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Salte gripped her Zanpakto and was about to spring to her masters aid whe the old man waved her off. The slap, lacking any spiritual power behind it, left no mark but stung none the less. Arbutus slowly turned his face back to Marta Nicole. "I grieved as well, the intruder did not escape my wrath, but I'm afraid the attack I used did far more damage." The old man sat in the sand and recounted his side of that fateful battle.
---
The arena was a wash of rubble and fire. The ternary lay on the ground behind a battered Arbutus. The old man stood before his companions his hands gripping a massive set of shears. Burns covered his chest and arms, inflicted by the monster that sought to purify the world with his fire.

Arbutus' face was hard as stone, his beard blowing in the hot air. The furious visage was intimidating to say the least, yet the fiery imperialist paid him little heed. "You and your pathetic freaks are a blight on this world, I will burn your kind from the sands and claim this plane for my own!"

Arbutus ignored the pompous fool, Ifrit he called himself, even though the man's confidence was well founded. He was strong and not afraid of using all his strength from the get go. As the garden was gone, Arbutus waved a hand and opened a garganta beneath the three behind him and sent them away from the battle as far as his strained reiatsu would allow. The stones would limit the distance, he hoped it was enough.

"Snikity-Snak, my dear Eden" Arbutus said, his booming voice full of venom. Raising the shears and opening them wide, he slammed them shut on his own neck. A blast of smoke washed over Ifrit. When it cleared Ifrit bellowed in laughter. Arbutus was now even bigger, made entirely of vines as thick as trees, head wreathed in a crown of antlers. He towered over the Flaming Vasto Lorde "You just made your last mistake, weed" Ifrit cackled blasting the plant like arrancar with a barrage of fireballs.

Arbutus roared, a sound like a thousand war horns, as he stumbled back. He knew this was a bad move but it was the only way to win, he needed to be in his release state to pull his trump card. Half of his body awash in fire, One arm began to grow and twist into a massive cannon shape. A vortex of energy began pouring into the open cell of the cannon generating a brilliant ball of light.

The Vasto Lorde's grin broke as the sky darkened. A second later Arbutus fired. Ifrit flew like a comet away from arbutus, but he was no where near fast enough. the cannon fired a ball of light at impossible speeds, impacting directly in front of Ifrit's flight path. All sound vanished as the night sky filled with a sphere of light. The desert quaked and rumbled as the detonation blast grew, obliterating anything caught in range. The blast grew and grew, blasting the reiatsu absorbing rocks to powder for kilometers. Arbutus shut his eyes as the energy washed over him, blasting him out of his release state and flying unconscious from the battle field, his last thought on his freinds, praying he had sent them far enough from the blast. Several long minutes later the roars of obliterating energy died away, leaving a massive expanse of a smoking crater. Nothing had survived.
---
"I was almost annihilated, and found myself thrown far from the blast only to be buried in the sekkseki stone. It took me an immeasurable time to heal to the point I could break free."

Arbutus sighed and closed his eyes, bushy brows knitting together. "By then the damages could not even be traced, too much time had passed. I searched the stones for a decade to no avail, the stones make tracking nigh impossible I did find a scant few traces of Ifrit among the debris, and I have kept it as a reminder of my failure." he withdrew a necklace from beneath his collar, a simple strand of vine holding three small spheres that burned with a cold fire. He looked down, quirking an eyebrow at finding Salte curled up in his lap. He stroked her fluffy mop of hair. "I found Salte Pichi wandering nearby as I searched. She followed me like a lost puppy."

"Arf" Salte piped up grinning.

Arbutus shook his head at her antics, she was an endless bundle of energy that was always a good source of amusement. He looked back to the three, "I deeply apologize my friends. It appears that befriending Salte, and awakening her power has been a work of fate to bring us together again. It is no easy feat to navigate the rocks even if you know what to look for. Salte seems perfectly at home here" He had not forgotten about the other presence in their midst. "And I apologize you, sir. I hope I did not bore you with my old war stories"

Marta Nicole’s hand dropped. Adán took that for the sign that it was; that Arbutus had been forgiven. He quickly walked over to the Arrancar that was far older then all of them combined and, sank to sit by the Old Man’s feet cross-legged. IT was such a familiar sight that Zyne let a small chuckle escape.

Adán held out his hand to Salte, “Salte right? Salte Picchi? I’m Adán Skylight. My twin is Zyne. Marta Nicole Earthbound is the Mistress. It’s good to meet you. I’m glad the Old Man had you.”

