Disclaimer: I do not own Bleach or it's Characters. Bleach © Kubo Tite.

Chapter 7

Cowardly, I shut my eyes and held them closed tight! My heart was beating loudly! The heavy beat shook my whole body. No! Was the only thought that crossed my mind. Please no! How was it that there could be this many? Why are there so many arrows coming? I could hear a violent sound of trees being thorn through and broken. The air was pulsating with violent shockwaves that happened all around us. And when I thought that we would be hit, there was no sound. No humming or buzzing. Complete silence. I opened my eyes again. The arrows intended for us had all stopped?

All of the blue arrows were glowing brightly as they were held in place in a perfect square. They were all centimeters away from each other. Who was stopping all of the Quincy arrows? Who saved us? Enomoto held a long gray metallic staff in both of his hands. Is that his zanpakuto? I didn't even hear him call out to it.

"Vice captain Enomoto!" I heard Kizaki cry out to him. He was panting and out of breath.

"Hold on, everyone! Wait for these arrows to burn out! I have them in my water lock." He said with a stressed voice. He was holding hundreds of arrows back with just the power of his zanpakuto's water trapping abilities!

I was still trying to stabilize my own breathing and heart rhythm. Too much blood was being pumped violently throughout my body. It was causing me to feel light headed. It seemed like everyone else was feeling just as terrified as I was! If Vice captain Enomoto wasn't here, none of us would still be left alive. After a few minutes of catching my breath, the blue arrows dimmed and faded away.

"Take your time to breathe now. The Quincys probably sent down that many arrows at us to kill our air supply at their base!" Enomoto's voice had a commanding tone to it.

"They also weaken their own attacks by doing that." Kizaki commented about the tactics that the Quincys were making.

"They probably think that they can outlast us by resorting to that sort of desperate action." The leading Vice captain was sharp with his words.

He seemed very knowledgeable of the Quincys. He must have been on the front lines since the beginning of this war. Byakuya hasn't visited the real world much if at all since this war has started. I wonder if they are truly treating Byakuya-kun differently because of him being a noble. Yoruichi-san has frequented the real world a lot. And she is also a noble without heirs. But she is the leader of the Special Forces. Her duties are admittedly more important that a Vice captain's.

I took in as many deep breaths as I could. I tried to get as much spirit particles circulating in my blood vessels as I could. The time that we take during this battle will be crucial. Those bastard Quincy are lowing the survival rates for both sides by burning up all of those arrows like that. Oh well, it doesn't even matter. If their arrows are indeed weaker now, then I can fight them up close.

Be careful, the Quincys can attack with more than just their arrows. Rei warned me in my mind.

Our group started to travel again. All of us were still shaken by the past few minutes that had passed. We all would have died moments ago if it weren't for the quick actions of Enomoto-san. I'm sure that Byakuya-kun would have done the same if he was Enomoto's position. At least, he could take out most of the arrows. But Enomoto totally locked up the movement of the arrows that were headed straight towards us. That was really cool, when I think about it. I wonder if he's actually stronger than Byakuya.

We kept a steady pace as we headed towards the summit of the small mountain area we were heading to. My heart had steadied itself and was beating a little fast, but it was as normal as it could possibly feel in this situation. I had my zanpakuto drawn now. Time is definitely against us, the first strikes we make need to be the death blows. I gripped Rei with my right hand tightly.

A few blue arrows were shot at us. We all scattered and dodged them.

"Everyone remember your formations!" Enomoto shouted as he shunpoed ahead towards the attacking Quincy!

I also gathered energy beneath my feet and moved forward. I felt guilty about the unseated members that were untalented with shunpo. But as long as they were behind us, their changes of being targets were low. Kizaki, Fujioka Umito, Arata Fuyu and I all were moving at our full speed. It was a romantic scene, dangerous and passionate with all of our released zanpakutos in our hands.

Enomoto-san made the first attack. His zanpakuto looked like it was a strictly water type as he shot several powerful jets of water on the Quincy. I couldn't see exactly how many Quincys he struck down, but I'm sure one or two are near death because of it. I saw other Quincys trying to run further away from us, in an attempt to put a greater distance between us. The seated members from the 7th division were already chanting Kido spells and started their assault that way. Kizaki and I got within a few meters of some Quincy as we made our strikes at close range.

We worked together as we were able to defeat three male Quincy! There were some arrows that were shot at us, and it caused us to become separated as we dodged them. We were only a few yards apart as Bozu, Saito and Miki rushed in for our support. The already chanted their various kido spells.

"Bakudo 30, Shitotsu Sansen! (Beak-Stab Triple Beam!)" I shouted as three beams of light left my extended left hand. I was able to lock the movement of the Quincy that fired arrows at us.

Kizaki ran ahead first as I casted my spell. I took a step to follow him, but hit something with my body in an instant! What was this thing in front of me? It's dark, and silent all around me. I felt like I was touching a cold stone wall when I reached forward with my left hand. I followed the wall with my hand and spun around in a circle. I was trapped.


