Chapter 21: The Sound of Madness
David and Squire walked out of the shinigami barracks, glancing around nervously at the black-robbed forms all around them. "This was a really bad idea." Squire hissed, trying his best to hold his composure.
"Calm down man, it's working." David replied. Sure enough, the shinigami didn't seem to think twice about the two of them, probably because of the new shinigami robes the two had snatched from the barracks.
"Okay, fine, it's working, we look like them." Squire muttered. "So what's the next move? What do we do now?"
David's brow furrowed in thought for a moment. "We need to meet up with the others but we have no idea where that hiding spot they mentioned is." he said. "So we have no real way of completing our main objective."
Squire threw his hands in the air in frustration. "Great." he spat. "That's just great. So do you have an answer for me, or are we going to just walk around like sheep in wolfs clothing?"
David smirked at his companion. "I think that analogy is backwards." he said. Squire glared at him.
Triana walked through the Grand Library at a brisk pace. She glanced down the isles as she marched past them, looking for a specific section and having trouble finding it. She turned a corner abruptly and slammed into another person, sending them both to the floor.
"Watch where you're going dammit!" Triana yelped, holding her bruised forehead. She glared at the other body and saw, to her utter surprise and terror, that it was her captain, Juushiro Ukitake. She immediately got to her feet, helping the sickly captain up. "Oh god, Captain Ukitake, I had no idea, I'm so sorry!" she rambled, speaking faster than anyone would have thought possible.
"It's quite alright lieutenant, I'm fine." Ukitake said cheerfully, brushing himself off. "May I ask where you're headed in such a hurry?"
Triana's face fell, a look of confliction passing over her. If I tell him the truth I'll be labeled as a traitor she thought. But I can't lie to my captain.
Ukitake noticed the sudden change in demeanor in his lieutenant. "C'mon Triana, you can tell me anything. Speak up!" he said cheerfully.
Triana gulped and nodded. "Okay, but promise you won't arrest me." she said.
This took Ukitake by surprise. He quickly recovered and nodded. "Okay, I promise. You have my full attention." he said. Triana launched into her tale about encountering the prisoner in the forest and how he jokingly claimed to be her brother. Ukitake listened with a grim expression throughout the entire story.
"But he can't be my brother, right captain?" Triana asked. "That's why I'm here, to check the database for his death record. If I see that again, I'll know that prisoner was lying."
Ukitake frowned. "Why are you assuming he's lying?" he asked.
The question floored Triana. "W-what do you mean?" she said, staring wide-eyed at her captain.
"I'm asking you why you are so set on saying he's lying." Ukitake explained. "You claim that your brother is dead. Then this prisoner appears with the same general appearance and the tattoo that you claim your brother had. While you seem desperate to prove your brother innocent, I think he may be correct in his claim."
Triana stared at her captain for a long time, mouth hanging open in shock. "That isn't possible! My brother is dead!" Triana practically shouted.
Ukitake shook his head. "If that's the case than you don't need to check the records." he said calmly. "You only need to ask yourself one question." he knelt down so he was eye level with the lieutenant. "Did you ever, at any time, see the body of your brother?"
The question startled Triana. Of course I've seen his body! Didn't I? It was...a long time ago. She thought back to the announcement. It had been a training accident at the Academy, something to do with Kido gone wrong. Three male students had died in the explosion. One of them was her brother. Triana wracked her memory, trying to find a point where she had seen her brothers body with her own eyes. "That's...that's not possible." she muttered, slowly realizing that she truly had never seen it with her own eyes.
Ukitake smiled warmly. "There's your answer. Now, another question you must ask yourself. Now that you have your suspicions, what are you going to do about it?"
Triana glanced up at the captain nervously. "I...If I help him, I'm a traitor. But if I don't...and he is my brother...I don't know!" she answered.
Ukitake nodded. "You know, I was in a very similar situation to yours a few decades ago." he said. "A friend of mine was going to be executed for crimes she didn't commit. So I had a choice to make. Save my friend and become a traitor to Seireitei, or stand by and watch as she died. I chose to save her."
Triana looked up, shock in her eyes. "But if you were a traitor, why are you still a captain?" she asked.
The white-haired captain smiled. "Some things just work out I guess. It wasn't easy. I have the scars to prove it." he chuckled. "The point is you have to do whatever you can to make sure you live a life that has no regrets. I can say that I, personally, won't hold a grudge against you no matter what you choose. I wish you luck." he said, patting her head softly as he left the small isle, humming to himself as he walked. Triana watched him leave, steeling herself for what she had to do.
Nick soared through the air before lightly landing on yet another tiled roof and leaping into the ether once more. Man, this really is the only way to travel he thought. If only I wasn't a wanted man, I could just do this all day. He made his way toward a district of white towers, not a care in the world. He landed in a street, staring up at the marble buildings. "Wow, that's actually pretty cool." he said to himself.
"I'd agree." a voice called. Nick jumped at the sound of another voice, looking around wildly. His eyes landed on a cloaked figure farther down the street. The cloak was black and a hood masked the person's face. The white haori over the cloak was all Nick needed to see to have his stomach drop to somewhere around his knees. I fucking CAPTAIN? I can't believe this!
The captain didn't seem to notice his freak out, and if he did, he didn't react. "The first time I walked these streets I was pretty amazed at the size of them too. I mean, they're not like the human world, but they're tall for Soul Society." he said, walking towards Nick at a leisurely pace. Nick noticed the rather large zanpaktou strapped to his back. Well shit, his swords the size of Aces.
