The breeze ruffled his hair.
Chryse had stood back, gazing wistfully from the other side. He had loved the sunshine once too, now all there was for him was falsity.
"How can I...," abandon my mission in Hueco Mundo? Ashido turned to stare at the Hollow after taking a few tentative steps.
"Hueco Mundo was your choice. Sooner or later, you will die here."
"That's rich, I'm already dead."
Chryse looked at him steadily. "There are worse ways to die. Once your comrades died, you had no mission. You are lost, Ashido. It's time to go back and let someone else become the guardian of the forest."
Through the calm measured tones of the Hollow, realization slowly dawned. "You? Just what're you planning?" Suspicion clouded his tone.
"I don't owe you an explanation." Chryse said levelly, glance flickering to the sword in his hand. "For what it's worth, our conversations were interesting. Thank you."
Ashido watched the dimensional rip seal up, diminishing his sight of the Hollow to a faint smile and then even that was gone. He stood in the warm sunlight of midday in a place he had never seen before. Somewhere children laughed, whooped and hollered on playground equipment.
"What kind of Hollow says thanks?"
...Hueco Mundo...
"I could go in your stead."
He stood behind her so close she could feel the pressure of his chest against her back. Rukia's fingertips tightened around Sode no Shirayuk's scabbard, the sword sent a responsive chill. She had to see this through. She had to know. "Then, how would I appear to the rest of Las Noches?"
"Aizen commands us both."
She knew if she turned around, they'd bump into one another. She would see slight consternation decorating his brow. Don't make it harder for me than it already is, she wished hopelessly. While not a fool concerning her abilities, Rukia fielded concerns of her own safety into the things she wouldn't think of which had begun to be many.
"You should know I'll fight with everything I have to come back to you." She vowed softly, refusing to give up the spark of hope in her heart. "I'm not dying easily." Again. Dying a second time, guardian of the afterlife. How could that be?
"Rukia." Quieter, almost as if he wanted to say more. The almost stabbed her with futility.
She turned quickly, fighting back useless fears. "Ulquiorra-"
But, he too had turned, glancing back over the length of corridor. Stark stood there with an inscrutable expression on his face. Without another word, Ulquiorra inclined his head to her respectfully, then turned with a swish of coattails, walked away.
"You know who you're facing."
"Yes." Be aware of his Kido, watch his cero and - "Is it possible he has a resurrecion?"
"Only Arrancars who've sealed their power into their zanpakuto have them. Chryse isn't there yet. From what I can see, his power grows when he chips off part of his mask, but it eventually regrows back so that must act as a power limiter."
"A time limit, you mean." She bit her lip. I can use that. "But, he was able to manifest a sword that resembled a zanpakuto." And what was that reverse thing...?!
"He's strong, but with a little cunning, you should be able to defeat him."
She nodded slightly, straightening from her leaning position against the wall. "I'll keep that in mind."
He walked up beside her, laying his hand lightly on her shoulder. Rukia braced herself for the transportation-like sonido, knowing that if anyone lingered watching, they simply disappeared.
On the dunes, he had brought her close to sand and rock. Not far in the distance, caves dotted the horizon. Chryse- Soujun, was somewhere outside of them, his spirit pressure enormous against the backdrop of emptiness the sekkiseki cliffs disguised.
Stark looked at her fully in the face seemingly at a loss for words. "See you."
"Yeah," she murmured, looking ahead. The moment his hand lifted, she felt Stark disappear, returning swiftly to Las Noches.
Rukia glanced down at her hand, shaking. Unacceptable. She started walking. Eventually cresting the sands, her sandals tapped against rock. Chryse stood against the backdrop of a cave mouth, twirling an energy sword.
"You've had long enough to decide."
"In Hueco Mundo time flows differently."
"That's your concern," Rukia said, gauging his mood. It seemed pensive. Outwardly lacking hostility. "We calculate time by Soul Society. Do you plan on joining Aizen in his war with Soul Society?"
"No." The Hollow dismissed the sword, his fingertips seeking to hold the energies flying apart. "Aizen Sosuke cares only for his throne. The Hollows who follow his banner are a means to the end. They'll be discarded once their usefulness ends." As he said this, his gaze drifted to her face, almost sympathetic. The almost stung her.
