.

This is a story I was meant to make after AHP, but now 3 different stories later, I made it. Ah well, pitchforks and torches aside, here we go. Just FYI, you'll be seeing the character's thoughts from a third person perspective.

The fun part in making this is having the wiki open because I can't spell Bleach terms for shit.

Ulquiorra, People's Favorite, Emotionless Bastard With An Ashen Fate; You're Not Meant To Like Him, He's Here For Story's Sake!

Chapter One: Breathing

Too late, he understood it too late, he thought for the hundredth time.

Ulquiorra wanted to look at his hand where the woman reached for, but he could no longer see, nor even move for that matter. That heart she spoke of, so naively right to his end, he thought he saw it. So immaterial, but there regardless. He wanted to know more about it, and why she'd give him part of her heart.

Alas, in this inky blackness, he only had his thoughts for eternity. It was strange, this was death after death, a complete void? No one knew what happened when a soul dies, at least nothing Aizen told them about.

It didn't matter in the end, Ulquiorra would just have to think on this heart, what else is there to do? He had so many questions, but no one to ask but himself, and he knew that he understood it least.

That woman, Inoue Orihime, she gave him her heart, but without even touching him, yet he knew that she did. How when it was so intangible? Why would she do that to her captor? He didn't know, never would. It wasn't a situation he preferred, but it was one he had no choice but to accept. Perhaps he'd think more about this heart.

". . ."

He didn't know what to think of it and turned his thoughts somewhere else.

". . ."

Lord Aizen won the fight, surely. The boy, Kurosaki Ichigo, was powerful, yes, but won't be enough to beat Lord Aizen. He lost control when using his Hollow powers, the boy was unrefined still, it won't be enough against someone like the former captain.

It didn't matter, it had nothing to do with him anymore.

". . ."

Grimmjow Jaegerjaquez was likely to die soon, thankfully. For a meager Espada who ranked sixth and believed himself twice as strong, he would no doubt try fighting several strong Reapers. It sounded like something that buffoon would do and die in the process. As long as Grimmjow didn't come beside him in this void, then all was well.

Well, that didn't matter at this point.

". . ."

What else where there to do? Ulquiorra sighed out of boredom. If this was all he could do, then-

He sighed?

That shouldn't be happening. His whole body was turned to ash in what felt like hours ago, yet he was able to breathe again? He took in a deep breath, something he wasn't able to do until just then. Had his lungs reformed? Impossible, the injuries were to severe for his regeneration to work.

Yet here he was, breathing, and he felt a muscle spasm. His arm had come back, or at least his shoulder had, he wasn't sure of he the rest. . . No, he has them, he could feel his fingers grow into existence just now.

A full confusing minute passed, the entire time Ulquiorra was questioning what was going on. This was not his regeneration, it was something else, something that was out of his control. Was it nature or the work of someone powerful? He didn't know, how could he?

He felt his eyes form, seeing nothing but the inky blackness of his lids, and that was the final regeneration. He didn't even hesitate to open them, and what he saw was the night sky, a familiar sight he'd seen for centuries.

"Heuco Mundo," he said out loud as he laid down on the soft sand. That starless night sky and that moon was not something he'd ever forget. "How?"

Ulquiorra picked himself and looked at himself. He was naked, so it helped him see that he was in his unreleased state, seemingly unaltered. His skin was stark white as it always was, nothing outwardly seemed to have changed. He brought up his hand, and felt the hole below his neck still there, as was his half helmet, all of it was still there. He even examined his reiryoku and it proved that it was untampered with, if low but slowly rising. More so, at his feet was a sword, his sword, still in its sheath. He leaned down and picked up Murciélago, feeling the familiarity of it, this fragment of himself, also seemingly untampered with.

Now all that was left was his surroundings. He vividly remembered his fight with Kurosaki Ichigo and the destruction that it made in their area of Las Noches, but the surroundings were excessively damaged in a way that something more must've happened.

Did the Soul Reapers' invasion succeed? Have they destroyed Heuco Mundo and its inhabitants? It was a sound conclusion, but not quite so. His pesquisa was able to detect on living being in in the area, and it seemed to be the only one he could find in all of Las Noches.

