I Never Knew: Chapter 6: In Pursuit of Evil
Hueco Mundo
Nothing had actually changed in Hueco Mundo's scenery. The land was still desolate and barren, with hardly any existence of life. The remnants of Los Noches could still be seen over the horizon. However, Byakuya knew that the desolate scene was not to be taken for granted, for he knew all too well of the horrors of its inhabitants. Byakuya instructed his men to keep alert and fan out to search for any signs of Renatus and his group; as well as not to leave his field of view. He really didn't expect the Adjunchas to be on the top tier, but he didn't want to be caught off guard either.
"What do I owe the honor of a captain's visit to Hueco Mundo?" Tier Haribel inquired.
"I am searching for an Adjunchas by the name of Renatus, I have no business with you," Byakuya sternly replied.
"Heuco Mundo is my business whether or not you deem so or not."
"What's that you're saying?" Kenpachi threateningly asked.
Byakuya cut his eyes over at Kenpachi and back to Tier Haribel, "My goals is only to find Renatus and his group; I am sure he is of no consequence to you and it shouldn't matter to you whether if I kill him or not."
"Always so self-righteousness in your claims; anyway, I won't stand in your way but you have only 24 hours to find this Renatus or I will come after you myself." Tier Haribel said as she left with her Fraccion.
"Well Kuchiki, I see you handle that nobly," Kenpachi said as he turned and start walking towards the ruins of Los Noches.
"And where do you think you are going?"
"I don't have time for idle chit-chat, nor do I need permission to go where I want to go; and besides I sensed something over here."
Byakuya had felt this was going to be a long mission, but he had to quickly remind himself that he was there to find Rukia. Byakuya wondered how they were going to be able to reach Renatus and his group of Adjunchas, as he and the others kept walking towards Los Noches. The more they walked the further away it seemed; and Byakuya was starting to become unnerved along with Kenpachi and the others. All of a sudden a sand storm appeared and two Soul Reapers were immediately swept up in the storm. A Hollow made up of sand attacked the group; much like Runuganga who was frozen in ice by Rukia during Orhime's rescue. Kenpachi rushed in to attack it with no results; even Senbonzakura had no effect on the Hollow. As the Hollow came nearer, the ground started to form a sink hole. The rescue party tried frivolously to prevent falling in the hole by using their zanpakutous as leverage. Unfortunately, this attempt failed; and as the Hollow approached with its mouth fully hanging open, Byakuya and the others fell through the sand straight into the Minnos forest.
"What the hell?" Kenpachi asked as he quickly got up and scanned the area where they had fallen.
"Where are we?" Byakuya asked in more of a statement than a question.
"Who knows? Tsch."
"Keep your guard up men." Byakuya commanded to his men.
"What a fine mess, now we are down here in all this darkness.., " Kenpachi said as he suddenly looked to his right and saw red spheres of light coming from the distance into his direction. "Get ready, we have company, yaaaaaaaaah!"
The Minnos had completely surrounded them as they continued to try to fight them off.
"It's too many of them, sir!" a squad member yelled.
"Do the best you can," Byakuya replied as he slashed another Minnos down the middle.
"Aww, I say more the merrier!" Kenpachi said as if he was having a field day slashing the Hollows.
Suddenly, someone flashed stepped in front of Byakuya, who almost got cut with one of Senbonzakura's pedals.
"Who are you that would blatantly and carelessly step in front of my attack?" Byakuya questioned as he glared at the man who had a Hollow mask over his face.
"No time for that, I will explain later." The masked man said, "Follow me."
"And why should we do that?" Kenpachi asked approaching Byakuya and the masked man. Kenpachi looked over at Byakuya as if he was awaiting approval.
"If you want to continue to live, you will come with me." The masked man replied.
"I guess at the moment we have no other choice."
The men followed the masked man back to a cave that was illuminated by Kido. Byakuya and Kenpachi both looked at one another simultaneously, as if they were thinking the same thing.
"What's going on here? Is that light from Kido?" Byakuya asked in a demanding voice. "Just who are you?"
"My name is Ashido Kano, I am a Soul Reaper."
"oh? I believe Rukia has mentioned your name before"
"You know Rukia?"
"Yes, she is my sister, and the reason why I am here."
"Excuse me, would someone mind filling me in on what's going on?" Kenpachi said as he started to get annoyed listening to the both of them.
"As I stated before, my name is Ashido Kano, I am a Soul Reaper. Long ago me and my squad were on a mission fighting Hollows and we followed them here to this place; I am the only survivor. I met Rukia Kuchiki when she was here trying to save a friend. She had asked me to return to SS with her; in which I had decided upon. However, as fate would have it, I had no other choice to remain behind." Ashido turned his attention to Byakuya and asked, "So tell me why would you believe that she would be here of all places?"
"One of my squad members found her clothing in the West Rukongia District, and we believed that it was decoy and that they would actually be in HM, than being there. We are looking for an Adjunchas by the name of Renatus. Renatus and his group terrorized Soul Society and uh..uh the World of the living." Byakuya had wanted to say that Renatus almost killed the woman that meant everything to him. "I believe that he knows where Rukia is at."
"Renatus, you said?" Ashido repeated back. Even the sound of his name made Ashido's skin crawl; as Renatus was pure evil. Ashido had several confrontations with Renatus and his group and the last confrontation he almost didn't survive. "You are going up against one of the most evil form of Adjunchas I have ever met. Being here long as I have, I've met a plenty. But if your sister is still alive, believe me she is being tortured constantly. I will help you find your sister, but I only ask one thing from you."
"What is that?"
"Promise that you won't mention my name in front of her or let her know I even helped you. I know she probably felt guilty in leaving me here, but there was no other choice. I do not want here to have to relive that guilt in case something happens and she feels as though she is the blame."
"Where is this Renatus at?" Kenpachi asked as he stood up in his normal stance, "I'm ready for him."
"Renatus and his group only come out at certain times; however, by now, he surely knows that you all are here. That will make him a bit harder to find. They mostly reside in the deepest part of the forest and of course you will have Minnos to contend with as well. However, if you kill the leader, they usually will go away."
"So you are suggesting we just sit here and wait? Tsh, I don't have time to wait, I say let's go and get this done."
"You must wait, if you go now, you will never learn the location of where they are. They move quickly and stealthily. You do not know the areas around here and it will hinder you than help you."
Ashido noticed that the forest sounds were louder than usual and the sounds appeared to sound more distinct and closer. He knew all too well what would happen next. "You need to get your men and come with me further away from the front of the cave. It sounds like Renatus and his group might be closer than we thought."
"Do as he says men." Byakuya told his men as he stood sideways at the cave's entrance. Byakuya could sense that something wasn't right outside. The spiritual pressure he felt was immense and he had felt this same spiritual pressure before. How long had he waited for this moment where he could confront the bastard that did this to his Yoruichi and his sister. Byakuya didn't have to wait any longer as a beam of light barely missed his left cheek.