This Light, the Will of the Heart, I See

by MattsyKun

“You may have tried to weaken us. You may have tried to pull us apart. But this bond, this rinji kenpei, has brought us closer than ever. We will stand for justice, and, as dragons, we will not be swayed and defeated as easily as you may think." ShiroOC

12. The War's Beginning, Part 1

"I hope that I will be able to experiment on one of the traitors afterwards." –Kurotsuchi Mayuri

LMAO Mexican cow.

Okay, so on Bleach: Dark Souls, whenever Chad does his shunpo thing (it's not shunpo but idk what else to call it), he makes this sound, like a deep "MUU!" and it sounds like a freaking cow. xD

Also, the fourteenth division will need a new vice-captain… any ideas? I'm considering Ichigo but… so will the fifth division…

Inspiration: …I'm currently watching Bleach right now… Aizen's kinda… hot…

Toshiro: YOU IDIOT! BANKAI!

Me: AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA Oooh, cold… Uhehehe… Also, my friend is watching Ouran High School Host Club so I'm listening to randomness and Vic saying "crap" over the phone while I write about death. xD Great combo, eh?

Chapter Rating: PG-13

Spoiler Warnings: …Not sure yet.

Chapter Warnings: Language

"These are normal thoughts."

Note: Some Japanese words may be in italics.

These are thoughts Sakana (and spirit animals) receives. "This is stuff she sends."

"This is one's Zanpakuto."

Chapter 12: The War's Beginning, Part 1

X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X

Sakana and Toshiro stood in front of the opening to Las Noches. It had taken them half of a day to reach the fortress, but they had made it. Sakana squinted, staring into the black abyss, and sighed.

"Do we want to risk someone seeing a light?" She muttered, more to herself than Toshiro. Toshiro took a few steps forward, trying to see into the depths of the opening. He paced back and forth, investigating the gate.

"We'd have to charge straight through. According to this map Urahara and Kurotsuchi came up with, this opening… is a black void filled with hollows. If they sense any hint of reiatsu, they attack relentlessly. But…this is the only direct opening to Aizen." Toshiro said, putting the map back into the folds of his Shikakushou. He stood next to Sakana, concentrating his spiritual pressure to his feet.

(AN: Think of Naruto Path of the Ninja 2; the High-Speed maps)

"On three…one…two…"

With a burst of reiatsu, the two Soul Reapers pushed forward, plunging into the darkness. Sakana could hear the silent roars (okay, contradiction; quiet roars) surrounding them as they ran blindly in the pitch dark. Suddenly, Sakana felt something coming at her side, and leapt up, dodging it. She closed her eyes, concentrating. She didn't need all of her senses to do this, especially sight.

"Right!"

Toshiro leapt to the right, narrowly avoiding a hollow. Mentally the snowy soul reaper groaned. This path seemed to take forever. As he listened to Sakana's instructions, his hand itched to draw his sword and start swinging away. However, he knew better; they needed to conserve all of their energy for fighting Aizen.

"Up! Left! Duck!"

Sakana sniffed the air; beyond the stale smell of hollows, she could smell fresher air. They were close, very close. By the sound of it, a door blocked their path before they could escape the dark pathway. Sakana drew her Zanpakuto, still shouting instructions to Toshiro.

"Duck! Right! Jump!" Sakana shouted. Opening her eyes, she swung her Zanpakuto, releasing it and sending a ball of fire towards the door. The door exploded in flames and fell over, allowing the two captains to safely leave the dark hall.

As they stood there, pausing for a moment to catch their breath, both soul reapers sensed a familiar presence. Sakana looked up, her grip on her Zanpakuto tightening slightly. Had he kept his promise?

"Ya, Sakana-chan, Shiro-kun!" Gin waved cheerfully. Sakana raised an eyebrow; he wasn't wearing his Hueco Mundo attire, but the third division taichou haori. Toshiro glared at the fox-faced man.

"It's HITSUGAYA-TAICHOU."

"Maa, where are the others?" Gin asked, "The rest of the squads."

