Joy and Despair
The sound of gravel and sand being crushed by heavy hooves was heard as a horse with fur like onyx made its way along narrow hill paths. On its back sat a figure that was gradually becoming more known to the people, his orange hair catching the light of the sun as it danced with the wind. The few traveling salesmen that passed him on their way looked at the beautiful man with awe and bowed deeply, the ever so rare female individuals blushing slightly and waving their fans at him.
To be honest Ichigo didn't like all the attention, even though it was currently given to him by a small amount of random people. His mount snorted in a startled way as a hiss chimed through the air, coming to a halt without its riders orders. Ichigo 's usual scowl deepened slightly as he reached forward to try and see what it was that had spooked his loyal horse.
There on the scrawny path laid a rather large snake, its front parts raised high in a threatening way, fangs shown and dripping with a yellow fluid that couldn't be anything else but poison. Ichigo didn't recognize the type of snake, and so he couldn't be sure as to how deadly those fangs were so he gently massaged the tense muscles of his mount for a short while before swinging his agile body off of the horse.
The horse never moved, but it was still prancing nervously in front of the snake that was still hissing at it, an occasional stomp of a hood echoing down the steep sides of the hill. Ichigo looked around at the scarce vegetation, trying to find a branch with a fork like split to use as a means of removal of the snake. He forced his feet to battle the steep angled hill upwards to reach a branch that looked usable, and using the force of gravitation he easily snapped the rather tough branch of the small bush it grew from.
Ichigo slid down the side on his sandals and landed back on the small path with a thump that sent a small cloud of dust into the air. His sensitive ears caught the sound of horses approaching, and not caring to turn back and greet his escort company he moved forward to rid the path of the dangerous snake.
"Kurosaki-sama, why have we stopped?" The captain of the company asked.
"We have stopped because of this poisonous snake blocking our path; Madarame," Icihgo replied calmly. "I am going to remove it," he then continued approaching the snake carefully as it rose higher and spat at Ichigo.
Ichigo took a step back to avoid being hit by the poison, and proceeded to lower his stance calmly moving forward again with the forked branch at the ready. The snake kept hissing and spitting, but Ichigo finally saw an opening and in one smift move he slid forward and drove the split branch down over the neck of the snake, just behind were the head attached to the body. The snake hissed viciously, its slim body coiling and curling as it struggled to get free.
"Sorry little serpent, but you're a danger to our mounts," Ichigo said as he kept the snake pinned, his hand reaching down grabbing the snake at the point where head met body. Ichigo rose to his feet before mouthing a sorry to the snake, before he threw it out over the steep side of the hill and down into the river alley below.
Ichigo let out a sigh of relief before he went over to his still agitated horse and leaned in to touch foreheads with it, his calm and brown eyes locking with obsidian ones.
"It's ok now Nero," he soothed and rubbed small circles at what would be the horse's temples, the horse immediately relaxing its previously tense muscles and blowing a warm wind into Ichigo's face from its nostrils as a manner of thanks.
"That's a good boy," Ichigo smiled before returning the blow through his mouth and moved back to Nero's side easily mounting the horse in one swing. Ichigo had been given this horse on his choice, and in only one week they were so deeply connected that it seemed impossible to certain bystanders. Ichigo had fallen for the fierce and wild beauty of the slightly cocky young stallion, and he had been told he had a good eye.
The horse was supposedly bred in a faraway country, and the breed was given the name Frieser from the local's. Nero was a lot sturdier than the cavalry horses and had a heavier blood, indicating the cold blood that went through his veins. The proud and loyal mount was a horse Ichigo could depend on, and he treasured the stallion. He tensed his thighs and put a light pressure to signal his mount forward and Nero lashed out with his hind legs in joy of being on the move again, Ichigo laughing at how energetic the young mount was all of a sudden. Behind Madarame grumbled as he tried to calm his mare, whom had been startled by the onyx' stallions sudden kick. He sighed before he spurred his horse and the rest of his company forward after the enchanting orangette whom had such a pure yet darkened aura about him. Neither of the guard company knew where they were headed, but Ichigo knew all too well.
Though he had never been to the destination he was now heading for, his instincts easily told him which way to choose and follow, his heart playing a big role in it as well. About a good hour later the party had taken a small break to drink and eat some nutrition filled dried crackers before they continued on, soon reaching a top from which they could glance out over a green landscape that stood in great contrast to the desert like environment they has spent the last 2 days riding through. In the horizon they could see the sun beginning to dive, and the silhouette of a large building revealed itself.
