Billowing gusts shot sand and grit across the quiet sands. The bright sun over head illuminated three giant shapes, three pairs of wings. The thunderous claps and scaly haunches of two vile avians hovered, ready to destroy their target. A lone silver form rested in the thermals that ascended from beneath. The graceful wings, the slender legs, the long, thin beak. Kaorin's bankai was a giant crane, as silver as the moon. She sat atop the elegant sword, holding a thin blade in her hands.
"You guys are nothing!" she yelled at the Ninth Espada and his Fracción. The winged beasts replied with an angry screech and a sharp dive.
The first one missed the bankai. The crane had lifted its wing out of the way. A rush of passing air blew Kaorin's bangs into her eyes. She pushed the strands away—just in time to see the other bird-like monster swoop in.
The angry cry of the carrion eating fiend was squashed. The crane had caught the demon's head with its foot. The vulture struggled against the braced leg. With a single powerful kick the crane sent the enemy careening backwards. The vulture-like Arrancar struggled to right itself; within moments of hitting the ground the monster righted itself.
Kaorin swept the air with her eyes. The crane shot upwards to avoid the talons of the false eagle.
"You are an annoying Soul Reaper," said Espada Number Nine. A dark colored energy formed in the center of his left claw. "Feel the wrath of my Cero!"
"You're doing what?" Kaorin asked. A dark violet beam shot towards her. "Tsuruko, up!" she cried. The crane rushed towards the sun.
"Just as I suspected!"
Kaorin's face became blank as she saw the Espada hovering above her. The enemy's cruel beak shot down towards her heart.
Kaorin blocked the deadly weapon with her zanpakutō. The air filled with the sounds of two wills grinding against each other, neither willing to yield. "Did you really expect me to lose so easily?" Kaorin was insulted. "I'm a Soul Reaper Lieutenant! I can take on more than a couple of hollows!"
"Don't be so arrogant Soul Reaper," the Espada screeched, "there is little hope for you against my Fracción and I."
"Tsuruko, slash!"
The crane's bill stabbed down, through the head of the Fracción. The winged monster hung limply as its body slowly disintegrated into a hazy, black cloud.
"I guess this means you're toast you stupid Arrancar!" Kaorin shouted at the remaining Espada with a smile spread across her face.
The Espada cackled in response
"You foolish Soul Reaper, do you understand the difference between the strength of a Fracción and that of an Espada?" He didn't wait for her to reply. "A Fracción is weaker than the weakest Espada. If a Fracción were to be ranked on the same system as an Espada then it would have a rank of 11." The Espada continued to laugh.
"So what?" snapped Kaorin, "that means that the difference between you and that Fracción was only two levels, if that 9 tattooed to your wing is any indicator of your strength!"
"Tell me Soul Reaper, does a small difference in the numerical rank of an opponent necessarily mean that there is almost no difference in strength?" The Espada watched as a look of concern spread across his foe's face. "Now I think you begin to understand." There was a brief trembling in the air that caused Kaorin and her crane-like bankai to shudder like reeds swept up in the rage of a hurricane. "The difference between a Soul Reaper Captain and a Lieutenant is only one rank. Yet; the difference in power between the two is almost impossible to believe. A Captain has the power to shatter a Lieutenant's zanpakutō with a single thrust of his hand. That's only a difference of one. Imagine how deadly an Espada is compared to a Fracción."
"So what?" snapped Kaorin, trying to banish her fear, "I blocked one of your attacks already! You can't stand up to me!"
"Are you sure, child?"
"If I can't, then why are you hovering so far away from me?"
The young Soul Reaper felt reassured by the distance between her and the vile thing she had to kill.
"You should always be razor sharp, observant," the Espada preached, "otherwise you'll miss a terror from below."
Kaorin glanced down quickly, raising Tsuruko up in the same instant. Her vision darted across the entire space beneath her. Nothing.
"Or from behind."
A doomg filled her ears. Her black hair slowly drifted in front of her eyes as her head turned. It then eased away from her face enough that she saw a white uniform standing behind her.
A bright flash sliced through Kaorin's black uniform. A red spray flew up into the air. The woman fell onto the back of her sword. A rush of air filled her head as she fell into the sands of Hueco Mundo.
A pair of large feet tread in the sand behind the still body of Kaorin.
"I'm surprised that you couldn't handle a single Soul Reaper on your own. I can't believe someone as weak as you was made into Espada Number 9," the large Arrancar scoffed.
"Quiet 10, I was doing fine before you showed up."
"Humph," the brown haired Espada remarked, "your release is ugly."
"Is this the one that cut your arms off of your body?"
"No. That one had brown hair. This one," the Espada raised his sword over Kaorin's still frame, "I don't care what she is, she'll die easily enough." The blade glinted in the sunlight.
"Don't you think that I should be the one to kill her?" asked Espada Number 9, "you should really give the pleasure of dispatching her to me."
"Fine."
The Espada's sword slid back into the sheath in a single fluid, crisp motion. He began to walk away from the still body of Kaorin.
