AN: soooo…it's been how long? 3 months since I updated? Sorry I'm working/studying for the ACT with some friends and I guess I've not had time to write. Enjoy and REVIEW PLEASE! If you have suggestions for this story leave them in a review and I will take a look at them and reply to you A.S.A.P
"Where am I?"…..
Ichigo felt his body lifted then dropped onto a cold, metal surface; banging his head into a pitch black world.
He felt leather embraces as they were being wrapped around his arms and legs. Then the quick sting of a needle in his vein, injecting who knows what into his blood stream, causing him to black out again. He felt someone touching his bare skin as itchy material was wrapped around his chest and right arm. It stung for a bit but felt refreshed compared to how it had been.
Ichigo moved his head to the side, trying to ignore the immense throbbing it was emitting. His brow scrunched together as he slowly began to open up his eyes. He could hear footsteps walking back and forth around him, and a radio on in the background. Letting his eyes adjust, he squinted up at the ceiling of a tent. He took in a breath of air, seconds later wishing he hadn't as a sharp pain racked through his body from his upper arm.
"It hurts" he mumbled, as his arms and legs began to struggle against the leather. Realizing it was futile; he relaxed his body and decided to take in his environment. He noticed a new pair of bandages wrapped around his chest and his head, explaining the itchy material he had felt earlier. To his left was a small metal shelf with bloody bandages and what looked like to be a bullet covered in blood, beside it a lethal looking piece of glass.
His eyes shot open instantly. It suddenly came back to him. The car, Nathan, the explosion sending chunks of glass everywhere, Nathan's missing hand and ear piercing screaming, and… Ichigo began to struggle against his restraints once more. A machine in the background began to beep loudly as his heart began pounding in his chest. A crash erupted from somewhere near his room, as the folds to his tent were ripped open. He tried to move his head to the side to see the stranger but he barely had any energy let from struggling.
"Shit, I thought he would be under its effects longer…" The voice belonged to a female, as he heard her rummage through some things. Suddenly said stranger leaned over him and shone a flashlight into his eyes blinding him from her features.
"Eye sight seems to be fine, and from the looks of your struggling I'm guessing your motor skills are fine as well." She clicked off the flash light and once again left his side. He heard the sound of a wheeled chair being moved then the soft thud of her ass sitting down, releasing a contented sigh soon after. Ichigo looked in her general direction, still blinded by the flashlight, until his vision returned.
There in the seat was said female. She wore an old worn-out leather trench coat with a black shirt underneath. A belt full of lethal looking knives was present around her waist and what looked like to be some sort of pistol hung from its pure black holster. A pair of worn out dark blue jeans, and armies boots beneath her waist. One of the sleeves to the coat was raised up exposing pale flesh, with a bandage wrapped firmly around what he assumed to be an injury. He could still see evidence of blood leaking from the wound. And finally, what got his attention the most was the dark brown gas mask present on her face.
Ichigo's curiosity began to peak.
"Where am I?" She jerked as demanding words came from the operation table. Ichigo watched as she relaxed then straightened up her features.
"Somewhere due east of this god-forsaken wasteland" she said semi-humorlessly. Her voice was raspy; probably due to the respiratory mask. Ichigo's head still seemed to be foggy from whatever this female injected into his arm.
"How long have I been out of it?" She didn't move from her spot
"About a week or so, I actually thought you weren't gonna make it with all that blood pouring out of your chest. Guess you got lucky punk." She lifted her finger up in the air and continued.
"Anyways, it doesn't really matter now; everyone probably thinks you're dead, which if I may say is a major improvement from your "Wonderful" life." Ichigo's eyes widened.
"Everybody thinks I'm dead? What are you talking about? WHO THE HELL ARE YOU? HOW DO YOU KNOW WHO I AM?" She tensed and put her palms in front of her defensively.
"Don't start freaking out on me now Strawberry; it's not my fault that you got dragged into this."
Ichigo laid his head back on the table.
"You still haven't answered my questions." He said sternly. He heard her chuckle behind her mask before she got up and once again leaned over him. She grabbed him by the collar to make sure she had his full attention.
"Listen punk, you happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time. This is not my fault, this mission was supposed to be an easy kill and sweep, but you made things complicated." Her grip tightened. Before she continued
"And let's get things straight first, I'll be the one asking questions, not you. I could easily kill you here, cut open your stomach and feed your insides to my pet if I wanted to, but lucky for you I'm in a good mode today, ignoring the fact that there is a bullet wound in my arm because of you." Ichigo froze.
