Aren't you cold? [Saraiyu]

The tundra looked about... the same as usual. Yup. The young Kostya sighed, reaching down to brush some errant snow off of the seal pelt he was sitting on. A few feet away, his heavier clothes sat, bundled in some leather to keep them dry while he warmed up by the fire, glancing at the hole not too distant shore every few moments.

Yeah... He had to go back in there. It looked like there was a storm coming soon and he remembered the LAST time he'd been stupid enough to figure he could last a week on what he had now. Wasn't making that mistake again.

Of course, he could always just vacate his gigai and let it die, but that raised a whole mess of problems he wasn't willing to deal with. Besides. The cold was... good for him.. even if it did feel like he was going to die every time he jumped in...

He rubbed his hands by the fire once more before deciding he should head back down for another haul.

The empty tundra became not so empty as a tall woman fizzed into existence nearby. Brushing back hair that should have been damp but wasn't, it may not have been the weirdest thing around but it was the first thing she noticed. She had been finishing up dressing after her bath, about to take some reports and speak with Elly about an incident with some hollows outside of the Tower.

This was not her tower, nor the deserts. Her imperious eyes surveyed the obvious tundra despite her odd situation, just accepting it for the moment as she put pieces together...

She'd have to figure out more before she could figure this weird puzzle out and the first step was the fire nearby and the figure at it. Stepping quickly over the snow, she realized she was hovering somehow as her legs did not move her at all and just kicked. Weird... Her eyes narrowed and she willed herself forward, her hair floating in a ghostly way behind her as she turned to look just a bit. Her bells weren't jingling, they seemed to be hovering too so that was annoying... She liked their sound...

Heading for the fire, her eyes adjusted after a moment and she blinked as she floated around the fire. "Hello odd tundra mountain man, you seem to be busy but... Have you any idea whats going on?"

What else was there to say? What was even going ON!? Maybe he knew or caused it? She should ask before gutting him if so.

The young man had noticed the woman materialize the second it happened. For a moment he didn't believe what he was seeing, but he'd been out here for a long... LONG time... he KNEW his hallucinations and never once did any of them just fizzle into existence... nor did they have teal hair. He stared with the utmost incredulity at the woman before him as she flailed in the air then floated towards him. He silently, slowly but with no attempts to hide his actions reached out and picked up his spear.

Spear firmly in hand, he wasn't sure if he should attack. She looked... see through... Also she was the first human being he'd seen in 30 some odd years... He looked from her to the other side of the fire before, just to make sure she got the hint, reached out with the spear and tapped the spot, gesturing for her to sit.

Oh, right. She'd asked him a question. Uhhh.. "No." It had maybe been a long time since he'd spoken.

Saraiyu barely gave the spear more than a small glance, obviously not bothered by it. He wouldn't be able to pierce her hierro so it wasn't as if it was any danger. Watching him motion her to sit, she raised an eyebrow and shook her head. No way was she sitting on the tundra, that was what this was wasn't it? She was rather good with geography.

Instead she took advantage of her newfound hovering and sat on the air, one leg crossing over the other as she leaned back.

This... was a bit fun.

"Weird. You didn't do this and neither did I..." Sarai leaned down, her chin settling against her hand as she thought. A small frown, she reached up with the other and teased the bells on her nose chain. He was quiet, but his disbelief was too obvious and not faked. So...what was going on then?

He raised an eyebrow as she just... sat down.. in the air... Was she a ghost? Wait... HE was a ghost. so what the hell was she? Actually... He'd never personally met one of her kind.. but judging by the bits of bone attached to her... An Arrancar? And the tattoo on her navel. A zero. Wait. An arrancar with a number tattoo? Could she be... The Corona? But he'd heard the Corona was a man named Sorainu. Who was she? Had she taken over?

And how had she appeared here. That was no garganta. Still... He stood up, sticking his spear in the ground before bowing, his long red hair falling almost to the ground past his head before he stood back up. "I see you are the Corona. I'd heard the Corona was a man named Sorainu, but still proper greetings were due." He said before crossing his arms. "And I haven't done much except hunt for food for the last 30 years so no, it is unlikely I have done anything regarding this." It seemed her presence here was as much of a mystery to her as it was to him...

Despite the confused response and raised eyebrow, it seemed the tundra man actually had manners! Saraiyu let a small amused smirk through at that thought, watching him very carefully and taking in the appearance. "Such manners. My thanks..."

A frown quickly replaced that smirk as she thought once again, taking in the details of the words he had spoken. He not only knew what a Corona was, he also knew the current one? Who was Sorainu, who was her.

