Captain-Kitty: Hello my beautiful reviewers and welcome to the 11th chapter of cat vs. wolf
Yoruichi: *hugging Soifon* I missed you so much
Soifon: *struggling to breath* Y-Yoru-ichi. . Can't. . . . Breathe
Captain-Kitty: *giggles* ok Yoruichi I think you should let her go before she suffocates
Yoruichi: *lets go* sorry
Soifon *inhales with much exaggeration*
Captain-Kitty: good, now that we are all breathing normally again, I think it's time to start up an old tradition of mine
Yoruichi: what would that be?
Captain-Kitty: well whenever I do a story over eight chapters I do a special thing
Soifon: What is it?
Captain-Kitty: I'll talk about it in the end. But this chapter will mostly revolve and Akara. Though Soifon and Yoruichi will show up in the chapter every now and again
Yoruichi: sounds fun *sarcasm*
Captain-Kitty: I know, well it's time to start, Soifon, if you be so kind
Soifon: Captain-Kitty does not own Bleach or any of the characters.
Captain-Kitty: Just Akara and the other Oc's
Yoruichi: please enjoy
"Soifon" Akara said with a clear voice of relief and surprise as she felt Soifon's reiatsu sky rocket then suddenly decrease.
"You're ok, I'm so glad" Akara said as her tail wagged in excitement. She was just about to turn around and go and find the Captain, but a strange aura suddenly surrounded her. It had a sense of familiararity, but along with that feeling, came caution and fear.
"Hey Tsuki no Okami, do you think we should keep going this way, because I having a feeling about something, but I don't know what" Akara said before her Zanpakuto spoke to her subconsciously.
"Personally, I think you should turn around, you know where Captain Soifon is or where her general area is because this miasma is starting to. . ." but almost immediately Tsuki no Okami's voice faded out.
"Tsuki no Okami, hey can you hear me" Akara asked in a panicked surprise, but no answer came.
"What in the world just happened" Akara asked to herself as she began to skip two or three steps at a time. In about ten minutes, Akara had finally come to the next floor. This one however had two hallways instead of one. One hallway, from what Akara could see the walls were a light brown color, though poorly painted in her opinion. And the other was brightly lighted by some kind of unseen form of matter on the wall.
"Hmm, which way" Akara thought as she stood between the two corridors. Suddenly a strangely familiar new voice came into her mind.
"Hello there Akara" Akara jolted as her fur rose in alarm.
"Who are you" Akara mumbled to herself,
"You don't remember me, well that's understandable, you were so small when we first met" the voice said in an uncomfortably sweet tone.
"We've met before" Akara asked with pure surprise and the voice inside chuckled,
"Of course we have, but you were only seven at the time so I don't expect you to remember any of our encounters"
"If you don't me asking, who are you?" Akara asked in a slight uncertainty. But before the voice could answer, Akara's right ear flickered. Someone was coming, and coming fast. So immediately Akara scanned the area around her for a semi decent place to hide, unfortunately the only thing that seemed big enough for her to fit in was a semi large vase sitting next to the left corridor. So quickly Akara shot up and darted for the vase, within a second she leapt up and dove inside the vase. Luckily, after years of practice, she had dove in without making the vase move.
"Hmm, I could have sworn someone was here" an unfamiliar male voice said, in a somewhat irritated and slightly pained voice. She heard him sigh before a brief chuckle,
"Well I'm sure, she has taken care of our guest by now" that was all Akara heard before hearing him take one of the corridors and mumbling something about seeing his master to check on progress or something like that.
"I wonder what that was about" Akara thought. After a few minutes of precautious waiting, Akara quietly climbed out of the vase and as slowly as possible, slid down. Once she had all four paws on the ground the voice returned.
"Akara dear, I would like to talk to you about something" she said in a somewhat worried tone. Akara's ear twitched in anxious curiosity.
"What about . . ." but Akara didn't finish her sentence; she didn't know the name of this voice in her head.
