Author's Note: At last, an update! Time to add a little bit more fun to the story, and a new/familiar character (one of my favorite Bleach characters - XD). Whether the character is friend or foe to Ichigo, Rukia and Renji remains to be seen, of course. *grins* I hope you enjoy the chapter and the new addition!

Also, the "So You Want to Write Bleach Fics Forum" Bleach Halloween Writing Challenge is up! Vote for your favorite 2 fics on my profile. Links to all stories can be found on my profile, as well. The winner will be announced on the forum on Halloween! Good luck to all of you who entered - I love your stories!-Lex

Chapter Thirteen: Asylum Harbour

Ichigo awoke to a pounding headache. "Bastard Gin," he thought, the memory returning to him with brutal clarity now. "I'll kill him if I get my hands on him."

His vision began to clear, and he realized he was no longer in the brig of the Gallant, but lying in the dirt under a stand of trees near the beach. His clothing was soaking wet and he was freezing cold. He rolled onto his side, shaking violently. Then soft hands touched his shoulders, and he felt himself grow comfortably warm – warmth that spread throughout his body. The shaking stopped, and his clothes felt dry again.

"Better?"

"Hmm," he murmured, looking up into Rukia's face dreamily, waiting for her to reach down and kiss him. She did not. Instead, she scowled at him and turned back to Renji, who sat nearby.

"How is he?" Renji asked, not bothering to turn around.

"He'll live," she replied, testily.

"Too bad," joked Renji, and she saw his shoulders tense in pain.

"Let me heal you," she said, putting her hands on Renji's back.

Ichigo watched as the deep gashes in Renji's skin began to glow and mend, leaving thin red marks that looked several days old. He knew those marks – he had seen them many times before on the backs of sailors he had served with on Navy ships. He was pretty sure he also knew who had inflicted those gashes, and he was pretty sure he knew why. Despite this, he still felt jealous of Renji, of seeing her hands on him, caressing him.

"Stop it," he told himself, biting his cheek. "Look where that got you the last time." Renji had, after all, stood up for him, risking a beating himself by standing up to Gin.

Ichigo slowly pulled himself up to a sitting position, rubbing his head. The ground seemed to shift slightly beneath his feet, but he ignored it, standing up and teetering over to Renji and Rukia and sitting back down, albeit not as gracefully as he might have wanted. He tripped and fell, face forward, into the dirt.

"You don't need to help me," he said, sarcastically, after neither Renji nor Rukia moved. "I can get up on my own." With some effort, he pulled himself back up to a sitting position, taking in his surroundings now that his head had cleared.

They were on a relatively large island – one of the Des Saintes islands, he assumed. The sun had begun to dip below the horizon, and the wind had taken on a distinct chill. Ichigo could see the beach through the trees and, in the distance, a Navy ship at anchor. Ichimaru Gin's ship.

"How did we get here?" Ichigo asked, watching the ship with concern.

"Rukia overpowered Gin and his crew," Renji replied, irritably. "You weren't in any condition to help. I dragged you here."

"Thanks," Ichigo said, scowling. The idea that he had been incapacitated and unable to assist the others irked him.

"Meh," said Renji, waiving his hand. "She was the one who insisted we bring you with us. I'd have left you to your own."

Rukia glanced up at Ichigo, but said nothing. It was clear she was still furious with him for having fought with Renji and getting them captured in the first place. Ichigo wondered, with some amusement, if it would take a flogging for him to reenter Rukia's good graces as Renji appeared to have done.

"You had a run-in with Gin's cat?" Ichigo said, looking at Renji.

"I've had worse," Renji replied. "But he's a sick bastard, that one."

"We need to move from here," Rukia said, nodding to Gin's ship. "He knows where we are."

"He hasn't sent any men after us?" Ichigo asked, surprised.

"No," Rukia answered, frowning. "We need to find someplace to hide until we can figure out how to get off this island without getting captured again."

"What the hell is Ichimaru waiting for?" Renji wondered aloud, brow furrowed.

"He's planning something," Ichigo said, darkly. "It's not like him to just let us go."

"I used my powers to get us out of there," Rukia replied, evenly. "I'm pretty sure that's exactly what he'd hoped I'd do. He must have suspected something all along."

"He'd have read our report to Yamamoto about the Soul Warrior's disappearance," said Ichigo, with a sinking feeling. "He probably wanted to confirm that there was something unusual about you and your crew."

"He knew I wouldn't just sit back and watch him torture Renji," Rukia grumbled.

"More proof that he's in league with Aizen and the pirates," Ichigo said, stating the obvious.

"We should go," said Renji, standing up slowly. His legs were stiff and shook slightly. Ichigo quickly stood up and put his arm around the redhead's shoulder, keeping him from falling down again. Renji growled, but Rukia glared at Renji and he bit his tongue.

