The Quarry
By Spunky0ne
Chapter 1: Escape
Thunder cracked across the sky of the fallen Seireitei and the raven-haired man knew better than to slow for a moment. He ignored the icy chill under his bare feet that splashed in the puddles made by the falling rain, and the shivers that assailed his thin body under the poor white yukata he wore as more rain poured down on him. He fled the icy buildings of Silbern, desperate to put as much distance between the quincy king's seat of power and himself as he possibly could. His powers sealed under the red leather collar he wore, he knew he had to reach the precipice world before his absence was noticed, lest the agents of the king should know he had escaped and come after him. In his mind's eye, he saw the reason why...the two light blue hairpins that he had managed to steal from the king's quarters and secreted within his body, the ones that had belonged to the human girl, Orihime. He wasn't sure where the girl was now, only that he had to escape first and then make his way to her. With everyone in the king's thrall, he had no other way to preserve himself...and no other way to make things right again.
It all hinges on the girl. He used her to set our fates on this altered path and only by returning these to her can things be put back as they were. Of course, she too has been affected by the king. She doesn't remember a thing, just like the rest of them. I don't know how Kisuke was able to help me remember. I don't know what grace enabled me to escape as I did, but now I must remain free. if I am taken, all chances are lost. If he finds me, it is all over!
I wonder how long it will be until he knows the hairpins are gone...until he realizes I have taken them and fled.
Thunder rumbled around him again and he was grateful for the disturbance of sound and rain that allowed him to evade the sights of the roaming quincy officers and guards. Still, he understood the dangers of remaining out in the open for much longer.
I have to get out of sight!
He removed the small device that Urahara Kisuke had slipped into his hand that morning, and watched with anxious eyes as a senkaimon opened in front of him.
"You have to get to the living world as quickly as possible and hide there. You will be most vulnerable while you still wear the collar. I tried to find a way to get it off, but couldn't do it. There is a device in my lab that should be able to help you remove it safely. You have to get it off before the king knows you're gone. He's resting now. He'll sleep until morning. You have until he wakes to get the collar off. You fail, you die, we lose...but this time, there's no hope. Don't fail, Byakuya-san. You're our last hope.
Byakuya stepped into the precipice world and watched the gate close behind him. He stood for a moment, listening to the near silence, the little drips of the restrictive current that made up the ceiling, walls and floor of the Dangai corridor. Hearing no sounds of pursuit, nor any of anyone passing through, he broke into a run again, grateful that his power was held back so that it wouldn't react with the current in the Dangai and trigger a flood that could swallow him up. But even so, he pushed his weakened body hard, knowing that every minute counted, that all that had to happen was for someone...any of Ywach's allies or any of the ones he controlled...to notice him missing and activate the locator that would pinpoint his exact position, using the collar he wore.
There is no use being afraid now. I must put everything into reaching Urahara Kisuke's laboratory.
Thankfully, luck was with him and he reached the Karakura Town exit undiscovered. He burst out of the opening gate and dropped down into the park near Kisuke's shop. Yet, even though it was night, he was stricken immediately with something being very wrong about the scene around him.
"What...?" he panted softly.
His eyes widened in distress at the signs of damage and neglect to the trees, bushes and landscape around him. The concrete walkway was cracked and broken in places, the flowers and bushes, torn up and tossed carelessly about. The grass, he could tell, was dry and would have been brown if lit by daylight.
"What has happened here?" he breathed, shivering harder.
He swallowed hard and kept to the shadows, making his way to the edge of the park, then starting down the street. Distress gnawed at his insides at seeing the damaged buildings, the aimless looking people who milled around on the sidewalks and the debris that laid everywhere.
I suppose it's not wholly surprising that the war spilled over here too. Ywach gains strength with the death of every person he infects with bits of his soul. He probably came here and spread bits of his soul everywhere. That is why the living world, too, is in decay. How far we have all fallen!
"Are you lost?" asked a low, rough voice as a hand came down on Byakuya's slim shoulder.
He sensed the man's intent and turned swiftly, taking hold of the man's arm and striking him twice in the midsection, dropping him into a panting, hissing heap.
"I am fine," he answered coldly, slipping back into the shadows.
He was more careful after that to avoid the denizens of the town, but his heart ached at what had happened to the place that the Shiba heir had once called home.
Without shinigamis to perform konso, the souls here just die and give more power to the quincy king. There is no balance of souls...nothing but his darkness everywhere!
