Departure from the Street of Pillars [Open - Invasion of Soul Society]

The small King was gone, but its presence had been felt. From the second it had sat its tiny lizard butt on the throne, something had changed around the nearly deserted castle. It was subtle at first. A few extra Hollow here and there, a slight uptick in screams as some unlucky sod was consumed by a stronger opponent, but those small increases had gotten downright impossible to ignore after long. Whatever was happening, more and more strong souls had been showing up, and that meant competition.

Angarya hated competition. It made everyone on edge, which quickened the blood and tainted the flavor of a soul. They needed to be calm. A relaxed soul was a nourishing soul. If it fought back, how much energy would need to be wasted recovering? It simply wasn’t worth the effort, but where ought a Hollow go to escape this nonsense?

Angarya was getting ready to try its luck on Earth when it came across them. Two colossal souls were doing battle, almost evenly matched blow for blow. It didn’t want to draw attention to itself. Either one of these monstrous creatures would have been able to crush Angarya, and though it might be able to run, who was to say that it wouldn’t run into more of this elsewhere?

Plus, they were having their battle to the death on Angarya’s favorite departure spot. The fat little blob could punch a hole in space pretty much anywhere, but there was just something nice about the ground they were facing off against each other on. It was flat, sand-free, and even had a stable foundation. The pillars that lined the sides of the spot enhanced the view and provided a convenient hiding place should another Hollow be walking by. What more could anyone want?

And so Angarya watched their battle completely motionless. It didn’t move when they slashed apart one another’s flesh with savage claw strikes and bites, nor did it move when one sent a massive beam of energy from its mouth. It merely waited.

That patience eventually paid off, with both Hollow landing their killing blow on the other nigh simultaneously, collapsing onto the surface in heaps of defeated meat. It could leave and try to find food elsewhere, but there was fresh food here! With a sickening suction sound, it crawled forward, examining the struggling creatures as they attempted to regenerate their wounds.

Positioning itself between each Hollow, Angarya laid down on its fat stomach and extended its lamprey tail to grab onto the chest of one while the Noh mask on its face set to work bloodying itself on the other. The meal was less appetizing than Angarya had desired. The two had worked themselves into a fervor fighting, but they still had an abundance of raw power.

Still, much like a morbidly obese man trying to take the Harold and Kumar White Castle challenge, Angarya set about going through the soul equivalent of a table loaded full of greasy sliders. What they lacked in flavor, they more than made up for in potency, and the cones on the lump’s body began to vibrate with excess energy taken from the two defeated warriors. Angarya longed for sweeter meats, a purer flavor that was both untouched by strife and unexpecting of confrontation.

It was at this subconscious thought that the tear began to form. It was small at first, but it soon widened to take up a massive swath of land outside the castle. Fueled by the energy taken from the pair of dying Hollows and directed by Angarya’s picky gluttony, the opening solidified itself with a deafening screech, its resonance carrying Angarya’s signature buzz throughout the halls of the castle and the nearby dunes.

It didn’t know where the hole would lead, but somehow Angarya knew it was to a place with better pickings than this. It would finish its meal and then explore the opening. Even if the souls tasted awful, it was still going to eat them.

No ice cream if you don’t finish your veggies.

Cat was displeased. Stupid loud, angry, big and ugly thing had scared him. Cat hated when the lesser things scared him. Why couldn’t they feed him? That would be easier. That would be better. A good idea. This was why Cat was so smart. No one else had brilliant ideas like him.

So preoccupied by his own genius the small Hollow paused as he realised that there were Hollow everywhere. Big, ugly ones, some strong and some weak. Where was he?

Glancing up at the huge dome which encompassed the area the Kitty frowned with annoyance. This was new. Everything was supposed to be sand, sand and more sand sometimes with rocks. This was not sand. What was it?

The feline beast sat down, tilting its head, as it observed the structure which appeared far from pristine. Not like Cat’s fur, it was perfect of course much like Cat himself. He wondered what put it here. There was something strange about this place. It was filled with Hollow, filled with violence and filled with hunger. Rare did their kind gather in these numbers but there was something else. Something older, deeper and either enticing or terrifying. Cat couldn’t work that last part out. This place was important though, it knew that instinctively.

Moving close to the ground Cat, using it’s superior intelligence, utilised it’s small size to slide past the much larger beasts. In many places they sat as if waiting for something but in others there was violence as hunger overwhelmed reason. Inevitably the victor, injured, would be attacked by another and another. On and on. Stupid big and ugly. Cat would never be so foolish.

Cat waited for a while and when, eventually, he caught one group slaughter themselves until a single dying Hollow reamined. Cat pounced and playfully cut up the dying creature with it’s paws, finding enjoyment in the suffering until it finally died. With a mental shrug Cat began to consume the half a dozen corpses. It nibbled all six, although only consuming small pieces of each, and was feeling rather full and sleepy by the time other scavengers began to show up.

Walking off lazily, leaving the ugly ones to eat his leftovers, Cat sought somewhere to rest. Weaving around others it saw a seat, a throne of stone, and eyed up thoughtfully. No it looked uncomfortable and dirty. Disgusting seat not worthy of Cat.

Turning instead it sensed… something. The Hollow wasn’t sure what it was but it felt familiar. It felt like falling through darkness. Setting off full of curiosity, sleepiness forgotten, the feline ran off in the direction of the strange feeling.

Eventually it saw the ugliest of the ugly things lying near a tear in the air, a portal of darkness and Cat realised it was the same thing that had brought him here. If he went through would he go back to the easy place or would he go somewhere worse? It was a big decision, best to think about it.

