All in a Name
A/N: Any questions, please go ahead! This fan-fiction will be on Deviant art and Fan-fiction, and there are already a few pictures relating to it on my deviant gallery, just search for my name, I'm still echosdusk. Thanks and I hope you enjoy it! Thanks and I hope you enjoy it! By the way, if I have spelt names wrong I do apologise!
It does start on quite a serious tone, and it's designed to be very serious, but as we all know, nothing BLEACH related can ever be truly serious, so humour may be a little slow to kick off! Oh, and as a note, though Rin is Japanese you say her name pronouncing the R as R, it will be explained later!
Part One: Stolen Pieces of a Fragile Heart
Blood… Crimson, scarlet, mahogany, and black, the spectrum of colours swamped her body and coated her in the foul-smelling ooze, but she did not mind blood. Her own blood could be spilled regularly and so being a woman of rational thought the blood had been more of a common thing that she had never looked at twice. But this was not her blood even that did not matter to her usually, she was a member of Squad Twelve under Mayuri Kurotsuchi and she was from the Zaraki district itself! Usually the blood of another being filled her body with the chilling thrills of excitement, the promise of pain and screaming, and the excitement of battle or knowledge. But not this time!
She was falling backwards in her now blood-soaked Shihakusho, falling onto the freezing snow-covered ground that was now black. She hit the ground hard, her shoulder burning the ice away as it landed the venom of the sting of this Hollow coursing through her body. When her body bounced and her hips rattled when they landed in the ice, she could not feel it, or move out of the way of the other body. Before she knew it, the gapping hole where the sting had passed to reach her, was almost see-through. The organs and bone within had been severed and the hollow was still moving about ahead of her, whining and screaming over its missing arm. But on top of her, the saviour landed with a low wheeze and slid aside so he was able to lie beside her, and smile though blood poured from his nose and mouth.
"Sh…. Sho… Shoji don't…" She tried to gulp; her body was fighting the venom so it could continue to breathe; only her head remained functional. Her eyes were wide, tear ridden and quivering with the terror of what they were capturing. Her ears were ringing with the sound of the Hollow turning to the soul they had failed to protect, but they tried to focus in on the gentle smile upon the young man's pallid face. It was too late to save her brother, he had leapt in the way of the stinging spike of the hollows tongue and still it had caught his elder twin. The light blue hair that had matched his sister's so easily seemed to dull with the blood smears, but his face was smiling, and his lips parted with a word of purpose, and farewell. He had defended when he had been so scared and his brave sister had frozen to the spot, something that had never before happened, but had destroyed everything she had thought so hard for!
"Are you alright, Captain?" A soft voice wafted gently to her ears and made her leap out of the covers, almost knocking her head on a bedside table. The voice was so sweetly soft and gentle that it could make the skin of Gin Ichimaru creep. It was the voice of Yaroslavl, one of her dear if not creepy friends which, was always willing to talk and listen. He was standing beside the white sheets that were grey with sweat, and something else that he did not need to mention. His face was a gentle smile and closed eyes, his skin paler then the face of a pearl and his hair was as golden as straw. In his hands was a tray with a cup of steaming tea and a digestive biscuit with chocolate on one side of it. His head was tilting like a curious puppy toward the shuddering body of his captain.
"What… Goodness me Yarol! You made my skin crawl then, but thanks for waking me up before the worst part. Agh!" Rin snarled angrily, her dazzling blue hair wafted forward over her shoulders with a jerking motion of her body. Her left hand darted to her right shoulder, where the sting had gone almost seventy years ago, and the neat fingertips tingled at the feeling of warm blood. She had definitely been moving too much, her pillow and one side of her body were caked in black and red blood; no wonder her dream had been so real! But Rin had barely any time to look at the wound before the tray was pushed onto a spare surface at the other end of the room, and Yaroslavl was beside her as swiftly as a shadow. His long pale fingers were grasping a sterile cloth and some bandage; he was quick to lean over his captain and pull some damp wipe from the other hands and clean up the massive gash that oozed on the right shoulder blade. After bandaging it up with a new sterile covering, he slid away from his captain's side.
"Don't exert yourself too much, your shoulder's split open again from thrashing in your sleep. I would hate for you to be bed-ridden from blood loss today of all days. Katrina is going to be arriving soon, and we'll be celebrating with the crew too. I hope you don't mind but I thought you could use a pick me up so I put some Vodka in your tea and left you to sleep an extra hour. Goodbye Captain." Yaroslavl turned aside with a gentle smile as he closed his bright blue eyes. He placed the tray on the bedside table and then took one of the silky dressing-gowns from the front of the large oak wardrobe and laid it on a spare chair that was sitting sullenly in the corner of the room. Then he bowed and turned away to the door, stepping into the light of the hall and closing the white-washed door behind him, sending the room back into the grey shadows of early morning.
