Zaraki was initially uninterested in Ichimaru's arrival, but out of the corner of his eye, he noticed two other figures near the Kan lord. Upon closer inspection, he determined that the two were indeed Ichigo and Kira. Grinning, he called out to the approaching men.
"Ichigo! Kira!" He waved a hand in their direction; Ichigo raised a hand in silent greeting while Kira waved back and smiled at his old lord. "Ichimaru," he said a bit less loudly as the three approached him and the others.
"My, my," Ichimaru muttered, "what a group we have. Hitsugaya-kun, Ukitake-san, Hisagi-kun, Urahara-san, Zaraki-san, Ikkaku-san, and Yumichika-san. I guess all we're missin' is Kuchiki-san an' Abarai-san now."
"So Byakuya's bringing Abarai-kun along," Ukitake thought to himself, smiling slightly. It appeared that the two of them worked things out well enough, which he was grateful for; he didn't need an angry Renji on his hands.
"How are ya feelin', Ukitake-san?" Ichimaru asked, stirring the lord from his musings.
"I'm feeling well," the one under question replied, "thank you for asking. I trust you three are well, also?"
"As well as can be," Ichigo answered. With everything that was to come, only so much could be said about everyone's state of well-being.
Kira parted from his lord to approach Yumichika and Zaraki, a smile lighting his features. He bowed to them, offering a greeting. "Yumichika-san, Zaraki-san. I hope you two have been well."
"Why are ya bein' so formal?" Zaraki wondered, clapping the much smaller boy on the back. "What's that Ichimaru been doin' to ya?"
"Ah, nothing," Kira assured him, trying his best to keep his balance from the rough greeting. He stood up straight once more and rubbed his head. "After all, I learned my manners in Kyuukaku."
"Don't let that get out," Yumichika warned, jokingly, "Zaraki-sama will have a fit if anyone learns that someone from Kyuukaku has manners." Accordingly, he pulled Kira to him in a hug, smiling a bit himself. "How have you been?"
The blonde quickly adjusted and hugged his friend back. "It's been nice with Ichimaru-sama and Ichigo-san, but I still miss you two, as well."
"Cut the mushy crap," Zaraki interrupted. When neither responded, he sighed and waved them off with his hand before walking away.
"I guess he still hasn't changed much," Kira snickered.
Yumichika shook his head wearily as they broke from their embrace. "Did you expect him to?" Zaraki wasn't exactly the sort of person to change easily, and if anyone had to be honest about it, they wouldn't know what to do if he ever did change.
Meanwhile, Ikkaku sought out Ichigo. Hearing his name shouted, the orange-haired soldier scanned the desolate land until he found Ikkaku sizing him up.
"What is it?" Ichigo asked, shifting a little under the soldier's intense gaze.
"So you're the one Zaraki-sama was talkin' about, huh?" he asked, ignoring the question.
Ichigo sweatdropped-- Zaraki had been talking about him? "What has he been saying about me?" he wondered.
Ikkaku was about to answer when Ichimaru's voice rang out across the group that had gathered and drew his attention.
"We'd better be goin' as soon as possible," he suggested. Everyone nodded, signaling that they were ready, and the group headed down through Kyuukaku.
All through the night and well into the morning (which Kira was elated to see once again), they traveled through the war-hungry land of Kyuukaku. Fortunately, any soldiers they passed looking for battle were quickly dismissed by Zaraki. Soon, they found themselves at the border of Kyuukaku and Shokkaku.
Kira stared at the other side as if it were another world (which, technically, it was). It seemed as if evil were lurking in every shadow that didn't normally exist in the bright kingdom and ill-intentions were pouring out everywhere. Though the wall between Shokkaku and Kyuukaku was invisible, slight disturbances in the air signaled that their next step would meet resistance.
"C'mon, Izuru," Ichimaru, who was standing next to the servant, murmured, "we won't be gettin' anything done just standin' here."
Kira nodded to his lord and followed him through the rift. It was only his third time passing through one (he had to go through the Shikaku-Kan dimensional border as well), but this one seemed a lot stronger. He leaned his whole body into the barrier and slowly his hands broke through. It was like an electric field, zapping at his body, and reminded him of pushing his way through a wall of jello (not that he had ever tried such a thing).
Despite the struggle, it took only a few seconds before he and the rest were on the other side in a land that was usually so unbearably bright and cheery, now turned dark and haunting. The time of darkness for Shokkaku and light for Kan happened for a full day once a week, though it seemed so much longer for the residents of those places. Gensaiban, which the group still knew so little about, was predicted to occur in the middle of this brief period. It was such a short period of time, yet every second weighed down on the soldiers' shoulders.
The temperature, normally warmer (albeit less humid) than Kyuukaku's, was cooling from the sun's temporary disappearance. Still, it was a drastic change for the northern residents and even Ukitake seemed to be faltering under the pressure of the atmosphere.
"Let's go," Ichimaru urged the group, taking the lead, "an' be on yer guard, there's sure t' be baddies lurkin' in the dark."
Not an hour into their intrusion into Shokkaku and the group met with their first opponent. Long, slick black hair, a single, beady eye and a huge grin on his face. Nnorita slung his large scythe over his shoulder as he looked over the group. "Look at this," he muttered, "intruders in Shokkaku?" His single eye scanned each and every tense face. "So, who wants to be the first to go?" he called out in a louder voice, sighing when no one answered. It seemed he would have to pick his own opponent. Grinning, he locked his gaze on Ukitake. "How about you? You look like you're about to fall over just how you are. The weak should be picked off first, don't you think?" Without waiting for a response, Nnorita lunged forward, swinging his weapon down on the silver-headed lord.
