*~*~*~*~*~*~)-~-(~*~*~*~*~*~*

"DAMN IT." Uryuu couldn't help the snarl that bubbled its way past his throat as his knees gave out beneath him and he hurtled toward the grass, barely managing to catch himself with his hands before breaking his fall with his nose.

He sat there, crumpled in on himself for what felt like hours trying to still his overworked heart and lungs, his worn down body trembling from the constant training to return powers he all but knew were gone forever. This couldn't have been a worse time to be completely powerless, but no matter what he did… Unbidden, the image of Orihime creeping into class, trying her best to stay out of the attention that was still showered on her, especially with her torn up appearance, found its way to the front of his brain. All those bandages… He didn't understand. What did Ichigo do? Or not do, as it was…? In fact, the past month had been rather strange and worry-inducing, considering the sudden influx of Shinigami from the Soul Society randomly showing up… in class… and the equally worrying number of hollows that had been appearing all over.

Everything had spiraled from that point it seemed, a blanket of gloom settling over Karakura town, infecting the minds of its more aware inhabitants, though the 'normal' populace seemed uneffected by the changes, as usual. That, at least, was a good sign… right?

Despite his earlier expletive, the forest around him was quiet with the fading sun, with only silence and loneliness to accompany his derailing thoughts. The remnants of the cape of his battle suit billowed out behind him in the autumn wind, his shadow casting a mangled image before him, showcasing just how he truly felt inside. Defeated.

With another snarl, he shoved the ground as hard as he could to force his momentum upward, and managed to bring himself fairly steadily onto dangerously wobbling knees, the muscles in his thighs spasming their discontent and threatening to throw him straight back down, but he refused to allow the weakness. Swallowing away the tightness in his throat, he lifted arms that didn't want to move into their perfect positions, right hand extended with his elbow slightly bowed outward, left arm poised to draw an arrow back from a bow that refused to form. He wouldn't be the only one powerless in this sea of chaos… He refused.

Summoning every last ounce of energy remaining in his body felt like he was actually tapping into his life force, and for a single second, it was like Uryuu's entire being pulsed as he could feel an iciness seep its way past the fingertips on his right hand at an alarming rate up his arm, sweeping straight into the core of his being. His chest constricted and he screamed.

*~*~*~*~*~*~)-~-(~*~*~*~*~*~*

Uryuu awoke with a start, sitting up in a panic of unknowing when he had even closed his eyes, only for his entire body to protest the movement and send him straight back onto a hard futon, a warm cloth slipping off his forehead and onto the black sheets beneath him. He could feel another scream bubbling up in his throat, more from frustrated rage than the lingering pain of training himself too hard, but he managed to grapple it down before it made itself known.

Taking a quick assessment of his surroundings with dazed and un-bespectacled eyes, he thought his surroundings looked… familiar. In fact…

"Ah." The sharp sound of a fan snapping closed was the final nail in the coffin. Uryuu knew where he was. "You're awake. That's good. Can you move?"

A simple thought back to how he woke up, and the dull but persistent ache all over his body gave him a resounding , "No. I can't." He just hadn't meant for the words to come out nearly as sharp or tinged with pure hatred… but they did, and it was enough to keep the Shinigami shopkeeper quiet long enough for the silence to become almost unbearable.

So Uryuu moved onto a more important question in his mind, forcing his words to become slower, more even in tone, without his previous biting edge of scathing rage.

"Where are my glasses?"

A quiet and rueful sigh filled the room as Uryuu heard the distinctive clop of the wooden sandals resounding around him, coming closer before he could just feel the man standing over him, glasses or no. Still, he was startled when a blur entered his vision and despite his immediate attempt to twist away from the suddenness of the shadow looming above him, he felt his glasses slipped onto his face rather carefully, the world taking on much sharper edges around him. Heaving quietly and trying not to show his sudden panic at the quick and unpredicted movements of Urahara, he chose to instead narrow his gaze as he scrutinized his whereabouts; recognizing the backroom of the 'shop' the older man 'ran'.

How he got there was another question entirely, but as he shifted his glare toward the green and white clad man, he found Urahara had sat down beside Uryuu's bedside, legs folded beneath his body so the clogs adorning his feet were no longer visible. The fan rested, closed, in his left hand atop his lap, though most of his gaze was still shaded by that irritatingly large hat he wore, blocking Uryuu from guessing at intentions and emotions as accurately as he could have.

