Author's Note: Japanese is used…

Disclaimer: I don't own Bleach.


Chapter 2 – Level Up

Renji the crab man crawled as fast as he could to keep up with the little mermaid. Like most crab men, he was merman the waist up, and crab the waist down. Puny bubbles bombarded him and his vision, but he tried.

"Rukia~! Ru-ki-a!" he called out. The bubbles died down a little. He could now see Rukia's short, midnight black hair. She came to a stop and turned to the crab man.

"Hurry you buffoon! Ukitake-sensei is waiting!" she glared at Renji. Her deep violet eyes refocused on the path ahead of her. Once again, she sped towards the palace, her violet fish tail flapping at full speed, where her brother would see the results of her training. In order to rule the Kuchiki Kingdom of the sea, Rukia has to be strong, as strong as her brother. She had a long way to go. She's already fifteen and doesn't know her sword's name yet. When Byakuya was her age, he could already do bankai. Renji fallowed her. As one of her tutors and friend he had to attend. Hopefully, the king would be pleased with her progress.

The palace was now coming into sight. The two dodged the stores, underwater farms, homes of other sea creatures and the creatures themselves. A giant castle that was covered in coral reefs, shells, and seaweed stood in the center of the kingdom. Rukia swam to one of the top floors to where her brother's throne room was. Hopefully, he wasn't there yet... How would anyone like having a ruler that was late to important events? Surely, no one. Her brother detested lateness too. Rukia didn't want to fail him. Inside the giant room were guards. They lined a path to two thrones. The first throne was made out of molded gold; pearls; giant, rare shells; and gems of all kinds. The second was to the right of the first and was almost as beautiful. No one had taken the first throne. Ukitake, a powerful merman, occupied the second, though. He was a great strategist for his own kingdom's army. He had been one of Rukia's teachers since he and Byakuya were close.

Suddenly, the double doors of the huge room opened. In swam Byakuya with two more guards. His long, black hair trailed behind him like his hiori, slightly floating right off his back. His tail was just as sliver and shiny as his kenseikan. His eyes were as cold and grey as always. His overall aura of the highest royalty and power was strong. He even had the fighting skills and sword to prove it. All the guards bowed. Rukia and Renji also bowed and greeted him into the room.

"Good afternoon, nii-sama."

"Good afternoon, tono."

Byakuya nodded and signaled for Rukia, then Renji, and finally all of the guards to stop bowing. Ukitake gave him a nod and greeted him.

"Byakuya-kun, you look busy as always." Ukitake said with a sincere smile. Since Byakuya grew up in the same kingdom as Ukitake when Ukitake was only a general, they were very close. Ukitake would often visit the Kuchiki manor. He had seen Byakuya grow from a baby, all the way until Byakuya was old enough to start his own kingdom with his new wife, Hisana. Although, that didn't stop Ukitake from visiting. "My, you and Rukia look so a like now! She also looks strong like you too." Rukia smiled and blushed. Since her brother was one of the most powerful mermen, Ukitake's comment was like being called a god! Ever since she was able to convince her brother to let her practice military arts, Ukitake took her as his student. Byakuya only allowed since it was Ukitake, though.

"Hello, Ukitake-san. Is something wrong? I believe this is when you are usually out on missions."

"No, no. Not at all Bya-kun. I actually wanted to show you something. Rukia, if you will." Rukia stepped forward. Taking a deep breath and stern face she turned toward her brother.

"Nii-sama, my sword skills have improved as well as my spells." Rukia started feeling shaky unknowing of how her brother would react. Would he be impressed or expectant of more? "I have also learned flash step..." She stuttered out. She waited for her brother to respond.

She swore a year passed by...

"Rukia." her brother finally started. "I believe you have now learned the four basic combat skills for the military. Your rank shall be raised if Ukitake approves." Byakuya said. He had his mask of emotionlessness on but Ukitake smiled knowingly. Little Bya-kun is so proud of his little sister. Rukia's face softened into that of the surprised. Ukitake noticed and smiled even more. Rukia would now be closer to being third in command in Ukitake's squad!

Rukia and Renji were given a new assignment.

'Rukia, since you are now third in command, I'd like to boost your mission levels. Nothing too different from your last level. Just a higher risk of danger. Because you proved well in combat and escaping, I don't think it'll be too hard. Be on guard at all times just in case.' Ukitake's words were kept clear in the little mermaid's head. There was no way that she would let Ukitake or her brother down. Rukia and Renji were now heading towards a giant, sunken ship. It was unlike anything she had seen before. The craftsmanship of humans had amazed her. Never once had Rukia been able to go onto land or any other environment than the sea. Yet humans had figured out how to travel across something than their own homeland. What else could they do? Fly? Breathe underwater? Create artificial life?