"Now you will perish, and," Espada Number 9 hissed as he raised his sword over her quiet frame, "you never even came close to rescuing that little girl." His arm plunged down.
A slash from the right side of the Espada split his body along a bias. His confused face fell, along with half of his body, onto the hot sand. The Tenth Espada behind placed his hand on his sword. But before he could even draw the weapon his hand was severed at the wrist. His eyes jerked up. There was only one thing to see. A lone black shape, which stabbed its weapon straight through his heart.
A tall black figure hovered over the prone body of Kaorin. Sakaki.
Looks like I was a little too late, the woman thought to herself, at least to keep her from getting beat up a little.
Luckily for Kaorin; before Sakaki had become the Lieutenant of Squad Two she had been a member of Squad Four. Squad Four served as the emergency relief unit and specialized in providing medical aid to injured combatants. And Sakaki had been the second best, right below her former Captain.
"Ugh," moaned Kaorin, "what's going o…." At this point her voice cracked. Ms. Sakaki, and I, are alone? She could feel her heart pounding in her chest and her throat swell up. The smooth gentle feeling of her Soul Reaper uniform being pulled up, away from her body. Kaorin started to gasp and gasp in lungfuls of air as she looked down and saw her bare skin begin to show. Then she felt Sakaki's hand against her. Her eyes rolled up into the back of her head and she passed out.
With the wound on Kaorin's left side exposed Sakaki then began to bandage it. She swore that Kaorin had been conscious for a few moments, but she was definitely out now.
I remember the last time I had to do these sorts of things. Back when I was the runt of the entire Soul Society.
She thought back to her early days at Soul Reaper Academy. The training there hadn't been very uplifting. In fact she had failed at everything. The four arts of Soul Reaper combat: Kidō, Hakuda, Hohō, and Zanjutsu, she'd failed at each of them during the academy training. Due to her seeming lack of ability she had been placed into Squad Four, considered the weakest of all the Court Guard Squads. She'd found herself to have some ability to do medical work. And as the years went by her tutelage under the Squad Four Captain made her into a skilled battlefield medic.
One spring day Sakaki had been walking within the Soul Society carrying supplies in her arms. She'd had difficulty seeing past the boxes and bundles and she'd bumped into someone. The Captain of Squad Eleven.
"S-sorry, Captain. I wasn't paying attention to where I was going."
"Hmm," she'd heard the Captain say, "you're part of Squad Four right?"
"Yes, Captain, Captain…." What's the name, how could I have forgotten the name of a Captain?
"Kurosawa." That had earned Sakaki a smile. "It seems to me that you've bitten off a little more than you can chew with these items. Would you like some help?"
"Oh, that's okay, Captain. I can carry these boxes easily enough on my own. You don't have to trouble yourself."
"If that's true, then there shouldn't be a trail of boxes that fell off onto the ground." She'd then grabbed a few of the boxes off of the top of Sakaki's pile. "These are heavier than they look."
"They're not so bad," Sakaki had mumbled, "I often have to carry these for the other squad members. They sort of, rely on me."
"Really?" The Captain paused for a moment. "Can you sense Spiritual Pressure?"
"Yes…at least when I focus."
"Can you throw this box through that wall over there?"
"I don't think the box would hold up, it's—"
"Trust me on this," said the Captain, "I bet the box will hold up, but if you don't feel confident, try it with your fist."
Sakaki didn't do anything for a moment.
"Come on."
"I don't know, Captain. I don't think I can do it."
"If you can then you'll be able to move on, but if you can't you'll be the workhorse forever."
There was a sudden voice in her head. It sounded velvety but determined. A voice that was cold and confident. "You don't want to be treated like a dog forever? Do you Sakaki?"
No, she thought to herself. Her hand tightened into a fist. I never wanted to be a pack animal.
With a single touch the entire wall exploded into a cloud of rubble. Sakaki blushed in embarrassment. "Well," said the Captain, "I never expected that to happen." Sakaki began to pick up the boxes that had fallen onto the ground. She felt a hand grab onto her shoulder. "I think that you have a lot more potential than was previously believed. It shouldn't be hard for to you to excel in your squad. I just don't think you've gotten the right kind of stimulation."
But she was still considered weak by the other squads.
And one day that was almost her undoing.
It had been a dark summer night, she'd been walking by herself. There had been things that the squad had wanted to get completed in a nearby area. A fight had broken out and she'd been one of the members tasked with healing the most badly injured. Now she was on her way back to the Seireitei, the place where Soul Reapers lived within the Soul Society. Little light made its way to her along the path though up ahead she could see a few dark figures stumbling towards her. Sakaki slowed her pace slightly as the figures came closer and closer. They made grumbling and unhappy noises as they trudged along the walkway. Eventually she realized who they were. Members of Squad Three, and they were drunk.
"Who the hell is that in the middle of the damn road?" asked one of the men, the Squad Three Lieutenant.
