Blood on the Sand
Chapter 2: The Southern Wind
The wind moved south, creating waves on the bone-white fields with its passage. The riders rode through these fields like ships at sea. The legs of their mounts were hidden by the tall bone-white stalks of grass and weeds around them.
They rode in silence through what many called The Sea of Tall Grasses, but what they and their tribes called Home. The only sounds were the hooves of their Kuahai and the rustling of the grasses. The moonlight shone off their vests made of woven silver reeds and the cut tail hair of their mounts. They wore riding pants made from the leathery hides of the Aeida, a deer-like animal with a long curved horn at the head that was used to make the ceremonial daggers that the riders strapped to their saddles.
They kept vigilant on the area around them. There were many dangers that could be lurking in the tall grasses. It could be anything from an ordinary Hollow waiting for its next meal or a group of Catchers from any number of Slavers who would love to sell a warrior from the Amazon Tribes to the highest bidder. However, most of the Slavers were now working for House Rureaux in catching them so that they could be taken to any number of Southern nobles in an attempt to make alliances.
The woman at the head looked about her. Her black hair was tied back with a cord of woven reeds. Her mask fragment was in the form of a tiara-like crown that came up in a horn just over her forehead and gracefully curled around each ear. Her blue eyes sparked with the fire that was in her blood. Her caramel-colored skin gleamed in the moonlight.
She raised her hand and her small band of companions stopped. She watched as her scouts came riding back to make their report. When the scouts got closer, they bowed their heads.
"High Sister," one of the women said.
"Sisters, what have you found?"
"Catchers, High Sister," the other woman said and bowed. "We counted about ten of them. They have an escort of twenty men under the banner of the black Horned Viper."
"I see. Cyrriana, make sure that our warriors are prepared to move out."
"Yes, High Sister," Cyrriana, a rather petite young-looking woman said from behind the remnants of her Hollow mask that covered her lower face.
"We'll make them regret ever stepping foot on our lands. I, Queen of the Amazons and High Sister of the Antianeirai, vow this in my name, Insha Noelani Mila Rose."
Nido De Víboras
Vallae Lorros, the only surviving child of the former High Lord of the Southern Plains, looked out from her prison. Where she once saw banners of the golden Stag on a green field, she now saw the black Horned Viper on a crimson field of House Rureaux. Sorrow filled her as she remembered the times her father would take her through the streets of Nido De Víboras or the times when she was allowed to attend his meetings.
Now, those days were gone. Most of those who swore loyalty to her father were either dead or imprisoned or now swore allegiance to House Rureaux. She watched as the Rureaux army marched into the city. Ordinary Arrancars and tamed Hollows lined the streets welcoming their conquerors.
Have they forgotten my father? Is their loyalty so fragile that one moment they could salute the golden Stag and the next the black Viper and act as though it's always been that way?
There came a knock on the door. She sighed and turned to face the door.
"Who calls?"
"It's me, my Lady."
She smiled as she recognized the smooth, melodious voice and raced to the door.
"Come in, Lord Reighardt," she said as the door opened.
The Arrancar standing in the doorway was a man with white hair was streaked with black at temples. His coffee-colored skin maintained the firmness of a young man except for the nest of wrinkles around the eyes. His hollow mask remnant was in the form of a pair of thin round-rimmed glasses that wrapped around his head. His long-sleeved silk robe lined with green velvet hung down to his knees and his black pants were tucked into a pair of tan boots. His Zanpakuto hung at his side from a gold chain attached to the brown leather belt. He wore a gold and silver pin in the shape of a trident piercing a heart, the symbol of his House, on the left collar.
"My Lady," he said and bowed. "I'm afraid that my visit is for business today. I am here to escort you before…before High Lord Barrcae Rureaux."
She could hear the bitterness in his voice when he said "High Lord" in relation to the name Barrcae Rureaux. She wondered how many other noble houses were forced to recognize Barrcae Rureaux as the current High Lord of the Southern Plains. Now, rumors were spreading that he was setting his eyes on the Throne in Las Noches and thus gain the title of "King of Hueco Mundo".
"What does he want with me?"
"I don't know. I only know that he wishes your presence."
"Lord Reighardt, is it true that Baraggan is dead?"
"Yes, it's true my Lady. King Baraggan Luisenbarn is dead. I'm sure you remember how your father became High Lord during Aizen's reign in Las Noches."
