A/N: Using a different kind of word processing program with this chapter. I think the formatting the same however. Anyway... Enjoy and review!
Chapter 2: Golden Princess
Orihime ran like hell from the shattered school, with Tatsuki ,Chizuru and Mahana behind and the roar of the Gillian way too close behind.
"What are those things!" Chizuru screamed as they ran.
"There killing everyone!" Mahana replied in a tone full of fear.
"There Hollows." Tatsuki spoke in a less panicky voice. "Spirits that have gone bad and we need to get to safety... and fast!"
"There no were safe from those things, no were!" Wailed Mahana, stopping suddenly and dropping onto her knees. "Were doomed! This the end days th..."
"Snap out of it and get on your feet Mahana!" Tatsuki yelled loudly at Mahana. "It not safe here and we get killed if we stay!"
Her words were soon too true. A moment latter a snake like Hollow came down on the frozen girl and eat her whole. Orihime reacted in the only way she could to protect the others from the monster.
"Koten Zanshun , I reject!" Orihime screamed, summoning Tsubaki to slice the Hollows mask and slay it.
But It was too late for Mahana. Orihime fell to her knees as the tears start to well up.
"Not you too!" Came the strong voice of Tatsuki as Orihime felt herself being thrown onto her friends shoulders shortly before she started to run. "And come on Chizuru, I'll need your help to protect Orihime too!"
Orihime felt herself being moved, but she wasn't really thinking about that... because she was thinking of Mahana, sweet curious Mahana who often went on about things before she really knew what she was talking about.
Gone now.
It wasn't fair. She was only fifteen, she never been a bad person, she never been involved in anything to with Shinigami or Hollows and now she was dead, dying with horror in her heart. It just wasn't right.
"Orihime I'm going to put you down now." Came Tatsuki voice, gentler now as Orihime found herself place back down. In fact the sounds of battle seemed to be far away and the location was familiar.
The three of them were standing outside Urahara Shop.
"I kind of meet hat and clogs when you were stuck in Hueco Mundo" Tatsuki spoke quietly. "If there anyone who can help us get through this alive, it be him."
"Who's hat and clogs?" Asked a confused Chizuru.
"His name is Urahara Kisuke , he's smart, mysterious and powerful." Orihime stated. " He doesn't get directly involved much, but he is a noble person and it not surprise me at all if he's not prepared for something like this happening and be ready to help us."
Orihime walked toward the shop with more than a little hope. Urahara always seemed to have a ace up his sleeve, he always had some crazy plan and was more like six than one step ahead in everything that happened.
"Wonder why the door is ajar?" Chizuru asked curiously as she motioned to the open front door. Orihime looked to Tatsuki.
"Keep behind me and keep quiet, absolutely quiet." She spoke firmly as she walked forwards, Orihime looked towards Chizuru, who nodded before they followed behind.
At first it seemed quiet inside the shop, but after a while Orihime started hearing crying.... A woman's crying, was it Yoruichi? The three of them carefully walked closer and closer towards the crying, then the crying stopped.
" Binding Art number nine, Geki! Binding Art number nine, Geki! Binding Art number nine, Geki!" Shouted a feminine voice shortly before a red light hit the three of them in turn, Orihime felt herself become completely immobile as it did so!
"Who are you!" Screamed a woman as stepped from out the shadows. While her outfit was somewhat different from a normal Shinigami, lacking sleeves and back. Her hair was short with two braids covered in cloth on either side of head. While her Japanese was perfect, she looked Chinese. In addition she had some strange markings on her arms.
It was also painfully clear she had been the crying woman. Her cheeks were wet with tears and her eyes very red. Her face was a hostile one, full of anger and pain. Her eyes darted to Orihime quickly after briefly considering the others.
"Inoue Orihime" She spoke firmly and and in a more controlled tone than before, through there was still a severe quality to it. "The human with the strange powers and ally of Kurosaki Ichigo, we have quiet a file on you."
She made a motion with her hand and Orihime felt her body move again, so she nervously stood up.
"What brings you here Inoue-san?" She said with both of her eyes firmly on Orihime, a nervous glance told Orihime that she was the only one standing.
"I came here to seek Urahara-san." Orihime told her politely and somewhat nervously, she was a dam scary woman after all. "And could you release my friends from your Kidō Shinigami-san?"
The woman looked at her a few moments before making a similar motion with her hand as before and freed the other two girls.
"Your trip is wasted then. " She said in painful tones. "Everyone is dead here."
Orihime bit her lip, but the woman was far from finished.