"4th seat Kizaki! The 3rd seat has been trapped by a Quincy spell!" Bozu said with alarm in his voice as he ran towards the 4th seated officer.

"What? That means that there's a spell caster among the Quincy located here. Alert Vice captain Enomoto immediately! I'll work on getting Kazehana out!" The frantic 4th seat spoke stabbing the blade of his zanpakuto into the ground to clean off the blood.

Bozu had his orders and ran off to see the leading Vice captain. Kizaki headed for the Quincy spell structure that contained his comrade. He gathered his energy into the tip of his blade as he made his attack on the top of the shell. The attack managed to crack it, but it still wasn't enough to break through. He made several attacks on the same location when he started to notice, he was running out of breath.

I looked up and saw that there were faint traces of light above me. Could it be someone trying to get me out of here? There's n0 way for me to swing my katana with the little room I have in here. Rei glowed in the darkness as I was preparing my upward attack out of this chamber. With as much force as I could manage in such a limited space, I forced Rei up through the cracks with the strength of both my arms.

The Quincy spell that trapped me was broken. And Kizaki was on his knees, gasping for breath.

"Kizaki-san, are you hurt?" I ask him as I knelt down beside him.

"I'm…. alright.." He could barely speak.

I heard approaching footsteps of several people heading for our location. It felt shinigami as I looked to see who it was. Enomoto, and the others were walking fast to where we were. He looked pale and frightened. Was the fighting with the Quincy here over already? I stood up and looked behind him and the group. It looked like there was a large fire in the forest beyond them. I could feel the heat from the large fire whose flames extended above the treetops.

Something powerful shocked me as I fell onto my knees and hit the dusty ground. All of the others, even Vice captain Enomoto was on his knees. It felt like gravity had increased by several times. The air felt heavy, sort of like how it felt when a hollow was nearby. But what was coming was no hollow.

A tall man, completely suited in black armor approached our group. Who was he? He also sported a large man sized sword that he carried on his black. He was not human, nor Quincy, or shinigami like us. But he felt like a powerful spiritual being. Almost as if he was a God.

"Children of the Soul Society," He spoke with a deep, baritone voice, "go back to your posts that you have neglected."

Enomoto rose to his feet to face this mysterious armored man in black.

"We are in war." He said in a weak voice. Enomoto could barely keep himself standing as he spoke.

"The Kingdom of Hell is aware of this. We are troubled that the Soul Society, with their limited resources and information went ahead with this endeavor of conflict. King Enma-sama has claimed a halt to this war until the information that justifies this war is proven valid." The man from Hell's voice was painful to listen to. It felt as if my ears were being burned by his voice, but it had such a beautiful tone to it.

The Kingdom of Hell, I thought to myself.

"Does that mean we're going back to Seireitei?" Kizaki voice held annoyance as he spoke.

"Yes, you all shall return now." He said as he raised his right hand.

In the haze instant, we were all transported back to Seireitei. The sixteen of us were located in front of the 4th division headquarters. We all rose to our feet, confused and bewildered! Were people from Hell truly that powerful? Just as we suddenly appeared, other shinigami that were at the front lines also appeared in front of us, behind us, and all around us.

"Incredible." Captain Unohana said with a plain voice as she opened her division headquarter doors. The expression on her face was gentle and serene. She did not seem bothered by the sudden appearance of nearly five hundred shinigami on her division grounds.

Nearly half of us were being treated as the other half were sent to their homes. It seemed like the whole of Seireitei was in an uproar. Some were outraged that 'Hell Shinigami' would interfere in the war like they did. Others seemed thankful for it. But either way, people seemed on edge, because it was said that in three days, representatives from Hell would be coming here to meet with the Central 46 chamber members and the Captains of the Gotei 13.

Apparently, this meeting would be about Seireitei needing to provide proof for continuing this war and extermination. I didn't think that the Shinigami of the Soul Society answered to Hell. I thought we had a king and royal family that ruled over us. So why does Hell have stake over us and our actions?

"We work with them, we in the Soul Society are... supported by them." Captain Ukitake spoke carefully at our division meeting. "Now, I want everyone to be on their best behavior when our guests arrive. I have not been informed on what lodging they will be taking, or how many are actually coming, but it has been nearly one thousand years since someone from Hell's Royal Army has stepped foot within Seireitei. Please do your best to be polite."

I raised my hand to ask a question.

"Yes, Kazehana-chan?" He said while looking at me in the eye.

"How exactly are we being supported by Hell?" I asked while tilting my head.

"Oh, we have received many things from them over the years. Our Hell butterflies, various texts and spells from them, and most importantly, the Sokyoku." He looked like he wanted to say more, but he stopped himself from doing so.

So, if the Soul Society is actually being supported by the Kingdom of Hell, then why all of the agitation? I wonder what else has happened between the Soul Society and Hell. I'm sure no one will come out and tell me the whole story about it. And I thought, we really did have enough of a reason to fight with the Quincy. They are destroying the souls of Hollows and they're throwing the spiritual balance out of order! Don't the Hell Shinigami know this? Or... are we wrong?