Disclaimer: I don't own Bleach.

The dragons took off from the cliff at a blistering pace toward Karakura. As the village drew closer, the group could hear the screams. The screams of the gargoyles mingled with the screams of humans running about in fear for their lives.

...

Rangiku wandered around the village. She was anxious. Toushiro would be getting back to the village any day and she was nervous on what they will do. The obvious would be they would leave for Sereitei for training to be in the army. It was afterward that was currently unknown. Would they stay in Sereitei after the academy? Not in this century, they would return to Karakura, but what then?

'No need to worry on it now. Let the future bring what it will.' Rangiku mulled over her thoughts as she walked past the chief's cabin. She had no idea what was occurring outside her small village.

...

Captain Kuchiki stood before the kido portal and spoke with Princess Shihoin.

"Princess Shihouin, I am calling to request relief troops. Lately, there have been more attacks and our men are greatly fatigued." Byakuya watched Yurouichi frown in slight confusion.

"I have been sending relief troops. There have been two separate troops sent from Sereitei in the last month alone. Do you mean to tell me that the troops I have sent have not reached Karakura?" She demanded to know. It was Byakuya's turn to frown.

"What has been happening to them?" Byakuya thought aloud then his eyes widened slightly. The one thought flowing through his mind from what he had learned over the most recent weeks: gargoyles.

"My guess would be the dragons have been attacking more frequently." Yurouichi began but she paused at Byakuya's stare. It was thoughtful and disconcerted. From all the years she has known Byakuya Kuchiki, head of the Kuchiki clan, Yurouichi knew for a fact that the man never became disconcerted. There was something else going on. "Is there something you're not telling me, Captain Kuchiki?" The princess asked, her eyes bore into the captain's demanding to know the truth.

"Your highness before I feel at liberty to discuss all that I know, I will require more information."

"Does this have to do with those documents you requested from the Royal library two months ago?" The princess accurately guessed. His nod earned a sigh from the princess. "And you're not going to tell me until you have these documents will you?" Byakuya looked up to her, his face a mask of indifference. "I could just order you to tell me what you know…" She let the threat hang in the air, but still Byakuya did not let out a single hint of his knowledge. "But I won't. I have known you for too many years. Is there anything you feel you can tell me?"

"Yes, your highness," Yurouichi leaned up to the flickering lights to hear Captain Kuchiki more clearly. "What I have to divulge will change all of the history that we have ever recorded." Yurouichi blinked her eyes and widened them just a bit in her surprise at this news.

"Fine then," she snapped and stepped away from the portal signaling the end of their chat. "I'll try to send more troops, but in the meantime try and find out what is keeping them from reaching that village."

"Yes your highness," Captain Kuchiki bowed his head and stepped away from the portal. He dispelled the portal and plunged the room back into darkness. Stepping away from the cabin, he left the confines of the room and walked out to the lane. He looked up to the bright mid-morning sun. The day was bright and clear, on most times it would be peaceful but today… Today, there was a feeling in his bones and his gut and it was telling him that something bad was going to be happening today. His gut was never wrong and there were times when he despised his gut.

"You don't look happy," Shunsui made the most obvious comment as he stood on the porch. Byakuya joined his fellow captain at the porch and looked over the trees. "Did you get any news from the princess?"

Byakuya replied with a sigh, enough of an answer to tell Shunsui that the Kuchiki leader had no interest in continuing this conversation.

"When do you plan on telling them about the gargoyles?" Shunsui tipped his hat and glanced at Byakuya from under the brim.

"When I have more evidence," Byakuya answered stepping away from the cabin. Shunsui followed but the two men paused in the path. A sound had echoed from the woods, a cry of some sorts, but nothing like a common falcon, or even an eagle. No, this cry sent chills up the two men's spines and made them feel fear, an emotion they were trained to never reveal. As seconds passed, the cry became louder and closer. The closer the sound neared, the men could distinguish the cry was screams: hundreds of screams crying all at once in various pitch and volumes.

"What the devil. . ." Shunsui whispered when a series of thuds trampled into the village. The creature screamed once again and rounded the lane in view of the captains. A black creature shaped as a wolf with a white mask painted with red bands stretching from the nose to cover the ears appeared. It screamed and caused the two men to step back in surprise.

"A gargoyle," Byakuya whispered then another scream echoed from the other end of the lane.

"Make that two," Shunsui looked around when more cries echoed around them, "or more, lots more."

...

"What are those things?!" Renji demanded taking a step back from one of the many gargoyles advancing on him.

"These are the same things that attacked Kaien's group." Rukia yelled out. "You have to use kido!" Holding her hand outstretched, palm forward a red ball was called to her hand. A wolf type gargoyle turned toward her and lunged.

