A/N: Wow, lots of reviews. Thanks a lot. Here's hoping you all continue to enjoy.
Disclaimer: I do not own Bleach and I am not to be blamed for the economic downturn.
The night was dark around her as Isane wiped the sweat from her brow. Her and her Captain had been called to the world of living to help heal a large brigade of shinigami who had been sent out to challenge a rouge arrancar, but had suffered heavy damages in the initial confrontation. Having attended to the last of them, her captain had given her permission to head back to her tent and get some rest.
She moved forward languidly; her body exhausted from the work. Even if she was weary, part of her still wished to stay up. Her Captain would remain awake, watching over the injured shinigami all night; Isane wished she had the endurance to stay at her side the whole time, but it had already proven too much for her.
Approaching her tent, Isane contemplated what sort of sleep it would hold for her. Would she sleep peacefully through the night, or would she be visited by nightmares once more? A yawn told her it wouldn't be long before she found out. She opened the flap to the tent and prepared to step inside. She didn't quite make it before a voice called to her.
"Lieutenant Kotetsu, wait!" the voice called. Isane turned to find an unfamiliar female shinigami standing before her, looking out of breath.
"Yes?" Isane prompted.
"Yes, Lieutenant Kotetsu. Let me explain. I was out surveying the perimeter of our camp as part of the watch unit, when suddenly we were attacked. One of the other two in our unit was critically wounded and is in desperate need of assistance," the frightened shinigami recounted in a hurried fashion.
Isane nodded forcefully, her energy returning immediately. She was needed. Her Captain couldn't be asked to abandon her place looking over her other patients. This one would be up to her.
"Lead the way," Isane commanded in a serious, attentive voice.
"Yes, Lieutenant!" the panicked girl readily called back; she hastily began to pace off in the direction of her injured comrade. Isane followed right behind her.
After a few moments of hurrying through the dark of night, the two shinigami finally reached their destination. There were two male shinigami waiting there in the densely wooded area, one watching over the other, wounded on the floor. Isane knelt down immediately to assess the man's wounds.
"How is he? Will he be alright?" the girl who had retrieved the healer questioned hopefully.
"I think so..." Isane said as she stared down at the wounds. They were very deep, blood still coming up and out of them. The man was far from conscious, but he was alive. "What did this to him? It wasn't the--"
"It was." The non-injured man answered the question before it had fully left the girl's lips. "We ran into that arrancar while on watch. It tore into him and left him like this. We knew we were no match for it, so we grabbed him and ran as far as we could with him like that. For whatever reason that thing didn't chase after us."
"I see. These wounds are serious, but they're well within my capability to heal. I'm sure he'll be perfectly fine to move in a while…" Isane started as she readied herself to apply her healing techniques.
Just as her hands were moving toward him, just as the healing spell began it's course through her head, it all suddenly became very unnecessary. A giant red blast shot from out of nowhere. Isane caught sight of it in time to raise her head and bend back to avoid it, but it was too late for the wounded man. The entire top half of his body was incinerated instantly.
"No! How did it find us… I-It didn't even chase after us… How did it find where we hid?" the female of the watch unit screamed in horror, trembling as she turned in the direction of the blast.
"You bastard! Come out here! I'll make you pay for what you've done!" the still living male shinigami shouted into the darkness beyond the trees. Slowly the arrancar stepped forward into Isane's sight.
The arrancar was intimidating. He had the very solid body of a tall, thin man, dressed in a white robe that concealed everything except his pale white hands. Over it all he wore a long, pitch black cowl that ended in a hood. The most disturbing part of the arrancar's appearance was in what Isane saw under his hood. It was hollow; there was nothing there but a floating, white eye mask, covering two glowing red lights that came through as eyes. Overall he had a rather ghostly appearance.
"Monster! You'll pay!" the over-excited male shinigami shouted as he pulled his zanpakuto. He charged the arrancar with it raised, a fire in his eyes. As he was leaping in to make his cut, the arrancar raised a hand. A massive cero blast came forth, leaving almost nothing behind.
