Part XXXVI: The Place You Dream Of
"Here. Take it."
Orihime made a face, scrunching up her nose and curling her hand in refusal. "I don't want it."
"Take it." Coyote repeated, his smooth voice strained into a hiss.
"I don't want it." Orihime snapped, shaking her head emphatically.
"It's chocolate…" Coyote breathed out, presenting the rare treasure in his palm.
"I… I don't care…" Orihime sniffled, looking longingly after the treat.
Coyote smiled knowingly, waving his hand in front of her face pointedly. "A sweet treat for a little princes…"
"I don't want chocolate. I want you to stay." Orihime proclaimed, her hair tossed over he shoulder as she spoke.
"I have to go back." Coyote insisted, his voice cracking slightly. "You know… I'd rather stay here with you…"
"Then do it." Orihime said.
Coyote laughed bitterly, taking her small hand in his and placing the chocolate in her palm. He closed her fingers over the precious gift, squeezing her hand tightly. He injected everything he wished to say into that gesture.
Even though she had originally planned to spurn his attention, Orihime clasped him tightly. His hand shook against hers. She licked her lips and nodded her head in understanding she didn't want to possess. "We'll share it."
"It was gift." Coyote replied simply.
"I know." Orihime said. "And I choose to share it. Let's eat it now… before you go…"
"Orihime," Coyote began, watching her unfurl her fingers around the chocolate. She snapped the brick in two, offering him the larger share. "I'll find you again."
"Ay." Orihime said with a nod. She smiled sadly, the expression terribly unsuited for her youthful face.
"What's that face for? Have some faith." Coyote groaned, knocking his shoulder against hers.
"I…" Orihime began unsurely. "I was just trying to decide if you meant it or not."
"I mean it." Coyote assured her.
"Then stay." Orihime pleaded, her brown eyes wide.
"I can't." Coyote declined.
"I'm brave." Orihime insisted, steeling her resolve. "I can handle anything the Master throws at us. You don't have to be alone… You don't have to…"
Coyote took a big bite of the hard chocolate, he chewed noisily, and rather impolitely, a smile twisting up his bulging cheeks, "I'll stay when you get a wolfstrap."
"I won't." Orihime refused.
"Then I must go." Coyote murmured around his food. He stood, his hand lingering on her hair for a moment longer. "My greatest wish is that you live a long, beautiful life."
"And what about my wish?" Orihime demanded, standing straight up from the ground.
"I so rarely get what I ask for." Coyote replied, his handsome face twisting with humor. His dark blue eyes glittered as he spoke. "Let me have this."
"You really aren't fair." Orihime accused, the chocolate beginning to melt between her slim fingers.
"Life is not fair." Coyote breathed out, giving a small little bow. "I must beg your pardon. I have to get going."
"Coyote!" Orihime spat, her eyes closing in anger. But when she opened her eyes again, Coyote was already gone.
Coyote preferred the ground to the trees but he needed the cover. He passed the camp silently, with only Ichigo looking up but saying nothing. The vampires turned slightly, but she kept her eyes on the ground and he only nodded his head politely.
"Leaving so soon?" Grimmjow asked, stepping onto the branch in front of Coyote.
"I have to return to the Master." Coyote replied, gripping the branch above him to stabilize.
"I didn't know wolves climbed trees." Grimmjow teased, turning to the side to allow Coyote to pass.
"They don't." Coyote replied, climbing onto Grimmjow's branch. The wood creaked and dipped threateningly under their combined weight.
"Hey," Grimmjow began unsurely. "Good luck."
"Thanks." Coyote said with a laugh.
"We share a Master." Grimmjow said with a nod, looking anywhere but at Coyote. "And you saved my life. A little pup like you, saving me… It's hilarious."
"Yeah." Coyote murmured, unsure of where Grimmjow was going with the conversation.
"I'm not interested in saving the world." Grimmjow said matter-of-factly. "Let it burn. Let it bleed. I don't care. But you… You and Ichigo, any time you need me… I will fight."
"Thank you." Coyote replied, a strange sense of relief flooding his chest.
