Hey readers! This chapter is alittle later then I intended it to be, since I wanted to just re-tweak a couple of things, but I'm pretty satisfied with it now. (Also, was being REALLY annoying about italics.) The next chapter will be here a LOT faster.

Enjoy!


Welcome to the jungle,
watch it bring you to your knees,
I wanna hear you scream

~ Welcome to the Jungle, (Guns N'Roses)

Orihime Inoue was sitting in her usual spot in her vast room- on the solitary patch of light that fell in sliver on the floor, disjointed by the bars that covered the tiny window. As though Orihime could reach the window in the first place, or that she had anywhere to run to even if she could.

But, Orihime was not thinking of her imprisonment or even of herself at all in that moment. She was thinking of an abrupt change that had taken place a few days previously, an event that had been circling in Orihime's mind ever since.

Isaki-chan... Orihime lamented, her doe-like eyes widening even further as she gazed up at the moon, something she had taken to doing without really knowing why. I can feel her reiatsu, and it's strong...she must be close by, somewhere.

For the first time in a good couple of weeks at least, Orihime smiled and closed her eyes.

I'm glad...I'm so glad she's all right!

Just then, however, Orihime's reverie was interrupted by the sound of the gigantic door opposite from the window opening. Soft footsteps made the girl swing her head around, amber hair shimmering like a waterfall of dark honey.

Ulquiorra Schiffer's hands were in his, as usual, in his pockets, and he was eyeing Orihime in a way that, no matter how many times she was subjected to it, she just could not get used to. It was unsettling, like how a hawk might size up a mouse before deciding whether or not it was worth eating.

"I am going to assume that by your face that you are aware of the new human arrival, woman." Ulquiorra stated flatly, and Orihime blushed. Ulquiorra continued, showing no reaction as Orihime struggled to compose herself. "But rest assured, the arrival of Shirazumi Isaki means nothing, except that Aizen-sama has an interest in her abilities. You are still a tool to be used at Aizen-sama's disposal."

Orihime felt herself freeze, as Ulquiorra seemed to pin her to the spot with his emerald gaze. He always seemed to know just what she was thinking. She felt like she was lost in a snowstorm. Small, fragile, vulnerable. As though he could see straight through her.

"Is that understood, Orihime Inoue?" he asked her, stopping just short of her.

"H-hai." Orihime murmured, fighting the urge to shut her eyes, the impulse to hide from him.

Ulquiorra finally broke his almost hypnotic gaze and turned away, as though looking at Orihime for too long was burdensome to him.

"Good. Now hurry up."

He glanced carelessly over his shoulder as Orihime scrambled clumsily to her feet. She had no idea what she had done to warrant such a glare from Ulquiorra, but it certainly made her eager not to make the same mistake again. Ulquiorra turned away and headed for the door, adding, almost as an afterthought;

"Aizen-sama wishes to speak with you."


When she first woke up, Shirazumi Isaki hadn't forgotten the events that had taken place a few nights previously.

She just didn't believe it had actually happened, at first.

However, waking up in an unfamiliar bed with a mild bruise on her stomach confirmed that what she thought was a dream was in fact all too real. The room was white and cold, like she was trapped beneath snow. Slowly, Isaki sat up, lifting up an arm and rubbing at her face, feeling a slight pain in her stomach as her bruise was pressed. She glanced about the room, feeling disconcerted to see it was empty besides herself. It made her feel strangely vulnerable, because she had nothing to focus on besides herself. She was relieved to see that she was still in her own clothes, and the items in her pockets were still there. She pulled out a card from her pocket.

"Raja..." she murmured into the darkness, gently tracing the image on the front with her index finger.

The intricate pattern that surrounding the card, barring the picture and name beneath it, suddenly began to glow as Isaki spoke. The eyes on the drawing lit up, and a moment later, something began to form.

"Isaki."

The speaker raised its muzzle in the girl's direction. Glancing at Raja once, it would have been easy to mistake him for a large dog or perhaps a small big cat. However, that was only if it was a glance. On closer inspection, Raja was more a mixture of things. His fur, the colour of charcoal, gave Raja a strange appearance, as though he had been constructed from smoke. It seemed to drift around him, never fully settling. His physique was something akin to a large dog or cats, but his tail, ears and snout were all distinctly vulpine. His paws were large, larger then Isaki's hand span. Raja's eyes, however, put one in mind of a tigers.

"You've been asleep a while, you know." Raja informed Isaki, lifting his head, displaying the cream underside of his neck, the only colour on him besides his eyes.

