Disclaimer: I don't own Bleach.

Karin didn't know where she was, but she knew it was cold. Now it wasn't an unbearable cold, but it was a welcome change to her previous temperature. If she had to guess her previous temperature, then she would have to say about the same as lava. She was not kidding. So, she enjoyed the cool temperature as she kept her eyes closed. Simply resting, Karin allowed her body to feel the weightless floating, like you feel when you're in a deep sleep.

'I could stay here forever.' Karin smiled in her dream state. Sadly, that dream did not stay peaceful for very long.

"I wouldn't do that if I were you." A female's voice echoed across her mind making Karin shriek in surprise. Well, she would have shrieked if she were able to speak.

'Who's there?' Karin thought. She tried to speak but her mouth would not move and she couldn't get any sound to escape her throat. Now it was not so restful.

"Just a little voice, I'm certainly nothing to worry about." The voice chuckled, the sound resonating in the darkness that was Karin's world.

'If only I could see who is talking,' Karin tried to open her eyes but they did not respond. Now Karin realized that she was not able to speak or open her eyes, panic began to settle in her mind as the voice spoke again.

"You have nothing to worry about, my dear. You are perfectly safe where you are." The voice did not sound threatening, in fact she sounded motherly. The voice was still a stranger and if there was one thing her dad drilled into her skull it is this: Do Not Trust Strangers.

'Where am I? Toushiro?' Karin began to call him but everything remained black and her body regained that weightless feeling. She knew that panicking would not help anything, so she focused on calming exercises: deep, slow breaths, in and out. She took comfort that she was able to breathe easier and there was no longer any pain in her arms or legs, or anywhere for that matter.

'Okay, I don't know where I am but I'm not hurt.' Since she still could not see, Karin made a mental check for body parts in her mind.

"I assure you child, you are all there. Nothing is missing, nothing is injured. Kisuke did his job well." The female voice spoke in comfort which eased Karin somewhat.

'Who's Kisuke? Toushiro?' Karin began calling out wishing more than anything that she could escape. If only she could see, or speak, heck she would sing from the top of her lungs if it would get her out of there.

'Toushiro, where are you?' Karin called out as the darkness started to cave in on her, swallowing her entire being. Inside this darkness, Karin saw a faint light just above her. The light reminded her of a full moon in a black sky. She didn't know where it would lead, but anywhere would be better than here. There was, however, this tiny voice in the back of her mind warning her not to go into the light. It was ignored as she started to feel her body grow warmer and the light became brighter as she felt her body grow heavy.

A table materialized at her back, the metal sent chills from her back to her arms and brain. She felt her eyes move behind her eyelids as she heard a small being walk away. Karin tested her eyes as she opened them. The blinding light that burnt her cornea was a welcome feeling. She felt her entire body relax in relief and her stomach unclenched in exhaustion. Karin blinked her eyes rapidly so that she could adjust to the bright room. The relief she felt welled up in her stomach and washed over her entire body.

Karin gulped in excitement before a feeling made her scrunch her brow. Her stomach was not as relaxed as a moment before, it seemed to be rolling and Karin could sense the vomit before she felt it. Ignoring the heavy footsteps enter the area, Karin shot up and bent over the table as a massive amount of liquid or slush was deposited into a bucket being held by a big man with one giant handlebar mustache.

Karin coughed and gagged at the sight of the bucket. The bucket held a black liquid with little batches of what looked like red fungus sprouting in little puddles. Karin quickly turned her head away to keep from becoming sick again.

"Good morning," a blonde man wearing a green and white bucket hat greeted her when she turned back toward him, still sitting on the table. "Or, rather good afternoon considering the time of day." The man chuckled at his statement and smiled gently to the girl sitting up on the table.

"Allow me to introduce myself," he removed the bucket hat to show his short blonde hair with bangs that draped in front of his blue eyes. "My name is Kisuke Urahara." He made a small bow and, promptly, replaced the hat on his head.

"Hi," Karin managed to wave her hand in surprise, shock, and confusion, but she finally answered when her mind recovered. "My name is Karin Kurosaki."

"Ah, Ms. Karin," Kisuke beamed toward the young girl who frowned in confusion. "Your friend is sleeping in another room," at his mention of Toushiro, Karin perked up.

"Toushiro?" Karin asked and Kisuke nodded his head.

