So If We All Come Together...(Fabiola x Seijin > then Open)

The garganta in which Fabiola produced had done its job, opening the road to Hueco Mundo that Seijin had sought out. The two had just met recently, and after a short, if wacky, conversation, the Firelord found her way back into Hueco Mundo to continue her journey. As it turned out, Seijin had some score to settle with the Espada, and Fabiola, conveniently enough, had become attracted to him and decided to forgo any immediate advances to allow the squirrel-like man to tag along in her journey to Las Noches. Now that they had arrived, the white palace could be seen on the horizon, rising high into the sky and clearly visible, in spite of still being days away.

Her tone slow and steady, as she had been speaking since they met, Fabiola addressed her partner. "Welcome to Hueco Mundo, Seijin. Oh, now that we are better acquainted and will be traveling together for some time, you may call me Fabiola. It is my given name." She stepped out onto the bone-white sands to allow her new companion to exit. "You said you wanted to look around? Look as far as you are able. There are no havens here. No places of respite. In every shadow there is danger. Beneath the sands are ravening beasts. On the horizon awaits unending desert. In the distance, Las Noches is teeming with an army of Arrancar. There is little here you would find use in, only everlasting strife." She began to walk forward, briefly gazing at the moon with a smile, as one would a warm and nostalgic picture. "Home, sweet home!" She claimed, in genuine honesty.

'Twas nothing new that the squirrel-like Shinigami got frequently distracted by things... and occasionally missed answering a question. Precisely that popped into his head at the same time as his eyes took in the sights of this entirely new place, which... naturally, took his attention back away from the question that had still yet to be answered for a few more moments. It simply couldn't be helped; after all, he was easily distractable.

"Oh... yeah, sounds a lot better than calling you Firelord," he spoke, tilting his head slightly as he seemed to think on that for only a brief moment. "And I don't really mind hostile places, anyway... I had to deal with a lot of hunters and stuff when I was still alive and just a little squirrel, so... well, I can manage," he assured with a little grin. "Oh, and that... greeting of yours... yeah, I liked it," he finally affirmed, answering the question he'd otherwise unintentionally left hanging for a short time as his gaze was cast curiously around the place. Arrancar and hollow there were here, most certainly; even if his eyes couldn't quite see him, his other senses told the tale quite well.

"So... why are ya helping me so easily, anyway? I mean, I know you said I was cute, but... well, that doesn't seem like that much of a reason to me, I guess," he asked, casting his gaze back to Fabiola herself.

Fabiola decided to address an unasked question that, no doubt, Seijin might be curious to know the answer to. "I got used to people calling me Firelord. I once commanded a great deal of respect, or perhaps fear, from the denizens in the lonely area of this world far away from Las Noches. They saw me, the strongest among them, as someone to rule them. The fire part is because of my powers. You'll probably see why if we run into an Espada, supposing they are as strong as rumor says."

Her bare feet left neat prints in the sand; the wind was low at the time, so they would remain for a while. She smiled when Seijin voiced his approval of her "greeting." No doubt, future endeavors would not be met with aversion then. Still, it was too early to harvest the seed just yet. She would reap the rewards when they were most ripe. "I'm glad. Sometimes people aren't so agreeable." At his question of her assistance, it was simple to answer, though she would only tell him a half truth.

"You lucked out. I happened to be on my way to Las Noches when I decided to take a rest in the human world. There's not much to do here, but I'm sure that's plenty obvious. I've been walking these sands for a very long time." She gestured around her. "Only the occasional Hollow or Arrancar looking for trouble shakes things up. I'm helping you simply because it's more fun to do things together than alone. Our goals may not be exactly the same, but the path we take to reach them has intertwined. Why not walk it together?" Her words spoke of her wisdom, long developed with age.

She had a question of her own. "What's your story? Usually Shinigami are not very willing to even fraternize with an Arrancar, let alone team up with them. Your friend said something about how you would get in trouble. What hardships have you endured to so easily risk your way of life?" Fabiola did not know whether Seijin knew the ramifications of leaving his post and deliberately disobeying orders. For what little she knew of Shinigami laws, she could not imagine they would be terribly amused by hi actions. Far more likely they would brand him a traitor. If that was the case, he would be more in her debt than he realized, as she could be the only one standing with him against the inevitable consequences.

He gave a slight nod regarding her explanation of her... title? That seemed about right, and it made sense enough to him... insofar as it ever took much for things to supposedly make sense. "Hm... guess that makes sense," he admitted upon her explanation of why she was helping him. Honestly, even that wasn't a thought that lingered particularly long, though not for the sights; ultimately, he'd already taken all of them in, and there wasn't all that much left to see at the moment. Then again, similar could be said of Seireitei and all the buildings he liked to avoid going into if he could.

