Toil and Trouble [Portal]

[Canaan]

There lay the Primera. Still and silent as the dead. His hall was empty like the hole in his torso. He liked it that way. The hustle of other Arrancar flitting about annoyed him. It wasn't that they mde noise, it was that most of the things they were doing were meaningless tasks set upon them by some other Arrancar. Grab this, wash this, tell so and so this, it was all terribly boring and should be handled, in his eyes, by the people who want it done. He knew that those giving the orders weren't up to anything. They were just lazy. Fools. If you're not going to further the race, then you should die. That was his simple belief. Canaan, however, didn't even want to further the race exactly, s much as just bring it in line with everything. He didn't fancy himself a psychic but he kenwa thing or two about the path the Hollow walked. He knew nothing good would come of it. There needed to be order, there needed to be structure. What was he to do though? He had no comrade, no Fraccion, no servant or partner. Sure he could order the Numeros around and probably bully a Privaron into aiding him, but that was just going to take up time that he didn't want to offer.

His figure was sprawled across his seat from left to right rather than sitting in it as he should. His right hand was on his forehead and his eyes were closed. His chest made the smallest of movements and he, as a whole, made no sound. He was just there. Sometimes he honestly envied the Shinigami. It was moments like these he'd kill to have someone with some brains and wisdom to speak with. His Zanpakuto held no spirit, no being, no life. It was just an extension of him. The Shinigami Zanpakuto was a separate being entirely. This had it's obvious ups and downs. It meant that "their" power was not entirely theirs. At any moment it could be ripped or sealed away. This was something Canaan saw as a major flaw. At least his Zanpakuto was HIS. It was HIS power. It was HIS beast. There was nothing else to be said on the matter.

Then suddenly it struck him. He slowly sat up, the white jacket with black trim he wore adjusted as he moved, which exposed his modestly toned stomach. He needed a power that wasn't his. The whole Hollow against the Shinigami thing was getting messy. He hated it to be honest. Every few centuries one side would get super buff, only to be struck down by the other. It was just a wash, rinse, repeat. He wanted to end this pety cycle. He didn't like the Shinigami, but he figured there may be people who didn't like them even more. People who might have actual reasons outside of "They hunt me and my kind down out of some self righteous belief that they are the superior beings of the universe, tasked with the ever difficult job of keeping it's inhabitants safe from harm." Sure. That was a good reason, but Arrancar were not where he needed right now.

The male let loose a smile that touched his eyes. He chuckled a bit to himself and shook his head. How simple. How OBVIOUS! How had he missed it before? He may only be the Primera, but their ever fearless leader was obviously nowhere to be found. That left him in charge. While he was in charge, things would be done differently. Starting with handling a few family issues...

[Canaan]

Within the hour he had summoned a few dozen Hollow into his chambers. A hand full of them were Adjucha, there was one Vasto Lorde, and the rest hadn't even hit Gillian stage yet. He sat in his throne, his jacket was worn but open, exposing his Hollow Hole to them. On the right side of his face there was the remains of his Hollow mask. His pale eyes looked upon these basts. His sight was always true. He saw them all in a lovely shade of yellow. They feared him. As they should. Canaan's rise to Primera was well known among the Hollow. It was something that gave most Hollow a sense of hope. Hope that one day they too could be Espada....if they weren't killed or bitten in the process. He sat with his right leg over his left, right elbow on the arm of his chair and the back of his hand supported his chin. His torso was leaning a bit to the right as well. Overall he looked bored. The silence that filled the room was getting uncomfortable. Which is where he wanted it to be. To date, none of the Hollow knew about his...condition. His synesthesia was a secret he kept to himself. It was a lovely thing to have in your back pocket. Things meant to fool your senses or disrupt them via the proper input channels wouldn't work on him. Illusions meant to make you not trust your eyes were worthless as illusions had no feelings.

One of the Adjucha shifted from yellow or orange. He was getting agitated. Good. Canaan continued to sit there and wait. This was a man who could sit for hours on end with people and never move, never speak, never look away from a single spot, but was always aware of his surroundings. The Adjucha let out a small growl. A growl that didn't get a reaction from Canaan. The others shifted from yellow to a hazy gray. They were confused. Their bodies turned slightly to the Adjucha who dared to growl at an Espada, the Primera no less. Eventually the silence was broken. "ENOUGH OF THIS! Why have you called us here?! What is the meaning of this?! Why-" Before he could finish that last thought, Canaan had vanished from his seat and was now positioned on the Adjucha's back with his blade to the male's throat. "We have a problem gentleman...and lady." He bowed his head respectfully at the Vasto Lorde. "It would seem that in order for us to live wem ust eat, correct?" They nodded. All of them except for the Adjucha that Canaan still held victim. "Good. Then you understand our issue. The Shinigami would see us caged like animals, locked away like beasts for trying to sate the hunger that claws at our mind. They don't know what it's like to be a victim to your own body. They don't get what it means to be one of us. You know who does know though? Humans." He smiled sweetly and removed his blade from the Hollow's neck. The Espada got off of him and walked to his throne, as he did the Hollow slumped to the floor.