"You're a proud being, Uryuu."

"That doesn't explain why you've technically kidnapped me. How long have I even been out?"

The irritation in his voice was obvious, but only seemed to gather a chuckle from Urahara as once more he snapped his fan open, hiding the rest of his face as he countered,

"True. I assumed you didn't want to die from over-extending yourself in the woods, but I could have very well been wrong, in which case, you're still free to leave. Once you can move again." Urahara paused, giving Uryuu time to register the meaning behind his words, which only pulled his lips into more of a scowl, but the man was already continuing. "If not, there's a somewhat pressing matter that we really need to-"

A door opening loudly in the next room cut Urahara off, voices and footsteps bubbling upward in volume as they came rapidly closer, and Uryuu groaned at the stiffness and numbness keeping him from sitting up. Great. Within seconds, the door to the backroom where they were slid open, and the frustrated growl of "Now what, Old Man?" made Uryuu want to roll his eyes and sink into the floor all the same. He didn't even need to see the lanky form of the orange haired Shinigami to know who the voice belonged to, though he did try and lift his head slightly for the extra pair of footsteps that followed Ichigo in silently.

A tanned, muscular stature almost completely shrouded the doorway, but his form was as unmistakable to Uryuu as Ichigo's voice was- Chad. Uryuu's head flopped back onto the hard pillow, now knowing who all was there, but a sudden thought furrowed his brows.

Where was Orihime?

"Please, take a seat. Anywhere is fine." Urahara spoke, motioning with his fan to the floor beside him, but the two stayed standing, with Ichigo folding his arms in defiance.

"You know we don't have time for this?!"

Startled, Uryuu attempted to pick his head up again, wincing at the pain in his neck, to see Ichigo's face contorted in panic and barely tempered rage. Even Chad's face looked worried under the bangs that normally hid his expression from the world, but the grim set to his lips told the whole story. Something had happened. Uryuu's chest felt suddenly constricted even as he was forced to lower his head again, humphing a quiet sigh of frustration as he was delegated to watching the tops of their heads and the ceiling as he listened.

"Actually, you have all the time in the world, now. Word was passed down by Head Captain Yamamoto that Orihime is officially declared a traitor to the Shinigami, and any rescue attempt is expressly forbidden."

The cry of outrage from the others in the room was nothing to the sudden outburst Uryuu had, his body immediately flying into a sitting position, even as the sheer pain of the motion caught up to him and turned his cry of bewilderment into a sharp gasp that drew attention to his state. A deep, pulsing burning infiltrated his spine, and it was all Uryuu could do to remain sitting, but he forced himself not to move; better a single slip-up than to make more of his situation than it was.

Chad both seemed startled and unsure of what to react to, the information, or Uryuu's obvious faltering, but thankfully, headstrong Ichigo drew attention away from Uryuu's plight by stepping forward menacingly toward Urahara, his arms unfolding from his chest to drop into fists at his sides. Like he was gearing up for a fight against Urahara.

"I hope you're not implying you're going to stop us…"

His words came out more like a growl, dark and goading, waiting for Urahara to confirm exactly why they had all been gathered for this useless information. Honestly, Uryuu was somewhat heartened by Ichigo's obvious defiance of orders handed to him when it came to Orihime, but then the truth of the matter sunk in, and he couldn't help his biting retort,

"You're calling Orihime a traitor? And what do you mean, rescue attempts? Where is she?!"

Once more, he'd drawn the attention of Chad, as well as Urahara, though he and Ichigo remained glaring at the green and white clad man as he sighed quietly, once more motioning with his fan for the two new additions to sit as he spoke,

"That's why you should sit; Uryuu's been… shall we say, out of the loop. So he needs caught up if the rescue is going to go off without a hitch underneath the Soul Society's nose."

His words seemed to quiet Ichigo's sudden, seething rage, and while Chad took his cue and lowered himself onto the floor in front of Uryuu and beside Urahara, Ichigo remained standing, his hands finding their way into his pockets as he fixed Urahara with the same glare Uryuu continued to give the man, his mind working in overdrive. Just from what little he'd heard and seen, already he'd assumed Orihime had somehow been abducted, but the story that came next was almost unbelievable.