He made his way to find this person, but he kept his senses sharp if there was any other source of Reiatsu. More than that, he kept an eye at the desolate hallways around him, looking for splashes of blood or even fallen masks, but there were none. Besides the rubble or fallen pillars of stone, the place was devoid of anything.

The more he walked to the source, the more he recognized the dilapidated route he was taking. It may be in ruins, but this was definitely the road to Lord Aizen's throne room, but it wasn't his Reiatsu, it was far too weak to be his, nor for any Espada for that matter.

Minutes later, he walked through the broken doors of the throne room, and similarly to everywhere else, it was in ruins. Light from the crescent moon above illuminating the white walls and stairs that lead up to the throne itself.

And on said throne was a person, someone Ulquiorra didn't recognize on sight, but the Reiatsu felt familiar.

The person on the throne stirred. "Hmm, who's there?" the raspy voice asked as Ulquiorra audibly walked up the stairs to see who it was. "I can hear you, so speak." He wouldn't answer, not yet. The person seemed more agitated the closer and louder he got.

Now standing in front of who turned out to be an elderly woman, her hair white and long to the point it was falling from the sides of the throne, below even the side of the plateau the throne was on and unto the floor meters below. Her wardrobe looked as though it was pristine and white once, now it was ragged and ripped. Her body had shrunk, as her clothes were baggy and loose, the collar practically covered her entire face, the way she slouched hadn't helped.

"Hmm?" she sounded as her old, grey eyes moved above the collar, squinting as she looked to him, showing how her eyes have deteriorated over the years. "Speak your name."

"Ulquiorra Cifer," he answered.

The woman hummed. "I know that name, at least I believe I do." She leaned in closer, her wrinkled hands moved to touch his bare chest. He allowed her, even ignoring her long nails scraping his hierro, stopping just when it was over his Espada number. "Yes, I know you, don't I?" she asked as she brought her hand back.

"Who are you?"

Her head tilted to the side. "I don't remember," she answered simply. "I know I have a name, but I can't recall what it is."

"Where is everyone?"

"Gone," she said, then furrowed her brows as she tried to remember. "Not dead, I don't think so, just not here in. . . wherever we are." She leaned back tiredly. "They left. That sounds correct."

Nothing from this woman made sense. "If they left, then why are you still here?"

She exhaled a heavy breath. "I don't remember. I'm. . . waiting? No, that's not true." She rubbed her head. "I'm supposed to be here, I. . . live here? Yes, I live here."

"Nonsense." It didn't seem like she was lying, just senile. "You may be an Arrancar, but you do not live here." He would know of such an elderly Arrancar in Las Noches other than Barragan, this woman was an untrustworthy source of information, but it seemed she was his only option.

"Arrancar," she said nostalgically. "I haven't heard that word in so long. Yes, I'm an Arrancar, but more than that, I'm an. . ." She strained to find this elusive word, then it dawned on her. "Espada. I'm an Espada."

That was impossible, this trash was genuinely confused and senile. He was going to refute her statement, but something caught his eye. To the side leaning on the ruined throne, there was a sword still in its sheath. A familiar sword, which led to an interesting assumption.

Looking back to the woman, he saw her in a new light. He reached across, the woman unmoving and uncaring, or maybe her vision was too poor to see it approaching.

He grabbed the top of the collar that was loosely covering most of her face and pulled it down. He saw the remnant of her Hollow mask, the sharp teeth covering the lower half of her wrinkled face. "Tier Harribel," he said confused.

She hummed. "Is that my name? It sounds familiar."

"It's your name," he answered, to which she simply nodded and accepted it uncaringly. It was undoubtably her, the very feel of her Reiatsu felt familiar, and now he knew why. "What happened here?"

The elderly Tier shook her head. "I don't remember. All I remember was that they were here, and now they're not." This didn't help at all.

"Do you not remember the Reaper incursion?" Her face strained to remember. "Lord Aizen's invasion of Karakura Town, all that we worked for a century to achieve."

