Byakuya stalked the streets of the Rukongai, looking for the scent.
All of his unit, and much of Captain Zaraki's, was scouring the slums now. Unohana had done a very thorough analysis of the demon reiatsu, and the results had been very bad. This was no minor imp or succubus, but a greater demon. It was, thankfully, not a demon lord. If it had been half the city would already be burning. But they couldn't know exactly what powers this creature had until they found it and dispatched it.
Demons were a particular threat to Soul Society because they devoured souls to exist. The lesser ones kept those souls within themselves, and they could be freed when the demon was destroyed. But the greater ones kept only some and sent the others… elsewhere. No one had been able to determine exactly where that 'elsewhere' was, but there were theories. Hell was a possibility, but Byakuya somehow doubted it. Hell seemed to have a place in the cosmology of the worlds, and the souls demons stole were often innocent. It seemed wrong that the Soul King would allow them to be consigned to Hell.
The other possibilities, though, were revolting. The one he thought was most likely was that the greater demons were feeding the souls to the still greater demons they had allegiance to. Most of those demons were imprisoned, and Soul Society had records and maps of where they had been locked away. Some of those records were incredibly old, the only history that might even predate Renji. And every ten years, an entire squad and a vice captain or captain went and checked each and every one. If that was where the lost souls were going, Byakuya spared them a prayer, because they would not be returning until the destruction of all the worlds. The demon lords were immortal and unkillable, or they would have been destroyed long ago.
Another theory was that because greater demons had much higher reiatsu demands, they devoured the souls completely. If that was true, it made them a danger similar to the Quincy's, since they could disrupt the fabric of Soul Society just by existing. It had never been confirmed or denied though. Byakuya wasn't sure which possibility he liked least.
What he really didn't like was the complete lack of knowledge they had about the monster's abilities. Greater demons could vary incredibly, ranging from beasts that were little more than instincts to creatures that were capable of plotting and planning for centuries. The ones that specialized in thinking were less powerful, but also more prone to using human instruments. The use of an arrow made him think that this one had already gathered humans around it, so it was probably not stupid. But other than that everything was unknown. Andthey had to find it.
The one thing they knew was that with time, the demon would only grow stronger.
Byakuya suddenly stopped as the stench of demon reiatsu hit him in the face. It was foul enough to make him gag and he drew his sword, carefully slipping down an alleyway. His eyes narrowed as he spotted the demon. The monster looked deceptively beautiful, and there was blood smeared across its face as it fed on a dead child. The little boy could not have been older than five. Rage filled his heart and Byakuya's voice was soft and deadly.
"Ban kai." The monster started as it felt the might of his ban kai and saw the petals. He struck immediately with maximum force, not giving the creature any opportunity to escape. The white shape erupted in a shower of gore, and flaps of skin went flying like pieces of discarded paper. The sense of the beast's reiatsu was still strong –
Byakuya turned slightly and parried blows from two swords. One set of human eyes widened in panic as he sent his ban kai after them as well. The other man only laughed and Byakuya's eyes widened as he spoke.
"Ban kai!" Dark reiatsu, tainted with demonic energy, surrounded the man. The other one screamed as Senbonzakura tore him to pieces, but this one deflected the petals with a shield of pure force. Byakuya examined the man with narrowed eyes and decided that the demon must have somehow artificially speeded up this one gaining a ban kai. Despite the raw power swirling around him he had almost no control and training. As their swords and ban kai clashed Byakuya became more and more certain of his victory, but the exalted brown eyes facing him didn't seem to care. Or perhaps…
A cold hand suddenly gripped his shoulder and something was shoved against his neck. Byakuya reeled as it blazed into his skin, digging deep and finding his reiatsu. Turning his head he saw a pure black face, still smooth and beautiful but elongated and in no way human. Those malicious demon eyes stared back at him as it giggled wildly.
