Title – Kneel to the Baboon King
Author – c2t2
Part – 3 of 3
Disclaim – No own Bleach, no money.
Credits – Thank you one last time to Junko for cheerleading!
Notes, commentary, and extra world-building that didn't make it into the fic can be found on my livejournal, (username squizbee, or find the url in my profile)
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Kneel to the Baboon King
by c2t2
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Renji opened his eyes, only to close them immediately. It was painfully bright out here. Déjà vu. At least he wasn't cold. In fact, Renji felt like he was roasting to death.
He sat up, and slowly squinted his eyes open just a crack.
Sand dunes as far as the eye could see, the land blazing bright and scorching hot. Sand dunes a suspiciously familiar shade of tan... and a lone mountain far in the distance.
"Oh fuck me!"
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Chapter 3
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Having a temper tantrum would be the opposite of useful right now, tempting as it was. Renji pulled himself to his feet. The air was cooler up here, or at least less oppressive. Renji could see shimmering heat rising several inches above the sand. It was a damn good thing he was wearing shoes this time.
And, apparently, the rest of the shinigami uniform as well.
The black fabric wasn't helping with the heat, soaking up the sun the way it was. Renji shrugged out of the sleeves of the shihakusho, letting the fabric hang from his waist, and began walking toward the distant mountain. The beast followed him silently, and this time Renji did pity the creature's thick fur and unprotected hands and feet.
The sun beat down mercilessly. The only scent in the dry air was scorched earth and sunbaked dust. No sound but the crunch of sand underfoot. In less than an hour, Renji decided that going topless had been a bad idea. His torso was pouring sweat. For the first time since entering this world, he was thirsty, and the sun was making him delirious. Even though he was relatively tanned, any more sun would almost certainly burn Renji's skin. Up until now, his inner world hadn't hesitated to try and kill him, so he likely wasn't immune to sunburn.
He needed shade.
Ah, crud. There was no shade anywhere. Just endless sand dunes shimmering with heat haze. No shade, no shelter, no water. It was so bright that Renji was starting to see black spots in his vision.
This sucked.
"So, what happens if I stop moving forward this time?"
The creature answered, "The sandstorm will flay the flesh from your bones." Even though the beast didn't seem to need its mouth to talk, its voice contained a dry raspiness that betrayed its thirst.
Renji didn't need reminding of his own thirst, but he pushed it away. It couldn't be helped.
Now about that sun…
Renji pulled the shihakusho out of his hakama. He separated the white inner layer, decided against anything fancy, and simply draped it over his head and shoulders. That left the black outer layer. In minutes he had torn another strip and wrapped it around his head much like he had on the glacier to prevent him from going sun-blind. What of the rest of it?
Well…
"Hey, do you need something between your feet and the sand?" Renji glanced at the baboon's raw and blistered extremities. That stuff's gotta chafe bare skin, he winced in sympathy.
"It would make this journey less painful," was the beast's reply.
"Alright, hang on." In the next few minutes Renji tore the fabric into four large squares and four long strips, carefully getting as much sand as possible off each of the creature's limbs before tying the fabric into the same crude protection he'd used for his feet on the glacier. He stepped back.
If possible, rag-boots looked even stupider on the creature than they did on Renji, but again, there was no helping it. Renji adjusted his crude sunblind, resettled the white undershirt over his head and shoulders, and continued walking.
Renji was no stranger to thirst. He had grown up in Inuzuri after all, but it never got any less terrible. His mouth was bone-dry. If he could piss, he'd be tempted to drink that. But he couldn't, so it wouldn't be an issue.
The gap Renji had left open to see through kept closing and blocking his vision, causing him to stumble on the shifting dunes. Dust and grit from the blowing sand found its way into Renji's eyes, and his dehydrated body couldn't produce the tears to wash them out, leaving him in a world of blurriness and pain.
Renji swore that as soon as possible he would buy a decent pair of sunglasses. It seemed like the best way to apologize to his abused eyes. Or perhaps goggles...
Renji's tongue felt swollen. His lips had split open, but his blood had become so thick that he barely even bled. The unmoving sun made it impossible to tell how long he had been here. In the silence, his scraping footsteps had become a cadence – water, water, water…
Water.