"HADO 31: SHAKKAHO!" The red ball of energy cracked the skin of the gargoyle and delayed it, but it did not stop. Another blast of kido crippled the creature, but it still struggled. A roar behind Rukia drew her attention away where she watched two more gargoyles run straight to her.

"Run!" A voice cried out to her and she did as told, running as fast as she could in between a pair of wood cabins. There she was able to rest for a moment. In the next moment, screams rushed all around her punctuated with roars and stomps of the creatures.

Renji ran into the alley and crashed into Rukia

"Renji," she helped him to his feet from his tumble. "What are you doing here?" The crash of a nearby building made her jump.

"Trying to find help," Renji looked up as more gargoyles stepped toward the lane. "These things are everywhere."

"What are we going to do?" Rukia looked around then up to her long-time friend.

Renji looked over to a small family that had dashed for the covers of a cabin, despite the feeble safety it proved to be when a corner was demolished to splinters at a red blast from a gargoyle.

"Do everything that we can," Renji turned toward the lane preparing to step out but a roar paused his step. The two watched as a powerful blast of ice struck a pair of gargoyles stalking down the lane.

"What?" A snow-white dragon swooped from the sky and crushed the gargoyles into small chunks with a flick of his tail.

"Dragon," Rukia whispered as she watched the dragon rise into the sky and emit a second powerful roar. The gargoyles looked away from the destruction of the village up to the dragon.

"Great, just what we need." Renji sighed as the dragon circles around the village and swooped down again blasting ice roars to the ground.

"Is it destroying the creatures?" Rukia asked in surprise. Even now the snow dragon had killed more than 5 gargoyles, but the fight was hardly over. More gargoyles sprang from the woods and surged toward the dragon. The dragon responded with a blast of ice, but instead of swooping down a kido blast from his shoulder shattered the frozen statue. Renji barely managed to make out a small form sitting at the shoulders of the dragon: tan with white above a black and white cloth, barely distinguishable between the dragon's naturally white fur.

"Is that…" Renji squinted up to the dragon and the small form alongside it. "Toushiro?" Rukia looked up and stared but a red blast streaking through the sky blinded her vision. She looked back up and the white dragon missed the blast but a streak of kido flashed to the ground with a thunderous clap.

'Byakurai,' Rukia thought and knew without hesitation that it was Toushiro Hitsugaya on the white dragon.

...

"There are so many gargoyles attacking Karakura." Karin gasped in surprise. She knew they were attacking, but she had no idea there would be this many.

"I have never seen so many gargoyles in one place." Kon exclaimed from his place clutching Karin's arm. Zangetsu looked down as well, this was overkill. There was only one reason so many gargoyles would be attacking at once: this was an extermination.

"Destroy them all," Hyourinmaru ordered as he continued the attack. He wasted no time in destroying gargoyles with ice blasts then crushing with a pass using his tail. Toushiro used kido blasts to destroy frozen gargoyles and the numbers plummeted, or it would have if not for the surge of gargoyles from the East side of the village. Karin looked over toward the West side and spotted more gargoyles.

"Zangetsu we need to land. I have to get something from the blacksmith shop." Zangetsu followed Karin's direction and dropped toward the ground in a graceful dive.

"AAHHH!" Kon screamed and clung to Karin even tighter as the earth rushed up to meet them. Zangetsu pulled up at the last moment and landed skidding a few feet toward the middle of the lane. "Did we land?" Kon whimpered as his monkey form still clutched to Karin.

"Yeah we did," Karin stated and jumped from Zangetsu's back. She pried Kon from her arm and dropped him to the ground. "Kon I need you to make sure that everyone stays inside and as safe as possible. Use one of your human forms," Karin ordered while turning toward the blacksmith shop which still sported black smoke escaping the chimney.

"You got it," Kon morphed to a twelve year old boy and ran to a group of people who were running down the street away from the dragons.

"Karin what do you need?" Zangetsu asked as he looked back to Karin searching for an item behind the counter. Zangetsu heard a thump of a footstep crash to his left side, turning his head a tiger looking gargoyle screamed up to the dragon. The dragon easily bit the gargoyle and crushed it between his powerful jaws rendering the gargoyle to a mound of stone.

"I got it!" Karin yelled in triumph holding up a quiver full of arrows with a bow slung across her back. Stepping out of the blacksmith shop, a gargoyle appeared at her hand blocking her way. Karin easily pulled the arrow back and called spiritual energy to gather around the arrowhead.

