The Return (Open)

He was back. It had been a long time, a few years now? maybe more. He didnt exactly enjoy the time he had been away, but he had to admit, it wasnt all bad either, especially seeming as if he had stayed, he may have wound up dead with everyone else once Aizen had been defeated. It was colder than usual at Las Noches, maybe it was just him and he had never noticed it before. Drake circled the great dark palace once more before taking the time to gently land. He decided the best place to land was on the plateau where the towers protruded from the great fortress. Once both of his feet were down on the roof he flexed his great wings slightly before elegantly folding them behind his back. They still stuck out slightly from his back and his clothes had to be modified so that they fit, but it was easier to move with them like this than unfolded.

He finally took a look around. It seemed that the roof had been damaged since he was last here, and it looked like several explosions of sorts had taken place on the roof. Drake took a few steps forward, brushing his hand against the rubble that was scattered around the roof still. His grey eyes looking over the destruction that had been witnessed around here. He had come here looking for someone, but at this rate he couldnt feel their reiatsu anywhere close to Las Noches. Thats when he had found himself close to the edge of the dome, looking out over the expansive desert all around the palace. It seemed that in fact the only reiatsu he knew around here belonged to another former espada, but it seemed she was not in Las Noches anymore. He sighed to himself letting out a small puff of smoke from behind his mask fragment when he noticed a reiatsu from behind him. He turned slowly, assesing this newcomer before addressing them 'And who might you be?'

"SOLIS-ANIKI!" Consuela yelled, breaking Solis from his deep, dreamless sleep.

"I'm damn well prettier than those unicorns!" Solis yelled as he woke up, blushing furiously as he realized what had happened. "Oh, Consuela... what do you want?"

"That's no way to treat your best friend!" She said, frowning in the slight manner that let him know that she was truly a bit offended. "I'm feeling a strange reiatsu near the dome... thought you might want to check it out."

She threw him his zanpakuto and clothes for the day, and that was when Solis knew he was in trouble. Consuela only throws things when she's pissed. Even more obvious, she didn't even offer to come along with him. She was usually attached to him like a dog to a bone.

Oh well... I'll make it up to her later. He thought as he sped across Las Noches. All that matter now was finding out who the hell this newcomer was. A wannabe recruit, maybe? Maybe... even from so far away, the reiatsu was quite powerful. As Solis stepped onto the dome, he heard the arrancar speak and smirked just slightly.

"I do believe that that's my line." Solis said, his deep voice and seriousness betraying the smile upon his face. He didn't even know if he was happy or serious, he just knew that there was another play-thing before him and that was good enough. He rested the wrists of his hands on his sai, not to be threatening, but because he wanted to pop the bones in his wrists. Once the satisfying pop sounded off, he cracked his neck.

"This is my home, I woke up just to meet you. Don't you have any manners?" Solis gave an honest smile this time, just to show that he was teasing. He rolled his shoulders and cracked his back, bending backwards, side to side, then finally forwards in a bow so deep that it had to be sarcastic. "Ohayou gozaimasu. I'm Solis Idasson. What is your business here?"

Solis rose again, looking the man in his eyes. He hoped to get this over with soon so that he could go back to sleep, he could feel his bed calling him from here.

Drake watched as the newcomer began talking to him, it seemed liked although they had just met, that Drake did not enjoy this arrancar already. Although he could tell that he was strong, an espada for sure, although he wasnt sure of his rank, he hadnt been around espada for a while. It then seemed like he made an elaborate bow to him, almost mocking him. They were definitely not going to get along at this rate. He narrowed his dark eyes as he studied the man in front of him. 'Solis Idasson is it? I havent met you before, i take it your a recent espada then.' He watched silently for a little longer, a short pause. 'Very well, I am known as Drake. I came here ..... looking for someone.'

