Author's note: looking back on that last chapter I don't like it so much anymore. Hopefully this one is better. Hang in there, you guys! We're ALMOST at the part where I can start getting down to the real shippy stuff!
Shuuhei ran through a mental checklist of everything they could possibly need in order before they went. Ranked officers had been informed of the mission and their superior's departure so that the squads would be able to run normally, they all had recharged spiritual pressure, they were all armed-
Well, on a technical note. The standard katana currently taking residence on Shuuhei's hip hardly counted as a real weapon compared to that of his comrades. Shuuhei felt the heavy weight of someone else's stares crawl up his neck. He risked a sideways glance to Izuru, who immediately looked embarrassed at being caught and averted his gaze to his shuffling feet. Shuuhei didn't risk looking over to his other side to Rangiku, although he could perfectly visualize the expression on her face, worried and complete with a crinkled brow and pursed lips. Flanked between the two as they walked, Shuuhei felt like a child with two annoying, over-protective parents.
Captain Kuchiki and Captain Hitsugaya walked a few paces ahead of the three lieutenants, following the trail of spiritual energy that Ichigo, Rukia and Renji had left in their wake. Normally, Shuuhei considered himself pretty pin-point accurate in handling and sensing spiritual pressure, especially on a spiritual plane like Huenco Mundo was supposed to be, but doing so here was different. The three vice-captains had given an experimental try when arriving in Huenco Mundo, reaching out with their own spiritual energy only to hit a wall of bubbling energy rising up like boiling water from below. Tracking even the wildly uncontrolled spiritual pressure of even Kurosaki Ichigo would be like finding a needle in a haystack.
The tunnel they had followed the trio into was dark, descending on a steep slope that nearly made Shuuhei's sandals slip up in the loose ground that had turned from sand to very loose dirt since they entered the tunnel some ways away ago. The tunnel had gone from the same freezing temperature as above in Huenco Mundo's endless night to gradually becoming warmer, slowly heating up like a furnace. Shuuhei wiped the back of his hands across his forehead, bringing the hand back to find it drenched in sweat.
"Geeze," Rangiku said, breaking the silence and fanning herself with her hand, "When did the arrancar turn up the thermostat in here?"
Captain Hitsugaya responded with a grunt, wiping at what Shuuhei could not see but could guess were beads of sweat rolling down his face. "Agreed. This heat is starting to become obnoxious."
Ah yes. Ice zanpakuto in hot weather. Not a good combination.
Apparently Rangiku did not share the same sentiments. "Hey Captain! Why don't you use your shikai to make it nice and cool in here again?" She suggested brightly.
"Hyourimaru is not a portable air-conditioner!"
No matter how heavenly the idea sounded about now.
Before Rangiku could object on the matter of her personal entitlement to controlled temperatures, Captain Kuchiki interrupted with a dignified clearing of his throat.
"If we could calm what I'm sure is a very interesting and engaging form of bickering, perhaps we should divert our attention elsewhere."
He motioned upward, and the four other occupants of the tunnel followed his eyes to the dirt ceiling.
At first Shuuhei thought that it was the light reflecting off of water, before he could think that the tunnel was too devoid of moisture for anything to be reflected off of. Still, he could not think of what else would create the glimmer of light peeking through the tunnel in fine, skittery cracks.
A blue light shimmered above their heads, almost the same color as the blue Shuuhei had seen twice now in the portals but softer, muted almost. Heat radiated from the light like a ray of sunlight and raw energy pulsed like fluttery heartbeats.
"What in the world…" Shuuhei tried to ask, craning his beck up towards the strange light.
Next to him, Izuru took a step forward, looking deeper into the cavern and following the vein of light above with his gaze. "It feels like… spiritual energy. Raw, pent-up spiritual energy unpressurized into a living form."
"That's what's making the portals?" Rangiku asked, her cheerful demeanor from before now lost and replaced with a mature, businesslike tone.
"As far as this particular case, probably not." Captain Kuchiki corrected, "But whatever it's connected to, where the energy is coming from, is. We'll have to find the source and destroy it."
Captain Hitsugaya looked down the tunnel, "Then we go deeper."