Grimmjow stepped forward, his face inches from Coyote's. He pressed his clawed hand against Coyote's throat, collecting a large droplet of blood. He licked his razor-sharp claw, the blood soaking into his tongue. "No matter what, now I can find you."
Coyote had a million things he wanted to say, but he simply shook his head, "Thank you, Grimmjow."
Grimmjow nodded wordlessly, pulling himself onto a higher branch and out of Coyote's way. "I'll see ya when I see ya."
Jushiro and Shunsui followed the sound of Orihime's mournful wails through the forest. Grimmjow returned just as they disappeared. He sighed, dropping to the ground limberly. "Poof and he's gone…"
"That wasn't long." Renji said.
"He has a needy Master." Ichigo added, lying down on the leaf-strewn forest floor.
"Why must he go alone?" Byakuya asked, looking from Grimmjow to Ichigo curiously.
"It's too dangerous for Orihime." Ichigo answered.
"That was not the question." Byakuya corrected. "I meant, why is Shunsui exempt from it? Don't they share a Master?" The shifters were quiet for a long moment before Byakuya clicked his tongue. "I thought as much. No one knows."
"Maybe because he already has so many? And Shunsui is a troublemaker… and well, Coyote is his personal favorite…" Renji reasoned.
"I'm not sure." Grimmjow spoke over Renji's theories. "But I noticed it too. Shunsui's different."
"Katen." Byakuya murmured thoughtfully.
"Huh?" Ichigo asked unsurely.
"It's nothing." Byakuya replied, folding his hands in his lap. "I'm still trying to accept, not every question has an answer."
"Now that Coyote's gone, we'll probably be moving out." Ichigo realized, picking at a thick callous on the bottom of his foot.
"I'm excited." Rukia said dryly. "I haven't coughed up any blood in a few hours and I most certainly am up for walking until I die…"
"Don't speak like that." Byakuya scolded, scratching anxiously across the inside of his arm.
"There's no point in pretending." Rukia announced, standing up. "I won't ever make it back to Wallachia." Rukia grabbed the tree next to her and held onto it for support. "You should end my misery, brother."
"I won't." Byakuya refused, eying her critically. "You chose this curse."
"That's…"
"You chose to become a vampire, did you not?" Byakuya hissed angrily.
"That was hundreds of years ago…" Ichigo groaned. "Let it go."
"Never." Byakuya maintained. "Besides, what is she asking of me? She wants me to rip her head off? Burn her? Scatter her remains? I refuse. If you think I'm cruel, you do it."
"Rukia, your brother has a point." Ichigo groaned, rolling onto his stomach and sinking his head into his folded arms.
"Such firm resolve…" Grimmjow murmured, dropping onto the ground beside Ichigo. "I really admire that about you, Ichi."
"Honestly," Ichigo began. "I'm exhausted."
"Sleep." Grimmjow suggested, turning his face toward Ichigo's. "I'll wake you when it's time to go."
"And what if I never wake up?" Ichigo asked, blinking as he spoke.
"I'll carry you." Grimmjow whispered, his hand brushing across Ichigo's face.
"You'd get real sick of that quick…" Ichigo muttered skeptically.
"I wouldn't." Grimmjow insisted.
"You're a runner, Grimm." Ichigo breathed out. "You never stick around for long."
"You've never asked me to." Grimmjow retorted.
"That's not true." Ichigo whispered. "I've gotten tired of asking."
"I'm always there when you need me." Grimmjow argued.
Ichigo swallowed his reply. He pushed onto his hands and knees. The leaves crushed beneath his fingers as he climbed to his feet. "I'll go catch dinner."
"Want help?" Renji offered, throwing Grimmjow a dirty glance.
"I'm fine." Ichigo refused.
"Fuck it." Grimmjow spat, jumping to his feet. He stalked through camp, heading the opposite direction as Ichigo. "This shit is why I live alone."
"I often wonder," Byakuya mused once the two shifters were out of earshot. "Do you ever mature? Shifters, I mean. Your kind seems to be rather perpetually childlike…"
"I can't argue that." Renji breathed out, tending the fire absently.
"Are there any old shifters?" Byakuya wondered aloud.
"One… maybe two…" Renji answered thoughtfully. "They're special because they're rare."