Which confused her, since she was currently SHE and Saraiyu the Corona. What else was wrong with this? Untangling her legs, she stood as best she could and floated closer as her brain worked around this problem. "Let me touch you, I need to test some things... If you think it is Sorainu, then I have no doubts he's the current Corona. I think I believe you as well, you have nothing to do with this..."

Whatever it was... but her mind was quickly working over things that others would dismiss as impossible. Floating ghostlike, tundra man... Sorainu was last seen a thousand years ago... "What year is this? Where exactly are we shinigami?"

There was nothing else he could be, though why spend thirty years out here catching food? Why not just go back to the soul society?

That... was a curious line of questioning.  She wanted to touch him?  And she wanted to know when and where she was... Hrm... He put his hands on his hips.  "Go ahead."  He said flatly, some idea already forming of why she wanted to touch him.  It sounded like a scientific endeavor... But wanting to know the time... Didn't that imply... Well, best not to jump to conclusions.  He wasn't fully ruling out this all being a work of his own madness

"I could hardly guess the exact year, but I believe it is still [Whatever the word was for 6th century BC].  And this is the god forsaken tundra that lies across the [old timey name for the bering strait].  It's... where I live.. for now."

Saraiyu reached out with barely any thought once the okay was given. Her hands touched flesh, feeling his cheeks with her hands that were surprisingly solid. She reached up to his hair, petting it and frowning more. It was definitely hair...she was feeling textures and even warmth or cold from him but not much else. Sure she felt a bit chill but it wasn't anything as bad as what she assumed it really felt like.

Moving back as he continued on, she bent down to touch the fur at his feet. She could if she concentrated, but otherwise it was rather annoyingly not solid if she didn't focus... Besides that, plush the urge in her core she felt to stay here with this person...She was stuck almost three thousand years into the past.

Sighing, a long suffering one that bespoke many things, she straightened and ruffled up her hair a bit as she once again turned her attention to the tundra man. "Well you see... That makes a lot of sense then. And doesn't. Both at once? This is definitely the past then, for me at least. I assume its your present? And your home. I apologize for intruding."

Stepping back, she smirked in a slightly amused way as she bowed to him in a sweeping manner. "I am Saraiyu Sorainu, the present and future Corona."

He could introduce himself or not, it didn't matter to her really.

Kostya made a flat little expression with his mouth as she prodded and pawed at him, testing if she could touch him.  Or at least he was fairly sure it was what she was investigating. He was intrigued to see her further investigate by touching the fur he'd been sitting on. It looked like she was having some trouble... So.. she could touch him but not other things... Curious.

When she spoke again, it added a new layer of oddity. "The... past..." He echoed flatly. "You're from the future?" He asked before blinking, honestly surprised that she'd apologized.

"Ah, no. My apologies if anything for being a less gracious host. I rarely have company." He said, looking around. She was floating so she hardly needed somewhere to sit. "I don't know if you can touch food, but if you can, you're welcome to some." He said, gesturing to the bit of meat he had roasting over the fire.

"Saraiyu Sorainu..." The present AND future Corona? If she was gracious enough to call this the present that meant she was the Corona now... And her last name was Sorainu... "Does Sorainu traditionally moonlight as an attractive woman? We don't hear much about the affairs of Hueco Mundo in [Russkie SS' name], but the last we heard, he was a man." It was clear from his tone that he was well past doubting anything she said. There was no point. She was either telling the truth or this was the worst hallucination yet.

"I assume so, considering last I checked the year in the realm of the humans was...about two thousand, six hundred or so past this point. I won't rule out anything a this point." He didn't believe her, or maybe he just wasn't sure if she was joking or not? Well Sarai was serious despite how odd this sounded or must sound to someone. Plopping back down in the air, she relaxed a bit as there was nothing else to be done for this.

"Its the tundra, you are forgiven and I don't feel hungry at all, so thank you, but save your food." It was good that there was no hungry, though she wondered how that meat would taste. Had she ever tried seal or whale before? It would have been a curious experiment really... Still, a man living out in the tundra would need all the sustenance he could get and it wasn't as if she needed to eat anything even normally.

"We switch off. I'm a siren, when I release I can either go to a female or male form? Both are me, but there are slight differences... I don't like sweets as Sorainu. I guess I am more relaxed... Boisterous even, though I wouldn't be as amenable to believing I was in the past." Not really that big of a secret, no one paid too much attention when she switched off outside of her realm. They must assume she had killed him? How silly, she would tell someone who asked. "'He' is definitely male in all physical ways, much like I am female in all physical ways. There is no...moonlighting."

"So who are you? A random person in the tundra who just happens to know these things? I'm a bit interested." If she was here, she might as well be entertained and learn a bit. Who knows? Maybe she'd find the source of her troubles.