The walk quickly went from bearable to torturous. More cracks shimmered above their heads, deepening and multiplying the further they walked in. The veins of energy split and snaked down the walls of the tunnel, spreading down to the floor to flash between their footsteps until the five shinigami were bathed head to toe in the soft blue light. With the increase in lighting also came the resilient rise in temperature.
Shuuhei could finally be grateful for his sleeveless haori during the wintertime, but his heart went out to the rest of his companions with their sleeves plastered to their arms from sweat. He wished that Rangiku and Izuru would stop walking so close to him, as the two of them together made him feel twice as overheated. Rangiku's hair was dark from sweat at the roots and Izuru needed to wipe away precipitation from his forehead underneath his bang almost constantly now. Ahead of the vice-captains, even Captain Kuchiki was starting to look rather heat-frazzled, and Captain Hitsugaya looked on the verge of becoming downright murderous. Shuuhei half-hoped that the younger of the two captains would reconsider the idea of using his zapakuto.
Shuuhei grit his teeth in annoyance. While he had been wary that this mission would be dangerous, he almost wished a hollow would burst into the tunnel just to take his mind off the stifling heat.
Time was untraceable in the cave, with only the increase of light from the veins of spiritual pressure and the heat that seemed to ooze from them like furnaces to give any indication that the group had made progress since the beginning of their journey. Shuuhei was beginning to lean towards the hope that the captain's would be as sick of walking in the same direction as he was and issue a short break sit down and collect themselves when he felt a quick flash of spiritual pressure, a pressure foreign from the ones from the veins in the cave.
"Hey, wait a second." Shuuhei commanded, stopping the other soul reapers in their tracks.
"Hisagi-san? What is it?" Kira asked, turning to face him only to be ignored by Shuuhei as the dark-haired lieutenant squeezed his eyes shut and tried to search for that energy again.
There, outside of the pulsating heat of the labyrinth of tunnels all mixed together in an endless maze of energy, was another energy signal, this one heavier and more solid. In the eye of his mind Shuuhei could see it, mostly muted by the echoing pressure of the tunnels but still standing out starkly was a splash of magenta like the last hue of color in a dying sunset. It was doubtlessly Renji, further proved by the fact that the more Shuuhei concentrated on the energy the more clearly two more colors, one a darker red and another a pale ivory that simply had to belong to Ichigo and Rukia respectively, came to light.
Shuuhei opened his eyes again, looking to the varied expression of impatience and concern of his audience. "Do you feel that-"
Shuuhei didn't get to finish, the words dying in his mouth when the ground shook beneath his feet. The other shinigami shared his alarm as the tunnel began to violently shake, ground turning loose from the top of the cave and sand pouring in as if through hourglasses.
Instantly, Rangiku and Izuru took up their battle positions, their hands readying to draw their katana. Shuuhei took an attack stance himself, despite that he was very sure that the ordinary, non-zanpakuto blade he had been gifted with before coming on the mission would not do him much good against a hollow.
Captain Histugaya's hand went to his zanpakuto more tentatively. He looked over to Captain Kuchiki, asking directly to him "Do we fight? There's not enough room here for any of our attacks to be effective. We could bring the whole cave down around us just by trying!"
Captain Kuchiki glanced up at the ceiling of the tunnel and Shuuheu followed his eyes, seeing that the tunnel was beginning to fall away in larger chunks. Shuuhei's eyes were torn away from the ceiling a second later by a guttural roar that echoed from somewhere deep below his feet. He could sense a massive something heading right towards them, clawing through the ground to their tunnel.
"We can't fight here. Run. Now!" Captain Kuchiki demanded, decidedly slamming his sword back into its hilt before running ahead, the rest of the group following hot on his trail. Without being able to see far ahead in the dim light and not knowing where one was going flash-stepping would be just about impossible, so they were made to run on foot.
In the blur of movement Shuuhei heard that same rising something from below break out from the ground and into their tunnel, but he didn't risk looking back to see what he already knew was a hollow pursuing a home-delivered meal of deliciously high-powered soul reapers. Now they were being pursued, no one able to stand and fight back for risk of triggering a fatal cave-in.