He looked back out accross the great desert, a small breeze rustling his hair enough so that it completely covered his eyes. 'I have a lot of memories of this place. Although i was not entirely pleased with this place, it gave me some peace of mind.' He looked back towards the other arrancar, then back out towards to the desert once more. 'That is all you need to know. Oh and by the way, a word of warning in case that stance of yours is meant to be intimidating ...' He turned himself at an angle so that the right side of his neck was facing towards the other arrancar. He then slowly drew back his collar, slowly revealing his tattoo, the number 4 on his neck. He waited for the arrancars reaction as he slowly replaced his collar of his coat.

Solis smiled as he saw the tattoo, not in an amused manner, but more interested now.

"Let me explain. I just woke up, I do a little stretching every morning. Keeps me ready for whatever comes along." He said, laughing a bit and showing the right side of his chest, displaying the seven there. "If you decide I'm threatening you, make a move. I don't care what rank you were. If, on the other hand, you realize I can help you find whoever you're looking for..."

He paused for a second to touch his toes, happy that he was able to do so. "You'll calm down, speak the name, and I'll tell you where that 'someone' is, if I can." Solis said, still looking Drake in the eyes with a smile. "Your choice."

Solis did realize just how demeaning he was being, but it didn't matter. This man walked into his home and made demands, it wasn't his place to be polite. The ball was now in his court.

Drake watched without much interest as the espada revealed his own number. He had guts, he would give him that, and in all honesty Drake didnt exactly expect he was as strong as the current number 4 anymore anyway. He watched him a little more as he stretched some more. It almost sounded as if it was his fault he was awake. This espada seemed to be acting lightly annoyingly towards Drake, but he couldnt exactly blame him, the way he had been acting himself. 'I see, well believe me i am not one for fighting, I'm not exactly one for fighting arrancars or hollows especially.'

He decided to turn fully towards the espada now, facing him directly, while folding his arms and narrowing his eyes slightly. 'However, i still dont know if i should disclose that kind of information. However, i suppose as an espada you may know the location of .... Ulquiorra Schiffer? Although i would understand if you wouldnt want to cooperate, being a lower rank than him and all' He became slightly nervous. If this espada really did know about Ulquiorra, then after all this time maybe he would meet his old comrade again. He ruslted his folded wings slightly making a small rustling sound. The wind had now died down slightly on the great dome and the two stood there alone.

Solis listened intently, a bit curious to hear the former Espada's story now. Why on Earth would anyone be looking for Ulquiorra? The man was powerful, but he was utterly boring, always babbling about the futility of human emotion and blahblahblah. He found it even funnier that Drake though he wouldn't know Ulquiorra, while he didn't know all the Espada well, he knew them by sight and knew their ranks.

"It's good to hear that you're not here to fight. I wouldn't want any harm coming to my fellow Espada." He was kind of delaying when it came to telling Drake where Ulquiorra was, mostly cause he didn't know where the hell he was. As he attempted to find him, he smirked just a bit. "It seems that he's hiding from you... he's left his room and he's even hiding his spiritual pressure. I'm a bit curious about what goes on between you two now, so..."

Solis pulled a clone from his body, it blinked a bit erratically and then looked at him for an order. "Find the Cuarta Espada, please." Solis watched himself speed off towards the sands of Hueco Mundo, smiling a bit. "I'm a bit inefficient, so this might take a while. If you'll follow me..." He pointed off in the distance to show that he meant the him that just took off. "I'm sure you'll find Ulquiorra. Good luck."

Drake began listening intently as soon as Solis began talking again, but it seems he would be dissappointed, in that he didnt actually know where Ulquiorra was. Although he was intruiged by the fact that he may have been hiding. He couldnt tell for sure if he could feel his reiatsu at all, ever since that night ... But the fact of the matter was that he was at least here, and alive. 'So Ulquiorra, what are you playing at? You've obviously sensed my presence, so what now ...' He was thinking to himself, going over possible scenarios, so he wasnt paying much attention when suddenly, a clone appeared of Solis. As this happened, drake raised an eyebrow and let out a small puff of black smoke from behind his mask. He was actually slightly surprised at this intruiging ability. However, he still did not entirely trust the septima espada ...

