Okay, here's another chapter of Savage that I have written quite quickly again because I felt like writing this instead of one of the other stories. I don't see any actual reason to justify it, but I am anyway.

Okay, this one begins on the path of fixing Yoruichi's actions, but... well, you'll see. I've also used this one to express my doubts about the small number of Zanpakuto spirits we saw, as I reckon that a good portion of the seated officers, while significantly weaker than Lieutenants and miniscule compared to Captains, would have managed to talk to their Zanpakuto spirits.

Oh, and if I haven't made it painfully clear by this point, I don't like Omaeda.

I hope you enjoy the chapter, and let me know through Follows, Favourites, and reviews.

-()()()-

Hichigo/Pasty Zangetsu

Old man Zangetsu

Nejibana

-()(())()-

Yoruichi was such a Bitch.

She knew that, and thought she had changed! She truly did, but nobody could be friends with Urahara for as long as she had and not pick up a disgusting habit of manipulation. One that she had, also, believed she'd kicked until the day before, when she went ad fucked everything up.

In retrospect, the Goddess of Flash could see the hurt in Soi Fon's eyes as she suggested that Ichigo would not like her, and Yoruichi felt like throwing up when she remembered that moment.

Perhaps she would have, but the situation surely would not improve if vomited on the girl she came here to apologise to. Maybe if she puked on Omaeda instead...

No. She had to actually say the words. Yoruichi Shihoin had to put aside her undeniable pride, and apologise to Soi Fon. It should not have been such a daunting task, and would not have been had she not had a sinking feeling that, by doing this, she would give up any chance of being with Ichigo; and she so wanted to be with him. Not just in a physical sense, though that thought was a pleasant one, but because, the more she thought about it, the more she became certain that her feelings for the human ran deep. That his very nature appealed to her. The only reason it was so much more... crippling for Soi Fon was that the stoic captain had so few feelings ordinarily, or kept a tight hold on those she did have, that the emotions were extraordinary in contrast, but that was no justification for the way Yoruichi had behaved. Nor was the bad mood she had been, now that Yoruichi thought about it with a calm mind.

And that was the reason that she was currently stood with Soi Fon inside the division, fully intending to apologise for what she had said.

"Soi-" She attempted to begin, and her ex protege interrupted.

"Yoruichi-sama," Soi Fon greeted, likely from force of habit. "I am glad to see that you are joining us."

"Joining you? In what?" Yoruichi was briefly distracted.

"We have been charged with locating the Zanpakuto of the lower-ranked officers," Soi Fon explained. "And rounding them towards the Seventh-Division Barracks where they will be met with their wielders. The majority of the captains will be, at the same time, locating their own Zanpakto in order to be at full strength for what will either come later today, or tomorrow, when we must free Head-Captain Yamamoto."

"O-Oh, okay," Yoruichi had not known anything of this, as she had not seen a captain since the day before. "But that's not what I wanted to talk to you about. I just wanted to tell you that I'm s-"

"Move out!" Soi Fon barked, cutting off the ex-captain and signalling her Division members to begin their mission. The petite captain vanished in a burst of Shunpo, and Yoruichi was left stood talking to empty air.

"Sorry..." Yoruichi huffed, and a small scowl appeared on her face. She was in the wrong, but Soi Fon was being pretty darn rude herself.

-()-()-()-

At the same time as Yoruichi turned on the spot and followed the girl she was trying to apologise to, Ichigo was rising from his bed far from refreshed after the exerting training session he had had inside his inner world. It had both tired him, as he was expending Reiryoku far more quickly than he did even in fights because he was not great at siphoning off the small amounts that were necessary, and the failings that were prominent throughout, in overcharging the techniques he was trying to use and struggling to draw any of it back into his reserves, had also frayed his nerves. Ichigo had not thought to get some genuine rest, by letting his subconscious move onto less-meaningful matters, until it was less than a hour before he ought to wake up, since today would no doubt be as busy as the last, and so Ichigo was damn-near exhausted.

It would surely be beneficial, but it was hard to see that fact as he grumbled, yawned, and rubbed the sleep out of his eyes as best he could. As he pulled on his unique uniform, and cursed as he managed to push his head through one of the sleeve-holes, and the material ripped as he pried it off him. With a grunt of annoyance, Ichigo decided he's have to release a sword once he was inside the Seiretei; he could put it off on the off-chance one of his not-siblings would be walking past, as the more unrestrained state of his Reiatsu may well be crushing for them with their lack of spiritual pressure.