He shoved away the thought and the almost overwhelming feeling of despair that went with it.
We haven't time for despair. We must act!
He reached the end of the block and found himself at the place he had been seeking, but anger and disappointment flared in his belly at finding the shop ransacked and partially burned...barely standing. Still, he stepped carefully into the tumble of wood and debris, placing his bare feet carefully to avoid exposed nails and broken glass. His feet were cut and bleeding in moments, but he barely felt the pain, so intent was he on reaching the shopkeeper's lab.
Thankfully, the ones who had destroyed the place hadn't realized that the lab had a secret wall at the back, and although the outer room had been liberated of its computer, as well as anything else of any value, the hidden room was untouched and had just the implements that Kisuke had compelled him to find.
"Use the reiatsu mimic to key open the collar, then put it in the reiatsu scrambler and destroy it. Burn any leftover pieces. Don't leave any of it. And when you're done, take whatever supplies are there and get out. That's one of the first places they'll look for you. I gave you the list of hideouts where you can look for the girl. Memorize it and destroy it. Don't let that fall into the wrong hands."
Byakuya scoured the drawers and found the small appliance he was looking for, then touched the button to turn it on. His hands shook slightly as he touched the device to the leather collar's sensor pad.
"It should disable the thing so you can get it off," the shopkeeper told him, "There is a small chance of failure..."
"What happens if it fails?"
"The collar chokes you to death," Kisuke answered, matter-of-factly, "Let's hope that doesn't happen."
Byakuya flinched and closed his eyes as the collar buzzed fitfully, but it remained loose around his neck, and after a few second, he was able to release the clasp and slip it off. A relieved sigh escaped the noble as he dropped the collar into the reiatsu scrambler as he had been ordered to and watched as it disintegrated. He touched another button and a small blaze of fire burned the remains, leaving nothing of the restraining device. Byakuya looked around and found a cupboard containing a number of gigais. He found one that looked the right size and slipped it on, covering his reiatsu so that, even when it was discovered he was missing, he wouldn't be sensed.
But I cannot use my powers. Any use will betray me to the enemy. For now, I am human and I must remain so until I find the girl.
He searched more of the cupboards and found a small emergency pack containing survival items and food rations. He used some of the first aid supplies to treat his injured feet, then closed the pack again.
"Thank you, Urahara-san," he whispered, slinging the pack over his shoulder.
He left the hidden room and made his way back outside, grateful for the shoes on the gigai that now protected his recovering feet. The darkness in the sky was beginning to recede as he left the remains of the shop. He kept to the fading shadows as he set out in the direction of the first safe house where the human girl and her protectors could be hiding.
As Byakuya reached the end of the street, he heard sudden shouts and a group of men surrounded him, led by the one who had tried to accost him earlier. He reacted instantly, blocking each incoming strike and slipping free of the grasping hands that reached for him.
"Come here, you bastard!" his first assailant screamed, "You're gonna pay for putting hands on me!"
Byakuya ducked the man's hands, but was forced to turn to fend off another man's extended foot. As he evaded, he felt something strike the back of his head and his vision dimmed for a moment. Another hard kick sent him staggering into the street. In the next terrifying moment, he heard tires screech and felt an unforgiving impact on his humanized body. A normal gigai would have released him, at that point. But the type he wore, being one meant to hide him from Ywach's eyes remained tight around his body as he was thrown off the side of the road and down an embankment. He heard his attackers following and breathed a shuddering sigh of relief at falling into the river, which carried him quickly away from them. Unfortunately, the impact of the car had damaged his humanized body and he was barely able to pull himself to the edge of the water, a considerable distance away from the shop. He spotted blood dripping from a wound on one leg and tasted it in his mouth.
I am basically human now and I have been hit by a car. I won't be able to continue much longer. But...there is no one to go to. There is no one to help until I reach the ones I am looking for!
Byakuya groaned in distress, his body screaming with stinging pain as he crawled behind some bushes and tried to think of what to do.
It's no good if I die here...
He spotted a sign for a hospital and crawled out of the bushes, heading for it. His insides stung and blood leaked from his mouth as he moved, and he was only halfway there when he lost consciousness and collapsed onto the ground.
A few minutes later, a scrawny boy emerged from the brush near the fallen noble. He edged towards the unconscious man.
"Hey...mister?" he said softly.
The man on the ground didn't move or make a sound.
