You Can Go
Chapter 3
The darkness shattered right before her eyes and in a matter of seconds, the darkness was now replaced by a vast white desert and she could see the buildings that formed Las Noches in the distance ahead of her. In the few moments it took for her realise she had reached her destination; her senses were overpowered by the strength of her spiritual pressure. Any other time Soifon would have allowed herself to bask in the relief that was brought on at knowing the Princess was close by except this time her spiritual pressure was spiking erratically.
The relief she felt was swiftly replaced with a growing dread when she noticed something else about the spiritual pressure, it was decreasing at an alarming rate – Yoruichi was getting weaker.
Soifon kicked off the ground and soared through the air, her heart pounding louder than the wind ripping past her ears as she raced towards the source of the decreasing power and not once did she let the image of her nightmares haunt her mind, she was determined to reach her Goddess in time.
Yoruichi fell hard. Her body rolled countless times, absorbing the impact as she almost skimmed across the sand before she skidded to a stop. She lay dazed and gasping for breath, her muscles screaming out in pain. The kido gathered around her body extinguished like dying flames when she could no longer spare the energy needed to maintain her Shunko.
She heard the monster roar triumphantly at having knocked down its opponent and the ground rumbled under its weight from each step taken from its advance towards her. She squinted up at the beast through her left eye; it hurt too much to open it fully. It stopped a few feet away from her, towering over her; it was the size of a 3 story house and was surprisingly fast for its size. The hollow carried itself like a bear walking on its two hind legs through chased after her on all fours like a dog – it was nowhere near her speed but luck was on its side this day.
For the Flash Goddess, defeating a hollow of this level would have been an easy task but she had been fighting constantly, barely sleeping since the time was better spent tracking down food in the barren landscape. She watched the hollow raise its right leg above her in preparation to crush her, it's foot was only just bigger than her and not for the first time Yoruichi found herself questioning why she even came her in the first place.
Because I was weak, that's why! And she saw herself giving in to the warmth and security that she always felt around Soifon and saw herself giving into those feelings with that kiss. Gods why did I do that! I shouldn't have done that! Anger consumed Yoruichi, anger directed at herself for the way she acted towards Soifon. The hollow slammed its clawed foot down on top of her. I should have respected her feelings!
Yoruichi hastily threw her arms up and caught the hollow's large foot, preventing it from squishing her like a bug. The giant monster roared in defiance and increased the pressure, pushing against her arms with more of its weight. Yoruichi focused on her remaining reiatsu, using it to strengthen her arms as she strained against the weight and spiritual pressure being pushed on top of her.
Just as before though, she felt her energy fading at the prolonged contact – the hollow had started to drain her reiatsu again but at least now she knew it had to have contact with its victim for that little technique to work. I need to get away from it! Her arms shook from the strain of holding up the monsters weight as more of her precious energy was sucked away from her and used against her.
Yoruichi tried pushing back against the hollow but going months without eating correctly, rest and constantly pushing her body to the limit had taken its toll on her, that combined with it eating up her spiritual energy meant her efforts were in vain. She struggled uselessly beneath the hollow and realisation struck her that this hollow might just get too lucky if she didn't do something to break the contact soon.
"Die soul reaper!" The hollow roared down at her, energised by her spiritual pressure it stomped on her again. Yoruichi's arms buckled, her elbows now locked to her side still blocking the clawed foot. Only an inch stood between her and death. The pain in her arms slowly increasing as more of her spiritual pressure was absorbed by the hollow leaving less for her to protect herself from the monster's overwhelming force, her very bones screaming out in protest against the force.
She was aware of the hollow bellowing out in pride about finally defeating the rouge soul reaper that had been terrorising Hueco Mundo and how he would be seen as the new leader for killing her but her thoughts had drifted elsewhere so she didn't have to focus on the pain. Her thoughts were of Soifon. I wanted to spare you from any more pain, that's all I seem to cause you...I had to force you to spend time around me and look what I go and do, I force myself on you further by kissing you...guess I messed up pretty big this time little bee...
Yoruichi smiled faintly when she pictured Soifon with one of her rare smiles and allowed herself to drift in the warmth that image brought her and didn't stop the memories of their past from flowing, her smile growing as she recalled all the hours spent training with one another, how she would constantly tease her as a girl for acting so proper and her reward was seeing Soifon blush, bowing her head instantly to try and hide it as well. You looked so happy when you unlocked your shikai; you literally blow up the grounds with your reiatsu that day. She chuckled at that memory and felt her body visibly relax as she always did when she could feel Soifon's spiritual power. It's almost like she is here...