"They're on their way here." Sakana said, tossing her Zanpakuto lazily over her shoulder. She smirked and pulled lightly at the haori. "Prepared to tell Yama-jii you're on our side, now?"

"Yah. I wanted to go out and help the Soul Society get situated, ya know? I dunno if they'll let me…" Gin sighed, "Rather, I dunno if they'll see me as an ally or enemy."

Sakana smiled, reaching into her Shikakushou. She rummaged around before pulling out a large folded note. She handed it to him. It had fancy kanji written on it in bright pink ink.

"If you hold that up when you go to them, Ukitake and Shunsui will see it, especially Shunsui. They'll know you got it from me."

Gin nodded. "Here, take this." He said, handing them a map in return. It was a map of Hueco Mundo that, by the looks of it, was hand drawn by Gin himself.

"Here. It'll take me five minutes to get through here, since I'm not fighting these baddies in there." Gin jabbed his thumb at the entrance the two soul reapers had entered through, "It's very easy. Now, have fun~!" Gin said, stepping inside and disappearing. You would have sworn he was going to a picnic, not fighting in the largest war. Sakana looked at the map and Toshiro looked over her shoulder.

"Okay…looks like we just go through here and take a right… and he'll be right there." Sakana muttered. She put the map in Toshiro's Shikakushou as he drew Hyourinmaru. The faithful Zanpakuto shuddered, ready for the upcoming fight.

"Let's go!"

X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X

Aizen's eyes widened at the huge spiritual pressure heading his way. He frowned; it seemed like they were brining the war to him a little sooner than he expected. To make matters worse, he didn't know where Gin had disappeared off to. Turning to his left, he smiled at the young girl standing next to him.

"Momo. I want you to go out and fight. You are much stronger now. I believe in you." He smiled at Hinamori.

"Anything for you, Sosuke-taichou."

With that, Hinamori disappeared. Aizen then turned to Ulquiorra, who had reappeared after being gone for about 20 minutes.

"Aizen-sama… it's…"

"I know. Take the Espada to greet the taichou, and deploy Grimmjow to deal with Ichigo-kun. Then take the rest and have them deal with the others. Also, tell the Espada to spread out. If two taichou manage to be close enough… they'll deal huge damage using a combo attack (LMAO Bleach Dark Souls Moment) and we don't want that."

"Yes, Aizen-sama."

As the ground trembled from the reiatsu, Aizen turned his attention to the doorway. The doors were open, and Aizen could faintly see two shadows.

"I know you two are there. There is no point in hiding."

Sakana let out a chuckle. "Oh? I guess the game's up." She said, her Zanpakuto in her left hand as always. Toshiro stood next to her, an icy glare in his eyes.

"Since you are here, I might as well entertain myself with you." Aizen said calmly, drawing his Zanpakuto. Toshiro and Sakana moved into a fighting stance, both of their eyes narrowing.

Then the fight began.

X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X

Amaya swung her Zanpakuto, killing another hollow. The enemies had advanced quicker than they had expected. Beside her, Gin, who had managed to tell the head captain that he was on their side, released Shinsou, impaling a low-ranking arrancar. He seemed gleeful to be fighting against Aizen's forces, instead of with them. As wave upon wave or Shinigami marched towards the fortress of Hueco Mundo, Hollows and Arrancar opposed them, joining the fray. Hana, who was leading the fourteenth division, let out a squeal upon seeing an Espada with a spoon hat. She had disappeared in his general direction, shouting something about beating him and claiming the hat as her own. Soon, flashes of lightning illuminated the battlefield as Hana laughed, firing bolt after bolt of lightning at Nnorita.

Off to the left, Ichigo had confronted Grimmjow, and had released his bankai, wasting no time. Grimmjow was dodging the black Getsuga Tensho, but Ichigo was giving him a hard time. Amaya wondered for a moment why he did not use his hollow power, but then remembered that he probably didn't want the Soul Society knowing he was a vizard.