Zyne let a small laugh escape him. He was about to speak when the Cera gave his invitation. He let his right hand drop to his side. It was mere centimeters away from Marta Nicole’s left hand. Adán watched the action with interested crossed with caution but, remained sitting.

Marta Nicole gave her hair a toss, “Where are my manners. Cera Cillian Folmah, this is Arbutus Menziesii.” Marta Nicole gestured to both of them with her right hand. She let her right hand extended towards the Old Man, “Arbutus is the oldest Arrancar that any one knows. He fits in with the rest of the Naturals about as well as we do.”

The Ternary was ready to do battle. They were not the useless brats that they had been during the battle with Ifrit. They would defend their friend’s choice. The Ternay and the Old Man, with Salte, may not have be able to achieve victory against Cillian but, Marta Nicole was certain that the Cera wouldn’t win either.

Adán spoke but, his voice was tense, “You should come Arbutus. I have a conservatory with plants from the World of the Living. I want you to see them. The Mistress is the Quinta so she can make you part of her Faccion.”

Zyne scoffed, “The Old Man may not be as strong as the Cuna born Arrancar but, his experience should be more than enough to earn him an Espada position.”

There was no way that Cillina didn’t see what was happening. Marta Nicole wondered just how vain he was. Even if Arbutus came with them with Marta Nicole figured that she had lost her position as the head of the Exequias. Still it was a sacrifice that the Ternary was willing to make. There were very few Arrancar that understood family and friends the way the Ternary was. In fact they had only meet one other; Arbutus. They were willing to bet that Salte was the second.

| C I L L I A N__✥__F O L A M H |

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Cillian hummed in agreement with Zyne. "Age and experience does play a very important factor in a spiritual being's strength. The older one is, the more time they would have to cultivate their power. As a matter of fact, the founder of Las Noches was and is still is a Natural and I am sure that you would agree that he is stronger than many a Cuna-born Arrancar." If Arbutus had known Arturo, then this would be quite interesting. No doubt, to have warranted a personal visit and invitation from the previous leader of Las Noches meant that Arbutus was strong. Cillian had yet to see the ancient being in fight, but what Reiatsu he could sense through the emptiness created by the Sekkisekki would definitively earn him a position in the Espada. A few of the younger Arrancars would surely protest, especially those that would see themselves demoted, but Cillian trusted Arbutus to be resourceful enough to fend them off as he had done so of the other Naturals.

"Welcome aboard, Septima," Cillian said simply in response to the solemn bow. He had just assigned what he believed would a rank fitting of Arbutus without much fanfare. If he were to be honest, such formalities were never really his cup of tea, but they were useful in public to help maintain his reputation or raising troops' morale. Here, however, cut off from the rest of the world, he found it rather pointless so he continued, "If it is a place to grow your own garden, then it can be arranged without problem." He had been surprised at how quickly they had convinced the Natural and, was extremely pleased and excited at the prospect of adding Arbutus' plants to Las Noches' arsenal. The being was a lot more ingenuous than the majority of Las Noches to have come up with a mechanism to secure his belongings.

"Now then, Pichi, I take it you are familiar with the whereabouts of the other Naturals of the Forest?" he asked, tucking his hands inside his long sleeves once more, taking a more relaxed stance. "I would like to meet them so would you be so kind as to lead us to them?"



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Meanwhile, a reptilian head slid around a nearby sekkisekki peak weaved its way towards the half-eaten corpse of the canine Hollow. It was attached to a definite humanoid and female figure that crawled closer with graceful lethargy, limbs bending and spine curving at near impossible angles in a clear show of her flexibility. A carefully groomed hair of a deep green color pooled around her like seaweeds dancing at in the sea current when she pulled herself up into a kneeling position right next the fallen creature.

The lesser Hollows had done a very good job at eating away all the softer tissues, but the Arrancar was not here for food. "Oh, Belathor," she drawled, patting the still bloody ribs that had been exposed once the scavengers had finished ripping the corpse' skin into pieces. With her other hand, she waved what appeared to be a two-pronged fork the length of a scepter. "I knew I should have kept you chained up. You were always so excitable when we have visitors. I were so close to Gillian level, almost ripe. Worry not, you will not go to waste. I am sure that your brothers and sisters would love to have your remains for dinner. Binge, Gargamelle."

A series of sickening creaks followed as the Natural's bones snapped, grew and resettled, stretching her flawless skin until it was ripped into shreds to make room for muscle and fat. Once the process was over, the graceful lady was no more. In her place stood a 10 feet tall mountain of muscle and fat. Arbutus' protégé would have no trouble recognizing the towering figure and the moulted skin of Pantamagrette, one of the more vicious Naturals born and living in the Forest of Stones.