The next thing she knew was that the hollow's foot pinning her down, stamping her out of this world was simply put, no longer there. Her arms fell lifelessly by her sides as she stared up at the small figure standing in the air where the hollow had just been. Soi-Soifon? Yoruichi remained still, not believing what her eyes were showing her – Soi's reiatsu pulsating around the woman like a furious yellow fire.
Soifon rammed into the side of the hollow and smirked at hearing a satisfying crunch and felt several of the hollow's ribs break from her shoulder colliding into it at full speed. It roared out in pain as it was sent flying backwards. She watched it tumble to the ground in a crumpled heap.
"How dare you touch her!" Soifon flash stepped over to it mid sentence and drove her right heel directly into its stomach. The hollow contorted in pain and swiped at her to get her to off of him. Soifon jumped back, flash stepping back above where Yoruichi was and scowled down at the beast, she had felt an odd sensation from the brief contact with that hollow as she did when she rammed into him, what was that just now? She decided that whatever it was could wait while she checked on Yoruichi. Her eyes darted down to the woman lying in the sand, she wasn't moving and although her energy level was extremely weak, it appeared to have stabilised somewhat.
Wasting no more time Soifon pressed the button on the bracelet, activating the beacon – the smiling face of Kisuke starts flashing every second, adding to her distaste of the object. She flash stepped down to Yoruichi's side when she saw the hollow start to scramble to its feet from where she had knocked it down, it roared out of frustration from having it's victory taken away at the last second, she chose to ignore it, focusing instead on Yoruichi's condition. She visibly cringed at taking in her injured state.
Her outfit was torn and her usual bright orange jacket was missing, her perfectly smooth skin was now tarnished with half healed and fresh cuts, bruises and burn markings, blood was pouring out of a deep gash on the back of her left leg and from the slashes across her abdomen. Soifon found herself transfixed by the sight; the fastest, strongest person she has ever known who is admired by all for her fighting abilities and strategic skills was now fighting for every breath and struggled to even move.
"Yoru-" Soifon whispered and reached out to her tentatively, her mind and body reeling in shock.
"I-it drains reiatsu...on contact. U-use your sh-shikai." Yoruichi commanded through gasps of pain though lost none of her authoritative edge.
"H-hai." Having an order to obey gave Soifon something to focus on instead of the very real pain taking over her heart that she was too late to help Yoruichi and that she was going to have to watch her die, unable to do a thing as the sparkle in her beautiful golden eyes fades away to leave her forever.
Soifon unsheathed her zanpakuto and turned to face the hollow now charging towards her. She glared at it, as much as she wanted to take her time and exact revenge for all the damage it had dealt to Yoruichi, she needed to end it now so she could help her instead. "Sting all enemies to death, Suzumebachi." Her sealed zanpakuto in her hand transforms at the command and not wasting any time Soifon flash steps right in front of the attacking monster and stabs it in the centre of its chest before it could get any closer to Yoruichi. In the brief moment she made contact with the hollow she felt a strange pull on her reiatsu again. That must be its absorbing technique, she noted as she prepared to stab the hollow again, which was just starting to realise that something had appeared in front of it when she plunged Suzumebachi into the exact spot as her first strike.
The hollow roars in defiance and swiped at Soifon but its efforts were wasted as the poison had taken effect and it burst into particles before it could hit her. Soifon returns Suzumebachi back to into its sealed form and sheathed her blade as the last spirit particles of the hollow fade away. She takes a moment to scan the surrounding area for any immediate threats and finding none, Soifon flash steps back to Yoruichi's side.
Soi was distracted momentarily by the familiar ripping sound of a garganta opening up high above them. "About time! We need to – Yoruichi!" And for the second time now Soifon felt truly scared for Yoruichi at seeing her former mentor lying unmoving, having lost the battle to remain awake and had slipped into unconsciousness. Stamping down on the blind panic that was threatening to consume her, Soifon hoisted Yoruichi up, dipping her shoulder to get the unconscious woman onto her back so she was carrying her piggyback style and leapt upwards, heading straight for the open garganta, concentrating her energy into her legs to increase her speed at every step taken.
Soifon didn't really take any notice of how long it took to traverse through the darkness of the garganta; her mind was focused solely on listening to Yoruichi's faint breathing and still increasing her speed till her legs were burning in protest as she pushed past her limits until she saw light ahead of her. The exit! Hold on Yoruichi, don't do this to me! Don't you dare leave me like this! Powered by the need to get ensure Yoruichi's life, Soi's reiatsu surged through her body and used it as a speed boost to leap through the opening and land neatly beside Kisuke who was looking rather grave from seeing Yoruichi's condition.