"There is probably a reason for picking young men barely past 18 winters." Byakuya reasoned. "Those men are thoughtless and careless as a general rule."
"Are you calling me stupid, Byakuya?" Renji asked with a grin.
"Absolutely." Byakuya admitted with a laugh.
"I still can't argue that." Renji chuckled.
"I was that age once too." Byakuya recalled, sighing nostalgically.
"You miss that place, don't you?" Renji asked quietly.
"What place?" Byakuya asked, looking away quickly.
"I don't know…" Renji murmured. "The place you dream of."
"Dream?" Byakuya scoffed, shaking his head.
"Sorry." Renji said simply. "I shouldn't've asked."
"It's alright…" Byakuya said quickly, staring down at his white hands. "I just… It's…"
"I was being nosey." Renji excused himself.
"It's an unbearable feeling…" Byakuya said suddenly, his eyes meeting Renji's. "To have such unresolved feelings for someone who's been dead so long."
"There was someone…" else, was what Renji intended to say.
"There was someone." Byakuya nodded his head slowly. "I was nothing when I met him. Literally nothing. I was saved from nothingness. I learned to speak Goth, I learned to ride a horse, hold a sword, kill a man…" Byakuya held Renji's gaze. "And then without a fight he let go."
"I… I'm sorry…" Renji said.
"I don't look for pity." Byakuya hissed. "I wish for understanding. Why? I would gladly have died at the end of a sword. But I wouldn't have to. I was strong. Much stronger. We could have…" Byakuya halted suddenly, shaking his head angrily. "I want answers that I can't have. Isn't that exactly what it comes down to?"
"Shuren and I…" Byakuya sighed. "I couldn't talk to him like this. Our language had no feeling. Everything was short and ugly and empty. Our language was so limited. I could never sit there and talk to him like this…" Byakuya gestured to the space between him and Renji pointedly. "I thought we didn't need words. But I was wrong. I was the only one…"
"I don't believe that." Renji interjected.
"What?" Byakuya asked, his brows knit together in wounded confusion.
"I don't believe you were the only one." Renji clarified. "I don't know… I don't know why he left or let you go… but…" Renji groaned, tossing another log in the fire. "He felt it too."
"And now you're trying to cheer me up." Byakuya sighed. "I'm a sad sight." Byakuya leaned back and smiled. "Forgive an old man his nostalgia."
"I keep telling you, you're a youngin' to me." Renji teased.
"Perhaps." Byakuya conceded with a shrug. "But your kind is forever young and stupid. Therefore, I'm older mentally."
"Ah." Renji groaned, chuckling. "Touché."
"Where's Grimmjow?" Shunsui asked, approaching camp at a leisurely stroll.
"He took off." Ichigo muttered, slicing the head off of his freshly caught rabbit.
Shunsui shared a glance with Renji. Renji shrugged, tossing his hands up in the air in surrender. "For how long?" Shunsui asked, his brows furrowed in irritation.
"Who knows?" Ichigo snapped, tossing the carcass into a pot.
"Remove the fur first ya damn barbarian…" Grimmjow growled as he walked into the clearing.
"Let me cook." Jushiro sighed, kneeling beside the pot and removing the decapitated rabbit. He handed the rabbit to Byakuya who began slicing it expertly with his claws.
"Oh, so you're back?" Ichigo asked, rounding on Grimmjow.
"I never went anywhere." Grimmjow replied, slinking around Ichigo and toward the fire.
"What were you doing?" Ichigo asked.
"Nothing." Grimmjow groaned. "Why? Were you worried?"
"No." Ichigo returned shortly.
"Ichigo and Grimmjow are in looooove…" Orihime announced suddenly, dodging Jushiro's silencing hand. She giggled openly, squirming out of Jushiro's reach. "They like each other even if they fight…"
Ichigo opened his mouth to respond. The silence was instantly filled with Grimmjow's wild cackling laughter. He hooted in amusement, slapping his thigh. "That's right, Orihime. Ichi looooves me. He was worried about meeeee…"
"I know it." Orihime said simply. "His heart always beats so loudly when you're around…"
"Orihime!" Jushiro barked. "Stop it!" Ichigo, his face bright scarlet, ducked under a low branch, disappearing into the woods in horror. Jushiro pinched Orihime's cheek sharply. "Mind your manners."
