The Raven and the Guard
Nero's heavy hooves hit the soft soil on the cleared path his master was guiding him along. Behind Ichigo and his mount his escorts followed suit though they kept a reasonable distance for the young man to have some privacy with his thoughts. Ichigo had been on the road for about a day already and they had only taken one short break to eat some dried food that was quickly consumed, the horses getting about 15 minutes worth of rest.
Finding Zaraki Kenpachi proved to be a difficult task, and Ichigo had a feeling that if he didn't find the rumored brute it would mean a great loss to their side in the upcoming war. Ichigo's eyes were on high alert and scanned the surroundings for anything out of place, while his ears listened to the orchestra the forest created, their task similar to the eyes was to search for anything unusual.
His sensitive nose scrunched up when he felt the stench of a rotting carcass nearby and he sped up his horse till they were past and the rotten smell could no longer cloud his nose from other more important scents which he needed to look out for. He let go of his reins so that he could stretch and satisfying pops sent chills down the ones riding behind him as Ichigo damn near purred in comfort.
He barely had time to register the reflection of sunlight on metal as he stretched and he realized dropping his guard for just a second had been a grave mistake as an arrow whistled past him and successfully tore through his upper left arm, although it was just a scratch compared to what he was used to.
Ichigo hadn't bothered to don his new battle attire which would most likely have repelled the arrow, and now he cursed himself for not using the opportunity to test run it. He knew he was bound to walk past trouble on the search and he quickly looked down to assess the damage was shallow and to be honest it just stung more than it hurt, so he shrugged it off and trained his eyes in the direction where the arrow had come from.
Black bled into his eyes as he located his target, but the assailant had no hopes of knowing he or she had been found out. Within seconds a fully reverted Ichigo was at the throat of the attacker and he soon had his light paws pinned down on two slender shoulders effectively keeping the attacker down. Ichigo snarled warningly and bared his fangs at the assailant digging his claws into the offender's shoulders drawing small barely audible pained sounds.
"Care to explain why you shot an arrow at me?" Ichigo snarled, his voice echoing like it came from several places at once.
Ichigo having had the time to study the one beneath him a bit further concluded he was pinning a very feminine faced grown man under him and he had to admire the skillfully done eye shadowing that had been done to make his eyes stand out against his pale skin. He waited for a while and got no answer which resulted in him giving off an annoyed grunt, so he decided to pull out some heavier shit.
"I suppose you are not aware whom you have just attacked and injured hmmm?" Ichigo cooed with a sweet voice, eyeing the man dangerously. He got a small barely visible shake of head from the man and his lips curled up into what could be described as a feline grin.
"Lucky you, you're in for a world of hurt when I drag you back with me. Attacking me does not come without consequences," Ichigo said licking his lips mischievously although to the one beneath him it would seem more like a crazed killing intent grin.
"Alright alright," the man uttered and Ichigo pretended he hadn't heard the assaulter turned captive. "Fine, I attacked you because I thought you were one of Aizen's men!" He explained and Ichigo's pupils narrowed into slits as he snarled loudly.
"Don't you dare put me under the same roof as that bastard!" Ichigo spat, his claws curling making the man whimper in pain. Ichigo quickly realized what he had done and quickly retracted his claws as far as they went.
"Ichigo-sama!" one of his escorts called as they finally found their superior after having missed his sudden leap into the woods.
"Stay back Ikakku, I've got this!" Ichigo snarled and the bald man wisely retreaded, aware of just how powerful the young cheetah was. "Sorry about that small interruption, now where were we?" Ichigo purred as he inched closer to the raven haired man's face, watching him swallow hard.
"Why would you attack one of Aizen's men in the first place," Ichigo asked.
"Because the bastard and his men are free kills within our gang, he killed our leader's adoptive daughter!" The feminine man said with a slightly shivering voice as he began squirming uncomfortably under Ichigo's hold.
"And your leader would be?" Ichigo asked eyeing the man with expectation.
"Zaraki Kenpachi!" he muttered and Ichigo's eyes lit up as he quickly released the man from his grasp, earning a confused look from the raven haired male.
