Chapter 28: The Ripping of Soul and Sword
After two full hours of hunting, Night still hadn't gotten enough exercise. The Arrancars she had met so far had been ridiculously stupid and easy to kill. She wanted more blood. She wanted more death. Her sword and her mind demanded it. Kiss of Death urged her to a new target… one that was familiar. She shivered as she came upon Bawabawa, Nel and her friends. Night trembled as she watched as Nel spotted her.
"NIGHT!" She cried and bolted towards her, her friends quickly following in her wake.
NO! Don't come near! Night's mind screamed out, but it was too late. Nel had reached her and hugged one of her armor plated arms. She trembled, trying very hard to control her inner demon as it tried to rip to the surface. This was why her and her kind usually wished to hunt alone… so that they wouldn't have to hold back and worry that one that they cared for would get hurt.
But Night had other reasons too. Merged with her sword like she was, all the hatred and urge to kill was overwhelming her and she feared for Nel's safety. Still, she tried hard to control herself. It wouldn't due to show her mate, who had followed at a safe distance, just how powerful her inner demon was. Without a doubt he would encourage her to use it at will and mold it to what she wished, but she wasn't ready for that now. Once she and Aizen were fully mated, then she would have the strength to do so… but not now.
Nel didn't seem to understand the dangerous situation she was in as she was hugging her friend. "I've missed you and was so worried! Aizen-sama can be intimidating and dangerous!"
Peshe and Dondochakka stopped in their tracks, looking at the horror that was Night. "Nel… back up very slowly from her!" Peshe exclaimed in a hiss.
"Why?" Nel then looked up and noticed for the first time that her friend's eyes were a brilliant crimson. "AHHH!" She squeaked and backed away as she was told.
Night warred with herself, huffing heavily.
Stark made to move closer, but was stopped by Aizen's hand. "Just watch… and wait."
"Yes, my lord." The primera Espada submitted.
Aizen smiled slowly, knowing to an extent as to what was up with his mate. The radiance of her raging mixed emotions was so raw and powerful that it was seeping into the very fabric of his clothes. And he was nearly a hundred yards away. She was hungry and thirsted for killing and death, the thrill of hunting still raging in her veins. Yet, she was trying to reign in her inner self instinct so she wouldn't hurt her friends. Nel couldn't have picked a worse time to barge in on Night.
In an act of desperation, Night forcibly disconnected herself from her sword. Both shrieked as pain and an agony so intense it nearly killed them both ripped through them. A huge blast of spiritual pressure colored in black and red engulfed Night and Kiss of Death. Soon, it grew and channeled straight up into the air with a loud boom.
Lisa, Max, Ryu, and Jade bolted into action. "Shit!" Lisa cried as she and her friends disappeared from their mates and reappeared just outside of Las Noches. They took off at a run, transforming into their shifted forms, their mates hot on their heels.
Kaname sighed, wondering why he let them go. He, himself couldn't leave because he was the only one left in charge. He just hoped that Aizen-sama would be able to forgive him… and his subordinates.
"What the HELL?" Stark growled, covering his face to keep the blast from hurting him.
Aizen's smile disappeared to be replaced by a calculating scowl… the one that was in between pissed off and annoyed. He watched carefully as the powerful surge dissipated slowly. As the dust and debris cleared, he spotted Night in her human form sprawled on one side of a huge crater, and on the other side her sword lay singed and burned.
That didn't bother him so much. No… what bothered him was the amount of blood seeping from Night and her sword. That propelled him into action. He shunpo'd quickly to his mate's side and gently turned her over onto her back. His eyes hardened dangerously as he spotted several gashes several inches deep littering much of her body. He sighed softly and examined her as gently as he could, though it shouldn't have mattered to him… since she was unconscious.
He looked up to find Nel staring at him in fear and concern. As he caught her eyes with his own she 'eeped' and tried to hide behind Bawabawa. "Nel…." He whispered dangerously.
She blinked and uttered a helpless, "IDONWANNADIEISORRY!"
"Nonsense. I am not going to hurt you." He stated coolly and devoid of emotion. "Please come here."
She shuffled quickly to his side as he crouched in the sand and pulled Night's body into his arms. He adjusted her the best he could and murmured a kido that sterilized the air around them. "Nel… here's what I want you to do….."
A few minutes later, her friends were almost to her. But before they could get a kilometer closer, a huge spiritual force field rendered them unable to go any further. It also rendered them back into their human forms. Max cursed and rammed his hand on the reiatsu wall. "Damnit!"
Lisa threw her hands up in the air, "GREAT! How are we going to get to her now?"
Jade sighed and touched the shield, trying to sense anything beyond it. "My guess is that it's unsafe for us to go in." Ryu nodded, touching the shield as well. "It's too solid."
"What do you mean?" Max asked.
Grimm answered, gently wrapping his arms around his mate, "Aizen-sama has the ability to heal a bit. My guess is that he doesn't anyone to come near, ally or otherwise because of the potential bacteria and other harmful crap that we carry on and in our bodies. Right?"
Jade nodded. "Yes. I think he purified the area around them so he could try to heal her as much as he can."
Ulquiorra rubbed his face. "I should have thought that Aizen-sama would have done something like this."
Max grunted. Gin smiled, "I can go through his barrier."
Jade's eyes widened and she looked over at him, "You can?"
"Of course. I am more pure than you think." He grinned.