"Pretty shinigami is predictable." It said in a sing-song voice and Byakuya realized, to his horror, that he couldn't sense his own reiatsu. He had no spiritual pressure and his ban kai had been snuffed out like a candle. How could this be? He tried to yank the thing off his neck but it seemed to have fused with him and would not be moved. "Pretty shinigami is ignorant. You ruined my pretty skin. Maybe yours will be next?" Byakuya attacked with all the fury and power his body had available, but the creature just laughed mockingly as it parried his blows. Its body was as elongated as its face, all bony limbs and wide, four fingered hands.
"Stop playing Zabriel. Someone is probably running to the other shinigami already, hoping for a reward." Byakuya grunted in pain as the demon suddenly ended his game, tearing the sword out of his hand and pinning his arms behind him so he was facing the other man. He smiled and Byakuya wondered whose eyes were more inhuman, his or the demons. "Hold him like that for a moment."
The beating that followed was thorough and quite painful, but Byakuya endured it stoically. He would not give this man the satisfaction of a cry of pain. When it was over he was dazed and unable to resist as they chained him.
"Tch, tch. Shinigami ruined my meal." The demon sounded vexed and the human laughed.
"There's one for you right there." He gestured at the corpse of his companion and the monster reared in surprise.
"You let me eat your brother?" Byakuya's head was spinning with more than just the pain now. That was the most disgusting thing he'd ever heard, and he'd heard a lot of things, especially from the 11th Division and Captain Zarakai.
"If he was weak enough to die, he deserves nothing better." The human took his chains and the demon giggled wildly, brushing a clawed hand against the man's face in a way that actually seemed… loving?
"Godongo, you amazing. When the mother is awake I will ask her to make you a demon." That caught the analytical side of Byakuya's mind as the demon tore into the corpse, devouring it in less than a minute. Demon lords could turn humans into demons? Because they had to be talking about awakening a demon lord. And that prospect was just as terrifying as his powers being sealed away. Dropping his gaze, he tried to get a look at the thing on his neck and frowned. It was a piece of primitive clay pottery, worked into the shape of a snarling cat's head. A trickle of blood ran down his skin from where it had embedded itself. He could still sense reiatsu, and the cat's head was deeply infused with it. With a sinking feeling, he realized it was drawing his own reiatsu and using it to suppress his abilities and connection with Senbonzakura. But that should have been impossible. There was no way for an inanimate object to maintain such a loop…
The demon dragged him over one shoulder and there was little he could do to resist as the two monsters took him to their lair. And he could think of the human as nothing but a monster.
There were, after all, many kinds of monsters in the world.
"God, they fucked you up." Byakuya groaned in pain as a gentle hand touched his face. "I hope they didn't rape you."
They didn't. He tried to say it, but only a grunt came out as those hands began bandaging his ribs. When the demon and human had brought him here, a second beating had followed the first, and this one had been more vicious. The demon had wanted to rape him but the human had rebuked him with a reminder about what had happened to his first 'plaything'. That had made the demon sullen and it had insisted that if it couldn't fuck him, no one else could either. The leader had agreed to that condition and Byakuya had been grateful for that small mercy. It had been the only mercy they'd given him.
After witnessing that little interaction, Byakuya had drawn some tentative conclusions about the demon. It was not particularly bright, but was bright enough to realize its own limitations. So it had attached itself to a human with the intellect and drive to create plans for it. Byakuya wished it had picked someone less capable. From the little he'd seen of Godongo, he was dangerous and would only get worse with time. With the demon backing him he could become a genuine threat to Soul Society.
"What the hell is this?" Fingers tugged at the seal on his throat and Byakuya grunted, opening his eyes a crack. The lantern beside him made it hard to see the man above him. "Cat? Why is it stuck to you? Oh fuck, really? Is he going to live?" Byakuya blinked as he realized the man seemed to be talking to himself. Was he insane? Perhaps he was the 'plaything' they had mentioned. "Hey, can you talk?"
"Yes." He managed to get out and flinched as the man pressed something against his lips. Then he drank gratefully. The water was tepid and metallic but it still tasted delicious as it wiped the taste of blood out of his mouth.