"Perfect! I've been looking for your boss!" Ichigo said and veered back into his human form.
"What do you want with Taichou?" the man asked suspiciously.
"I seek to bring him a request from his majesty King Jaegerjaquez," Ichigo explained. "And may I ask your name?" he added.
"Ayasegawa Yumichika," the raven haired male answered, confident that the cheetah hybrid wouldn't attack him now.
"Ichigo Kurosaki, royal and personal assistant of King Jeagerjaques, Yoroshiku," he presented himself before being rudely shoved to the side by no other than his escort Ikakku.
"Madarame, what the hell!" Ichigo snarled as he got up on his feet again but went silent when he saw the display in front of him. Ikakku was embracing Yumichika closely and he looked at the obviously stunned ravenette.
"My god Yumichika, I thought I'd never see you again!" Ikakku said and the look of shock quickly drained from Yumichika.
"Ikakku?" he said before finally accepting that his childhood friend was there, hugging him and he quickly returned the hug as passionately as his old friend did.
"Where have you been baka!" Yumichika bellowed and hit Ikakku in the head making the bald man laugh and ruffle up his friend's hair.
"Ikakku, touch my hair again and I will kill you!" Yumichika snarled and when Ikakku dragged at a strand of hair again the raven hair flung at the royal guard. They brawled and wrestled on the ground laughing, Ichigo and the 3 remaining escorts watching with barely restrained laughter.
"I'm guessing you two have some kind of history?" Ichigo chuckled eyeing Ikakku with a knowing smirk on his face as the two got up from the ground and brushed their clothes free of dust.
"My deepest apologies Ichigo-sama, for leaving your back unguarded!" Ikakku quickly said realizing he had just abandoned Ichigo's safety to reunite with his friend and old flame.
"Don't worry Madarame, I am more than capable of watching my own back. It is only because Starrk insists that I bring along guards that you are here today," Ichigo laughed.
"Well then I am glad he is forcing you to have us come along," Ikakku said with a grin and slung his arm across Yumichika's shoulders. Ichigo gave a warm chuckle at that before turning his attention to Yumichika again, ready to ask the man for audience with his Taichou.
"So Yumichika was it?" Ichigo began and waited till Ikakku was back in his respective spot before continuing. "You've already been made aware of the fact that I seek audience with your Taichou Zaraki Kenpachi, do you think you could arrange for us to meet? Preferably in private," Ichigo asked and eyed the raven haired male expectantly.
"If you are willing to spar with him and measure strengths I am sure he'd have no problem greeting you…as long as you meet his standards that is," Yumichika answered. Ichigo scowled at that information and eyed the raven warily.
"And what would it take for me to reach his standards?" Ichigo asked and Yumichika paled slightly at the thought of his Taichou when he battled.
"Simply put you would need to be able to provide some fun for him, by fighting him of course," Yumichika answered.
"That's shallow, is there at least a level of skill I need?" Ichigo asked and Yumichika paled even more.
"Well…" he began before taking a deep breath and looking to Ikakku for support. "Taichou really loves fighting, and he's so strong that he puts restraints on himself so that he can drag out his battles. You'd have to be able to wound him at least twice and last half an hour for him to approve of you," Yumichika explained and to his surprise noticed a grin spread across Ichigo's face.
"Sounds like my kind of guy! Now I can put that time as Aizen's fighting pet to good use," Ichigo began with a happy tone before he pouted cutely. "Grimmjow treats me like I'm made of thin glass, I never get any action in my life, and I'm getting rusty!" he complained and that made Yumichika laugh loudly.
"I'll show you to our village, I think Taichou will like you Ichigo," Yumichika said.
"Finally! Finally someone refrained from adding titles to my name!" Ichigo blurted out and Yumichika chuckled at that and soon he was sitting behind Ichigo on the broad back belonging to his obsidian furred mount.
