After Azrial received his latest orders from his commander, Captain Xion, he immediately parted for the bount's home location, Castle Avalonia. He hasn't set foot near their strong hold before but has heard horror stories from his late mentor. As Azrial walked out of the meeting, he started to wonder why everything is happening so suddenly...

"Hmm my first solo mission and Commander Xion already trusts me with such an important task of finding one of our most important comrades. I hope the others have better luck than i since i have this usual trend of shit going wrong. *(sigh)* Things are just moving ever so fast. Well lets get this over with, sooner that i find this captain, the sooner i can get back to the barracks and enjoy some homemade sake. Maybe i can share with Arius after he finishes my latest basket of paper work, HA!"


Azrial soon arrived after only a few hours of searching. He quietly masks his reiatsu so he doesn't alarm anyone, or anything, so that he may not be a valuable threat. The castle stood very tall like, a militarily fortress, with gothic architecture covering every inch of the out side walls, big enough to be palace. Azrial calmly walks to the front chamber door, He senses a dread in the atmosphere...as if he is already being watched.

"Hmmm. Why do i have a feeling they already know im here?"

Azrial then knocks on the door and waits for a response.


" *(sigh)* these people better be worth my valuable time..."

The Shinigami would have theoretically not been surprised to learn that he was correct in assuming that he was already being watched, had been being watched in some form or another since he stepped foot anywhere near the Castle known as Avalonia. This was the seat of the Blood Lord of the Bounts after all, and was a haven for the immortal creatures that he ruled over and guided through the long years. Having grown ever more wary down through the years, the leader of the immortals had ensured that the Bounts were always vigilant even before becoming their leader. Thus it was that he was notified of the Shinigami's presence long before the man knocked upon the gargantuan doors of his home. For a moment, Zanmato mused about how entertaining it was that the man thought to place a mask upon his reiatsu, as though that would lessen the significance that he carried. Having fought one Captain and spoken to another just recently, Zanmato knew the significance of a Shinigami bearing a white haori, and it was told to him that this particular Shinigami was dressed just as such.

Seated on a large throne crafted from the very materials of the castle itself with a few modifications for comfort, the Blood Lord made a motion with his left hand. "By all means, open the doors and let our esteemed guest enter." With that, the doors would be opened, and two Bounts would be standing within the doorway. Though their Dolls were not currently present, it would not have been a stretch of the imagination to believe that they were somewhere on their bodies in sealed form. The front doors opened to reveal a great hall that ended at the Blood Lord's throne, as the hall that served as the central nexus of the castle was also Zanmato's throne room. Thus it was that when the doors were opened, he could see the Shinigami quite clearly and confirm what had already been told to him: this was a Shinigami Captain, though one that he had not seen nor heard of before. Unlike what most tales would have one believe, the Blood Lord did not wear an opulent robe decorated with skulls to mark his slain foes or wear a crown that held the screaming damned: he wore a black suit vest with matching slacks and black shoes, with a grey tie attached to a white shirt.

Raising a hand in greeting before lowering it again, the Blood Lord spoke so that his voice echoed within the hall of his throne room. "Greetings Shinigami and welcome to Castle Avalonia, Haven of the Bounts. I would say that it has been some time since I have seen one of your number, but it appears that the Blood Lord of the Bounts has become a person of interest within the last few months. By all means, step forward and tell me what brings this one of the Captains of the Seireitei to my castle." Perhaps he was being overly polite to a man who represented the Shinigami, those who had and who still today to a lesser degree hunted his kind. It would be a lie to say that Zanmato was not curious however, as to why a lone Shinigami would come to this place and aside from that he was rather polite by nature. It would evaporate in an instant if the Shinigami made a hostile action towards him, of course, but the Blood Lord simply assumed that it went without mention that the man's life was forfeit along with his soul should he reach towards the hilt of his Zanpakuto.

After Azrial entered the front doors of the humongous castle he stops in place, standing at his current location about 20 feet away from the blood lord, with both of his arms crossed, not posing any threat towards the blood lord. He senses that the blood lord is willing to talk since he is being overly polite and being a good host to an unknown shimigami. After all thats last thing he wants is a fight in a unknown territory where he is greatly outnumbered. Azrial can easily sense the hostility, mainly because everyone in his barracks has told him the large amounts of tales that the bounts despises shimigami and what they stand for and so on, have to be very cautious and keep both eyes open. Keeping his composure, Azrial is very confident that this "blood lord" will give him his trust, even after showing up to his home unannounced.