"Are you a strong shinigami? Do you have a ban kai?" The man's voice was urgent and Byakuya blinked at him. "I can't tell, I can't feel your spirit power at all." Spirit power? That was a strange term for reiatsu.
"Yes, I am." He finally said just to quiet the young man. His eyes were adjusting to the lantern and he saw red hair, confined with a filthy bandanna, and tribal tattoos. "And I do. You are Renji?" He was really unmistakable, although Rukia hadn't mentioned that strange metal collar. Byakuya noticed that his clothes were oddly tattered, as if they'd been yanked on frequently. The man stared at him, astonished.
"Y-yeah. How did you… oh, were you looking for me? No, I'm not that important." He stopped in confusion and Byakuya sighed.
"We found the site of your ambush and an arrow tainted with demon reiatsu. You may not be that important, although Rukia would disagree, but a demon certainly is." He said tiredly, shifting and wincing at his bruises and cuts.
"Rukia?!" Suddenly Renji was leaning over him as if he was going to grip his clothing. But the redhead hesitated at the bandages and planted a hand beside his head instead. "You know Rukia? How is she? Is she alright?"
"She's was fine when I left, although a bit distressed that you were turned away. I, ah, the Kuchiki clan head left orders that if you came again you could see her." Byakuya hoped the man wouldn't catch that small slip. He didn't want anyone here to know what kind of prize they'd caught.
"Oh wow, really?" He seemed shocked and touched, but that quickly turned to something darker. "We'll have to get out first. It's not looking so good. Beast says that thing on you can only be removed with a sustained flow of untainted spirit power." Renji went back to bandaging. Byakuya held still, letting the man tend to him as best he could.
"Then you can do it." Byakuya said softly. He could sense the other man's reiatsu, and it was still powerful although rather strange. Almost as if… but his attention was pulled away from it by a bitter laugh.
"No, I can't. I can ignore the pain for a while, but there's no way in hell I could maintain a flow of spirit power." Byakuya blinked slowly at that, then nodded. Of course they wouldn't have let Renji have free access to his abilities. Even the demon was brighter than that. "Shit, those bastards didn't give me enough bandages." Renji shook his head and pulled the bandanna out of his hair. Byakuya stared as soft red strands cascaded down, framing a face that was as strong as it was beautiful.
"Yukichura." He whispered to himself, shocked. How could a family resemblance have persisted for thirty thousand years? But it had. He'd missed it when the man had his hair up but there was no mistaking it now. And that explained the rest of what he was sensing. Renji was carrying a reiatsu infusion from someone, although it was still only in the beginning stages. That was something only a noble could do. He realized he was staring when cinnamon eyes met his, amused and slightly predatory.
"You like what you see?" Renji asked. Byakuya just met his eyes calmly, wondering if he even knew about the infusion. But given the way he communicated with his zanpakuto, he probably did. Any zanpakuto would recognize the signs. "Can you roll over? You must have more on your back." Byakuya did it easily. He was already beginning to recover.
"The injuries are largely superficial, except my ribs." At least two of those were broken and hurt whenever he moved, but he'd dealt with worse. The cuts did need tending, though, and Renji removed the top part of his uniform and began to tear it up for bandages. Byakuya glanced over and saw more of those tribal tattoos. They were quite beautiful and suited him perfectly.
"Yeah, that's what I was thinking, but we should still bandage them. This place is filthy and you don't want to get infected." Renji murmured as he worked and Byakuya nodded. The both froze as they heard the sound of someone coming down the stairs.
"Ah, it is a lovely sight! Zabriel wishes he had been able to take the pretty shinigami." Byakuya saw Renji shudder and move as far away from the bars as he could.
"Leave us alone you fucking freak." He said and Byakuya's eyes widened as red light suddenly flared from the collar. The redhead threw his head back as the light crackled around his throat and he gripped the fabric of his pants, tearing it as he rode out the pain. Suddenly, Byakuya knew how his clothing had become torn. "F-Fuck you – ah!" A second flare followed the first and Renji ended up on his hands and knees, panting and gagging.
