Ok, so this is an AU oneshot. Some things are changed to fit, but it's not entirely unrecognisable. {see end notes}
Disclaimer: I do not own Bleach or any of its characters.
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Under the scorching heat of the desert, two individuals stepped up to a dilapidated sign pointing towards a nearby town called "Sunk". Both were covered head to toe in a thick cloak to shield against the howling elements and the hot sand that churned relentlessly among them. Their faces were obscured by the deep shadows of their cowl as they struggled against the storm.
When they reached the gates of their destination, they paused. One looked at the other. A wave of strange pressure had overwhelmed them for a second before it retreated back into the boundaries of the settlement. No danger, however, came at them and so they proceeded in silence.
Inside a tavern, the seated duo had become the talk of the town. Who could ever come to this isolated, miserable place? Unlike other wayfarers that had stumbled their way in, these two conveyed a sense of confidence and power. The curious inhabitants of this establishment licked their lips.
Despite the men's curiosity, it was ultimately a skimpily dressed woman – a prostitute – that came first to address them.
"Anything you guys want?"
"Just water." The individual on the left replied in a low, dismissive voice.
The woman frowned but scurried off nonetheless to fulfill the order. Just then, onlookers gasped when the one on the right flipped off the obscuring fabric. They were met with a beautiful, young face; silver eyes rounded by charcoal powder, and a luscious mane of hair that appeared to be dyed a woody brown. All eyes immediately turned to her companion who also removed the cowl with a quiet hum. It was a man underneath; dark-haired with flawless, pale-peach skin that made him a different beauty alongside the woman. And his eyes were but the rarest shade of green!
Their drinks arrived and the prostitute eyed their features tastefully before tallying up their price.
"Two silver pieces," she said as she handed them their cups of yellowish-tinted water.
Several men in the background coughed, hiding their snickers.
Green Eyes dropped the exact amount into the woman's hands, completely unbothered, even as she tried to advertise her other 'more-qualified' services. He turned to his cup and took a long, slow sip. Silver Eyes did the same, although glares were suddenly exchanged between them. A small pout marred the lady's pretty face.
"What business has brought a pretty filly like you here?" Another man's voice approached, his fingers already trailing past the crook of said woman's chin.
Green Eyes' glare was swiftly directed to the newcomer. The toned man dressed in tight leather stared him down, but the difference in height and strength were rendered null when suddenly he was arrested from the back. Nobody had seen him move.
"Come, join us."
The melodic voice came from Silver Eyes. Nobody had thought she would say such a thing either. Most women of her beauty would have been scared shitless or be fuming beyond belief. Her companion merely nodded and settled back to her side.
Hesitantly, the newcomer took his seat opposite them. A few eyes followed him jealously, mourning over the fact that they had missed their chance to get close to the pair.
"Do you live in this town, sir…"
"Gregory," the man supplied.
"Gregory…" The lady continued hesitantly. "Right, do you? I don't see any front desk information –" Her companion raised an eyebrow. "So it'd be a great help if you can you tell us about Sunk?"
"Why should I tell ya? Anything I get in return?" The man mustered back his perverted slyness, eyeing the woman up-and-down.
"Your life," Green Eyes cut in.
Gregory only smirked. "Don't be so stiff. If ya want, I do men as well. Or ya can get on Cindy over there." He pointed out the skimpy woman who batted her eyelashes at them.
Green eyes narrowed, but no fury reflected in them.
Silver Eyes laid down a reassuring hand on her companion's arm. "Well what do you want in return?" She asked.
The man stared at the clueless woman, pretending to think. He hummed thoughtfully, "Money…Power…To become king…all sorts of things. But I think for now I'll settle for a good fuck." His eyebrows shot up suggestively.
Both pair of eyes opposite him stared back, seemingly undisturbed. "Deal." The lady replied shortly. "Now, please answer my question."
