Chapter 9: The Sentinel's Circle

Kenpachi Zaraki loved to fight. When it came to fighting, to bleeding, to inflicting and taking damage, none had more love for it than he. But even as he truly loved war and battle, he was also deeply grounded in reality. An enemy was an enemy and his only interest in that enemy was how much fun it provided in a fight for its life. He didn't care for spirits and things that defied the slash of his sword, so when the cold mist rose around the barrier, he wasn't pleased at all. He knew the mist contained enemies, enemies who would, at some point have to show themselves.

"Come out, you bastards!" he hissed softly in discontent, "Come out and start the fun!"

But the mist just hung in the air around the barrier. Zaraki was wise enough to pull the troops back. In addition, a second barrier was placed inside the first, offering the base further protection. Reconnaissance groups reported back to the captain that the mist extended around the base in a large circle. Within the swirls, there were shadowy forms and sometimes glowing eyes that gazed balefully in at the soul reapers who stood guard around the clock on the watchtowers.

Zaraki took note of the content and behavior of the mist, then sent a messenger to report to the head captain in the Sereitei. Some time later, the messenger's mangled body was spotted just outside the barrier. The message was clear. The outpost was under siege.

His first action upon realizing that fact was to order Rikichi, Kenta and Renji confined to quarters and under placed under heavy guard. Whatever it was that had killed the messenger, it had some strange kind of control over Kenta and Renji, and Zaraki was not foolish enough to open the base up to invasion by allowing the two to roam free. They seemed to understand and submitted gracefully to the inconvenience. Hey, it was better than a holding cell.

Zaraki himself walked the perimeter of the barrier several times a day, testing its strength and waiting for something to change. He hated waiting, but he was savvy enough to know that the enemy was waiting for something specific. And Kenpachi Zaraki was pretty damned sure he knew what it was.

Byakuya Kuchiki.

They were waiting for him to come back.

Still, that was no guarantee that they would wait patiently. If they indulged in killing the messenger, they would, most likely, start looking for easy targets…those who strayed too close to the barrier. Zaraki watched his men like a hawk. Even so, by the end of the second day of the siege, several more bodies were discovered outside the barrier…like the messenger, mangled almost beyond recognition. It was easy to locate where the barrier had been slashed, but getting there before the damage to his men was done was another matter. Zaraki did not like the way things were going. At this rate, the enemy could just sit and pick off his men one by one until there were none left.

"Come out, you ugly bastards," he growled, standing at the barrier and glaring out at the mist, "Come on out and try to get me!"

They didn't take him up on his offer. Instead, they focused on the weak and the unwary. And after a couple of days, it started to take a toll on morale. The faces of the soul reapers became haunted. They knew the enemy waited outside the barrier, but that it could reach in and steal them away. They couldn't see them to do battle with them, and they faded in and out to quickly to be directly engaged.

Yet the force being surrounded was one of the strongest fighting units in the Sereitei. And despite their fears, Zaraki's men did not succumb to madness in their fears. They adjusted. They used wariness and strategy to protect themselves and the situation fell into a cold war, with neither side advancing or retreating. And the feeling of waiting continued.

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It sucks being locked up like this. I guess I'm not really locked up, but the close feeling is really the same. I'm worried about Rukia and Byakuya. There were spikes in reiatsu just after they left and now we have completely lost contact with the Sereitei. Even hell butterflies aren't getting through. Damn! I hope they got back okay. I also hope Byakuya was right about being safe once they were out of Hueco Mundo. The scary fact is that we haven't seen the leader since Byakuya has been gone. The mist sits outside the barrier, just to remind us how trapped we are in here. They want us to feel helpless. They want us to feel fear.

It's pretty damned lonely in here, too. They have the other two in other places within the outpost so that if there is a breach of security, they can't get us all at once. I guess that's a good thing. I just hope Rikichi hangs in there. He was really upset when they told us we had to be separated. He kept his head up, though and he followed orders. That kid has come a really long way. He has what it takes to be a really strong vice captain someday. When he does, the captain he protects will be blessed. He won't make the mistakes I made with Byakuya. He won't let his captain take that kind of damage. He won't be like me. He'll be stronger than me.

I can't shake this uneasy feeling I keep getting. I hate being alone in here without even Zabimaru to keep me company. They come in to bring me food and occasional news…but it isn't Yumichika and Ikkaku anymore. Zaraki needs them to make sure those damned things don't grab any more of his men.