"Yeah," she sighed, dragging a hand through her hair, a feeling of both fear and humiliation swelling within her at the recollection of her capture. "So, this is Hueco Mundo..."

"You don't sound particularly surprised." noted the spirit wryly, his tongue emerging from his mouth to lick his paw in a distinctly feline manner.

"I've seen more surprising things than this," replied Isaki, throwing back the covers and placing her feet on the floor unsteadily, "You should have seen the two who-"

Isaki was interrupted from recounting to her familiar the events of that evening, because the door to the left slid open to reveal another Espada. Isaki could tell by the sudden shift of reiatsu in the room, flooding the room and making her skin tingle from the abrupt surge of power. Raja rose to all fours, golden eyes gleaming in the sliver of light. Isaki too stood, the white sheet slipping off her, which she pulled behind her as it fell.

"You're finally awake." announced the Espada, looking over her clinically. "We were beginning to wonder if you were comatose."

The Espada gazed back at her, although it was not an expression of hostility. The Espada was female, with spiky blonde hair, some of it tied loosely into small braids. Golden eyelashes emphasized her eyes, which were the color that leaves turned at sunset. Tanned skin emerged from the arrancar clothes, and Isaki noticed (she would have to have been blind not to) that a good deal of her huge breasts were exposed. On one of them a number was stamped - three.

"Who are you?" Isaki asked, saying the first question that came into her head.

"Tia Halibel, Tercera Espada." she replied. Her eyes shifted to Raja, but she declined to comment on his appearance. "You have been requested by Aizen-sama. He would like you to demonstrate your abilities. Please follow me."

Feeling wary, Isaki got to her feet and followed. She could hear Raja's nails clicking against the cold floor and found a strange comfort in the sound, thinking that at least she, even in this strange place, was not entirely alone.

"What do you mean, demonstrate?" Isaki asked Halibel, a touch nervously.

Although Halibel didn't radiate hostility like Ulquiorra and Grimmjow had, Isaki was still wary of her. Halibel was, after all, an Espada.

"You will soon see." Halibel replied calmly, not sounding particularly irritated by the question. Isaki decided to prod a little further.

"What does Aizen want me for?" she asked.

"Aizen-sama has displayed an interest in your Summoning powers." Halibel answered, shooting Isaki a look that was difficult to decipher. "That is all you need to know for now."

Isaki sighed, but took that as her queue to keep her questions, for now at least, to herself.


"Goddammit!"

The sand blasted upwards, like a gigantic beige tidal wave.

Isaki swore again, her feet pounding on the sand as she ran, feet moving frantically to stop them sinking into the beige ground. It hurt to run, but she didn't have time to dwell on the pain that was currently throbbing in her leg. The sun shone down on her fiercely- the girl was baffled as to how Hueco Mundo could simulate a sun with such accuracy when it was supposed to be perpetual night, from what Urahara had told her and the others about it.

However, right now she had more important things to worry about.

"So, what exactly are you planning on doing?" Raja called to Isaki, galloping with irritating ease beside her. He was about the size of a horse now - Isaki's reiatsu made him larger as she needed. "Summoning something other than that sword you're not using?"

"I'm working on it, smartass!" Isaki snarled, her temper flaring. "In between trying not to get trampled by Godzilla over there! Now give me a ride!"

Raja gave a bark that sounding distinctly like a laugh. Isaki stretched out her hand and grabbed the ruff of his neck. The next moment, as Raja moved closer to her, she hoisted herself onto his back, leaning forwards and directing her gaze up.

The arrancar that she had been, for lack of a better word, tricked into fighting was currently towering above her. Covered from head-to-toe in white armor, with a gigantic whip-like tail and claws, Isaki was feeling distinctly unprepared, to say the least.

It didn't help that not only did the arrancar know the area and had apparently been forewarned about the fight, judging by his boasting comment earlier of, "This is...this is my chance to show Aizen-sama!"

What exactly he was 'showing' Aizen, Isaki wasn't too clear on. However, she knew that she too had something to prove with this fight- if Aizen didn't think she could hold her own against an one arrancar, he could easily lose interest in her. The fight had not exactly been in Isaki's favor- her leg was bleeding and she had been thrown about a bit before the arrancar had released. All the damage she had inflicted upon him at the beginning of the fight had been infuriatingly rendered irrelevant upon the arrancar's released state. It appeared that he had given up speed for size in that regard- so far, he hadn't managed to strike her once. But that didn't mean that she was prepared to stop running just yet- at least, not without a battle plan.

