Authors' Notes: Hello and welcome to our first collab here on FanFiction! This is a blatant double Self Insert with fancy names to throw you off a bit. We write these purely for fun and practice, so be warned. You may never know what you'll find here. We hope you enjoy our story! Have a good read!
If you don't like shameless badassery, this is definitely not your cup of tea. If you complain, Aletheya will verbally kill you.
Prologue
"This is all my second Special War Potential has to offer?" Juha Bach scoffed at the battered teen in front of him. His form was hunched over, both in pain and exhaustion, his eyes shadowed by his brown hair as he panted, a swirl of pink petals around him. His body was littered with cuts, burns and slowly forming bruises, the Shihakusho and Haori he wore in just as good a state. "Kasei Kuchiki, the second wielder of Senbonzakura, the youngest Captain in the history of Soul Society, the man who held Aizen at bay when three former Captains could not… Now utterly powerless to stop me as the Seireitei burns to ashes."
True to the man's word, buildings were crumbling all around them in the massive battle they could see from their vantage point in front of the main Senkaimon. The Senzaikyu had long since fallen over. The Sokyoku Hill was nonexistent. The First Division headquarters were a smoldering ruin. And the people were affected just as badly. The teen's own adoptive brother, Byakuya Kuchiki, was on the verge of death after his Bankai was stolen. He had made sure to rend the Quincy thief twice as mercilessly for her crime with the very Bankai she stole. Rukia was unconscious from a blow she received, the Head Captain was dead, killed by the man before him that now wielded Zanka no Tachi. Others were either critically wounded or fighting for their lives. The Gotei 13 was on its knees.
"It's such a shame to have lost Senbonzakura Kageyoshi." Juha commented, shouldering his giant sword of flame. "You are too powerful to have your Bankai taken by anyone but myself, but I already have the most powerful Bankai in existence."
"You know that's a lie, Bach." The Taicho spoke for the first time, through gritted teeth. "He's got a Bankai much more powerful than Yamamoto's, but you can't take it. His Hollow side doesn't allow you."
"Ichigo Kurosaki is but a child. A powerful one, but still a child. It will be centuries before his power rises to match that of mine." Juha spoke with a casual air.
"It's funny you say that." Kasei smirked, righting himself. "That's exactly what my brother said before Ichigo defeated him."
Juha simply curled a lip in distaste. In a blink they both moved, the Quincy king stabbing forward while the Shinigami shunpoed out of the way, his petals covering him. A blaze issued forth from the tip of Zanka no Tachi's perverted form, hitting the Senkaimon that had been right behind the teen. The doors that guarded the Dangai shattered, showing a constantly morphing array of purples and grays.
Kasei's eyes locked onto the gate. He knew very well what the swirl meant. The Senkaimon had no definite target to connect to, so it was endlessly connecting to random points in the world. He looked back at the burning city, almost all of the Quincy Stern Ritter forces' reiatsu resonating strongly as more and more Shinigami fell.
He made his choice. It wasn't by the protocol. More than likely against the law, not to mention his brother's pride, but he valued lives much more than rules.
In a turn of events that frankly surprised Juha Bach, the swirl that engulfed Kasei zoomed away at high speeds towards the Seireitei.
"Leaving yourself defenseless?" Juha raised a brow at the now exposed Captain.
"I didn't want to pull this one unless I had to." Kasei spoke, drawing another sword from his belt, this one chipped and worn, caked in freshly dried blood. He pointed the cracked tip towards the ground and let it fall. "I hope Nii-san won't mind much. Bankai, Senbonzakura Kageyoshi."
The blade phased through the ground, making it ripple like water. Two long rows of enormous swords, large enough to dwarf the pillars surrounding the gate entrance, emerged from the ground and scattered into a swirl of petals identical to the one that left just moments earlier.
"Two Bankais at the same time? Interesting." His opponent commented. "But, I'm afraid not good enough."
"To kill you? No, not good enough." The teen agreed calmly, circling around the battlefield while Juha nonchalantly matched his movements. "But more than good enough to move you out of the way."
"What!?" The Quincy exclaimed, his eyes wide as the other swirl returned. He could sense the signatures of the people within. And it was zooming straight for the Senkaimon from which he had distanced himself while playing along with Kasei's positioning. Without warning, they both dashed towards the gate. Time seemed to slow as Juha made it first, swinging Zanka no Tachi down upon the first Bankai. Just before the hit could connect, Kasei burst into the space between them, all of the remaining petals raised in defense. But it wasn't enough.
