Vermillion Moon
By Spunky0ne
(I don't remember who it was that asked for this storyline. It was a really long time ago, so forgive me for taking so very long to write it. It just took forever for the plot bunny to give me the full storyline. This is an angsty Renji/Byakuya story with some non-graphic non-con sex (If you want the MA version, it will be on AO3.) and mpreg. It is very different from my other storylines, so dig in and enjoy!)
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Chapter 1: Called
"This looks like a good spot, ne Taichou?" Renji queried, nodding in the direction of a small cave that overlooked the lonely, sandy valley they had come upon during their search, "Clear view, a little elevated, no hollows nearby...the only thing I don't like is that it's pretty close to some dangerous territory. East of here are the ruins of Las Noches and to the south, there's a restricted area known to be inhabited by hollow vamps and ookami seirei. I don't know which is more creepy. But they're both off for miles, so we should be fine."
"Yes," the noble agreed, flash stepping ahead to reconnoiter around the area of the cave.
He finished his assessment and nodded.
"It seems safe enough," he agreed, "but as the type of hollows to the south is so deadly and we aren't all that far off, we will use a reiatsu cage and take turns guarding."
"Fine by me," chuckled the redhead, "I don't know if I'll sleep anyway. Hollow vamps and ookami seirei? Damn. I'd sure hate to meet either of those in person."
"I agree," Byakuya said quietly, gazing at the south horizon, "The hollow vamps employ powerful hypnotic reiatsu that can overcome even taichou level shinigamis, and the spirit wolves can masquerade as one of us, then shift back and attack swiftly when one's guard is down."
"I'll just skip both, thanks," Renji said, taking out their ration packs and handing one to the noble. Byakuya raised the reiatsu concealing cage around them, then rested near the entrance to the cave while the redhead made hot tea, using a measured flare of kido. He handed one cup to Byakuya, then sat down next to his taichou and ate quietly as they looked off into the distance.
"So, what's going on with that moon?" Renji asked, looking up into the sky, "I've never seen a red moon before."
"I am not sure," Byakuya admitted, "I think the most probable explanation is distortions in the reiatsu in this area. Those distortions were enough that Kyouraku soutaichou felt we should search the area, so it is notable enough to cause unusual visual and other distortions."
"Hmmm," mused Renji through a mouthful of tea, "Just something else creepy to keep me from sleeping."
Byakuya fought off a smirk and shook his head.
"You are quite flighty tonight, aren't you? It must be that we weren't able to train today. You have too much pent up energy."
"Yeah, probably," Renji sighed, scratching the back of his neck, "or maybe those bad things out there just scare the pants off me."
"That is a good instinct," Byakuya noted wryly, "You are wise to be wary. Those creatures are not to be trifled with. That is why we have kept our distance from their territory."
"Right. Hey Taichou, you want me to take the first watch?" the redhead asked, "I'm probably not going to sleep anyway."
"I suppose that would make the most sense," sighed the noble, retreating to the back of the cave, lying down and pillowing his head on his pack. Amidst the reassuring protection of the reiatsu barrier and Renji's strong presence, he found it easy to drift off. He slept for several hours as the redhead knelt near the edge of the reiatsu, looking out at the oddly red moon.
"Just creepy," Renji whispered to himself, shaking his head and thinking again of how close they were to the domain of those dangerous hollows. As if to punctuate his thoughts, the lonely sound of a wolf's howl broke the stillness, sending a shiver down Renji's spine. His hand strayed to his sword and he strained his ears to pick up any sound of approaching hollows. The wind whistled by, outside the cave, and the blackness wore on.
And unlike in our world, Renji sighed inwardly, there's no sunrise to look forward to...just this darkness. Man, I can't wait to go home. It isn't even just that this place is so freaky. And I do like spending time like this with Taichou. But we can't train together when we're on duty in enemy territory...not without special precautions. And we wouldn't train so close to this border.
He was drawn out of his thoughts by what sounded like scuffling footsteps, and his hand tightened around the hilt of his blade. He peered into the blackness, making his breathing silent.
What is that?
He remained silent and perfectly still as a shimmering, silvery wolf appeared outside the cave, his strange golden eyes glowing in the distance.
