Hide & Seek (Request Entry)

[Kazama]

Hina closed the door to the room and listened up against the door for a second, to see if she was counting. "Count!" She screamed and ran away with a big smile on her face. Games like this always excited her. Hina reached the bottom of the steps from the doorway to which she had just come from.

Hina giggled as she quickly ran through a corridor in Las Noches. She emerged outside where it was sunny out, the artificial sun always seemed to lighten the mood of things. As she kept running she kept look back. Many Numeros who saw her running by quickly bowed and treated her with respect but were a bit shocked when she didn't even acknowledge any of them.

"Hina-sa-sa..."

"Shhhh!!" Hina shushed the numeros who was calling her. Hina quickly ran by, finally reaching her own dwelling. She scaled her tower, all the way to the top, and lied down on the coned roof. She clutched the small pole on top so she didn't slip off. A loud bang was heard behind her, Hina's eyes widened. Did she get caught already? She looked around to see one of her subordinates.

"Hina-sama, I ha-"

"Shhh!! Get away! You'll give away my spot. I order you to!"

"B-but-"

"Now!" Hina's subordinate regretfully left her alone. It seemed he wanted to tell her something but Hina didn't want to hear it, not while she was playing a game. Hina looked over the tower for any sign of the seeker.

[GoldenKitten]

Torre sat hunkered over in the central hall and had kept counting for ten or twenty seconds before she could easily tell Hina had run off and then she stopped. She did not mind playing with the girl, it took her back to her human life long ago when she had her own children and it was not as if there was much else to do around Las Noches when there was no immediate objective or threat. She sat for a while running her fingers against the cool ground, thinking about nothing in particular, just letting her mind wander since nothing big had happened lately and finally when she decided she had given the girl enough time she began to move. She put her free right hand on her knee and pushed up, it was actually kind of hard to get up and down from a sitting position in her armor even though she had gotten used to it and then she moved forward with a steady stride toward the door, opening it and meandering out into the hall. Just as Torre was the slowest Espada she was also the one you could hear coming a mile away, with every step her giant metal boots let out a solid ringing thump and her chain mail clinked up and down. This got her enough looks already but her massive sword which proved a hindrance even for herself in closed spaces had become a main fear for the wandering lackies in the halls and many of the Numeros had learned to get out of the way when she came around...one wasn't so lucky today and Torre would have kept moving forward because she barely felt her enormous sword which was laid horizontally across her back impact anything, only when she heard someone fall and give out a cry did she turn her head.

“Oh no! Not again! Are you okay?”

A young man, or so he appeared who bore a rather high number in the Numeros had not been looking and was now planted squarely on his face. Torre walked over to his side and bent down poking him several times before she rolled him over and picked him up looking pretty concerned.

“Hey there, wake up!” she said.

The Numeros began to come around from his mild concussion and blinked his eyes several times before talking in a slurred speech.

“Mommy...?”

“Uh...no.”

“Hehe, its funny, you have nice puppies.”

There was a loud whack and several moments later Torre was clanking down the hall again, the Numeros quite face planted into the ground once more. Several Numeros entered the hall behind her and one quite clearly laughed at his idiot friend before she exited, one thing about Hina was that she was never to creative in her hiding spots so Torre went straight for the girls tower. When she arrived it looked like she had guessed right as one of the girls underlings was walking away looking crestfallen as if he couldn't decide whether to tell the girl something or not. The Numeros had moved out of Torres way quickly and she had jogged up to the top of the tower, Hina would hear her coming anyway so she yelled out.

“You shouldn't send them away like that, who knows when they might have something important to tell you?”

She reached the top and poked her head over the edge of the top tier, she didn't actually know if the girl was there since she ran an almost complete null-sig even when she was not trying. However Torre had her hunches.

“Boo, Hina.”

[Kazama]

Hina heard the loud clanking of Torre. She decided to creep around the tower, but didn't see anything. Torre must've already been inside. Hina was going to crawl back in through the window when she heard Torre yell some advice to her. Hina figured that Torre had found her by now and slipped down from the opposite side she climbed up and saw Torre looking up from the opposite window.

"Torre!" Hina flipped in through the opposite window and landed on Torre's back, clutching her armor.

"Wanna play again? Wanna? Wanna? Wanna?" Hina hopped off and was jumping up and down. The room in her tower they were in was fluttered in pink. Hina had a big grin on her face as her hair flopped up and down along with her. Hina was wailing her arms around excitedly as the extra length sleeves twisted and became intertwined eventually.

"You're so fun to play with, Torre!" Hina looked up at Torre, who was nearly twice as tall as her. Hina was only about up to her waist. Hina smiled innocently up at Tore, she wanted to do it again.