"You're from before! You're the one who set up the explosions on the car!" She laughed then released his collar.
"You don't miss anything, do you kid?" She undid the buckles to the leather restraints releasing him from their grasp. She stepped back allowing him to slowly rise up into a sitting position, shifting so his legs hung from the table, his eyes on her the entire time. They stared at each other in silence till he broke it.
"Why did you save me?" The question seemed to catch her off guard, as she searched for an answer.
"I may be a criminal, but I never leave a favor left unpaid." He lifted an eyebrow in surprise to her response.
"A favor left unpaid? What are you talking about; I didn't do you any favors." He watched her cross her arms at her chest.
"You took a bullet in the shoulder from Nathan's gun, to keep it from hitting me, pretty stupid, but much appreciated." Ichigo's arm throbbed in response.
"Oh yah…" She laughed through her mask again then picked up a package from the floor.
"Here, you'll need this for later. Come outside the tent when you're done, and I'll answer all the questions that your little heart desires then." With that she pivoted on her heel and left him alone in an awkward silence.
He ran his hand through his dirty orange mane, trying to grasp everything that had happened. He jumped off the table and set the box down. He lifted up the folds and lifted his eyebrows in surprise. Inside the box was pair of dark blue jeans, an old black leather jacket that surprisingly was his size, a pair of army boots and… his very own respiratory mask.
Ichigo picked up the mask and slowly ran his fingers down its surface. On the side of its surface, a large 77 was painted in a crimson red. He pulled off his shirt and began getting dressed. Finally all that was left was the gas mask. Ichigo gripped the straps as he pulled it over his face. A perfect fit. He adjusted the tightness of the mask then wrapped his palms in new bandages, still tender from his bike accident. He took a step back a looked at his figure from a mirror on the wall, then stepped outside to join his "Companion".
As he entered the next room, he saw her on the floor putting food into a pot of boiling water. Sensing his presence, she lifted her head, studying him up and down and whistled.
"Looks good on yah, but don't get to full of yourself." Ichigo ignored her comment and sat down across from her on an old mat. In between them, a fire was blazing with a large pot in the center. Vegetables and chunks of meat marinated inside. Ichigo felt his stomach grumble. The female noticed and leaned back against the tent's wall.
"Don't get too excited, it won't be ready for awhile." Ichigo shifted trying to find a comfortable position.
"You said that you would answer my questions to my heart desire, now start talking." Ichigo flinched at the sound of his own voice behind the mask. She nodded waiting for him to continue.
"First question, what's your name?" She shook her head with a sigh.
"Curious are we, well I guess you deserve that much." She sat up straight and slightly bowed her head.
"My name is Rukia, I'm 21 years old and I work for the Reapers of the waste." Ichigo stopped breathing for a few seconds. The Reapers were known for terrible crimes across the wasteland, most of them involving horrible murders of well-known criminals, usually involving de-capitations or innocent families from around the entire wasteland being slaughtered for their treasures. Rukia looked at him with a serious expression. She silently waited for his response, watching his every move from behind her mask.
"Ichigo Kurosaki." Rukia looked at him with a blank expression, obviously confused.
"It's my name, Ichigo Kurosaki from District 2 age-"
"I already know plenty about you Kurosaki." She interrupted.
"I'm part of a large criminal organization, so it would only be natural for me to learn your history and background before I would give any private info away." Ichigo was impressed.
A sudden growling noise erupted from behind him. He froze staring at Rukia for help. She began laughing as she lifted up the pot. A large form jumped over Ichigo, sweeping over his hair, and then landing with a thud in front of him.
"SHIT!" He screamed as he jumped backwards. Rukia continued to laugh at him as she poured out some of the soup into a food dish on the ground. There beside her stood some sort of creature. Rough crimson plates and scales covered its spine and back. It had the head of what looked like to be a small wyvern with a black beak like tip at the end. Its eyes where a stunning cat-like green color and two curved horns came out from either side of its cheeks; a harness attached to the horns, like that of a horse. It was about the size of a horse, with the body similar to that of a kangaroo. Its powerful hind legs exhibited 3 large dull talons, made for running rather than killing. Its arms were short but muscles were defiantly present on them. But what Ichigo seem to notice the most was the club like tail with three large black spikes on the tip. This was the same monster that smashed Nathan's lungs in.
