Scales
By Spunky0ne
(Requested by AvellaAria)
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(After being stricken by a strange hollow, Byakuya and Orochi's souls are inexplicably bound together. Forced to wed, the two must find a way to live with each other. But living with a slippery, dark hearted little snake won't be easy. Still, there are secrets about Orochi that no one has ever explored, and Byakuya will be the first to see beneath the surface of those wicked obsidian eyes...Bya/Orochi/Bya, Shima-taicho31's Kurushimi/Tetsuya, Ichigo/Renji)
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Chapter 1: Sand
"Shima taichou!" called out a messenger as he flash stepped through the front gates of Shima adobe and found the Shima clan leader standing in the corral, beside his sister, and both in the presence of a huge silver Andalusian stallion, "Sir, I have an urgent message from Kyouraku soutaichou."
Kurushimi exchanged glances with his sister and nodded.
"Give us your message, soldier."
"Sir, word has reached us that a diplomatic mission to the new palace in Hueco Mundo being led by Kuchiki Byakuya has fallen under attack! The captain commander reports that the reiatsu of all in the group appears to have suddenly disappeared!"
"And who was in the group besides Byakurai?" Kuri asked, frowning in concern.
"There were two delegates, Kuchiki Byakuya, Elder Kuchiki Isas, their personal bodyguards and six house guards. Kyouraku soutaichou has asked for you to lead a rescue unit into the area, but you must exercise extreme caution, as whatever attacked the delegation was horribly powerful!"
"Very well," Kuri answered, glancing at his sister, "Take a message back to the captain commander that we are leaving immediately and will report back to him as soon as we find anything at all."
"Hai, Shima taichou!"
"I will bring Ogano to help with healing," Aderia decided.
Kuri frowned uncertainly.
"Deripie, are you sure you want to risk your new husband on such a mission?"
"Ogano is a very talented healer," his sister insisted, "He is not formally trained for healing or fighting, but I am a taichou and I have been instructing him personally. He has tremendous potential, and he is here and ready to leave."
Kuri's frown deepened as flickers of memory of his own spouse's untimely death gnawed at him. But given that Aderia's argument made sense, he realized quickly that she was right to bring the young man along.
There may be multiple victims, and they could have injuries from fighting the hollows. Oga-nii has experience with hollows from his upbringing in the Rukongai. I suppose he is a good choice...I just don't want Deripie to lose her happiness. I don't want her to know the devastation that causes.
"All right," he said solemnly, "I agree he is the best choice, as we need to leave quickly. Ichi-bun and Ren-ren-nii are here visiting, so we will bring them along as well. Both of them will be concerned for Byakurai too. Please go and find Oga-nii while I gather the others."
The two siblings parted and Kuri hurried into the dining room, where Renji and Ichigo sat at a table covered with large serving plates heaped with spicy meats, seared vegtables, freshly made cheese and warm tortillas.
"You're here just in time, mijo," Magdelina greeted him, "We are just about to say grace."
"My apologies, Mamà," Kuri said penitently, "Deripie and I have been ordered to take a rescue mission into Hueco Mundo. Ichi-bun, Ren-Ren-nii, you must come with us as well. Byakurai's delegation to the new palace has fallen under attack and their reiatsu has disappeared."
"That's terrible!" Magdelina exclaimed, paling.
"Is Taichou hurt, do you think?" Renji asked, looking alarmed.
"I think if he was able, he would have reported in," Kuri said darkly.
"Then, we shouldn't waste any time," Ichigo said, standing, "Gracias, Tìa Magdelina."
"Be careful, all of you," Magdelina said worriedly.
"We will be fine, Mamà," Kuri assured her as the three hurried out of the dining room.
Kuri led Ichigo and Renji to the stables, where he climbed onto Ambrosio's back and Ichigo climbed up behind him. Aderia arrived a few moments later on a tall palomino, with her husband seated behind her with his arms around her waist. Kuri glanced down at Renji.
"Isn't your horse here, Ren-ren-nii?" he asked.
"Yeah," Renji sighed, rolling his eyes, "But do we have to take that idiot? He'll probably get me lost and eaten by hollows! Yakkaigoto's that stupid."
"Oh, I'm sure he just needs a little training, right?" Kuri said, smirking as the huge, zebra striped red stallion thundered up to Renji and stopped just in front of him.
