For the first few weeks, Grimmjow was very busy with all that paperwork Feralina had mentioned. Feralina was busy too, making iron work and also doing some jewelry commissions, so Ichigo took the time to just settle in.
He was stunned to see how simply the elves lived. Despite Grimmjow's comment about the lack of silver, he'd still thought nobles would be… different from commoners. And they were, a bit, but not by much. The clothes they wore were worn and well mended, except for the oldest, which were elven silk and preserved with magic to keep them beautiful and fresh. Feralina owned several pieces of fine jewelry, but every single one was a family heirloom with a story attached. The plates they ate off of were intricately carved wood, and the food was offered freely, but simply made. Ichigo had heard that nobles often indulged in things like candies and out of season fruits, but he saw none of that here. Instead, they ate stews, soups and roasts that would not have been out of place in his father's cottage, with plenty of tubers, bread, goat cheese and butter. There was more game meat than he was used to, perhaps, but it wasn't all venison and elk. Ichigo was pretty sure a few squirrels had found their way into the pot.
Not that Grimmjow and Feralina didn't have any nice things. The old clothing, jewelry and fine china all hinted at better days. But every single piece dated from before the Dark King, and some of it was so old it was mind-numbing. He'd asked Feralina about a pearl and diamond necklace she'd been wearing, and had been told it dated back to her great grandmother and was perhaps ten thousand years old. After that, he'd stopped asking. The reminders of elven age were a bit difficult to take.
For those first two weeks, the servants kept Ichigo busy helping to look after the animals. The goats needed milking, and he was fairly good at it. He also knew how to make cheese, and was put to doing that as well. Then Grimmjow finished whatever he was doing and took notice of him again.
"Finally! Fucking finally!" Ichigo looked up from the nanny goat he was milking with a blink as something loud and blue stormed out of the house. "I am ready t' do some real work! Where's Ichigo?" Grimmjow demanded, looking around the courtyard.
"Uh, over here!" Ichigo stopped milking the goat and rescued the pail of milk before she would have stepped in it. He was already getting familiar with the goats, and that was an old trick. "What's going on?" Grimmjow was wearing padded armor, quite unlike his usual white armor, and his arms were full of more of the padding. Grimmjow waited until Ichigo had poured the milk into the churn, then handed him the armor.
"It's your first lesson in real fightin'." Ichigo accepted the armor with a glad smile. He'd been looking forward to this for ages! But he frowned as he saw the rattan wands Grimmjow was carrying. They were made out of flexible reeds, gathered from the swamps. The elf caught his glance and grinned. "You think I'd let you play with a real sword? Hah! You saw that scar on my left arm? I got that the first time my trainer gave me a real weapon."
"I'm sure Feralina would say that's because you're an idiot." Ichigo commented, but accepted the rattan wand. Grimmjow might be right, he was a complete novice after all.
"Don't start channeling her, I don't think I could take it. C'mon, this way." Grimmjow took him outside of the wall, to an area with a bunch of straw targets. Ichigo watched as a few of Grimmjow's guards fired arrows into the targets. Grimm and Fera didn't have a lot of armed retainers, just enough to hold the manor if bandits dared attack. "Okay, get dressed." Grimmjow watched a moment as Ichigo tried to figure out all the belts, then huffed a laugh. "Here, let me help ya." Things went a lot faster then, although Ichigo had to suppress a few twinges as Grimmjow's hands brushed against him in interesting ways. It was definitely not the time or place for that. "Okay, let me show you the basic moves."
The next several hours were exhausting, but also very satisfying. Ichigo knew he had a great deal of native talent, because Grimmjow told him so. The elf also cursed him for plenty of mistakes and encouraged him to speed things up. At first his speed was blinding, but as the lesson wore on Ichigo found himself tiring and slowing. By the time Grimmjow called it quits he was definitely ready for a break.
"Not a bad start. You're going to go far, kid." He said with pleasure and Ichigo grinned, wiping sweat off his face. "Here, have a drink." Grimmjow passed him a canteen of water and Ichigo drank gratefully, then dumped some of it over his face, washing off the dust. Grimmjow took back the canteen and Ichigo couldn't resist needling him as he took a drink.
"So it's okay if we swap spit, but not me and Feralina?" He jibed, and Grimmjow snorted before recapping the canteen and tossing it onto the ground.
"She's my sister and you're not married. You're not s'posed t' be swappin' spit until you're married, not that anyone's likely to want her ugly face." Grimmjow said and then a window slammed open above them.
