Chapter 2: Moonlight Encounter
It was a quiet, peaceful night. There were no people out at this time, a gentle breeze was blowing through the park, and the city seemed to slumber in contentment. A lone woman walked through the park, looking around at the trees, the playground, ever watchful, ever vigilant.
She was what many would consider to be the epitome of female beauty. She had a body that many would kill for, with incredible legs and a chest that would be considered by all men to be the crown jewel of womanhood, so curvaceous and yet so soft. Her beautiful face, with luscious lips and icy blue eyes was framed by long ginger hair that fell almost to her waist. Her figure was apparent even in the loose fitting black robes she wore, customized with a pink scarf that hung around her shoulders and a small, simple necklace consisting of little more than a chain and a circle. She appeared to be in her early twenties.
Rangiku walked slowly through the park, the slow wind playing with her long hair. She looked around and sighed. I had to go and loose to Ikaku in Rock, Paper, Scissors and get stuck with patrolling the town tonight. She was a kind woman who always did her duty, but had kind of a lazy attitude towards work. She would rather be back at Orihime's place watching some of those fascinating TV shows that humans loved than be out here. Still, at least it's a nice night. No arrancars this time. She remembered the advance team's first encounter with them a little more than a few days ago, and how the only way that they had been able to triumph was through the release of the limit placed upon all officers of the Gotei 13, restricting the amount of power they could draw upon outside Soul Society so that they did not adversely affect the world of the living. After that they had won easily, but it had just gone to show how powerful these new adversaries were. It might not go so well next time. We need to be ready, and become stronger.
Suddenly, the wind picked up speed, and she felt a sudden chill as she picked up a new source of spirit energy. It felt familiar, and very powerful. Who is that… no?! It can't be… Then a voice behind her answered her own worse fears. "So nice to see you again, Rangiku." Knowing exactly who was there, she turned around to face the source of those words, which had lacked any warmth and were instead spoken with a cold, murderous tone. "Ichimaru" said Rangiku Matsumoto, her own voice dripping with hatred. They had been friends once, but now, after his treachery, she felt nothing but absolute loathing in her heart. "What are you doing here?"
As always, the silver haired, squinty eyed former Captain still had that wicked smile on his face. "Well that's easy enough to answer. After Grimmjow's disgrace and the fall of his Fraccion, I decided it would be best to nip our problems in the bud. In short, I'm here to kill you and the rest of the Soul Reapers in this town." His eyes opened, revealing for the first time to Rangiku the savage crimson orbs concealed beneath the perpetual squint. With that, he Flash Stepped towards her and attacked with his short Zanpakuto, which she barely managed to parry with her own.
With that, Gin Ichimaru went on an all out assault, radiating white-grey spirit energy everywhere as his sword fell upon Rangiku like a many headed cobra, so fast were its movements. She was barely able to block and redirect the strikes, and didn't have a chance to go on the offensive for herself, so desperate was her situation. They fought across the park, appearing to be little more than blurs to the naked eye. After blocking a nasty overhand attack with her blade held only in her right hand, she sent a stream of blue energy at the former captain with her left, forcing him to back off a bit.
"My my, an unspoken Hado. Even if it was a low level one," he smirked. "Still, not nearly good enough." Crap, thought Rangiku as he came at her again in a blur, he's not giving me any breathing room. I haven't even been able to release my Zanpakuto. At this rate, she wouldn't be able to hold out for much longer. Eventually, after continually being forced back by Gin, she found herself up against a tree, with the traitor stepping back. She was perplexed at this move only for a moment, when she then felt him building up a massive amount of energy for what would be a finishing blow.
"Shoot to kill, Shinso!" he cried, and the tiny blade extended out many times its own length, shoot towards her at lightning speed. She raised her sword to block, but knew that, though she had countered it once in the past, the power behind this blow would be enough to shatter her Zanpakuto and kill her. Looks like this is the end, she thought as she closed her eyes, preparing to be impaled upon the blade. Rather than be skewered, though, she was surprised to hear a loud clang as steel met steel. However, she had felt no impact upon her sword. What the… she thought as she slowly opened her eyes, not sure if she was still alive or just hallucinating in her last moments. When she saw what had happened, she could have sworn her jaw had hit the ground, such was her shock.