"Ow, you nitwit!" Renji yelled, "You're on my foot! Get off!"
Yakkaigoto observed him quietly and slowly lifted his offending hoof.
"Do it again, you steaming little horse pie," Renji snapped as he launched himself onto the horse's back, "I'll sell you for horsemeat..."
The group proceeded swiftly along a trail that led them past Kuchiki Manor and on to the central Seireitei, where they entered the precipice world and continued on to Urahara Kisuke's shop. The shopkeeper led them quickly to where he had a garganta already prepared, and sent them through the dark cavern and into the black sands of the hollow world.
"We are headed towards the last known coordinates of the group," Kuri informed the others, "They were on a path heading towards the palace, but were still about an hour away from it. I don't know if they will be at the site or if they might have just lost contact and moved on to somewhere else."
Ichigo and Renji exchanged worried glances.
"I think Taichou would have stayed in the area until communications were restored," he said softly to Ichigo.
"I think you're right," Ichigo agreed, "Kuri's just trying not to spook us. I think we all know this isn't good."
Kuri climbed down off of his horse's back and followed the trail of residual reiatsu from the missing delegation.
Because it was a peace envoy, they will have traveled on horseback. We should find some lingering signs if the sand hasn't shifted too much.
He found a barely visible hoof print and more reiatsu flickers ahead, and followed them in a steady line for several minutes. Kuri slowed and placed a hand on his sword as something large loomed in the darkness ahead of them. They moved forward more cautiously, then stopped and stared as they recognized the hulking shape as an abandoned carriage.
"This would have held the delegates," Kuri mused, opening the carriage door cautiously and peeking inside, "I sense Byakurai's reiatsu and another."
He moved to the front of the carriage and examined the ground, distress rising in his turquoise eyes.
"Hollows consumed the horses," he said breathlessly.
"Shit," Renji said anxiously.
"That's bad," Ichigo added.
"Deripie, Oga-nii, why don't you hitch Ambrosio and your mount to the carriage?" Kuri suggested, "We will need it to evacuate the injured."
"If there are any left who weren't killed," Ogano whispered to Aderia, who nodded bleakly.
"Ichi-bun, Ren-ren-nii, come with me," Kuri directed the others.
The three moved away on foot and walked on until they came to an extremely dark turn in the path, where signs of recent fighting stood out starkly in the moonlight. Kuri bent and examined the signs carefully.
"There are signs of the release of something very powerful here, at least bankai strength. Most of the guards were slain here," he said, shaking his head, Two people were taken prisoner and one person staggered after them, a short time later. Come this way."
They followed the ominous trail, their worry deepening at the signs of leaking blood from the victims and signs that the lone guard left pursuing them had fallen several times. A short distance later, Kuri came to a sudden halt, almost tripping over the collapsed form of a young man in the darkness. Renji and Ichigo moved forward to join him as he turned the young man over and examined his lovely, but badly bruised face in the moonlight. Kuri went momentarily breathless at the young man's vibrant beauty.
"Who is this?" he mused, staring.
Ichigo and Renji moved closer and their hearts sank.
"That's Taichou's cousin, his bodyguard, Kuchiki Tetsuya," Renji said in a devastaed tone.
"That means that Byakuya is probably one of the prisoners!" Ichigo concluded, "We have to find them fast!"
"We can't leave this one here," Kuri said firmly, lifting Tetsuya's unconscious form into his arms, "He doesn't seem to be badly injured, just drained to near emptiness. I wonder if this is from the hollows."
The group moved forward more cautiously, Kuri carrying Tetsuya and Renji picking out the trail, which led them well off the main path and into an area peppered with dunes that seemed to make a circle around a strangely lighted area. As they approached the lighted area, the three heard low, chanting voices.
They reached the top of a rise and crouched down, inhaling in surprise as they spotted a large audience of hollows, gathered around where two men laid on stone altars, naked and stretched out on their backs, their hands and feet lashed tightly to metal rings clearly meant to hold offerings. Two hollows dressed in ceremonial clothing approached the sacrifices as the chanting grew louder and more excited. Joining hands, the richly dressed hollow couple let out mingled howls and lifted their hands in a gesture of respect to the crescent moon, then bent over the naked sacrifices and began to feed on them.
"Holy shit, TAICHOU!" Renji exclaimed, bursting out from their cover.
