Warning: some bad language in this chapter!
Disclaimer: I don't own Bleach or the characters. Would be fun though.
Renji and Toushiro spied from the trees as Grimmjow commanded his men to lift the unconscious Karin and Ichigo into a wagon and drove off. The wagon was pulled by two horses because of the condition of the road. Any vehicle with motor would have broken jus about immediately.
That was fortunate for Renji and Toushiro, because otherwise they could never follow the kidnappers of their friends. Another fortunate thing was that it was middle of night and it was new moon. They were able to walk along the road instead of scrambling in the forest.
Inside the wagon Karin and Ichigo were slowly starting to regain consciousness only to realize that both of their hands had been tied above their heads. Karin was first on fully awake. She gave the robe few tugs before sighing a bit. Those soldiers knew how to tie people up.
Karin glanced around herself looking for something she could use to escape. No sharp objects were left near her. Another sigh. She decided to at least have someone to complain to. Because her hands were otherwise occupied (aka tied) she used her feet to slap Ichigo's cheeks to wake him up too.
"Nhhhh… Five more minutes", the boy mumbled trying to get away from Karin's feet. She glared at him straight into his nose with her heel. Ichigo's eyes snapped open and he instinctively tried to cover his nose with his hands only to realize he was tied up.
"What happened?" he asked after a confused checking of his surroundings. Karin glared at him angrily.
"You sneezed", she said shortly. Ichigo looked a bit confused before his eyes widened as he was able to recall the previous events.
"It was your fault", he said scowling at the girl only to earn a heel to his chin. He hit the back of his head to the side of the wagon. The four soldiers assigned to watch over the duo shared an unsure glance. Should they stop them or ignore them.
"STOP KICKING ME!" Ichigo yelled trying to kick back. He managed to get a pretty good hit to side only managing to make the girl even angrier. Her next kick knocked Ichigo out of breathe.
"You two, SHUT UP! I can't sleep when you're fighting", an annoyed Grimmjow poked his head from the front of the wagon. Karin glared at him when Ichigo just tried to turn enough to see the man. He pulled his head away before Ichigo managed to glance over his shoulder.
Meanwhile one of the soldiers watching over their prisoners got up and walked closer to Karin to take a closer look on her.
"When ignoring that scowl on your face you seem to be pretty cute. How about a smile", he said kneeling down in front of Karin grabbing her face with his calloused hand. Karin's glare turned harder.
"How about you disappear", she spat and headbutted the man straight between his eyes. He cried surprised and fell on the floor holding the bridge of his nose.
"Clearly a devil's spawn", another man said walking to check his comrade. He looked at Karin with as much contempt as he was able. Karin glared back growling warningly. Ichigo glanced between Karin and the soldier worriedly, though clearly annoyed to with the man's insults.
"But you have to admit, she clearly is a woman", third one said walking to the other two soldiers staring at Karin hungrily. She backed as much away from the man as she was able. He walked straight to her, kicking Ichigo to ribcage while passing him, and licked his lips.
Karin looked at the man disgusted and when he was close enough kicked him right between his legs with as much force as she was able. Never had anyone within a mile's range heard so high-pitched scream.
Grimmjow's ears twitched and he shuddered visibly. Now he was angry. No one seemed to realize how sensitive his ears were. He walked inside the wagon rage flaming in his eyes.
His gaze however changed into a surprised one as he saw the four of his men. One of them was unconscious on the floor, holding his crotch, and the other three were fighting against the girl they had caught.
She was kicking the men with more fury than Grimmjow had ever seen anyone use. Ichigo was trying to avoid getting kicked too.
Grimmjow had to jump out of the way when Karin kicked one of the men so hard that he flew out of the wagon. The two men left were backing away from her, one holding his nose which was bleeding and the other trying to cover what looked like a bite mark.
"She's tied up and four men lose to her? Are you men or wussies?" Grimmjow asked staring at the (now only) three men in the wagon.
"She's strong for someone so tiny! And has a hell of a kick", the one with assumedly a broken nose. Grimmjow rolled his eyes to him.
"Do I have to do everything by myself? If she kicks you, you need to tie her legs too", he said grabbing some robe from the corner. When he was within Karin's range she threw her leg at him. He grabbed it with no difficulty whatsoever.
"Hmm, you're right, she is a strong one", he said holding tightly on the leg as Karin tried to pull it back. "But she's still just a human. Human's can do nothing", he breathed leaning closer to that his face was right in front of Karin's. She glared at him angrily.
"Your leader is a human!" Karin growled at him. He chuckled.
"Maybe he was, but he has long ago surpassed the line between a human and a greater being", he said taking Karin's other leg too and tying them tightly together. Karin winced in pain as he tightened the knot one last time.
