Hueco Mundo: the realm of the hollows.
A desolate wasteland with an endless dessert above an enormous system of caves and various other quartz formations.
The only colors one can see here are white, black and various mixtures of the two.
Or at least it used to be like that.
Now somewhere at the base of a quartz tree that dwarfs the others six hollows can be seen squatting around something that, in sharp contrast to everything else around here, possesses an actual color.
Indeed, from the mound of sand on top of which the tree can be located emerged a tiny sapling that is nothing more than a stem and a pair of leaves.
The plant is not even green, both the leaves and the stem have a bluish color that contrasts sharply with the rest of the environment.
Everyone is bewildered by the appearance of actual plant matter, obviously none of them encountered anything around here before.
"What the hell is this?"
You ask but you are quite sure no one will be able to answer you.
"It's a plant!
Don'tcha know?"
And that was the moment when you finally punched Dondochakka in the face, not too hard but enough to make him fall on his ass.
He stands up and dusts himself off only to say the following.
"I deserved that."
"Yes, you did."
You didn't punch him because of what he said, you punched him because you knew that he was going to say this and because he knew that you knew and still said it.
"Neliel, you are the senior hollow around here.
Have you ever heard about anything like this?"
You point at the flower, still desperate for answers.
She ponders for a couple of moments, her hand touching the lower end of her masks teeth where you guess her chin is.
"Never.
In fact I've heard only an obscure rumor once regarding plants in Hueco Mundo.
Supposedly the self entitled king of Hueco Mundo, Baraggan Louisenbairn, was the one who turned the entire realm into the wasteland it is today."
German Hollow Quest 13
"Damn.
I've met his goons once.
I guess it's a good thing I didn't pick a fight with him if he is that powerful."
You think about those two adjuchas that threatened to kill you when you arrived here.
"Do you think that this rumor is true then?"
"Hard to say.
But after seeing this? Perhaps."
Even that doesn't explain much however.
All you've managed to figure out is that maybe there were plants in the distant past, but not how this thing got here.
"Wait a second..."
You look up towards the tree and at the entrance of the little hole you've made before.
"Did you guys move me around when I was unconscious?"
They all look at each other and start shaking their heads at the same time.
"We didn't want to risk opening your wounds Boss.
Why?"
"I wanted to move you once because I kept tripping over your tail but it was too much work!"
Pesche butts in on the conversation.
"This plant sprouted at the spot where I was lying for almost two weeks."
You begin moving around the sand surrounding the plant, slowly clearing it away and what you find underneath shocks you.
Previously there was only hard rock under all the sand but now you find soft ground.
You grab a handful and show your open palm to everyone else.
"Well I'll be...
Actual dirt!"
Even Alex managed to comprehend what you wanted to show them.
"Not just dirt!
This texture, density, porosity, consistency and temperature...
This is high quality soil Boss!"
What he failed to mention is how rich in spirit particles the soil is.
Either it's this highly concentrated in the ground by default or the plant itself was collecting it.
That explains why this plant is blue and not green, due to how little light there is in Hueco Mundo it seems the plant is using the ambient spirit energy to survive.
But while the others are amazed by this rare material you actually have an epiphany.
Without the others noticing you, you back away from the base of the tree and walk away from it.
After reaching the desired location you start digging through the sand under you.
To anyone else it's just a random spot but for you it's the only logical explanation that you can come up with.
Either you are spot on or completely crazy but you have to confirm your suspicion.
After digging a bit deeper than before you find it again, soil.
You feel like you've struck gold as you raise both of your hands above with the dirt in them.
This was the spot where you've dropped a large pile of mucus before.
You can see Neliel staring down at you as you are kneeling in your little hole.
"You look quite happy there."
"I've figured it out."
After you climb out you explain to them what you think happened.
And true enough, there is only rock under the rest of the sand.
"Good job Kaizar!
While you might be a shit fighter you are at least a decent farmer!"
Pesche keeps slapping your back as he makes snarky comments about your apparent agricultural gift.
But this gave you another thing to worry about.
So what do you do now?
>Try to spread vegetation by covering large areas with mucus.
>Focus your attention on the single plant.
>Figure out more about this before you do anything else.
>Kill the plant, you don't want to draw attention to yourself.
>Other?0 (write-in)
wew lads.
>Try to spread vegetation by covering large areas with mucus.
Drawfag ere'
About to go to bed.
My computer has been sawing open its intestines with a rusty scalpel for a few days now, but if it decides to play nice tomorrow, I'll draw some shit as usual.
At this point I wouldn't be surprised if the computer just straight up died though.