"What…what is that thing?" Ichigo asked standing back up slowly, careful not to startle it. Rukia pet the side of the animal's neck as it ate then leaned against it with her arms.
"This here Kurosaki is a sand skidder. One of the many well-known animals of the wastelands, but of course you wouldn't know that" The sand skidder licked up the last of its meal then shoved its head underneath Rukia's hand, basically begging for her to pet it. Ichigo walked up to it and put a shaky hand out. The sand skidder did the same to his hand and rubbed its scaly head against his chest. Ichigo froze for a instant then proceeded to rub the sand skidders neck.
"That's strange, usually when someone new tries to pet him, he tries ripping off their arm." Ichigo stopped and stared at Rukia with a horrified expression.
"I'm kidding…dang Kurosaki, get a sense of humor would yah?" Rukia grabbed two bowls and passed one over to him, then filled it up with the delicious smelling soup. She set her bowl done and reached behind her head, unclasping the buckles to her mask and slowly pulling it off. Dark raven locks of hair flowed dropped down to her shoulders, a single large strand, dangling down past her forehead.
"Finally, it was getting a bit stuffy in that blasted thing." Rukia set down her mask and looked up at him with a slight smirk. Her face was stunning. Deep violet orbs stared back at him, only being complimented by her moon-light pale skin. How could someone be so pale, when they basically lived in a never ending desert? Ichigo could've sworn he was drooling. He pushed away his stubborn hormones and followed suit.
"This is delicious." Ichigo said in between mouthfuls. Rukia looked back at him surprisingly.
"Really? My friends always tell me that it tastes like cat-shit, but then again I wonder when and where they have tasted cat-shit." Ichigo let a laugh out at her humor, herself included.
After they finished Rukia slipped her mask back on and put the supplies back into the storage tent. Ichigo re-buckled his mask on then walked up besides her
"Now what?" Rukia took a moment to think about her answer then responded.
"Well I can't leave you out in the wasteland alone, you'll die for sure. I guess I'll have to take you back to base camp, which I would prefer not to do." Ichigo lifted an eyebrow in curiosity.
"And why not?" Rukia responded instantly with an almost bitter tone
"Because back at base camp they don't like teenage punks running around amuck and causing unneeded trouble, you're already a handful as much as it is." Ichigo sensed that there was something else that she wasn't telling him, but decided against pursuing the answer.
"Well, I guess I could go back to District 2" Rukia turned around to stare at him and crossed her arms infront of her chest.
"Not an option Kurosaki, the wasteland military has probably already found your vehicle and Nathan's body. There was enough blood on that scene, including yours that they probably think a worm got you." Ichigo looked at her puzzled.
"A worm?" Rukia shook her head and jumped onto the sand skidder's saddle.
"I'll explain later, let's get out of here before the Legion realizes I broke into one of their supply tents." She extended her hand out towards Ichigo with a serious look.
"You got two options Kurosaki. Either you come with me and leave your old life behind, or I leave you out here for the buzzards, or worse the worms." Ichigo didn't need time to think as he reached out and grabbed Rukia's hand. She helped him up onto the saddle then showed him where to place his feet and hands.
"Well we better get going then." He spoke out with what Rukia could only describe as a grin behind his mask.
"Excellent choice." She grabbed the reins attached to the sand skidders horns and whipped them down once.
"YAH" she screamed and the sand skidder shot off into the dry wasteland morning.
"This is all that remains of the Taxi Mrs. Yoruichi. The driver is nowhere to be seen and some of the blood at the scene of the crime has been conformed as his. The passenger however has been found and declared dead. He is missing one of his hand due to what we think was a powerful explosion, and there is a bullet wound right between his eyes, which ended his life. The bullet we extracted from his skull is not recognizable, so we do not know what type of gun it came from." Yoruichi nodded then looked at the wasteland officer
"Is there anything else that I should know about this besides that my employee is M.I.A?" The officer nodded and took out a picture of the passenger's face.
"The passenger happened to be a Criminal called Nathan Ochs." Yoruichi lifted an eyebrow in response, and then shook her head.
"Ok, thank you that will be all." The waste land officer nodded then left the room without another word. Yoruichi turned around in her chair and yanked open her desk's top drawer. She rummaged through some stuff until she pulled out a piece of paper with a phone number printed in red ink.
AN:
I'm only stopping there because its 12:12 Am here and I need to rest for school in 5 hours. I will update when I can, and PLEASE. PLEASE REVIEW. It helps so much.
Until then best regards and wishes
~Pronzo