Toshiro stood over the crumpled form of his cell mate. Hie had given him free time that evening, he knew where he had gone. Toshrio knelt and carefully rolled Grimmjow onto his back. He sighed. The arrancar's body was covered in fresh injuries– his chest only barely still rose and fell. A purple– almost black– bruise in the shape of a hand-print swelled around Grimmjow's heart.

Toshiro felt the now-familiar tug as Hyroinmaru manifested in solid form. It didn't hurt anymore and he and his ally hoped that meant they were getting stronger. The ice dragon bent close to Grimmjow's chest, Toshrio knew what he was looking for.

"Is Zizimu alright?"

The Ice dragon pulled away and curled around his master. "Yes, but his master is too weak for him to manifest. He is very terrified."

There wasn't much Toshrio could do without risking revealing their alliance but he could numb some of the pain and maybe lesson some of the deeper gashes and bruises. He recalled all that Tessai had taught him on healing and set to work. He had been going for about twenty minutes when Grimmjow woke.

"Careful, you're ribs are cracked." When Grimmjow said nothing and just stare up at him he continued. "Don't worry, Hyorinmaru is on the other end of the cell to keep watch for Hie. And I've been careful not to– "

"Who the Hell are you?" The arrancar shot up in a sitting position and grabbed the front of Toshiro's robes with his least injured arm. "Do you work for Aizen?"

"Grimmjow, its me, Toshiro..." but it was dawning on the young soul reaper that Hie had probably been sifting through Grimmjow's memories and now he was confused like Toshiro had been.

"I told him I would never work for him! That bastard can't do anything to me!"

"Calm down..." But it was useless. Hatred burned in his eyes, he shoved Toshiro back and stuck out his arm before him. A white shimmering blade formed in his hand. Toshiro gasped, Grimmjow had never been able to do this before.

"Hyorinmaru!" With Hyorinmaru's powers mostly outside of his body, Hitsugaya could not manifest any sort of power to protect himself. The ice dragon sensed his danger and lunged across the cell.

"Master!"

The white blade hit to the bone before the dragon intervened. His massive jaws clamped around Zizimu and he pushed Grimmjow into the wall. Either Grimmjow or Zizmu seemed to snap out of it because the blade disappeared and the arrancar remained motionless where he fell. Hyorinmaru turned back to his master. Toshiro had raised his arms at the last instant so that the blade had gashed him most deeply in his right forearm but had still sliced his scalp. Red blood stained his pure white hair, pouring into his eyes while he feebly tried to keep pressure on his arm.

"I think its broken." His voice was off, he was in shock.

"Hyorinmaru." Grimmjow sat up, aware now of what he'd done. He felt the numbing of Toshiro's kido and some distant feeling of guilt washed over him. "Hyroinmaru," he repeated, "he needs you." The dragon understood. He disappeared from view and Toshiro felt some of his soul reaper strength returning. Though Huroinmaru was powerful in his solid form, it left Hitsugaya in an almost human state. However, even with this new strength he continued to tremble violently. Grimmjow looked on, not knowing not what to do.

"My hiori..." Toshiro managed through clenched teeth. Grimmjow understood, reaching forward he ripped the bottom of Toshiro's hiori and used the strip to wrap around the wound. Toshiro watched through glazed eyes, he could taste the metallic tang of his own blood running into his mouth. When it hit is throat his stomach lurched. "Shit."

The word was lost in a slew of vomit followed by blackness.

The chill of the icy plains was soothing to Tishiro. He let the sun warm his face and the dragon curl next to him. When he opened his eyes he saw something unfamiliar on the horizon.

"Who is that?" He whispered to the dragon.

"Don't you recognize him?"

The figure sat hunched on a bank of ice, just too far to bee seen clearly.

"I can't see him." Toshiro stepped away from his zampakuto and tread light footed through the snowy fields. As he got closer he could see more detail of the creature. A tail swished back and forth, a head cocked in his direction at the sound of crunching snow.

"Zabimaru?"

The baboon king sat waiting for him to arrive. Hyorinmaru swept past him and nodded his welcome to his fellow. There was someone else, prostrate before Zabimaru.

"Renji?"

Captain Hitsugaya was now standing between the two powerful beings. Renji stirred in the snow.

"Why is it so cold?" He muttered to himself. He pushed himself off the ground and became aware that he was not alone. He starred up at the captain. "C-Captain Hitsugaya?! How did you get back?"

"I think the question is how did you get in here?"

"What..." the soul reaper took in his surroundings. "I've finally lost it. Oh the exhaustion is getting to me..."

"Renji, you aren't crazy. Somehow, you're in my inner world."

"Yup, I really have lost it."

"Renji!"

The other stared back to him for a long moment. "You're real?"

"Yes." Toshiro said exasperated, offering a hand to his friend. He off-handedly remembered the injury to his arm in the real world and did not revel returning to that. "Hyorinmaru said he could sense you but I didn't know if we could communicate."

"Oh. What's happening? Did you find Hie?"

An ironic grin touched Toshiro's lips. "Yes, that was fairly easy."

Renji caught his tone, "what is it?"

"I've been here for a long time Renji. Hie put up a time lock. Basically, time inside lasts a lot longer than the outside."

"Wait, you mean–"

"Its been at least two months since I've seen you, maybe more, I kind of lost track."

"Captain...what's happening?"

