Sorry everyone that this update is a day later than I'd planned. I can't keep track of what day of the week it is because I'm out working unless it's raining. Anyways, Chev worked a little on the story in the past week and that's about it. Hopefully, we'll have a chapter 16 in two weeks... in the meantime, enjoy chapter 14! -Airumel 8/25/2012
-Chapter 14-
Zezuri had taken a defensive stance in apprehension of the oncoming battle against the red haired shinigami, Renji.
"So you think you can take me in a match? Look at you, you're shaking like a leaf in a storm! I guess Aizen's lackeys aren't very smart!" he taunted.
Zezuri didn't have any words to back her up on this decision and continued to glare him down.
"We don't know anything yet, Renji! Stop threatening her!" Ichigo was ready to pull his sword on his shinigami comrade.
"Enough you two! Ichigo don't start a fight here!" Rukia ordered. "You there! It's best if you rethink your choice of action!" she continued to command.
"I won't let you take me anywhere!" Zezuri started to become desperate as power glowed in her hands.
"Your name is Zezuri, right? They're right, it's not a good idea to fight them." Ichigo tried to change her mind.
Zezuri couldn't hear anything anymore, all she could think about was trying to stay alive. A small trickle of sweat dripped down her temple as she started to panic.
The air around Hitsugaya suddenly became cold as his sword arm became encased in ice upon the use of his bankai. Towering wings of ice and a tail to match crackled into existence. The blonde arrancar seemed not to notice any of this. Mad with power she was no longer in control of her actions. The battle commenced as the Captain flew at his opponent with a wave of ice.
Airi had awoken again on the stony shore of her dreams. All around her the starry sea churned with choppy waves. Yet all the waves seemed to be moving away from the small island.
Turning her attention from the sea to behind her, she found the black haired girl standing in the middle of the island, arms raised, purple eyes distant. Her short black hair whipped around as if she were being battered by an unseen wind. A strange expression was on her face, somewhere between a grin and a grimace.
"Hey! Stop!" yelled Airi, rushing over urged by her sense that this was very wrong.
The girl didn't change her gaze, "This is what we wanted. Power. Strength. To overpower those who threatened us," her voice was raspy and strained.
Her words were true; Airi remembered as every instance of wanting power flashed through her mind. "No," she spoke after a while, "No. I wanted power, but to protect myself and Zezuri. Not to destroy those who opposed me!"
"Regardless, this is what we are. Hollow, empty, hungry... that is what it means to be an arrancar."
"But we weren't!"
"SILENCE!" the girl screamed.
The waves surged towards the rocky island.
The Tenth Captain was starting to wear down Airi. The bird-like arrancar drew ragged breaths and her right arm hung limp at her side; clearly broken. Yet, she fought on with all the fire she'd started with, grinning a manic smile.
Hitsugaya was faring much better, only a few cuts slowly bled out scattered on his body. His opponent was powerful, but her mind was clearly not together which was the primary reason he held such an advantage.
Instinct took over as he dodged another attack. A green cero had almost hit him from behind, but how? Hitsugaya looked around. There. How had he missed the most powerful member of the enemy?
Ulquiorra followed the cero up with a powerful slash attack as he flew into the fight.
The Shinigami quickly blocked and pushed away from the new foe. Whirling around, he was barely in time to cast a shield of ice against a gale force wind attack from the blonde arrancar. This wasn't good, he thought, sure, the one was no problem, but even one on one, he doubted his powers against the newcomer. To fight them both at the same time would be suicide, but he couldn't leave his wounded lieutenant behind. Looking to where Matsumoto had fallen, he was relieved to see she was no longer there. Now with no one other than himself to worry about, he quickly came to a decision. He needed to take out the weak one now! It was his only chance for escape.
"Airi. Go back to Las Noches. You cannot fight like that," the Fourth Espada commanded the blonde.
She turned to face him with unfocused eyes. Who was this? Who was Airi? Why did he think he could boss her around? Thoughts flashed through her muddled mind.
Acting on the one instinct she trusted, the arrancar charged in, snarling, wind and water lashing out from her arms.
Ulquiorra took the attack at full force. Silently he cursed himself for not expecting this outcome. In the same moment, he raised his sword and cut down his fraccion.
Blood spewed from her left shoulder as the steel cut through fabric, skin, muscle and bone. An anguished cry left her mouth as her release shattered to pieces and she fell. Upon impact she made not a sound and became motionless.
The Fourth Espada glanced at his opponent, he had been distracted by the female arrancar's rebellion and missed his opportunity to escape. "I will collect her after I've dealt with you."
Zezuri continued to stand her ground, not taking her eyes off the fierce shinigami before her.
"We're out of time! They should be here by now!" shouted Rukia.
Zezuri quickly wondered who they were talking about, but as soon as she took her eyes off Renji, he had flashed stepped next to her. Before she could yell out or retaliate with an attack, he knocked her out with butting the hilt of his sword into her stomach.
"Hey, what are you doing?" exclaimed Ichigo, readying to fight Renji once again.