"I heard that, you bastard!" A shoe came flying out and Grimmjow dodged it easily.
"Ears like a bat. Hey, bitch! You done the jewelry yet?" Grimmjow yelled up at Feralina, who howled back. Ichigo winced, wanting to cover his ears at the air splitting tone. Admittedly, it was a long distance to yell over, but Feralina really did sound like a hyena in heat when she wanted to.
"No, you stupid bastard, it takes as long as it takes! And I'm going to kick your ass!" The window was shut so hard it rattled and Grimmjow shook his head in mock despair.
"No damn manners. Where did I go wrong?" He asked rhetorically. "Mamma would die of shame if she was here t' see all this. C'mon, let's go put this all away before her highness shows up. Next, we're gonna work on your spirit talents." Ichigo perked up at that. He had definitely gotten used to the retaining collar and was ready to learn how to tame his spirit powers.
Unfortunately, Feralina beat them to it. She was outside the door, dressed in white armor very similar to Grimmjow's and holding a sword. She smirked at them both before fixing her attention on her brother.
"I think he should see what he's working towards, don' t you brother?" She said and Ichigo glanced at Grimmjow. The elf was scowling and looking at her armor.
"I'm not suited up. That's pretty damn unfair." He said, irritated, and Feralina shrugged.
"Life ain't fair, now is it? C'mon, let's give him a show." She urged him and Grimmjow thought about it for a moment before glancing at him. Ichigo was intensely curious and knew his expression was showing it. He'd seen Grimmjow fight once, and he'd been blindingly fast until the snake had gotten the better of him. What could he do against Feralina?
"Oh, alright. Ichigo, go stand over there somewhere." Grimmjow motioned to the wall and Ichigo nodded, finding an out of the way place to watch. "I assume we're going all out?"
"Of course! Roar, Leona!" Ichigo blinked as he watched Feralina… change. Her hair shortened and turned ragged, flowing out behind her head like the mane of a lion. Little green marks appeared beside her eyes and when she grinned, she had fangs like a lupine's. Her ears were still pointed, but now they were furred and seemed to be flexible like a cat's.
"Grind, Pantera!" Ichigo's attention was snatched to Grimmjow, and he watched as the elf lord underwent a similar change. The only difference was that where her hair shortened, his lengthened. Had Grimmjow been like this when he was fighting the snake? Ichigo tried to remember and recalled that yes, he'd had long hair at first. But that had vanished when the snake had bit him over his heart.
The fight that followed was absolutely vicious and blurred the line between practice and homicide. Ichigo was genuinely worried that they would hurt each other, particularly Feralina hurting Grimmjow. His padded armor did very little to stop her strikes and the man had to dodge a lot more often than she did. But finally the end came when he trapped her weapon with a canny move, and knocked it out of her hand. She swore and tried to lunge for it but Grimmjow was onto her back, slamming Feralina into the ground.
"Who's your brother?" Grimmjow asked with a grin as she growled and squirmed, trying to throw him off. "Ahahaha, be a good girl Fera." He said tauntingly as he gripped her hair with one hand, holding her easily in place. "Who's your brother?"
"You are! Now geddoff!" Feralina squirmed again and Ichigo blinked as he felt her spirit power suddenly fade. The changes to her body faded with it and Grimmjow let her go, jumping to his feet. "Bastard, that hurt!"
"That hurt? Look what you did to me!" Grimmjow complained, fingering a cut on his side. "This fucking armor ain't worth shit 'gainst a real sword!" His spirit power also faded and Grimmjow was back to normal. Ichigo was disappointed with the change. Grimmjow looked so feral and dangerous in his second form. "So what d' you think, Ichigo?"
"I think you're the most handsome thing I've ever seen." The words popped out without any thought, and Ichigo blushed madly as the two elves both looked at him, stunned. Grimmjow coughed and rubbed the back of his neck and Feralina burst into giggles.
"Awkward." Grimmjow muttered as Feralina jumped to her feet and slapped him on the side, making him gasp in pain. "Watch it, bitch!"
"Ichigo has a crush! How cute! Too bad you have to wait two years, eh?" Feralina said with a grin as Grimmjow gave her a scorching look.
"Two years is nothing." He said grumpily and Feralina just grinned. "Well, it's not!"
"Two years can pass like an eternity. You know that, brother. Well, I better get back to my jewelry. Smell you later, Grimm!" Feralina went back inside the gate cheerfully, her bloodlust at least temporarily sated. Grimmjow watched her go and shook his head, turning back to Ichigo.
