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[We are excellent at this.

Also, vaguely @Torrik -- despite the fact that Danny is a generally masculine name, it's a nickname in this case, and my character's a girl 3nodding ]

Suffice to say, Danny did not like the most recent turn of events. This entire situation seemed to be going from bad to worse, and, try as she might, she couldn't really see a way out of it. Open defiance earned the shinigami nothing but punishment, but complying with the arrancar's wishes didn't sit well with her, either. She tried to understand Haru's mild-mannered acquiescence to Kura's beckoning him over, but she couldn't ignore a small, ugly thread of betrayal from twisting in her chest. Whatever the outcome, their small, woefully outmatched team had to stick together and present with a united front.

But she wasn't close enough to Kura and Haru to hear their exchange. She burned with curiosity, but she had to believe that, whatever Haru had said or chose, it would be in the best interests of their entire team, not just a bid to save his own skin.

Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Natsuki abruptly vanish. The deft use of such a complicated kido was impressive, and she hoped that she might be able to escape. Even if only one of them survived this, at least they might be able to carry new to Soul Society of the renewed arrancar threat.

Her hopes were dashed in an instant as a new arrancar, one she had not noticed before, appeared in a trice and dashed sand into the air. The granules of sand settled over Natsuki's head and shoulders, tracing the outline of her form and giving away her position. The new arrancar's body seemed tightly wound, as if he was just barely restraining himself from attacking. Danny's hand went to the hilt of her tanto dagger, ready to leap to Natsuki's defense should the arrancar actually strike.

Maybe she need not have worried. Another shinigami of their group took it upon himself to talk Natsuki down, whispering furiously at her. Danny caught the words "shut up" and "stupidity," and she could guess at the rest. So much for projecting a united front.

Whatever Natsuki decided, Danny did not relax. The newly-arrived arrancar looked utterly indifferent, and that scared her more than either Satsu's deceptively boyish nature or Kura's cold, proud disdain.

A stealthy hand gave a hard slap to the face of Angel who grabbed her sand riddled invisible shoulder. She hoped it stung to. as the bakudo faded away finding no need for such a ruse anymore not with such a keen eyed arrancar hanging in the ranks. "Quick eyes..." she said nodding to the arrancar who had debunked her 'teleportation' act. her gaze became sharp as her eyes went to angel. "Don't touch me or talk down to me ever again you'll regret it dearly." she explained a clear tint of agitation oozing across her voice. "Did it ever occur to you that sitting by idley with thumbs in unmentionable places would do absolutely nothing in this situation, there is at least one who takes entertainment in our 'magic' tricks, wouldn't it be smart to appease more then one? The last I checked there was hardly any government to hollow and arrancar before and after Aizen, nay there was hardly a government then as well." She explained harshly her steely gaze not breaking from Angel's face. "If we are going to die then death will come, if it doesn't then it doesn't, tucking tail or not isn't going to change the end result it only affects how you fall." she finished with a huff before plopping down into the sand again no longer in the interest of trying to gauge the enemy. She did note the bit of unrest caused between the child and the armored women of the arrancar. a bala was certainly a weapon but in this backwards world it could just as well be a kiss or a slap on the hand. there was to much energy here to actually gauge any one individual nor would she have been able to pick out the energy of the captain who chose to make a stumbling entrance.

Kura felt the charging of energy slightly before she heard the bala begin to charge in Satsu's hand. It wasn't too powerful but it was threatening and the explosion that could potentially result from it was slightly dangerous. In this regard Kura felt she had to do something. Risking any of these hollows here or the Shinigami wasn't something Kura was really willing to go along with. Unlike Satsu who even though he called the shinigami his own property entirely did not care for them. He only cared because he'd perceived her as rude? It was probably because she'd decided to choke the one in the hairband half to death. She couldn't find herself blaming Satsu for being slightly annoyed but that didn't mean she was going to allow his dangerous behaviour.

"Sorry, Satsu." Kura said. Both excusing herself for denying him his fun and his tantrum. She moved her hand in an incredibly quick motion that would have been difficult to follow for the recruits here. Very briefly grasping the bala, wrapping her hands around the teal ball of energy and then redirecting its course into the air. Of course she had used more reiatsu than the attack had taken to redirect it into the sky by allowing her arm, hand and most of all fingers to move extremely fast but it was worth it. The attack was not especially powerful anyway so it wasn't going to wear her out. The bala was now directed at a seventy degree angle and she could safely continue her conversations without fear of a shinigami or hollow brother or sister being hit.

Kura was. To be quite frank. Not too concerned that someone had stuck their tongue out at her. She was in fact more concerned that an old, extremely brief, acquaintance had suddenly appeared and chucked a load of sand on an invisible shinigami. Well. It wasn't that concerning that the shinigami had turned herself invisible. She had seemingly forgotten she was standing on sand and that hollows came in many shapes and sizes. Getting used to the terrain and some of the advantages and disadvantages of it was what separated the surviving hollows from the dead. Kura gave a quick glance at Torrik when he arrived and threw a load of sand around only to state. 'Where did you run off to?' It was just a small thing she was curious about. Nothing pressing. She could wait until the end of time if need be.

Kura decided now to focus her attentions on Angel. His behaviour had been unusual. Smiling at enemies. Bowing to them. Sowing the seeds of dissent among his comrades. She would need to have a brief word with him about how he had been presenting himself. Perhaps he would be the easiest pray given how willing he was to please his captors. Yes. Kura had chosen her first target. However this time she was going to make certain that Satsu found no reason to get enraged. "Satsu. I would like to borrow your toy for a moment. The one who just got slapped round the face. Any objections?" She pointed her index finger on her right hand to the man who called himself Angel.