She remembered. During Aizen's reign, complete war and chaos broke out throughout the Hueco Mundo Empire. At the height of the Chaos, there were 500 separate nations in Hueco Mundo. It was as though any Arrancar or Vasto Lordes or Adjuchas who could gather an army did. However, by the time Aizen fell, only five major factions remained in the Empire. Her father had been one of them and he was able to restore some kind of order in the Southern Plains by making alliances with many of the noble houses or through conquest. He was one of the few who were able to make a pact with the Amazon Tribes.
However, like the Southern Winds, power was an ever-shifting thing in times of chaos. With Baraggan and Aizen gone, there was no one to keep order in the Empire. She had a feeling that soon more factions would rise-up with claim to the Crown and Throne. Also, there were the Exiles to consider. They would most likely take advantage of the chaos to move into the Empire from the Western Wastes.
"My Lady, come with me please."
"Yes, Lord Reighardt."
Lord Reighardt led her from the room. Behind them, a soft Southern Wind blew the thin yellow curtains.
Breakwater, Along the Coast of the Bone Sea
The sea waves crashed against the rocks far below the walls of the coastal city of Breakwater. The heavy wind held the promise of a storm. The banner of a grey and white Shark swimming in a field of blue and red waves with golden flames fluttered in the breeze. Two Arrancars, one man and one woman, with the same tanned skin and blonde hair and green eyes, sat at an iron worked table on the stone porch that overlooked a 200-foot drop to the sea and rocks below. Tapestries depicting scenes of fishermen at work or fighting off giant creatures that lived in the Bone Sea fluttered in the wind. The columns of bone-white stone glowed with an eerie luminescent light.
"So, Baraggan's dead," the woman said. She was dressed in a light blue dress so thin that it was nearly completely transparent. She wore a silver sash around her waist. Her mask remnant had the appearance of a thin band with two long fangs hanging down to frame her face and thin piece jutting up at the center with a diamond-like stone dangling from the top.
"Yes," the man said. He was dressed in a grey sleeveless coat that hung down to his knees. He wore a pair of baggy grey pants tucked into a pair of silvery boots. A white sash was draped over his shoulder and a blood-red sash was tied around his waist. His mask remnant was a collar around his neck with a single shark tooth hanging down at the center.
"And Aizen is gone as well," she said as she took a sip of dark red wine from her crystal goblet.
"Yes and our pathetic excuse of a sister got herself killed," he glowered. "The fool brought it on herself."
"True, but she was still our sister."
"You know that family means nothing for a shark. All that matters is survival and strength. If you're not willing to do whatever it takes to get on top, then you don't deserve to survive. We told her to get rid of anyone who was above her, but she didn't do it. Instead, she fell for that Wolf Boy."
"She settled for being third-best instead of being the Primera, but then she was like that before she became an Arrancar."
"She was a disgrace. Our mother should have killed her when she was nothing but a pup. Oh well, I suppose my only regret is that I won't be able to kill her myself since that low-life Aizen beat me to it."
"And yet that 'low-life' was able to bring Baraggan to his knees."
"Yes, but he was still little more than a gutter rat when compared to us. If I was made an Espada, I would have killed all of those who stood above me and then killed that bastard Soul Reaper and claim the Throne myself."
"And you would have become the target for any number of houses that want that seat. When Aizen reigned, he made sure that all of the other houses in the Empire fought amongst each other instead of allowing them the opportunity to unite and rise up against him."
"He did that by parading Baraggan around in public sitting on his Throne and wearing his Crown. That way everyone believed that Baraggan was still king, but that he changed his mind about his system of control."
"And looked what happened. Most of the houses that rose up to declare themselves a power were quickly eliminated by those who stayed in the background. Those that tried to launch attacks against the Las Noches basin were wiped out thanks to Rudobon and his brother. Sometimes, dear brother, it's best to stay in the shadows and wait. Remember our House Words: 'Through Blood and Fire'. That means that no matter what we have to do, we get what we want."
"I know that, Cebra. But sometimes, aggression is the best way to get it."
"And yet, Latro, Aizen's little 'raid' proved that aggression can fail. The fools should have stayed in the shadow and eliminated the enemy that entered Las Noches first. Likewise, Baraggan was a fool for going ahead with the attack."
"I know," Latro said as he took another sip of his wine. "You're right. It won't do us any good to not come up with some kind of plan. After all, a shark never hunts without some kind of strategy in catching its prey."
"So, what do you think we should do?" Cebra asked.
"We adapt. We don't take sides and whoever's left standing at the end, we eliminate. We then take our rightful place at the top. After all, a Harribel is like a shark. We must never settle for anything less than the top."
