little butt shifting back and forth as she began to slowly stalk the biggest cricket she had ever seen in her short life.

If an entomologist had been present he would have been able to tell her she was actually stalking a locust. He or she would have been puzzled by the jet black coloring, however. Hisana neither knew nor cared. She saw an amazing meal in front of her and she was going to have it!

She finally leapt but to her disappointment the cricket flitted away easily. Then it sat on a rock, preening itself and looking at her through compound eyes. Hisana pouted a moment. It was making fun of her! She would catch it.

So determined to eat me child? The voice made her eyes go wide and she gaped at the cricket, amazed. You will have to catch me. I don't think you can. It sounded very smug. Hisana was still too young to understand everything but she understood the tone. She had just been challenged and she wasn't going to stand for it from a bug!

She chased the cricket and it kept evading her, leading her on a merry chase. Then it landed on white fabric and Hisana leapt, her little claws fully extended.

"OW! My jacket!" She cheeped in surprise as a big hand suddenly grasped her yukata and she looked right into annoyed blue eyes. "What have you been up to, jumping around like that?" Grimmjow asked, mildly vexed with his errant offspring. He hadn't intervened because he could sense she was having fun but that last part had actually hurt. Hisana squirmed, then pouted at him.

"Wan' cricky!" She said and Grimmjow laughed, setting her down. "Cricky gone! Cricky gone!" She said unhappily, looking around for the black cricket. She could see nothing at all. Where had her black cricket gone?

"Just find another one." Grimmjow encouraged her and she stuck out her lower lip in a sad pout. "Awww… would you like some sardines cub?" Grimmjow offered and Hisana brightened at the thought. She loved sardines, they weren't as much fun but they were tastier than crickets. "Let's go find your brother and get you some." Tigre loved sardines too. It was probably something to do with their panther heritage. Hisana chirped, balancing on her back legs and waving her hands in the air.

"Yah!" She said happily and Grimmjow picked her up with a laugh before going to search for Tigre.

Tigre was sitting on a large, flat stone, playing with the pebbles. They rolled very nicely and could be built into piles. Babbling to himself he began stacking them, living in a world of imagination. Little twigs joined his pile, holding a meaning known only to babies and gods.

Hello there. The little baby with the orange hair didn't even look up from his play. Ahem. Hello? Nothing but more babble and the pebbles were knocked over, rolling away as Tigre beamed. Excuse me? Finally the babies' attention was caught and bright blue eyes went wide as he saw the thing that was in front of him.

It was a lizard, but only in the sense that a butterfly is kin to a moth. It looked like an animate jewel, a deep bronze shade and shining in the bright daylight. Tigre's mouth dropped open and he stared, awed. The little lizard preened for a moment, pleased at the reaction.

Hello child. I am – AUGH! The lizard was not prepared for little hands grabbing him and roughly tugging on his body. Tigre wasn't trying to be rough but he had no clue about his own strength. Little children were not good with animals for just this reason. Let go – that hurts! Stop! Ow! The lizard struggled to get away and finally sank his fangs into Tigre's arm. The little boy howled but didn't let go of the lizards' tail, trying desperately to keep his prize. That is ENOUGH! This is – OW! The lizard squirmed and finally gave up, resorting to desperate measures. The tail popped off and the little creature scuttled away frantically. Tigre was left holding a gleaming tail and he waved it with a coo.

"Tigre! Oh, there you are." Grimmjow said with a smile. His offspring had been out of his sight but not his reiatsu sensing. Ichigo was gone for the day, off to visit with Sado and Uryu. He was alone with the kids… well, except for the entire Kuchiki clan. But either way, he was enjoying it. "What do you have there?" He asked as he knelt down. "What… woah!" The little tail vanished in a small cloud of mist. Tigre looked at his empty hands and sniffled, threatening to cry. "What the hell was that?" Grimmjow's eyes narrowed as he tried to analyze the power. It felt shinigami but not exactly, and very weak. "…Huh." Finally deciding it was weird but harmless, he picked up his child before he could cry. Hisana giggled, her little claws tangled in his jacket as she rode in the crook of his other arm. "Want a sardine Tigre? I'm going to get you both sardines." That diverted his offspring wonderfully and Tigre babbled happily. "Ooga bogaloo? Yeah, same to you. Maybe some breastmilk too, huh?" Grimmjow asked the kids as he carried them back towards the rooms. He was completely oblivious to a very irritated and slightly mauled lizard watching him from the shadows. And even if he'd known he would have thought nothing of it.

What could be important about a lizard?

This is all your fault!

Hm? I don't recall telling you to come after me.

I couldn't let you come without me. You knew that!

You're just upset that yours is still pre-verbal. Mine can talk a bit. Although she mostly says cricky, I will admit.

Why do you have to be so impatient? They're not ready for us. They won't be ready for years. Why are we rushing this?

I'm curious. Aren't you? Besides, the other side of their heritage will surface soon. It is good for us to be there to balance it. Don't you think?

Don't even try that on me! You're completely selfish. I know you, you're just hoping she'll let you devour something.

Well, maybe. I wonder what an arrancar would taste like? I bet they would taste wickedly good, hehehe… maybe like honey and maggots and –

You are disgusting.

I'm supposed to be. Hehehe… oh yes, I'm supposed to be. And I'm hungry. I'm always hungry. I hope she learns how to channel me soon so I can eat something. I just can't wait!

I'm leaving. I'm coming back when he learns not to pull my tail off. Try not to do anything utterly appalling.

How difficult. Oh well, I'll try just for you. Have fun growing your tail back.

Fuck you! There was a sense of absence and a great deal of giggling.

The two powers were not necessarily friends.