The Captain cried out in pain as the sword cut through the tiny blades and slashed him across the chest, leaving a cauterized gash. The pain made his head swim. He just barely managed to force himself to Shunpo into the Senkaimon with both his Bankais in time to avoid a decapitation.
He collapsed onto the floor the moment he entered Dangai, taking deep, painful breaths. Both Bankais sealed themselves into their swords at his hips, leaving his siblings in front of him. Horror still gripped him when he looked at the mangled body of his brother. He was alive, but barely. It was a miracle.
Fighting to stay focused through the haze of lightheadedness, he got up and stumbled to his brother's body while applying a quick, basic Kaido to his chest wound, just enough to ensure he wouldn't fall unconscious now. His reiatsu was low, but even then he had a lot of it to spare. He set to work with the most powerful Kaido he knew, which wasn't at all weak by any means. He took some training with the 4th Division after the war to make sure he was prepared for situations such as these.
It took a long, excruciating time, nearly an hour, but he managed to stabilize him. He wouldn't die, but he was going to be weak for a long time. He crawled over to his sister and gave her a quick treatment. He couldn't afford anything more, he was feeling weak as it was. It was pure luck that the Cleaner hadn't come.
Rising to his feet, he tenderly slung both of his siblings over his shoulders and began a slow walk to the other end of the passage.
By the time he reached it, his vision was getting blurry, black spots dancing in the corners of his vision.
When he stepped out onto the dried leaves, covered by the slightest coat of snow, he collapsed, his strength finally leaving him. He still had the presence of mind to discard his siblings as gently as possible. The last thing he heard before losing consciousness was the sound of war cries and steel hitting steel.
The sun shone brightly that morning, at the very top of the Throat of the World, bathing the elf and the dragon in its light. A freezing wind was blowing, but they didn't seem to care about the cold temperatures. In fact, the dragon was actually dozing, a slight purr escaping him with every breath, as well as wisps of smoke from his mouth. The elf wasn't sleeping, but she was quietly huddled against the dragon, smiling at the occasional rumble from it. It was a typical morning for these two unlikely friends.
This peace, however, was shattered when the elf felt three powerful presences suddenly appear on the face of Nirn. She got up from her seat against the dragon's neck and extended her senses, trying to identify these presences.
She sighed in relief when she confirmed that they weren't Daedric in nature. She had had enough of that two hundred years ago. But they also weren't Aedric. In fact, she couldn't really tell what they felt like. That was troubling.
The dragon stirred and opened its eyes, sensing its companion's agitation. "Is something wrong, little one?"
She took her eyes away from the horizon, having been trying to pinpoint the exact location of those presences. "I don't know, zeymah." She answered the dragon quietly, her eyes betraying her worry. "Can you feel that?" She asked, cocking her head in the direction she had been looking at.
The dragon raised his head from the ground and looked where she pointed. "This is not a good thing, briinah." He said, after a while.
She whipped her head to look at him, questioningly. The dragon explained, "The time is coming. I can feel it in my blood. Can't you, Dovahkiin?"
"Alduin?" She asked, and the dragon nodded.
She was silent for a while. "But these presences don't feel like dragons. They don't feel like anything I've ever seen before." She said, finally.
"I know. They aren't like anything I've felt before, as well." The dragon said. "But I can't help but think that one thing will lead to another."
Both glanced at the Time-Wound, a strange ripple in the air near the Dragon Wall at the top of the Throat of the World. "Do you think this will make it easier for him to come back?" The elf asked.
The dragon coiled its neck around her in a protective gesture, sensing her distress. "It is likely, mal briinah." He answered. "I can still feel the rip in the fabric of the World caused by the appearance of these three entities."
She sighed, but accepted the comfort for a few moments. "Do you think we should go and investigate?" The dragon nodded and positioned itself so she could ride it comfortably.
Without another word, both flew towards the newcomers, not knowing exactly what they would find, but knowing for certain that whatever it was, it would change Tamriel forever.
The back of Rukia's head throbbed with a dull ache when she first regained consciousness. Her body felt still and uncomfortable and she felt the sensation of moving. As more of her senses returned to her, she could hear the whine of wooden wheels and hooves hitting the soft forest floor. She tried to move her hands, but found them in binds. She could easily break them, she felt that much, but she knew it would be unwise to be hasty, so she remained quiet. Before she could open her eyes, she heard a pair of men speak.