"wheeew (whistles). Cozy place your majesty!" Azrial's voice echoes through the awkward silence of the dark hall ways.

Azrial looks around the room from where he is standing giving the notion that he is in "ah" at the gorgeous architecture.

"Hello Mr. Blood Lord sir. Thank you for allowing me to enter your home. Without wasting any more your time, Im just gonna cut to the chase and introduce my self. My name is Azrial Takahashi, Captain of 10th Squad. You may not know me in the slightest but i know a little something about your kind. By the way, such a lovely place you have here. May i say that it just needs a little bit of lighting? Also a welcome mat for your front door since it would drive visitors away you know? Its only polite. Anyway all joke aside, I have a few questions for you on behalf of the Soul Society about a person of interest and you may know the answer to my million dollar question so i humbly assume that your gonna be cooperative and we can make our boring day go by a lot faster."

As Azrial continues to stand there trying to get the interrogation underway, he notices that the blood lord isn't even phased by his stature, as if he is a insignificance to him. Good, lets keep it that way for now.

"So you say you have been visited by one of my own as of recent? May I ask whom and when?"

The Shinigami caught Zanmato off-guard with his exceedingly casual nature, though he supposed that it was only fair that they both be allowed to adopt false airs if it made this situation less tense than it probably should have been. At least, the Blood Lord was assuming that the man was putting on a false air of enthusiasm, having only ever met more solemn Shinigami Captains. The man introduced himself as Azrial Takahashi, the Captain of the Tenth Squad, and the Blood Lord made a mental note to remember that name and position.

After a strange amount of informalities, the man made his way to his point for the visitation. He was curious about another visiting Captain? Did the Soul Society start keeping tabs on their own in these days for some unknown reason? Until that point, Zanmato had simply regarded the man with a curious though somehow simultaneously indifferent gaze. Now he chuckled lightly after placing a hand to his jaw in a thinking manner.

"Well, this was an unexpected twist to the day. Well, before I answer your question, I'll introduce myself as well as is polite. I am called Zanmato in this current era, and I am the Blood Lord of the Bounts, the leader of my kind just as your Captain Commander leads you. Now then, 'recent' might have been slightly off in terms of impressions. Recent to me can be anything within the span of a year. In this case, about a month ago I happened to run into the Captain of your Eighth Division, though his name escapes me at the moment. You should know of whom I speak. His presence came after a confrontation I had with one who referred to himself as the Primera Espada, and I assume that he was sent because of the massive amount of spiritual pressure released during that particular battle. Is this the Shinigami of interest to you, Captain Takahashi?"

Azrial stands there confused about his response. He seems to know alot about Azrial's fellow colleagues and positions, as if he tangled with the soul society more than once. Most likely that could be the case, but that he can worry about on his own time since that's currently irrelevant to his mission.

"Oh no, not him Lord Zanmato. But you are close. Im referring to the 12th Squad leader that goes by the name of Captain Kokujin. Since you know our ranks very well and faces, im hoping that name would ring a bell?"

Azrial knows hes risking alot by asking some questions that could compromise his mission but in a dire situation such as this, he needs to get answers as fast as possible.  Just cut to the chase.

"He stands around 6 foot? Thin looking guy? He wears his haori like a lab coat? He has been missing for sometime now. One of his last sightings was near Africa conducting experiments on behalf of the Soul Society. So im wondering if he ever wondered near your area or if any of your comrades spotted any strange activity as of the last week or so?"

Hopefully something would turn up. He wonders to himself if he is wasting his time since Lord Zanmato has met alot of people during his rein based off Azrial assumptions. He imagines that faces and names to Zanmato are just an afterthought once he meets anybody from the Soul Society.

It was revealed that Zanmato was incorrect in his earlier assumption that this particular Captain was here in response to the events that occurred a month ago. Instead, he was searching for a man that the Blood Lord had never before met. Though it was entertaining that Zanmato had apparently given the impression that he knew their names and faces. No, he merely knew their structure. So far, he only knew by name perhaps three or four of the Captains of the Soul Society and none of the Lieutenants, so his information was rather lacking in nature. Perhaps someday he could acquire the information, but now was perhaps not necessarily the time.