"Always so hostile, Renji. Why don't you learn?" Godongo stepped up behind the demon, running a hand up the creatures back in a way that was as intimate as it was nauseating. The fact that the creature didn't have a new skin yet made it even more grotesque. The way it purred and leaned into the touch did not help in the least. "Have you finished with the noble yet? How is your work coming?" Byakuya blinked at the way the redhead's shoulders suddenly hunched.
"I-I'm working on it. It'll be done soon." Renji sounded scared now and Byakuya followed his gaze to the centre of the cell. There was a small table there, with a lantern, a broken bear sculpture and a lump of clay. He frowned as he examined the clay. He thought Renji was trying to replicate the bear, but he couldn't be sure. The workmanship was poor, to say the least.
"You've started over again?" Godongo sounded genuinely angry. "Renji, I am getting tired of this. We need that kachina finished. Do you need more special encouragement?" Byakuya stared as the redheaded man went white under his tan.
"No, not that, I'm trying really hard! I swear I am, please, I'll get it done, I swear I will, just not that…" Renji's voice was rising in hysteria and he cringed back as the demon giggled and reached through the bars tauntingly. "Please, I swear!"
"While it's entertaining to see you beg, Renji, that is not what we need." Godongo's said, his tone a naked threat. "Finish it tomorrow so we can fire it, or Zabriel will play with you again. Now, get back to work." Renji was just pulling himself to his feet when Godongo stopped on the stairs and, with the most calculated gesture of cruelty that Byakuya had ever seen, activated the collar again. Already unbalanced, Renji would have landed on his face, but Byakuya ignored his injuries and surged up to catch the man. Renji shuddered as red sparks lit his face and Byakuya stared at Godongo, who met his eyes before turning away.
"Th-thank you." Renji gasped out, before pulling away and gripping the wall to stay upright. "But you… shouldn't be moving like that. You're hurt."
"So are you." Byakuya said quietly. Renji shook his head and went to the table, picking up a small sculpting tool. But instead of working on the clay, he stared at it blankly. Byakuya started to sit, then stopped. Despite the pain, he went to Renji's side and looked down at the wet mass of clay. Renji was turning the sculpting tool over in his hands now, examining the small piece of ash wood. "Renji?" His expression was blank and there was something in his eyes that Byakuya did not care for. "Renji." Byakuya said softly as the other man began to make a small pile of the clay. Then he started to wedge the tool into it, haft first. Byakuya gripped his wrist, stopping him. "Renji, stop." He wasn't sure what the redhead was thinking of doing, but it wasn't easy to commit suicide in the spirit realm, particularly for someone with strong reiatsu. The other man blinked at him, life returning to his expression and anguish to his eyes.
"I-I can't do it. I can't, I've really tried." Renji took a deep breath that almost ended in a sob. "I can't let him do that to me again. It – it was like, like, like maggots in my brain. Like being turned inside out and having someone running their f-fingers through my… but it wasn't that, it was worse, and I can't do it again. I can't." His expression was turning wild and desperate. "You probably think I'm weak and worthless but I can't –" Byakuya couldn't stand it anymore and laid a finger on his lips.
"I do not think you are weak or worthless." He said softly, with compassion. "The Kuchiki are the lore keepers of the clans, so I have read accounts of demons before. You are strong to endure that torment even once. The touch of a demon's mind will kill the weak on contact." That didn't seem to comfort Renji at all, and Byakuya gripped his arm, trying to reach the man. "You need to live for Rukia, Renji. If you die, she will weep for you. Can I do this for you?" He offered. He didn't want to aid their enemies, but he couldn't watch Renji suffering this way. Renji blinked at his as though he was looking at him the first time.
"You're… you're sealed to Owl." He said and Byakuya frowned before remembering. Owl was the god of the Kuchiki clan, according to Renji's creation story. But what did being sealed mean? Were all of his clansmen sealed to this god? "I didn't… Beast just told me… you can do it. You're like a shaman, a bit anyway." Hope was dawning in those cinnamon eyes and Byakuya was glad to see it. "You… sorry, I forgot to ask. What's your name?"