As Yasumeh made his way down the ridge he was slightly surprised to see little notice of him. He found that the bala shot was deflected and likely the reason his own presence had gone unnoticed for the time being. Within the group he began to make out a few faces, most he had never met but was able to recognize at least some of them from census reports. Still the lack of information made him make a mental note to try and learn a bit more about each in the future... that was of course if they survived long enough to have one. His observation was cut short as the trajectory of the bala suddenly changed from being directed upwards to coming directly at him. Luckily the constant bouncing of the thing had made it loose at least partial mass and thus likely some of it's impact power, none the less he certainly didn't want to be in it's way by the time it collided on his position. Yasumeh turned around on one foot, appearing to be confused of the direction he wanted to go, then suddenly sprang backwards landing on his upper back and allowing his momentum, the grade of the dune, and the blast of the bala colliding with the sand to send him partially sliding and partially rolling into the midst of the gathering, leaving his head partially buried and a sandy trail from where his body had ran it's course behind him or rather in front of him as he found himself on his back.

He stood with a groan, grateful the shot was sloppy and likely not intended to be targeted at him initially. He cracked his back and upturned his straw hat, letting sand drizzle out of it as his eyes appeared to be having a difficult time adjusting to the light of the campfire. Once free of sand he patted about his robes, seeming to be ignorant of the presence of the gathered individuals, before stopping in recognition of his gourd on the ground beside him buried partially in the sand. "Ah" he said retrieving it and uncorking it once more. As he began to bring it to his lips though his eyes turned to the Arrancar, then his head spun to the shinigami, "Oh? Oh yes, um, I have an objection to that. I think..." he began to say pausing as he raised on hand and counted most of the shinigami fairly badly, holding his fingers up as he did so, "Yes I'm pretty sure some... or at least one of those is mine"

When the female arrancar asked about where he had gone, Torrik was more than willing to answer the question at this point. Ignoring the other occurrences that was going around him, Torrik glanced back at the dune in which he had emerged from. His hiding place, which wasn’t entirely compromised, was still left unprotected regardless. It wasn’t the area he was worried about leaving: it was the person there. Now that he was out in the open, he was unable to protect the precious parcel he had obtained from the ruins of Las Noches.

Raising his arm, he signaled to Accapello, who was still in hiding but most likely within visual contact. Using a single index finger, he gave her the “come over here” gesture.

((From here on out, Torrik will be puppeted by Accapello for about a week. Sorry for my haste exit… I have stuff to do. -_-))

۞Angel Kotoshi۞

When the world is yours....

Angel looked over at Kura when she suddenly wanted to talk to someone....and he found it was him. He pointed to himself not so sure she wanted him, but sighed as he looked over at Satsu hearing his nickname. Maka-san. Wonderful. He let out another annoyed sigh, "Here I am trying to be quiet, keep people calm, and try and figure a way out of here. So far that has earned me a slap to the face." He mumbled to himself as he walked over to Kura and Haru. He bowed his head as he sat on the other side of her. His attention soon turned to a man that had seemed to come closer to the group. Angel couldn't help, but stare at the man with disbelief and growled before he covered his face with one of his hands, "The fool is drunk." He whispered to himself as he noticed how the man acted. This was who was gonna save them? Could he even fight? So many questions were running through his head at that moment.

.....what is left for you to take?

Chaos was beginning to unfold with the appearance of another King and yet another Shinigami. This was starting to get worrying. In a situation like this Kura couldn't ensure she would be able to keep her reiatsu under check and prevent it from interacting with the hostages or her allies. The presence of a Shinigami meant another thing. The Sereitei had already realised who the perpetrators of the act were and had responded. They were fast but that meant another thing. Their attack was sure to be rushed. The sight of only a single other Shinigami getting his body wound over a strange piece of machinery that the man atop it had presumably stolen only evidenced so further. This was not impossible to turn into an advantageous situation. The sentimentality and human aspects of Shinigami were sure to come back to haunt them. She had to wait a while before talking to Angel or Haru again. If the hostages were taken then it didn't matter how much she talked to the pair.

Kura had been briefly distracted having one eye on the Shinigami who had challenged her and Satsu and another on the King atop his human machine but now she focused both eyes on the Shinigami Captain, Yasumeh. She got to her feet and took her shield and halberd. Anyone who could get across Hueco Mundo on their own or could even break into such a place was sure to either have authority or special, potentially very dangerous, powers. No mercy could be spared when fighting with them. Kura had already formulated a plan that would deter her opponent from battle however.

"Do you plan to fight me?" Kura asked him. A genuine statement. She and surely he both knew that this situation would be better solved without the need for violence. Especially with recruits and lesser hollow around. "If you plan to fight me I will release my weapon immediately and eradicate everything that can't withstand my reiatsu." This wasn't so much of a threat as a promise. If Yasumeh was even remotely capable of sensing reiatsu he would know the fate that was sure to befall the hollow's hostages if Kura released her Zanpakto. She was also sure that he wouldn't be able to rescue all six hostages before her reiatsu swept over them all.

"Keep your sword sheathed. As long as you're willing to co-operate so am I." Kura said. Her feet were positioned so that she could immediately leap into combat but also so that she could block any incoming attack. Kura's only worry was that he was too drunk to realise what he was doing. If using hostages against him didn't work then she could only hope she could put him down.