This is a Bad Idea (open)

'This is a good idea,' Yukiko Shimizu thought to herself as she jogged down the halls of the formidable palace of Las Noches. As had been the case for some time now, Yukiko was effectively a resident of Hueco Mundo. Having been on the run from Shinigami for most of her life, it was the next best thing to a safe haven. The patrols did not reach here, and anyone strong enough to bring her down dare not venture so far into enemy territory. Sure, the world was infested with Hollows and Arrancar, but they never tended to band together for very long.

At least, not the ones in the desert. Las Noches was a different story. This was the seat of the power base of Hueco Mundo. Everyone who was anyone would be here under the rule of the Espada, and Yukiko had the brilliant plan of throwing her lot in with them. The Shinigami would never relent from hunting her; such was the fate of a traitor. The Arrancar may want to maim her, sure, but it would be nothing more than a whim. Given the choice between an enemy with purpose and an enemy the jury is still out on, she would chance the latter.

This was why she found herself brazenly charging into Las Noches. All she had to do was find a higher up that could be reasoned with, and she very well might find a new home. So far she had been given little choice but to bulldoze through the peons that stood in her way out of an ill-conceived notion of bravado, but she doubted the Arrancar caste cared as much for their lackeys as the Shinigami did.

Oh yeah, this was a good idea. No way this could possibly go wrong.

A lot was on the mind of the Gunslinger as he walked through the halls of Las Noches. First of all, why were there so many people trying to play hide n' seek? Trying their trickery and whatnot on the other non-resident's of the castle, such as that orange-haired kid that blew a hole in the wall, before running off. As Luke pondered such thoughts, he found he was attracted to an area where it felt like Arrancar were getting cut down by the moment. Who was powerful enough to do that? It made Luke somewhat excited for the chance for a duel. He's been itching to improve since he fought that one dragon-y Arrancar, who was worth his own weight in gold, if you asked Luke. Keeping a hand on his hat, Luke used sonido to make his way to the woman that seemed to be cutting the Arrancar down.

"Is there something I can help you with, Ma'am?" He asked. He felt somewhat powerful than the Arrancar she was currently cutting down, though only barely. Other than the ten on his arm, he didn't seem too much more special than the other's, though the way he held himself suggested he had more power than most, though he was lenient when using it. He let go of his hat, instead placing his hands on his waist, as he awaited the answer of the rather tall Female. He noticed her lack of a shirt, and being the gentleman he was, made sure to avert his eyes from her exposed chest, though most men might be inclined to stare, despite the lack of overly large curves.

Yukiko thrust her sword downward, ridding it of the fresh Arrancar blood that coated its blade. She was almost ready to swing it towards the next arrival when it occurred to her that this man was actually being civil. Huh. That was new.

The Visored sized up the Arrancar before her. This one was certainly more powerful than the underlings she had been cleaving through up until this point. He also seemed to hold himself in a rather composed manner. The aura of a leader. If she were to guess, this was one of the people she had been seeking.

"Right then. So I was looking for one of your head honchos to see if they needed a mercenary or something. The Shinigami don't exactly like me. But most of these guys just started swinging so...," she trailed off, eyes drifting over to the fresh corpse that was now disappearing into light. "Sorry 'bout the mess."

As she looked at the man closer, she could see his eyes weren't fixated on her. At first she assumed he was looking at the minion she had slain, but now she wasn't so sure. "Something wrong?"

Poor lighting made for a plethora of little hidden abodes for a creature of the night. As near as to take in a persons scent and yet remaining unseen. Giuli was somewhat starting to regret that second part. Giuli had been left nothing to do but observe from his perch as people passed through this more remote hall. For awhile he had distracted himself by scrawling his observations on mental state as more and more of his blood rushed to his head, then he'd dropped the pencil. A short while later the blood had become to infrequent for him to write using pricked finger either. I think it bled through to.