"Now you'll kick no one", he said patting her cheek with a mad grin. Karin did the only thing she could. She bit his hand.
"AGHH! You bitch!" he yelled drawing his hand back. It had clear bite marks which already started bleeding a bit.
"What are you, a dog?" Ichigo muttered under his breath, so quietly no one else than Karin heard him. She smirked at him.
"If we wouldn't need you both for finding out the place freedom fighters are hiding in I'd kill you", Grimmjow growled at Karin before turning around and walking back to the front of the wagon.
"One of you two gets to put a gag to the little bitch", he said over his shoulder throwing a piece of fabric to them. The one Karin had bitten grabbed it, looked at Karin glaring at him challengingly and pushed the cloth to his friend.
Toushiro and Renji were pretty sure something has happened inside the wagon. Why did they think so? Well, they had heard the yelling and seen a man fly out of the wagon.
"Wanna bet it was Karin who threw him out?" Renji asked. Toushiro shot a cold glare at him.
"Not if you don't want to. But I really admire her will of fighting. They're surrounded by enemies and most likely restrained in one way or another but she still throws people out", Renji said staring after the wagon. They were closing on to another village, Junrin'an, and the morning was coming.
Both of the men hoped that the soldiers would stop for at least couple of hours so that the duo could rest for a bit.
"The soldiers need to sleep too!" Renji complained with a big yawn. Toushiro was starting to look worried as he stared into the horizon where the sun was rising.
"You know, whit these outfits we'll get caught immediately when it gets brighter", he said gesturing towards the battle outfits of freedom fighters. Sure, they were handy in fights but every single person knew the outfit.
"Oh shit, you're right! We need to buy new clothes. How much money do you have?" Renji asked starting to dig his pockets. Toushiro checked his.
"Nothing. And I really doubt you have any either", he said looking down the road. The wagon was barely within sight. Almost all of Grimmjow's men were walking, some behind the wagon, most in front of it.
"Yup, no money", Renji said turning his pockets around. Toushiro sighed.
"We'll just need to steal some cloaks. I really don't like to steal from the citizens but I don't think we have any choice", he said. Renji nodded in agreement and the two continued to follow the wagon.
With every moment they grew more and more worried since they spotted no small paths they could use to get to the village without being seen. Junrin'an was a richer village than Inuzuri and some of its citizens actually didn't mind having Aizen as a king.
"I guess we'll just have to hope no one realizes who we are when we enter the village. And if they do, we'll just have to hope they hate Aizen", Toushiro muttered as Junrin'an appeared within their sight.
"With my luck we won't get caught", Renji told smirking. Toushiro raised his eyebrow at him.
"I rarely get caught for any of the tricks I do around our village. I have some kind of guardian angel watching over me", he explained with a solemn face. Toushiro sighed defeated.
"We're screwed", he mumbled as they entered the village.
It was still quit early morning so they saw only few villagers who disappeared to the shadows as soon as they saw the two men. They didn't want to bother them but neither wanted to be seen with the men.
The soldiers, having entered about half an hour before Toushiro and Renji, had already found a place to stay and there was no trace of them.
"We should try to find out where they will be staying. Otherwise they might leave without noticing", Toushiro said. Renji nodded agreeing and they went to look for any motels in the village.
A Toushiro-sized person suddenly bumped into Renji. The red-head glared at the figure with short black hair, which stuck into every single way, and an over-sized t-shirt. His dark eyes met light brown ones as the glare was returned with an equal amount of irritation.
"Watch where you walk boy!" Renji said and the glare he was receiving flared. Toushiro noticed a fight was about to break out.
"Renji, don't be an idiot", he snapped at the red-head. Renji turned to look at him and was met by a cold glare.
"Do you know where is the motel the soldiers that came earlier are using?" Toushiro asked politely. The black haired person looked at him curiously.
"It's that way, right at the edge of the village. But judging by your outfits you shouldn't just walk into the motel." Toushiro shrugged. They'd need to check if they could rescue Karin and Ichigo already, though usually people were easiest to rescue during traveling.
"We'll just avoid the soldiers. Thanks for your help", Toushiro said and dragged Renji after him before the man had a change to say something insulting to their helper.
"Why didn't you let me tease the boy more? He seemed like a person with a lot of fire", he said glancing over his shoulder when Toushiro finally let go of him. The white haired youth rolled his eyes without looking at Renji. If he hadn't dragged the man away there would have been a fight.
"There is no need to bother the citizens of this village. It's clear that they don't really want us here", he said looking at a young man walking to the opposite direction when he saw them. He heaved a sigh. It was hard to fight for people's freedom when they were afraid of them.
