[Open] And Then We Were Toast

A low chuckle sounded through the room that Pearl was toying around in. The almost-unnaturally low bass notes would be an obvious indicator as to exactly who it belonged to. The Arrancar that walked around the corner, lifting a single elegant eyebrow at his companion's shenanigans, was one of the oldest beings in existence, and likely the strongest of their kind. His long white hair was slightly wet, as if he'd just gotten out of the bath, and his favorite white kimono was lacking the usual armor he wore over top simply because he was in his own home and expected no visitors. That is, none other than perhaps Pearl herself. Honestly, he was more surprised that she didn't sense him coming, although in all fairness the castle that northern Hueco Mundo was ruled from was utterly soaked in his reiatsu, and thus it was difficult to pinpoint even his ridiculous reserves.

Reaching out, he'd ruffle Pearl's hair with a single hand, his fangs glinting in the light of the hall as he spoke in that same bass. "A radio this time? Honestly, Pearl. You should just take a trip to the World of the Living and figure out how these things work. They've made quite a few advancements since that old thing was made."

It was true. Since he had caught Pearl playing with what he now knew was a toaster in the mid-1960's or so, he'd kept a closer eye on the technology of the World of the Living, and even began making...investments, one might say. Medical, military, computers and microtechnology - all had benefitted from a few generous donations made through the sale of a few of Graven's less interesting pieces. That is to say, the pieces themselves were almost invaluable to most humans, but did not fascinate the wolf as much as other pieces in his home, and were not even the most expensive of his various treasures. The Hollow was amused by the fact that he was one of the richest individuals in the World of the Living, when in reality that was a pittance in an attempt to subvert his own boredom. "So, my young friend, how have you been?"

Graven's jovial expression sobered a bit at Pearl's words, chuckling at her as her attitude flipped completely at the thought of someone accompanying her. "Of course. Next time you feel the need to go, I'd be happy to go with you. The World of the Living is definitely a strange place. So many humans rushing around doing who knows what, and in the end accomplishing nothing."

Oh yes, he certainly understood what it meant to be lonely. Bending over to pick up the discarded radio, he looked it over as Pearl asked how he was. Running a fingernail in one of the seams, he effortlessly popped it open regardless of the screws holding it together, chuckling as a large amount of smoke escaped the casing. Focusing a bit of his reiatsu into his hand, he built up a Cero around it before letting it dissipate harmlessly, having burned the remnants to ash. "No harm done. It's not like we can get many radio signals here, anyway. To answer your question, I've been doing well. I have, however, heard a few rumors that I wanted your opinion of."

Letting out a sigh, Graven's golden-amber eyes seemed to stare off into the distance as he thought about what to say. "According to a few Hollows who wandered in from the other Kingdoms, there's been someone uniting them, whether through force or diplomacy. It is, admittedly, something I had thought to do a while ago and yet never had a reason to. So many Hollows under one banner become almost impossible to control without assistance or purpose. I must admit, if it came to a fight...The man doing this has shown himself able to tame the other rulers. I don't know if I can win as I am, and it's been a long time since I've felt that way. I'm...excited. If - no, when he comes here, should we join? It could be fun."

Graven let out a soft chuckle at Pearl's faith in his abilities, and her childlike excitement at the prospect of something new. Sighing with relief as he sat down and leaned against the wall, the Arrancar smiled up at one of the few Hollows that he has any sort of interaction with on a regular basis. "Well, dinner sounds like it could be reasonable, although I'm unsure as to what we would serve. If he were another Arrancar, I'd be more than happy to go hunting and simply bring back a variety, but I don't believe I've ever met a Shinigami that actually ate Hollows instead of purifying them."

This was a dilemma. Graven himself was far too old to have any notions that Shinigami were anything other than necessary, at least in moderation. The younger Hollows that wished for a world without the Balancers weren't thinking far enough ahead in his opinion, and he understood that there was a certain level of balance that must be maintained between the worlds. That said, he hadn't interacted with Shinigami in a purely social environment before despite how interesting such a conversation would no doubt be. They tended to be more...stab first and question never. If anything, the thought that the new player was a Shinigami just made the King that much more excited.

What changes could occur? What chaos would be brought into this world of emptiness? But first..."Do you have any ideas? Sushi or steaks from the World of the Living, maybe?"