'I'm afraid i do not wish to follow that clone of yours, or even follow "'you" in case the person standing in fron of me is the summoned clone.' The ability had been done while he wasn't paying much attention so it was possible they had switched places. 'This could well be a trap, and anyway, by my sense of things, Ulquiorra may have notced my presence here already.' He looked around the great fortress's roof, taking note of the five towers that rose in the centre of the domed roof. There was quite a lot of damage to them all, due to he expected a fight breaking out 'So if i may, i was wondering if i may take accomodation atop Las Noches roof. You needn't worry, im not here to cause the revered espada any trouble, and if you so wish, ill even try and keep my reiatsu down to a .... minimum.' He turned his dark eyes back to Solis.

"Tch... I'm not sure I can allow that." Solis said, for once ending his posturing and being serious. "I can understand you being wary and all, but..."

He ruffled his hair, a sure sign of the fact that he was honestly perplexed. It was his nervous tick, his tell. The moment when the jokes at the others' expense stopped and serious thought began. He attempted to sigh, but instead a yawn came out. He gave the man a sincere smile for once, deciding that he was tired of his own games.

"Fine. Do what you want. I'm sleepy, dammit." Solis looked the man in the eyes, keeping that same sincere smile to tell him that he meant business. "You cause any trouble here, it becomes my fault. My fraccion will be listening up to make sure you stay in line. If I have to come back here, you die. Nothing personal."

Solis shrugged. It had been an odd morning to say the least. He gave a short bow and sped back his room to go back to bed. Hell, he wanted his beauty rest.

Drake watched the strange man as he went from acting casually, to being somewhat perplexed. Letting out another small puff of smoke, he watched as Solis then took his leave, deciding to simply agree to allowing him to stay ... for now at least by the sounds of things. Solis then left, back inside Las Noches, leaving Drake alone atop the domed roof. 'Kill me huh? Espada these days truly are intruiging.' He spoke out loud once he had left earshot near Drake. Letting out another small puff of smoke from behind his mask he looked towards the five towers.

He then unfurlled his great black wings, looking huge compared to him. He flexed them both before crouching down slightly, then pushed down with a mighty force from his wings sending him soaring into the sky. In seconds he was at the top of one of the towers, where he dropped down gently onto one of the few ones that was left least damaged than the others. Crouching down slightly once more, he left his wings open, and against the night sky he looked like a dark winged figure, a black gaurdian over Las Noches. Of course however, he wasnt there simply to protect Las Noches,but it was nice to be back. At that point he lowered his reiatsu as much as he could, making it difficult for even people on the roof to detect him. 'So then, I'm back.'

Solis Clone crumbled into thin air as Ulquiorra penetrated the clones head with a jade green cero that shot out towards the horizon, clearly showing some kind of activity, Ulquiorra found it somewhat rude that Solis had sent a clone to find him, if he would have shown some kind of respect then he would have come on his own though he expected as much of the espada, Ulquiorra still hided his reitsu whenever he did not use any attacks, his reitsu had peaked out for a moment, but sadly this was no place to train his accuaracy on since he did not want to show his resureccion to anyone...

Ulquiorra stared at the pale white desert before him, his tail coat danced at every slight movement he made, and the breeze that blowed across the dunes, though at the moment he stood still gazing at the moon as if awaiting for someone, someone he never expected to see again, it would normally have been a touchy topic but not for Ulquiorra he had no idea of such emotions to start with but understood Drake better than perhaps anyone, The least thing he wanted was Solis to intercept their meeting, not because he would be embarassed, but because he felt that meeting him in loneliness was the best way to approach each other... It would probably not make much sense for normal people, but he was not exactly normal, yet there perhaps was a bond between the two of them, something Ulquiorra might not have even realized before now that is, he kept his arms in his pocket`s awaiting patiently...