"Hado 31: Shakkaho!" The kido arrow pierced the white mask of the gargoyle and it disintegrated into a pile of rubble. A second gargoyle jumped into the lane just behind her and she turned to strike the gargoyle down with another arrow.

Zangetsu looked up to the sky where several gargoyles had begun to take flight. The gargoyles screamed and Zangetsu snarled opening his outer eyelid to reveal a golden eye, he took in a deep breath and roared sending a blade of white fire straight to the gargoyles. The blade tore into two gargoyles as if they were made of nothing more than butter. A second powerful blade followed, this time slicing a trio of gargoyles advancing to their position. Zangetsu looked back to Karin to see her firing arrows left and right striking all gargoyles that appeared in her line of sight. As she had her back turned taking out a gargoyle on the far end, a dog-like gargoyle leaped up behind.

Karin heard a gargoyle scream to her back, as she turned she faced a gargoyle breathing in to attack. The gargoyle attack was halted in mid breath with Zangetsu's powerful jaws crushing the gargoyle in two at the shoulders.

"They are advancing from the sky. We need to take flight." Zangetsu ordered to Karin, she nodded her head but turned back toward the shop. Karin ran to the back of the shop and grabbed a long, thick chain which she curled around her arm. She ran back to Zangetsu and threw the chain around the black dragon's shoulder where she would be sitting.

"What is this?" Zangetsu demanded as she latched the chain with a hook securing the metal onto the groove just above his shoulder.

"Hand hold," Karin answered as she retrieved the spare quiver and bow set at her left side. She leapt up to Zangetsu and settled to just below his neck and hooked her legs around either side of the chain. The chain gripped to Zangetsu's scales and caused the metal to grow taught with her ankles hooked on the metal on either side of the dragon's body.

"Let's go," Karin exclaimed and braced for Zangetsu to leap into the sky. The dragon crouched down and jumped up opening his wings for the downward strokes that lifted him higher and higher into the sky. Karin was very grateful for the chain since she nearly slid off Zangetsu with his sudden take-off. The black dragon spotted a gargoyle coming up on their left side and prepared an attack, but a blast of ice and kido of blue fire destroyed it. Hyourinmaru flew up to the pair and Toushiro looked over to Karin seeing how her legs were hooked onto a chain circling Zangetsu's shoulders.

"Toushiro, take this," Karin held up a spare arrow and quiver set she retrieved from the blacksmith shop. Toushiro nodded but a red blast from an approaching gargoyle caused the dragons to lurch away from one another. There was no way that Karin could throw the weapon, so Toushiro chose to use kido. He extended his right hand with two fingers extended calling a gold rope with red spiraling around to shoot toward Karin.

"Horin!" Toushiro easily ensnared the weapon and called it back to him, quickly throwing the quiver on his shoulder and ready the arrow for a gargoyle shooting up from below.

"They just keep coming!" Karin looked around as even more gargoyles rose from the forest. There were now ten gargoyles circling the dragons and easily four more stomping through the village.

"We'll take the gargoyles in the air," Toushiro ordered as he let loose a kido arrow to a hawk-like gargoyle moving nearer. "You go take care of the ones in the village."

"Right," Karin answered and Zangetsu promptly dropped from the sky into a dive. There was a centaur-type gargoyle galloping toward a small family running for cover in a nearby cabin. Zangetsu pulled from the dive and grabbed the gargoyle into his claws and carried it over to the forest. Karin shot the gargoyle with an arrow as Zangetsu dropped the gargoyle. The gargoyle disintegrated into pebbles with a shriek and boom. She looked back to the village where the three gargoyles paused in their chase and stared at the pair.

"What are they doing?" Karin asked. A fox gargoyle roared at the girl and darted toward the pair hovering in the air.

The number of gargoyles seemed to be dropping with the combined efforts of both dragons and humans working together. The arrows of the humans were running low now each only had a single arrow left.

Toushiro heard a gargoyle scream from behind him and reached for his arrow destroying the gargoyle with a well-placed sokatsui spell. The final gargoyle shot toward Zangetsu and Karin but was destroyed by her final arrow.

"That was my last arrow." Karin looked around the air and to the ground from atop Zangetsu's shoulders. As far as she could see the gargoyles were no longer in the village.

"I don't see any more or hear anything," Toushiro commented tilting his head to hear better for any screams.

"So we won?" Karin looked over with a relieved smile. It was silent for several moments until the wind carried a sound. Toushiro scowled to the distance and Karin's grin disappeared to a gasp of fear. In the distance there came a cloud of black with white speckles dotting the formless cloud. The cloud drifted closer and a scream was heard. This scream was more terrifying because it was louder than all of the other screams before, being a single scream made up of hundreds of gargoyles.

