Yay for my first ever fan-fic!! This is a blending of the wonderful series by the late, great Robert Jordan, The Wheel of Time. (If you have not read it, I suggest you do. It's quite addictive and holds a great appeal for all.) And of course, Bleach, my favorite anime/manga of all time. I do not own anything created by RJ or Tite Kubo, I am merely a humble fan.

I do, however, own my OC chars and the story I have depicted minus what comes from the worlds of Bleach and WoT. I am not making any profit off of this, just getting the satisfaction of putting to paper the wild stories that appear in my mind when I can't sleep at night. :D

If you have questions about the story, please let me know. I attempted to write it in a way that Bleach fans who have not read WoT would understand it better. I just hope I don't come off as overly descriptive. There is a liberal use of the 'Old Tongue' from WoT in this series and I will provide translations for everything. I only wish there was more to the Old Tongue dictionary...kind of limits the things that can be said, but I worked around it well I think.

Without further ado...The Color of Trust! Go easy on me folks! :D


Chapter 1 - Leashed Ones

"Quit dragging your heels you little chit!" snapped a plain faced woman with dark eyes, and equally dark hair. She jerked the strange cord that connected her to the other woman for emphasis.

The leash, as it was, seemed to be made of an otherworldly material. It was clear and yet it was not. It seemed to be a rather durable material, but almost it appeared to be made entirely of glass. A good length of it was looped around and hooked on the plain woman's belt. One end connected to a bracelet worn by the captor, and the other was a band that wrapped around the captives neck.

Seeing no change in her prisoners pace, she sent a wave of pain through the leash using her inventive thoughts alone. The young woman's head snapped back with a howl, tossing of her hood to reveal her beautiful face, twisted with pain. Her sharp green eyes widened in both rage and agony, her full mouth open as she bared her teeth at the woman holding her hostage.

"Ye do no need to be so cruel to her Larmika" chided the blonde woman who was also leading a hooded captive.

The homely woman sniffed loudly. "This milksop thinks she can defy me because she is royalty?! Fah! They must learn their place, just as your little friend did, Ariam."

Larmika motioned to the blonde's captive who was badly beaten and bruised under the large cloak she wore.

Ariam tsked softly "She did be a fighter, no? Then, she do be born Aiel, raised an Aiel. She do be a savage still despite wearing the ring and shawl."

"A disgrace that. Aiel belong in the Waste, not in the White Tower. It gives me great pleasure to trade these two off as little more than slaves. With the a'dams on them, they will soon learn their place."

When Larmika spoke she gave the leash another jerk, grinning as the woman stumbled. The two captives had little fight left in them as they were now. The Aiel woman nearly killed herself with her futile struggles when she awoke to find the collar on her neck. She was an expert fighter in hand to hand, with spears, knives and especially with the One Power but they were all useless to her now. The women who captured them had drugged the two long enough to place the a'dam collar around their necks. These allowed the wearer of the bracelet to control them completely. They could not touch Saidar without being allowed to by their captors.

The Aiel woman quickly learned that hitting the one she was now attached to caused the pain to be dealt back to her tenfold. Despite this, she still fought desperately until the two women had subdued her by beating her nearly senseless with Saidar. Invisible blows had struck her from all directions until she finally sank to the ground in defeat. To be safe, they kept her hobbled with chains of air that linked between her ankles and wrists.

The Saldaean woman keeping her company was not as skilled a fighter in normal combat as the Aiel, so cutting her off from the source and taking away her many hidden knives rendered her quite helpless. She had kicked and screamed all the same, refusing to go meekly. She was an Aes Sedai just as her friend was, but she was also the heir to the throne of Saldaea and certainly had never been treated so harshly.

She had tried threats and lectures with her captors until Larmika began silencing her by using another of the a'dams frightful abilities. Using her thoughts alone, she conveyed messages of discomfort and torment through the leash to her captive, causing excruciating pain. The last image she chose was of her skin being peeled off very slowly.

It felt very real to the captive damane, though it was not. Larmika delighted in this because it meant she could torture the woman as much as she wanted without leaving a mark on that delicate, ivory face. Sneering, she stared down her broad nose at the Saldaean woman who was still panting from her last attack.

"I truly hope Moghedien lets me have some fun with you before we hand you over."

Her prisoner groaned and trembled in trepidation. The one she spoke of frightened her far more than being in Larmika's care. Ariam merely sighed and shook her head. She did not care for such brutality but it was not something she could get around with her current employer. Moghedien sometimes compared to Mesaana or Semmirhage with her lust for torture.

'This do be the way of life when ye follow the Great Lord, no?' she thought.

The group of women had long since traded roads for the woods, and finally left their horses tied to a tree nearly a half mile from here. Here, being a small clearing in the woods were they found a unique group of stone pillars from the Age of Legends, just as Moghedien said they would. Each stone had a different carving, a symbol of sorts.

Ariam did not know what the symbols meant, but she doubted few of this age would. Sighing again, she began to prepare their campsite while they waited for Moghedien to arrive. Larmika began to do the same, grumbling about her prisoner getting in the way.

