Departure to the Dunes

"Why is the snow white?", That question resounded in Koga Tensei's young mind the rest of the night. No answer would come to him no matter how hard he thought, so finally he gave into sleep. He arose early the next morning and met his squad at the doors to the Temple. Renge and Haruko were having a shouting match over why there are no real trees in Hueco Mundo, a totally pointless topic, yet Koga knew that those two would fight over the color of the sky if it came down to it. He ignored them, instead he began looking for Seireitou, who wasn't present yet.

Within another hour, Seireitou had appeared at the top of the gate pillar. "Hey guys. Sorry I'm late, just got lost on the road of life~" he justified his lateness with.

Both Renge and Haruko continued arguing, but pointed their fingers at Seireitou, sending him telekinetically flying in a comical gesture of their rage. Koga just shook his head and smirked.

Seireitou appeared a few seconds later, a slightly annoyed face carved in his facial expression. After all that was said and done, Ken'ichi also showed up, yawning alittle. Seireitou clapped his hands together joyfully, "Alrighty! The gang's all here. Now then, Haruko-chan. Open up a Garganta and let's get goin'."

Haruko nodded silently and opened up a large Garganta and leaped in, forming a path as she walked. Soon after, Renge and Koga leaped into the Garganta to follow her.

Arrival in Hueco Mundo
As Seireitou and Ken'ichi also entered, the group had ran on reiatsu trails that led them to the far end of the exitting portal, as the five jumped out. The white sands of the depressing stronghold of the Hollow was as pale and dry as always. Seireitou walked out a few feet, a large structure caught his attention in shock. "What the...-" he eyed Las Noches, a structure that he and Ryan Getsueikirite supposidly destroyed in their fight long ago when Sei turned traitor. "-how is... How is Las Noches still standing, in mint condition?" he asked.

Koga was also shocked, but not nearly as shocked as Renge and Haruko. "Impossible. Absolutely impossible. Las Noches was destroyed years ago. To rebuild a structure of this size in such little time...." Renge exclaimed.

Seireitou sighed, and closed his eyes, "We have company." he stated, as he bent his knees down just alittle. Two newly-met Arrancar had flashed in front of the five intruders, staring down them.

Renge, Haruko, and Koga's eyes widened and they quickly gripped thier blades, "Crap! When did they-?!" Koga exclaimed.

The first Arrancar was of middle height, bearing a large blade in his hand, as the other one was tall, but didn't seem to be holding a weapon. Seireitou smirked, "Judging by their reiatsu levels, I figure Koga can handle this one alone." He then spoke up, "Koga! You got this one." he called out.

"Just my luck." he thought. With one telekinetic push, he sent the Arrancar sprawling several feet into the dunes away from the group. "That should do." With that, he launched himself over to fight the beast.

Both Arrancar took the full brunt of it, though the tall one had used a reiryoku barrier to shield most of the brunt of the attack. The medium-height one had drawn his Zanpakutō, ready to do battle with Koga. Seireitou had kept watch, and narrowed hie eyes, "Something's strange here... Arrancar don't attack unless provoked... or ordered... and not only that, but if someone ordered them... why didn't they ambush us instead of making them known...?"

Koga v.s. the Arrancar
Koga drew his own blade, causing it's sheathe to burn up. "Here we go." he muttered softly, attacking the Arrancar from the side. The clash of blades rang out in the night skies of Hueco Mundo.

As Seireitou's group witnessed this collison, a sudden appearance of another Arrancar is revealed behind Seireitou. The latter quickly turns in shock to see this newcomer, in absolute shock, "What the...?! He slipped through my senses?! That was no Sonido..." he roared in his mind.

Renge leaped in between Seireitou and the Arrancar and shoved the latter back, preventing him from harming the group leader. He also drew his zanpakutō, "That was almost too quick." he thought.

The Arrancar stared down at Haruko, and disappeared. He soon reappeared a few feet away, holding Haruko over his shoulder. "I'll be borrowing this." he claimed. Both Seireitou and Renge drew their blades, prepared to cut down the Arrancar, as the latter teleported away, both of their attacks hitting nothing but the sand. "He... got away...!" a shocked Seireitou began to think. The Arrancar battling Koga had been defeated within that same moment.

Koga reappeared at the site of Seireitou and Renge, "Darn it! I didn't make it in time." he cursed. "Haruko-chan..."

Seireitou stood silent and closed his eyes, "I don't get this... the enemy's actions thus far seem ridiculous... Why would they kidnap someone even when we have enough reason to enter Las Noches...?" he pondered. Ken'ichi stepped up, and scratched his mess of a hairstyle. "Perhaps whoever our enemy is, wants to give us a reason not to ask for backup..?" he questioned.

"No." Koga said, putting his zanpakutō back in it's place. "They have turned our mission back on us. We wanted to lure them to us, and now they want to lure us to them, by using Haruko-shishō as bait."

"In any event... we'll need to infiltrate the building now." Ken'ichi confessed, looking at the others. Seireitou resheathed his sword, and smirked, "It's quite strange. I was expecting this new Arrancar leader to be more easy-going... to put a plan into action so quickly... they must be threatened by our arrival."

Koga narrowed his eyes, "Perhaps. Either that, or they want a group of Seijin to test themselves with. Let's pray that it's your idea Sei, and not mine." he said walking to the top of one of the dunes and looking out at Las Noches. "What's the attack plan." Renge asked, turning to Seireitou.

