A/N: An Ichiruki fic! Yay!~ Sorry if it is OOC or bad quality, I wrote it in the middle of the night. Not to mention I'm actually super depressed, since one of my best friends moved several states away today. It sucks that I can only chat with her every now and then. :'(
Chapter One:
The pixie-like, ebony-haired princess ran through the streets, silently laughing at her stumbling bodyguards trying their hardest to catch the runaway royal. For a split second she felt pity for them, for surely when they went back to the palace her brother, the king, would find out about her little…excursion…and the entire team would be horribly punished. But she pushed the guilty thoughts from her mind, instead reveling in the few moments of peace and joy she so rarely felt.
She turned a sharp corner, exiting the musty, dark alley and entering a busy market street. She quickly melded into the crowd.
"Hey, bitch! Come look at my merchandise!" a merchant yelled, holding up a roll of bright orange silk. The princess ignored the man, opting instead for a stall right next to his.
"Is that Chappy merchandise I see, good sir?" she asked, stars in her violet orbs as she looked at the rabbit plushies and similar items in front of her.
"Yes, yes." A kind voice laughed. This merchant seemed to be the exact opposite of the cloth merchant, instead of the spiky black hair with bells, this one had long, luxurious white hair.
"I am Jyuushiro Ukitake. Pleasure to meet your acquaintance, madam…?" he greeted.
"Rukia. My name is Rukia."
"Like the princess of this country." Ukitake commented, showing Rukia a small chain with a Chappy charm on it. He placed it around her dainty wrist, letting the charm glint in the light of the hot desert sun.
"It's a popular name, ever since Her Highness was born…" Rukia stated, fidgeting a bit.
"Well then, Your Highness, your secret is safe with me." Ukitake smiled, allowing Rukia to relax a bit.
"How did you know?" she asked curiously, still fingering the bracelet.
"Your posture, your mannerisms, your speech. It all equals into a royal. I suggest trying to act a little more carefree, and less like a princess." Ukitake laughed slightly before suddenly going into a coughing fit.
"Are you alright?" Rukia asked, a hysteric look in her widened orbs.
"Just fine." Ukitake said, wiping the blood from his hands into a handkerchief and nonchalantly putting it away. Rukia frowned at this before shaking her head slightly. This was none of her concern.
"I'll take the bracelet. How much?" Rukia asked.
"Two hundred." Ukitake replied, taking the money when she handed it to him.
"Your Highness, if you are lonely, why not go down to my friend Shunsui Kyoraku's shop? It's at the very end of the street." The white-haired male said as Rukia walked away.
"I can't promise anything, but I suppose just going to see can't hurt." She mumbled as she continued down the street. She walked past the screaming merchants, the child thieves, the pickpockets, and the common folk before finding herself in front of a large shop. It was unlike the tents that merchants usually use, since it was a permanent structure. She entered, breathing in the fumes of plain animals and exotic creatures.
"Well, pretty young miss, what can I do for you today?" a voice suddenly shocked Rukia, forcing her to turn around. In front of her was a man with wavy, dark brown hair pulled back and wearing untraditional robes of an ocean country. Over those robes, he wore a bright pink one.
"Jyuushiro Ukitake told me to come here…" Rukia mumbled.
"Oh! He did, did he? Well then, what sort of pet are you look for?"
"I'm not really looking for a pet. He told me to come here if I was lonely…"
"I know just the creature for you!" Kyoraku yelled, bouncing out of the main room and into a chamber in the back.
"But I don't need a pet…and Brother would probably kill it anyway…" Rukia muttered.
"I found just the creature for you, young miss!" Kyoraku's voice rang out from the back. The man walked back into the room, a low growling following him.
"Here you are, young miss." He smiled lazily as he moved to the side. Behind him stood the largest canine Rukia had ever laid eyes on. The bright orange wolf-like creature had to be at least twice her size. His amber eyes held a human-like intelligence, and the seemed to peer right into her soul.
"But I said I wasn't looking for a pet…and is that thing even a domestic animal?" Rukia deadpanned.
"He is not an 'it.' He is a rare type of wolf from a northern country, from a large, endless forest. I saved him from being killed for his pelt; his orange color is unique to him only. And his name is Ichigo." Kyoraku announced proudly.
"I cannot have a pet!" Rukia finally snapped.
"Oh. Well…I guess I'll just have to sell him for his meat, then. Since no one wants him, I'll have to kill him for his pelt and meat…" Kyoraku's words tugged hard at Rukia's heartstrings.
"F-fine! I'll buy him! How much?" she yelled out in frustration, trying her best to ignore the merchants smile.
"For you? Four hundred."
"I thought you said he was rare?"
"He is. But trust me, this is for the best." Kyoraku said as he took Rukia's money and handed her the wolf's leash. In a daze, the princess turned and walked out of the shop and into the streets, the wolf trotting next to her.
"Damn! I forgot my money bag!" Rukia exclaimed, running back into the shop. As soon as she entered, shock filled her. Everything was gone, the animals and even Kyoraku. Her money bag sat on a rotting counter. Scared, Rukia grabbed her bag and fled from the building.