She shook her head again. "I can't remember. How long ago was that, a thousand years ago? No, more than that, far more." More than a millennium? That was interesting, and even answered a few questions, but not all.

"Tier Harribel, did you bring me here?"

She chuckled bemusedly. "My abilities and powers have deteriorated with my age, I can't even bring forth my Resurrección. I've done nothing to bring you here."

The more Ulquiorra thought about it, the more it seemed to be the case. Her Reiatsu was low, far lower than even a low level Arrancar would have. More than that, it wasn't rising, if anything it was slowly dwindling. From the amount he could sense, she'd die within the century.

"What more can you tell me?" he asked her. "Why are there no Hollows in Las Noches?"

"Las Noches? Yes, that's the name of this place, I remember that now." She looked back to him. "Everyone left. You won't find anyone here Las Noches, nor anywhere outside. This entire dimension is empty except for me, that much I remember."

He'd have asked 'why?' again, but she already answered that. She hadn't seemed to be lying, otherwise he would've sensed any kind of Hollow. Clearly something happened within the time he was absent, a long enough absence that the fortress itself was deteriorating to dust.

It only felt like hours since he fought with Kurosaki Ichigo, but for it to might actually be several millennia since? Evidence suggested it was so, as this living one right in front of him said. The next question was how he was brought here.

It's unthinkable that he was revived by chance, but he was unsure if there was anyone who's able or would even do so. The only one he knew that could be able to do so was the Soul King, but there was no reason for him to do so. Likely he'd never find out.

Another interesting thing came from Tier Harribel that had him thinking. She said that the Hollows left, and if it was like she inconclusively reiterated, they weren't killed. That assumes it was under their own volition, and even if it wasn't, what would prompt such? The answer wasn't going to be found here.

Where would they leave to? There were two distinct answers; Soul Society and the human world. Would there be surviving Espada there? Perhaps in the human world, unlikely in Soul Society. If so, then they likely would be as useful as Harribel right now.

"So, Ulquiorra Cifer, what do you intend to do?" Tier asked suddenly. "Would you like to reside here in Las Noches with me?"

He could, but it didn't really appeal to him. It would be safe, and any intruder would be easily sensed considering the lack of others, so it wasn't bad choice. He'd have liked to find Inoue Orihime to see more of this heart, but that was impossible now.

He could search Soul Society for her, but the Reapers would no doubt chase and fight him. He didn't like his chances facing all of the Gotei 13 alone. . . but the heart.

"I'll leave for Soul Society," he answered finally. "There might be someone there who could tell me on the topic of the heart." It was worth the risk, he had to know more.

Harribel hummed. "That place, it's like a whisper in my mind that I can't recall." But she can't remember. Her age has ruined her. "If that is your decision, then so be it."

She wouldn't even try to stop him? Likely she knew she couldn't. "There's nothing here but rubble and sand. Why not leave this place?" He didn't care if she stayed or not, but the fact she stayed here for so long was irrational and pointless. Was this also about the heart?

Again, she gave a low bemused chuckle. "After being here for so long, there's no longer a point. I know there was a reason I stayed while they all left, but. . ." She can't remember.

"How long ago since everyone left?"

She tried to shrug. "A millennium, maybe two, maybe three. I lost track of time after being here for so long." That was neither helpful nor informative.

"If that's all you can tell me, then we're done here." He was annoyed that she wasn't more helpful and turned to leave the throne room.

"If you're leaving, I don't recommend going to the human world, Ulquiorra Cifer," Harribel said, prompting him to stop, but he did not turn to face her. "I may not remember why, but I trust myself in knowing that I stayed away from there for a good reason. Should you go, it might prove dangerous."

He only gave it a second of silent thought before continuing down the steps. Another answer that was more interesting the more he deciphered it, whether she knew it or not.

As he exited the throne room, he thought more on what she said. When he mentioned that he would leave for Soul Society, she hadn't given a sort of reaction, but she cautioned him of the human world.