Ulquiorra had appeared on the battlefield as well. Ara, who had been ordered not to follow Sakana like she usually did, contented herself with beating up Ulquiorra with her Zanpakuto. Green flashes of light from Ulquiorra's green Cero shot up from behind a sand dune where the two were fighting.

Yamamoto was off to another side, fighting against the blind traitor. Tousen was putting up a huge fight against the head captain. They were far away; the only thing visible was flashes of black and immense amounts of flames. It was too hazy to even see the fight.

All of the other captains shouted orders to their squads as the arrancars and hollows attacked. Ukitake and Shunsui were put in charge of keeping track of casualties and the overall orders. It was not very difficult to see the two captains with double swords; occasionally one would see flashes of pink as Shunsui wasted an arrancar with ease. Ukitake seemed to blend in with the white sand, shouting orders at the top of his ill lungs while surprisingly not succumbing to a coughing fit.

Amaya gripped Miratsukiai, narrowing her eyes. Even though she had trained herself to tune out other feelings and thoughts, the bloodlust was clear as day. She swung Miratsukiai again, killing another hollow, before she felt a sharp point and heat against her back. Only three people could do that: Yamamoto, who was fighting Tousen, Sakana, who was with Toshiro fighting her father, and…

"Hinamori Momo."

"Amaya, please! Can't you stop them? Aizen-sama has good intentions!" Hinamori whined.

Amaya's eye twitched. "It's Higashi-taichou. Wait, why should I care? You're not my fukutaichou anymore. You're an enemy that needs to learn her place. Aizen has no good intentions. He's tried to kill my friends, waste the Soul Society… do you think those are good?!"

"It's all part of his plan!" Hinamori begged, "He's doing it for good!"

"NO HE ISN'T!" Amaya roared, "You are blind! I guess I'll have to make you see the error of your ways… Torisaru! Miratsukiai! (AN: Eliminate, violet rain)" she shouted. Hinamori raised her eyebrow as the hilt of the Zanpakuto turned into a clear substance; it was almost diamond-like. The blade turned purple, and a black ribbon came from the end and wrapped around her arm. Her eyes had an emotionless expression; Hinamori was no longer a member of the court guard squads; now, she was just another enemy that had to be eliminated. She gave a silent apology to Toshiro, for having to hurt the girl he called his sister.

"Snap! Tobiume!" Hinamori shouted, releasing her Zanpakuto. Amaya smiled; she was going to enjoy eliminating this girl.

(BRIEF AUTHOR'S NOTE!!! Amaya's Zanpakuto, Miratsukiai, has a similar ability to Aizen's Kyouka Suigetsu. In Shikai it creates the illusion the opponent is stuck in a void where random things will happen (at Amaya's control, of course). The bankai… I'm not telling xD. You'll see later)

The other captains and vice-captains held nothing back. Off in the distance, Ikkaku had used his bankai and was laughing as he fought an arrancar, shouting something about "the most fun he was ever going to have". Kenpachi and three arrancar had disappeared somewhere off in the distance, huge blasts of his reiatsu being felt even where the main fighting was. Mayuri's bankai was causing much havoc as always, poison gas and sheer size wasting opponents left and right. Komamura's hard-to-miss bankai was entangled with an arrancar whose release was the same size as it.

The divisions were not faring very well, with most of the vice-captains fighting difficult arrancar. Renji was fighting an arrancar, his huge snake-like bankai wrapping around it. Nemu and Nanao, whose divisions were next to each other, fought back to back, trying their hardest against a particularly stubborn arrancar. Ukitake ran back between his division and the fifth division, making sure that Amaya was alright. The hell butterfly kept up with him as he shouted orders.

"Divisions! Report!"

A huge sound like an explosion almost deafened Ukitake before he heard Sasakibe's voice.

"Fatalities are a little over 150. It's too hazy to see where Soutaichou is."

Once again, Ukitake was almot deafened by a loud shout. He winced as Soifon reported.

"Fatalities over 200! I just got the second hit in!" Trust Soifon to give a short, precise report.