"Oh, kami, I am so glad we put up that reiatsu barrier!" he breathed softly.
He looked back at Byakuya, but opted not to wake his sleeping taichou.
The barrier will keep that thing out. They're strong, but they're not that strong.
The wolf moved closer, fixing its lovely, wild eyes on the redhead and freezing him in place.
Shit, that's not good. Imagine if the barrier wasn't there...
He wished then that he had roused the noble, if not just to reassure him they were safe inside the cave.
The silvery wolf moved forward, pausing at the barrier and gazing quietly at Renji with those strangely perceptive eyes. The redhead strained to make a sound, but remained mesmerized as the wolf's beautiful, furry body shimmered and slowly morphed into the shape of a tall, silver-haired and golden-eyed man who stood, looking in at him, then let his eyes stray to the sleeping taichou.
"Byakuya..." the ookami seirei said in a low voice that resembled a growl.
At the release of his name, Byakuya sat up, staring through haunted eyes, then climbing to his feet and walking past his frozen companion. He paused at the barrier, gazing raptly at the spirit wolf and waiting silently.
"It is our time," the man said, blinking slowly, "You are called, Byakuya, son of Kuchiki Soujun and Hisashi-sama!"
Renji blinked and stared, still unable to speak or move.
But taichou's parents were Soujun and the lady Sorano!
Byakuya shook his head slowly, frowning in confusion.
"I don't understand," he said, gazing through the barrier, "What are you saying?"
The man looked back at him calmly.
"Shatter the cage and come with me. I will not harm your subordinate as long as you cooperate."
Byakuya looked back at him a moment longer, then drew his sword.
"Begone," he said with deadly coldness, "or I will cut you down!"
The man's golden eyes glowed wickedly, filling with fire at the noble's refusal. He loosed an angry snarl and began to mouth a slew of words that the two shinigamis could not comprehend. As the words ended, the shield between the shinigamis in the cave and the spirit wolf shattered, leaving Byakuya and the tall man glaring into each other's eyes.
"TAICHOU!" screamed Renji, breaking free of the force that had been restraining him and drawing his sword.
The golden-eyed man uttered a few swift words and a rumble sounded all around the three. A blaze of light flashed from his hand and struck the redhead in the chest, throwing him back against the rock wall, where he collapsed to the cave floor, losing consciousness immediately.
"You will pay for that!" Byakuya seethed, invoking his shikai and slashing at the other man.
As the petals closed around the man, his mouth opened and he loosed a howl like that of the wolf he had been before his transformation. The air swirled around him, stirring up the petals and sending them spinning away as he closed in on the noble. Byakuya fired a volley of kido blasts, then watched in dismay as the man's reiatsu swelled around him, fending off the strikes. The golden-eyed man reached out and grabbed the noble by the throat and glared down into his widened eyes as his other hand reached beneath the noble's clothing and found an oddly shaped birthmark, which he touched and infused with his reiatsu.
"What are you doing?" Byakuya asked, reeling as reiatsu exploded around them, and his legs slowly gave way.
The man's golden eyes gentled as he lowered Byakuya to the cave floor, then opened his clothing, baring him.
"S-stop! Don't...don't touch me!" the noble objected, struggling, but only being touched and gently stunned by the spirit wolf turned man.
"It is not your fault. What they did was necessary, given that your elders would have killed Soujun and you, had they but learned of it. You understand, you belong to the pack...and because I have torn out Hisashi-sama's throat and now lead it, you belong to me!"
"N-n-no!" Byakuya cried, shattering the man's power and rolling onto his hands and knees.
He scrambled to Renji's side, gathering the redhead against him and backing away as the man shimmered and became the silvery wolf again.
"You would defy me? Try then, but there is no way to escape!"
"Bastard!" Byakuya hissed, striking at the beast with kido and blocking with his sword as the creature lunged at him.
The spirit wolf's mouth opened and his teeth bared as he loosed a cero on the rocky ceiling of the cave, bringing debris down on top of the noble and the unconscious redhead he protected. He dragged Renji towards the cave entrance, dodging the debris that rained down on them and the spirit wolf snarled and lunged at him too quickly for him to evade, even with his flash step.
