Chapter 9. Facing The Impossible
I (still) do not own Bleach...yet.
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Sand swirled past Hitsugaya's face as he raced through the endless wasteland that was Hueco Mundo.
He had left Soul Society, not caring what the others did; he was going to find her, no matter what.
He had left Matsumoto in charge, putting his utmost trust in his fukuutaichou while he was away. He had brought his Zanpakutou with him, although he did not know if the dragon could assist him in any way. He could only use Hyorinmaru's abilities if there was water nearby, but in the desert place of Hueco Mundo, he was at a disadvantage.
A major one.
He did not know if he could defeat all of the remaining Vasto Lorde by himself, and without the aid of his Zanpakutou, that only made matters worse. What if he failed to call forth his own powers again, he might have beaten them with claws and wings once, but could he do it again?
And, he did not know if there were more Arrancar waiting for him then the six that he had let escape. And not only Arrancar could be blocking his path, but Hollow as well. Hitsugaya's feet sank into the dry sand, and as he ran along, dust and powdered dirt flew up from behind him. The tornado-like winds blasted him with hard pebbles of grain and silt, but Hitsugaya pushed forward.
He kept his mouth closed so that it would not become even dryer than it already was, his thirst for water driving him wild. He could make it rain, but that would take up far too much energy that, at the time, he could not afford to spare.
He had lived around ice his entire life, and now, to be suddenly cut off from the cold, refreshing presence of water was almost more than he could handle.
But he carried on, he would not give up, he would never give up.
He was going to find her, no matter what.
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Akuma paced the cave, irritated, the gloomy light filtered through the hole in the center of the cave ceiling.
Only he, and five of the others had made it back. Tonight would be the night that they transformed back into their true forms; they had failed. They did not have possession of the King's Key, but they could still rid Soul Society of some Shinigami.
"Akuma." The female Arrancar with the dark hair spoke up.
"What is it Rei?" Akuma spat tartly.
"Just what are you planning to do? With her I mean." Rei motioned to the crumpled form of the girl on the floor, in the corner of the cave. Akuma smirked.
"Since we were un-successful in stealing the King's Key, I plan to satisfy everyone but getting rid of two Shinigami."
"Two?" Rei looked puzzled, her un-usual blue eyes questioning him.
"Hai. You see, I plan to lure the white-haired boy here, using the girl as bait. Then, I plan to let the five of you take your revenge and kill him. There is no way that he can win, not here, in Hueco Mundo. There is no way for him to obtain powers such as he did before. There is no ice here, we have the advantage now, this is our territory. The boy faces the impossible in thinking that he can save her, and make it out if here alive."
He finished his explanation. Rei nodded in understanding. The other four Arrancar were gathered around the cave, all different colored eyes flared with satisfaction.
"Hai! We shall take revenge for our kin!" Bright orange eyes glittered with anger and determination.
Hisses of agreement echoed throughout the cave, Akuma smiled in triumph, and glanced at the half-dead Shinigami, lying limply in the shadows. He could detect the faint scent of blood drifting off of her, and he could not stop himself from salivating a little.
The blood of Shinigami never ceased to please him. He loved to see it spilling, pouring from their lifeless bodies, and if he were correct, then he would be seeing quite a lot of it in a matter of hours.
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The light of the half-moon still flooded through the top of the cavern, causing the shadows to mutate until they slowly disintegrated into pale shades.
It was the night of the seventh day; their time as Shinigami was up.
As the dreary light poured down onto the dark figures, they slowly began to take their original forms once again. The black Shinigami shihakushous melted into the rough, lanky skin of the Arrancar. Fingers shaped themselves into claws and teeth mutated into fangs. Although they kept the same human-like size, they looked like ghouls from Halloween ghost stories.
As the light finally began to become dimmer, all six Vasto Lorde re-took their forms. Akuma stood in the center of the ring of his followers; his brown-green eyes met those of the creatures around him.
"We have failed," He announced plainly to them all. However, his voice hid no repentance or apology to his loyal assembly.
"But, even though we must wait a long while until we can try again, we will get another chance. And, we can live with the knowledge that we have effectively slaughtered some of the Shinigami whom we detest so greatly." One of the Arrancar at the edge of the cave set his marshy yellow eyes on his neighbor.
"He shouldn't be saying things before they actually happen." He hissed. The other nodded, his red eyes glittering with uncertainty. But Akuma seemed quite sure of himself as he continued.
"I have faith in all of you, and trust that we can annihilate those two pitiful things."
He sputtered the last word with disgust and loathing.
"As I told Rei earlier, we have the advantage over him here. There is no water, and thus, no ice. So he will not be able to pull off that little trick again." He recalled the ice dragon that had killed off nine of his supporters.
"He will be weaker now, and the fact that he will be trying to rescue the girl will cause him to be even more distracted."
The yellow and red eyes of the two Arrancar that had been doubtful before, were now glistening with victory, as if the white-haired boy was already dead. Six pairs of eyes, white, blue, yellow, orange, red and brown-green sparkled like dewdrops, knowing that the awaiting battle had already been won. As they all howled their pre-conquest to the shimmering stars above, Akuma encouraged his forces with one last statement.
"He'll never know what hit him."
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A/N: I know I know bad chapter (again). And I'm sorry they are so short. But really, I would like to thank every one of you who reviews my stories, I REALLY appreciate it!! Thank you all so much for your support becasuse without all of you, I never could have written half of these stories! Arigatou!!!