Hi everyone, really sorry for not updating in ages I've had huge problems getting online. But here's the next chapters and it's one of the longest I've written so hope you all enjoy.

Chapter 17

The cloud of sand from where they had landed finally settled and Ichigo took in the sight of Hueco Mundo for the first time. He was amazed by the barren landscape, all he could see was endless sand dunes, dead trees and the dark sky with a crescent moon shining down on them. The place was very different from the image he had in his head. As he finished processing the unusual place he felt his mate shiver on his back, the teen turned his head and looked at Grimm. "Grimmjow, you doing ok?"

The feline was feeling conflicted by his return to his home world, the hollow part of his soul was pleased to be back on the familiar sands yet the more evolved part of him knew the dangers of this endless desert. He knew that staying in one place for too long would undoubtedly draw attention of any nearby hollow that sensed their powerful reiatsu. Grimmjow realized the teen had spoken to him and whispered in his ear. "Yea I'm fine, I think it's best if we get moving. We're in a very open position, we need to find somewhere more sheltered"

As he turned to face the rest of the group Ichigo was surprised to see that they were all looking at him and waiting for his instructions. The teen suddenly realized that he had some how ended up the leader of their rescue party, he had presumed since Byakuya had joined, since he was a Captain, he would be the one making all the decisions. Damn it why did he have all the responsibility?

For the first time in nearly 24 hours Shiro had the strength speak up 'Its because you're their Alpha, King. Even the Soul Reapers instinctively see you as their leader. Especially here your Alpha reiatsu will be a lot stronger.' The hollow spoke to his King but his voice was weaker than usual. For some unknown reason Shiro had suddenly experience most of his power being drained, even inside Ichigo's inner world he just couldn't gather any energy.

'Shiro, are you ok in there? Zangetsu said you have been sleeping a lot lately'. Ichigo was concerned about his hollow. Due to the recent events he hadn't had much time to find out what was wrong with Shiro.

The albino look a like rolled his eyes. 'I'm fine King, you have other things to worry about right now than my sleeping patterns. You need to get Grimmy and the others somewhere safe so you can plan your next move. I'm sure the kitty knows a some place to make camp'

As much as he hated to admit it Shiro was right, they needed to get moving. 'Alright but when we find some where we're going to talk' He heard the hollow chuckle weakly and promised himself he would find out what was going on with the albino. Ichigo took in a deep breath, tightened his grip on his mates knees and turned to face his friends. "We need to get away from here and find somewhere to camp, Grimm do you know somewhere where we can go?"

The feline looked around again and eventually got his bearings. Thankfully he recognized the area as it used to be one of his old hunting grounds as an Adjuchas. "Yes I know a place not too far away, it's near the Menos forest"

Ichigo waited a few minutes to see if anyone wanted to interject their opinion, when no one did he took in a deep breath and asked his mate to direct the way. For the duration of the journey to their first camp sight there was only quiet conversation, Uryuu and Chad spoke about what possible things besides hollows lived in this place. Renji stuck close to him and Grimmjow while Rukia tried to get her brother to engage in conversation. The teen listened to his Beta as he some how navigated the way through the sand dunes that all looked the same.

Eventually they came upon a large hill, it seemed like it wasn't the best place to make camp. "Ichi can you put me down, I need to see if it's still here." Grimmjow whispered into his mates ear. The feline was set upon his feet and followed his senses with his mate close behind. He made his way up the hill and just where he suspected was a decent sized hole in the sand, he gave Ichigo a nod and was followed as he squeezed himself through the hole. There was a narrow passage way that opened up into a surprisingly large cave. Once inside Grimmjow was overcome by a wave of familiarity.

Ichigo watched the blunette as he looked around the wide cavern in awe. "Grimm, what is this place?" the teen asked when he noticed a strange expression fall upon his mates face.

Grimmjow walked up to a small pit in the corner of the cavern and crouched down to run his fingers through the sand. A small smile crept upon his lips before he looked over his shoulder to the Alpha behind him. "This used to be my den, I lived here when I was an Adjuchas" He wouldn't admit it out loud but he had once imagined himself here with a mate and cubs. Feline Adjuchas were one of the more parental hollows and would usually mate for life.

