Criminal
The stars blurred around him as he was rushed away from his home, his kingdom. He was numb to everything around him; even the occasional jostling didn't faze him. Images of his family and friends left bloody and dieing plagued his mind as the harsh winter breeze blew against his exposed skin. He knew he should be furious, he should be fighting with everything he possessed, but he just couldn't find it in himself to even move. After watching his mother being slaughtered right before his very eyes, he had become cold and lifeless. He was nothing more than an empty shell of what he had once been.
"Ichigo!" He remembered his twin scream.
With eyes wide in shock, he remained rooted where he stood even when the sword stained with his mother's blood came whistling down toward him. He knew he should move that he should defend himself. His mind was screaming at him to do something, anything but stand there and be gutted like a pig. Honey brown eyes slowly closed as the inevitable drew near. The sharp clang of metal hitting metal snapped him out of his stupor. Blocking the sword that had almost ended his life was Shiro.
"Shiro?" Ichigo had mumbled in confusion, before everything snapped into focus. "Get out of here you, idiot!"
Shiro turned his head to smirk over his shoulder at his brother as he said sarcastically, "Well, we couldn't have you dropping dead before you were crowned king. Then we would all be left to deal with goat-face as king, again. Plus, I doubt anyone would let me be king."
His brother's trademark grin twisted his features and the glint of insanity sparked in his eyes, as he brought his sword back just to lunge forward again. The man before them barely jumped back out of the sword's reach. Shiro grinned manically as he slashed down towards the man hidden beneath the black cloak. The force behind the blow was just enough to knock down the man's hood and nick his face as he tried to sidestep the blow. Stunning blue hair was revealed to the room, along with eyes just a shade lighter than his hair. The man standing before them was the Sexta, one of Aizen's Espada.
The Sexta grinned maliciously before jumping forward with his sword swinging wildly. Shiro barely dodged the attacks that would have severed his head. With the Sexta lunging, swinging, and thrusting his sword about wildly Shiro was forced to go on the offense. Not able to just stand there and watch another of his family die, Ichigo swiped up his sword before he charged forward. The sword whistled through the air just before it slashed down across the Sexta's back causing blood to splash up against his face.
A rough jostle brought him back to the present. He gazed around in a daze, not able to fully comprehend where he was. The Sexta's blue hair glinted in the moonlight that streamed through the trees. Ichigo randomly wondered if the man's hair was really blue. He was actually quite curious about this, even though this was something he should never ever have been curious about. Maybe he had Stockholm syndrome.
Ichigo was roughly thrown from the Sexta's shoulder and onto the ground, where he lay gasping for air. The Sexta stalked over to the nearest tree and leaned against it, leaving his face covered in shadows as he watched Ichigo. His predatory gaze never leaving Ichigo's body, as the boy slowly stood back up on his feet. Honey brown eyes quickly scanned the area, before looking back at his captor while taking a small step back. He searched the area for anything he could use to injure or maybe knock out the Espada, but nothing looked heavy enough to work. Ichigo's hand groped uselessly where his sword had once hung. He was defenseless against the Sexta. Fists clenched at his sides, he thought about the best way to get away from the Sexta. The sensation of something digging into his skin stopped his train of thought. Slowly his mind remembered what was hidden beneath his right sleeve. Beneath his right sleeve was a dagger that Shiro had insisted he keep on himself. Never before had Ichigo been so happy that his brother had pestered him into doing something he had thought was completely unnecessary.
Now that he remembered that the dagger was attached to his arm, he could feel the sheath that kept the blade from cutting him pressing against his arm just above his wrist. The dagger was thickly coated with the venom from the Brazilian wandering spider (aka the banana spider) and the blade was still razor sharp from never having been used. Turning slightly to the side so that the Espada couldn't see what he was doing, he quickly unsheathed the dagger and slid it into his throwing hand. To the blue haired man it looked like Ichigo was fiddling with his sleeve.