"Yep, the poor boy was exhausted. He brought you here to my little shop of oddities and waited while I treated you. When I came back, your friend had nearly fallen asleep sitting up. I directed him to a bed and tried to give him some breakfast but he had already passed out asleep. I promised to wake him when you came to, but I don't think a dragon attack would awaken him right now. Besides, you'll be returning to sleep in just a little bit. In the meantime, why don't we show you to a more comfortable bed?" Kisuke backed up as the big tanned man walked back into the room, without the puke bucket, and stood in front of Karin. She nodded her head and tried to move her legs but stared in shock.

"My legs," Karin mumbled in growing fear. "I can't move my legs!" Kisuke stepped up to her and gently placed a hand on her head to comfort her.

"It's alright your legs are fine, you just can't feel them right now because your body is trying to recover. When Toushiro brought you here, the majority of your blood had been infected with poison of whatever attacked you. Your body tried to save itself by cutting off the blood supply of, shall we say, 'less critical' parts of your body, such as your legs. In a few hours, after a good bit of sleep and some food, you will be able to move your legs. We can't let you out of bed for another couple days but just know you will walk again. Okay?" Kisuke slowly explained stroking her head like a kitten. She nodded her head very slowly before she gazed back to her legs.

"Now, Tessai will carry you to your new room." Kisuke motioned for the big man to pick Karin up bridal-style. She clung to his neck when they started to move. He did not move very fast, but the rocking of his steps threatened to bring her nausea back. Thankfully they stopped in front of a room where a small girl with her dark hair in pigtails slid the door open to allow Tessai through. He ducked under the frame and approached an elevated bed with a dark blue blanket turned down so that she could be tucked in. It felt weird to be tucked in by the large man while the little girl pulled the blanket up to her chest as she lay back into the pillows.

"Now, you will sleep here until your treatment is complete. That will be for about two weeks, depending on how you take to the treatment." Kisuke explained as Karin began to grow sleepy and her eyes struggled to stay open.

'What does he mean by two weeks?' Karin thought before she fell asleep dreaming of Karakura and playing with the twin baby dragons all the while Toushiro watched over her with Hyourinmaru immediately behind him.

. . . . . . . . . . . .

"Okay here it is," Shunsui pointed to a passage in the diary of Soken Ishida.

"It is a most fortunate day in my household. My sister has given birth to a son, they are both well and our parents absolutely adore their grandchild."

"Do you call this relevant, Shunsui?" Byakuya glared at the man beside him.

"Well it was relevant to him," Shunsui mumbled as Byakuya turned the page.

"Here is something," Byakuya exclaimed as he read from the book.

"Kaze has shown me terrible things. I fear war is at our very doorstep. My faithful scouting eagle has shown me a gathering of an army the likes of which he had never seen."

"This must be when he met the dragons." Shunsui whispered and Byakuya nodded.

"There should be a page where he finds the army." Shunsui mumbles as Byakuya searched further into the diary.

"Here," Byakuya pointed to a passage where he started to read.

This army is truly terrifying. I stood on the top of the mountain, hidden among the bushes, still I could hear their weapons tested against each other, the war horses stomping and snorting in their eagerness. The smoke from their campfires darkened the skies within the valley. I have to go tell the king. There must be something we can do.

"What did the king say?" Shunsui asked as Byakuya skimmed the pages.

"I'm more interested in how he met the dragons." Byakuya mumbled as he continued to turn the pages. "It has to be here somewhere."

"This looks promising," Shunsui pointed to a paragraph on the page.

"King Inochi received word from the neighboring kingdoms. They are falling apart. Kingdom Shinzoo was burnt to the ground, Kingdom Kirei – demolished forever. The one kingdom every person believed to have the perfect defenses, Kingdom Naiya – the flawless diamond of the east, is gone. The sputtering flames of that once perfect jewel lick at the final inches of untamed land. Her people, so strong and powerful, are beaten down and conquered. Those who survived have been turned into slaves, and those who spurned slavery are dispersed into the deserts and mountains – struggling to live another day.

"That's horrible," Shunsui gasped at this tale. The academy was focused on history but Senji Koozui was especially detailed due to absolute destruction. Even now, those kingdoms are nothing but ruins with shadows as the only evidence a proud people lived in the region.

"I can't even imagine what it would be like to live through such a horrific era." Byakuya exclaimed as he hesitated in turning the page.

"I wonder exactly what he wrote regarding this war." Shunsui slowly asked reading the pages even slower.