"She looks like a Soul Reaper," muttered an unbalanced subordinate, "but she doesn't have a zanpakutō." The man had trouble not falling on his face.
"Dammit, my head. Why are we going this way Lieutenant?"
"Shut up!"
He marched up to Sakaki. She shrunk down slightly as the taller man stood in front of her. It was frightening to have a drunken man a foot taller than her looking like he was going to hit her in the face. She gulped.
"Who do you think you are?"
Sakaki shrunk even more.
"That's it." There was a flash of steel. The drunken Lieutenant held a zanpakutō in his right hand. "If you won't answer me I'll cut you down to size!" His slow swing was easy for Sakaki to dodge. "Damn." The man grabbed something out of his uniform. He chewed it, swallowed. "Now," he said with a smile, "with my motor skills restored, you'll be bloodied with ease."
" Lieutenant, what are you—?"
"Shut up! I'm going to cut this rebellious vixen in half!"
His sword lunged towards Sakaki in a bright streak. She turned her head, losing only a lock of hair. She quickly jumped backwards. The sword slashed through the fabric of her arm, somehow missing her skin. He slashed his zanpakutō down again, slicing through the lower portion of Sakaki's Soul Reaper uniform, she managed to escape injury again.
The sword rested at the Lieutenant's side. His face had an angry scowl. "How do you keep dodging my attacks? If you really are from the Seireitei then you'd have to be one of those Squad Four losers. Which means you couldn't possibly be able to dodge me. Still, once I get used to your speed my zanpakutō will slice you to bits." He pointed the tip of his blade towards her face. "It'll be easy."
"Listen to me," said a voice inside Sakaki's head, "are you going to lose to someone like him?"
But how can I fight him? she thought, he's a Lieutenant and I don't even have a zanpakutō.
"If you listen to me, Sakaki, I can give you what you need to destroy anything that threatens you. Can you tell me what I am?"
Sakaki thought for a moment.
You're my power. And I command you to come out.
"It sounds like you've finally grown a spine. Now," Sakaki felt something inside of her uniform, "you can block his sword. And the next time I try to tell you my name, I hope you can hear me."
"You're going to die," said the Lieutenant, "and I'll make it happen." He started to run towards her, his sword raised high. "This is the end for you!" The blade came down. To kill.
It stopped. Sakaki had his arm in her hand, and he was being crushed.
She stood up, she had been kneeling on the ground like some sort of frightened child. Now as she got to her feet, she was taller than her attacker.
"You think you can kill me?" she asked him, "don't make me laugh. You couldn't even give me a single scratch. You tried to push me around. I find that irritating." The Lieutenant's body shook as the air filled with Spiritual Pressure. "Now," her right hand reached inside her uniform, "why don't we see which one of us is stronger?" She pulled out a zanpakutō.
The Lieutenant broke away and managed to leap away, before his right arm gained a light scratch. A single droplet of blood dripped down from the wound onto the ground. He growled in anger.
He slashed at her, only to get a chunk taken out of his left shoulder. Blood sprayed out of the wound. He backed up. And got a cut to his lower right leg. He quickly fell to a knee. He looked up to see Sakaki standing over him.
"Looks like the one who will die today, is you."
After that incident she had been promoted to the rank of Lieutenant of Squad Four, since there was little doubt she was stronger than anyone short of the Captain.
"Kaorin?"
"Huh?"
"Kaorin, are you awake?"
"Gah!" Kaorin quickly sat up. "Sa-Sakaki! Wha-what happened to me, the Espada, the—?"
"It's okay, they're dead."
"They?" asked Kaorin.
"You were attacked by another Espada from behind, he gave you a deep wound. After I killed both of them I fixed up your side." Kaorin looked at the white bandage on her lower abdomen. She then blushed immensely.
"You took off my-my—?"
"I had to get to the wound."
Kaorin's eyes rolled back into her head and she fell over.
Sakaki rolled her eyes at what happened.
"I'll never understand that girl."
"Are you sure this is the right way?"
"Lord Nguvu built this not too long ago, so we must be getting closer to…the entrance."
"Okay, and when you're riding on my back, do you have to plant your feet in my chest?"
"It's more comfy there."
"You bastardly little creep!" snapped Kagura. "I'm starting to hate having you around!"
"You don't have to yell at me!" cried Lucas.
"Argh! Your stupid screams make my ears bleed! Dammit, why can't you just not be creepy, annoying, or infuriating for just a minute? You've been driving me freakin' crazy all day long!"
"But the moon is out," said Lucas, "so that means it's night."
"The moon is always out! This is Hueco Mundo, there isn't a sun!"
"There is inside Las Noches," said Lucas, "Nguvu made the ceiling generate light so that it looks like day inside of the castle."
"Then why on Earth is it named night? And why is everything in Spanish anyways?"
"You're funny."
"Why you little!"
"But if we go in the front entrance," said Lucas, "we'll be killed!"
"You really think that I'll try to sneak into the enemy stronghold from the front?" asked Kagura, "what do I strike you as, an idiot?"
"Kinda."
"Gah!"