Ichigo could see the castle in the distance, Las Noches, where the current king of Hueco Mundo resided. She had never met the Vasto Lorde that ruled over the vast land of white, black and gray but it was better late than never. It was much farther than it appeared, an illusion cast by the sands of Hueco Mundo. She had no use sonido to get there but she had nary an idea as to how long it took. Only the moon occupied the black sky. On the way there she passed a group off Adjuchas, a few larger ones surrounding a smaller one. When she stopped to observe them they stopped whatever they were doing to look at her.
"We should get out of here," one said. "She's a Vasto Lorde. She'll kill us."
"If we kill her we could become Vasto Lorde," another said; the smallest of the group.
"Even with all of us it would be impossible."
"I'm standing right here," she said, slightly annoyed. The larger Adjuchas made way for the smaller one a panther with blue eyes. He circled her in a predatory fashion, observing her. "Get out of my way Adjuchas. I have business to take care of."
"It's not Adjuchas. It's Grimmjow Jaegerjaquez. That is the name of the hollow that is going to kill you." He pounced on her, his weight pushing her to the ground. He went to bite her neck but stopped short with his teeth close to her skin. He could already tell her skin was too hard for his teeth to pierce, not without his teeth breaking. Grimmjow stepped away from her, still watching her. "Why didn't you dodge or fight back? Are you looking down on me because I'm an Adjuchas?"
"I don't look down on my opponents. I had no reason to fight you so I didn't." Ichigo looked over to the castle in the distance. They all followed her gaze and connected the dots. She stood and started walking instead of using sonido when she felt them follow her. It was clear they couldn't leave her be, probably going to watch her execute her task.
"You're insane for a Vasto Lorde, taking the place of the king of Hueco Mundo," the Adjuchas, whose name she learned was Di Roy Rinker, said.
"I'm not taking his place. I'm paving the way for the new king and every king needs a castle."
They passed many hollows on the way. They would stay away from the group because of Ichigo but the Adjuchas who followed her hunted them down and devoured them before catching up to her. When they passed a cave Ichigo decided to stop there to regain her energy. She leaned up against the wall and kept her eyes on the mouth of the cave. There wasn't much to see but she preferred to keep an eye on the entrance on the unlikely chance her ability to sense reiatsu should fail her. Grimmjow laid down a distance from her while the others lined up against the opposite wall.
"Who are you doing this for?" Shawlong asked her once they settled. "With your level of reiryoku you could easily take the throne for yourself."
"I had no prior reason to. I prefer to be alone and to occasionally kill a hollow or two to help out the smaller hollows who wander into my territory. Menos who don't heed my warning to leave are killed."
"Self-righteous bitch aren't you?" Yylfordt said sarcastically.
"I see no reason to allow them to starve."
"You still didn't answer my question," Shawlong pointed out.
"For Aizen-sama, I will do anything."
"Disgraceful," Grimmjow growled, "blindly following someone."
Ichigo looked at him with a thoughtful look in her eyes. "It is always dark in Hueco Mundo, Grimmjow. He was the only light I had seen that drew me away from my monotonous routine and gave me a purpose. I have always sought a purpose, something to call my own. I want to protect that light despite it being so dim."
