Across Worlds - A Coyote Starrk Love Story

Chapter 4 - Stranger

Starrk pov:

Scratching my head with one finger, I stepped out of the Garganta and into the human world. I looked around the deserted place that, unlike Hueco Mundo, was filled with gentle warm sunlight, trees and a pleasant breeze.

The human world was a lot more vivid and noisy in comparison to Hueco Mundo and this populous town was what Aizen sama planned to use to create the King's Key. I wasn't even mildly interested to tour around the streets and look at the unique buildings that the humans resided in. After all, what's the point in seeing something that was going to be turned into dust in less than a year?

Aizen sama was a very powerful man. It wasn't just his fighting skills or his composed demeanor that we found impressive but his very presence and raw power. He had a reiatsu like no other I had sensed before. And it was most definitely even stronger than mine and all the other Arrancars put together.

Lilynette and I, having split our power between ourselves to escape the loneliness we always felt, met him only recently as we sat huddled together in the middle of nowhere in Hueco Mundo. Mountains of hollows lay in front of us, slowly disintegrating because they got too close to us. They were not even ten feet away from us but none of them could remain living under the pressure of our reiatsu.

The only one who had managed to stay close to us, yet not die, was Aizen sama.

He had offered us a place in his army, a chance to be around comrades without them disappearing from being too close to us. We had gone with him, desperate to be with others. Because of how high our reiastu was, we were given the place of the first Espada, the Primera. The power to lead the others, to give orders to the ones of lower rank than us.

That was not what we wanted though.

We had always envied the weak. They had a life that Espada like us could never have. Travelling in groups, being with comrades, not ever experiencing wretched loneliness. Or perhaps, Lilynette and I were the only ones who wanted such a life. We didn't care about power or control but merely wished to be around others. We didn't need to talk; just knowing that you're not alone would be enough.

Being with the Espada was different than what we had expected. They were comrades, true, but we just didn't seem to fit in like we had hoped to. It felt good not being alone and yet, something wasn't complete. The other Espada did what they wanted, not giving a second glance at the rest. We were all just a part of Aizen sama's army and that's how we stayed. Every man for himself.

And so, it was back to just Lilynette and I being together. We didn't socialized much and I almost always did what I liked the most – sleep.

And so the days in Hueco Mundo passed by in the same way it had always been for us. The atmosphere remained dark, dreary, forsaken and with nothing to look forward to.

"Ah, this is such a hassle. Where am I supposed to find what Aizen sama wants from here?" I muttered to myself, debating whether to go left or right.

Of all the people in Hueco Mundo, why had Aizen sama told me to come to the human world to get mugs for tea?

The only thing he seemed to be fond of beside the Hougyoku was tea. He had it often and even had all the Espada drink with him during any meetings that he called us in for. He thoroughly enjoyed the hot beverage whenever he had it. That was probably one of the human-like habits that differentiated him from hollows like myself.

The mugs that he usually used for tea had been broken by 'accident' and he wanted me, of all the hollows and Arrancar available in Hueco Mundo, to come to the human world to buy him new mugs.