"Would you rather I actually fight her and cut her with my sword?" Renji rose an eyebrow in Ichigo's direction as he held the unconscious brunette in his arms, "Put your Zanpakuto away, Captain Soi-Fon should be here soon to-" he did not finish as the previous Captain mentioned, had already made her entrance.
"You already have the girl? Where is the shard?" she demanded.
"It's over there, but we couldn't reach it while she was conscious..." Rukia replied.
Ichigo had already wandered over and picked up the shard. He held it in his hand and gazed at its peculiar glow.
"Hand it over, Kurosaki." Soi-Fon interrupted his thoughts, "Kuchiki will take it from here."
Matsumoto awoke under a canopy of dark leaves rustling in a light breeze.
"Ah! Matsumoto fuku-taicho! Please don't move until I can finish bandaging your arm!" squeaked a younger male Shinigami.
"Oh... of course..." the lieutenant of Tenth division slowly looked around. She was still in the human world, that was for sure. But what had happened? She could sense her captain's presence, but it was only for a fleeting moment as the pain from her injuries blocked out her other senses.
"There! All done!" her rescuer backed up and rose to his feet, "Can you stand? I'm afraid I can't carry you too far..." he held out a hand.
Rangiku lightly grabbed the offered arm for support as she rose slightly unsteadily to her feet, "Thank you, uh... I know you... what was your name again?"
"Hanataro Yamada, Seventh Seat, Fourth Division, ma'am".
Normally, being called "ma'am" would have annoyed the tenth lieutenant, but her head was too fuzzy to make much sense of anything.
"Here, lean on my shoulder," Hanataro offered as he placed one of Rangiku's arms over his shoulders, "We need to get to the others."
Slowly the two began to move towards the location of Soi-Fon. Dry leaves crackled and twigs snapped underneath the feet of the two shinigami despite their efforts to move with caution. Hanataro cast his senses around every now and again, but no enemy, or ally for that matter, had made any acknowledgement of their presence.
Matsumoto was watching the ground in front of her and focusing all of her remaining energy into lifting her feet high enough so she did not trip on anything.
The healer withdrew his senses back to their immediate area and stopped dead in his tracks almost dropping his ward.
A white-clad figure stood in their way.
"GAAAAHHH!" screamed the healer.
The wounded lieutenant looked up at the figure who stood in their way. Tall, male, with dark brown hair past his shoulder, and undoubtedly an arrancar as noted by the jaw bone around his neck. She removed her arm from around Hanataro's neck and slowly drew her sword. If this was how it would end, she wasn't going without a fight. Maybe she could at least let the healer escape. Her hands were shaking violently with effort as she pushed herself into a ready fighting stance.
"Wait," the arrancar spoke, "I didn't come here to fight," he held up his hands to show they were empty.
Matsumoto raised an eyebrow quizzically.
Looking at Hanataro, he spoke again, "You, the healer, I have a request."
"Y-yes?" stammered Hanataro, who was quaking in fear.
"I need you to take the girl your comrade was fighting with you," he paused and looked away, "She's not supposed to be like that."
Hanataro gulped. He looked at the wounded lieutenant. She wore the same confused expression he did.
Sensing that the words of the arrancar were true for the moment, Matsumoto let out a sigh. "It's okay, do as he says," she sheathed her sword, "I don't trust him, but we don't have much of a choice."
"W-will you b-be alright if I leave you h-here?" Hanataro asked not wanting to tarnish the reliable name of the Fourth Division.
The arrancar spoke, "I'll take her somewhere safe, just go! You're running out of time!" urgency filled his words and Hanataro scrambled off. "Pardon me, Miss."
Matsumoto found herself lifted off the ground as if she weighed close to nothing. She wanted to protest, but knew it was pointless. Confusion had already set in as the scenery around her blurred.
Almost as soon as it had started, everything became still again. Whoever it had been had left her alone on the middle of a bridge. Casting out her senses, the lieutenant found Renji's familiar presence nearby. She carefully pulled herself to her feet and staggered towards the end at which she'd detected her friend.
Spurred by the stranger's urgency, Hanataro cast out his senses as he ran back to where he'd picked up Matsumoto. Captain Histugaya was locked in fierce battle with a very powerful arrancar, one so strong, he almost lost his nerve. Yet, a wounded person was in trouble. Granted this was an arrancar he was going to rescue, but something in the way the stranger had asked made Hanataro overlook that factor.
Nearing the battle site, he carefully repressed all of his spiritual pressure as low as he could. Scanning around with his brown eyes he locked onto the still form of the blonde arrancar. Waiting in a nearby brush, Hanataro waited until he was sure that all possible enemies were far enough away. Taking a big gulp of air, the healer flashed over to the unconscious girl, put her arm over his shoulder and flashed back to the brush as fast as he could. Knowing flash stepping had likely blown his cover, he didn't stop there and kept going as fast as he could.
Ulquiorra had noticed the weak Shinigami as he'd lain in wait but had falsely assumed his intentions. Unable to break away from his battle with the icy captain, rage overtook him briefly as the shinigami made off with Airi, but he hid it under his ever-calm expression. He'd get her back. All in good time.
