Disclaimer: I don't own Bleach
Sand blew across the hollow deserts, running along the dunes. The light of the crescent moon illuminated a face in the sand, half-covered already by the fast moving grains. Shallow breaths tore out of him unevenly, eyes tight shut in pain. A shadow blocked out the pale light, growing over the figure.
The Vasto Lorde grinned wildly to himself at the sight of the broken hero. He brutally kicked the body to the side, sand flying of as he landed in the soft sand. The figure sonido'd over and grabbed Ichigo's uninjured arm, lifting the man in the tattered haori to eye level.
"I'm Telior Sielber, pleasure to meet you Captain" He cackled at the unconscious body before he sonido's away, letting Ichigo crash into the ground every time he emerged from it.
There was silence in the courtyard as everyone took in Renji's news. This was the last thing that they had expected to happen in the mission, that the war hero would fall. No one moved until four figures appeared, three wearing a Captain's haori.
"We didn't expect you back to soon, How'd it go?" Shunsui asked casually, his Lieutenant him as always. Ukitake and Byakuya stood to either side of him, scanning the crowd.
Renji hesitated but stepped forward to the Captains. "It was a trap sir, Captain Kurosaki suggested that we suppress out reiatsu and search the Menos forests for as long as we could without attracting to much trouble. We searched for a while until hollows appeared out of nowhere-"
Ukitake interrupted, his eyes widening in worry. "Where is Captain Kurosaki?"
Renji clenched his fists but kept eye contact with Shunsui as he finished his brief report. "We fought them as many Gillian class Menos approached. During that fight a collection of them fired a large, merged cero towards me. Captain Kurosaki noticed and pulled me to one side. Something else damaged his arm and he dropped his Zanpakuto, he was hit with the full force of the cero and did not return with us."
There was silence as the Captains and Nanao took the news in. Shunsui pulled down the brim of his hat and sighed to himself, Byakuya stood as calm as ever however, Ukitake was far more expressive.
"What! Did you see it happen?" He questioned, worry clear on his face.
"I saw he blast hit him and he was propelled out of the Forests onto the dunes, then we used an emergency senkaimon to escape." Ukitake looked to Shunsui, who's face was hidden under his hat.
"He may still be alive then, he could survive there, we must-" He stopped as Renji held up Zangetsu for the Captains to see.
Shunsui reached out and took the blade, feeling the same uncomfortable feeling that Renji had. "He may be able to survive" He said quietly. "But not without his Zanpakuto."
As if on cue, a crack appeared in the blade, starting at the hilt and running up the blade before stopping. Renji widened his eyes and looked at the Captains, it was Nanao who answered his unasked question.
"The sword will remain whilst its owner is still alive, but as his strength weakens, so will the blade." Renji took a step towards them, eyes widening.
"So he is alive then! We've got to send a search party." Shunsui and Ukitake looked at one another, and Byakuya answered him.
"You will do nothing Lieutenant, I will inform the Captain-Commander and he will decide how to deal with the situation, I suggest you write a detailed report to present at the next meeting." Leaving no room for argument, the Kuchiki noble flash-stepped away.
Renji looked helplessly at the remaining Captains. "We've got to follow protocol, this is a tricky situation." Shunsui said, grimacing. "I don't know what old Yama will do, after all Ichigo has helped us out a lot in the past."
Before he could continue Renji sensed a familiar reiatsu approaching and his eyes widened in horror. Before he could react the Captains turned as Rukia appeared before them, bowing down.
"Hello, Captain Kyoraku, Captain Ukitake. What are you doing here?" She hadn't mean to sound so rude, but something felt wrong. They had returned for the mission earlier than expected.
Ukitake grimaced and Shunsui looked at her, with a serious face. "We came to check how the mission went." Rukia nodded and looked behind them at Renji.
"Renji, how'd it go." Before Renji could respond, Ukitake stepped forward and put a hand on her shoulder hesitantly.
"Rukia...Captain Kurosaki went M.I.A during the mission." He used the terminology to distance himself from the statement.
Rukia stood in shock, eyes widening as she looked between the figures in front of her, desperately hoping that this was some-ones idea of a bad joke. "W-what?"
Shunsui averted his eyes, but returned them to her worry stricken face after a moment. He knew that nothing he could say would change this. He was old, he had felt the pain of loss before and for now he could do nothing to help.