"You don't know that." She protested, stalking forward.
His eyes flickered down to his hand. "Don't I? You're here to kill me, are you not?"
She stopped short, wordless. Of course she was. Chryse- Soujun, with that face, wasn't lacking intelligence. "You're right. I am. This is orders, not anything personal. Chryse...no, once you were a Shinigami. I found you in the records. Your name was Kuchiki Soujun. I know none of it matters to you now, but names are important. They give you identity. I just wanted to say, I'm sorry, Soujun." Rukia's fingers curled around the hilt of the zanpakuto. "I'm sorry." Now, prepare to lay down and die. Revolving the blade counterclockwise, her reiatsu elevated into a twisting white column of mist. Chryse disappeared, blurring into sight above. The glitter of Kido sparked in his palm. Rukia was ready for it, performing the necessary gestures for Hanki Sosai.
Expressionless, he watched his Kido fizzle, drawing his own blade from the atmosphere. Vanishing, his speed crackled, she listened to his step move across the sky then rushed on to meet him. Chryse hovered above the sand, reappearing for an instant. She saw her opening, slicing mightily across. He met her blade in a clash of sparks, the glitter of light from his sword edge dashing them apart. Rukia felt the sting cleave across her wrist and side.
She was the superior swordsman. He still thought to distract her with flashy tricks to enable an easier win. "Tch!"
"Kunrinsha yo! Chiniku no kamen, banshō, habataki, hito no na o kansu mono yo! Shōnetsu to sōran, umihedate sakamaki minami e to ho o susume yo!" Chryse chanted swiftly.
Rukia recognized the technique as after incantation. He had cast without speaking the incantation then spoke it after the spell had dissipated. Unusual. She fired off the slicing burst of Kido from the edge of her sword. Chryse countered it with a smirk.
"Discarding incantation with half the power. Not bad by a long shot. Are you officer class, Kuchiki-san?"
Rukia whirled around, releasing the second half of the blast from the hilt. "Zangerin!" The resulting blast pushed Chryse across the sky. "None of your concern." She followed it up with a white wave. "Some no Mai, Hakuren!"
Chryse elevated his spirit pressure, shattering the majority of the ice surrounding him. Streaking toward her, He reappeared inches from her. Rukia instinctively raised the blade. Instead of a cut, she felt the lightest graze of fingertips touch her brow, burning her skin. For a second, she hesitated, then slashed upward furiously. Chryse leapt back, glancing down at his careless hand.
"Interesting," the freeze encased his right arm. "Your zanpakuto lowers your body temperature to freezing levels. The blade merely extends your reach."
She watched him cautiously. He was a dangerous foe indeed to have figured out her ability so quickly. "So? It's rather boring to just trade off Kido spells at each other, don't you think?"
"I suppose," he said, a glowing sphere of energy formed at his fingertips, twisting into a twisting vortex, she recognized the cero seconds before he released it.
Rukia felt it gust over her face, the warmth of a summer day came to mind, light, heat, sun. Bracing the blade just right, she clove it in two.
"You spoke a name before and claimed I was him. Where's your proof?"
"Your face," Rukia shrugged. "You have a sword release don't you?" Things that should be impossible, she thought, as I live and breathe. Chryse rolled his shoulders, the muscle rippling beneath the pale skin. That same beautiful hand trailed along his cheek, ripping the mask away in pieces. The resulting shimmer of energy raised her hackles.
"I suppose I can show it to you. You've shown me yours after all." He grinned suddenly swiping his hand out."*Nezame." He manifested the katana from air, red braided hilt, plain guard and scabbard. His reiatsu shot up in a column of gold light, the hilt formed a solar pattern before curving into a spiked bow with glistening string.
(*Awaken)
"Amaterasu Omikami." She whispered.
...Las Noches...
Twin snakes of reiryoku tracked the progress of the distant battle. He came upon Nnoitora monitoring the battle from afar. He passed down the hallway, averting his face, but the deviant still sensed him.
"Concerned for your bitch?"
A snide smile stretched Nnoitora's lips into a rictus grin.
"No."
"Damn, you're cold, Ulquiorra!"
"She won't fall to the likes of that trash." If he had been capable of understanding faith he would've known it was the same he held for her. He believed her when she said she would give her all to come back to him. If such a thing as happiness existed, it would mean everything, an all consuming joy. He had felt something similar when she had said those words.
