The stars below (ND, INV)

As sudden as car passing by through the cold, evening air; a voice manifested itself before the young bount. It was deep, disrupted, clearly not human, bount, quincy, or even shinigami. Nay, it was clearly the voice of a hollow echoing through the mountain's trees.

"Tampering with the world? I find it amusing that any of my experiments could be considered in any way 'tampering'." it said. Although visually there was no-one around, the amount of spiritual pressure being exerted was quite large. It was almost as though whatever it was WANTED to be seen or, at the very least, couldn't hide itself very well. It continued to speak to the youngling "I also find interesting just how unique you are. Human in appearance, but neither Shinigami, nor Quincy. You are obviously not Hollow nor a Modified Soul either... Just... what.." and it paused, only to finally reveal itself to her and finish "Are you..?"

The revealed figure was enormous; easily ten feet, end to end. Large enough that one might wonder how it could be hiding itself visually in the first place. It didn't help to add what closer inspection revealed it to be. A skeletal hollow with a very dragon-like appearance. Its eyes were empty, drawing no color of any kind as the figure looked down upon young Anna, its talons so sharp they were cutting into the very mountain they stood upon just to keep in place, and all of this was topped by fangs that appeared powerful enough to tear any of the surrounding trees in two, never mind any wildlife unfortunate enough to encounter such a massive beast.

It is important to note, however, that the individual - in spite of being hollow - was not in any offensive stance. He had not attacked, and it didn't seem he intended to strike any time soon.

D'gerik would have furrowed his brow at this point, if he had one, as curiosity continued to swell within every marrow-based fiber of his being. Ever second he spent studying this individual visibly made her more and more intriguing. He wanted her for his studies, he NEEDED her. But alas, her words were most unfortunate for him. She was the last of her kind, to her knowledge and - by extent - to his knowledge as well. One thing he noticed right away was her visible discomfort at his presence, not his appearance. She seemed to be able to smell him and additionally his scent seemed to be the source of her discomfort towards him. He wanted to know so much more about him. And lastly she seemed annoyed at the fact that D'gerik was interrupting her rest, but that really did not matter in the slightest to him, even though she seemed quite powerful indeed.

In fact, he did not comply to her request of stepping back. He could not help it, it has always been difficult for him to hide his reiatsu, and he always had a way of baring with it, although he did have to admit at least to himself that this is the first time his inability to hide his presence has ever had this kind of impact on other individuals. Perhaps it was time he considered training his ability to hide himself, and he should be sure to thank this individual in the future. Regardless, he sat and continued his interrogation of her, the same voice - which many other would find terrifying, not bothering the woman in the slightest. He did not back off, nor did he move forwards as he merely lifted a talon as though he desired to make physical contact, although the thing that most out-stood from such an action was the fact that these talons were individually as sharp as a Shinigami's Zanpakuto. He did not make contact, of course. He knew full well that making contact with his talon would cause injury to the girl, and that would be far too unsavory for what he desired.

"Hmm... " He began once again "quite unfortunate, quite unfortunate indeed... I had originally hoped I would get to study you from a much more.... Personal... angle. However it would be against my best interests as a being of knowledge if I were to make extinct a race, now wouldn't it? Yes... Very unfortunate indeed......." This combined with other incoherent babbles to himself as he turned his gaze towards Karakura. Her words had some meaning behind them, it seemed. It sounded quite a bit like a threat. It would almost make him laugh, given the things he's done to other numerous communities and settlements before. But in this case, he would prefer not to engage in combat with this one, be it either because he's pompous enough to believe he is stronger than she is, or because he believes the threat to be real. There might even be a different reason behind it, but his response continued as such;

"Do not fret about your precious city. I do not bother with the people of Karakura. There are too many hollow to compete with, and several other unsavory characters that I simply do not have the time nor desire to deal with...." and so he returned his gaze to her. Since you are already awake, why not humor me a little? I've never met a human that could see me, was not even a fullbringer - as they are apparently called by the Soul Society - and instead of sensing my presence you smell it.... I want to know more about you, and it irks me so that I cannot attempt to study your capabilities in fear of making you extinct. I cannot attempt dissection of you either, as that too poses high risk to your well-being. You are a treasure, which for one such as myself is something to be greatly desired. I'm certain you understand my thought process... no? Is it truly such a terrible thing that I have a curiosity? That I desire to learn where others would simply look the other way at the first idle threat made upon them..?"