Here's a WIP for Alex adjuchas.
>Focus your attention on the single plant.
>Focus your attention on the single plant.
Lets make sure we don't make triffids first.
Looks good mang.
You figure out what the problem is yet with your computer?
>You figure out what the problem is yet with your computer?
I have had this exact problem for three years (since I bought the parts). I have completely reinstalled everything 3+ times, so I doubt its a software problem.
The hardware (graphics card or motherboard) is fucked, I think.
It has gotten much worse lately. BSOD's and such from photoshop and scrolling down a screen.
Growing a single plant wins.
>Writing
Now all we have to do is find a clever way to pipe the water from the deep rivers to the surface. For aesthetics.
Where'd everyone go?
Lurking most likely. It will pick up in a bit hopefully.
...
You decided that focusing your attention on this single plant would be the smartest thing to do.
From what little knowledge you still have of plants is nothing short of terrifying, after all there are certain plants that are more dangerous and terrifying than many animals.
So you began nursing this tiny piece of vegetation and watched it grow slowly day by day.
During this time when you weren't actively taking care of the sapling you worked on maintaining the camp itself.
The others also lent a hand in whatever was necessary so you could easily rotate the tasks around as to not bore anyone with repetition.
Your daily routine got reduced to "watering" your plant, hunting for food, reinforcing the camps perimeter and sometimes digging further into the quartz tree itself.
All of this work was naturally taxing on you, but at least taking a nap felt all the more satisfying after all of this work.
Of all the people Alex was the most excited about all of this, not only did she have dirt to roll in now but she took a liking to the plant and made a tiny fence for it from fallen quartz branches.
The daily grind almost made you enter a zen like state where you didn't even notice the passage of time and weeks just simply blew past you, immortality sure makes keeping track of time hard.
But thanks to your attention over the span of this time the tiny plant actually matured and became a small, fruit bearing shrub.
And thankfully it's not a flesh eating monstrosity.
At first you didn't even notice it bearing fruit but as they grew in size and actually turned from blue to white they became quite hard to miss.
Now all of you are sitting in a circle outside the trees entrance.
In the middle is the round, white, tomato looking fruit and everyone is just staring at it.
No one is brave enough to actually give the fruit a try.
"Hey Dondochakka, why don't you take a bite first?"
Pesche asks.
"W-what?!
Me?"
Oh no.
What
"Of course!
You have giant insects in your stomach, right?
What'd a little poison do?"
"I guess you're ri-" He begins reaching for the fruit. "Wait! Poison?!"
He freezes mid motion and begins sweating profusely.
Naturally that is a big concern, the fruit could be poisonous or it could be simply inedible by hollows.
Both of these situations could have quite dire consequences and no one is really willing to give the fruit a taste test because of it.
"I guess I should eat it.
I'm the biggest, so a little poison wouldn't do much, right?"
Pesci asks nervously. It doesn't make a lot of difference how big he is if the toxin is potent enough.
"How can be such an idiot Pesci?
I should be the one who eats it, I have the fastest metabolism here!"
Alex quickly shuts him down.
"I think I'd have to try it.
I'm the only one that should be exposed to such danger."
Neliel also wants to boldly sacrifice herself.
What's going on? A second ago none of them even wanted to touch the thing and now they are arguing about which one of them gets it?
All of this bickering is making your head hurt.
>Give it to Dondochakka.
>Pesci can have it.
>"Hey Alex, you can have this treat."
>Fine, Neliel can do as she wishes.
>Take the fruit while they are arguing.
>Other? (write-in)
I'm sure it's perfectly healthy. This is how we'll get sadbat on our side. Whenever he shows up we'll give him some of our hollow axolotl mucus borne blueplant fruit.
>Take the fruit while they are arguing.
First take first serve!
>Take the fruit while they are arguing
Kek
>Take the fruit while they are arguing.
Are we becoming less resistant to bickering as time goes on?
>>Take the fruit while they are arguing.
Taste the fruit of your labor!
>take the fruit while they are arguing
HA! Now we will enjoy the fruits of our loins!
>Take the fruit while they are arguing.
>Other? (write-in)
Replace the fruit with a mucus ball hanging in roughly its shape when we take it.
That way it will take longer for them to notice.
please migrate
Rolled 7, 9, 8 = 24 (3d10)
>Writing
That roll wasn't for us, fuuuck
I swear spooky just rolls at random to spike my adrenaline.
"I've had enough of this!
Fine, I'll sacrifice myself!
Goodbye cruel world!
I hope you guys will cry at my funeral for not stopping me!