That had made all the difference.
Brushing aside the deviant's presence, he entered the control room. The Primera sat in the oval backed chair, seemingly deep in thought.
"How long does she have?"
Ulquiorra was aware of minutes, the length of his stride, aimless wandering through Las Noches. Movement took the edge off his restless mind. Stark rubbed his chin, "two hours. One hundred-twenty minutes and then I'll descend to Valle de Las Almas to retrieve her." It remained unspoken. Or pick up her remnants if Chryse didn't feed on her. Ulquiorra refused to contemplate Rukia falling prey to the evolving Hollow. She would be victorious. She would return to him safe and sound.
"I've been meaning to ask you something."
A brief inquiring look then he idly inspected the cameras.
"What are you going to do if Rukia fails?"
"She won't."
"It's a reasonable question."
He knew the answer deep down. Must it be spoken? "Erase Chryse's existence."
Stark almost smiled, lips quirking. "What if Aizen orders him captured?"
"A Hollow who destroys an ally, isn't trustworthy enough to be a part of the army."
"You have me there."
"Why the concern for her?"
"It'd be a pain to keep infiltrating Soul Society without Rukia there to back me up. I just wondered if she could do it."
"Now you're doubting her ability?"
A little frustrated, Stark ran his fingers through his hair. "No, only something she...told me about Chryse. I only wondered if her emotional state allowed her to end his life."
Ridiculous, he thought. Rukia would never allow her emotions to get in the way of her duty. Disturbed he was on another level for the Primera's words indicated Rukia had sought him out for companionship, likely in Soul Society. "Your curiosity is misplaced, Coyote Stark. Rukia isn't any of your concern unless you are on mission together. Outside of missions, you shouldn't come near her."
The Primera scarcely moved hearing his full name spoken. "So you say. But, who are you to monitor her movements? Is Rukia yours alone or does she belong to the cause?"
His brow faintly furrowed. The question was logical but not the heat behind it. "I should think the answer obvious, trash."
The divinity of legend...the gilded Goddess illuminating heaven and earth. Sweat dripped down Rukia's brow. She felt it and frowned. His reiatsu boiled the still, dry air of the desert, magnifying it into a shimmering haze of a hot summer's day.
"*Tsuranuku."
(*Pierce)
Fascinated, she watched a glittering orb form at the apex of the arrow. Reiryoku? No...it was cero! Shit. The light multiplied into a hail of a thousand arrow tipped cero brightening the dark sky into a paroxysm of daylight. Rukia leapt between the beams, evading them by inches, feeling the scorching heat graze her skin. Shit...that was close. She half-turned glimpsing Chryse draw the bowstring tight, materializing the shaft and fletch.
The last dashed the ground apart leaving smoldering craters behind. Rukia spun around, swinging her blade up. "My turn." Piercing the atmosphere four times, "she unleashed Hakuren once more, countering the swath of arrows.
Chryse watched unimpressed as his cero obliterated her beautiful ice. There was something enticing about the petite Shinigami, her grit, her flashing violet eyes and resolve. Interestingly enough, she was resolved against all odds to destroy him.
Rukia shunpo'd across the sky, her reiatsu streaking an icy halo around her form and blade. Chryse knew her strategy before her hand had even descended from above. Close quarters. No arrows. He couldn't fire without a certain radius between them. Well, that was her foolish assumption anyway.
Deflecting her with a swipe of his bow, she pulled back and slashed again, trading off vicious swipes with low defensive postures from her scabbard. Chryse shimmied from side to side, evading her sharp jabs. He knew eventual frustration would be her downfall. Rukia snarled something when he ducked her high cut. Sidestepping almost too easily, he drew the string back past his ear. Rukia corrected her stance tardily, faltering with the hot light splashing her icy field.
"Taiyoken.*"
*Solar Flare
Nearly blinded, she careened into the sand below, her white garments smoldering. Then, she surprised him by flipping up from the ground through the air, the white ribbon trailing through her shadow.
"Juhaku!"
The technique shot up from the ground, growing into a thickening base of ice twisting into a tree trunk.
Chryse turned his bow sideways. "*Gyaku."
*Reverse
He watched the ice consume her form.