[Desperado]

"As much commotion as you two were making," Desperado's voice cut through the air, "I assumed there was a problem." Desperado sat with one leg over the other in a pink chair. Blood mist moved up off his body and faded into nothingness; this showed that he had just got there. His tone nor eyes nor body language showed annoyance at the two, but he couldn't help, but stare at them. They had made so much noise that he had to come up from where he was to check it out.

His eyes then slid away from the two to the room he was now in. Pink was everywhere. It practically burned his eyes from the inside-out. He could only imagine how badly he blended in to his pink background. His red eyes quickly moved back over to the two Espada since they weren't so pink and bright to take some of the pain off his sight.

"You are playing...a game, you said?" His tone was flat, his stare even more dull. How did he end up with people like these.

[GoldenKitten]

Torre placed her hand on her head and looked up toward the ceiling trying to figure out what to say. She did not mind playing sometimes but even she didn’t like to sit around living in Hina’s dream world all day but at the same time there was no easy way to tell a child “No”. She backed up against a nearby wall and dropped her Zanpaktou which hit the ground with as much noise as a chapel bell but it allowed her to move around the room easier since everything was so much closer and easier to wreck here. Hina was still on her back when Torre walked to the center of the room and turned around, rubbing her neck with her left hand furiously and looking off into space with a look that said she still did not know how to respond. However Hina was not so free of thought and was quite insistent on what was currently in her mind, hopping up and down like a bunny…or a small child on ten tons of caffeine.

“Weeeeeellll, couldn’t you maybe get the Num-”

She stopped and turned around meeting the new appearances gaze just as he began to speak. He had apparently just arrived but she was used to him popping out of thin air like this, that didn’t stop her from getting a bad feeling every time he arrived though. No it was true he never seemed to show anger or convey threats to those he deemed loyal but that never stopped her from getting that bad feeling, as if he was much worse than he came off. Of course that might just have been Torres inner warrior being threatened by the fact that there was almost nobody else in the world that she knew could so clearly beat her without trying, even Uno and Dos her supposed betters did not frighten the warrior inside her, but she had nothing to worry about for even if he disliked their demeanor Desperado was one to respect his brethren…which included her at this time. It was obvious from his words that he was probably more annoyed than he let show and the movement of his eyes and their reaction showed that he had a distaste for his surroundings, Torre couldn’t blame him, she herself was not fond of all the pink but then that was Hinas choice.

“Yes, a game!”

Torre sort of smiled and put her hand up in recognition toward their king. It wasn’t exactly the bowing and absolutely freaking out that the Numeros performed whenever he showed up but then it was common knowledge that the Espada were rarely as formal or kowtowed to his every beck and call as their lessers did. She brought her right hand pointer up to her mouth and made a face like she was thinking, looking out the corner of her eyes.

“Because you know, in between killing people, people trying to kill you and cocky Numeros trying to take positions in the Espada…every freaking day…what else is there to do?”

She smiled out of the corner of her mouth and looked back at him.

[Kazama]

Hina continued hopping up and down rapidly even as she heard a different voice. It didn't frighten her, it was probably just another Numeros there to bother her about something she had no care for. Hina continued to hop up and down whilst ignoring the new voice, that is until Torre took interest and said something about a game. Hina stopped and spun around on her heels to see who it was. He eyes widened and sparkled with delight.

"Dessy!" a little pet name for the king of Hueco Mundo, Hina never learned the importance of showing respect so she acts like a little kid with distant family at Christmas. Hina launched herself into Desperado's lap and bounced up and down like a 3 year old's first meeting with Santa Claus at the mall.

Want to play? Will you play with us? Is that why you are here? Will you play please, please, please!" Hina begged and wriggled on Desperado's lap after Torre finished her small speech which Hina didn't quite understand so payed little mind to it.

"I'm so excited you are here! Now we can all play together!" Hina spoke before Desperado had a chance to respond to her previous barrage of questions and wrapped her arms around his neck, obviously intent on thinking Desperado came there to play with them.

[Desperado]

"Instead of playing, you could-"

Desperado's eyes widened barely and then narrowed upon the female now sitting in his lap. How did he end up with such a...stalkingly annoying female chasing after him? He'll never know. Was it necessarily important at the moment? Not at all. But, he did ask himself the question once again upon Hina's arms wrapping around his neck. Unsure of what to do with his hands, he placed one on her back and tugged at the girl lightly. "Ocho," he called Hina, referring to Hina by her title; just as a general would to his soldier; just as impersonal. "Despite popular belief, I'm not your stuffed animal that you can just latch on to at your dismay."