"Toushiro," Karin whispered and the boy growled in anger and frustration.

"Is there no end to these things?" Toushiro glared as the cloud began to draw nearer, now it was just inside the mountain range barely passing into the edge of the forest.

"Zangetsu," Karin pleaded to the black dragon. The black dragon looked to the snow dragon studying the approaching swarm. This would be the final strike to destroy the village if nothing was done. It was far too many for only two dragons to defeat.

"There is no way we can fight that many gargoyles." Toushiro admitted looking up to the head of Hyourinmaru feeling a threatening growl escape from the mighty throat and rattle the bones of the boy riding him.

"Not alone," the snow dragon leaned his head down and took in a deep breath.

"You don't mean…" Zangetsu began but was interrupted by a deep cry emitting from Hyourinmaru's chest. The cry shook the bones of both humans when it passed through them. The two would have doubted a sound had been made if not for the wave that passed through them. Hyourinmaru let out another subsonic roar silently ripple through the air radiating out thousands of meters from their position. It allowed the cry to reach the ears of friends well out of human hearing range.

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

"Will you two stop fooling around?" Sode no Shirayuki shrieked to the tan and red scaled dragons wrestling at the mouth of the cave.

"But it's too much fun to rile up Kujaku," Hozukimaru chortled at the huff the tan and feathered screeched.

"I don't care," the female silver dragon snarled, her fearsome growl throwing the two dragons away in fear for their lives.

"My, my you've been terribly touchy since Zangetsu disappeared with that human." The crazed Kazeshini chose the wrong time to poke fun at the silver female, waltzing up his black spikes glinting dangerously in the noon-time light. She growled down to him but he smirked up at her, he was bored so chose to entertain himself with the torture of his fellow dragons.

Haineko dashed to the mouth of the cave and stretched her head to the sky. Sode bickered to the pair ignoring the female to her left.

"SILENCE!" Haineko roared, "listen." The dragons turned silent and stretched their heads to the sky. All the dragons heard the deep rumble ripple through the air.

"That's Hyourinmaru," Haineko cried leaping into the air. "He needs our help."

"Finally something to do!" Kazeshini laughed rising into the air following the orange furred female dragon.

"Hey wait for us!" Kujaku screeched leaping into the air closely followed by Hozukimaru. There were several more colorful dragons to dart from the caves, but they moved at a speed so only shades of blue and yellow streaked after the group.

"Mommy!" Tobiume ran up to the mouth of the cave and searched over the sky. However, her mother was too far away for the small baby to see. Minazuki calmly stepped up behind the baby dragon.

"There now, Tobiume," Minazuki nuzzled the child with the tip of her long green nose. "They will return no need to fear." The child sniffled at the elder female. This was the first time the baby dragon had both of her parents from the den. The baby could not hear the cry, but she knew there was danger when her mother dashed from the cave without a word to her daughter.

...

Karin looked on at the approaching swarm of gargoyles, dread pooling in her belly. There were just too many and Hyourinmaru was calmly hovering there gazing at their, most likely, death like he was watching a sunset. She did acknowledge this might be the end for her. A gargoyle let loose a powerful scream pushing Karin to hunch over Zangetsu's scales, shivering in fear. The onyx dragon felt the child's tremors causing a growl to grow deep within his chest. It is unforgivable for these creatures to reduce Karin, a girl who showed no fear toward the most fiercest of dragons, into a shivering mess.

"Karin," her human best friend gazed at her with sympathy and the love he was too cautious and unsure to display. He too saw no hope on this battlefield, but it did not mean he would not fight until he took his last breath.

The gargoyles were coming and fast.

"There are too many." Karin stared on in fear. "It is hopeless." She looked down to the village mostly everyone were hiding away in cabins, but there were a few brave venturing out from the thatched and wooded roofs.

"Zangetsu," the black dragon turned to the small captain at his call. "I want you to go and take Karin away from here."

"WHAT! No. No way Toushiro that is NOT happening, I can't leave you here and leave Karakura. Our family is down there." She yelled to him, her eyes smoldering in rage that he would even suggest she abandon everyone.

"Karin," sighing he looked to her and she gasped, his eyes were sorrowful but firm. He was resigned to their fate. "The dragons are tired as are you, and this great a number of gargoyles cannot be defeated with just us. The only thing to be done is run and get as many villagers out as we can."

The cloud drew closer, the screams louder. A few villagers braved the outside and started trickling out of the cabins. The captains walked out to the street and turned to the sky.

"There are your two dragons, Byakuya." Shunsui pointed out with a tilt of his head.