Rukia's mind running in overdrive. It was only a few days ago when she had last seen Ichigo; when he had surprised her and bought the plush that was sitting in their office at the moment. Now he was gone. 'No, he's not dead, he only said he was M.I.A. I am a Kuchiki, I will not fall apart because one man is missing. He will be fine.'
She took a deep breath and looked up at Ukitake with a small smile. "I'm sure he'll be fine, Ichigo would only be irritated if I worried about him." Ukitake looked away from her and she furrowed her brows questioningly.
"What-" She stopped when Shunsui held out an all to familiar sword.
"Captain Kurosaki will be alive as long as this blade remains." Rukia's eyes widened and she looked at the blade. She could already see one crack from the hilt, and remembered that Ichigo was in Hueco Mundo at the moment.
"So, Ichigo is alone...without his Zanpakuto?" She questioned, looking between both of the Captains. "Surely we should send out a search party?" Inside she was frantic, before he would have been able to fight his way out of needed, now...he was more alone than any shinigami without his Zanpakuto, helpless.
"We will do all we can Rukia but we have to wait for the Captain-Commanders decision." Ukitake said, looking at her sadly.
"But, I-...Of course, Captain." Rukia slid into her Kuchiki mask, looking blankly back at the two of them. It was like she had literally shut down, her emotions becoming to overwhelming to handle. She turned to talk away, but was stopped by Renji moving forward and placing a hand on her shoulder.
"Rukia, wait-" She hesitated and turned her head slightly.
"What is it, Renji?" Her voice was cold and Renji winced inwardly. Pushing that aside for now he reached out and took Zangetsu from Shunsui's hand.
"Take this, you should have it." Rukia froze for a moment, looking at the cracked blade. Her inner pain broke free for a moment but was quickly restrained. Reaching out she took the blade that was taller than her in both hands and left without responding.
Shunsui sighed when she left and looked back at his old friend with a sad expression. Renji too looked at Ukitake since he had been Rukia's Captain for a long time. Ukitake watched Rukia walk away sadly and said softly.
"It's just like before." Renji furrowed his brow in confusion and the Captain elaborated. "When Kaien died Rukia changed, throwing herself into her duties as a shinigami but not having any passion for it really. Kurosaki changed that, making her happy and helping her move on from the ghosts of her past, as she did with him. Now..." he trailed of, but Renji understood him.
"If Rukia thinks he's dead, she will go back to that?"
"I don't think so, because she doesn't blame herself. Despite that, Ichigo is the closest person to her, and vice-versa. Rukia never had many people she truly cares about in her life, so their deaths affect her greatly." Ukitake continued to frown and looked at Shunsui, who tipped his head slightly before the two started to walk away.
"Nanao, please take care of my duties, we need to see old Yama about this." Then they were gone, leaving the two Lieutenants together.
Nanao turned to Renji and said sternly. "I know that you are Rukia's closest friend Abari, so do this for me. Don't let her lose hope, make sure she knows that as long as the blade remains there is hope for Kurosaki." Renji nodded and was then left alone in the courtyard, the rest of the team having left shortly after the Captains had arrived.
"Don't die, you selfish strawberry." Renji said to the air, smirking slightly to himself. Walking down the path he wondered how he was going to deal with Rukia like this. He hadn't been around when she had known Kaien, and this was different anyway.
'Don't get all mopy on me Rukia'He said to himself as he found her reiatsu and hopped onto a rooftop, moving swiftly in her direction.
Ichigo winced as he opened his eyes, his entire body aching. He looked up groggily, wondering what was going on, only to look down as he felt a sharp pain in his right arm. It has been broken and the bone was still sticking out of the flesh, he also noted that it looked very pale. Looking up slightly he saw a large cut in his arm that was still dripping slightly, with sand lodged in it.
Gritting his teeth he tried to move, wincing as he failed. Opening his eyes a bit wider he looked about, trying to see where he was. He seemed to be in some sort of cave, with a sliver of silver light peeking through a crack. Looking down he saw many binds on him and could only assume that they restricted his power as well as he couldn't summon anything up.
Growing more desperate, he called out to his Zanpakuto. 'Zangetsu?"
The response was echoed and sounded like it was coming from through a wall. 'I'm here Ichigo, but I cannot help you'Ichigo widened his eyes and looked around for his blade, finding nothing but cold rock.