"It's really big, huh?" Renji looked over to Rukia and found her just gaping at the ship with sparkles in her eyes. It had seaweed and barnacles all over it. Coral reefs entangled in it. This was nothing like the palace though... The ship looked menacing. Its rust and broken parts gave it a dark, gloomy look. Truthfully, Renji wasn't excited about exploring the ship unlike Rukia...

"Don't just stand there. Let's go." Rukia was already slipping into the ship by one of the torn gaps of the metal. She disappeared into the shadows. Renji soon followed.

"Ukitake sensei said to dispose of any dangerous items. Weapons, anything explosive, etc... I think some fish are planning to modify the ship into a home." Rukia said as she swam through a hall way. Pictures still hung on the wall or were on the floor. Rukia was careful not to touch their broken glass. One of the pictures was of a quite beautiful woman. She had orange hair and an expensive looking dress on. On top of her head was a small crown. Rukia guessed the ship belong to someone very rich. Probably the lady in picture. Next to the picture was some kind of small, silver stick that was split at one end into four more sticks. The end with four sticks was stabbed into the picture's wooden frame. Rukia pulled it out and examined it.

Renji on the other hand had traveled into a small room. It had a bed and desk. A chair was in several pieces. He traveled through more rooms by another door in the first, the one with the broken chair. He was now in a fourth room. It was bigger than the others. It had three doors including the door that he came through. A huge square thing was trashed. It had wood framing it. Renji couldn't tell what it was. A painting lied on the square. It looked like a family but it had slashes that took out any chance of identifying who the people were.

'swoosh'

Renji swung around. Nothing was there.

"Rukia? Rukia!" Renji called out to her for a couple of minutes. There was no response. He kept turning around, trying to see if there was anyone or thing moving. He soon found himself facing another square thing but this one was thinner and taller. Renji touched a fancy metal thingy. It did nothing... He pushed it. Nothing... He tugged it. It responded by a box, which was attached to the metal thingy, slipping out every time Renji pulled. Soon it wouldn't come out any more. Inside the box was a bunch of knick kna-

'swoosh' Renji, startled, swung around more alert than last time. Nothing...again... Now he was frustrated. He swam out one of the doors.

"Hello?! Show yourself!" Suddenly he saw a shadow out of the corner of his eye. He dashed towards it and passed through another set of doors and hallways. He found Rukia again just looking around calmly. She carried a seaweed bag filled all the way to the top, causing her to have to drag it.

"Ne, ne, Rukia... Did you just come out of that hallway?" He pointed a thumb the way he came.

"Huh? Nope." Once she saw what Renji was pointing to, she went back to her mission. A flash of grey caught her attention. She didn't freak out though. She just started towards it. Renji was too busy looking back the way he came to notice the flash and Rukia's disturbance.

"Are you sure? I could have sworn that I saw something... Maybe there's someone here. I fallowed it and that's how I came here but once I got here I lost it... So... Rukia?" Renji saw here wonder off into another hallway with a stern look. He fallowed getting the message.

"Renji." He responded with a serious look to match her atmosphere.

"Got it."

The two held their swords in front of them. They crept slowly across the hallway and into a huge room. It was bigger than the one with the knick knack box. You could probably fit a giant squid in it. The floor was ripped from the ground into walls that didn't reach the ceiling. Maybe that was from the crash... The actual walls were not as bad as the floor. Everything was rusty and trashed. Hundreds of pieces of junk, that used to be who knows what, dotted the sandy or metal sea ground.

"I can feel it now."

"Me too."

'SCREECH!' A shadow came from behind a wall. It was a skeleton shark. They are beasts of the sea. It's like they don't have a heart or mind. They feed off of about anything. They aren't sharks but the first few that ever popped up since ever since were said to look like sharks. They also have holes where their heart is... Er… used to be. The sad part is that they used to be normal sea creatures. But once a sea creature is overfilled with hatred or eaten by another skeleton shark they become this: a powerful, heartless, beast that can only do one thing... Kill to eat/survive. This is what Ukitake meant by keeping their guards up.

The first one to charge was the shark. It's bone like skin glowed with power. Rukia dodged and swam to the side of it. Renji lifted his sword and slashed it down hard. The shark stepped back. Its leg was almost cut in half. The screeched in pain again as Rukia came forward. The shark failed to notice her come and slash its arm. Renji then put the final blow. He plunged his sword into the shark's face, and then cut it in half. A final screech, the shark fell to the ground and disintegrated to dust. Rukia and Renji sighed.

"That skel shark had a strong arua. It probably just ate. Let's go before more show up." Renji said. He sheathed his sword and started crawling through a tear in a wall. Just as Rukia started fallowing she became stiff. Panic flew into her.