"Right!" The leather-clad man grinned as their curious audience gaped. He harrumphed dramatically, "Sunk is like any other god-forsaken town: small, broken, and same old same old. Nothing much changes here and we'll be lucky if some traveller stumbles onto us and lives to remember about us or our exact location. Sunk is special in that it doesn't appear in any map, see.
"Anyhow, this creates for a nice legend, ain't it?" he continued mysteriously. "Well, Sunk do have its own myth… In between the valleys of the desert, unprotected by our borders," The two individuals exchanged glances. "there lives a life-sucking monster we call 'the Bount'. It could slurp you dry and erase people's memories so that no one would even realise it had come. Maybe that's why nobody ever came back. Or why we're all stuck here in this god-forsaken place..."
Ulquiorra and Orihime stood outside the tavern, examining the condition of the town with a renewed point of view. There was an abnormality within Sunk and their arrival here was no accident or coincidence; they were here to investigate certain reiatsu fluctuations. The informant back at the mainland port town had shown them a scroll of the information. A rather obvious pattern had immediately intrigue them to take the case, and the story Gregory had told them spoke of a promising find.
Gregory had led them out the inn himself, sauntering with a kind of confidence Orihime had come to label as 'the-manly-vain-walk' after many such encounters.
"There's free lodging south of 'ere. I'll come for ya in the dead of night. That way we can make sure the Bount hasn't gotten to you two." The man's sly grin told them he was anything but concerned. "Dress light and hey, your partner can come too if he wants."
At that, he left them to it, whistling jovially back into the tavern.
"Trash."
"Don't worry about it, Ulquiorra. I'm used to it." The female replied as they began walking. "Them."
The man hummed disapprovingly in response. "I will always worry when it concerns you," he stepped closer and brought the curve of one palm to meet her cheek. "Princess."
A shade of red reached her widened eyes. The directness of this address was too much to handle along with his proximity and she grasped for some semblance of control.
"Right, didn't you promise you would use our codenames! 'Princess'," she whispered emphatically. "is not it. What if they're listening in?" They both glanced around the empty square, the tavern having been left far behind. Of course, even if anyone were spying, they wouldn't be within any standard hearing distance.
Her traveling companion arched a brow. "What if it had been poisoned?"
Dang, he changed the topic. "Why bother with poison if they could hurt us directly?" She retorted. He was referring to the incident in the tavern when she had drunk before his permission.
"You can't just follow my one instruction?"
"What. That's a huge understatement!" Orihime could recall the beginning of their 'adventure'. When they had first escaped the Karakura Kingdom, he had her on a strict leash. She had to remind him that she didn't escape one prison just to get caught up in another one, much less by someone her brother had trusted till his death. Yet, to this day, he still had quite a few. "Besides, I can always just heal myself." She huffed indignantly.
"Just do as I say for this one," he returned resignedly. "I'll even call you…" She crossed her arms, waiting for it...her codename! "'Orchid-Fairy-Whisperer'," the man blurted.
Orihime smiled, patting his arm charmingly. "Thanks! Now I can finally hear you better."
They crossed the sandy excuse of a town square and finally reached the housing area. Everywhere the eye could see, windows were boarded up while front doors creaked open and close from the occasional draught. Somehow, they highly doubted the windows were boarded up for weather purposes.
Ulquiorra led the way to the closest abode, stepping cautiously onto the bleached wooden porch. It compressed slightly under his weight but didn't make a sound.
However long they have been in each other's company, she still felt envious of his calm and deadly gracefulness. As probably one of the clumsiest person, she didn't dare to touch a single panel of the house. So, she stood guard outside as he investigated the door.
"It's empty," he reported when he had finished. She gave him the 'are you sure' look and he quickly changed his assumption. "At least the rooms that I could see. Which is the front and sides."
"Uh-huh."
He hesitated for a second but later brought a piece of torn cloth with dried red flakes. "The doorknob had this: blood."