Rin looked toward the door and then to her shoulder, the tray, the dressing-gown, and then down at her sheets. The pillow was black with blood and her soft lilac coverings were now crimson red with great blotches of brown where they had been soaking up pools. Rin had been moving around a hell of a lot that night and she was already over-sleeping! Forgetting the dreams for a moment Rin leapt out of the bed and quickly gathered her sheets together, feeling no-less embarrassed as she would if she'd wet herself or had a leak on her period! But as she rolled the sheets and coverings together, she quickly stuck them in a spare black bag, which she guessed Yaroslavl had left around for her, and then put them just outside the door. The only person she was worried of seeing them was Erik, and he thought everything was disgusting!
"Damn it all to hell! It's been almost a year since I last had that dream again; I thought it was all finally gone! That's not good at all; last time I had that was before we went and rescued the Pups! This means there's a big job coming up, and I'm not going to like it. I hate that dream, it's just a reminder of my foolishness, I should have moved and then I would never have left the Soul Society! Agh, what's the point of arguing with my subconscious?" She growled and then quickly drank down her ea, surprised at how much Vodka Yaroslavl had snuck into it, and then nibbled the biscuits. Then she grabbed the dressing gown and ran into the bathroom, locking the door, and lunging into a long shower.
When Rintakara Ninel, Captain of the Schwarzeis Stadt Mercenary Squad, stepped out of the shower and looked at herself in the mirror; she was deeply saddened. The bleeding was over and she was staring at the great long item at her naked body and every line of scarring that would never go away. To anyone else looking at her body, they would only notice the great scar across her stomach, the wrapped white lines around her left wrist, the scratch on her right cheek, and the great tear through the top of her right shoulder, they would not be able to see the tiny white lines on her pale skin or the internal wounds that haunted Rin, and made her curiously well-built form repulsive. For a moment Rin stared, and was entranced by her own sorrow, unaware of the world around her….
"Rin! I need to wash my hair! Can I have the shower already! What on earth are you doing in there that's taking so long? Please hurry up I've got green stripes on my fringe because of that bad lab experiment with the dyes!" A strong voice seemed to growl, but it was not a loud or deep voice. It was instead a strong posh voice with a tone of authority and a thick Russian accent. It was followed with a hammering on the door, and Rintakara went red is surprise and embarrassment.
"What? Oh God, sorry Igor, I'll just be a little longer!" Rin muttered nervously, speaking like a gentile woman with a friendly but very embarrassed voice as she blushed, a voice only kept for inside use. It was the voice of a young woman who had never been around any other man but her brother or childhood friend, but that was not the case at all. Rin was relaxed when in the shower; it was the only time apart from a very special day, which she returned to that point just before her brother was killed. But now she quickly pulled her towel and dressing gown on before darting outside after opening a window to let the steam out.
"What were you doing in there? Not staring at your reflection again, only we've told you about staring at shiny objects too long, it'll make your eyes go weird again! Now, Katrina's downstairs already and I think you should just put on whatever you can before she leaps into your sons' bedroom and you have to chase her out naked… Again…" Igor Rasputin questioned as he folded his thin (but muscled) arms and raised one of his long and thin black eyebrows. He spoke with a curious gleam in his eyes, but his expression was one of complete seriousness, and Rin just smiled at him nervously. The great grey eyes locked upon her, the long black fringe seemed to break up his sour look as the wind from the window flicked it about. His long black hair was tied up, and he looked surprisingly cool in his large jumper-shirt that was a pale blue colour and his great black jacket, he never had a problem in staying cool or attractive, it was only when he smiled to show two great fangs that most people backed away from him.
Rintakara scratched her head in remembrance of their former squad member's tendency to try to ask teenage boys whether they were still virgins. The last time she'd come over, Katrina Holst had run into the bed where poor young Erik had been staring into space in his underpants, and she'd started mobbing him with questions. He had freaked out so much that Rin, who had just gotten out of the shower, was screamed for. As was normal for Rin, the sound of her sons screaming indicated danger she had grabbed her zanpako-tu and lunged naked from the shower and through the door into the room, pinning Katrina down in a very awkward position, and scarring Erik for life.