The Alpha looked at his mate with a small smile, he had no idea that hollows would do such things as make a den. He slowly walked up to Grimmjow and placed a hand on his shoulder. "Thank you for bringing me here" The teen watched as his mate rose to his feet and turned to face him.

"You might want to go and get the others, I know it's hard to tell but it will be night time here soon and that's when most hollows hunt" Grimmjow spoke softly. Ichigo kissed his forehead before he headed out of the narrow entrance leaving the feline alone for the moment. The blunette waited until the teen was out of view before he stepped into his old nest and sat himself down on the soft sand. He didn't know how to feel about returning to his old den but right now the main worry was that they had somewhere safe to spend the night.

Ichigo crawled out of the small entrance to Grimmjow's den, once he pulled himself to his feet he noticed that everybody was stood waiting at the bottom of the hill looking anxious. He slid down the sand dune and stopped just in front of Chad. "Grimmjow's old den is inside this hill, it's big enough for all of us" He lead the way to the narrow hole, Renji was the first to enter followed by Rukia. Uryuu waited for Chad to go ahead of him. Just as the teen was about to encourage Byakuya to enter the noble turned to him and spoke.

"Ichigo may I have a moment to speak with you before we join the others?" Byakuya asked the Substitute Soul Reaper. He was given a quick nod as a reply and continued. "Since we arrived here there has been a noticeable change in your spiritual energy. Your hollow powers have greatly increased yet it feels completely different to the time we fought in the Soul Society. I would have to say that it seems as though your hollow abilities have transformed"

Honey brown eyes widen as Ichigo stared is surprise at the captain in front of him. He had known his hollow powers were affected by Hueco Mundo's reishi thick air but he had no idea that the core of his power had completely transformed. Could this be what had been affecting Shiro. The teen took in a deep breath, calming himself before speaking. "Thank you for telling me Byakuya, I didn't know that my power had changed that much. I will speak with Shiro once everyone is settled" The noble nodded to him and headed inside the cavern with the rest of the group, Ichigo followed behind him.

Once inside the cavern Ichigo noticed that Renji and Rukia had joined Grimmjow near his old nest and Chad and Uryuu were setting up the reiatsu cloaking tents that Kisuke had made for them. He watched the captain as he joined the two humans and began to aid them with the supply's before he walked over and joined his mate and friends. Grimm looked like he was close to falling asleep as did the red head who was doing his best to keep his eyes open while Rukia talked to him. Feeling like he need to rescue the two pregnant Betas from the short woman's endless chatter he smiled as he stepped into the felines nest and spoke softly. "Hey, you two look exhausted. Rukia why don't you go and help set the tents up, Uryuu and Byakuya look like their about to rip each other a part"

The short woman looked over to her brother and friend, she instantly realize Ichigo was right. Byakuya was itching to grab Senbonzakura and Uryuu was only seconds away from releasing Ginrei Kojaku. Rukia rose to her feet. "I'll sort them out Ichigo" She then ran the short distance to the squabbling men and immediately started lecturing them.

Renji let out a deep sigh, as much as he love his oldest friend he was relieved to be rid of her constant chatting. The Alpha was right he was exhausted, unlike Grimmjow he had ran the whole way through the Garganta and all the way here to this cavern. Every one of his muscles ached and his mind was barely functioning. "Thanks Ichigo, she may be my best friend but even I can get to the point where I want her to shut up, I'm just happy she didn't pull out those drawings of hers"

The teen laughed at the mention of Rukia's questionable artistic abilities, like Renji he considered the midget one of his best friends but at times like this she was best dealt with in small doses. He looked over to the guys finishing the tents and almost felt a pang of guilt, the dark haired woman was currently waving a finger at Byakuya and the noble looked like he so desperately wanted to role his eyes. "Yea I know what you mean, she's great but she can be a bit intense at times. Any way it looks like their almost done, are you two ok sharing a tent? I would suggest you have one each but theirs only four, Chad and Uryuu have already agreed to share and I know Rukia doesn't want to share with her brother."

