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Here Kitty Kitty
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Chapter 3: The Prowl
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Author's Note: The beginning of this chapter explains a bunch of stuff that I may as well tell you now. No use putting off information that you'll need for future chapters, yea? xD Anyway, just bear with me through this chapter, and I hope you at least like the few surprises I snuck in here. x3
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Down past the dark depths of the forbidden forest, and over the steep plains made of jagged stone stood a colossal mountain.
Though it wasn't quite as large as Masaki Rock, owned by none other than King Isshin, it was still a magnificent tower of pure, rocky earth and it had been magnificently shaped by the ancient winds that caressed it.
The current ruler of this barren, rocky land was a powerful lion named Sousuke Aizen. He was infamous for his calm and gentlemen-like smiles that would make anyone drop their guard, just so he could strike them down and stab them in the back. Though, not many animals would think of him as a bad guy, because he was so handsome and pristine—he even had these sweet brown eyes, but if you looked close enough, you could only find disdain and an undying lust for power hidden beneath that warm façade.
Now, you may be wondering why he would live in such a desolate land when he could easily take anything he wanted. Why would he let his 'family' live in such harsh conditions, only letting them venture into the forests and touch the soft grass for short missions.
That's simple: Because he wanted his so called family to grow strong and fierce. He wanted them to know hardships that would make them as rugged as the very cliffs they walked upon—unlike those soft kittypets who lived comfortably in their warm dens and grassy plains which were shadowed by the soft forests' trees.
Oh how Aizen longed to smell the fresh scents of growing leaves and feel the grass between his toes, to feel the lush moss beneath his body as he slept. He had to remind himself everyday that it would all be his for the taking, if he just waited patiently.
When he was first banished from Isshin's lands, he had thought that he would just become some useless rogue—a loner with no purpose—some mangy cat.
But that was no life for a proud lion like himself.
However, luck was not on his side as he wandered aimlessly in the forbidden forest for many moons. It wasn't until months afterwards that he finally saw his chance.
He had accidentally stumbled upon a small white fox and a blue-haired panther. At first Aizen just sniffed at the two shivering bodies in disgust, but then an idea had come to him. He had decided then and there that he would make a family of his own—one that was much stronger than Isshin's own puny group of cats.
Slowly his family began to grow and he ended up raising many young kits that had no where else to turn to. Eventually, other animals began to join him; Gorillas, snakes, foxes, birds and etcetera. And once they were all old enough, he had come up with the brilliant idea of ranking each one, forcing everyone to seem less like a family and more like an army.
More like 'Espada'.
Most of the animals quickly got used to the idea of calling each other by rank instead of name, but there are still those who greatly apposed the idea… not that it really mattered—Anyone who dared to try and defy Aizen's word were dealt with swiftly and sufficiently.
A few moons back, Aizen had sent a few of his Espada to spy on Isshin, and he was happy to find that the tiger and his family were still as weak and soft-minded as they had always been.
It would be easy for Aizen to take down Isshin and finally take what was his—the land that stretched as far as the eye could see, and, of course, the gorgeous tower of sand-colored stone known as Masaki.
But just to be sure that his plan wouldn't fail, Aizen had ordered his top Espada to go and capture a member of the king's family, preferably a female, so he could use her against them. Aizen knew that those softies were too caring to let one of their own be harmed in any way.
Chuckling lowly to himself, said lion leaned comfortably back on his throne, which was carved of the purest stone and encrusted with different jewels that could be found in the various winding tunnels within the mountain.
"What is it you find so funny, Master?" A sly voice echoed about the large throne-room, straight from the darkest corner of the cavern, where the fading light of sunset (Which seeped in through the holes in the cave) could not reach.
"Nothing my pet. I'm merely reminiscing about the good old days." Sousuke hummed in reply, not at all surprised to find that he was not alone in the room.
A flash of white quickly slunk from the darkness and straight towards the lion, who smiled lightly when he felt his pet crawl right onto his lap.
"You're getting rather bold." Aizen observed as a fluffy white tail wagged back and forth happily and a narrow face nuzzled against his chest in an affectionate manner.