"That was an awkward moment, yes, but don't worry I'll be down in a moment and that'll calm her down. She's probably still going to be bugging me about the incident with Markus; I don't understand why she doesn't understand it all. I mean, if even Zander can understand it, surely it's clear to other idiots?" Rin shrugged as she spoke, confused in general by a woman that had no sense of how to efficiently kill a wasp let alone do well in a battle situation. But her words were echoed in annoyance by a high sounding voice near the top of the stairs.
"HEY! I'm not an idiot boss! Oh… Crap…" Zander barked out to his captain, standing up from where he had been hiding at the top of the stairs. Unlike the other members of the squad, Zander was about five foot two, was as skinny as a pole, and looked like every stereotypic Russian gymnast! That was not surprising though, as Zander was a flash-step king and his practice in Bankai was simply making him even faster. But Zander was not alone, and he was also in trouble as he stood up and complained.
"ZANDER! TITAN! LEXY! And I know you're there too Boris! What the heck are you doing listening to my conversations? You should all be downstairs protecting Uri, Sascharissa, and Sergei from Katrina! Not to mention making sure Yaroslavl is not making the refreshments! Remember whose bleeding turn it is!" Rintakara was unique when it came to situations when authority was needed. She had been the head guard at the Seretei's maximum security prison, and then in command of all the prisons after her boss, Kisuke Urahara, had been promoted. She had dealt with some of the vilest shinigami known, including Mayuri Kurotsuchi! So, when yelling she maintained the same voice level throughout and her whole body remained still as a statue, though her voice seemed to make her companions quake.
As Zander collapsed, bowing on the floor, Rin noticed the reactions of the other three spies. Titan, a massive red-haired man who could smash a wall down with a single punch, had gone white in fear! Then next to him, the broad-shouldered, but skinny, grey-eyed, brown-haired, and big-nosed Lexy was shaking like a leaf in a hurricane! He was staring at Rin with his mouth-wide open and making a face like a guppy at feeding time. Rin gave him a harsher glare and he suddenly shrank back like a recoiling serpent to head back down the stairs. But next to him a tall man stood up, scratching his soft brown hair that was neatly kept to the top of his neck and he gave a sound like a grunt. He was another Russian, like his constant companion Lexy, but unlike Lexy he was strongly built with a very handsome look though he barely ever said much. However, though he seemed to look a little embarrass, he was not as scared as his friends.
"Sorry Captain, it was just a random eavesdropping! We were just going to go and check up on the kids! If anything, I and Lexy are going to hide from the sex-crazed bar-lady! We just heard you say something about Markus and were a little worried that you might be reconsidering the propositions he's made. However, we understand as our mighty Captain you would never hang about with any fool that would insult Captain Ivann. We were overall just listening for you safety." Boris smiled gently, and it was a pretty smile, but the edges of his mouth were twitching with fear. He was obviously doing the usual theorising on the spot to make it seem as though they had not been listening as early as Igor sitting outside of the shower. Rintakara was not amused however; instead she just began to grow a vicious snarl on her face before she growled.
"I'm so sure…. Now get out of my sight and where you're supposed to be, or you'll regret it." Rin's voice was stern and her face was sullen and threatening. She could not stand it when her companions found it their duty to listen in on her conversations, especially in light of recent events involving her love life. It was bad enough that Katrina had once held the position of nagging Rin to get a boyfriend and now to have the boys doing that? Rin made a continuous growling sound as she stepped back into her room, watching her companions scuttle down the stairs after grabbing one another and hurrying off. But she also noted the sound of the bathroom door and groaned! To think people thought she took the longest in the shower; meet Mr Igor Rasputin, the world's most sanitized lunatic!
Time passed and it was soon late evening, the memorial party was underway and there were many guests. Rin had been enjoying herself a lot, even though she had been nagged continuously by female friends about how stupid she was over Markus! But Rin refused to comment, she had pride enough to respect the dead or old friends she had not seen in a long time. Plus, Markus had been getting a little too fond of their relationship and attempted to prevent Rintakara doing what she loved, being a mercenary! Overall it did not matter, as long as Rin felt the reason had been a good one no one else had a say.