"Ah, how I hate having to use this form, but your bones are so heavy," she sighed, bending down to pick up her deceased pet. Resurreccion was not impossible around the sekkisekki stones if one was strong enough, but all Reiryoku-based abilities would be sealed. In the case of a native being such as her, such things along with Bala and Ceros were completely foreign. Instead, she had learned to adapt to her environment, letting her body grow stronger in her released form to deal much damage while her sealed form was extremely flexible and nimble so that she could rule on solid land.

"If they have reached the old twig, it wouldn't be long before they come for us. Perhaps I shall go alert dear Joseph." With a low grunt, the giant heaved the large canine's remains onto her shoulder and started her long trek towards the Natural's gathering place.

Arbutus mulled over what the cero had titled him, smiling as Adán's first thought was the garden. The two arrancar, separated by uncountable millennium in age, both held the same love for greenery. "It is quite alright Zyne. All my plants are vastly self sufficient. I opened my vault to retrieve my seedlings. I can grow all these and more, these would not survive a transplant. These plants will fill this space someday safe from harm." Arbutus stroked a leafy branch, it would be like leaving old friends behind, but what he said was true. The mere fact that they existed was a miracle in this place, but his treasure could easily grow more. He did not believe they were heading straight back in any case.

As the boys quarreled Salte watched amused by their rivalry. "Sure I can guide ya to the meeting spot. It's where we meet once in a while. The other guys are weird though." Salte shuddered, "there is this gross guy named Fosser that wears body parts like clothes, and the dino gal Pantamagrette that gets all fat and big, and of course there's Joseph, but I hardly ever see him."

"That would be due to you not being invited to those meetings dear," Arbutus said gently, "I warn you, should you seek to recruit the others, you will find a challenge. They do not wish to leave their seats of power. Vicious and bestial, these naturals hold sway over their minions. Fosser holding the largest army, but they are lesser beings for the majority. The others keep to themselves and stay in their territory." Arbutus never did get along well with those three. They were strong and commanded larger armies than he, the old man held a larger territory. They may not have liked the old man, but they held a grudging respect. Arbutus was no slouch at defending his territory.

"Uh oh," Salte squeaked, "I think Pantamagrette will be mad we offed Belathor." She shuddered as another thought hit her, "Double uh oh, I have to see Fosser again." She stuck out her tongue. "That guy is worse than Belathor was, he is convinced we are soul-mates. Ick!" Salte sighed and snapped into a salute, "you can count on me to get us there." She began marching out of the grotto, happy, but there was a glint of worry in her eyes.

---

Outside the Grotto, a hunched figure waited, fixtaed on the entrance it didnt budge an inch. He cared not for the remains of Belathor, despite his nature of body snatching. the blue skinned goblinoid wore a skull over his head, complete with a eyeball hanging out of one socket, his arms were plunged into the severed paws of some creature with long hooking talons. Fosser, aptly named for his grave robbery, obsessed over one thing above all. "Ohhh my adorable Peachy Pichi! How long must you hid in the tree's shadow?" the whiney sing song voice that slid out of the wizened creature was grating. Fosser ground his shark like teeth, Arbutus held the largest territory, and it kept him from his beloved! Love ought to know no boundaries, so why must he respect borders? His armies could overrun the land, but even Fosser was not fool enough to try. The four powers held a balance, three powers would prove a difficult struggle. Two would fight to be killed by the third. "Soon my sweeeeeet! The tree will wither and you can run to my embrace!" He hugged the air, the flesh of his stolen arms squelching as he gripped an imaginary image of Salte. Hearing sounds of people coming, the nasty goblin bounded away and over the tops of the rock formations.

Marta Nicole moved to follow Salte. Adán quickly fell in on her right. Zyne was on her left. They didn’t have time to waste. Odds were the Naturals were gathering to dispose of the intruders. Not one of them wanted the Las Noches Arrancar here. However they knew that they could handle the group alone. So they would forge a temporary alliance.

Marta Nicole spoke quietly, “They are gathering. They won’t waste any more time. I don’t know when or where they will strike but, strike they will. Once they find that the Old Man has allied with us they won’t waste any time.”

Zyne scoffed, “Let them come. We can handle it.”

Adán’s grin matched his brothers, “Oh totally!”