Also, Dondochakka gets dibs on my corpse."
With that Pesche snags the fruit and takes a large bite of it, except when he does it explodes onto his face.
"What?!
Ewwww, this is gross!"
He says while his body is covered from head to toe in slime and it keeps dripping off of him.
And as he is looking around he can see you standing up in front of him, fruit in hand.
You didn't need to chew it much, the fruit was ripe with juicy goodness and the sweet liquid trickled down your throat almost by itself.
After swallowing the bite you throw the fruit to Pesche who is still confused about what just happened.
As he catches it you form a globe of mucus in your hand and give him a sly grin.
"You...
That's disgusting!
How could you do this to me?
I'm scarred for life now, knowing I just munched on your "juices."
"You took too long.
Now take a bite of it for real."
He observes the fruit from up close now that the interior can be seen.
It's quite fleshy with lots of sweet nectar inside, despite this he still doesn't trust you after what you've just pulled off.
But he gives in to his curiosity and tastes the fruit for himself.
"I-it's...
SO GOOD!
Oh God! I almost forgot what actual food tastes like.
I feel like I'm going to cry!"
And then he promptly erupts like a fountain with tears of joy.
The fruit wasn't simply good, it was amazing.
It seems the tiny plant was absorbing the ambient energy and somehow condensed and strengthened it somehow.
In any case, the fruit is not simply edible for hollows it seems to be superior to anything you've eaten before with maybe the shinigami as an exception.
The others pass the fruit to each other with Pesci being the last and all of them seem to be more than satisfied with the results.
"It's simply mouth-watering.
Kaizar we have to make more!"
It seems Neliel shares your excitement
>except when he does it explodes onto his face.
Yiss.
Also; We faction building now? We could get dozens of hollows on our side with this. Hopefully not just the lazy ones.
You took the rest of the fruits and began planting the seeds into your newly expanded garden after enriching the soil and setting up the fence.
But while the others took care of the planting itself you decided to do a little experiment and closed off a small piece of land that you began treating with your mucus, hoping that another sapling would pop up just like this one did.
It's still bothering you just where did the first seed come from.
"We're finished Kaizar.
All the seeds were planted."
Neliel came to you after they finished the sowing.
"But I have to say, this slime of yours is nothing short of miraculous."
"That's what I'm still worried about."
"What do you mean?"
"I wasn't aware it can do things like this.
It just doesn't make sense, it's supposed to heal people."
"You really have no idea how it did this?"
"Well, I have two theories.
One is that a seed was intact under the sand, perhaps embedded into the rock itself and my mucus simply served as nutrients for it."
"That seems plausible.
What's the other?"
"It's a bit crazier.
You said that this Barragan was the one who turned Hueco Mundo into the wasteland it is now, right?
What if my mucus "healed" the plant that was ground to nothing but dust and then "healed" the ground around it as well?"
She seems to be a bit concerned regarding this information.
"I've never heard of such power before.
Then again, I can't imagine how Barragan managed to destroy Hueco Mundo."
She looks back at the crew whom are celebrating the good work.
It seems she is happy with how things are going.
"So what's the plan now?
This place won't be hidden for long if we start making plants."
She is right, the blue color will reveal you from miles away.
>It's time to get stronger and defend things if needed
>Try to hide yourself somehow.
>Invite other hollows and amass an army to protect the place.
>Other? (write-in)
>>It's time to get stronger and defend things if needed
>>Invite other hollows and amass an army to protect the place.
>>It's time to get stronger and defend things if needed
We need to boost the groups' over-all power before some enemies show up.
>>It's time to get stronger and defend things if needed
Then maybe
>>Invite other hollows and amass an army to protect the place.
>>It's time to get stronger and defend things if needed
>>Invite other hollows and amass an army to protect the place.
Time to build a farm! A hollow farm if you will.
>It's time to get stronger and defend things if needed
>Invite other hollows and amass an army to protect the place.
Well, if the both of Us reach Vasto lorde we should be more than a match for king spooky. So I guess it's time to hunt
>>>It's time to get stronger and defend things if needed
>>>Invite other hollows and amass an army to protect the place.
Offering folks the Vegetarian option to cannibalism, I can dig that
It also tastes DIVINE, which is a big plus.
I wonder when the quartz tree will come back to life.
>It's time to get stronger and defend things if needed
Big tree, might take a few years.
>Writing
We have time. We're building a World(tree).
This land is peaceful, it's inhabitants kind.
Welp. Time to find some fluffy tail.
Well Alex is a fuzzy little hollow...
