Chapter 7
"What is the moon to the wolf that longs to reach it?" Ossan answered her quietly, "He knows that the moon is something far out of reach, yet still longs to understand it. The moon will never be able to explain itself to something that cannot comprehend its true self."
Ichigo frowned, eyes narrowing at the man she'd thought to be her zanpakuto for so long already. She had no idea what he meant by that, and it certainly didn't answer her question.
"Who are you?" she repeated again, slowly rising to her feet. Shiro's eyebrows briefly flicked up as Ichigo stood, but made no comment on it. All three beings could feel the accumulating foreign reirkyou in the soul, and as a result of that, Ichigo began to glow a dark red.
"Ichigo," Ossan said, attempting to get her to slow down and think, "I have stood by your side since the very formation of your life, long before you were born. Although the moon cannot help the wolf, it cannot hurt it either. Instead, it gives the wolf a way to understand the passing of time, and therefore, the wolf will learn to befriend the moon in time." Ichigo frowned a little deeper, but her reatisu kicked wild patterns around her.
"The wolf may watch the moon," Ichigo answered, trying her best to understand, "But when all the wolf has known is the moon blocking the sun, it's hard to trust as freely once the wolf meets the sun and watches the moon." Ossan studied her for a long moment before giving a short nod.
"Abandon your fear. Look forward. Move forward and never stop. You'll age if you pull back. You'll die if you hesitate." The words from long ago spilled out of Ichigo's mouth, their meaning completely different from all those months ago. Ossan simply nodded before disappearing once more. Shiro snorted and rolled her eyes as he went.
"Coward," she muttered. Her comment went unheard. Shiro turned back to Ichigo, glancing her up and down. She frowned, not quite liking what she saw. The weight on Ichigo's shoulders had seemed to build up to the point where it was going to crush her.
"Kouhi," Shiro said, only have one phrase in mind to help calm her, "Remember that the horse helps to carry some of the baggage."
Ichigo turned and looked at her reflection, eyes burning with anguish. Without saying a word, she walked off by herself, leaving the bloodstain behind to go and process everything she'd just learned.
Shiro frowned as the world around them went darker, a storm waiting to enthrall them all within its catch. Kouhi was going to spend far too much time on this. Their soul had never been one for standing by. They had always been one for action, but in this case… In this case there was nothing they could do. Shiro growled to herself and focused back on the bloodstain.
Ichigo walked around what was once the side of her inner world. Wolves… wolves and murderers ran around in her head as she walked. So much had been revealed and yet… So much was still hiding. She slammed her fist into the side of a building, surprised as she cut her hand on the sharp bricks.
"Guess this shouldn't shock me…" she muttered, "After all… Everything else is betraying me anyways…" She sighed and flopped down against the building. Her strength seemed to be leaving her behind once more as she got dizzier and dizzier. "I shouldn't… Why…" The rain finally began to set everything tumbling around her. The water sent waves flooding in every direction, knocking her over where she laid.
She tried to sit up, but found herself unable to move as a voice began whispering in her ear once more.
"…Wake up, Little Bell…"
Suddenly, instead of being laid out across concrete, she was strapped down to a metal table, unable to move much.
"I see you've decided to rejoin us…" a voice whispered. She growled and jerked around as best she could to keep the crazed scientist away from her. "No need to worry," he said, a little louder this time, "I'm going to stay put right over here." She whipped her eyes around to latch onto the arrancar.
This time, he was standing quite far from her, causing her distrust and dismay at the situation to rise.
"What do you want from me?" she snapped, some strength returning to her.
"It's not what I want, my little bell…" Syzael mused aloud, "It is… It is what Aizen-sama wishes for you that is important."
"And what is it that he 'wishes'?!" she demanded, reatisu attempting to spit fire around her in response to her anger. Instead of the firey inferno she'd caused many times before, it crackled pathetically, pressing on nothing in its weakness.
Syzael frowned somewhat as he observed the… Well, to be honest he wasn't sure what to call her. She was no longer a shinigami-daiko… And he could hardly call her a regular konpaku either… She was… Well, she was a mix of almost everything. As he watched, blue alternated with red and black around her figure in her rage. However, it was nothing compared to what it had been in the past.
"What is it?!" Ichigo demanded again, louder, forcing her strained reatisu even higher. Syzael attempted to pacify her, eyes lingering on displays set up around the lab.
"It is not for you to know," he answered her, "Aizen-sama's plans are his own."
"So you don't even know," she responded hotly, "You're just his lap dog, sniveling at his feet as he stands over you."
"Watch your tongue, girl!" he shouted, pulling a lever. Immediately, Ichigo's bravado drained away and she began to pale significantly. Where her shihakusho had been ever so slightly darkening, it quickly began fading, pieces fading away into nonexistence around her sleeves and her pants. After a long moment of satisfaction, Syzael put the lever back to normal.
"Just remember that your fate is in my hands," Syzael said, threatening her silently. Ichigo couldn't find the strength to contradict him in that moment, only able to lay there panting on the table. Ever so slowly, the shihakusho began to regain its color, shade by shade. Syzael, thinking that she was unable to fight back at that point, began to make his way forward with a syringe to take a blood sample.
As he got closer, Ichigo's eyes regained their focus and shifted to gold. Just before the needle stuck her skin, she kicked, hard. Syzael went flying across his own lab, smashing into a set of tanks on the opposite side.
"I suggest you stay away from Kouhi…" Shiro warbled, bending back the metal restraints holding them down, "Even if your precious Aizen-sama wants you to corrupt her… You won't make it happen. Instead… You'll just make me angry…"
Syzael sat up, rubbing his head. With slight shock, he looked at his hand and found blood staining his palm. He stood up slowly, eyes trained on his hand.
"My, my…" he murmured, taking a few steps forward, "You deserve to be disciplined for that…" After a long moment, he took his eyes off of the blood to see Shiro still crouched on the table. "But first… Who are you? Are you the inner hollow I've seen cause so many problems for this girl?" Syzael's eyes were alight with scientific curiosity and a burning desire for violent revenge, a combination that Shiro instinctively disliked. However, before she could do anything, there was a tug from within. Ichigo's body collapsed back down onto the table.
"Not again!" was the last thing Shiro heard before she was pulled back into their inner world.
AUTHOR'S RAMBLINGS
Sorry guys... I know that it's been a while. I've been struggling to be motivated much lately, and I've had some issues with random anxiety. If nothing else, I hope you enjoyed the chapter!
