(A/N: Noble Flames reaches it's 30th Chapter HOORAY! Anyway I've got nothing else to say. Enjoy the chapter...although you probably won't be enjoying it by the end. Please don't desecrate me for what happens DX. This is all a part of the plan I swear!)

Disclaimer: I do not own Bleach or Tales of the Abyss

Karakura Town

Rukia's pov

"Rukia!" Ichigo shouted to me.

"I'm way ahead of you," I said clicking into my Soul pager. We had both sensed a lot of spiritual pressure outside his house. I counted six, "There's so many."

"Do you think they're here for us?" Ichigo asked.

"No," I answered as I looked over the data, "They're targeting spiritual pressure, but they don't seem to be coming this way."

"So what the hell does that mean?" Ichigo shouted.

"They're not interested in the strength of the spiritual pressure. They're making a hit list. In other words anyone with even the slightest amount of spiritual pressure will be killed," I said, panicked.

"Uryu should have no spiritual pressure right now," Ichigo said getting out his badge, "but what about Chad and Orihime?"

"Captain Hitsugaya and Vice Captain Matsumoto are with her so she should be safe. But Chad's alone and one of them is headed right toward him!" I warned. Together the two of us made great haste towards Chad's place.

Luke's pov

Soul Society

5th Division Senkaimon gate

I was standing at the Senkaimon gate with Ion, Isane and Momo. It was about a quarter to noon. In fifteen minutes the gate would open and we would all go back to Auldrant.

"This is so exciting," Momo said cheerfully.

This is it, I told myself, the only thing standing between Tear and me now is fifteen minutes and a trip through the Senkaimon. The day has finally come. There were butterflies churning all throughout my stomach. I couldn't believe the time had really finally come.

"Ah Luke look," Ion pointed grabbing my sleeve. I turned around and gasped. Standing behind our group was Asch and Vice Captain Ise.

"Asch," I said, surprised to see him.

"Hey," he said as he and Ise-fukutaicho approached the area.

"What are you doing here?" I smiled brightly laughing happily, "I thought you weren't coming."

"Although I don't want to go I can't exactly trust you in running around by yourself. You're too much trouble for your own good," Asch said bluntly.

"Gee and here I thought you were actually going to be part of warm-hearted homecoming," I said sarcastically.

"You should know better than that by now," Asch said.

"You made the right decision by coming," I told him.

"Whatever," he brushed off.

We all waited around until noon and then the Senkaimon opened up and we all headed off into the Dangai Precipice World. Our destination: Auldrant.

Karakura Town

Chad's house

Rukia's pov

I saw Chad running like he had just seen a ghost and then made my way to where Ichigo was, "Chad looked pretty upset," I told him, "What did you say that might've set him off."

"I don't know," Ichigo said, "All I said was for him to step back and to let me handle this."

No you don't. I thought. This is my time to shine, "Step back Ichigo," I told him.

"What? You want me to what?" he asked me. I reached into my pocket and pulled out a Soul Candy dispenser. "Wait that's…"

"That's right. I want you to step back and leave this guy to me," I told him. "You're way to eager for this battle." I swallowed the pill and emerged in my Soul Reaper uniform. I checked the tag on the inside. I smiled when I saw the lily of the valley symbol instead of my usual Snowdrop. I'm really in your squad now aren't I? I thought of Luke-dono. I looked back towards Ichigo, "You're too tense," I told him, "You could get yourself killed fighting like this.

"Rukia," Ichigo gasped, "I didn't know that your powers had returned."

"Yeah," I smirked, "Quite a surprise huh?"

"It sure is," he said.

At that point Chappy jumped at him, "Please step back Ichigo," she said holding onto his uniform.

"What the hell are you?" he raged.

"She's the most popular soul candy amongst female Soul Reapers," I said, "She's called Chappy. To be honest this was the Soul Candy I wanted to purchase, but there weren't any left on the shelves and I was given Kon instead."

