Chapter Five: The Truth Shall Set You Free
Disclaimer: Bleach and LadyHawke and other related entities are owned, (TM) and © by Tite Kubo and Paramount respectively.
A/N- Meh
In the early hours of the new dawn when the sky was still a beautiful midnight blue, with barely there streaks of pink; Ichigo made his way once more into the room of the beautiful woman. He was shocked to see her struggling to sit up. So he quickly rushed over to her side and placed his hand over the naked flesh of her warm dark shoulder.
"You shouldn't be moving. You may start bleeding again." Ichigo said in worry. Yoruichi looked up into his eyes, and after a moment's pause she let out a sigh and lay back down.
"Since you insist on bossing me around, I need to know your name." Yoruichi said with a faux scowl over her face, but Ichigo could see the teasing light behind her golden eyes.
"It Ichigo…" He said with a blush. He noticed that the light he had seen just seconds before had faded, dulling out the princess' eyes.
"You travel with her don't you?" Yoruichi then asked, her voice barely above a whisper.
"…yes…" Ichigo answered, but he knew that the simple answer would not be enough.
'There must be something I can do. No one deserves to suffer this way!'
"You must save this hawk. She said" Ichigo whispered. He never took his eyes off of the woman. She needed hope, and he would give it to her. Even though he had to make up a small lie, because even though the captain had not put it into words, her actions spoke out loud and clear.
"She is my life, my last and greatest reason for living." Ichigo smiled softly as he watched Yoruichi's eyes glow with love and renewed hope. He continued with the words he knew to be true though they were never spoken.
"One day we will know happiness, the likes of which are only dreamed of but never acted upon."
Yoruichi gave a watery chuckle, and looked up at the young man before her.
"I find that hard to believe…my Suì-Fēng was never one for talking, and she never was one for such romantic words."
"I swear it upon my life!" Ichigo blurted out, "She did say that. You are her life and she wants to bring you happiness. I mean just look at me does it look like I'm someone capable of coming up with such mush?" Ichigo then stood up a bit straighter and tried not to crack under the princess' golden gaze.
"No I suppose you are not." Yoruichi conceded, "…Thank you Ichigo." She smiled at him once more then turned her head away signaling that their conversation was over. Ichigo turned and walked towards the door. Before he completely walked out he gave one last look over his shoulder. He made his decision then.
Ichigo walked up to Urahara, and watched as in the distance the sun was slowly making its way up.
"There has to be a way we can help them." Ichigo said after a moment's silence. Urahara looked at the young man from the corner of his eye.
"…There may be away to break the curse." The blond man finally said, his eyes moving back towards the sun rise that was still a ways away.
Ichigo turned to the man sharply, and roughly grabbed him the lapel of his green coat.
"You know of a way to cure them, and haven't said anything!" The young man said irately. Urahara brought his hand up and placed it over Ichigo's. He then gently removed Ichigo's hand from his coat.
"I have not seen those two for nearly five years," Urahara sighed sadly, "I just recently discovered something in my readings." Urahara turned away from the rising sun and looked at the young man with determination.
"In my studies I have found out that it is possible to have a day and a night together. If this is true then all Yoruichi and Suì-Fēng need to do is confront Aizen together in flesh. That is the only way to break this curse, and finally live in happiness." Urahara told the young man.
"…But the Captain is going to Seireitei to kill the King. She intends to slay him with the sword of her kin and fulfill her place on the hilt." Ichigo said in alarm.
"What! No she must not do that. If Aizen dies before seeing them together united then the curse shall never be broken!" Urahara exclaimed. He would have continued but was interrupted by a pounding at the gates.
"Open these doors in the name of his majesty Aizen!" A man's voice drifted out over the broken court yard.
"Ichigo go look after Yoruichi…go now!" Urahara exclaimed and shoved the young man in the direction of Yoruichi's room. He then rushed over to the gates, and with a fake cheerful smile looked down at the gathering of soldiers, there were a dozen of them, in the lead was short dark haired man. Urahara did a double take.
'Wow he looks a lot like Suì-Fēng…weird.'
"If you gentlemen are looking for the brothel, then I'm sorry to say that it's still some ways off on yonder." Urahara said pointing over his shoulder. The short look-a-like scowled up at the blond.
"We are here for the fugitives you are housing you fool! If you do not comply with the kings wishes then we will arrest you with them!" Urahara just let out a yawn. The short man turned red at his disregard.
"Break down this damn door and arrest them all!"The short man bellowed. Two of his men came up from the back with a wooden battering ram.