Ichigo knew the blade was meant for close range attacks, but maybe the blade would still cause enough damage to the Espada or at the very least stun the man so that he could make a quick get away. Plus, Ichigo wasn't going anywhere in arms length of the blue haired man. Hoping that this would be enough for him to at least get a head start, he stealthily poised himself to throw the dagger at the blue haired man. He knew the Sexta had been watching him suspiciously, but it was the Sexta's own fault for not acting on his instincts. That would be the blue haired man's mistake.
The dagger flew from Ichigo's hand and embedded itself to the hilt in the Sexta's left shoulder, giving Ichigo the perfect chance to escape as the Sexta snarled in pain while gripping the hilt of the dagger. Without a second thought Ichigo darted through the trees back towards his family. He twisted and dodged anything in his path, his long legs being pushed to their limits as he continued to push them harder.
Grimmjow snarled viciously as he ripped the dagger out of his shoulder. The little bitch of a brat had stabbed him! When he caught that brat, he was going to kick skinny ass! Flinging the dagger onto the ground Grimmjow blasted it with a cero, leaving nothing but a smoldering hole in the ground. As he turned to chase after the brat his shoulder gave a horrid throb, making him grind his teeth together in pain and clench his fists. After the throbbing subsided, he raced after the brat thoroughly intending to beat the shit out of him once he caught him.
As he raced through the trees the wound in his shoulder throbbed in time with his heartbeat. Unknown to him that the throbbing he felt was the venom coursing through his veins towards his heart. His body had started to become numb not long after the throbbing had started. He ignored this and continued to scan the trees for a glimpse of bright orange hair as he weaved through the trees.
By the time he had caught the first glimpse of orange, he had become painfully aware of another problem he had. He had a freaking raging hard on! And it was damn painful. How or why he had gotten this problem he didn't know, but it made him want to kill the brat.
The sound of someone rushing after him, made Ichigo hasten his pace. Ichigo's heart was beating frantically in his chest, as he mentally assessed himself again for anymore concealed weaponry. To his utter disappointment, there were no more hidden weapons on him. He swore under his breath, while he dashed across a small creek, the water splashing up against the thin cloth of his pants making enough noise for everybody to hear where he was. A stream of colorful words flew out of his mouth as he ran faster.
As he rushed through the woods he looked for anything useful, but yet again came up empty handed. Ichigo did the next best thing that he could think of; he scrambled up the nearest tree. The limbs of the tree were thin, but sturdy enough to hold up his weight. He settled on a branch high out of the Sexta's reach and leaned against the trunk of the tree. The elbow of his left arm fell into a small knot hole, which caused Ichigo to lose his balance momentarily. Still a bit unsteady Ichigo carefully maneuvered himself so that he was now facing the trunk of the tree. A small hole about the size of Ichigo's fist resided in the side of the tree. In the dim lighting that the moon provided, Ichigo could just make out the shape of some acorns that had been stored in there. A lovely idea bloomed in Ichigo's head as he sat there silently staring at the harmless acorns that would soon be used for malicious intent.
The snap of a twig brought Ichigo out of his revere. His head wiped around to the source of the noise to see a shock of blue beneath him. Confused by the odd color before him, Ichigo just stared at the bright blue. The longer he stared, the more he noticed that the blue was actually the color of someone's hair. And last but not least, there was a pair of cyan eyes glaring daggers up at him. The thought if only looks could kill briefly passed through Ichigo's mind.
"Oi, bitch. Get your ass out of that tree," the Sexta's snapped at the redhead.
Raising an orange eyebrow with a smirk plastered on his normally scowling features, Ichigo reaches into the knot hole and pulls out a handful of acorns. Holding the acorns in one hand and grabbing one with the other, Ichigo chucks a lone acorn directly at the larger man's face. The acorn hit's the blue haired man right between the eyes with a crack. A red mark blossoms between his eyes, and his face scrunches up in confusion and pain. Snickering at the man below him, Ichigo continues to chuck acorns at the blue haired menace. This only serves to anger the larger male more. A sinister snarl reaches Ichigo's ears.