He thought to himself as he began to merely observe the people passing below him while waiting for his experiment to expire. The rush earlier of no names heading off together had piqued his interest at first but as they started dropping off he had resumed his streak of undisturbed boredom. He could see a handful of these guys die any day so while it was fun in person he got nothing from them dieing out of sight and thus put them out of mind. Another hour passed and he was just finished tying his long braid into the deadly noose about his neck when a figure came into view. One that he found surprisingly to be to his tastes until it came closer and he saw it was a woman. She had one of those nameless guys with her still trying to provide a token assault that anyone might see as pointless.

He remained silent, from curiosity more then any thought of fear, and observed the toned form as it floated further on as if a ghost doomed to stalk the very halls it stained crimson. Hmm...crimson, you know it does seem a bit to red...OH I see I'm finally going to paaaaa "aaaassss oowwwwww..." hit thoughts transitioning to spoken word as his mind finally gave way like that the prince fell away to dreamland. Whatever the contraption holding his feet was began a countdown after registering the heart rate change and like a sack of dead kittens Giuli plummeted headlong to the ground with a resounding crash that brought him awake in a drunken daze between the two below. He seemed...not entirely aware of where he was at the moment. And by the look in his eye those nearby might hope to not ever really know

"If I'm dreaming," he said blearily glancing back and forth at the two, "Then make sure the ropes are really tight and make the new guy watch. Otherwise....imma need a minute."

"Well, I mean this in the most polite way possible ma'am, but your chest is showing." He said, turning to look her in the eyes, certain his own wouldn't become drawn to the visible female aspect of her. Luke O'Cuinn was a man of incredible willpower, but as gentlemanly as he is, it took him quite a bit to avoid staring at her exposed chest. "A mercenary you say? ...Well, I don't know, but I can look into it. I'd have to find the lady in charge." He explained. "Though I can't guarantee an answer that's especially speedy. They're pretty elusive 'round these parts. Until then, is there somewhere I can find you?" He asked, before eyeing the mutilated Arrancar parts. "That's not damaging to the Arrancar arm-" He began, stopping as he noticed another Arrancar seem to fall. He heard the man's dazed speech, somewhat confused as to what he didn't understand what he was talking about.

"Sir, did you land on your head, or somethin'? We have no clue what you're talkin' about." He said, eyeing the machine that had been suspending Guili in mid-air rather distastefully, not liking much of today's technology. It was too... distracting? That would be one reason for it. Another would be he felt that people had become too reliant on it nowadays. Why, one good set of pistols, and Luke was set.

Yukiko's brow twitched. So that's what this was about. "And? Is this a no shirt, no shoes, no service palace?" One of the better parts about Hueco Mundo was that she rarely ran into anyone who took issue with her state of dress. Usually Hollows just cared about food. For some reason, whenever she went to a place with beings of higher orders of intelligence, they insisted on pointing out the fact that she was half naked. Was this supposed to be a problem?

"Look can I just...I don't know, hang around somewhere? Preferably without the cannon fodder bugging me?" She hadn't exactly planned on being turned away. Her plan was supposed to be foolproof. Granted, she had yet to be turned away, but it was starting to seem like staying here was not a welcome idea.

Their conversation was suddenly interrupted by what appeared to be a man hanging from the ceiling. Or rather, he had been hanging from the ceiling until just now. "Are you...going to be okay?" Judging by his speech that fall might have caused a concussion or something. She wasn't a brain scientist. Or a rocket surgeon. Just a humble rogue.

Giuli fidgeted for a moment with his feet before glancing about himself. "Ah, yes should be." He said while twisting at the waste and then flinging his body in the opposing direction and spinning himself up onto his feet in one motion. "I'll be fine...not so for the other four of them...sad really since I can't seem to find volunteers." Giuli said looking up into the shadows where four more arrancar hung blue in the face.

"But enough about trash, what are you doing here little naked one. Quite liberating isn't it? They made me wear clothes when showed up naked." Giuli seemed to only be filling air while slowly moving about Yukiko to get a better look at her. No lust was in his eyes just the disturbing gaze of the over zealous predator. "So the little lamb seeks some form of refuge within our halls? Seems reasonable as long as she is willing to allow me study time. Not found a living shinigami to play with just yet."

