Valiant Heart Vs. Blade Star
The previous day, despite being separated from the others, Valiant Heart Wolverine kept up his pace. He had to get to the castle and he hoped that he would meet up with the others there.
"Don't worry, Swift Heart," he said as he plowed forwards, "I'll save you."
"I wouldn't anticipate that just yet," Valiant Heart recognized the voice and looked up to see Blade Star Bear standing on a small rocky outcropping just ahead of him.
"Blade Star Bear," Valiant Heart said, gritting his teeth and drawing his sword, "You here to try and delay me again?"
"No," she said, drawing her ninja ken, "this time I'm here to kill you."
"What's your problem anyways?" Valiant Heart demanded, "Why do you want to kill us so badly?"
"I'd tell you to ask your founders about the cubs the abandoned, but then again you'll be dead soon so there's no point," Blade Star jumped down and slashed down at Valiant Heart, but the wolverine blocked the blow with his sword.
Blade Star backed off slightly, "I won't fight you when you're not at your full power," she said, "Release your Zanpakuto!"
"Fine, if you want me to," Valiant held out his sword, "Electrify Alastor!" at the command, the sword crackled and extended once again into the large broadsword that was its released state. Once the release was done, Blade Star charged and Valiant Barely had time to block her attack. They both leaned in, pushing with their sword in an attempt to strike their opponent.
"You have great skill," Blade Star commented, "but it will to you no good in the end!" She jumped back and threw half a dozen throwing stars at her opponent. Valiant Heart dodged all but one, which he sliced in half with a powerful downward swing. Blade Star charged again, her sword held in both hands and striking out, cutting a gash in Valiant's side. Valiant winced but responded in kind, cutting the ninja bear in her side as well with his sword. Then the two of them began exchanging blows, striking at each other's swords, slash, stab, parry, cut, swing, their sword danced against one another, attempting to slay their opponent and each of them scoring several hits.
"Do you know what's going to happen to your little friend Swift Heart?" Blade Star asked as they locked swords.
"Please, indulge me!" Valiant Heart said, trying to force her back.
"She's going to be the new white rabbit of wonderland," Blade Star snickered, "and from what I understand it takes a lot of knowledge to become the white rabbit.
"What does that mean?" Valiant forced her back and stood, catching his breath.
"Quite simply, it means that by morning, when the change in finished, Swift Heart won't be Swift Heart anymore," Blade Star grinned, visible as her mask had been torn away, "With all that knowledge, she'll have forgotten who she is, what she was, even that your entire family exists. For all intents and purposes, Swift Heart Rabbit will be dead."
That was enough, Valiant shouted in rage and charged at her again, the fight beginning again in earnest as they struck out at each other, Valiant's blows now fueled by anger at he tried to strike at Blade Star.
A minute later both the bear and the wolverine were bleeding from at least a dozen places, Blade Star's right arm, face mask, and lower right arm clothing had been torn off by blows from Valiant's weapons. Valiant was breathing heavily, clearly tired from the fight.
"You seem worn out," Blade Star said, smirking at Valiant.
"Yeah, so how are you so darn energetic?" Valiant asked, noticing that despite her injuries, Blade Star didn't seem tired at all; her wounds were just moist with blood and weren't actually bleeding like his were.
"Quite simple, that's how my powers work," she said, deciding that it wouldn't matter if she took a break to explain some things to her enemy, "while you developed your power as a soul reaper, that shapeshifter uses magic, the fox is a quincy, the dog forms his raw energy into weapons and Shatter Heart chooses to release it in sonic bursts with his weapons, and may even be able to use his voice as a weapon some day, I've chosen a more subtle approach. Rather then expend my energy by releasing it in the world around me, I keep it contained and use it to reinforce my natural abilities."
"Let me guess, that's why you're stronger, faster, and more durable than you look," Valiant Heart said, doing his best to store up his own energy.
"You're not as stupid as you look," Blade Star said, reaching down with her left hand to conjure a large number of throwing stars from her symbol, "yes, my energy is used to make my already impressive abilities even more so, and not only that but I can channel it into my weapons so even an ordinary sword like this one can become a deadly weapon."
"So what happens when you run out of energy?" Valiant asked, seeming to let his guard down."
"Take wild guess!" at that instant, Blade Star began throwing her weapons at Valiant Heart in earnest, sending dozens of the bladed projectiles at the wolverine. But Valiant Heart was ready for this and in an instant he had raised his sword over his head.
"Rensei Tokkan!" he shouted, swinging downwards and releasing the drill shape spiral of lightning. The blast blew through the five pointed shuriken, destroying most of them, and moving on the strike Blade Star dead on, however seven of the bladed weapons made it past the energy and struck Valiant Heart, two in his chest, one in his left knee, two in his left arm and one in the back of his right hand. Valiant clenched his teeth as he pulled the metal star out of his right hand then proceeded to pull the rest out as quickly as possible. Fortunately for him, the electrical attack had given him enough time while Blade Star got back on her feet, she looked none the worse for wear except that most of her outfit was gone, and her visible fur was standing on end from the static in the wake of the attack.
