I do not own Bleach or any of the characters. I wasn't sure what to call Hachigen's hollow mask.

Run In

Ichigo waited calmly as Nel and Lisa fought a pair of weak hollows. Finally they finished and he and the rest of the Vizard along with Rukia and Ishida all walked over and Rukia continued leading them. It had been about three hours since they arrived and they had already stopped three times so that they could fight some hollows. Ichigo was getting impatient already but so far he had not had to do much since they hadn't seen anything too dangerous.

After a few more hours of walking, they stopped as they saw a pair of Adjuchas fighting a group of Quincy.

"I thought you said the Quincy wouldn't be helping," Ichigo said turning to Ishida.

"They aren't," Ishida sighed. "If they're here, it's for another reason."

Ichigo nodded as the Quincy finished the hollows off and turned toward Ichigo and his group.

"Soul Reapers!" one shouted.

"Kill them!" a second shouted.

"Stop!" Ishida shouted stepping forward. "We're not going to interfere, we're just passing through. We have bigger problems."

The Quincy all looked around for a moment before beginning to walk away. No sooner had they begun to move, did two hollows crash down between them and Ichigo's group. One was a strange looking lion, that looked to have a dandelion for a head and similar flower-like petals around his body. The other was a humanoid creature with a devilish mask.

"That's mine!" Love and Hachigen both gasped.

"Fetch," Ichigo said pointing.

Love charged forward instantly, beginning to fight his hollow while Hachigen and his demon began trying to kill each other with barriers by materializing them in the right spot to remove or sever something like an arm or head. Finally, Love ran past Hachigen's hollow, bisecting its head and killing it then spun and blocked the sword of his own. Nel appeared behind it a second later and slashed its head but it ducked enough that only a horn and a corner of the mask was removed. The mask regenerated and the hollow turned, fleeing while Quincy arrows rained down around it. Eventually it got away and the Quincy walked over, looking at Ishida warily.

"What are you doing here?" one asked.

"Those two hollows were among a group of ten, two of which are incredibly strong Vasto Lordes," Ishida stated. "We need Ichigo to help fight them but his sword was taken by one of them that it seems to recognize more than it does him. We're going to a place where a new blade can be forged for him so that he can fight. Once we have that, we'll be tracking down and killing the group."

"I see," the Quincy leader nodded. "Sounds like one massively fun ride."

"Probably will be after we get the blade," Ishida nodded. "Until then it'll probably be Hell."

"I'd offer our help but unfortunately we have other matters to attend to," the Quincy shrugged. "See you soon."

"Right," Ishida nodded and the Quincy all left. "Alright. We should get moving."

Rukia took the lead again and they all fell in line. This time at a much faster pace. After about an hour, they stopped as Zangetsu stepped out from behind a sand dune, his sword reflecting the sun in his hand.

"Really?" Ichigo sighed. "You couldn't even wait until we got there to come kill me?"

"No," Zangetsu growled.

"Ichigo, you and Ishida need to run," Rukia stated drawing her sword and entering her Shikai form. "We'll try to hold him here."

"No friggin way," Ichigo stated. "I am not letting anyone give their life for me."

"We can't survive a fight against him right now anyway," Ishida stated. "If nothing else, we need to run away."

"Right, because we can so easily outpace Zangetsu, who was able to beat Ulquiorra with ease," Ichigo snorted.

"Oh what I wouldn't give to have his help right now," Nel sighed. "All of you go. I'll stay and hold him here."

She held up her newly restored zanpakuto and entered her Shikai form then glanced at Ichigo.

"Go, all of you," Nel ordered. "I can only fight him for a short time. You all need to be gone by then. Go!"

Kensei threw Ichigo over his shoulder and they all began running away while Nel and Zangetsu fought. She was able to keep up with him enough to not die but he refused to allow her to land a hit. Just as the pair faded from Ichigo's view, he could have sworn he saw Zangetsu's blade slip past Nel's. Then, they were behind a sand dune and after a momentary lull that could have been anything, the sounds of battle continued, several dozen Getsuga Tensho blasts flaring into the air.

"We have to go back for her!" Ichigo raged, kicking against Kensei with no effect whatsoever.

"We're not going back," Kensei stated. "We are here to get you a knew blade so you can kill that thing and save the world. Anything that happens between now and then is unimportant. She knew that. So now, we're using her sacrifice to get you to the destination."

"He's right Ichigo," Rukia stated. "We need to get you to your new blade. After that, we can stop the hollows and maybe find Nel, if she's still alive."

"Okay," Ichigo finally sighed. "Put me down."

Kensei dropped Ichigo and he began to run alongside the others. They continued in silence for a time. Finally, a large shrine came into view. The ground was a large pentagon with a star inside and Ichigo didn't really like the idea of entering it. There was a raised basin in the center with five massive floating bonfires at the point of each arm of the star and a ring of tall metal poles topped with floating balls of flame. Rukia nodded to Ichigo and he walked forward into the ring of pseudo candlesticks. He stepped up to the basin then glanced back at Rukia.

"What do I do?" Ichigo questioned.

"Well..." Rukia thought for a moment then turned and walked to one of the bigger flames then around the seal counter-clockwise before stopping. "Shit."

"What?" Ichigo questioned.

"We have to have a hollow with us to take their blood," Rukia stated. "We have to mix a hollow's blood, a Quincy's blood, and the blood of the Shinigami that is to wield the weapon. Then, whoever drinks the blood mixture will gain a weapon formed from their powers. The downside, is that if the blade is taken from them, they will be as powerless as you are now."

"So...we need a hollow for me to get my sword," Ichigo stated.

"A willing one would probably work best," Rukia stated.

"Then let's go find Nel," Ichigo stated. "She was a hollow originally. And she wouldn't object since it is necessary to get my sword."

"True," Orihime stated.

"I don't think it's a good idea," Ishida stated. "For one thing she's probably dead. For another, we'd be on the run from the hollows while we try to race back here to get you your sword. We'd be in the exact same boat."

"That's true," Ichigo nodded. "But if she's not dead, we'd be saving her life. If there's a chance of that, I'm not leaving her to die."

"Why do you have to be so selfless you idiot?" Rukia sighed. "Fine. Let's go save Nel."

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