He shuddered as he came back around the front before finishing it off by looking at Luke finally. "Decima right? Noveno. I keep to myself so we don't seem to have met. I'll denote to seniority this time since I don't really care if it's alive or dead by the end and let you answer it's question." Luke got the lust eyes. Just something about a man who could handle rope. Giuli visibly shivered as thoughts similar to earlier flashed in and out of his mind.

"No, no, it's not that, it's just... well.. I guess we just have different customs ma'am, and I apologize." Luke said, as he heard Guili introduce himself as the Noveno Espada. He nodded, as if he had expected something along those lines, before stepping back. He thought he was the newest for the moment, but it appeared they kept adding people as they go. "Pleasure to meet ya'. The name's Lucas O'cuinn, but everyone calls me Luke, or 'Wild Luke', like back in my glory days." He said, chuckling, as he turned to address the question of the Visored before him.

"I honestly don't know. I'd let you stay, but it's up to the big guy's upstairs." He said, pointing to the large tower in the center that he assumed the Queen of Las Noches stayed in. "I'd contact her for you if I could, but I haven't seen her since I was recruited." Luke said, turning to look at Guili, thinking. "But... I don't know... you're higher rank than I am, so I'll put this in your hands." He said, as he crossed his arms. It's not that he was trying to pass the burden of deciding whether or not to tell her she could stay, or rebuke her if she couldn't, he just felt that it would be a decision better made by the most superior one who was there at the moment.

The Visored turned her sights towards the hanging Arrancar before giving a look of disgust. The Arrancar who had fallen suddenly began to talk to her like nothing was wrong at all. The way he was acting was making her uncomfortable; he seemed rather off-kilter. "Yeah...um...I'm gonna go ahead and stand over here." Yukiko back away from Guili as he sized her up like a piece of meat. She had been stared at like a piece of meat before, but it was with the intent to either consume or molest. This one...this seemed like a gaze to lay on a butcher's table.

Luke, as he called himself, tried to rebuff Guili's offer to take command of the situation. This was probably not in her best interest. "Whoa, hey let's not make any rash decisions. He said he would defer to you for this right? I can look out for myself so if you might get in trouble or something you can drive me off later if it comes to that."

While she waited to find out whether or not it was okay to be here, Yukiko figured she might as well find out more about the place. "So I've never actually been in here before. Is it just the Arrancar here or are there Hollows as well? Shinigami maybe?" She figured the last would be unlikely, but it wouldn't hurt to cover her bases. She was a wanted woman after all.

"Really? So I guess my nickname for you wasn't far off when I made it either." He nonchalantly intoned as he looked back to the panicking Yukiko. Oh, he thought, I must have scared her...how easy. The Decima had just basically done what Guili expected from him, given the situation at hand back to him. His method had been more clever then Giuli had expected however so he made a note of that for later. Modesty was a character flaw to exploit later.

"Oh no no trouble at all, with just a gaggle of arrancar spread throughout it could be weeks before they ever found out you were inside but for the fact that We recently setup patrols for the areas less traveled. I want to install a video monitoring system eventually. Humans use them, quite interesting toys. As to your safety here no problem. If you let me just stick a fake tattoo on you somewhere and you don't wander around to much I'll gladly pass you off as a fraccion or some kind of experiment whether the queen likes you or not. In exchange though..." He trailed as he came a bit closer and tapped the blades at his side. "I would wonder if you might let me.....examine that...weapon...you have there." And suddenly there was the lust eyes, all but banging the sword she carried witht the sheer intensity of his gaze. He couldnt imagine the limitless possibilities of getting his hands on a real zanpakutou for study.

"Oh...so much one little sword could let me gleen...I promise not to hurt it." He said, only sounding half believable. Chance were he'd let her stay either way but he figured he might as well try and get the tasty data before him.