Ichigo popped into the kitchen to say goodbye to his not-siblings on his way out of the Shiba compound, something that went fine, although he forced himself to ignore the not-sisterly look that crossed Kukaku's face as he did so, and did not delay him any more than could be expected.

As soon as he stepped out of the house, Ichigo vanished in a single Flash Step that brought him a good portion of the distance between his starting point and the Seiretei. He paused briefly, with a frown on his face. Something felt wrong somehow. Like he was venturing into a trap, but the hybrid didn't have the luxury of waiting for the storm to pass, and so Ichigo pressed on with gusto, and a caution in his eyes that was rare for the generally hot-headed man.

That feeling, though, was not enough to prepare Ichigo for what was to come. A wholly unexpected encounter that would prove nearly fatal for both him and those around.

-()()-

"I thought this lot were meant to be weak!" Yoruichi exclaimed, to her ex-pupil at her side. The two, undeniably the strongest present, were doing what they could to protect the ranked and unranked members of the Second Division. Even Soi Fon, who was extremely cold to her subordinates, had to admit that this situation was not their fault. That they had no chance against the enemy at hand.

"So did I!" Soi Fon barked back at her mentor with some hint of anger at her and at the formidable task at hand. "I don't understand what's going on!" She called to the woman, as Yoruichi landed a vicious kick on the temple of one of the adversaries. It should not have been a death blow, and the exhile was not willing to restrain her strength any more than she had been, since the chainsaw-looking blade could have landed a fatal blow on one of the pair still standing, had it hit. "None of the Zanpakuto belong to high-ranked officers, how are they this strong?!"

"We don't have time to speculate, Little Bee! Let's just hope that the cavalry finds us in time!" She yelled, as Soi Fon landed her own blow, and sent one of the Zanpakuto, a lanky, greasy haired figure, into the stomach of a ripped canine-man at the front of the crowd. Yorucihi caught what the arm of a blue-dressed woman and slammed her forehead into the bridge of her nose. The Zanpakuto fell back, stunned, and Yoruichi's following kick took her out of the fight in an instant.

"Who'll be able to help us here?! The other captains are searching for their own Zanpakuto!" Soi Fon's sword had been drawn at this point, and she slashed it across the torso of one of the Zanpakuto near her, before plunging it through another's stomach. They may not survive the blows, but the ruthless captain did not care if the Shinigami failed to reclaim their blades. They had not managed yet, so they were obviously not competent.

There was a lull in their conversation as they were forced to focus on facing off against half a dozen opponents each; the spirits were numerous and had clearly decided to take advantage of that fact.

"Don't worry captain!" Omaeda staggered to his feet, blood trickling from the corner of his mouth after a sledgehammer had met his sizeable gut. "I can still help!" He yelled, and lunged forwards with his own blade drawn. he did not have his Shikai, despite forces managing to capture it, after his time with Mayuri Kurotsuchi but Soi Fon had not bothered to ask why. Omaeda entered the fray, diving into a group of Zanpakuto, and let out a roar of challenge.

It was cut off, as one of the spirits slammed its hilt into the back of his head, and the Lieutenant fell to the floor unconscious.

"Kami, I hope that wasn't the cavalry." Yoruichi joked half-heartedly, as a blade nicked her side and she backed off a step when the group, whose number she had reduced by half, received their own reinforcements. Soi Fon had the same problem, as she replied.

"The issue is still there, that there are very few people who can offer aid! We need substantial reinforcements to be allowed opportunity to escape!" Soi Fon exclaimed, without humour.

"Well," Yoruichi swayed like a tree in the wind, and avoided a stab from a western-style short sword. "There's always Ich-" She was cut off by a scream of surprise, from the other end of the battlefield, as the man in question appeared. "Ichigo! Good of you to join us!" Yorcuichi called. With the addition of another captain-level fighter, their odds had risen. Soi Fon's brow fell into a frown at his appearance, or the hurt that came with it, more specifically, and she focused on the fight.