"We must continue," Byakuya stated before he turned the page.

"I had to leave my home and take a trip. The thought of war only days away left such a cold bulk in my stomach I was unable to sleep or even eat. I see my children and I can't help but weep that they may soon lose their freedom and their lives.

So, I continued on my journey not caring where I traveled. Then one day, I came upon a small stream with a most unusual sight. There was a small creature bounding through the bushes to cross my path. It froze at spotting me, as I froze at the sight of him. A lizard, easily as tall as I, stood in my path with small wings and horns on top of its head with large golden eyes staring at me. It shrieked and ran into the bushes squeaking louder with every bound.

In my curious nature I followed the child - perhaps it was not the wisest decision of my life - to find a large version of the child lounging against the banks of a stream. This larger beast lifted her head to look between the child scrambling up her arm and to me gaping in surprise at the magnificent creature in front of me: a marvelous dragon with her young."

"That was a stupid thing to do." Shunsui stated to the book.

"He did recognize his folly, Shunsui." Byakuya answered as he turned the page to continue reading.

"The female looked at me then picked up her child by the tip of his tail and carried him away. Without even glancing back, the parent simply continued on as if I had never existed."

"Strange," Byakuya answered in confusion. "I would think the mother would be furious at his intrusion."

"I returned to that location every day for an entire week. The mother was there and as before, she carried her young away. However, she gave me a look that warned me to stay away . . . but I could not. How was I able to turn my back on a small family in danger of being destroyed in this war? Even though they're dragons, they are not invincible and, so, are susceptible to being killed by this army."

"He really did care about the dragons." Shunsui whispered in awe at this wizard's mindset.

"The adult seemed to care about her young which is very human." Byakuya answered.

"Another week later, I followed my path when a mounted armor clad warrior leapt over the bushes in pursuit of the baby dragon. The lance thrown by the warrior barely missed the child by inches of its tail. It squeaked in fear as it ran through the bushes to the stream. I feared for the baby's life so I came to the defense with a powerful kido spell knocking the warrior off of the horse. My thoughts centered on the mother. She should have been there, so what happened to her? As I turned toward the stream, my question was answered in horror. The mother was collapsed on the bank with ropes tying her down. There were five more warriors guarding her and attacking the mother. I was enraged by this setting so I stepped in. I used my wizardry to throw the men away from the mother and the returning infant. As I approached the mother, her golden eye stared into mine as I retrieved a dagger from my boot to cut the ropes away. She stood up and flexed her wings as the five warriors swept further into the bank. The mother shrieked an enraged cry with such force I feared my ears would burst.

This fearsome creature instilled no fear in the warriors as they prepared their lances once again. The mother used her tail to throw me to the ground, to my surprise, only to pick her baby up by the tail and myself by the right foot. It was in this most uncomfortable manner that she carried us away from the danger. I was forced to watch the warriors continue in their pursuit until they paused at another equally fearsome cry. From above, the warriors were vanquished by a blast of blue fire incinerating every inch within the radius of the blast. The mother turned toward the destruction and whined to the male dragon that had come to their aide. It paused at the sight of me, a human in the female's mouth.

'Arashi, why is this human with you?' I stared with my mouth wide open at the deep voice emanating from the male dragon.

Both Byakuya and Shunsui stared at the words on the paper. Then they read the pages, once, twice and a third time just to make sure they were reading correctly.

"It talked." Shunsui exclaimed and Byakuya nodded his head and fell into the diary once again.

"'You speak?' This was my only reply. The dragon stared at me in a curious manner.

'Of course, I speak human. Now, why have you been pestering my mate?'

'My deepest apologies to you,' I did my best to bow in such a vertical position. 'I was worried about this female and child. With such a massive army close by, I'm sure that a war is only around the corner.' The dragon blinked at me with his golden eye boring into mine as if to seek an answer.

'What army do you speak of?'

'The warriors that you just destroyed are a part of this army. I remember seeing their insignia among the battle flags in a valley near here.' The dragon looked off into the valley and returned his gaze to me.

'Arashi take this human back to the village. I wish to see if this human's words are true.' The blue dragon took off into the air. I was surprised at the speed it flew since it was easily bigger than a house. The female returned me to my village and I went to my family to tell all that I had seen."