Marta Nicole was thinking; Segunda Etapa. The Ternary had been working on it for what seemed like forever. They had yet to even glimpse the source of that power. It annoyed the Skylight twins. Marta Nicole didn’t care. They would reach it one day. There was no point in worrying about it until then.

Adán was looking around. He could feel the Naturals. However it was faint. It flickered in an out like a barely tuned radio station. It was also like a buzzing at the back of his skull. It was frustrating.

Zyne could sense his brother’s worry. He kept his left hand on the hilt of the sword. It was clear that his other two family members were distracted by something. He would have to be to one on guard. He was fine with that but, it was annoying.

The Ternary followed after Salte. They didn’t want to be left behind. It would be horrible if they lost track of the others. Then again losing track of the others would allow them the chance to search for Joseph on their own. That was something they needed to consider.

| C I L L I A N__✥__F O L A M H |

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As the plants roared to life to meet the head-on assault of what could only be described as an army of medium-sized Hollows of all shapes, sekkisekki that had been grinded into sand by the passage of time and wind trickled down. It foreshadowed the fall of numerous chunks of stone the size of a small pig. It would appear that the forceful awakening of Arbutus' plants and the squirming of its pray had dislodged more than one rubble, forcing Cillian to sidestep away from a particularly nasty one that effectively reduced his would be attacker into Hollow pancake. Unfortunately, it gave Fosser just enough time to dart out of their reach and back onto the surrounding rocks. Cillian couldn't let that happen: he was quite fond of the idea of cutting the snake's head to get rid of their problems. As more bodies and rock rained down on them, Cillian leaped onto the boulder to reach a particularly high handhold he could use to pull himself up.

His knuckles cracked audibly when his fingers flexed, gripping tightly onto the piece of sekkisekki to pull him upwards. With a combination of Hollow and large pebbles falling onto him, Cillian had to make use of his feet more than once to help his upward ascension. It soon became more of a dance than an actual chase as he swung around from one hold to another, occasionally making use of Arbutus' plants. Fosser was agile and its disproportioned body worked in his favor.

The old Arrancar's children were taking on the brunt of this Fosser's army, but they it wouldn't be too long before they were overwhelmed. At least, in the air, Cillian wouldn't risk being jumped even if his maneuverability had become much more limited.

It was only when he had finally reached a rather low peak that the he took note of the rising sekkisekki dust. It was truly an interesting sight: stone peaks reaching upwards as though they were rows of teeth were covered in swarms of Hollows hurrying up and down as though a colony of busy Earth ants. Place at strategic intervals were Arbutus' plants, large, thorny and extremely mobile that would lash out at anything that came too close to them. On the ground, the space between the sekkisekki was almost completely covered by a thick cloud of sekkisekki dust.

Already, a new idea had been popping up into Cillian's mind and he could only hope that the Ternary and their new companions had not inhaled too much of the dust. It would take much more time and effort to get it out of their lungs, after all, and the organs were much closer to one's Hakusui, the source of spiritual energy.

For now, however, Cillian focused on the Arrancar leader that had stopped just out of his reach and croon at Salte. Resorting to evasive maneuvers and one-handed throws with unstable footing were starting to be cumbersome so he latched onto one of Arbutus' plants, using its vines to swing around the sekkisekki peaks. Though he remained impassive outwardly, Cillian was beginning to wonder if he should make use of his own Resurreccion to get this over quickly. It would deplete his stamina much faster, but it would grant him an extra appendage.

"Fosser, join me. I can offer you power and much more," he shouted to the cackling Arrancar despite knowing exactly what the fool wanted. The creature was a lost cause, being even more unhinged than his previous Segunda so he was making the offer more out of principle than anything. Slowly, Cillian was gathering his Reiatsu, tempering its emission so that he could charge it up.



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Arbutus watched as his plants fought valiantly to stem the tide of creatures, but he know it was almost at its limit. Fosser had not attacked with such force before. Granted if they retreated the plants of the rest his domain would whittle them away, but they were too close to the border to make much use of the defenses. Gripping his shears bu the joint, Arbutus wielded it like a Katar. Thusting and slashing in measured movements he shredded anything that came close. Gripping a nearby plant he uprooted the thing and let it grow onto his hand. The long thorny lashing vine flicked and rent the holllows so quickly, the old man was rapidly climbing a pile of bodies. Standing a midst the dust kicked up by the stampede, Arbutus knew better than to breath the stuff in, in fact he hadn't taken a breath since the fight started. He did not need to breath in the same way a living being ought to.

