Welcome to Gaia! ::

Located north of Las Noches, it takes five days of walk to reach this peculiar location. As its name suggests, it is a dense gathering of tall rocks that can reach as high as 10 stories tall. They are so tightly packed together that, at places, it is impossible to see the sky unless one climbed onto them.

Although they may look like stalagmites, they are in fact a natural source of Sekkiseki Stone, a type of material that eats away at one's Reiryoku until Hollows would become no more than deformed beasts. Still, the local population isn't one to take for granted. For generations, they could not rely on Reiatsu, so they've all but cast aside the notion of it and survived on their physical abilities alone and can even give Espadas a hard time since they have the advantage of terrain. Shifting of forms such as Resurreccions and Zanpakuto releases are available, but all Spiritual Energy-based powers will be disabled.

It is said that a whole week is needed to cross this formation of Sekkiseki mainly because of how dangerous it is and its labyrinth-like layout. Oddly enough, the deeper one travels, the less thinner the population of local Hollows can be detected.

Marta Nicole landed next to Cillian. Her boys landed behind her; Adán to her right and Zyne to her left. The introduction of the Ternary’s spiritual pressure was sure to cause the swift arrival of several other Naturals; none of them were people wanted to see.

Marta Nicole answered the Cera’s question, “How far? We are already there. The entire Forest of Stones is the Naturals battle ground. The real question is how long it will take them to respond. We should also wonder how they will respond.”

Zyne told the Cera, “I wouldn’t climb to high Cera. You’ll upset the high dwellers.”

Adan cursed, “Damnit! Too late!”

Cillian had awoke a pack of monkey like Hollows. The screeches filled the air. If the Naturals hadn’t known they had visitors they did now. A trio of the mindless creatures flew towards the Ternary. Adán’s and Zyne’s naked blade moved I perfect harmony. As one they each destroyed the one after them and, then turned to destroy the one after Marta Nicole. Marta Nicole had watched the battle with a disinterested expression and posture.

Zyne looked at Adán with fire in his eyes, “What do you think you’re doing? I can take care of the Lady?”

Adán scoffed, “Not as well as I can. Leave the Mistress to me?”

Marta Nicole cut of the traditional argument before it began with one word, “Joseph.”

Zyne scowled, “I’ll beat you bloody later brother. After Joseph is dead.”

Adán smirked, “Agreed brother!”

Marta Nicole turned to Cillian, “If we want to meet Naturals we do need to deeper. Don’t climb to high.”

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A high-pitched scream forced Cillian to avert his eyes upwards. The welcoming party had arrived though he was slightly disappointed by its size. He pushed off with one hand while keeping the hold he had with his left hand and feet so that he was back to the vertical wall of sekkisekki just as a trio of apish beasts rushed past him on their way down only to be effortlessly exterminated by the Quinta's twins. Cillian thought he had heard a name, Joseph, coming out of Zyne's mouth and he carefully stored that piece of information away for future use. Meanwhile, he had a herd of monkeys to take care of.

Golden eyes narrowed dangerously as one of them charged at him, taking care not to drop lower than necessary and meet the same fate as its companions at the hand of the Ternary. The beast was slightly bigger than the rest, having a rather imposing stature and musculature, and displayed impressive agility. Still, there was no coordination in his attacks and a trained and experienced fighter such as Cillian had no trouble reading them.

When the first swipe of sharpened claws reached him, Cillian let go of the Sekkisekki stone to grab onto the creature's arm and pulled it downwards in freefall. He manoeuvred their body so that he would use the creature's body as cushion when they landed in a cloud of smoke. "Hm, I really wished these were strong enough to carry us around the Forest of Stones," he sighed while giving the unconscious Hollow's mask a few taps before concluding, "Too brittle." Between the armor he was wearing, the softness of the sand and the Hollow's body, Cillian had not received any damage from his fall and got back onto his feet, dusting his face and clothes so that he did not look like someone had poured flour all over him.

"Do these Hollows have a leader?" he asked the woman that was his guide. "If it is the Naturals, than I would like to kill 2 birds with one stone." The herd of Hollows had ceased their screeching all of the sudden, looking down at them with uncertainty. It would appear that they were most comfortable in the air and had no confidence when it came to a ground battle. Still, the would be most useful in the walls of Las Noches as a secondary means of surveillance. Their original goal was the Naturals, especially a handful that had caught the Quinta's attention, but Cillian was not one to squander opportunities that unexpected and unknown variables were.