"N-no… we're…. I-I… Its…." the timid shinigami girl fumbled as she ran toward Isane, hoping to escape death. "Please Lieutenant… save me…"
Isane, stunned, her brain hardly functioning in proper order through all that had happened, still heard the girl's plea. She snapped out of her daze and decided she'd make a stand. She pulled Itegumo from its sheath.
"Don't worry. No one else will die here. You'll be safe," Isane assured the girl, stepping forward.
The girl seemed contented by this. She smiled back at isane as she stood a little behind her. She began to speak, "O-okay. I trust you lieuten--"
She didn't get to finish. Isane wasn't sure if it was Sonido or something else entirely, but somehow the arrancar had appeared directly behind them, it's zanpakuto was pierced straight through the young girl's chest. Isane felt crushed.
"Stop! I'm a lieutenant of the Gotei 13, you're through, hollow!" Isane screamed as she slashed forward, releasing Itegumo's shikai in the process. The arrancar pulled his sword from the fallen shinigami and blocked the attack in a single motion, his strength immense to the point of launching Itegumo from Isane's hands.
"What do I do? Captain, what do I do…?" Isane shook with fear as she asked these questions to no one. She was all alone under the night sky. She slowly began to back away from the arrancar and toward her sword, the arrancar inching toward her deliberately as she did so. She couldn't let it all get to her. She had to be strong like her Captain. She had to do something.
"Disintegrate, you black dog of Rondanini! Look upon yourself with horror and then claw out your own throat!" Isane shouted as she grabbed Itegumo once more. "Bakudo number 9, Geki!"
Red light surrounded the Arrancar and soon he wasn't moving. Isane leapt forward at full speed and let Itegumo carve it's way through the hollow's chest. As the blood flew from the cut, Isane's faith in her self was momentarily restored. The sentiment was unfortunately brief though; before Isane had even completed her motion, the arrancar had broken her binding spell and grabbed her by the neck.
Isane stared into the headless monster's glowing red eyes, sure of her death. She wished she was stronger. She wished she had the strength to protect those she cared from. She wished she had the strength to at least save somebody, even if it was just herself.
As wish after wish flew through Isane's mind, she suddenly noticed something strange. The monster was fiercely holding her by the neck, but that was all he was doing. He wasn't moving at all; it was as if he was frozen. And it wasn't just him, Isane noticed. Everything was the same; even the wind had stopped. She freed herself with ease from the arrancar's grip and began to turn around.
Running would be a simple task now but she didn't want to run; not until she knew what this was about. If everything but her was frozen, she had to know why. She continued to look around hoping for some clue. Very soon she found more than just that. A bright glowing light drifted toward her.
Upon closer inspection, Isane noticed that the light took the shape of a tiny girl with wings. She wore a devious smile as she began to fly around Isane in circles.
"What are you? What's going on?" Isane demanded.
"I'm Violet Moonstar the guardian fairy of wishes, here to grant your wish!" the tiny girl chimed cheerfully.
"What?! R-really…? W-why?" Isane started, confused.
"Because it's fun," Violet replied in a carefree way.
"O-okay…" Isane said, unsure what to make of this all.
"Right. So here's the deal. I'll give you the power to make the scary monster go away in exchange for giving up on your greatest wish," the wish fairy proposed in a high voice, smirking wickedly.
"That doesn't sound fair exactly, but I guess I'm pretty much dead if I don't accept," Isane said, mulling it over.
"Yep!" the fairy chirped innocently.
"Well alright then, I don't even know what my greatest wish is in the first place," Isane sighed.
"No good. For our deal to go through you have to tell me what your greatest wish is," Violet said, shaking her head.
"What?! Can't you just read my heart or something and find it out?" Isane asked, feeling insecure.
"Of course. But I'm an evil dark fairy, so I'm gonna be a bitch about it. You have to say it out loud, to the world, yourself, and if you don't get it right in three tries something bad will happen," Violet Moonstar stated her terms as bluntly as possible.
"What will happen?" Isane asked, somewhat anxious.
"I'll eat you," the fairy replied forwardly.
"What?!" the Lieutenant started, stunned.
"So that's why you'd better get it right. Tell me your greatest wish!" the fairy commanded, flying up and down in front of the girl.
