As promised here is the new chapter. For the future I will focus on Ichigo and Orihime to avoid getting sidetracked with too other characters. Happy Holidays to everyone.

"Ichigo try to keep up." Isshin said.

The northern Nejibana region was attacked by Aizen's forces, causing people to flee south to try and escape by ship. He main focus was on the villages and farms to force Shiba's moral to dwindle. Ichigo's family was in the region during the attack forcing them to leave their home head fled into the darkness. They were along with dozens of other refugees. Secretly unknown to the refugee group, bandits were up ahead preparing for an ambush.

Ichigo was falling behind, a boy age about eight years old was carrying, one of his father's swords. Ichigo had always enjoyed swords and wanted to be a samurai. His father had give him a sword that would his when Ichigo turned 18. Ichigo had a little sword training mainly the basics. As tripped and got back up his family was 75 feet ahead of him. His sisters were in the wagon that being driven by his mother. His father was on foot. Aizen's forces were right behind them and they had to move fast. As Ichigo run to catch up, he tripped again and heard screams up the road. The bandits attacked without mercy killing men, women, and children.

"Take no prisoners." the bandits said.

Isshin tried to fight them off, but he was outnumbered as most of the men in the group did not have weapons. They fought back with mainly shovels and rakes. Isshin was cut in the chest, but the sword failed to cut deep enough. The wagon carrying Ichigo's family tipped over. His mother jumped to the ground safely, but his sisters were not so lucky. Isshin went to his wife and told her to take Ichigo and run. She tried to protest, but she obeyed him. Ichigo had caught after all this happened, when his mother took him by the hand.

They ran some, but they slipped on some mud and hid in some bushes. Ichigo asked where his sisters were and his mother told him the truth. He started to cry, but she comforted. They heard a lot of screaming and one of them was Isshin's. Masaki realized that it was only a matter of time before the bandits found them.

Masaki said, "Ichigo you must become strong."

"You have always wanted to protect people, you must become strong like your father." she added.

They herd foot steps coming toward them. Masaki told to stay hidden and left the bushes. She surrendered to the bandits. They demanded to know where Ichigo was. She told them he run away. They called him a liar and started beating her. Ichigo could not take it no more he got out of the bushes and challenged the bandits. They laughed and stabbed Masaki in the chest.

Her last words were, "Please spare him, please he is not harm you… please…spare … him… please." She fell silent. Ichigo screamed.

"You're next little boy."

Ichigo woke up, and took some deep breaths. He thought it was just a flashback. This was the first time in a while that Ichigo had that dream. He thought was it Orihime that made him remember or was it something else. He decided he would think about it in the morning. He tried to go back to sleep.

What could they have to say to him. The Council Eight they were in charge of ruling until Orihime married. She had little influence in national politics, but had influence in city and local as she knew the area. He scowled he never had always smiled since the day his family was killed. He had gotten a little sleep last night, due to his flashback nightmare. He spend some his time staring at the ceiling and the walls. His room had red colored walls and was it color he was he was not too fond of because it was the color of blood.

As Ichigo prepared for his meeting with the Council of Eight. He had more things on his mind, and one of them was Princess Orihime. Why did he talk to her so much. Even though she had lost her parents and brother she always had a smile on her face. What made her be in positive mood. Why was he so interested in knowing her he would be done with after crushing the rebellion in the north. Why did think of her so much she was just another lord wanting to control the land, something he never took any interest in. He knew of government and policies when his mother read them to him as a child and during his many years of training, he was always intelligent for his age. When he was not training he was reading books, But never cared about that stuff as he wanted to be a samurai. To him conquering the land was nothing but a power struggle never ending as for hundreds of year emperors came and went and lords rose and fell. He was thinking too much. He hit his head.

Then there was a knock on the door. Ichigo put on his mask.

"Come in."

"Its me." said Orihime.

As she come in Ichigo asked why she knocked. She explained they she did not want people just to barge in and ruin his identify.

"You don't want people to know who you are, so that is why I made it a rule for everyone to knock on your door." Orihime stated.

"Anyway are you ready for your meeting with the Council Eight?"

"Yes"

"Good, I should warn you that not all the council members will talk with you only a couple will so be careful what you say."

"What should I say to them?"

"Just what you know about military tactics."

As they went to the meeting room in the palace. Orihime warned Ichigo to be careful of what he says to the Council as they were the ones who decide if Ichigo was going to a be a general or not. Orihime wanted Ichigo to help restore peace to the land. From what she her about the capture of Shrieker and what Uryu said about his skill, she knew he was the one to help defeat Aizen. Orihime felt that if she would talk with him he could see that not all rulers fight for power. She always had a smile on her face as she believed that a positive mood was the best way to deal with people. She may not have the knowledge to govern, but she had high charisma something that the Council Eight lacked.

As the got to the meeting room a medium sized, brown haired man come to meet them.

"Good morning Princess Inoue." the man said.

"Good morning Kon." replied Orihime.

"This is the samurai general you nominated?"

"Yes."" Please follow me for the meeting."

Next chapter the Council Eight. Please review as I need to know if I have improved the way I writing this chapter. Please be honest. As I want to improve as I write on.

HAPPY HOLIDAYS TO EVERYONE!