………………………………………
Fire encircled Ruka, her katanna returning to its sealed state, as eight of her golden sunset glass blades, blazing with pure orange flame, formed, hovering behind her spread out as if they were wings, four on each side of Ruka, enabling Ruka to fly. All eight katannas were connected by the same golden chain at their pommels, and they blazed with uncontrollable flame…
Tia Harribel stepped back. "How did you-…" She was cut off by the loud cry of the phoenix as an enormous fiery phoenix emerged from behind Ruka, spreading its wings of flame as it spun upwards into the sky…
"Die…" Ruka was serious, her hair flipping wildly in the fiery wind, her robes flapping around her. She held out her zanpakuto, as she began to rise into the skies above… The giant head of the fiery phoenix Suzaku rocketed towards Tia.
Tia's eyes widened. "Cascad…" She almost said
"It's pointless!" Ruka broke in "You're finished!"
The giant phoenix head of fire collected more and more flame, completely encircling Tia as it neared her, a tornado of flame following and wings spreading gracefully, the fire dancing with every flap…
There was nothing Tia Harribel could do. She was surrounded in a fiery hell of fire, there was no way of escape, and her attacks would be pointless. The heat grew stronger, pounding at her as the tips of the flame licked at her dangerously, burning her slightly. The phoenix was nearing her, she stood straight, accepting death.
"You will not die today…" Another voice called, as the figure stepped in front and blocked the phoenix, smashing into it with his bare hand and redirecting the attack elsewhere, the fire extinguishing instantly… As the smoke cleared, Ruka gasped as she saw who stood before her, his face calm and collected. His lock of chocolate brown hair tumbled down across the side of his nose. His white robes flowing lightly as he stood back up into position…
Ruka stared at the person, completely taken aback… "Aizen…" Was all she could say…
Aizen smiled and brushed the dust off from his shoulder, turning to Tia Harribel…
"Tia, seal yourself again… We are ready to leave for Karakura town… I shall speak to you about your punishment later…"
Tia Harribel blinked. "Punishment?"
Aizen turned around and began to take a few steps forward, but stopped. "You released within Las Noches… You know that is highly against my rules."
"It was necessary…" Tia snapped.
"It is not difficult to relocate to the outside of Las Noches…" Aizen responded…
"Would you rather have let her have her way anyways and successfully pass through to defeat more of our kind?" Tia expressed with a hint of annoyance.
"Harribel… You would have been defeated anyways, seeing as I had saved you from death a few moments ago. As I stated earlier, we will discuss this later." Aizen continued to walk off, Tia turning to Ruka and smiling.
"You are too late… By the time you arrive your beloved town will be destroyed…"
Ruka's eyes widened, as she watched Tia follow behind Aizen… rushing towards Aizen, she raised her zanpakuto to strike him…
Aizen grabbed her burning zanpakuto with his hand…
"You are foolish, Captain Ruka Kusabana…" He used one quick shove to throw her nearly a mile away from where he stood…
Ruka flew backwards, watching as Aizen and Tia grew smaller and smaller in the distance, until they became dots in the endless sands… her flame leaving a trail behind her, as the fire strands that spewed from her blades faded, and her bankai was reduced back to its sealed state…
"I… almost defeated her…" Ruka said, slowly drifting back down to the sands, crash landing into a dune, grains spraying everywhere as she struck the ground. She lay there, stunned, defeated…
……….. Her eyes opened……………
She sat back up and stared off into the distance, trying to determine where Aizen and Tia Harribel had disappeared. She pulled out her notebook and scribbled something down, placing it back into the folds of her robes.
"Agh!" She screamed when she tried to stand up… She was severely injured, her left leg broken completely from the impact of hitting the ground. She half-limped a few steps…
"Raine…" She said. Wondering where he was and if he was able to get through. She felt a sudden surge of energy, her eyes widening as she realized what had happened…
Raine had just activated his bankai… Did it really need to go that far? Was he so desperate to end the battle that he resorted to using bankai!? His bankai was forbidden… Kano must have been a powerful opponent… as was Tia Harribel…
Determined to find them, she attempted to detect their reiatsu… With little to no success, she dashed in the direction where she had been thrown from, hoping to catch up to Aizen in time… In time to stop him before he could reach Karakura town…
She skimmed across the sands, lightly touching the ground, slower than usual because of her damaged leg, but still able to reach there within minutes. The tall white buildings growing nearer and nearer, se reached one large white cylindrical building, which towered above her as she stared up at it. It seemed endless…
Guessing that this was where Aizen was most likely inside of, she held out her hand, thrusting forward and calling out the incantation…
"Ye lord! Mask of flesh and bone, flutter of wings, ye who bears the name of Man! Truth and temperance, upon this sinless wall of dreams unleash but slightly the wrath of your claws. "
A ball of blue energy began to form within her hand… becoming larger and larger, until it became the size of a normal basketball…
"Blue Fire! Crash Down!" A blast of blue energy burst from the sphere, breaking an entire hole in the thick wall, smoke rising and the dust settling. Rubble tumbling down from the open gap in the wall… Ruka stepped through the makeshift hole she made. She was in a dark empty circular room, with three doorways on the exact other end of where she stood. Pillars lined the walls, orderly and neat, a plain white color.
She ran, somewhat lop-sided into the central doorway, dashing down the hallway, and reaching stairs, a very narrow stairway, which led up into pure darkness… Ruka darted up the steps swiftly, nearly tripping on several steps before reaching the top, which was another room, this time, completely white and well lit, the polished gray floors polished so well, she could see herself clearly in the ground…
She continued down a hallway, with arches leading to the end. She did not stop, she began to sweat, but she would not let anything hold her back, not even her broken leg…
She reached a giant room… two double doors opened; she stepped silently inside, observing the room. The room's ceiling was endless and led up to complete darkness… The obsidian marble floors glinted with what little light was in the room… White pillars against the wall lined the entire room, and in the direct center, stood a giant slab of obsidian marble, with a smooth white throne, composed of geometric rectangular shapes, sat alone in the center. Rocky formations covered the opposite side of the room from where the throne sat, the side where Ruka had stepped in, where it was extremely dark, enabling Ruka to hide amongst the shadows…
She peered out, and gasped.
Aizen was standing there, accompanied by Gin, Tousen, and his faithful gang of remaining Espada… Tia Harribel, Coyote Starrk, Baraggan Luisenbarn, and their subordinates…
He opened a Garganta, and relayed a message throughout all of Las Noches, placing Ulquiorra in charge as he began to step into the Garganta leading into Karakura Town, followed by the rest of his accomplices…
"No!" Ruka ran forward, her broken leg stumping her ability to run properly… She followed after them, the Garganta closing up behind them, Ruka reached out, hoping to make it in time as the portal grew smaller and smaller…
She jumped forward, reaching out, in the air, nearing the closing doorway… She slipped through the open gap, falling onto her reiatsu path in the middle of the indigo abyss… Aizen and everyone else had disappeared…
She stood back up, panting and relieved. She stared forward, noticing the portal on the other side of leading to Karakura
Town… She ran faster again, the path following her as she hurtled through the opening into the fresh air of Karakura Town… She tumbled down from the Garganta, onto the deserted streets o Karakura town…
Ruka looked up. She could see the Arrancar facing the Shinigami… There was going to be a fight, she could tell…
Things were about to get much worse than the way they were in Hueco Mundo, Ruka was almost certain of it…
To be continued....
