disclaimer: don't own anything
note: yeah so I am supposed to continue the other stories, but that happens when I play way too much Skyrim xD I get a new story idea...
So yes this story is insipred by the game "The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim" you will see some parallels with the game, but I do hope you will like it :)
Special thanks to PaulaGay for beta-reading!
Summary
AU: A war rages between the illegitimate new king and the rebels which fight for the rightful king to take his place. In the midst of the clash Byakuya and his family lose everything and he has to find his place in the chaos. Upon his search he stumbles on a red-headed redneck. What will happen now? Will they be able to fix the chaos and bring the king back? Ren/Bya/Ren, YAOI, possible mpreg (not sure yet)
Chap 1: The Escape
Rain was pouring down on him. He didn't know how long he had been running, but it must have been a while, because his former hometown wasn't burning as much anymore. The fire was subsiding, but the oppressor would never leave the place.
They were searching for those who still supported the rightful king. Even now 15 years after the takeover from the Aizen family there were still those who remembered the good times under the Yamamoto family and they were thought to be living in his town.
When the attack began Byakuya quickly helped his little sisters, father and grandfather to escape safely. Unfortunately that had left him behind, but he had to stay, he was the most powerful fighter amongst them and thus it was his duty to aid in their escape.
Now he was seeking a safe place to stay for the night. The next day he would search for his family; he just hoped they were still alive. After running around for a while he stopped suddenly. He needed to catch his breath, but he couldn't stay for long; one never knew about the wildlife in this part of the land. And the wild animals weren't the only creatures he needed to worry himself with. It was said in his town that there lived men and women in the country, who claimed it to be theirs. They were supposed to be very cruel people, exiled; but no one knew who had exiled them, if it was Aizen or Yamamoto. And in truth he was more afraid of the rednecks than the animals. Animals were predictable, they acted on their instinct, but humans and other races not so much...
After regaining his breath he collected himself and made his way into the mountains, hoping to find a cave where he could hide until morning. After a while he found exactly what he was searching for. It was a dark cave, hard to find in the darkness, so no one should be able to find him there, which was what he hoped for.
As soon as he entered the cave a voice sounded from deep within, "It would be a goo' thin' for ya to stay put right thar'," a male voice sounded.
Byakuya's eyes widened. Surely this couldn't be a cave owned by one of those rednecks?
"Let me cast a light. I simply want to see who is threatening me," he said, trying to get the person to calm down and not see his movements as a threat.
"Yeah what eva," the male voice sounded and Byakuya let relief flow through his whole body.
Luckily his magic had regenerated enough to cast the spell 'Candlelight' that created a ball that functioned as a light source. When the ball was created his eyes widened. He was indeed in a cave of one of the rednecks. Fur from dead animals littered the floor and heads of various wildlife decorated the walls, everything screamed of danger.
In front of Byakuya stood a red-headed man; he was wearing a set of light leather armor, the set was complete: boots, pants, chest, gloves and hood. He was pointing an arrow at him, ready to shoot from his makeshift bow and although the bow and arrow didn't look that dangerous the hard-set face and eyes spoke volumes. He was ready to kill anyone who dared to invade his home and it didn't help that the arrow was perfectly aimed at the spot between Byakuya's eyes, even in absolute darkness.
"I am not here to cause you trouble. I am merely seeking a place to stay for the night, I didn't know that this cave was inhabited," Byakuya told him, raising his hands, showing that he meant no harm.
"An' why shou' I believe ya?" the red-head asked him not once taking his eyes away.
"My hometown was attacked and I am merely looking for a place to stay until I can search for my family," the raven-head explained. "If you don't believe me just take a look out there. The fire is still big enough for you to see," he added hoping the man would let him rest here.
"Tch. Fine, but don' bother me wit anythin' else," he answered, lowering his bow and arrow.
Byakuya was relieved, now he could finally rest. He watched the man further and saw how he lit a campfire in the center of the cave.
"Why didn't you light this earlier?" he inquired, hoping to get along with him and who knew, if he could befriend the man maybe he would help him in his search. Surely it would come in handy to have someone on his side who knew the area.
"Sit down alreddy. You standin' there annoys tha hell outta me," he ordered Byakuya with a stern look.
With a short nod he did as he was told. He didn't dare disobey the man, after all his magic hadn't recovered enough to be of any use in a fight.
Following his resolution to befriend the man he tried to think of something to talk about, but what should he ask? How life was out here? How he defended himself with that pitiful bow and arrow? How he came to own the armor? No. He couldn't ask that, it would just show that the people in the town had lived for years without acknowledging those in the wilderness.
"Tell me abou' tha attack," the red-head suddenly asked, bringing Byakuya out of his thoughts.
"First my name is Byakuya, Kuchiki Byakuya, it is nice to meet you," he introduced himself, hoping a friendly approach would help matters.