Finally, the herd of Hollows appeared to have made up their mind and took off, longing the border of the Forest of Stones as though to look for more intruders. One of them stumbled upon a familiar female figure and immediately let out a screech to alert its companions. It wasn't that the woman had wronged them in the past, but like a flock of red-billed quelea taking flight at the passage of a wildebeest in the African savannah, the primate scattered in all directions, sending rocks and sand tumbling down the Sekkisekki jutting from the ground, to avoid the natural Arrancar.



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Salte blinked as the blade flashed across her throat. This boy was a quick one, she blinked and frowned as he leapt away again confused. She joined the small crowd on the sand "Well yeah, I know him. He is my master after all." Salte stood on one leg and crossed her arms behind her head. "Master is the one that helped me become like this." She said indicating her self. "I've been her for the last 200 years or so, most of the naturals don't bother me anymore."

Her eyes glinted and she spun into a low stance and pointed at them, "But don't think i'm weak! You'd be hard pressed to catch me here, outside you would only eat my dust!" Her bright eyes and matching grin stayed on her face for a moment before she giggled and danced away into the maze of stones, leaping of the walls like a pinball. "Following the leader, the leader, the leader! Following the leader wherever she may go!" She sang in a happy singsong tone. "It's off to the Old Man's house we go!"

Marta Nicole shouted, “After her!”

Marta Nicole had always been the fastest of the Ternary so despite the fact that the use of Sonído was limited she was off like a shot. The girl already had a head start because she had just taken off. However the girl seemed willing to lead them to Arbutus. Marta Nicole would take what she could get.

Adán couldn’t wait to see the Old Man. Arbutus was the one that had introduced him to plants and, the care of plants. He had built his conservatory using specifications that he knew the Old Man would approve of. Every time he managed to collect a new seedling or cutting he thought of the Arbutus. Out of all the Ternary he was the most eager to see the man who was practically the oldest Arrancar.

Zyne was not a fool and despite their outward squabbling cared for Adán the same way Adán cared for him. He knew what the possibility of seeing the Old Man had done to his daytime twin. He also knew that Marta Nicole had to eager as well. As a result he took it upon himself to guard his small family. He kept one eye on their surroundings and, the other on the Cera. Hopefully things with Arbutus would go well. Zyne had to admit that he was entertaining the notion of the Old Man and, this girl return to Las Noches with them.

The Ternary rushed after the bubbling girl that had to be a good balance for the Old Man. They landed where she landed; it wasn’t wise to land elsewhere. Who knew what traps would activate if they landed elsewhere. It became a line: the guide, Marta Nicole, Adán and, then Zyne.

Adán called out, “Is it much further?”

Zyne’s rebuke was gentle and completely ignored, “Patience brother!”

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Despite the Natural's optimism, it was easier said than done. Knowing the path and learning it was the tricky part. All the sekkisekki peaks looked, making it neigh impossible to navigate by sight alone. There was no landmark except for the general direction of Hueco Mundo's sand to use for reference. The path the brunette had pointed out was exceedingly easy to miss.
Cillian stopped there, looking around to make sure he remembered even the tiniest detail of this location. He had been trying to map the area in his head, using Hueco Mundo's moon as reference, but when travelling on the ground in the Forest of Stone, one could only occasionally catch a glimpse of the dark skies. It was incomplete to say the least, making it only useful as a back-up plan so Cillian wanted to make sure he could remember the specifics of their current location. Because of that, he did not detect the presence of a large quadruped Hollow that attacked Salte. He did, however, get to see the woman easily repel the attacker with an odd flail-like object. A zanpakuto!

The beast was not over, however, and quickly rolled onto its feet with a snarl and whipped out a long tail that ended in a sting. Curious as to whether or not the canine had enough intelligence to better assess the situation, Cillian did nothing more than raise his armed hand, backhand facing the creature so as to display the sharps edges of his own zanpakuto, a metallic claw enhanced with a curved blade jutting out at his second knuckle. That along with the Hollow bone armor he was wearing and his usual detached demeanor in the face of danger gave off a clear challenge to the attacker: "Do your worst." Was he being overconfident? Definitively, considering the difference in size between the Hollow and he, but the Cera was one that also enjoyed mind games and psychological warfare. Though most likely winning in savagery and brute strength, the Arrancars still had experience and training on their side. Besides, the Ternary was also present so they clearly outnumbered the beast. "A friend of yours?" he asked Salte, curious as to her history with this particular Hollow.