Salte was having the time of her life. Ricocheting off the walls, twisting and slashing, causing a rain of broken bodies and limbs. The flood of mid powered hollows could not keep up with her. She danced a midst the deluge of teeth and claws, rending them with a maniac grin and a artistic grace.

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Fosser was lost in a dreamy revelry watching Salte move, twisting and undulating like an exotic dancer of death. He sighed dreamily, "See that? That is all i could ever want," He turned back to Cillian, "As for power, I HAVE POWER! How could something from outside the forest ever hope to survive here? I have advantage of terrain and numbers. Even if they are a bunchof loser hollows, they have their usefulness eh?" Fosser cackled again, keeping out of reach as his army rode in, It appeared Fosser was planning to throw every last one of his forces at this group.
---

Arbutus cursed in an ancient tongue as the swarm only got bigger. His movements were fast and precise, tearing up the hollows like a combine. Then one latched onto his back, and another and another. Lashing them with the vine only opened room for more and the old man was covered in hollowsbiting and clawing. They continued to pile on him, crushing them with their sheer weight.

Arbutus was not happy at this situation, he could have easily brought down the army with a gran rey cero but that was useless here among the stones. He grunted as the pile got bigger, dragging his blades to his neck. It was like pulling through sand as each creature had to be crushed with his strength alone just to move a few meters.

"Snikity-Snak, my dear Eden" was faintly heard beneath the pile before it exploded outward spraying bodies all over. A mass of vines lanced out of the dust rising up and up, melding into the form of an 80ft tall humanoid. A crown of alter like branches adorned its head, a mantle of lichen draped from its shoulders. "FOSSER!" Arbutus roared. The hoard of hollows halted in their tracks, their primitive minds terrified by his voice. "RETREAT OR PERISH!"

All the plants in the surrounding area leapt from their perches and latched onto Arbutus' body, creating a solid defense against anything that tried to climb his limbs.

Joseph fired another Cero at Marta Nicole’s feet. She used her Sonído to bounce away. Where Joseph’s Cero hit the sand a blast of glass cascaded in the direction away from Joseph. That was his ability; to use her Cero to turn the sand into glass.

Marta Nicole used her Sonído to appear above Joseph. She aimed Adán at him as she crashed down. Joseph scurried away but, didn’t use Sonído so Marta Nicole planted Adán and pivoted around to aim Zyne at Joseph. She fired Zyne’s odd blue Cero at Joseph. Joseph took one step to the side and, one step forward. The Cero sailed passed Joseph and, he grabbed Zyne. Joseph tried to yank Zyne away.

Zyne cursed and, his voice came from the silver javelin, “Damnit! Lady!”

Adán screamed and, the yell came from the gold javelin, “Kick him in the head Mistress!”

Marta Nicole did just that. She let Joseph pull her forward and, aimed her feet at his face. They made contact even though Joseph tried to dodge the blow. The crack of bone filled the starless sky. The sound was quickly followed by a scream; the Quinta’s scream.

Marta Nicole fell to her knee. Joseph used Sonído to bounce away. He still had Zyne in his grip. He was charging a Cero using the hand that was holding Zyne. Zyne’s pain filled screams reverberated across both the chain connect him to both Marta Nicole and Adán and, the mental link they shared. Marta Nicole looked at Joseph in horror. Adán was speechless. What could they do while Joseph held Zyne captive?

Joseph smirked, “I should have thought of this earlier. Say goodbye to Distraction number one my love.”

Marta Nicole wasn’t sure what happened next. It happened in snapshots. Cracks appeared on Zyne. Joseph’s smirk got bigger. Marta Nicole staggered to her feet. She grabbed Adán and threw him while yanking on the silver end of her chain.

A shout filled the air, “Trinidad!”

She needed to save Zyne! Zyne was next to her. Adán was on her right. They were in their human form. She was pouring some type of Cero in to a wound on Joseph’s cheek. Joseph was screaming in pain as he slammed his own sword into his neck only to pull it out to drown in his own blood. Marta Nicole was falling to the sand. The moon was above her as her eyes slipped closed.

It was quite a sight. Adán and Zyne had their knees bent. Adán’s head was against Zyne’s knees and, Zyne’s head was against Adán’s knees. They created a circle. In the middle of the circle were their bent arms. Marta Nicole was curled into a ball. Her right hand was grasping Adán’s left one while her left was in Zyne’s right. The boys’ other hands were in each other’s lying on top of Marta Nicole. It would be clear to anyone that something had happened. The observer just wouldn’t know what.

Joseph was missing. There was only a blood pattern to indicate that another person had ever been there. The wind was quickly blowing away the blood soak sand.