Chapter Six: Hunter's Moon

Disclaimer: Bleach and LadyHawke and other related entities are owned, (TM) and © by Tite Kubo and Paramount respectively.

A/N- Blaahh…what else can I say?

X-X

They had been traveling for the better part of the day. Ichigo was tired of it.

"Captain?" He called out towards the woman who was focused on leading her steed through the thick forest. It may have been easier to take the main roads, but the king's men were diligently patrolling them. Suì-Fēng didn't stop or turn around, but she gave him a noncommittal grunt to let him know he had her attention.

"What if Urahara was right about breaking the curse? What if you could face the king together as women?" Ichigo asked nervously. Suì-Fēng stopped in her tracks abruptly. Her shoulders tense.

"Never mention it again…not to me and certainly not to Yoruichi. Do I make myself clear?" The short woman demanded. Ichigo looked from her tensed shoulders to her clenched fist, and sighed. He knew he should let it go, but something pushed him into meddling.

"…Why Captain? What has caused you to lose all hope?"

Suì-Fēng's shoulders slumped. She turned to face the young man, and to Ichigo she looked so tired. She tied Suzumebachi to a nearby tree and took a seat on a felled tree not too far away. Ichigo took her lead and sat as well.

She watched the sky and the beautiful hawk that soared through them.

"I've searched for ten years…" She began, he voice barely above a whisper. "I've traveled the world looking for a way to break the curse. Hell I spent three of those years chasing after a legend, and do you know what I found in the end! Nothing! No hope just disappointment." Suì-Fēng exclaimed her voice breaking in the end. Her eyes burned with the threat of tears.

"Hope is hollow, and it can only drag one so far until they fall to their knees in defeat. All I have left is vengeance…" She finished quietly. She stood up abruptly and motioned for Ichigo to follow. Their break was over.

Ichigo untied the stallion and followed after the Captain.

"…It's not hollow." He spoke up once he caught up with Suì-Fēng. She turned her head to glare at him, but he ignored it.

"It's not! It was hope that got me out of that cell, and hope that kept me going, I had hoped and prayed for a way to get out of that cell. I did because I had faith, and I know you say that it can take you only so far but I like to believe it takes you far enough to be happy in life...Captain you just need to have faith that this time is different, that your hope has brought you this far; has kept you alive for this long. You want your happy ending, and I think that maybe this curse breaker is it."

A long suffering sigh escaped from the woman's lips.

"You're wrong Ichigo…I lost hope a long time ago. Hope has not kept me alive this long, only vengeance and the knowledge that the man who did this to me, to us, still lives and I will not die until I have pierced his cold unfeeling heart with my family sword... This discussion is over." Suì-Fēng stalked off with thunder roaring in her wake. Ichigo gave Suzumebachi an exasperated look.

"You have one stubborn mistress." The stallion gave a snort of agreement, before trotting after the retreating woman. Ichigo, his hand caught in the reigns, was forced to follow.

X-X

It was nearing sunset when Suì-Fēng spoke to him again.

"A storm is fast approaching, and it will be night soon. You will need to find shelter before it hits at sunset. There is a village down this path go there."

Ichigo looked up at the sky and noticed the dark clouds several miles away still. He gave the captain a dubious look.

"Captain those clouds won't reach us for hours yet, and there is still plenty of light out to keep moving." Suì-Fēng grinned and just kept walking. There was a flash of lightning and twenty seconds later a great boom sounded. Ichigo flinched at the sound.

"I guess it wouldn't hurt to be cautious." He grumbled to himself. "Hey Captain how can you tell it's almost night?" Was his next question after catching up with the petite woman's retreating back. Suì-Fēng let out a humorless chuckle.

"After so many sunsets you know... now take Ladyhawke, and Ichigo tell her I love her." She handed over Yoruichi and then walked off in the direction of the thick woods without looking back.

"Well alright then Ladyhawke I guess we should find a place to stay, preferably someplace nice and warm." He said as he stroked the beautiful hawk's feathers. He watched amused as the woman turned bird turned her head upward to get his fingers under her chin her eyes closed in satisfaction. He started down the path Yoruichi on his arm and Suzumebachi following close behind, muttering all the way to the village about his misfortune.

X-X

"I can't believe I was short five pieces for a damned room." Ichigo cursed as he waited outside the barn he was able to acquire for the night rain falling heavily from the heavens above.