"Yep, you got that right", Renji answered looking around the empty streets. The sight was a bit depressing.
"Hey look, those people aren't running away!" he exclaimed pointing in front of them. Toushiro followed his finger to see where he was pointing at and saw three men running towards them. He squinted his eyes to see them better. When he saw their outfits he grabbed Renji's collar.
"C'mon! Those are soldiers of the Kingdom of Hollowes! We need to get away from the middle of the road if we're going to fight them", he said running back to the direction they had came from. Renji ran too, but had already unsheathed his sword.
They ran around a corner and almost run into a wall. It was a dead-end.
"Looks like we'll just fight here", Renji smirked and flexed his fingers grasping the hilt of his sword. Toushiro pulled his sword from his back. It was almost as tall as he was, though mostly because he was quite short.
The soldiers, who had known the turn would be a dead-end, approached slowly with grins on their faces. All of them were holding similar simple katanas.
"Looks like you can escape no more. I suppose you're friends of the little bitch and the boy", the tallest one said. He was almost equal height with Renji. Toushiro growled at him and Renji moved his sword in front of himself.
"They're too scared to say anything!" another one mocked. The two other men were closer to Toushiro's height, only few inches of difference between them. Renji opened his mouth to shot something back at the men but Toushiro stepped on his toes.
Renji hissed in surprise but didn't miss Toushiro's warning glance. Don't be taunted by them! Keep your cool!
"Couldn't you just freeze them and we'd get out of here? Would be much easier", Renji complained under his breath. Toushiro glared at him and kicked his shin. Renji yelped in surprise.
"You know that I don't want everyone to know about Hyorinmaru's special ability", he muttered back looking at his sword. It was one of the few swords of freedom fighters which had magical powers in them.
"Ah, yes, you're saving it for more difficult enemies. But there is really no need to use it against there, that I understand", Renji said loud enough for the soldiers to hear. The tallest gritted his teeth.
"Attack!" he commanded and the soldiers bolted towards Renji and Toushiro. The two shared a glance before dodging attacks aimed at them. Renji was now fighting the tallest soldier and his shorter friend. Ironically Toushiro's enemy was shortest.
"So I'll get to beat only one of you? You think Renji is the one you should fear? You really know nothing", Toushiro almost laughed as he easily blocked all of the soldiers attacks with his sword. With a quick move Toushiro forced the man to retreat farther from him. The soldier was already panting.
"See, you're no opponent to me", Toushiro said taking two quick steps and with a quick turn of his wrist he made the man's sword fly away from his hand. He looked after it surprised before turning back to Toushiro, shaking with fear.
The teal eyed youngster sighed. He could never kill an unarmed man who was so terrified. So instead he used the hilt to knock the man out. He'd figure out what to do with him later. After making sure the man was unconscious Toushiro turned to see how Renji was doing.
The red-head seemed to have no problem in fending off the two soldiers, he just didn't seem to get a change to attack. Toushiro was just wondering if he should help his friend when the shorter man hit the wall beside him, head cracking to the wall with a not-so-promising sound.
Both Renji and Toushiro stared at the black-haired youngster they had met before. Seemed like it was because of the kick of their helper that the soldier had flown to the wall.
"Hey you're the boy from before!" Renji said surprised and hit the last man in the face with his elbow making him fell to the ground. "What are you doing here?"
"I heard your fighting and decided to check what was wrong. Figured you'd need some help." Renji stared at the light brown eyes again, feeling the irritation from before to rise again.
"And I'm a girl by the way. Name is Tatsuki", she revealed. Toushiro's eyes widened in surprise, but he had to admit, her voice sounded girly. Renji wasn't so ready to believe her.
"You can't be! Your hair is like a boy's, you dress like a boy and have an attitude of a boy!" Renji exclaimed, eyes moving from Tatsuki's eyes to lower without any particular thought. Tatsuki raised an eyebrow annoyed.
"If you're expecting me to lift my shirt to confirm that I'm a girl you can wait forever. Not gonna happen, jerk!" she snapped at him hitting his jaw.
"And you punch like a man", Renji mumbled with blood coming from his mouth. He had bitten his tongue.
"Thanks! That's the first compliment I've heard you say!" Tatsuki said reminding Toushiro of another raven haired girl.
"Wasn't compliment", Renji mumbled silently. Toushiro was sure Tatsuki heard it too, she was standing closer to the red-head, but she decided to ignore him.
"So, why are two freedom fighters trying to challenge Grimmjow's squad? You must know you could never win against him", Tatsuki asked, looking at Toushiro. He hesitated. They had just met Tatsuki so how could they trust her.