When she looked back up at Valiant Heart, Blade Star was angry, "That's enough games, you die now!" she shouted. Valiant was now hard pressed to block her attacks as the bear charged and began a furious assault with her ninja ken sword. Blow after blow she struck at Valiant Heart, and he just barely managed to block every strike with his own weapon. Again, and again, and again the ninja bear struck out at Valiant Heart until finally one of her strikes caused him to lose his balance and she swung at his head.
Valiant cried out in agony and staggered back, his left hand over his left eye. Blade Star had cut a deep gash across his face and Valiant was doing his best to hold his eye shut to keep the blood out.
"Well how are you feeling?" the midnight blue bear asked sarcastically, "I wouldn't open that eye if I were you, I don't know if I cut deep enough to blind it but if do you live, you'll want to keep that eye closed until you're sure that it'll work again."
"You little…" Valiant Heart grimaced from the pain and looked up at Blade Star angrily. Then he noticed something through his one open eye, her wounds, which previously had only been damp with blood, were starting bleed.
"She must be running out of energy," he said quietly to himself, "then I can still win this." He kept his eye shut and took up his sword in both hands, taking a deep breath he charged, thrusting outwards at her as he came into range.
Blade Star was shocked by Valiant's sudden burst of energy and tried to block the attack with her sword, but her energy was so low that the blade of her sword snapped in half and the tip of Valiant's sword went through, stabbing into Blade Star Bear's left shoulder as she tried and failed to completely dodge the strike. Blade Star managed to pull the sword out of her shoulder and staggered backwards, dropping her broken sword and grabbing her shoulder which was bleeding heavily from the stab.
Valiant was panting, but he smiled, "So who's not going to survive this battle?" he asked, being smug despite the excruciating pain he was in.
"You won't!" Blade Star said through gritted teeth. She reached down with her right hand and conjured one more five-pointed throwing star, wider but thinner and more brittle looking that the others, "I will kill you!"
"With what, that flimsy shuriken?" Valiant asked. Blade Star said nothing but threw the star with all her remaining strength.
"Are you serious," Valiant said, easily sidestepping the weapon. The star hit the rock face behind Valiant and instead of sticking it shattered scattering at least a dozen pieces of jagged shrapnel in several directions, nine of which hit Valiant Heart in the back and stuck there. Valiant gasped in pain and shock and staggered, nearly falling down.
"Yes, I am!" Blade Star said, getting ready to conjure and throw another shuriken for the kill, but Valiant Heart was faster, raising his Zanpakuto Alastor over his head he called out the name of his attack once again.
"RENSEI TOKKAN!" he swung down. Blade Star was unable to dodge and the full force of the drill shaped lightning blast hit her. The ninja bear cried out in pain as the blast briefly enveloped her then passed, leaving her fur and skin badly burned. She took one step then fell forwards, landing on her front.
Valiant fell to one knee, the point of his sword in the ground and breathing heavily. Blade Star managed to turn her head sideways and smiled around the blood in her fur and on the ground around her, "You won this fight, but it is, a pyrrhic victory," she said, reaching into a pocket that had somehow survived both electrical attacks, "because I can still run and get healing but with those wounds you'll be dead soon enough, if a monster of Wonderland doesn't get to you first." She withdrew the same small mirror she had used to flee the first time and activated it, the mirror grew until it covered the ground beneath her and she sank into it, escaping, the mirror then shrank and vanished after her.
Valiant was spent, and without the energy to maintain it his Zanpakuto automatically sealed itself into it's basic katana form, which Valiant had just enough strength left to sheath before he fell forwards and lay, gasping for breath amid the dozen or so wounds he had received and the nine pieces of shuriken shrapnel in his back.
"Darn," he said trying to raise himself before collapsing again, "I can barely move and no one knows I'm here. Swift Heart, Love-a-Lot, everyone, I'm sorry but I failed and I'm going to die here." He closed the one eye he had kept open, trying not to feel the agony of the pain that was coursing through him before losing consciousness.
Close by to Valiant's unconscious form, the White Queen and her attendants were going for a morning ride. The head attendant was urging the Queen to slow down and stay in sight. She laughed over her shoulder at him, "But I've been cooped up for so long! And Sarafina needs to stretch her legs." She patted her horse's neck before allowing her to run faster. A moment later Sarafina stopped suddenly, rearing up. "Whoa girl, easy. What seems to be the problem?"
The horse landed on all fours, "Down there my queen. It appears to be unconscious." Dismounting, she knelt next to Valiant taking her head into his lap.
"Hello? Can you hear me?"
Valiant groaned, moaning words despite being unconscious, possibly form a dream he was having, "Swift Heart, safe, Blade Star, Noble."