"You have to be ready. Where are you right now?"

"Not far. I actually thought we'd be there right now but we hit an obstacle."

"You're outside the barrier."

"I guess. I kind of passed out when we stopped." Toshiro gave him a puzzled look. "I've been using my bankai to carry the others forward."

"Renji, now what will you do when you get in?"

"I didn't have a choice!" the other said defensively. He took a calming breath and changed the subject. "What about Ichigo? He, Yuroichi and Uryu went ahead, have you heard from them?"

"They're stuck in the time lock." he didn't wait for the questioning look. "To them no time will have passed but as they make the transition inside weeks have passed for us. He should be here in two or three weeks."

"Maybe Orihime can break the barrier." He said nothing of her weakness at the moment.

"That is my hope. At this point, I think it's the only thing that could catch Hie off guard."

"Do you have a plan?" The small captain's eyes shifted away, he seemed to be considering his words very carefully.

"I have made an ally. And there are others that might help. Not all of the Immortals want to be with Hie, but they're trapped. From what I've seen, he's kept them from developing any sort of power that can challenge him, but there is one, I'm hoping she can help us."

"And Karin?"

"She's safe. We're separated at the moment but the one I am hoping will help us has been watching over her. Hie has left her alone, mostly."

"What about her powers?"

"I won't ask her to use them, its too dangerous. When the time comes, I'll get her to safety, then go after Hie."

"Can you take him?"

"Not alone."

"But with this ally you can?"

"It would be better with your help."

"Then we'll get through. As soon as I wake up, we'll try to get rid of the barrier."

"But you must all be pretty weak by now."

"What other choice do we have?" The two old friends starred at each other. Toshiro relented.

"I guess you're right. I'll get Karin as fast as I can. You guys go for Hie, but Renji, you be careful, he's terribly fast."

"What is his power?"

"He can manifest this shadow...Kazi...she can come into the real world but not as strong as Hyroinmaru. Still, she has some influence over the mind as well. She is most powerful in the inner world, even seems to have some residual power when she leaves." he remembered the sharp pain Hie had caused in him.

"But can he do that to us?"

"I don't know."

"What about you, how strong are you?"

Hitsugaya looked down at his arm.

"Sir?"

"I should be fine by the time you get through."

"What happened?"

"It doesn't matter."

"What about the machine, the device that keeps the barrier running, if Orihime can't do anything, will you be able to turn that off?"

"Not likely. Hie would almost certainly kill me before I did. Renji, there's something you have to understand."

"What?"

"Karin is immensely powerful. Hie hasn't decided wether keeping her is worth the risk of her overthrowing him. It's..." he paused to collect his thoughts. "The reason I haven't rebelled before now is because he'll kill her if I do. Unless I'm sure I can get Karin away or kill Hie, I can't do anything. That's why we have to be sure."

"Then we will have to win. He has to die."

"Indeed he does."

"What if you just grabbed Karin and ran."

"No. You'll need me. If we get a chance, we'll send Ichigo to take her. I know Hie better than you, you'll need me in the fight."

"But I thought you were going to take Karin to safety."

"Ichigo is that safety. There is no place we can hide from Hie."

Renji shivered in the cold. He crouched low to block the wind.

"Why do you like the cold so much?"

"Its clean and pure."

"What will you do, to defeat him?"

"He's ruptured his soul more than he says. I think if we all attack, and force Kazi to manifest in the real world, we can cause that rupture to increase, until he's like Kurosaki."

"You want to make him into a soul reaper?"

"He would be much weaker in that form. Then we'd have a chance."

Renji's eyes closed as he bent his face into his knees.

"Abarai?"

"Hmm?" He looked up through weary eyes. "I'm just tired."

"You and Zabimaru are fading. We haven't much time."

Renji tried to wake himself up but it was no use, he knew he was slipping back to his unconscious body.

"Is there anything else we need to know?"

"One." Toshiro knelt down and looked at him calmly. Renji fought his fatigue but Hitsugaya's face blurred before him. "My ally, is Grimmjow." He heard the words just as the world faded. He felt the hard ground and snapped his eyes open.

"What did you say?" he yelled at the empty air before him.

"Renji? You're awake already?"

"He's gone."

"Renji." Rukia sat before him, putting a hand to his forehead. "You need rest."

"No." He pushed her hand away and sat up. His head swam and his body ached; he was completely exhausted. But he continued to his feet and went to Orihime's side. She sat on the ground next to Chad.

"Orihime. Can you use your powers?"

"I can try to heal you."

"No, I mean on this barrier. Can you break it?"

"Oh." the girl gazed at the red haze before them. "You know what it is?"

"It's a time lock. We have to break it if we want to reach Captain Hitsugaya in time."

"Renji what are you talking about?"

Rukia was at his side again and this time he accepted her supportive arm.

"For every second that passes out here...a lot more time passes in there. Please."

Orihime nodded and through the creases of pain and fatigue in her face some of that old determination shone through. "I'll try." She raised her hands to the barrier and willed herself to be strong enough.

Renji had given up despairing, he could only believe she would succeed, so he took up his fighting stance. The name Grimmjow rang through his mind but he had to trust the captain.

Chad stood up wordlessly beside him, the two old training partners side by side. Rukia maintained her hold on her oldest friend and looked up into his determined eyes.

"Renji, tell us what we have to do."