"The dragon was interested in this army." Byakuya noted. The longer he read this diary, the more questions he had floating around his mind. The account of Soken Ishida does not match up with what they're taught in the academy.

"This is nothing like what we're taught in the academy." Shunsui commented as Byakuya turned another page.

"Just what I was thinking," Byakuya flipped another couple of pages, "I want to see how the king and dragon met."

"The blue dragon met me again tonight under a full moon. It would appear that I am only able to converse with him when I am in contact with his skin.

'I have seen this army. As you say it is indeed a great army, and one that can take dragons down. My mate is not an easy dragon to defeat, yet she was defeated by a mere five humans. With the numbers of warriors making up that army, I fear many dragons from my clan will be killed.' I looked up to the dragon and asked what he plans to do.

'I will take my clan away from here and we will nest in a safer place.'

'Will you help us?' I begged him. I know that my kingdom's army is not enough to defeat the army. If Naiya was destroyed, then my kingdom doesn't have a chance especially since we are a peaceful kingdom.

'I am not allowed to interfere with the affairs of humans.' The dragon lamented. His words were callous, but he appeared to be regretful that there was nothing he could do.

'Is there anything that we can do to gain your aid?' The dragon trained a golden eye on me in surprise and he looked at me for several minutes, as if he was having an internal argument.

'Speak with your king. If your leader is receptive to the aid of dragons, then I shall lend the aid of myself and my kind to humans.'

'Wait, what's your name?' I asked hesitantly, this was the first time that I had inquired of his name.

'My name is Muramasa.'

'My name is Soken Ishida.'"

"This just keeps getting stranger and stranger." Shunsui shook his head in disbelief. "The king agreed to this truce but what happened after that?"

"This is the portion of the past that I am most eager to explore."

"I went to King Inochi and gave my plea. At first, he laughed and thought the idea absurd, but I was able to change his mind with my words. As a wizard, I am able to perform spells where I can send thoughts or pictures into another human's mind. I sent all of the sights that I witnessed, the picture of the army terrified him, the mother dragon perplexed him, and he was in awe at the power of Muramasa as well as his agreement to help. To my great relief, King Inochi agreed with this deal. For the first time in weeks, I believe that our kingdom will survive and my family will be safe."

"Okay, this proves the history books where dragons did protect Hakota. We still don't know why the relationship went south."

"We will discover this in time, Shunsui." Byakuya answered his fellow captain. Byakuya flipped further into the diary. As Shunsui had pointed out, the Ishida diary matched with the history books found in Byakuya's home.

"The war is over. Kingdom Hakota still stands and our salvation is owed to the dragons of Muramasa's clan. He has informed me that he had not lost any of his clan members and there were no dragons killed in the battle. There were several injured, but those wounds will heal in only a few months to my great relief. Muramasa has agreed to watch over this kingdom and King Inochi is relieved to hear of this news. We can finally sleep in peace without fear of destruction."

"Okay, where did it go wrong?" Shunsui asked while Byakuya turned more pages. Byakuya read the dates and blinked that the troubles began five years after the events of Senji Koozui.

"It was the start of another war. It seems to be five years after Senji Koozui. This is the time period that will tell us what happened." Byakuya looked up to Shunsui. He smiled down to Byakuya and patted him on the back.

"What are we waiting for?"

"King Inochi has informed me that the dragons are to be sent away. The people cannot sleep with such powerful creatures in the area. They are scared enough by the bears, lions and large cats that can raid their homes. They do not need the fear of a creature as large and versatile as a dragon to attack at their doorsteps. Muramasa agreed to this and he called his clan to a dormant volcano where his clan can nest and raise their young in peace.

It was only after the dragons left that terrible news reached our king: another army had begun the invasion of Kingdom Hakota. Villages on the edges of our land were already destroyed. It appeared that the army was moving much faster than the one five years ago. I am curious to know if they are allies to that terrible army or if there are survivors that wish to complete the destruction that was started.

I asked King Inochi his decision: will he allow the aid of dragons as before? Apparently, my answer is no. The people don't believe the messengers. The word of war was falling on deaf ears throughout the entire kingdom. Still, the king refused the aid of dragons and the people ignored these threats believing their safety was secured. But how could that be when our protectors were banished?

Since I was not going to get help from King Inochi, I turned to Muramasa directly. I asked his direction and he told me of a way to protect the kingdom without the presence of dragons. This way was to bring life to a stone gargoyle. It would be these gargoyles that will defeat the army and keep the people safe. I was with Muramasa when he performed this ritual.