Grimmjow finally opened his eyes and looked up at his mate. He would much prefer spending the night with his mate but unfortunately the tents could barely hold two people let alone three and he didn't expect Renji to spend their first night here with the stoic noble. "Sure, if reds with ok with it. Where are you going to sleep Ichi?"

The Alpha sighed before he replied. "I'm going to be taking the first guard shift then Byakuya is going to switch with me after a few hours. I'll get some sleep in his tent while he's watching for danger" Just as he finished speaking Chad shouted that the tents were finally ready. "Come on, you two need to get some sleep. We can worry about everything else later" Ichigo helped Grimm to his feet and ushered the pregnant Betas to the nearest tent. He watched them climb inside and wrestle with the blankets until they lay down facing each other. It was literally seconds before he heard Grimm's gentle snoring and Renji snuggled closer to the feline for warmth.

The teen smiled before he closed the tents fabric opening and turned back to the others. Rukia had already claimed the tent next to Renji and Grimm's, Chad was pulling out two sleeping bags for himself and Uryuu and Byakuya was flicking through a book that he had brought with him. Ichigo walked over to his friends and crouched down next to the Quincy.

"Hey guys, sorry I've not really spoke to you since we got to Urahara's, it's been a crazy few hours" The tallest teen smiled at him before telling him that he understood. Chad obviously hadn't expected his orange-haired class mate to be overly chatty during this rescue mission, Uryuu on the other hand just looked at him with a strange distain in his eyes. Ichigo didn't quite understand why the Quincy was angry with him but now wasn't the time to be having that discussion, he just hoped that the dark haired teen would just yell at him and get what ever it was out of his system.

The substitute Soul Reaper bid his friends good night and told Byakuya he would wake him when it was his turn to stand guard. The captain simply nodded before he retired to the tent nearest the entry way to the cavern. Once everyone was in their tents and seemed to be sleeping Ichigo finally had the chance to deal with the thing that had been worrying him for the last several hours. He sat himself down crossed legged on the soft sand and closed his eyes.

In a flash of red Ichigo landed on his feet on one of the sideways skyscrapers of his inner world. It took him a moment of searching but he soon enough located the two beings he had come here to personally see and speak too. The teen flash stepped across the glass that acted as flooring and quickly landed in front of the old man that was the sprit of his Zanpakuto. "Zangetsu, where's Shiro? I need to know what's going on with him"

The old man glanced at his master over his dark glasses before he turned his head towards a nearby building. "Shiro is over there, since your conversation with him earlier he has been keeping very quiet and hasn't moved from that building. May I suggest Ichigo that you don't get to angry with him, he really hasn't been himself the last 24 hours"

Ichigo nodded to his Zanpakuto and walked to the edge of the sideways skyscraper he was on and jumped over to the next on over. He looked around and eventually spotted the familiar white hair and robes of his hollow and slowly made his way over to the albino who was sat on the glass and was looking up at the grey sky. As he got closer he soon noticed that Shiro some how looked even paler than normal, how that was possible the teen didn't know but the hollow looked almost transparent. "Shiro?"

At the mention of his name the albino turned his gaze downwards and to his King. He had been dreading this moment when Ichigo came to talk to him, it had taken the hollow a while to figure it out but he finally knew what was happening to him and a part of him feared what his king would do when he found out. "Hey King, how's the kitty and cubs doing? I take it everyone made it safe and sound"

The Alpha scowled at his hollows shaking voice and moved so that he was stood directly in front of Shiro, from this new angle he could see just how bad the white version of himself looked. Shiro's eyes were no longer a vibrant gold, they were now a dull yellow and he had black lines under them. "Shi what's happening to you? You were fine the other day when we were talking with Kisuke. What the hell has happened that's made you like this in such a short amount of time?!"