"Who are these people?" The first voice asked, near her. She could hear the obvious nervousness of his voice. "Look at them. They should be dead. No man should be able to take such wounds and live. There's more blood on this guy than in him…"
"I don't know, horse thief, but they must be strong." The second, calmer but still slightly unsettled voice spoke. "I cannot imagine what gave them their wounds. Not even the Imperials fight like this."
Rukia found herself completely confused. She had no idea what they were talking about. And horses? She thought humans stopped using horses back when she was still just an orphan in the Rukon districts. Slowly, she opened her eyes and blinked away whatever sleep was still in them. She gasped at the sight that greeted her.
Across from her, on a horse-drawn wooden cart were her two brothers, both unconscious and looking as if they were on the brink of death. Kasei had an enormous, charred wide gash across his torso, his whole body littered with shallow cuts that reminded her of Senbonzakura's signature wounds. Some parts of his clothes were burnt, while everything else was torn at random.
But Byakuya… If it were not for the slow and shallow intakes of breath, she would have thought him dead. His hair was caked with blood, his kenseikan were cracked, one of them shattered completely. His modesty was more protected by dried blood than the torn rags that his Shihakusho and haori had become. Barely and recently healed cuts littered his entire body.
Rukia almost thought it was a nightmare.
And it was all happening in a setting she couldn't comprehend. There were three others with her. The two men that had spoken, a muscular blonde and a scrawny brunette, were next to her respectively in terms of closeness, while the third was gagged and sitting next to her older brother on the bench across from her. A soldier dressed in armor that should have been by all rights ancient in the World of the Living drove the cart. She saw another driven in the distance ahead.
"You're finally awake." The blonde noticed, turning to her. "Are you alright?"
Rukia took a few deep breaths, trying to school her features. "I'm fine. Who are you? Where are we?"
"That head injury must have done more damage than I thought." The blond almost muttered. "I'm Ralof. You're in Skyrim. We all got caught near the border by Imperial troops. Now they're carting us off. You don't remember?"
"No." Rukia said. It wasn't a lie. She didn't remember anything after she was taken by surprise in Soul Society. She had a feeling something was very, very wrong. The lack of her Zanpakutō didn't help her.
"Well, try to take a nap. We still have a long way to go." Ralof suggested.
"Yes, perhaps that is best…" She felt that she deserved a small break. Her head was still throbbing and she couldn't really do anything for now. With that in mind, she closed her eyes and let sleep take her again.
"Ugh, I feel like I fought Kenpachi barehanded…"
"Kasei!" Rukia cried out in relief.
"Shut up back there!" The driver yelled over his shoulder.
"What the hell is his problem?" Kasei muttered, shaking his head a bit to clear his mind. He already noted the passengers, his state of captivity and lack of Zanpakutō, as well as the fact that they were completely visible in soul form.
"We were taken prisoner by some faction called the Empire." Rukia said quickly before finally adding the questions that plagued her ever since she awoke. "Where are we? What happened in Soul Society? What's wrong with Nii-sama?" The last was said with more than a bit despair.
"His Bankai got stolen." Her other adoptive brother replied, addressing the most important question first. "The bitch rent him with it just before I came. I took care of it."
Rukia knew the meaning of "taking care of it". He also once 'took care of' Mayuri after he saw how he treated his daughter. He also took care of Aizen after he saw him cut down his own subordinates. Aizen survived because he was immortal, and the only thing that kept Mayuri alive were his own modifications and the fact that he was a fellow Taichō.
"I had to take us through an unfocused Senkaimon." He continued despite Rukia's bulging eyes. "Things were bad. Very bad. Look, I'll tell you later, right now, we have other things to worry about."
She nodded, still in shock. Kasei's eyes met hers and she understood the second meaning of that sentence. There was a strong presence nearby. Rukia had sensed it quite some time ago. It was following them, watching no doubt.
"So, how long?"
"A few hours."
"Anything interesting happen?" Did you see it?
"No, not really." She shook her head.
"Alright, guess there's nothing to do then." We ignore it for the time being. "We'll wait until we reach a more suitable area. We can think about setting things straight then."
His sister simply nodded and glanced at the three Nords that were giving them disturbed looks. "These are Ralof, Lokir and Ulfric." She indicated each one with a nod of her head. "Apparently, we were all caught at a political border. They think we were illegally trying to cross."