"What's going on?!" Ichigo punched a Zanpakuto in the face, as he drew an O-Katana from its place at his hip and blocked a strike that had been aimed at his neck. "How are they this organised?!"

"Intel suggests that they found out we were coming, and banded together to cause the most trouble possible!" Yoruichi replied, quickly. The Zanpakuto renewed their attack, frustrated by the conversation that was going on amidst the battle.

"Okay, but how the fuck are they this strong?!" Ichigo exclaimed, as one of them showcased this very strength by almost catching him off guard, and pushing him back a step with some effort.

"We don't know!" Yoruichi yelled, frustrated.

'Ichigo!' Zangetsu exclaimed. 'That one!'

He directed Ichigo's attention to one of the Zanpakuto in the very centre of its group, who's eyes were closed, and had a dull green aura thrumming around it. His view was more unobstructed than the two Second Division captains, current and past, and so it made sense for him to see it first. He made to call out to his two allies, only to be interrupted by a shout from Soi Fon.

"Ichigo!" She cried, as a gap opened between the two. "Behind you!"

The captain's blood froze, as he twisted on the spot, and she knew that Ichigo would not be fast enough to defend himself as he gained a look of panic. She was sure that he had not sensed the enemy, as she recognised the syringe-looking weapon in the gaunt-cheeked man's hand. It was the weapon of one of her squad; one that would, in its wielder's hands, a recent addition to her squad with the remarkable ability to supress her Reiatsu in combat, make her opponent mildly nautious upon being stabbed with it. It was an interesting ability, as Soi Fon had realised upon investigating the nature of the attack and finding that it poisoned the Reiryoku of the victim, and one that inspired panic in the woman as she guessed what it would be like, supercharged by whatever was affecting the Zanpakuto.

Ichigo spun, but was slightly too slow and felt a pinprick on the side of his neck. It felt inconsequental, of course, and he simply backhanded his attacker and sent it flying into a wall. Ichigo turned back to the fight, and felt an odd sensation begin to form in his gut. He ignored it, and cut through another group of Zanpakuto, making sure to avoid fatal injuries if at all possible.

Then, a jolt of fatigue ran through him, and his arms dropped, unable to hold his blade up. A thin knife cut across Ichigo's chest, not a killing blow, and Ichigo pushed on. He kicked out, and sent the Zanpakuto to the floor. Next, his foot met the side of its head, and Ichigo stumbled back with a gasp. The world span around him, and he fell to a knee in exhaustion.

Through force of will, Ichigo made himself stand once again, and the longer of Zangetsu's blades blocked a large sword, made of ivory, that swung at him. He was too weak to hold it back, however, and Ichigo was thrown back to slam through a wall.

Ichigo could feel his heartbeat in his eyeballs, as the spirit, a red-skinned Minotaur from what Ichigo could see, wandered over towards him, intending to finish him off. It had a cocky swagger in its step, as though Ichigo was not poisoned, and this was his victory. The spirit with the syringe owned this victory, or would if Ichigo was willing to give up and die at the hand of the bastard that had beat him through such trickery.

The world around him slowed to a crawl, as this thought occurred to him and Old Man Zangetsu took control of his perception and whispered to his Wielder.

'Ichigo,' Zangetsu began. 'You know that you have been poisoned, but you can overcome this situation, just as you have everything else. You cannot be afraid, or you will not move forwards.' Ichigo's face stretched into a grin, and Zangetsu sensed his amusement at the saying easily. 'You know this, and that is good. Terror cannot be allowed to hold dominion over you. Now think. You are in your Soul Form. What can be poisoned?'

Trust Zangetsu to make this a teachable moment. Ichigo smirked at the thought, and he contemplated the subject. It would be unlikely for a Zanpakuto to have the ability to poison his bloodstream so quickly, though it would not be impossible, and Zangetsu's question suggested that something so obvious was not the answer. Plus, it did not feel as though his blood was affected. No, it felt...

Like his Reiryoku had been poisoned. Ichigo's grin grew, and he twitched his head in an imitation of a shake at the fortune of it happening today that was countering the bad luck of being poisoned in the first place. As he closed his eyes, and felt out the deep pool of power that was being corrupted, he heard screams of worry from Soi Fon and Yoruichi. That was not a pleasant sound, but Ichigo forced himself not to focus on that.