Lisa rolled her eyes, "Could have fooled me."
"Not the only one." Max, Ryu, and Grimm agreed.
Ulquiorra stated, "Yes… you could… but, forgive me General…. Would Aizen-sama appreciate you going in there?"
All eyes returned to Gin. He shrugged, "Who can know what Aizen-sama thinks? But… I'll tell you what, I'll go ahead and go in and then when I find out what is going on, I'll come back out here and tell you. Does that sound good?"
Jade glomped him in a huge hug. "Thank you GIN-kun!"
Gin-kun? Max blanched.
"Why do I suddenly feel the urge to barf?" Lisa muttered, and Grimm, Ryu, Max, and Ulquiorra couldn't agree more.
As Gin disappeared into the massive force field, he was nearly overpowered by Aizen's spiritual pressure. "Geez, Aizen-sama… you don't have to go all out!"
Aizen gently stroked Night's hair as Nel finished covering her with gobs of her healing saliva. Bawabawa, Dondochakka, and Peshe all were warily giving the arrancar king a wide berth. Anxiously they watched Nel treat their friend. "That will do, Nel… thank you."
Nel sat back and rubbed her arm over her mouth. "You're welcome, Aizen-sama!" With that, Nel raced back to her friends. Aizen spared them a calculating glance before looking down at his mate.
Now that the healing agents had been spread over Night's body, he could work on some of the deeper cuts. He gently pulled up what remained of her shirt and put his hand over her deepest gash. With his hand hovering over it he murmured a kido spell of healing. It had been ages since he'd needed to do that. It must have tickled, for his mate twitched and squirmed in her sleep.
He had the grace to smile. She acted very much like a cat. It was no wonder that her shifting form was that of a cat like dragon. Still… though he understood why she did what she did… he couldn't fathom why she resorted to an action that left her and her sword completely vulnerable. Surely there could have been some other way to control her inner beast? He would have to discuss the matter with her later.
He felt a bit perplexed. She had said that all mates would begin to feel others emotions, etc… but he didn't even feel her pain when she's wrenched herself a part from her sword. Was it because she was blocking it from him? If so… how deep did this pain go, and why would she protect him like this? He suddenly got an idea. If feeding from spirit energy reenergized himself and her… did it also help the healing process of physical and mental pains?
He sensed Gin enter the shield and he sighed. Why was he not surprised? "Do you want me to detain the General, my lord?" Stark asked softly, still warily a few yards away from the couple.
"No." He said with a small smile. "That won't be necessary."
"Very well." Stark yawned, stretching to get out the kinks from standing too long. He crouched down and rubbed his face.
Turning back to the matter at hand, Aizen finished healing most of the ugly wound. He went to the next one, mulling over the decision of either feeding her some of his energy or continuing this painstaking process of healing. He felt a sudden shift in her spiritual pressure and knew that she was waking. And with it… there was an intense hunger. He smirked. He must have guessed right.
Either that or his mate had an enormous appetite. She opened her eyes and found herself staring into very chocolate concerned ones. She let in a shaky breath, nearly drowning in his delicious scent. He was holding her and doing something to her side. She looked down and gasped softly. He was healing a particularly nasty wound on her side. How did she get so banged up? Strange… how come she didn't feel any pain from those wounds?
She tried to move, but his soft purring voice stifled the action, "Don't move, my huntress." He stroked her hair soothingly as he continued to heal the wound.
"What… what happened, Sosuke?" She asked him honestly.
He inhaled deeply and felt desire return to him tenfold. Her scent was mouth watering. Where had that come from? It must be in response to her hunger. That was the only thing that he could come up with at the moment. He answered her truthfully, "You were in the middle of a hunt and had fused with your sword." He moved his hand to another nasty gash. "Nel accidentally barged into the middle of it and you warred with yourself not to harm her. After that, you must have forcefully ripped your mind apart from your sword, thus causing you both to be engulfed in a rather large burst of spiritual pressure."
"Wow." She mumbled shakily, reaching up and rubbing her aching head. "I couldn't stop myself… I just couldn't. It was the only way to keep from hurting her…. Is she alright?"
"Yes." He whispered.
Why did her body not hurt, just her head? She then understood. Her sword was masking all the pain, and for that she was grateful. She'd have to make it up to her somehow. But why was her head feeling like it was about to explode?
"What is it?" He asked soothingly, gently nuzzling her matted spiked hair.
"My head feels like it's been hit one too many times by a shovel." She stated, withdrawing her hand. She closed her eyes tiredly and nearly passed out when a surge of white hot hunger clenched her stomach.
"You expelled a large amount of reiatsu, so it's no wonder." Aizen murmured, feeling a migraine fixing to smash his own head into a billion pieces coming on. He suddenly shivered, noting that his mate was very hungry.
"I think you should feed a little." He said softly, removing his hand from her side. He engulfed her into his arms a bit more comfortably and pulled his shirt and jacket a bit out of the way. She blushed and mumbled weakly, "How'd you know?"
"You think I wouldn't?" He chuckled softly and pulled her against his chest so she could have better access.
*Hides* I am soooo sorry for not updating! But, to make it up to you, I am posting two chappies back to back for you. Thank you so much for sticking with me. I appreciate it. Real life is getting more hectic, but there is a light at the end of the tunnel, and I can't wait for that day, let me tell you. Thank you again for your wonderful reviews.