He had left Yoruichi alone to transform and dress in peace. He hoped she would be done soon; it was starting to get really cold outside. With teeth chattering Ichigo knocked on the barn door. He slowly opened it when he received no response.

"My lady? Miss. Yoruichi are you alright?" Ichigo asked when he walked in. He spotted the dark skinned woman at the end of the barn stroking Suzumebachi's mane.

"Lady Yoruichi, is everything alright?" He asked when she did not acknowledge him. She sighed and turned away from the black stallion.

"I'm fine Ichigo, just reminiscing is all." Yoruichi walked toward him. Unexpectedly she threw her arms around the young man and gave him a brief hug.

"Thank you for yesterday. I'm glad to see you alive." She removed herself away from Ichigo a respectable distance.

"Oh it was nothing my lady. In fact if the captain hadn't shown up we would have all been in trouble." Ichigo explained. He saw the spark of happiness at the mention of Suì-Fēng and decided it was time to set his plan into motion.

"How is my Little Bee? I can tell she is taking us back to Seireitei, but why?" Yoruichi asked all of a sudden.

"The good captain is doing well, she is full of hope like you in that one day you two will get your happy ever after, but until then she left you in my charge." Ichigo prayed he wasn't pushing the boundaries. "She said we speak as one, and that you would follow my instructions as if they were her own." Ichigo watched an amused smile form on Yoruichi's beautiful lips and for a moment, a brief one, he felt envious of the love the two women shared.

"Alright then," Yoruichi began with a chuckle, "but you still have not answered why are we headed back to Seireitei?"

Ichigo scratched at the back of his head and let out a nervous laugh.

"Well you see…we think there might be a way to break the curse." Ichigo mumbled and hesitantly looked up to see the dark skinned woman's reaction.

Yoruichi stood stunned not believing her ears. A way to break the curse, but after ten years she was a bit hesitant to believe in such a miracle.

"Really now, and just how would this so called curse breaker work?" She asked. Ichigo knew he was treading through dangerous terrain, but he knew Yoruichi would be the easier of the two to convince, and if she was on board then Suì-Fēng, no matter how angry she would be with him, would agree to anything Yoruichi desired. So he told her everything in the hopes that she would agree to Urahara's crazy plan.

"So Kisuke is sure that this will work?" Yoruichi asked after listening to Ichigo explain what had happened that day.

"He really believes that this time it will work my lady… and I know I don't know him as well as you and the Captain, but I believe him." Ichigo said truthfully.

Yoruichi smiled at the young man, which let him relax a bit.

"I trust him as well, though I know for a fact Suì-Fēng has never forgiven him for that 'wasted' quest he had given her." Yoruichi told him, "So is that why we're heading towards Seireitei?"

Ichigo looked away then, he couldn't tell the beauty the truth. So he changed the subject instead.

"Enough talk about the curse. I am now speaking with the Captain's authority, and I say we go into the inn sit by the warm fire drink some sweet wine listen to the music and maybe even dance…" Ichigo winced at the last line, "Ok maybe not dance, I'd end up killing your feet that way" He said sheepishly. Yoruichi giggled good-naturedly.

"I'll teach you to dance my young squire." Yoruichi said as she walked up to the young man. Her hand held out for him to take.

"What? You mean now?" Ichigo asked nervously while stepping away.

"What better time to practice then now." Yoruichi said mischievously as she grabbed a hold of Ichigo's arm and pulled him into her slight frame. It was then that Ichigo noticed how much taller he was to the woman standing before him, and it left him in awe that he never noticed it before. Yoruichi took his hands and placed them in the proper positions for their practice dance.

"Now you lead with your right foot and follow a simple one two tree count while moving in a circular pattern. I'll follow." Yoruichi instructed, and Ichigo obeyed.

After a few missteps and good natured jibes at Ichigo's expense the two were dancing around the barn in perfect sequence, their laughter ringing through all the stalls.

"I think we're ready for that wine now Ichigo, what do you say?" Yoruichi asked as they came to a stop after their impromptu dance lesson. Ichigo nodded and walked over to Suzumebachi's stall, from within he grabbed at the Captain's sword. Yoruichi looked on as he dragged the heavy weapon out into the center of the barn.