He was lucky. The poison had not corrupter all of his reserves, only those that were the easiest for him to tap into. The water at the top of his pool, to use an analogy. Even though it was far more complex than that. In reality, it had not penetrated deep enough into his being to reach anything but the readily available energy. If Ichigo had had to expend, and replenish, all of the energy, he may well have flattened the landscape around him, and killed the Zanpakuto. It would even have had permanently adverse affects on the captains, who had obstacles between them and Ichigo, and that would be extremely unfortunate.

Both of the Second-Division heads' fighting picked up in intensity as they saw the Zanpakuto near the man they harboured affections for, as they tried to get a chance to Shunpo to Ichigo's aid. Unfortunately, their opponents were not letting up in the slightest, and were refusing to give them this chance and, so, Yoruichi Shihoin and Soi Fon watched helplessly as the spirit raised his blade, and prepared to cut Ichigo down without mercy.

Only to be stopped by an eruption of violent, sapphire Reiatsu, tinged with a sickly green, slamming into him from the supposedly defenceless, seemingly unconscious, hybrid. The fight stopped, as everyone turned to look at the explosive sight, at the same time as the Zanpakuto Spirit stumbled away, and fell to his knees under the immense pressure that Ichigo unknowingly applied. The green faded away, leaving Ichigo's energy uncorrupted, and his eyes, the ordinary warm brown replaced by the brightest of blues, snapped open. The flow of energy was cut off, like some-one twisted a tap and shut off a waterfall, and Ichigo was on his feet and sucking in a breath of air like he had not had one for months.

Yoruichi's eyes widened. Not at the amount of Reiatsu; captains sometimes let off a greater amount when in battle, particularly when they needed to release Bankai and go all out, but at the... feel of Ichigo's energy as he let it loose. It was strange. Heavy, with a different pressure to what you would expect from the sheer quantity; more... natural, somehow. Carefully controlled, as it focused its assault on the looming threat, yet somehow wilder than even the Vizards, though it was of a similar nature to the Vizards, at first glance, without the obviously Hollow feel. At second glance, it was not the same. She was sure that, if Ichigo donned his mask again, it would take on that feel, but the rage it had, as it leapt at the Zanpakuto, was not the same as that she had seen before. Like it wanted to savage him. To claw at him. To tear him asunder, and reduce him to nothingness. Or perhaps, she thought, as she caught sight of the scorched wall behind Ichigo, through the gap his body had created, it wanted to burn him.

The kneeling Zanpakuto did not stand as the pressure faded away, as his energy was sapped. It was not enough to kill him, and would not work if he had not been so indefensible, but it was just the pick-me-up Ichigo needed to begin to recover from the expenditure of Reiatsu. He could not do anything more overt in the presence of so many people, a lot of whom he did not trust and that would soon report to Shinigami that he also did not trust; the Zanpakuto he was leeching from would not know what was happening, and would no doubt put it down to the intimidating affects of his wild Reiatsu.

Ichigo resisted the egging on he received from his inner world to kill the Zanpakuto that had tried to kill him, and instead his gaze, the blue fading away and returning to his natural caramel tone, locked on the man Zangetsu had pointed out. The Zanpauto that was still unaware of what was going on around him even after the display Ichigo had just given. Ichigo, after a few seconds deliberation, decided on a course of action and vanished in a blur of Shunpo.

Soi Fon felt relief cloud her senses, and the next thing she knew Ichigo was stood behind a frozen Zanpakuto with his arm raised and slightly cocked back. What was he- Ichigo slammed his elbow into the spirit's head,a and it fell to the floor in a lump. She did not understand why Ichigo had done this, and definitely did not understand why it prompted a chorus of curses from the Zanpakuto gathered, but acted on the distraction. Her foot flashed, and struck one of the Spirits in the gut.

"They're weaker!" Soi Fon exclaimed, with surprise. She was understandably shocked, but quickly took advantage of the situation on the off chance that the strength would return to her opponents. Yoruichi confirmed her ex-protege's finding with a likewise surprised yell, and jumped into the fight once more as Ichigo turned, and found that he was surrounded by enemies. That was what he got for Shunpoing into the centre of their small-army.