Suddenly the air thickened with heat, stifling as if they had just run into an oven. The blue veins of light lit all around them, casting a glow and revealing that the tunnel had widened to a much larger area, curved overhead with more tunnels winding in and out of the walls like the inside of a gigantic hive.
Izuru got the first strike, "Bakudo Number Four: Crawling Rope!"
A ray of light split from his fingertips, curling and twisting through the air like real bindings to twirl around the enormous something. The light from the kido and from the veins of energy allowed Shuuhei a moment to gape at the something that had been chasing them.
Caught in Izuru's bakudo, the hollow writhed around on his multitude of short, stubby legs budding from its side. It thrashed on his long, centipede-like belly, the shiny insectoid exoskeleton of its body harshly refracting the dim lighting cast about it. The creature's head itself, masked by white bone and wide ugly grin, was taller than Shuuhei himself and while the tail of the hollow was unseen inside the tunnel the thing was so massive one could imagine that its length simply went on forever.
Now with more room to move about and the hollow at least temporarily detained, the real fight could begin.
Shuuhei heard the calm murmur, "Scatter, Senbonzakura." before Shuuhei's vision was swarmed with thousands of razor-thin blades fluttering into the hot air, the blue light from the cave mixing with the petal's pink to a violet hue.
The infamous attack struck at the hollow at what would surely tear any other creature to pieces, but rather instead the blades bounced off the monster's thick exoskeleton. The hollow's armor protected it from all outside damage!
Rangiku's Haineko joined the scene, hoping to find a weak point in the armor. The ashes swirled around the beast but wherever Rangiku struck, looking for a chink in the joints, the exoskeleton was too tough. Even the blast of ice against the monster from Captain Histugaya had little effect, and the intense heat of their surroundings made the ice weak and breakable under the hollow's thrashing.
"It's got to have a weak point somewhere." Captain Histugaya encouraged, urging the other shinigami on, "Lieutenant Kira, hold the bakudo!"
And Izuru was trying, trying to keep the spell in place. His eyes fixed in concentration on the monster and it's binding but as good as Izuru was with kido at a long-distance fight Shuuhei knew his zanpakuto was much more affective close range which happened to be very difficult to do when a hollow was trying to squash you/one wrong swing from Wabisuke in this cave at it would all collapse and kill them all.
If they could keep this up long enough, maybe they would have been able to find the hollow's weak point. If the hollow was just a bit more stupid they would have had a better chance but such was not the case here. The hollow made a sinister "skreeeeeee" noise, pausing in its struggling to dart out a reptile-like tongue, sensing the air for spiritual pressure, searching for the energy that was controlling the binds around its body.
Black, cold, clever eyes narrowed onto Izuru, and the spiritual binding groaned with the effort of holding together as the creature coiled to strike. Izuru's eyes widened in the realization that he had become a very viable target and he dropped the spell altogether, the binds shattering in a burst of yellow light, to summon a Bakudo Number 39 with barely any time to spare before the hollow's teeth crashed into the barrier with a sharp clack.
The hollow groaned and pushed against the barrier with its maw full of drool-covered fangs, forcing Izuru and his barrier back and crawling forward to finally reveal its end, complete with a razor-tipped tail that swung hazardously around Shuuhei, Rangiku and the captains as if they were horseflies.
Shuuhei's brain told him to hold back. It told him to wait because this was just one dumb hollow and the captains could easily take care of it and Izuru was in no real danger no matter how his barrier seemed to flicker weakly when the hollow chomped into it so brazenly-
Shuuhei was forcing himself through the incantation before he realized what he was doing. And as the frantic need for an attack grew with each millimeter the fangs dug deeper into the barrier the faster the words came until Shuuhei was practically stumbling across "-Unleash but slightly the wrath of your claws!"
The burst of blue spiritual energy struck the hollow, glancing harmlessly off its armor but with enough force to cause it to pause in its attack. The creature turned away from Izuru with a rage-fueled howl and twisted over its fat, spindly body to rush at Shuuhei with its mouth peeled back, gaping with thick, sharp teeth and Shuuhei felt the hot, rancid stench of its breath, like rotting meat and old blood before he flinched and squeezed his eyes shut from what could only be certain death.