...hm
yep
this will work out
Drawfag has been putting a Moonlight Greatsword glow in her tail too, so we know what kind of weapon it would make.
Go to containment board moron
Yeah hey Spooky we really should move this to /qst/ before a mod takes action.
Changing tactics now huh? Since your posts are getting deleted.
Trial board, so we still got awhile on this board
Don't reply to them, just report them and hide their posts.
Honestly I'd rather just crack on with the quest.
You try to think of a way to assure your safety but nothing outside the obvious comes to mind.
So you shake your head and turn to Neliel.
"I don't think there is a way around it.
We simply have to get strong enough that no one will be foolish enough to attack us."
"That's easier said than done."
"I'm well aware.
But simply the two of us won't be enough."
You turn towards the four goofballs as you said that.
Neliel slowly starts lowering her head trying to avoid looking at them.
"You're right.
So, how do we do this?"
"I might have an idea."
The two of you then tell the plan to your friends who all agree with you.
"We'd all like to become stronger as well.
Frankly, I'm tired of being a burden to Lady Nel."
Pesche expresses his concern.
"And don't forget about us!"
Alex speaks up as well.
"Alright you guys!
If you accept me as your trainer I'll make sure you get stronger.
But I don't want to hear any complaints after I start!
You got that?"
"Yes, sir!"
The four of them salute at once.
What followed was a brutal training exercise filled with blood, sweat and then more blood.
Each of you formed into pairs and began ruthlessly pummeling each other.
After someone got beaten senseless they got healed by you and then all of you switched pairs, this ensured none of you got used to fighting the same person.
In addition you've employed several strict training regimens in order to build up their constitution.
Also you and Pesci began teaching the others about employing their powers in more creative ways.
Whenever you started to feel hungry the two least exhausted hollows went out to hunt.
After a while your diet got diluted with the freshly produced fruits and over time it completely replaced regular hollows since it's better tasting, safer and more nutritious.
There were several changes due to this extreme exercise.
Most notable is that with the exception of Alex, who is a gillian now, everyone reached Adjuchas level.
if everything DOES go tits up and you'd rather stay off /qst/, you can always move to anonkun.
Ignore the troll, Report and move on.
We're going to need artfriend to draw adjuchas pesce and dondochaka at some point.
Jesus, moving on I guess.
Fortunately, Nel is covered.
The horizon draws ever closer.
Shit, these fruits are like steroids.
damn, that is some good fanart
You know, considering how fast just eating these damn things is making our growth that might be the reason old man skelly went genocide on the place. No Rare candy fruits for evolution he gets to reign on top in security. Added bonus his rot powers were so strong he would have got their anyway without the rare candy fruit he probably used.
Arrancarfighter is a best. He's even got decent secunda etapa's of all of the Espada but Nel, and he might be working on her.
We should find a weak ass hollow forcefeed them our fruit and then eat them also can we eat our own mucus
Makes sense.
"It's not fair!
Why is it that you guys got to turn into adjuchas?
I was working just as hard as you!"
Alex is crying once more about her current stage.
She is probably only this irritated due to her size.
"I've told you Alex, be more patient!"
You try to scold her for not letting you relax.
All of that soul crushing training combined with all the farmwork each of you have to do can leave you very exhausted and relaxing under the shade of the quartz tree has become a routine for you.
And the farm is coming along nicely, the shrubs produce food quite fast so you don't have to worry about starvation.
In addition the patch that you started as an experiment also yielded some interesting results.
A small tree began to grow after a few weeks of careful nurturing and is growing at a noticeable speed, you're hoping that you can make an orchard once it starts to bear seeds.
"I'm telling you Dondochakka, we have to make a hammock once the trees get going."
"But I want a treehouse!"
"Sigh, those two never change do they?"
You complain to Neliel who just approached you.
"I think we should get going soon."
She is right.
You've been planning on increasing the number of available hands for a while now.
And now that the guys grew in strength leaving the base for a while wouldn't be such a horrible idea.
"Okay, let's go."
You spring up and put an early end to your scheduled nap.
As you wave to the others and head out Neliel starts to talk.
"Are you sure this is a wise move?
So far we were lucky and no one noticed us.
If we expose ourselves like this we might attract unwanted attention."
"True, but you remember what happened to us last time right?
While I think we are in a much better position now we still should get some more muscle.
You've said Barragan has a literal army under his disposal.
If we want to have a chance at survival we'll need an army of our own."
"Right."
The two of you dart past all the traps and barricades you've already set up.
It's not much but it'll slow down anyone who'd want to attack you.
But when you reach the border of your territory you both stop.