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"He's just one of the bigger cattle here. Always picking fights, gets stomped and come scrawling back." Salte stated, waving her Zanpakto around. The shaft bent and swayed one moment as if made of cabling, the next it was stiff as steel. The sound of the weapon was so strange, a sort of 'thwip-whoosh' and the movments made quite the distracting noise.

After the trio had chomped on the monkey-dog Salte's mouth twitched into a rather disturbing grin. Leaping forward almost as fast as a sonido she blasted the head clean off the beasts shoulders. The head slammed into the cliff face and hung embedded in the rock. Standing on the beasts shoulder as it slowly fell she inhaled deeply as the life essence shot out its neck. It swirled into the vortex created by the lanky arrancars mouth where she swallowed it with a gulp, burping cutely.

Hopping off the dead creature, now fit only to feed the lesser populance of the rocks, she waved the others to follow her into the off shoot trail. "This way, This way!" she said cheerfully, almost blissfully unaware she had torn a monsters head off in one stroke of a blunt weapon.

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a short distance from the junction, the rocks began to open up. Spaced wider at the ground level, angling in created a naturally hidden cavern. One word was carved into the stone above the grotto, "Arbutus"

The grotto itself was a marvel, a stunning creation of nature. An open ring with a collection of plant life littering the rocks. Even a small waterfall fed a small pool that fed the plants. Small hollows no bigger than birds and lizards from the human world skittered here and there, disturbed by the new comers. "Grandpa Flower! I'm back!" Salte called across the glen. "And I brought company!"

From behind a cleft in the rock a tall figure stepped out. Almsot twice as tall as the rest of the assembled arrancar. Dressed in white with red sleeves, the man approaching them looked like his title deemed. A weathered and wrinkled face framed by long white hair. His chin hidden by a well kept beard and mustache. The visor of bone across his brow marked his heritage. "Salte dear, did you finally take care of old Belathor?" He asked, his voice deep and resonant, slow but full of might. Arbutus froze when his eyes locked on the new comers. Arrancar to be sure, and four at a time. His gaze went from the sandy haired man in armor, whom he could sense held great power outside the effects of the rocks, to the three that moved in formation behind Salte.

His eyes widened recognition blasted his memory. "By the root and branch.... Can it be?" He whispered, kneeling down to one knee to draw closer.

Marta Nicole eyes flashed around the grotto. It was like stepping into a memory. Not long after the Ternary had become Arrancar the three of them were pushed from the Natural Arrancar’s territory. The Naturals couldn’t comprehend why anyone would want to be around others; much less make companions. The Ternary had wander until they had found a grotto much like this one. All three of them had to admit the beauty and, had felt at home amide that plants that didn’t belong in Hueco Mundo. Adán had fallen in love.

It wasn’t long before Arbutus stumbled across the intruders in his domain. The Ternary had been struck by his height and age. Zyne and Marta Nicole had been convinced that the other Natural was about to kill them. He didn’t get the chance before Adán began to beg Arbutus to teach him about the plants. The Old Man had laughed and agreed.

He later told Marta Nicole that he never planned to kill them; just to run them off. He could tell that the Ternary were unnatural in their desire to be together. His plants were unnatural too and, he had drawn a connection between the two. Besides he could tell that the Ternary was young and, that they didn’t want to hurt his garden. They didn’t need to die. For a time the Ternary lived with Arbutus and were happy. Then the intruder came with the intention to destroy both sources of unnaturalness; the garden and the Ternary. The garden burned and, Arbutus had saved the Ternary.

Adán began heading towards the Old Man but. Marta Nicole beat him to it. Without pausing to think and, to the shock of both her boys, the back of her right hand made contact with his right cheek.

Marta Nicole’s voice was heavy, “Adán mourned you! You were his mentor and, he mourned you! Zyne noticed your absence and, he mourned you! I mourned you! We mourned you!” Marta Nicole’s voice broke, “We thought you dead. We mourned you and, Adán’s heart broke.” Marta Nicole asked, “How could you do that do us? How could you do that to Adán?”

Adán spoke up, “It is nice to see you Old Man. I missed you.”

Zyne nodded, “I missed you too. Not as much as Adán but, I still missed you.”

It was clear that Adán had already forgiven Arbutus. It didn’t take much for him to do so. The grotto was all that he need. Just the knowledge that the Old Man was alive was enough for him. It would take a bit more for Zyne. His brother had been hurt and, that was not easy for Zyne to forgive. Marta Nicole couldn’t decide if she wanted to forgive. Adán had stared off into space for three days when the Ternary had come to the conclusion that Arbutus was dead. However she could tell that her blonde had forgiven him already. It was not an easy decision for her to make.