"Is he...dead?" asked a girl's voice from somewhere behind the boy.
The boy moved closer and bent over the raven-haired man.
"No, he's breathing, but he's really hurt," he reported to the girl, "I think we should just take the pack and go. He's going to die anyway."
"But Jun!" the girl objected, "He is alive. We can't leave him to die!"
"What do you want me to do?" the boy asked angrily, "If we try to get him to the hospital, we'll be seen and one of the gangs might grab one of us...or both of us. Do you want that?"
"No," the girl answered, sniffing softly as she emerged from the bushes and approached the collapsed man, "But it isn't right, Jun. Mama and Papa would..."
"Mama and Papa are dead!" the boy snapped, "And if we want to survive, we have to take what we can get. Now, we're taking the pack and going. Do you understand?"
"But Jun!"
The children's heads turned as voices sounded from a short distance away.
"Hey, what are you kids doing?" a male voice called out.
Jun pulled the pack free and the raven-haired man groaned weakly.
"Come on! Run!" the boy shouted.
The two fled as a man crossed the street and hurried to the collapsed figure on the ground. He bent over Byakuya, retrieving a stethoscope from within his lab coat and quickly assessing the injured man's breathing and pulse, then noting his extensive injuries.
"Is he alive?" another man called to him, approaching, carrying a stretcher.
"Yeah, but he's been hit by more than those kids," the first man stated with certainty, "He must've been hit by a car and crawled away or something. Come on, let's get him inside."
The two carefully immobilized the injured man's body and placed him on the stretcher, then they carried him back across the street to the hospital and inside.
XXXXXXXXXX
"Hey, no lazing around!" Bazz-B snarled, snapping the whip in his hand across the back of the young, raven-haired shinigami that had fallen onto his knees in the tumble of debris he had been removing.
Fresh blood welled up beneath the collared shinigami's thin yukata, staining it as the quincy struck him again. Bazz-B drew back to strike the young man a third time, but paused and his eyes widened as a rough, tanned hand rose and the end of the whip wrapped around it.
"Hey, take it easy, all right?" the red-haired man said, scowling, "You bastards barely give us anything to eat. You should expect us not to have much strength. That's what your king wanted, isn't it?"
Bazz-B growled and struck the red-haired man across the face, making him stagger back and fall.
"Renji-san, stop!" the young man on the ground pleaded, crawling towards him.
"Get back!" Bazz-B yelled, kicking the dark-haired noble in the chest and knocking him backwards.
The quincy moved forward, power blazing around one hand.
"All right, I warned you assholes that I wouldn't take any shit from you. Now, you're gonna pay! Burner finger number one!"
Bazz-B's face registered surprise and annoyance as another quincy officer stepped in front of him and stopped his attack.
"What th'fuck! Get outta my way, bitch!" he shouted at the golden-haired woman who blocked his path.
"Orders from his majesty," the woman snapped, glaring at him, "This one's cousin escaped last night and stole something from the king's room. He wants us to use these two to find the bastard."
"What th'hell? What a damned pain!" Bazz-B complained, "Fine, get'em outta here. They're useless for anything anyway!"
" Come on," the woman said impatiently as Renji helped his friend up, "You're coming with me."
"I won't help him find Byakuya-sama!" the raven-haired noble exclaimed, earning a sound slap across the face.
"You'll do what his majesty tells you to!" she demanded, "He'll make sure of it. You'll see. He has ways of making people do what he wants. Five seconds with the king and you two'll do anything his highness asks. Just wait."
"Renji-san," the noble whispered, "what do we do? If he..."
"I know," Renji whispered back as the two followed the golden-haired woman back to the palace, "We can't really do anything about it, Tetsuya. Just...do your best to resist."
"But you saw how the others acted after he affected them! I don't want to betray my cousin! I would rather die!"
The woman led the two battered young men into the throne room and stopped in front of the throne.
"Here they are, your majesty."
"Thank you, Candice," the king said softly.
His strange eyes glared down at the two.
"Abarai Renji and Kuchiki Tetsuya," he said quietly, "what do you know about the disappearance of Kuchiki Byakuya?"
Renji and Tetsuya exchanged mystified glances.
"Nothing," Renji answered, "We haven't even been allowed to see him. You can check with our guards. We've been on repair duty."
"So I heard," Ywach said calmly, "but I am sure that you must know something. Plans had to have been made for him to escape...and to know what to steal from me. Someone helped him. If it was not you, then you must know who. Who helped him?"