Did she know what she cautioning, or was it something more intrinsic? He'd have asked her to explain, but Harribel clearly wouldn't know, which was why it was interesting. She didn't remember why she stayed here avoiding the human world, but she felt that she should, enough to even warn him of it and still remember that it existed.

Interesting words from a dying woman.

Through the garganta, Ulquiorra Cifer stepped through and stepped onto Soul Society, the first time he had in several millennia. He wore his Espada wardrobe, which was a fortunate find considering how Las Noches was, if for no more than to strap Murciélago to his waist than holding onto it the entire time.

He looked around the area known as Rukongai, expecting to see wondering souls, it would've been evidence that he had a chance in finding Inoue Orihime and learn more about the heart, but that was no longer the case.

In his view, there weren't any standing houses, all of which looked as though they've deteriorated from age into heaps of wood and textiles. As for the wandering souls, there were none, whether they 'left' like the Hollows of Heuco Mundo or not was unknown.

Unlike in Heuco Mundo however, his pesquisa hadn't picked up a single source of Reiatsu. As far as he could sense, Soul Society was uninhabited. 'Perhaps it's the range,' he thought. His sensory abilities were among the best in the Espada, but they had a limited range still.

The Cuatro Espada flew up, and dashed forward while in the air, scanning as much as he could from Rukongai for a sign of life, but it seemed like it would be a fruitless, even using his sonido to have his pesquisa search farther in a shorter amount of time.

Half an hour of searching, half an hour of finding nothing besides natural reiryoku that filled the area in forms of vegetation or fallen structures, now all that was left was Seritei itself. He didn't know much about Rukongai outside of what Aizen had told them, mostly slums full of people who weren't powerful enough to be Reapers. They were little better than cannon fodder, but they were plentiful, yet he couldn't find a single one.

He passed the famed barrier of Shakonmaku and was officially within Seritei. Still flying above, he focused his pesquisa to sense any source of Reiatsu as he moved through the air. He was half expecting to be ambushed by the Onmitsukidō, Lord Aizen told them about their impressive stealth abilities, but so far, they haven't even shown themselves.

The buildings were as much in ruins as Rukongai, the sekkiseki walls being the only thing standing in full. 'It seems age has taken its toll in Soul Society as they have in Heuco Mundo.' This compound was massive, as it should be if it housed thirteen different divisions, but all that meant was a city of rubble.

The larger buildings made of stone stood still, if eroded in some areas, but nothing was in them, he could sense as much. The more he searched this empty city, the more aggravated he became. Even the infamous twelfth division was in ruins, their archives, digital and physical, were either ruined, incomprehensible, or simply destroyed.

Everything made of paper had turned to dust, anything technical was destroyed by time and weather after several millennia. The objective to search their archives for what happened was a failure, but it did tell him that whatever happened to Heuco Mundo affected the Reapers as well.

'A cataclysmic event?' It had to be if it affected both other dimensions. 'If it destroyed the human world, it would explain the lack of Hollows and Reapers, they'd have died with no one to replace them.' But Harribel didn't say they died, she said they left, and she almost strictly said that they weren't killed.

After hours of searching, he accepted the fact that there was no one in Soul Society, more annoyed that the woman wasn't here. After feeling some of it, he wanted to know about this heart, this thing that gave that woman power in her own way. Maybe it didn't have to be from her, perhaps he could see and study it personally from others. Surely it was possible.

After seeing what Heuco Mundo and Soul Society had, there left only one outlier, the one place that seemed to spook someone as powerful Harribel to stay in Las Noches for several millennia.

Ulquiorra snapped his fingers, summoning a tear within this dimension, the smoky pathway that would eventually lead to the human world. Before he could step through, he considered again that warning Harribel had given him.

Tier Harribel was not trash, if there was something that forced her to take refuge in Las Noches, then it wasn't something small. Still, he couldn't sit idly just when he began understanding the heart and emotions.

With that thought in mind, he stepped into the garganta. He wasn't sure what he'd find, but suspected a vast amount of destruction, nothing less would scare the Tres Espada into hiding. He prepared himself as stepped into the other side.