"Third division! Fatalities over 300, we are moving forward!" Izuru shouted, "Ichimaru-taichou is with Higashi-taichou, I think!"

Ukitake smiled; Kira seemed happy that his captain had returned. Unohana's calm voice came up. "Fourth division. Fatalities are… over 100, I am currently with the 11th division."

Ukitake didn't hear anything from Amaya, and he was immediately worried until her boisterous voice came on.

"CHEYAH!!! Sorry, Uki-kun! Um, Fatalities are over 200, I think… I'm fighting TAKE THAT sorry, Hinamori here!" Amaya shouted.

"H-Hinamori? So, she is on Aizen's side?" Ukitake asked. There was a subtle change in everyone's reiatsu as they all heard the news. Ukitake could hear swords clashing as Amaya fought off Hinamori.

"GYAH! Yeah! She's definitely become stronger. Gettin' to be a little pest…"

Ukitake shook his head. His Amaya would be okay. A soul reaper from the sixth division reported.

"Sixth Division! Fatalities over 400, Kuchiki-taichou is somewhere, and Abarai-fukutaichou is fighting an espada!"

A loud roar slightly surprised Ukitake as Komamura reported.

"Seventh Division! I'm in a trap with an Espada, don't know how long we can hold out! Fatalities over 250, we're being pushed back! GRAWR!"

"Maa, Juu-chan. Fatalities less than 300. My Nanao-chan is doing very well." Shunsui chuckled, "You okay?"

"I'm fine, Shunsui." Ukitake said, a small smile gracing his features as he drew his Zanpakuto, quickly stabbing a hollow before it got a chance to attack. Even in war, Shunsui managed to stay cheerful and optimistic.

"Ninth division! I'm fighting this weird zebra arrancar! Fatalities less than 200!" Hisagi shouted.

A pause worried Ukitake before a few huge thuds grabbed his attention.

"Sorry! Our fatalities are at 250 right about now! We're doing great considering!" Rangiku said. To his surprise, Ikkaku's voice came next.

"The captain's fighting three arrancar, I've got an Espada, and the fatalities are over 9000! DOOORRYYYAAAA!" Ikkaku shouted. Yumichika's calm flowing voice followed.

"Ikkaku, don't do that. Sorry, Ukitake-taichou. Our fatalities are really over 700. He was merely exaggerating."

Ukitake rolled his eyes. He knew that the 11th division's fatalities were going to be high. Nemu's quiet report came next. "Twelfth division. Master Mayuri is in combat with an Espada. Fatalities are under 300."

"Taichou! Fatalities are under 400, we can hold on!" Kiyone shouted.

Ukitake didn't hear anything from the fourteenth division, and was getting worried until he heard something like… sizzling flesh before Hana spoke.

"Fourteenth division! We're making great progress! We have fatalities under 100, and this Espada I'm fighting has an awesome spoon hat! It's mine when this is over!" Hana laughed as a bolt of lighting flashed in the distance. Ukitake chuckled; Hana seemed to be having a great time fighting Nnorita.

Ukitake released his Zanpakuto, slashing an arrancar in an X pattern with a grunt. Hopefully Sakana and Toshiro had found Aizen and would defeat him before it was too late. Even he wasn't sure how long they could hold out.

X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X

Sakana cursed for the millionth time. Aizen was starting to piss her off. Both captains were in bankai, attacking the many illusions of Aizen. Sakana was sending fireballs everywhere, beginning to get very irritated. Every time they attacked one of the Aizen's, it disappeared and they had to narrowly dodge a lethal attack. Said traitor's Zanpakuto was starting to really piss her off, too.

"Why don't you two use your Rinji Kenpei?" Aizen said, calmly, a smile still present on his face. Sakana growled, brushing her bloodied hair from her eyes. Her haori was stained, and one leg was bleeding, staining the tabi.

"Shut the hell up."