Orihime's eyebrows drew together. "Let's go check the other houses." She glanced up at the sky. Still daylight, huh? Plenty of time. "Come on. If we finish this fast, I thought we may be able to catch up with Gregory." She cracked her knuckles with an evil but playful grin.
Her green-eyed companion had the same line of thought.
"Looks like the condensed reishi only extends right to the fence," Orihime noted as they walked along the outside of it.
It had been strange to see a sandstorm directly outside Sunk and felt none of its biting power when they had stood right next to the low, flimsy fence surrounding the town. And so, they had clambered over the section opposite the town entrance in order to examine the extent of its boundary.
"It's quite consistent," observed Ulquiorra.
They suspected that there was heavy reishi within the town that suppressed the weather conditions. However, as with the boarded-up houses, there seems to be a more sinister purpose at hand.
"Hm…" The green-eyed man suddenly paused.
"What?"
"I think we are missing something," he said simply.
"Yeah, something does seem strange." Orihime put a finger to her chin. "Gregory mentioned one Bount –"
"I don't think this barrier is caused by the Bount or Bounts." Ulquiorra interrupted, looking sideways at the one beside him. "However, you may be right to assume there are more of them."
She looked back right at him, gulping. "Barrier?" Yeah...if she thought it out properly…the town is like a container of reishi. The boundary was set so precisely, it could only be done by hand. "But there could only be one type of being that could create a proper barrier like this…" Her eyes widened beneath her cowl.
"Yes, I arrived to the same conclusion."
"What do we do?" She asked, wildly looking around.
"I believe there is only one though. We are in no immediate harm." Ulquiorra reassured, gently taking hold of the woman's hand and leading the way. "Let's go find the Shinigami responsible for this."
Orihime had to wonder though. Why is a Shinigami protecting this strange town? And what does that have to do with the Bount…or Bounts?
They had been trekking a fine way from the town and could feel the sandstorm picking up speed. At first, they had been worried that someone would notice their disappearance – or worse, the Bounts – and chase up to them. Now, they only concentrated on putting one foot ahead of the other.
Her lips moved but no words could be heard.
After an unknown amount of time, in which she was ready to pull back and return, Ulquiorra pointed to a murky colour in the distance.
When she turned up to look, it quickly vanished. They both tensed but continued walking to see if it would appear again.
Suddenly her feet lost traction and her body was pulled away. Far, FAR away. She could see her companion's bewildered expression slowly becoming a speck.
But that's okay…
Before her abductor could act, she pulled back her head and smashed back with all the strength she could muster. A female voice cursed and she fell face first into the sand.
"I was told I have a hard head," she said while wiping her face.
She didn't have to look up to know Ulquiorra was already there, holding up her abductor by the neck.
"Who are you and what are you doing here?" He demanded of a woman with long, brown hair and a large-collared coat as he held her up by the neck. She didn't even struggle, merely stared down with a placid look. Blood trickled down the lower half of her face.
"Let her go, she has done you no wrong!" Another feminine voice called out. "She was merely patrolling the area at my behest."
Ulquiorra did not answer the newcomer's demand. His grip tightened until the woman shut her eyes.
"You still haven't answered our questions! Why should we listen to you, Shinigami?" Orihime intercepted after noting the newcomer's black shihakushou – the standard uniform of a Shinigami.
The Shinigami narrowed her eyes behind golden glasses. There was a strict intensity within her posture quite similar to Ulquiorra's when he wanted to be intimidating. Orihime braced herself for an attack, that is, until her opponent sighed.
"My name is Ran'Tao. The one your…friend is holding onto is Yoshino Soma." The woman said. "It would be too dangerous to explain everything here. My home is nearby." She looked towards Yoshino, and seeing that she was now safely put down, turned away. "We can continue talking there."
Luckily for all four of them, the trip was a short one. Ran'Tao lead them to a small, secluded area behind a sandstone overhang. Yoshino insisted on staying outside to continue her patrol, relieving some of the group's tension. The three entered a tent-like structure lined with various equipment, including that of the scientific.
