I don't own Bleach.
I'm terribly sorry if I make any grammar errors again. My friends warned me before, and I desperately trying to change it.
Thanks for the reviews too.
Ieesme: Ack. Some of the words have apparently disappeared. I'll repair it. Thanks for the alert.
Chapter 14
I could not sleep. The emotions I felt when we kissed have disturbed me. I have to admit that it was pleasant, but I could not risk it. Tenma is my friend and I trust him more than ever. I couldn't lie to him. Especially not when he was away, captured. Why, though, why did she kiss me?
Taking my zanpakuto, I walked to the garden in the third division quarters. It was situated right in the middle of the quarters. Compared to the yard in the dormitory, the garden was much more beautiful in many ways. It was bigger, and crowded with more trees. Small flowers were nesting by the side of the grey pathway. The light from the lamps shone on the leaves of the trees, bringing out their vibrant colours.
Walking along the pathway, I looked around, admiring the trees. The temperature was cold, and I could feel soft trickles of vapour on my skin. Heaving out a sigh, I stared at the dark sky, admiring the moon. It was a full moon today.
It was not long later before I reached the middle of the garden. There was a small fountain. Water was flowing down the artificial hills, down into the pond. Several fishes were swimming in it, making slow, graceful turns. Despite have a limited space to swim, it was comforting to watch them move freely. Sometimes, I wish I could be like them.
Closing my eyes, I slid my sword out of its scabbard. A soft metallic ring rang into the air as it escaped from its home. I took a deep breath, calming myself, focusing on my ears, trying to listen to everything around me.
There were the mild, clear rumblings of the flow of the fountain, rushing down the hills, while a few beads of water was sprinkled on the rocks itself. To the other side were soft creaks made by the crickets. The music from the wind played beautifully. They brushed through the leaves. Finally, there was the sound of my heartbeat.
Raising my elbows I brought my blade forward, before bring it down with swift strokes. I spun my body in various angles as if dodging attacks from opponents. My sword sliced into the air.
"Well, I cannot say that your moves are that bad." Instinctively, I brought my sword to the source of the voice. It was man, standing there, wearing a tight-fitting shirt, accompanied by long black pants. He has short gray hair that was combed backwards. The colour of his hair compliments the colour of his eyes, which were much lighter, bringing out the distinctive feeling in them. Much unlike humans, however, he has wings.
"Falcon? What are you doing out here?"
"Nothing much, just checking up on you. It was not hard to see that you are pretty troubled. Not everyone practices their swordplay three in the morning."
I replied with a smirk. Falcon chuckled and said, "Even though your strokes are pretty fast, they still lack something. It's not really graceful and powerful. Let me show you."
"All right..."Turning to face my sword, I only realized that it was released into the form of the silver scimitar, Falcon. I looked at him, and raised an eyebrow. He shrugged, grinning.
"Firstly, you are holding the sword too tightly. Loosen your grip. Use the last three of your fingers to hold the sword. The pointer and the thumb are only used as supports. Do not hold the sword with them. With some support, you'll be able to swing the sword freely." Nodding, I followed his instructions.
"Now that you have better room, you should be able to swing you sword better. Now, follow my strokes."
Falcon is a really good teacher. In the short one hour, he taught me many things. Ways to counter blows, techniques of spinning my sword with the help of my wrist in tactical means.
"Great. Let's practice your shooting now." This time, the pitch of the voice is a little higher, much like a woman.
"Dolphin, not you too? Hey! When did you have legs?"
"It's temporary. Hurry up." I chuckled, and took a good look at her legs. She wore stockings that had the same colour as her tail, with the same scaly designs. Pressing her lips tightly together, she brushed her hair aside, looking impatient.
In response, I pulled the second blade of out the silver scimitar, and linked them together, forming a bow. I held the bow in one hand, twirling it once, before gripping it like the sword; the last three fingers as the grip, the other two as a support. Focusing on my other hand, I tried to summon forth Athena.
"Wing, don't call sis. She's a little busy."
"Busy? Now you're confusing me, Dolphin."
"You don't need to know the details, Just don't call her."
"How am I supposed to shoot without an arrow?"
"You mean you don't have arrows? You can always pull them out from the air. "said Falcon. Frowning, I looked at my bow. The only way that I have learned to shoot is using Athena, or simply using normal arrows. However, I don't have any of the two with me. Obviously confused, I stared at the two of them.