Toshiro's wings were rebuilt for the umpteenth time. He too had suffered quite a few hits, blood running down his cheek and down his arm. His blue wings were stained with blood, and he was panting. The air was thick with tension as boyfriend and girlfriend, fellow captains, and lifelong friends stood side by side, Sakana's fiery wings practically touching Toshiro's icy ones. They could feel the reiatsu of the court guard squads outside the fortress, and knew that they were faring quite well against the army of Hueco Mundo. Their somewhat vague plan had worked, and now they were fighting the self-proclaimed king of Hueco Mundo. They didn't even have to use up any reiryoku beforehand.

"Aizen, give up. We're going to kill you." Sakana said. Aizen's gaze did not falter, nor did his smile.

"I believe I told you before. Don't say such things; it makes you look weak. Besides, why don't you use your Rinji Kenpei?"

"He's trying to lure us into a trap."

"Because we don't want to." Toshiro shot back.

The many illusions of Aizen shrugged, and they all disappeared, revealing the true one.

"Well, I shall reward you for making it this far. I have never been pushed so far as to use this."

Sakana felt a sudden feeling of dread in her stomach. Toshiro shifted slightly, sensing this uncomfortable change in her. Then they both mentally cursed in horror at the next word to leave Aizen's mouth.

"Bankai."

The air around them blew forcefully, blowing clouds of dust and debris around. Toshiro sheltered them both with his giant ice wings, holding onto Sakana. Sakana's wings had disappeared for a moment as she felt Toshiro's icy grip around her.

"Damn, I should have figured he would have a bankai. He was a captain, after all." Sakana growled mentally. The wind died down, and Toshiro gently let go of his lover, carefully unfurling his icy wings.

All they saw was pitch black. No Hueco Mundo, no Aizen. They also couldn't feel any reiatsu, which worried them. They couldn't feel their own reiatsu, much less Aizen's or the Shinigami's outside. Sakana tightened her grip once more on Kaenrinmaru as her flaming wings came back into view, illuminating a small area around them.

"Where are we?" she asked, although she knew that it was a stupid question.

"We're in his bankai. For some reason, it reminds me of Amaya." Toshiro said, looking around. His aqua eyes scanned as far as they could see. He took a step forward until Sakana pulled him back.

"Don't."

The simple one word command made Toshiro stop. Sakana's eyes were closed, and her entire body seemed relaxed. Her breathing was calm, and she didn't move for a few seconds. Then she opened her eyes.

"I smell sulfur. Like a hot spring. Chances are there's one right near us." Sakana said. She fired a ball of flames off into the distance. It illuminated the ground underneath for a moment before disappearing into the darkness. Below was a murky liquid, steam rising from it.

"I'll take care of it." Toshiro said, holding one hand over the edge of the small piece of land they were standing on. Sakana felt something inching underneath her, and almost jumped.

"T-Toshiro! The ground, it's shrinking!"

Toshiro bit his lip before taking Hyourinmaru and poking the liquid with it. At once, it froze, and with it, a petal shattered and disintegrated. Now Toshiro had lost six petals, and his strength was waning. Sakana's dragon tail, which was a gauge like Toshiro's petals, was halfway white. The two Soul Reapers stepped carefully onto the ice, Sakana trembling slightly.

"Sakana…"

Toshiro knew that Sakana was remembering when they had gone ice-skating. The ice had shattered under her touch, without her meaning to. She was worried the same would happen again.

"Kaen-hime… I promise, this ice will not melt." Toshiro said. Sakana nodded, her resolve strengthening once again.

The flame taichou created a ball of fire and held it in her hand as they carefully took steps forward. Suddenly a huge gust of wind blew, throwing Sakana off her feet. She cried out as she hit a seemingly invisible wall and slumped, feeling something warm and wet flow down her back. She couldn't feel Toshiro's reiatsu; she didn't know where he was. It worried her to no end that all of her ways of reaching him were cut off.

As the wind died down, Sakana could feel that the scenery had changed. Her eyes felt like she had gotten shampoo in them. When she opened them, her sight was fuzzy. Even when she rubbed her eyes, she couldn't see.