"Shunsui this is no time to be making jokes." Byakuya looked around the village mentally organizing the clean-up. A gargoyle scream shattered the moment of peace.

"This is pointless," Shunsui admitted frowning up to the skies. There were too many gargoyles and not nearly enough forces to battle them. The captain looked about the village thinking of any way to survive the coming onslaught.

"All is not lost," Hyourinmaru stated to the humans. Zangetsu inclined his head behind the pair and listened for a familiar sound. Amidst the noises of battle, the black dragon distinctly heard flapping from many mighty wings of large beasts.

"Zangetsu!" Karin screamed. The dragon turned back toward the legion in time to spot a gargoyle break away from the rest screaming ferociously. Toushiro raised his hand back calling forth energy for an attack, but the strike never left his hand. A bolt of lightning shot from below to slice the gargoyle into dust with an echoing boom. Karin and Toushiro stared in awe as the gargoyle completely disintegrated. A dragon roared from below, swooping up between the dragons curling around to face the mass. The dragon cackled a deranged laugh, his black spikes shining a glinted red in the sunlight.

Toushiro gasped when he spotted the slender dragon with red tipped spikes running along his body soar up from beneath, cackling madly it streaked toward the gargoyles shrieking lightning bolt after bolt destroying every gargoyle it hit. A pair of gargoyles managed to get around the spiked dragon charging Zangetsu, but a spike of ice pierced the gargoyle through the mask rendering it into dust. A second spike of ice disintegrated the second gargoyle. Toushiro couldn't help but stare as a beautiful, silver dragon darted around joining the spiked one. Both dragons continued the attack creating a defensive line the gargoyles could not cross. Not too long more dragons joined the fight, all being various sizes and colors, but Karin recognized all of them as being from Hyourinmaru's den. The villagers heard the mingling roars and screams drawing them into the street staring up at the sky at the great number of dragons and the only sign of gargoyles being pebbles dissolving in the winds. Just like that, the gargoyles were picked off in multiple groups until only dust remained fading in the winds.

"Everyone," Hyourinmaru roared waiting for his den to circle the pair, "fan out into the forest and destroy whatever gargoyles you find. We are unable to hear their cries so use your senses of smell and wipe them out. Now go!" A mighty roar dispersed the dragons to do as ordered, save for two: a female silver and female burnt orange.

"Will you be alright," Haineko hovered near to her snowy mate.

"All will be well, Haineko." Hyourinmaru touched his forehead to hers in tender support sending her into the surrounding forest.

"Have no fear, Sode no Shirayuki," Zangetsu rubbed his neck to hers easing her fears away. "I will return to you shortly, but first we must drop the humans down to the village. The two dragons looked and watched as the villagers further trickled from their homes to survey the damage and marvel at the dragons flying so many dozens of feet above.

"Be careful," she gave one more hesitant glance to the people walking to the main road followed by soldiers in their black uniforms and two captains with their white cloaks. He nudged her forehead with a purring in his chest setting her mind at ease so she flew off into the forest following Haineko. Now Zangetsu and Hyourinmaru were the only dragons hovering in the sky above Karakura.

"Hyourinmaru," Zangetsu whispered looking over to his side. The snow dragon nodded his head then turned toward the humans.

"It is time you return to your village." Hyourinmaru lazily circled the village, Zangetsu followed until they reached a clear region just at the limit of the village where the two landed. The people and soldiers hesitantly approached the landing dragons. Zangetsu crouched to the ground but kept his neck straight up warily keeping an eye on the growing crowd. Hyourinmaru settled down, also watching the humans. Toushiro looked around glancing to the black dragon shielding Karin with his neck, then to the growing crowd. The tension was thick, so thick a snapping of a twig would set the soldiers off. So far they kept their distance, staring fearfully at the two dragons crouching in the village. A handful of soldiers drew their weapons ready to strike. Zangetsu saw this move and tensed his muscles ready to take to the sky at a moment's notice. A group of soldiers inched toward the dragons, weapons at the ready. Captains Kuchiki and Kyoraku along with Rangiku and Rukia ran up to beside the army and stared.

'This is it. These are certainly the dragons Byakuya found evidence from the clearing.' Shunsui thought but noticed the growing tension in the air.

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A/N: They made it back to the village in time. Now I would like to apologize a million times for taking so long to update this story. I had the story planned out in my hand but every time I went to put the words from my brain to the paper it all turned into dust in the wind.

*Wind passes by with miniscule dust particles mixed in* See there they go. But as you can see I got this chapter and the rest of this story typed out.

This story is inspired by the DreamWorks Movie "How to train your dragon." I do not own this movie. I haven't even see the sequel yet.