Fire flashed in his field of vision, figures trapped inside in a deadly dance. Cries filled the air with horror and pain. Several figures turned towards him, looking at him with pleading eyes, but he could do nothing. His body would not move, his power would not follow his command. Ice shot forward but did not remove the flames, it simply ended their suffering.
'I can't let this happen…so why?'
This wasn't what he wanted. He didn't want people to die. He knew it was inevitable, but when they looked at him with faces full of horror and only a faint hope that he could save them squashed as his out of control power pulled them into the darkness, he felt helpless, pathetic.
Demons flitted about happily, gathering the bodies of the dead for their own sick entertainment. One approached him with a grin, holding a different body.
'Leave me alone…'
The black haired figure was tossed to the side and the demon laughed joyously as horror crossed his face, but he could not run to her. It was as though he'd been bound.
'Stop this…'
The demon came closer, claws touching his chest and slowly digging towards his heart. Against his will he screamed in pain.
A deafening roar and the world became black and cold. The pain was gone.
Toshiro shot up straight in his bed, panting heavily and coated with sweat. After a moment and a few deep breaths, he managed to calm himself back down, hands fisted into his hair.
'Another one…' He mused, grimacing.
'Why have you not told Nakryin about this?' Hyorinmaru growled. The minute he'd been able to get through to his Master he'd snapped him out of the nightmare.
'There's nothing she can do…it's the Fear, the part she can't reach.'
'There must be something she can do, I won't stand for this. These nightmares must end.'
'I'm sorry, Hyorinmaru.' He sighed heavily and turned to the window; it was still dark outside, not quite morning. 'The light I inherited from my father isn't the same Nakryin uses to dispel the Fear, I can't do it myself…and despite everything that's happened, I still don't trust her enough for her to dispel it.'
He did not go back to sleep, deciding to take a look at the book about the dragons again. Shifting over to his desk, he flipped to the part with the prophecy, most of it scratched out. It was the fourth line of the poem out of six, and each line had two small parts, a rather familiar format. Supposedly the next page was meant to explain it, but that was ripped out. Someone did not want this prophecy known. Frustrated, Toshiro set the book down. He could assume anything with relation to the prophecy was ripped out and he also knew that the prophecy was the biggest clue he had to why everyone thought he was special.
'You should take it to Lilianna, ask for her assistance.' Hyorinmaru suggested.
'She's probably sleeping right now, not even dragons can stay awake all day every day.'
Since there wasn't much to learn from the book now, unfortunately, he supposed his time would be better wasted training. He was close to getting the names of the attacks he'd learned on the mountain when fighting Ruala.
Also awake during the early morning hours, Sofia spotted the young prince heading down to his usual training spot and followed. She did so with a frown, something was wrong here. She'd noticed the boy's lack of sleeping and it was starting to affect him. Whatever was going on she had to know, but asking the boy outright never yielded any results, so she had to observe from a distance.
She became an Arctic Fox so as to withstand the cold while she watched him practice, looking deep for the traces of Fear. She frowned as she noticed how tightly packed the darkness had become, focused around the core of his soul and trying to get in. It was eating away at him. No wonder he couldn't sleep. But by this point it was too far in for her master to reach, and the prince surely knew that if he wasn't trying to get help. But it had to go away, before it wasted him away any more. There had to be something capable of removing it.
She continued to watch him until dawn rose and the young prince returned to his father's floor, once more burying himself with books and paper and generally avoiding people. Something had to be done.
Daring to leave him alone, the familiar darted up to the roof and gave a message to the ice dragon that always slept there. The message went through Myndræl to the fire drake Dyrilæn.
"That can work?" The dragoness tilted her head in question. "Aren't we a little young? I still don't have my powers."
"Sofia said it could since we both have partners. Partners that have been in contact with one another."
"And I thought I wasn't supposed to go out of the realms."
"Not to the World of the Living, but Sofia says Lady Ruala trains everyone in the Soul Society, including your partner. While she's there you can keep an eye on her. She wants you to protect her so no more Fear is passed through to my partner."
"It's his fault for making himself the magnet." She snorted. Myndræl growled. "Fine, sorry. I wouldn't want her being hurt anyway, so I'll do it."
"Okay, let's try it."
The drakes closed their eyes and hummed softly, a glow lighting up in their chest. It was a dim glow, but it continued to grow brighter as they continued to hum. Once it was bright enough, the lights of their Heart of Hearts mixed and a connection was made. They could now speak to one another telepathically.
"Guess it did work." She mused as the glow dimmed back down. "Alright, once I can I'll head right over to Karin."