"Anyway, talent lesson. Let's put this crap away and find a nice, quiet place to hang out." He ordered and Ichigo nodded, following him. Grimmjow showed him the armory and how to clean the armor before putting it away. There was a stand for the rattan wands, so that was simple enough.
The quiet place to practice turned out to be on the roof. Grimmjow sat down cross legged, placing his sword on his lap. Ichigo took his place across from him and watched as the elf ran a hand down the blade of his weapon.
"When you have a real sword, an elf sword, you can talk to 'em like this." Grimmjow said seriously and Ichigo blinked, looking at the sword. It was incredibly finely made and still had the little turquoise beads that had so intrigued him when he was five.
"I'll be getting an elf sword?" He asked. That seemed a little odd. Grimmjow shrugged.
"Maybe I shoulda called it a spirit sword. Humans used t' have 'em too, made 'em the exact same way. Only reason they don't now is the Dark King." Ichigo shivered a little at the reminder. "But spirit swords can hide what they are really well, if they need to. Nothin' t' worry about. Now, I'm gonna start teachin' you how t' hide your talent. It's gonna be hard for you t' learn in that collar, so we're gonna practice this every day." Grimmjow's accent was thick again, and Ichigo was starting to think stress was what triggered the change. He wondered what was stressful about this, though. "Now, close your eyes."
What followed was very like a meditation lesson. Ichigo had never been good at meditation, but he'd never tried very hard to master it. Now he was properly motivated and found that if he was calm and peaceful, he could sense the rising and falling of his own spiritual power. It seemed to move with every inhale and exhale, and the color of it was a warm gold. His nose twitched as he smelled cinnamon and tasted something sweet that he tentatively identified as maple syrup. He dreamily followed Grimmjow's instructions, lowering the power until it was almost nothing. Then he yelped in pain as something jabbed him.
"Grimmjow!" Ichigo clutched his side, staring at the elf who had just poked him gently with the tip of his sword. "What was that about?" He asked, greatly offended, and Grimmjow laughed.
"Sorry Ichigo, but y' need to be able to do this so well that getting' poked like that don't pull you out. 'Cause the next step is t' do this without meditatin'." Ichigo nodded, still a bit upset at the poking. The sword was sharp and while it was only a nick, it hurt. "If you can't do that, you'll never be able t' take that collar off."
"Okay, but can you slap me or something? I don't need to get sliced up here." Ichigo protested and Grimmjow shrugged.
"If you like bruises better, sure." Ichigo glowered at the elf before closing his eyes and trying to meditate again. He was determined to go so deep that Grimmjow would never be able to disturb him.
His life depended on it.
Several months later.
"I see it but I don't believe it." Grimmjow said admiringly as Ichigo held a ball of fire in his hand. It danced above his skin, warming him yet not burning. "That's just damned impressive, Ichigo."
"Because I'm wearing the collar?" Ichigo asked. It was always a bit of a strain, working around the retaining collar. Grimmjow nodded.
"Yer stiff with talent. Yer pappy was right to worry about that." Grimmjow made a face. "And I'm damned happy we're not at court. Even with that collar, someone might get a whiff and start askin' questions." Ichigo shivered at the thought and dispelled his ball of fire. "Speakin' of which, try t' lower your spirit power again." Ichigo nodded but kept his eyes open, trying to evoke the meditative state without dropping into a trance. Grimmjow eyed him critically and shook his head. "Still a long way to go on that one. It's getting' better though. You ready for a bit of lunch?"
"Yes, definitely." Ichigo hadn't really been aware of it while he was practicing, but he was starving. Grimmjow laughed and opened the wooden box he'd brought with him. Ichigo blinked in surprise as he extracted a loaf of bread, several hard boiled eggs and some fresh tomatoes and cucumbers from the garden. "That's a random lunch." He observed. It looked like Grimmjow had just grabbed whatever was on the counter and stuffed it in. The elf shrugged.
"I was in a hurry. One thing t' remember about usin' talent is, it drains your body. You gotta eat, and eat a lot when you're using spirit talent all the time." Ichigo nodded, biting into a tomato. It was like eating a fruit, it was so delicious and flavorful. Grimmjow claimed the second tomato, rolling it in his hands for a moment before sinking his teeth into the succulent vegetable. "Mmm. I think we're gonna have a good harvest this year, if'n we don't get a bad hailstorm or somethin'."