"Ren-ren-nii, wait!" Kuri called out desperately, dropping Tetsuya and flash stepping after the redhead.
Ichigo drew his two swords and loosed a flash of reiatsu to draw the hollows' attention away from the others. Renji's skeletal snake exploded out in front of him, crashing into the crowd of hollows and sending bodies flying in all directions. Kuri added a heavy eruption of kido that threw most of the rest of the furious hollows momentarily off their feet. The two feeding hollows paused and raised their heads as blood and reiatsu from their victims trailed down from their snarling mouths.
"Get off them, you bastard!" Renji howled, slamming the skeletal snake into the sacrificial altars and shattering them.
He and Kuri swept in and swiftly grabbed the two dazed shinigamis as they tumbled off of the falling altars.
"Those two are dangerously powerful!" Kuri warned him, shoving the person he'd rescued into Ichigo's arms, then sending another blast at the two that had been feeding on the victims, "I can hold them off, but you two will have to clear a path back to Tetsu-hana!"
"Who?" Ichigo asked, looking confused.
"The pretty one, Byakurai's cousin!" Kuri clarified, loosing another furious blast at the advancing hollows, "Hurry up now!"
"Getsugatenshou!" Ichigo shouted, sending a brilliant flash of power that disintegrated a shocking number of the hollows in their path.
Renji's skeletal snake shrieked and finished the job, leaving the rescuers a cleared path to the top of the dune, where Tetsuya still laid unconscious. Kuri snapped up Tetsuya's limp body and the three made a hasty escape, heading back along the path they had taken and hurrying to where Aderia and Ogano waited with the carriage. To their surprise, two men sat in the carriage, slightly hunched, and obviously nursing moderate injuries.
"What is this?" Kuri asked.
"We found a guard and elder Kuchiki Isas alive," Aderia reported.
"W-were you able to find my son?" Isas panted uncomfortably, searching the ones that the three fighters carried, "Orochi!"
Kuri barely concealed a look of disapproval, but nodded stiffly.
"Ichi-bun has the little reptile," he said off-handedly, "and in case you wondered, we also rescued your clan leader."
Isas gave the Shima leader a dark look.
"That is good news."
"We should really get out of here," Renji said, looking back over his shoulder as snarls and howls sounded nearby.
The fighters quickly loaded the ones they had rescued into the carriage and Ogano turned the horses towards the crossover point, while Aderia moved to the back and leaned over Byakuya, Tetsuya and Orochi. Renji leapt onto Yakkaigoto's back and yanked Ichigo up behind him as Kuri joined the others in the carriage and took the reins from Ogano.
"Please help see to the wounded, Oga-nii."
"Of course, Kuri-kuri."
Ogano bent over Tetsuya, touching his face gently and trying to rouse him, but Tetsuya remained still and unresponsive.
"This man does not appear to have any injuries, nothing to explain his unconsciousness, except that his reiatsu is abysmally low. Something drained him badly. I wonder if it was a hollow."
"It wasn't a hollow," Isas reported, giving Tetsuya a mistrustful look, "He did something. I saw a flash of light around him and then he and his horse disappeared. There was an alicorn, a winged unicorn, in their place. It destroyed the hollows, then disappeared and Tetsuya reappeared without his horse. He staggered off alone, searching for Byakuya."
"You let him go off alone?" Aderia asked sharply, "as drained as he is?"
"My guard and I were in no condition to pursue that little fool!" Isas snapped, "We were injured and in danger of becoming food for the hollows ourselves. Are you questioning my courage, young lady?"
"No," Aderia said, turning her face away to hide her disgust, "I just felt surprised you could stomach seeing your heir dragged away like that."
"I told you there was nothing that my guard or I could do. There were too many damned hollows and we didn't see which way they went."
"But that angelito did," Aderia said saucily, glancing down at Tetsuya's pale, "and even in his weakened state, he thought only of reaching them. I certainly hope your council sees fit to reward him for his bravery. He did, after all, distract the hollows so that you and your guard could escape."
"We should save that discussion for when we're safe," Isas said shortly, "Now, what can you tell me about my son's condition?"
