Ch 2
Toshiro's face was still flushed, the memory of Ichigo's magic hands on his body still fresh in his mind as he cleaned the small house. They had woken up earlier than usual, and Ichigo had found himself in the mood for some morning love. Toshiro had been caught in those warm arms, his body still tingling with the sensations those strong hands had left. The silvette shook his head trying to clear his mind of the slightly disturbing images, as his lean hands worked and swept the floor clean.
He cleaned the house every morning, keeping it clean was important for the little girl lying on the bed. She had barely eaten the past few days, and just moments ago Toshiro had managed to feed her a few slices of bread along with some cold water before she passed out again. He felt so sorry for the girl, his years of slavery seemed like nothing compared to the illness she was battling. The thought of his past as a slave made shivers run down his spine, and following those memories the gratefulness he had towards Ichigo welled up to the surface.
Toshiro had escaped from a cruel life as a slave, where his master had treated him like his personal pet and toy. The poor silvette had been forced to wear a collar and the most exquisite jewelry, alongside the fact that he was allowed nothing but a loincloth as his outfit. They made him drink a terrible drug that forced his animal soul to show all the time, which was a huge energy drain. Half dead each night his master had bound him roughly and abused the small feline's body till the silvette was no longer able to cry in pain.
Day in and day out it was the same, and Toshiro wanted nothing more than to drift into eternal sleep. Then one day, the mansion had been raided by local bandits. Seeing his opportunity the smart little kitten had put his brains to work, and had managed to sneak out of the mansion, escaping the grasp of both master and raider.
Early in the morning as it was, he could barely walk due to the nights 'normal' course of action. He had left a trail of blood that poured from between his legs, as he shuffled his feet along a small side road that was hardly used by publicity. Reaching what was obviously a farmer's property, the last thing he had seen was the lean figure of a young man working in a field.
The silver hair had fallen unconscious out of pure exhaustion, and said worker's keen ears had heard the dull thump. Without hesitation the young man, which he later knew to be Ichigo had taken the slave into his warm grasp and given him a home. In order to show his gratitude, he had made Ichigo his new master and he lived solely for his and his family's purpose.
He had been there when Ichigo's father and sister had been taken to work at some mansion, and he had seen the sorrow that marred the brown eyes of the orangette. He could feel the pain as his own, and over time he had come to know his master quite well, forming a unique bond that would be deemed inappropriate had they been of higher class. Steady and slow Ichigo had shown him that sexual intercourse could be an action leading to the most exquisite pleasure, but he would never be touched by anyone but his master.
Toshiro's lips quirked a sad smile as he continued to clean his home, his turquoise eyes faded when his light was no longer around.
Ichigo's skin was tarnished by the dirt belonging to the ground he was standing on, his sweat covered skin glistening in the warm sun. His mouth was dry as a piece of 100 year old wood, as his breath travelled slowly from his lungs and out in the air. His muscled arms raised the heavy scythe and swung it to cut the growths on the field, to be collected by his arms later.
His employer had spared him one single bottle of water, and the orangette did his utmost to ration his incredibly small water supply, taking one sip here and there. The heat was murderously strong, and Ichigo could feel his strength being drained little by little for every hour he worked. He was allowed no breaks and no food; he was only allowed to burn himself out completely.
His hair clung to his moistened forehead, as his tongue began to move back and forth in his mouth, his deepest instincts popping in due to the extreme heat. Putting the scythe down after having performed several of those energy draining swings, he panted heavily. He needed a break and knowing there was no way for his employer to catch him he collapsed to the ground.
His limbs stretched and his spine morphed, as his shoulders turned into elbows and his fingers to paws. A long and elegant body with the most sharply cut head rested on the ground, its beautiful golden fur shining in the rays of the sun. The feline was too tired to pick up the sound of heavy hooves hitting the hard dirt of the road, as its eyesight faded into just dull shapes.
However from the road, those knowing cyan eyes had caught sight of the unusual creature resting in the field. His mount was pulled to a stop as he waited to observe the cheetah. Cheetahs were considerably rare, their breed having been driven near extinction as other feline breeds sought out the heavily compatible spotted feline. Cheetahs had come to develop an extremely high chance of reproduction, and the female's wombs had been sought out by too many males. Finding a cheetah was rare, and females as that were even rarer. But still a male was considered a treasure, as it was rumored they could conceive due to some mutation in their genes.