"Just call me Kuchiki for now." He answered. He didn't want these bandits to know the prize they'd caught, and if they had any knowledge of noble clans at all they would recognize his first name. Renji looked amused and Byakuya was relieved to see that panic fading. Abject terror was a terrible thing to see in the proud young man.
"Can I call you Owl? It suits you." Renji said, managing a bit of weak humor. "So quiet and studious."
"If you want." Byakuya replied absently as he studied the clay bear. He was no expert sculptor, of course, but it was a rather crude representation. Yet, there was a certain beauty about it. Someone had clearly put their heart into it. "What is a kachina and what does it do?" He'd never heard the term before. He worked on it as Renji talked.
"A kachina is like what you've got on your neck, just three dimensional. The purpose varies with the spirit. I've figured these ones out now… they were a set." Renji sounded angry. "Leech tile to gather power from the environment, Bear kachina to horde it… like a bear putting on fat for the winter… and the greater spirit, Cat, to use the power and hold the demon in place. Some damned fool released it and took the tiles." Byakuya nodded as the clay began to take shape under his hands. "What I can't understand is why they wanted me to make a Bear kachina. It's the one thing that they can't use for much, and without it we can't seal that demon up again."
"That is odd. But this Cat seems to be containing me without a Bear or Leech." Byakuya commented as he began using the little tool to sculpt the bear's head. He was certain now that he'd be able to at least equal the workmanship of the original. "Of course, it isn't holding me for thirty thousand years." He continued. Perhaps the Cat on him would eventually run out of power, but he doubted it would do so in any time to help him. "But tell me. Why didn't your people destroy the demon?" Most greater demons could be killed, although it wasn't easy.
"Couldn't. It's a skin walker. Uh… Beast says you would call it a Rei-Tka-Vrahj." Byakuya paused in his work for a moment, a chill going down his spine. That was a moderately powerful demon, created specifically to mate with the greater demons and demon lords. No wonder it had taken a lover and given over its power so easily… Godongo filled the role it needed to have filled. It was far from the strongest demon to exist, but it had the noteworthy characteristic that if its body was torn apart, it would eventually reform. It didn't matter what kind of soul pressure or ability was brought against it, it would always return. Although some of his writings had said that such a creature could be devoured by a greater demon or lord, ending its existence forever. Given what little he knew of demonic nature, Byakuya wouldn't be surprised if that happened rather frequently.
"I see. That explains why it wanted to rape me." He said neutrally as he went back to work. The ears and eyes were a bit tricky but they had been carefully detailed on the original so they might be important.
"Oh god, you're lucky that it didn't." Renji sounded afraid again and Byakuya cursed himself for mentioning that. "Godongo said the first person they let him… ruptured."
"Ah." His imagination painted grotesque images that were probably far, far tamer than the actual event. And Godongo still slept with the thing, but Byakuya assumed he never let it get on top. "This will take many hours. Perhaps you should sleep." Renji looked and sounded exhausted from his torments. There was a momentary pause before he replied.
"Yes, I should. And… thank you, Owl. It might be weak, but I'm not ready to die." Byakuya glanced over as Renji lay down on the hard stone, and watched as the man's face relaxed in sleep. A twinge went through him as he saw the man's beauty again. He was nothing like Hisana – male was the least of the differences – but he was attractive. Very, very attractive.
Turning his thoughts resolutely aside, Byakuya went back to the piece of pottery. As lovely as Renji might be, he could not have another tryst with a peasant. Although an uneasy, hopeful part of his mind reminded him that Renji was not precisely a peasant. The reiatsu swirling in him was proof of that. And his resemblance to the Yukichura clan was unbelievably pronounced. And there was a law…
It was all too complicated to think about. And unless they were rescued, it wouldn't matter anyway. Byakuya had no illusions about their chances for survival under the human and his demonic paramour. He knew about the Rei-Tka-Vrahj, and skin walkers was a good name for them. He would not let himself be flayed alive to provide the thing with a skin.
Like Renji, he would kill himself first.