"While you two were unconscious, I scouted around a bit," said Rukia, leading them over towards a rocky outcropping hidden in the trees. "There's a cave over here. It'll do for now, at least, in case Ichimaru's men come after us, and it'll be warmer." Ichigo realized he was shivering again.

The cave was larger than they had realized, going back deep into the side of the cliff face. It was too dark to explore the cave, so Rukia gathered some wood and lit a fire by the entrance. They had little to eat that night, only the few pieces of fruit that Rukia was able to gather near the cave, but it felt more like a feast for all three of them, having not eaten in nearly two days.

They took turns sitting outside of the cave, watching to make sure they would not be surprised by Gin's men. With the first light of morning, Ichigo saw movement on the water near the Gallant – several small skiffs which had been launched from the naval ship. He woke the others, and they quickly extinguished the remainder of the fire, which was now just smoldering coals.

"I don't want us out in the open," said Rukia, in response to Renji's questioning look. "There's cool air coming up from somewhere below this cave. There's probably an underground aquifer underneath us. With a little luck, maybe it will lead us to an opening away from Ichimaru's men and we won't have to fight them." Ichigo looked skeptical. Rukia put her hands on her hips and glared at Ichigo. "Do you have a better idea, Captain?"

"I'm going to seal us in," Rukia said, after they had walked about fifty feet from the cave entrance. She raised her hands and the rocks around the entry began to tumble down, obscuring the entrance. "They may miss the cave entirely," Rukia added. "Either way, it will slow them down and buy us some time."

"She's better than you think at blasting her way through solid rock, neh, Kurosaki?" Renji added, seeing the surprised expression on Ichigo's face.

Ichigo said nothing, but followed behind Rukia as they walked deeper into the cave. It was hard to argue with either of them, given his own experience with the solid cliffs that hid Thyelia only a few weeks before. Still, his instincts were fighting him every step of the way as they descended deeper and deeper into the ground.

Rukia held her hands in front of her as they walked, lighting the now slippery path downwards with the bluish-white glow that was now so familiar to Ichigo. There was no doubt about it now – they could hear water in the distance, and smell it in the damp air. They stopped, from time to time, to allow Renji to rest. He was still clearly exhausted from carrying Ichigo ashore and from the beating he had taken at the end of Gin's whip. Rukia and Renji had fallen into a comfortable pattern of her telling them it was time to rest, and Renji arguing that they shouldn't stop, that he was perfectly fine to continue. It had become quite comical, and Ichigo found himself enjoying the other man's discomfort. Ichigo had seen little of Rukia as captain, and it was a bit of a revelation to see how truly strong-willed she was, even when pressed by an equally strong-willed subordinate.

As the descent became steeper, the sound of the water beneath them grew louder, and water now trickled down the walls of the passageway, making the going far more treacherous. By now, all three of them had removed their boots, finding that their bare feet gave them better traction on the slippery rocks than leather. This slowed them down even more, as the sharp rocks cut their feet and they had to grab ahold of rocks and indentations in the walls to keep themselves upright at times.

They squeezed through a particularly tight passage between tunnels and Renji, who had stubbornly taken the lead, yelled to Ichigo and Rukia from the other side of what appeared to be a large collapsed area. The two followed, finding themselves in a large cavern covered in rocky debris. At the bottom of the cavern was a small river, which glittered and glowed in the darkness. In fact, they realized the entire cavern appeared to be lit by the rocks themselves. The floor of the cavern was smooth, having been worn away by centuries of water.

Renji grinned and began to descend the last thirty feet with renewed energy. His legs, however, were not as inclined to obey him, and he slipped on the now smooth rock underfoot. As Rukia and Ichigo watched, Renji began to slide uncontrollably down towards the underground river, hitting his right arm on one of the large, jagged rocks on the banks. He landed unceremoniously, with a splash, into the water.

"Renji!" Rukia yelled.

Ichigo, who had been behind Renji when he slid, sat down on the smooth surface and slid down to the river bank, materializing his sword and jabbing it into a rock to keep from ending up in the water himself. Renji was now struggling to stay afloat in the river, moving with the current away from Ichigo, who tried to grab Renji by the collar, but missed as Renji bobbed up and down. Each time Ichigo would move to reach Renji, the river carried him father downstream. Renji was now spluttering from the cold water, still managing to stay afloat using one hand, but unable to maintain his position. Renji was nearly out of sight now and heading towards a narrow opening where the river barely cleared the cave ceiling.

"Damn," Ichigo muttered under his breath, pulling his shirt over his head and jumping into the water. He guessed that the water was only a few degrees cooler than the cave, but here, underground, where the air temperature was already quite cool, the water felt like liquid ice. He knew neither he nor Renji would last long in the river. Ichigo saw Renji go underwater but, this time, he did not bob upwards again. He was vaguely aware of Rukia, standing on the banks now above him.