Standing before her was… a miracle.
Not a foot away from her, a figure slightly taller than her was between her and the elongated Shinso. Standing with his back to her, all she could make out was his black robes, dark brown hair, and -to her great surprise- a white captains vest, a haori. However, instead of a squad insignia on the back of it, instead there was a single three prong symbol, like a trident, only the outer two spikes were bent inwards and then outwards, like bolts of lightning, and the embroidery was silver rather than the traditional black. His Zanpakuto glistened in the moonlight, but what shocked Rangiku the most was the fact that her savior had stopped a supercharged Shinso strike with only one hand on the hilt of his blade. His left arm was raised slightly in the event that he needed to apply more strength to his block, but apparently it was not necessary. His head turned back towards her over his left shoulder, and what she saw surprised her even more. He looks about my age, and he's… handsome. His face wore a soft, concerned expression, clearly worried about her well being. His skin was light like hers, and his eyes were blue as well, only his were a much darker shade, two ocean blue gems that held within their depths a beautiful mixture of sincerity, hope, and gentleness.
He spoke, and his voice, like his expression, had a very soft, concerned tone to it, yet was at the same time strong and comforting. "Are you all right, my lady?" Stunned at how he could be so calm after taking an attack from a former captain and blocking one handed, yet still have enough room in his thoughts to care about her well being, all she could do was simply nod and whisper "Yes". He smiled, a small but nonetheless a very beautiful one. "I'm glad. Please, remain here. I'll deal with him."
He then turned to face Gin, whose crimson eyes were open and wearing an expression of absolute shock, very rare for him. "You…" he began, as if he couldn't believe what he was seeing in front of him. As if to embody his disbelief, Shinso itself withdrew a considerable distance. "It can't be… not even old man Yamma would humble himself enough to call upon your kind, least of all you." "Well, you know what they say, desperate times, desperate measures and all that" replied the stranger. "If it makes you feel any better, I volunteered as soon as the request came up from the new Central 46 before my superiors could assign someone. Not wanting to waste time arguing with me, they just shrugged and gave me the equivalent of a formal 'whatever'. So, here I am. It's been a very long time, Gin. I must say I'm very disappointed, I thought I had left my former squad members in better hands when I accepted that promotion."
He sighed, regret and a hint of sorrow evident in his voice as he continued. "Then again, I always had my suspicions about you and your compatriots. I just didn't want to believe that they were true, that it was all in my head. In the end, I guess I wound up deluding myself more than Aizen's Zanpakuto ever could." He had been staring at the ground as he spoke, but now he raised his head and looked directly at him. "This whole mess is because of my negligence, my willful ignorance. I will now correct that mistake and give you the death you so greatly deserve."
His voice lowered and became menacing as he began to chant, left hand raised and angled at Ichimaru, spirit energy swirling around the two. "A shield of lies, the flames of the tyrant fanned by the wings of the storm. Hado 69, Ju-Jak (Scarlet Sparrow)." A flaming bird shot towards the traitor, its massive wings threatening to engulf him in an inferno. There was a blinding flash of light… when it faded, Gin was revealed to still be standing, without a scratch on him, radiating white-grey spirit energy. "I see," said the young man, "you raised your own power output to counter the flaming phoenix. I haven't seen that trick in a while. Should have known it wouldn't be that easy." With that he gripped his Zanpakuto in both hands and glared at Gin. He smiled, but there was no mirth behind it. "Let's dance." With that, both warriors leapt at each other in the blink of an eye, swords clashing loudly, and the fight was on.