"Don't say that, you'll jinx it." Ichigo said immediately, making the elf lord laugh. "Grimmjow, I was wondering. Um, if you don't mind me asking." He said hesitantly. This might be a painful question, but he'd been wondering for a while. "Are you out of favor with the Dark King?" Grimmjow seemed to be too powerful to be exiled to this tiny, barren part of the Kingdom. The elf lord frowned then sighed.
"Oh yes. My family ain't well liked, never have been, and the Dark King don't like us neither. I'm just about the strongest elven ranger t' make it." Grimmjow didn't sound proud of that, though. He sounded angry. "I shoulda died, but I broke my arm a week before the Dark King came to the forest, so I was laid up when my pappy and the others went out t' try an' stop him. And failed." Ichigo stared. This was the first he'd heard of this.
"Grimmjow, what happened?" He asked softly. He wanted to understand. Grimmjow took a deep breath, clearly steadying himself.
"We don't usually tell this story t' humans. It makes us look weak, an' we have t' be lords here whether we like it or not. So better not t' look weak. But you ever wondered why we left the forest?" Ichigo shook his head. It really hadn't occurred to him to wonder. He'd assumed the elves had been greedy and decided to become lords when the Dark King had offered it. "No elf leaves the Enchanted forest forever. Some of us have the wanderlust bad – my family always does, hah – but even we come back. Until the Dark King swept in with 'is army, catchin' us by surprise. We didn't think he had a thing t' do with us, he was human after all." Ichigo blinked in astonishment. The Dark King was human? "Stupid of us, but we all make mistakes… anyway, he ripped apart our army, killed th' rangers an' th' guards." Grimmjow bowed his head for a moment. "My pappy died bravely, defendin' th' clan house. With our defenses broken, we figgered we was done for." Grimmjow's accent was thick again, but Ichigo had no trouble understanding. "But instead of finishin' us off, he said we would come rule fer him. Or he'd kill us all, includin' the women and kids." Ichigo flinched at that. Humans valued their children highly, and elves were so much less fertile than humans. He could only imagine what kind of a threat that would be to them. "So there wasn't no choice at all. We said yes, an' here we are."
"Really?" Ichigo absorbed that for a moment. It had never occurred to him that the elves didn't want to be their lords. It made sense for Feralina and Grimmjow, but… "Do all the elves still want to go back to the forest?" He couldn't help but sound skeptical and Grimmjow scowled, but not at him.
"Not anymore, not after all the years o' his poison in us. Th' forest still gives the blessin', but I figger it's a matter o' time until it refuses t' take us back. An' then we won't be immortal anymore." Grimmjow sighed and shrugged. "Maybe it'd be for th' best. Then we could pass out o' the world." Ichigo felt his stomach clench at the thought. Grimmjow was talking about the end of the elves? Completely? After meeting Grimmjow and his sister Ichigo couldn't help to think that the world would be so much poorer without their magic and beauty in it. Without thinking, he picked up a piece of bread and threw it at the elf lord. "Hey!"
"You're too depressed now. Eat that." He ordered and watched as Grimmjow looked at him in bemused irritation, then ate the bread.
"You're just like Feralina, but she'd'a slapped me. Damn kids." Grimmjow said, shaking his head, and Ichigo grinned. "I get no respect around here."
"If we all suddenly treating you respectfully, you'd hate it, admit it." He teased and was satisfied to see a smile on the elf man's face.
"Never said I wouldn't. Now, eat up, we still have lessons." He said. Ichigo took the invitation, inhaling an egg and following it with a cucumber. It was very good, crisp and juicy. It made him think that Grimmjow was right about the harvest. Things were certainly growing well now.
But you never knew. Things could change.
A year later
"Happy birthday to Ichigo… happy birthday to you!" Feralina caroled as Grimmjow eyed the fruitcake with undisguised longing. Ichigo was with him on that. The fruitcake was an incredible extravagance, considering all the effort it had taken to beat the ingredients together. Not to mention the cost of the ingredients themselves. Dried fruit wasn't cheap, and sugar was even worse. "Blow out the candles!"
"Uh, right!" Ichigo took a deep breath and did his best to blow out the seventeen candles. Grimmjow had made the tiny wax tapers himself, reusing some candle ends to make the tiny candles. Ichigo thought they were very cute, since they had ended up a light pink color from all the different waxes. "Whew!" He muttered as he managed to blow them all out. "I guess that means I'll get my wish." But what was his wish?