"Well, we did cross borders." He shrugged, wincing as he did. "These bastards better get us to a town quick. I could really use some healing."
"Your wish seems to have been granted somewhat." Ralof snorted in amusement as he saw the gates of Helgen. "However, you won't get any healing there, friend. Only death."
Kasei took a deep breath. "Execution. Great. Oh well, at least the midget has experience with those."
"Very funny." Rukia muttered darkly, before looking at Byakuya. "I hope he wakes up soon..."
"He's tough. Nii-san won't die from such light wounds." Kasei tried to lighten the mood.
"Light!?" But the humor was lost on the resident thief. "By all rights he should be dead. Both of you should."
"Well, I guess these guys will rectify the issue for you." The Taichō said casually as he leaned back in his seat.
The cart drove into the city, Ralof making constant comments on this and that, be it dissing on the Imperial General or reminiscing about a childhood crush. As they approached the headsman's block, a grunt caught their attention.
"Nii-sama!" Rukia cried out in joy. "We were so worried! How are you feeling?"
"He's weak, Rukia, he lost a lot of blood. Give him some room." True to Kasei's word, the noble could barely keep himself awake and upright. Still, he managed to make himself speak through sheer force of will.
"I require healing." He managed to rasp. "And rest. What happened?"
"Don't worry about it, Nii-san, just play along." Kasei said. His brother slowly turned his head to look at him and gave a small, painful nod before closing his eyes.
"Why are we stopping?" Lokir asked suddenly.
"Why do you think? End of the line." Ralof said as the order to unload the prisoners was issued. "Come on, shouldn't keep the gods waiting for us."
The prisoners slowly filed out. Byakuya barely managed to stand and was painstakingly slowly lowering himself out. The guards didn't like that.
"Move your ass!" An Imperial shouted and pulled him off. Byakuya, both from pain and lack of strength, couldn't take the sudden landing and tumbled to the ground, barely suppressing a cry.
Kasei's and Rukia's blood boiled. Kasei, who had been right behind Byakuya, snapped a vicious kick at the guard's head from his perch on the cart. The guard was sent crashing a distance away, his skull cracking ominously.
In seconds, a squad surrounded him, a sword at his throat.
"He's dead!" A man that went to check the body cried out in shock.
"Bastard, I'll slit your fucking throat right-"
"Stand down, soldier!" The stern voice of the Imperial Captain interrupted him. "He's already scheduled for the block, we don't need the added mess. He will go first."
The soldier was obviously dissatisfied, but couldn't disobey a direct order. He pulled his sword back into its sheath and gave a poisonous glare to the prisoner that killed his fellow.
Kasei paid him no heed, however. His attention was drawn to the pair of katanas that hung on each hip of the Imperial Captain, as well as the third, blood stained katana on the hip of one of the soldiers that had come to restrain him.
Rukia had jumped out of the cart in the mean time and made sure her brother was alright, nearly snapping her restraints in anger.
A mighty roar came from somewhere in the sky, startling everyone and sending most eyes looking for the source.
The three Shinigami, however, were taken aback by the presence they failed to notice until the warning came. It was incredibly powerful by any standard. And it was being followed by yet another, though weaker one.
"This isn't looking good." Kasei said gravely. "We have no time to play around anymore. When they call me forward, I'll take our Zanpakutō and we get away. Understood?"
Rukia nodded, while Byakuya remained silent and fought to stay conscious. It wasn't long until they were in front of the block.
"Alright, send the murderer first." The Captain ordered. She was conveniently positioned besides the headsman, no doubt looking to enjoy the proceedings first hand.
Kasei silently moved forward, his fists clenched. He patiently waited until he was in range. This needed to be executed perfectly.
Just as he was within two steps of the Captain, he sprung into action. He broke the bindings as if they were of paper. The crowd had barely a blink to be shocked before he gripped the swords at the Captain's hips in a fluid motion. He drew them out of the sheathes, Senbonzakura in his left hand and Sode no Shirayuki in his right. Without stopping the graceful movements, he quickly slashed with both swords in an x-like motion, chopping the Captain's head off clean. Sode no Shirayuki continued her arc and in the next second, the headsman lacked his own head.
"Rukia!" Kasei called out and tossed her Zanpakutō just as she broke her own binds.