Nido De Víboras
Vallae stood before the large double doors of the Inner Sanctum. She looked at the high ornate doors made of precious metal and stones depicting various scenes from the History of Hueco Mundo. The upper panel showed twelve faceless figures, the Potestas, standing in the midst of their Creation, the First Song.
She knew the story very well. She knew how eight of the Potestas decided to try to make the Song fit their image and so destroyed the First Song and from it arose the Second Song that some called the "Song of Hollows and Reapers" which, according to the Faith of the Twelve, was the song that they were living in.
However, Vallae did not believe in the ancient legends of the Potestas or the Three Songs, the "Song of Creation and Destruction", the "Song of Hollows and Reapers", and the "Song of Reunification". Right now, her main focus was on surviving her meeting with Barrcae.
"Are you alright, my Lady?" Lord Reighardt asked.
"I'm fine," she said and took in a deep breath. I have to maintain my composure. I cannot let that bastard see me as weak. Father, guide me and grant me strength so that your blood can live on.
The doors opened and Vallae looked forward. The room hadn't changed much except that the banners surrounding the chamber were those of House Rureaux instead of House Lorros. Likewise, where the Stag Throne once stood there was now a magnificent golden throne carved to look like a nest of coiled Horned Vipers. The armrests were the shape of Horned Vipers that seemed to jump at you with their fangs bared. At the head of the throne, three Horned Vipers were coiled around each other with one facing left, another facing right, and the central snake facing forward as though staring at the person with its ruby eyes.
She looked at the audience pit and saw that it was covered in crawling bone-white Horned Vipers. She knew that most of House Rureaux loved the snake, but she didn't realize how much until she saw it. She looked back up and saw Barrcae Rureaux sitting on the throne. He held his halberd in his left hand as though it was a scepter. His hawk-like gaze seemed to pierce her, but she refused to shy away and instead met his gaze with her lavender eyes.
"So, this is Vallae Lorros," he said in a deep rumbling voice. "I must admit that you have more fire in you than my idiot brother, Zommari, ever did."
"Why did you summon me?"
"You should know better than that. I am High Lord of the Southern Plains now. I demand respect from you."
"Why should I? You killed my brothers and you hung my father's head over the gates. Why should I show you any respect?"
"You have courage, even when facing Death. I like that. However, courage without prudence is a vice that must be wiped out of a person if they want to become superior over the rest of the rabble. Now to answer your question: Why should you show me respect? It is because I conquered your House. You are at my mercy and your life is in my hands. I could have you executed here and now. I could have you die a slow and painful death or a swift death. However, I could let you live and then you may have a chance to avenge your House…that is if you learn to control your tongue when in my presence."
"As you wish…High Lord," she said and bit her lower lip.
Barrcae nodded in approval.
"I understand that you are still upset," Barrcae said. "You should be proud of your brothers and father. They fought and died with honor."
"And yet you hung their heads above the city gates."
"I did that to show your father's other subjects that there was no point in continuing to fight. If I didn't have to do it, then I wouldn't. You'll be pleased to know that now that most of Nido De Víboras has accepted me as High Lord, I shall have their heads taken down and reunited with their bodies. They shall be buried with honor. You see, my dear, I am not the monster that most would have you believe me to be. I only do what I have to in order that further bloodshed is avoided and as few innocent lives are taken."
"I understand," Vallae said, but she did not trust him. She knew that most of his "benevolence" was nothing more than an act. Deep down, she knew that he was as cruel and lethal as the Horned Viper.
"Ah Lord Reighardt," Barrcae said, smiling. "I understand that you were the last noble who served House Lorros to bend the knee to me. What caused you to change your mind?"
"I made a vow to High Lord Lorros to keep his daughter safe and serve her. I found that I could do that better alive than dead…High Lord Rureaux."
Barrcae burst out in laughter.
"A wise answer and I can tell you are a man of honor. You must have some of the North in you. They always prattle on about honor and duty and vows. Very well, Lord Baellan Reighardt, I'll let you live. However, be advised. Honor and duty and loyalty may have their place in the North. However, in the South it's a different manner. Oh, but I forget, you're from the South."
"I am. And I know that in the South war is fought with speed, strength, and brutality."
"That's right," Barrcae said and glared at him. "The lords who surrendered to me thought they could find mercy in me. However, I do not show mercy to cowards. GUARDS, BRING THEM OUT!"
