Disclaimer: don't own anything
Note: So here is the 2nd chappy :) I hope you enjoy it!
Guest: Renji is like that because it's an Au story ;D background information for him will come in later chapters
TokenAsian: thank you, I hope this chappy is good too and that it motivates to stick to the story ^^
yari03: here you go ^^
Flucifer the Fallen: thanks ^^ yeah I thought about something like that as an explanation too ^^ but still not sure xD but it still time to make up my midn :)
DieRedPineapple: the others stories will get more chappys too! Just need some time to figure something out xD
Special thanks to PaulaGay for beta-reading!
Also check out "Did I Let You Know?" from BlueFox91, it's an interesting AU Bya/Ren story!
Chap 2: Complications
The raven-head still sat on the large stone in the same place he was in when his red-headed companion went to sleep again. Byakuya focused his whole attention on the ground below them and became aware of how high he had climbed last night to reach this cave. After coming to the conclusion that no one would bother them up here, he enjoyed the view that presented itself to him.
The first rays of sunlight were showing on the horizon, bathing woods and meadows in a beautiful orange-red hue. If the town had still stood, it would cast its shadow over the meadows; high-lighting everything and giving it the impression of life; but now the debris disturbed the landscape, coloring it with death.
Again melancholic thoughts entered his mind. Memories of smiling friends, customers, other townspeople, children playing in the streets; but all that had ceased to exist.
What would happen now? Could they start a new life again? Build up a new existence? Their future was unknown to him and that scared him. Not so much because of himself, but he feared for his sisters. What would become of them now? Were they even still alive? Surely their elders took care of them; they were powerful sorcerers after all.
Faced with the horrible truth of having nowhere to go he couldn't help but wonder how someone could manage that. He looked at Renji and had to admit that the life in the wilderness marked his very features. His face was hard-set even while asleep. The man didn't look relaxed or peaceful at all and just now Byakuya noticed the tattoos on the man's forehead and neck; causing him to frown.
What was the reason for those tattoos? Usually tattoos were a way to brand criminals, but he couldn't imagine that the red-head had ever come near villages or towns. So what was the reason he had them? Sooner or later he would ask him, but not now. They hadn't established a deep enough friendship for him to ask this.
Deciding that the red-head should sleep a bit more, Byakuya turned his attention back to the sunrise.
The next time Soujun woke the sun was about to rise. Knowing that it was bright enough to go search for his only son he woke the others. Even though Ginrei had had a light sleep, he was well rested, but the same couldn't be said for the girls.
"Father? Is it already time to get up?" Hisana asked him, rubbing her eyes tiredly.
"Yes, dear. We need to find your brother, the sun has already started to rise. We should make our way," he explained, giving her a reassuring hug and exchanging knowing glances with his father. Both Kuchiki males knew that they needed to find a way for Byakuya to find them, without drawing attention to themselves, but how could they do that?
"Come. We have to find a way for your brother to find us," Ginrei spoke to the girls and together they made their way back into the meadows.
Today they could walk normally, seeing as they could claim to be from another village and on their way to somewhere else.
Renji opened his eyes tiredly. He was still sleepy as hell, but that was always his problem… He could stay up all night, but once asleep it was hard to fully wake up. It was a trait that wasn't useful for a scout, tracker and the stealthy person that he was, but not something that he could change… A cold bath in one of the rivers and he would be wide awake again. When he looked around the cave he had the slight feeling that he was forgetting something and after returning to an upright position he knew what it was he forgot. The Kuchiki.
"Yo. Ya shoulda woke me earlier, ya know? The sun is alreddy high up in tha air," he said suddenly, startling the other man.
"I wanted to let you sleep a bit longer, so you would be well rested," Byakuya explained his reasoning and saw that, despite sleeping long, the red-head seemed to still be fast asleep.
Standing up and stretching his whole body, Renji let a loud yawn escape him. "Anyway we need ta git goin' or else we will never find yer fambly," he said rather lazily, scratching his head and not knowing where to begin with collecting all his stuff so that nothing was left behind.
From the corner of his eye he saw the eyes of the other male widen. "Wha'? Ya thought I woulda left ya alone? Nah. I'll help ya find them, but then yer on yer own," he answered the unspoken question, coming to the conclusion that he would at least take the furs with him, the heads could stay there; just to scare the soldiers away.
"I-I don't know what to say. Thank you for helping me find them."
"Yeah, yeah. I jus' need ta pack ma stuff and then we need ta find a river, so that I can take a bath," he said while rolling the furs together and, to Byakuya's utmost surprise, putting them all in one big pack. Putting the pack of furs on his back, the quiver right after and then slinging the bow over his shoulders he signaled that he was ready to go, to find the nearest river.
The way down was steep and the sharp rocks made it more dangerous, but they finally made it down to the meadows.
"Now off to tha rivers!" Renji exclaimed rather enthusiastically, much to Byakuya's surprise.