'What, where are you!' Zangetsu didn't respond, instead a scathing and familiar voice took his place.
'Oh, I'm afraid the old man is sitting in the soul-society at the moment, King. So it's just you and me.'He could hear the cruel satisfaction in his voice and scowled.
'Get lost you bastard.' He got a cackle in response.
'I'm not going anywhere you fucker. The King has lost his sword, how long can he keep the crown.'Ichigo tried to ignore him as another insane laugh ripped through his head, but he knew that it was true. Without Zangetsu he would lose control of the delicate balance that held his inner world together.
"I've got to get out of this damn place." He said to himself, only to hear a chuckle coming from the darkness. Snapping his head up he shouted out. "Who's there, let me see you coward!"
Another chuckle bounced around the room and Ichigo saw a figure walking out of the shadows. A few steps later he stood in front of the captured Captain and looked at him, smirking.
"Evening, shinigami." Ichigo took in his appearance and growled.
"Who the fuck are you, hollow." There was a flash of irritation in his masked face but it quickly vanished. The hollow raised his hand and poked one finger onto Ichigo's chest.
"I introduced myself but you were...indisposed." Ichigo glared at him and the yellow eyes seemed to glow brighter with excitement."So I'll make sure you don't forget it, and learn your place."
Ichigo frowned but widened his eyes and looked down when he felt a pain in his chest. "I am..."As he spoke he pushed one finger like a dagger through his chest, digging it into his right ribcage and smiling as Ichigo coughed up blood. " Telior Sielber, Vasto Lorde." As he finished he thrust his finger up to his knuckled into him and watched as blood seeped from the wound.
"B-bastard." Ichigo choked out, his mind reeling from the pain. Telior just chuckled darkly and cocked his head to one side, examining the boy he had captured.
"You know this was easier than I thought, the soul-society practically handed you to me an a silver platter, and you even came to the forest on your own." Ichigo's eyes widened in realisation as he felt out with what little reiatsu he had left.
"I-it was you!" The Vasto Lorde nodded and continued to inspect him.
"I killed the scouts to get you here, and then conscripted the Menos to serve me, they wouldn't dare defy me after all. I even made sure they aimed at your red-headed friend, knowing you would protect him." Ichigo snarled at him but Telior just looked amused. "I just needed to separate you from your Zanpakuto, and you are so fragile."
Ichigo remembered the sudden pain in his arm when it had broken and his hatred for the other man-no hollow, continued to grow. "What the hell do you want?"
"Me? I want you." Ichigo started and winced in pain at the pain it caused in his chest, new blood flowing copiously from his chest wound.
"What?" The hollow looked at him for a moment before it walked of into a dark corner of the room, his voice calling out from the darkness.
"Well, I know what achievements you have to your name, Ichigo Kurosaki. At first I thought about just eating you..." Ichigo shuddered at the thought, but he wasn't prepared for the next statement. "...but then I decided that it would be much more entertaining to play with you."
Telior emerged from the darkness carrying something in his hands. He walked closer to Ichigo and looked at him once again before he moved almost to quickly for Ichigo to see. A second later Ichigo felt pain rip through him and roared out. It was to much, he almost lost consciousness there and then, but somehow held it and looked down, his head throbbing.
Across his chest there was a large, deep, jagged gash that spanned from his shoulder to his abdomen diagonally. Looking up in a daze of pain, Ichigo saw his tormentor looking at the wound. In his hand there was a shard of the same quartz from the Menos forests, dripping with blood from its grisly task.
"I have heard about your resolve, and now I will see for myself Captain Kurosaki..." His voice was mocking as he said his name, and Ichigo felt the white hot pain once again streak across his chest. "...just what it will take to break you."
"W-what the fuck-" He was silenced by a fist colliding with his jaw, knocking it harshly to the side.
"A Vasto Lorde such as myself gets bored, and an opportunity such as this is...rare indeed." Ichigo snarled back, only earning himself another punch, this time to the gut. Suddenly Telior was right up against him, the mask almost touching his bloodied face.
"Don't you get it, you will die here and no-one will save you. Your friendswill never find you and I will make sure you beg for death before the end." He hissed, narrowing his eyes dangerously. Ichigo coughed out some blood and glared back at him, his breathing ragged and his wounds stinging painfully.
"F-fuck you...piece of shit hollow."Telior growled and swiftly stabbed his shard into the Captains shoulder, leaving it there as he glared at his captive.