The impact of the wolf's body as it slammed into his threw Renji out of his arms and sprawling onto the ground outside the cave. The wolf came down on Byakuya's back, his jaws closing warningly around the back of the noble's slender neck as they landed. Byakuya gasped in dismay, then horror, as the wolf's teeth broke the skin and he felt malevolent reiatsu seep into his bloodstream. The wolf held him down, infusing him with the reiatsu, and watching as the noble's body quivered hard, then shuddered and began to transform. In moments, he was holding down, not a shinigami, but a snowy, white wolf with black fur around his head, ears and face.
Forgive me, the spirit wolf's voice whispered into the shocked noble's reeling mind, We must mate in both forms.
The white wolf's mouth opened and a discomfited whine escaped. Then, he howled loudly as the silver wolf mounted him and began their mating. The silver wolf held on to the back of the white wolf's neck as his powerful hips moved, pressing the other wolf's hips down and trapping him. He positioned himself carefully, finding the captive wolf's entrance and breaching it swiftly with his scathingly hot, swollen member. The white wolf loosed a cry of mingled anger and pain, struggling at first, but very slowly being overcome by the compelling urge to move with the beast on top of him. The silver wolf's glowing, golden eyes softened and filled with erotic hunger, and his grip on the back of the other wolf's neck loosened slightly, inviting the white wolf to resist.
The white wolf snarled and howled more ferociously, his powerful jaws snapping as he twisted, trying again to break free of the other wolf, but only becoming more entangled with him. And as the bigger beast continued its insistent thrusting, he felt his own body rebel, throbbing with hunger for completion that only the silver wolf could give him. He whined fitfully, confused at the warring emotions that assailed him. The silver wolf panted heavily, his movements becoming more harsh and disjointed until he froze atop the white wolf's back, groaning as he released into the slighter beast. The wolf that Byakuya had become howled in pain and fury, shuddering as the heat of the other beast's seed burned him inside, but at the same time, brought him over into a powerful release. He tore free and started to run, but spotted Renji still collapsed and unconscious on the ground and whined worriedly as his body shimmered again and returned to shinigami form.
Byakuya dug his fingers hard into the sand, grabbing a handful and throwing it at the silver wolf's face as he grabbed Renji and opened a senkaimon.
The huge, silver wolf surged forward, shattering the reiatsu shielding that the noble tried to invoke and knocking Renji out of his taichou's arms. He shifted to man form as they came down onto the ground, and sought to pin the struggling taichou in place. The man's lips moved in an incantation that froze the noble where he was, and he laid his panting body down on top of Byakuya's back.
"I know that you don't understand, but you will, soon enough. I don't want to hurt you, so just don't struggle anymore and I will allow you and your subordinate to leave alive when we are done."
"Don't!" Byakuya gasped, his insides still filled with the scathing heat of the silver wolf's release, "I'll kill you if you...!"
"So stubborn," the golden-eyed man said, caressing the incapacitated noble's face as his fingers sought the already slicked entrance and caressed it to soothe the harshness of his entry, "You have high spirits...higher spirits than your father. Hisashi-sama was seduced by Kuchiki Soujun's beauty and I have been captivated by yours. You are very beautiful, Kuchiki Byakuya."
Byakuya fixed his eyes on Renji's battered face, trying not to feel the scathing heat and sting of penetration as the golden-eyed man positioned the damp head of his thick arousal and entered the noble in short, measured thrusts.
"You must understand, even though they took you back to the shinigamis, when Hisashi-sama claimed Soujun, your father was made one of us. And you are one of us too.
"Why are you doing this?" Byakuya managed, closing his eyes against the pain and trying to regain control of his body, "How did you know that I would..."
"The vermilion moon was the sign of Hisashi-sama's end and our beginning. But we will speak of that later," the bigger man said, closing his eyes and going silent as his thrusts deepened and became more urgent.
Byakuya gasped as the other man's seething member found a place inside him that send shudders of intense pleasure through him as it was repeatedly stricken. Overwhelmed, he groaned and rested the side of his face against the cool sand, momentarily hating his own flesh for responding. He shivered as the other man's fingers teased his hair and he kissed his way along the length of the noble's vulnerable throat.