Ichigo stops mid-throw, to contemplate whether or not to continue his course of action. When rationally thinking about it all, what Ichigo was really doing was waiting for the venom from the dagger to paralyze the man below him so that he could make it back to the kingdom of Karakura. But the rage the larger was emitting made Ichigo almost reluctant to continue digging his grave any deeper with every acorn thrown at the Sexta. Unknown to Ichigo the Espada below him was going to uses the smaller male's lack of attentiveness to his advantage. The tips of his fingers sharpened into claws that he used to climb up the tree enough so that he was able to grip Ichigo's ankle. A feral grin spread across the blue haired man's face as he yanked hard on Ichigo's leg. Ichigo's body easily tumbled out of the tree, but not without hitting a few branches on the way down. His body hit the ground with a thud effectively knocking the breath out of him. Ichigo laid face first on the ground in a daze. Pain radiated throughout his body from the fall, making it more difficult to catch his breathe and regain his bearings. Before Ichigo could even move he was picked up roughly and thrown against the tree. As he began to slide down the tree he was jerked back up and pinned against the rough bark of the tree. A hard fist connected with side of his face causing his head to snap to the side. The side of his face stung and an angry red mark bloomed on his face as he turned his head to face the man pinning him against the tree.
Brown eyes glared at the larger man as he spit in his face and in return the blue haired punched Ichigo in the gut. Bile rose in Ichigo's throat in response, which Ichigo quickly forced back down. Ichigo glared at the other silently daring him to do his worst. The other grinned as he accepted the unspoken challenge and planning to fully deliver on his end of the challenge. Pulling his fist back, he quickly brought it back down into Ichigo's stomach. He clenched his teeth to keep from groaning in pain while still glaring at the man before him, his gaze never flinching or wavering. It went on like this for awhile, Ichigo clenching and grinding his teeth together to keep from voicing his pain and the other enjoying every minute of beating the smaller into a bloody pulp. Even with blood seeping from his busted lip and dribbling down his chin from coughing it up in response to too many harsh blows to the stomach, Ichigo still hadn't vocalized even a groan of pain.
Ichigo through his pain was still able to notice that the blows had become less powerful and the time in between each getting longer and longer. The venom had finally started to paralyze the blue haired menace. In between one of the blows Ichigo took a quick second to inspect the other. The larger man had become a sickly pale color from the energy he had used to beat up the other, he was sweating, he was out of breath, and his movements were sluggish and over exaggerated. Ichigo's bloodied lips formed a triumphant smirk that stopped the larger mid punch.
Confused by the smaller man's actions he snapped irritably, "What the fuck are you smirkin' about?"
"I'm smirking, because the venom is finally getting to work."
"What fuckin' venom?" He growled lowly.
"The venom that had thickly coated the dagger that I had embedded in your shoulder," Ichigo stated as if it was the most obvious thing in the world. At the other's blank expression, Ichigo couldn't help the mirth that escaped him before continued speaking. "Don't tell me you haven't noticed the obvious that indicated you had been poisoned? Signs like your body becoming numb on the side of with your injury, your moves becoming sluggish, you're out of breath from such easy activity, and the tent in your pants."
The only response Ichigo received in him enlightening the other on his critical condition was an infuriated snarl tearing free of the others mouth. Cyan orbs snapping in fury as he snarled out, "You bitch," before snapping a clenched fist against Ichigo's face. Ichigo's body crumpled down onto the ground when his body was no longer pinned against the tree. He was swiftly kicked to lay flat on his back on the ground and his head connecting harshly with the ground causing bright splotches to color his vision.
The blue haired man stomped down on Ichigo's arm, snapping it with a loud crack. He kicked Ichigo in the gut a few times before he stomped down on Ichigo's ribs that snapped with a sickening crack. A pained scream finally breaks its way out of Ichigo's throat as he coughs up blood causing him more pain. His vision is wavering as he tries to stay awake and not fall into the blackness that is encroaching on the edge of his vision. Before the other could even land another deadly blow, he staggered to the side and slide down against the tree that was now splattered with Ichigo's blood. The blue haired man was finally paralyzed and would die in about maybe an hour if he was lucky. Ichigo tried to get up to start his way back, but his body refused to listen to him. He tried to drag himself away and yet even that didn't work. His breathing labored as he lay there in agony before he slowly slipped into unconsciousness.