"So, you're the Shinigami responsible for the Kido barrier around Sunk, huh?" Orihime asked, settling down beside the woman on a straw mat.
"Hmm. I knew there was something strange about you two." She gazed at them quietly, a curious glint in her intelligent eyes. The question stopped in her tongue when Ulquiora sent her a warning glare. "Well, I did promise you two an explanation and I am not one to go against my word. Very well."
She folded her arms and leant back. "Yes, it's true that I used Kido to set up a barrier around the town. However, it is not exactly as you think. I made a device that emit a high density of reishi in a specified area, as you both already suspected, and the Kido acts as a forcefield that contains the effects."
"Why?" Ulquiorra asked.
"That is a reason I cannot tell you." Her voice was stern.
"Has it got to do with the Bounts?"
Ran'Tao's eyes widened. Orihime herself was quite surprised by his inquiry.
"That's it, isn't it? Hollows and Shinigami require a certain density of reishi to sustain their living. It must be the same for the Bounts." Ulquiorra allowed no chance for the Shinigami to say otherwise. He was only interested in one thing - "What I do not see is the reason of your collaboration with them."
"I am not actively collaborating with the Bounts, as you call it." Ran'Tao sighed tiredly. "The truth is…I just wanted my creations to live a comfortable life, free of persecution…"
"Hold on," interrupted the woman beside her. "Your creations?"
The green-eyed man tensed. "You're a scientist," he acknowledged the white lab coat with slight disdain. Orihime put a hand to his arm. She had seen the miniscule clench of a fist in his pocket.
"Yes, I was. In an experiment to achieve eternal life, my team decided to create artificial souls in order to do so. We used human souls as a base for these artificial beings." The bespectacled woman paused. "However, during the experiment, there was an accident that flung the remnants of those souls into the reincarnation cycle. Thus, the Bounts were brought into existence.
"Bounts are born of humans but…they have many abilities that other humans around them do not. They were shunned by their human peers and hunted down by the Shinigami in an attempt to erase the errors of our mistake." She arched back her neck, eyes closing. "They could not hide or blend, since their only method of living requires them to consume human souls. They were mistaken as blood-sucking monsters, thereby putting a strain on their day-to-day living."
"And so…is that how Sunk came to be?" Orihime asked. "An isolated community that meets their needs?"
"Not quite." The scientist moved to the other side of the tent and poured three cups of tea. She sipped from one and motioned for each of them to take the others. "Sunk began as a normal human community. It was my attempt to give the Bounts a normal life."
"It failed." Ulquiorra guessed flatly.
"Yes, it did."
Orihime lowered her eyes. "What happened?"
"There was a male Bount who couldn't forgive the wrongdoings of both the humans and the Shinigami. He united several of the Bounts with him and went against the number one rule: to never consume the souls of living humans. By the time I discovered what happened," she shook her head as if to clear away the webs of memories. "it was already a bygone massacre.
"For that reason, the Shinigami executed the ones responsible for the event and exiled me to the human world to clean up the remaining mess. I couldn't bear to kill the others so I merely sealed their powers and confined them to this town. After the massacre, there was no one else who knew of this place. No one has visited for many years…"
"Actually, there were…"
"What?" Ran'Tao's eyes widened behind glasses. "Are you sure?"
"How does Yoshino Soma fall into your puzzle?" Ulquiorra questioned suddenly.
The scientist set down her tea. "She's a…Bount. But she wouldn't do anything against humans! She's the one that warns humans from getting close to the town and helps me maintain the device within it." She said adamantly.
"There has been reiatsu spikes reported from this area." Green eyes narrowed as pale hands brought out the torn cloth. "And what if I told you we found newly-dried blood within the town?"
"What? How?" She looked completely shocked. "What is the pattern of the reiatsu spikes?"
"Full moon."
Ran'Tao's eyes widened. "Then, there's only one thing…the only thing I could ever overlook: human magic."