Damn it, why did his King have to be so persistent. Shiro just wanted a few minutes of chatting with the teen before he had to reveal the damning truth. But he one thing he was incapable of doing was denying the soul reaper that was his master. The hollow sighed and let his shoulders slump as resigned himself to revealing everything. "Since you trained with the Vizard your hollow powers have been steadily evolving beyond what anyone could have imagined. Up until now I was the source and control of those powers but your core has separated your power from me and has stabilized it all on its own. Our powers are no longer connected and your core is now rejecting me. To put it simply King, our souls have separated and I am no longer needed, I am being rejected from your inner world "

Ichigo's knees gave out and he collapsed to the glass floor beneath him. His soul was rejecting Shiro? How was that possible, the hollow was a part of him. "I-Isn't there anything we can do to stop it?"

Shiro just smiled sadly and shook his head. "Unfortunately not King. The stronger you get the less I am needed. Our powers are already completely separated, it's just a matter of time before I grow too weak and fade away. Your gonna be ok King. You're an Alpha now and your mate is relying on you"

The teen growled, he couldn't just accept this. He refused to just role over and let his hollow die. Shiro had promised to be there for him and had been a great help in figuring all of this out. No he wouldn't let Shiro die! Ichigo rose to his feet and approached the sickly looking Albino. Before he could say anything else Zangetsu appeared before them. "Shiro, why didn't you tell me about this? I could have slowed down the drain on your powers?!"

Rolling his miss colored eyes Shiro let out a sarcastic groan. "Your not my keeper old man, I knew that there was no stopping this. You nag me enough as it is I didn't want to give you something else to moan about"

Ichigo cured loudly, there must be something he could do. "Shi, why haven't you manifested outside of here? If your not in my inner world wouldn't that stop you from being absorbed?"

The albino gave a exasperated sigh, surely Ichigo wasn't this oblivious. "I can't manifest in this state King! I'm too weak. And even if I did what would be the point, there is nothing for me out there"

The teen ignored the hollows words and turned to his Zanpakuto. "Zangetsu is there a way we can get Shiro out of here?"

Peering over his dark glasses, the bearded man thought for a long moment. "I think there is, You would need to used my blade as object to draw his power and from here I whole have to pass him through me and out into the real world"

The black of Shiro's eyes became more visible as they widened largely. Surely his King and the old man had lost their minds! Zangetsu must know that to pass another soul through him would be extremely painful and could even leave him injured. "You two can't seriously think that I'm just going to sit back and let you force me out of here!"

Turning to his hollow Ichigo gave him a sad smile. "I'm not letting you die Shi. No matter what it costs." The teen turned back to Zangetsu and nodded his head. In a split second the Zanpakuto had flash stepped behind the hollow and wrapped his arms around the weakened body. Shiro attempted to struggle but was easily over powered by the taller form. "I'll go and concentrate on drawing him out of here. I leave the rest to you"

Brown eyes snapped open and he took in the sight that surrounded him, he was back in the cavern and he could sense that everyone was still asleep. Ichigo let out a deep sigh and got up onto his feet, he picked up Zangetsu and made his way to the narrow passage that led to the open sands of the desert. Once he was out side the teen took a quick look around, he was relieved that ne could not sense any danger nearby. Taking in a deep breath the Alpha rose his sword and held it out like he would when he preformed his Bankai. He concentrated on the sharp point of Zangetsu blade and pushed his energy towards it.

The surge of black reiatsu erupted from the tip of the blade and Ichigo heard both Zangetsu and Shiro scream in pain from inside his head. He nearly stopped but he knew if he did then he would loose his hollow forever. Suddenly the raging reiatsu began to form and slowly Shiro manifested right in front of him. Once the albino was completely formed he collapsed onto the sand beneath him. Ichigo dropped Zangetsu from its out stretched position and momentarily turned his attention inwards 'Zan are you ok?'

He heard the old man gasping for breath before he weakly replied. 'I am fine Ichigo, I just used a lot of energy. I will recover soon but right now Shiro needs your attention'. The teen nodded and gently placed his blade down on the ground and stepped forward. He crouched down next to the panting hollow and gently placed his hand on the albinos shoulder. "Shi, how are you feeling?"