"My you have such a sour temper…" Urahara laughed and backed away from the entrance. He was going to have to deal with them.
He slowly made his way over the bridge, being sure to stay on the left side, which connected the entrance to the rest of the castle. There was a crack and he knew that the soldiers were in. They came charging at him; though once they got to the bridge a little less than half fell through quite a distance into the mote below.
"Oh dear sorry about that, these old castles aren't built to last!" Urahara laughed. He stopped when he had to duck under an arrow.
"That wasn't nice." He mumbled. Urahara watched as the Sui look-a-like figured out how to cross the bridge and came after him.
'Smart kid' He thought as he blocked a kick aimed at his head. The other soldiers followed after their leader.
Ichigo rushed into the room Yoruichi was resting in and slammed the door shut behind him. The dark skinned woman was startled awake and pulled out a knife from under her pillow.
"Ichigo? What's going on?" She asked, lowering her weapon once she realized who had barged into her room.
"We need to go!" The young man said quickly. He grabbed a simple cotton dress and handed it over to the princess once he was close enough.
"Why, what's going on?" Yoruichi asked again, but she put on the dress on anyway and climbed out of bed.
"The king's men are here. We need to run." The young man whispered. He went back to the door and peeked out.
"Shit, they're over the bridge." Ichigo cursed.
"What about Kisuke?" Yoruichi whispered from behind his back. Ichigo turned his head and was surprised at how close she was. He coughed nervously and pushed them away from the door.
"He's fighting them off, and buying us time to get out of here. We need to get out, but going from the front is out of the question." Ichigo said as he looked around the room.
"Then we'll need to take the back passage out. Come on then let's go." Yoruichi said and started to walk away from Ichigo. The thief followed after her.
Urahara smacked another guard across the jaw with his cane, knocking the man out. This left him with only five opponents.
"You five deal with the old man. I'll get the woman and brat." The dark haired man ordered his soldiers before sprinting off in Ichigo's direction.
"Old man huh…" Urahara drawled, "I'll show him old." The blond man then rushed forward cane raised and made quick work of the grunts. They stood no chance against the blond as he weaved in and out of their ranks striking them down with a solid blow to their heads.
"…five minutes…maybe I am getting old." Urahara sighed and rolled his shoulder trying to get a creek out. He looked towards the tower, and his eyes widened in shock.
"Shit!" The blond rushed towards the tower, where he could see Ichigo and Yoruichi trapped.
Ichigo ran up the stairs as fast as his legs would take him, following after the surprisingly fast woman. Their original route had been cut off by a man who had bared a surprising resemblance to Suì-Fēng. The young man had just enough time to bar the entrance and buy them some extra seconds. Yoruichi had then taken his hand and led him down another path, and up the stairs they were now on. Up ahead there was a ladder which led up to a hatch.
"If we go up there we'll be trapped!" Ichigo shouted up at Yoruichi as she began to climb up the ladder.
"Maybe so, but it will give me more room to fight." Yoruichi exclaimed as she opened the hatch and made her way out of the opening. Ichigo close behind. A hand reached out and grabbed at his leg.
"Shit!" The young man exclaimed as the soldier began to drag him back down. Yoruichi was quick to respond and grabbed at his shoulders yanking on his shirt. Ichigo gave a well placed kick with his free leg and managed to free himself. Yoruichi quickly pulled him up. Ichigo stumbled for a moment and straightened up. He then turned back to the hatch and shoved it closed and pulled the latch into place. A force hit against it but his weight and the flimsy latch kept it closed.
There was a moment of quite as he stood on the closed hatch. Then panic as a sword slid through the planks almost cutting into the young man's family jewels. He stumbled back in fear and knocked into Yoruichi.
Yoruichi, who had been closer to the ledge, fell as a piece of the ruined tower gave way.
Ichigo on instinct garbed at the woman and managed to take her hand, but it was no use he could not get a proper grip and she slipped through his fingers. He watched in horror as the woman he had silently swore to protect plummeted to what he was sure was her death with a scream, but a miracle occurred in that moment in time and would forever be burned into his memory. The sun had finally fully made its ascension into the sky, and as the rays hit upon the woman's dark skin she began to transform. Feathers formed and bones shifted. Where once was a woman falling now a golden hawk flew up into the heavens.
"Oh my god…" Ichigo whispered dumbfounded. He just lay there for what felt like forever his eyes fixed on the spot he had witnessed the transformation. The sun raising higher into the sky promising a beautiful day.
The sound of splintering wood broke him out of his revere. The hatch flew open and the soldier who looked like Suì-Fēng quickly climbed up. His sword pointed at Ichigo. The young man held up his arms in surrender.
