New chapter! Hope you like it.
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Chapter Ten
Desperate
Menos Forest, Hueco Mundo
Holly and Ishida didn't get very high before hundreds of Hollows started coming to investigate. Between Ishida's ability to fire twelve hundred arrows at a time and the speed with which he fired the volleys they weren't getting too close for comfort. Holly could see dark ones with masks that looked like white versions of plague masks towering over the rest.
"Those are the Gillians," Ishida informed her as he shot down all the ones in sight. As more and more Hollows came at once they were able to get closer. Holly tried to move faster, but without much success. Finally they were within reach of the roof of sand.
Holly fired a blast up at it. She had been hoping to break through in one blow, but she barely made a dent. She fired again and again as Ishida continued to ward off Hollows. Slowly they were able to start moving though the gap she was making. Ishida began alternating between firing down at the Hollows and up at the sand between Holly's shots. It sped their progress, but also allowed the Hollows to start closing in. Finally they broke through and emerged from the hole.
As soon as their feet hit the sand they started firing though the hole at the Hollows that tried to clamber through after them. The Hollows were biting and clawing at each other, every one determined to be the first through. Slowly their numbers thinned until they were all gone. Holly and Ishida both collapsed to the ground as soon as they were sure no more were coming.
"That is exactly the kind of idiotic stunt that Kurosaki would pull!" Ishida exclaimed when he caught his breath.
"That's nothing. I once rescued two superior officers who were being held in a human habitation by using a LEP shuttle to tear the house down, back when it was illegal to enter human dwellings without an invitation," Holly replied, grinning.
"That definitely sounds like something Kurosaki would do. Fowl didn't come up with that plan, did he?"
"No, that was a few years before we met. His plans tend to be more complex."
"Like using energy from an exploding bomb to transport an island from Limbo back into real time," Ishida stated with a touch of sarcasm.
"Hey, would you have thought of it?"
"Probably not," he admitted. "Don't his plans ever go wrong?"
"Of course. I didn't tell you all the details you know, that would take a few books! Like when we had to catch that lemur, that took a few wrong turns, but we got him in the end."
"How exactly did that go wrong?"
"Our dwarf friend, Mulch, agreed to tunnel under the park to get Arty to the lemur while I stayed above ground as backup. Mulch's sense of smell led them right to the lemur, but part of his cage was over the gorilla's cage. They came out in the gorilla's cage. The gorilla decided Arty was a threat and attacked him," her voice shook with the memory. "I got it away from him and I was so relieved when the healing worked…" she cut herself off and sat up.
"Where is Las Noches anyway?" she asked.
Ishida wondered about the sudden change of subject, but didn't press the matter. He stood, turning until he could see Aizen's old fortress. "It's there," he said pointing. "But we should get some rest before we go. We won't do them any good if we're exhausted when we get there."
"Fine, you take the first watch," Holly said laying down again. Considering she had done most of the work to get them here Ishida didn't argue. He sat looking towards Las Noches, hoping they would get there in time.
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Abandoned Caves, Hueco Mundo
"I don't trust them," Orihime whispered. She and Artemis were facing the back of the cave as far from the Visoreds as they could get. Which put the Visoreds between them and the exit.
"Why not?" Artemis asked her. He couldn't see any reason not to believe them. Everything they had told him fit with what he had been experiencing for the past year.
"Didn't you notice? She seems more like those Arran—whatever they were back at that prison. If Shinigami can have Hollows inside them maybe Hollows can have Zanpakuto."
"It seems possible. Maybe she is, but she was afraid we wouldn't believe she was really trying to help if she told us that," Artemis considered.
"Maybe it's a trick to get us to come back without any trouble!"
"We hardly gave them any trouble the first time they caught us. A trick seems entirely unnecessary."
"That's exactly what they would want you to think if it was trick! Maybe it will be like an episode of one of those science fiction shows when they make the characters think they're safe at home, but it's just an illusion so they can mess with their brains!"
"I think you watch too much science fiction. The fact is, unless I learn to control this thing it is going to turn me into a rampaging monster and anyone near me is going to hurt or killed—including you. That doesn't leave me with much choice."
Orihime was quiet. Something about that possibility was not only terrifying, but familiar. The fact that she may have faced something like that before was worse than anything else that had happened since she came to this awful place.
"I should also point out that we don't have any other way back to our world." Artemis added after a few moments.
"What about Holly? If she comes looking for you she must have a way. Besides, you don't want her to be stuck here and not know you escaped."
Artemis nodded, she had him there. Holly would come, and she would refuse to leave until she found him, he was sure of that. "Perhaps we can wait until we know whether or not she is here. I don't see any reason why they would not go along with that." Orihime nodded, at least that would give them more time to decide whether or not these people were really on their side.
Artemis walked back to the Visoreds to explain the situation. Orihime stayed where she was. She couldn't explain why she didn't trust them, it was just a feeling, but for a year and a half she hadn't been able to trust anyone but herself. Artemis had quickly proved an exception, mostly because they were both prisoners. She didn't want to see the first friend she could remember turn into a monster, but she didn't want to get captured again either.
Her fingers absently brushed against the hair pins she had put on her collar. She pulled them off and looked at them, frowning. Like everything else here they were frustratingly familiar.
Artemis came back and sat next to her. "They agreed to wait. I asked Kasai about your Hollow theory. She said it's true and they are called Arrancars. Apparently she's the only one who's not hell-bent on massacring the Shinigami which is why she's with the Visoreds instead of Las Noches—that's where we were imprisoned."
Orihime nodded, but she thought that was exactly what she would say to gain their trust. The word Arrancar also caught her attention, she had almost used it earlier and in exactly the way Artemis had said it should be. The longer she was here the more it seemed his theory that she had been here before was right.
Why would she have been here? Why would the Hollows or Shinigami want her to forget about it? Why would they be so desperate they would erase all her memories instead of just the ones about this place? She closed her hand around the hairpins. It seemed the more she learned the more questions she had.
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Edge of the Valley Hueco Mundo
Ulquiorra watched as blue flashes of reishi shone against the horizon. The reishi was unmistakably Quincy. It seemed at least one of the girl's old friends was on his way to rescue her. How would he react when he learned she had escaped without his help? Of course with Kasai involved she was likely to need rescuing again. The Quincy's long-range techniques just might give him an important advantage. If it weren't for those Visoreds. If it came to a fight, which seemed likely, Kasai would have one of them deal with anyone who could avoid her techniques. The woman might have some formidable skills, but she was little more than cowardly trash.
The flashes of reishi stopped. Judging by the distance it would be several hours before the Quincy arrived. It seemed unlikely that Kasai would do anything too drastic in that time. She had the boy fooled—and Koboi had called him a genius! Of course she also called herself a genius so her standards weren't that high. Kasai would take her time convincing the girl. She was patient. This was one time that virtue could be used against her.
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Thanks and prayer,
RAHbooks.