"Oh really?" Ichigo asked, his tone having the words, yeah you wish, etched all over it, "You were gonna put this thing in my body? I can't believe I'm saying this, but I'm glad we got Kon!" he turned his attention back to Chappy. "If you don't let go of my hair you're going to find out how rude I can really be!"

"Nice to see you two getting along so well," I chuckled. At that point the Arrancar just leapt right at me.

"Rukia!" Ichigo shouted as I blocked the incoming strike. I jumped back, pressed my feet against a lamppost and struck back at the Arrancar.

"Well nice to meet you," he said, "I'm Arrancar number 16. I am called Di Roy Linker."

"I am in the 5th…"

"You don't have to tell me," he cut me off chuckling like a lunatic, "If I had to hear the names of every person I was about to kill I'd never get anything done."

"I see then," I leapt back, "At the very least Di Roy you should learn the name of my Zanpakuto." I held my sword horizontally. My palm faced the sky. "Dance, Sode no Shirayuki!" as I twirled my sword it transformed into the completely white blade I had come to know and rely on. "Some no Mai," I began to swing my blade and landed next to Di Roy at the same time, "Tsukishiro!" I created a white pool of ice along the ground. It started to creep up Di Roy's ankle and around his lower body.

"What the hell? What the hell is this?" he asked and broke out of the prison he was in and jumped into the air. He cackled like man and said, "Tough luck for you Shinigami. The sky is my domain. It's where my true strengths lie. A sword that can only freeze the ground isn't worth much up here." He began cackling like mad.

"Well actually," I said trying to imitate my brother's tranquil way of dealing with morons like this as best as I could, "I never said my sword could freeze only the ground." In that moment my white pool began to rise up and create a large cylinder of ice, which formed around Di roy, froze him and disintegrated him. "Everything within this circle is within Sode no Shirayuki's frozen domain!" I walked towards Ichigo and Chappy, "What are you two fools doing?" I asked.

"Rukia is everything ok, what happened to the Arrancar?" Ichigo asked me, "Did you defeat him?"

"Of course," I said angrily. What kind of stupid question was that? "Anyway we should probably…" Before I could finish my sentence I, and I'm sure Chappy and ichigo could feel it too, felt a strong spiritual power, two of them in fact.

"What the hell happened here?" came a sharp, deep, proud voice, "Di Roy's been killed? Oh well guess that leaves it to us then. Wouldn't you agree Arietta?" I turned around. Standing in the sky were two Arrancar. One was tall and had dark blue hair, with an external jawbone on his right cheek. The other was just a small girl holding a stuffed hollow. She had pink hair and a withdrawn disposition, but both of them seemed incredibly powerful. I was shaking. Their spiritual pressures were enormous. I didn't know if Ichigo and I could handle such strong opponents.

Meanwhile…

Hitsugaya's pov

I was fighting Shawlong Kufang, the 11th Arrancar of Aizen's Army. I had an inquiry about the significance of that number, "You said your name is Shawlong Kufang and that you're also known as Arrancar number 11. Does that mean you're the most powerful Arrancar or is it some rank as in the military?"

"Nothing of the sort," he responded, "Our numbers have nothing to do with rank or strength merely the order in which we were born. Of course that only holds true for Arrancar above the number 10.

What?

"You're confused. Let me explain. The System Lord Aizen set up works like this. When we Arrancar are reborn through the Hogyoku we are given a number from 11 and on, according to the order of our birth. The ranks one through 10 are reserved. If any of us turn out to be extremely powerful killers we are given a number 1 through ten and ordered from strongest to weakest. Those select ten are the Esapadas and their given numbers are inscribed on their bodies. Truth is that our powers don't even come close compared to those of the Espada's. Just so you know one of the Esapadas has come here with us. He has remarkable powers. He is a ruthless killer. If any of you have the misfortune to come across him that person's fate is sealed. Of course that also holds true for the second in command of our little group. You might as well prepare their grave for they have no hope of survival. 6th Espada Grimmjow Jaegerjacquez and Arrancar number 17 Arietta Salvaje. Facing either one of them would ensure your death."