Rukia shut her eyes, bracing herself for the deluge of mist solidifying into mass. From the ground roots clung, their trunk spiraling around her, concealing her body in a fairytale like sleep.
Her ice tree didn't stop until perfectly shaped ice leaves sprung from the canopy of branches. Locked within the icy shell, Rukia held still, motionless, her reiatsu hidden within the embrace of ice. Chryse believed it was over. She sensed him land a distance away, cautious, curious. He was curious for a Hollow.
He was closer, dismissing his sword release.
She didn't move. She let him think whatever the hell he wanted. Dead...inert...trapped. It was easy for him to associate the first with her. Chryse preferred the threat ended. He would kill and kill until Aizen decided he wasn't worth losing souls over.
The odds of that were nil.
Still, even if she had fallen this day...
Who would've come next? Stark...Ulquiorra? Nel Tu? Nel was almost expendable in Aizen's eyes, the less he recalled her existence in Las Noches, the decrease in possibility he'd send her out on a potentially suicidal mission.
Chryse leaned close to his glassy reflection.
Now or never.
Rukia broke through her ice, the subzero frost scorching a fiery trail against her exposed skin. She lunged for Chry- Soujun's throat, her sword tip inches from punching through his hierro.
He stood still, a little surprise widening his eyes, both of whom she could see into now, staring into her own. In his face, she saw the man Byakuya could've been, gentle and kind, a man who should never have been on the frontlines. In his eyes, she glimpsed the pride he held onto, the honor he felt in serving the Hollows, wanting to end their conflict, she also saw sadness.
Her hand wavered.
"Go ahead."
I can't. Something held her back. Somewhere in the Hollow, a piece of goodness had survived. A Hollow who spared a Shinigami, who knew kindness, that was rare indeed even in Aizen's creations.
"If I kill you now," Rukia murmured, her voice soft, a touch lighter than the fall of a snowflake. "Aizen will have his way. All the Hollows of Hueco Mundo will fall to him."
"They will, they're seduced by power easily." Soujun agreed bleakly.
"But, you offer a different way." Rukia lowered the blade, "you give them hope."
His army...
Gradually, Rukia watched the bone reform on his face, his equine body a reminder of humanity lost.
"Aizen must be stopped."
"And Soul Society?"
She replaced the sword in her scabbard, warmth slowly flooded her veins, her body temperature returning to normal. "They must be crushed."
"You speak of your former home's demise as if it means nothing."
It was yours once too.
"I've been made to see the rot that exists in Soul Society's core." Vividly, she recalled the words of a fellow Fukutaichou. "In one thing, Aizen is correct. There is good and bad in all races." Human, Shinigami and Hollow.
By mutual consent they left the place of their solitary battle, returning to the caves. Soujun had fashioned chairs from rock, rough hewn beside a circular table. He offered her a seat which she took gladly. Though, she refused to show it, she was spent. Maintaining her shikai and moving - faster than she had thought possible, mimicking sonido to match his superior shunpo, was well physically exhausting.
"Rukia," Soujun poured her a cup of water from a pitcher hidden in a cubbyhole in the wall. "Why did you say you were sorry? I'm not used to sympathy from a Shinigami."
"Oh, that," she sipped at the clear, cool water. Surprised at how it soothed her parched throat. "I...was sorry for a dream. No matter how you might deny your identity, you're the only thing that remains of Kuchiki Soujun. I've thought of all the things that could've been, even though I am Hisana's sister, your son adopted me as his sister. Byakuya gave me his name and tried in his own way to keep me safe."
Soujun lowered his gaze to the reflection in water. "It saddens you to have lost it?" The Hollow in him puzzled over the word that was suddenly so very difficult to speak. "Family."
"Whether, he knows it or not, Byakuya-niisama needed you," as did I.
I'm sorry for the hundred things I cannot change. Soujun touched her hand absently, lightly patting the curled fingers as if he wasn't sure it was the right gesture. She withdrew first, putting aside her emotions. "I've seen now the power of your blade. Evolving to the final level will place you in position to potentially kill Aizen."
"How can I? Some Hollows remain stuck at their current level no matter how many souls they consume."
Rukia ignored the last part of the sentence. "Are you saying you can't evolve any further?"
"I don't know."
"How about we help one another?"