He tilted his head. Huh. If she was to be believed, and he really sort of... DID believe her... She was from two and a half thousand years in the future. "Well you look well for your age, Corona." He said with a slight 'heh'. Not mocking her or anything. Just still flabbergasted at all this nonsense, even if he did believe it.

"Suit yourself. I was about to go diving. I think there's some penguins down there. Cute little bastards but this is a survival issue." He said with a shrug. Hrm... What was this now? She WAS Sorainu? The two shared a body... or more accurate to say, the being that was this woman had two bodies, one female, one male.

"Hm. I see. My apologies if it seemed like I was mocking you. As I said, we don't interact much with the outside and Hollow powers honestly seem almost arcane to us sometimes. Shinigami are used to weapons being rather functionally focused through their weapons, only affecting the shinigami themself secondarily. The idea of one's power changing their gender is surprising. Intriguing though." He said with a nod. Though he accepted she was neither truly man or woman, he had to admit, he was happy she'd appeared like this.

"Me? I'm nobody now... Though I doubt that's a satisfying answer.." He sighed. "Let's just say that Soul Society was not always ruled off of those islands it is now. There was a dispute in the afterlife and everybody who lost had to beat it. There's a number of pocket dimensions all over the earth that have to operate in secret. Their existence alone was considered a mercy by the victors of that war. My father is the ruler of our little pocket of exile. I did something foolish and now I've been FURTHER exiled. I thought my home was as cold as you could find a place on the earth." He raised his hands to rub his arms. "I was mistaken."

"Oh yes, over seven thousand and still looking like this? Arrancar aging is wonderful." Sarai laughed, she did appreciate her looks even if she didn't use them thoroughly. She was a lovely woman and gave the man a nod at the compliment, he was nice enough looking himself.

"...Penguins you say? You are diving to kill and eat them?" Sarai blinked, suddenly very very interested but in a subdued manner as if she hoped to keep it secret. If she was around him... and thought about things... she could touch them. "I would be willing to help you."

Then she could squeeze the life from them. Perfect. This weird trip was already worth everything.

"Oh I didn't think you were, it was a bit of a joke I assume? But it was more on the money than most guesses so its funny, they assume I killed him and took over. Intriguing... well... I suppose its because of the hollow I came from, since that does seem to be how we work other than a few small... deviations." Now this was interesting as well, her eyes lighting up as she spoke. Discussing the fundamental power differences and how they functioned as separate races. "You have your powers talk to you. That is intriguing to me. How can they? Are they entirely different beings that share a body with you?"


Her mouth quirked up in a bit of a smirk as the shinigami proclaimed his lack of importance. It really wasn't a satisfying answer one bit... "I need a name, or should I call you Tundra Man from a Pocket Soul Society? I learned about those recently, though how they formed is news to me! How fascinating... I generally just murder those who lose or subjugate them under my powers. How like the Soul Society to choose the more cruel and painful option... What did you do Tundra man?"

Huh. If only he could look the same even after a few thousand years. Must be nice. He glanced up, curious that she wanted to help him. "Hm. You sure? It can get awfully cold down there... Not that you seem to mind the cold much." The only reason he wasn't dressed in layers is because it would just wind up getting them wet to get in and out of them every time he went down. And she made him look like he was dressed modestly.

"Ah... I never worked out the great spiritual specifics. I believe they're a manifestation of our own soul? But they're also sort of their own being. Maybe like a construct? Mine has refused to talk to me since uh... well... since all this." He gestured around. He supposed... that was as good a segue as he was going to get...

"There... was some dispute.. with the rulership back home. One of the few nobles we had wanted to do things differently. He was colluding against us, I knew he was. I believed that anyway. Eventually I get word he's planning a coup. I told my father. I told my brothers. I told everyone. Nobody listens. So I decide to do something about it myself. My weapon says he'll have no part in it? I say fine. So.. I did it with a knife. Once the whole house was quiet, I searched top to bottom. I still don't know if they were actually planning anything or not, but I never found anything. And then when my father found ME, well... He couldn't even officially banish me. Had to sneak me out and set me off running this way in the middle of the night."

He sighed. "So yeah. Mistakes have been made." He said before squinting. "I'm Kostya by the way. Can't believe I just now said that. I'm a terrible host."

"I don't really feel it, I think. I know its cold but its not touching me really." Sarai looked at her clothes with a grin before glancing back up. "I have nothing else to do, and I feel a pull to stay near you so I might as well. If I can grab the little fuc-things I will help." She would help oh so enthusiastically. Elly had forbidden her from the last zoo trip when she almost took out of the penguin enclosure, which was a shame. They had gathered so many there just for her she had felt.