Kisuke and Soifon locked eyes for a moment where a silent agreement was made between them for, without a word passing their lips, Kisuke helped Soifon lower Yoruichi gently to the ground and he instantly cast a healing kido spell, tending the more serious wounds first. Soifon would have helped with healing Yoruichi but she had pooled too much of her energy into running and even standing was proving a difficult task, her leg muscles were going into spasms but she refused to give in to the need to sit down and rest so panting heavily from the flat out sprint between worlds, she stood attentively, ready to get anything the man required to save Yoruichi's life.
"Soifon."
Soi's eyes snapped open and jerked awake at hearing her name being called. A scowl instantly settled across her face as she realised she had dozed off on the spot from over using her powers though she quickly surveyed the situation. Kisuke was now standing beside Yoruichi, no longer performing kido and summarised that she must have been out for a while since the deep gashes across Yoruichi's body had been sealed to prevent further blood loss.
"You should get some rest." Kisuke suggested, stretching his limbs from being knelt down for so long.
"How is she?" Soifon ignored his comment as she continued to examine Yoruichi's unconscious form – she still looked like she had fought a hundred wars and lost.
"It's hard to say...she's undernourished, exhausted, lost a lot of blood though I was able to stop the internal bleeding. I-I've never seen her like this, her energy is dangerously low compared to what she's used to so that will be a shock on her body and -"
"Will she live?" Soifon cut him off not able to hear anymore, he was making it sound like Yoruichi wouldn't recover and that thought was making her stomach turn inside out and left her feeling very nauseous.
That feeling doubled tenfold when Kisuke remained silent.
"Will she live?" Soifon repeated with more edge in her tone, demanding an answer from him.
"I don't know...it's – it's unlikely..." Kisuke's voice was very quiet, barely above a whisper as the gravity of those words sunk into his own mind. Soifon however felt each word slam into her chest as if he had screamed the words right into her ears; her blood ran cold and her body stiffened in defiance of those words.
"How – can - you..." She spoke each word slowly, fighting to remain calm, her own body shaking from rage till she couldn't hold it back any longer. "HOW CAN YOU SAY THAT!" She screamed at him, kicking off the ground and launched herself at Kisuke. Grabbing his shirt just below the neck as she pushed him backwards and slammed him into the rocky hill, a crater formed from the impact. She glared at Kisuke in hatred, her face inches away from his own though he returned the gaze with a mournful look, seemly unfazed by her attack.
"I – I've never known anyone to recover from something like this..." He spoke just as quietly as before, he would give anything to make it any other way but facts were facts. He had done all he could to save his friend now all they could do was hope.
"SHE WILL!" Soifon spat back at him, curling her fists tighter around the material. "SHE WON'T GIVE UP!" Kisuke could feel Soifon's reiatsu building and realised that this outburst was simply the calm before the storm as she was swept away in her emotions.
"Soifon -"
"SHUT UP!" She screamed and pulled her fist back and Kisuke knew he was too late to talk her down from this as he felt her energy pool into her drawn back arm. He managed to catch the right hook she delivered in the palm of his hand before it hit him. The reiatsu she put into her attack shot out like lightning along his arm though. It tore his sleeve into shreds, exposing his left arm up to his shoulder. The energy didn't stop there; it shot through the rock behind him, cracking it apart in mere seconds, leaving behind nothing but rubble in its wake.
Kisuke glanced at his arm to see faint streaks etched into his skin, feeling very lucky that Soifon had been so caught up in her emotions to not mask her attack so he had more time to protect himself. He fixed his eyes back on Soifon who was now looking mortified at what she had done. She quickly dropped her arm and let go of him while stepping away at the same time.
"I – I'm sorry...I didn't -"
"It's alright." Kisuke reassured her quickly and glanced back to where Yoruichi was, feeling a pang of emptiness at not hearing her laugh the incident off with some joke about Soifon not able to remove his clothes fast enough. Soifon followed his gaze to Yoruichi's sleeping form and also shared that feeling.
"We should move her upstairs. Make her more comfortable." Kisuke said, moving back towards Yoruichi.
"H-hai." Soifon mumbled, her mind still reeling as she tried to process everything that had happened.
"You coming Soifon?" Kisuke's voice broke her out of her concentration and she saw him heading back towards the exit leading up to the shop with Yoruichi in his arms.
"Hai." She answered even quieter this time as she caught up to him, her body felt numb and she couldn't take her eyes of the unmoving form of Yoruichi, the only sign that she was still with them was her faint breathing. Soi found herself holding her breath anytime she didn't quite hear it and Kisuke's words rang through her head once more and she found herself thinking the unimaginable – What if she doesn't make it...