Isane contemplated it for a moment. Isane was a fairly simple, down to earth person. She didn't have many extraordinary wishes that she clung onto. She couldn't think of anything.
"I wish that Aizen is defeated; that things become peaceful in Seireitei once more," Isane said, shaking. It was the only thing that came to her.
"Nope! Completely wrong. You better be glad too; think about how selfish it would look if you gave up on that just to save yourself," Violet said in a critical voice, shaking her tiny head at the shinigami. "Try again!"
Isane began to deliberate once more. The fairy was right; she couldn't sacrifice anything universal like that. She had to have something selfish she wished for regularly. An idea found her.
"I wish that I could wake up one day and suddenly be four or five inches shorter…" Isane said, slightly embarrassed at saying it.
"Nope! Wrong again. You have one more shot, then I'm going to eat you," the fairy said, energy in her high, cute voice.
"Are you really going to eat me?" Isane asked, staring at the tiny creature and wondering how this was possible.
"Of course! Try extra hard this time!" Violet almost cheered, an evil smile on her miniature face.
Isane was nervous, even if she was unsure how serious the fairy's threats were. She wanted to give Violet her answer, but she couldn't. Shouldn't she know herself well enough to know what the thing she wished for most was? Why did this give her so much trouble? She had to find the answer. She had to. She couldn't give up. Her captain didn't give up.
"I wish I was someone strong, who could stand on her own, like my Captain," Isane said, nothing but confidence in her answer.
Violet Moonstar smiled at the words. She was silent for awhile, allowing the suspense to build. She then shouted loudly, "Wrong!"
"What, but I was positive…" Isane started to shake.
"Yeah, positively wrong," the fairy laughed.
"Tell me! What is it? I have to know!" Isane shouted desperately.
"You don't get to know. You were wrong three times so I'm going to eat you," Violet laughed maniacally for three minutes straight. She then glowed a neon purple for a minute and a half and transformed into a ten foot tall, gigantic fishcake with a mouth.
"NO!!! Don't eat me!!!" Isane shouted in absolute horror as she backed away. It was racing towards her at incredible speed, it's huge mouth wide open, ready to swallow her whole.
Isane ran as fast as she could in her panic. Then she tripped and fell over. She expected it to end shortly after, the monster fishcake sinking it's teeth straight through her, but no such sensation came. Instead all she received was a pleasant nudging at her back.
"Isane...Isane… You're breathing heavy… Are you okay?" the sweet gentle voice of Captain Unohana graced Isane's ears. She shot up immediately.
She had been dreaming. Looking around she found that there was no giant fishcake, no evil fairy, and no ghostlike arrancar frozen in time. Instead all she found was a shimmeringly radiant Retsu Unohana hovering over her, her hand placed gently on Isane's shoulder. They were inside a large tent; around them were many shinigami, lying bandaged on beds.
"C-captain? W-what--? Where…?" Isane didn't even know where to begin. Her dream had been so very real, especially that terrifying phantom of a hollow.
"Calm down Isane, you don't want to wake anyone," Unohana said warmly, moving her hand from the girl's shoulder to her cheek. Isane tried her best to settle down.
"I-I'm sorry…" Isane whispered, looking down, still confused.
"We were called out to assist the wounded here after their battle with that arrancar. You assisted me for hours, and became visibly tired. I permitted you to go back to your tent for some rest, but you insisted on continuing to help me. A few minutes later you were asleep soundly," Unohana explained in a simple voice, noticing the other's separation from reality.
"I-I see…" Isane started, shaking a bit. She remembered all of this save falling asleep. Her nightmare had just fused so fluidly into it all that her sense of reality was still jarred.
"If you wish to discuss this dream now, I'd gladly listen," Unohana offered kindly, her expression serene and beautiful.
Isane pondered what to say. She remembered that she didn't want to be reliant; she wanted to do things herself. Still, the imagery wasn't leaving her mind, and her Captain's smile was impossibly inviting. She decided to speak.
