This is a Birthday Present for Obsidian Jade, author of Red Duty, Black Honor and Bonds of Honor as well as many other fics. This will be a little more than a one shot but not much more. Once it is completed either the next 'chapter' or one more that will be it, just so you know. So Happy Birthday Jade, I hope you enjoy this!
Seconds crawled by like days. Minutes felt like weeks. Had it been an eternity? Some moments, it certainly felt like it had. The war still raged. How long would the madness continue? Neither side could gain a foothold long enough to turn the tide. It seems like it was going to be an eternal, endless back and forth. Had they really reached a stalemate?
How much blood stained the sands of Hueco Mundo? How many faded ghosts would meet their final end in the battlefield the living world had become? How many comrades had they lost? How many more would have to die before the conflict was finally ended? It maddened him that there seemed to be no answers to these questions.
He was distracted... which bothered him even more. He was ever the consummate captain and yet... worry grew inside his soul. The most recent team to leave for Hueco Mundo should have been back already. They were due back nearly an hour ago now and every minute that ticked by without their return only made the worry grow.
Time had proven to change him once again. He would perhaps never fully return to the fiery, brash youth he'd been... But he had more life to him now than anyone had seen from him in years... He was not quite so vibrant as the one that inspired such a change in him perhaps... But he was alive again. No longer did he live the half life he had consigned himself to upon the death of his wife. Of course it was somehow easier to change now that he was whole again.
As good a change as that was... it worried him... Should something happen, should anything go wrong how could he ever return to living half a life? Would he be able to continue? Would he be strong enough? Or would his strength fade with that vibrant red that colored his world? He couldn't allow himself to think of it. There was paper work to complete and as a Captain it was his duty to keep up with all aspects of what his job entailed.
He knew as well as any that being due back from a mission was not always a guarantee that you would be able to return at that time. Things did not always go according to plan. You at times had to improvise and do the best you could with what you had. Which meant that sometimes you were delayed. He attempted to convince himself that it was merely that and nothing more. The team was delayed and they would return. Their mission would be successful and they would come home a little worse for wear perhaps, but they would all return.
Still worry niggled at the back of his mind. Were it not for years of training to contain and practically ignore such distractions he might not have been able to complete the day's work. He closed his eyes, drew in a slow, deep breath and centered himself once again. He returned to task, even if his heart wasn't in it.
They were battered, bruised and bedraggled. The grit of the sand felt coarser than gravel and the heat... Never mind the heat. The Hollow had pummeled them pretty hard. They'd nearly been overwhelmed. Two of the squad of 15 would not be going home. There was still too much sand between them and the 'extraction' point. Too damned much sand.
They'd found some cover and were tending to their injuries the best they could. It had been days perhaps... Too damned hard to keep track of time's movement in this damned place. What medical supplies they had were starting to run low... and their dedicated healer? He was exhausted - they all were - and he'd sustained his own fair share of damage in the battles they'd fought, lost and barely won on this mission.
They'd lost a lot of equipment in the fights too. The only real tech they had left was the map that would guide them back to their way home and out of this forsaken wasteland.
"How much further is it?" One of his men asked.
" 'bout half a day... unless we get in another several battles."
"When were we supposed to be getting back?" another asked.
"About an hour ago... near as I can figure." Came the weary response. He sagged back against the rock... One of a small outcropping - there weren't many of them in this damnable wasteland. They were taking refuge where they could find it... He longed for his own bed... A hot bath, a real meal... home and peace. He was tired. Very tired of this war... of the endless battles. He was tired of watching good men and women give their lives... Tired of watching peers fall...
He was just tired... they all were. They didn't get many opportunities to sleep and when they did it was never long enough. Sleeping in shifts for no more than perhaps an hour here or there was hardly enough. They had gathered a lot of information though and hopefully that would be useful. Any little bit of something they could get might be that one thing that would change the tide.
They had to keep holding on to any scrap of hope they could find. This had been raging on for so long now, too long. One hundred years from when that bastard first started his plotting and scheming and how many more since they actually learned all this? For now they were able to gain a little ground here, stall him there... But right now that's all they were doing. At least, that's what it felt like. But when you're dealing with someone that put over a century into just planning something... It wasn't going to be some quick thing to end it. He understood that. He just hated it. They all hated it. Every last one of them. Oh some of them might hide it well... But every last person in soul society was so sick and tired of this damned war it wasn't funny.
Sand and grit and wind and dust… Sometimes it kicked up so bad that you couldn't see your hand in front of your face. It burned and stung but there was little they could do. They had their traveling uniforms - the cloaks hooded to help guard against the sand and sun but they'd been here long enough and in more than enough battles that most of their cloaks weren't very helpful anymore. He sighed and took a swig of the water from his canteen. Nel had found a water source for them and refilled their canteens… But they were getting close to having to ration it again.
He felt a shift in energy. His head whipped in the direction that he sensed it coming from. "INCOMING!" He called out. His squad scrambled trying to get ready. He couldn't see how many were coming… but they had to be ready for whatever might be coming after them. Zanpakuto at the ready they held their ground…
Only to see a green haired woman perching atop the stones with a few rather odd looking comrades. Renji breathed a sigh of relief. "Nel."
"He's sending a squad this way. We hoped to get to you first."
"You made it."
"You do not have long you have to get moving again, Renji. Tell Itsy-go he needs to come visit me soon."
"I will."
"Go, now we'll try to distract them as long as we can."
"Thank you Nel."
She only nodded and one of the two odd fellows accompanying her laid some fresh canteens at their feet.
"Thank you." The members of the squad said as they exchanged nearly empty canteens for full ones.
"Go." Nel urged and soon Renji was making his squad get on the move again. So much for resting.
"I know you are tired… I know we needed a longer break than that but it's going to have to be long enough. Nel will buy us what time she can. Conserve that fresh canteen as much as you can. It might only be half a day to our way out of here but we've already seen just how much longer things can take here." Renji instructed as they all took off using shunpo.
They would have to stop again to rest at the first opportunity and when they got back to Soul Society many if not all of them were probably going to collapse from exhaustion and slight malnourishment. For now, he could only hope that adrenaline and water could sustain them until they reached their goal. As they got clear of sight of the outcropping of rocks Renji could hear the sounds of a fight breaking out. Needless to say it spurred them all on to push themselves a little harder.
There wasn't much more to give though. Renji knew just how much they were going to pay for this… he just hoped they could hold out until they were back in Soul Society.