"I apologize for my rudeness. You must hate me right now. But it was important that this be done right away. You will understand soon."
The man pressed more tender kisses to the side of Byakuya's face as he stiffened and loosed his release inside the noble. The explosion of heat inside him made Byakuya's breached body seize and descend into fitful shudders of release. Amidst the swirl of intense emotions and odd sensations, Byakuya found himself shocked again at the tenderness in the silver-haired man's hands as they soothed him in to sated motionlessness. He laid quietly on his belly, the side of his lovely face rested on the sand and his chest heaving softly as he slowly recovered.
"I will spare you the memory of this first mating for now," the man panted in his ear, "The heir must be protected with secrecy. I do not want what happened to Soujun to happen to you, my lovely mate."
He pressed his cheek against Byakuya's, closing his eyes as he jolted the noble into senselessness with a flare of his power. Byakuya's body went limp beneath him and the golden-eyed man sighed and sat up. He spent several long minutes looking down at the unconscious shinigami, admiring his comely face and pretty, pale skin. He cleaned and carefully healed Byakuya's body of the hurts that their mating had caused, then dressed him and laid him down alongside his still unconscious subordinate. He healed Renji's slight injuries as well, then left the two in the cave and set the reiatsu barrier back in place. He stood for a moment, gazing through the barrier at Byakuya, before turning away and melting into the darkness.
Renji woke a short time later, confused at finding himself lying down beside Byakuya.
"Shoot, Taichou would kill me if he..."
"If he what?" the noble asked, opening one gray eye and fixing it on his blushing subordinate.
"Augh, nothing, Taichou," the redhead said hastily, "It's just...your turn to take the watch. That's all."
Byakuya gave a troubled sigh, biting at his lips as uncomfortable twinges went through him when he moved.
"I think that I would rather go back now if you are not too weary."
"I'm okay," Renji assured him, looking around, "And I've got no problem with getting our asses outta here. I don't like this place."
Byakuya shook his head in agreement.
"I do not tolerate it well either. Come, Renji."
The two gathered up their packs and left the cave, walking out into the middle of the small valley they were in. Byakuya used the device Urahara had given them and opened a garganta. The two flash stepped back through the darkness of the underground cavern, opting to remain silent as they returned to the former taichou's shop and dropped down into the training area. Byakuya then opened a senkaimon and they passed through the precipice world and back into Soul Society. They walked slowly through the streets, relaxing as they neared their own division's headquarters.
"You going home tonight, Taichou?"
"I think I will just sleep in my quarters I feel somewhat unwell."
"Would you like some ginger tea?" the redhead offered, opening the door to the division office and standing back to let Byakuya inside.
"That would be good, arigatou, Abarai."
He left the redhead to make the tea and went into his room to undress. He felt vague twinges near the oddly shaped birthmark on his back and turned so that he could see it in the mirror. An unusual dampness between his thighs distracted him and he froze, staring at a mixture of some sticky substance mingled with blood that had leaked onto his inner thigh. He found a few bruises he didn't remember getting and shook his head in confusion.
As he looked back at the mirror again, he reeled as an image flashed in his mind.
A silver wolf crashed down onto his back and held him in place as it set its teeth in the back of his neck.
"Here you go, Taichou," Renji said, startling the noble out of his thoughts and distracting him with the soothing tea, "This'll fix you right up so you can sleep. You need anything else?"
"No, thank you. You may go."
Renji turned and started to leave the room, but was halted as Byakuya's voice sounded again.
"Renji?"
"Yeah, Taichou?"
"As I am not well and do not have my attendant present, would you mind sleeping here in my room for the night?"
"Oh...yeah, sure, no problem!" the redhead said, affably, "I'll just go and change and I'll be right back."
Byakuya laid down in his bed, wondering at himself for requesting such a thing.
I am hardly a child. I do not know what came over me.
But he had to admit that it was comforting, falling asleep with Renji's strong, warm reiatsu pulsing softly nearby. He fell into a deep sleep that was only broken once, when he woke in a cold sweat, anxiety making him shake all over and having the strange feeling like something horrid had happened. He shook his head and moved closer to Renji, pushing everything aside and dropping off to sleep again.