Canaan took a seat and looked at the group once more. "I gathered you because you are the most respected among your class. Tell your kin: Reduce hunting. If it means you starve, then you starve with dignity. Your death will only help us to further our goals. By our goals, I mean the goal that all Hollow want. To eat in peace. Or do you enjoy being hunted like common house rats?" Nobody said a word. Canaan smiled, but it didn't get anywhere near his eyes. "Good. Then why are you still here?" The Vasto Lorde took a step forward. Her color, to Canaan, was a blazy yellow. Whatever she was about to do, it scared her more than anything. "Sir...How are we to reduce hunting? Would you have us turn on each other? Weaken our own numbers by trying to sate the hunger with each other's flesh?" She quickly bowed repeatedly. The other's had fixed eyes on Canaan. "Allow me to explain a bit clearer. Reduce hunting in Atsugi. Matter of fact, reduce it in Japan as a whole. Spread your attention to other parts of the world. But let me be clear. Reduce. Hunting. In. Atsugi." They all bowed their heads and turned to leave. "Oh one mroe thing!" He called out before they reached the large set of double doors. Canaan stood up and walked to the Adjucha that growled at him. He resembled a wolf, standing on all fours he was a few feet bigger than your average wolf.

He smiled warmly at the creature. "You stood up to me. That kind of aggression is good." There was an almost audible sigh of relief from the Hollow. Almost audible because Canaan beheaded him just as he took in a breath to sigh. "Allow me to make one more thing clear. Control your tempers. Or your enemy won't be the only thing for you to fear." The others stood there. They didn't dare speak out. "Take him with you." He turned and waved a dismissing hand over his shoulder.

[Canaan]

Once the mess in his hall had been dealt with he resumed laying across his throne with a more than bored look on his face. He supposed he could always just go out of his way and start things now. It had been unusualyl quite for sure within the Human World. The lack of Shinigami activity was to be expected though. There was a big brawl and it left both of their sides pretty barren. Hell, he was not even sure how many Shinigami were left alive. Not to mention his own forces were in shambles as well. He hadn't seen one of the other Espada in...a while. Not that he even even left his room. Usually he spent his time here, out in the forest, or in the human world. He never did anything bad there though, in fact he usually kept Hollow in line there. Odd behavior for an Arrancar, but it was only to avoid conflict. He really didn't want to fight with the Shinigami on most days. Hell, he didn't wanna be bothered with most humans on some days either. Besides, it seemed his habits of avoiding conflicts were about to pay off in the best of ways. Something that made him giddy. His lithe figure gracefully slid off his throne and he began walking for the door. He walked in a heel-toe manner, which made his hips sway just slightly. It was a small movement, but it was large enough that from the back, if you didn't know who it was, he could be mistaken for a woman.

Something he had become accustomed to in life and in death.

He pushed his doors open and closed them as well. His feet carried his slender form through the halls of the tower he resided in. Las Noches was arguably the largest structure in the known worlds. Though he had never personally seen the Soul Society, yet, he had heard a few whispers from Shinigami idiotic enough to attack his...begrudgingly beloved home. It was rather large. Large enough that beind inside of it, yet outside the towers, made you feel as if you had entered a new world entirely. One where the sun never rests, in relation to the never setting moon of Hueco Mundo's natural sky. Eventually he ended up out there in that "sky" with the sun that never set. It was beautiful...in some morbid kind of way. The thought of a perfect sky, a sky that never changed or got dark, where it was always sunny and the clouds were picture perfect. It was haunting.

The Espada stood there in the sands and sighed deeply to himself. He supposed now was as good a time as ever to begin...Whatever he was about to do. It would take time obviously, but he figured there might be a few ways he could speed the process up a bit. Starting with the elimination of unruly Hollow. Hollow who dared to defy him would not live to do so again. It was time for him to do some hunting of his own. By this point the word should have gotten out. So any Hollow left...well they'd be dealt with.

He tapped the air and the sound of space ripping apart was heard. It was the distorted sound of a zipper opening, as what looked like a mouth was formed in the air. It opened up and a black torrent was seen. He took the steps to walk inside of it, and the portal closed behind him.


[EXIT]

[Nero Metora]

A few hollow were standing outside of the gates of Las Noches, picking at the decapitated remains of the Adjucha Canaan slain earlier while they spoke among themselves. "Man... that Canaan sure is psychotic eh?" As the hollow spoke to its fellow cohorts, bits of the Adjucha flew out of his mouth. He took another bite when another hollow spoke. "I think all of the Espada are like him. You have to be careful... otherwise you'll end up like this idiot." These hollow were too busy feasting to notice another Espada approaching from the sand dunes.

"Espada... Arrancar... they're all just hollow wearing shoes too big for them to fi--" He stopped in mid sentence when he and the other hollow noticed the Espada's shadow loom over them. They slowly turned to look in fear at who had just arrived. "Nero! We were uh... just screwing off! We didn't mean what we said!" They trembled at the mere sight of him. The blank expression on his face contained a pair of fierce yellow eyes that seemed to pierce through them. "Where is the Primera?" Nero's voice pierced them even more when he spoke. It was as if icy water flowed through them. "H- he went to the human realm. We dont know w-why..."

"Hmph..." Nero turned and immediately ripped open a garganta. The hollow breathed a sigh of relief... until Nero turned back again with a cero in his hand. "Trash such as yourselves should know their place... and keep silent." Just as their panic set in, the cero went off, disintegrating most of the hollow's bodys. What was left was bits and pieces turned into glass and stuck in the sand. "What filth..." Nero said to himself before he stepped into the garganta.

(EXIT)