With that in the female's mind, Desperado stood from the bright pink chair. Hina, still around Desperado's neck, would feel a slight tightness of her clothes as it was clenched by Desperado's left hand. Closing his eyes, Desperado's arm swung horizontally rapidly and suddenly seconds later. He let go when his arm was parallel with the open window, and so Hina was sent rocketing through it. Oh, the abuse he gave this poor child.

"She'll be back," Desperado stated as his eyes opened up upon Torre and his throwing arm now was placed on his hip. "Tres. Your wording makes it sound like killing isn't your soul purpose in life. If you wish for a different task, one can be delivered. Though, I cannot promise as to how much you will enjoy it." The red-clothed Royal ran a hand through his tuff of red hair in an almost feminine manner, having to dodge the three horns that jutted out of his head in extreme angles. "It would be a shame, however, to lose the Tank of the Espada."

[Lionheart]

A quick white blur burst through the child arrancar's room as Desperado threw Ocho Hina out of the nearest window. This blur of course was Uller being his usual overprotective self, dashing to catch Hina before she hit the ground outside. If someone did not know any better, they would think that Uller could be her father with the way he treats her.

Anyway, using his expertise in Sonido, Uller burst through the window himself and stabbed the outside wall with his black-bladed viking short sword in his right hand, which slowed down his falling until he came to a complete stop. And, at that moment Uller grabbed Hinaq with his left hand. Forcing all of the energy in his legs, he kicked off and carried Hina back up the window.

As he stepped back into the building, Uller set Hina down on her feet and sheathed his sword. He then ruffled her hair a little and pinched her right cheek before he spoke to her, "Now, go back to playing hide and seek, I'll join you soon enough."

He then turned his attention to Desperado with an annoyed frown. He of course, knew that Hina would not have actually been hurt, but the fact that their supposed "leader" had thrown a subordinate out the window was too much, as his cute Hina at that. "You know, it is not polite to throw innocent young girls out windows.If you ever have the need to throw something out the window again, I suggest throwing yourself," Uller said in an obvious tone that showed how little he respected Desperado. Uller, then again, disliked all Royal Family members. He had to work his ass off for over a thousand years to obtain his arrancar status, when those were just born with it had it easy.

[GoldenKitten]

Torre just watched as Hina jumped on Desperado right in the middle of his sentence, she was not particularly worried because he would not hurt her but still… her thoughts were proven correct when she watched the king stand up. She couldn’t say she approved of what he was about to do but there wasn’t much she herself could do to stop it and it was not as if it would deal any real damage to the girl, mental or physical, Hina always forgot and always forgave. She went sailing out the window but she was reassured when a familiar flash followed from the opposite side of the room out the window, but he would not be back quick enough she realized and instantly it hit Torre that she really wished Hina was still there, despite his annoyance Desperado seemed to restrain himself when Hina was around but he would not do so with her. Whether it was her own feelings or Desperados own effect was irrelevant, before he even spoke it felt like the air had been sucked out of the room. As he began to speak Torre did not look particularly frightened but she quite obviously tensed up, especially when his words took a negative connotation.

“You know that’s…” but she stopped because he continued and had not finished yet.

Torre kept trying to meet Desperados gaze but her eyes eventually wandered from side to side trying to look for something to focus on. This was another reason she was not fond of him, so obsessed with death, she realized it was necessary to get their way sometimes but it was far from her “soul purpose in life”…of course she would never say that to him. Eventually he ended but that did not mean the oppressive atmosphere did and she realized she had to say something; at first she tried to convey a point:

“You know that’s not what I meant. She’s insistent; you can’t dissuade her all day and…”

However she caught the constant stare he was just giving her and finally stopped mid sentence and settled for a:

“Uh…Yes sir.”

However just as she was about to kowtow to him yet again out of fear that not doing so would wind up with her never capable of accomplishing her true goal she sensed the two who had flown out the window a few seconds prior were back. She relaxed for a moment now that Hina and Uller were back and she was no longer the soul source of Desperados attention and she took the time to back up a few feet. However as soon as Uller began being disrespectful she tensed a bit again; she never liked the concept of being in a situation that could garner the Royal 3’s wrath.

[Kazama]

Hina was clenching to Desperado, not realizing his true intentions, she had trusted him. She loosened her grip as he called her by her title. The words that came after drew a complete blank in her mid. Hina sat with a confused face and thought about what she had just said. She was about to say something when she was tugged away from Desperado and catapulted out of the window.

"WAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHH" Hina screamed as tears pelted down her face. She didn't know where she was headed because she closed her eyes. She felt and braced for the impact, but nothing happened, she had totally stopped in mid-air. Hearing a bullet sound she opened her eyes to see someone carrying her. She looked into her savior's face as nearly busted out into tears.

"Uller!" Hina yelped at the sight of her would be father. She let him carry her up to her room and couldn't be happier that she got to see him today. She had almost forgotten she was launched out of a window. When she was placed down she looked to see Torre backing up and Desperado staring at her intently. As she tried to escape she faced the wrath of Uller with a cheek pinching. When he let go Hina skipped towards Torre and climbed up on her back. She listened to Uller and knew it was a compliment to her but didn't realize that it was disrespect to Desperado.

"I think Uller is in trouble" Hina said in a gleeful, taunting voice that was a whisper to Tore's ea and for her ears only. She ad a grin on as if nothing had happened. The event had not really phased her, like nothing had happened. She had her head on Torre's shoulder and watched the rest of the events unfold.

[Desperado]

[Sorry for the late reply.]

Desperado nodded to Torre. She gave him exactly what he wanted. She had accepted that he was right, and accepted it without a fight. So, that was all he gave to her; a nod. He didn't continue his mini-scold. But, couldn't help, but watch her be uncomfortable in his presence. He didn't really want her to bow or be awkward, but knew it was for the best. To fight the Shinigami and to die in that fight was the purpose of the Hollow and Arrancar. If this girl didn't understand that, then she wasn't useful to him. So, he swallowed his desire to thwart his own power over her, and allowed Torre to accept his ideals slowly and surely.

That was when the moderately loud sound of stone meeting with metal entered Desperado's ears. He didn't turn his head to look through the window in which the two Espada would be returning through. Simply, he closed his eyes and awaited their return, which was a short wait of 20 or so seconds. Uller didn't waste much time in general. He quickly settled Hina's mind...that is---doubtful as it was---that Hina's mind needed to be calmed. Then, he made some snide remark toward Desperado.

"Dos," he spoke with his back still to Uller, "your actions are once again too hasty and ill thought out. Ocho would have landed without harm and would have returned to us post-haste. But, you have to rush in, "save" her and damage this building in the process. Who do you propose will now fix the damage you have dealt to our home, because of one's desire to show off?" His eyes opened just enough to now focus in on Torre. "Tres knew Ocho would be fine. Tres has just now outperformed you in intelligence. Maybe she should be Dos and you should be Tres. I'd hand over the lives of my Hollow brethren to Tres Torre with a calmer mind than to you, Dos Uller." Desperado's words were calm and precise. They were neither happy nor sad nor angry. Monotone, as usual. This was his way of rectifying his small scolding given to Torre and still disciplining Uller all at once; if it was effective, he didn't care.

[Lionheart]

Once Hina had ran over to Torre, Uller began to hear his so called "leader" speak to him something or other about intelligence. He of course had no right to talk about such things with Uller, as Desperado had barely lived a fraction of the years he had. Uller sighed and stared at Desperado in a more annoyed manner than anything else, he was not afraid of this child like Torre seemed to be.

"Well child, you obviously have no concept of what I done. There is no doubt in my mind that Hina-chan would have been fine, but it is more the principal than intelligence. Don't speak of intelligence, kid, until you have reached my age and been on this plane for a millennium. Anyway, let's just go on with our lives and put this behind us. We can get some numerous to fix the wall, or hell, I will eventually seeing as there is nothing better to do around here other than playing games," Uller said in a tone that was hard to place, partially serious and partially just uncaring.

Uller had already decided to forget about Desperado as he approached Hina and Torre. He gave Torre what appear to be a nasty look because she had sucked up to this Royal Family member, but he gave a warm smile to Hina. "So, what are you planning on doing now, Hina-chan?"

(Sorry for the somewhat short post)

[GoldenKitten]

“You think so?” Torre responded in a whisper back to Hina, obviously more out of trying to be nice to the girl than trying to be sarcastic by her tone, of course the girl might not notice that but it was what was intended in case anyone else had heard Hina.

Torre was more than happy enough to have Uller take attention off of her; it wasn’t that she wanted anything bad to befall Uller but nobody had said she was stupid and wanted it to happen to her instead. She had never been quite sure what to think of the Dos Espada, he seemed nice enough on the surface and seemed to genuinely care about several of his colleagues, particularly Hina (she wasn’t clear on his motives yet…but Hina was stronger than she looked), however at the same time she had the ever present feeling that he was not who he pretended to be. True most people hid things but she had the inkling that he was a bad person or at least a dishonorable one masquerading as a friendly, happy sort. She also disliked the constant negative attention he called upon him and those around him by the Royal 3, she preferred to stay out of the way and stay out of trouble. Her motto was that the longer she could go without being scolded the better off she was and the more opportunity it allowed her to do as she wished, since he called attention to them she generally had a negative connotation as far as he went. Still she didn’t hate him or anything and they got along well enough though they had hissing matches (and she felt one coming on) even if Uller did sometimes treat her like he treated Hina, as a child, something about woman not belonging in an army.