"So you intend to be my protector as well eh? I'm flattered." Yoruichi said in amusement as she watched Ichigo carry the sword with clear unfamiliarity with such a weapon.

Ichigo looked towards Yoruichi, foregoing on trying to figure out how to strap the sword to his belt, and gave her a sheepish chuckle.

"The truth is that I'm afraid the Captain would kill me if I were to lose it." Yoruichi wanted to laugh at the explanation, but then remembered her lover was strangely overprotective of her family heirloom. She chuckled and walked out the barn and straight into a face full of pelts.

She let out a horrified scream once she realized that they were wolf pelts. The thought of her precious Suì-Fēng dead and skinned sickened her. She reached out in shock to stroke one tentatively, but a quick tug found her behind the young man in her company.

"Yoruichi get inside now!" Ichigo shouted a second time; the first had been while he was still in the barn. Her scream had terrified him and with a shout he had rushed out of the barn, only to be greeted with the sight of Yoruichi pale and reaching towards a cart full of wolf pelts. There was also a giant of a man sitting on the carriage. He had a look of glee as he watched the woman's reaction. He rushed forward and pointed Suì's sword up at him.

"Yoruichi?" The giant asked with a sinister glint in his eyes.

"Yoruichi, get inside now!" Ichigo ordered again, raising the sword a bit higher when he noticed the man lean forward. Ichigo nudged Yoruichi towards the barns entrance. She moved reluctant.

"If you dare lay a hand on her, I swear you will find it on the ground next to your head! Now leave!" Ichigo shouted in rage the rain plastering his hair to his face. The man held up his hands in a mock show of surrender.

"Easy there little boy, you're starting to scare me." The giant rasped in feigned fear.

"Are you stupid? I said leave! If you turn around you're dead!" Ichigo exclaimed tightening his grip on the sword. The giant sat there for a moment more, and then with a grin he turned his cart and meandered off into the night.

"I can't believe that happened." Ichigo sighed to no one while lowering Suì-Fēng's sword. He turned back and walked into the barn.

"Yoruichi are you alright?" He asked as stepped into the warm shelter.

He received no reply.

"Yoruichi?" Ichigo questioned as he looked through the barn. He then noticed the side door of the barn swaying slightly in the wind.

"…No…no please no." He groaned when he figured out what happened.

"She'll kill me. She'll kill me!" Ichigo moaned in despair.

He took off out the door and into the dark in hopes of catching up with the dark skinned woman before she could do something crazy.

X-X

It did not take long for Yoruichi to find the spot the giant hunter had set up as camp. She slowly and quietly snuck into the area in hopes of catching the man off guard. She held the hilt of her dagger a bit more firmly as she crept closer to her destination, a small tent near the back of the camp, a twig snapped behind her warning her to the danger.

Before the beefy arm could get a hold of Yoruichi, she quick as lightning, ducked under it and slashed at her assailant. There was a spray of blood and grunt of annoyance. The giant looked down at the woman and then to his bloodied arm.

"You have some skill, but that little toothpick won't be enough to save you." He said as he began to advance upon her. Yoruichi just frowned at the comment and took up a defensive stance.

There was a rustle of leaves and out popped a blur of blond hair. It jumped onto the giant's back and started to pound away at his head.

"Get out of here Yoruichi!" Ichigo exclaimed as he brought his fist down on the giant's head. With a grunt the huge man brought his arms up and grabbed at the scruff of Ichigo's shirt, throwing the young man over his head.

Ichigo landed at Yoruichi's feet with a pained groan.

"Heh, this is fun, but I think I've had enough. Now come here beautiful. I need you to catch a wolf." He made to grab at her, but a growl from behind him caught his attention. He turned, but saw nothing but a flash of white fangs.

"Suì-Fēng!" Yoruichi screamed as she watched her lover tear out the man's throat. She nearly ran to her, but a strong grip on her arm pulled her back.

"Yoruichi we have to get out of here!" Ichigo shouted as he pulled her away from the grizzly sight of the wolf finishing off the dying man.

Yoruichi looked back once more at her lover before following after Ichigo.

X-X

The light from the morning sun drifted through the woods as Ichigo made his way down the trail. He would have stayed at the stable, but the nights events had allowed for little sleep. He had woken up at sunrise, alone, and packed up leaving soon after. He wasn't worried though, he knew that sooner or later Suì-Fēng would find him.