At sunset, Muramasa took me to a castle where gargoyles covered every inch of ledge and littered the gardens. On the tallest roof, Muramasa bent his head back and cried a low call. A blue light flowed from his mouth and washed over every inch of castle and touching each gargoyle. After a moment, I stared with wide eyes as a blue light glowed from a fox gargoyle at the corner of the roof. To my further amazement, with a newfound life the gargoyle stood and ran down the side of the castle.

'Are you sure this is a wise idea?' Muramasa was nervous about this ritual.

'All will be well, old friend. The people need guardians during the night.'

'That is what dragons are for.'

'Yes and we will forever be indebted to you, however very few people feel secure when they approach you. Your very shadow strikes fear in their hearts.' I attempted to easy Muramasa's fears but the dragon still held reservations regarding this plan.

'No dragon would harm a human. No offense, but you are not worth our time.' I laughed at this answer. A dragon regards a human, such as I as a gnat, not even worthy of their time. To say I was relieved would be far too simple a phrase.

'Yes, and for that I and many of my people are grateful.' My words may have lifted his spirits for a moment, but the dragon soon fell back into a morose disposition.

'This spell will give the gargoyles life during the night and they will always sleep during the day. But I give you a fair warning: this spell is temporary for nine days. If the spell is still activated after midnight of that final day, then the spell will become permanent. Each gargoyle will have that life stored away and no man-made weapon of war will be able to destroy it.' His words sent chills down my spine. No object of war could destroy this beast should they come out of control. I now understood Muramasa's caution, however our kingdom needed to be saved, and the army was drawing ever closer. Already they have invaded nearly half of the kingdom; thankfully King Inochi is still out of their reach. How many days would it be before the fortress is taken out as well?

'I understand and I hope that the spell will be deactivated before then. Still I believe it is worth the risk, the invading armies of the foreign country have nearly destroyed every castle and executed all of the people.' Our kingdom is very great it consists of hundreds of castles and fortresses throughout the land. However, the majority of those castles and fortresses had fallen into the invading army's clutches.

'I would never be able to forgive myself if the same fate befell this castle as it is the last on this side of the kingdom.' Muramasa conceded my point and we watched more of the gargoyles walk off toward the approaching army. A lion with great wings took to the air and circled above our heads.

'I shall ensure this spell is deactivated before the nine day deadline. The army is just over that mountain, and the gargoyles have even started searching for the invaders. My hopes are that this will be deactivated within the next four days.' I spoke with hope in my voice and my eyes begged Muramasa to agree with this situation.

'Very well, I understand. There is one more warning that I should give you: if any of the gargoyles do go out of control, then the only way to destroy them is with a dragon's power. There is no other way to slay the gargoyles.' Muramasa gave his final warning and he opened his wings wide to take flight from the roof. I was left waving to the retreating dragon, grateful for the aid he had given us those many years ago."

"Wow," Shunsui blinked to the pages that they had finished. Byakuya simply nodded his head.

"The dragon, Muramasa, gave life to gargoyles." Byakuya placed a finger on his chin in deep thought. He remembered when Rukia had dragged Ichigo into the village. She described the attacking creature as a black monster with skin of stone and moved like water. It could have been a gargoyle, but there is no mention of a mask or red eyes.

"Let's find out what happened next." Byakuya turned several pages and came upon an interesting passage.

"It has been five days and the invaders are destroyed. The gargoyles have done their job so I met Muramasa on the castle roof and we waited for sunset. At sunset, Muramasa raised his head to the sky and let loose a deep cry allowing a silver light to wash over every inch of the castle. I watched the blue eye of a gargoyle dim back to nothing. Several minutes after the sun had set, all of the gargoyles remained as stone statues. This was a great relief, and I breathed a deep sigh.

'We were fortunate their work was completed within five days.' Muramasa was also relieved to see the gargoyles put back to sleep. We parted ways again. I don't know when I'll see him again or even if I will see him. Only time will tell."

"Well, it would seem that a gargoyle was not the attacker of Kaien's group." Byakuya surmised as he finished the passage.

"That still doesn't explain why the dragons and humans broke relations with such severity." Kyoraku pointed out in frustration. Byakuya was also getting pretty frustrated. They had started reading this book three hours ago, now it was past lunch but neither captain could go eat – this diary held too much information.

