The sound of a frantic feline worked its way into her dreams. With a good amount of effort, Karin forced her eyes to open. They felt like they had been glued together. Everything was a bit blurry at first, but slowly the coloured images resolved themselves into two people and a furious, white jaguar desperately fighting his restraints. Two guards had Grimmjow caught between them, cables going from their gloved hands to end wrapped around his neck. With one on each side of him, he couldn't get to either one. She's seen it done many times in movies with wild horses and dogs. In the middle of the arena was Hashwald. This did not bode well.
She struggled to her feet, needing to lean on the wall as she fought the last of whatever they'd given or done to her. Stupidity! she cursed herself. Just what we get for being lax, unless whatever they slipped us was something he couldn't detect anyhow.
Adrenaline was burning through the drug and she reached down to grab her bone weapon before stumbling towards the exit. All their attention was on Grimmjow, even the two that came to help restrain the furious feline. She made it to the front of the cell and paused only long enough to slap the 'open cell' button on Starrk's cell before running as fast as she could towards the confrontation. She didn't stop to see if the button worked or not. Her run started as a stagger, but she was fully functional by the time she was halfway there.
She flung her weapon, the knobbly end smacking into Hashwald just as he started to bring the light sword down towards Grimmjow. It surprised him just enough to give her the last few seconds she needed to tackle him to the ground. Fortunately, the blade of energy dispersed the moment their bodies collided, more so because he probably didn't want to risk cutting himself as they tumbled over as opposed to having lost control over it.
Furious snarling and ripping sounds came from behind her, as well as the terrified and agonized screams of the four men. She quickly untangled herself from Hashwald, although not before managing to get her knee in his gut and her elbow on the back of his head. A quick scramble to her weapon and she put herself between the two now frantically feasting hollows with Nanao at her side. Her partner had a long fang in one hand and a claw clutched in her other fist like a pair of oddly shaped daggers. Like the feeding frenzy, Grimmjow and Starrk were gulping down the human remains extremely fast. She'd counted three bodies, with the fourth man just reaching the edge of the pit and scrambling terrified at the gate, which no fool would be dumb enough to open as it would give the two loose hollows a chance to escape, before putting all her attention on the very real threat before them. The sound of bone snapping and cloth tearing sent a shiver up her spine, and she caught Nanao give one too out of the corner of her eye. It wasn't a sound she was going to forget anytime soon.
Hashwald rose to his feet and calmly brushed the sand off his uniform, not the least bit afraid of the two hollows, nor seemingly injured from her two scores. The other hollows in their cells were letting out a mixture of laughter at the plight of the Quincy and shiver worth howls of blood lust as they paced excitedly at the bars of their cages.
"What is going on down there?" a new voice demanded, one that caused instant silence to fall over the arena.
Karin glared hatefully up at Yhwach as the Quincy King stood on his balcony looking down at them.
"Just some pruning, my liege," Hashwald answered, turning his glare back to the two hollows that had almost finished eating. Grimmjow let out a snarl and stood from the mess of blood and cloth to stalk up to her side. She did notice that was where he stopped, and his body trembled beside her own. She wondered how much of it was rage, how much was fear, and how much was him just fighting to stand as the drug worked its way out of his system.
She knew a bit about hollows and, now that the initial panic was over, she understood what Hashwald had been doing. A hollow stopped gaining power if their mask was broken, and Grimmjow was both gaining power fast and hardly loyal to the Quincy. It would be foolish of them to let him continue to gain in strength, so they had decided to curb his growth and focus on breaking him for loyalty. Foolish of them because she knew Grimmjow didn't just give his loyalty to anyone, not even someone as powerful as Aizen had been.
That would be a fight worth seeing, Aizen verse Yhwach. May they murder each other at the same time.
"I see," Yhwach let his eyes shift from his subordinate to her. She returned his look with a glare of hatred and rested one hand on Grimmjow's shoulder. She almost expected him to snap at her, for it was foolish to touch a pissed off feline, but instead she felt the flesh beneath her hand begin to settle. "Return to your cells," Yhwach ordered. "Not you two. You two stay there," he gestured to the two women as they all made to return to their cells.
"Like hell," Grimmjow snarled, not moving from her side while Starrk let out an annoyed sigh and moved to stand beside Nanao. All four of them looked up at the Quincy King defiantly. Well, three of them. Starrk looked more annoyed and resigned than defiant, like a child dragged to their mother's tea party.
