Chapter Two: Love is fickle
It was taking forever to cross the desert; even shunpoing didn't make Las Noches appear any closer. Shiro sighed and sat down on a rock to rest. He had felt Ichigo drift off a few hours ago and had gone back into their inner world to check up on him. Other than a few tears and some mumbled cries that sounded suspiciously like "Renji you bastard" Ichigo appeared to be fine.
This desert though…this desert was an eerie place. It was so quiet, not even the wind made any noise, and the cold, it tore through his skin harder than a sword would. This world truly was a strange land. A place that held no life, dead trees seeming to crawl their way out of a harsh existence, a sky that was forever cast in night with a moon that never moved. Yet, it felt like home. The sand was soft to the touch, the trees hard, but smooth. The darkness and cold broken by the moon's light which held warmth.
Shiro lay down on the sand underneath a crystallized tree, allowing his body some much deserved rest. Once asleep, Shiro had a strange dream.
He was standing on a balcony looking out over the endless desert. Someone was whispering his name, over and over again behind him. But he didn't want to turn around. He knew if he did he would lose something precious. The voice grew louder, almost shouting his name. Finally, on the verge of tears he turned around. Ichigo was behind him, a small smile on his face.
"Glad you could join me." Shiro looked away from Ichigo's kind smile. Behind Ichigo stood two males hidden in shadow so he couldn't see their faces.
"I'll be gone for a while. I'm just going out to see if I can find…" Shiro looked back at Ichigo. He was talking, but he made no sound. Shiro shook his head.
"I don't understand."
"I won't be gone long, about one to two months. You don't need to worry about me." Ichigo looked behind him. "… will be here if you need them." Shiro hesitated.
"I didn't catch their names."
"…" Shiro shook his head.
"I can't hear you!"
Shiro! Shiro woke with a start breathing heavily. Damnit Shiro, I've been trying to talk to you now for a while. What the hell? Shiro shuddered. The dream had been terrifying, something was wrong. Something bad was going to happen. Shit we need to get to Las Noches. Ignoring Ichigo who was pestering him with questions, Shiro took off, Sonidoing across the desert towards safety.
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"Fasther, Fasther!" Nel shrieked and kicked her legs out, laughing as Bawabawa slithered through the desert.
"Nel! Wait up for us!" Don Chakka and Pesche raced after her screeching. "Neeellllll!"
Laughing Nel kicked harder. "GOGOGOGOGOOOOOO." Don Chakka and Pesche watched in horror as Nel and Bawabawa raced off into the distance.
"NEEEELLLLL!"
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It had been almost a full day before Shiro had to lay down for the night, he was too exhausted to keep going on. It wasn't long before he had fallen into a fitful sleep filled with a nightmarish black dog filling the sky and trying to devour Ichigo. Shiro tossed and turned, waking up briefly only to fall back asleep again, but this time without any more dreams. Shiro suddenly woke up to vibrations. Frowning he sat up and looked around him seeing nothing out of the ordinary until he looked back the way he had come; he finally spotted it, a cloud of dust rising up. Standing up Shiro pulled out his sword and waited for whatever it was to come near.
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Nel was having so much fun that she didn't spot the figure Bawabawa was headed for. She turned around and waved to her brothers. Laughing as they tripped over each other in order to get to her.
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What the hell is that? Shiro watched in wonder as a huge worm/snake/whatever the heck it was, came barreling strait for him. He raised up his sword to attack but was stopped by Ichigo who screamed into his ear There's a child on it! Growling in anger Shiro switched gears and reached out to grab the thing.
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Nel was laughing one moment and the next Bawabawa stopped so suddenly that she was sent flying. She laughed screaming out "Whee! I'm flying!"
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Grab her! Ichigo yelled in a panic. Shiro looked wildly around searching for the elusive 'child' when he spotted her soaring through the air. He quickly shunpoed and with a leap snatched her out of the air. He landed gracefully and heard Ichigo give a contented sigh.
"Wow…" Blinking in surprise Shiro looked down at the bundle in his arms. A little girl with light green hair stared back up at him. She was missing some teeth, and had long sea-green hair. Her skull-like mask seemed to be broken strait down the middle in a jagged line. She also appeared to be drooling on his arm. Shiro quickly held her away from his body.