A small Arrancar like entity, known as a drone, skittered up the cold mountains dense with reishi in effort to explore the various realms of Hueco Mundo. Ever since the new queen appeared, there have been rumors a young looking Arrancar wandering the realm. Most don't know where they come from nor their purpose as they can be seen doing anything from running away from danger to protecting strange objects to even dragging away hollows and Arrancars. Only those who live in the Montañas Vacías know to truth of these beings but thats a story for another day. The Small creature's antennae flicked about as the reishi gotten more dense. It did not back down, its orders were strict. Until a precious something was collected, it was to move forward.

At the top of the mountain, another drone lied on the ground. Both entities looked similar, almost the same. However, the one lying down was assaulted with ice. It was missing an arm and a leg with its other leg completely glaze over and cracked and falling apart. Its one arm clenched to a tan cloak and its antennae drooped resting its ends on the cold ground. Its eyes remained open focused on the cliff until the climbing drone came into view. Its antennae slowly picked up and slowly twitched before a piece of the left one cracked off. The message was however received by the more healthy looking one. This healthy one jogged closer and picked up the cloak and equipped it. Then its antennae flick. The one lying down lowered its antennae and then looked at the ground. A quick swipe of a red blade reduced it to a pile of ice and reishi. The still living healthy entity would then continue to walk forward, protected from the cold air.

The drone ventured forward doing its best to avoid being seen by wandering hollows and Arrancars. However, this prevented it from exploring the various ice like structures that erected from the frozen ground. Eventually, the drone would find itself herded to a castle of ice. Once inside, it felt a huge wave of reishi overwhelm it. But the drone would eventually over come it at the cost of loosing the ability to detect anything around it. This made it more vulnerable to being seen thus it was force to try and hide its own reishi. It would then walk around hugging the walls until a sudden smell of burning metal and smoke grabbled the drone's attention. The drone focused on this caused to quickly move to the source without realizing that their were two other Arrancars in the space. Upon arriving in the room. The drone moved to source of the smell which was coming out of some armor. Upon arriving, the drone quickly realize the source of the smell was, in fact, inside of the armor. So it did it's best to climb the armor to find a way to enter it but because of its weight, it ended up knocking it down and causing it to crash on top of it.

Graven smiled kindly at Pearl's expression when she learned their guest was to be a Shinigami. He wouldn't force her to be present, especially since many of the younger Hollows tended to have an understandable level of animosity towards the agents of balance. He opened his mouth to say as much before being interrupted by a crash as the nearby suit of armor collapsed on top of something. Pearl had snarled and was confronting the creature, while Graven's eyes had taken on an unreadable expression. Reaching down, he picked up the figure, which appeared to be one of his fellow royals, by the back of her shirt, much like a canine picks up a pup by the scruff. "Worry not, Pearl. If the armor was damaged by a little tumble such as that, it would be next to useless anyway. As to this little intruder..."

Shaking the Arrancar gently, Graven's eyes would harden into a bit of a glare as he let just a bit of his reiatsu weigh down on her, just enough that she'd find it hard to breath, and would be struggling to stand if she was on her own feet. He didn't want to put true fear in her, if it wasn't necessary. "Klara, was it? You're a little far from your own territory. Mind telling me why you have chosen to disturb me?"

It was a fair question, although there was certainly the sense that Graven was disciplining a child. She was, after all, the youngest of the Kings and Queens as far as he could remember.

The armor was scattered everywhere be the smell only got stronger. It was so close, the treasure was going to be hers. However great fortune would not come without great obstacles and the drones lack of awareness would lead the biggest two obstacles towards her. The first was the lesser of the 2 threats, a jellyfish like Arrancar who snarled and question the drone. The drone would not respond with how close it was to the source of the treasure. It started pushing the armor pieces around hunting for smell but before it could reach the piece containing the smell, a powerful reiatsu slammed the drone into the ground. The Drone would first attempt to pick itself up with little progress so then it shifted its attention to the armor piece and tried to pick its hand up to grab it. Unfortunately, the piece was just out of reach. Thus the drone was trapped weakly pawing the ground and inching its way to the armor. Then it heard a certain name from a certain voice.

Its antennae twitched with one pointing towards Graven. Then it started making a soft cricket like chirp as it tried to pick itself up. It was a huge struggle but the drone would manage to finally make it back to its feet by its legs were trembling. It raises its head and look at Graven with a blank. Then its eyes started glowing and the Drone opened its mouth. "Graven... A pleasant surprise to hear from you. Its been so long since we last seen each other. One could say, hearing your voice is a treasure on its own." The drone twitched a bit to recover its balance from Graven's pressure. "But I fear, I lack understanding on how I am bothering you. It seems you are the one impeding my treasure hunt. My drone seemed to have found something most interesting to. So since I found it. Let me have it. No trading either. This will be my most valuable treasure for sure!"