"Well, shit." He said, with a grin that contradicted the words. "I guess I'll have to release some of my power, at least." Ichigo was happy with that prospect; he was annoyed that they had come so close to hurting him, and it had been too long since he fought with his soul intact. The O-Katana in his hands was replaced by a slightly smaller blade with a deep blue hilt. "You guys are unlucky, huh?

"Surge, waters and heaven! Nejibana!" The Katana spun in Ichigo's grip, elongated into the trident that was its Shikai, and his smile grew at the sudden flood of water.

With a spin, a wave of water slammed into the group in front of him. A second later, those behind were likewise swept away and Ichigo's trident glinted in the sunlight as his grin fell somewhat. They had fallen sooner than he'd anticipated. Barely even a warm-up. Ichigo wondered just how much had their power had been boosted. It would be an extraordinary asset, he was sure, had the Shinigami that owned the Zanpakuto had enough power to fortify it even slightly but, alas, it had fallen to a single blow. That told Ichigo that they would be no higher than a Sixth seat. That, in turn, meant they wouldn't be able to keep their ability up, and so would not be worth wasting the resources protecting in the middle of battle, since the Shikai's power required their entire concentration.

Ichigo was relieved to see that, while he had sent them flying with the waves Nejibana produced, the Zanpakuto were only down, not out. With a few exceptions that he assumed belonged to the lowest powered officers that had communicated with their Zanpakuto and therefore achieved Shikai.

Ichigo ran forwards, as they were climbing to their feet, and Nejibana's body, just before the drill, thudded into the head of one of his enemies and it fell to the floor with a glazed look in its eyes. Next, Nejibana stabbed forwards, and stabbed into the shoulder of one of the spirits, who let out a cry of pain. Ichigo pulled it out, and the Zanpakuto fell to the floor.

It would probably survive, but Ichigo was bothered by the free-flowing blood that spilled from the wound. He was rapidly gaining battle-experience, but he did not know much of how to fight battles against large numbers of, quite frankly, weak opponents. It would be foolish to underestimate them, when he was surrounded, and refrain from releasing one of his swords but it was fast-becoming clear that using any more than a portion of his strength would cost some of his allies their primary method of fighting, and so he couldn't give into the blood-lust that was provided by Tabigarasu and Hichigo.

Ichigo sighed, and spun on the spot; channelling the abilities of Nejibana and summoning a great quantity of water that swept his enemies away, and crashed against the wall directly ahead of him with the Zanpakutos in tow. The Human-Shinigami turned on the spot and repeated the process, sans close-combat fighting, with the now-stood enemies he was suddenly facing. It was rather boring, against enemies that could not stand against the water that was produced with each swing, but Ichigo couldn't make it any more fun with enemies that he clearly outclassed.

Similarly to Ichigo, Yoruichi and Soi Fon had dealt with their, comparatively small, own groups of enemies and were now stood over them and watching Ichigo rest the trident on his shoulder as he looked expectantly at the Zanpakutos. When they didn't rise again, Ichigo grunted his annoyance and Nejibana returned to her katana form in a flash of blue light.

"Are you okay?" Ichigo asked, with a small amount of concern. He would have been more worried, had they not drastically weakened at the end of the fight. His brow sank into a frown upon seeing the minor injuries both Soi Fon and Yoruichi had sustained. He took a step forwards, in the moments before they answered.

"Fine, Ichigo." Yoruichi smiled at the look, and waved off his concerns. "Captain Unohana will be able to patch me up in a jiffy."

"They are unsubstantial, Kurosaki-san." Soi Fon replied, turning to look over her injured squad members. "I will inform Unohana-taicho that my subordinates require medical assistance." She vaished in a Flash Step, and Ichigo blinked. What the...

"Did I do something to upset her?" He asked Yoruichi, with a tone of confusion and, dare the exile say, hurt. Ichigo did not often show it when he was upset, but that cold reaction had been wholly unexpected after their friendship had been coming along swimmingly, and none of his spirits could think of something he'd done to hurt Soi Fon.

"No..." Yoruichi's smile faltered, and Ichigo's confused annoyance grew. "You didn't." She, too, vanished, leaving Ichigo to stand watch over the unconscious Shinigami and Zanpakuto as he waited for someone to come and relieve him of the unwanted duty. Call him paranoid, but Ichigo had a nagging feeling that he was needed somewhere else.