"Hm, Renji, Abarai Renji tha's my name and now tell me abou' tha attack."
"Of course, if you want to know. Although I don't see how it concerns you," he indirectly asked the man opposite the fire; he really had no idea why he wanted to know…
"Because if thar was an attack, tha men will come here too, searchin' for survivors liken you. And although I can defend myself gainst animals, I caint kill all of those soldiers should they come here," he explained and Byakuya admitted, if only to himself that it made sense.
"Unfortunately that seems likely, so I will tell you; you deserve to know for letting me stay," and thus he began his story.
A loud cry of pain could be heard from somewhere in town, waking Byakuya in his small room. His sisters were sleeping in the room next to his and opposite were his father and grandfather's rooms.
When he opened his door the others were already looking around the corridor. Everyone had perplexed faces, not knowing what was going on.
"What is happening?" Rukia, one of the twin girls asked the men.
Then another pained scream tore through the town and at least now Ginrei and Soujun knew what was going on.
"Hm, it sounds like Aizen's men are attacking the town, we need to get going," Ginrei informed them; readying himself to fight, if need be.
"Aizen's men? But what are they here for grandfather? We don't have anything of worth to him," Hisana inquired, making her sister nod her head fervently in agreement.
But Byakuya wasn't fooled that easily. He knew that the soldiers were searching for supporters of the old king; searching for them.
"You all should go, I will occupy them and shortly join you," the young man said; making the elder males proud, however his sisters were worried for him.
"But brother… what if they get you?" Hisana asked apprehensively, not wanting to let her beloved brother go.
"If they get me I will tell them nothing and I will die in peace, knowing that you survived this horrible act," he said truthfully, placing a hand on her shoulder and squeezing reassuringly.
"Good, I trust you will join us tomorrow, at the earliest," Ginrei said knowingly, trusting his grandson and knowing he would make it back to them alive and in one piece.
"I will grandfather, I won't leave you," he said and turned toward the stairs, making his way to the ground and then to the front door; meaning to exit.
"One more thing Byakuya. When you are done here go to the mountains, you will find enough caves there to hide. Whatever happens, go to the caves," Soujun advised his son and shooed his daughters out of the house through the back; the young man nodded his head, showing that he understood.
Byakuya made his way out and his eyes widened. Everywhere he looked were dead bodies; men, women, and children. 'How cruel. I need to buy them time,' he thought and went to search for a good place to hide. He was moving through the streets, searching for a way to get to the town wall. He wanted to conceal himself there and then do everything in his power to buy his beloved time to escape.
Shortly after he found a good spot the first soldiers passed his way. Seeing his chance he cast a fire-spell on them, burning them. They screamed in pain from the sudden flames, their flesh burned and the air stank of it. Soon after the first soldiers were burned to ashes came more and more soldiers, too many so that he had to run; occasionally he would turn around and burn more of them, if only to buy more time for himself.
Fortunately for him the men had made a hole in the wall so that they could enter. Seeing that no one was there to protect and watch it, Byakuya took the opportunity and slipped through.
He ran toward the mountains, hoping to make it before someone caught him, but suddenly he was hit by an arrow; effectively slowing him down. Byakuya fell to the ground, giving his attackers the impression of having wounded him seriously. He was skillful in this; his elders had taken care of that. He broke the end with the feathers attached and pulled the other end out of his right arm; now he could begin to heal the hole that was there.
After the arm was healed he stayed still, successfully making his followers give up on the search and turn back to the town, expecting to have hit him critically and killed him.
Fire was burning everything down, the smoke reached to the heavens and further, but it wasn't his fire. His fire was magical and therefore only burned what the caster wanted, so the fire burning the houses was from the soldiers.
With sad eyes he looked at what had been his home for 22 years. Everything was lost now, their house and their little shop, where they sold herbs for medical treatment and alchemy. He couldn't dwell on that now, he needed to go and find a cave.
Exhaling a breath of exhaustion he stood up and made his way to the mountains, searching for a cave. At that moment it began to rain, the earth under his feet began to get muddy, and he hadto get earlier he could find a cave the earlier he would be safe from the soldiers.
"That is an approximate description of what happened. I'm sorry I can't offer more," the raven-head apologized.
"Ah fergit it… Tha's enough… So that were Aizen's men… Ah crap, then I needs ta get my ass outta here," the red-head mumbled the last part mostly to himself, but Byakuya heard and wondered what the man had to do with anything, however he wouldn't ask now.
"Ya should sleep sorcerer or ya won't have any magic till tomorrer and don' worry, no one will come here. Here take tha fur, it'll warm ya," he said, giving Byakuya one of the many furs that were lying on the floor.
Byakuya wondered if the red-head had killed the animals alone and if so how he did it, his bow and arrow didn't make the best impression. He had to admit that the fur warmed him up; hopefully tomorrow everything would be in order again.
