Kage kept towards the center of the group as they moved. He wasn't far behind Brad; afterall Brad has asked him if he would scout and he needed to be ready to move at any time. Moving across the sand out in the open he felt terribly vulnerable but there wasn't any other way. This place was nothing but sand. A few rocky outcroppings, the occasional tree, so far the only real formation of note was the forest, and they were all intimately aware that was a bad place to be by now.
However, passing a cave made Brad, and subsequently the rest of the group, all grind to a halt. THe spiritual pressure here was...massive, to say the least. Reaching inside his robes his fingers wrapped around the hilt of his zanpakuto instinctively. This did not seem like a safe place to stop. Gleam, however, who'd remained rather quiet since the training center, picked now of all times to speak up.
"Do you feel that, Kage? There's power there, lots of it. Whatever is in there is stronger, far stronger than you. Be careful, I want you to live long enough to give me a taste." she said in his mind, a chill running up his spine.
"How about you just do what you're told to so we both don't die here? You have as much invested in this as I do, moreso since if I die and you're -not- taken, you'll sit buried in the sands of heuco mundo for the rest of eternity. Roll that around in your head for a bit." Kage replied.
Keeping his robes around himself so his hand remained hidden he waited as Brad stared down the darkness. It was a standoff for several moments before he suddenly raised the alarm, although too late as three beings came out of the cave, all three of them as strong as they whole group together. However, only one of them came forward, a girl, who started a dialogue with Brad.
Kage kept his position and his guard up as they talked, however the discussion was short. Whoever this girl was wore a hollow mask, but didn't seem dangerous to them. Listening into the conversation though, Kage picked out a few important words.
"...aarancar..."
"...Nelliel..."
"...Aizen..."
"...Espada number three..."
This was important information. Already he could peice this together. She was an aarancar, an unmasked hollow of the highest evolution. Calling itself Nelliel she belonged to a group called the Espada that belonged to Aizen. Aizen had fled the soul society after the failed execution of Rukia with several others, and they fled here under the protection of a kido spell he wasn't familiar with nor could he get anyone to explain. This was a dangerous situation.
"Gleam..." Kage said under his breath, "...Bite!"
While still in the scabbard Kage released his shikai. The blade inside shortened as the cord slithered out. He wrapped it around his arm several time up his sleeve to hold the excess. Inside the sheath, the blade began to drip with small yellow-green droplets of toxin. Around him, everyone else was stepping up to introduce themselves and make nice with the aarancar. Even Ken was playing this one close to the chest despite having his bankai available. After he, Jason, and Risa made their introductions, Kage stepped up next.
"Hello." he said very politely, leaning forward as he bowed his head to the hollow woman, "My name is Hikaru. HikaruInu. It's a pleasure." he said as he looked back up at her. The few steps he'd taken to introduce himself gave him a better look at her. 'Points of interest: Hollow mask, additional armor: avoid, roughly humanoid though unknown biology weakpoint eye, neck, recommended vector: blind-cut-avoid til toxin takes effect-flash strike with shikai to heart-seal to finish. Chance of successful execution 90%-80%-30%-15%-100%. Survival probability: 0%. Group survival probability: 65%. Mission success odds shifted by a factor of 3. Target range: 2.6 meters, go on hostile.'
However, passing a cave made Brad, and subsequently the rest of the group, all grind to a halt. THe spiritual pressure here was...massive, to say the least. Reaching inside his robes his fingers wrapped around the hilt of his zanpakuto instinctively. This did not seem like a safe place to stop. Gleam, however, who'd remained rather quiet since the training center, picked now of all times to speak up.
"Do you feel that, Kage? There's power there, lots of it. Whatever is in there is stronger, far stronger than you. Be careful, I want you to live long enough to give me a taste." she said in his mind, a chill running up his spine.
"How about you just do what you're told to so we both don't die here? You have as much invested in this as I do, moreso since if I die and you're -not- taken, you'll sit buried in the sands of heuco mundo for the rest of eternity. Roll that around in your head for a bit." Kage replied.
Keeping his robes around himself so his hand remained hidden he waited as Brad stared down the darkness. It was a standoff for several moments before he suddenly raised the alarm, although too late as three beings came out of the cave, all three of them as strong as they whole group together. However, only one of them came forward, a girl, who started a dialogue with Brad.
Kage kept his position and his guard up as they talked, however the discussion was short. Whoever this girl was wore a hollow mask, but didn't seem dangerous to them. Listening into the conversation though, Kage picked out a few important words.
"...aarancar..."
"...Nelliel..."
"...Aizen..."
"...Espada number three..."
This was important information. Already he could peice this together. She was an aarancar, an unmasked hollow of the highest evolution. Calling itself Nelliel she belonged to a group called the Espada that belonged to Aizen. Aizen had fled the soul society after the failed execution of Rukia with several others, and they fled here under the protection of a kido spell he wasn't familiar with nor could he get anyone to explain. This was a dangerous situation.
"Gleam..." Kage said under his breath, "...Bite!"
While still in the scabbard Kage released his shikai. The blade inside shortened as the cord slithered out. He wrapped it around his arm several time up his sleeve to hold the excess. Inside the sheath, the blade began to drip with small yellow-green droplets of toxin. Around him, everyone else was stepping up to introduce themselves and make nice with the aarancar. Even Ken was playing this one close to the chest despite having his bankai available. After he, Jason, and Risa made their introductions, Kage stepped up next.
"Hello." he said very politely, leaning forward as he bowed his head to the hollow woman, "My name is Hikaru. HikaruInu. It's a pleasure." he said as he looked back up at her. The few steps he'd taken to introduce himself gave him a better look at her. 'Points of interest: Hollow mask, additional armor: avoid, roughly humanoid though unknown biology weakpoint eye, neck, recommended vector: blind-cut-avoid til toxin takes effect-flash strike with shikai to heart-seal to finish. Chance of successful execution 90%-80%-30%-15%-100%. Survival probability: 0%. Group survival probability: 65%. Mission success odds shifted by a factor of 3. Target range: 2.6 meters, go on hostile.'