Drake tilted his head very slightly, as if listening for something. For he had indeed thought he had heardwhat had sounded like a cero, not too far away either. But more importantly, was the reiatsu that had spiked out of nowhere at the same time as the cero. Ulquiorra. He hadnt sensed his reiatsu for quite a while now, but there was no doubt in his mind that it was him. He had finally revealed his position, on purpose or by design, either way it didnt matter, he was out in the desert somewhere. He began to wonder how exactly Ulquiorra would react to his sudden appearance. After all they hadn seen each other for many years but, they weren't exactly close friends as both had emotionless attitudes and detached themselves from others, they had developed a small bond between themselves, due to their similarities.

He swung his wing down with great force sending him flying into the air, before swooping round in a great arc. Since ulquiorra's reiatsu was hidden again he only managed to get a vague idea of where he was. As he soared through the night sky he saw a character standing alone below him. He tilted his wings so that he begun to fall to the ground, close to where the character was standing. as he landed he slowed himself down before letting his feet touch the ground, sending a small wave of sand in a circle around himself. As he wrapped his wings behind him he slowly walked towards Ulquiorra. He could see him clearly now he was closer, looking just the same as before. 'So then Ulquiorra, we meet again. It's been a while.' he spoke in his monotone voice, with the tiniest hint of surprise. He hadnt actually expected to find him so easily. He let out a small puff of black smoke and brushed his shaggy hair out of eyes slightly so he could get a good look at Ulquiorra

Ulquiorra had been observing Drake, and now felt him approaching him, good thing he had made his point, it attracted his attention, nothing more needed to be done, it was risky but he was making a gamble, He awaited in complete quietness he came by air, not a suprise there, he heard Drake land behind him, his tail coat started dance wildly as well as his hair but his helm kept his hair from getting too messed up, from the corner of his eye he gazed at him neither he had changed, he narrowed his eye brown slightly, at first he did not respond, he had a somewhat gentle glint in his eyes towards Drake, but remained calm and collected either way.

He wanted to say something but decided to stay quiet about the small talk he decided to go right into the point state your business... he said with a cold detached voice, while giving him a serious stare, both of his arms remained in his pockets, his shoulders remained stiff.

Ulquiorra turned to face him fully, they stood about 5meters from each other, he studied Drake his every movement, his speech and his voice suprised to find me here? it had been too long since they had met last time...

((OOC: soooo sorry it took so long to reply :S been kinda busy recently but here it is!!))

Even though his entrance had caused quite a disturbance around himself as he landed, Ulquiorra simply stood there, in fact he hadly even moved, if at all. Amid the slight swirl of sand he had kicked up it was hard for Drake to tell, but this wasn't of any surprise, Ulquiorra had always been one to hardly react even to the most surprising or interesting things, always staying calm and collected, evaluating everything that was going on at the same time. Thats why Drake had been interested in him when he had joined the espada, they were both quite similar. As he rolled up his wings behind him, and dusted himself off slightly hile regaining his posture, he looked back up when he began to talk, and as he turned around looked directly back at him. He hadn't changed a bit.

He decided to stand there for a little while, letting the silence drag on for a while. He wasn't quite sure what he had expected to happen when they met, after all it had been a while, so he just stood there. He then decided to answer back with an equally cold voice 'Well then Ulquiorra, after so long, why else do you think i would be here, unless you've forgotten.' He slanted his dark eyes towards the end and crossed his arms casually. A small stream of smoke creeped out from behind his mask as he paused for a second, before saying 'And in truth, i am quite surprised to find you here, i haven't sensed you for quite a while before now. And now i'm intruiged, it seems you have rejoined with the Espada.'

The sand was whipped up but settled quickly when drake landed, Ulquiorra found it odd that drake had returned it was not like there where any high espada ranks avaible, He was a bit unsure what Drake meant with that answer of his "Well then Ulquiorra, after so long, why else do you think i would be here, unless you've forgotten." memories beyond this where hard to find, since his "death" by the hands of Ichigo kurosaki, in fact there was a certain blurr in his memories that he discovered to be quite annoying slowly they where pulling together but it was a slow process, the reason why he could remeber drake was because it was so long ago since he met him, and the time that they spent together, was it for bad or good he did not care...