"Master likes it when pet does this though." Yipped the silver fox, a smile stretching his thin lips. The lion chuckled and his tail swung back and forth languidly as he petted the creature for a second.
"Gin, do me a favor and go fetch Ulquiorra and the others, I'm sure they're here by now." He ordered as he waved his hand in a dismissive manner.
The fox seemed a little put out at being sent away from his master so suddenly, but nodded and left without complaint—eager to please the felid who had taken him in and raised him when no one else would. As soon as the white tip of his tail disappeared behind the shadows of the tunnel, another voice erupted from behind Aizen.
"You shouldn't push him away like that, who knows how he might take out his frustrations."
The almighty lion actually blinked in surprise at hearing the other's voice, but he merely shrugged off his astonishment by leaning his elbow atop his armrest and propping his chin up on his palm, nimble fingers tapping lightly at his temple.
"I do not appreciate you sneaking around like that, and lecturing me in such a way will only serve to anger me. You're almost as bad as your brother when it comes to pressing my buttons." Aizen reprimanded as he watched the other felid slowly walk out from the shadows, revealing his long, light blue hair that cascaded down past to his slim hips, and made his dark blue ears stand out. Soft teal markings surrounded sea-blue eyes and stretched past his temples to fade into his wild hair. His eyes sparked in the sunlight as they stared at the lion and his long, dark blue tail gently swayed back and forth, barely grazing the ground.
"And I do not appreciate being compared to my insufferable younger brother." The panther shot back, making Aizen's hackles rise, but he didn't lash out like he would normally do to anyone else who dared talk back to him like that. He merely smoothed out his silk robes absently—as if he was a bird smoothing out its ruffled feathers—before turning his narrowed eyes back to the panther.
"I do hope you came here for a reason besides riling me up, Pantera." He said calmly as he gently pulled at his long bang which constantly hung in his face.
"I did." The panther started as he began making his way towards the lion until he was a few feet away from the stairs that led up to the jewel-encrusted throne. He bowed respectfully before continuing, "I have news that you may find interesting. And it involves my brother and a certain king's son." Pantera explained and straightened once again, his eyes locking with Aizen's, which now blazed with curiosity. "About an hour after you sent the Espada out I went to follow after them and make sure they were doing what they were told, especially since Grimmjow and Nnoitra like to go off and do their own thing." He paused when he saw Aizen sigh and roll his eyes, knowing full well that those two would try to disobey him, one way or another. Then he waved his hand for the panther to continue. "Well as soon as I found them I saw Grimmjow and a certain orange haired tiger together and they were hugging and chatting as if they were best friends." Pausing again, Pantera watched as his lord narrowed his eyes in thought and then a wide, victorious smirk took over his face. Taking this as his cue to go on, he continued, "Well, then they seemed to have an argument all of a sudden and Grimmjow just ran away. The tiger looked guilty at first but he just shook his head and ran in the opposite direction. Later on I followed his scent up to a hidden area, right near this waterfall. It looked like a secret little hideout. But then later on I found him and that rogue you had spoken to last week, and they were cuddled up together like they were mates or something." Pantera finished with a cross of his arms and a flick of his tail.
Aizen was silent as he soaked up all the information he had just received.
So the mission had apparently failed, if the Espada's delay was anything to go by… which did put a small dent in his plans, but knowing that Grimmjow and Ichigo were good friends—or possibly much more than that from what he gathered, that alone could possibly help him get what he wanted (and more) without even shedding one drop of blood. But that rogue could be a problem in the future…
An evil smile snuck upon his lips as another plan came to him, and Pantera wisely took a step back, his ears flicking nervously at the look on his lord's face.
"Lord Aizen…?" He called, snapping the lion back to reality.
"Yes. Well done Pantera. I have a new task for you now." The larger felid announced as he began gliding his way down the steps, his head held high as he walked. "Go and fetch Grimmjow. I wish to speak with him. And on your way out, tell the other Espada that I will speak to them about their mission, which I'm sure they had failed, later on. Until then, they are to stay in their dens." And with that Aizen turned and disappeared in the tunnel that led outside, and Pantera could've sworn that he saw a happy sort of bounce hidden in his quick steps.