"Something else must have happened." Byakuya mumbled flipping through the pages of the diary. The pages he now passed were more of family than of dragons or war. That is until he reached a page several months later.

"I think this is what happened, Byakuya." Shunsui stated with his eyes focused on the page.

"'THE GARGOYLES HAVE BEEN AWAKENED!' My nightmare has just been realized. I screamed to the sky where I saw a blue shadow swoop down to the roof where I stood, or rather was trapped. All around me, there were gargoyles of varying sizes and shapes stalking toward my position. Muramasa landed at my side and scared off a great many of the gargoyles.

'The spell was repelled several months ago, how have they come back to life?' Muramasa requested of me. I expected him to blame me for the waking of the gargoyles, but he did not look at me with such a disgust instead he looked toward me as a friend in a terrible situation.

His attention was drawn to the far corner of a roof where a centaur gargoyle leapt onto the roof and raised a spear toward the two of us. I stared at the creature and saw the eyes of the beast were red. The gargoyles that Muramasa awakened were blue, and they weren't nearly this hostile. Muramasa destroyed this gargoyle with a quick blast of blue fire before I could see more detail.

'Those gargoyles have red eyes.' Muramasa squinted at the pile of rocks that used to be a gargoyle.

'Is that bad?'

'Yes, it means another person has awakened the gargoyles. The red eyes signify black magic.' At that moment, I knew true fear. Black magic was the most dangerous of the wizardry arts and the most destructive. I know that wizards are capable of using black magic, but it can't be a coincidence that gargoyles were brought back to life months after Muramasa awakened them. How did another person find out about the gargoyles? First a better question: what can we do?

'What can we do?'

'Keep everyone inside at night and try to fend them off however you can. I will bring more dragons to guard you.' At Muramasa's advice, I did as suggested. I returned home and warned the king of the gargoyles. King Inochi was very surprised at this revelation. When Muramasa woke the gargoyles, it was done in secret – only Muramasa and I were aware of the spell. King Inochi was not pleased with my actions, even if those actions saved his life and the lives of my family. I fear this will place a black mark on my family name. Only time will tell.

"He's wasn't kidding about that black mark. If what Uryu said was true, then Soken was responsible for the destruction of his own family clan." Shunsui whispered in surprise.

"The gargoyles were awakened by a dark wizard. These had red eyes." Byakuya whispered compiling the image in his mind.

"I wish he drew a picture of what it looked like." Shunsui exclaimed as Byakuya turned the page. Both men fell silent and they glanced to one another, the very next page sported a drawing of one of the gargoyles awakened. The image was that of a fox with red eyes and it was crouched as if it was preparing to pounce from the page.

"I'll make a copy of this drawing and show it to Rukia. Maybe she can tell me if what attacked her was really a gargoyle." Byakuya exclaimed while he retrieved a spare parchment and ink well.

Shunsui stood up and stretched while Byakuya copied the picture. This morning had given him a lot to think about. They were in deep trouble: it was beginning to look like gargoyles have been behind the "dragon" attacks for years. If what Muramasa said was true, then someone had engineered the destruction of the dragons by the hand of humans. People are aware of dragons, but nobody has heard of an attacking gargoyle - the image being a motionless statue. So people are massacred by gargoyles, and it is assumed that dragons are the culprits. As Soken had said, dragons look dangerous so humans assume their destructive and barbaric nature. This was obviously not the case. Captain Hitsugaya and Karin Kurosaki must have discovered this which is why they left willingly with the dragons. It is probably why they are perfectly safe. No human alone can attack a dragon, and a dragon could easily destroy a gargoyle.

"I believe that Karin and Captain Hitsugaya are perfectly safe." Shunsui stated to the ceiling as Byakuya completed the replication.

"I must agree with you, Shunsui." Byakuya answered. "Now let us find out how our two species fell out of good graces."

Byakuya turned several pages until he came upon what appeared to be the ending of the diary.

"I received word from Muramasa that his nest was destroyed, and the humans have begun to kill his fellow clan members. They must go into hiding. He has promised to meet with me as much as he can, but I doubt it will be very often. We will see. In the meantime, I fear for my own family. It was discovered that I played a small part in the waking of the gargoyles and the destruction of nearby villages and homes. For this, my family is becoming hated and I fear that I have bestowed a terrible fate upon my family."