Urahara turned back to him, and in great detail explained the arrancar situation, and that Orihime had not only been spirited away by this… Ulquiorra, under his own nose no less, but branded a traitor for what seemed like willing participation in her own abduction. Uryuu's head was already spinning by this point, speculation at Orihime's mindset and worry for her wellbeing overshadowing his own lingering fatigue and agony. Compounding the issues worse, Urahara continued.

"Now, I have a way to follow their path; to send the three of you to Hueco Mundo-"

"Why aren't we going now?!" Ichigo interrupted, which only made Urahara snap his fan shut sharply, letting it come to rest in his lap as he responded with a similar biting tone,

"Because not all of you are at full power, in case you forgot."

Amid the swirling, rising panic of the situation, Uryuu felt his cheeks color with shame, knowing he was the one being referred to. All gazes in the room came to settle on Uryuu, who had managed to remain sitting despite the constant waves of nausea and grinding pain in his body, but just as Uryuu was prepared to volley a retort of not being entirely helpless, Urahara continued.

"Uryuu. I have an option for you, if you'd be willing to accept a… gift."

Urahara hesitated on the last word, as if it weren't quite the word he'd wanted to use, and Uryuu's brows furrowed in confusion, trying to process the information he'd received. So they would be going against the Soul Society's orders to rescue a friend- so far it was sounding more than alright with Uryuu, but 'not being at full power' and 'gift' were swirling in his head. He had a sinking feeling Urahara was leaving out specific, integral information, yet the words that bubbled from his throat didn't seem to care about the logical assumptions his mind was forming.

"I accept."

The sinking feeling dropped heavily into his gut as he watched the grin spread out over Urahara's face, and instantly he had a feeling he'd made a choice he would come to regret. Unfortunately, being a Quincy meant he was also a man of his word, and he had already-

"Wonderful!" Punctuated by the re-opening and fluttering of the fan in front of his face, Urahara continued as he stood, "Excuse me for a moment, if you will."

He exited the room through another set of sliding doors, leaving the three in awkward silence for several moments, in which Ichigo finally calmed enough to back up against the wall behind him, sliding down it onto his haunches, his eyes catching Uryuu's. With a silent shrug, Uryuu tried to convey he was just as clueless as they were, but even that motion sent a new, stabbing pain through his body, and it was everything he could do to keep himself silent. Opening his eyes, not realizing he had closed them in the assault on his senses, he noticed the slight look of concern on the Substitute Shinigami's face, and instantly schooled his expression from the grimace it must have fallen into, cursing inwardly at his display of weakness.

"What do you think the gift is?" Chad spoke up, obviously trying to tear the atmosphere away from the awkwardness that had settled over the three of them, but only serving to leave the question hanging in the air as neither Ichigo nor Uryuu would answer.

A few more tense minutes passed before the door slid back open with a flourish, and Urahara swept back into the room, carrying a long, dark wood box, intricately carved with strange, ornate designs. The box was nearly as long as Uryuu was tall, he mused, but he couldn't steal his gaze away from it once he looked; there was… some kind of power emanating from it, and even without his Quincy powers, he could feel the sheer aura of it. Raw, aching… reaching. The feeling startled him, especially when one of the first words to describe the feeling that entered his mind was loneliness. A feeling he knew all too well. Suddenly apprehensive about this entire thing, he worked to force his gaze from the box that had been set on the floor before him, upward to the still shaded gaze of Urahara.

"What… is this?"

"Open it."

Urahara's voice was almost gleeful, and painfully aware he had the gazes of Chad and Ichigo glued to him in almost as much anticipation despite the situation, Uryuu couldn't help the scowl that formed across his lips, his brows knotting as he steeled himself for movement. Carefully, trying not to hiss at each fresh wave of pain that flashed through his body, Uryuu delicately reached forward with the arm that wasn't supporting him to carefully unclick the tiny black and silver hatches on the front of the box, and lifted the lid. Its insides were coated in dark red velvet, and within the velvet outline was a breathtakingly stunning bladed bow.

From tip to hand-hold in both directions was a perfect curve of at least a short sword length, glinting blade of pure black inlayed with silver runes and scrawling script in a language even Uryuu couldn't recognize. Its handle was thin, and the string that turned an otherwise regular hand-to-hand weapon into a long range/short range bow was as stunning as it was new, and strange. As awestruck as he was, Uryuu had to admit to his perplexion, compounded further by the sheer wave of PICK ME UP emanating from the item. His brows furrowing further, he was reaching for the handle before he registered he was going to, the pain in his body taking a backseat to the sudden, overwhelming feeling wafting toward him, pulling him toward the weapon.