"What in Oblivion-"
"Scatter, Senbonzakura!"
The petals moved just in time to intercept the arrows fired at him by the nearby archers. The petals then scattered too fast for the human eye to see, while Kasei pointed his hand at the archers.
"Hado 33, Sokatsui!"
A large blast of blue energy shot out of his palm and burnt the trio of Imperials to a crisp before completely demolishing the house behind them. By the time he turned around, the pair of swordsmen that tried to take him from behind exploded in a shower of blood, Senbonzakura reforming beside him protectively.
Rukia had managed to kill all the guards surrounding the rest of the prisoners, pulling her sword out of a man's collarbone just as Kasei looked at her. Satisfied that things were getting taken care of, he quickly took his sheath from the Captain's body, while also taking Byakuya's Senbonzakura from the body of one of the soldiers he just killed. Seeing that Byakuya was in no state to fight, he took the sword to fight with in addition to his own already released Senbonzakura.
Another roar sounded, this time much closer and louder, followed by another.
Everyone looked up to see what was happening above them, gaping in awe at the sight that greeted them. Two huge dragons, one bigger and pitch black and the other a faded bronze, were fighting above the village.
Gasps left everyone, the fight on the ground abandoned, as the black dragon roared something and the sky turned red. Those gasps soon turned into panicked screams as fire started raining from the sky.
Kasei's attention snapped back to his situation. He ran over to his siblings, cutting Byakuya's ties. "Come on, we need to leave this mad hell."
"He's in no condition to travel." A feminine voice said from some distance away. He turned around to see a hooded woman approaching them, her hands enveloped in white light. "Let me help you."
"You're the one who's been tailing us through the woods." He stated calmly.
She nodded in confirmation. "Yes. Your arrival on Nirn was noticed." She turned to Rukia. "Please, step aside. I need to heal your companion."
Kasei moved out of the way, Rukia following suit, but gave her a wary look. "If something happens to him…"
The woman ignored the threat and set to work immediately on the most serious wounds. She had to stop a few times and drink something out of a big blue bottle she had at her waist but, eventually, Byakuya was almost completely healed. "I'm sorry, but I don't know any spells to restore strength," she said. "However, if you drink this, it might help." She took a green bottle out of her sash and handed it to the noble, who accepted it with a nod of thanks.
She then turned to Kasei, who had been shielding them from the rain of fire with his Senbonzakura while she was at work. "Would you like me to heal your chest?" She asked politely.
"I don't think we have the time." Kasei pointed out, glancing at the two dragons locked in combat above. He silently handed over Byakuya's Senbonzakura to his rightful owner. The blade had returned to normal once Byakuya was healed, but it was still coated in blood from tip to pommel. "We should be going. I'll be fine."
She nodded in agreement and turned to the dragons. "Paarthurnax!" She shouted. "Get out of here! I'll handle Alduin for now!" To help her brother escape, she conjured two of the most powerful lightning spells she knew, one in each hand, and shot them at Alduin.
The dragon roared in pain and rage. "Dovahkiin! You will pay for your insolence!"
"As if you could catch me!" She taunted. "Paarthurnax, go!"
The other dragon seized the moment Alduin was distracted trying to burn the woman to a crisp to escape, bleeding from multiple wounds.
"You guys should get out of here!" She said to the three Shinigami. "Alduin and I will play tag for a while!"
"We can help you fight it!" Kasei said, motioning for his siblings to stand ready.
"We won't be able to kill it just now, I'm not strong enough yet!" She said, throwing another lightning bolt at the dragon. "But if you could help me drive it away for now, I'd appreciate it."
The three Shinigami looked at each other before Byakuya spoke. "Rukia, take the humans we were captured with and lead them to safety. We will handle this."
"Yes, Nii-sama!" Rukia said, turning to Shunpo to the tower where the prisoners had hidden. She looked over her shoulder, saying, "Be careful." And she shunpoed away.
"I don't think Shikai will do much against this beast." Kasei commented, Senbonzakura forming into a blade.
Byakuya almost pointed his sword at the ground, but remembered what had happened before he was incapacitated. "My Bankai-"
"I took care of the problem."
Byakuya gave a grateful nod. Every Shinigami in the Gotei 13 knew what 'taking care of' meant in the vocabulary of the Fifth Division Taicho. "Then let us take this beast down."