"That was not a suggestion from his majesty," Hashwald stated firmly, reforming the blade of energy before him.
Karin looked back up at Yhwach, then at the other guards that were starting to draw weapons, mostly bows and crossbows made of energy, from the safety of the balcony. They were trapped in a pit. Even if they returned to their cells, they would be trapped in there too. There really was nowhere to escape to. They could easily be starved into submission, or all the other cells could be opened at once. That would not be a pleasant fight, and one they might not survive.
"Go," she gave Grimmjow's shoulder a shove. "If they wanted to kill us, the archers could already have done so from the balcony."
"Karin is right," Nanao agreed with a sigh.
Karin removed the cables from around his neck, tossing them aside, and handed her weapon off to Grimmjow, who reluctantly took it in his mouth and returned to his cell. Nanao did the same with Starrk. Both women stayed side by side as the bars to their partners' cells were closed and the main gate finally opened. To her surprise, no one came to grab them, although the surviving escort fell through the now open door, sobbing in relief.
"Your guards really suck," Karin snorted to Hashwald, who came up to stand beside them.
He ignored her barb. "This way please. I believe his Majesty would like to have a word with you two."
"More like you are going to bring us up top and toss us back into the pit tomorrow to be eaten," Karin scoffed.
They follow Hashwald towards the open gates without resistance.
"Perhaps, but I doubt being eaten will be on the mind of any hollow chosen. I must give Grimmjow commendation for his restraint. It must have been difficult for him to hold back while being confined with a female in heat."
Karin froze, then gave her head a shake and continued to follow the other two towards the exit. "Well, that explains the strange behaviour yesterday," she mused.
"Your hair looks rather good short like that Karin," Nanao commented.
"You think so? I think Grimmjow did an excellent job considering the tools, or lack thereof, we had to work with. You should ask Starrk to do the same. Trying to keep long hair clean and tended to in this sandy pit is pretty much impossible. Shorter hair, less tangles."
The two of them continued to go on about grooming difficulties in an effort to remain nonchalant as they were led to the gate, where four guards await them. Their wrists were restrained behind their back before they were permitted out into the corridor, and why was made obvious quickly. Karin almost let out a sigh of relief as control of her reiatsu suddenly returned and she swore Nanao had a tear in her eye. Restrained, there was not much in the way of Kido either one of them could perform and shunpo was dangerous to do while off balanced and in narrow halls.
They were led down the corridor and through two turns before coming out into an open room where Yhwach waited for them. The four guards stopped outside the door, leaving the two women alone with the top two officers of the Quincy army.
"I must say, Karin, you are so like my son, I almost feel as though I could take you as my daughter," Yhwach chuckled.
"Didn't know you had a son," she snorted. "You going to take these restraints off? They are stupidly uncomfortable and if you are even half as powerful as people make you out to be, I doubt you have anything to fear from some human woman and a fukutaichou."
"True enough," he chuckled amused.
Hashwald removed the restraints and Karin took the time to rub her wrist and look about the large room they were in. She recognized a mini hospital when she saw one. Well, I suppose the other women would need prenatal checkups. Looks like the men are permitted to watch, she noted as she spotted a large cage in one corner.
"What do you want with us?" Nanao asked, her voice firm and her posture almost at ease.
"Very little from you, although, I think what we have here is a potential for amusement, if nothing else. I have little use for useless things, and Starrk and Grimmjow are both becoming useless to me; more expensive to feed than to maintain. I see no reason to let them continue in their growth. You do not waste resources feeding a non-asset."
That was a not-so-subtle subtle threat their way as well and she shared a look with Nanao.
"Humans ovulate so frequently that I figured just giving you time to do so would work, but I never figured Grimmjow, of all hollows, would have the restraint necessary not to mount you as soon as you started. As for you," he turned his attention towards Nanao, "I had hoped Starrk, who must be in a constant state of hunger seeing as how we can barely keep up with feeding a creature of his power, would have happily eaten the woman attached to the man who had almost killed him."
"He's the most 'human' hollow I have ever met, save for Nel-san," Nanao commented.
"What have you done with the other women who gave birth?" Karin asked, for she knew exactly where this conversation was going.
"They languish in their room, raising their young and being doted upon by their masters," Yhwach answered with an amused smile. "I found it rather surprising how blood thirsty and viscous hollows could become so tender towards their offspring and pet breeders," he chuckled. "Do you honestly think me so foolish as to send troops into the front lines so soon after their conversion? They need time to become accustom to their new bodies and powers after all."