"My apologies, Captain Takahashi, I'm afraid that I have not seen this particular Captain. The Bounts are mostly limited to Asia, as this section of the living world is ours to inhabit and defend from Hollow intrusion. Africa is outside of my domain, I'm afraid. As well, the only strange activity that I have noted recently is the emergence of the Primera Espada and another of your Captains in my realm, an event that was caused indirectly by my presence if my assumption is correct."

Zanmato gave his words a few moments to sink in before continuing.

"Though if I may ask, for what purpose are you seeking this particular one of your comrades across the mortal plane? Is this a search for an ally or a hunt for an enemy?"

Based off the tone and somewhat concern of Lord Zanmato's answers, Azrial can easily detect that he has nothing to hide nor give the impression that he is withholding any information since Zanmato just explained that the bounts don't venture too far outside their comfort zone. Rather if thats true or not, Azrial can only go on cold leads and loose information at this point.

Running out of questions to ask, Azrial's facial expression changes a bit as soon as he heard Zanmato's question for the reason that hes looking for the missing captain if hes either enemy or ally. Hesitating to answer he since he doesn't even know him self...

"To be honest with you, Lord Zanmato, im not too sure. Based off the loose information i just received from my Commander, it just seems its more of a search and rescue. Based off the information you just laid on me, i feel like this is a dead end."

As Azrial was about to end this conversation, he just realized something Zanmato brought up earlier that may give him some type of lead.


"Hey one more question, if you dont mind. When you mentioned about the hollow invasion, has that been happening a lot more than usual as of late or its been the casual nuisance as normal? I have had my fair share with the likes of them but just need to know if has been weird for the hollows to appear more than usual."

This new information struck the ancient immortal as being somewhat odd: the Shinigami did not even know the details of their own mission? Were they simply ordered to the world of the living to search for this man without the knowledge of precisely what to do should they find him? Arguably, this was hardly Zanmato's affair, but it was at least somewhat of a curious topic, that which could see even the slightest increase in Shinigami traffic through his lands. At the very least, it seemed to be such that the man that the Captain was looking for was not nearby, and was likely not even within the sphere of Zanmato's domain.

This was a relief, as he had not even a week ago made peace with his long-term enemies, the Quincy. It would be a sad twist of fate to leave a war only for Shinigami problems to leak into his lands before he had been given a chance to truly relax. Just before the conversation could end, Captain Takahashi asked one last question, to which Zanmato would reply after a light sigh. "'Invasion' is rather a strong word, Captain. It was merely the one Hollow, the Espada known as the Primera, though I suppose that he alone counts for an army if we speak in technical terms. To answer your question, it was an isolated incident. The Hollows have actually been seen in decreased numbers over the past several months, though I don't have the slightest clue why."

(o.o.c - Sorry i took a while, work has been a pain in the ass and caused me be more fatigue to do anything at all! lol. Back to normal now)

As Azrial ponders from Lord Zanmato's response, it seems everything is starting to add up from what he has learned in these short few hours. Thinking to him self, he thinks something might be a mist among the soul society. His thoughts are scrambling to make sense of things.

"Hmm that's odd, usually hollows appear like cattle around the world for the feast of souls but, DECREASING? Nah...no way. Something is not right with the story. Much as i would like to believe Xion, there is something he is not telling me, hell not telling the WHOLE Society."

Suddenly Azrial came to the realization that he needs to go back to Division One barracks and talk to Xion for the lack of information that has been presented to him. Azrial needs to know why the 12th division captain would run off for no reason with one of the most dangerous items in the universe. Normally Azrial doesn't just act upon not thinking through it first but when it comes to his commanding officer, its usually act first, questions never. Time to break some tough habits.


"Yeah Lord Zanmato, I might not know you well but i believe what your telling me is the truth and from my observation you don't really have anything to gain for withholding information. Well sir i bid you good day and i must take off and see what my commanding officer knows more then he led on. By the way one more thing, if you know ANYTHING please try and contact me. I know im a stranger, a shinigami stranger at that, but i feel that invasion and sudden hollow decrease is NO coincidence. Something is a miss but i cant put my finger on it."

Azrial then nods his head in Zanmato's direction, acknowledging his leave. Turns around, then started to head towards the large doors and started to walk out keeping his head on a swivel just as a precaution.