"Keep in touch." Myndræl grinned, nudging her side fondly before taking off back to the palace.
Dyrilæn gave a purr before standing and heading over to the tree mansion in the Kingdom of Magika. Surely Ruala was about to head off for the Soul Society, she was still the only one training them. The others who had offered to help were still preparing and most of the Soul Society still didn't trust Ruala's reasons for suddenly deciding to train them, meaning not all of them were going along with the 'upgrade'. She'd heard that the Head Captain had been interested in Senjumaru's offer but was taking the time to consider it, even if several high-class Soul Reapers were already joining the effort.
The fire drake managed to speak to the Royal Guard before she left, explaining why she wanted to go and how it was Sofia who had suggested the idea. The woman saw no problem with it and used her Gravity element to teleport the two of them, the dragon offering her boundless Spirit Energy so Ruala wouldn't tire.
They appeared before several others in a large training field, one the Kido Corps had volunteered as they didn't use it much anymore and the circumstances were important; Tessai also managed to pull a few strings, meaning he and Kisuke could also go there.
"Whoa, you're not going to make us fight a dragon, are you?" Shinji frowned, looking up at the crimson dragoness.
"I would hope not." Karin said to him before stepping forward and hugging the dragon's muzzle. "She's my partner."
"Just thought I'd hang out in the Soul Society for a while." Dyrilæn grinned, watching with amusement as some of them backed away.
"You were allowed to?" Ichigo asked.
"For a little bit." The dragoness shrugged. "It's been kind of boring what with the prince being locked away in his room studying; he won't come out of there."
"Sounds like him." Rangiku sighed lightly with a smile. "Always busy."
"And whose fault was that?" Kadin pointed out with a smirk.
"Eh? What are you talking about?" She batted her lashes innocently. "I get my work done, Captain.
"Because I make you."
"You know, it's not fun when you use your shadows to put me back in the office."
"When you're done I won't do it."
Ignoring the Squad Ten pair, the others quickly fell into training practice with Ruala while Karin took some time to talk to Dyrilæn, as she hadn't seen the dragon in a few days.
"How's Shimmer?" The dragoness asked.
"Yuzu absolutely adores her." Karin smirked. "Those two do everything together, I've already gotten used to seeing Yuzu with a dragon on her shoulder, and she likes how she can take her to school without anybody noticing."
"Typical bond with a baby dragon. Since Shimmer bonded early she'll be really close to your sister as she grows up, maybe they'll even be able to talk telepathically."
"That's possible?" Karin's eyes widened.
"Yeah, but it takes a few years." Dyrilæn snorted. "With the younger ones it's easier since they'll have been bonded with their partner before reaching the age where she can do that. Has Shimmer shown any powers? Lady Lilianna says she's the strongest healing dragon she's ever seen."
"Not yet, but Yuzu doesn't really care. She says when Shimmer's ready she'll find her powers, there's no rush."
"Shimmer found a good partner."
"So is Toshiro really holed up in his room all day?"
"Either that or on another floor training for his new attacks he learned while training with Ruala."
"Why doesn't he train with us then?" Karin motioned to the others around her learning how to use their Spirit Energy to make their Flash Steps farther and faster. Byakuya and Soi Fon were taking the most interest in this, Yoruichi already having mastered it and showing it off to further encourage them, though they thought they were just challenging themselves.
"Myndræl says he's worried about hurting everyone." Dyrilæn replied. "After all, he's ten times stronger than a Captain now. Even in the Soul King's Realm he goes to a floor with no one around to train."
"Still, he could visit." She grumbled. "I know it's only been two or three days since he showed up last time, but since he went through the trouble of getting people to train us he could at least help."
"He's also been really worried about his father."
Karin silenced. Now that was something she didn't want to argue against, considering the circumstances. So she shoved aside the subject of the white haired prince and stood to join in on the practice, her dragon watching everyone in amusement as they tried so hard for something Toshiro had learned in minutes, if Myndræl's story was true.
Eventually they moved on to other things, like raising their Spirit Energy. The Royal Guard told them it would not be so easy for them as it had been for the Soul Prince, they had no unlocked power. They did see her glance at Ichigo and Karin though, as well as Kadin, before she asked if anyone would like to spar. Predictably, Kenpachi was first to the plate with a big grin plastered on his face. He'd only agreed to this training to fight with the demons when the time came.
"I won't use my elements." Ruala said timidly, pulling her hood further down over her face. She had yet to show her face to those gathered, no one knew what she really looked like.
"Eh?" Kenpachi frowned, confused.