Aww, She's kind of cute. Shiro snorted at Ichigo's comment. How the hell is that cute? Ichigo only laughed. Shiro hesitated. Glad you're felling better King. Shiro smiled at the felling of warmth sent back to him.
"Thank you for saving me mister!" Shiro was brought back to reality at the sound of the little girl's voice. "My brothers should be coming soon!" Nel grinned up at the nice 'man'.
"NEEELLLLL!" Shiro looked behind him to see two hollows come racing towards them. Suddenly, one of them tripped on his own feet causing him to go crashing into the one before him and they landed in a heap at Shiro's feet. SHIRO, don't go ceroing them, I think they might be Nel's brothers. Ichigo's voice cut through Shiro's anger. Can I cero them if they aren't? Ichigo only sighed.
Pesche tried to push himself up but with Don Chakka on top of him, it was near impossible. Looking up, Pesche was horrified to see a strange Arrancar in front of him, and holding Nel.
Is he from Aizen? I don't see a number anywhere, but its better to be safe than sorry…Wiggling out from under Don Chakka, Pesche took a hesitant step forward. "Nel why don't we go far far faaarrr away and play a game of Infinite Tag?" He viably gulped when the Arrancar turned his gaze unto him. Nel on the other hand was excited.
"Yay! We even gots a new player, it get boring when its just Nel and her brothers." Ichigo laughed at the sullen way she sounded.
"Huh? But…"
Ignoring him, Nel turned to Shiro. "Want to play Infinite Tag?"
How the hell do you win if it Infinite Tag? Shiro growled to Ichigo, now fed up with the four hollows and just wanting to leave and find a place to hunker down in for the night…Shiro looked up at the endless night…or whenever he felt tired.
Oh come on Shiro, you don't win tag unless you touch everyone, so you just keep playing. It could be fun! Why don't you try it for a bit.
Rolling his eyes Shiro set Nel down, "Alright, I'll play Infinite Tag with you, what are the rules?"
"You will?" Shiro glanced at Pesche, the hollow looked a little uncertain. "Before we begin, can I ask you a question?" Shiro nodded. "Do you work for Aizen?"
Ichigo perked up. Is there something wrong with Aizen?
Maybe they have a bad experience with him and his espada. Shiro frowned and shook his head. "No, we have no affiliation with anyone., why?"
"Oh, that's good!" Pesche grinned and waved his arms wildly ignoring the question, "so lets play! Don Chakka's it!" With that Pesche took off Don Chakka chasing him. Shiro felt his leg being tugged. He looked down to see Nel with her hand in her mouth gazing up at him with a vacant look. How cute, Ichigo laughed. How the hell is that cute? Shiro snapped back.
"Hey! Mister! Why do you call yourself we?" Shiro sighed and hunkered down staring at the little one.
"It cause there's three of us in this body."
Nel smiled at him. "Does that mean you're crazy?" I'm going to kill her king, Shiro brought his hand up, not even bothering to hide his cero. Suddenly he felt a pulling sensation forcing him back down. He sighed when he found himself back in their inner world. Beats that brat. Turning to a window he watched Ichigo talk with Nel.
"No, just a little different." Ichigo smiled down at Nel. That was too close, any longer and…Ichigo stood up. He felt strange with the mask covering his whole face and wearing almost no cloths.
"Yay, Nel's different too!" Ichigo smiled and watched as Nel raced off after her brothers. He frowned when he spotted a black gothic three on her lower back. Hey King, isn't that what Aizen has on his Espada?
"Hey Nel!" Nel turned around and tilted her head to the side. "I've got a question for you." Ichigo quickly sonidoed to Nel and kneeled before her. "Where did you get this?" He tapped the three on her back. Nel leaned back and tried to see what he was touching.
"I don't know, I never noticed it before." Suddenly Pesche and Don Chakka were back from their game of Infinite Tag. Nel turned to them. "What's this?" Pesche stopped and looked between Ichigo and Nel, he thought quickly of how to fix the situation.
