CHAPTER SEVEN: ANGEL WITHIN THE NIGHTMARE
Captain Ninel! Captain Ninel! Are you alright Captain?
Yes, Lieutenant? Oh... Oh... Yeah, I just got hit by a wave of spiritual pressure from this guy. I would've thought a captain would hold it in during one of these meetings...
Don't worry Rin; I'm not going to let you go through any pain with him around. I have to admit though; it's clear why you are afraid of him. Igor was hopeful in reassuring his captain, but his body had felt every inch of excitement when her mind had wandered, and now that he had pulled her off the high there was only fear. He was afraid that something very dangerous could happen if he did not try and diffuse the situation and get Rin away, but luckily Kenpachi spoke again.
"Who the hell are these? Why can't I feel much spiritual pressure from them?" Kenpachi growled in annoyance. He checked all five beings out and though he had no interest in the others, the one in front of him was a little off-putting. Though he would be eager to fight with these strangers purely for the fun of it, the strange fear and yet odd sparkle he noticed in the eye of the one before him was off putting. Had he managed to walk in on a meeting about dealing with homosexuals in the Soul Society? Because quite frankly he was fed up with all the stuff about Ikkaku and Yumichika, he knew his fifth seat was not picky with genders he got with – but Ikkaku was probably the gayest person he'd ever met. But they were certainly not together….
"This is Captain Ninel, a member of the Eurasian Soul Society whose been sent here on request by their president to gain help from us. Their president is an old friend of mine and a diplomat – so as long as this squad are here, they are not to be fought." Captain Yamamoto yawned gently, unlike the others he had now finished reading the note from Schatzstein was wearing one of the biggest grins that they had ever seen on his face. But his words irritated Kenpachi.
"That's not fair! What's the point of having strangers here if you can't test their strength?" Kenpachi growled but he was drawn to Captain Ninel once more as he watched the strange man step away from him and head straight to Yamamoto. Obediently though, he stepped into his usual place for the meeting, only to spot the crumpled form of Ikkaku in the background. "What the?"
"A simple case of rudeness dealt with in my normal manner." Captain Ninel spoke curtly; his strong masculine voice returned and made Kenpachi even more confused. Somehow Rin had a feeling that Kenpachi had not expected to hear a deep voice from her small form – whether pretending to be male or not. "But anyway, Lord in Yamamoto, our task is complete and we must head back already."
"Indeed, Grand Master… For our journey has been quite confusing and when we landed in the outside region, something odd happened. We seemed to have experienced images of our pasts caused possibly by the portal shifts from the Between World." Igor growled gently in his voice was he watched the golden eyes of Captain Kurotsuchi flicker with interest at both the reaction and the knowledge of this being. But Captain Ninel nodded in agreement and bowed to Yamamoto before turning aside.
"Exactly! Though ordinarily our squad would have investigated the travel route thoroughly before-hand, the necessity of our arrival made us forego Logical Investigation. But that same haste is what leads us to our departure. In two weeks we shall return with the rest of our squad members who were chosen for this mission. But I thank you for your time." With that, Rin turned and began storming out, but then she felt the subtle expression of power arise from Yamamoto and pin her feet to the ground.
"Stay then… After such a reaction you must regain strength. If you go through again, there is no telling what might happen to you when you're already in a weakened state. Rest for a while, and then you may continue." Yamamoto was gentle in voice but his power echoed around the newcomers and irritated Rin. Something was up, and Yamamoto seemed eager for them to remain. This same notion kept the captains of the Sereitei from questioning their usually restrictive master.
"With regret… Risks must be taken in a situation as our own. We must depart; otherwise Captain Ninel's punctual reputation may be tarnished." Yaroslavl stated firmly, which saved Rin a bit of fear. But she wondered if maybe that was the wrong thing to say. It made her sound like she was not the well-experienced mercenary captain in question. But Yamamoto's response made the acid in her stomach boil!
"I must insist you stay at least two nights. Even if it is just to ensure that we have indeed set everything up, you may also brief my captains on the severity of the situation. Besides, there may be somewhere you wish to visit whilst in our company." Yamamoto's calm yet suspicious words made Rin very angry indeed. Without even responding, and thus irritating and repulsing all attended, turned about and began to stomp out with her shoulder hunch and the spiritual energy flicker off her.
"How rude? Are we to expect this from all Mercenary Riff-Raff?" Captain Kuchiki stated bluntly and the other captains became a little uneasy. Rin turned around and with the one showing, it burned with a green fire that made Byakuya grip the hilt of his zanpaktou in preparation for a fight. They were irritating Rin more then they should, Igor was feeling the acid and the sickness in her gut, and he urged the others to follow. But the mob gasped fearfully when Yamamoto spoke once more.
"I'm sure your father, Lord Uso, might be delighted to have a visit from the daughter he thought was dead. Don't you think so, Yachiru?" The elder captains looked sharply at Rin with fear in their eyes. They did not understand what was going on, surely this was a man in front of them? Kenpachi was ready to lunge forward and grab the imposter, but when Rin turned, Zander nearly soiled himself in terror.
"What did you say?" Rin's spiritual pressure burnt around her and began to melt away some of her disguise that was supposed to suppress it. Her teeth began to grind behind their mask and the eye patch started to fizz. Any moment now, as she turned and faced Yamamoto with the aggression of a bull about to charge – her spiritual pressure would escape completely and her blood-wrath would take over. Her companions were prepared, as Rin's feet tensed for the charge; Yaroslavl took a bottle of potent sedative from his pocket and threw it to Igor. At the moment Igor caught it, Rin charged and he jumped. Titan leapt in front and took the full force of the charge, bowling over and into the other captains. Igor gripped at Rin's shoulders and tried to pull her back, but instead he was dragging the cloak off. As Yarol stepped in front and hooked himself around the now screaming captain, Zander darted with speed to the potion in Igor's hand and stabbed the needle straight into the back of Rin's neck.
As they released her, she turned. Zander was cast backward into Titan and Yaroslavl was grabbed at the throat with her teeth. As Igor tried to get himself back together, his throat was grasped and squeezed. The Gotei 13 was so stunned and stupefied that they could not react to help the trio, until the teeth released and Rin collapsed. She fell into Igor's open arms and was pulled in close as her body began to convulse and stiffen as she tried to fight it off. But it failed and soon she was fast asleep, stiff as a board, whilst Igor sang soft Russian lullabies to keep her silent.
Watching the scene, Kenpachi was quick to leave and head away. He ignored the plaintive cry for attention from his lieutenant as he hurried off on his own. His mind was confused. What was going on here and why was it happening now? He headed to the one place he knew he didn't have to think and not worry about the world – the bath tub!
A/N: Quick and late, I know, but I'm afraid personal circumstances have made me very slow at this.
Anyway here's the preview for the next chapter!
CHAPTER 8: Dangers of the Choking World
Rin's out cold in fourth squad barracks and her gang is under scrutiny. They want to know what's been going on and Igor is in debate over what to say. But as each is pressed harder for information, they have to give in.
Learn what happened to Rin, about Ivann, his death and the terrible torture, as well as Rin's kids! But the torture might prove too much for one of her old friends – Kenpachi's feelings are confused. He does not understand what he is going to do with the arrival of this old friend. Plus, we get Kenpachi's view on how Rin was!
