Summary:

Talks between lovers, travels and one way to Earth's entrails.

Notes:

Thank you so much for all the support I received on the first chapter of this fanfiction!

The Ichihime tag isn't the most seen one on AO3, very far from it, but the number of kudos and hits were beyond I had hoped!

My enthusiasm to write this fiction grows with the comments, with the thoughts and the theories people might comment under a chapter, so please keep the ball rolling!

I will try to update every 1st and 15th of each month, hopefully my studies and uni projects will allow it ;_;

Was this chapter complicated to come up with? Nahh, I simply wondered how to write things best. Should I be crude with the words and the facts, what happens in the scenes? Or should I cover them, doll them up so they can be less shocking? I opted for the first, because well, that's what feels better for me. I don't want to sugar coat my words in a fic, because the harsher everything is, the sweeter the reunion.

I'm such a novice at action scenes haha but I'll get better!

But here you go! Chapter 2!

Chapter 2

"You're sure you don't need anyone to stay here with you? The grotto's in the middle of the woods, and your Clan is far away."

Ichigo, trying to dry his hair as fast and efficiently as possible, stared up at the waiting-woman in front of him, whose smile didn't quite put his mind at ease. Orihime was strong and wise, like all of her people, but was also known to be able to hide her fears and worries and place her life in the hands of the Gods she worshipped. While everyone did that, Orihime's way of doing so was always... iffy, to Ichigo. Like she was hiding behind a faithful and believable mask. A perfect facade without any cracks in it to filter the light of her true self.

"I have nothing to worry about while I'm here." She said in her smooth voice, eyes darting all around the cave's smooth walls, the woold covers covering a good portion of the wooden table that served for sacrifices. When the stone shined and the priests and priestesses received a vision, they had to thank whoever sent said vision. And according to what had been taught by everyone to Ichigo, the Gods weren't vegetarians, so small animals were sacrificed. Big preys like deers, sheep, goats were enough to pay your respect and ask for a blessing. With the wooden table and the wool, it was to be expected a ram would be their present for the day.

And Orihime, sweet, pure, innocent, kind Orihime, was going to do the sacrifice. She was already wearing the specific dress, white and long so her legs wouldn't be seen when the blood spills, and with her bare arms, she would dip her hands inside the animal to take its important organs to burn them slowly. It was quite the paradox for such a being to do such a thing.

But even if she was strong enough to do all that to an animal, a defenseless ram, if someone ill-intentioned entered the cave to hurt her... Ichigo gritted his teeth together and placed his cape back on his shoulders.

"... Still, please be careful. Don't let kindness hurt you."

A few times already, Ichigo or someone else had been insightful enough to avoid any harm to be done to her when an old man had tried to steal from her, or a young woman wanted revenge for the death of her son. Orihime had sworn to know how to protect herself, but the fear of her getting hurt was still very much alive in the young man's heart.

"Ichigo. I really like that you worry about me, but don't you trust the Gods? Do you think they would let one of their priestesses be harmed?"

Ichigo breathed out. Ah, yes, the Gods. He believed in his sword protecting him, as well as his family and friends. He believed in honor and strength. Something not all people possessed. She loved and trusted the Gods. He loved her and was scared of what her Gods might do to have her by their side earlier than necessary.

"Other priests have been assaulted and hurt, by humans or beasts before." He tried to speak without sounding too worried, as to not offend her, and she sighed too. "At least take this." He walked to her to place a hand-sized sword, what his Tribe called Tanto. It easily fitted in her hand, like a miniature zanpakuto. The weapon was black with the ties on the hold a burning orange while some bronze pearls were placed on the bottom for a better grip.

Orihime looked at the weapon with awe, letting her surprise overcome her distaste for weapons, and Ichigo knew he would have hell to pay for giving a weapon to someone from outside his clan. But that didn't matter. Not when her honest grey eyes rose back to his orange ones and she smiled. Purely out of thankfulness. Not because she wanted to be polite or to have him drop the subject. In her heart, he felt her thanking him for not treating her like everyone else did.

"Well, I'll be damned. Their village is still that far away from everyone else's? Fucking..."

"Please don't talk like that to possible allies, Dear Leader."

Isshin turned his beard at a smiling Urahara, their horses not even losing any speed at their rider's movements. Isshin pulled out his tongue in a childish manner and Byakuya sighed heavily, head very heavy with how much his co-leaders bickered for nothing.

"Please, let us ride in quiet."

"Ah, come on! We have been silent, deadly so, for hours, and my ass is hurting me like crazy!"

Ah, if Byakuya could visibly sigh and express his exhaustion, that would be such a blessing. But he couldn't. Honor. He had to remain calm and stone-faced and composed...

"Well, I must say, they do seem to be placing their village pretty far away from ours on purpose. We can't be loved and admired by all, Dear Leader."

"Stop calling me that. It gives me the creeps."

Urahara chuckled, waving the poor excuse of a fan he had with him, but before he could joke and say another stupidity, the forest's branches became less dense and the smoke from nearby fires appeared in the sky.

"It seems we have arrived. The shapes of the smoke and the color of it are too light to be from anyone else but them."

Isshin stopped his horse, breathing heavily and taking off his traveling coat to place his shoulder pad back on, the sign he was a warrior leader, that his goofy appearance could and would hide darker and much crueler parts. Urahara didn't change anything in his posture, the smile staying on his face as he repositioned his precious hat on his sandy hair. Byakuya watched them both, and when ready, the three of them led their horses to the opening wooden gates of the Ishida Clan.

"So, this man, the scout, never came here?"

"No, I've been praying to the Stone for 4 days now, and before your Father, no one came, either to visit the gods or ask questions."