~~~~BMBD~~~~
After a good thirty minute ride they arrived at what seemed to be a small village, which was brimming with people. Ichigo looked the place over and concluded he wouldn't have minded living there, it looked like a good place for children to grow up in, as it was secluded from other bigger cities and different kinds of people.
Yumichika guided him up the main street and then told him to take off on a path which seemed to go out of town, and Ichigo realized his target and mission probably lived somewhere close to the village instead of in the very middle of it. The path they rode on was covered by a dense layer of leaves up in the air, making it hard to spot for commoners and Ichigo knew he was being led to a fortress of some sort.
When the path ended in a large clearing near the foot of the mountain he couldn't keep himself for gawking a little at the impressive building. In front of him was not a traditional Japanese nobility manor, no it was a fortress of stone and thick wood. It looked foreign and Yumichika soon explained to him.
"This is something a group of foreigners whom came sailing from far away built when they settled down here. However they were executed when they were found guilty of robbing gold from the mines nearby and this was left to rot. Taichou found it one day and decided our group would live here, seeing as it's pretty big, and it's built with towers for guards to stand in and all that," he said and Ichigo nodded absentmindedly to show he understood what the raven was telling him.
"You can settle your horse's in the stable for the night, if you plan to stay that is… I'll show Ichigo inside, the rest of you can wait here," Yumichika said before motioning for Ichigo to follow.
"That is out of the question Yumi; I am under strict orders to stay with Ichigo-sama all the time!" Ikakku said.
"There is no need Madarame, I can take care of myself," Ichigo said before ordering them to stay outside and then proceeded to follow the raven inside.
He was fascinated by the large hallway and the height of the ceiling as he was guided down the shady corridor. Not so long after they arrived at a large wooden door which looked really heavy and Ichigo took his time to admire the very fine carvings that had been done in the aging wood. When the door opened on complaining hinges he felt a light push in the back from Yumichika and he walked in in front of the feminine man and quickly took in his surroundings. His gaze came to a halt at a very frightening and intimidating looking throne, the man sitting atop it even more intimidating than the whole building itself and Ichigo quickly locked eyes with the man.
"Kurosaki Ichigo, Yoroshiku!" Ichigo presented himself at once and bowed his head slightly in respect.
"Ayasegawa, who is this person you've brought me?" Zaraki asked.
"He is King Jaegerjaquez' personal assistant, he seeks an audience with you to discuss something," Yumichika explained. "He is willing to fight you for approval should need be," Yumichika added on a second thought.
"Tch, royals hardly ever know how to even lift a sword! I doubt I'd be able to have some fun with the berry," the man snorted and failed to catch the furiously twitching eyebrow belonging to Ichigo. Anyone whom called him berry usually got the fist and he was more than ready to give the rude brute a piece of his mind, even as intimidating as he was.
Within seconds Ichigo had moved from his spot in the far end of the big room and up to the throne which whom he assumed was Zaraki Kenpachi sat on, and he reverted his arm so that deadly claws glinted in the light as he held it up at the brute's throat.
"You might want to reconsider, I'm not a royal or a noble, I'm just a filthy street kid whom grew up on rotten bread and spoiled water," Ichigo snarled and was satisfied with the obvious shock that lit up the brute's scarred face.
"Sorry, but I didn't bring my katana today, could I borrow one from you?" Ichigo said the challenge clear in his words as he removed his hand from the larger man's throat and disappeared in a flash and returned at an amused Yumichika's side.
"I like you kid, I hope you will be able to entertain me for the evening. Ayasegawa can show you to the armory, pick any weapon you like from it," the brute laughed before dismissing Yumichika whom quickly motioned for Ichigo to follow.
This is going to be an interesting fight the raven thought as he guided the orangette down the many halls and corridors of the European style castle.
Sorry for not updating in a while guys. If you haven't noticed yet I started two new stories and they need my attention. Since both stories are originals from my mind I have them at the top of my priority list, as I've stated before request stories go below my personal stories in rank. Anyways, just came back from an unannounced vacation and I want to let you know that I am back XD Hope you liked this chapter although it is a bit short, forgive me pwease..
Please review!