"That seems to be all for now about the dragons." Byakuya mused as he casually scanned the pages. "It appears that the attacks became more common, but no one suggested dragons to be the culprit so I must assume it to be the work of gargoyles." He turned another couple of pages and paused at a passage.

"It appears that Uryu was correct, about this time there was a witch hunt for any member of the Ishida clan. Many were killed and the remainder were scattered about the countryside."

"Poor guy, he lost the best thing he had: his family." Shunsui shook his head in pity for the ancestor.

"This looks to be the last entry." Byakuya turned to the last page and began to read the final paragraphs.

"It has been forty years since the gargoyles had been awakened and forty years since I've seen Muramasa. I am going to meet him one more time tonight. I fear the end of my life is drawing near. So, to keep the accounts of these past seventy years I will place a spell on this journal. The spell will last well into the future. It will ensure the protection of this most precious literature. Perhaps there will be someone to come along who can read this diary and will help to reverse this nightmare that was started.

I pray that my descendants can forgive me. I never meant for this to happen, then again people never mean for these types of things to happen. As the saying goes the road to hell is paved with good intentions. I look back on my life and think if there is anything that I would do different. If I hadn't turned to the dragons, then would any of this have happened? Could we have defeated that army that destroyed Naiya? Could we have defeated the army without bringing gargoyles into the picture? Would anything make a difference? I have no answers to these questions. I only have the hopes that history will forgive me and that my family will not pay the ultimate price for my acts.

This will be my last entry. I give this prayer that someone will come across this book and discover the history of the dragons. How their assistance has saved so many lives from being destroyed. I can only pray a man or woman will come along with an open enough mind to read these words and glean wisdom. With these words I place a spell on this book: it will not be destroyed. Anyone who should try to destroy the book will be destroyed in a like manner. I hate to think that my own family will try to destroy this diary, but I cannot trust them with such a vital key of understanding. I pray that future generations can forgive me."

"That's it." Byakuya whispered closing the book on the last page. Both captains gazed at the diary and admired the designs of the book.

"He certainly did a good job." Shunsui broke the silence in the room.

"Who is that?"

"Soken Ishida. He put that spell on this book that has lasted for three hundred years, and it is still going strong."

"Yes, he was very wise to do such a thing." Byakuya agreed. Both captains turned toward the door when Uryu entered the cabin.

"Are the two of you still here?" Uryu asked nudging his glasses higher on his nose. The sweat falling from his brow would indicate he was tired from a workout and not in a mood to be hospitable.

"We were just finishing, Uryu." Shunsui stepped away from the chair as Byakuya pulled the bag over the book. Both captains blinked as the book glowed blue fire and returned to the sealed state.

"Thank you for sharing such a critical part of history with us, Uryu Ishida." Byakuya rose from the chair and took a deep bow to the young man. Uryu blinked in confusion at this act and shrugged his shoulders.

"It's past lunchtime. I came in to find something to eat. Sadly, I only have enough food for one person. I really need to find the time to go to market." Uryu looked between the captains and the wrapped book. "If the two of you need to look over Soken Ishida's diary again, then just call me and I'll bring it out. I'll lock this book away before I gather lunch." Uryu explained as he approached the desk and picked up the bag with only a little bit of difficulty.

"Thank you again, Uryu." Shunsui called to the young man's back.

"Okay, bye captains." Uryu called as he retreated to the back room of his cabin.

"Let's leave, Shunsui. We need to find our own lunch, besides I need to go show this drawing to Rukia." Byakuya led Shunsui out of the cabin and back into the noonday heat of Karakura.

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A/N: Here is the next chapter of A tale of Dragons. I have been itching to elaborate on the history since I wrote it down back in Chapter 5. I hope this explains some questions that you guys might have had. Let me know what you think of this chapter. I promise we'll get more to Toushiro, Karin and Urahara but the background needed to be elaborated so that the captains can change the minds of other people. It only takes one person to start a wave.

A/N2: I'm still looking for any ideas you guys have for any dragons.

Let me know what you think of this chapter. Did everything make sense? Does this answer any questions you might have had?

Disclaimer: This fanfiction is inspired by Dreamworks' "How to Train Your Dragon."

Translations:

Inochi = Life

Shinzoo = Heart

Kirei = Clean

Naiya = Diamond

Senji Koozui = Wartime Flood (I thought it appropriate since the army swept anyone away that crossed their path.)

Arashi = Storm