"Yoruichi-sama is dead." Her tone was breaking as tears started to fall. "She died from having a Zanpakutō slice off her head after being stabbed several times in her heart. She dead, Shihōin Yoruichi, the goddess of flash is dead. She's gone.. she never smile again, she never change into a ca... "
Tatsuki slapped her mid sentence.
"Get a hold of yourself Shinigami!" She yelled at the clearly shocked Shinigami. "I already seen one friend die because grief made her stupid, I really don't want to see a foolish Shinigami do the same!"
The Shinigami stood there in stunned silence before making an angry retort.
"I am Capitan Soifon the commander-in-chief of the Covert ops!" She screamed angrily at Tatsuki. "If you dare strike me like that again, then you will lose the offending hand! Am I clear child?"
"Your head seems clear now." Tatsuki replied with a defiant smile. "Clear enough to think of a way to get us all out of this alive."
Soifon stared at Tatsuki with an annoyed air before turning to Orihime.
"I best contact the others to get a battle report of this siege." And with that she started to cast a Kidō. "Black and white net. Twenty-two bridges, sixty-six crowns and belts. Footprints, distant thunder, sharp peak, engulfing land, hidden in the night, sea of clouds, blue line. Form a circle and fly though the heavens. Binding Spell seventy seven.... Tenteikūra!"
She then took a deep breath before talking further.
"Capitan Komamura?" She asked apparently into thin air. " Capitan Hitsugaya? Capitan Kenpachi?"
She bit her lip.
"Vice-Capitan Ōmaeda?" She said with a worried air.. "Vice-Capitan Kira? Vice-Capitan Kotetsu? Vice-Capitan Iba? Vice-Capitan Hisagi? Vice-Capitan Matsumoto? Vice-Capitan Kusajishi?"
She waited a few moments between each name but it wasn't till she reached the last that there was any reaction.
"Kill them, I kill them all!" Screamed the voice of little Yachiru in savage and hateful tones. Soifon lowered her head with a resigned sigh.
They all stood there in silence a few moments thinking. A voice so young shouldn't be a voice with so much rage Orihime silently thought. Soifon was chewing on her lip quiet determinedly and looking at the floor in the silence.
"This is all really new to me.." Chizuru spoke with a look of clear discomfort on her face. "But I assume all that silence wasn't because there busy..."
"There dead or close to it." Soifon said abruptly. "Our plans should be to withdraw and try to communicate with command once were in a safe location for further orders. We have to hope Vice-Capitan Kusajishi can come to her senses and escape on her own because we simply don't have the time or resources to search for her and most likely subdue her."
"Ruthless but logical ." Tatsuki said as she looked at Orhimie. "We got people here that can't get out on there own and who could end up very dead if we stay too long." Orihime looked to Chizuru, to see her response to the plan, but the girl seemed distracted.
"What's with the bee fluffy toy on the table over there?" She said as she pointed towards a small and seemingly randomly placed toy on the table. Soifon's eyes darted to it.
"Probably poor little Ururu-chan's..." Tatsuki said with a heavy sigh.
"Not necessary. " Soifon said seriously as she briskly walked over and picked up the toy. "Yoruichi-sama often referred to me as her 'little bumblebee'. Especially when she first started to train me."
She picked up and carefully examined the toy.
"She must have know that I come here when she left this out." She was now carefully looking at the label with a thoughtful expression. " and left me the date October the forth... What's special about that date...."
She went slightly red. Then walked over to a nearby wall and punched a seemingly random part of it five times, causing a little door to cupboard to open up with several long black cloaks and a large red book with a black cat on it to be revealed.
"Yoruichi-sama... " She said softly as she began to flip through the pages. "Thank you."
"Soifon-san." Orihime asked politely. "What is Yoruichi-san book about, is it personal?"
Soifon looked rather dreamily at the writing on a open page before replying.
"Yes and no." She eventually replied. " its clearly a book for my eyes only, but most of the information seems to be of a very pragmatic nature..."
Her eyes went wide.
"She did that in front of that boy!" She yelped in clear surprise, her eyes darting across the page as her red blush returned.
"Which boy?" Asked Chizuru in a clearly curious tone.
"Unimportant!" Shouted the embarrassed captain. "But now is the time for movement, we wasted enough time here already!"
With that comment she picked up the cloaks and threw one to each of the girls.
"These will mask your Reiatsu, follow me and will leave this town like shadows."
Orihime placed on her cloak with left Urahara Shop for the one last time, muttering a silent prayer for little Yachiru.