"Hold on, before we talk, whats your name, I don't think you mentioned it before" the voice chuckled lightly,
"In due time dear, now please listen to me, I would like to talk about a few matters with you" the voice said. Akara nodded,
"Ok, but can we talk on the way, because I'm kinda trying to find something" Akara said as she began to walk in the direction of where the mysterious man's voice went; which, by her guess, was the right hallway.
"Very well" the voice said as Akara entered the hall.
Back in the secret room, Hiroka was healing up a few of Soifon's more serious wounds. A majority of them where on Soifon's back, apparently, along with Hiroka's unmentioned part of Soifon's wounds. Kuto had hit Soifon much harder and had left deep bloody welts on her back and shoulders. Soifon was quiet while her wounds were being dressed, though she did let out the, though unintentional and poorly muffled, yip or squeak of slight pain, Yoruichi would tell her it was ok and hold her hand. Yoruichi was going to kill Kuto, and it was a fact. He had hurt what was most important to Yoruichi, and he thought he could get away with it. Not if Yoruichi had something to say about it. Suddenly Yoruichi was brought out of her violent thoughts by a small squeak from Soifon.
"Careful" Yoruichi snapped at Hiroka as she stroked Soifon's hair. Hiroka glared at Yoruichi
"Look, she has a lot of wounds, I know she hurts, its gonna hurt" Hiroka yelled as she took her hands of Soifon's red and purple back and pointed to all the welt, bruises and deep scratches on Soi's back. Yoruichi winced at the sight. Soifon, who had been quietly flinching and wincing the entire time, took her slightly shaking hand out of Yoruichi's hand and set it on top of hers before giving it a weakish reassuring squeeze.
"I-I'm f-fine" Soifon muttered quietly and Yoruichi nodded before, reluctantly apologizing to the possible new ally.
One floor above them, Akara was talking to the voice in her head, and things seemed to be going nowhere.
"Look Honey, I'm just concerned for you, I don't think you should waste your time trying to make something like wasabi ice-cream. That's a heart burn waiting to happen" the voice said almost desperately. Ever since they had begun to talk, Akara had spoken about making wasabi Ice-cream.
"Hey it would be great for when you have a stuffed nose, eat a little bit, and your sense of smell will be back faster than a fan girl chasing her idol" Akara said proudly as she rounded a corner. The voice sighed before muttering quietly to herself.
"Is something the matter, you know my friend Soifon told me once that its usually better talk about whatever your muttering about" Akara said with a new smile gracing her puppy features and her tail starting to wag vigorously.
"Actually I wanted to talk to you about your friend Soifon" the voice said.
"Oh, did you know Soifon too, ok what about her" Akara asked as she decided to turn left and started going up a short spiral staircase.
"You're wasting your time with her dear" the voice deadpanned and Akara stopped in mid step as the sentence was said.
"What are you talking about, how am I wasting my time with her" Akara asked in disbelief and slight fear at what the voice was implying.
"Akara, you know just as well as I do that she won't feel the same way about you" the voice said in a not so kind tone as before. Akara was taken aback by her words as well as shocked.
"How do you know, besides I know she feels something for me, I've seen it" Akara said somewhat defensively. The voice scoffed,
"Maybe she did, but now that her "precious" Shihouin is back in her life, she'll probably throw you out like an unwanted dog" the voice said cruelly.
"After all, you were only her rebound, nothing more than a surrogate replacement for the cat who abandoned her little bee" the voice said cruelly. Akara's ears drooped as well as her tail, as her pace slowed and her heart becoming strangely heavy.
"Replacement, that's kinda harsh, but I know her, she wouldn't. . ." but Akara was quickly interrupted by the voice, who lashed out another cruel remark,
"You're such a fool, are you so blinded by your misguided feelings towards her that you can't see the truth" she shouted and Akara flinched. Then something was suddenly triggered into Akara's mind and her body jolted up.
"I get it, your Maiko aren't you" Akara said almost accusingly but you could hear the realization in her voice also. Maiko laughed quietly,
"I'm glad you figured it out, but I'm afraid your time here is done, at least for now" Maiko purred evilly. Akara's eyes widened,
"No, not now, not here, Soifon is here" Akara cried in dread, but Maiko simply snorted.