"I can't see… I can't sense…I can't do anything…"

She pushed herself up, her flame wings growing back. It seemed bright, but it was still dark. She closed her eyes; her sight was bothering her too much for it to be of any use to her. Suddenly, she smelt it.

Mint and evergreen.

Toshiro was close, but where?

The taichou then slapped herself on the forehead. Duh, she was an empath and a telepath. No illusions, whether real or fake, could block her mental power. With her eyes still closed, she reached out.

"Toshiro! Shiro-chan! Where are you?"

Sakana? I can't see you.

Sakana was overjoyed at the response. She opened her eyes, the world around her blurred as if she needed glasses. Chances were that she would.

"Toshiro, give me a signal…anything."

A pillar of ice shot up very close by, and Sakana ran towards it, tripping over various rocks, and in some cases, nothing at all. She eventually reached Toshiro, whose ice wings had grown back. In the brief time they were apart, Toshiro's six petals had gone down to three. Sakana looked at her tail, which had also turned even whiter.

"Toshiro…let's use it."

Aizen chuckled quietly to himself. His small world was draining the two captains of their reiryoku. If he couldn't have two arrancar made of them, he would have to kill them. He thought it was over.

He was dead wrong.

"CHEYAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!"

"DORUYAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!"

X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X

Outside, the court guard squads were slowly pushing the arrancar back. Ichigo had defeated Grimmjow with the largest black Getsuga Tensho anyone had even seen. Tousen had died from being practically cremated by the head captain. Most of the captains had finished off their enemies. Ara, who had been fighting Ulquiorra, had returned, covered in blood but grinning manically. Hana had just finished off Nnorita, and now held his spoon hat in her uninjured hand.

Amaya was about to finish Hinamori off when all of them felt an overbearing reiatsu. Even a few captains were forced to their knees from the pressure. It was unlike any of them had ever experienced. Both sides stopped their fight, the arrancar wondering where the reiatsu was coming from.

Hana ran to Byakuya, who had beaten his Espada. The captain and lieutenant looked in the direction of the fortress, where a beam of gold light had shot from the top.

"That must be… taichou…"

Amaya and Ukitake both stared at Las Noches. The reiatsu was Sakana and Toshiro's, but it felt so incredibly different. The will to kill filled the air, giving the Shinigami hope. Hinamori pushed herself up with Tobiume, staring in horror at Las Noches.

"Captain Aizen!"

Before Amaya even had a chance to raise her Zanpakuto again, Hinamori had disappeared. Amaya, who had cuts and bruises all over her, collapsed onto the ground, panting for air that she desperately needed.

"That reiatsu… the tension… it feels like it's suffocating me…"

Ukitake knelt, wincing as he did so, and wrapped his arms around Amaya. He never truly understood what the empath/telepath felt, but he knew it had to hurt. He gently kissed Amaya on the cheek.

"It's okay."

Amaya latched onto Ukitake's arms, worry filling her eyes. The extreme pressure had disappeared, but the tension did not. All she wished was that her former captain and her boyfriend were all right.

X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X

Aizen blinked in surprise. In that instant, his bankai had been shattered, a huge crack running down the Zanpakuto. Sakana and Toshiro stood side by side, their Rinji Kenpei in full force. They had learned how to unlock its full potential. Sakana grinned, baring her fangs.

"Didn't see this comin' now did ya?" She smirked. Aizen regained his composure and frowned at the couple.

"You never cease to amaze me. I was not expecting you to unlock its full potential. No matter, this is only a minor setback. I believe it's time to end this." Aizen said. A pain in Sakana's side caused her to wince; they had to finish this now, in one final attack.

They had one chance.

X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X

HOLY CRAPPAMOLAGE…

Okay, my brain is just about fried. I dunno if I can drag this out… but luckily the story is almost over. Thanks to everyone who has stuck it out here with me this far! I don't get a lotta reviews for my fanfics, but the few that I get keep me going!

Next chapter: THE WINTER WAR ENDS!!!! xP

--MattsyKunTEFA