Tundra Man's oh so elegant response caused her to shrug as she spoke. "Some sort of construct plus manifestation? Weird. Yours is...silent?"

Sensing a story, or well being led to believe there was one to it, Saraiyu quieted herself and her curiosity as she listened. A nobleship, one of the rare ones plotting rebellion? The corona blinked and listened with a growing amusement. "So you acted without express consent of your ruler for their own benefit and turned out to have been wrong? Or at least premature. Or... you could have been led on by parties who wanted to stage a coup themselves. What better way than to weaken your father's position than by forcing one of his most loyal protectors to fuck up so badly he was forced himself to break his own rules by sneaking you away. Ingenius."

That was amusing, Sarai grinned wolfishly as she worked through this in her mind. "He should have had you publicly executed to put forth a strong position that showed no weakness...while sneaking you away and keeping you hidden and safe. A secret weapon they assume is long gone and dead they wouldn't be expecting just in case."

"Kostya...A nice name and a pleasure to finally be introduced. Are we going to go catch the little evil bastards now?" An inquisitive smile graced her lips as she grew a bit excited over the prospect of penguin slaughter.

Hm. He wouldn't mind her helping him hunt... though she seemed a little... eager... He at penguins because he had to. Did she have some sort of personal vendetta against them? Oh well. Help was help. He nodded at her description. "Close enough.. And to be perfectly honest, my father kept my zanpakuto. As far as I know he very well MAY have faked my death. It's hard to say." He said with a shrug. "Doesn't matter terribly much now, I suppose."

He opened his mouth before chuckling. "I suppose better now than never." He stood up, straightening the short pants her had on before walking over towards the water's edge, the rather abrupt drop into the freezing water creating an admittedly pretty view. "We won't get more than a shot or two before they swim away. I'm no slouch in the water, but I can't keep up with them." He picked his spear up from the fireplace before readying it, taking a few deep breaths, preparing to jump in.

Saraiyu shuddered at being deprived of part of herself but did nod in acceptance. His father had done whatever he had done, this man from the past was of no importance even if he was interesting. She might offer to check up on him at a later date...when she returned home that is.

At his laugh, she frowned softly. What was so funny? Was he pleased to be killing them too? Regardless, she spoke in reply as she followed him. "Yes now. I want them dead... I will be quick and useful."

Looking down at the view, she frowned more. Saraiyu was struck with an idea and a temptation. What if she could sing the penguins to them... "Wait... wait. Before we go, let me try something."

Kostya would hopefully let her kill a few if she could get them to walk right up to him and he could have enough food to keep him potentially alive for longer periods of time.

He paused, glancing back. She REALLY wanted to kill some penguins. Did she have a vendetta against them? Well, whatever. If it helped him eat, it was a good thing at the moment. He took a step back, about to dive into the water when she said to stop. He slipped a little on the ice with a slight 'woah', but avoided falling in. He stepped back, looking curiously at her.

He crossed his arms, rubbing them a little and nodded. He wanted to get this over with and get back to the fire, but he'd let her try whatever it was she had in mind. She was the Corona after all. Maybe she had some sort of... Oh god, was she going to blow up the ocean?!

Sarai ignored the curious look, opening her mouth and pulling her power out. It was weak and flimsy, but these were freaking penguins. Even with how far down they were, her siren's call would tempt them...would pull them up.

Kostya would definitely be able to hear and feel the pull of the song, but she wasn't aiming it at him so it wouldn't bother him...plus it was much weaker than usual.

Within moments the penguins, about ten in all, hopped up on the ice with dead eyes. They stared at Sarai while she glared down at them in disgust. "Your food. Can I kill them now?"

Kostya was fairly curious what was about to happen. She must be about to use her power somehow to get penguins... or maybe she was going to explode the ocean? Either way, he was in for something of a show. But he couldn't have expected what happened. She opened her mouth and....

and he could hear singing. Beautiful singing... but it wasn't coming from her mouth at all... What... What was.....

Ah. So that was it. Her voice controlled things... Like a... Well he would have said like a siren, but he couldn't have rightly heard of those before they were recorded in mythology, much less spread worldwide as a belief all the way to russia... now could he?

But something seemed off... It was in his mind, but it still felt.. muffled... as if coming through a cloth or a narrow passage. He shuddered at the thought that he wasn't getting the full effect... Still, it was intriguing... he'd like to hear more, and wondered if despite it being a mental power, was still her singing.