"Hot damn!" Renji's voice was dry and croaky, but he didn't care. There, off to his right – Water! A shallow indentation in the distance glittered blue through the heat haze. A surge of relief, and Renji altered direction.
"No… don't do it… Renji." The creature's voice was definitely showing signs of strain.
"Why don't you go fu-" Renji paused mid-sentence, struck by the familiarity of the situation. "Hang on, is this like the hot springs? What's wrong with the water?"
The beast sagged in what might have been relief. "There is no water. What you see is a desert mirage. Following it will lead you ever further from the mountain."
Renji sat down, exhausted. He was dizzy and feeling sick to his empty stomach. "Great, just great," he grumbled, as despair began to set in. "The mountain is so far off, at this rate we'll die before we reach it."
The reply was simple, "Yes."
Renji wracked his brain, trying to come up with a solution.
"I can't make it, can I?"
"No."
"Then what the hell am I supposed to do?" Renji nearly roared in frustration. "You seem to know what's going on, so give me a clue, damn it!"
"I cannot help you find the answer. That is one thing you must realize for yourself."
In any other circumstances, Renji would have lost his temper and either started shouting, or more likely, attacked the beast. But he had a throbbing headache, and the pounding pain was enough to keep Renji still.
"I don't want to die."
The beast was silent.
The heat near the ground was unbearable, so without any other option, Renji rose to his feet and once again began walking toward the mountain.
The headache and dizziness only worsened, and cramps began so seize his muscles. Renji could handle pain. Renji could handle thirst. He kept repeating this to himself, over and over.
Water, water, water, water…
The dizziness became so severe that Renji found himself on his knees in the desert sand. He realized this was a little like on the glacier. "I need your help."
"Yes," the beast said simply.
Pause for an extended moment. Two.
Renji suddenly understood. He got it. Revelation.
Renji meant that he needed help keeping his balance, but this was something even simpler. He felt like a colossal idiot that it had taken him this long to get it.
Renji had been relying on his own strength to get through his soul world.
"You can help me."
"I can."
They both fell silent. The implied request hung between them.
"Would you help me?"
"I would."
Silence stretched again. Damn it, the beast was going to make him beg, wasn't it?
Well, his other option was to die, "Please. Please take me to the mountain."
The beast dissolved into a black cloud. The mist surrounded Renji, and suddenly he was floating. The sensation lasted nearly a minute before the black mist cleared and Renji was deposited on the mountainside. He began the journey to the now-familiar building.
The thirst was gone. The headache and the sand and the split lips were gone. Renji felt normal again.
Slowing slightly, Renji realized that if the creature had helped him reach the mountain, it might also be able to answer his questions. "Will I be able to leave this time?"
The creature was silent, staring at Renji with unreadable yellow eyes.
Renji sighed. "The only part of this world I haven't been to is the blue section. I'd like to avoid that, since blue probably means water and the only way I know how to swim is doggy-paddle. What else do I need to do to leave this place?"
"You are nearly there."
"That's no kind of answer, you…" Renji realized he didn't know what to call the thing. He didn't know what manner of beast it was, where it came from, its history, or anything about it, really. For the second time, Renji decided he was a complete moron.
Renji reached the top of the mountain and strode across the clearing and into the building without hesitation. Several steps inside, he felt the beast reappear behind him.
"On the wall, that's you, isn't it?"
The beast made a sound of assent.
"Would you... may I wield you. Will you fight beside me?"
"Yes."
And with that, Renji felt a tangible shift in the air around him. He sensed that he could take the weapon off the wall and be returned to the outside world. Renji reached for it, but something made him hesitate before his hand wrapped around the hilt.
He turned around again. "I guess we'll have to learn about each other if we're gonna work together. And if we're gonna be working together, I guess we ought to be introduced." He paused, but felt no disapproval from the creature, "…I'm Renji, will you tell me your name?"
The creature's expression did not change, but Renji could hear the approval in its voice, "I am Zabimaru."
Renji bowed in greeting. Without further delay, he turned and reached out. His fingers wrapped around the hilt of the weapon, and the world vanished.
From now on, they would work together. And their objective was to raise hell.