At once, guards dressed in the armor of House Rureaux with the Horned Viper emblazoned on the breastplates came forward. Vallae gasped as she saw some of the nobles whom she knew being brought forward. However, it wasn't just the nobles, but also their families. The children were wailing as their mothers and fathers tried to comfort them.
"NO!" Vallae cried out. "Not the children. Spare the children please High Lord."
Barrcae smiled at her and stood up. He raised his halberd in his left hand. The guards took their positions and prepared a Bala. He kept his eyes on her as he swung his halberd down. Vallae screamed as the hundred Bala bursts took off the heads of the men, women, and children who were on their knees. Vallae looked at Barrcae and snarled.
"Let that be a lesson, Little Girl. You do not command me. I command you. If you even think of trying anything then that will be your fate. Lord Reighardt, consider yourself fortunate that you're still alive. Now, take young Lorros back to her room. In the meantime, I'll keep my word about your brothers and father. After all, I do appreciate courage, but never cowardice."
Rugido
The sound of the waterfall was like the roaring of a majestic lion.
Chancellor Riccar Leonisra stood at the edge of the cliff. The great city of Rugido, one of the thirteen major cities in Hueco Mundo, sprawled out below him. He could see the Arrancars and Hollows working at the docks that would carry cargo further along the Dividing River that ran through Hueco Mundo from the Bone Sea in the South to the Dark Sea in the North.
Behind him, the palace of House Leonisra shone like the sun in the constant moonlight. The banner of House Leonisra, a golden lion crowned with a laurel of blood-red flowers on a white field, fluttered in the breeze.
"Chancellor Leonisra," one of the servant Hollows said.
He turned and looked at the kneeling figure of the fully masked female kneeling by him. Riccar's face tightened as he looked at the kneeling woman with his yellow lion-like eyes. His mask fragment was the upper left jaw of a lion that ended at his nose.
"What do you want, Masked?" he growled.
"Your children have arrived for the feast, Great Lord. And a rider from Nido De Víboras has arrived with a message form High Lord Rureaux."
"Yes, yes," he said and waved his hand in dismissal. "Show my children and whoever they brought to their chambers and send the messenger to me."
"As you wish, my Lord," she said and backed away from him. He glared after her until she was gone.
"Stupid fool," he muttered and he went back to watching the ships sail from their docks.
"I figured that I would find you here, father," a man said.
Riccar turned and saw his eldest son, Leondes, approaching. He was tall and handsome with long blonde hair that flowed from beneath the golden capeline helmet he wore. His mask remnant was a thin bone-plate that covered his forehead and the bridge of his nose with two fangs curving around his nose.
"I take it that you got my message."
"I did. The messenger nearly collapsed from exhaustion of having to use sonído for such a great distance. I in turn sent the message to my sister, Clarice."
"Why should your sister know anything? This is only between the Lanzas of High Lord Rureaux."
"I know, but she is a Leonisra. Haven't you always said that the Lion must come before the Serpent?"
"I did, but you must also remember that a Leonisra always pays their debts, be they black or white. We are indebted to two Houses and House Rureaux is one for permitting us to stay in the Southern Plains."
"I know, father. However, our Words are 'We Lay Claim' and from what I hear Barrcae is…"
"Not another word, Boy. I know the House Words as well as you do, but that does not mean we're foolish about it. If we're to reclaim what is ours then we must be cautious and tread carefully. A lion does not hunt its prey with trumpet blasts. A lion hunts in silence and it pounces with its full fury. Make no mistake, Boy, we will reclaim what was stolen from us and any House that gets in our way will feel our wrath.
"Now, tell me that you had enough sense not to tell our cousins, House Jaegerjaquez."
"I didn't. Besides, they live in the Las Noches Basin. Why should they care of what goes on in the Southern Plains?"
"Good, because even though they're our cousins, they're not one of us. As far as I'm concerned, they're nothing more than a bunch of brawlers and drunkards. Not as bad as House Gilga, but bad enough to stain our name if we bring them into the fold. Do you understand?"
"I thought you said that a Leonisra doesn't care the opinions of the inferior beasts."
"It is not opinion, Boy. It's a fact. If our name is stained then we lose respect. If we are to reclaim what is rightfully ours then all of the other Houses must respect and fear us. I hope that my grandson understands that. If he's to amount to anything then he must be feared and respected. Otherwise, he's little more than a piece of shit."
"He knows it, Father."
