"Capture the intruder!"
"Yes, Captain Hitsugaya"

The squad members ran in front of their superior to the hooded figure desperately trying to escape. Just as they caught up to the intruder, the figure span around, and threw well aimed punches, landing most, and even knocking some members unconscious.

"Stop where you are!"
The figure froze. The last member of squad ten fell to the ground at their feet. It was surprising; the hooded figure was very small in build, no taller than a child. The next words were reinforced by the sharp ring of a sword being unsheathed. "Move no further, you are under arrest for thievery!" Two members that had avoided the desperate punches appeared beside the now prisoner and restrained their arms.

Captain Hitsugaya strode quite purposefully towards the trembling figure. "Now let's have a look at that face" he reached to flick the hood of the cloak back. It should have come as no surprise that the prisoner was not one to give up easy. A well performed kick made a sharp contact with the reaching arm of Captain Hitsugaya, but after many years of training, he didn't stop to look at his injury, he pulled back the hood, much more aggressively than he first intended too.

Bronze hair tumbled down and hung in a veil in front of the thief's' face. It was no surprise for a thief to be a girl. All the years in Junrinon had taught Toshiro that. A thief was a thief, most were look for food for their families. This thief was no different. She'd been caught trying to steal a bag of rice from Squad Ten's food stock. "She's to be locked in the barrack's prison until I decide on her sentence". The thief didn't react to any of his words, just stood there; head hung low, hair veiling her face. Most criminals stood with their heads up, chins out, showing their defiance to the 13 Court Guard Squads. "Look at the captain!" said one the members, pulling the girls' head back roughly. The Squad standing behind the captain let out a noise that sounded like disgust. All the captain could do was stare. Stare straight in to the blood red eyes of the girl.

"The criminal has been placed in the holding cell as you asked sir!" The squad member bowed curtly and walked from his office. It had been a long day. There was still the matter of the criminal, then the paperwork that followed. "I'd say it's time to visit this thief" he said to no one in particular. The Squad had whispered all the way back to the barracks. All were discussing the girl with red eyes. All of them were totally horrified by her.

He walked into his squads' prison. Luckily, it stayed empty for most of the year, but, like all the squads, it was needed for occasions such as this. Captain Hitsugaya walked to the end of the hallway. The new occupant sat in the corner, cloak still wrapped around her shoulders, and her long, bronze hair brushed the wooden floor. She stared out the barred window at the crescent moon. He sat down on the chair placed on the other side of the bars to her cell. She looked around at him with wary eyes. "What do you want from me?" her voice rang down the silent hallway.

"I'd like an explanation" the girl tensed at his first words, but relaxed after, "as to why you felt the need to steal from my food stocks". She looked at him so their eyes were locked, he didn't flinch away from the look. "I needed food, this was the closest place that had it, that's all, so I'll wait through my sentence, and then I'll just get on my way" she said, her tone cold. But she didn't look away from him. Most people did. Toshiro Hitsugaya wasn't normal looking. His hair was pure white, naturally, and the fact his eyes were bright turquoise didn't help people accept him either. He noticed his squad, with the exception of his lieutenant, didn't look at him directly for more than 10 seconds, as if afraid something bad may come of it.

It was obvious that this girl had received the same cruel treatment as he had growing up. "I'll be willing to let you out tomorrow, on the condition that you don't steal from any squad stocks again" The girl nodded, "That is a reasonable request". He stood up to leave, but the girls' hand stopped him. He looked around to see her standing. "You move very quickly" he commented. "Well, yeah, Flash step tends to be, well, as quick as a flash" she said, very unjokingly, despite her comment. Toshiro stared coldly. "How do you know the secret of flash step? Only Soul Reapers are able to do it properly". The next thing he knew, the girl was holding his wrist, standing on the other side of the bars with him.