"Ouch! That hurt you Mountain Troll!" Orihime cried out, rushing into Grimmjow's open arms.
Grimmjow made a triumphant face before lifting Orihime to his shoulders. "I got ya, kid. We're on the same team."
"And what team is that?" Renji asked with an arched brow.
"Truth, honor, love." Grimmjow suggested with a smirk.
"You are so full of shit." Renji chuckled.
"You sound French." Shunsui muttered, chewing on his nails absently.
"I ain't French." Grimmjow muttered. "Hell, France wasn't even a place when I was born."
"Where are you going?" Shunsui asked, watching Grimmjow and Orihime disappearing into the forest.
"To get Ichigo." Grimmjow announced.
"Just leave him alone for a minute." Renji suggested.
"No. I have the witch with me. She can tell me if she senses any murderous intent from him…" Grimmjow teased.
"I'm not a witch." Orihime replied. "At least, I don't think I am…"
"Don't get her involved in your woes, Grimmjow Jaegarjaquez." Jushiro called out, looking up from the pot of simmering stew.
"Ay, ay, Samurai-san!" Grimmjow shouted, saluting in exaggeration. "I won't use her as a shield either."
"A shield?" Orihime questioned.
"Yeah. You know, in case Ichi really is mad…" Grimmjow teased, holding her hand sweetly in his. He looked up and smiled, the scent of chocolate filling his nostrils. "I won't dangle you in front of me to absorb the damage."
"Such a gentleman." Orihime groaned, tightening her grip around his neck as they walked through the forest.
Grimmjow wriggled his brows. "Learn it now, human. I'm no gentleman."
Rukia began to heave and cough as they walked away. Grimmjow quickened his pace, unperceptively to the young girl, as the overwhelming scent of blood choked the air. He didn't have anything to say to the wretched creature but he didn't particularly enjoy watching the thing suffer either. Grimmjow trekked through the forest, heading in the opposite direction as Ichigo, simply wanting to distance himself from the only truth he knew. Masters killed everything they touched.
"She's gone."
The group was silent for a long stretch of time. Byakuya spoke first, tossing his long, black hair out of his eyes. "I'll burn her."
"I'll help." Renji offered kindly.
"I will too." Ichigo added. He cleared his throat, shaking his head as he looked away from Rukia's ruined corpse. "My flames burn hotter than fire."
"That would be better." Byakuya agreed. "We should hurry before the child returns."
Jushiro nodded, he hadn't wanted to say anything heartlessly. This scene, her corpse, was truly ravaged. It was an unbelievable amount of blood and gore. They would have to move camp. Even as a human the smell was sickening. The rabbit stew had been abandoned, no one had an appetite.
"We should move camp." Shunsui fortunately suggested. "We head out in the morning."
"Understood." Byakuya said stiffly, looking around his sister's final resting place.
"Throw out the stew." Shunsui instructed Jushiro. Jushiro understood, in his mind if not reality, the stench had permeated every surface and every thing. "I'm sorry about your sister."
Byakuya looked up, as if the sentiment had been unexpected. "Ah. Thank you."
"We'll catch up." Renji said, watching Shunsui and Jushiro pack up what they could not afford to leave behind.
"We'll camp on the opposite bank of the river tonight." Shunsui said, hurrying.
"Understood." Byakuya said with a nod.
"Do you want to say a few words?" Renji asked.
Byakuya shook his head curtly, his hair swishing from the motion.
"Ready?" Ichigo asked quietly.
"Ready." Byakuya agreed.
Ichigo lifted his hand, a strange, concentrated ball of light forming in his palm. It expanded rapidly before erupting from his hand. Rukia's devastated body caught flame, the blackened, sickly blood acting as an unnatural accelerant. Within seconds the three men had to step back, the ungodly heat scorching their skin.
Byakuya smiled tightly, watching the ash twirling in the westerly wind. "She wished to return to Wallachia." Byakuya turned away from the ash and decimated earth where her remains once laid. "Perhaps this wind will take her there."