Snarling up at his King, Shiro used what little strength he had to push the teens hand from his body and crawled backwards slightly. "Don't fucking touch me! Why did you do this, I told you it was pointless! I can never go back now King! Your inner world was my home, it was the one place I belonged now I can't…" Not wanting to be any weaker that he already was the hollow scrunched his eyes closed and refused to let a tear slip. He wanted to hate his King for forcing him out of the only place he had ever really known. Yet he could never bring himself to hate the kind hearted Alpha.

Ichigo was surprised by Shiro's reaction, why wasn't the hollow happy to be alive? Why was he so distraught? "Shiro talk to me. You know I would never let anyone I care about die. Why is it so bad to be out here instead of in my head?"

His entire body slumped from exhaustion, Shiro really didn't want to talk about this now. He had never admitted it to anyone, even himself, but his biggest fear had always been being separated from his King. Ichigo was all he had ever know since he came into existence, he had watched the boy grow from being a little cry baby who lost his mother to the incredibly strong man that stood before him now. His entire world revolved around helping his King get stronger and protect those he loved, but he had never considered what he would do when he no longer had that purpose. Yes out here he could still help the teen but it would never be the same. He was now just another tag along that Ichigo would feel the need to protect rather than a useful partner that drove him to be stronger. Shiro felt like he would have rather lost his life than lost his purpose.

"I don't wanna talk now K… Ichigo. You've saved my life now you can leave me, you need to go and protect your mate and friends" Shiro spoke tiredly, he really didn't have the strength to do anything other than sit here in the sand and wallow in pity.

Ichigo stared down at the hollow and felt his chest tighten. Had he really been so wrong to save the one who had saved him so many times? The teen refused to believe it, he would have done the same thing a thousand times over if it meant Shiro would continue to live. Just as he was about to get closer to the albino he felt a presence appear behind him, looking over his shoulder he realized Byakuya had emerged from inside the cavern.

The noble had woken when he felt a large expenditure of familiar reiatsu coming from just outside the cavern. Byakuya wondered if Ichigo had felt a threat and had gone out to fight it, silently he checked on the sleeping members of their group and a small smile had claimed his lips when he had seen how Renji had protectively curled up around Ichigo's mate. Once he had established that everyone was safe and still sleeping he made his way to the narrow entrance. He peered out of the small hole and noticed that Ichigo was stood over the white version of himself who was sat in the sand looking very differently from when the noble had first met the hollow.

Byakuya wondered for a moment if he should leave them alone but something about this situation told him he should intervene. "Ichigo, its my turn to stand guard"

The teen looked at the noble for a moment before he nodded his head. "Thank you Byakuya" Ichigo turned his attention back to Shiro who was looking down at the sand with a blank expression. "Shiro I'm not going to leave you out here. Come on, let's get back inside" He watched as the albino refused to look him in the eye and tried to struggle to his feet. With a light sigh the Alpha moved to hollows side and gently pulled his pale arm over his shoulder. He waited for Shiro to protests but when the albino remained silent Ichigo simply guided him to the entrance.

It took a bit of painful squeezing to get himself and Shiro through the narrow entrance but eventually they made it into the heart of the cavern that acted as their camp. Byakuya had followed them in and pulled open the tent flap as Ichigo aided his hollow inside it. Once the albino was sat inside the tent the teen turned to the noble "Thank you. I know it's earlier than we agreed but I need to make sure he's going to be ok" The Captain gave him a small smile before he left them alone.

Climbing into the small tent he noticed that Shiro had laid himself down on the mat and had his back facing the teen. Ichigo wanted to ask how he could help, but right now it seemed that the best thing to do was to let the albino adjust. The Alpha removed loosened his obi and slipped out of his kusode, he flopped down next to his hollow and stared up at the darkened material of the tent. He waited a few minutes and listened as Shiro's breathing evened out, indicating that he had finally fallen asleep. 'Zan are you awake?' The teen asked inside his head.

After a few minutes Ichigo finally got a reply from his Zanpakuto. 'Yes I'm awake Ichigo.