"And to make sure they are completely loyal to you as well no doubt," Nanao crossed her arms and glared at the two Quincy.
"I hate cryptic takings and politicking, so let's be perfectly frank with each other." Yhwach offered Karin an amused smile at her snark. "If Nanao and I do nothing, you will kill all four of us, or at least, break Grimmjow's mask, and Starrk's, to halt their evolution and make them cheaper to fed. You don't believe they ever plan to rape some woman to give you brats for your army. Correct?"
Yhwach gave a firm nod of his head, amused smile still on his lips under that atrocity he called a moustache.
"Not until they have reached a panicle of power that is too dangerous to be trusted with anyhow," Hashwald added, speaking for the first time since they arrived into this medical room.
"Starrk is already very powerful, far more than Grimmjow," Nanao pointed out.
"Yeah, but Starrk is not as aggressive," Karin pointed out before turning her attention back to their 'host.' "I am not going to try and pretend that's not what Grimmjow is doing. I am not him so obviously I can't say yah or nah. Here is what I want to know, and you better be telling the damned truth, or I will happily let Grimmjow eat me. Well, maybe vindictively anyhow. I can't picture anyone would actually be happy about being eaten."
Yhwach let out an amused chuckle.
"IF we let Grimmjow and Starrk mate us, will you leave their masks alone and evolve them when we give birth?" she asked firmly, letting her eyes bore into Yhwach. "Or even before, I don't think they will be picky."
"We will evolve them after," Yhwach answered with nothing but pure truth, and Karin was rather good at detecting bullshit.
"Can we talk alone for a moment," Nanao requested.
He gave them a vague gesture, which Nanao took as consent and pulled Karin away to the other side of the room. "What are you thinking?" she inquired in a soft, frantic voice, "other than the obvious."
"We are definitely not going to escape from this pit of a pit, at least not anytime soon. We can delay things, but sooner or later they can starve us out or just shoot us through the bars. I cannot just let them break Grimmjow's mask, not when he saved my life at least twice since I have been here. Ichi-nii would certainly never forgive me, nor would I forgive myself."
"I don't think your brother would forgive Grimmjow for de-flowing his little sister either."
"My sexual life is none of my brother's business any more than his is mine," she snorted. "Do you let Shunsui dictate yours?" she pointed out.
A blush touched Nanao's checks and she looked aside.
"Have you ever had a partner?" Karin asked suspiciously. Sure it was uncomfortable thinking about breeding with what was physically animals, even though they technically weren't, but Nanao seemed a bit more off put by it, Karin would even label it as fear if she didn't know how strong of a woman Nanao was.
"That's beside the point. It's against the law for a Shinigami to have intercourse with a hollow. The punishment is death."
Well that makes a bit more sense as to where the fear is coming from. Good old, 'damned if you do, damned if you don't.' "Right now, your laws are the least of our concerns," she pointed out. "Besides, doesn't the law also say that shinigami with hollow powers are to be executed? Last time I checked you got three vizard acting as taichou, not to count the rest helping out in your war."
"True," Nanao frowned, clearly thinking things through the best she could in their situation. "These are strange times. Kyoraku-soutaichou certainly wouldn't let them execute me for something outside of my control." Nanao worried her lip.
"Nor would Ichi-nii, or I. It doesn't sound to me like you guys can afford a civil war, and that is exactly what would happen considering what is going on here. I am sure the spirit of the law meant for consensual relationships. I can't figure they would execute so many women for being tied up and raped. The real, and only, question is; do we want to do this? I mean, I am not into bestiality, but I guess they are still 'technically' human. Just warped into a different form. At least you got a coyote. Dogs only knot and get tied to their partner until release," she grouched.
Nanao looked less afraid and more like the analytical woman Karin knew she was. "It would get us out of the pit at least, assuming they keep their word. They could still break Starrk and Grimmjow's masks after the breeding."
"At which point I plan on letting Grimmjow kill me. Probably won't even need to ask him to. He would be so pissed he would do it just to spite them. The other upside is we might get something other than rice and water for food, because I am to the point I need to convince my body to swallow the accursed stuff."