"I-I ran into the arrancar. It was fearsome; terrifying. It killed three shinigami before my eyes and then I fought it… and was overpowered…" Isane recounted in a meek way, the hooded, faceless creature still burnt into her mind's eyes. She decided to leave out the bits about the evil fairy and giant fishcake, as those sorts of things weren't meant to be shared, even with someone as understanding as Captain Unohana.
A hint of concern crept onto the Captain's face as she heard this. She was silent for awhile before speaking. "I see... Can you describe the arrancar you saw in your dream, Isane?"
Isane was shocked by the question. Here she was hoping her Captain could help her forget what she saw, but instead the woman was asking for descriptive details. Still, it wasn't like she was going to forget the details anytime soon.
"It was creepy. It wore a white robe, and a black hood and cape. It had no face, just a floating mask and glowing red eyes," Isane explained, shivering at the description.
"Isane, tell me, since we arrived, have you heard from the shinigami here any details about the appearance of the arrancar they fought?" Unohana asked, her tone still very serious.
"W-what? No, I haven't," Isane shook her head.
"Isn't it odd then, that your description just now matches that of their aggressor?" Unohana arrived on point. A chill ran down Isane's spine.
"Y-you can't be-- Why would I…? How could I see something like that?" Knowing that the monster from her dreams was real was a definite shock to the silver-haired girl.
"It seems to be a power this arrancar possesses. A few of shinigami here have told me that they saw the arrancar in their dreams the night before encountering it. Many more spoke of friends who had seen it in such a fashion, all of whom fell in battle," Unohana recounted gravely. Isane could feel her heart begin to race.
"So it penetrates our dreams and marks us for death? D-Doesn't that mean I'm next?" Isane grew faint.
"This ability it has likely works in creating fear in. Those who are easily frightened are ensnared by its trap and slip into panic when they come to encounter it outside their dreams. In their panic, these souls lose their ability to act at the best of their ability," Unohana hypothesized. She then assured, "so in other words, you are in no extra danger, Isane, so long as you don't let yourself become afraid."
Isane gulped. That was easier said than done. She supposed she'd just have to not go anywhere for awhile.
"Captain Unohana!" a breathless call came very suddenly from the distance. Unohana got to her feet at once. The sounds of someone running through the grass could be heard for a few seconds before the door to the tent opened. Who emerged shocked Isane to no end.
"Captain Unohana… our unit was attacked while on watch. One of us is critically wounded. He needs assistance now or he won't make it," panted the very same shinigami girl as from Isane's dream.
"I see," Unohana said understandingly. She turned to her lieutenant, "Isane, I trust you can handle this?"
Isane could feel her mind go numb at being asked this. She was horribly frightened. It was too similar to the nightmare. She didn't want to encounter that frightening arrancar in the woods. She wouldn't be able to keep her composure.
"No! I couldn't!" Isane said at once, closing her eyes and shaking her head, feeling ashamed.
"Isane. That's unlike you. When have you ever been one to refuse me?" Unohana said, strictly.
Isane then felt even worse. She was horrible, selfish. This man was dying but the fear caused by a dream was preventing her from lifting a finger. Even so, she couldn't compel herself to snap out of it. In a vulnerable quiver she started, "I-I'm sorry, Captain… I-I thought you understood…"
"This is about the dream you just had?" the older woman asked, her head tilted. Her behavior was strange to Isane; Captain Unohana had seen her shaken from her nightmares before; why would she surprised by it this time?
"Y-yeah…" Isane replied meekly, not looking at the other directly.
"Then you would prefer I accompany you, Isane?" the Captain proposed. Suddenly Isane understood her Captain's ploy.
"I know I said I wanted to get over this problem on my own, that I wouldn't go to you for help anymore… but this is… this is too much. I just can't… even if I want to," Isane said, feeling pathetic. Her captain was giving her the chance to be mature; to do things on her own like she had said she wanted and face her fears directly, and she was too afraid to take it.
"Then I will accompany and make sure you're safe, Isane," Unohana said with finality. She proceeded to give orders to the few assistants she had in regard to watching the patients while she was away, before turning back to Isane and the girl. "Are you sure this is what you want, Isane?"