The time had been quite humorous though, she had watched Katrina try to feel up every male guest present, Lexy and Boris get questioned about whether they had considered becoming gay, question they were asked too often, and once more Igor had many girls after him. Yaroslavl had also had a few ladies talking to him, but after he mentioned a few of his hobbies and interests, such as knitting, bag-pipes, and hair-dressing; they had quickly shuffled away. Rin couldn't blame them, Yaroslavl was WEIRD! Then there had been a point when Titan and Zander were fighting over the same girl to dance to, and Uri was getting chased by some of the young daughters of Rin's friends, the opposite was happening with Sascharissa too, but Rin had been smart enough to ask Katrina to question her about sexual safety whenever a boy started whispering in her ears!
In the meantime her two blue-haired and blue-eyed boys had been on the edge of things until the older women had started tugging at Sergei's cheeks, mentioning how cute he'd been as a baby. A similar situation was happening with Erik, except he was being bullied by the older male scientists about his "cat" techniques and the incident where he'd been learning to dance and dressed up in a flamenco dress! Rin had soon left it all to the side, and had found herself eating a iced bun near the patio doors with Igor beside her drinking some straight vodka, and at this pint she was approached by someone very important!
"Ah, I was hoping to catch a moment with you two alone! By the way these stuffed rolls are delicious, I take it there another one of Boris' specialities? I was actually quite worried when I came in and spotted Yaroslavl trying to make those pineapple-cheese-stick things using bacon, bratwurst, a few pieces of pork, and other meaty condiments! He's not exactly the most varied chef around, is he?" The voice was gentle and fun, and the face was mature, moustached, and scarred though sweet and noble. It was none other then Lord Wilhelm Schatzstein, one of the current runners in the elections as High Lord and General of their area, and he was a close friend. Only through his kindness and intervention, which had meant both Sergei and Erik, could remain as Rin's adopted sons. But before the kind and wise man spoke more, he took a large swig of the punch from his beer glass, and Igor spoke.
"I'm afraid Yaroslavl actually made the punch you're drinking." Igor mused at their master as he paused with the swig of the bright red liquid filling his cheeks. His face suddenly turned into one of horror as he realised the over-power presence of vodka in the drink. Immediately he made a choking sound and the other two just began to chuckle at his reaction. Then Rin slapped Igor's shoulder when her master sprayed pink alcohol over her and made her blue hair go purple. Some of the guests had spotted this and were laughing their own heads off before they too drank and began to do the same. To Yaroslavl, the concept of spiking the punch as never necessary, and after grabbing a prepared tea-towel, Rin, Igor and Schatzstein stepped outside to the great hilled garden.
"Well, other then that I needed to discuss an important matter with you. Now seems as good a time, and least conspicuous a time as any, my friends. You see, with the elections coming soon I've had several attempts on my life, the same with others going up against Lord Bernstein, and I need somewhere safe to go. I would not usually go to mercenaries, even though I trust you all greatly and have the utmost respect for you, especially since Captain Ivann's passing, may he rest in peace…" Quickly Schatzstein pressed his hand to his heart, something that had developed in their soul society as marking respect to deceased members, and Igor did the same, Rin just glanced across the fog ridden grass toward the top of a great blossom tree, which was only just blooming. Schatzstein continued his recent terrors were well known to the squad. "But with situations being as they are, until the election in four months I cannot remain in Eurasia. There has been some luck recently in finding me a place to hide that is impenetrable to Bernstein, and indeed to our old pal Vladimir Dracul. But I need to hire four mercenary squads as well as my best staff to protect me while I'm there, and as it is a place familiar to you, Captain Rin, the Glacier Squad came highly in the list of recommendations."
"What do you mean, sir? We've not been outside of the Eurasian Soul Society since the Soviet years split each region! We have been nowhere you haven't…" Igor began, but then he noted that the seemingly jokey tone of his own voice was not a good thing. He quickly made a gulping sound and checked his master's eyes. The eyes of the lord were fixed onto the form of Rin, and Igor turned his eyes toward hers. The two different coloured orbs seemed to be concentrating, though there was no motion in them. Instead Igor noticed how Rin's mouth seemed to curve at the edge and how her lips rose as she seemed to understand what was being asked.
"Are you suggesting that we're going to Vladivostok's Soul Gates and then opening the portal to The Seretei?" Rintakara snarled through gritted teeth, it had been sixty years since she had been in that world, and she had no real desire to return after what had occurred both there and here. But the slow nod from Schatzstein gave it away all too easily, and she clenched her fists till a red stream of spiritual pressure seemed to swell around them. Her eyes seemed to glow with the fire in her body and she found herself grinding her teeth and trying to think of what to say. The Japanese Soul Society was no longer safe ground, she had found out enough in their brief mission into Hueco Mundo to know the security would have been tightened. She knew also that after the time she had been away they would have marked her down as dead or exiled, and she knew that if she returned there would be a lot of explaining to do, otherwise she would never have been stuck in Eurasia. "That's foolish nonsense! Sure it might be a place away from Bernstein but even Hueco Mundo is more predictable there! Our communication is so limited you can't imagine them to believe what we are! Even if you tried they would never let you stay without testing your strength, and I'm very annoyed that you would even think of such a foolish mission, and ask me of all people to guide you when I'm little more then a ghost amongst the dead there!"