He glanced at the penguins having noticed them come ashore, but too distracted to pay them much mind. "Ah....." He remained quiet for a long few moments. "Yes. Go right ahead." He... didn't feel right. Hunting animals was one thing. Slaughtering them defenseless... He didn't think any less of her for it, but she didn't fashion herself a hunter, where he did. It was most likely silly, but he felt there was a given respect for your prey in hunting that he wouldn't have felt here.

Sarai wanted more than anything to tear them all apart and leave their remains for better animals to devour spread across three miles of formerly pristine snow. However...he needed these for food. He might even need their fats and all sorts of things if what she remembered about such things was right...

So instead of indulging herself utterly, the Corona kept herself restrained a bit as she gleefully snapped the necks of every single one of them. The smile on her face was purely sadistic as she stood up, took a deep soul filled breath and let it out. "Aaah yes. Thank you. Elly does get cross with me when I go on penguin rampages, I've had to restrain myself the past few years."

(OOC: Because I AM NICE I DID NOT DESCRIBE IN DETAIL HOW GLEEFUL IT WAS I COULD HAVE AND I HOPE YOU APPRECIATE MY KINDNESS)

Kostya felt maybe a little uneasy seeing her snap all those birds like twigs... but he would be well off for all of that meat and he might be able to do something with their pelts... Sorry little penguins, you just ran into a superior hunter, it seemed. A tiny bit unnerved but at least resolved, he was happy she was done and admittedly, she looked very at peace once she'd finished.

"Elly?" He wondered aloud. Who could that be..? Well, she was a man sometimes. "Spouse?" He asked rather simply. He started gathering up penguins and putting them in a pile near the fire where he'd be able to do his work near some warmth.

"No, daughter. I am currently without such trappings." Saraiyu breathed deeply and attempted to help pile up the penguins. She carefully lifted them and carried them while floating on her stomach, setting them down so they didn't bruise though the care was all for the tundra man and not the horrid beasties.

"She likes things like those creatures but she has taught me much of the human world since I adopted her. There are all sorts of things in the future of note, things that if I told you would seem like magic." Yes, magic. She had almost felt so at first and she was experiencing it first hand. Did she...have her phone? She did! Sarai pulled it out from her cleavage and held it up. "Behold. With one click I can contact my child across realms! Normally... It is not working now, but it works and it is in real time. I can also store images on it. Like this one of my daughter with a kitten she found."

Sarai showed Kostya the background image with a proud maternal smile. Admire Elly! the smile said.

"Ahhh, I see." He was a little surprised at first, but it made sense. She may have looked like a young woman but she was older than him by a many times, especially if she was from the future. Such things were probably meaningless to an almost deified being. Then again, she did have a daughter... Ah, she was adopted. He was about to say, she did not look like she had given birth.

"Hah. I suppose that's believable." It was, in theory. His father often told him of how when he was a boy, the conveniences they had now would have seemed like fantasy. He was still hardly prepared for the small device she pulled out. "Really... That's incredible..." He leaned in to see it better. It wasn't working? Well... If it wasn't actually magic (and it sounded like time travel was as much a fantastical thing in her time as it was in his) it made sense their technology wouldn't be able to function in another time.

The images though caught his attention. "My god... That's amazing..." He leaned forward, squinting. "You sure she's adopted? She looks like she'd be your daughter."

"Of course it is. I am not lying. And yes, it is quite incredible, I rather miss my game..." Sarai was smug as the man seemed entranced with her amazing cell phone thing. It looked like one and acted like one, but ran on mystical technology the Corona was not ready to send out into the world just yet.

As the images caught his attention and he leaned in more, she leaned over to allow him easier sight on her gorgeous daughter. She may have a girlfriend, but Sarai would show her off to anyone if given half the chance and the safety. "Oh yes, I have hundreds...or thousands? Of images stored in here. I can access them at any time, see?"

Sarai began flicking through pictures, most of them in fact of Elly though there were others. However she was beaming at such praise. "She is my daughter in all but blood! Even then, if there was a way for me to have had her I could not love her more than I do."

The corona had turned into a beaming mother, proud of the recognition between them even if the resemblance was coincidental.

"Thousands of images?" He tilted his head, a little baffled, but as she started flipping through them, it certainly looked like it was plausible. This.. .device... it seemed to capture whatever was in front of it as an image, painting it truer to life than any painting could normally portray. Her daughter did indeed look like she might as well have been the Corona's own blood. She was vibrant and lively and full of smiles. "You certainly seem like a proud mother. I'm happy for you." To find a child you love like your own blood. The Corona was fortunate for that.

"I'm afraid the most exciting technology I have is the stick I sharpened to kill penguins." He waved said stick in the air sans fanfare. "Still, it is exciting, the time you have come from. Tell me more about what has come of your world."