Almost forgot to update this week! Sorry, my computer's been acting up, but, without further ado, here's chapter 8. -Airumel
-Chapter 8-
Grimmjow and Zezuri managed to clear out of the Menos Forest in a few hours. Zezuri looked back occasionally, but Ashido was not following them, which was for the best. They were beginning to cross the dunes when Grimmjow's wound from Ashido took a turn for the worse.
"Damn..." he grunted, his shoulder oozing blood. Ashido's blade had stabbed him all the way through.
Zezuri realized the Espada's pain, although she would rather leave him there to die, she couldn't stand him to suffer. She wasn't the kind of person to leave someone wounded, so she decided to help him out. After all, without him she would die out here as well.
"Let me see, this might sting a little," she said offering to heal him.
"I don't need any damn help," Grimmjow growled.
"So you'd rather just die out here?" Zezuri folded her arms.
Grimmjow knew she had a point, he just hated needing help from his captive. He looked at her annoyed, which she took as an agreement and began to heal him. As soon as it ended, she began to get light headed.
"Hey what's the matter?" Grimmjow asked as the girl held her head in pain.
"N-nothing... I just..." before she could finish her sentence, she fell into the sand.
The Espada sighed and rolled his eyes as he lifted the fainted girl, and placed her over his shoulder. He hoped he didn't have to do this the entire way.
Airi sputtered and coughed as the wave receded. It was alarming how much more realistic this dream of hers was getting.
A sword clattered on the stones by her head.
The black-haired girl dropped to her knees and began to sob again.
Quickly, Airi grabbed the sword and stared at it. It was identical to the one she had summoned earlier. She looked from the sword's pulsing blue-green surface to the crying girl.
More sobbing came from the girl, but she didn't look up.
"Are you... the one who was calling me?" Airi asked hesitantly, remembering the thundering voice that she'd heard in prior dreams.
The girl stopped crying, "In a way," she looked at Airi hopefully, "We called you to warn you of this."
"We?" asked Airi, "Warn me?"
The girl nodded, "We are the spirit of the sword you hold and your desire for power."
Okay, thought Airi, this was getting somewhere now, as she hoped that the girl before her wouldn't suddenly turn violent again. The sea of stars around them seemed calm for the moment. "What was the warning?"
"It is too late."
"What?"
"Your humanity has been lost."
"I don't understand."
"Can you not feel it? The emptiness, the sorrow, the agony?"
The waves began to increase in size.
Airi trembled and gripped the sword tighter, "Yeah, my life has been rather dismal lately."
"No. Look deeper. Your soul has been altered."
So much for getting somewhere.
A terrified look crossed the girl's face, "It's coming!"
"What is?"
The smile crept across the girl's face, "More power."
Another wave crashed down on the island.
Zezuri's eyes fluttered open and then grew wide as she found herself on the espada's shoulder. But it was not being carried that caused a problem, it was the fact that they were crossing a field filled with hollow bones and corpses. Grimmjow decided to adjust his shoulder, and shifted the girl around roughly, placing his hands on her buttocks.
"Shame on you!" she squeaked.
"What the hell!" he exclaimed, not realizing she was awake. He then proceeded to drop her on the ground.
"You think you can take advantage of me, you bully!" Zezuri shouted.
"Shut up! I don't know what yer talkin' about!" he yelled back, wishing she would of stayed asleep. "Get up, we're almost there," he turned away and continued to walk.
Zezuri slowly rose and looked around the desolate place.
"W-where are we going?" she asked, getting creeped out as she caught up to him.
"You'll see. It's over this hill," he said.
"Why are you doing this?" she finally asked.
"I'll tell you when we get there," sighed Grimmjow, becoming annoyed again.
As they reached the peak of the hill, Zezuri became disappointed as it was just another cave.
"Another... cave? This was your big secret?" she groaned.
"Whatever, get movin'," he nudged her.
They entered the small cave which had decent lighting from the moon. Grimmjow sat, trying to relax but was surprised when the brunette sat next to him.
"So why did you kidnap me from Aizen? Who already kidnapped me... it's like a double kidnap!" she exclaimed.
"Don't get comfortable, I'm just using you against Aizen. I know what he wants from you so I decided to to get to you first and turn on him," while explaining he noticed he noticed her had upset the girl.
"You're just using me too? It's the only reason why I'm here, same with Airi. I hate all of you..." she began to sob.
"Whatever... crying won't change anything," he said rudely, "Besides there is a barrier around this place that weakens Shinigami powers."
"I don't feel anything..." Zezuri said, wiping her tears away.
"Except you. Aizen will come here for you and we will destroy him, then I'll be free."
"What about Airi and I? If I do this for you then you've got to take us home!" she tried to negotiate.
"Are you stupid? You can't go home, you're dead," Grimmjow said curtly.
"Oh yeah..." Zezuri had nearly forgotten about that, which the realization before made her powers erupt. "Then I don't know where would we go..."
The two sat in silence for a while before Grimmjow nodded off for a nap. Zezuri listened to him breathe quietly, making her drowsy as well. She thought he was strange for not staying awake to make sure she didn't try and run, but there was little point in trying anything anymore. She too began to drift into sleep, leaning against the cold stone wall of the cave.
The room was dark. The only sound that could be heard above the whirrs and hums from various machines was the light breathing of the pink-haired Espada as he slept with his head down on a desk.
"STAAAARRKKK!" Lilynette called peering into the room.
The Eighth Espada didn't awaken.
