[DISCONTINUED] Strive | Bleach

Chapter Thirty-Six: Abaron's Adventures in Hueco Mundo!

Chapter Thirty-Six: Abaron’s Adventures in HuecoMundo!

Muahaha, velcome to ze main event! Fair warning: THE CHAPTERS CONCERNING ABARON'S QUEST IN FINDING HER ZANPAKUTO ARE SHORT AS HELL. Enjoy.

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ShōriKakaku

“Jeez, it’s about damn time!” I crossed my arms and waited ahead of the others for the door to begin its unsealing. I heard the familiar creak of the frame rubbing against the wood and glared at the backs of the Kidō Corp men who were pulling it open. I felt the weight of a hand on my shoulder again.

“Why are you so excited?” It was Shūhei.

“Abaron,” I said. “I want to see her before she leaves.”

“Oh.” Shūhei retracted his hand. He seemed thoughtful. “I wonder how she’s doing.” I turned to him, anxious.

“What are you talking about?” I asked.

“Before she left… she told me she was having troubles controlling her spiritual energy ever since the incident with Aizen.”

“Well, what happened with Aizen, then?” Shūhei shrugged.

“She wouldn’t tell me that part,” he said bitterly. “But I’d like to see her, too.”

“Abaron looked rather sketchy to me when she was still here,” Yumichika added. I looked back to him.

“How so?”

“Well… we she was permitted from Squad Four, she hadn’t left her room when she returned to Squad Nine for nearly four days.” I frowned.

“How the hell do you know that?”

“Our Captain wanted to fight her, so he sent me and Yumichika to get her,” Ikkaku said.

“Can you remember how she was behaving?” I asked. Every detail would count.

“It was just like Yumichika said; it was like she was hiding something. Like she didn’t want anyone knowing what she was doing.”

“She even turned down my offer for free sake!” Rangiku said, still disbelieving. My eyes widened.

“Really?” I was getting more and more worried with each fact. Ikkaku groaned.

“I don’t know why, but I’m more concerned for the fact that you two are surprised she turned down alcohol.” I turned to him.

“You shouldn’t be,” I said earnestly. “You know how she was back then.” The corners of his mouth fell.

“Yeah, I do.” I placed a finger on my chin and began scratching at it absentmindedly.

“I wonder… she’s never been like this before…”

As we began moving toward the gate, I recalled what Captain Ukitake had said to both me and Toshiro.  

“Well, I’ve been talking with Captain Kurotsuchi and Shunsui, and we were hoping that you and your team would leave for the World of the Living… as soon as you could.”

“To get to Karakura Town, it’ll take two days at the least,” I murmured. I quickly looked over my shoulder at Shūhei, Ikkaku, Rangiku and Izuru. “Let’s hurry.”

“Right!”

“Right!”

“Right!”

“Right!”

-

  

AbaronKakaku

I held in my breath, nearly fainting from the strain put on my lungs, as I plummeted to the ground below. Not to say that I hadn’t expected such a landing, but Kisuke could have at least tried to aim me correctly.

The moment that I collided with what felt like stone, I accidentally let out a cry of pain. The ground had cracked beneath my body, sending my body into a shaking fit and blood from my mouth. I groaned through the debris.

“Ow, ow, ow, ow…” Slowly, I pushed myself into a more reasonable position where I could regain the feeling in my head. Once I was able to unclench my teeth and open my eyes, I wiped the blood from my mouth with my knuckles before getting up completely. I made my way to one side of the crater that had been formed around my body upon impact, latched onto the lip of the hole, and crawled out to solid ground. I was quite relieved that I hadn’t been stabbed by my Zanpakutō in the process.

I looked around, only to find myself surrounded by slate walls, floors, and infinite ceilings. So then where was all the sand?

“I thought this was a desert,” I murmured lowly, in case there was any chances a couple of Hollows were lingering about. And being aware of that possibility made me even jumpier.

“This is a desert,” a familiar voice had said. “Just, not yet.” I groaned.

“Wow. Not even a minute after my arrival and I already have to fight,” I said, instinctively grabbing onto Bōkyaku’s sheath. “Alright, come on out! I’ve barely enough patience for dramatics! And it’s bad enough I get that tough-guy act from Ichigo on a daily basis,” I added lowly.

“Tough-guy act?” the voice repeated. “I think he’s being sincere!” That set me off; how the hell did it know Ichigo?

Hesitantly, I unsheathed Bōkyaku.

“Whoa, whoa, whoa!” the voice screamed. Something touched my back. It screamed again when I spun around to see what it was. “It’s just me!” I gasped.

Well, no wonder it sounded so familiar.

“T-Tolo?” I hissed, nearly dropping my Zanpakutō.

“Yes!” he breathed in relief. “Oh, thank goodness; I was getting a little worried there.” My bag began to shuffle around again, so I pulled it off and threw it to the ground. I nearly screamed in fury, which masked the sounds of Tolo’s cry of pain. He appeared out of the opening a moment later, seething.

“What the hell is wrong with you?!” I shouted down at him. He flinched and scrambled onto his hind paws. “Scaring me like that—I’ve got half a mind to take out your stuffing and burn it!”

“I-I’m sorry!” he stammered, backing away at the same time. “Mr. Kisuke asked me to assist you in your journey, bu-but obviously I just became a hindrance—”“Obviously my ass! You knew exactly what you just did wrong!”

“I apologized, didn’t I?” Tolo snapped heatedly. “Stop nagging me! Lirin does that enough!” I clenched my fists at my side, willing myself not to bend down and punch him in his furry snout.

“Don’t compare me to that squeaky little chicken; I’m yelling at you because you deserve to be yelled at!” He scoffed.

“Unlikely,” he muttered. I glared at him.

“What was that you said?” I said.

“Unlikely!” he shouted. “Un-like-ly!”

“Why you little—” I froze completely, from head to toe.

From somewhere nearby, a rumbling sound brought me back to the realization that I was in Hueco Mundo, along with probably hundreds of thousands of Hollows from all over the World of the Living. The noise we were making was likely to have lured a few dozen our way, give or take about a hundred more, but who knows?

“Abaron,” Tolo said. “We have to go.” I was unable to respond. “Abaron!”

“I… yeah.” I placed Bōkyaku back in its place, grabbed Tolo, and then put him in my bag. And it wasn't even ten seconds later that a ridiculously sized boulder came crashing down into the corridor.

"Run, damn it!" Tolo screamed, shoving his paws into my back. I bolted in the other direction, with the oversized pebble on my heels.

"I am!"