All was quiet; not a sound was to be heard. Shadows sifted about to and fro, though none dared to come near to the third Espada, Thor Blerster. None that he knew of, at least; none that would be nearly strong enough to be a real threat. Well, not to the man at least. "This forest..." he thought to himself referring to the forest known as the Forest of Menos, located beneath the White Sand Desert of Hueco Mundo. "It's honestly quite depressing." he said to himself, allowing his form so visibly slump. Such a shithole of a place...the unfinished thought lingered; it was more of an instinctual feeling than an actual thought, to be honest. He felt it, however didn't think it. His body and mind wanted him to leave this place. Not because he was afraid, because he wasn't in the slightest. It was just some sort of feeling lingering inside him that even a vastly intelligent person like him couldn't explain.

He felt something. He didn't know what it was but, it seems to be some sort of a surge of spiritual pressure. Even though the arrancar was the third Espada, he had no experience or proficiency sensing and detecting such things. Walking forwards the man wondered who or what it could it be.

Willow was fighting. The morphing ans twisting darkness that seemed to threaten to swallow the Forest of Menos whole spat adversaries at him. As far as Arrancar went, Willow himself was about middle-tier. Sure, he was far stronger than the average hollow - nothing to thumb his nose at - but he wasn't exactly a single numbered Espada or anything. Willow came down here a lot, looking to train through battle. He was always fighting Menos in their forest, the look of the place kept his mind in focus while the Menos served as good opponents. Exhaling sharply, Willow swept his Zanpakuto out before him as several orange-tinged Bala appeared out in front of him before firing as a volley right at a wounded Menos. By themselves, they weren't much of a threat, and the Menos didn't even attempt to react to them, however; it soon realized that was a mistake as the Bala each exploded into powerful bursts of fire.

Sensing another Arrancar nearby, Willow performed a clean Sonido and appeared behind the Menos's head, slicing it clean off with a fiery stroke of his blade before turning to look at the presence he'd sensed while sheathing his blade. "...Ah." It took him a moment, but he managed to recognize the man and bowed in respect. "Lord Blerster."

As the Arrancar kept walking, he heard a loud commotion. Being the inquisitive man he was he knew he had to investigate. Making haste the man would arrive at the location, however, the commotion he had heard earlier seems to have ended. Glancing a little bit towards the right, he saw a man standing at least ten-feet or so away from him. Seeing Thor the man would bow in reaction while calling him "Lord Blerster". "Please. There is really need for such formalities; I'm not royalty." Making a stop hand gesture the Arrancar would utter with a smile on his face. There maybe some Espadas who go around thinking themselves as royalty and demanding respect from others, but Thor wasn't one of them. He did not think of himself as royalty, nor did he force or demand anyone to respect him. Why? Simply because the Arrancar believed that respect should be earned, and not given on the whim.

Taking a few steps forwards towards the Arrancar in front of him, Thor would speak, "was all that commotion you're doing?" scanning the area for a few seconds the man would return his gaze towards the Arrancar, only to speak again, "you've been busy, I see." the Espada uttered with a lop-sided grin on his face. "Anyways, let's do this properly this time; without all that formality bullshit." Raising his right hand up, the man would go for a handshake, as he uttered, "Names Thor Blerster. Terceira Espada. And you are?"

At Thor's word's, Willow relaxed a little. Certainly, the current Espada were a bit more unified than previous incarnations, however; it was best to err on the side of caution. "This? This was just a quick stretch." Seeing the man before him referring to his earlier tangle with a Menos, Willow gave a truthful answer. These creatures were fodder that hid in the underbelly of Hueco Mundo, not powerful enough to face the rabid and cutthroat dunes of the White Sands. "I am a Fraccion under Lady Nakita, the Segunda Espada. You can call me Willow." A small smile flashed across the young-looking man's face for a moment, wondering how much Thor had seen and by extension, if he would see the irony in someone who used fire based abilities naming themselves after a tree, of all things. While musing to himself, Willow took the man's hand in a firm and friendly handshake and nodded. "I confess a certain degree of curiosity as to why you're out here, Lor- Err, I mean, Thor. Mind telling me why?"

The man would reciprocate as he would shake the arrancars hand back. "Well, it's nice to finally meet you, Willow." Thor spoke, bringing his hand down to the side of his body. Even though the Arrancar was in the Espada he did not know most of the people who were in the ranks, except for a few exceptions, of course. As such, it was always a good feeling to get to know his fellow arrancars who served under the cero king.

"Got bored; so I decided just to stroll about. Figured that since it was a long time since I was last here I should do some exploring. Though, to be honest with you, this place is incredibly depressing; as it always was." Thor would utter, devoid of any expression on his face, suiting the overall atmosphere. Getting quite tired of standing the man would clench his fist, as two earth chair of sorts would unearth from the ground. Taking a seat on one the Arrancar would gesture his hand to the other, "do take a seat, Willow. I don't see why we should be standing. Besides, these chairs are quite comfortable." running a hand through his white hair, he continued, "tell me about this Nakita; when did you become her fraccion? And what made you decide to join the Espada?" Willow would soon out find that he wasn't the only with an insatiable itch to know about things.