Rukia's pov

The two Arrancar that were in the sky touched down onto the ground. The blue haired one turned to the child one with pink hair, "I got the kid on the left. He's the target got it?"

"All right," the small girl answered.

"Ichigo look out!" I shouted, but before I knew it Ichigo and the blue haired Arrancar were sent to another location entirely.

"Don't worry," the pink haired girl approached me, "Grimmjow-sama won't kill that orange haired boy, at least not until he unleashes his Bankai anyway."

I shook with fear. They know so much about us.

"I've never met anyone whom I'm taller than. How surprising," the girl said walking towards me. It was true. She was about an inch or two taller than I was. "I am Arrancar number 17 Arietta Salvaje. What's your name Miss Shinigami?" she asked me.

"R-Rukia Kuchiki, I am the 7th Seat of the 5th Division," I said.

"I see…Kuchiki Rukia…Lord Aizen has mentioned you before. It's interesting to know the back history of my enemy." she held up her doll in one hand and it burst revealing a small Wakizashi. She stood in a warrior's stance bouncing on her heels, "Grimmjow-sama has ordered the extermination of all Shinigami and those with even a glimmer of reiatsu. Please don't feel bad about this. I'm only following my orders." She struck towards me with her sword I barely had any time to react. I blocked with my Zanpakuto, but she was just so overpowering and so quick on her feet and she was pushing me back relentlessly. She swung her sword down and with Momentum sent me crashing into a wire fence that blocked off some form of construction sight. I fell forward and managed to avoid falling flat on my face, but putting my hand down on the ground to steady myself. Arietta came rushing towards me and I just barely managed to dodge being stabbed in the forehead by dodging my head to the side. A lock of my hair got chopped off, but it was better than losing skin. Arietta turned and swung and I blocked with Sode no Shirayuki, barely able to fling her off.

What's with this girl, she's so withdrawn and timid and yet her spiritual pressure is overwhelming. She's not like that other Arrancar. That one was inexperienced and arrogant. This girl seems so self assured of herself. She's on a completely different scale. I suddenly noticed that Arietta had her free hand held up in front of her. There was pale pink energy charging into it. A cero. I jumped out of the way and just barely managed to dodge her attack, which wound up tearing up the street I had been standing out. Arietta soon caught up to me using whatever form of Hoho ability Arrancar use. She swung up and I blocked. She trailed her blade along the length of mine and stabbed down low. I jumped back to avoid being struck. She came flying in at me. I dodged to the side and she turned and struck again and blew me back into the wire fence we were fighting near. She swung her blade down to chop off my head and I rolled along the ground to dodge, "Hado 33 Sokatsui!" Arietta didn't move and the attack hit her dead on. The dust cleared. I couldn't believe my eyes. My attack didn't even faze her.

"That didn't hurt at all. Is this the best you can do?" She asked. "Oh well I guess there's no helping it. Grimmjow-sama said we could go all out, but I don't think I'll need my sword release for you," she sealed up her sword back into the plushy she had been holding and rushed forward with such speed I didn't even see her move. She whacked me across the side of the face with her stuffed doll, because of her reiatsu even something normally so soft could easily be used as a bludgeoning weapon. I was flung back only to see myself on a crash course with Arietta who was standing far behind me. She held up her hand.

Damn the wind pressure is too strong I can't reorganize myself.

I saw her gather energy in her open palm, "Cero!" Everything went a blur.