"Kurosaki-sama?" The slightly feminine voice belonging to Yumichika voiced at the orangette whom had been staring at that silhouette for quite a few minutes.
"Oh sorry, the house in the horizon. That is our destination," Ichigo said knowing his words were not lies, as he once more eyed that dark shape with hope filled eyes.
...BMBD...
"Kuchiki-sama! Kuchiki-sama!" A young woman shouted, her voice carried through the paper walls of the Kuchiki estate easily.
In a large study a raven haired man frowned, a vein popping out above his now twitching eyebrow. He sighed and let his hand ghost over the silver ornaments braided into his hair, his heirloom ring scratching lightly against it. 'What is it now?' The raven haired man thought as someone came barging in through the door, completely forgetting about the proper courtesy that should be used inside a fine home such as his.
"Yes Rukia?" He said with a cold tone towards his little sister, his emotionless grey eyes landing upon the petite frame of the latter.
The short woman bent over panting before she kneeled down and looked up at her nii-san.
"Excuse my loudness nii-sama, but I spotted a party of royal knights coming down the nearest hill," she said her eyes wide with excitement. At that the young feudal lord's eyes gained a slight shine at the seriousness of the King's people coming to his mansion.
"Quickly Rukia, have the servants line up in the greeting hall!" The tall raven ordered and Rukia nodded and hurried off to gather the workers of the estate. Byakuya had his personal assistant help him out of his regular attire and about 10 minutes after he was a sight to behold.
His new attire consisted of a traditional Kuchiki uniform. His lower half was covered in loosely fit hakama which were tucked into high tight fit toe split boots, a turquoise sash keeping the hakama up. The thighs of the hakama were covered with light leather amour, and the fabric had grey dragons of silver silk woven into them.
His torso sported a beautiful haori with long white sleeves, the shoulder and chest part partially covered under the same leather armor that adorned the matching hakama. The sleeves like the hakama had intricate silver silk dragons woven into the fabric. His hands sported covers that fastened below the wrist and around his middle finger, their color matching his sash without any decorations.
Byakuya pulled his hair up into a high ponytail, the hair kept up with a beautiful dragon clip made of silver. His ears sported beautiful earrings t
hat resembled dragon claws that were embedded by small obsidian diamonds. Finally the crown piece was a beautifully made Katana that was fastened at his left hip. It had a handle adorned with silver ornaments that were carved into the shape of a beautiful dragon head to provide him with luck and good fortune. The sheath was a glossy black with silver paintings and a full dragon formed from silver at the end, its serpent like body coiling up around the sheath.
Now that the Kuchiki Feudal Lord looked presentable he hurried outside to greet the royal company approaching his estate and he waited calmly as tension built up in the air. He was expecting Coyote Starrk the royal guard and messenger to show up, or the majesty himself, but instead he was met with a young man with striking orange hair and a soft yet slightly edged face. Not knowing what to make of the man leading the party Byakuya decided to welcome the royal party and introduce himself.
"Welcome servants of King Jaegerjaquez! Welcome to the Kuchiki estate. I am the Feudal Lord of this region, and my name is Kuchiki Byakuya. May I offer you my hospitality for the evening?"
...BMBD...
Ichigo demounted his horse in one swift moment, his hakama dancing in the wind as he gave a formal smile at the beautiful Feudal Lord that greeted him. He stepped forward and bowed respectfully for the Kuchiki clan member, which obviously pleased the raven haired male.
"Allow me to introduce myself. I am Kurosaki Ichigo, private assistant and close friend of his majesty King Jaegerjaquez. I will gladly accept your offer Kuchiki-sama," Ichigo said in the most formal tone he could muster, still struggling with the proper courtesy of someone serving under royalty.
"Allow me to show you inside, and I shall have a meal fitting of such company prepared. Your escorts may stay within the barracks belonging to my own soldiers," Byakuya informed motioning for Ichigo to follow him.
Ichigo gave a nod and followed the raven haired Feudal Lord to the most impressive gates that opened for them to enter. Ichigo soon found himself strolling after Kuchiki down on a tiled path, which was covered in petals from beautiful sakura trees that crowned the path. He had to admit the Kuchiki had excellent taste when it came to his garden, his mind awe stricken by the beauty of the mansion. When Ichigo finally entered the greeting hall he was met with the entire staff of the mansion, and they knelt in his presence by command of their master.