Nanao worried her lip some more, her thoughts turned inwards as she contemplated their options. They did have a choice after all, it was just between a couple of real shitty ones. There was really nothing stopping Yhwach from having them both trussed up and tossed back into the pit at the mercy of different hollows. She shivered as she remembered the sight of that poor woman, suspended in ropes and held firmly in place while she was fought over and then raped. Nanao had missed that, thankfully, but there was a good chance that another woman would be tossed down in the time they would spend here, maybe even her if they refused.
"You are right. The choices are tremendously terrible. This one seems like it gives us the best chance to find a way out of here," Nanao sighed in defeat.
"I would say it could be worse, but that would be stupidity." That brought a bit of a smile to Nanao's lips and the two women returned to where Hashwald and Yhwach were waiting rather patiently for them. "If I'm going to do this, let me do the talking. Grimmjow is just as likely to eat the messenger as listen to them."
"Same. Starrk might take the news better coming from me."
"Excellent." Yhwach seemed rather pleased. "If you will lay down, Ise-san, Hashwald will prime your body for breeding," he smirked at Nanao.
Well, that explains how they found so many shinigami women in heat. After all, everything in the realms of the dead is made up of reishi, and Quincy excel and specialize in manipulating it. I bet the most talented can even warp the appearance of another. It wouldn't be much different than turning an adjucus into an arrancar, and vice versa, and we already know king 'stash here can do it.
Nanao looked like she was having second, and tenth, thoughts about this whole idea, but she did get up onto the table and Karin stood by her side in silent support. Hashwald was the one who stepped up and rested his hand over Nanao's stomach. Karin wasn't exactly certain what she was expecting to see, but other than Nanao giving a shiver of discomfort as Hashwald's reiatsu touched her own, there was nothing else to see. In fact, the whole thing took less than a minute.
"How do you feel?" Karin asked her.
"Like someone penetrated my stomach with a knife made of oil that oozed its way in," Nanao shivered. "But otherwise fine and no different."
"That's good." Karin turned her attention to Hashwald. "You married?" she asked.
"I do not see how that is your business."
"Married, yes or no?" she asked again.
"Yes," he admitted.
"Trying for kids, or waiting for after the war?"
"We are both warriors…." He seemed slightly confused by her line of questioning, even as she cut him off to get to her real point.
"So you are waiting. Excellent. Got any spare condoms?"
Nanao choked and almost fell off the bed as she was getting off it. Hashwald looked at her with mixture of shock and horror while Yhwach looked highly amused at her interrogation of his second in command.
"I… even if I did, that would defeat the purpose…" he stammered. For the first time since she'd had the displeasure of knowing him, Hashwald looked flustered and lacked his 'haughty' attitude.
"Barbs, jackass. Felines have barbs on their cocks. Even a child knows that. I don't fancy my insides being cut to ribbons, thank you very much. Cats also mate frequently during a heat so I am going to assume Grimmjow will do the same. I will need probably a good dozen or so and a small pair of scissors to cut the tips off with."
She wasn't certain who looked more mortified at the conversation taking place, Hashwald or Nanao. Yhwach looked like he was holding back hysterical laughter by the edge of his tight pants and some inner control all nobles had to make them seem better than ordinary folk. In either case, the Quincy king seemed to be enjoying the rather embarrassing moment his subordinate was going through.
"I truly have half a mind to take you on as a daughter," Yhwach laughed. "There should be some condoms kicking around in the supply room. Get a box for our charming breeder if you would."
"Of course, your Majesty." Hashwald finally got himself back under some control and retrieved a box from one of the many cupboards that lined the room while she tried to resist strangling Yhwach with his moustache for calling her a 'breeder.'
"I am sure you can use the fangs and claws you are keeping as weapons in your cells to puncture the tips. For your sakes, I hope you can convince your cell mates to breed with you, for I would hate to have to offer you both to different partners, ones who may not be so amenable to your comforts," Yhwach threatened.
"Well, if I can't get him to agree, I'll beg him to kill me," Karin grumbled.
"I may ask the same of Starrk. I am sure a Fukutaichou would make a decent meal."
Karin turned away from the two Quincy and headed towards the door, juggling the box back and forth between her hands and listening to the packages inside shake. Nanao came up beside her and the two of them walked out the door. No one was on the other side, but that didn't bother her any. It had only been two turns and not exactly a ton of corridors between them and their goal.
"Now would be a good chance to make a run for it," Nanao mused as she eyed the empty corridors.
