And What Would You Propose?

It had been a long time since Rhydderch had returned to this spot. The glassed crater was the site where he'd finally stopped just surviving and started thriving. It was here he'd smashed and incinerated a pathetic excuse of a hollow that possessed great strength but lacked the skill or cunning to use it right. From there, it was a steady climb to where he was now. Sentimentality had little value in a place like this, but it was nice to indulge on occasion.

He took a long drag from his cigarette, taking another look around his surroundings. A pack of weaker hollows we're wandering around the far side of the crater. They were a bit closer than he preferred, but they weren't causing trouble. At least right now. If they were smart, they'd stay away., If they were dumb, which was more likely, they'd try to jump him. He didn't want the hassle before a big meeting. With a long sigh, he fired a cero from the tip of his cigarette, shredding the cig as well as the hollows on the other side, grazing the top of the crater and leaving it largely unscathed. Fucking lesser hollows.

It seemed that the arrancar was provided with solitude for a time, the hollows milling around the area either scared off or killed by his recent show of power. However, this isolation wasn't to last, as he felt the spiritual pressure of one of the less intelligent creatures that had been biding its time for the perfect moment to attack. This threat was swiftly dispatched though, as a towering figure with the masked head of a wolf cleaved the enroaching creature in two with it's mighty blade. For hollows, size wasn't nessecarily indicative of strength. Often as they evolved the creatures would become smaller, more humanoid. "Rhydderch" The creature growled, offering a curt nod of it's head as it straightened to it's full height, resting it's weapon over it's shoulder.

The Wolfman's arrive meant only one thing, he was to be graced with a visit from an old acquaintance from before his ascension. A petite figure briskly walked across the white dunes, her lower set of arms swaying with her movements while the upper set clasped their hands together before her. "It's been some time, hasn't it Rhydderch. Have you come to relive past victories?" A soft but eloquent voice spoke from beneath the oversize hat, tilting her gaze back to meet the taller man. Her face covered mostly by blank mask, revealing only her left eye behind it. Despite having reached such a stage of power, the hollow had refused to follow some of the other more civilized of their kind in removing their masks. The scheming creature never satisfied with her lot.

He'd not requested any form of assistance, leaving him with a bad taste in his mouth as another hollow was cleaved in two. Then again, this wasn't the usual kind of help, this was meant to announce an arrival. And since the wolfman was here, there wasn't a lot of options as to who it could be. The voice that spoke to him brought back old memories of his younger days as a hollow, a centipede yet to shed his pitiful mask. Not that he minded. "Now that's a familiar voice. Seems that you keep the same group of friends."

Rhydderch pulled out another cigarette setting it between his lips as he turned around to face his old acquaintance. He pulled out a lighter, bringing it's flame up to his unlit cig. How long had it been exactly? Long enough to forget she never bothered to ascend like him "Haven't heard from you in a while, wondered if you'd met an unfortunate end or just wandered off. And yeah. Not like there's much else to do around here right now. Everything is just so delightfully stagnant, if you haven't noticed."

"Tiche, you can stand down" The hollow waved an idle hand to call off another of her group, this one seemed to be new though if he would remember that far back. There was a momentary shimmer of light as the hidden accomplice, a lithe hooded creature, slinked from the shadows of one of the various jagged white pillars, it's wicked blade holstered now that it had been called to stand down. A precaution, perhaps. "Of course, my subjects continue to provide their loyalty." Ranni shrugged, clasping her hands together once more as she looked over the arrancar. She too had lost track of their last meeting, sometimes these events simply blend in with all the others.

The shorter hollow nodded at this assessment, deciding to ignore her more recent history for now. "Of course, Hollows are creatures of stagnation after all." She approached, standing beside to look over the crater. "We were of the opinion that the status quo be in need of mending. And if you were interested, we believe an alliance could prove beneficial for us all." Scheming as always, Ranni's appearance from wherever it was she hid away the centuries meant that she intended to shake things up once more.

Rhydderch eyed the additional potential combatant as slithered back into the shadows. It did somewhat bother him that Ranni had a little private squad of minions to do battle in her stead. Just didn't feel right to him. Mind you, he had an army under him as well, but he had no issues leaping to the front lines and lighting them ablaze. Yet another difference between the two of them besides the choice to ascend to near godhood. Then again, they were both a tad bit conniving, so her offer intrigued him.

"You're right about that stagnation but. Drives me fucking crazy. But there's been a development. Seems as though someone with a taste for chaos has shown up at my door, wants to turn the world upside down. And he's a shinigami of all things. Figure he'd be interesting to watch, see where he goes with all this. Someone or something hurt him really bad." Rhydderch took a long pull from his cigarette, smoke drifted from his nostrils as he eyed the hollow in front of him. What was this little bitch up to? His curiosity got the better of him. "Of course, as we both know, it's always a good idea to have a backup plan in place. A plan B. What're you thinking?"

Ranni listened to this news, which seemed to etch the lightest hint of a smile on her features. "A shinigami? How interesting.." she mused, though this was a most interesting development, clearly something that she had missed during her travels. "I suppose change would need to come from the outside, conflict has a way of shaping the land, does it not?" She turned to the wolfman, whispering an order to which he responded with a curt nod as he turned to leave, taking Tiche with him.