"We're trying to save our friends. They got captured by Grimmjow", Renji explained to Toushiro's surprise. He thought the man already hated the girl they had just met.
"I figured you'd might be", Tatsuki answered, not surprised at all. Renji and Toushiro stared at her confused.
"I saw them carry an orange-headed man whose hands were tied into the motel. You'll never be able to rescue him from there, they're guarding the whole motel way too carefully", Tatsuki told. Toushiro had to admire the inspection skills of the girl.
"I figured that much too. Our best shot is when they're moving them", he voiced his earlier thoughts. Tatsuki shook her head apologetically.
"You won't be able to do that. Grimmjow is riding in the same wagon with the prisoners, he always is. Makes sure they can't be rescued", she told and sorrow crossed her face. In a second it was gone and replaced by determination.
"I could help you. I know Grimmjow's squad's way of acting, favorite places to stop, everything there is to know about them. And I can fight." The girl's request surprised both Renji and Toushiro.
"Let me get this straight: you want to come with two guys you've barely met on a mission with changes not much higher from zero of succeeding. Are you frigging serious?" Renji asked. Tatsuki nodded, smirking a bit at Renji.
"Hey, why not? You could use some help! Or are you freedom fighters so chauvinists that you won't accept a girl fighting beside you?" she asked her expression slowly turning grim. Toushiro and Renji weren't able to suppress their smiles. Renji even laughed a bit.
"We have nothing against it. One of the comrades we're trying to rescue is a girl. She might be the only girl in our village but she is also one of the best fighters", Toushiro said smiling gently. Tatsuki glanced at him raising an eyebrow before smiling widely.
"Well that's settled then! I'll join your merry group! Just come to my house, you need some other clothes and I'm sure food wouldn't sound bad either", she said.
"What do we do to these?" Toushiro asked pointing the ground. The three unconscious men were still lying there. Tatsuki thought for a while before answered with a bright smirk.
"We undress them of course!"
Toushiro and Renji almost choked. Both stared at the black-haired girl coughing a bit.
"Tatsuki, wasn't it?" Tatsuki nodded. "Why would we want to undress our unconscious enemies?" Renji asked carefully. He knew the girl packed a punch.
"To take their uniforms so it would be easier to follow their squad", she answered blinking her eyes. "Why else? Don't tell me you have dirty minds", she said nudging Renji's arm. Said man's face was nearly same colored as his hair.
"Your idea is good. Renji, you take the tall man's clothes, we'll handle these", Toushiro said deciding to save his friend from any further embarrassment. Tatsuki glanced at Toushiro amusedly but did what he said nonetheless.
Soon they had stripped all of the soldiers out of their clothes (now they realized how good idea was it to knock them out instead of killing them; clothes would have been bloody and unusable) and tied them to each other with gag's in their mouths.
"Can we just leave them like that?" Renji asked suspiciously. All three soldiers were glaring at the trio holding their clothes.
"Yeah, no worries", Tatsuki said waving her hand. "I know few people in this village who'll take care of them. "
"I thought people in this village didn't like freedom fighters", Renji said. Tatsuki sighed and looked at the man like he was five years old.
"Most don't, but of course there are always exceptions. There are many who want to get rid of Aizen", she told.
"Can you trust those people?" Toushiro asked. He had taken the role of a captain because someone needed to make sure they would get somewhere. And not get caught if possible. Tatsuki rolled her eyes at Toushiro.
"Of course! I've known them for my whole life", she said and the sorrow flashed in her eyes again. Toushiro missed it, concentrating on checking if anyone else had seen what happened, but Renji managed to catch it before she regained her composure.
"Good. Then we should move to somewhere safer. Is your house close by?" Toushiro asked. Tatsuki nodded and started to jog along the street. She gestured the boys to follow her. They followed her quickly, warily glancing around themselves.
Just after a corner Tatsuki knocked on a door. It opened up a crack.
"It's me, Tatsuki. I just wanted to ask you to take care of few soldiers in the alley next to your house. They're all tied up, just need a place to stay", she told to the red-haired woman peeking around the door. She nodded and closed the door. The boys were able to hear yelling from inside, indicating the people there were getting ready to grab a few soldiers.
After that the boys followed Tatsuki through some alleys and over a fence before reaching the door of a small house. Tatsuki picked the key from under the flower pot next to the door. The flowers had withered a long time ago.
"You can see straight to the motel from the upper floor. There is a spare room where you can sleep if you want to. I'll bring you some food", Tatsuki said pointing at the stairs. Renji and Toushiro nodded and climbed upstairs.
"Oi Tatsuki! Which door?" Renji yelled when he noticed several doors on either side of the hallway. He really didn't want to go to Tatsuki's room accidentally, he already knew the girl had a temper.