"Hn," The man stood, noting with slight satisfaction that two of the teacups were still brimming with liquid. Now cold. "Well, if they've found a loophole, then we must return."
"But it's full moon tonight!" The scientist exclaimed, getting up to follow them. Her worry for these strangers who seemed entirely poised was quickly placed towards the Bounts. "Wait…will you kill them?"
"Only the ones responsible." Orihime said with calm reassurance. "You've done a lot for them, Ran'Tao. If they decided to walk a bloody path, then they've chosen this fate. I'm sorry."
"I see," was the only reply the two heard as they walked out into the desert.
The Bount, Yoshino, was standing politely to one side of as they emerged. If she overheard their talk, she did not give a hint as she nodded to them before entering the tent.
When they returned to Sunk, it was dark and cold. Although the wind had been drastically suppressed inside the town, the two felt that it would have been better if they could use their reiryoku to warm themselves up. Unfortunately, even with their efforts to sneak undetected, the Bounts had already surrounded them when they landed a foot into their territory.
"Thought'd ya might have left Sunk already! And we'd have to go search and seek for ya." Gregory chuckled, once again practising the 'the-manly-vain-walk'. "But how foolish, you haven't."
"Where did the 'hide' go?" Orihime pointed out.
A scantily-clad woman stepped out from the back, laughing. They recognised her as the prostitute from the tavern. "There is no way you humans can ever hide from us!" She spat.
Gregory put a hand out. "I was too impatient to wait till midnight." He continued. "And I was right to judge! You two, what are you? I can smell your confidence, your power…Your soul." He licked his lips.
"Do you really want to know, trash?" Ulquiorra said lowly.
"Maybe not, since you're gonna die." The Bount leader laughed harder. "But I'm in a fancy mood, so tell me."
"He's just stalling!" Another Bount interrupted. "What could he be than a human?"
Ulquiorra ignored the spite, closing his eyes. "If you insist."
Due to his impassivity, everyone was caught unaware when a massive wave of pressure descended unto them. A few individuals grunted but their arrogance forced them to stand against it.
As his spiritual pressure rapidly increase, Orihime knew the spell cast on his form would break…and his base Arrancar form would return. Indeed, his trademark half bone helmet manifested along with a dark, circular hole by his heart. His one and only weapon, a sword named Murcileago, materialised in a sash at his waist.
She smirked when a collective gasp of fright went around the Bounts. "A-Arrancar!"
"You?" Gregory smirked back, leaking some of his own reiatsu. "The same?"
"Nope." She too snapped the seal over her reiryoku. Her spiritual pressure spiked as well, adding to the already choking atmosphere. Bright, gold blended with eerie green, blanketing their surroundings in a warm, grassy colour. "I've always been just a normal human. But be prepared, for tonight you will be completely undone."
Some of the weaker Bounts collapsed, but that was just fine. The only ones who could maintain their composure would be the culprits in this mystery. And they would soon have completed their job here.
Ulquiorra put one hand to the hilt of his sword as Gregory began chanting.
"Let's begin then."
Notes:
This story I would call an "Interlude", because it's actually...supposed to be...set between two greater fics that I am currently writing. I came up with the idea for these two even before Reach for the Heart but couldn't bear to post them yet because they're too incomplete.
And now, I'll explain a little for this oneshot. Basically, Orihime is a princess / Ulquiorra, her knight and also an Arrancar, but not entirely the same 'Arrancar' in canon. They're on this free-roaming adventure after escaping from the Kingdom and the Shinigami (again, not exactly same as canon) who have invaded and taken over it. Both Orihime and Ulquiorra trust each other a lot and are already quite close in this oneshot. They both fear Shinigami, hence the hair dye, spells to look like normal humans, codenames...
I have MASSIVELY-Important exams coming up so I might only be able to post these two fics by the end of the year. *cough*
Reach for the Heart is still ongoing btw!
Please read and review ;) All types of criticisms accepted!