Renji took one of the furs for himself and got comfortable on his furs and immediately fell asleep. Byakuya soon followed.
Somewhere in the wilderness
The rain was pouring down on the group of 4. They tried to shelter under a tree for the time being until they could find the caves in the mountains. They were far enough away from the town for the soldiers not to find them, but still close enough to see the fire burning everything.
"What do you think? How far do we need to go? Remember we need to stay relatively close to the town for Byakuya to find us," Soujun asked his father, keeping an eye on his two daughters. The girls were hysterical, he could see as much. It was the first time for them to witness an attack this cruel and destructive and it was understandable. They had lost their home and very existence, their friends…everything.
Hisana and Rukia didn't take it too well that they left the other man behind and were close to tears, the only thing that stopped them from crying was the fear of being discovered, they hoped their big brother would come back soon.
"Hm. We should be close right now. It would be wise to search for a cave to stay in during the night," Ginrei said while stopping in his tracks and searching for a suitable cave, preferably one with rednecks.
"Father? Why did you tell brother to search for a cave? Isn't it logical to do that?" Rukia asked timidly, not wanting to disturb her elders.
"Yes it is, but he needs to find a cave at all costs. It would be best if it was an inhabited one," the raven-haired male answered, but not satisfyingly.
"Why does the cave need to be inhabited? Don't the rednecks live in them?" she inquired further, she couldn't understand. The rednecks were evil and dangerous; it wouldn't do them any good to meet one of them.
"Yes they are dangerous, but not to us. Aizen's men should fear them and thus we will be safe with them; why that is we will explain to you later. For now we need to find them," the father told his daughter, who accepted his explanation for now, hoping that her brother really was safe with the rednecks.
"Come now. We need to get going," Ginrei spoke to them, and so they went toward the mountains.
They moved in silence and in a crouched position so that they were close to the ground and couldn't be seen by anyone; except those with keen eyes. After a while they reached the mountains. The girls were out of breath; the men knew that they needed to find a place soon.
Soujun and Ginrei switched places, so that the older male would be the last one in their arrangement and Soujun lead the way; after all Ginrei wasn't young anymore and needed to keep to a slower pace.
It didn't take long for Soujun to find a cave, but the ground was too muddy and thus it was that the way to the cave was more difficult than they hoped it would be. They finally entered the place, hoping to find what they were searching for. Unfortunately there was no one in the cave, only darkness and cold. Nevertheless they had to stay there now; it would be too strenuous to search for another place.
"What do we do now? We can't make a campfire, the wood is too moist. So how will we get warm?" Rukia asked them. She knew that her brother was able to use magic, but she didn't know about her father and grandfather, they were always hiding things from them just to 'protect' them…
"We simply have to stay close together. It won't be long and then it will be morning again. Hopefully the weather will be nicer by then," Soujun said and motioned for the others to join him on the cold cave floor.
They tried to sleep, but it was too cold for them. So they drifted in and out of sleep every few minutes, hoping by the next time it would be bright enough to get going.
After a while Byakuya woke again.
Although it was warm and comfy in the cave, dreams and thoughts of his family kept invading his mind. He was worried. He knew that his father and grandfather were both powerful sorcerers, but that didn't mean that he wouldn't worry for them.
When he looked around he saw that the spot where Renji had laid was empty and a look at the dark cave entry revealed the red-head, sitting on a rock. "What are you doing? Shouldn't you be asleep?" he asked him, desiring to know what was going on; hopefully they weren't under attack.
The red-head turned to look at his… well what was he? A guest? A companion? The man certainly was a stranger, but something about the name Kuchiki rang bells in his brain, which had left him restless; unable to figure it out. "Couldn' sleep. An' its not as if it would be a bad thang. Someone needs ta take watch," he said with his broken street accent and Byakuya wondered not for the first time where he had learned their language at all, if he lived here all by himself.
"Then we should take turns, I can't sleep either and if it helps you to sleep, knowing that someone will watch, I am willing to do so," the raven-head offered, while walking up to the man. Just then he saw the hilt of a dagger poking out of the shaft of his knee-high boots. 'So he is armed to the teeth, but if all his weapons are as bad as the bow I wonder what good it will do,' he thought in dismay, but grateful that the man was at least armed.
"Ony if yer magic is restored, I don' know how good ya are with the bow an' arrow," the man replied looking at him.
"I am fine, you should sleep," Byakuya offered and he was surprised to see the red-head nod in agreement. That was a sign that he trusted the raven-head, but they had just met so what made the redneck trust him? Not that he minded, it was a good and strange feeling.
Not long after their exchange Renji was again lying in the furs and covered by them.
The sun would soon rise and Byakuya needed the man to be well rested. He hoped he would help him find his family as he was the only one of them who knew the area.
yes that's it for the first chappy!
I hope you liked it and that you will encourage me to continue this with your opinions on this and further chapters in reviews :)