The 6th Espada decided he was wasting his time fighting the 11th captain. After all, he had sensed both Zezuri and Airi's spiritual pressure fade away quite some time ago. A grim look crossed his face as he wondered if they lost or won whatever battle they were up against, but he knowing Zezuri's weaker power, he doubted it.
"I'm done here!" he said, changing back into his original form. He wiped blood from his brow. But he looked at Kenpachi quizzically as he began to chuckle.
"It's not over, Espada!" he laughed louder. As Grimmjow looked upwards, he found a dozen Stealth Force shinigami, surrounding him.
"Resistance is futile!" one of the ninja garbed shinigami spat.
Grimmjow grinned, finding it funny that a group of the Stealth Force could think to take him out. "I've got no time to waste with you! Come at me if you want, but I got somewhere I need to be!" a cero blast formed into his hand before his released it against the shinigamis. As they avoided the blast, Grimmjow found an opening and began to flash step with what strength he had left, in the direction he last sensed Zezuri.
Meanwhile Renji was still holding Zezuri as Ichigo tossed the shard over to Rukia. "I still don't like this one bit..." he muttered.
In a flash Hanataro arrived with Airi, out of breath and tripped over his own feet. The group looked at him with surprise as the 4th squad healer scrambled to get back on his feet. "U-umm-" he began, embarrassed, noticing the blonde he had also dropped when he fell.
"What the hell?" Soi-Fon starred at the arrancar that had just been dropped at her feet.
"Soi-Fon t-tachio!" Hanataro gulped and looked at his feet knowing he had some serious explaining to do.
"It's alright, Hanataro," Rangiku called over to the group as she limped from the bridge, "We were asked to retrieve her by another arrancar, an Espada from my estimate..." she tried to explain.
"What do you mean?" Soi-Fon asked, slightly irritated. But before she could finish, there seemed to be a commotion headed their way.
Grimmjow was managing to avoid the Stealth Forces attempts to strike him, but he was quickly wearing down. However, they stopped chasing him as he arrived in front of the group of ranked Shinigamis. His face turned to dismay and anger when he saw Renji with Zezuri in his arms.
The Espada soon lost his energy, and fell to one knee. A member of the Stealth Force shinigami quickly held Grimmjow at knife point to the neck, "Should I finish him, Captain Soi Fon?" he asked. Soi Fon quietly walked over and looked down at the wrathful arrancar, "You must be an Espada, a normal hollow would not be able to avoid my men so easily... But we have no use for you."
Just before she gave the orders to exterminate the Espada, Zezuri's eyes snapped open, "Grimmjow!" she cried out with desperation. The Espada looked back at her with weary eyes, but they were still full of conflict. The distressed girl also noticed Airi's unconscious and badly wounded form, but her moment snapped back to Grimmjow's plight. "Stop!" she pleaded to the Shinigami holding a sword to the spent Espada's neck.
"Quiet you!" Renji continued to hold the girl as she began to struggle.
"Please, I'll do anything!" tears formed in her eyes as she did not want to see her friend die.
Soi-Fon looked from Grimmjow to Zezuri with piqued curiosity, "I see, maybe we do have some use for you. Take both of these arrancars!" she shouted to her division.
"B-but..." began Hanataro, the blonde was his responsibility after all. Plus she needed serious medical attention; her spiritual pressure was slipping away. Yet what could he do? He had no authority here and there was no way he could challenge Soi-Fon... she'd kill him. Looking to Ichigo, he met the carrot-top's eyes.
"Oy, Soi-Fon-tachio?" Ichigo asked.
"What?" the female captain's voice was filled with ice.
"Air- the girl arrancar, she needs some medical attention!"
"Hmph. We saved her. What more do we need to do?"
"But-"
"ENOUGH KUROSAKI! Know your place!" she turned her back to the substitute, "Take them to the division."
"Yes ma'am!" The a ninja-garbed shinigami summoned an ornate paper door in the air and walked through carrying the dying Airi over a shoulder. He was followed by a few more from the division leading a scowling Grimmjow along with them.
"This isn't right, tachio," muttered Rangiku. She wasn't fond of the blonde, but like Hanataro, she felt responsible for her.
"Matsumoto," the second captain spoke.
Rangiku jumped, had the captain heard her?
"You should go too, you're not capable of further battle. You'll only hold us back."
The lieutenant nodded and entered the portal.
Soi-Fon began to issue commands to the remaining group, "That goes for you too Abarai, take that girl with you. Kuchiki, take the shard to the general-captain. Yamada, make yourself useful or get out of my sight. And Kurosaki, assist me in retrieving Hitsugaya."
"You... want my help?" Ichigo was stunned.
"I will only ask once. The opponent Hitsugaya currently faces is the most powerful opponent here." Without waiting for his response, Soi-Fon was already flashing toward the tenth captain.
Thanks for reading! Hope you enjoyed! We love hearing from all of you! You're our inspiration to keep writing! -Airumel