The huntsman studied Ulquiorra's written question, contemplating his answer. "Why fight?" He looked him in the eyes. "Why the hell not?" The hollow looked back at the notebook and turned to the next page, writing another question.

Explain.

Ulquiorra knew he was in for a long story.

The World of Remnant, as the huntsman explained to him, had been plagued by the Creatures of Grimm for as long as anyone can remember. Huntsmen fight using aura, and dust. Aura is reminiscent of an Arrancar's hierro, except it only protects as long as the wielder has aura left, and it also works as their overall store of power. Humans with a strong enough aura possess something called a semblance, an ability unique to them. Some could have super speed, some could have the ability to conceal emotions.

'Conceal emotions?'

Conceal emotions?

"The...Creatures of Grimm, they're drawn by negative emotion. Our village was attacked by a bandit tribe not long before you appeared. They crippled our defenses and left us to die." The huntsman's expression was dark, almost determined, to do what, he didn't know..

Ulquiorra continued doing this for a while, writing questions down and receiving answers if they could give them to him.

The Village's name is Shion, and it's located on the continent of Anima. 'I've never heard of such a place.' The huntsman's name is Alejandro Fawn, he's lived in the village most of his life as a protector and his semblance allows him some form of telekinesis that lets him control the trajectory and speed of the bullets he shoots. Unfortunately, many of the huntsman that protected the village were killed in the bandit attack. The general population is untrained and would rather stay away from the fighting as much as it's possible for them. 'Would it matter, even if they tried?'

Little, very little, is known about the bandit tribe that attacked them, at least to Alejandro. He only recalls that the leader wore a strange mask and wielded a dust katana. 'A mask and a katana.. I doubt i'm correct, but this is my only lead.'

"Hey...are you going after them?" He looked at Ulquiorra, an eyebrow raised at the hollow's change in expression, from blank to almost determined.

What else?

"...Are you coming back?"

I may not.

"The village could use your protection. But I understand. You..seem to be lost, wherever you may have come from, it ain't Shion." He scratched the back of his head. "You're always welcome here, since you saved our asses."

They let him keep the notebook and pencil in case he needed to explain himself to passersby on the road, should he run into any, and pointed him in the direction they believed the bandits came and left from.

'It's unlikely that's the direction of their base. Even Adjuchas in Hueco Mundo would circle around a target before attacking from a different direction than one they came. Though it's possible these bandits expected all of Shion to die (meaning no counterattack to worry of), so they left holes in their plan that could have been patched.'

Alejandro waved the hollow goodbye, Ulquiorra only nodding in response. 'That man... he has 'heart'.'

His leave signaled the caw of a crow, taking off above him.

His trek was intercepted by the same crow flying in front of him. Ulquiorra blinked, only for the crow's form to be replaced by that of a man.

"I know you can understand me, so explain somethin."

"What the fuck are you?"

The hollow just continued walking.

"Oum Almighty.." The man cursed under his breath. "Stop movin!" The man grabbed something from his back. Some kind of weapon, a sword fitted with multiple mechanisms on the hilt.

'Any answer I could give him would only lead to more questions. However...it was foolish to assume he'd just leave me be. My form will bring the attention of anyone around. If I appeared more human...then I could perhaps blend in.'

"I asked you a question, you oversized bat." In response to this, the hollow tossed him the notebook. He became quiet as he looked over it. Before he'd left, Ulquiorra had added onto what he'd written to make it easier to explain himself (such as adding "My name is" to "Ulquiorra Cifer".).

"Hell, i'm not even gonna try to pronounce that." The man sighed. "Well, you haven't tried to kill me yet." He tossed the notebook back. "But I can't just let you roam around. Your appearance alone is gonna mess with people, and you already know what panic does for the Grimm."

Ulquiorra went over his words in his mind. 'Then he wants me to come with him. He has a weapon, meaning he must have aura. The way he acts suggests he has some kind of power to back his words up, so he's likely a strong huntsman.' Ulquiorra wouldn't try to make sure, that would just be a waste of his time.

"Follow me and stay hidden. I don't want you alerting anyone of our presence." To him, at least, Ulquiorra seemed intelligent to a significant degree. He didn't doubt the creature's ability to follow his 'footsteps'.

Ulquiorra blinked again, and the man was now a crow, or so he assumed. The crow took off, and he followed on foot, watching through the treetops.