The King of Hueco Mundo [Open]

Little feet tippy tapped across the sand, racing across silent desert, kicking up small particles which blew into the dead air behind. Shimmering fur bounced around on white bone, turning left to right looking for something to nibble on. It had been weeks, maybe months since this tiny hollow had found something to consume, its power hadn't grown in so long and it had such a hunger for more. He had been alone for so long, his lone sole wandering these empty endless beaches.

Suddenly everything went black, his mind turned off, but his little legs still moved, continuing to travel in his original direction. Minutes turned into hours, hours turned into days, he continued ahead. Suddenly his blue little eyes rolled back into his head and he took control of his body once again. Around him was a new environment, surprising for Hueco Mundo, somewhere described to be nothing but sand. Slabs of concrete scattered the area, massive mounds and hills of sand towered over this tiny little creature, making him look almost like an ant in comparison.

Curiosity took the lead, the amphibious creature walked ahead towards the main dome of sand in the middle, what looked like a door glistening underneath, inviting the creature in its direction. He didn't hesitate, skittering towards the door, conveniently left open by a small crack, his tiny little body just the right size to get inside. As he entered, what appeared to be a dome of sand turned out to be a massive concrete building sunken under the sand, Croocyt not even being the size of one of the tiles in the vast room that opened before him.

His eyes scanned around, his nerves beginning to rise as he was in completely unfamiliar territory, unsure of how he even arrived here. He began moving around the room, his tiny feet creating tiny echoes as they tapped, sand dispersing slightly from the roof above from the vibrations, even from such a small creature. He couldn't see or sense anyone or anything in his immediate surroundings, so he moved towards what to him was a giant set of stairs, leading up to what looked like a very cosy resting place.

Although it may be a small inconvenience to most, Croocyt being as small as he was had to put a small amount of effort into each step. Almost like a cat, he readied himself for each hurdle, arching his tiny back then leaping up, one by one. Thirteen steps later, the small creature now faced one last hurdle - a solid concrete chair. His little feet tippy-toed towards the chair, which upon closer inspection could be mistaken for a throne, but his simple eyes wouldn't be able to make that distinction yet. His tiny bottom raised, ready to make the leap up onto the chair, just as he done so, in the distance solid cylindrical towers began raising from the sands, in a circle around the outer area of these mounds of sand. Croocyt, oblivious to these towers raising, leaped from the ground and landed perfectly on the centre of the chair.

His eyes again blinked rapidly, coming in and out of consciousness, as he mumbled out the words "This... My chair. I like this." before curling up and falling asleep on the chair.

Cazador watched the lizard that came into the room curiously. It was currently on the upper floor playing with a pair of clamps that it was making a bear-trap like gizmo out of. It looked at the thing as it rolled its hands and made its usual clicking sound in something that was akin to acceptance. The little hollow seemed to have trouble getting up the stairs, but Cazador, being as large as it was, probably wouldn't have. Then again, Cazador also didn't care who was in charge, not like they understood it anyway.

It picked up another tool and went back to fashioning another trap as the small thing scurried. Cazador was probably the most threatening looking of the hollow, but it was very odd. Where as most others hunted souls and tried to gain power, it just took trophies and wanted to stalk and duel things. It had honor, but it just didn't seem to care about much else. It wasn't in the game for power, it couldn't be understood anyway. It made another clicking sound down at the lizard after it sat in the chair and fell asleep.

As far as Cazador was concerned, the lizard was now the king. It didn't seem to have any problem with this, it was work that Cazador would never want or care to do anyway.

It had been a delicious treat, this shelter, full of delicious meats provided one knew how to wait for them, and Angarya was nothing if not patient. Ever and anon, the fat lump of a Hollow had made its way back here to find those that desired rest from the sands. It was in that rest that they became the most succulent.

It is said that, if an animal is frightened at the point of its death, it toughens the meat. Despite not knowing this, Angarya had discovered long ago that this adage to be true about souls as well. Sure, a feisty and angered soul might be stronger than a weak and unsuspecting one, but strength did not equate to flavor, and the round blob of a Hollow hadn’t achieved its impressive flabby physique through harsh combat or grueling stresses.

No, Angarya was a scavenger, content to slowly crawl its way through the debris of run down structures in search of easy prey. The infirm, the worn out, those who are already wishing for death before it found them, these were its favored meals, and another such meal had presented itself. It was small, no larger than one of Angarya’s chubby forelimbs, but it had an interesting scent about it. Interesting scents often meant interesting flavors, and this one had thankfully recently fallen asleep.

With a sickening slurping sound, the giant sponge made its way over toward the tiny creature, propelling itself forward on its large two front claws. Its vestigial feet dangled behind it while its suction cup tail provided support and made a faint pop with each ‘step’. It approached the throne and got the suction cup lamprey mouth on the end of its tail ready to eat when it sensed something off about this creature.

It looked appetizing, it had acted boldly, and it had made itself the ideal food for Angarya. It was perfectly sized to fit in the secondary mouth at the end of the suction tip, but this was wrong. Nothing should be this easy or appealing. The small creature must have been bait, and Angarya had almost fallen for it hook line and sinker.

Sliding back a couple of feet, still very aware that whatever had placed the bait must be watching, Angarya attempted to press the little being that had assumed the throne for answers. ”Small thing. Big seat. Why?” it asked in a droning whine, the tail-mouth buzzing the same words coming from its Noh mask in a poorly matched and deeply unsettling polyharmony.