Seireitou looked into the sand, "Those Arrancar were able to approach us completely void of alertion. They must have used tunnels near the midway of the Menos Forest and Hueco Mundo's horizen. Therefore, I recommend we split up. Me, Koga... and Ken'ichi, Renge. Me and Koga will take the high ground, you and Ken'ichi take the low ground."

"Understood!" both Koga and Renge shouted at the same time, getting with their appointed partner.

The Split: To Las Noches We Go!
The two groups took their leave, as Seireitou and Koga began their rush for Las Noches.

Renge took Ken'ichi and leaped under the dunes, heading for Menos Forest. Meanwhile, in the dunes up above, Seireitou and Koga were also on the move. "Ugh..I doesn't matter how far we run, it doesn't seem to get any closer. That thing must be absolutely tremendous!" he yelled. As he ran, his robe flapped and a vague outline seemed to surround him as if linking him to a person long dead.

Seireitou's eyes journied to Koga, witnessing the similarities between him and an old friend, resulting in a smirk on the former's part. Seireitou payed heed over to the structure and halted. "Koga... tell me something. Do you know any barrier kidō?"

"A few, why?" Koga asked, halting his movement despite Las Noches distance from them.

Seireitou grinned softly, hiding a hand behind his back. "Prepare one, and one that provides alot of ricochet action." he suggested.

Koga slapped his hands together and within a few seconds, green energy radiated around the two Seijin, encompassing them in a giant green barrier with several support barriers. "Fire at will, Master." he shouted over the roar of the energy.

Seireitou smiled, and held his leg back, then kicking the front of the barrier with an impressive kick, propelling them at an incredible rate toward the large structure.

The momentum forced Koga back yet he still managed to scream, "Epic horse race!!!" at the top of his lungs before falling backwards on his head.

Within the seconds they had flown, they crashed into the front gates of Las Noches. "Whew... We made it." commented Seireitou.

Koga picked himself out of the dunes and dusted himself off, "You see. This is why they don't give you a driver's licence when we go the Real World."

Seireitou stood up, not before laughing at Koga's comment. He walked over to the door and knocked comically, "Anybody hoooooome~?"

Ambush
A Cero blast interrupted Seireitou's comical entrance. A group of Gillian-class Menos had emerged from the sands, lead by a barely humanoid Arrancar which was headed their direction. "Great." muttered Koga, drawing his blade once more.

Seireitou looked over to the Arrancar and smirked. "Koga... you take care of the small-fry. I'll take care of the tough guy o'er here." he planned.

Koga nodded and flashed off into the middle of the group of Gillians, "Don't worry. You all won't burn for too long." he mocked the roaring group of mindless Hollows as he began his attack.

Seireitou smiled softly, disappearing as he reappeared in front of the presumed leader of this ambush. "Well well, looks like I got lucky. Tell me, Arrancar-san... Who's your leader?"

The Arrancar smirked, as if he was sure he would win, "Since you will probably be Hollow food after this, I will give you a hint. He is the only one in Soul Society whom was known to receive and even give physical beatings to and from Genryūsai Shigekuni Yamamoto and barely feel it." the Arrancar said, drawing it's sword. Meanwhile, Koga was blasting Menos Grande with his Akenami blast, incinerating one after another.

Scratching his head at this, Seireitou thought for a second. "Oh...? That strong huh? Well, perhaps it won't be as easy as I originally thought." he pondered. He drew his Zanpakutō, and held it up, aimed at the Arrancar.

The Arrancar scoffed and fired a large red Cero at Seireitou. Koga had finished with the last Gillian and now turned to watch Seireitou's battle continue with the weak-leveled Arrancar.

Making a swift motion, Seireitou tilted his blade off to the right, as the Cero reflected right off of it, crashing into a dune of sand, the sand falling down like an avalanche, surrounding both Seireitou and the Arrancar.

The sound of the roaring sand muffled the sound of the Arrancar shouting it's release command. When the sand stopped falling, however, a giant lion-like figure stood before Seireitou, using sonido to close the gap and fire a point blank Bala at the silver-haired Shinigami.

Quickly responding, Seireitou immediately sidestepped to the right, though the sudden bala chipped his left shoulder. As he backed up, he let go of a nonverbal Kidō that trapped the Arrancar, freezing him in his tracks. "Yare Yare... So quick to rush in, you are." he commented.

Suddenly the Arrancar was cut in two, causing an eruption of blood as it dissolved into thin air. Behind where it was just standing, was a tall muscular Arrancar with long blueish-silver hair. "How dare you attack Sora-sama's guests." he muttered to the now dead Arrancar.

Appearance of a New Arrancar: Introducing the Arrancar Five
Seireitou looked up at the newcomer, and sighed softly, "Looks like... the big leagues have started their move..."

The large Arrancar folded his arms as his long hair blew in the harsh desert winds, "One Shinigami. Two Shinigami." he began counting. "So there are four of you here. Two here and two in the Forest of Menos." he mumbled to himself, observing his two guests. "I suppose you've come to our fortress for the girl. Well they certainly sent the wrong crew. One of you hasn't been so responsible with saving certain female teammates in the past, have you?" the large Arrancar asked, seemingly glaring at Seireitou through his mask.

A sudden jolt of anger, fear, regret, several negative emotions jolted through Seireitou's heart in one instant. However, quickly faded away. Seireitou narrowed his eyes at the Arrancar, "W... What do you imply by that, Arrancar?"

"You know full well, don't you, Kawahiru." the Arrancar mused, shocking Koga with his knowledge of Seireitou's name. "Ah, yes. My master told me all about that Shiori girl. Made it sound like it was your fault too. Why would they send a failure like you to come and save this Seijin woman."