"Second on left!" came the answer from downstairs. Toushiro opened the door to reveal a small room with two bunk beds on either side of the room. There was also a small cupboard and a desk in front of the window. Toushiro walked to the window and opened it letting fresh air in. It seemed like the room hadn't been used in a while.
Tatsuki opened the door and came in carrying a tray with two sandwiches. Renji took one thanking Tatsuki. Toushiro didn't leave the window, just stared at the motel.
"Do you live by yourself? It's a pretty big house for only one", Renji asked trying to get rid of the silence. It was unnerving.
"Yeah. I used to live with a friend who loved to invite people to stay over, which is the reason for the extra rooms and beds, but she isn't here anymore", Tatsuki answered staring at the floor. Toushiro glanced at her over his shoulder noticing how sad the girl seemed to be. Renji wrapped and arm awkwardly over her shoulder.
Tatsuki lifted her head to look at Renji. She stared at his eyes for a moment before sighing a bit. "Get some sleep. The soldiers won't leave before tomorrow", she said before leaving the room.
"She's right. We need to sleep", Toushiro said fighting back a yawn. Renji stared at the closed door with an unreadable expression.
"Yeah, maybe so", he said shaking himself out of his thoughts. He threw himself to the bed and closed his eyes. Toushiro looked at his friend worriedly before lying down on the bed on the other side.
In five minutes both of the boys were deep asleep. In the next room Tatsuki was sitting in the desk glaring out of the window.
In the motel Karin and Ichigo were sitting on the floor hands tied behind their backs. Grimmjow was sitting on a comfortable chair and eating chicken legs.
"Are you two hungry?" he asked mockingly waving a leg around. Karin glared at him and Ichigo just ignored everything. Both were extremely hungry but would never admit it.
"Pouting aren't you?" Grimmjow laughed. Karin turned her eyes away from the blue-haired man and stared out of the window. It was already midday. She wondered if they would leave once the sun set or if they would spent a night in the village.
She also wondered if the rest of their group had already returned to the village and told her father that she and Ichigo were missing, most likely dead. She sighed.
"Are you depressed girlie?" Grimmjow asked, earning another glare from the raven haired girl. He laughed.
"I really didn't think Kenpachi would accept girls to his fighters. But for some reason you are one of them. Quite interesting", he said putting the leg back to plate and leaning closer to examine Karin's face. She turned her eyes away from the man.
"Well, that makes no difference", he said and Karin inwardly sighed in relief. It wouldn't be good if they found out she was the daughter of the leader of freedom fighters.
"Karin, you have any ideas about how to get outta here?" Ichigo mumbled when Grimmjow moved to take a nap. Karin shook her head.
"Aren't you supposed to be the smart one?" she muttered back remembering back to all the times he and Renji had teased her.
"I know how to cause problems, not how to get out of them", he answered. Karin had to suppress a snort.
"Maybe you could try to seduce him", Ichigo suggested. Karin turned to look at him flabbergasted.
"Have you lost your frigging mind? You would succeed in seducing him better than me!" she exclaimed. Ichigo chuckled dryly.
"Yeah, you're probably right. You're almost a boy", he said and got a hard kick to the nose.
"OW! Why did you do that?" he asked glaring at Karin angrily. She had just about the same expression.
"Even if something is true that doesn't mean I want to hear it all the time", she growled. Suddenly she was hit by a chicken bone.
"Can you two shut up? I'm trying to sleep", Grimmjow growled holding another bone threateningly. Karin stared at the bone that had hit her and Ichigo at the one in Grimmjow's hand.
"Did you throw a bone at me?" Karin asked confused. Grimmjow sighed.
"Why did I volunteer to watch over you? You're the most annoying prisoners I've ever had", he mumbled and turned his back to Karin and Ichigo. The latter had begun to try to get some sleep while Karin was trying to reach the bone with her feet. She got it and showing some strechability managed to put it to her pocket.
Night came quickly for Toushiro and Renji. They both slept during the day and woke up when sun had just set. Tatsuki was sitting on the desk in their room looking out of the window.
"What are you doing here?" Toushiro asked. He had woken up first. Tatsuki looked over her shoulder.
"Good, you're awake. I was just about to wake you up. The soldiers are getting ready move", she answered looking out of the window again. Toushiro was out of the bed in seconds and looking out of the window. He saw how the soldiers carried their bags around and were harnessing the horses in front of the wagon.
"Have you seen Karin and Ichigo yet?" Toushiro asked worry in his voice. Tatsuki raised her eyebrows quizzically.
"Our friends. Their prisoners", Toushiro cleared. He realized they hadn't mentioned any names before.