Meanwhile, Grimmjow was sitting atop a high ledge that let him gaze out past the wide stretch of barren land that he called 'home'.
'Tch… Only Aizen would call this wasteland home… that sick freak.' He hissed in his head and then he curled himself into the fetal position, his dark tail curling around his legs protectively, and his gaze slowly drifted towards the distant green line that stretched out near the horizon, but it was quickly fading to a bright orange color due to the setting sun.
He sighed sadly as he remembered how his life used to be when he lived in that very same forest. In there was the only place he would ever call 'home'. No soft words of comfort from his lord could ever tell him otherwise.
His brother may have given up on ever going back to the life of the forest, with the soft leaves to surround them, but Grimmjow still dreamt of it every night. He also dreamt of Ichigo's familiar scent and glowing bright hair.
After living around the rocks and being away from the subtle scents of living things, he had forgotten what Ichigo had even looked like, except for that garish orange hair, but, after seeing his long-lost friend for the first time in years, everything came rushing back to him like a crashing wave.
Memories which he had locked away a long time ago.
"Grimmy! 'ey, Grimm! Come 'ere, quick!!" Shouted a loud voice that could only belong to one cat.
Said small panther cub came skidding out of the fern and bushes, straight towards the voice that was calling out to him. He stopped just in time before falling into the large stretch of water that lay in front of him. He snapped his head to the left to see his orange-headed friend sitting right beside the gurgling riverside, and his wide auburn eyes were staring intently into the crystal clear water.
"Wuh is it?" Grimmjow scowled cutely as he stomped over to the other's side—and here he thought Ichigo might've been in trouble.
"Look, look! What're those!" Curious eyes carefully watched as slippery looking creatures moved back and forth through the water swiftly, as if they were part of the flowing river.
"Oh… Those're fish." The panther answered, and he beamed proudly while puffin out his chest when Ichigo turned towards him, a look of amazement showing on his chibi face.
"You know what they are!?" He said excitedly, practically bouncing up and down.
The panther's ego seemed to swell with the praise.
"'course I do! I know everythin'!" Grimmjow chuckled triumphantly, but he deflated at the tiger's next words.
"I bet Pantera jus' told ya!" Ichigo giggled when his friend scowled down at the water grumpily. Apparently he'd hit the nail on the head. "So what're ya supposed to do with 'em anywayz?" He asked, quickly changing the subject, but that huge smile never washed from his face.
Grimmjow found himself smiling slightly as well from just remembering the other's happy face. And if he remembered correctly, that same fiery passion from back then still burned within in Ichigo, and the tiger still wanted to be friends with him—which made Grimmjow happy—but the whole Espada thing is what was keeping them apart…
Sighing, he tore his gaze away from the now dark and starry sky in order to think clearly.
'I could run away from Aizen… 'nd ask ta join Ichigo's family… bu' Isshin prob'ly won' warm up too well wit' a panther—since he's the one tha' attacked my family and all… I wonder if Ichigo would run away wit' me… yeah! We could live on our own, s'not like we can't take care o' ourselves! But judgin' by the way Ichigo acted before, it would be pretty difficult ta persuade 'im ta leave his family like tha'. And his parents, whoever they are, might not be too keen on lettin' him leave either… KEH! Why does this 'ave ta be so damn difficult!'
Grimmjow felt himself growling aloud as the thought of Ichigo and him never being able to see each other again crept into his mind. He didn't even want to think of something like that happening—he would make sure that they met again, one way or another.
"You seem quite sexually frustrated…"
Grimmjow nearly jumped out of his skin when the sudden voice spoke right next to his ear, but he narrowed his eyes and growled again when he immediately recognized that oh so fucking familiar voice.
"Go away, Pantera…" He hissed and kept his gaze glued towards the stars, not wanting to give his brother any more attention than needed.