A wicked smile suddenly formed across her face as a sudden tidbit of information she recalled came to light. With a light touch, she pressed the release button on the bracelet she was wearing and unhooked the coiled length from her belt. Making sure she had the woman's attention, she held the bracelet up in the air a moment, before releasing it and letting it tumble to the dirt at her feet.

Those green eyes followed it avidly and locked onto it as it hit the ground, a small dust cloud forming around it. The noblewoman's first instinct was to run away, and her second was to snatch the bracelet up and place it on herself in hopes of somehow gaining access to the source again. She knew it had to be a trap of some sort but the desire to be free again weakened her mind. Licking her lips, she dove for it, her fingers wrapping firmly about it.

Almost immediately she released the band, clutching her throat and retching. Each time she had tried to lift the bracelet; a powerful wave of nausea had come over her. Larmika sneered and watched with amusement. When the hope begin to die in those emerald eyes, she let out a satisfied bark of laughter.

"What is the matter Suiren? Can't you pick it up?"

Larmika's foot jabbed into the Saldaean's ribs roughly before it was placed atop her back, pushing her into the dirt.

"Do you understand it now, your highness? You are completely helpless as long as the a'dam is around that slender little neck of yours. You cannot run away, use the Source to any real effect or even harm yourself without permission. You are a damane now, a leashed one."

Tears threatened to spill over Suiren's eyes, but she held them back viciously. She would not allow this traitorous filth to break her. A queen had to be stronger than this!

"Mia ayende, sul'dam!" she growled, doing her best to glare at the woman above her.

"Know a bit of the Old Tongue do you?" The plain woman's lip curled, and she gave the woman another kick.

"What do she say, Larmika?"

A cool voice caused the two captors to freeze in place, breaths now caught in their throats. "She demanded the leash holder to free her."

Hastily the two women turned and kneeled to the newcomer, bowing so low their heads nearly touched the ground.

"Moghedien, you are earlier than we expected. Please forgive us." Ariam and Larmika spoke in unison, groveling so much that it would not have been a shock to see them kissing her robes.

"Larmika, you are being rough with the Saldaean. She must stay in pristine condition for her new…owner."

Larmika began to tremble in fear at the rebuke. "Forgive me my lady; it will not happen again."

Moghedien had made her way to the Aiel woman that Ariam held, pushing back the hood and being greeted with cool, hard, gray eyes. Despite the bruises that marred her lovely face, the woman still managed to look every inch the warrior she once was.

"I did not expect you to come without a fight Alindrah of the Nine Valleys Sept of the Taardad Aiel" she said, patting the woman on the head as one would a dog.

A low growl was forming in the back Alindrah's throat, but it was swiftly replaced by a sharp intake of air when a searing wave of pain rolled over her. Other than the small gasp and her eyes growing slightly larger, you could not tell the woman was reeling in agony, she hid it well.

"I do not need the a'dam to cause you pain, Alindrah. I suggest you keep that in mind."

A glow surrounded Moghedien as she basked in the One Power, Saidar. As one of the Chosen, she wielded Saidar far more skillfully than any woman alive in this age. The Forsaken were all more than three thousand years old, allowed near immortality because of their service to the Great Lord of the Dark.

"There has been a slight change of plans. Rise and I will fill you in on what you need to know" she said, pausing to watch her servants slowly raise their heads and timidly stand.

"Larmika, heal them both. I don't want them to appear damaged when their owner inspects them tonight. We will be leaving momentarily. The stones we are travelling to are in somewhat of a public area, and we cannot afford to be seen anymore than my contact there."

'Tonight? In the middle of the night?' Ariam nearly spoke, her mouth opened but quickly closed. She had learned long ago to never question Moghedien, no matter what the case.

As Moghedien spoke, Larmika opened herself up to Saidar, surrounding her body with a glow. Weaving together threads as fine and complex as lace, she sent in a delicate mixture of spirit, air and water to Alindrah's body first. Gradually all of the Aiel's wounds began to vanish, the bruises fading from a dark purple, to yellow until they were no more. The woman shivered at her touch, the overall effect making her feel as though she'd been dumped in a vat of ice water.

Larmika repeated this process on Suiren, though there were no visible wounds. She did it out of caution, as she had already angered Moghedien once. Larmika had no desire to be the subject of that ire a second time.

"Once we arrive in this new world, you are all to use the weave I am demonstrating now to render yourselves and the damane invisible to the naked eye."

The Chosen brought forth a complex weave of fire mixed with air, threading them slowly so that all four women could take in and memorize it. "This is called Folding Light, and renders the user invisible by utilizing the reflections of light. If all goes well, we can walk safely out to our meeting place using this weave alone."

Directing her gaze to the captive women she warned "The city to which we are travelling to is dangerous for all of us, including you. The inhabitants do not take kindly to intruders, of any sort. Do not think to draw attention to yourself in vain hopes of freedom. You will only bring death upon your own head."

Looking to the blonde Illianer woman she pointed "Keep shackles of air on both of their wrists, but remove the ones from the Aiel's feet. She will behave if she wishes to keep her friend from suffering."

