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The old hollow observed the girl's actions, watched her considering inwardly. Then heard the solitary word she spoke to him in response to his inquiry. "Sae is it. Quite a unique name." Longer names, ones containing more than but a single syllable were normal. Though on occasion he came across those with short, simple names like hers.  "Very well. I shall remember this name of yours Sae." Turning himself to address the girl, the Hollow dipped his head slightly in respect to her granting him a name to speak. Even if it were not a complete name, it remained as one she'd offered up for him to use and call her by.

Staring at her, the hollow drew a blank. She'd requested to hear his name. Though he'd been verbally assigned names in passing... he rather decided to be truthful with the human girl. "I fear I've long forgotten the name my master once called me by. Though I've received many names in passing, none ring true enough to recite as my own..." Turning his eyes to the Hollow below, the old Hollow watched as the other regained its ability to move. Looking to him once more before darting off and away into the distance. "I've no name that I know of young one. Should you determine one to be suitable, I will permit you pardon to call me by it henceforth."

He observed once more as the child drew yet more words within the sand. "I know not how far you've come, but the forest which you seek lies half a day's travel in that direction." Motioning, the girl would find her sense of direction within the sands had somehow been switched for the way the old Hollow pointed his head indicated a nearly hundred degree turn of correction to her own. "This will hold true if you travel as you are now." He noted, subtly indicating her stature by comparison to his own. "If it be the forests you seek to return to then perhaps I may be of assistance. While I will not question your reason for choosing not return to the human world, I may obtain my own sustenance upon entering this forest." The old Hollow watched the girl. Should she indicate an interest to return to the forest, he could offer her a faster rout sitting upon his back. Suitably matching their destination, perhaps for different reasons. "Should you desire it, we may return to the forest. Though should you not be familiar, I would suggest in hiding your presence to its best, lest you threaten to disturb the Menos which reside within the forest. I'm afraid they are to be truly unruly bodies one cannot hope to reason with."

"Nn..." The Hollow hummed at the girl's correction for her name. He fancied her honesty, revealing the full length of her name to him. "Then if it please you, I shall continue to address you as Sae." Though his voice echoed and rumbled, within it there hung an air of appreciation for the human child. She seemed capable of speech but perhaps she, like him, required some form of nutrient in order to regain her body's full functionality. It'd been some time since he'd concerned himself with the livelihood of any human before, sparing himself the time to observe, rather than interact. Admittedly, this could be counted as one of his few encounters with their kind inside the realm of Hueco Mundo itself. Thinking on this encounter, and back on the one he'd recently had at Las Noches with yet another human girl, it would seem the best method for neutral interaction with the humans was indeed to avoid gaining attentions through the use of hostilities.

He chuckled, a deep rolling essence pouring from his being. "Indeed. Though for them it is but the beginning or perhaps even the end. I myself was once a part of that chain, though I've long since conquered, and through the efforts, gained my own individuality. All Hollows are inherently cannibals by the sheer drive of our nature. Such is our curse." Glancing down at the girl, the Hollow's voice held hints of sadness to it with the last part of his statement. More than a millennia passed and yet he still hadn't obtained a level satisfactory to permanently sating his own hungers...

Watching the girl, the Hollow observed once more, her writings. Nadežda, spelled out in the language she knew best. "Ohoh...! This I find quite suitable." He stated, noting she deemed this to be the name by which she desired to call him. He stated it out loud, to himself, to her. "It is a worthy name, from a worthy source. I thank you child. I shall remember and use this name you've bestowed upon me well." The old Hollow, Nadezhda, thanked the girl. He'd gone long without a true name for lack of remembrance. While it might not have been the first name granted to him in his history, it was by far a name which sought to signify his existence with a meaning.

Nadezhda lowered himself to Sae's level. "The forests are quite some distance. While I may have been a short distance hunter in my life, this form you see before you is rather tireless. Come Sae. Ride upon my back and we shall make haste towards our destination." He offered his back to ride on, partly to keep her safe from the harms of the desert, partly to preserve her rested state, but mostly to offer the human girl a gesture of trust in his presence before her.

"Ah yes. The smaller sorts can indeed be quite frightful." Nadežda worded understanding. Carefully observing the disturbances within the young girl's movements as she climbed up onto his broad back. "Smaller, faster, often times smarter than the Menos themselves..." Once the girl was properly situated, Nadežda carefully rose to his feet once more. Taking a couple paces over the dune, the Hollow descended. "I shall start slowly. Gather yourself and do hold on tightly now, lest you fall off." The old hollow courteously noted, subtly hinting his knowledge of her injuries. Though he could not be certain what exactly those injuries entailed, her movements had given him enough hint to keep things well paced and build up to a steady rate that she could contend with.

Nadežda kept to a steady pace, speeding up as the girl situated herself and became comfortable. Though he did not run full tilt in consideration for the girl's physical condition, his speed for now would easily be comparable to three times that of a normal human's run. Fast enough to feel the cold desert winds and chill one's soul with enough exposure, though the girl would find riding low, keeping close to the fur upon Nadežda's back, would stave off much of the stinging cold which passed them by as they traveled.

