We had been at war for almost twenty-four hours with the Tsukishima Clan and neither side was winning. No one was gaining ground - my people refused to allow them any closer to our palace than they had already gotten - and everyone was exhausted.
My bloodlust was fading while fatigue and a persistent ache crept into my muscles. I had a moment to look around and I took it. All around Kage no Ryōiki people were battling. In the few seconds I had to look around I saw four opposing soldiers fall and two of my own. Blood saturated the ground and the stench of death permeated the air. My once beautiful realm was turning into the tomb of hundreds of people.
My thoughts were pulled back to the scene at hand when I heard a heart stopping roar errupt in the sky. I looked up in time to see Tamako close her gaping maw, terminating her magnificent display of blue fire.
Her translucent pale blue wings and saphire scales temporarily blocked out the already fading sunlight as she passed overhead. I saw her blood red eye glaring at the armies below her and what seemed to be a smile.
You've woken me up, Hime-sama, She purred in my mind.
I couldn't help the grin that fell on my lips. Maybe that was the plan, I responded teasingly. She sent me a feeling of amusement before spewing out more flames.
In actuality, I felt sorry for the opposing army. She had eggs in her nest on top of the South Mountain to look after, and she didn't appreciate being pulled from them.
Well, it's too late now, I told myself.
I was approached by a group of Tsukishima soldiers at that moment. I lifted my glittering black blade high in defense as the first swung at me.
The leader of the group was wearing a black uniform with red trim, his red hood pulled away from his head. His underlings were wearing the standard black leather uniforms of their people.
I looked into his eyes and they were dead. Someone else was controlling these men.
The four remaining soldiers had formed a semi circle behind me. Their mouths were moving but I heard nothing. I suddenly realized, I could not hear anything. Panick bloomed in my chest. I fought to push it down as it wouldn't help me now.
The ground beneath my feet pitched and I landed hard on my back dropping my sword, but the soldiers didn't seem fazed at all, they just continued their silent chant without taking their eyes off of me. The ground continued shaking under my back unrelentlesly. I wanted to close my eyes against the dizziness I was beginning to feel, but I knew if I looked away from them I would be attacked.
All at once my hearing came back. I heard people shouting for me, crying my name. "Kyiomi! Hime-sama!"
I couldn't find my tongue so I tried for my blade instead. I had almost reached it when a shined black boot stepped hard on my wrist. I gritted my teeth against the groan threatening to escape. The man was unhappy with this, causing him to apply more pressure. He was rewarded with the snap of my wrist. I couldn't help but cry out this time.
A new man was suddenly kneeling at my side with a smirk on his lips. His uniform was the opposite of the leader, with a black trim on red. He pushed the foot off my wrist "Now now Garreth, play nice with the little princess." The last word was sneered.
I scoweled as he caressed my cheek. Using my left unbroken wrist I hit his hand away.
A soldier jumped forward and pinned my wrist to the ground while the man in red clicked his tongue. "I love it when they fight," he murmured.
"You're sick," I spat between clenched teeth. He said nothing in response but he locked his gaze with mine.
His eyes never left mine when he said, "Open the portal, there's nothing here for us anymore."
"No!" I screamed. I tried to fight them off, but with one hand and no sword against six men I hardly had a shot. I'm not sure if I would call it luck, but I got my hand away and managed to hit the first leader in the stomach. In return I was pulled to my feet and slapped hard across the face.
"Stupid bitch!" He sputtered, sticking something into my arm. Within a matter of seconds I was asleep.
When I came to, I had no idea where I was. I felt like I was floating with no sense of time. Panic was once again blooming in my chest.
I tried to move, to look around, but all I found was that I could feel nothing except pain. My wrist was throbbing painfully as well as my cheek and I felt nauseous. I finally let my eyes close. Almost as soon as I did there was a bright light that just kept getting brighter. I couldn't escape it.
I felt something slide around my waist and pull me forward gently. The light was gone and everything went completely black. Slowly my vision came back to me. To my horror I was in an almost empty room with the Red Captain from before.
The only things in the room were a large white bed, a black square table and a crimson rug.
I was standing to his right side with his arm was still around my waist. He curled it around so I was standing in front of him. My heart was pounding hard against my chest.
"You've never been in this position before, have you Kyiomi?" He sneered. I didn't answer. I wouldn't give him the satisfaction of knowing I was afraid. I'd had men attack me before, but never had I been unable to protect myself.
"Your silence answers me just as well as if you'd told me with words. I promise you, I'll try and make this as painless as possible for you." He whispered in my ear.
I gritted my teeth. What do I do? I don't know where I am, and even if I did I'm surrounded by his lifeless men! How the hell can I get out of this alive?
He moved his arm so it was holding my left to my body and laid his head on my shoulder, breathing down my neck. I instinctively tried to pull away making him chuckle. He leaned forward and began kissing between my neck and shoulder.
"Admit it. Deep down, you're excited for this."
"Why did you bring me here? This can't be the only reason, so what do you want from me?" I demanded.
"I want to make you and your family suffer the way my family did." He stated.
"My family wouldn't do this to anyone!" I cried.
"Oh, but they would. Your uncle Tameron stole my sister from her bed, had his way with her, and killed her." He hissed. I felt the blood drain from my face.
I'm going to die here no matter what else happens. Tears pricked my eyes but I pushed them back. I accepted that I would die, but I wouldn't let him use this to hurt my family more than it already would.
"I suppose that's a little untrue. Your family will hurt so much more than mine as I won't be killing you in the end." He whispered against my skin. As he finished speaking he shunpoed to the bed and threw me down.
He bent down to graze my neck with his teeth before forcing my clothes off. As the night went on things became less painful, but never did it become pleasant. I wasn't sure how much time had passed before he left me alone to fall asleep.