But death never came. Surely if he was to be torn to shreds by those teeth there would be pain before death. There would be nothing, not the fear of pain nor the dry heat or the sound of Shuuhei's own breathing rattling through his throat.
Something hot and wet splattered down from above, scattering droplets like rain on Shuuhei's face and front. Blood, but not from a wound of his own.
Shuuhei opened his eyes, greeted by the sight of the hollow frozen above him. The monster hung, mouth agape but no longer to swallow Shuuhei up like a tasty shinigami snack but to hang slack-jawed, seeming to wear an expression of shock at the distinctive blade sticking down its open throat.
The hollow was impenetrable from the outside but the inside not so, at least from the way that the hollow make a sickening choking noise and something squished from deep inside it. The creature's own blood dripped out of its mouth as it gave one last pathetic noise of protest before dissipating into darkness around the form of its slayer, Zabimaru.
Zabimaru (and how many times had Shuuhei seen that goddamn sword in the past week alone, honestly) contracted from the open air, still dripping slightly with the blood of its fresh kill, over Shuuhei's head. He had to turn to see behind him the blade realigning at its hilt in Renji's hand.
If Shuuhei was at all hoping to pull a big heroic move and prove his worth, he had failed. If the universe had planned to conspire that Renji should for any reason be happy to see Shuuhei at that very moment, it had failed rather spectacularly. The red-headed vice-captain wore possibly the sternest glare Shuuhei had ever seen him muster, eyes narrowed dangerously and his lips twisted into a grim sneer.
"What part of 'Go the fuck home' was lost on you?"
Shuuhei felt shame well up in the pit of his stomach. Shame at needing help again, and shame that it had to be Renji of all people when Rukia and Ichigo were just finally catching up to them a few paces away.
"I told you guys I heard something down here! Are you all okay?" Rukia asked, kicking up dirt as she slid to a stop, "We would have come sooner, but the spiritual pressure in this place muddles up everyone's senses."
Captain Kuchiki looked over the other shinigami, Captain Hitsugaya trying to brush off the water that his ice had melted into off his person, Rangiku collecting the ashes of Haineko, Izuru casting off his shield and brushing himself off, and finally Shuuhei trying to dab hollow blood off his face as much as his shattered dignity would allow.
"Yes, I believe we're all fine. We had come to help you on your mission, but we got a little… sidetracked in the process."
Ichigo looked around, "Is anyone hurt? We- Ah, Hisagi!" his eyes locked on Shuuhei, "That blood-"
"Isn't mine." Shuuhei answered, trying not to sound sheepish as he wiped the liquid off on his wrist.
Renji returned Zabimaru to its shikai state and sheathed it roughly. "Yeah, and he's damn lucky it's not!" He turned, casting an accusatory look towards Izuru and Rangiku, "Who's idea was it to bring him here!"
"Hey! I'm not luggage, you know! I'm standing right here." Shuuhei protested, feeling more than a little offended,
"Yeah, I noticed. That's kind of the problem!" Renji retorted with bite,
"You know if you would just-"
Rangiku boldly stepped between them, arms outstretched conciliatorily, "Ladies, please! You're both pretty! Can we stop the yelling now?"
Izuru sidestepped a little behind Shuuhei, throwing in "Abarai-kun, we didn't decide to bring Hisagi. The captains approved him for continued action on the mission. We were just as surprised as you are to find out that he was coming."
"Oh yeah?" Renji cast a suspicious look towards the two captains, who both looked nonplussed at the accusation.
Captain Hitsugaya shrugged, "We needed volunteers. He volunteered. I don't see why you should be so critical of an offer of assistance."
There was a passive-aggressive jab nestled somewhere in there, but Shuuhei was glad Renji either didn't pick up on it or refused to address it.
Captain Kuchiki nodded his agreement, "Lieutenant Hisagi is a model officer-" that actually wasn't true. Shuuhei was notorious beyond belief for turning in documents late because he wanted to perfect them, and had a history of alcohol abuse but who was he to disagree with a captain, "-and seeing how he nearly sacrificed himself to save his comrade, I see no reason to denounce his duties now."
Renji faltered, just barely that you couldn't even see it unless you were really looking, under his captain's words. "But-"
"Vice-Captain Hisagi is on the mission."
Well, alright then.