Sneaking closer to the ugly thing Cat tilted his head. Unlike most of the uglies, and this was definitely ugly, it didn’t scare Cat. A dull droning sound emitted from the thing, probably from the holes, but the sound made Cat feel tired.

He should sleep and think about what to do next.

Without thinking Cat leapt on top of Angarya and walked around in a circle on its fat back. It wasn’t that comfortable and it smelt bad plus it was ugly. But better than sand. Sand got fur dirty. Lying down on the thing Cat closed his eyes and growled softly.

“Ssshh.” he demanded with annoyance trying to fall asleep on his new pillow.

Kaami looks around in confusion. He was at his home with his new friends ready to be with them till they to went away. But he went through a dark hole and is in a new place.

He has noticed a lot of prey that he has hunted before. Far more then one would expect. And since he was already full he ran around looking for his friends. The joy when he shows them this hunting ground will be great. But sadly he is unable to find them.

No matter how hard he looks he just can't find his home. After a while of searching he sees to massive prey kill each other. And while he does not care for eating them he sees something in the distance that makes him go towards where they fell.

Seeing two of them that are about the size he would expect except for one that is far smaller and on the back of the other. He finds a hole similar to the one that brought him here. Giving a whining bark in confusion he gets ready to.go through. After all if a dark hole brought him here another will bring him back.

Muralla's 'lips' curled back in a grimace, baring her fangs. Idiots... her entire race was full of idiots. Dim witted brutes who spent all their time fighting. Why couldn't they follow her example and just take it easy?

Her tail lashed outward, stinger shattering another Hollow's kneecap as his foe came in for the kill. She plodded along leisurely, avoiding most of the carnage. In her mouth she held a discarded limb that she was savoring. Everywhere she looked, Hollows killed one another over a chair. Or at least, she thought they were fight over the chair. It was the only thing of interest in this place, after all.

She wasn't sure why. Most of them couldn't even sit in the chair. She, of course, had a reason to be here. A very good one: to feast. The violence here was so severe most Hollows simply killed then moved to another battle. It was easy to pick off bits here and there. Sure, a few stray attacks came here way, but they bounced off her hard spines or were redirected by her tail. As long as she stayed near the walls, she was relatively overlooked.

So, the wolf-like Hollow managed to circumvent the room, nearing the chair. She came here because the food was most potent the closest to the chair. And she wanted to eat her fill of strong food in preparation for all the energy she'd need to waste to go to that world populated by the... um... the Hummus. The Hummus were common prey. Not as good as her kin, but far, far easier to acquire. Other than the sheer effort it took to reach their world.

But, oddly enough, Muralla found no food at the chair. Instead, she found what appeared to be sentient, regurgitated food. And on its back, what appeared to be a living clump of hair. A strange noise got her attention, as Muralla saw yet another of their kin approaching.

"All these bastards here... Shouldn't you all go die or something?" Muralla growled, her jaws snapping shut and splitting the leg in her mouth into pieces. Though, the portal in the air was convenient. She wouldn't need to open one herself to go get her Hummus to eat then.

Why were there so many traps showing up lately? First the lizard king and now this feline thing? Angarya had been so taken up with feasting on the corpses of the two Hollow that it had completely missed the creature until it landed and got comfortable on its back rolls. The cones gave an eerie hum as the cat moved among them, their droning working in luring it to sleep, but there was easy prey and there was far too easy prey.

Something was wrong with the Hollow in its back, and though it ought to be an appetizing meal, Angarya had learned the dangers in going after such a juicy morsel when it had confronted the tiny creature that had occupied the throne. It lowered the intensity of its vibrations at the cat’s request, causing some of the edges of the rip in space to shrink in, but they remained stable as the fat lump finished its opportunistic feeding.

It missed the first wolf creature walking up, but it did not miss the second. Thankfully, the subpar food was all but gone, allowing Angarya to turn its Noh mask to the newcomers. It turned its head to the portal, then back to them, then back to the portal, and finally back to the one that seemed capable of speech. With the sound of a hog snorting, the fat blob’s lamprey mouth extended toward the rip in space. It smelled akin to a delicious open grill covered in well marinated meats. Strange, exotic seasonings wafted into the lump’s brain and caused it to salivate slightly at the thought of what lay on the other side.

”Food hole,” it buzzed out, the cones on its back vibrating in contrast to the words coming from its twin mouths, ”Somewhere different, better meats.” Angarya was not sure how it knew that there was better food through the portal it had opened, but it innately did. Somehow, the fat blob’s hunger must have been made manifest from the spiritual energy of the two downed combatants it had just finished feeding from.

”Not living place, not here. Not time to die,” it droned, flopping along gently toward the opening in order to not disturb the cat and get itself raked by its razor claws. The lamprey end gave another snort of approval at the smells coming from the other side. There was a lot of food over there. Angarya needed that food and, though it did not want to share with the others that had appeared, it did not think it could handle a fight against all three of them. With flapping jowls, it addressed the speaker again. ”You come? Much food.”

Cazador clicked at the group as it put a number of traps on its body and checked it's sharp bony protrusion before growling. Cazador could talk, but it choose not to at all times, it got its point across plus then it was never familiar with anything or anyone. Unlike the others, now talking it simply waded up to the portal and stepped through as the others were talking.

It clicked back once and stepped into the portal wondering where it was now going as more of an afterthought than anything else. Other hollow were seemingly more intelligent than Cazador simply because it felt disinterested. It was much bigger than the others and was fine with that as it found itself being whisked away to another place.