"That moves things along, in fact" she began, "I wish to offer you an accord, Rhydderch. It seems if there is to be chaos in our future, perhaps I could lend you my strength" The hollow stretches out her upper set of arms, palms facing up as she offered a slight bow. "Should you accept, we can carve whatever is left into more... agreeable slices, hrm?" It was a strange thing, really, Ranni didn't seem the kind to play the underling. While both were undoubtably powerful, Rhydderch likely had the upper hand. Particularly now that her own comrades had seemingly left them alone.

In fact, it was so out of character it would likely confirm she was scheming. This was a position she needed to be in, though her reasonings were simply too obscured to decipher.

"At it again with the damn accords, I see. We truly are a stagnate species." The man ashed his cigarette as he eyed the witch. She was obviously up to something, but she'd managed to evade his intuition, leaving her motives unknown. She seemingly wanted to let him take the lead, which like her, was something he loathed doing. The ire of failure was never directed at the second in command, something he'd learned on his own. The two of them were too similar for him to jump on this offer so willingly.

Sorry to say, but I'm currently committed elsewhere. One can only plot and take part in one sche.e at a time without drawing suspicion." To agree to another plan for domination to another under such conditions was a horrible idea. No, he needed that backup plan, that plan B. He pulled out a piece of a spirit chain, one he'd taken when exacerbating encroachment on a plus a while back. A trophy he took from every victim turned loyal soldier. This one in particular wasn't special, but it would do. He twirled the link of chain on his index finger as he continued. "Now, successful or not, I don't see things going well for anyone at the top. Specifically me, since I doubt a Shinigami cares much for the likes of any arrancar regardless of how bad daddy hurt him. So I'm already dealing with 1, possibly 2 schemers. Adding a third is bad news. Unless you're willing to make some amendments to this accord?"

"Indeed, unfortunately it is in our nature" She smiled sweetly, if somewhat obscured by her hat. Taking the lead wasn't something she desired, at least not now. Rulers tended to lose their heads should they lack the proper care, and in tumoultuous times such as these, there was no place for taking unnessecary risks. Despite this, a change in leadership now would only cause unnessecary strife in his own ranks. Other than simply making an alliance between their factions instead of the more subserviant role Ranni looked to be suggesting.

"Unfortunately, Ryhderrech. The schemes continue with or without your planning I'm afraid. You can refuse of course, 'tis your right" It was a good point really, at the moment he only knew the offer was there. Should he refuse that would mean a third schemer was in the mix and was specifcally not going to be on his side. She let him consider this for a time, silently pondering her own options until she broke the silence. "Amendments? What wouldst thou suggest?" Curious, seeing as she had been rather forthcoming with her offer so far. An outsider might even consider it to be wholly in his favour already.

As far as amendments go, I don't really know yet, but I wouldn't mind a way out of this cute little war if it goes ass up. My usual means or egress won't really work this time around." At this point, he didn't particularly care what was going on as long as he was alive to see the end. This woman was a nasty piece of work, but so long as he had enough to offer her, he figured it would buy him some time.

The removal of Rhydderch's mask was a very thorough process, the only remnants that remained of it were a few pieces that resembled piercings in his ears. Even after such a violent shedding of his old monsterous self, little fragments remained. He pulled out one of the piercings, his ear regenerating quickly from the damage. "No matter how you look at it, there's gonna be one hell of a power vacuum and a lot of big players gone. Arrancar or not, if you wanted to make your move, it'd be then." he dropped the piercing onto the chain, clenching his fist around it and bathing both items in searing heat, fusing his essence into the link, giving it a warped colorful appearance in the light, radiating from the circulatory bony extrusion from the piercing. "You want an accord? Fine by me. This all goes ass up, I'll help you carve out a piece of this hell. Maybe even wrap the whole place up in a neat little bow."

Ranni smiled at this whole performance, which was going to be concerning of course, "Truly? Interesting.." She seemed more surprised than anything, if pleasantly so. The hollow approached, gracefully making her way through the dunes until she stood directly before him, looking up to properly look the arrancar in the eyes. After a moment, she offered a single hand, palm down, for Rhydderch to take. From here, it was clear that she had simply evolved beyond any of a more base hollows instincts, almost impossible to tell for a genuine human. If not for the subtle imperfections that came with her cursed body. "Very well.. Then we have an accord" Waiting only for him to play his part "Let us rule these lands... one way or another"

The moment they touched, the hollow brought her other hands to bear, placing them around his own as she seared him with energy. At first, it would set his nerves ablaze if quickly to subside to a sudden feeling of empowerment as a sigil etched along his skin. There was a moment of calm as her grip loosened, and the witch fell back into the waiting arms of the wolfman, who had approached in the meantime. He lifted her with ease while the fabric of her cloak ruffled about.

A small creature then escaped, dropping as gracefully as it could to the ground. Upon further inspection, it was in fact a dimunitive simulacrum in Ranni's form. The resemblance was uncanny. She dusted herself off before quickly moving to raise a hand, seemingly requesting a lift from the Arrancar. She would likely fit in his palm with ease, and was unsurprisingly light.