He listened to his second question he narrowed his eyes as he said that he had rejoined the espada? Rejoined? no.... i never left them in the first place... i simply died for the millionth time... he stared at him with potential seriousness as he stared at his mask and the puff of smoke that emerged from it, this curse was far worse than death itself... in a fight he often wished to die, weather this was intentional he was unsure, but it always seemed to end with regret... and then nothing but emptyness...

you said that i have forgotten something? what would that be?... if your here for a espada rank then im afraid that the higher ranks are already taken...

He remained as cold and emotionless as ever, simply standing there, hands in pockets, staring right bac at Drake. And then his next sentenced intruiged him, not rejoining but simply dieing. Ulquiorra had seemed odd to most but that was due to his demeanor and way he acted to those around him. But it seemed that it didnt matter at all to him, another insignificant fact of life that was natural for him to experience. And when he moved on from it, Drake was surprised at what was revealed to him by the one man who he had ever felt even a slight connection to. He didnt remember him, but there was something there, a glint of recognisation. All was not lost, however he couldnt stop his eyes from widening in shock slightly. But he shrugged it off, he recognised him, so maybe it would come back, unless he had misread him. It had been so long after all, maybe he didnt recognise him. So he let off another puff of smoke while sighing slightly and bowing his head for a second.

He moved his hands to his side as he looked back up to Ulquiorra. 'Seems you dont remember then, if you would ask me about joining the ... espada again.' He had hesitated slightly on the word espada. He didnt exactly hate them, but he loathe what in reality they were, and the fact that many arrancars had been turned into what they were by his hand. Now there was someone he did loathe. Aizen. But that was a different story altogether. 'Ulquiorra ...' He said while drawing out the name and pronunciation slightly. 'I cannot help you remember, if you do at all. But i will say, we understood each other.' He didnt know if it would help, or change anything, but he put it out there, and waited for his reaction to see if anything would happen.

Drake knew more about his past than what he let himself on, even if Ulquiorra saw trough this trick of his, what suprised him however made him slightly curious when drake meantioned that at one point they understood each other, his eyes widened slightly when he now gazed at him, Ulquiorra ended the eye contact by closing his eyes. Understood each other eh? he opened his eyes again with the usual ice cold stare, as blank as ever.

He wondered if this had something to do with the "heart" but it was not Ichigo who had taught him that it was someone else, there was something he was missing a memory... not a suprise there but also with drake... I see.... pity.... seems like, i still can`t remeber the purpose of the "heart" he off course spoke not of the real heart but rather the "soul" or "bonds"

(sorry short)

((OOC: sorry this took a while, been kinda busy ))

Drake watched as Ulquiorra seemed to take in the information, and what interested him the most was that he look surprised, his eyes widenening slightly. Even if it was just slightly with Ulquiorra it meant a lot due to his normally expressionless personality. However he quickly regained his composure and his eyes narrowed once more and lost any hint of expression. However in those eyes Drake saw he still didnt remember him, or their 'connection'. And as he was about to try and reason with him, he spoke once more ...

At which point it was Drakes turn to be surprised. He stood stock still, and cocked his head to the side ever so slightly, and narrowed his eyes at Ulquiorra. He had begun talking about the 'heart'. Perhaps then, in that case, there was something that he remembered. And although it was hidden by his mask, a slight smile touched his lips. 'Talking about the heart again, after all this time.' He moved his head back to its normal position. 'But where has this suddenly come from? I would have expected you to have forgotten you 'heart' the last time we had met.' He didnt expect him to remember, seeming as they never really had a last meeting once he had left the espada, but who knows, it could spark something off.

((OOC: by all means))

IC: Indeed... that`s the thing i can`t remeber... Ulquiorra glanced down at the ground he got a few flashes of a woman with orange long hair streching her arm towards him as he did the same, for a short moment Ulquiorra got stiff, what? what was that? or rather who?

Ulquiorra mentally sighed pointless... utterly pointless he had placed his left arm on his face covering his left eye, he then pulled his arm looking down at his arm then turning to look at Drake once more seems like you don`t have a clue... he pulled his left arm down zipping open his shirt and moved his fingers gently to his hollow hole and patted inside of it with his two fingers, he closed his eyes yet another flash revelead to himself I see... he zipped his shirt shut once more and stared at Drake for a final time we seem to be in a bit of a bind, don`t we...