"Aww… And here I was hoping for a big, warm family hug from my wittle bwother." The larger panther teased as he moved his face unnecessarily closer to the others, purposefully invading Grimmjow's personal space.
Said panther hissed and shoved at the other's face in order to regain his own personal boundaries before snapping, "No. Now go'way and allow me ta wallow in self pity."
His brother hummed thoughtfully before also gazing up at the sky which glittered brightly with dozens of tiny stars.
"You know… You should forget about that tiger… I know you two were great friends when you were little… but… people change. You'll never be able to get that same friendship you guys once had." Pantera spoke with such wisdom and experience that Grimmjow wondered if it was really his annoying older brother that had just spoke, and he was also a little pissed that Pantera knew about his association with Ichigo… and knowing the other, Aizen probably already knew about it, and knowing him, he was probably cooking up some evil plot that involved him and the luscious tiger.
"Yea… yer prob'ly right… It won't be the same. It'll be even better." Grimmjow promised to himself and his gaze hardened in determination. "I've already made up my mind… I will get Ichigo to be my mate. And we'll live happily ever after an' all tha' romantic shit." A small smirk set upon his lips, making Pantera shake his head, long, bright-blue hair swaying around him and catching on the slight breeze as he did so.
"You're making a mistake." He tried to reason with the other panther, but he already knew that once Grimmjow's mind was set, there was no budging him.
"Feh, you can say tha', 'cause ya've already got yerself a fuckin' mate—not to mention a rather crappy one tha' neva shows any damn emotions—but a mate nonetheless." Grimmjow growled as he crossed his arms across his chest, in what was not a pout, and his dark-blue ears were folded back angrily.
"Hey! Don't make fun of my sweety-pie, Ulquiorra! And don't give me that crap okay!? You could have anyone with just a snap of your fingers! Oh actually, speaking of which, Ggio was asking me a lot about you yesterday. He seemed rather fond of you." Pantera hummed with a lecherous smile as he leaned in closer to the younger felid.
"Yea? Well tha' damn sabertooth-whatever-the-hell-he-is can shove 'is head right up 'is damn ass fer all I care." Grimmjow growled and then he mumbled a few more profanities under his breath as he tugged at his own tail to try and calm himself.
"Alright, alright. Just don't say that I didn't warn you…" The older whispered solemnly as he stood up, and Grimmjow paused to blink up at him curiously. "C'mon… Aizen wishes to speak with you." He said and he offered a hand to help his brother up, but the other merely smacked the hand away and got up on his own.
"Yea… I knew tha' was commin'… Let's go—'Fore his lordship gets antsy." He snarled and began making his way down the steep, rocky slopes, but because he'd lived around here for so long, it didn't take long for him to reach the bottom, even if the shadows of night blanketed everything.
Pantera remained where he was standing, his long hair wrapping around his body as the frigid air carried it, and his dull eyes stared at his hand which Grimmjow had smacked away. "Just don't get yourself in too much trouble, Sexta…" The night air swallowed up his words effortlessly and he was left with nothing but silence.
"Kurosaki! Wake up!"
Auburn eyes blearily opened and stared up sightlessly for a second before homing in on the fuzzy brown shapes in front of him.
"Wake up you lazy lump of fur!"
Wait… He knew that obnoxiously high-pitched voice…
"Ishida?" He mumbled sleepily as he finally sat up, he slowly rubbed his eyes until he could see clearly again.
"Don't be so rude, Uryuu…" Said another squeaky voice, but it was softer and much less aggressive.
"Ah.. Good morning, Orihime… Ishida." Ichigo greeted, uncharacteristically happy—which put both little chipmunks off guard.
"Kurosaki… You're not using catnip again are you?" Ishida accused and he propped his tiny arms atop his hips with a motherly-stern look crossing his face.
That seemed to instantly snap the tiger out of his happy-go-lucky daze (Which was probably caused by the dream he had had about a certain blue-haired panther) and a scowl snapped right into place on his face.
"What the hell do you want?" He hissed and crossed his arms, and although his appearance suddenly seemed hostile, the two mini-intruders seemed much more comfortable with this attitude. (Because they were more accustomed to it.)