"He and Byakuya-san are in some kind of trance," Aderia said, studying Orochi and the Kuchiki leader more closely, "They are alive and not obviously injured, except that they were drained at the throat by hollows. I am drawing out the hollow reiatsu and I will examine it for contaminants when we reach the Seireitei. These two will have to be under quarantine until we know for certain there will be no alarming effects."
"What kind of effects?" Isas asked, looking worriedly at his son, "What are you saying?"
"There are some hollows, whose bite will slowly transform a victim," Aderia explained, "If that is the case, it is very serious indeed. Some only bite to paralyze so they can eat their prey alive. It seems that was the intent here, but I will need to confirm that when we reach the fourth division."
"Home is closer," Kuri said, looking back over his shoulder, "and if Byakurai and the snake are suffering from a dangerous hollow venom, we need to treat them quickly."
"My brother is right," Aderia asserted, "but of course, you may choose differently for yourself and your son, Kuchiki-san."
"We will accept your hospitality with gratitude," Isas said stonily, "Just be sure to give Orochi the very best of care."
Aderia gave him a scathing look.
"I would never stoop to giving anyone less than my best as a healer!"
The carriage thundered back into the garganta and passed through, bursting our into Kisuke's underground training area. On Kuri's order, the shopkeeper opened a senkaimon and the carriage and following horse flash stepped on. They passed swiftly through the precipice world and back into Soul Society, turning off as they reached the road that led to Shima Adobe. The carriage rolled up to the main house and attendants hurried to assist as the injured men were led or carried into the house's guest rooms. Renji followed Aderia into the room where Orochi and Byakuya were being treated, while Ichigo followed Ogano into Tetsuya's room. Kuri scowled as he watched Isas and his guard being led away by a house healer, and he turned back to enter Tetsuya's room.
"How is he looking, Oga-nii?" he asked his brother-in-law.
"He is exhausted and drained of reiatsu, but he is not seriously injured," Ogano assured him, "I will make sure he is comfortable and give him fluids, but I think he will recover just fine with rest."
"That's good," Kuri said, admiring Tetsuya's comely face, "I am glad he will be all right."
Ogano finished Tetsuya's treatment, then left to join Aderia in treating Byakuya and Orochi.
"How are they, Aderia?" he asked quietly.
"They are starting to respond to me," his wife reported, "but their reiatsu is resonating oddly.
Behind them, Renji frowned and stared at the two, thinking back. A moment later, he stiffened and made a worried exclamation.
"What is it?" Aderia asked in a concerned tone.
"You said they resonate? That's why they're glowing?" Renji inquired.
"Yes," Aderia confirmed, "Their medical history does not reveal any sign of this existing before in them."
"Maybe I can suggest why," Renji offered, "I was watching as the two hollows leading the ceremony bit them. They held hands and their bodies were glowing like that!"
"Just like this?" Aderia asked.
"Yeah," Renji confirmed, "Does that mean something?"
"It does, I think," Aderia mused, "So, the hollows were resonants, and they were engaging is what was probably a binding or marriage ceremony, from what you describe."
"So are they going to be okay?" Renji asked.
"They look like they will be," Aderia posited, "I don't see any transformative reiatsu. But that doesn't mean they're won't be side effects. I will have to monitor them through the night."
"I can watch them while you check on the councilor and his guard," Ogano offered.
"Gracias," Aderia said gratefully, kissing him as she exited the room.
Ogano looked up as Ichigo joined Renji in the room.
"You two should go and eat something," he suggested, "These men are stable for now, and you haven't eaten or rested in a while."
"Sounds good to me," Ichigo said, smiling as Renji's stomach growled noisily, "And I think Renji approves, ne?"
"I always approve of Magdelina-san's cooking," Renji said enthusiastically.
"Man, you sure forget worrying about Byakuya quick as soon as food is mentioned," Ichigo said, smirking, "I thought you told me you like him."
"Shut up!" Renji hissed, clapping a hand over Ichigo's mouth, "You want to start a scandal? And besides, you shooting off your mouth isn't how I'd want him to find out anyway."
"You should just tell him, stupid," Ichigo sighed, rolling his eyes, "Byakuya's a person. He'll let you know if he likes you back."
"Yeah? He'd probably bankai my ass if he knew," the redhead complained, "But let's forget about that, okay? Food, some of Kuri-kuri's tequila and some dancing...that's what I want right now."
"Sounds great," Ichigo laughed, following Renji towards the kitchen.