"You are very cheerful all of a sudden. Not much earlier you were still somewhat sleepy and slow…" the raven-head mentioned with one raised eyebrow.
"Ah, yeah. Tha's why I take caves up thar. Tha climbin' down wakes me up a bit. Come now tha river shou' be somewhar near," he said while turning and walking in a, for Byakuya, random way.
"Are you sure, that this is the right way?" he asked, not once leaving his spot.
"Ya know… tha's the problem with ya people from town. Ya have no idea of yer surroundins, locked up behind yer walls as ya are."
Byakuya had to admit that the man was right, he had no idea of where to find a river or lake, so he only could follow Renji until they found his family. He simply had no other option.
"IIIIICHIGOOOOOOOOOO!" someone yelled through the underground cave where the orange-haired boy was sitting at a table with his friends.
"Uh… What now Ikkaku? Weren't you already sparing with Yumichika?" said orange-head asked the bald man that came into view.
"Na. Imma here cause the boss wants ta speak with ya. Said somethin' 'bout Red. Just go ta him and see what he wants," the bald man advised, turned and walked away again.
Exhaling a breath of exasperation Ichigo stood up and went to go see their boss, leaving his curious friends behind. As he walked through the torch-lit corridors he met several other inhabitants.
Ichigo wondered what he wanted now and what Red had done wrong this time; he had either pissed the boss off or was excelling at something Ichigo could only hope to be able to do. They simply had their own fields of expertise, but Ichigo had to admit that Red's were rarer than his.
After some minutes he reached a set of huge wooden double doors with heavy door handles. He swung one of the handles in a knocking manner and waited until the grunt, that always permitted entrance, sounded. The orange-head had to wait a bit, but eventually the deep grunt sounded and he opened the doors to let himself into the room.
"Ichigo. I won' beat aroun' ta bush. I need for ya ta bring Red back here," the giant, sitting in the room behind a candle and reading a sheet of paper, said as soon as Ichigo entered.
"Yeah sure; but where should I search? He could be anywhere… and he won't be easy to find either," he said nervously. Although he was brave and would fight anyone who dared to stand in his way, he would never draw the wrath of this man to himself.
"Tch. I don' care. Take as many with you as you want, BUT BRING HIM HERE!" he yelled the last part, slamming his open palm on the table surface.
Icigo gulped. When the boss got like that there was no way for anyone to get out of it, not if he tried to talk back further. "Uhm, sure. I'll try my best then, searching his usual spots and so on…" he said, rather timidly, really this man could get to the toughest people.
"Tch then why're ya still standin' there?" he scoffed and Ichigo immediately scrambled out of the room, closing the doors behind him.
Exhaling a sigh of relief, he leaned with his back to the doors, collecting himself. "Really that guy…" he muttered mostly to himself, until a shrill sound suddenly screeched next to him, making him jump. "What's wrong Berry? Was Kenny mean to you again?" the little pink-haired girl said, jumping on Ichigo's head, peering at his face from above.
"Na. I'm supposed to leave for a while, so if you could get off of me?" the young man said in total annoyance and Yachiru did as she was told and ran off to god knew where to find god knew who to annoy.
Ichigo on the other hand made his way back to the huge hall where everyone gathered to exchange new information and other stuff. His friends where still sitting at the table, awaiting his return; sitting down he let his forehead meet the table's surface, he was done already and the day had just started…
"Are you really sure that this is the right way?" Byakuya asked, annoyed.
They had been walking for quite some time now and they still hadn't found a river for the red-head to bathe in.
"Yep, it's not far from here. See there alreddy is tha river," he replied, stopping dead in his tracks and pointing into the distance with his finger.
As hard as Byakuya tried he couldn't see anything… he had the feeling the red-head was toying with him…
"Ah jus' come wit me; it's na far, promise."
And with little to no choice Byakuya followed the red-head again. Suddenly Renji stopped, crouched and motioned for Byakuya to stay still. The raven-head had no idea what was going on now, he hadn't seen or heard anything. The next thing he knew, a huge saber-toothed tiger was jumping on them, and his eyes widened. He certainly hadn't expected the animal to be there… but Renji was fast to react.
He twisted his own body to the left, facing the left side of the beast. From the sleeve of his armor he let a dagger slide into his hand. Hilt in hand and blade resting against his underarm he flicked his wrist and cut the beast open down its whole length. The tiger fell with a loud roar of pain. Renji's whole face was splattered with the blood, some went down his body; his eyes were even more those of a predator than the tiger's.
Byakuya had never in his life seen such eyes, they were red, but not from blood. No it was something different, bloodlust maybe?
The big cat was squirming on the ground, but Renji still had the dagger in his hand and with one powerful thrust he buried it in the tiger's skull, twisting the dagger one time to make sure that the animal was really dead.
It happened again. It didn't come as a surprise to Renji, he saw the tiger's footprints the whole time. The animal probably had the same idea: going to the river to drink and bathe, but it caught their scents and sniffed easy prey.