Torre was brought out of her thinking though when Desperado mentioned her, she couldn’t help feel a bit taken back by being so clearly labeled. However she made no signs of this as even if she seemed submissive when Desperado was around in reality she had become very good at letting relatively little emotion come across, it wasn’t actual timidness, it was obedience…it just appeared more like some sort of fear or worship in the face of how outspoken and rude some of the other Espada were. Still she just sort of nodded toward Desperado at his comments to Uller, she was not actually trying to one up the other Espada in any way, it was just common courtesy to show thanks for a positive comment if it was directed toward you. Torre was amazed by how vulgar Uller was in his next comment, she didn’t hold any great love for Desperado but to show such disrespect for anyone was simply inexcusable. He had obviously taken offense to what Desperado had said or Torres actions to him from the dirty look he shot her as he walked away from Desperado, unlike with Desperado she didn’t just soak it up though and shot him an equally fearsome gaze in return. She happened to be right against the wall she had started at and her sword was right behind her, she bent down and grabbed it from behind swinging it up over her shoulder as if to place it where she always carried it but low enough so that it did not hit Hina, however she did so with enough force that it snapped around the side of her body attempting to smack him in the face with a large portion of its broad side.

“Oh, I’m sorry, is the vulgar little man with the respect and wit of a toddler ok? Maybe karma came back to bite you for your acid tongue and looks?”

If he looked at her she had a rather devious face on, she wasn’t a mean person but she despised when people were like this. It was also this portion of Uller showing through right now that made her doubt the personality he usually tried to convey, as if it was just a cover for what she had just seen.

[Kazama]

Hina watched the epic battle of wits, how epic. She hung over Torre's shoulder throughout the whole thing and giggled after Torre replied to her sarcastically. f course Hina just thought it was funny because someone else being in trouble is always amusing. The weight and importance of this argument was not very apparent to Hina, she just watched and giggled here and there. Hina nearly fell off of Torre's back when She whipped her Zanpakuto around and nearly thwacked Uller in the head.

"I think you did that on purpose!"

Hina giggled and wasn't trying to hide it from Uller. She had a big smile on her face, this was pure amusement to her. She used her smile to mask the confusion she had and her non-understanding. Even though she is older than she appears, she still has the personality, mind, and maturity of a child. All of this factors in to her not knowing what is going on most of the time.

"Are you leaving, Torre? Don't go."

Hina said with disappointment and a frown. She liked to play with Torre more than anyone else. She liked to play with Uller but he pinched her cheeks a lot so she avoids him when she can, but still plays with anyone who is willing.

[Desperado]

Desperado's crimson eyes widened more. This time, however, he wasn't looking at Torre. Yes, he was still looking in her direction, but through her. At this time, no one existed as Desperado's outer shell grew thicker. His eyes glazed over. Time slowed. His world became empty of everyone and everything, but him. His body temperature cooled to the point that he almost shivered. As reality came back to him and his split-second lifelessness dispersed, Desperado sighed quietly and ran his hand through his long, red hair femininely again. Still, he didn't turn to Uller. Desperado---in the eyes of 95% of Hueco Mundo---was a god in the flesh. The other 5%---Arrancar/Hollow like Uller---thought otherwise or simply didn't care enough to treat Desperado as such. Desperado didn't care much for his position, but he felt he shouldn't be treated in such a way. He should be feared by all living creatures. And yet, creatures such as Uller didn't fear him for whatever ludicrous reasons.

That isn't to say, however, that Uller wouldn't prove his usefulness. Uller, with his 'principles', would not only fight until his last breath, but would defend his fellow soldiers. Uller would be difficult to keep under Desperado's leash, but that was of little importance. Uller will fight. If not, he will die. Whatever personal grudges against Desperado didn't matter. And, if Uller dies on the battlefield, he would be replaced by someone more capable; Desperado knew.

Yes. Uller's 'principles' was what was keeping him alive. Desperado wouldn't argue with him about what Desperado already knew was important, and wouldn't belittle it.

Torre's sudden attitude change took Desperado by surprise. Once again, his eyes fell upon the female and her large sword and he began awaiting to see the reaction of the sudden blade going for Uller.