Nick decided to continue the conversation for as long as possible. Besides, the captain was being friendly enough. "You've been to the human world? I didn't know they allowed captains there very often." he said.
The captain kept walking forward, keeping his pace. "They don't, actually. I remember them from before I became a shinigami. And some time after I guess." he said.
Nick nodded. "Yeah, I remember the human world too. Like I was just there yesterday." Or the day before, it's hard to remember when you're behind enemy lines he thought to himself.
The captain stopped, now only a few meters away from where Nick stood, easily within combat range. "You know, I think we have more in common than just staring at these buildings." he said.
Now Nick was curious. "Why's that?" he asked.
The wind blew through the street, pulling the man's hood back just enough to reveal his mouth, which was smiling slightly. "Because when I first got here, I was on the run from Seireitei and fought a captain too." he stated.
Nick's blood froze. Okay, the guy knows I'm one of the prisoners. Not good, but he hasn't attacked yet. Let's try to figure this out. "Why do you think I'm on the run?" he asked, moving slightly into a better position to fight. "I'm not one of those escaped prisoners, I'm from Squad 5."
The man laughed. Actually laughed. "I know you're a prisoner for three reasons. One, because your shihakusho is torn on the shoulder there." he pointed at the offending arm, the one Triana had slashed the night before. "The alarm would have been raised and the injured cured by now if you had been a grunt. Two, I can sense your spiritual pressure from a mile away. There's no way you're an unseated officer with that amount of reiatsu. Three," the man turned around slightly, keeping an eye on Nick over his shoulder, and pointed at his back. "I'm the captain of Squad 5. And I don't remember a shinigami like you in my squad."
The hallways of the Squad 11 barracks were quite as usual. No one wanted to make noise and attract the attention of the captain. Two shinigami were sitting on stools to the side of the hallway, playing cards on a makeshift table between them. All in all, a regular day at the barracks as far as they were concerned.
"What do ya think about all this prisoner nonsense?" one asked, a thick mustache over his wrinkled face.
"I couldn't care less." his friend answered, his bald head reflecting from the lights embedded in the ceiling. "These prisoners or whatever are cowards, hiding instead of fighting it out."
"I wonder if the captain will get involved." the mustached man grunted, playing a card form his hand.
The bald man swore, and threw down his hand in defeat. "The captain isn't going to do anything, he hasn't even issued any orders. He's mad enough as it is that he has to go to all those emergency meetings." he spat.
A light tapping sound caught their attention. It was coming from the hallway behind the bald man. The hallway curved slightly, robbing them of any view unless it was practically right on top of them. The noise grew louder and closer, revealing itself to be the sound of footsteps, quick and erratic, like someone was running for their life. The two shinigami stood, hands grasping their swords as they stared as far down the hallway as they could.
Just when the footsteps got to their loudest point, a young shinigami raced around the corner full-speed, barely making the turn. He made to run past the two men, but the mustached one reached out and grabbed him, holding him back. "Hold your horses kid, what's the rush?" he asked casually. Then he noticed the wet feeling on his arm and saw that the teen was drenched in blood. "Holy shit! What happened kid!" he cried, pulling the boy in front of him and kneeling down.
The boy struggled against his grip as much as he could, making it hard for the mustached man to hold onto him. After a few seconds of struggle, the boy stopped. "Please, let me go, please he's coming!" he shouted desperately at the man holding him.
"Hold on boy, calm down, who's coming?" the bald man asked. "Is it the captain? What happened?"
"Not the captain, not the captain." the boy gasped. "Someone else, something else. It came out of nowhere, killed everyone, barely got away." he muttered.
"You're not making any sense boy, who killed everyone? Tell me!" the mustached man said, shaking him slightly.
Just then, a new sound echoed through the hallway. A slow scraping sound, like metal on metal. There was a pause between each drawn out sound. Scrape, pause. Scrape pause. The boys eyes went wide with terror at the sound, and he doubled his efforts to escape the mans grasp. Distracted by the sounds, the man let him go and he fled down the hallway and out of sight. The two shinigami stared at the other end of the hallway. They drew their swords and stood defensively. The scraping got louder and louder, echoing through the halls. It started to wear on their nerves. It felt like the noise was coming from inside their minds, scratching at the inside of their skulls. Just when they felt like they couldn't take it, the noise stopped.
"Where's your captain?" a low growl asked. The two shinigami opened eyes they didn't know they had closed. Standing in front of them was a large man with white hair, matted and stained with blood. His face was a smear of red over eyes that glowed with hatred. In his right hand, a large sword was held by the hilt, it's point touching the ground. A long white scar on the floor revealed this to be the source of the scraping sound.
"What the hell are you-?" the bald man started to ask. Before he could finish his sentence, the large sword came up in a flash and split him in two at the waist. Blood flew through the air, splashing the white-haired man's clothes with a fresh coat and splattering across the mustached man as well.
The mustached man stared at his companions corpse, mouth wide open in shock and shaking in terror. The white-haired man turned to face him. "Where's your captain?" it asked again in the same low growl as before.
"The captain? Why do you want-?" he began before the blade came around and slashed across his chest, deep enough to instantly put him on the ground. He fell, and the white-haired man started walking down the hallway again. Scrape, pause. Scrape, pause. Scrape, pause.