Ariam nodded "Aye, that do be a good means of control dark mistress."

Moghedien barely nodded at the praise, moving straight ahead with her instructions. Long ago she'd become accustom to the groveling of her servants.

"Once we arrive at the meeting point, remove your bracelets and hand the women over to our contact. The a'dams have been altered to allow anyone to wear and use them without fail, unlike the others of its ilk who would only accept women with the innate ability to channel as its master. Once they have been tested to his satisfaction, we will be returning with two of his own servants to serve the Great Lord with us."

Larmika and Ariam nodded their heads together; following Moghedien's every word with great care. Failure was not an option.

"First, I need to free these two from that ridiculous oath they took. Why you fools would do such a thing willingly is beyond me."

"Impossible! The Oath was sealed by an oath rod, it cannot be broken!"

Tilting her head towards the speaker, Moghedien's face bore a look of smug satisfaction. "Remember who you are dealing with Suiren. I am one of the Chosen!"

Suiren's mouth twisted "You are one of the Forsaken, you vile wretch!"

No sooner than the words left her mouth, she was writhing in pain once again, courtesy of Larmika. "You will not speak to the dark mistress that way! Know your place!"

Moghedien's peals of laughter filled their ears, all eyes turned back to her. A labyrinthine of threads of all five powers was being entwined before her at a rapid pace, slowly moving towards Alindrah and Suiren. As they settled around the two women, her laughter rose. Watching the two women struggle against the weave, their eyes growing large as they felt something deep within them shattering, it gave her immense pleasure.

"It is you who are now forsaken!" she crowed. "You will serve the Great Lord of the Dark for the rest of your pitiful lives."

Alindrah glared while Suiren shivered. It made their skin feel lighter, strangely free.

"Go on" Larmika goaded "tell me a lie. Prove to yourselves that the Oaths have been broken."

Alindrah and Suiren glanced at each other, but Alindrah was the first to speak. "You are a woman of great beauty, Larmika Alruddin."

Suiren nearly laughed as she watched Larmika's face darken, but the reality of it sobered her. They were no longer bound by the three oaths that held all Aes Sedai. They were free to tell a lie, to use the power as a weapon on anyone for any reason and to use the power to create weapons. "The Light preserve us and shelter us in the Creator's hand" she breathed.

Moghedien snorted "The Light has passed you by, only Darkness remains for you now."

Turning sharply, she clapped her hands together. "We leave now, brace yourselves. Travelling through these stones can take quite a toll on weaklings such as you."

Moghedien moved forward into the circle of stones and waited for the rest of the group to follow, before drawing as much Saidar into herself as she could. Keeping her focus on one stone in particular that bore an empty black diamond that lay on its side, she activated the portal.

The world around them seemed to fade in and out, flickering. Waves of nausea rose in Suiren's throat. With each flicker she saw the next few minutes of her life playing out in different ways over and over. Clutching her head she screamed, pleading for it to stop but even behind her closed eyes the scenes danced relentlessly through her mind.

-v-v-v-v-v-v-v-v-v-v-v-v-v-v-v-v-v-v-v-v-

Well into another sleepless night, Byakuya found himself making his way to the public park in the Seireitei out of habit alone. He had not even paid any mind to where his feet were leading him until now. He often had trouble finding sleep, and these nightly walks helped calm his restless mind. It was a crisp evening, spring still struggling to shake winters hold.

'The sakura trees will begin blooming soon' he thought. How he loved and hated the sight of those precious blossoms, their delicate beauty, marred by the memory of his lost wife. She died fifty years ago, almost to the day, right before the sakura trees began their annual bloom.

"Hisana…" he spoke softly aloud, her name flooding his mind with emotions he struggled to repress. His gray eyes bored into the barren tree in front of him as he battled with his inner turmoil. Even after all these years his heart still fell to pieces when he thought of her.

A low groan nearby caused him to break free of the grief, instantly putting him on alert. Instinctively, he placed one hand on the hilt of his sword and cautiously moved forward with ears pricked.

"Silence, da'covale!" a voice hissed, filled with scorn.

"Both of you stay quiet and do as you were told. If we are noticed it will mean death for you!" another woman quietly commanded.

Drawing his sword, Byakuya stepped forward out of the shadows. "You are too late for that I'm afraid."


Definitions:

A'dam -- the leash

Damane -- leashed one

Mia -- my

Ayende -- release/freedom

Sul'dam -- leash holder

Da'covale -- one who is owned (slave)


Whew! Well, there you have my first chapter. First posted at least, I have about 30 written but I'm a perfectionist. I'll post em as my husband reviews/edits them for me. This is my first ever attempt at a fan-fic and I would greatly appreciate any suggestions or guidance.

WoT fans, please don't shoot me! I did my damndest to make everything as accurate as possible with what I used from the series. I know my Saldaean is fair skinned and minus a beak nose...I just couldn't do it to her!

I really hope everyone who reads enjoys the story as much as I do. Please let me know what you think. Criticism is welcome so long as it's done politely.