I wish Grimmjow would fall in love with me. Ichigo's breath caught as he glanced at the handsome elf. Over the last year, he'd fallen head over heels in love, and he was willing to admit it. He didn't know Grimmjow's feelings though. The elf treated him like a brother, sparring and bantering, teaching and lecturing. But Grimmjow had promised his dad that nothing would happen until he was at least eighteen, so that could be self-defense.
He came back to reality as Feralina plopped a piece of fruitcake in front of him. Grimmjow and Feralina got good slices, and the rest was carefully packed up in wax for later. Fruitcakes could last almost indefinitely, if the rodents didn't get to them, and they only got better as they aged.
"So any more commissions?" Grimmjow asked as they ate and Feralina made a face.
"No. Times are getting' hard again and you know my business goes down when people are worried." She said. Grimmjow grimaced and Ichigo nodded sympathetically, his mouth full. Feralina was a good smith and a really talented jewelry maker. She never kept any of her pieces, but Ichigo had seen them and they were gorgeous. Her work helped pay the bills, but by the nature of things it was sporadic.
"Well, we'll just have t' make do." Grimmjow said philosophically. "More squirrel in the stew." Ichigo choked on a laugh, trying to imagine how people in his old village would look if they knew one of the elven lords ate squirrels. It was a funny mental image. They ate their fruitcake in silence for a while, savoring every crumb. Ichigo sighed as his slice finally vanished. It had been delicious. "So, ready for your real gift?"
"Real gift?" Ichigo blinked at the elf, wondering what he could have in mind. "What real gift?" He thought the cake was more than enough. It didn't last long, but it was an absolutely wonderful thing. Grimmjow laughed, sitting back.
"It's time for you t' get a spirit sword." He said and Ichigo's eyes went wide. A spirit sword?
"Really? You think it's time?" He felt thrilled and a little worried. Grimmjow had already told him that once he had his spirit sword, his training would go up several notches. He was getting very, very good at holding the elves off but he still wasn't sure about this. Grimmjow nodded, standing up.
"It's time. C'mon, we keep 'em in the armory." Ichigo followed the elf, Feralina trailing behind and nibbling on a last little piece of dried fruit. The armory was down in the basement and kept locked up, but Grimmjow had the key and quickly let them in. He used a bit of his elven talent to make a ball of golden light, gently illuminating the armory. "Just the stuff on that wall there. The rest of it is normal crap." Ichigo walked to the wall, looking at the weapons.
Most of the armory was filled with plain but well-made weapons, well stored and maintained, but these were different. The swords were in all different sizes and shapes, and it wasn't just swords. There were spears, knives, maces, whips and some things Ichigo couldn't even name.
"Touch 'em all, see what's right for you." Grimmjow told him, but Ichigo didn't even need to guess. He went straight for the swords, looking them over and gently running his hands over the hilts. Everyone one of these swords was decorated in some way. Some had little beads worked into the hilt wrappings, and others had a jewel set into the hilt or the sword itself. The jewels were nothing fancy – mostly semi-precious – but Ichigo could feel the power coiled inside them.
Then he started to have a problem. Several of the swords spoke to him strongly. One sword seemed to beckon to him, a sword with a white wrapped hilt inset with moonstone. But somehow, despite how much it called to him, it seemed a bit… off. Ichigo kept looking and finally found a slim, odd looking sword. It had been forged out of some kind of pitch black metal and had a very plain hilt. The only ornamentation was a small garnet set into the blade that glowed like a drop of blood.
"This one." He said, lifting the sword up and looking down it. It was perfect. It fit into his hand like it was meant to be. He glanced at Grimmjow and Feralina. Grimmjow looked shocked and Feralina was… amused?
"Ichigo, what a thing to do, taking our pappy's sword! Imagine all the sentimental shit on it!" Feralina said merrily before Grimmjow punched her in the shoulder. "Hey!"
"Shut up, bitch." He growled and Ichigo swallowed as the elf gripped his shoulders. Grimmjow looked deeply moved, now. "Pappy would be happy t' see his sword goin' out into th' world again. You use it well. And I can tell you the name o' it right off… it's called Zangetsu."
"Zangetsu." Ichigo whispered the name, feeling the deep connection to his soul. And he felt a presence within the blade stir and look at him, but it said nothing. "Thank you, Grimmjow." This was a priceless gift, and the fact that it had belonged to Grimmjow's and Feralina's father made it all the more special.
This was a birthday he would never forget.