It was rather annoyed, this human. In spite of her saying she was otherwise, there is no denying what she is at root. But then, we all stemmed from that same, putrid race. He did not care for her bluntness, it did not anger him as he knew these creatures had such dull personalities for the most part, and this was perhaps one of the least dull he had met in a long, long time. Still, she granted his request for knowledge of her race in a form most strange. "Cut off my arm then..." she said. Claiming it would do her no real harm. He had to know. He had to understand. He did not hesitate to grant her request and remove her arm at the joint. A perfectly clean cut, and what happened next blew his mind. She regenerated at speeds that are usually only compared to hollow regeneration. She compared it to kido as well, but never had he seen such high speed regeneration from a kido.

She at last gave him a name. A "Bount", and she proceeded to rant about what they are. A failed experiment, and one that has lived for hundreds of years as well. The spark had ignited the flames of curiosity to their maximum core, everything that this individual did only made him want to know more and more but he could only keep to himself to a high degree. He couldn't help but begin another rant.

"A failed experiment you say? Failed?? I highly disagree. Never have I seen a human who's life-span has been extended to such a degree. Only a hollow can regenerate so quickly and I've never seen any Shinigami successfully heal from such a wound so quickly with or without their precious kido. My dear, you are nothing, if not a marvelous treasure. Whosoever called you a failure has lied to you... No.. a failure would not be capable of such incredible feats. Do the Shinigami call you failures? Do you understand that they lie? That they only say such things because you have more potential than they do? That you can become more powerful than any shinigami in existence?!"

Just like that, any additional questioning that he wished to commit to was rather abruptly interrupted by her blatant attack, launching him harmlessly aside. She reminded him of himself with that attack, using her power to toss him aside, that is. Perhaps any other time he would have been able to see it coming, but not this time. He was far too distracted for that. His voice continued to surround her as though he was right there, even though he spoke from thirty meters away.

"You are quite bold, young one. to attack someone who's capabilities you don't know. Any other hollow would have gone berserk at this very moment. And a shinigami might try to argue you into submission like the stubborn children that they are... I am quite different. Even if you forme to leave... I will likely return. I want to know everything I can about the bount. If I'm lucky, I might even be able to replicate your kind...."

But the Hollow was unwavering. This wasn't even remotely enough to scare him. And besides, he could see the bolts, but he couldn't feel them in the air. At the very least, not as powerfully as they appeared to be, and the girl did not seem powerful enough to create such powerful arcs of energy and hide them simultaneously. Essentially, D'gerik was calling her bluff by not moving at all from his place. If anything he felt even more secure when she stopped the arcs before they reached him. It was almost as if she didn't want them to hit him for any reason and, although he wasn't about to call her out on it, she was pretty sure she knew what it was. He just forced himself to stay still and quite as she ranted on and on about her abilities, about her threats towards him that really only felt empty.

Still, his goal was not combat. In fact, combat is something he would prefer to avoid. No, instead he waited for her to finish her rants and move away, although the last of her words made him chuckle a little; "That is the last thing this world needs to go through again. If I ever find out you dare to try and bring the bount race back {...} there are some fates worse than death." So much knowledge he was gaining in such a small amount of time just from speaking to her. Human souls were worth nothing to D'gerik anymore. Human life was worth nothing, and he relished in the thought of being able to bring back such opportunities.

He decided to let her rest, for now. She just received an arm amputation (even if it already grew back), and D'gerik had already learned plenty. Still, as she walked away and he slowly distanced himself further, his voice continued to echo, just to make sure she understood: "It's funny you assume death is a concept that scares me. It's funny that you assume I'm afraid of not coming back... I've been through hell and back, my dear. Fear is something that I implement, not something I experience. Losing my very soul to nothingness would be a blessing, not a curse. It's the only thing I had left to lose, after all..."

With that said, his voice faded completely, and there was no trace left of his being, as though he had simply faded from this world. His reiatsu was gone, she most likely couldn't semll him at all anymore and he had at last left her to her sleep.

OOC: He used a garganta to return to hueco mundo for the time being.

