Hello! I am BACK with Chapter 12 of Brotherly Differences! As such, I shall now take the announcement down :D
ANYWAYS, now that Chapter 12 is up, I shall keep to what I said in the announcement and finish the story before I release any more chapters. Although, I can tell you that chapters 13 and 14 are both complete, did them on the aeroplane this morning after finishing chapter 12 :D

So, I hope that you enjoy this chapter, and I will see you all at the end of the story!

Chapter 12: The Man Behind the Smoke

Darkness. That was all that they could see. Strange, for a fire...
Be careful. There's something about this fire that even I don't understand. I sense something… a presence I haven't felt since…
Since what Moeru Fenikkusu?
Well, since my birth.
What do you mean?
Well, fire is fire, right?
Right, what about it?
Well, it comes in different forms, elements, if you will. I am part of the Phoenix element, hence why my appearance is like a golden fire. However, there are several elements. There's the purest element, the fire that you can make by yourself, that appearance is more of an orange-y yellow-y colour. There's a lot more, but, looking back to the time of my birth, I viewed every single element. This fire that we have surrounding us… it's the Dark element.
The Dark element?
Indeed. There's one thing different about the Dark Fire than all the other elements other than its appearance of course. It's the only fire that has to be controlled by another.
You mean like a zanpakuto?
No, nothing like that. I don't know how it can be controlled or who is controlling it. But what I do know is that it's bad. Really bad. Be on your guard, Drakerla.
OK, will do Moeru Fenikkusu.

Drakerla and Byakuya walked through the fire, trying to find the Head Captain. After about ten minutes of endless walking, they saw a small orange glow. It was the glow of the Head Captain's zanpakuto. Drakerla and Byakuya ran towards it. They were then suddenly surrounded in a flurry of fire! The Dark Fire opened a hole of light around the two captains, so they could see what they were up against. The Dark Fire stayed there, flailing away like flames do. Suddenly, a pathway opened up in the fire, and a man walked out.
"Gin." Drakerla stated. He scowled at the former Squad Three Captain who had emerged from the flames.
"Hello Kuchikis, it's been a rather long time hasn't it?" He asked, mockingly. Byakuya scowled as well, remembering his immense dislike of Gin Ichimaru and the betrayal of the purple haired man.
"So tell me, Ichimaru, how did you come to be the one to control this Dark Fire?" Drakerla asked,
"You know its name! I'm so proud, I guess that means that I won't have any explaining to do before I kill you both!" He said, Byakuya chuckled and asked,
"Where is Head Captain Yammamoto, what have you done with him?"
"Why, he's safe within the fire, for now. I will return him to you in due course, don't worry. I just… need a few things from him first!"
"If you're talking about getting Ryujin Jakka from him, you're highly mistaken. He'll never give his zanpakuto up, and if he even if he did it wouldn't give him up." Drakerla remarked, now bearing a smug grin on his face.
"Oh, Captain Kuchiki, you're so naïve, you realise that there are ways to unwillingly release a zanpakuto from its master?" Gin chided, Drakerla looked at him in surprise, he had never heard of a way to forcibly release a zanpakuto from its master. Byakuya, meanwhile, was thinking back to when he was a young boy, and he had learnt about the zanpakuto in great detail. He widened his eyes in surprise at what he thought the former Squad Three Captain was going to attempt. "Surely, you wouldn't even begin to attempt that, Gin. It's foolish and you know it as well as I do." Byakuya stated, a mischievous grin made its way onto Gin Ichimaru's face, he chuckled slightly, and said, "Oh, Byakuya, come on. With the power I possess, the outcome that you're thinking of will most definitely not happen." Byakuya's eyes narrowed, he had an immense dislike of the former Captain, after his betrayal, but now the Squad Six Captain disliked him even more for what he was planning to do.
"Byakuya, what is he talking about? There's no way you can release a zanpakuto from its master, surely?" Drakerla asked, the worry etched into his voice. Byakuya sighed, and explained everything to his little brother.
"Drakerla, the zanpakuto is an advanced piece of weaponry, it is like an extension of your soul, and an extension of your conscience at times as well. There are ways that a zanpakuto can be released from its master, or its Soul Reaper, if you will. Some Soul Reapers, like yourself and I, do not think of ourselves as the masters of our zanpakuto. We think of them as our dearest friend, and our greatest ally in battle. Others however... prefer to rule over their zanpakuto, and not let them help during a battle, Kenpachi Zaraki being one of these select few. If a zanpakuto no longer trusts its master, they can refuse to use their powers in battle, so that the weapon of a Soul Reaper will just remain a sword, and they will be unable to use their Shikai in battle. This zanpakuto can also just leave the sword, so that their powers will no longer be used... ever again. But, if you learn about the zanpakuto enough, you can learn of one way to release a zanpakuto from its master, without the consent of the zanpakuto... Ichimaru is trying to attempt this way. And he is a fool for it if he think he will succeed."
"But, how can he do this?" Drakerla asked. Gin stood there, laughing to no end, as the younger Kuchiki looked on in confusion. Gin finished his laughter, and explained,
"You see, Kuchiki, a zanpakuto is effectively a soul of a sword. By ripping out the soul, you release the zanpakuto, and it lingers around for a while, before attaching itself to something. And that something... can be anything, that the person who released the zanpakuto chooses it to be."
"Now I know why you allowed us to enter your... well, I suppose you'd call it home, Ichimaru." Byakuya stated.
"That's madness! You can't possibly do that!" Drakerla exclaimed, Gin cackled, which sent shivers down the younger Kuchiki brother's spine.
"Well Byakuya, unlike your brother it appears you have a brain." Drakerla scowled at Gin for his remark. "Yes, it's as you expect. I need the both of you here for a special reason. I won't tell you what that reason is, of course, but you'll find out soon enough." He finished. "Well, I suppose I shall leave you two be for now... until the time comes anyways. Goodbye!" He said cheerily, a hole opened up in the fire again and Gin stepped through, leaving the Kuchiki brothers on their own once again.