"During your stay you may choose one or two of my servants to assist you," Byakuya said sweeping his hand over the display of various men and women.
"I'll take you up on that offer," Ichigo responded out of pure courtesy to not offend his host. He gave a small flick off his hand and the servants quickly got to their feet.
Ichigo had no time to react when someone came flying in at him screaming "Ichi-nii! Effectively tackling him to the ground. Byakuya was startled by the servant that seemingly attacked his royal guest and immediately tried to pry her off of the orangette.
"Karin, what in the world do you think you are doing!" Byakuya shouted before Ichigo waved at him to stop.
"Ichi-nii!" Karin sobbed into Ichigo's haori, Ichigo squeezing the raven haired girl lightly before he grabbed her below her armpits and rose up.
"My you have grown Karin," Ichigo said dropping Karin onto her feet.
"I've missed you so much oniichan," Karin wailed and Ichigo gave her a bright smile.
"I have missed you too little sister," Ichigo said before his ear twitched slightly as someone shuffled their feet.
"Ichigooooo!" An all too familiar voice shouted as his dad came flying in attempting to kick him in his head.
Ichigo's eyebrow twitched and a vein popped as he excused himself to a really confused Feudal Lord. Ichigo stomped over to his old man whom had crashed into a wall and picked him up by a collar.
"What the hell old man, are you trying to kill me!" Ichigo shouted into his face holding his father into the air.
"I see your skills have not rusted, oh Masaki our son has grown into a fine young man!" Isshin sobbed as Ichigo let him go with a very annoyed Tch.
"Please excuse my otousan Kuchiki-sama, he has a screw loose," Ichigo explained with a chuckle and a hand behind his head.
"Well now Karin, would you like to be my assistant while I stay here?" Ichigo asked.
Karin bowed deeply and replied formally "It would be an honor to serve you Ichigo-sama." Ichigo smiled brightly at how proper his sister had become, though he could still see some of her cocky and brash attitude shining through her now formal one.
"Ahem," Byakuya coughed gaining Ichigo's attention.
"Oh how rude of me," Ichigo said and turned his attention to the raven once more. "This must be quite confusing yes? I'll explain it to you. This here is my little sister, and the one who ruined your wall just now is my, excuse the language, idiot father," Ichigo said in an effort to calm the clearly upset Feudal Lord.
"I see, I never knew they were the family of a royal servant," Byakuya said.
"Nii-sama!" A young girl called as she entered the greeting hall, shock playing over her face for a few seconds at the mess before she decided to ignore it. "Dinner is ready," she announced and Byakuya nodded waving at Ichigo for him to follow, Karin coming with him as his temporary servant.
During the meal Ichigo and Byakuya discussed his reasons for being sent there, and after the dinner the Kuchiki head was left with a written order signed by the King himself. He was supposed to eliminate the Feudal Lord of the east, the reason being that the latter had committed treason towards King Jaegerjaquez reign, having been found guilty of several charges.
One of them was including cruel and inhumane treatment of his servants, another one for neglecting his responsibilities concerning the wellbeing of the people living in his region. A third one was the crime of putting the money he earned from his reign in his own pocket, instead of giving half of it to the King so that he could use it for the better of the kingdom. The Feudal Lord of the west was ordered to be executed, and Byakuya kind of looked forward to do the task. He always despised the Feudal Lord of the east.
But Aizen Sousuke would not go down without a fight.
...BMBD...
"So where is Hitsugaya?" Karin asked looking at her brother with worried eyes. "He's fine isn't he? I swear if anything happened to him I will kill you nii-chan!" Karin growled. Ichigo laughed loudly and punched his sister friendly.
"Do not worry; he is safe and sound at the royal mansion. He's probably outside painting pictures of the gardens," Ichigo said with a smile. Karin brightened up a bit at that, but then she got serious again and her eyes locked on Ichigo's figure. Ichigo's face darkened at that and his expression saddened.
"Yuzu is fine Karin. She's at the Seiretei clinic, the head medic herself is personally taking care of her," Ichigo answered with a sad smile.
"Karin and Dad. I have something to tell you," Ichigo announced his voice wavering. He tried to summon himself but failed in his attempt.
"It's bad isn't it Ichi," Karin said her voice cracking.
"What happened son," Isshin said eyeing Ichigo seriously.
"I'll explain it from the beginning," Ichigo said his voice hitching slightly as he finally pulled himself together.