Ulquiorra waited impatiently for Grimmjow to show up at the meeting point. It had been an hour and Grimmjow still hadn't shown up yet. The woman stood beside him quietly not voicing any complaints about being tired, even though it was painfully obvious that she was half asleep beside him. She wasn't the same bubbly girl that she had been when she had been kidnapped by him a month ago. The woman was still naïve and innocent, but there was something dull and almost lifeless about her. After a month had gone by with no one having come for her like she had repeatedly told him they would, she had slowly lost the hope that she had been clinging to.
Growing tired of waiting, Ulquiorra told Yammy to follow him and the girl. The trio silently walked through the woods looking for their obnoxious, foul mouthed comrade. Ulquiorra looked at his surroundings taking in every detail, yet not even the faintest glimpse of blue was seen through the trees. Yammy tromped along behind Ulquiorra not even paying attention in the slightest to his surroundings. Orihime stared in content at the trees and still looked for anything that would help find the blue haired man. The area was silent except for the sound of Yammy's heavy foot falls. They clomped through a small creek and still kept moving, with Ulquiorra planning to stop soon so as not to exhaust the young woman he was charged with keeping alive and well.
Slumped down on the ground next to a tree a few more feet before the trio laid Grimmjow, his cyan eyes sparking in fury at his paralyzed state. Ulquiorra was the first to notice Grimmjow in his pitiful state. But the young woman's line of sight completely skipped over the blue haired man, and landed on the deathly still redhead that lay on his back to the side of Grimmjow.
"Kurosaki-kun," Orihime screeched in worry before rushing over to his bloodied form.
Ulquiorra watched to ordeal with a blank expression, before turning away and walking over to Grimmjow. Stopping before his subordinate, he kneeled down and looked the other over. From the looks of Grimmjow, Ulquiorra assumed he had been poisoned by venom that paralyzed its victim. The pale man moved his emerald gaze over to the deep cut in the other's shoulder and inspected the wound. The wound was enflamed and surrounded by a ring of dark purple, with the veins leading to his heart showing up vividly. Annoyed with his subordinate's incompetence he called for the woman to come over and take a look at the man before.
Orihime glanced between Ichigo and Grimmjow unsure of who she should treat first. This didn't go unnoticed by Ulquiorra and he turned his intense emerald gaze to look over the boy that was breathing shallowly. "The boy shall live long enough for you to look over Grimmjow, woman," he said still as stoic as ever.
Knowing better than to defy her captor, she nodded her head before making her way over to the paralyzed man. Even while he was paralyzed he still had a menacing air about him that put her on edge. Not bothering to check him for wounds she quickly brought up her orange shield and began to heal him. After awhile of her sitting there trying to heal him and nothing happening, she looks over at Ulquiorra with confusion plainly displayed across her face. Seeing as nothing was happening Ulquiorra decides to have Yammy take Grimmjow to Szayel.
After all was said and done with the blue haired man, Ulquiorra watched Yammy walk through the gargantua carrying the blue haired menace. Turning away from the portal Ulquiorra noticed the woman was back next to the orange haired boy, again. Orihime quickly used Soten Kisshun to heal Ichigo, who was lying motionless on the ground in front of her breathing shallowly. Ichigo's wounds quickly healed up and his breathing returned back to normal. Orihime was relieved that Ichigo was going to be okay and that her powers had worked to heal him.
"It is time to leave, woman," Ulquiorra stated from beside her.
She glanced nervously between her captor and the orange haired boy lying in front of her. Noticing this Ulquiorra quickly put her worries to rest. "The boy shall be coming with us."
Nodding, she stood up and moved away from the boy in front of her. Ulquiorra swiftly picked up the limp boy, before opening up another gargantua for them. They walked through the portal and left the moonlight forest behind them. Before the portal closed completely, Orihime took one last glance back at the moonlight forest.