However he was fast in disabling the animal and now his blood was boiling with the desire to kill. He could try as much as he wanted, nothing would help. As soon as he killed an animal the addiction to kill more would overcome him and up until now there was just one way to calm that desire: breathe slow and steady, exhale, breathe slow and steady…
He knew the other was watching him with curious eyes, but he couldn't talk now, he had to calm down again first. After doing his breathing exercise, it was nothing more, he was calm again and could take care of everything else.
When Byakuya looked into Renji's eyes again, they had their previous red-brown colour, but he wouldn't speak of it, wouldn't ask of it and he knew that the other was grateful for it.
"What do we do with it now?" he asked instead gesturing to the dead tiger.
"We take it wit us o'course. It'll be a great meal and it'll be enough for us, but we should save somethin' so your family has somethin' when we meet 'em," he answered with a shrug and shouldered the dead animal. The guts where coming out of the tiger, but the red-head didn't seem to care.
And so they made their way to the river again; at least the red-head now really needed a bath.
All the way Byakuya watched the man. He moved with confidence and a certain grace. He seemed to be very muscular or else he couldn't carry all those things. Also the man was very tall, his boots took part of that too, but even without he would still be taller than Byakuya himself and he couldn't help but wonder how old the man was.
Lost in his thoughts he didn't notice that they had reached a lake.
"So. I'll skin him now and take the guts out. Ya can burn him then with yer magic, I will bathe in the meantime," Renji said, putting everything down and starting to skin the animal with practiced moves that indicated that it certainly wasn't the first or last time he would do that; the guts were also quickly removed.
He hung the fur on a branch of one of the trees and threw the guts far away so that scavengers wouldn't come near them. When that was taken care of he removed piece after piece of his armor.
Byakuya couldn't help but look. He knew it was wrong to look, but something about this man drew his eyes to him. The removed hood didn't show anything he hadn't seen yet, the missing gloves revealed calloused hands, probably from the usage of bow and dagger. But when the chest-piece fell Byakuya's eyes widened subconsciously. The red-head's body was muscular, toned, sun-kissed, and extremely tattooed. If there were any doubts of the man's strength they vanished in that instant and just now the raven head became aware of the length of the red strands. They reached the middle of the man's back.
Renji noticed the stares of course and he had to smirk. He always had that effect on people, but something about the raven-head made him want to tease him a bit, seeing how far he could go and how he would react. "Like what yer seein'?" he asked in a teasing tone, causing Byakuya to blush fervently for being caught staring.
"I'm sorry I didn't mean to be rude," he rather sheepishly apologized, trying to look away.
Renji had to chuckle, if that wasn't cute… Up until now no one had ever apologized for staring. They always tried to fuck him, but this one was different.
"Ya 'now… yer the first ta ever 'pologize and jus' so ya know, it's okay, I don' mind," after the words were spoken and a nice smile sent to the raven-head he took off his boots and pants; revealing even more tattoos on his legs. His underwear made it impossible to see if there were more tattoos THERE.
Renji entered the river and first dove under the water to get every part of his body wet, making it easier to get rid of the dirt completely. When he surfaced again the water was dripping down his body, running down the outline of his chest and abdominal muscles; long red strands sticking to wet skin.
Byakuya couldn't take his eyes from him; the man was a picture to behold. Becoming self-conscious all of a sudden, Bykuya turned his gaze from him and concentrated on the meal again.
After some time Renji finished bathing and rolled out a fur next to the raven-head, sitting down on it.
"Ya know… we'll find 'em, I'll take care o' it," Byakuya heard the man next to him speak and saw the stern look in the red-heads eyes. He couldn't help but smile, it was rare that a total stranger offered as much help as he had offered.
Their journey so far was quite uneventful. No wild beast tried to eat them and no soldier crossed their paths trying to kill them, but they still didn't find Byakuya and time was running short. They decided to follow one of the rivers, hoping Byakuya had the same idea or simply wanted something to drink. Unfortunately Hisana had become ill during the night and now had to cough from time to time, but they hadn't the herbs to make medicine for her.
When they successfully climbed a little mountain their eyes spotted a little cloud of smoke, but it wasn't the smoke that causes you fear, because you know it was destructive. That smoke was grayish and indicated that someone was cooking. Hoping to find Byakuya they began to rush towards it – until 3 young men and a young woman blocked their way.
The one in the middle stood slightly in front of the group and pointed his huge two-handed sword at them. "Not another step. You will regret it, if you do," the orange-headed man, or rather boy, said.
For one moment both Soujun and Ginrei thought of using their magic, it certainly would be enough to get them out of the way, but it soon became apparent that it wasn't necessary.
Suddenly the blade of a dagger was pressed against the orange-head's throat; the man whispered something into the boy's ear that they couldn't make out.
End of chap 2! It's getting delicate :)
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