"That's good. He must learn that Hueco Mundo is a world where only the strong and ruthless survive. They may hold Honor and Duty in high regard in the North. They may hold Secrecy and Treachery in high regard in the East. But only in the South can one truly learn Strength and Brutality."
"What does the West teach?"
"How to die," Riccar said smiling. "That means that we no longer have to deal with House Luisenbarn. Mordrath is as good as dead after his failed rebellion."
Sea of Tall Grasses
"High Sister, we caught one of the men who tried to run from us."
"Bring him," Insha Mila Rose said.
Two of her Amazonian warriors dragged a man wearing a brown leather vest and baggy silk pants. Another carried the man's Zanpakuto in her hand. They threw the man to the ground and he tried to crawl away. Insha grabbed her bow, which sealed her Resurrección. She lifted two fingers and Reishi came together to form a shimmering silver arrow, which she loaded into her bow and fired. The arrow pierced the man's leg, pinning him to the ground.
"If you try to crawl away again, the next one will go into your neck," she said. "I know that Barrcae sent you. Why?"
"He…he…he's trying to make an alliance," the man moaned.
"With whom?"
"He's trying to make an alliance with House Gilga."
"House Gilga," one of the Amazons said and spat to the side as though saying the name left a bad aftertaste.
"So, has the Old Scorpion gotten tired of his latest bride that he needs a new woman to fuck already?"
"You know how Gilga is," another Amazonian said. "That old bastard is a womanizing fool."
"So, once again," Insha said. "Barrcae believes that he can use my Sisters as little more than coin to pay for allies and sluts for his soldiers to enjoy. Well you can go back to him and tell him that I will not allow it. I swear upon the Sacred Crystalline Groves and by the Bow of Artemis that if Barrcae Rureaux ever dares to send his dogs in the lands of the Antianeirai or tries to make any of them a slave, then I will break his halberd and feed him to the beasts of the field and the birds of the air. For too long he has been raiding our lands and taking Sisters.
"You tell him that the Wrath of the Hounds of Artemis is upon him and the Arrow is ready to fly. If you don't agree to tell him these things, then I will send your headless corpse back to him riding on your mount. Sister, bring me his Zanpakuto."
"Yes High Sister," the Amazon holding the man's Zanpakuto said and brought it forward.
"Did you know that an Arrancar's Zanpakuto can be destroyed in three ways? One way is when a stronger spiritual energy clashes against it. The second way is by striking the Zanpakuto against one of the Crystalline Trees. The third way," she said and withdrew the Aeida horn dagger from the sheath that was strapped on the side of the saddle. "The third way is the horn of an Aeida and channel a Cero through it. Allow me to demonstrate. Hold out his Zanpakuto with the blade towards me."
"Yes, High Sister," the Amazon said and did as told.
Insha held out the dagger and touched the Zanpakuto's blade with the tip of the dagger. She concentrated.
"Cero," she said and the blade shattered leaving only the hilt untouched.
"NOOOO!" the man screamed and he writhed on the ground in pain. He vomited and looked up at her, his eyes were filled with terror and pain and fury.
"Taula, return what's left of his Zanpakuto and tie him to his mount. Then see him on his way back to Nido De Víboras."
"Yes, High Sister," Taula said and thrust the hilt into the Arrancar's hands before tying them with a rope. She then yanked the arrow out of his leg and dragged him to his feet. "Come along. Let's see you home."
"Just kill me," he moaned. "He'll kill me for failing."
"No," Insha said. "I will not give someone like you a quick death. Now get going before I decide to find the nearest biter-ant nest and toss you in. Or perhaps you would prefer to go west. It's your choice."
The Arrancar whimpered as he was led to his mount and tied to the mount's neck. When the Arrancar was gone the Amazonian women returned to their Kuahai and mounted. Insha raised her bow above her head and brought it down. The band moved forwards.
The Southern Wind blew through the fields bringing storm clouds. The clouds reflected the light from the crescent moon. The wind became stronger as the storm blew in.
A gentle rain began to fall.
End of Chapter 2
A.N.: I love stories with complex and interwoven plots. I'm one of those types who love setting things up in a story before I get to the main action. The main action for "Blood on the Sand" is the Civil Wars that occur in Hueco Mundo after the Winter War ends. However, like all wars, it never really started all at once. Instead, it's like a storm brewing. Right now, we're seeing the clouds gather on the horizon. This chapter focused on the storm that's brewing in the Southern Plains of Hueco Mundo.
Next chapter will focus on some of the things going on in the Eastern Mountains.
Thank you for reading and please review.