"Come on dude, think. Aren't you a Quincy? "asked Falcon, squinting his eyes. He was obviously irritated.
" I Quincy. The power of a Qunicy is activated through the power of a medium to form a bow. I don't have one! There is nothing with a cross --. Oh right. The cross that the Ms. Purple had given me. /I " Reaching into my pockets, I pulled the cross out.
"Oooo... Where did you get that?" asked Dolphin.
"Long story." I slid it on to my wrist. There was an extra loop in the bracelet, however. "Now, where am I supposed to sling this?" Both Falcon and Dolphin fell silent. After a minute, they raised their eyebrow.
"Are you talking to us?" asked Falcon.
I sighed, began to think. Looking at the cross reminds me of the dream. In fact, they both look like the same one. I brought out my hand, straightening it. Remembering the way I wore it in the dream, I slung the loop in the space between my thumb and my pointer. Almost immediately, a bow, similar to the released form of my zanpakuto appeared.
"Wow. That's nice." cheered Falcon. Dolphin nodded in agreement. Just then, I felt a mild, but dense reiatsu approaching from behind. Quickly, I removed the bracelet and hid it in my pocket. It was Kydran-sempai.
I turned around to face him.
"Wing? What are you doing here?" he asked. Kydran-sama was wearing a loose shirt and pants, with slippers.
"Training. I couldn't sleep."
"Alright. Go back to bed soon, will you. We have work to do tomorrow." he said. As quickly as he came, he walked away. I was glad that he did not notice my Quincy bow. I turned around, only to find both Falcon and Dolphin gone. They were not there anymore. I heaved out a huge sigh, and went back to my room.
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With a pencil, I made some scribbles on the paper. I came here after my shower, and now, it was still very early in the morning. There were still some time before work officially started, but I figured that I should be here earlier.
Suddenly, I heard the door being unlocked, and followed by someone walking in. It was Taicho.
"Morning, Taicho." With the usual clothing that he was always wearing, he turned to face me, looking surprised.
"A good morning to you. This is a surprise, you were never early. Couldn't sleep?"
"Yea." Taicho chuckled softly, and went to his table, sorting out some papers. I never knew he was here this early normally. Maybe that's why I never see him. He finishes his work fast. Seeing Taicho reminded me of Cylse and Tenma. My face brought into a small frown. Taicho seemed to know what I was thinking.
"I spoke to the others in the meeting," I looked up into his eyes, hopeful, "I'm sorry Wing. It didn't turn out right. The 12th division captain had confirmed that there was no such device that was capable of doing that, and we all know his knowledge on such devices"
"What? This is ridiculous! There may be someone inventing this!" I said. I could feel the heat rushing into my body.
"I'm sorry, Wing. I tried the best I can." Sadness, devastation, poured into me in an instant. I held my head, sighing. This is bad. Now that the only clue was given up, must I resort to breaking in?
"Another point, Wing. Remember the chains that were obtained from the souls?"
"Yea."
They aren't sacrifices of a summoning ritual. They were used as a weapon."
"What weapon?"
"A weapon that is able to suck the unique structure of the reiatsu of someone in an instant. Tens of our shinigami has fallen prey to that weapon. They returned powerless. Among them was the General's vice captain, and other leaders of the respective divisions. Fortunately, none of them came from our team.
I thought you should know these details. After all, you were in charge of the mission."
I knew that she was up to something, but this?
"Oh my god... Taicho, could they be doing this as a plot to attack us? Removing the officers in among us... This could very well be an attack!"
"We know, Wing. General will tell everyone the details later."
Troubles followed by troubles.
"I'm really sorry, Wing, but to prevent the traitor from being rescued, Tenma's execution is brought forward to tomorrow."
Tears were starting to well into my eyes.
"I hope you understand and will not do anything foolish. The soul society executes traitors not because they have caused harm, but to prevent further of such cases that could kill many innocents. You have to understand, Wing. I'm sorry."
I stood up, swallowing the tears back into my eyes.
"Why don't you go and take the day off? I'll go to the seventh division in your place. Don't worry about it."
"It's okay. I'll bring the files there. I need to handle something."
"Alright..." Solemn, I collected the files from my table, and headed for the door.
"Wing, don't do anything harsh, all right?"
"Yea. I won't."