The next morning, I woke up as stiff as a one hundred year old carcass. I wasn't as sore anymore—my wounds had healed nicely overnight, and all that was left were the scars. But the stiffness that the scars created was gut-wrenching. I pushed myself up into a sitting position and turned this way and that, cracking bones and loosening muscles.

And looking around the room, I saw that Byakuya wasn't there. On a low desk in the corner of the room I saw a lonely piece of paper. I heaved myself onto my feet and stumbled groggily over to it. I wiped the crud from my eyes and squinted to read the small, neat handwriting of Byakuya:

Shironeko,

I don't want you wandering today. I want you to stay in the room. You may walk outside in the garden, but you are to go no further. We are under alert of ryouka, and I don't want you to somehow end up in a worse state than you were before. I will be back soon to feed you-- which, in fact, is another reason for you not to leave. I don't want you to slip up with a soul reaper. You may get hurt that way, also. I beg you to obey these orders. I do happen to care about your health.

Byakuya Kuchiki

I looked around the room. There was nothing to do. "Sorry, Byakuya," I said to no one in particular. Maybe at the time I was talking to myself, or maybe even to the letter. "I'll be careful, though."

My throat did indeed happen to be burning very badly. I was thirsty again and needed to drink. But, Byakuya promised he'd be back later, and a little exploring wouldn't hurt. I let the blue flames envelop me once again, and before I knew it, I was all the way on the other side of the Seireitei. And the bad thing was that I was completely lost.

It was like a maze where I was—walls everywhere with turns that led to no where. I finally gave up on the paths and had to power up into my panther-like form and hop onto the top of the walls. I went back to my kitten state and wandered on the tops of the walls from there, still having no idea where I had gone.

I happened to see a flash of a white bodied person in the distance, though, and was intrigued by it. It's not that often you see something other than black in the soul society. Then again, I suppose my white fur stood out, also, especially on those navy tiles that roofed the walls.

I caught up with the white figure easily. It turned out to be a man. He wore a tight white outfit with some sort of cape over his shoulders. It was trimmed in a medium shade of blue, and he had short dark hair with long bangs and glasses. His outfit in itself was comical enough to make me approach him and get the down-lo.

He was running for some reason, but he stopped when I jumped down from the roof to block his path. I think he thought that I was going to transform into some beast any second (I could, but I wouldn't). I pewed sweetly to assure him otherwise and licked my paw and cleaned my face cutely.

He saw the scars on my body. "Oh, you poor little thing," he cooed. "Did the people here do that to you?"

I looked at him with my head cocked to one side. I just wished I could talk to him, but I didn't want to scare him away. My mentor told me to never use my voice in my cat form to strangers.

He crouched down onto his knees and held out his hand for me to come sniff. (Why do people always do that to cats?) I bound over joyfully and gave his fingers a courtesy sniff. He smelled like thick cologne.

In turned, he stroked me down my back, and I purred lightly in gratitude of the gesture. He cupped both of his hand around me and picked me up, holding me to his chest. I rubbed my head on his hands to lure him into petting me more. Besides the cologne, there was a faint scent the seemed familiar. It was too faint to place, but just the familiarity of it made me want to revel in it. After all I'd been through, I wanted something that made me feel like I was wherever my home was.

Suddenly the burning in my throat became stronger, and I couldn't help but let my eyes be drawn to the man's neck. It was obscured by his collar, thankfully, and I wasn't able to see the pulsing vein of his neck that would make me lust for his blood.

The man patted my head. "So, I suppose you'll come with me, then?"

I pewed happily. Maybe he'd bring me back to the vicinity of Byakuya's room so I could eat and not get into trouble.

"Well, my name is Uryu. We should give you a name, too, huh?"

I wanted to give him my name, but I caught my tongue before speaking.

"I know! You have the prettiest blue eyes, like ice. And your fur is white, like snow. How about 'Blizzard'?"

I almost laughed, but I kept it in. And I couldn't reject the name, anyway, so all I could do was pew sweetly.

Uryu smiled and lifted me to his shoulder, which he deposited me on to sit, and began running again. I had no idea where he was going, and I was fairly certain that he didn't know, either. I looked down at his clothes again and couldn't believe the other Soul Reapers would let him wear such a thing.