"True, but I am an old friend of Head Captain Yamamoto from a time before our societies closed their doors upon each other, before the Royal Guards were ever necessary let alone the guard divisions. Some luck meant a mission of my own into the islands of Japan meant I caught him on a mission of his own and we established contact. He has given me all the news I needed, and I have a channel open to pass information directly to him alone, I will not pass through any information you do not want passed on. I won't even tell him who you are, Rin. Besides, it might be cathartic for you to return and face down some of the things you hated about that place, don't you think?" Schatzstein questioned softly, trying hard to twist his words in a manner that would either confuse or calm Ninel, after-all she could become very violent when annoyed and he was desperate for her help.
"You obviously do not understand, my lord! Sure in the Soviet times we had it hard to wander and escape the eyes of the Watchers here and there, but the Seretei is not a calm place and is worse then that! You cannot simply walk in, whether you have permission or not, and expect to be greeted by them as a friend, I mean, half the squads have no idea what the others do! Think about it, I never knew there was a Soul Society beyond the Seretei before meeting Ivann! Do you think they'll believe you? Don't you think it's far more likely that they'll assume you to be Arrancar? I hope you don't think all of them can compare to even Zander in intelligence! The main squad that will cause you problems on entry are as thick as the walls of the place, maybe even more so! Do you understand me?" Rintakara began to growl like an angry dog through her gritted teeth, but though angry her eyes were wide and seemed to be fear-ridden. Her arms were shaking and completely engulfed by the flames of her spiritual pressure, she was very angry and very scared. It had been too long since she had been in the Japanese Soul Society and just as long since she'd been even to see the sea!
"It's your own choice Rin, I won't force your squad to guide me there, but I am asking for your help. The payment will be anything you want; I understand how much pressure I'm putting on you, my friends. But though I would not call a threat, remember that if I had not spoken up twelve years ago at the council, Sergei would never have been kept in your care." Schatzstein's voice was cool and calm, filled with wisdom and yet dark power as he spoke. His voice had deepened to the voice he had held in the varying tough situations and important diplomatic speeches he had given so many times before. But he had never spoken in such a way to Rin, and she froze with slight surprise and with shock too that he would mention something that Rin had almost taken as an oath to repay him with. But he said nothing more and turned away to go back inside, chatting once again in his friendly voice as he greeted Sergei, who had been watching them from the window.
"Well… What are you going to do, Rin?" Igor spoke after ten minutes of silence, noting the disappearance on Rin's flames as she remained motionless in thought. He knew her better then anyone else, even better then she knew herself because of their blood and energy sharing, and he was surprised himself. He stepped over to Rin's side and patted her shoulder gently, quickly to pull it away before she could snap at him, he knew she was upset. But his soft eyes were now looking toward where Sergei, a young fifteen-year-old boy with strange blue hair, dazzling green eyes, and such a sweet and gentle face that smiled out at the world as he talked to the people that had helped keep him with his adopted mother. "I know how your heart and mind works, but I don't even know what your emotions are doing! I can guess you're torn between honour and fear; you want to keep your oaths and you want to see all the people you feel a need to see once more and that you have missed terribly! I know at least one person you would die to see, in every sense of the world. But what do you want us to do? We'll support anything you feel is the right choice"
"Whatever I choose, it is my choice alone and I do not wish to be lectured. Now, leave me alone for a while please, Igor. I have to go and see to my promise, if only to figure out how to deal with another one!" Rin growled angrily and she stepped away from him, away from the party, and toward a beautiful blossom tree where something special sat beneath….
Next Time: Part Two – Whispering Pains of Rains Unknown
Rin is troubled with the choices she has in front of her, should she return or should she stay and ignore the need for her help? So Rin seeks the advice of the dead, only to find herself thinking back to her past. Will Rin accept the job? What painful memories will stop her going back to her real home? Plus a chance to learn her oath to Ivann, her sorrow over her brother's death, whence she came to the Seretei, and a very special person she met there…