"Tempting indeed, but I got a feeling there are a lot of guards just out of sight. Besides, running would give them an excuse to ignore the so called 'deal' we just made. We have no idea where we are in the complex either and there might be other bars blocking the corridors. After all, they let the other slaves wander about down here," she pointed out.
"True," Nanao sighed. "Are you really okay with doing this Karin?" she asked.
The true answer was, no, but she didn't really see much in the way of other options. Instead of letting through just how afraid she was, not of having sex with Grimmjow, that didn't really bother her other than the discomfort of his form, but the thought of having a child, one that wasn't even human, that was the part that terrified her. Nanao was expecting an answer though, so she gave as honest as one as she could that wouldn't send them both into hysterics.
"Not really, but options are rather limited. If you are having second thoughts, I would happily trade you for Starrk," she offered with a hopeful look on her face.
Nanao gave her head a shake as she answered the hidden request. "I think I would sooner avoid barbs, and I doubt Grimmjow would bother with me even if we did. Sorry, you are stuck with the big feline."
"Damn. Starrk is so much smaller too. Just remember that dogs knot, so let him pull away when he's ready. It shouldn't take long at least."
"I can't believe we are talking about this," Nanao groaned. "Rangiku would be having a field day. She is just crazy enough she might even look forward to the idea of having sex with a dog or a cat."
"Maybe," Karin chuckled, remember the crazy redhead that drove Toshiro bonkers, and who had gone to a few clubs with her once she was old enough to do so. No one could manipulate men like Rangiku could. "Look on the bright size, dogs are smaller than humans."
"That doesn't help much. The first time should be with someone you care about, not some person you just met, and certainly not forced like this."
"We'll be fine. Who knows, maybe it will turn out that Starrk is the one for you," Karin winked at her. "After all, if Yhwach holds to this bargain, Starrk will be returned to an arrancar."
"It would be against the law!" Nanao protested.
"I thought the Vizard were being accepted, and no one seems to have any issues with Nel from what I have gathered."
"They are, but I fail to see how that matters… Oh wait, I see where you are going with this. I guess the only real difference between a Vizard and an Arrancar is which side of the spectrum they started from. They are essentially the same race once converted. And you are right, no one would say anything if Hiriko-taichou started to date someone. That would at least open an argument for not being executed for forming a 'relationship' with an arrancar. Still, Starrk and I have only known each other for a few days."
"No different than an arranged marriage. Japan is getting away from such things, but a lot of old school families still use it."
"It is still very prevalent in Soul Society, especially amongst the upper class. It's fairly common in the lower classes too. I suppose if we think of this as an arranged marriage, with rather unusual spouses, it's not too bad. I can think of worse men than Starrk."
They made it back to the main gate that led into the pit. They still hadn't seen any guards, but they did pass a few other slaves scurrying about their jobs. The two women received a mixture of mournful looks and confusion, for they were hardly acting cowed like the other slaves and there were no escorts.
"Have you been added to our ranks?" Harunobo asked them surprised.
"I wished," Karin groaned. "No, we are returning to our cells after that personal interview with Lord Dickface."
"I see," he looked at them sadly. "Would you like to walk around the cells, or just enter here and we can open up the gates for you."
"Walk around," Nanao answered for them. "I wouldn't put it past them to open up the other cells from some control room."
"Of course, follow me." Harunobo led them back to their cells.
As Karin had expected, most of the hollows in these cells were considerably larger than Grimmjow and they didn't seem to have that much room. If there were any women in the cells they passed, she couldn't see them through the bulks of the hollows that were watching them with far too much interest. A few even drooled and were clearly excited, judging by what dangling between their legs.
Starrk and Grimmjow were both on their feet and almost pressed against the bars when they arrived. Both were taking deep breaths. Starrk hunched his shoulders, flattened his ears, and ducked his tail pathetically between his legs. It almost made him look cute if not for the fact he was still a hollow.
"Looks like they didn't kill ya," Grimmjow snorted.
"Nah, but in about ten minutes I may be wishing for death," she grunted. She shared an encouraging smile with Nanao, then lost sight of the other woman as they stepped into the safety cages attached to their cells.
"What's with the box?" Grimmjow asked suspiciously.
"Condoms," she answered honestly, holding the box so he could see. The door behind her locked with a click and the smaller door into her cell clicked open to let her in.
"Condoms?" he repeated, eyeing the box.
"Yeah. I need you to be honest with me here. IF you were to be returned to an Arrancar, do you think you could find a way to escape?"