Rumbling continued in the distance, towers and sand settled around the area. The little creature only drifted out of consciousness for a few small moments before the leaping of the larger creature echoed through the dome. The axolotl stood up and arched it's back in a cat like defensive manner, a toothless mouth opened towards the creature hoover like creature. A hissing sound escaped the mouth of the now new king of hueco mundo,  commanding this new unknown entity to approach no more.

Accompanying the hissing, the dome began vibrating gently, as if obeying its new ruler, though it also could just be responding to a high frequency sound coming from the lizards throat - more sand cleared from the dusty dome, becoming ever most visible in the night deserts.

"Comfy. Chair. Mine!" the little creature hissed again, red energy threatened to form in his toothless mouth, as his body almost started vibrating.

”Small thing not too small for chair?” Angarya asked, backing away slightly. The lizard creature was quickly losing its appealing flavor as it got worked up. The soul’s zest would be ruined by this excess vigor, especially if it kept shaking so heavily. It felt like the little thing’s shaking was going to bring down the whole structure, and the energy coming from its mouth in particular seemed particularly unappetizing.

”No shake. Keep chair.” Angarya droned on, its tail mouth fluctuating as it both tried to speak and drag the fat blob further away from the throne. It wasn’t showing submission, far from it. Angarya had merely realized that this lizard might be the trap in itself, and it wanted no part in a small, fired up, and trapped meal.

It might have been folly, but Angarya also hoped that this display might stop the little thing from destroying the structure. It arrival and shaking had stirred the shelter that the Hollow had made into its preferred hunting ground, and it had no interest in sacrificing all of that for a single unappetizing meal. The lizard could keep its trap, so long as Angarya got to keep its trap as well.

Cazador laughed gutterally before clicking at the other two hollow as they talked. Cazador couldn't talk. Though it found things like this amusing. It looked over the bear trap and tossed it against a small nob on the upper floor and watched it clamp and clicked amused at it. It was getting better at making traps. Then it looked back down at the chair and the lizard and clicked at it.

It was basically trying to convey asking the hollow king what the hollow were doing. Cazador was most likely not going to do it but it never hurt to ask. It was more interested in finding things that it found interesting. Such as a king lizard defending it's chair.

The little amphibious creatures body continued vibrating so furiously, a little squeak emerged from his toothless mouth. "Big chair, more comfy!" the small king hissed at the hoover, vibrating ever more furiously. The red energy that had been forming in his mouth was turning from a shade of red to a shade of black, the space between the axolotl and other hollow appeared to magnify as if there was glass between them.

As it watched the apparent enemy entity back away in what it assumed submission, his imaginary heckles began to slowly lower back into his smooth hairless shimmery silver back. His toothless mouth and hissing began getting quieter and less persistent, the reddish, blackish cero like energy emitting from his mouth began dissipating, until the little creature heard a clicking sound emerge from the distance. The king clearly wasn’t aware that another of his subjects was present in the room. His imaginary heckles immediately raised, however this time, there were two enemies, the little salamander couldn’t contain his anger and the energy emitting from his mouth erupted outwards.

A rip in space appeared in front of him, completely black in nature, just perfect for the size of the fishy lizard. The vibrating little king squeaked violently, a yelping “Chair!!!” and collapsed forward, through the hole in space in front of him, disappearing from the room. Four tiny paw prints remained on the chair where the salamander stood, as the room let out what appeared to sound like a groan, as more sand shifted beneath, opening tunnels and passageways.

Croocyt had only been King of Hueco Mundo for what felt like five minutes, but he would live on in the hearts of many, some hollow could even be heard chanting his name in the distance, though to the untrained ear, it might just sound like a hollow shriek.

// Thread Exit

As the space between them began to warp, so too did the space behind Angarya. Its back mouth began to twitch and resonate at a pitch unsettlingly dissimilar to that of the small creature, but it proved unnecessary. The show of submission, as basic as it was, had been enough to calm the creature and make it get rid of the excess energy it had been gathering.

This did not last long, however, as Angarya’s subconscious concerns were quickly realized when the tall hunter made a noise and approached. Had this been the Hollow using the little thing as bait? Were they teaming up? Angarya had watched a few Hollow that had teamed up to take down bigger prey or formed temporary packs. They worked alarmingly well until one of them realized that their allies might make even tastier meals.

If they had been teaming up, Angarya might have been witnessing that breakup. It was hard to say who was the ringleader. The tiny one had spoken, which was often the mark of cleverness, but the taller one had been presumably watching in wait. Had the bait been in charge the whole time, trying to lure someone out to a place where its more physically powerful minion could deal with their meal? The gestures made by the tall one certainly didn’t seem to be subservient, though. This was all too confusing for Angarya, and it soon started convulsing uncomfortably at the sounds coming from the small one.

The fat lump flinched as the lizard vanished, turning its head and tail around in confusion as it tried to sense the spiritual energy of the little thing. Finding no traces, it looked back to the powerful hunter standing near it. Whatever just happened, Angarya wanted nothing to do with the chair lest it somehow agitate the small thing again. ”Chair creature gone. No sit chair,” it said in its warped speech, ”Leave for chair creature.”