Just then, the UGLIEST person I had ever seen rounded the corner and paused to look at us. Uryu stopped, also, and stiffened.

This guy looked sort of like a skeleton to me, his face black surrounded by a ring of white, and had a weird hat and strange golden horn thingies where his ears were supposed to be. It looked sort of like he had buck teeth, too, and golden eyes. Oh, and he was a captain.

"Oh, a ryouka? So soon?" he said in a voice that sounded like it came from a clown.

Uryu tensed immensely, and it made me uneasy, so I just hissed at him. That was probably a really stupid thing to do to a captain, but if Uryu was on guard, I figured I should be, too.

The captain cracked a smile after a few seconds of studying Uryu. "And a quincy! I thought all of them had become extinct by now. Oh, what fun research this will be!"

I hissed again, and the captain's eyes fell on me. "What a strange cat! I've never seen anything like it! What a day!"

The Captain took a step forward and I leaped off of Uryu's shoulder and let blue flames envelop me. Before I touched the ground I was full sized, my eyes almost level with the captain's.

"That's amazing!" the captain shouted. "I'll have MUCH fun dissecting you until there is no more to cut open!"

This guy was a little cuckoo. I didn't think I wanted to mess with him. I turned around to look at Uryu. He looked at me from behind his glasses in amazement. I motioned for him to get on my back, and he hesitated before he did so. He settled in the light dip of my back and leaned forward to grab my mane. I took off into the air, shooting just over the captain's head. He had no idea I could fly, and just watched us fade away in awe.

"Thanks, Blizzard," Uryu said after awhile of silence. He sighed in relief of the escape.

"No problem," I said before I could catch myself. I winced at my mistake.

"You can talk?" he asked with less surprise than I thought he would.

"I suppose so," I replied. "You're not as awed as I thought you'd be."

"Well, after I met Yoruichi, I figured anything could happen."

I gasped and stopped with a jerk, making Uryu almost fly off of me. I didn't want that to happen—seeing someone go splat on the ground isn't as much fun as you'd think it would be. Plus, I was still thirsty, and licking blood off of the ground around his mutilated body wouldn't be good for my image.

"You know Yoruichi?" I asked quickly, whipping my head around to face him.

"Yeah. He helped get my friends and I here."

"Is Yoruichi here right now?!"

"Yeah, but--"

"WHERE?!"

I was getting a little giddy, and I was bucking slightly.

"Calm down!" Uryu shouted, and I stilled myself with great strain. He sighed and adjusted his glasses with his middle finger. "I don't know. When we entered the Seireitei using the flower cannon, the barrier split us all up."

I remember what the faint smell coming off of Uryu reminded me of, now. It was Yoruichi. I looked around below me. "What form of hers is she in?" I asked excitedly.

"What?"

"Is she a cat or human?"

"Wait...Yoruichi is a human? And a girl?"

I was getting impatient. "Answer the question!"

"A cat!" Uryu shouted back in fright.

Okay. That would be more difficult. Black was common around here, and she was a black cat. I'd have to rely on my scent to take me to her. I wondered desperately why she was here. Did she here I was in trouble? Did she bring these people here to save me? Or was it just coincidence? She told me to stay away from the Soul Society and everything that had to do with it. Why was SHE here? Obviously, Uryu and the others he said she had brought here were not from the Soul Society. I guessed that's why the captain called Uryu a 'ryouka'.

"I don't know where you're trying to go, but I'm going to find Yoruichi."

"That's fine," Uryu said. "Take me with you. I suppose the sooner I find Yoruichi, the sooner we'll be able to find Rukia."

I guess they WEREN'T looking for me. Oh, well.

I sped off in a random direction, landing at a random spot in the maze. I sniffed around. No Yoruichi. I jumped onto the tiled roof of the walls. No Yoruichi. I leaped over to another. None. And another. Nothing. And another. Nada.

Why was Yoruichi so hard to find? She was my mentor, my master, and I desperately wanted to see her again. I worshiped her—she gave me my yukata. She taught me everything I know about fighting and what not. She gave me her blood when I needed it. She was almost like my mother.

"Where is she!" I said in frustration after I had sniffed a dozen separate places. "I can't find her scent anywhere!"

Apparently, 'anywhere' is the word that suddenly makes what your looking for show its face. Right as I finished my sentence, a strong scent wafted by my nose. It was definitely Yoruichi's scent, and it was fresh. She had been here less than five minutes ago.