When I awoke the next morning it was hard to move. There were bruises blooming all around my body and I was incredibly sore. The strange thing was, he healed my wrist at some point in the night.
I looked towards the table and saw a piece of folded up parchment. My curiosity outruled my pain. I crawled across the bed and opened it up.
"Standing outside the door there is a servant waiting to bring you clothes. Let her know when you are ready and she will lead you to the meeting room." I read out loud.
She must have heard me because she walked in. I remembered I was still undressed but she didn't seem to mind. Of course not, I thought dryly.
She said nothing as she stepped in front of me and handed me the bundle of clothes in her hands. Her eyes swept over my naked body then locked with mine.
"Do you need anything else Hime-sama?" She spat.
"No." My voice was raspy and it hurt to talk. Hatred for the nameless Captain filled my entire being. Without another word she turned and stalked out of the room, slamming the door on her way.
I stood up causing pain to shoot up and down my entire body. I closed my eyes and waited for it to pass before I put on the clothes. There was a lacy royal purple set of underclothes and a beautiful off-the-shoulder dress of the same color that fell to the middle of my thigh. It had long sleeves the hung past my hands and was made of a soft material that I had no name for. There was no brush so my waist length raven hair was fairly knotted.
The servant walked back into the room then and shoved a brush into my hand and threw a pair if knee high wedge boots and socks near my feet.
"Make it quick so I don't have to babysit you anymore." She growled.
The Tsukishima clan really doesn't like me, I noted. Heritage really does mean a lot to some people.
I quickly brushed through my hair and put on the boots and realized, "Where is my zanpakuto?" She stared at me like I was an idiot.
"Do you really think you're getting it back?"
"No, but I want to know where Kumari is." I growled. That seemed to surprise her. What have they told her to make her think I'm some little girl who can't stand up for herself?
"She's in the Captain's room." I sighed and nodded. I had expected something like that.
"Let's go." She said. I nodded again.
She lead me down a series of complex halls that I would have gotten lost in had I been alone. I tried to converse a few times but she wouldn't go for it.
"What's your name?" I asked.
She didn't answer for a while so I thought I had failed again, but after a few minutes she answered, "Laurel." I smiled. It wasn't much, but it was something.
"That's a beautiful name." I whispered. The aura around her brightened. She sighed quietly and stopped walking.
"I'm so sorry." She sniffed. She had tears in her eyes.
"Why?" I asked honestly surprised.
"For everything. For how I've treated you. All my life I've heard how horrible my masters believed your people were, and now I know they were wrong. But maybe I can help you, at least a little now. I know what happened last night. And I know what they're going to do with you now." She said in a rushed whisper. I didn't know what to do. She could die if they found out, but I needed to know if I could do anything to get away. Luckily she continued without prompting.
"When he said he wasn't going to kill you in the end, he wasn't kidding. They are making a portal that they intend to force you through. No one knows where it will end, but I may be able to change it." She said, still rushed.
"They'll kill you if they find out." I whispered.
"It's okay, I'm ready to atone for my sins," she smiled sadly.
"Thank you," I whispered and she hugged me.
We continued on our way. As we rounded the last bend she stopped and hugged me again.
"Be safe," she breathed. I didn't answer as I didn't really have a choice on how this went down, so I just smiled. We walked the last few steps to the large double iron doors and stepped inside. The moment the doors swung open my arms were grabbed by two Tsukishima soldiers. I fought the urge to pull away and again looked in their eyes. Just like the others, theirs were void of anything hinting at life.
They were completely in sync as they shoved me to the ground in front of the Nameless Red Captain. I looked up at him to see he was already staring at me fondly. He pulled me gently to my feet and kissed me. I jerked away and glared at him.
"It's a pity I have to do this to you," he murmured and his fist connected with my cheek bone. Pain radiated from the spot and my knees buckled. From there it only got worse as I was beaten from the ground by three men. My vision began blurring and darkening around the edges.
Finally they stopped and stepped back, staring down at me while the leader in black from yesterday stepped forward holding Kumari. I scoweled as his hand ran the length of her blade admiringly. He moved to stand over me, still caressing my blade.
"Oh well," He muttered, and ran the katana through my stomach earning a high pitched scream. A smile curled at his lips. My vision flickered as I tried, unsuccessfully, to hold on to consciousness. He grabbed my chin forcing me to look into his eyes. A searing pain ripped its way through my skull. The tang of blood was on my tongue. The pain was excruciating and endless. I couldn't bring myself to think about anything, like everything was gone.
I was yanked roughly to my feet. I looked around myself but I couldn't figure out where I was. A man stood before me dressed in a red uniform with black trim and a huge grin his face.
"Goodbye," he hissed darkly. Confusion swept through me as I tried to figure out who he was and why I was so tired and in so much pain. There was blood and bruises all over me.
Goodbye? I thought. What the hell is going on?
Before I could think anything else the floor disappeared from under my feet. I felt myself falling through the endless darkness not even being able to scream because of the pain. I was so tired and scared, I just wanted to sleep until it all went away.
I began seeing little flares of light around me, some turning into shapes and eventually whole scenes. Others turned into faces and full bodies, none of which looked at all familiar. The lights grew larger and larger until they were blinding me. I tried closing my eyes to no avail, it didn't dim the light at all.
The falling sensation came to an end and the light suddenly wasn't so blinding. I felt as though I was suspended in the air for a moment before a sharp pain ripped through my back, causing spots to dance across my vision.
I couldn't move, the pain was too extreme, so I looked around using only my eyes. There wasn't much to see. I was in a large crater with rounded sides four feet tall.
A woman with short black hair appeared over the edge. She stared at me for a long moment, a horrified look crossing her features before she cried "Nee-san!"