Nothing. Resolute emptiness. A dark black sheet wrapped cold around the vast expanse of space. Amidst this darkness, floating as a leaf upon the flowing stream was a cage of steel; a thing of metal and machinery in the otherworldly void. Incongruous. Alone.
A ship.
Cryostatic silence.
A layer of frost upon every square inch of interior surface, glistening as glaciers in the pale reflected light of distant solar eruptions. Cryotubes sealed shut, housing a snow white beauty. Her sleeping face one of serene calm. Mystifying, considering the untold nightmares inscribed beneath her heavy eyelids. Nonetheless, she slept a deep sleep, oblivious in the still waters of flash-frozen slumber.
Oblivious to flashing lights upon the surface of her cryo-tube, as if congealing from the icy film, 'Proximity Alert' blinking on and off rhythmically.
Oblivious to the approaching mass outside. Another ship, towering over the tiny escape pod as it drew closer. The two drifted lazily toward each other, like parent and child, reunited with a grating clang and thud.
Still the girl dreamt of sweet nothings, unaware of anything bar her unconscious desires made flesh within her mind. She dreamt nothing of the mechanical arm swaying down into view outside the door. dreamt nothing of the electronic hiss as a welders torch wielded by a steel ghost carved away at the thick layers of metal separating each ship; the blistering sparks of flame spat across the frozen room, thawing out the encrusted icy layers coating the room within.
When at last the door was welded through, the sheered off partition clattered to the floor, loud enough to stir any sleeping residents.
She did not stir a muscle.
More mechanical buzzing, like insect swarms beyond the escape pod's walls. Another robotic contraption entered, hovering in like a swollen fly over a carcass; skeletal, yet inorganic the grey machine turned to face the wall to one side, spewing a dull white scanning light across to the far wall. With a precision slowness it swung lazily from one side to the other and back again.
Scan complete.
The girl still slept.
Next in the parade of unwarranted intruders, men in faded green atmosphere suits, automatic breathers unnervingly rasping in the cramped space of the pod. Two of them, glancing at each other through tinted visors so dark one's face could not be discerned even from a hairs breadth away. The leader studied the closest cryo tube, running a thick gloved hand over the crystallized ice, shattering like glass and dispersing around his feet. Beneath his hand and through plated glass he caught a glimpse of the frozen angel, ethereally perfect in her peaceful sleep. And perched comfortably upon her lap, a black ball of fur tucked in a tight ball.
Beneath the man's visor, a bewildered expression soon painted itself upon his face as he held his scanner over the glass coffin.
"All reishi readings are green. Looks like she's alive..." The words barely registered, even as he spoke them. But as reality caught up with his wheezing breaths he removed his mask and stared down at the dreaming beauty.
"There goes our salvage, guys," he announced, his words directed at the anxious others crowded around the entry to the pod. Even with their faces hidden he could see their shoulders slump. But as masks were removed the concrete evidence of their dismay lay before him.
Still in disbelief, all eyes fell upon the girl in the cryotube.
Cryostatic silence. Blissful comatose relaxation.
Even knowing full well they would not wake her, they dared not make a sound.
Familiar sterile white, the same blank slate walls she had grown accustomed to on the Nostromo. She took a deep breath and took in the scene with all her senses. Waves of pain stabbed sharp across her body, keeping her down in the bed which unsurprisingly was a matching white. Outside her window she could see the floating orb known as Earth, an expansive ball painted in hues of deep blue and green and brown and white. She squinted at the white streak clouds that stretched across it's surface and made out the shapes of nations below.
The footsteps of another brought her back from her reverie. Only then did she truly notice the ghostly silent machinery gathered around like mourners over a grave. The tall, slender nurse, hair braided down her front in a thick glistening black rope, strolled forward and toyed with the control panel above the bed.
"How are you today?" she asked in the gentle manner of a mother to child.
The bed-ridden girl scrunched up her face and groaned, "Terrible..."
"Well, you're better than yesterday at the very least," the nurse smiled warmly.
The girl glanced around as she slowly sat up. Despite the familiar stale white on every single surface she still couldn't finger any of it to a familiar place. Perplexed, she asked the nurse "Where am I?", the words rolling off her tongue softly, more breathed than spoken.
"You are safe," the nurse explained, still fussing around with the array of machinery around them. "This is Senkaimon Station, you've been here for several days. You were in quite a state at first, but I see you are fine now."
The girl stared, the words only half registering in her mind, slowly seeping in like rainwater through cracked dirt. After a moment she realized her jaw had dropped at some point during the explanation. With a scattered gaze she glanced towards the door across from the bed and noticed another person in its shadow.
The nurse noticed as well and smiled her sun-warm smile, "It appears you have a visitor."
The door slid open and man entered, clad in a black and white suit. The first thing the girl noticed was his smile; wide enough to consume his face entirely. The curved line of his smile was surely not genuine, but somehow she found herself at ease regardless. Tiny eyes stared back at her as his shoes clacked on the white tiled floor. As he neared, she noticed a black ball of fur tucked under his arm.
The girl's face lit up in an instant.
"Yoruichi?! Hey! Come here, come here!"