"You knew this day was coming, and you can't stop it; now go to sleep" Maiko commanded, then suddenly Akara felt a powerful wave of tiredness course through her body and she collapsed before she could register anything. She laid there motionless for awhile, alive still, but she didn't move externally but on internally was a different story.
(A/N: just a heads up, the italics are Akara and the bold is Maiko)
I slowly opened my eyes and saw that I was floating in a blurry dark void. The more I opened my eyes, the clearer things got. And after a moment, my vision had cleared and I noticed I was in my wolf form, only I was the size of a timber wolf. I hadn't been in this size for a long time, actually now that I think about it; I forgot I could shift to this size.
"Wow, you figure I'd remember that" I chuckled to myself; I heard my laugh echo into the void until it disappeared. I turned myself around so that I was floating on my feet instead of my back.
"Welcome to my home Akara" I heard Maiko say. I looked around the void and for a moment I didn't see her, but then she had suddenly appeared three feet in front of me. I gasped, she looked like Tsuki no Kami, but the only difference was that her eyes were a mixture of gold and brown. She had a somewhat regal stance in my opinion, but I doubt she would care if I said anything about it.
"So is this where you live, I figured a spirit like you would be living in some big forest or something like that" I said in a somewhat sarcastic tone as my tail swayed with my words. Maiko bared her fangs in a wolfish grin.
"I did at one point in time, but now I live in your zanpakuto, I must say, Tsuki no Okami is very polite" Maiko said as she sat on her snowy white haunches. I glared at her,
"What did you do to him, I haven't heard from him since his voice faded out a while ago" I demanded. I was scared and infuriated, if she had done something to him, things would soon turn very ugly. She simply raised her right paw and carelessly waved towards me.
"Oh he's fine, I just sealed him away for awhile is all, just like I did with all the other Kurokiba's Zanpakutos from the past" Maiko said with a knowing tone. I growled at her as my fur rose in anger. Maiko gave me a questioning look before laughing.
"Now Akara, there's no need to be so violent, I didn't kill him" she said with a possibly honest tone. But I didn't care, she was still here, and I knew why, and sadly I've already fallen for the first stage.
" Well, I don't know about you, but this black void is starting to depress me, how about a change of scenery" and the words change of scenery, I saw the black void change into a snow covered mountainous area with a full moon and gentle snow gently falling.
"Not bad, I like what you did with the snow" I said as off-handed compliment. Maiko shrugged her shoulders,
"I've always wanted to fight on a snowy mountain" then she stood up and charged at me, but as I took a stance to fight, she bounded up and towards a close snow covered ledge about fifty, or sixty feet high up. I guess it's time for stage two.
"I assume your parents told you about what happens after we fight" she said expectantly and I nodded,
"I know, but I don't wanna talk anymore, let's just get this over with" I said before crouching into a pouncing stance. Maiko said nothing but she mimicked my movements. We stood still for what seemed like hours, and then she disappeared. I glared and quickly scanned all around my peripheral vision, suddenly the smell of earth and forest trees wafted through my nose and I quickly leapt out of the way, jumping right. Maiko suddenly stood where I just left and smirked at me.
"You're quicker than I thought you'd be, though I guess I shouldn't be surprised seeing as you have some of my attributes" Maiko said in teasing and probably taunting. I know what she said was right, every Kurokiba who inherits Maiko gets something from her, and I'm starting to think I got her sense of surrounding. This was why I was able to dodge her attack so easily. I growled at her and snapped my teeth before quickly disappearing and bounding to the top ledge of the snowy cliff top. Suddenly something came to mind and I smiled to myself before calling out,
"Hey, you wanna play a game" and before she answered Maiko appeared right beside me.
"I've always liked games, what did you have in mind" I saw her snow white tail sway with interest, and this was good on my part. So I suggested a game that, though I hate to admit it, Yoruichi had showed me when we were children.