The teen let out a deep breath before asking the question that had been running around his head. 'Why do you think Shiro was so upset about being saved? I've never seen him like this. It's almost like he wanted to die?'

'It's hard to say. Shiro has had consciousness a lot longer than I have. From what little he has told me, I believe he has been with you since you were a small child. I don't know him well enough to know how he thinks' Zangetsu sounded almost sad as he spoke.

Ichigo was shocked to hear just how long Shiro had been a part of him. He had always thought that both Zangetsu and Shiro had been brought into existence when he had gained his Soul Reaper powers, but it seemed Shiro had been with him for a lot longer that that. The teen began to wonder if he had any memories from his child hood that may have indicated the hollows presence. Eventually the Alpha drifted off to sleep with that thought playing on his mind.

Light foot steps of the young child padded against the steps as he slowly made his way up to his bed room. All day he had put on a brave face for his father and younger sisters and he was emotionally drained. His usually vibrant orange hair was now limp and damp from being stood in the rain. Once he reached his room he robotically went to his draws and pulled out a pair of blue and green pajamas, with a little difficulty he loosened of the white tie that was around his neck and pulled it from the black dress shirt his father had made him wear. It took him a while but he undid all the buttons on the shirt and slipped it off and neatly folded it.

Ten minutes later a nine year old Ichigo is dressed in his pajamas and he climbs in to bed. From the silence of his room he can hear his sisters soft sobbing from their room directly next to his and their father attempting to calm them. As he lay there in his bed staring at the ceiling with his comforter pulled up to his chin the boy finally allowed himself to cry.

Today had been his mother's funeral, it was only five days after her death but apparently the grown ups had decided it was time to say good bye to her. All through out the day Ichigo had not shed a single tear as he didn't want to upset his baby sisters more than they already were. Now that he was alone and knowing that his mother wouldn't be opening his door to kiss him good night finally broke the child's walls. He pulled the comforter up to cover his mouth and nose than let out his muffled sobs.

The young child continued to sob quietly and hoped no one would hear him. Suddenly out of no where he heard a soft gravely voice call too him. 'Ichigo, why are ya crying?'

Watery honey brown eyes snapped open widely and he looked around his room in search of the one who spoke. "W-who's there?" The childs voice was low and quiet.

'I'm here' The voice replied just as softly as before, making the child extremely confused.

"Where are you? What's your name?" Ichigo asked now wondering if he was dreaming.

'I'm inside you King. I'm not sure why I'm here but I don't like it when you cry, it rains when you cry. I don't know if I have a name' The was actually coming from inside his head. Ichigo wondered if he had gone insane.

"Have I gone mad. Tatsuki said that mad people have voices in their head" The orange haired child felt surprisingly at ease speaking with this strange voice.

'No King your not mad. I am very real and I'm here to help you. Now why don't you tell me why you were crying' The voice asked.

Ichigo decided that he really didn't want to be alone right now and this voice seemed friendly. He sniffed and answered the voices question "My mother died and its my fault. If I hadn't gone to save that girl my mother would still be alive. I'm sure she would hate me for what I've done"

The voice suddenly sounded angry. 'She would never hate you King, your mother loved you with all her heart. She would be angry that you are thinking that'

For at least an hour Ichigo talked with the voice in his head. He told it what all about his favorite things to do with his mum were and how much he loved her cooking. The voice listened and laughed with him and finally the child decided on a name for his new friend. "Hey I think I have a name for you since you don't have one"

The voice hummed 'What is it King?'

"Can I call Yujo? It means friend" Ichigo's was a little nervous that the voice wouldn't like the name he had chosen.

The voice was silent for several minutes before it finally answered. 'Yujo huh. I like it, I like being your friend Ichigo'

After that Ichigo spoke to Yujo when ever he was sad. The voice would help him remember the good times with his mother and cheer him up even when his real friends couldn't. As he grew older and his life moved on Ichigo spent less and less time talking with Yujo until eventually the voice would simply be thought off as an imaginary friend that he created to help him deal with the trauma of loosing his