"Ah, of course. I should have guessed. I don't know your name by the way. The red-head is Renji, right? I heard you using his name", Tatsuki said looking at Toushiro curiously. The white-haired man was impressed by how well Tatsuki was able to remember Renji's name.
"I'm Toushiro and yes, he is Renji", he simply told waving into the direction of the half-sleeping man. Tatsuki nodded.
"We should get going soon. It would be best if we don't wear the uniforms yet, let's wait until we reach the capital. There are enough soldiers so we won't be recognized", Tatsuki said. The uniforms were nicely folded on the desk.
Toushiro nodded in agreement. He was pretty sure that in a smaller squad people would notice three unfamiliar faces better than in a place where there were many squads. The capital, Las Noches, was the place where Aizen's army's headquarters was.
"I have normal traveling clothes for you two. Those outfits are too easy to recognize", Tatsuki said pointing at the two piles next to the uniforms. Toushiro took a grey hooded cloak from the pile. It was just about right size for him.
"It think those clothes will fit you, I'm not so sure about Renji", she said. Renji, who had finally gotten out of bed, walked to the desk check the clothes.
"These are probably a little short from sleeves and legs", he said, suddenly pulling his shirt off. Tatsuki quickly turned her head to look out of the window. Renji also took his pants off and put on the clothes Tatsuki had brought.
He was right, the legs and the sleeves of the shirt were too short, however the grey cloak, similar to the one Toushiro get had, was just perfect.
"I'll go to pack my stuff", Tatsuki said, noticing Toushiro didn't start changing clothes. When she had left the room Toushiro changed his outfit to the clothes Tatsuki had given. The clothes fit Toushiro much better than Renji's fit him.
"We should somehow hide the swords. We don't look so suspicious that way", Toushiro noted when Renji was tying his sword to his belt. Renji shrugged and tied it to his belt moving the coat to cover it.
"Is this enough?" He asked with a big smirk. Toushiro rolled his eyes and tied Hyorinmaru to his back. He put the coat over it and pulled the hood up to cover the hilt. Renji examined the result.
"That should do it. If someone doesn't bump to your back no one should be able to notice it", he said giving a pat to Toushiro's pat. This surprised the younger man making him almost fall. He glared at Renji over his shoulder after regaining his balance.
Tatsuki knocked on the door. "Are you two ready? We should get out of here now", she said. Renji opened the door to let the short girl in.
"I packed these for you. We only need to stuff the uniforms and your clothes to them too and we're ready. And don't worry, I packed enough food for three days", she told throwing two backpacks to Renji and Toushiro. Toushiro caught his and Renji's hit him into his face.
The red-head caught the bag before it fell to his toes. Tatsuki stifled her laughter with her hand.
In five minutes the three were hiding near the motel waiting for the soldiers to leave. Finally the door opened and Grimmjow walked out followed by two men. One was holding Ichigo's tied arms and forcing him to walk to the wagon. The other carried Karin, wrists and ankles were tied and a gag in her mouth, on his shoulder. She was still struggling and obviously cursing at her carrier.
Toushiro tensed up and a low growl escaped his lips when he saw them. Tatsuki slapped the back of his head.
"Be quiet! We can't afford them noticing us!" she whispered harshly when Toushiro turned to look at her. He nodded, and settled for glaring at Grimmjow. When the man carrying Karin threw her into the wagon he growled again. Renji noticed this with a small smirk appearing on his face.
Grimmjow climbed to the place next to the driver. "Let's go already", he said and the driver whipped his whip as a sign to the horses to begin moving. Some of the soldiers were already walking in front of the wagon and the rest followed after it.
Tatsuki, Renji and Toushiro waited a few minutes before starting to follow the soldiers. They were walking far enough so that the soldiers wouldn't notice they were followed even if they decided to have a conversation.
"So Toushiro, you have a crush on Karin, don't ya?" Renji asked nudging the younger man's arm. He looked at Renji surprised and looked away quickly. He opened and closed his mouth trying to figure out something to say.
"So I'm right. Isn't that just cute", Renji cooed and Tatsuki chuckled. The two of them were getting along just fine.
"Is it that obvious?" Toushiro mumbled silently still keeping his eyes away from Renji's face. The smirk on the red-head's face just grew bigger.
"C'mon kid! A blind man would see it!" he laughed ruffling Toushiro's hair. He swatted the hand away and glared at the taller man.
"I am NOT a kid!" he growled warningly. Renji was only a year older than he was. Renji backed away. He knew that people's strength should never been evaluated by their height. The strongest punches he had received came from the shortest people he knew.