"Guess he's not in here," muttered the fraccion, gloomily. "Huh, what's that?" she strolled in casually, not paying attention to the sleeping Espada.
The lifeless form of Airi lay strapped to a table; no one had even done her the courtesy of wiping up the blood from the many minor cuts she'd gained while fighting earlier.
Lilynette looked her over with a concerned expression on her face.
Szayel stirred suddenly.
In a flash the First Espada's fraccion was gone.
"Hello?" called Szayel, he could have sworn someone was there. When he didn't get a reply, he looked over at his experiment. Nothing seemed out of place, so he put his worries out of his mind.
Ulquiorra flashed over miles of white sands urgently. Though his face betrayed no emotion other than the usual indifference, he was not happy about his current mission.
Upon listening to Gin's depiction of Grimmjow's departure, Aizen had dispatched the Fourth Espada to retrieve the human girl and deal with the rouge Espada. It was clear to all that this was an act of rebellion, but such acts were normal in Hueco Mundo.
In a matter of minutes after leaving Las Noches, the green-eyed Espada came to a stop. "Grimmjow," he spoke in his monotone.
The sixth espada jumped up from where he was seated and whirled around. He hadn't sensed Ulquiorra coming and the fact that he'd just appeared behind him like that unnerved him even more.
"You must return the girl to Las Noches. Aizen-sama is very displeased; I am here to retrieve the girl and depending on your choice, destroy you or retrieve you as well."
Grimmjow wasn't one to give up without a fight, but with his plans backfiring he had no moves left. Zezuri had also woken up from the commotion and was surprised to see the man that had thrown her out personally, had come to return her to Las Noches. "That bastard..." Grimmjow growled trying to think of an opening of attack. But Ulquiorra was already aware of his thoughts as he decided to remind the 6th espada of his place.
"Shall I have to reprimand you with force? Or shall I annihilate you here and now?" the dark man said, appearing right in front of Grimmjow demonstrating his power.
Grimmjow abruptly fell to one knee. Somehow Ulquiorra had caused internal damage to the blue haired espada with a move that Zezuri could not even see. "Stop! I'll go with you; I'll do whatever you want!" Zezuri did not want to see another gruesome battle occur.
"I don't understand, you should want this trash dead..." Ulquiorra gazed at the brunette, his face still blank and expressionless, despite the curiosity behind his voice.
"I'm not like you," she retorted, helping Grimmjow to his feet.
Ulquiorra didn't respond but began to lead the way out of the cave, towards Las Noches.
They returned to the large entrance, the very entrance Zezuri had hoped she would never see again. She was still letting Grimmjow lean on her since Ulquiorra never gave them a chance to stop and rest, but the 6th espada was getting quite heavy.
Ulquiorra brought them back to the hall where Aizen held his meetings, and low and behold, the evil man himself was there waiting.
"I'm glad you were able to return to us safely," Aizen spoke softly. "Please have a seat, I'm sure the 'extra' weight you are caring has made you tired," he referenced to Grimmjow.
Zezuri helped Grimmjow to a chair as she seated herself as well, "Where is Airi?" she asked, her voice shaking.
"She... She is with Szayel at the moment. Do not worry, she will be alright in due time. Of course much has changed since you've last seen her."
Zezuri became very worried. What did he mean by change? "What do you want me for? Why did you throw me out?" she asked, with dozens of other questions reeling in her mind.
"It should be clear that we threw you out because there was nothing more we could do to help you. But that Shinigami was also of great use, do not worry though, we will not go after him. I am surprised he has survived in the Menos Forest that long. I'm sure the hollows will eventually do their job of eradicating him."
Zezuri stood up in a rage, "You monster!" but Grimmjow quickly grabbed her wrist to stop her from attacking Aizen. "Don't be an idiot..." he whispered, looking at the 4th Espada who was standing by the doors.
Zezuri turned and looked at the espada and then calmed down, coming to her senses.
"You must be tired. You may go bathe and rest now. Your friend should be back in you soon. Unless something happens of course," Aizen waved his hand as Ulquiorra opened the doors.
Grimmjow and Zezuri returned to the room she used to sleep in, and as Aizen said, Airi was not there. The wounded espada slumped to the ground again in pain. Zezuri turned and went to him, she didn't think she would have to heal him twice.
"I look so damn weak..." he sighed as Zezuri placed her hands on his muscular chest, her hands glowing with power. She didn't know how to respond even though she know what being weak was like all the time. "I can't believe I was such a fool. I should've known he would send that ghastly bastard instead of showing up himself," he continued to remorse.
"To think if I wasn't here, you could be dead," she said as she finished healing, "It's like I'm your babysitter now," she quickly stopped chuckling when she noticed Grimmjow did not find her very funny.
He growled and turned his back, he needed time to recover from his failed plans. His pride was crushed, ego bruised and he still couldn't figure out why he cared so much for the human girl who currently stared at his back.
Zezuri at that moment was trying to puzzle out her own emotions. Why did this blue haired man want revenge at his leader, and was that his only intention when he kidnapped her? And what about Airi? Where was she? Her thoughts drifted as her eyelids shut. The brunette slumped forward onto Grimmjow's back.
"Hey! Watch it!" he scowled over his shoulder, but when Zezuri made no response, his expression changed. "What am I going to do with you?" he sighed, lifting the sleeping girl up and placing her on a bed. He looked at her for a moment, shook his head, and returned to his seat in the doorway.
Rather short chapter, my apologies... but do you all like them shorter? Or do you like the super-long chapters? Also, any general questions/comments/reviews? Thanks for reading! -Airumel