Then of course came the question. Even he, of all people, had to take a moment to think it over, but... ultimately, the answer was fairly simple to him. "Well... I do get into some trouble for a buncha different stuff, but... I dunno, I guess I just don't usually feel like fighting if it doesn't seem like something I have to do," he replied with a little shrug. "And... well, you seemed nice enough, so I don't care if you're an Arrancar. It's not like I'm even normal, anyway; not that a squirrel that can talk and walk on two legs like this and everything ever would be normal, I'm sure," he said, chuckling lightly. "So... I dunno much about hardships, really, but it just seemed fun to come along with you, even if they do say you're supposed to be the enemy or something," he cheerfully concluded.

"So, um... there anywhere you actually personally live around here? Wouldn't mind seeing it if possible, since... well, there doesn't seem like too much to see around here, and I wanna take it easy for a bit before I start any sort of attack since it's apparently some kinda holiday or something," he asked.

Fabiola still was not sure Seijin realized the gravity of his actions. Likely, the other Shinigami would be reporting back by now, and she was not confident he would not inform them of the squirrel's disappearance. "That is admirable, don't get me wrong. But I can't imagine your leaders will accept that as your excuse. I guess we'll just have to kill some Espada to make up for it, right?" Fabiola smiled at him, attempting to convey the underlying meaning. As of now, he was AWOL. But if he had a hand in striking down the Espada, they might be much more lenient.

"I'm afraid I don't really have a home, per se. The closest thing is far behind us, and it would take years just to get there. It's probably best we make our way to Las Noches as fast as possible, and find some form of temporary shelter there. No matter where we go, there is a high risk of battle. At the very least, the way that brings us closer to our goal would be best." That being said, it would be quite a while before they actually reached the first corridors of Las Noches. Probably a few hours at least before even the first outpost.

"Hm... yeah, guess so... well, they've gotten upset at me for a lot of different stuff before, already," he admitted with a little shrug. And yet still he was a third seat, just under a lieutenant spot (which he'd likely never receive, considering his personality and history), so... who knew? Maybe he was just lucky in that, or something of the sort... not that it was ever a concern to him, only others.

Still, at the very least he could probably at least do some sort of good here... if it didn't end up getting him killed. Which, with his potential running away and causing chaos skills, didn't seem likely to him, so all was well.

"Yeah... guess so. I could... well, I guess I couldn't really take you to my home, which isn't really much anyway..." he considered, scratching a little at the back of his head and glancing up to the somewhat odd-looking, at least to him, sky in apparent thought. "Well, I could maybe find ya something... somewhere... though I don't really know much about that sorta thing. Oh, and what's 'bedding?'' he asked suddenly, his easily distractable mind flickering over to another earlier point of interest that he was honestly quite curious about. It seemed they'd have some time as they walked, so he figured he'd just get things out while he could.

Naive and dense, check.

"Oh, and... hm... I guess we should probably start moving a bit quicker? Or kill some of the things that're starting to watch us... either way," he shrugged, not seeming particularly concerned which option might be chosen.

At Seijin's comment about the things starting to watch them, Fabiola flared her energy a bit. Seijin would not feel threatened by the small pressure, but the weakling fodder would. They ran off with their tails between their legs. "That should keep them away for now. You really want to know what bedding is? Let's go find their first outpost."

At his suggestion, they eventually hurried the pace just a bit. Fabiola was not about to give everything away up front, but if the squirrel was as eager as he seemed, she would not mind indulging him a bit. After a little while, a small white building could be seen. That was the sign that they were getting close to the main operation. Flashing over to it, she began to walk inside. It was certainly of interesting design. "Quite funny, to think Hollows could build something like this. But I suppose Arrancar must indeed have different preferences."

Expecting Seijin had followed, she briefly explored the building. It became apparent that this outpost was unoccupied at the moment. Thanks to everything that had been going on elsewhere lately, some of the positions had been moved around, and the buildings reaching furthest away from the main base were emptied. This left a lot of the living quarters rather...unoccupied. Fabiola smiled. "Oh Seijin...you asked what bedding was right?" The Arrancar sat down upon a rather plain bed; it would do for her purposes. She raised a hand and gestured the Shinigami to come to her.

((OOC: Technically they now have entry to Las Noches' hallways, since the complex is supermassive. We can restart a thread there after the fadeout.))

And then, it seemed, they were gone, with just a show of power. So much for either of his little ideas, it seemed... perhaps hollows were just more cowardly than he thought, if they ran off from just a threat? Or maybe not, or... oh right, he was supposed to be on some sort of mission, wasn't he? Odd the turns it seemed to be taking, most of all with him traveling with one of those he was apparently supposed to kill.

Otherwise unable to really be lost in his thoughts given his personality, he freely followed after just that person, his mind occasionally wandering to his little points of curiosity, like his question and... well, this place in general, a far cry from anything he was used to and likely strictly belonged in.

"Hm? Yeah, I did," he replied in response to the question, otherwise remaining somewhat oddly silent until then. Glancing curiously to the bed itself he finally noticed, he tilted his head slightly to the side for a moment before wandering over to drop lightly into a seated spot next to her, in turn following whatever lead he was granted, since... well, it would be easy to say he simply didn't know any better. And was curious, to boot.

(And... fadeout ho)