"Byakuya, what was he talking about? What is this special reason?" Drakerla asked. Byakuya sighed, and explained…

"As I said earlier, the zanpakuto is like an extension of your soul. There are ways that a zanpakuto can willingly leave its Soul Reaper. And there is a way that a zanpakuto can be forced to part from their Soul Reaper. What Gin Ichimaru is trying to do is rip Ryujin Jakka from Head Captain Yammamoto."
"But how can he do that? What is the special reason that we're here?!" Drakerla was getting more and frustrated with Byakuya, as he just wanted a simple answer.
"As Gin said, by ripping out the zanpakuto from the sword, the soul (of the zanpakuto) lingers around for a while. The person who forcibly released the zanpakuto must then choose where this zanpakuto will now go. I believe that we have been kept here so that Gin can use one of us as a host for Ryujin Jakka after its release."
"But, wouldn't that kill us?!" Drakerla exclaimed, Byakuya shut his eyes, before slowly opening them again, a look of concern donned his face.
"Yes, it would definitely kill the host. Whilst their body would remain, their soul, their identidy and everything else would cease to exist… But why Gin has kept the two of us here, I have no idea why…" Byakuya mused.
Drakerla, you need to careful. I've got a bad feeling about this.
Why am I not surprised? Look what we're surrounded in! And either myself or Byakuya is going to die! Moeru Fenikkusu, can you tell me anything, anything at all about the Dark Fire?
What I can tell you, is that Gin Ichimaru has been controlling it for some time. Perhaps since before he joined up with Sosuke Aizen, I'm surprised that he managed to hide it for so long… In order to be able to control the Dark Fire, you need to have an understanding of it first. And that takes years to gain. I'm not quite sure how he would be able to use you or Byakuya as a host though, as he would have to remove either myself or Senbonzakura before putting Ryujin Jakka in… Oh I'm so confused!
But what if Gin's not planning to use us as hosts at all? What if he's thinking about adding Ryujin Jakka to the Dark Fire, in order to make it more powerful?
I suppose that's a suitable argument, considering the Dark Fire isn't technically a zanpakuto, it could be the host… But then, why would Gin Ichimaru need you and Byakuya here?
Maybe the test the new found strength gained from Ryujin Jakka?
Possibly. Ask Byakuya whether a death needs to occur so that a zanpakuto can be ripped out. If his answer is what I think it will be, then we have an even bigger problem.
Ok Moeru Fenikkusu, I trust your judgement.

"Hey Byakuya…" Drakerla started,
"Yes?" He replied,
"For a zanpakuto to be ripped out from the sword, does someone have to die?" Byakuya sighed once again, and explained,
"It is not easy for a zanpakuto to leave its Soul Reaper, especially a zanpakuto like Ryujin Jakka, one that has been loyal to its Soul Reaper for over thousands of years. So, yes. In order for Ryujin Jakka to be separated from Head Captain Yammamoto, someone will have to die. However, it cannot be the Head Captain, as Ryujin Jakka would also be killed. That is why Gin Ichimaru has kept us here. So one of us can die, whilst the brother watches on in hopeless and despair…"

HAHA! CLIFFHANGER! Well, sort of. Anyways, I hope that you enjoyed this chapter. And remember that I won't be posting any more until the story is complete, so that I can guarantee you chapters instead of leaving you all hanging for ages in suspense, not knowing when a chapter would appear or not. I think from now on, I will do this with any new fanfictions that I write as well, as I have learnt my lesson now :D My Star Wars fanfiction however, I will post new chapters as and when I complete them, as that story is guaranteed to be A LOT longer than this one.

Chapter 13: D-Day – Which Kuchiki brother will face the music, and fall to Gin Ichimaru's evil plan? Read to find out!

Remember to read and review! Reviews keep me happy and inspire me to write (or type!) more!