"King Isshin asked us to go looking for you. He said he's really sorry if he had offended you yesterday, and he says that you could go hunting now if you want. But if you don't bring back any prey by sundown, then he will send out a patrol to go looking for you, just in case something happened to you." Orihime explained sweetly as she hopped up on the young felid's lap, her wide grey-ish eyes held nothing but affection.
Ishida, meanwhile, was waiting outside the den-like branches, his foot tapping impatiently.
"Come on, Orihime—we delivered the message, now let's go find Chad." He snapped as he flailed his tiny arms around in frustration. Orihime's gaze flickered between Ichigo and her companion uncomfortably for a second before offering the tiger a sweet smile and bounding away with Ishida.
"Pssst, Are they gone?"
Ichigo's tail twitched in amusement when he heard Shirosaki's voice from behind the weaving jumble of roots beside him and he chuckled.
"Yeah, you can come out now." The orange-head said as he stood up and stretched his long body until his muscles stopped quivering. Then he giggled unexpectedly when white fingers began tickling his sides. He quickly smacked the hands away and turned to see the smirking face of his friend. "Are you leaving now?"
The Bengal tiger hummed and shrugged in reply.
"Yea, I may as well, unless o'course ya want me ta help ya hunt." Shirosaki offered but his ears flicked back nervously when Ichigo suddenly gave him that weird look that told him that he had said something wrong, but he didn't know what.
Ichigo narrowed his auburn eyes and his tail swayed back and forth irritably.
"Whaaaat?" Shiro said with a slight whine.
"I don't need any help!" He snapped before moving to push past the albino, but he was stopped when a strong arm wrapped around his waist, keeping him right next to the other tiger's side. Golden eyes danced with amusement when he noticed that Ichigo was trying really hard to ignore the physical contact.
"I didn't mean it tha' way an' ya know it~ But listen, do ya think ya could come back 'ere tonight? I wanna talk to ya 'bout somethin'." Shirosaki said, and he tightened his arm around Ichigo when it looked like the orange-head would say no.
"Fine," Ichigo agreed. "I'll come by when I can."
And with that said, he nimbly disappeared into the dense huddle of trees that lead out of the clearing and into the forest, not even saying farewell to his friend as he sped off.
He would probably apologize for that later, but right now Ichigo's mind was distracted by the image of a certain blue-haired panther, and it had been ever since he went to sleep last night.
He began thinking about how he would possibly be able to find him again and patch things up. He knew that the Espada lived near the mountain range on the other side of the forbidden forest, but he'd never actually set foot on either landscapes—for if he did, then it would be going against a direct order from the king, his father.
And apparently Ichigo had listened to too many of his father's creepy ghost stories about the horrible things that have happened there… All of them were fake—he knew that—but he couldn't help but feel a small sliver of fear as he ran into the darker parts of the forest.
Everyone knew that the only things that lived there now were rogue cats—and it just so happens to be why Shirosaki lives there. The albino had warned him multiple times that Rogues weren't the only things to be wary about in those trees.
The tiger sighed when he remembered that the place wasn't always filled with dreaded creatures and it wasn't called the 'forbidden forest' either. It used to be a lively, peaceful place, full of prey and life, but that was before the battle with the panthers.
The orange-head had been too small to understand the reason behind the sudden hostility between Isshin's family and the panthers, and he didn't get it until years later when his father finally explained it to him.
Ichigo quickly shook his head to shoo away those old memories. There was no use in living in the past—all that mattered now was that Grimmjow was back and he would do anything to repair their friendship, even if it meant going through the Forbidden Forest.
Grimmjow snarled as he lashed out at a random tree, letting loose his untamed rage and ignoring the soreness in his back and shoulders as he attacked the innocent forest.
"Fucking Aizen and his stupid plans!" He hissed ferociously and he dug his sharp nails into the rough bark of the tree as he recalled the conversation he had had with his 'lord' last night—well actually it wasn't a 'conversation' per say, more like a game of 'I'm the boss and you're the lowly animal that will do as I say or be killed' and it just so happened to be Aizen's favorite game.
