The Touch of Madness [Bleach fanfiction]

Chapter 3

Hurts. Head hurts. Why is it hurting?

Shizuko's eyes barely opened, her vision blurry as she tried to make sense of any surroundings. She was moving but not by herself. She was being dragged across...sand?

Her eyes fluttered shut but then opened again a few times, trying very weakly to stop herself from being pulled more. Her head. It was like it'd been split open.

Her eyes shut again but she heard voices.

"I don't know why Aizen wanted us to go to the Soul Society. Surely he knew this was going to happen. Bastard is lucky we didn't leave it at just this Soul Reaper."

"I am sure Aizen had plans...but this...trash got in the way. Yet she appears to be a Captain."

"Really? She looks weak."

"Don't underestimate, Yammy."

Shizuko's hands began moving slowly until she felt the handle of her Zanpakuto. Idiots hadn't removed it from her perso-

That moment, the dragging stopped and a foot stomped onto her wrist, forcing her grip off of the Zanpakuto. She nearly screamed as the stomp near crushed it. She writhed in pain before she looked up at the strangers.

There stood two men. One significantly larger than the other. The one had pale skin and jet black hair. He stared down at her with these sad eyes yet they were...empty. His foot was on her wrist. The other was tall, muscular and had some weird piece on his lower jaw. The other also had something like it but in the shape of half a helmet.

"I wouldn't do that," The pale one spoke, his expression unmoving. Not a smile, not a glare. Nothing.

Shizuko's eyes narrowed as she looked towards her Zanpakuto.

"Kinu no-AH!" She screamed again when the man twisted his foot, crushing her wrist more. Then finally, he reached down, picking up her Zanpakuto. The taller one smirked.

"See? Weak. Aizen won't have any use for her."

"We shall see."

Then with his other hand, the smaller stranger grabbed the front of her robes before yanking her up.

"Since you are now awake, you can walk by yourself."

Shizuko stumbled and almost fell over in contrast to his words but she kept her footing. She didn't continue walking, however.

"Who...what are you...?" She asked them, keeping a close eye on her weapon the one man held. They didn't answer. The skinny one simply stared for a moment.

"Follow. Now. We can do this the easy way or hard way."

Shizuko scowled at him.

Shit.

"He said MOVE!" The larger man trudged over and wrapped his large hand around her tiny neck. It disappeared in his palm. Shizuko reached for his hand, clawing at it as she felt the pressure on her airways.

"Yammy," she glanced to the other person.

"I'm not going to kill her, Ulquiorra...just putting her in her place whilst she's here. Plus she won't be able to summon her weapon if she can't speak, right?"

After that, the two kept walking. The man who Shizuko now knew as Yammy kept a grip on her neck. He'd squeeze from time to time to make sure she didn't utter a word. She couldn't do anything. She couldn't even use her ribbons. Did they even know about them and what they were?

Then Shizuko saw it. The large white building just sat in the middle of this...desert. It was a wasteland, almost entirely empty besides the few rock piles and dead trees.