Orihime rubbed her arm to get some warmth, thinking about her uneventful days before the rush of warriors from the Kenshi Tribe. She had explained to the nervous man in front of her that her days had been normal, almost boring.

"Renji told me a man had been sent to scout our lands, and he came here to check on the Stone, and he found it...What was it again? Touched by a fool's hand."

Ichigo walked closer to the exit, eyes narrowing to not be blinded by the afternoon sun. Orihime stood next to him, brows furrowed and lips pursed.

"It's known our tribe has... conflicts, with the Northern Tribe. Territorial bickerings. That's why the men were sent in the first place... But one of them returned and told us about the Stone. If none of it is true... If all that is a lie... then we must find him and understand why."

Orihime still pouted even if her gaze wasn't as worried as before. She wasn't supposed to know, or even care, about the other clan's actions. What she had to be and do, was to pray. Was to be what had been chosen for her by the elders. Ichigo took one of her freezing hands and pulled it to his mouth, blowing some steam on her fingers to warm them up.

It was always too hard to go. It could be for days, or months until they would see each other again. As the son of a leader and as the future High Priestess of her Tribe, they couldn't be.

They were like a ferocious wolf and a gentle deer. Co-existence was possible but oh so fragile. They both feared that the more they stood near each other, the more their hearts and mind linked and intertwined like wild vines, the higher the danger was. The dear would grow close and accustomed to the wolf only to be eaten, to have her pure white robe be sullied by the blood the wolf carried with him at all times.

"Whatever happens, please, be careful." He pleaded, closing his eyes tightly, hoping his only prayer would reach the Heavens, and that whoever was up there would hear and realize it.

Orihime caressed his hair gently, the gesture so intimate and sweet it had to be hidden behind a tree. She kept her hand on the orange hair as long as she could, tousling it, caressing it again, combing it, hoping his worry would vanish. It didn't, it could never fade away, but it made him calmer. He pecked the palm of her hand a few times, dropping the hand carefully before looking around and kissing her forehead longingly, lovingly.

"I promise to be careful. And when we are united again, you will teach me how to wield the Tanto you gave me."

Liquid bronze, a ripe chestnut lost in a powerful torrent, was how his eyes looked at her. He promised to return soon, eyes drooling for her with love.

Walking away. Trying not to look back. A deep breath. A cool hand hitting his forehead to bring his thoughts back together. His horse had wandered away during the day, and now he had to go and bring it back before thinking of going back home. The forest was humid with a light rain that had fallen when he and Orihime had been talking by the bathroom, tiny droplets falling off the leaves here and there. The trees were still harboring green leaves, but time was impacting them too. The weather was colder, and therefore the leaves started to bleed, the animals looked for a place to shelter them for numerous full moons and were harvesting grains and nuts and all the other things they could take with their tiny paws.

A squirrel, cheeks comically puffed by dozens of nuts in its mouth passed by Ichigo, and he whistled once again.

"Come on... Where did it go... Hey, Kea! Come! Let's go back!" He sounded hopeless, but he wanted to be back before the sunset.

Ichigo was about to whistle again when he noticed it.

Large, deep marks on a tree next to him. It was far too big, far too long to be anything any known animal could do, and no weapon could manage to butcher the tree deep enough while being so clean.

A branch cracked, meters away from him, and Ichigo immediately drew his zanpakuto, the hair at the back of his head standing. His hands felt moist, his jaw tightly squeezed to not shake and his stomach was turning.

Whatever was around wasn't normal. Wasn't natural for him to fear it without seeing it.

A loud screech resonated in the forest, his weapon shaking in his hands. It had been terrifying, the sound like a falcon, a dying dog and a rutting dear all together. Loud and impossible to miss, impossible to unhear also. Ichigo kept turning around to see nothing but the trees and bushes, the forest now deadly silent. He feared for an instant that he had lost his hearing, but he managed to perceive heavy steps coming, rushing to him, and he wielded his sword fast enough to shield his side from the claws he had not dared imagine.

In front of him, drooling and yelling was a creature as tall as him, much bulkier than anyone he had known, the human-like form covered in an abnormal shade of black. The claws were easily the size of his head, no doubt capable of crushing his head and all his bones in a blink of an eye, a deathly white descending from the tip to the thing's "hands". The creature didn't emit any human sound when Ichigo managed to miraculously block it, instead forcing its other hand on the human's side, sending him flying against a tree trunk with sprays of blood.

Ichigo couldn't yell at the pain. It was already too much. The blood was oozing out so fast, so abundantly that he couldn't feel his toes. Opening one eye, his body moved on its own when the creature rushed on him. His armed arm shoot up as his body rolled to his unwounded side, barely avoiding the horns at the top of the thing's head. The zanpakuto hit it square in the thorax, right between the 3rd and 4th set of ribs. If not for his instinct, the horns in the tree would have torn his stomach, his entrails on the ground near the mushrooms and the rabbit's shits.

The creature wailed, a different noise but just as earth-shattering, and Ichigo hid his face in his cape. Another sharp claw touched his body, but didn't slice open his skin this time. It felt heavy but gentle, as if trying to lower the cape off his face, to see Ichigo's face. The human barely moved, fearing to receive another hit, another wound.

But nothing moved. The weight that had previously been on him was gone, as if evaporated, and Ichigo carefully lowered the cloth to see nothing.

Nothing but the gaping traces on his sides, reminding him of the reality of his wounds, the importance of his blood loss and the horror of that creature.

Ichigo whistled a few more times, painfully and laboriously, hoping his damn horse could come and he'd be able to get some treatment soon.

Until he saw, a few meters away, the horse's dead body on the ground, opened in half for when the creature dined on it, ravens already coming to get some warm food.

He was alone. Wounded. And the darkness surrounded him before he could wish for protection for Orihime.