"It started while I was out to buy medicine for Yuzu. When I was on my way home I was attacked by a pack of Hyena's. I got my shoulder shredded and when Toshiro tried to help they caught him as a hostage. By coincidence King Jaegerjaquez and his companion Coyote Starrk where patrolling the area, and they stepped in and helped just before I was about to revert completely" Ichigo began.
Karin and Isshin made no move to interrupt and Ichigo continued, "Since I couldn't afford to see a medic about my wound, I forced myself to continue working at the farm I was employed at. I fainted out in the field, and once again by chance the King was out riding, this time without Starrk at his side. He picked me up and brought me to Seiretei and let me stay at the mansion. When I woke I was enraged and terrified of having left Yuzu and Toshiro behind," Ichigo continued taking a break to breathe in.
"I told them about Yuzu's condition and demanded they'd let me rush back. We mounted horses and hurried back to Karakura, and I found Toshiro heavily wounded on the floor after I killed off the two Hyenas' responsible in my reverted form. But the worst part was that they had injured poor Yuzu, she was barely alive when I…when I" Ichigo hitched and began sobbing.
"Ichigo, it's ok. It wasn't your fault," Isshin cooed cradling his now crying son in his arms.
"I was too late and she had a large gash down her side. She wasn't breathing and I immediately tried to revive her. God smiled on me because I managed to knock her back into life. Seconds after Starrk and Grimmjow arrived with a healing team, and they took Toshiro and Yuzu inside. Toshiro healed after a few weeks, but Retsu checked Yuzu over. She has healed from her wound, but…but…" Ichigo sobbed loudly again. Karin realized it first and she shrieked loudly before crawling into Ichigo's lap pounding at his chest.
"No! It's not true. It's not true Ichi you hear me?! It's not true!" She wailed. With that Ichigo broke completely and cradled Karin close as he cried with her, his dad hugging both of them as he too shared their pain and cried with his children and for his ill daughter
. "Retsu…She's the best medic in the entire country, concluded that…Yuzu will never recover and eventually die from the fever…I send her weekly doses of my blood which she makes medicine off, and I visit her as often as I can. But Retsu says she doesn't have much time left," Ichigo cried hugging Karin even closer as she sobbed silently into his haori.
"Ever since then I have lived with Toshiro in the royal estate," Ichigo finished.
The rest of the night the small family was allowed to mourn for their fourth member after Ichigo had explained the situation. Byakuya offering his condolences with true sorrow in his eyes, letting the family mourn in a private room he issued out to them. Ichigo stayed the night over, and was surprised to find that Byakuya had arranged for his father and sister to be moved to serve under Ichigo's master and he thanked Byakuya for that.
When noon arrived the party with Ichigo's family added and two other servants of the Kuchiki estate that would accompany the party left the estate and headed for the city of Seiretei. All three Kurosaki had a growing lump in their heart as they moved closer to Ichigo's new home, they knew something was wrong and therefore Ichigo hurried his party. When they were a few kilometers away from the city a dust cloud moved towards them with great speed. Ichigo knew who it was before he could even make out the figure, it was Starrk.
"Starrk, what's going on?!" Ichigo demanded to know.
"Ichigo!" Starrk panted, he had rushed over on the fastest mount available and now he looked at Ichigo with horror stricken eyes. "It's your little sister, she's dying!" He blurted out. Ichigo's eyes shrank ad he froze and shortly after let out a sorrowful roar as he jumped off his now agitated mount.
"Lead the way Ichigo!" He snarled, tears flowing out of his cheetah eyes following the black tear lines that naturally tainted their coat.
"Starrk, please make sure Karin gets there as fast as possible. She doesn't know how to revert!" Ichigo barked before he jumped of Nero and reverted to his heritage.
Starrk nodded and soon Ichigo's horse was carrying Starrk and Karin after the sprinting cheetah's who seemed to have an endless supply of stamina as they raced towards Seiretei, tears flowing from both father and son as they ran faster than they had ever done before.
At the clinic the blue haired King kneeled at the side of the small girl clenching her small hand inside his, as he waited for her brother anxiously.
"I'm so sorry Ichigo," he whispered as a tear escaped his eye.
Cliffhanger I know. Sorry but I like torturing you too much :'( So yeah, Ichigo reunites with his dad and little sister, and when they are returning he learns that his second sister is dying. What will happen? Stay tuned for the next chapter.
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