"Stay there!" he shouted to her. "I'll need help getting him out. It's too slippery." She nodded, and followed him on the banks as he floated downstream with the current.

Ichigo took in a gulp of air and dove beneath the surface of the water. His legs had begun to feel heavy, the cold water stiffening his muscles, but he focused on the dim figure of Renji up ahead, sinking slowly downwards. He felt thankful the cave water was crystal clear – that he could even see Renji at all.

"Just a little bit farther," he thought, feeling more sluggish by the second. His lungs had begun to burn from the cold and lack of oxygen. He gritted his teeth and forced himself to concentrate on Renji. A few more seconds, and Renji would float beyond the cavern, and Ichigo had no idea of whether there was any clearance at all beyond that point. If they were swept through the opening, he knew they could both drown. He had to grab Renji. Now.

"Focus, Kurosaki, focus," he told himself, and, with the last bit of energy he could muster from his legs, he kicked, hard and reached…

"Got you!" he thought, as his hand made contact with Renji's shirt and he pulled, as hard as he could. It wasn't enough. Now, both of them were only feet away and moving too quickly towards the river's exit.

Ichigo used his free hand to grab onto a jagged rock. He felt a sharp stab of pain in his palm, but held on anyhow, using his grip to turn himself so he now was pointed, feet-first, at the narrow opening ahead. Then, when he could hold on no longer, he released his hand and prayed that he had judged the opening correctly.

"Please let this work," he thought, desperately, as he and the unconscious Renji floated farther downstream.

It was probably only a split second, Ichigo knew, but the wait seemed interminable. He felt his bare feet touch sharp rock and he bent his knees to cushion the blow as his body was slammed into the outer edge of the narrow opening. Renji floated towards him, and Ichigo put his arm across the other man's chest, holding him tightly.

"Ichigo!"

Ichigo looked up to see Rukia, her sword extended out towards him, a narrow rope of blue energy snaking slowly in the air.

"Grab onto it!" she shouted, over the din of the water.

He reached out his free arm and grabbed for the beam, missing it several times as it moved about in mid-air, then finally managing to hold onto it. The rope felt solid and slightly warm. The next thing he knew, he was on the banks of the river, gasping from the cold, and Renji was on the ground.

"He's not breathing," said Rukia, her face ashen.

Ichigo felt Renji's neck for a pulse and, having reassured himself that the man was still alive, turned Renji onto his side. Water spilled from the redhead's mouth. Ichigo then pushed the unconscious Renji onto his back again, pinched Renji's nose closed, and began to breathe into Renji's mouth. Between breaths, Ichigo felt his own body shake from cold, but he ignored it, instead concentrating on the task at hand.

"Breathe, dammit, breathe!" he thought, after each breath. He was starting to feel dizzy now, and the cavern about him began to spin slowly.

Renji coughed and spluttered, spraying water in Ichigo's face. Ichigo laughed weakly, relieved, as Rukia helped Renji sit up. Renji gasped and coughed for a few seconds, taking in large gulps of air, and beginning to shiver. Rukia put her hands to Renji's face, and the water appeared to evaporate from his skin and clothes into a cloud of moisture which hung in the damp air of the cave.

Ichigo smiled in relief. Then, as he watched Rukia minister to Renji, Ichigo shivered violently. The cave spun around him like a carousel, and he felt himself fall backwards, onto the cave floor.

****************************

"Ichigo, are you alright?" Her voice. His eyelids felt like lead weights. "Ichigo!" He felt a sharp sting of pain on his cheek and finally succeeded in opening his eyes.

"Renji," Rukia said, admonishing the redhead, "you didn't have to slap him. He'd have come 'round on his own."

Renji grinned.

Ichigo tried to sit up, reaching for the Renji's throat, determined to strangle the man this time, but he stopped as he felt a searing pain in the palm of his hand. It was torn, bleeding. He felt strong arms lift him up to a sitting position – Rukia's arms – and he pressed his uninjured hand to the other to stem the bleeding. A quick look at his feet revealed that they were far worse than his hands. Cuts covered the tops and bottoms, and some of the wounds were very deep.

Rukia took his injured hand in hers, and warmth emanated from her fingertips. The pain began to ebb, and he felt only the throbbing in his feet now. She smiled at him, releasing his hand and moving to his feet. Each, in turn, felt warm, as she healed his wounds. Then, as he continued to shake violently, she dried his clothes. Unlike before, she let her hands remain on his shoulders, and he felt his body grow warm from within. The shaking slowly ceased, and he felt blood flow to his extremities again.

"Thanks," he muttered, forcing himself to ignore the effect her continued touch was having on him. What was it about this woman that kept him from thinking clearly? It infuriated him that she had such a profound effect on him, despite his efforts to resist.