The prince could tell the animal was exhausted as he watched its sides rise and fall rapidly and heavily. He had a hunch that made him feel like he should know the one lying in the field by a scythe, but he was stricken with surprise when the cheetah got up on shaky feet. The feline certainly was beautiful, and the prince felt his heart drop at how elegant the feline moved despite it being on the brink of total exhaustion.
Cyan eyes widened as the body of the feline morphed, and turned into that one orangette he had printed into his mind. The man was bare chested and the prince watched as he bent down to pick up the large scythe, the movement obviously causing him great pain in the wounds that remained from the battle 2 days ago. The royal one could not comprehend why the cheetah would want to work himself to the bone with such severe injuries inflicted on his body. The man was way too thin to be in good health, but his skinniness was covered up by the mass of muscles that crowned the orangette's body.
The prince had found the one he wanted, and so he stayed on the back of his mount watching as the man worked till sunset. The lean figure sat down on a scrawny box and his muscled arms reached for the water bottle. Turning it upside down completely, he allowed the final drops of water to moisten his dried out throat and he gave a loud purr at the soothing feeling.
The prince scowled as the man began walking in the direction he himself had originally been going. Surprisingly the prince lacked his companion, and so he was free to do whatever he wanted. Spurring his horse into a soft walk, he moved it so its feet would hit the grass dulling the sound of its movements. He rode behind the cheetah, and soon they arrived at a large farm.
The prince knew the cheetah had cared for the entire field alone, and the pay he was given for his hard work was so meek that the prince wanted to talk some words of 'wisdom' into the farmers head. 30 mon was way too low a salary for a severely injured man to receive after having done an entire patch of land completely alone. He hid in the shadow of some trees as the cheetah walked past the farmer's house, obviously heading for the city on shaky feet with the bronze coins tucked safely away in a pocket sewn into the ragged trousers he wore. He spurred his horse into a canter when the man finally collapsed at the meeting of two roads, his consciousness completely gone.
Ichigo groaned loudly and moved his arm to rest over his eyes. His body was sore all over and a pained grunt escaped his lips when the movement ripped through his shredded shoulder. The sound escaping from the orangette was caught by keen ears that were hugged by wavy brown hair, as the soldier got up to take a look at the man.
Ichigo rubbed his eyes and opened them only to find his vision blurry. He squinted his eyes as something covered for the light and he tried to make out who or what it was. But hold on a second, why was it light? Normally he would have woken to the dim lights of his little home, but here it seemed to be bright as a day. He furrowed his brows, his face returning to its usual scowl as he tried to wake up his dull senses.
His nose came by first, and the scent that lingered around him was definitely canine. Ichigo faintly remembered the battle he had with the hyenas, and for a moment he thought he had been captured by the same gang which resulted in his lips parting for a low threatening snarl. The shadow quickly disappeared and finally Ichigo's vision cleared.
He looked around and found himself to be looking at snow white traditional Japanese walls, which were decorated with intricate flower patterns. Now he knew he was not at his own home, and he instantly tilted his head backwards with a wrinkled nose as he sniffed the air. His irises shrank and flashed yellow a couple of times when he couldn't find the scent belonging to his little sister and his lover. If his animal soul wasn't restrained his ears would have been held half way down in a semi angry, semi scared emotion.
His next action was to locate the one, whom had shadowed his light moments ago, and the scent was still strong and he turned to his right. His brown eyes shrank in surprise at the man displayed to them. Sure the man was obviously canine, and Ichigo really despised canines, but god damn he looked good. A tall and lean frame with obvious muscles, shoulder long wavy brown hair and the most fantastic set of electric gray eyes. The man held a kind of lanky posture, and didn't seem to mind Ichigo staring as he just promptly yawned and fell down into a pile of cushions with a satisfied sigh. Ichigo raised an eyebrow before swinging his feet of the couch, standing up on shaky feet.
"You know, you really shouldn't be up and about. It'll be a pain in the ass for me if the prince finds you collapsed on the floor again," the smooth and warm voice sang from the mouth of the canine.
Ichigo flinched at the unexpected words of conversation from the silver eye and his lips quirked upwards on instinct.
"Now, now. I don't like having fangs shown at me please," the male said in a lazy attempt to calm Ichigo.
"Who are you and where am I?" Ichigo said with an underlying growl.