She could tell he was listening. That was a good sign. "I want to achieve my Bankai. It's come to me now, that I need to grow stronger in order to survive. I need someone to help me."
"You have plenty of Arrancars and Hollows at your command."
"They're at Aizen's command," she corrected. "I know some are trustworthy and I plan on approaching them as well."
"So you consider me trustworthy?"
"Let me tell you this," she leaned closer. "Aizen ordered me to kill you if you refused to join him."
"You disobeyed him then. How do I know you won't betray me as well?"
"If you help me, I can give you inside information as to Shinigami strengths, officer classes, the works."
"Why would I need that?"
"Chrys-," she saw his hesitation and changed. "Soujun, does it bother you when I say that name?"
"No, no, I...it's fine. You were saying?"
"I'm not stupid. Ashido told me you were gathering Hollows. You're amassing an army to challenge Soul Society."
A half smirk almost a lopsided smile lifted his mouth. Soujun looked pleased. "Your intelligence is commendable, Rukia. Even if I was interested in your offer, how do I know if I can trust you? I'm not who I once was, you slay my kind."
Rukia smiled cockily. "Simple, I haven't killed you yet."
He escorted her as far as the Valle de Las Almas. "Thanks, I can get back from here."
He nodded absently, a slight smile of reminiscence stealing across his face. "What're you going to tell Aizen?"
"That you'll support the Espada by invading Soul Society."
"Ambitious, but what if I don't?"
She sighed, "that's a bridge we'll cross when we come to it." Dimly, she could sense the swath of Stark's reiatsu coming across the desert like a cloud over the moon.
The two hours must've been up.
Half-formed words hovered on Rukia's tongue. By the time she opened her mouth, Chryse- Soujun was gone, swallowed up by the desert.
She sighed again to herself. Was this the right choice? Letting him live? Ulquiorra had suggested he might prove to be an invaluable ally despite being against Aizen, she felt the same.
"I can still sense the bastard." Stark's voice cut through the silence like a knife.
"That's because he's still living." Rukia said, slightly annoyed. Transportation-like sonido be damned. He still didn't have a right to sneak up on her. "Let's go back." She said before he could comment anything else. A mere nod sufficed and the lightest touch on the arm as the dunes blurred into a streak of light and sound.
In the audience hall, Rukia stood before Tosen who had summoned the Espada. She noted the boredom present in their faces, surmising another ally was the least important in their minds.
"Chryse has communicated to me based on the outcome of our battle, that he is impressed by the Arrancar army. He does not seek position among the Espada class. He prefers to gather his own army of Adjuchas in support of Aizen."
"What? The pansy's afraid of losing an open challenge?!" This from Nnoitora, who guffawed on a pillar above. The Quinta's voice carried. Rukia stifled her annoyance with a frozen glare. "I'll remind you that power does not come from boastfulness."
"Yet he didn't come here to announce his intentions." Tosen said, impassive, face stony. "He told you this?"
She drew up her height, the hauteur of a noble accenting her presence with power. "Yes. You doubt my word, Director General?"
If the blind man sensed her silent fury, he said nothing to its effect. "No. I'll accept your word for a job well done. You are dismissed, Kuchiki-san."
She bowed formally, acknowledging her dismissal.
"I say let me fight him!" She heard Nnoitora shout once her back was turned. Slowly, almost indifferently, she walked from the audience hall.
Chryse is...our ally. She thought if she kept repeating it in her mind she'd start to believe it as well. What is it they say...hope is a thing with wings? Ha, fat chance of that.
Bubbles streamed from her mouth. Rukia's feet touched the sandy bottom. Darkness dwelled on the other side of her lids. Pushing down suddenly, she shot up through the water, surfacing with a frothy wave that lapped the shore.
The lake beneath the palace had shallower places, a damp rocky ceiling formed a slight dome over the old watering hole familiar to some of the older denizens. She swam through the clear water, paddling noisily back and forth. She had noticed it also had healing properties. Her numerous aches and pains from the battle eased with the superlative coolness of the water.
Rukia submerged again sinking her body beneath the depths. She had chosen a white one piece with light mesh stretched across her abdomen to the bandeau-like top. In the seconds of her immobility, she sensed someone enter the underground lake. A reiatsu that flowed outward in calming dark waves.