Isane stood pale, frozen for a few seconds before she could even start thinking of a reply. She didn't want to rely on anyone. Her insecurities, her fear, she was supposed to overcome them on her own. She didn't know how to do that though. If she went into that forest alone, she would be petrified with anxiety. Her nightmares never had a light impact on her state of being, and knowing for a fact that the arrancar she had seen was actually lurking out there only made matters more impossible.
"Yes... Let's go, Captain," Isane said solemnly, still looking away in shame.
"Lead the way," Unohana softly said, nodding to the female shinigami standing at the door.
"Right!" she replied before turning, exiting the tent and sprinting off. The Captain and Lieutenant of the Fourth Division followed closely after her.
It was all the same. The night sky, the direction of the wind, the path they took through the forest, all of it was the exact same as what Isane had just seen in her nightmare. This was unsettling for Isane, but nothing more than that. With her Captain at her side, she felt secure despite it all; like even if her nightmare was real this time, it still wouldn't be able to reach her.
When they finally did reach the injured man, that scene proved to be the same as well. It was the same man lying injured on the floor; the same third watchman standing over him. If the arrancar was trying to recreate the nightmare it showed Isane, it was doing a very good job.
"Isane, tend to this man," Unohana commanded in her usual gentle fashion.
"At once, Captain," Isane replied readily. She bent down and examined him.
"How is he? Will he be alright?" the girl who had retrieved the healers questioned hopefully.
"I think so..." Isane said as she stared down at the wounds. They were deep, but not quite as deep as they were in the man was still unconscious, but he was alive. "The arrancar did this, right?"
"Yes." The non-injured man answered solemnly. "We ran into that arrancar while on watch. It tore into him and left him like this. We knew we were no match for it, so we grabbed him and ran as far as we could with him like that. For whatever reason that thing didn't chase after us."
"I see. These wounds are serious, but they're well within my capability to heal. I'm sure he'll be perfectly fine to move in a while…" Isane wondered why she was saying the exact same things she had in her dream. It was just what came naturally for her.
She remembered clearly what happened next. She would be ready this time. She wouldn't let anyone die. Instead of mentally going over a healing spell, she focused on a protective one, keeping the corner of her eye focused on the direction the arrancar's blast had hit from in her dream.
As it was, the blast soon came, but Isane's preparations proved useless. The giant red cero came catapulting forth from the exact opposite direction, catching the young healer completely off guard. She wasn't anywhere close to being on time to react to it. Luckily, it didn't matter.
"Don't let yourself get distracted, Isane. Focus on cleansing that poor man of his pain," Retsu Unohana softly advised. She stood right in the path of the blast, which had been completely deflected in a split second. Isane wasn't exactly sure how.
"R-right," Isane said, she prepared her healing technique and began to apply it to the wounded shinigami.
"It's here…. How did it find us… It didn't even chase after us… How did it find where we hid?" the female of the watch unit said, terrified, but far more composed then she had been at this point in the dream
"Come out here, you bastard! I'll make you pay for all my friends you've killed!" the healthy male shinigami shouted into the darkness beyond the trees. He sounded about the same as he did in the dream after witnessing the other man die; Isane supposed this man was just confrontational.
Slowly the arrancar stepped forward. He looked exactly as he had when he had infiltrated Isane's dream. All the details were the same, the same figure, the same robe and cowl, the same hollowness, floating mask and glowing red eyes. He seemed to stare straight at Isane as if she were his prey.
"Damned monster! You'll pay!" the over-excited male shinigami shouted as he pulled his zanpakuto, ready to charge to his death as in the dream. Captain Unohana outstretched her arm before the man's path.
"Calm yourself, sir. Running to your death will not appease the souls of any of the friends you've lost," she started in a wise voice, looking the man in the eye. "It is best to fight a defensive battle against an opponent who's strength you do not fully comprehend, especially when you have comrades to protect." The man listened to the captain's words; his posture became more relaxed and he sheathed his sword.
"I understand Captain. Seeing this beast attack us mad me lose my better judgement," he said, turning a cold stare to the arrancar.
"You're a captain. You can defeat this guy, right? H-he's not going to kill us?" the female member of the watch unit asked, hopefully, certainly far less panicked then she was at this point in the dream.