"My power. I shall only fight."
"Tch, whatever floats your boat, I guess." He unsheathed his jagged edged zanpaktou and darted towards her, grin back in place.
The blades shot out of her arms and she was easily able to deflect the giant's attacks, though there was a frown on her face and a strain to her limbs. It was clear her talent did not lie within brute strength as Kenpachi's did.
There was a roar as a panther formed Sofia leaped for the Eleventh Squad Captain's back. He turned quickly and pushed her back, cutting the feline across the shoulder. With his distraction, however, Ruala was able to put her blades against his neck. This didn't seem to faze him as he moved forward and turned to strike at her. Her speed brought her out of strike range and she came up behind him. His blade went behind and blocked her strike.
"I'm surprised those swords haven't broken yet." He commented.
"They're made the same way as a zanpaktou." Ruala replied before striking at his side with her second blade and causing him to stumble away. He looked at the cut curiously before looking back at the one who'd caused it.
"Where is your zanpaktou?" He asked, a little curious.
"I don't have one." Ruala replied. She had never told them that, but they had never asked. At this sudden revelation they looked surprised. She did not elaborate.
"Well for not having a zanpaktou, you're pretty tough." Kenpachi grinned again. "That's all that matters! Haha!"
The battle started up again. They watched as Ruala slowly wore out the fighting Captain with small cuts, nothing overly damaging, and rough blows. Occasionally Sofia would jumped in as a distraction, reverting to different animal forms to further confuse him, and after some time the big man seemed to be tiring out. Ruala looked a bit out of breath herself, and she'd decided enough was enough.
She held both blades before her and charged them with electricity before launching it at him. The sudden change in attack surprised Kenpachi and the lightning hit with brutal force, knocking him into the wall.
The others watched, some with open mouths, as Ruala let her blades retract and simply stood there while Kenpachi remained in the rubble, unconscious.
"His power is raw." She stated quietly. "If he could refine it, he'd be able to fight the demons easily."
"What was that you did?" Kadin questioned curiously. "If you don't have a zanpaktou, how come you can use such an ability?"
She seemed to tense at his voice, hesitating to answer. She seemed to do that often, but when they asked Kadin he had no clue as to why. He thought it was perhaps his similarities to the prince, though they could be absolutely sure they weren't related, for if they were it would be Kadin in line for the throne, as he was older, not Toshiro.
"I am an Elementalist." She answered. "My strength comes from the elements." She let a small fire float above her hand to prove her point before letting that go and switching to air to stir the wind at her feet. The others watched in silent fascination.
"Hey, we should probably head home." Ichigo put a hand on his sister's shoulder. "You know what happens when we're late for dinner."
She grimaced and several Soul Reapers snickered, a few silencing at the steely glare sent their way.
"Okay then." She sighed. "See ya tomorrow, Dyrilæn."
The dragon purred and stayed put as the Kurosaki siblings went on their way home.
Sure enough, their father assaulted them for being only two minutes late back from training, but both his children quickly put him out. Shimmer was quick to the scene, unhappy with the fight, and her partner wasn't too far behind to settle the restless dragonling. Her healer tendencies were already starting to show, but no sign of powers, and unlike Myndræl's growth spurt the crystal dragon never seemed to get any bigger. She was learning to speak, though.
"Don't worry, Shimmer," Yuzu said soothingly to the white drake, "they're just playing, nothing terrible."
"Speak for yourself." Karin grumbled and took her seat at the table.
"Hurt?" Shimmer chirped in question.
"Nope, just fine." Isshin grinned up at the drake from the floor, rubbing his bruised cheek.
"Good!"
Cheery once more, the crystal dragon followed her partner to the kitchen where she sat upon her place at the countertop. Unlike most dragons, healing dragons were strictly vegetarian and so Shimmer tended to share more of a diet with horses and cows than any carnivore. Karin had used the dragon to get rid of her own greens until Yuzu had trained the dragonling not to accept anything off another's plate except Yuzu's.
At one point during the meal, leafy green eyes caught onto something at the window. Curious, Shimmer snuck her way over and peeked out her tiny head. Nothing there. Snorting in annoyance, she returned to her meal, though she could have sworn she'd caught the scent of darkness as she left the window.
Fear is a bad thing. Very bad thing. Not good for Shiro. Sofia takes measures into her own...paws to make sure no more Fear is sent through the bracelet on Karin to the prince. By the way, in this story, the dragons can only be telepathically linked as Dyrilaen and Myndrael managed if they're either really close, like mates, or if their partners are, but they're too young to know that XD Enjoy!