It's night, but I can't sleep. I miss Byakuya. It's not the sex I miss either. What I miss the most is falling asleep with his head on my shoulder, his breath warming my neck. I miss the warm weight of him next to me. I miss feeling him start to get up and pulling him back into bed so I can kiss him one more time before he goes. And I miss the way he talks to me. It's funny. I wasn't raised among nobles, and I wasn't taught much, but he never talks down to me. He shares things with me. And I've found over the last couple of years…when given those shared bits of knowledge, I learn by leaps and bounds…because when things like that are given lovingly, shared like something precious between two people, what you hear really makes an impression…and you remember everything…yeah, everything…like the constellation Lupus, up there between Scorpio and Centaura, named after the Arcadian King Lycaon…the one Zeus punished for continuing the practice of human sacrifice…he punished the guy by using lightning to kill his fifty sons. See…everything. Because when I think back to when he told me this, I still feel my back pressed against his chest, feel the deep vibration of his voice and I feel the affection that he put into each and every word he shared with me under the stars. Damn! I really hope he's okay.

I hope someone comes in soon. The stress must be getting to me. I keep hearing an odd whisper in my head. I wonder if it could be Zabimaru trying to reach for me. It feels strange to not have him breaking into my thoughts every so often. He can be annoying, but at least hearing him is better than all of this silence.

Kami, Byakuya, hurry back before I lose my mind!

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A lone howl rose up out of the darkness around the outpost. It came so suddenly out of the silence that everyone in the outpost within hearing went taut, listening. It was a lonely mournful sound that soulfully pleaded for an answer…and after it faded back into the darkness, others rose up to follow it, one by one until the night rang with the sound. And it was no longer soulful…it was soul shattering.

Near the perimeter of the barrier, Kenpachi Zaraki stopped in his tracks and lifted his head, his lips curling back in a deadly grin. The time for battle was approaching. He could feel it. The rising cries were the buildup. It was a maneuver designed to break men down, to shatter resolve, and to instill fear, but the wolves did not know who they were dealing with. Far from feeling fear, the men and women of the 11th division welcomed the sound of their enemy. It meant that the enemy wouldn't be invisible or hidden anymore. The enemy was about to show itself. And once it did, it would die.

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Seven steps to the first door. Look into the eyes of the blue dragon and let him see your soul. If he does not strike you down, the first door opens.

Five steps to the second door. Touch the seal. If the poison doesn't kill you, the door opens.

Three steps to the final door. Take the key. Warm it in your palm. If it doesn't disappear, the last door opens.

"Who are you?" an ancient voice whispers.

"Byakuya Kuchiki, clan leader, heir."

"Byakuya Kuchiki, clan leader, heir…welcome…"

Ahead of me, the vault creaks open. I step inside and the doors close behind me.

The vault is silent, but candles burst into flame as I enter. I search the shelves and touch a volume. It rises from the shelf and settles onto the dark antique table in front of me. I search the pages. Several hours pass before I find the first reference.

…so often does pride undo strength…as it did on the deadly sands of Hueco Mundo. Once he brashly thought to chart their wide expanse, but taken into it and devoured on the red fangs of the ookami seirei was Yuudai Kuchiki….

A small reference, perhaps, but now I see. The ookami seirei, the ones who killed my ancestor, are the spirit wolves of Hueco Mundo. Interesting, too, is the reference to red fangs. The leader had blood red fangs…

I read for another hour before finding a second telling passage.

The four went into the desert to tame it, to make its secrets known, but Hueco Mundo is loathe to give up its secrets. One of those secrets took them, made them over, sealed their fate in rain of blood and reiatsu. Four became two, and were cursed, forever then to walk with the damned. Now their cries are heard, but not understood, for they have taken the shape that devoured them…they are the devil that ate their souls.

I see now. Yuudai Kuchiki and three friends left the Sereitei to map the uncharted expanse of Hueco Mundo. While they were there, they must have been attacked and devoured by the ookami seirei, the spirit wolves.

But what does it mean when it says, "Four became two?" Does that refer to the 'choosing' process? Does it mean…?