At the last moment, Hisagi jumped in front of his king and brought his own blade up to stop the assault. He narrowed his eyes at the black-haired man and curled his lip in distaste. "You'd be no match for Ukitake-sama. I'll be your opponent."
"Good luck," Ichimaru bid Hisagi, waving a hand. "I'd love t' stay an' watch, but we should be headin' on." With that, he led the group past the two, much to Nnorita's annoyance. However, Urahara and Ukitake separated themselves, sticking closer to their comrade.
The sandy-haired man immediately looked to his lord and gave him a reassuring smile. "Don't worry, Ukitake-sama, I'll stay behind and make sure Hisagi-kun doesn't do anything too rash."
"You idiot," Hisagi growled, "go with Ukitake-sama and protect him."
"It's alright, Shuuhei," Ukitake said in such a calm voice that the man immediately lost his scowl. "I'll be fine with everyone else." He smiled as the younger finally conceded. "Be careful, both of you."
"Of course we will," Urahara assured him and waved as Ukitake departed to catch up with the others.
"Don't take me so lightly that you can have a casual conversation while I'm around!" Nnorita called out to Hisagi, frowning.
"Sorry," Hisagi shrugged, "but Ukitake-sama is much more deserving of my attention than you are."
"My, my," Urahara mumbled to himself as his friend charged back into battle. "Hisagi-kun is quite fierce sometimes, isn't he?"
It wasn't much longer before the group's lead stopped once more. Concerned, Kira looked from the forest they had stopped in front of (which he guessed the castle was on the other side of) to his lord. "What's wrong, Ichimaru-sama?"
"Things like this are always so troublesome," the Kan lord sighed. As if on cue, another enemy stepped from the forest, arms crossed and bespectacled eyes narrowed.
Szayel half-sneered at the lot of them. "What a pathetic mess," he murmured to himself, eyes tracing over each individual, sizing them up. "These people aren't even good enough to make test subjects out of."
"What did you say?" Hitsugaya growled, stepping forward. His eyes narrowed at the pink-haired Shokkaku soldier in front of him and his hand reached for the hilt of his sword.
"This one can't even hear," Szayel commented, as if talking to a fellow researcher about their experiments. He made a tsking noise and shook his head. "My, my, what in the world was Aizen-sama so afraid of?"
"Ya can take care of this, right, Hitsugaya-kun?" Ichimaru asked, looking to his shorter comrade.
"Leave it to me, get to Aizen," the Shikaku lord told him, fixing his gaze on the enemy.
"You won't pass by so easily," Szayel told them as Ichimaru lead the group on. However, no sooner had he drawn his weapon, what appeared to be a simple umbrella, than Hitsugaya was on him.
Hitsugaya narrowed his eyes as Szayel brought the handle of the umbrella down in time to block, but just barely. Noticing that he now had his opponent's full attention, he took a moment to survey the weapon he was up against better. The first thing he noticed was that the handle was made from metal, not wood and the points at the end of the rim were very suspicious looking. He knew exactly what it was.
"A needle umbrella," he thought, his teal eyes scanning up and down it, searching for the weapon's main offense. Lined along the umbrella's spines that separated the sections were thousands of deadly needles. When spun fast enough and tossed into the air, a rain of unavoidable needles would hail down on the enemy. It wasn't able to be dodged, and the likelihood of surviving such an attack was minimal unless one had a shield to hide under. Unfortunately, all Hitsugaya had was his sword.
"You're faster than you look," Szayel commented, "but no amount of speed can save you now. You'll have to win by-" He was cut short by a glare and a swing of metal aimed at his head. He jumped back, again barely in time, eyes widened slightly. He became more serious upon seeing that Hitsugaya wasn't the taunting type and grinned slightly. Perhaps this wouldn't be a total waste of time.
A soft knock on Aizen's door stirred the man from his reading. He voiced a soft 'come in' and was not surprised at all to see Hinamori enter his office with a small bow.
"The group led by Ichimaru-san has arrived," she reported, "and a couple have started fighting with the soldiers you sent out. All in all, the group is fairly large, consisting of Ichimaru-san, Ukitake-san, and Zaraki-san, all of whom have two subordinates with them. In addition, Yoruichi-san and Hitsugaya-san have joined them."
Aizen nodded slowly, absorbing the information. It was about what he expected, but not at all what he had hoped-- he didn't honestly think the group would be that large, but figured his soldiers could take care of the weaker ones. Certainly the subordinates would never make it this far, unless Ichimaru had brought along Ichigo (which Aizen was sure he had).
"No matter," he decided. "By the time they reach me, there will be two of them left, at best, and no matter who they are, I can handle them just fine."
Despite his confidence, Hinamori frowned. She cast her gaze to the ground and spoke in a soft voice. "Aizen-sama, please... try and make peace with Ichimaru-san; try to stop this war."
Aizen shook his head lightly, slightly irritated by the girl's persistence in her peaceful motives. "Sometimes, war is a part of life. Just like peace, it must exist to bring balance to our world." He gave her a bright smile. "Soon, though, we'll have everlasting peace. All you need to do is believe in me, and I'll make sure we remain together."
"Aizen-sama... I have no one to live for but him..." Hinamori closed her eyes and bowed her consent, leaving the room promptly.
Battles, battles, and more battles coming up. You can look forward to a couple more Espada, and a bunch of fighting. I hate fight scenes, I can't write them worth crap, but they're necessary in a story like this. I knew what I was getting into when I started it, damn it! Enjoy the fights.