"A long time ago..." Renji began as they ran along the corridors of the Soul Society, with the destination of the Senkai Gate to Karakura Town "I mean long, long before any of us were even possibilities, before Aizen created the Vizard and Kisuka Urahara fled the Soul Society"
"I get it Renji, it was fucking forever ago" Moll growled, her not large amount of patience lost as soon as she'd heard about the attack on Joel
"This will go faster if you don't interrupt" Rukia said firmly "I know how you feel, but we are trying to let you in"
Moll flashed a furious gaze at Rukia, then took a deep breath and exhaled from her nose, having been around Unohana and Isane so long had taught her a little about when to reign in her emotions
"You're right, I'm sorry"
"Anyway 'fucking forever ago' " Renji continued, making quotation marks with his fingers "A small group of Shinigami were exiled from the Soul Society, no reason given, records sealed, and only a select group of people even knew about it… The Captain Commanderand Captain's Ukitake and Kyoraku were the only ones privy to the knowledge, even Captain Unohana wasn't aware of this group until recent events caused Captains Ukitake and Kyoraku to bring it up"
"So what's the deal with these guys then?"
"We haven't been told the full story" Rukia admitted "But apparently this group had a prophecy, related to some objects that have to be brought together called the Mountain's Blood and the Tidewalker, and something called the Thunder King which is to be disposed of… the endgame of which is believed to be the Destruction of the Soul Society"
Moll shook her head as she ran, attempting to absorb yet another of the Soul Society secrets that was coming back to bite them in the ass, but instead of complaining about the head in the sand policy, she decided to stay focused on the task at hand
"Those are some cryptically named objects… where are we even supposed to begin looking for this stuff… if our goal is presumably to dispose of the Mountain's Blood and the Tidewalker and protect the Thunder King"
Renji let out a quick burst of laughter
"The fuck is so funny"
"We tried to dispose of the Tidewalker when we first met you, though we didn't know what that we were trying to do that at the time"
"What the hell do you mean?"
"After Joel was attacked, Captain's Ukitake and Kyoraku brought forward a theory to the Captain Commander, which he agrees with, strongly enough to send us to Karakura Town" Rukia explained
"Still not with you" Moll said, her agitation becoming more apparent
"When they attacked Joel… they got the Mountain's Blood" Renji said flatly
"How in the world do they know that?" Moll interrupted
"We weren't told, but they're sure, based on one of the exile's abilities and the timing of the attack on Joel, something to do with the full text of the prophecy" Renji continued, over Moll's interruption, but quickly losing patience with her
"Then we're going to Karakura town because"
"That's where they'll strike next…The Tidewalker… is Layne Trell" Rukia finished.
Moll said nothing to that revelation, but just transitioned into flashsteps, Renji and Rukia hot on her heels
Layne threw aside everything in his head that wasn't related to the situation in front of him
Ichigo, Jim, Bodies, Enemies
With that information processed there was only one thing left to do
Attack
Impossibly fast was the only way to describe it, Ichigo was fast, and he definitely hit harder, but Layne's speed bordered on the ridiculous, only really beaten by Yoruichi and Soifon
Defend
Ichigo quickly joined the fray, pulling Hookhand off Layne who was a flurry of blades as he parried every swing they made, seemingly effortlessly
Strike
This allowed Layne to focus his full attention on the shinigami with the blood blade
"What gives you the right to do this to innocent people?" Layne growled, pushing Blood Blade back, infuriated at the deaths of the people doing nothing but going about their day, cut down by blades they couldn't see, murderers who had no motive other than they were the closest, meaningless, pointless deaths
"Can't you just want to destroy Soul Society like the rest of the sicko's?"
Blood Blade grinned "Don't worry, it's on the agenda, though our schedule has ramped up considerably in the last week"
"Well you can get in line" Layne replied, running forward to continue the fight
Dodge
I don't like this Ichigo thought to himself, parrying the hook and rolling to the side He's playing around, not even really using his zanpakuto
It was true, Hookhand's grip on his zanpakuto was loose and relaxed, almost lazy, he dodged, and he parried with the hook, and hadn't even brought his zanpakuto into play at all
Layne backflipped while deflecting a blow from Blood's blade using Oathkeeper, swinging in for a counterattack with Oblivion at the completion of his spin, before condensing the reishi beneath his feet and standing still, eyeing his opponent off
"What is it with you renegade Shinigami and coming for me" Layne muttered
Blood heard him and smiled, a cold smile that set Layne on edge
"Myself and my associate are here on business" He said, gesturing to Hookhand on the ground below, currently fighting with Ichigo "If you're referring to Kira Reiton, she just liked to fight… and you were just the closest, most convenient target… though you have proved to be very difficult to track down, Tidewalker"
Layne said nothing, hoping that his silence would goad Blood into saying more about his motivation
"We've been seeking you for a long time, likely longer than your direct family tree came into being, did you know that the existence of the Substitute Shinigami, Ryoka and their location in Karakura Town is one of the 13 court guard squads most closely guarded secrets? We only discovered your very existence recently…when I ripped it out of your Lieutenant friend"
Layne froze; these guys had done something to Joel?
"If you've hurt him…I suggest you run for cover" Layne said coldly, eyeing the growing smirk on Blood's face with a mixture of fear and disgust.