It says they took the shape that devoured them…they are the devil that ate their souls. That is it…That is what's happening. The four of us…will become two. The two will join the ookami seirei and forever walk the sands of Hueco Mundo.

Renji…

I have to find more! There has to be some reference to how four will become two…and if there is a way to stop it. But there is a way to get closer to the words, to what happened. I can connect with the history directly in my mind and travel there.

My hands reach out and touch the page with searching palms and my spirit energy pulses.

"Stop, Byakuya…"

I am stunned at the sound because the only one who can enter the vault is the heir. And the new heir isn't chosen until the one before dies. I turn, suddenly very aware that I am unarmed. But I have kido.

All of a sudden, I know who else could enter. I know how two heirs could exist. I look closer and he smiles. He knows I have recognized him.

"Say my name, Byakuya Kuchiki, clan leader, heir…Who do you see?"

"I see," I whisper, "Yuudai Kuchiki."

"I have come to help you, Byakuya…"

His smile is warm, but it freezes the blood in my veins. He takes hold of me before I can move. I am forced to the floor. A palm touches my forehead and light explodes around me. I see…but I cannot believe.

I know how four become two…

Renji…

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The cries of the wolves rose to screams that sounded less like wolves and more like demons. In the mist, their shapes were forming. And as they formed, they threw themselves against the barrier. The barrier flared sharply and pulsed as they struck it again and again.

Howling with delight, Zaraki set his troops in place. They watched as the outer barrier fell, then waited for the second. A kido shield rose in front of the fighters and a group of them began incantations. As the incantations reached a crescendo, the barrier failed and the spirit wolves attacked. Zaraki and his troops were ready. Zaraki led the charge, swinging his jagged zanpakuto and laughing, laughing loud and hard.

Kido blasts tore into the wolves. Swords raked them. Released zanpakuto assaulted them. The wrath of the 11th division rained down on them with a madness equal to their own. Men and wolves were dying, their blood exploding out of them to paint the sand red, to coat the surface of the jagged rocks.

Groups of the wolves attacked in waves, throwing themselves against the zanpakuto until the ground was slick with blood. When one wave ended, the men breathed, choking on the smell of blood and dying. Then the next wave arrived. As time passed, the men began to fall, their strength to waver…and still the wolves attacked.

Zaraki turned just in time to see wolves streaking across the darkness and entering the base. He tore after them, sword swinging madly, and followed them inside. After chasing them down several dark hallways, he came to the conclusion that they were heading for the three he protected. Kenpachi Zaraki stopped in his tracks. They didn't care about the lives being wasted at the barrier. They were coming for their brethren…

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"Hado #33, Soukatsui!"

A blast of blue energy sends Yuudai tumbling away. I come to my feet and break for the door, flash stepping as I hear him take wolf form behind me.

"You cannot escape, Byakuya…" he calls after me.

I reach my room and take hold of Senbonzakura as he takes me to the floor again, teeth and claws tearing at me.

"Scatter, Senbonzakura."

Petals slash at the wolf, giving me a chance to tear free. I flash step away, but the wolf is nearly as fast as me. I know what I have to do now. I cannot return to Hueco Mundo. I must get to the living world. I must get to Kisuke Urahara. Because when Yuudai showed me my impending fate, he accidentally revealed too, how to escape it.

"You must return, Byakuya…"

I flash step again. He is closing so swiftly. I send petal blades dancing after him again and reach the gate to the living world. As I begin to pass through, I hear the wolf following. Can he reach the living world too?

The living world appears before me and I stagger into it. I stop for a moment to breathe. All is quiet. I take a moment to check for injuries. Aside from a few new slashes, I am relatively okay. I realize that I am close to Urahara's shop and turn towards it.

"You must come back to Hueco Mundo…"

I send more petal blades in the direction of his voice and flash step, but his hands have taken hold of me.

"Stop fighting this. Four will become two and the two will join us…" he says, tightening his grip on me.

"No!"

I can't move!

He is back in human form again and reaching down to touch my forehead. As the light begins to fade around me, I hear a sharp grunt of surprise and soft hands take hold of me. Unable to remain conscious, I sink into the arms that lift me and carry me away.

"Yoruichi…" I moan softly.

"Shh, I have you now. You're safe, Byakuya."

"Tell…Urahara…there weren't four. There were six…Tell him…tell him…"

"Shh, we're almost there."

"Two were saved…"