Frantically, I followed her smell at a gallop. I wasn't aware of Uryu's but pounding on my back, and I wasn't even aware that of where I was going. I just knew that this trail equaled Yoruichi, and I REALLY wanted to see Yoruichi. It felt like it had been forever, even though I saw her before whatever caused me to fall from the sky occurred.

So many turns brought me to an open hill where a huge wooden shrine looking thing stood. It was immense. Byakuya was there. And I stopped. I would get in deep trouble if Byakuya stopped me. But...maybe he knew Yoruichi? I had to find out.

I approached Byakuya with Uryu still on my back. "What are you doing?" he whispered harshly. "That's a captain!"

"It's cool," I whispered back. "I know him. It's all good."

Byakuya heard my steps from a few meters away, and he turned his head only slightly to see who was coming, looking out of the corners of his eyes. They widened and he swirled around when he realized it was me with some strange guy.

"I told you to stay in bed! AND WHY IS THERE A RYOUKA ON YOUR BACK?!"

I was surprised that his pretty face could show all those emotions so intensely. Extreme anger. Extreme confusion. Extreme worry.

"Calm down," I said. "It's cool. He's with me."

"Shironeko—this is a RYOUKA," he sputtered. "He illegally entered the Soul Society!"

"So did I," I shot back.

"They have hostile intentions!"

I looked back at Uryu, who was starting to spazz. "He seems cool to me. I'm not dead yet, am I?"

Out of nowhere, another soul reaper flew in and tried to take Byakuya's head off. Byakuya dodged it easily, but it surprised me and I bucked, sending Uryu sprawling to the ground.

He had orange hair, this one did, and a huge zanpaku-to. And obviously he was no friend of Byakuya's, so I went on the offensive.

I roared tackled the guy to the ground, lurching at his neck to end his struggle, but he blocked my fangs with his immense sword. I struggled with him under me for quite some time, trying to bite past the sword to get to him, but I realized that this first attempt wouldn't word and leaped far back away from him.

Byakuya laughed from directly behind me, and it startled me. I didn't know I had jumped right in front of him like an obedient pet. "You can't even take on the cat, Ichigo?" he said, his tone heaving in mock.

"Two on one isn't fair!" Ichigo shouted back. He had jumped to his feet and was now in an attack stance.

"I would rather her not fight, but let's just see how you do against her," Byakuya said back

I was awed that he'd let me fight after I had just gotten to the point where I could walk without pain.

"Well, aren't you cruel? Your little cat looks injured! You'd risk animal cruelty charges?"

"No, but it's the fact I'd let you fight an injured cat that counts. It's how certain I am that you wouldn't beat ME. Test your strength first. If you aren't able to beat the cat, then you won't be able to beat me."

"Very well, then," Ichigo said arrogantly. "Come on, then, kitty. Show me what you got!"

I was actually confused, then, and looked back at Byakuya. "Go on. Since you're so sure you're well enough to be out, fight."

Oh, I got it. It was my punishment for disobeying him.

I turned back to Ichigo and roared, my fur standing on its ends, my tails puffed up to make me look bigger than I was. I let my blue flames surround me, readying me for combat.

"Oh, a scary kitty, then?" Ichigo said. "This will me fun. A stupid cat against a smart human!"

I roared again. "Shut up!" I screamed, lunging for him.

I don't know if it was the lunge or my voice that caught him by surprise, but either way, it caught him off guard and in allowed my to sink my teeth into his left side. His warm blood flooded my mouth, and I suddenly realized that I was hurting a person, making him bleed. But, then again, I was taught to defend the innocent. Byakuya was innocent enough, right? And they were both Soul Reapers, anyway. I say take the side of the one that keeps you alive. Alive equals Byakuya. Dead equals Ichigo.

So I graciously let his warm, rich blood fill my mouth. I jerked away from him, leaping behind him a few feet, taking his tough, meaty flesh with me. I sucked the meat dry of its blood and gulped it down greedily, thankful at the least for a fresh meal. At least I was taking down, what was in my view, a bad person.