Luke saw the odd glint in Guili's eyes as he looked upon the Zanpaku-to of the... well, taller woman. It was a look that made him somewhat uneasy, that coupled with the man's obvious intelligence, or at least the fact he most likely possessed more intelligence than Luke himself, made him seem like someone to be wary of, should they ever get on bad terms. Thankfully, they seemed to be getting along just fine, a fact that Luke wasn't terribly surprised about. It was only those who needed to claim their superiority over others that Luke didn't like. The number he had, while it represented his power within the Espada, was just a number to him.

He listened to Guili's plan, not terribly surprised that the idea of a fake Fraccion had been what was suggested. There was not much else one could let her do, short of just running around and seeming not to notice her. He heard the tone that the Vizard spoke to him with, almost as if she were slightly afraid of what the man might decide. He shrugged.

Evidently the first Arrancar would not be taking charge here. Which meant her fate would be in the hands of this...clearly unbalanced man were she to follow along. That was not going to happen. Yukiko brought forth her sword to slightly close the gap between herself and Guili. It's long, unreleased blade was pointed at him, threatening injury if he were to approach any closer. "Stay back. I don't like the looks you're giving me. I think my good health would be better preserved not going along with any of your ideas." She gave the creepy man a hard look, indicating she would be more than happy to run him through if he overstepped his bounds.

Finally, she relented and turned her sights back towards Luke. "You. Speak up. Are we doing this or not? I won't hide myself, and I'm clearly not an Arrancar anyway. Can you tell me where I might find someone who can make a decision?" Yukiko wasn't about to play games with these people. Either she was tolerated here or she wasn't; the Visored wasn't about to entertain the thought of hiding herself through some poorly thought out excuse to get her under the crazy man's control. No self-respecting being would mistake her spiritual pressure for that of an Arrancar, not to mention the fact that she lacked a Hollow hole or anything like a mask fragment.

Brought on edge by her paranoid senses, only Guili of the two would not find her easy to reason with.

"Oh fine don't share." Giuli sighed heavily before straightening and putting on his more businesslike manner for when shit needed doing. He was bored anyways. The girl would run and probably challenge them to try and stop her leaving or something in the next few minutes.

"Luke I leave this to you to handle further...I don't see any reason she couldn't stay as even without dissection she can provide us valuable intel on the Seireitei. Your in charge of keeping an eye on her and keeping others from interfering with her presence. I'll report to the queen that we have such a visitor when I meet with her later this week." He paused for a moment, no lust just straight faced business manner in his posture before looking up to the bodies over head. Perhaps he was thinking of how to get them down, Or just sitting by to see what else happened here.

(you've bored me...don't plan out your thread endings if you want me to play.)

Luke nodded, as he turned to Yukiko. "No, I can't allow you to stay on the premises, ma'am. I would, but it's not my decision to make." he said, as he frowned, noticing Guili's change in demeanor. He turned to Yukiko once more, as he shrugged. "Sorry ma'am." He said, as he turned to Guili. "Mr. Noveno Espada, it was a pleasure meeting you." He said, walking past him a bit, before turning to them both. "And I wish the both of you luck with future endeavors." He said, as he turned and began walking away, somewhat interested to see where his tower was, since he hadn't gotten to that yet today.

[Exit]

Yukiko was successful in getting the apparent 9th Espada to back away. Whatever he was dealing in she did not want any part of. At least she didn't have to beat the message into him. If people like that were skulking around Las Noches, maybe she should rethink this whole idea of joining up with them.

As it happened, the decision was made for her. Staying here would likely cause trouble according to the more sane man's reasoning, and she would rather not heed the opinions of Guili. No sooner had the issue been settled than both of the Espada left her to her own devices. Lingering longer would be liable to invite unwanted trouble. Going back into the desert was an option, but unpleasant. Maybe she could give the living world another chance? Surely she wasn't the only outcast from Soul Society. She had a hard time believing that everyone could tolerate their asinine laws.

Dragging her hand over her face to form the feral mask that was her Hollow side, Yukiko tapped against the air. The dimensional fabric yawned open, forming a Garganta leading to the world of the living. If Hueco Mundo was out and Soul Society was way out, there had to be something there.

((Thread end))