"You saved his life," she said, her face now serious. "You could have died." It was clear to Ichigo that she was just as uncomfortable as he, because she looked down at her hands and quickly released him, a slight flush playing on her cheeks.

Renji coughed, breaking the tension. Rukia stood up, looking away from both men. Ichigo glared at Renji, who looked only slightly contrite for having slapped Ichigo.

"We'll stay here for the night," said Rukia, after a minute or two. Both men protested, but she added, "Neither of you are in any shape to continue, nor am I willing to fight all Ichimaru's men myself."

Sufficiently scolded, the men were silent as Rukia aimed her sword at a nearby rock which began to glow deep red. The air around them began to warm and Ichigo found himself feeling sleepy. Rukia parceled out some nuts that she had stashed in her pockets, and the same river which had nearly killed Ichigo and Renji now became the source of their drink. None of them complained about the meager dinner or the lack of rum– they were all happy to be eating and drinking something.

***********************************

In the semi-darkness of the cave, none of them were sure if it was morning when they finally awoke. It mattered little, in the end, although it was slightly disconcerting to have lost track of time. Rukia, who was awake before the others, showed them over to a small opening that led out of the large cavern in which they had slept into another series of rough-hewn tunnels with smooth floors, most likely worn by the river over centuries.

They no longer descended further into the cave, having apparently reached the deepest part when they had found the river. They walked far more slowly this time, unwilling to risk slipping again. This was a boon to Ichigo, although he never would have admitted it. His feet were still quite tender, despite Rukia's healing abilities, and he was unable to put his swollen feet back into his boots.

Ichigo's heroism had definitely changed Rukia's attitude towards him. She now spoke with him as she had done with Renji, and they discussed plans to return to the mainland when the reached the end of the cave – Ichigo an equal participant in the discussion. As always, Ichigo was impressed by Rukia's ability to assess the situation and make contingency plans for different outcomes. Having dealt so rarely with a woman in a position of power, Ichigo constantly found himself surprised at her strength and abilities, this despite the fact that his father had raised him to believe that women were equally capable as men. And, as ever, Ichigo found himself increasing attracted to her because of her independent spirit, and not in spite of it.

They walked for several hours when Rukia abruptly stopped and looked around. Ichigo opened his mouth to speak, but she put her hand to his lips. She had heard something; she was sure of it.

"Ichimaru's men?" Renji whispered, straining to hear any sound.

"I don't know," Rukia whispered. "I'm sure I heard footsteps." She drew her weapon, and the two men followed suit, walking slowly down the passageway.

Up ahead, the tunnel opened onto another large chamber. Here, the river had gathered speed, and was wider than before – wilder, as well – water splashing up towards the roof of the cavern and dripping down in a thick mist. By now, Ichigo and Renji had heard something as well. They were no longer alone.

"I don't think it's Ichimaru's men," Rukia said, her voice low. "The sound is coming from in front of us. Unless they…" She broke off, raising her sword and pointing it in front of them.

For a moment, Ichigo thought Rukia must have heard something again, but then he realized that she had seen something. Through the mist, a lone figure who appeared to glow in the haze.

"Lower your weapons." The voice of a teenage boy, or perhaps a woman.

A boy, who appeared to be no more than fifteen, walked through the mist, a long sword pointed at them. He had silver-white hair and deep turquoise eyes. He wore a white shirt, laced up the front, and sported a silver earring in his left earlobe. His face was deadly serious.

Renji sniggered.

The boy, unfazed, repeated, "Lower your weapons." Renji, Rukia and Ichigo still did not comply, instead staring, uncomprehending at the silver-haired boy.

The boy snapped his fingers. They were immediately surrounded by at least twenty men with weapons drawn.

"What the hell…," began Ichigo, looking around.

"Pirates," said Renji, under his breath.

Rukia looked at her two companions and lowered her sword, nodding to the others to do the same.

"Good," said the boy, his expression unchanged. "You will come with us."

"Wait a minute," said Ichigo, drawing himself up to his full height and walking towards the boy. In an instant, he found himself held, by the arms, unable to move. The boy simply scowled at the orange-haired captain. "Who do you think you are that you can order us around?"

The boy studied Ichigo and the others, as if trying to decide whether it was worth the trouble to answer. Then, with a shrug of his shoulders, he said, "This is our island."

"Your island?" laughed Renji. "Since when does a kid like you own an island?"

"It matters little what you think of me," replied the boy, coolly. "I have decided to let you live, at least for now. Be grateful for that. I may not be so generous in the future."

"And who the hell are you?" snapped Renji, brows furrowed.

"Hitsugaya Toushirou," came the reply.

Asylum Harbour: A harbour used to provide shelter from a storm.