"Where is the woman!" The soldier yelled.
"Uh…she flew away." Ichigo said confused. The Man's face grew red with anger.
"You take me for a fool!" He raised his sword up and prepared to deliver a killing blow to the young man.
"I swear I told you the truth!" Ichigo said placing his arms over his head and closed his eyes preparing for death.
There was a whizzing sound and a thump. Ichigo opened his eyes to see a bolt head sticking out of the soldier's chest. The man dropped his sword and stumbled forward. Ichigo moved out of the dying man's path and watched as he fell over the edge of the tower.
"And it always pays to tell the truth," Ichigo said in awe he turned his head in the direction of the shot, "I see that now God." He watched Suì-Fēng hop off of the large boulders in the valley below and start her trek up to the castle. He turned back to the hatch and made his way down towards the front.
"So you're still alive." Ichigo heard Suì-Fēng once he made it out of the castle walls and down the steps leading to the entrance.
"I am…" Urahara replied, "And I've found something in my studies that will help you and Yoruichi break this curse." Suì-Fēng looked surprised for a moment then laughed.
"Like the last time you found a way to break it? Do you remember what happened with that debacle of a plan? You had me chasing after false hope in the form of a chalice for three years. So pardon me if I seem skeptical." Suì-Fēng continued to laugh mirthlessly wiping at imaginary tears.
"In three days!" Urahara said, "In three days Aizen holds court, all you have to do is confront him, both you and Yoruichi, in flesh as human! The curse will become confounded and break. Then you will finally be free." The scholar spoke with a conviction that had Ichigo believing.
"Where did you hear of this curse breaker," Suì-Fēng growled, "No let me take a wild guess. You stumbled across this miracle in one of your silly book!" She advanced on the scholar jabbing a finger into his chest. Urahara winced but did not step back.
"Yes I read it in a book. In my studies I came across a passage in which there is mention of a day without a night, and a night without a day. This event only happens every five hundred years." Urahara took a hold of the hand Suì-Fēng had used to jab at him.
"Don't you see what this means?" He implored. Suì-Fēng scoffed and roughly pulled away her hand.
"Yes it means that your books have once again given you a legend to chase after, but no more. I will not be dragged into another one of your silly stories in the hopes that it is true." She turned away for the blond man and made her way over to Suzumebachi and mounted the stallion. Ichigo rushed past Urahara.
"Captain how's your shoulder?" Ichigo asked once he caught up to the petite woman. She looked down at him and he could have sworn her eyes softened a bit.
"It's fine…and Ichigo I owe you a great debt."
"Me? No ma'am you don't owe me a thing, but I do have a message. She wanted me to let you know that she still has hope… faith in you Captain that you will do the right thing." Ichigo hoped his words would get Suì-Fēng to reconsider. He himself couldn't say that he believed Urahara, but the hurt and pain he had seen in both of these women filled him with a need to do something to help.
"Ichigo thank you…and you are free to leave now." Suì-Fēng said while nudging Suzumebachi towards the gates. On instinct she lifted up her arm and a second later Yoruichi flew down and made a seamless landing on the proffered appendage.
"I know that ma'am, but if you and Ladyhawke are heading towards Seireitei then I see no reason to go our separate ways since I'm heading in that general way." Ichigo said innocently. Suì-Fēng raised an eyebrow at the name.
"Ladyhawke?"
"Umm yeah, I thought it was fitting you know with the whole turning into a hawk and everything." Ichigo said scratching at the back of his head in embarrassment. He looked up at the warrior and waited with baited.
"Alright then you better go get your belongings if you're going to tag along." Suì-Fēng finally said.
"Yes ma'am" Ichigo said with a salute. He ran up the stairs back towards the castle tower.
"Ladyhawke huh…I guess it's almost as good as the Goddess of Flash." Sui said chuckling as the hawk turned its beak in what she could have sworn was a huff.
Ichigo ran up the stairs and past the rigged bridge into the tower. There he grabbed his measly items and rushed back out the doors. As he was making his way back down the stairs he paused next to Urahara.
"I'm heading out with the Captain. Follow us, I have a plan." Ichigo didn't give the blond man a chance to respond. He had to catch up with the Captain, who was already riding out.
"The kid's got a heart of gold…" Urahara said with a thoughtful sigh, "I guess I better do as he says..." He turned down a path that would lead him to the stables.
"Tessai you stubborn ass it's time to go!"
Yay Another chapter done. I think I have three or four more to go!
Thank you all for reading,
-K