They fought with incredible speed, Flash Stepping constantly, the clanging of blades ringing out into the night like a chorus of banshees. As a lieutenant, Rangiku was able to perceive their movements, but only barely. She was astounded at the skill this newcomer possessed, as well as by the difference between the fighting styles of the two combatants. Both were quick, but while Gin fought with a cold sense of efficiency equivalent to that of a serial killer, with very precise and vicious blows, her rescuer seemed to be almost… dancing, as he had said in his challenge to his foe. He was still fast, but his moves were more graceful, polished, and… elegant. Several times he would wield his sword in only one hand, his movements flowing like the waters of a stream, adapting to obstacles as they came, never pausing, always in motion. In addition, blue spirit energy seemed to radiate from him, and she was surprised at how… cool… it was. Not like her captain's, whose felt like a blast of arctic wind, but more like the soft, gentle, refreshing breezes that had been flowing through the park. It felt invigorating, like mountain spring water on a hot afternoon.
His energy, his reiatsu, was also incredibly strong, but at the same time she could tell that both he and Ichimaru were holding a great deal back, as if right now they were merely feeling out each other's moves and style, trying to get a solid idea of their opponent's strategies and tendencies before upping the ante. However, all three suddenly felt a fourth presence approaching, its spirit energy a familiar winter gale to Rangiku, with several weaker sources of spirit energy following closely.
Suddenly taking several Flash Steps back, Gin disappeared and then reappeared above his two enemies, standing on thin air. "It would seem that I've overstayed my welcome. No matter. Though I've failed to kill any of you, Aizen will not care in the least when he learns who has been added to the mix. Until next time, old friend". Ichimaru all but spat out those last two words. Then he proceeded to tear open a rift in the sky, and fled to Hueco Mundo, the Hollow Realm.
"Damn, I failed. Should've gone all out from the start." The young man sighed as he sheathed his Zanpakuto while Rangiku slowly approached him. She saw a hint of sorrow in his eyes. What happened between those two?, she wondered, but knew that now was not the time to ask him. After all, he did save my life. The least I could do is respect his privacy. I can always ask him later. He turned around as he saw her approach. She took a breath and said softly, "Thank you. I knew from the start that I was no match for him, but there was no way for me to escape. I had hoped to hold out until the others got here, but this place is some distance from where we are staying. You saved my life, and I'm truly grateful." He smiled again, a small one. "You don't need to thank me, but I appreciate your gratitude. I couldn't just stand back and let you die. I suppose it's fortunate I showed up when I did." He paused for a moment and simply stared into her eyes, and then she saw him blush lightly as he held out his hand. My, he's even cuter when there's a little red in his face, she noted, a faint smile coming to her lips.
"My name is James Ralthion," he said. She took his outstretched hand in hers. "I'm Rangiku Matsumoto, lieutenant of Squad Ten. It's a pleasure to meet you. Um, if you don't mind me asking, what division are you from? I've never seen you around, and you're obviously at the captain level, but your insignia is… unique." He blushed again, one hand going behind his head to scratch his neck in embarrassment. "Oh, right. Sorry, I forgot to tell you. I'm really not a fan of formality." She smiled. "Really, same here! Although, the whole 'my lady' thing sounded fairly formal… not that I mind." He returned her smile. "Well, we hadn't been properly introduced, and while I don't like to be so stiff, I do believe in extending a lady every courtesy. Anyway, where was I again… oh yeah, my squad." He paused for a moment, as if working up the courage to tell her something embarrassing. He cleared his throat, and then spoke… and gave her yet another surprise for the evening. As Captain Hitsugaya, Lieutenant Abarai, and Soul Reapers Ikaku and Yumichika arrived, he said, "I'm a member of Squad Zero… the Royal Guard."
Author's note: All right, my first Bleach style fight! Please, let me know how it went and what improvements I can make! By the way, Ju-Jak is Korean, not Japanese. No, I am not Korean (or Japanese for that matter), I just thought the name sounded cool. Also, the symbol I choose for the Royal Guards is the Black Knights symbol from Code Geass, which I do not own. Sorry, but I couldn't help it, that symbol is so damn cool!