"I won't argue that." Willow let out a sigh as he slowly sat down in the earthen chair across from Thor, running a hand through his hair. "Well, I sort of fell into the position, really. A little after I managed to remove my mask, I stumbled across Lady Nakita in the White Sands, and she offered me a position as her Fraccion. I didn't really have much else going on, so I accepted." Willow let out a small sigh, leaning back a bit in the earthen chair as he knitted his fingers together. "As for Lady Nakita, well, she's not bad to work under. She doesn't make unreasonable demands, and simply asks that I treat her with respect."

Willow spread his hands apart, and shrugged slightly, as if to say it is what it is. "I've got my own goals, and I believe in the Cero King's cause, but to gain any sort of satisfaction I need to get stronger first. What about you, Thor? How'd you find yourself in the Espada?"

The arrancar listened carefully to the man speak until he came across a part where he knew he had to give his two cents about, "she asks for you to respect her, huh? Well, isn't that something. Heh." A smirk could be seen on his face as the man continued, "what's with people asking others for respect? Why is it so hard to just treat people the way they want to be treated and talk to people the way they want to be talked to?" Shaking his head the man would let out a sigh. He knew that he was getting philosophical, but truth be told, it bothered him that some would only use fear to get what they wanted. Sure, making people fear you would get what you want. However, what happens when they stop fearing you? What then?

"To get stronger; isn't that what we all want?" The arrancar would respond gazing at Willow. "Me? Well, like you I also kind of fell into the Espada." he paused, "kind of got to be the Tercera Espada from the start, to be honest. Funny how it worked out." Tilting his head towards the side, the man would shrug. For Thor a rank in the Espada only meant just that; a rank. Even without it, he knew that he would have a reputation that most Arrancars would dream to attain.

Bringing his right hand forwards the man would create a small ball of magma on the palm of his hand, levitating it and making it spin around his palm, he would speak, "I'm curious to know what your thoughts are about this impending war; is it just? Do you that we could win?" Thor would ask, eagerly wanting to know Willows view about it.

Willow sat patiently, letting Thor speak before leaning in slightly. "Frankly, Thor, I disagree." Willow began with a thoughtful expression on his face. "We aren't humans anymore, demanding we treat each other equally while stepping on the heads of those below us. If one is to consider the Espada as the peak, as it were, of Arrancar - and even Hollow - society, then I think it's important to remember that strength is the golden rule amongst us." Willow paused for a moment, before continuing, "To us, might makes right. Certainly, we are a tad bit more civilized than your average, rabid Hollow. We posses ranks and command structure, but that doesn't change the simple fact that these things are prizes that can be fought for and won. It would do us well to remember we are more in-tune, more honest, with our own savage natures than the other races."

After a moment of gazing into the magma ball, Willow just... shrugged. "Frankly, the fact that I was even able to remove my mask as a Hollow is something I consider to be a miracle. If I believed in any sort of higher power, I would be proselytizing it's name. However, I don't. Random acts of cruelty occur all the time. A man's entire community can be executed by firing squad for associating with the wrong person, this I know well." Willow then moved to scratch his chin before speaking again, "Well, that doesn't really answer your question, does it? Honestly: I don't know. I'll fight where I'm directed, relish in the slaughter, and hope that I get to take down a few Quincy along the way."

The fraccion was an interesting man. Not necessarily because of the particular stances he had, but the way he viewed the world around him. Be that as it may, while what Willow said made sense, though Thor did not agree with it completely. Why, you may ask? Because it was one thing to be a savage by nature, but it was another to be totally engulfed by it. As such, these kind of discussions really showed how the third Espada was different than the rest of the arrancars. Some may view him as soft, weak and different because of harboring indifferent views compared to the rest, but he did not care. The man was more evolved, more intelligent, and more aware of nature than the rest of them.

"I see." Thor responded after hearing the mans explanation of how he would fight where he was directed and how he hoped that he could take some Quincys down as well. "Hopefully, we will be able to win. Though, we do have a problem of manpower." The magma ball spinning over his palm would increase its pace as it would spin even faster. "What is your power, Willow? Curious." Returning his gaze to the fraccion, the man would ask; interested in knowing what kind of power the fraccion possessed.

"My power?" Willow cupped his hands in front of his body, a flame about the size of his fist roaring to life in a swirling, pulsing stream. The Arrancar offered a small smile before replying, "It's fire, though I've got a few other... What did Ika call it again? Shenanigans? Yes, shenanigans up my sleeve." Some part of Willow could tell Thor didn't particularly agree with his ideas, or what he'd said. But that was fine, he was free to believe whatever he wanted, as was he. Truthfully though, Willow was still mildly cautious, keeping his guard up and not letting too much information slip. On the flip side though, that didn't stop him from having a nice conversation with the Tercera Espada, now did it?