Past this point is where regular hollows can actually be encountered.
Before you've moved in there wasn't much activity but since then many hollows simply avoid the area all together.
Should you pass you'd be out in the open with a big target drawn on your backs.
>Let Neliel take the lead.
>Head for the old hollow village deeper in the forest.
>Take charge and go somewhere else
>Other? (write-in)
>>Head for the old hollow village deeper in the forest.
>>Let Neliel take the lead.
Peaceful and kind my ass!
>>Let Neliel take the lead.
>Head for the old hollow village deeper in the forest.
>Head for the old hollow village deeper in the forest.
Head for the old hollow village
>Let Neliel take the lead.
SHE-GOAT TAKE THE WHEEL
>Let Neliel take the lead.
>Let Neliel take the lead.
reported you cross board shitter
Goat shall take the wheel
>Writing.
Spiky lady can fuck right off. once we get momentum we should be the new welcoming committee.
I have a better idea.
Let's declare ourselves the God, not some lowly king mind you, but The God of Hueco Mundo.
Then let's just let the rumors spread. Best idea ever, aye?
You want to get fucked by King Spooky and Aizen that badly?
>delusions of grandeur
Let's just be farmer K.
Well, the idea is that hopefully once they see us and realize how weak we are we can just pretend to be a pretender because of the mucus.
Then we'll get universally ignored, just like we wanted. The others can get in on it too.
Uh no, Kaiser is not an arrogant asshole, Nor do I think he wants to be in a position of power/tyrany.
Seems a little OOC to me.
>thinking King Spooky will let someone live after saying anything that even remotely sounds like being better than him
>thinking Aizen won't rape our soul-hole when he hears about our mucus
Naw nigguh, that's dumb.
Even better idea.
Lets just be Dionysus/forest god without calling ourselves a god.
They are free to revel and be happy in our grove. But if they fuck with us our followers will literally tear them limb from limb. We're good at the fear tactics.
Alright, fine, it's dumb.
It is indeed also a valid stratagem to hide until the lategame walks up to our doorstep, and be cautious all the while.
>Nazi Party God of Revels
Awesome dude to party with, but when he asks if you want to hotbox say no.
>"Let's force confrontation with two beings, both of which could kill us and everything we love with little actual effort, but one would rather take us and turn us into his personal little bitchboy while he fucks up everything forever."
This is you, user. Being brazenly stupid is never the right choice. We're not even a vasto, yet, and you're talking about agitating a powerful vasto, and a Captain who is leagues ahead of the majority of other captains in terms of strength.
I'm not saying we should never push the envelope, but now is certainly not the time.
Both of you are switching between staring at your feet and staring off into the distance.
Eventually one of you'll have to make the first move however.
"I think you should handle this one Neliel.
You remember what happened the last time I lead us."
"R-right."
She then takes off and you follow suit.
This blinding speed that you are capable of now makes your previous top speed look like a joke.
The large quartz trees dart past you so fast it's almost sickening.
You catch up to her and start asking some questions.
"So, where are we headed exactly?"
"I'm not entirely sure.
But I remember a small group of hollows a bit further away.
I'm hoping they are still there."
"Sounds like a plan."
She takes the lead once more and this time you follow her in silence.
Eventually you start picking up a few signatures with your Pesquisa.
But it doesn't really match her description.
This "small group" consists of roughly two dozen regular hollows and an adjuchas, that's much more than what you've had in mind.
You were expecting about a dozen hollows at best, your little greenery can't sustain much more than that.
As you catch up to Neliel to ask her what was she thinking you see her shocked expression.
"Is that a bad or a good surprise?"
"They've increased their number over three fold!
How?
How can so many hollows be subdued?"
Indeed, hollows are typically very volatile and keeping such a band together would require an incredibly dominant hollow.
"Are you sure about this Neliel?"
"No, but I want to find out how this happened."
As you are approaching your target location you can feel the large number of hollows getting restless.
You've actually forgotten that Neliel can't suppress her own power, over a month of little to no contact with the outside world made you a bit dull it seems.
So your arrival was basically announced to them, wonderful.
I already conceded gimmie a break!
We can get real mindbreak fey with this
>Tales tell of a strange hollow.
>He resides deep in a strange colorful forest that exist against all common sense.
>If you listen closely you can hear the singing of german folk songs.
>They say if you walk through the open path without averting your eyes forward and match your pace to the music you can live there too.
>if you fail you join the others in the cocoons suspended in the trees, your blood fertilizing his grove.
I'm not saying were going to be actually that viscous and specific in person but it certainly will ward off the sketchier ones.