"Ne, slow down, Summoner!" roared the reptilian arrancar, lashing his tail and giving out a grating roar that made Isaki grit her teeth and wince. "It don't matter how fast you and yer pet can go! Sooner or later, yer gonna get too tired ta run!"

Isaki bit back a furious retort, because she knew he was right, as much as she didn't want to admit it. She glared up at the huge frame of the monster, when suddenly, an idea began to slowly form in her mind...

"Watch out!"

Next second, the enormous tail of the arrancar came whipping around to greet them, and Isaki felt the wind go tearing past her as the arrancar's attack made her fly from her perch on Raja's back, and a grunt was forced from her body as she slammed into a sizeable rock, which cracked. The sword clattered away, and Isaki dived awkwardly for it, just as the foot of the monster came crashing down, knocking her into the already-cracked rock behind her. Isaki gasped in pain as she heard a guttural chuckle follow the kick.

"Try this on for size..." the voice of the arrancar came drifting back to her, and it opened its mouth, a reddish light forming near the back of the throat. Isaki's eyes widened as realization struck.

Cero!

Isaki managed to throw herself aside at the last moment, before the crimson orb obliterated the rock behind her, temporarily cloaking her in a gigantic cloud of dust and sand. The arrancar looked confused, and it let out another screech as the sand stung at its eyes, actually making the huge beast stagger slightly, as its claws made it impossible for it to wipe the offending grit away.

Isaki wasted no time- she lunged for her sword, hefting it up from the sand, before rushing towards the shrieking arrancar and jabbing the weapon into its ankle, as hard as she could manage without toppling right off balance. Blood spurted almost satisfyingly from the wound as Isaki drew her sword back, making sure to slice as much flesh as she possibly could upon withdrawal. Looking up, she saw that the wound had done exactly what she had wanted it to cause- the arrancar was so preoccupied with his injuries, he had forgotten temporarily that his opponent had recovered her weapon. He was busy alternating between screeching and howling, "Ya bitch, you goddamn human bitch!"

"Raja!" Isaki called, and the smoke-coloured spirit dashed towards her, knowing what she now planned to do.

Isaki ran towards Raja, jumping up at the last moment, and Raja, leaping onto his back paws and practically throwing her upwards.

Isaki knew she had one chance at this- otherwise, it was right back to square one. Lifting her sword high above her head, she pointing it downwards and tilted her upper body forwards. She plummeted back towards the ground, her sword aiming for the arrancar's neck.

There was a moment when she closed her eyes, reflexively, sure that she would miss. But then, there was a sickening crunch, and Isaki landed heavily upon a thrashing surface. For a few agonizing minutes, she had to cling on for dear life as the monster beneath her twisted and roared in pain, in a desperate attempt to throw her off. She thought that he would never stop, that the roaring would deafen her...

Isaki clung to the grip of her sword, lifting her head slightly and opening her eyes as the thrashing began to subside, to see herself kneeling upon the lizard-arrancar's neck, blood dying everything red, including the legs of her pants and her exposed skin. Isaki, licking her lips uncertainly for a second, decided that she was taking no chances. She sank the sword in as deep as she could make it go without wanting to retch, before twisting it sideways slightly and then releasing it, dried blood staining the blue-silver grip as she released it slowly, with shaking hands.

"Not exactly a graceful finish, but I think it's dead." Raja said, sitting on the sands a little way away from the body of the dead arrancar.

"Thanks." Isaki grunted, rising unsteadily to her feet, grabbing her sword and yanking as hard as possible, the sword easing out between the bone-like plates of armor between the lizard's head and shoulders.

Raja laughed as Isaki leapt from the shoulder of the arrancar, landing somewhat awkwardly on the soft ground nearby. She rubbed at her face with the back of her hand, feeling dust and grime on her skin.

"How do you think we get out of here?" she asked Raja, looking around. "I don't see a door or-"

The last part of her sentence was drowned out, when something gigantic and white came rearing towards her. It seemed that the arrancar had decided that if it had to die, it was going to die trying to kill her. Isaki barely raised her sword in time to block the onslaught of teeth that suddenly was baring down upon her.

"What was that you just said, Raja?" shouted Isaki, over the terrible noise of teeth on metal.

"Fine, I take back what I said before!" he shouted, "Worry about this right n-!"