The two Kuchikis moved in synch, pointing their blades at the ground and letting them fall. "Bankai, Senbonzakura Kageyoshi."
Four long rows of massive swords emerged from the ground before scattering into innumerable tiny blades, at the command of both the Taicho.
"Awesome!" The hooded woman beside them commented. "STRUN BA QO!" She shouted, and lightning and rain fell from the sky, striking the dragon and the ground at multiple points and at the same time, dispelling the rains of fire from before. "YOL TOOR SHUL!"
"Where do you want us to guide it?" Kasei asked, eager to unleash his Bankai on the beast. He still held a lot of rage from the battle in Soul Society.
She pointed at the top of the Throat of the World, hidden by clouds. "As far away from there as possible," she answered.
The pair nodded and pointed their hands at the dragon that, frustrated by the resistance its new prey was exhibiting, had started to pick on less dangerous opponents, destroying buildings and roasting unfortunate Imperial soldiers.
"Hado 73, Soren Sokatsui."
Two enormous blasts left their hands, crashing into Alduin with devastating force. The dragon was sent crashing into the ground and through a pair of buildings before he stopped at the fortress wall.
The woman laughed in excitement, seeing the dragon trying to right itself. "This is so much fuuuuuuun! I can't believe I waited two hundred years for this! FO KRAH DIIN!" Alduin, who had just managed to disentangle himself from the ruins, was enveloped in a thick coat of ice, turning his movements sluggish.
"Carry him away, now!" Kasei said, sending his petals hurtling towards the dragon. It staggered, but summoned the strength to resist. However, when the second wave hit it, its resistance was broken and it was flung back through the wall. The petals didn't stop, continuing to push him back into the forest well past the point of where he was out of sight.
"Is he gone?" The woman asked, as soon as she stopped hearing the dragon's roars.
"I'm not sure." Kasei admitted, letting his petals return to him. He turned to Byakuya, who did the same. "Are you feeling alright?"
"I'm capable of fighting." The older noble responded. "My wounds are mostly healed thanks to our new ally."
"It was nothing." She said. "Would you like another potion? It'll finish the job. And I can start healing you now, too." She added, turning to Kasei.
"Alright." Kasei nodded and sealed his Zanpakuto, sheathing it. "We should be in the clear now. Nothing should be able to take the power of two Senbonzakura Kageyoshi attacking simultaneously."
She handed a big red bottle to Byakuya. "A few sips should suffice." She told him, as she gestured for Kasei to remove the top of his garments. As soon as he did so, she summoned a powerful healing spell to both her hands and set to work on his ugly gash.
"Were you cut with a white-hot sword, or something?" She commented, while she was working. "Your wound is completely cauterized."
He chuckled. "You don't know the half of it…"
She glanced at him, but didn't ask any more questions. "We should go looking for your other companion and the Stormcloaks." She said, when she was finished.
"She's in that large building over there." He pointed at the town's keep. "I can sense her."
She looked where he was pointing and narrowed her eyes. "Yes, now that you speak of that, I can sense her too. Though not as clearly as both of you. Her power seems… incomplete… compared to yours."
The two glanced at each other before Byakuya spoke. "You must be able to sense if a person has achieved Bankai or not, if that's the case. Come, we should move before the Imperial faction decides to fight us again."
She smirked darkly. "The Imperials will drop to their knees as soon as I tell them who I am." She said. "But we should still hurry. The Stormcloaks aren't out of danger yet." She grasped the hood of her cloak and let it fall to her back, freeing her long white hair to move with the chilly breeze. This revealed her pointy ears, icy blue eyes and pale skin that seemed to glisten like ice in the sun. "I'm Aelyn Ceridwen." She said, nodding at both men. Then she added, her voice dripping with sarcasm. "Also known as Hero of Kvatch, Divine Crusader, Savior of Bruma, Champion of Cyrodiil and Dragonborn of legend."
"Byakuya Kuchiki, head of the noble house of Kuchiki and Captain of the Sixth Division of the Gotei 13." The noble replied with an incline of his head. "My clan owes you a debt of honor."
"Kasei Kuchiki, Captain of the Fifth Division of the Gotei 13." Kasei said before smirking. "Also known as the Butterfly Hunter."
She blinked at him. "I'm glad I'm not the only one with weird titles here…"
"He means to say Hero of the Winter War." Byakuya corrected, not looking at either of them.