His glare turned to an evil smile (though Ichigo could not see beneath the mask) and he chuckled to himself. "It seems you are as stubborn as they say, very good. A toy is no fun if it breaks easily." Ichigo scowled and panted heavily, wincing at the rock still embedded in his shoulder.
"B-bastard." The Vasto Lorde let out a bark of laughter.
"Bastard? Trust me, this Is just the start, you'll call me worse before you snap, it's just a matter of time." Ichigo just glared at him and the Vasto Lorde drew closer again, cocking his head to the side slightly. "Or maybe I'm not pushing the right buttons, then again it has only been an hour or so since I got you here."
It had felt longer to Ichigo, then again he had been unconscious until recently. Telior watched him suffering in silence for a moment before he grabbed the shard of rock embedded in his shoulder and gave It a sharp twist before removing it.
Ichigo gasped out in pain and the hollow turned around, chucking the rock back into the darkness it had come from. As he was leaving he shouted back to the Captain. "Tata for now, I've other things to occupy me than your soon-to-be corpse. See you tomorrow."
There were footsteps as he walked away, then silence as Ichigo was left alone in the dark. He vaguely wondered if he would get out of this situation alive, after all he had never been stranded so far from Zangetsu before. Even if he could call the blade to him, it couldn't transverse a dimension and it seemed his power was still restrained.
He was left with his hollow for company, saying dully to the dark. "Well...fuck." His hollow chuckled, leering at the wounds.
"Got that right King, your well and truly fucked...I wonder if this body will still be up to me after you break."
Not needing to restrain himself Ichigo growled out into the dark. "If I die, you die too."
His hollow just cackled at him. "We'll see King. Don't get to beat up now...though it's not like you can stop him."
Rukia closed the door to the squad five office behind her, walking into the room alone. Quietly she walked over to their desk, smiling softly to herself. She had worked yesterday, glad to find that there was actually little paperwork for once. It was strange doing it without being able to annoy Ichigo, the day seemed to drag on for longer without a distraction.
Picking up her new chappy plushie she held it in her hands and looked down at it. 'Ichigo is gone.'The thought suddenly hit her and she held the toy tighter, squeezing her eyes shut in pain. Feeling her eyes start to get wet she quickly wiped them and looked at one of his few possessions, propped up against the desk.
'He wouldn't want me to be sad, and he'll be back before I know it.'She thought, looking at the huge black blade. Her eyes lingered on it and she gave another small smile, despite the confusion and pain she felt.
" 'Sup, Rukia." Her head spun towards the door and she saw Renji leaning against it, with an air of indifference about him.
"Renji...how are you?" He caught the second meaning and shrugged at her, moving over to the desk and sitting on it.
"Can't complain, how about you?" Rukia didn't respond, she just turned to look back at the blade, Renji followed her sadly. Sighing he put a hand on her shoulder.
"Don't worry about the Strawberry Rukia, after all it was me who wasn't fast enough-" He was stopped as Rukia pushed him off the desk. Renji groaned as he crashed onto the floor, glaring at Rukia as he sat up, rubbing his head.
"Dammit what the hell, I was apolo-"
Rukia cut him of sharply. "God, don't go all Ichigo on me." Renji cocked an eyebrow and Rukia rolled her eyes. "That boy has a conscious far to delicate, he always manages to feel guilty if something bad happens. Your not like that and don't start, I have enough trouble dealing with him. Ichigo knew the risks and would never feel sorry if that's how he..." her breath caught in her throat and she stopped. Unable to finish.
Renji gave her a comforting smile and motioned to the blade. "Well we won't be rid of the carrot-top any-time soon, all he has to do is hold out until they send a search party." Rukia smiled back at him and they both glanced towards the blade.
As if on cue a new crack tore deeper into the blade, causing the two of them to catch their breath in their throats. Rukia turned away, not wanting to see the new addition to the blade. She felt a pain in her heart, and wondered what it was.
'What's happening to you, Ichigo'?
(A/N) Okayy, this was another long time between updates, however I have an excuse :P I'm about three chapters ahead of this atm, but my Beta reader has fallen ill D: I hope they get well soon, but until they are feeling up to it, I will be updating without a beta reader...soo the grammar will probs get worse etc.
Should still be readable though xD Thanks for putting up with the wait!