"So, your limb regenerates, but the severed one remains as though you were a reptile, or perhaps a starfish? Interesting. I have little understanding of the workings of severed limb regeneration, as most of my experiments are conducted upon the already passed.. It does make things a trifle bit harder, doesn't it?"

The voice had already begun once again. This time, the Reiatsu was slowly fading closer, and the reason was obvious, as well as the reason why Anna would not have been able to see him in the first place last night. He was exiting a Garganta which had, at this point, only just begun to open before the young bount, his razor sharop talons reaching out of it, as though trying to make it open faster. Additionally, it wasn't too long before it did open and the skeletal hollow made his way out and into the open air before the Garganta began to close up once more. He stood before the young one, although at a reasonable distance for certain, and began to speak once more.

"You will have to forgive me for the previous evening. I am a being who simply cannot help himself when he is curious. And I assure you, I have not been more curious in a very very long time..." He stood high, showing that he was not intimidated by her. Although again, it was quite clear he did not want to fight still. He continued expressing himself quite clearly. "I am still annoyed that you believe your race is not worth the trouble... I must applaud your endurance over everything.. For you see, I found myself looking through older texts to see if I could find any sort of information on your kind. Bounts, as you called yourself. Humans have no clue. They believe you to be an ancient and cryptic creature. A vampire of all things... It's entertaining, for sure. And to be honest, they don't seem to be too far off. You drain souls out of existence... I can think of so many for whom such a fate is far too kind." In contrast to his attitude yesterday, today his tone was far darker. He was still not attacking, or even threatening. Still, there was something about him... It's as if something about Anna had triggered something. Perhaps a memory, or perhaps something far more painful..

His mind would go haywire from the sheer ecstatic feeling of all the knowledge he was gaining. It was marvelous! Anything and everything she knew about her species she was explaining, it would seem from confirming the things he had read in texts to showing differences in her anatomical structure to humans and shinigami. Perhaps the only irksome quality she bore is that she kept calling her life and he power a curse, explaining that the only reason she was alive was luck (which is simply something that D'gerik did not believe in at this point in his life).

He was about to speak up before finding himself interrupted again by a rather curious sight. The doll this girl possessed, it moved, there was no doubt about it. If anything it seemed as though she was trying to show him that the doll was alive even though it seemed most insignificant until just now. He couldn't quite understand fully, but slowly he fit pieces together, about how she claimed that Bounts are only half a soul and other such intricacies.

And so he began to speak. "How fascinating... The doll is connected to you in more than just one way. The other half of your soul perhaps?... He stopped for a moment if only to look for her reaction.

Regardless of whether or not she chose to confirm his suspicions, he began to speak once more. "A matter for another time. I wish to speak to you in regards to your view on life this 'curse' as you so blatantly call it... You are wrong to call it so, girl." he continued "Self preservation is not cowardly, it is instinct. Those who have failed are the insipid shinigami that hunt you down like dogs... I am appalled to think that you are truly so naive to believe that anything that has happened to your species was your fault, and absolutely astounds me to consider that in any way at all your are broken beyond repair in regards to your stance furthering the survival of your own species. You would not see them brought back, yet you choose to remain yourself? Never have I, a being whose sole existence seeks nothing but power to best those who have wronged me, heard of such a selfish belief..."

He turned himself to the city, raising his hand as energy began to gather at his palm. It was clearly and obviously a cero, and a powerful one at that. And yet, he did not fire. Instead he continued speaking as he explained "Humans live such tranquil lives knowing not what chaos constantly looms over the horizon, knowing not that so often their very existence is threatened by a supernatural beast such as myself. Or at least, that's what the shinigami label us..." It is at this point that he brings his hand down, and turned back to the girl.

"Never before has it been so obvious to me until this point in life... The shinigami are the most cowardly of all... They hunt us all down, don't you see? Bount, Hollow, Modified Soul, soon enough even the Quincy will also be on the list... Do you see what I'm getting at? The shinigami crave power, but also fear anyone else who wields it for any cause that is not their own. They are fools more selfish than anyone else in this world and theirs and even my own... Why do you defend them? Why do you not wish the continuation of your species? Why do you, girl, so blatantly ignore your opportunity to increase your own power so that you may destroy all those who have wronged you, who took your family and your kin from you!? Why!?"...