"Renji told you we don't know!" Tetsuya insisted, stepping forward and clenching his trembling hands together, "And even if I did know something, I wouldn't tell you!"
"What happened to your foresight?" Renji sneered, "It doesn't work so well down here in the Seireitei, huh?"
"I am limited in its use here," the king admitted, "but that will end when my new palace above is finished. In any case, the two of you are going to assist me."
"Eat shit, bastard!" Renji yelled, "We're not doing anything for you!"
"We won't do anything against my cousin!" Tetsuya added belligerently.
"Oh," said the king, his lips smiling cruelly, "of course you will."
Renji and Tetsuya stepped back, turning to run as the king's power flared around them. But they found the way blocked and the sphere of energy closing in around them from all sides.
"You see, there is only my will and none other," Ywach said quietly, watching raptly as his power reached the two shinigamis and their defiant screams sounded within the storm inside the sphere. The two struggled bravely, but slowly dropped to their knees, then collapsed onto the floor. Bach waited a few seconds longer, watching the power roar around the two, tormenting them into near unconsciousness, then he withdrew his power and glared down at the two as they panted and shook, slowly recovering. When they sat up, their eyes had taken on a blank, empty look and they knelt in a docile fashion at the king's feet.
"Kuchiki Tetsuya, Abarai Renji," the king intoned calmly, "Kuchiki Byakuya has taken something from me. You will find him, kill him and take it back."
He paused as a flash step sounded and Shiba Ichigo appeared in the room.
"Ah, my son," Ywach said approvingly, "You will accompany these two with orders to find and kill Kuchiki Byakuya. Bring the item he carries back to me."
Ichigo's golden brown eyes blinked slowly.
"Yes, Father," he answered quietly.
He turned to the two who knelt in front of the king.
"Come on," he urged them.
Ywach watched, wearing a smug smile as the three left the room. He waited until the room was quiet, then touched a button on the arm of his throne.
"Your majesty?" Haschwald's voice inquired.
"Bring me Kuchiki Rukia," he requested, "I am in the mood for some entertainment."
Ichigo led Renji and Tetsuya out of the palace and along the icy streets until they reached a remote area. He turned them into one of the partially destroyed buildings and swiftly knocked them unconscious, then removed a device from his pocket and spoke into it.
"Kisuke," he whispered, "are you there?"
"Yeah," said the shopkeeper's voice through the device, "What is it?"
"He got Renji and Tetsuya. Can you help me get them back?"
"Not right now. I'm being tracked. Yoruichi and I have to move. What did he tell you to do?"
"He knows Byakuya escaped with Orihime's Shun Shun Rikka," Ichigo reported, "He ordered us to kill Byakuya and take them back."
"Damn..."
"What is it?"
"He knows that Tetsuya was Byakuya's head of house security and personal bodyguard. Tetsuya's going to have him in a matter of minutes if you're not careful. Renji's less of a worry unless you find Byakuya. Then, you have to worry about his powers."
"I have the controls for their collars, but I don't want them loose until I've got them back in their right minds."
"Right," Kisuke agreed, "Go to my shop and see if you can use the disruptor to snap them back."
"All right."
"And Ichigo, be careful. We don't want them to find Orihime. If they do and they kill her, it's all over. If a choice has to be made, we have to let Byakuya go, you hear me? You can't let your personal feelings get in the way."
"I know that," Ichigo answered in a low, angry voice, "But it's not going to come down to that. I'm going to protect them both."
"Just don't let the Shun Shun Rikka or Orihime fall into the hands of the king again or he will kill her."
"Got it," Ichigo said off-handedly, snapping the communicator shut.
He let out a disgusted breath.
"No way I'm letting Byakuya die," he whispered, "We're gonna get through this. We're gonna fix this!"
He moved back to his two companions and woke them, admonishing them brusquely for 'sleeping on the job,' then hustling them into a senkaimon and leading them through the darkness.
Behind them, two shinigamis with blank, empty eyes followed.
"The king said not to let them sense us," Hisagi Shuuhei informed his taicho.
Kensei gave him a heated look and nodded.
"We don't have to worry about the prince or Abarai sensing us. Just watch out for Kuchiki Tetsuya. He's under the king's power, but he's slippery."
"Yeah."
The two entered the precipice world and sank into the shadows, following Ichigo and his companions through the darkness and into Karakura Town.