"You look like a kid, no offense", Tatsuki said. Toushiro glared at her too. "But it's also obvious you like the black-haired girl. I mean, I've just met you and still when you saw here it was clear to me!" she continued and laughed when Toushiro turned his head away.
"Hey Toushiro, you know you're not the only one. I could bet everyone in the village has had a crush on her sometime. I'm not sure if everyone would go on a doomed rescue mission to save her though", Renji said patting Toushiro's shoulder. He nodded not saying anything.
"I'm sure she'll appreciate it when you save her! You can be her knight in a shining armor", Tatsuki joined in. Toushiro seemed to be somehow down.
"If I save her. If you forgot, we're going against the whole army. And there are only three of us!" Toushiro said. Tatsuki snorted.
"And we're ready to beat anyone who'll cross our road! C'mon, are you a man or a little girl?" Tatsuki asked trying to get a reaction out of Toushiro.
"And we don't necessarily have to beat up the whole army, it's enough if we just can save Karin and Ichigo!" Renji joined in. Toushiro sighed before smiling a bit.
"I guess you're right. But I still think we're all crazy", he said. Tatsuki and Renji laughed.
"Yes we are, but if we weren't no one would be able to save them!" Renji exclaimed.
In the wagon Karin had gotten her gag out of her mouth again. Or rather it was taken out of her mouth so that she would be able to eat and drink something.
"Do you think the rest are worried about us? Will anyone try to save us?" she asked Ichigo quietly. They were allowed to be alone since no one thought they would be able to get away.
"I know Renji will try to save me. It's our little agreement, never to leave one behind. And knowing the Shorty, Toushiro will be coming too. Renji is too dumb to succeed on his own. Yumichika and Ikkaku might be coming too, unless Byakuya stops them. He won't be coming that's for sure", Ichigo said. Karin didn't know whether to feel relieved or even more worried.
"They'll never be able to save us if were guarded like this!" she sighed struggling to make her hands move. She only got more burns around her wrists.
"Don't fight so much! You'll just end up hurting yourself", Ichigo said looking at the girl's struggling. She tried to bite the robes off now.
"I need to fight! I don't want to be a prisoner!" she said before hanging her head back. It was getting pretty tiring to fight, but at least most of the soldiers knew to fear her now.
"Try to save your strength. We might get a change to get away and if you're tired then we might get caught again", Ichigo said getting angry at the girl. She looked at him thinking about what he said.
"Hey you're right! You have a plan?" she asked getting exited. Ichigo's expression changed into a sheepish smile.
"Well… no…", he mumbled and Karin sighed.
"Maybe it'll be easier when they put us to some place which is not moving. We won't be guarded so much then", Ichigo said trying to cheer his companion up.
"Ya two planning an escape?" Grimmjow asked entering the wagon. Karin growled at him from instinct. Ichigo sighed rolling his eyes. No matter what he said the girl would never get it.
"The little beast is angry again", Grimmjow said patting Karin's head. She fought the urge to try and bite his hand again.
"We'll reach Las Noches a little after morning. Then you two will get a change to meet Aizen", Grimmjow told surprising both Karin and Ichigo. Neither of them realized how close Las Noches was nor that they would be taken to Aizen immediately.
"Ooh, are you scared? You should be, Aizen is pretty strong", he said patting Karin's cheek. She couldn't resist the urge to trip the blue-haired man with her legs and smirked satisfied when she heard the crack the man's head made when it hit the floor.
"I WILL KILL YOU!" Grimmjow growled angrily when he lifted his face. Fear flashed in Karin's eyes and she decided it had not been a good idea. Grimmjow grabbed her collar and pulled her up. She winced in pain when he lifted her feet off the ground.
"I'm sure one hostage will be enough for Aizen", Grimmjow growled moving his hand towards his sword. Karin was really scared now. She had no way to defend herself. Suddenly Grimmjow felt a kick in the back of his knee. Ichigo had moved behind him and kicked him rather hard.
He let go off Karin to stop his fall, making the girl fell off from the wagon. He had been holding her too close to the end of the wagon.
Karin grimaced when the ground hit all the air away from her lungs. The soldiers walking behind the wagon jumped out of the way surprised.
With a few deep breathes Karin tried to stood up. It was rather hard because her ankles were tied together, but she wouldn't give up.
"Someone, grab her!" Grimmjow commanded from the wagon. The rider had stopped the wagons as soon as he realized something (or someone) fell off, but the wagon was still a couple dozen feet away from the girl.
Karin felt a strong hand grab the back of her neck and pull her to her feet. She felt something hit her head hard and fell to the darkness.