"Huh. So you were at war with butterflies? Your world must be a really strange place…" She commented, bafflement lacing her voice.
"Not really, it was just a moniker they gave me because of my opponent." Kasei explained. "But war stories later, we should go."
She nodded and led the way to the keep, passing houses in ruins and soldiers dead or dying. She sighed as she spotted the bodies of a few villagers that had probably been caught in the crossfire as they tried to escape the dragon attack.
They entered the keep, which was empty, and noticed an open gate ahead. "They headed that way." Aelyn muttered, "but I can still hear their voices. We're close to them."
True to her word, they found them in a supply room scavenging for potions, after going down through a dark stone corridor. "There you are!" The elf greeted loudly, startling the Stormcloaks into drawing their weapons. "Hey, little Ulfric!" And she pounced the leader of the rebels, hugging him fiercely. "What's up?"
The poor man was clearly trying to get her to release him, but his shouts were muffled. Thankfully, she lost her interest fairly quickly. "Hello." She greeted, turning to the petite Shinigami.
Rukia blinked at the elf. "Hi." She said awkwardly.
"I'm Aelyn." The elf said, smiling. "Kasei and Byakuya have awesome swords. Is yours like theirs, too?"
"Her Zanpakuto is the most beautiful in all of Soul Society." Kasei complimented as he stood next to his sister and hugged her with one hand. "And she's powerful to boot."
"I'm just a Vice Captain." She blushed slightly at the praise. "My name's Rukia, by the way."
"Nice to meet you, Rukia." Aelyn said, with a big smile. "Well, we should get going. I'm not sure I have enough influence with the Imperials to save you from the block, little Ulfric. So the faster we get you out of here, the better."
At everyone's nods of agreement, she led the way out of the room and further down into the keep. Soon enough, they stumbled into a torture room. The elf made short work of the two Imperials there, incinerating them both with a Fire Breath Shout. "If anyone wants anything from here, take it quick."
"I'd rather not take souvenirs…" Ralof said. A few Stormcloaks took the weapons scattered around the room, though.
They kept walking through a row of prison cells, some empty, some with rotting corpses. It was hard to ignore the stench, but they kept going. "There's running water ahead." Aelyn said, after a while. "And I hear voices too."
About two hundred paces ahead they entered a chamber with an underground river crossing it, as well as a handful of Imperials. Once again, the two Shinigami Captains and the Dragonborn took care of them, without anyone else needing to draw their weapons.
They crossed a wooden bridge and entered a natural cavern. Aelyn lead the way again, following the river and then taking a passage to the right that was becoming more and more adorned with spiderwebs on the walls, the further they advanced. "Oh, great, Frostbite Spiders…" One of the Stormcloaks complained.
"I once had a dog that loved eating roasted Frostbite Spider legs…" Aelyn commented, smirking at the Stormcloak's disgust and summoning fire balls to her hands. "I'll roast some for you to try!"
True to her word, the spiders fell to the fire, though the biggest one – a monster the size of the elf – needed some strikes from Ulfric's war axe to die.
"We're almost at the end of this, I can smell fresh air ahead." Aelyn announced, to everyone's relief. After a "little scuffle" – in the crazy elf's words – with a disgruntled bear, they made a turn and found the exit to the cavern.
"So, do all of you people keep stuff like this in your basement?" Kasei asked with a raised brow.
Aelyn giggled. "You wouldn't believe the things that can be found in caverns around here…"
Ulfric rolled his eyes at the Dragonborn. "We should get going." He said, and turned to Rukia. "Thank you for helping me and my men, miss Kuchiki."
"It was my duty." The Kuchiki princess bowed her head.
"See you around, little Ulfric!" Aelyn exclaimed. She clearly loved to annoy the Jarl.
The man grumbled and shook hands with both Kuchiki Captains before departing, thanking the Nine for saving him from another of the Dragonborn's hugs.
"What do you three plan on doing, now?" She asked, her expression and voice turning serious as she looked at the three Shinigami.
"I believe it is high time that someone explained what happened." Byakuya said calmly, looking at Kasei from the corner of his eye.
The elf pursed her lips. "Well, we shouldn't really be standing around for this, I think. Why don't you all come with me to Riverwood? It's not far from here. We can rest and eat there while you talk about this."
"Yeah, I think we need that." Kasei said with a sigh. This made his siblings share a glance in slight alarm, but they made no comment. Without a word, they set out to Riverwood.