Then, he was there.
Hand sliding along the curve of her hip. Rukia leaned back into his narrow chest as they gradually rose through the water.
"You're bruised."
"It'll heal."
His hands rested against her abdomen, fingers caught up in the soft mesh.
She thought he didn't need to know she had been frozen inside her ice tree, punted across the sky, nearly incinerated by flaming arrows. Such was the life of a warrior, she smirked.
"Is it possible for me to read reiatsu the way you do?"
"I don't know," he admitted, breath rustling the top of her head.
"Show me."
"Imagine your chest expanding, opening up."
She had dutifully closed her eyes as he spoke, listening to the beating of her own heart.
"I can't feel it." Disappointed, she opened her eyes, seeing the hazy reflection they made in the water.
"Well, you don't have a pesquisa." He sounded amused rather than condescending.
"What if I did?" She tried to imagine being an Arrancar. The piece of bone, a resurrection state, her power divided between her body and sword. A hole through her chest, or maybe her hand or eye like some she had seen and...emptiness.
"No. You mustn't."
"We'd be the same."
"I don't want you to be the same."
Rukia turned to face him, the water sloshed against her breast. Extending her finger, she traced the outer rim of the empty chain of fate.
"Does it hurt?" She felt him shiver at her gentle touch.
"No, it doesn't. Once it must've."
She pursed her lips, trailing her palm down the flat planes of his chest. "I missed you." I was frightened I wouldn't return. She hated that she had let herself feel the emotion. A warrior should never accept concern from others because it disparaged her skill. Fear was less acceptable.
She stopped at the water line, her forearm resting against the shifting currents.
"I...,"
"Shhh." He inclined his face toward hers. Rukia turned away, her brow furrowing. Letting him in was it possible? Light coaxing from his free hand brought her to look up.
"I know it was orders, but even so everything feels so wrong. Sometimes I can barely stand myself. It's unbelievable that I'm here."
"Rukia...,"
He kissed her brow.
"Then, there's you and there's me."
And I'm afraid for tomorrow.
Aizen made it feel easy. Her promotion, the acceptance of Seireitei. A comrade in Hinamori-san. It was a dream - her dream and it was all wrong. Lately, she had been forced to wonder at her place in Aizen's vision of a new world.
King, a castle…what did that make her? A princess. No. A knight. They were pawns in a much larger game.
That's why- it was impossible to think of anything when he was so close. Touching her.
Someone immaterial touched her mind.
Rukia felt the electrical tingle dance against her cool wet skin.
"Kuchiki-san, I must speak to you immediately."
Tosen.
She stiffened and pulled back, eyes narrowed. She felt observed. "Sorry." Fingertips fluttering, warm blush on her cheek. Rukia swam in long clean strokes for the opposite shore. Once she climbed out, she grabbed a robe from the lockers. Fluffing out her wet hair, she stuck her sandals on without socks, utilizing shunpo to traverse the corridors of the palace quickly.
Tosen was waiting for her in Central Command.
"Sorry…" she said coolly. "I was delayed."
The blind man made no comment. He swiveled in the white high-backed chair. Rukia glimpsed her reflection in his visor.
"What is it?" She was aware of the tentative quality in her voice and sought to quell it.
"Aizen-sama sent word that a member of the Thirteenth Division accosted a Shinigami in tattered robes. He was carrying a Hollow skull as a shield and had no known associations with the Gotei 13."
Her heart raced faster. "Where?" It couldn't be. It was as if her thoughts revolving around him had become real. Ashido!
"In Karakura Town. He was taken into Soul Society for questioning." Tosen said, "as far as my intel goes, this was recent within this past day."
"I-I see," she tried to hide her feelings behind an impassive front. A slight inclining of her head in respect. She thought she was dismissed.
"Kuchiki-san, be careful when you return to Soul Society. This man's sudden appearance was not factored into our plans. Still less, we know nothing about him."
She listened and forced a calm reply. "I will. Now, if you'll excuse me." But, she knew. Ashido. His story. His hatred of the Hollows. Distrust and suspicion of the goings on in Menos Forest. She left Tosen to his own company, striding alone down the echoing hallway.
One thing she couldn't forget was that Ashido knew her face as well.
-TBC
AN: Thanks for reading!
No flames.
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