The moment his hand touched the handle, the room spun and faded from his vision in a vertigo-inducing wave of dizziness that left him as breathless as the sudden sensation of cool metal disfiguring itself, or rather, extending itself from its shape into almost liquid like tendrils that captured his hand and curled up his arm before he could shake it off or drop the item. His startled cry rang out around him as he leaped to his feet, unaware that pain did not cloud his movement, shaking his hand furiously to dislodge the cool metal that suddenly dug into the flesh of his arm just below his elbow, and with a jolt he could feel the silky coolness of the metal attaching to his muscle as it flowed past even his elbow, traveling up his arm and into his shoulder.

Breath coming hard and heavy at this point, Uryuu's left hand clamped down on his right shoulder, unaware how pressure would stop something already IN his arm, but unknowing of what else to do as his round eyes stared at the sight of the large bubbles on his flesh, crawling with what was underneath. He sunk his fingers into the bubbles that threatened to continue, and miraculously, they halted, still moving unnaturally beneath his skin, but desperation drove him to try and push the things back down his arm, and again, strangely enough, they receded back to his elbow, but still buried in his flesh. He was just about to push further, heart racing and knees shaking from the strangeness enveloping him, when a wave of pure sadness pressed into him, forcing what breath he had left from his lungs.

… you don't want me?

The voice was distorted and mangled, but the words he more understood than heard, a second thought in his mind as he stared down at the glinting, beautiful weapon in his hands that looked like it had taken root into his arm. Overcome by indecisiveness, he watched as ever so slowly the tendrils retracted from his skin, ebony tendrils retreating from ivory flesh, and he could feel nothing but an oppressive air of dejection and loneliness that shook his heart.

"Wait!"

The word was out of his mouth before he realized it, and the retreating immediately halted, a hope blooming in his chest that he wasn't quite sure where it came from, but it gripped him all the same, breathing new life into the absolute darkness around him.

… you… want me?

Gasping now, his mind trying frantically to make some kind of sense of what was going on, Uryuu lifted his fingers away from his arm, watching as the black tendrils swayed and pulsed over his hand, as if they too, were asking for his acceptance. His mouth was dry, and part of his brain screamed at him this was not a light decision to make, but the force of the loneliness from before, and the hope swelling in his breast currently, curled his tongue as his lips formed the words,

"I… do."

Violently, though there was no true 'pain' from the act, (Just shock and the expectation of pain that never came,) the tendrils roared to life over his skin, burrowing back into the flesh underneath his elbow and racing up his arm, unrestricted as he felt the iciness pooling into his core and taking over his entire form. Fear, awe, bewilderment, panic, and amazement flooded through his veins at the sight, but more than anything, he felt…

Happy.

*~*~*~*~*~*~)-~-(~*~*~*~*~*~*

"So?"

The word startled Uryuu, his gaze flying upward to the sound of the familiar voice, and he instantly hissed from the pain and stiffness in his neck, the light weight in his right hand thumping back into the velvet impression of itself. Startled, Uryuu glanced around Urahara's shop, wondering when, or if, he had ever left it, his gaze landing on the confused stares Ichigo and Chad were fixing him with, but he was almost beyond caring, so deep his daze went.

What… had just happened? He looked to glance down at his hand once more, but even around his elbow, there was no sign anything he had just witnessed had actually been reality. It was as if he had only imagined the tendrils… yet, from the item before him, the strange weapon that seemed to call to him, he could feel that resounding loneliness again, and he carefully reached forward, taking it in his grasp again, flinching as he expected to see those tendrils again. None were forthcoming, and when the weapon stayed a weapon, he glanced up at Urahara, not quite trusting himself to speak, not even really knowing what questions to ask. He guessed his questioning look was enough to get the message across, because he watched the older man smile slowly, before closing the now empty box with his foot and scooting it out of Uryuu's way, the bow still held tightly in his grip.

His fan swished as he re-opened it, fanning his face and hiding his features once more as his voice seemed to echo in Uryuu's ears,

"Wonderful. It's a match. That could have gone pretty badly, but I'm glad you get along."

… What did he just get himself into…?