The man, whose smile had grown even larger upon approaching, slowly handed over the cat before quickly straightening up. He watched on with a fond gaze as the girl nuzzled the cat and whispered sweet nothings to it, more for herself than her furry companion.
With a slight giggle, the girl raised the cat up to eye level and looked into its beady yellow eyes. "How are you, you stupid cat? Huh? Where have you been?"
"I guess you two have met, then?" the man's voice interjected. Suddenly he was sitting beside her bed, straddling the chair which was faced the wrong way around. She had never even noticed him sit down, such was her joy upon meeting Yoruichi.
The man's awkward smile remained as strong as ever under the pressure of her inquisitive stare.
"Hmm. My name is Ichimaru Gin, I work for the Gotei 13; but don't let it bother you, I'm actually a very nice man." No doubt it was intended as a joke, but the girl did not laugh, nor even smile. She merely stared ever into those small black eyes of his.
Despite the tension he continued utterly unfazed. "I must say it's good to see that you're feeling better. The doctors say those lazy bones of yours are simply a side effect of such an unusually long hypersleep...or, you know, something like that."
Once again, Gin attempted to inject some humor into his words but the effect was lost entirely to the bewildered girl.
"What? What do you mean?" she asked, leaning forward expectantly. "How long was I out there?"
Gin's eyes shifted across the room as if searching for the answers. "I guess that means nobody told you then?" he asked, his smile shrinking back to a more human level.
She looked him straight in the eye and shook her head, "No. But, I don't recognize this place at all."
Gin hummed a low note to himself, "Hmm, yes. Well you see, this may come as quite a shock to you. After all, you were out there for a very long time and-"
"How long was I out there?" she pressed, cutting off Gin and his wildly flailing hands. "Please?"
His smile vanished, a thin straight line cutting through his face. All emotion drained from his gaunt pale face.
"57 years," he spat the words out as bluntly as possible.
The answer came as such a surprise the girl unwittingly let out a slight giggle. Gin seemed unfazed at the fact that the only time she had laughed was when he had finally said something serious.
The girl shook her head in disbelief, "What?"
"You were out there for 57 years," Gin reaffirmed, and this time there was no laughter. "You see, why ever you were sent adrift, you managed to pass right through our sights and went out into the darkness. It was a stroke of luck that a deep salvage crew found you, one in a thousand I dare say. Truly you are very lucky to be alive." His smile grew abnormally wide again, "You could just as easily have been drifting out there forever..."
Gin continued speaking, but the girl was no longer paying attention. She stared down at her hands, dumbfounded, unable to comprehend the reality of the situation. The reality which sounded like make-believe. ...But she knew from experience that the stuff of dreams and nightmares were more real than she had ever imagined.
Nightmares especially...
Without warning Yoruichi hissed, shackles raising and fangs bared. She struggled to escape the girl's grasp and leaped from her lap into the corner of the room, still hissing venomously at her friend. The girl felt a sudden weight in her chest, unlike anything she had felt before. It pressed hard against her lungs, forcing air out in a ragged gasp. Leaning forward she let out a groan of pain as a sensation of crawling beetles beneath her flesh took hold.
Gin's eyes widened.
"Are you alright?"
She couldn't respond. She screamed wordlessly, terrified by the unwelcome feeling of something squirming about beneath her flesh. She grasped her stomach and howled as Gin called for help. She heard shouting voices and felt hands hold her down but all she could focus on was the writhing beneath her flesh. Something that should not be there. Something that should not exist at all.
Not after what happened back then...
The girl collapsed against the backrest, breathing heavily, snarling at those who stood around her, begging for death.
"Kill me!" she strained, a primal fear somehow making it past the agony that besot her body, "Kill me!"
She could feel her organs rearrange themselves as something slid about inside her, crawling about aimlessly in search of an exit. She felt it prod experimentally at her stomach and push upward with all its strength. Unsure whether it was dream or reality she rolled up her shirt and stared mortified at the rising mound beneath her flesh. The mold of a rounded head pushing against her inside, desperate to break free into the stagnant air.
She cried out once more just as her stomach tore open and her unwanted child reared its ugly, white head to greet its mother. With blood-spattered fangs the bald child smiled and she screamed as she had never screamed before.
She panted heavily as she bolted upright, her hands clammy and sweat dripping from her forehead down the frock of hair that fell over her face. Her heart took a moment to catch up with her, still beating a steady tattoo against her chest. Her hands (one of which was pressed up against her chest) as well took a moment to stop shacking from adrenaline.
It was just a dream, Rukia though to herself, her mouth still needed time to collect itself. No, a nightmare...
"Another bad dream, Miss Kuchiki?" the nurse said, her voice gentle and motherly, "Would you like something to help you sleep better?"
"No," Rukia answered softly, shaking her head before lying back on her bed, "I've slept enough..."
"Very well, call me if you need anything." And with that the nurse left, her long braid swishing as she turned.
Once Rukia was alone she turned and saw Yoruichi resting beside her. She reached out and scratched the black cat behind her ears.
"It's OK girl," she whispered, more to herself than the cat, "it's alright now.
"It's over."