"You may have a reasonable request, but I'm a very impatient person, Captain Hitsugaya, so I think I'll just be leaving now" she scoffed 'Captain' as if he was unworthy of the title, this always got under Toshiro's skin, he may be child like in appearance, but he had earned his haori fair and square. "Only if you can get past me" he said, unable to reach for his sword, due to her grip on his right wrist. "Fine, but if I win, I go, deal?" she said, tightening her fingers. "Deal"

Her grip disappeared. As did she. But Toshiro was not one to be underestimated. He could see her footsteps, and followed. She led him out to the garden, and turned to face him. Her red eyes glowed under the moonlight, and her hair rippled with the cool breeze of evening. "For your sake thief, I hope we never meet again"
The girl giggled. "You underestimate me Captain Hitsugaya. Just because you wear a haori and wield a Zanpakutō, doesn't mean we're not evenly matched" before Toshiro could respond, the "Shriiing!" of a sword met his ears. The thief was armed. He responded, pulling his Zanpakutō from the sheath that hung on his back. He preferred to wear it this way, as his Hyourinmaru was actually bigger than him.

He looked to the girls' weapon. It was no shabby sword. She wielded a Zanpakutō, how, he didn't know. "I thought only soul reapers could use a Zanpakutō!" Toshiro said, eyeing her sword with curiosity. "Not when you're a prodigy!" she yelled, charging at him with a look of battle in her red eyes. The captain was rooted to the spot. She was a prodigy too. He didn't think it was possible. He knew that he had been the one that would take on the most powerful ice element Zanpakutō, but he never knew of any others.

His train of thought was interrupted by the clash of swords. Close up, he noticed the blade was a slight off colour. All Zanpakutō he'd seen had been silver, this, on the other hand had a golden tinge to the blade. But before he could examine it anymore, the blade disappeared and reappeared in another attack. She can fight, thought the captain as he slowly began analysing his opponent's movements. She moved fast, but there was no grace, the movements were rough, and obviously had had poor instruction.

"I think you should pick up your fighting skill, Captain. I'm quite interested in seeing your bankai" the girl moved back from her attacking position to one a few metres away. "You want to see my bankai? That's quite an ask, thief. I don't use my bankai for just anyone" he said, masking the initial surprise he had of her knowledge of the second release. "But since you asked so nicely..." he looked to his sword, then back to the thief girl, "Ban...kai!" The cool evening breeze suddenly changed to one of freezing winds. "Daiguren, Hyourinmaru!"

The thief was amazed. The captain's bankai was more than she'd expected. He emerged, with elements of what looked like an ice dragon. Frozen wings spread from his back, and the body of the dragon ran down his right arm, to where the teeth of the beast held his sword. Three purple, four leaved flowers hung above his head, probably an indicator of time of how long he could remain in this form. She grinned. This was going to be a lot more fun than she'd first thought.

"Impressive, Captain. I have to admit, you're much more powerful than I gave you credit for" her taunting voice pierced the now close to freezing air. What was more; the intruder seemed unbothered by it. "Now it's my turn! Bankai!" as the last word left her lips, flames seemingly burst from the ground, rising up over the girls' head. "Sōdaina, Nenshōtori!" The captain had to shade his eyes with one arm as the heat and light grew more intense. As the light faded, a shape emerged from the dying flames.

A golden robe covered her body, her hair looked like flame, and above her left eye, a black tattoo had appeared. Her blade rippled like the colours of fire, and took the shape of a bird's wing. What was more impressive was her spiritual pressure. The increase in power was astonishing. She looked purely terrifying. Now, she looked like she was fire herself.

Without uttering a single word, flames leapt at the unsuspecting captain. Luckily for him, his element was ice, and he deflected the attack with a simple wall. But, he underestimated these flames. They were controlled by a prodigy child. Not even the fire that burst from the Head Captain's Zanpakutō, Rujjin Jakka, could compare to the ones of Nenshōtori.

A smirk grew across the face of the girl, as the flames crept up the ice barrier, seemingly unaffected by it. A crease appeared between the young captains' brows as he watched the flames scale his wall with ease. "Who are you?" Toshiro asked, only just managing to keep the tone of his voice from sounding desperate. The smirk turned into a grin as she said: "My name is Kaya. Kaya Ritsuko." And with that, Toshiro's world went black.