"It's nothing! Just…"
"Isn't this the mark of an Espada?" Pesche winced. He didn't want anything from Nel's past to be brought back up.
To both of their surprise Nel gasped and started talking very quickly. "That's right! Those bad men attacked Nel and broke her mask!" She looked wide-eyed up at Ichigo. "They threw me off the balcony!" Ichigo growled in anger. Oh no, here comes big brother mode. Shiro laughed. Come on Ichigo, it doesn't involve us. Shiro winced when it started to get very warm. Er, Ichigo, Please don't tell me you're going to do anything about it…right? RIGHT?
Ichigo bent down and put his hand out. "How about we make those bad men pay?"
Shit. Shiro muttered, knowing they were going to be on Aizen's blacklist now.
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Grimmjow leapt out of the way, barely dodging the Gran Rey cero, a crater forming where he had once stood as a shower of sand cascaded back down. "Fucking, Bastard, what the hell are you…" Grimmjow snarled in anger. He was going to kill this mother fucker.
Grimmjow barely had enough time to block the hollows attack before it swung again.
Shiro snarled and lunged aiming for Grimmjow's throat. Grimmjow parried and with a leap and a Sonido was behind the Arrancar who barely had enough time to block. Shiro leapt back and slowly walked around him, making Grimmjow turn to keep an eye on him.
With a snarl Shiro ground out. "Who harmed Nel?" Grimmjow frowned, who the hell was Nel? He suddenly remembered a woman with long sea-green hair, Nel…Neliel Tu something or other. Grimmjow frowned. That was a long time ago.
"What's it to you?" That's what I want to know! Shiro snapped at Ichigo who snarled right back at him. Turning slightly he pointed at Nel and her brothers and watched with pleasure as Grimmjow's eyes widened. "I thought Nnoitra said he and Szayel killed her?"
"Who are they?" Grimmjow glared at him. "The fifth and eighth."
That was all Shiro and Ichigo needed to know. Turning around Shiro sonidoed towards Las Noches, intent upon finding the two of them and tearing them apart.
Distracted, Shiro never noticed a black and green blur attack him from behind.
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Darkness, everyone fears it. A child is terrified of what it cannot see. Of what it does not understand. Instead they would search the darkness, waiting for monsters to come out and eat them. Or perhaps they were awaiting death…or a death sentence.
Ichigo sighed; he was back in his shinigami outfit, which he guessed was the fault of the collar around his neck. His whole body hurt with a throbbing that wouldn't go away. Closing his eyes Ichigo tried to lay back but the chains didn't stretch that far.
He had to be in a dungeon in Las Noches judging by the pure white walls and bars. Ichigo looked around his cell, there wasn't much, just a cot in one corner with a urinal in the other. Ichigo wrinkled his nose at it. Getting up he looked outside of his cell, he could see a few chairs and a desk along with a staircase going up behind them. Looking to either side, he could see a long hallway disappearing from his view. Sighing Ichigo sat down on the cot after inspecting it for dirtiness. I'm going to be here for a long time.
Could be worse King, ya could be stuck with those four idiots. Ichigo laughed softly.
"I don't see where any of this is funny. You have become quite the problem, Ichigo Kurosaku." Ichigo looked up in surprise. There in front of him stood Aizen Sousuke, the Shinigami Traitor. Damn didn't hear him come in. "I wonder what I should do with you." Ichigo looked down and closed his eyes awaiting the worst.
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A/N: I completely forgot Nell's fracciones names. I was stuck trying to remember, and ended up having to look them up…that shows you how much they matter.
P.S: Thank you Amywilleat-you, I forgot to put in her Zanpakuto's name, thank you again for reminding me. I give you…whatever you want! No, seriously, do you have a story or drabble you want written? I can do that! Give me pairings and whatever you want and I'll try to get that done! Please message me! Or if you don't...I…I'll cry…well…maybe not.
P.S.S: Also I have decided to update only once a week for all my stories, so next week will be Cerulean Skies and after that probably a new story I have been working on. Unless I have a lot of extra time, then there might be two (work has made me a very busy girl!).