His view was that of the blue sky as he stood on air, and below was an explosion of lush greenery from the forest and fauna. The air itself was clean and fresh, as though smoke and smog had never touched it.

How anticlimactic.

Ulquiorra descended to the ground to have a closer look, landing with barely a sound. 'Harribel is truly senile.' There was nothing here, no fields of cinder and ash, no bones from humans long dead, nothing but life at every turn. What a waste.

But there was something a bit peculiar, his pesquisa sensed a bit more reishi in the air and plants around him, even the insects held a degree of it. Kishi still made up most of all matter, but to think they held far more reishi than before was irregular enough to note. Besides that, he didn't sense any human near him, no bustling city that should be Karakura.

He flew back up, high enough to have a good lay of the land. Just as his pesquisa sensed, the entire town was missing, not a building sight. In fact, the geography itself seemed to have changed. This was the coordinate he input for the descorrer, this was Karakura.

But it clearly wasn't.

The event that brought Harribel to heel must've shifted the terrain, or perhaps it changed as time passed, but that brought the question of the people. Such a metropolis would not disappear so easily if it was merely shifted terrain.

Regardless, the next best thing to learn of what happened was searching for signs of sentient life.

He used his sonido and dashed forward, ignoring the signs of regular fauna for a full minute and looking for- And he sensed them already, a stark contrast compared to Heuco Mundo and Soul Society.

There were people here, they weren't all dead. So why was there no one in either soul dimensions?

The village he approached was small in comparison to Karakura, at least from the number of humans he could sense. He knew he was among the best of the Espada for using sonido, he knew he traveled too far a distance to only see humans now.

When he appeared in the air some distance away from the settlement, and it was a new, interesting development. Karakura was a large city, buildings high and built from steel and concrete. This place looked as though it was on a far smaller scale than that of Karakura, what's more was that this village was surrounding by a stone wall. Perhaps this wasn't a village, but rather an independent nation.

As for the people, he couldn't see them, but his pesquisa said they were there, especially near the village center. Just like the flora and terrain, there was a curious increase of reishi composing them, a few he could sense having enough to have their own level of Reiatsu.

It was increasing the amount of questions he had. How has reishi become so much more prominent in the human world? Why do humans have so much, some even enough to show Reiatsu? This was becoming complicated.

He moved in closer but stayed high enough to see the lay of the village nearer to the mass of humans. With the increase of spiritual energy among these mortals, he was expecting to see some change, but all he saw was a congregation of people with signs, shouting 'Faunus Rights Now!' and 'Mistral's Slave Labor Mining Unacceptable!'.

Of all the changes an increase of reishi could give, animal parts weren't something he knew could happen. Ulquiorra spotted tails, horns, scales, and even elongated fangs.

At the opposite end, he saw normal humans in uniform, behind them were normal humans dressed casually, holding signs like 'Animal's Stop Breeding!' or 'Animal's Don't Equal Humans!'. If there were still unchanged people, then it might not have been the increase of reiryoku.

He kept an eye on as the events unfolded and was able to sense fluctuations in the collective Reiatsu. It was a curious development, and it erupted into a clash as the humans began throwing rocks at the other group.

Whatever order there was descended into chaos. Signs were used as weapons, voices for rights used to shout slurs and profanity. Was this also part of what made the heart? Surely with so many humans, heart had to have a part to play.

The clash kept going on for several minutes until this village's police force split them apart, showing a sort of bias against the animalistic humans, which only served to increase the fluctuations.

For a moment, he felt something behind him in the forest, a kind of familiar feeling approaching.

"We just want us to have rights!" he heard someone say below the air he stood upon. When he looked, it was from a young girl with feline ears, backed into a corner within an alleyway against two adult, normal men. "My friends can't be working the mines here, it's too dangerous to leave it like that. They'll die!"

'Friends', that word popped out, more so because the girl seemed to express genuine concern, as did the Inoue Orihime did to her companions during the Kurosaki boy's incursion.

One of the men snarled. "Let them die, animals are easily replaced," he said. "Around here, you White Fang are nothing but trouble for the past week, and we had enough. Get out, or we force you out." The girl was surprisingly unflinching.