"How about a game of tag, it's a pretty simple game" I said and Maiko laughed,
"I'm not stupid, I know what tag is and sure why not, though I must warn you, I've never lost" I shook my body to get the layer of snow off my back.
"That's fine with me, but how about we make it interesting, since we are supposed to fight, how about instead tagging each other" but I was interrupted. How rude I thought as Maiko began to talk
"I think instead of tagging how about a free hit" she suggested, though it wasn't what I had in mind, I guess it would work. But since my back leg isn't completely healed I'll be slower, so I have to be more vigilant. I scanned around the area and looked for the closest safe point, but being up here made it rather difficult to see details. I saw a small forest on the far end, but since I have a black coat, blending in would be very hard. Suddenly I had formed a small plan in my head, it was risky, but it could work.
"Fine by me. . . . Tag, your it" then I bounded off the cliff and ran in a random direction. I checked over my shoulder a few times, but Maiko wasn't there. I wasn't surprised, I was in her world, and she probably knew where I was going; but to be honest I didn't know where I was going, so maybe I could use it to my advantage. Suddenly I felt a heavy force hit my right side. And since I as off guard it took most of my wind away and caused me to tumble into the ground. I felt the world spin for a moment before I shook my head to clear the dizziness. I looked at my side and saw a white paw on my ribcage. I looked up and saw Maiko looking down at me with a smug look,
"Tag, your it" she said as her claws bit into my side. I didn't wince but I felt a little blood trickle down my side.
"Perfect" I thought before attacking her and bringing her down, I started to swipe my claws in all directions of her body, luckily I hit her front legs a majority of the time. But then I felt her bite my left paw. The pressure was intense, and I yelped before she twisted herself up and rose to her hind paws before beginning to spin me around by my paw and throwing me into the direction of a snow covered boulder.
"Well that failed" I muttered to myself as I embraced myself for the impact, but instead I saw Maiko jump up in front of the boulder and kicked me with her back paws, claws extended. I gasped as my chest was kicked, and once again I was sent flying, but in another direction. The only thing I could hear at the moment was the cold wind blasting through my ears, but it quickly stopped as I crashed into a snow covered tree. The impact caused a majority of the snow on the tree to fall on me, and cover a majority of my body, except my tail and head and my back left leg.
" that was a pretty brave thing to do, I haven't seen anyone try a stun like that since two generations ago, when that foolish Kurokiba man tried to bite my neck and throw me" Maiko said as she looked down to her bloody front legs. I registered what she said and immediately knew she was talking about my great grandfather Táchira Kurokiba. I never met him obviously, but my grandfather told me he was a very brave man, but unfortunately he died during his rampage.
"I never liked tag that much anyway" I said before standing up and shaking all the snow off. Maiko laughed,
"Very well then, we fight then" then she came at me.
"Yoruichi-sama" Soifon said quietly as Hiroka finished up dressing up most of Soifon's external injuries. Yoruichi looked down towards her and smiled the best she could,
"What is it little bee" Yoruichi asked kindly, Soifon gave her a hint of a smile,
"I'm . . . . . sorry" then she dozed off. Yoruichi immediately began to panic,
"Soi. . .Little Bee . . . come on don't leave me! Wake up" she said hastily, but Soifon didn't wake up. Hiroka put a hand on her shoulder,
"Calm down, she just sleeping, she'll wake up sooner or later, now listen, we can't stay here for too long, but I know a place where you can take the Captain and leave" Hiroka said as she stood up and began walking to the door.
To Yoruichi that sounded good, bad and suspicious. Good, because it meant that her mission was complete and she could leave with the potential love of her life, bad, because Akara was somewhere around the colossal stronghold looking for soi, and it was suspicious because Yoruichi had just met Hiroka in enemy territory.
Now under normal circumstances, Yoruichi would just flat out refuse and try to find another alternative, but since she had an injured Captain, a missing noble, and she absolutely no idea where she was. She was in undetected danger, and her options were either to stay and hopefully by chance wait for Akara to find them without getting caught, or trust Hiroka.