Last Night~
"Grimmjow… I had heard from Pantera that you and Ichigo Kurosaki are rather… close." The oh-so-fucking brilliant lion said as he circled the panther in a condescending manner.
"Yea… What of it?" Grimmjow growled haughtily, but then he winced and grunted when pain lanced through his back and his vision began to swim as he gritted his teeth through the stinging pain. But he kept silent, even as he felt that familiar feeling of blood running down his spine and drenching the back of his pants.
"I will not tolerate any back talk now. So if you're ready to be a good boy, I shall continue speaking." Aizen said in a mocking way as he paced around the wounded felid with his teeth bared threateningly.
Grimmjow glared defiantly at the lion, but kept his lips sealed shut as he waited for the other to begin talking again.
"… good boy." Aizen started, making the panther's glare turn venomous, but blue eyes widened in surprise at the next thing he said. "Did you know that Ichigo just so happens to be the son of Isshin?" Aizen suddenly asked, making Grimmjow's body stiffen at just hearing that name.
No, he hadn't known that Ichigo was related to that asshole-of-a-king, who had slaughtered his whole family for no reason, but Grimmjow shook his head and narrowed his eyes at Aizen suspiciously, not knowing what the point was in telling him that.
"Now that you know that little detail, I shall tell you your new mission… You must kill Isshin." Aizen said simply as he stopped pacing and stood right in front of the now confused panther. The lion's ears twitched in amusement at the look and a smirk spread on his face.
"But… How? And wuh does Ichigo 'ave ta do with this?" Grimmjow asked incredulously.
"That's simple… The closer you get to Ichigo… the closer you get to Isshin."
Grimmjow looked down, uncertainty clouding his eyes as he thought about how devastated Ichigo might be if he did end up killing the King. Ichigo would never forgive him.
Aizen must've seen the hesitation in Grimmjow's expression, because he then raised his hand threateningly, bloody claws shining in the moonlight as he quickly backhanded the panther, which caused him to stumble backwards and fall right onto his back.
The panther let out a pained yowl as the cuts on his back scraped ruthlessly against the hard gravel.
"Don't you remember how horrible it was to see your own family murdered right before your eyes!?" Aizen growled and towered above the fallen felid with his feet straddling Grimmjow's sides and his dark brown eyes held slight satisfaction as he watched the panther's eyes glaze with pain—from both his wounded back and the pain of remembering the massacre.
"Don't you want to avenge them—to show Isshin that they shouldn't have died in cold blood?!" Aizen urged on and he smirked at the sudden determination on Grimmjow's face.
Nodding quietly, the panther slowly got to his feet and looked straight into his leader's eyes.
"I'll do it."
Grimmjow let out a frustrated growl then rested his forehead against the scratchy bark of the tree before letting out a defeated sigh.
Now that he had agreed to the mission, he had to do it. There was no turning back now.
Aizen had already proved multiple times that he could easily kill him or his brother if he didn't do what he was told, and that pissed Grimmjow off. If it was only himself that was in danger and not his brother, than he'd just say 'screw it' and leave. But he knew that Pantera would never leave that place, especially now that he was with Ulquiorra (who was a very passionate follower of "Lord Aizen").
'S'not like I dun want ta rip the king apart for takin' away my family. I would gladly slash 'is face for tha'. And yea, I'm a lil' angry tha' my future mate is related to the bastard, but I dun blame Ichigo… he was too young ta do anythin' about the attack…'
"Man… I may as well get this over with…" He grumbled aloud before pushing off the trunk of the tree, his nails scraping softly against it and his light blue hair bobbed gently against the light breeze which crept through the deathly quiet forest.
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~TBC~
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Grimmjow: -flicks tail impatiently while glaring at Minsra-
Me: ... o__o;; ??
Little Ichigo: -chases after Grimmjow's tail- HEH HEH~!
Pantera: AHWWW~! -grabs little ichigo and hugs him tight-