Rukia walked through the streets, her new pet following her closely. She had gone back to the merchants' street and went to see Ukitake. Shockingly (or not so much), she found his stall emptied and abandoned. When she questioned people where he went, everyone said no one had rented that spot for the day.
In a daze, she continued through the capital's streets. She only woke from her daze when she bumped into a familiar, angry redhead.
"Princess Rukia!" Renji Abarai, her personal bodyguard, hissed quietly. "Where the hell were you? Your brother has almost every single one of the palace guards looking for you!"
"Just take me home, Renji." She said, surprising the tattooed bodyguard. Usually she was as stubborn as a mule, if not more so.
"O-ok, Rukia."
"Where have you been Rukia? And what is that thing with you?" her brother, the king of their desert nation, asked her, staring her down. Slate gray orbs meeting violet, the gray filled with disappointment and annoyance.
"Sorry, Brother." She mumbled.
"I asked what that thing is with you."
"My new pet…"
"I don't allow beasts into my palace, Rukia. Get rid of it."
"Brother. I promise never to ditch my bodyguards, and if you so even wish it to never leave the palace. But please allow me to keep my companion." Rukia bargained. King Byakuya raised his eyebrow, weighing the pros and cons.
"Fine. But if he even so much as annoys me, I will have the guards impale him with their weaponry. If he ruins anything, the same punishment goes." Byakuya turned on his heel and walked away, leaving Rukia alone with Renji. Without even saying a goodbye to her childhood friend, Rukia turned and left towards her own chambers, the wolf following her every movement.
Night fell quickly, it seemed. Rukia sat on a mountain of plush cushions, peering through the doors that led to her balcony, glancing up at the moon. The night sky was brilliant with the bright orbs of stars and the brilliant sliver of the crescent moon. Rukia sighed in sadness, remembering the day her parents were murdered in an attempt of a coup, and of how her brother turned from a lively spirit of a teenager into a cold king. It was a night so similar to this one. This night also reminded Rukia of another horrible moment in her life: the loss of her beloved sister-in-law, Hisana.
Hisana had been the only bright light in Byakuya's life. She made him lively, youthful again. She melted his cold spirit. When they royal couple had found Hisana was with child, the entire city rejoiced. It was nine months later, on a brilliantly beautiful night with a crescent moon, which the entire country mourned. Not only did they lose their beloved queen, they also lost their new prince.
Crescent moons became a cursed thing, a hated thing. What Rukia had once loved and thought as the most beautiful thing became something to be feared, to be dreaded. She continued to stare up at the moon, to glare in anger at its seemingly tranquil façade. A cold nose nudged her, surprising her.
"Oh. It is just you, Ichigo." She smiled. Even though the beast had been pushed onto her, she was already becoming attached to him. She moved the cushions around, allowing the extremely large creature to join her on the bed. He complied with her wishes, falling asleep next to her.
And Rukia eventually fell asleep as well, the fateful crescent moon smiling down dangerously on her and a beast that's not quite a beast.
"Did you manage to feed him the potion?" a deep voice asked. The owner of the voice leaned back in his chair, pushing his hair back. A single strand of brown hair stubbornly fell down his face, however.
"Yes, Master Aizen. Unfortunately, his father intervened. Isshin took his son to the Seireitei, and I believe that by now he's being placed in a safe place while…indisposed." A stoic voice responded. It belonged to a man with startling emerald orbs and ebony hair.
"Then find him!" Aizen yelled, shocking almost all of the lesser deities surrounding him, save for a few.
"Yes, Master Aizen."
"Will my son be safe?" a man asked while pacing. He had short brown hair and a scraggly beard.
"Of course, Isshin." Shunsui Kyoraku assured the frantic man.
"He wasn't even safe in Seireitei from those bastards! Seireitei, the home of the gods! Ichigo was preparing to take the position of Crown Prince when my father stands down, and I take the position of King of the Gods!" Isshin hissed.
"Shunsui has placed young Ichigo with a human, a royal from a wealthy nation. He'll be safe, Isshin." Ukitake said, trying to calm down the frantic, current Crown Prince of the gods.
"Prince Isshin." An elderly man said, his voice itself saying to quiet down and calm yourself.
"Lord Yamamoto." Isshin turned around and bowed respectively. Isshin's old mentor and the only man as old as his father (though less powerful) stood before him, followed by the rest of the Council.
"In due time, Aizen's potion will no longer be effective. By that time, Prince Ichigo will have enough power to help the Council to take the former Council members and the lesser deities that follow them and throw them into the Pit of Despair in the Underworld." Yamamoto stated plainly.
"Hopefully before they throw us into the Pit." Yoruichi Shihoin muttered to herself, heard only by herself and her old friend and husband, Kisuke Urahara.
"Yes, hopefully." Urahara replied, his fan hiding his emotions from the Council while different thoughts flitted through his mind.
A/N: please review! How was it? I feel really inspired by different mythologies lately, and desert locations. I've been reading to many mangas with desert locations, and the clothing and just the culture really inspired me. BTW, yes, I made Yoruichi and Urahara married. Why? Because they are a freakin' amazing couple!
-Aerie