Showdown in Mother Russia

Colin stepped through his Garganta and looked around him in slight disgust. It had been about two weeks since he had visited Soul Society and tested himself against a shinigami in battle. It was… an interesting experience, but he hadn’t been able to consume the shinigami so he counted it as something of a waste of time. He’d lost a few low level Hollows and had gained at least some information on what shinigami were capable of, so that was something he supposed. That wasn’t enough to satisfy the Primera, though, and he had found himself steadily growing more restless as the days went by. When it had reached the point where he couldn’t even be bothered to seduce his next meal, he knew he had to get out of Hueco Mundo again. He had stopped at Karakura to see if Sayuri or the twins were around, but he hadn’t been able to sense them. His first assumption was that he had dreamt the whole thing with Sayuri, but his gut had informed him that was preposterous. That meant they were probably just out of town for the moment – possibly back in Naruki visiting the family. Either way, he hadn’t found them and he didn’t feel like hunting them, but neither did he want to really return.

So he had done the next best thing: returned long enough to reopen a Garganta somewhere else in the world. He didn’t have a destination in mind, but perhaps the Garganta had picked up on his dour mood. His location was dark, cold and smelled rancid – to put it kindly. Colin wrinkled his nose. It really was disgusting here. But somehow it was still better than being back in Hueco Mundo right now. He stood calmly in the brisk wind, wondering where he was. It was probably somewhere north, judging by the snow and ice. He shrugged and began walking the streets, looking around curiously as he went. Based on the signs on the shop and what little he remembered from his elementary school days, he guessed he was probably somewhere in Russia. What an odd place for the Garganta to take him. His mostly unbound hair whipped around wildly behind him as he walked into the wind. He walked for perhaps twenty minutes before his drifting mind suddenly latched onto a strong reiatsu nearby. He wondered if it had noticed him as well. He hadn’t exactly been masking his reiatsu as he walked, so it would be odd if it hadn’t.

As Colin saw it, he now had two options. He could either engage the individual somehow or he could just walk away. Walking away didn’t guarantee total avoidance of a confrontation, so that left engaging the individual. He wrinkled his nose again. The individual was powerful. No matter how one looked at it, this was going to be tricky. He might as well put his best foot forward, though. With an easy grace, he entered the building and glided over to the bar where the deliciously frightening reiatsu was coming from. He sank fluidly onto a barstool a seat away from what he now saw was a man. He rested his elbows on the bar and his chin on the back of his hands. Casting a sideways glance, he noted that the man was casually dressed and fairly average in appearance. Well, he had seduced worse so he supposed he couldn’t really complain. He tilted his head and smiled warmly at the shorter man. It was times like this that he cursed his height, but ah well. “You seem a bit out of your element, stranger,” he murmured in a sensual tone, his English crisp and flawless. “What brings you to this lonely desolate part of Mother Russia?”