"This is difficult, but I need to get Soifon home as soon as possible and have Unohana look at her" Yoruichi thought to herself. So many things ran through her mind, but the choice was painfully obvious. And even though it went against her better judgment, Yoruichi decided to follow Hiroka, but she was going to keep her guard up.
"Fine, I'll follow you, just let me get Soifon" Yoruichi said as she gently scooped up Soifon and as carefully as possible, Yoruichi placed Soifon onto her back and got a good grip on Soifon's legs.
"Ready" Hiroka asked, and Yoruichi simply nodded, before Hiroka quietly opened the door and slipped out with Yoruichi close behind. But as soon as they walked out they heard a loud terrible howl and a massive wave of Reiatsu rush through the entire area.
"Akara" Yoruichi whispered aloud, she had hardly recognized the Reiatsu, but some of it belonged to her. The rest was unrecognizable, but it was powerful. The howling stopped for a moment, but then it seemed to getting closer.
"We have to move" Yoruichi said and Hiroka nodded in agreement,
"Come this way, it leads to a whole other level of this place, it'll give some distance also" Hiroka said before running ahead of Yoruichi to lead the way. Yoruichi lingered for a bit, she wanted to see Akara, but at the moment she seemed like she was in a dangerous state, and with Soifon the way she was, Yoruichi couldn't risk anything so she ran with Hiroka and they disappeared.
Though I hate to admit it, Akara did put up a good fight. She had great tactics though they failed her in the end; it almost makes me sad that I took over her body. . . . Almost, I sniffed the air and looked down a certain hallway; I could smell that wretched Shihouin and Akara's crush, Soifon, though I know Akara's wasting her time, I've seen the way Soifon has looked at that stupid cat at times. She's only going to get her heart broken, but I think I can fix that. I felt a wicked grin crawl across my white muzzle, the only thing I have to do is find the cat and the bee will be there.
Sniffing the air again, I caught Shihouin's scent. So to let her know I was coming I howled as loudly as possible and released a special reiatsu that allows me to pinpoint my potential prey's location. And luckily for me, my new target is only two floors away. So I howled again to confirm her location, then I ran towards them.
By the time Yoruichi and Hiroka had stopped running they had come across a huge double doored entrance. It seemed to be made of metal, though the handles were wood. It was an unusual combo to Yoruichi but since she didn't run the place, her opinions were best kept to herself.
"Ok, once you go through here, there's a secret hall that leads to the courtyard and you can escape from there" Hiroka said as she approached the massive door. But instead of going for the large handle, she went for the center of the right door, and an interesting thing happened. Apparently there was a door within the door, and once Hiroka opened it, she gestured Yoruichi to follow her in. So with some hesitation, Yoruichi followed Hiroka through the door. Immediately she was engulfed in darkness, a bit nervous, Yoruichi held onto Soi's legs a little bit more firmly.
"Hiroka, where are you" Yoruichi whispered loudly, but strangely she didn't answer. Instead freaking out, Yoruichi became silent and listened to her surroundings; the only thing she could hear was . . . nothing. She couldn't hear Soifon breath anymore. Wait a minute, Soifon wasn't breathing.
"Oh no" Yoruichi said in a panic as she pulled Soifon off her back and gently onto the ground. But before she could do anything, out of nowhere the room suddenly flooded with bright lights. Yoruichi looked around and saw that she was in something like a medieval royal courtroom.
There were banners hanging above her and all around the ceiling and there was a long purple carpet that led all the way to where a few thrones sat. In the two smaller thrones on the left sat a blue haired man, who Yoruichi immediately recognized from the emergency Captain's meeting. And at the moment she was smirking at her. And on the right sat Hiroka; who also was smirking at Yoruichi and in the largest throne sat a black hooded figure. She couldn't tell if the figure was male or female, but she knew one thing for certain. She had been duped, and she was stupid enough to fall for it.
But something else Yoruichi noticed immediately caught her eye. Beside the main throne next to Hiroka sat another small throne, but it was empty.