Well he was kind of worried, he didn't know how he was going to explain why he was so far from the town he and Yoruichi were supposed to be in.

"Good morning." A voice spoke up from behind him. Ichigo jumped in fright and turned towards the direction the voice had come from.

He could see no one there. There was some rustling and an object dropped down from the tree to his left. He yelped and would have gone for his knife if he had not recognized the object that had landed.

Suì-Fēng straightened out her cloak and offered the young man a small wave.

"Oh…good morning captain." Ichigo said nervously. The short woman walked over to him and her steed. She took a closer look at the thief.

"Hmm you look a bit pale there Ichigo. Good thing I've brought you something to eat then." She said as she took out a small pouch with some fresh bread and dried fruit. Ichigo went to take the offering stretching out his arm. There was a flapping of wings and in the next second Yoruichi had perched upon his arm. Suì-Fēng gave him a suspicious look.

"What happened last night Ichigo? Why are you not back at the village?" Suì-Fēng asked as Ichigo tried to gently get the hawk to fly over to her.

"Oh…ah, nothing I couldn't handle Captain. Now Ladyhawke go back to your master. Go on…go." He knew from the skeptical look that she didn't believe him.

"Ichigo?" Suì-Fēng questioned.

"Yes Captain." Ichigo asked with a slight pitch to his voice. He was still trying to get Yoruichi to fly off of him.

"Tell me about last night." Suì-Fēng subtly commanded, and took up a stiffer stance. Ichigo, a bit distracted with Yoruichi, decided he should just tell her what had happened. He set about explaining why they were so far from where Suì-Fēng had last left them.

"There is not much to tell Captain," Ichigo took a moment to address the hawk, "come on Yoruichi get off I wish to eat." He sighed in exasperation as the woman turned bird ignored him.

"We made it into town, but the inn was full. So we had to stay in the stables and wait out the storm…fly to the one you love go on now." Ichigo began only to be interrupted with a grunt from the Captain.

"What did you do in the stable?" Suì-Fēng asked with dangerously narrowed eyes, which Ichigo missed in his distraction.

"We changed cloths." He said without thinking.

"You what!?" Suì-Fēng shouted in irritation. Ichigo stumbled away in fright, causing Yoruichi to finally dislodge from his arm and take flight.

"Wha- no not together of course." He tried to explain his hands up in surrender.

"Did you leave her alone then?!" Suì-Fēng demanded, and Ichigo could see the lid about to blow.

"No!"

"So you did change together!" Suì-Fēng exclaimed and started to stalk up to the young man ready to rip him a new one.

"What no, no, no! I-you…she is the most wonderful woman that has ever lived, and I can't deny that I haven't had my thoughts, but the truth is all she did was talk about you." Ichigo said with a soft huff. He wasn't angry or annoyed he just wished he could explain himself better when it came to these two women. Suì-Fēng eased her stance and her shoulders slumped in a sort of defeat. She found a fallen log and sat on it without her usual grace.

"For every moment you get to spend with her I…" Here she stopped and looked up at him with broken eyes. "I…envy you." She looked down at her hands and remained silent. Ichigo didn't hesitate and went to her and sat at her side where they remained silent. It would be a few moments more before Suì-Fēng would speak again.

"Will you tell me what she said, and I'm warning you boy I will know if you are lying to me." She said without her usual bravo. It caused Ichigo to chuckle. He decided he would embellish their chats a bit as he remembered the light behind Yoruichi's eyes as they had spoken of the petite captain.

"At first her words had been miserable. She talked about the day you met…and she cursed it, but I knew that was a lie because I saw as she remembered the happiness you shared, before the King's curse, and her eyes glowed…no…she glowed, she loves you more than life Captain." Ichigo looked upon the petite woman's sad expression. "She's had to." Suì-Fēng's eyes swam with tears, and she could no longer look at the young man. So instead she lifted her head up to the heavens and watched as Yoruichi soared above.

"Did you know that hawks and wolves mate for life?" He her hands clenched into tight fists "Yeah…the bastard didn't even leave us that… not even that." A tear escaped from her eye and trailed down past her cheek leaving a silvery trail in its wake.

X-X

Gah! I know I am ashamed for how long this has taken me.

Sorry for any mistakes, hopefully I caught them all.

And now I bid you a good night.

-K