Ichigo staggered and fell to his knee, stabbing his sword into the ground so he had a something sturdy to hold onto to keep himself from completely collapsing. "God dammit!" he yelled, holing his bleeding side. I took the chance to leap back to him, thinking I could steal another bloody chunk from him, but he yanked his zanpaku-to out of the ground and tried to carve me in half long ways. I dodged under the blade, feeling it graze my mane, and lunged for his right arm.

My larger fang sank right through his arm, and I felt it graze the bone. Ichigo screamed in pain, and with his free fist he pounded the top of my head. I released my grip on his arm and bounded away a few paces, and watched him rub the newer bite wounds I had created.

"You can't even take on my cat," Byakuya said emotionlessly. HIS cat?

"The stupid thing is trickier than I thought!" STUPID?

"If I'm so stupid, then why am I winning?! Huh, STUPID?!" I shouted back angrily.

"JUST SHUT THE HELL UP!" he yelled, throwing himself at me. At the last second he flew to the right of me and took a swing, but I was too fast and ducked, sinking my teeth into his right side. I ripped the flesh away from there, too, and bounded a few paces away to suck the meat dry before spitting it onto the ground. His blood was delicious, and I loved the extra silky texture it had, and how warm it was. It was saltier than normal, but I figured it was just his sweat, and dubbed that it added extra flavoring to it.

I was surprised I hadn't gotten hurt yet. But I was enjoying the chance to get out into a real fight for once, and the thrilling sensation of predator and prey. Drool lined my mouth now, and it fell out of my open jaw gluttonously. I stalked in to finish him off. I would seal off my thirst for blood so well, that I wouldn't have to drink for weeks.

"TEIRYU!" Someone screamed. I had been trained to react to that word in a certain way, and I did it almost instinctively. The blue flames devoured me and brought me back to my human self, and I turned toward the voice on my hands and knees and bowed so deeply my face crammed itself into the ground.

I was surprised I had heard that command. Only one person knew that it stopped me. I lifted my head to see Yoruichi in full glory, standing not too far away. Her dark skin was so milky, and her long dark hair was tied back into its normal pony tail, and her tight clothing, the loose orange shirt over the one with no back, was the same as it always would be, as would the off-white scarf she wore.

She was looking at me sadly and with disbelief. I lifted my head a little higher to look back at her in confusion. I understand her being disappointed that I would hurt someone, but never had she looked at me like this. What did I do?

"Shironeko...what happened to you? Why have you done this to Ichigo?" Hearing her voice would have been heaven, but the soft disappointment in it made me want to cry.

"Yoru Sensei...he was attacking Byakuya...they're both Soul Reapers, but Byakuya saved my life...I--" I didn't know what to say. I was so confused. Was Ichigo on Yoruichi's side?

Yoruichi looked over at Byakuya in astonishment. "Why would you take her? You knew she was mine."

I blinked. He did?

"That's why I saved her. I wasn't sure it was her when I saw her as a cat, but when she fell unconscious as a human, I knew it was her. And I found her clothes not far away. I knew you had made them, and that sealed it. I had sent the clothes back to you, but you weren't there, so they were left with someone else until you got back."

"Why would you do that, still? You could have ended her life."

"That would not be very fair. You really didn't do anything to harm me in the long run, and ending someone's life that does not deserve it is wrong."

"But you know what she is."

"I believe you taught her well."

"Why does she have scars, then?"

Byakuya was silent for a moment. "She was like that when I found her. I believe she doesn't know, either."

Yoruichi looked back at me. "Neko, come."

I got up and ran to her absently. Her scent drifted over my nose when I got closer, and I wanted to cry again. I was just happy to see her, but I was pretty sure she was everything but happy to see ME. Even when I knelt at her feet. I kept my eyes from her.

"You're not as happy to see me as I am you," I said, lamenting.

"I am, it's just I'm a little upset you would do this, and I'm worried for your health."

I was still confused. She made a gun with her thumb and forefinger and twisted it in the air. It was the signal for me to transform back into my cat form. I obeyed immediately, and before the flames even dispersed from my tiny body, she grabbed me by the scruff of my neck with her thumb and forefinger, placing me on her shoulder. She then leaped over to Ichigo, who had collapsed, and threw him over her other shoulder.

"It's just like you to turn one of my own against me," Yoruichi said quietly. "It won't happen again."

"We'll see."

And Yoruichi flew off with me snuggling into her neck sadly.