"Welcome, Shihouin, I hope your escort treated you well" Kuto said and Yoruichi glared and sent her gaze to Hiroka.
"I suppose she did, I hope she doesn't want a tip, cause she aint getting one" Yoruichi said as cruelly as possible.
"That's fine, my payment will be here soon" Hiroka said knowingly.
"Who sits next to you Hiroka" Yoruichi asked. Hiroka just started laughing and it kinda creeped Yoruichi out.
"Actually, the person who sits here has been on your back" Hiroka deadpanned as she pointed to the supposedly unconscious Soifon. Yoruichi quickly followed her gaze to "Soifon" who was still lying on her back with her eyes closed.
"S-Soi" Yoruichi asked hesitantly but all she heard from the body was a cruel laugh,
"What do you need Yoruichi-sama" the voice that sounded nothing like Yoruichi's little bee said as she opened her eyes and sat up. Instead of grey the Soifon imposter's eyes were a vibrant green. And her hair began to change from blue black to lime green.
"Well done Jubei, you played your roll perfectly" the hooded figure said in a deep alto voice. This let Yoruichi confirm the figure was male.
"Where is she?" Yoruichi demanded,
"Where is Soifon!" Yoruichi shrieked as she activated her Shunko, Jubei quickly disappeared to her throne. The hooded man raised his hand to Yoruichi,
"Calm yourself Shihouin, the Second Division Captain is here" Yoruichi looked around but saw nothing. Suddenly something warm dripped onto Yoruichi's face. She wiped it off and she froze with shock, it was blood. Almost afraid to look up, Yoruichi followed where the blood came from and as soon as her eyes found the source of the blood, she almost screamed.
Hanging like a bloody chandelier was the real Soifon. She had open cuts all over her body, her once creamy skin was now a covered in purple bruises and pink welts. She had chains on her wrists ankles and her neck and they seemed to be boring into her skin. Yoruichi couldn't do anything else but run towards the closet wall and bound off the wall towards the chained up woman. Once she was close enough, Yoruichi took out one of the kunai knifes she had brought with her and cut all the chains. Once she was free, Yoruichi grabbed Soifon and held her closely as they fell to the ground. Landing gracefully on her feet Yoruichi checked for a pulse, thankfully Soifon still had hers, but it was very low. This meant she was in danger of losing it.
"Soifon" Yoruichi whispered to her ragged breathing ex-subordinate. Soifon coughed harshly before she wearily opened her eyes. They were bloodshot but Yoruichi could see the surprise and relief.
"Y-Yoruichi" Soifon sighed quietly as she raised a bloody hand and placed it on top of Yoruichi's.
"You're here" she said smiling weakly before it shifted to fear.
"You have to leave Yoruichi, you and Akara are in danger" Soifon said before gasping for air. Yoruichi shook her head,
"We came all this way to find you and take you home and you're telling me to leave, that's very mean little bee" Yoruichi teased, though she had considered the danger she had put herself in.
"Where's Akara" Soifon asked tiredly. But all Yoruichi could do was shrug,
"To be honest, I have no clue" then suddenly the door broke open and a white wolf walked through with blood dripping down her paws and teeth.
"I found you Shihouin"
Captain-Kitty: finally, man I had a hard time with this chapter
Yoruichi: nicely done though
Soifon: I suppose
Captain-Kitty: as I said when the chapter started, I would tell you about an old tradition of mine
Yoruichi: speak woman!
Captain-Kitty: every time I write a story over 7 chapters I make a deal with the reviewers, and since this story is over 7 I think the time is right.
Soifon: go on
Captain-kitty: whenever I get a story that is almost guaranteed to have over 100 reviews , the 100th reviewer, who is registered to fanfiction, can either play a part in this story, have an important role in my next story, or give me one their great ideas for a story.
Yoruichi: sounds fun
Captain-Kitty: so you've heard it from me, if you're my lucky 100th reviewer you can pick from one of the options
Soifon: please review
Yoruichi: and we'll see next time