"Faunus have only two places here in Moromori," the second one chimed in as he stepped closer. "In the mines working for the betterment of man, or dead."

The girl, Faunus apparently, looked aghast. "We're people too! We feel love, we have friends, desires. What's wrong with hoping for a better future?"

Clearly they didn't like what she was insinuating, and one picked up a fallen tree branch. "Animals that bark too loud get put down," one of them spat and approached.

Whatever bravery within the girl had started dwindling, holding her sign closely for whatever comfort it could provide. However, the girl didn't run away, seemed as though she knew she couldn't, and whatever was coming her way was her own making in goading these two.

They were simply trash fighting, but only two were slightly larger, it was easy to see who'd win in this fight with fatal consequences, and all because the smaller one wanted to try talking her way into their minds. Ulquiorra saw a similar woman several millennia ago, she was horribly weak, but it didn't have her lose her stance even against someone like him or Lord Aizen.

Her heart just wouldn't allow it, and it seemed this girl's heart didn't have her refute what she just said and beg for forgiveness.

As one of the trash raised the branch to strike her, the girl cried for someone by the name of 'Adam', and his pesquisa picked up a being reacting to it and seemed to be coming in this direction, but would come a little too late.

Sound exploded has Ulquiorra used his sonido just as the brunch struck his forearm, doing little to no damage besides slightly dirtying his sleeve.

Trash looked him up and down with a look of disgust. "Fucking animal-loving Hunts-" was all he said before he flew to the brick wall from Ulquiorra's light backhand. He slid to the ground and didn't get back up, and considering the reishi leaking out, that trash was dead.

He looked to the second, wide-eyed threat to the girl, and looked like he was just about to scream, but another backhand left him in a similar state as his comrade, dead. A shattered spine and neck, perhaps? It didn't matter, trash was trash.

What mattered was that this girl would knew something about the heart, otherwise it was a pointless endeavor.

He turned around and fully faced the subject at hand, who was still quivering from the previous threat, or perhaps his Reiatsu was too much and she was just able to withstand it.

"Do I scare you, girl?" he asked the teary-eyed girl, she didn't answer, couldn't bring herself to. Maybe he was projecting Inoue Orihime on this girl too much, that woman wouldn't have shown her fear.

The girl rubbed her eyes. "I'm not scared," she answered him. "Thank you for helping me, mister." She looked to the two that were slumped and dead. "Are they going to be okay?"

Curious, she cares for their wellbeing even though they were going to harm her, perhaps she was similar to that woman. "Does it matter? They were going to kill you, you shouldn't care."

She swallowed heavily, eyeing the branch now on the ground. "I guess. . . But did you have to be so rough, though? They look really hurt."

"They were trash and were unfortunate enough to oppose me. They received what they deserved."

"Blake!" someone shouted from behind. He turned to see a young boy with red hair and horns. The boy looked to the two corpses, then to Ulquiorra. "What's going on here?"

"Adam!" she shouted with relief as she dropped the sign and ran to the boy, engulfing him in a tearful embrace. He recalled how Inoue Orihime reacted when the Kurosaki boy came to recover her, this held similarities. The boy was quick to reciprocate her affection, but did not keep his eye off of Ulquiorra.

Once they separated, he looked to her with clear concern. "What happened here, Blake?" he asked her. "After the protest broke up, Ilia and I couldn't find you anywhere."

She rubbed her eyes from the tears again. "Sorry, I got lost and was cornered by two humans." Adam looked to the two corpses with suspicion. "I tried talking to them like mom and dad would want, but. . ." His look turned to one of contempt and anger. "But it's okay, mister here came and saved me!"

The boy looked to Ulquiorra with surprise. "He did?" The girl nodded, having him scratch the back of his head and make his way to him. "Thanks a lot," he said when he stopped close enough. "Not many go around helping us Faunus, especially after a protest." He begrudgingly outstretched his hand towards him. "Thank you for saving Blake."