"You have no need to worry. No one here will die today," Unohana made a variation of the pledge that Isane had in her dream. Isane had no doubt that her Captain would do better at keeping it than she had.
The girl seemed contented by this. She smiled at Unohana as she stood a little behind her. She began to speak, "O-okay. I trust you Capt--"
The girl didn't get to finish. She didn't die as before, the words just got interrupted. The arrancar had found his way behind her just as it had, and his sword was ready, it just didn't connect with it's target. The male watchman had been alertly on guard, and caught his sudden movement, catching the arrancar's blade on his own the second he reappeared.
Isane figured it was hard to read the emotions of mute, faceless monsters, but in this case it was no real task for her. The arrancar was seething mad. She could just tell. He no longer paid Isane, his prey, any mind. He was staring with absolute hatred at the one who had disheveled his careful plan.
"Noble arrancar, if you place any value on your life, I ask that you return to Hueco Mundo immediately. You cannot defeat me," Unohana spoke; the tone of her voice far more intimidating than the arrancar's fiery stare.
The arrancar was apparently insulted by this, or at the very least further enraged. His eyes glowed brighter for a moment, before he charged forward with incredible speed, directly at the woman, his sword held firmly, ready to cleave her in two. Retsu Unohana disappeared with a flash step and appeared behind him, Minazuki drawn and held pointed, directly at his heart.
"I trust you understand now. My power is greater than yours. Withdraw, if you do not wish to die tonight," Unohana said coldly, almost callously. She withdrew her sword to allow the arrancar room to make his decision.
He looked down at his sword, than at Unohana, then at the other two shinigami standing close by, then at Isane kneeling over the injured man. He then looked once more at Unohana, hatefully. He gave a silent roar into the sky and then raised his sword, ready to strike again.
"Forgive me. But if that is your choice..." Unohana somberly said, closing her eyes as the faceless being's blade neared. The motion was untraceable. There was just a brief glimmer before a thick line of scarlet shot off into the air, and the arrancar fell to the ground, lifelessly. Unohana kept her eyes shut, a look of pain on her face as her hand left Minazuki's hilt.
"Hah! Can't believe it! Damn thing kills a number of us, injured a bunch more, and it's the healer we call in to help us that goes and takes it out for good," the male shinigami said, shaking his head though relief was evident on his face.
"That you so much, Captain Unohana. That was incredible," the female shinigami said with an excited jump.
"Ugh… it's gone then…" the injured man said in a strained voice, alerting everyone else of his consciousness. Isane had made great progress on his wounds despite her attention being divided over the course of the encounter.
"You think you're ready to be moved yet, sir?" Isane asked her patient, nodding as she looked at him.
"I think you cold try," the man replied. His two comrades got in position and lifted him over their shoulders.
"Let's go back, Isane," Captain Unohana said softly, taking a step forward. Isane stood and scurried to catch up with her.
Walking back to the camp, Isane found it odd, but she actually felt tired. She supposed it made sense though. Retsu Unohana had effectively slain her nightmare; what then was there to fear in her sleep? She hadn't wanted to rely on anyone, but she had, and as a result she wore a beaming smile across her face.
She began to consider the other half of the dream, the part that had come solely from her and not from the arrancar's influence. She briefly glanced at the radiant woman walking just in front of her. She was now confident she knew the answer Violet Moonstar had been looking for. But it wouldn't have done her any good knowing then; it wasn't a wish to be abandoned, not even in the face of death.
A/N: End chapter 2. Odd chapter. Not sure how it turned out. I tried to make it a kind of interesting little self contained event. It was something different I suppose. I had a great time writing it. I had it start with another dream sequence, though I had this one take a more whimsical twist instead of being purely horror. With the arrancar here, I wanted to give him a name and maybe a zanpakuto release or something, but I decided he'd be more terrifying as a creepy, silent character, and that he fight hasn't important enough for me to prolong. Isane is still fun to write, and Unohana is just awesome here. I really want to see her in an actual fight; you know she's gonna be just as badass as I portrayed her here. Tell me what you thought of it all. I think this story is shaping up nicely so far.