Two, maybe three hours passed before the distinct line of the Menos Forests crossed over the horizon before them. "I've not been here for quite some time. Perhaps thrice your lifetimes." Nadežda commented to the girl on his back. It'd been nearly fifty years since he'd last visited this forest. Though the forests provided much in the way of sustenance, their population stifled upon their weakened states. Masses of misaligned creatures lurking in dark shadows. One would find no rest within this place without significant knowledge of the forests themselves. Competition drew upon hiding, traveling. Never staying in the same place for more than a little while. Long time hunters, former prey, knew well the hiding places of this dark and dreary forest. To maintain one's safety required constant relocation to avoid would be predators. Even more so to avoid the Menos, commonly lurking, always present but constantly shrouded by the forest itself.

Nadežda stopped, not more than three hundred meters from the forest's edge. "We are here young Sae. I do believe it best for you to disembark. My responses are far superior whilst I remain unhindered by passengers." He commented, suggesting she dismount. Should they be assailed Nadežda did not feel a need to further injure his passenger by throwing her.

"Mmm... Perhaps I worded it incorrectly. It would be more like fifty years in your time. Or are you perchance a longer lived human? A hundred years of time seems quite long for one of your appearance..." A slight hint of curiosity rung within Nadežda's voice. By lifetimes he'd intended the statement as three lengths of her current age, but if she were indeed one hundred years old then he would be quite impressed at her ability to maintain such a young appearance. "Even so, best not to disturb them. Even those that tower over the rest can be aggravated into pursuit if one is not careful. I should know, I once chanced a Menos. I would say it was not exactly my most intelligent moment in time..." A glint of gloom threaded through the old hollow's being. Remembering the encounter, though it happened long ago, reminded Nadežda of that some interactions simply were not ones to pursue...

"You speak as if a wolf has never smelled out its prey." Nadežda chuckled. His tone felt neither harsh nor insulted, but rather it contained a hint of humor upon it's rumblings. In truth, Nadežda smelled much coming from the forests. Smells were nearly overwhelming here. Hollows of all sorts stayed, remained hidden within this darkened portion of Hueco Mundo. "Indeed. If what I believe you to smell is that." Nadežda looked to Sayuri, noting the tool she carried. Upon it's blade, and from the forest, a lingering odor. A creature injured, perhaps now dead.

"Such a creature would do well to hide within this place. Smell alone is oft not an effective method for finding one's prey once lost." The hollow, seeing the girl moving forward, made to follow at her side. "If sustenance is not what young Sae seeks then what, might I inquire, would be your desire in coming here?" The forest was an easy place to obtain food. But it was an equally dangerous place to live in continuously. Nadežda's absence from the forest had been out of a desire for stronger prey, to improve his existence and go beyond the limits of an unclassified hollow. The place hardly seemed fitting for a human girl like Sae.

"I see... You do quite well indeed for a human then young Sae. I have observed in time. It appears Humans often consume nutrients throughout the day's passing. Oft have I observed, and I conclude that most of your kind seem to take in food at least three times in a single day." Nadežda spoke in regards to his visits to the Human world. Time spent watching humans. Often times watching a single human through an entire day's light. Besides their regular activities he'd noticed humans of this age tended to eat unusually often, possibly due to the incredible abundance of nutrients readily available to them.

Humans cannibalizing humans... Nadežda thought back upon his master from when he still retained life. Had the ones seeking to harm his master intended to cannibalize her? He didn't know. He hadn't let them get that far were it their intent... "It is as fated...Were there sustenance abound, Hueco Mundo might not have to be such a perilous place to live." The old hollow lowered his tones, saddened at the girl's need to cannibalize though she still remained human. Her desperation was not lost on Nadežda... Hueco Mundo was no place for a Human to live. Food. Whatever could be obtained within this place required one to hunt, endlessly. A sinister and cruel way to exist throughout one's time in this world.

"Should there be something Sae wishes to retrieve, I hold no qualms with aiding in it's recovery." Nadežda made statement. An offer to help the girl should she wish his aid in doing so. Upon the girl offering to help in his own search for food, Nadežda's gaze fell upon her in curiosity. "I see not any reason to endanger yourself for my sake young Sae." Aversion to her assistance. Nadežda knew well the limits placed upon human strengths... The old hollow thought better of his words to be upon recalling the earlier young girl he'd encountered. "Though perhaps I underestimate your strength more than I aught. You may do as you will. If your wish is to aid then I shall allow it. Though I caution care should you choose this path. Not all prey is weak, and not all who are weak are without cunning."

"Yes indeed it is, to remain together can improve one's chances in a dangerous situation. It can aid doubly for those who hunt together in cornering and outmaneuvering their prey. Come, let us first find the quarry you seek, then we shall see to mine own needs." Nadežda's voice carried with it an air of happiness. In some ways Nadežda's gestures seemed almost... tamed, yet the old hollow had been without master for more than a millennia.