The brown male sighed and hid his face under an arm as he sank even deeper into the mountain of cushions.
"Name is Coyote Starrk, personal knight of his majesty Grimmjow the 2nd, pleasure to make your acquaintance," he said. "But just call me Starrk," he added on an afterthought.
"You didn't answer my question fully," Ichigo responded with an annoyed tone.
"Huh? Oh right…. You're at the royal mansion belonging to emperor Grimmjow, located on the top of Hogyoku hill," he said.
"Why exactly have I been brought here," Ichigo snarled his eyes filled to the brim with suspicion. Ichigo flinched as a low and husky voice responded him instead of the smooth and warm one belonging to the brown one.
"I believe I can answer that for you," the blue haired prince said eyeing the orangette with piercing cyan eyes. The man oozed of strength and Ichigo immediately backed off a few steps with a low snarl lingering in his throat.
"And who are you?" he said glaring at the incredibly good looking man.
"Prince Jaegerjaquez Grimmjow, soon to be emperor of Japan at your service, you may call me Grimmjow," he said. "I assume you want to know why you have been brought here yes?" he said with a teasing tone to his voice.
Ichigo deepened his scowl and glared daggers at the prince.
"Hoh? Such hostile eyes you have," he cooed resulting in fiercer daggers being glared at him.
"Once again, why am I here?" Ichigo snarled.
"I picked you up after you fainted alongside one of the country roads on your way home," Grimmjow said, crossing his arms and putting his weight on one leg making his black kimono fold in a beautiful way. Grimmjow noticed the change in his eyes, as Ichigo's tensed shoulders eased up a bit and he removed the crouch in his posture.
"Well then I am grateful, but could you please show me the way out so that I can get home?" He asked.
The sound of the orangette's voice was music to Grimmjow's ears, his firm and strong but yet mild voice was absolutely beautiful, what a lucky man he was.
"And how do you plan on getting home? You're in the city of Seiretei, there's no way you can make it back to Karakura town on your own," Grimmjow said.
"That doesn't matter…Wait, did you say Seiretei?" Ichigo halfway snarled back at the royalty. Grimmjow was struck dumbfounded at the expression of shock and fear that was painted upon the orangette's face, marring his beautiful features.
"Do you have any idea what you've done? She'll die at this rate; I need to get back home as soon as possible!" Ichigo cried out in a fit of panic as he kneeled on the floor, punching a hole through the wooden boards in the process.
Grimmjow watched as the figure of the man began trembling and shaking and drops of sweat began forming on his forehead. With concerned eyes he stepped forward and placed a gentle hand on the shaking frame of the orangette.
"What do you mean, who will die?" Ichigo shook the hand off of his shoulder and glared with completely golden eyes at the prince.
Grimmjow felt a moment of fear as those vicious carnivorous eyes drilled a hole through his very soul and he gulped.
"My little sister Yuzu is very ill. Unless she gets her medicine she'll die from the fever! Toshiro isn't able to work, and the amounts of supplies I can buy only last for two days!" He shouted grabbing the fabric of the black kimono pulling the blue haired man close to him with a snarl.
His head snapped at the sound of metal sliding out of a wooden scabbard, and he snarled at Starrk. Grimmjow was awe stricken at the sheer force behind the voice and the strength in those incredibly skinny arms, his cyan eyes having shrunk to mere dots for a couple of seconds. Realizing Starrk was on the offensive, he put up a hand signaling the guard to stop. He placed firm hands above Ichigo's and forced his grip to loosen before he placed his hands on Ichigo's shoulders.
"I am so terribly sorry, I did not know of your sister's condition. Can you ride a horse?" Grimmjow said, true regret swirling in those beautiful cyan eyes. Ichigo was still glaring but gave a faint nod in conformation.
"Then we have no time to waste. Starrk, have Yammy prepare our finest horses, we are leaving immediately!" He shouted, the silver eyed man vanishing to inform the stable keeper of the emergency.
As Ichigo hurried after the prince through the decorated halls of the mansion he gave a silent prayer to his ancestors, hoping that Toshiro and Yuzu were ok.
Ichigo waked up in the mansion of the emperor, only to be told that he is miles away from his ill sister. In a fit of rage and panic he manages to explain the situation, making the prince decide to help the orangette as they set out for Karakura town.
So second chapter! XD What do you think?
Reviews are most welcome ;)