The spirit's instruction was cut short when the bloodied claw of the arrancar suddenly whipped from seemingly nowhere and sliced at him, knocking Raja back and giving him a deep, bloodied gash on the creamy-white fur on his chest. Raja landed on the sand with a pained yelp as the little grains rubbed into the wound. Isaki, who had only seen a flash of red and white, suddenly realized what had happened. A surge of white-hot rage suddenly came coursing through Isaki, as though a dam inside of her had just been broken.

"You fucking BASTARD!" she yelled, her eyes narrowing with anger, and she lifted up her sword as the arrancar's partially-severed head began to slow down, and threw it with a growl of rage that seemed to rip through her throat, right towards the arrancar's eye.

It hit right on target. A disgusting ooze burst forth from the eye, and Isaki ducked to avoid the shower of blood and whitish-fluid that erupted from the puncture of her sword. She knew that she didn't have to worry about retrieving it now- it would vanish from there on its own and her rage her left no room for her to consider what would have happened if the sword missed.

However, her fury had left her blinded to the fact that one of the arrancar's teeth had jammed into her back, pointed tip lancing the skin and hot blood spurting up around the puncture. Isaki gasped shallowly at the stinging pain in her right shoulder. The wound felt hot, and the coppery scent of blood filled the air, and that blinding, uncontrollable rage began slowly leaving her as pain, fatigue and relief seemed to swallow her up whole.


"Impressive, Shirazumi-san."

Aizen's voice seemed to appear from nowhere. Isaki, breathing heavily, looked up at him sitting on his throne, looking down with his disconcerting eyes. Once she had crashed to her knees, exhausted from the fight now that the adrenalin had worn off, a surprisingly soft-looking female arrancar had led her out of the artificially sunlit room and back to the throne room. From her attire, Isaki had vaguely deduced she was some sort of nurse, but decided not to waste her remaining energy to ask.

"I wasn't expecting him to actually release, of course," Aizen went on, ignoring the fact she hadn't responded, "I didn't think he'd become quite so desperate."

Isaki had no idea what Aizen was expecting her to say, but at least he seemed reasonably pleased with how things had turned out. He didn't even seem to care that she had gotten herself injured in the process.

Maybe he only thought it was 'impressive' because it didn't manage to kill me, she reflected uncomfortably.

Aizen glanced to the right, where figures were standing in the shadows.

"Halibel, come here."

The golden-haired Espada appeared silently, and if Isaki hasn't been expecting her to appear, she would have probably jumped from surprise at how she seemed to make virtually no sound.

"Hai, Aizen-sama."

"Please escort Shirazumi-san to the infirmary for the wound on her shoulder. And then she will need some new clothing."

Isaki glanced down at herself as Aizen said this, surprised. The left leg of her scuffed black denim pants had been torn clean off, making them now resemble shorts on one side, and she could see several bruises and cuts littering on various parts of her leg. Her right shoulder was also bare, a considerable portion of her shirt having been ripped clean off by the lizard-arrancar's fang earlier, although most of it was covered by her hair. She heard someone snicker as she glanced down and snapped her head back up, almost defiantly.

"Hai." Halibel murmured, and Isaki followed her as she turned and headed for the doors.

As Isaki walked past the other arrancar who had watched the fight, she avoiding looking at them directly in the eyes, instead gazing directly ahead of her, as though she couldn't see nor feel them.

Just as she was about to pass over the threshold, however, something shifted in her peripheral vision, and on reflex she glanced at it. And the first thing she saw was the Espada who had knocked her unconscious that night, leaning casually against the wall, his expression unreadable. Their eyes connected for a fleeting instant, and Isaki felt a shiver go all the way down her spine, her footsteps faltering just for a moment, as though she had suddenly gone into slow motion. The Espada's mouth slowly stretched into a smirk, and the moment was broken.

Isaki practically ran out of the throne room, turning sharply around, nearly chasing Halibel to keep up with her through the labyrinthine corridors of Las Noches.

Grimmjow, who hadn't pulled his eyes away from her, watched her disappear around the corner and a shadow fell over his face, but it didn't obscure his strangely sinister grin.

Ulquiorra, who watched Grimmjow silently for a moment, recognized that look. And it did not mean anything too promising.


Fun fact: Raja is actually loosely based on Inugami, a type of familiar spirit that took the form of a large dog and most commonly it carried out vengeance or acting as guardians on behalf of the owner.

Next Chapter: Envious Beings

The pigtailed arrancar smirked. Her smile was twisted.

"We're going to make that bitch wish she'd never come here."