By this time the attendants had caught up with their queen. "We must get him back to my castle and care for him."
"My lady do you think that is wise? It could be a trap of your sisters."
"I must care for him. It is a part of my vows." She moved out of their way as one of her men lifted Valiant and balanced him on the front of his saddle. Riding back as quickly as they could, Valiant was placed in a bedroom and a potion poured down his throat. Hopefully it would heal him while he slept so the White Queen could get some answers when he awoke.
It was near dawn by the time Valiant Heart awoke. Strange, he wasn't in pain despite the injuries he'd received in battle. The wolverine's eye's opened to find that he was indoors and he looked around. The room was almost completely white and for a moment, Valiant Heart thought he'd been dreaming up much of what had happened recently, until he accidentally poked himself on a piece of shuriken shrapnel that had been pushed out of his back and was now on the bed because of the healing potion.
Valiant slid out of bed, ready to draw his sword at a moment notice, and called out, "Hello! Is there anyone here?"
The door opened and a teenage girl dressed in a white and grey dress entered, "Oh good! The queen will be most happy to hear you are awake! Shall I take you to her?"
"Queen?" Valiant was suspicious, "all right, I'll come but don't try to trick me," the wolverine cautioned.
"Fear not, you are in our care and as such will not be harmed within these walls." She led him down the hallway to the throne room. The room was massive, with a tall ceiling supported by dozens of marble columns. The floor was tiled in black and white and sitting on her throne on the dais was the White Queen.
The girl knelt before her, "My lady our guest has recovered."
She smiled down at her, "Thank you." Her dark eyes flashed to Valiant, "I am glad to see you have recovered. Do you remember what happened to you?"
Valiant had relaxed as he replied, "Oh I remember all right, I got into a fight with that ninja bear Blade Star. It was a fierce fight and I was nearly killed, I guess you're the reason I'm still alive and kicking. Thanks."
"It should be us who are thanking you. Anyone with the courage to stand up to one of Dementiva's creatures is a friend ours. What brings you here? When I found you, you muttered something about Swift Heart and safe."
"Swift Heart Rabbit is my friend, Blade Star kidnapped her for that Dementiva lady and we came here to save her," Valiant explained, "Oh yeah, my name is Valiant Heart Wolverine."
"A pleasure Valiant Heart. Unfortunately I believe your friend is in grave danger. If Dementiva had her kidnapped, she is the key she needs to take over Wonderland." The Queen got up to approach him. "We will help you find a way to save her."
"Thanks, oh yeah I came here with four of my friends, Loyal Heart Dog, Grumpy Bear, Snowy Heart Fox, and Fauna Greywolf, but we were separated when some birds carried them off and Fauna chased after them."
"Hopefully your friends can find there way to us. In the meantime, we must prepare a strike against Dementiva before she has time to complete the White Rabbit ritual."
"White Rabbit ritual?" Valiant was confused, "is that what she wanted Swift Heart for? What is that?"
The Queens face fell, "It is a ritual that will cleanse your friend of the life she knew and give her all the knowledge in Wonderland. The ritual takes a day in order for the subjects mind to be wiped and then allow them to connect to all aspects of Wonderland."
Valiant's eyes widened then narrowed in anger and he swore aloud, "she was captured yesterday so the ritual might be finished by now. But if we can stop Dementiva from completing her ritual then we might be able to undo what she does to Swift Heart." Valiant closed his eyes, feelings strangely stronger and smiled despite what he'd said, "but if you're going to attack her by tomorrow, then I have something I'd like to do to prepare myself."
"Of course, do whatever you must." The Queen looked to her advisor. "Prepare my White Knights for battle, see they have all they need for an assault on Dementiva's fortress." Bowing he scurried off to do her bidding.
"Thanks, but I need somewhere private, and somewhere open. That battle with Blade Star has allowed me to get stronger, because I survived my spirit energy has grown but the training I'm going to do is hazardous to observers, so I need to make sure no one else gets hurt," Valiant Heart explained, "got any place like that?"
"Follow me." She strode quickly from the room, holding her hands high. Leading him to a balcony outside her throne room she motioned to the garden below. "Will this suffice?"
Thanks, umm," Valiant stumbled over his words, "what's your name exactly?"
She smiled down at him, "Most call me White Queen. However my true name is Mirana."
"Thanks Mirana, I'll try to avoid damaging the garden, but Bankai training is a bit rough. Just try to keep people from coming up here cause even I can say what might happen if they do, or at least get them to knock first," Valiant Heart wasn't sure what else to do so he bowed, at least as best as he could manage to.
"I shall leave you too it then." Curtsying she strode quickly away.
Valiant nodded and drew his sword. "Swift Heart, we weren't able to stop Dementiva from kidnapping you, but," he smirked, "once I'm done here, that lady and her little army won't know what hit them."