"I didn't say knock her out but whatever", Grimmjow said grabbing the girl from the man. He tied her hands to a hook hanging from the wall of the wagon. Ichigo, who was tied in a similar way, looked at her worriedly.
"Don't worry boy, I won't kill her. She might be useful later now that I think about it", Grimmjow said noticing Ichigo's look. This however made the boy feel even more worried.
The group following behind the wagon noticed something happening immediately moved away from the road into the forest. Slowly they moved closer to the wagon to see what was going on.
"Karin!" Toushiro whispered when he saw the girl lying on the ground. Tatsuki slapped her hand over his mouth to prevent him from revealing their location, but kept her eyes glued on the girl.
This was the first time she saw her properly (first time she wasn't able to see her face) and was a bit surprised. The girl was shorter than her and also looked like she was couple of years younger too. Her face showed pain and anger but in her eyes was a determined fire burning.
She subconsciously tightened her hold of Toushiro's face when she saw the girl wince as one of the men lifted her from the ground. All three of them winced when he hit her in the head pretty hard. Toushiro's eyes were flaring with anger.
They watched the man carry the girl back to the wagon where the blue-haired commander was waiting. He lifted her and disappeared. Tatsuki and Renji shared a worried look. Grimmjow wasn't famous of being gentle towards his prisoners and definitely would not like one trying to run away. Toushiro was staring at the wagon so angrily that if looks could kill the blue-haired man would not be breathing anymore.
When the wagon started moving again Tatsuki, Renji and Toushiro climbed out of the bushes. Tatsuki and Renji kept looking at Toushiro worriedly.
"I'm sure they won't hurt her. They need her after all", Renji tried to make the smaller man relax. He didn't stop staring after the wagon for one second.
"Our best shot now is only to follow them and try to save her as soon as possible", Tatsuki said placing her hand gently on Toushiro's shoulder.
"And let's still not forget Ichigo. First of all, we need to save him too, but I'm sure he'll keep Karin as safe as he can. He is a lot smarter than he looks", Renji said. Toushiro nodded, finally relaxing a bit. But only a bit.
"We're lucky she was paired with him instead of you. Otherwise she would be screwed", he muttered angrily starting to walk after the wagon. Renji and Tatsuki hurried after him.
A bit later Karin started to wake up. She blinked her eyes a couple of times and winced, feeling the throbbing pain in the back of her head. She groaned trying to bury her head into her hands only to realize they were tied above her head. She groaned again.
"You're awake! That's good, I was a bit worried", she heard Ichigo exclaim next her and she winced again. The loud voice hurt her head.
"Not so loud!" she whispered blinking again. It was dark in the wagon, the lantern was turned off. It was rather good for Karin, she doubted she would have licked bright lights.
"Sorry. He hit you pretty hard didn't he?" he asked, now whispering. Karin nodded and realized Ichigo couldn't see it.
"Yup. And I guess I might have broken a few ribs when I fell. My chest hurts like hell", she moaned in pain when she turned a bit to try to look at Ichigo.
"I told you not to fight, didn't I? You should have listened. Now it'll be much harder to get away, especially if you have broken ribs!" Ichigo told angrily. Karin sighed.
"Yeah, I should have listened to you. Next time I'll listen, I promise", she mumbled, suddenly feeling really tired despite the fact she had just woken up. She yawned.
"Now if you'll excuse me, I'll get some sleep", she muttered in a barely sensible voice before falling asleep. Almost right away she started to snore slightly.
"You won't listen to me next time, I know that. You're just like Renji!" Ichigo sighed and decided to get some sleep himself.
No tapellaan vaan, ja mitataan mies ja tapellaan vaan, se on sun ties. Käy viivalle vaan, pian huomaat sen, mä koskaan luovu vapaudesta en, siis tapellaan vaan!
Well let's just fight, and measure the man, and let's just fight, it is your road. Come to the line, soon you'll notice that I never give up my freedom, so let's just fight!
I had already decided that I would not use song quotes in this story, but then I heard the Finnish version of Get Off My Back from the movie Spirit: Stallion of the Cimarron and thought it was perfect for my story. It describes Karin's attitude in my story.
So the song quote is from the song Tapellaan vaan, which means in English let's just fight. The translation is a bit awkward, I wasn't sure how to translate it.
Here is the link for the full song in Finnish. It has both Finnish and English subtitles, so everyone should understand it. And remember to remove the spaces!
http:// www. youtube. com/ watch?v=ZyDzPDaNBQY&playnext_from=TL&videos=jan5Dg0DaN0
I hope you liked the chapter, sorry that it took so long. I wrote a chapter for my other story and then had a huge writer's block. I knew what I wanted to write but didn't know how. Really annoying.
Please review, I love to know what you think!
Hugs!