"Renji!" He was already outside. Rukia could hear him yell to her not to come out. A loud thump could be heard and another skeleton shark came through the wall, completely destroying it. It was way bigger than the last. A heard of small sharks came up behind the giant. They all screeched making Rukia wince. She was smacked into a wall next to a door. After struggling to crawl through the door she regained some strength and swam. Her tail, arm, and head were aching from the impact of hitting the wall. She tried flash stepping but didn't get far. The screeching behind her was getting louder. She looked back to see about fifteen small sharks gaining on her. With her sword arm still aching she used her other hand. It wasn't as good but she was able to slice the head of one of the sharks that came close enough to literally bite her back. As she looked forward another four sharks appeared from a room. Rukia did her best swinging her sword at them. She only managed to knock them out of her way.

Renji was having just as hard of a time as Rukia. He wasn't hurt bad but he was surrounded by annoying, small skeleton sharks. They kept charging at him. The number of sharks seemed to be infinite. Once he cleared enough area around himself he flash stepped away from the heard. A game of cat and mouse was played as he tried getting back into the ship to Rukia. Him being the mouse.

Rukia found herself back where she left her seaweed bag. She swam to it and threw a whole bunch of stuff to the sharks. She ran off again with the bag that was emptied a little. She kept throwing stuff at the sharks. She was finally close to a big opening in a wall that lead to the outside of the ship.

"Ahhhhh!" Rukia screamed. A shark had gotten a hold of her hair and yanked her back. Other sharks caught up and attacked her. They swarmed all around her, biting her, clawing her, and screeching. She was too weak to get her sword that she had put back into the holder that hung on her belt. Her hand was then grabbed and she was being pulled away from the sharks. Renji flash stepped but was blocked by the giant shark. It screeched and swung its claws at him. Renji tried dodging but after a while he got weak. Rukia was slipping from his grasp. This time Renji dodged barely but Rukia didn't make it. She flew from his grasp toward the water's surface and was perused by the small sharks. They kept attaching her, pushing her to the surface even more. The higher they went, the stronger the currents became. Rukia was still conscious but was ready to pass out. She felt her head being light as air. She couldn't even tell if the sharks were still there. Her body was so numb... She opened her eyes. The sharks weren't there. More panic drove out the numbness. She could now feel a current. It seemed to get stronger by the second. She still couldn't get her tail to move without the pain messing up where she went. She could now see the surface of the water.

It was a storm.

The current turned into violent waves that shoved Rukia into other waves that tried shoving her back. She became dizzy. Just then did she notice pain coming from her head. She reached for it and caught some kind of stick. It wouldn't come out of her hair. Unintentionally she grabbed it when another wave crashed into her. She was finally pushed to the surface.

The sky was a dark navy blue/grey. Waves were supposed to be white but because of the sky, it was grey and blue too. Rukia saw something stand out in the endless sea. It was brown, almost black, and was somewhat thin. Another wave blocked her vision. After it disappeared, she saw the thing again. It stayed above the water with the exception of some water sliding over it. Rukia was then shoved by the waves again. She got closer to the thing and reached for it. She needed some way of getting out of there and she couldn't use her tail. That thing was her way out.

She was getting closer and closer. Once she was at the thing she stabbed the stick she found in her hair into it. The thing was a board of some kind. Rukia had never seen this before... It had swirls and lines for patterns. It felt like a bunch of really thin strings piled up into straight lines. It was about as long as her arm and as wide as her back. Another wave crashed into her. She gripped onto the board and was able to stay afloat.

It felt like hours. She held onto the board to her best ability. She tried waiting out the storm since her tail didn't seem to heal.

。・°°・(>_<)・°°・。


Rukia looked around. It seems that she knocked out during the storm and was carried here by the waves. It was a cave. It opened out to the ocean. Huge and deep, it had a very mysterious aura. But it was also very beautiful. The rocky floor was wet and slippery. Rukia spotted a pool of water farther into the cave and started crawling to it. The pool was just deep enough to fit Rukia's tail and stomach. After getting comfortable, she looked around some more. The Weather was way better. A clear sky and smooth waves flowed out around the cave. She felt a little safer besides that fact that her tail might be broken. As she examined the cave, her violet eyes caught something sparkling.


Author's Note: Just in case some of you get lazy and skip through parts, missing important stuff, I'll put summaries at the end of each chapter… I get lazy too…


Summary:

Basically, Rukia and Renji rush to the Kuchiki palace. Rukia tells Byakuya about her improvements then gets promoted by Ukitake. She and Renji are given a new mission that takes them to a sunken ship. They find skeleton sharks, outnumbered, and are injured. Rukia knocks out, gets caught above the water in a storm. Renji is injured and flees. Rukia wakes up in a cave with a badly injured tail.