Arietta's pov

After my attack enveloped Rukia I walked towards her. She was bleeding profusely from her back and from her forehead. Her left arm was also very badly burned. She was standing, barely. Her eyes converged in hatred towards me, her mouth dribbled with blood. Her legs seemed like they would cave in any second. "Oh you survived," I said walking towards her. Rukia got down on one knee I could see the blood seeping through her pant leg from a wound higher up on her body, "This simply won't due. Grimmjow-sama will be displeased with me if I don't kill you." I transformed my plushy into a ball of energy. It was black and starry with a white outline. Rukia looked at my energy sphere in awe. "If my cero won't work. I suppose I'll have to use my special attack." I grew the sphere into a much more gigantic ball and then pressed it to the ground and enveloped the two of us into a blackened space, "Feel the first beats of time," I said my face facing towards the ground, "Fall," I picked up my head. Rukia gasped and had a petrified look of horror on her face, "Grandes Explosión." There was a large build up of spiritual energy and then there was loud thunderous Bang as the space around us shattered into a violent explosion of reiryoku. Rukia screamed out in pain as though my attack was tearing the very fabric of her life apart. When the attack ended Rukia's Shihakusho was all but gone except for a small amount of fabric around her chest and thighs. She bled and burned from every portion of her body. "I hope Grimmjow-sama will be happy with me," I said aloud to myself, "After all I succeeded in defeating my prey." I activated my Pesquias. I gasped, "Grimmjow-sama is the only one of us left!" I tore after him. "Grimmjow-sama!"

When I arrived on the scene Tosen was there. "Arietta you and Grimmjow are coming home. This mission was unauthorized."

"I understand," I said.

"Glad to see you're unhurt," Grimmjow-sama told me.

"Grimmjow-sama," I was glad to see he cared for me.

"Hey! Where do you think you're going?" the orange haired Soul Reaper shouted at Grimmjow-sama.

"I'm going home," Grimmjow-sama said to him.

"Like hell you are!" the orange haired boy shouted, "You come here and you attack us and then you just leave! You gotta be kidding me! Get back down here and let's finish this! This fight isn't over until I say it is damn it!"

"Arietta," Grimmjow-sama looked at me, "Shut him up for me will you?"

"Hai Grimmjow-sama," I used Sonido and got right within the orange haired boy's defenses. Leapt up and kicked him in the side of the jaw. I knocked him to the ground.

"Do you get it now Shinigami?" Grimmjow-sama shouted at him, "the only reason you're still alive is cause Arietta and I are leaving count yourself lucky!"

"Yes count yourself lucky that you still have your life. I wouldn't want you to end up like your friend," I said.

"What the hell…what did you do to Rukia?" the teen Shinigami shouted at me.

I said nothing and went back up to Grimmjow-sama's side. "Don't forget my name Shinigami and pray that you never here it again. I am the 6th Espada Grimmjow Jaegerjacques!" Grimmjow-sama shouted "Because afterwards you'll be dead!" We walked into the Garganta together and it slammed shut behind us.

Ichigo's pov

"Ichigo!" I heard Renji run towards me. He helped me up, "What happened to the Arrancar?"

"Never mind me, go find Rukia!" I shouted.

"What about Rukia?" Renji asked.

"She lost her fight. I dunno what happened but I have a bad feeling about this!" I struggled from out of Renji's grip and punched the ground. "Damn it! I can't protect anyone. Not Rukia, not this town. I'm so useless!"

"Get a god damn hold of yourself!" Renji shouted and punched me in the face, "So you lost big deal. Be happy that you still have your life. Now get your act together and let's go find Rukia!"

"Yeah," I said, snapping out of it, "You're right." Renji and I searched high and low for Rukia. We followed the trail of her spiritual pressure and then we found her lying face down in the dirt, bleeding profusely covered in burns and just laying there on the ground like a log. "RUKIA!"

To be continued…

(A/N: Daaaaaaamn. Rukia got WRECKED! So yeah this is why I thought you people would hate me by the end of the chapter. Of course if you're an IchiHime fan you're probably cheering. Anyway, as usual, if you want to find out what happens you'll just have to wait for the next chapter of Noble Flames, coming soon. Please review...but be gentle...although I will laugh if you flip your lid over what happened to Rukia. I'm satanic like that).