Faunus, so that's what these people are called. A brand-new species, different from regular humans, and considering the sign the girl, Blake, was carrying, they had their own insignia; a red head of a predator with a claw mark.

"Are you going to shake my hand or what?" Adam asked, noticing that Ulquiorra's hands hadn't moved from his pockets. "Or is it you don't like us Fau-"

"Hey!" A human man shouted as he came to view from the alley. "What are you animals-!" He froze at the sight of two slump bodies, turned around from once he came and shouted further. "Help! Someone get the guards here!"

Guards? As though that would do any good. He was holding onto his Reiatsu to prevent the pressure from killing the girl before she could tell him more about emotions and heart. If he were to release it, then-

The girl ran to Ulquiorra, grabbed his sleeve, and tried to pull him. "Mister, we need to go before the humans get here." He didn't budge, but this girl didn't give up and kept pulling. "Come on!"

"Just leave him," Adam said, more agitated than before as he ran to the way the human left and kept watch. "We have to go south, find Sienna, and leave Moromori before they blame us for these two downed thugs, now!"

If the boy was concerned about people arriving, he'd be correct. Ulquiorra could detect the human from before speaking to a small group of men, just as they started to go the way back here.

It changed nothing, no one in this village was strong enough to even bring out his sword, even the few that had larger Reiatsu levels than the normal villagers. Yet these children, specifically the girl wanted to leave with him in tow. It'd be amiss to dissuade her when he finally met someone similar to that woman. "Will you tell me about the heart and emotions?"

"What?" she asked, puzzled but didn't stop her pull.

"Guards are coming!" Adam informed, running to the opposite side. "Blake, leave him, we need to go."

Blake didn't let up and looked to Ulquiorra with clear desperation. "Yeah, sure, whatever you want, let's just go before it's too- Wah!"

He picked up Blake, flashed behind Adam, picked him up as well, and used sonido and vanished outside of the village and dropped the two onto the grass. He'd have fought whatever opposition came their way, but if they were so desperate to leave, so be it. As long as the girl told him more about the heart.

"Urgh." Both Blake and Adam dropped to their knees and vomited on the ground. As far as his skills on sonido went, he went light to make sure they didn't die. "You're a- Urk- a Huntsman?" Adam asked after a second's rest, but still hiccupped between his words.

"No, I'm an Espada," he said, but they didn't seem to care, their focus primarily aimed on trying to stop what the sonido had done to them.

Adam stood on shaky legs and wiped his mouth. "Ugh, that was bad. . . Where even are we?" he asked as he looked around the forest.

"As you spoke about finding this Sienna in the south, so I took you to the southern forest where I sensed a small gathering of who I assume were your people."

Now Blake stood up, rubbing her tongue on her forearm. "You can sense people? Wow, Huntsmen, or Espada I guess, you guys sure are something." He heard her stomach rumble which had her cradle her stomach and groan.

Adam however looked around the forest, focusing on a damaged tree. "Those scratches on the trees are of our making, I think the airship we came in with is a bit more south." Then Ulquiorra was right, the humans he sensed, or Faunus as it were, were their people.

"If so, then we can travel the same way I brough-"

"No!" both of them shouted, Adam cleared his throat. "I think we can make our way on foot, not to surprise them we came with a human and all."

"I'm not a human."

The boy blinked and tilted his head. "You're a Faunus?" He moved in for a closer look, any other day he'd have died from the Reiatsu. "I mean, your eyes are pretty cat-like." Ulquiorra grabbed the zipper of his collar and drew it down just enough. "Oh. . . holy shit."

"What is it?" Blake asked as she peered around her companion, then froze stiff.

"I'm neither human nor Faunus, I'm an Arrancar."

Ulquiorra is an interesting character, because he is the epitome of 'I don't give a shit'. Most people would have more animated responses to situations. Anger, despair, or even happiness, but he's "Is that the case? Okay then, here's my overly rational response". Some special moments prompt a bigger reaction, but generally that's the case.

To those who'll inevitably ask if there's a pairing with Ulquiorra, here's my answer: HAHAHAHAHAHAHA!

Reviews are appreciated.