(sorry short)

As Drake stood silently watching Ulquiorra, many thoughts ran through his mind. He watched and waited for any sign that reminded of the old Ulquiorra, the one that understood him, agreed with and the one who was the only person close enough to be called a "friend" in a way. But it didnt seem Ulquiorra remembered anything and he was still standing there, that same emotionless, cold expression, hands in his pockets and seemingly not caring about anything else in the world. But there was something, as soon as he had finished talking about remembering there was something, so slight and unnoticeable that drake wondered if Ulquiorra even knew he had let it slip. But it was over as soon as it had appeared and he began talking once more, about something being pointless and about Drake being clueless.

And he was beginning to think he was right, he had lost where this was going quite a while ago. He then began stroking his hollow hole. And suddenly a memory jumped to mind. It was just him and Ulquiorra, out in the desert. they had been talking for some time, about what was difficult to remember, but then in the memory Drake turned, and Ulquiorra was doing the same gesture. But Drake shook his head slightly and he was back in the present. All this reminiscing and nostalgia was confusing him slightly. Emotions and feelings rising to the surface. Another jet of smoke emerged from the mask and Drake flicked some hair from his eyes. 'Indeed it seems so.' He replied simply to Ulquiorra's final statement.

He stared at him once more, direclty at his dark, green slitted eyes, trying to percieve something, anything. 'I see.' he dropped his gaze to the floor and pondered a few thoughts before raising his head and moving his hands to his pockets. 'Tell me, Ulquiorra, who was it? Who was it that reminded you, of your "heart"? Dont try to hide it, i can read you like a book. Something ... happened.' He tried to push Ulquiorra into a corner by pressuring him with questions, risky questions too, to see if he would remember, if something would spark. It was a long shot as even if he did remember, he would also remember why Drake had to leave in the first place. And that wouldn't end well.

The obvious question came as he had expected he did not raise an eye brown at him, Ulquiorra closed his eyes Why are you asking this? Why do you insist on caring ? why are you troubled?... looks like you don`t know these answers yourself... or am i wrong?

He started to walk towards Drake with steady steps, walking towards him, past him and stopping around 5 feet behind him, looking at him now from the corner of his eye...

It was a human... He dissapeared from his view with a sonido as he had decided that this conversation was over, his emotions had vanished along Aizen`s experimental treatment on him, more durable hierro, segunda etapa, and even greater speed and strength... was a result of this experiment

He didn't seem surprised at all by his question, as if he had been expecting Drake to ask it all this time. He stood there as cool as ever, simply closing his eyes before replying back to his question. However he didn't give an answer, he just asked more questions on why Drake kept insisting. He began to get impatient and angry at Ulquiorra for these questions so much so that it might have been noticeable, if he had a chance to reply. Before he managed to answer he stopped himself, wondering. Why was he trying so hard to remind Ulquiorra of his past. It was obvious he had changed.

Therefore, he knew Ulquiorra had given up on him the second he walked past him without giving him a second glance. So there went the old 'friend' he once had, driven to a point beyond help by whatever force had changed him. Whether it was for better or for worse for Ulquiorra, drake didn't know. And no longer cared. He unfurled his great wings once Ulquiorra was behind him, planning on leaving once he had left. When he heard what he said. A human. Drake spun round as quickly as possible but he had already left with a sonido. He watched for a bit, just staring out over the desert. 'A human. Ulquiorra .... ' He let out the smallest of sighs before turning and launching himself into the sky.

With his great wings he could have caught up with Ulquiorra, but it was best to leave him alone for now. He flew high, before gliding out over the white sands. 'So then, it's over, but at least .... there's hope yet for your "heart" ' He smiled slightly, masked behind his white jaw. He had met with Ulquiorra, so now it was back to wandering the wastes once more. But Las Noches would never be too far away ..... just in case.