This is a pretty dark chapter, even for what I'm used to writing. I hope you will see how this near-tragedy will be the turning point in the early stages of things.
Chapter 23
Kio blinked her eyes, her vision swimming as she tried to adjust to her surroundings. The only thing she could tell was that she was being taken on a bumpy ride, as if she was riding a horse. That can't be right, she thought, no horse could endure these rocky canyons. When her vision finally cleared, she found that she indeed been mistaken; she had been slung over the back of the big brute that had distracted the captains while the other waylaid her from behind. The sharp pain in her back told her that she was being bent at a bad angle and the burning in her wrists and ankles meant that she was bound as well. Do they have me hog-tied like the spoils of a hunt?, she wondered.
A wave of panic flooded over her, but Kio fought it off, knowing it wasn't going to help her situation. She instead concentrated on figuring out a way to escape from the bandits. Kio didn't want to alert them to her current consciousness, so she only stole momentary glances of her surroundings. She noticed that the big one was lumbering along a path on the cliff, not struggling with the extra load on his shoulders in the least. The smaller one was scouting ahead along the edge of the cliff, gazing down into the canyon intently as they walked.
After a time, the shorter one stopped and pointed down to an overhanging precipice below them. “What do you think?” he asked.
“Looks good enough to me.” her carrier replied. He turned to the side and she lost sight of the other one as the big man shifted his hold on her body, transferring her from his shoulders to his arms. Panic shot into her system as he dropped her off the cliff and she screamed, but her fall was cut short no more than a dozen feet later when she landed in Dresden's arms, although he struggled with the catch considerably more than Knaak.
“So you are awake, girly.” he stated, dropping her roughly on the shelf of the cliff.
She gasped in pain, but he only laughed, signaling for Knaak to join him on their resting place out of the sun. “Why are you doing this to me?” she groaned as the big man landed with a thud.
Knaak chuckled, saying, “you're our meal ticket, darling.”
“What are you going to do, you big oaf, eat me?” she spat out in a rare moment of bravery.
“No, you bitch, we're going to kill you.” Dresden shot back. “We just need the boss to see that we're worth more than the lowly foot soldiers he's made us out to be.”
Knaak pulled a canteen from his pocket, taking a long gulp. “We sure gave your captains the shake. They didn't know what hit them!” he exclaimed with a guffaw of laughter.
“You know they will come and find me and when they do...”
“Oh hush, girly. We're not in the savannah anymore. Your people don't know these canyons like we do. You're as good as dead to them.” Dresden explained.
This possibility hit Kio harder than she thought it would and she started to cry, which gave the Bounts even greater reason to laugh. “What a baby.” Knaak remarked.
Dresden knelt down and grabbed Kio by the chin, forcing her to look up at him. “You are quite the little cutie, aren't you? I might have to have some fun with you before I turn you in to the boss.” he said.
“Not before I do.” Knaak declared.
“Shut up, Knaak. You'd crush her, you horse. She can't be more than eighty pounds.” Dresden retorted. He put a hand through her fiery red hair before stroking her soft cheeks. As he rubbed his thumb over her smooth lips, he said, “I wonder if you've even been spoiled yet. It could make for quite the afternoon.”
Kio trembled in revulsion at his touch and her sobs came when he slipped a hand in her robe and began fondling one of her breasts. “Young and perky. Just the way I like them.” Dresden mentioned with a grin.
She closed her eyes to try to block out what was happening, but an even more unpleasant memory came to her then.
Kio was back in the Old Soul Society, at the training grounds of Squad Eleven. She lay face-down in the dirt, scratches covering her face and bruises blotching her arms. The vicious scars on her wrists had not yet been made, but it wouldn't be long from this occurrence that she would experience that tragedy.
Fourth Seat Zeisan Kira stood over her, a furious expression on his face. “Get up, you weakling! I tire of this pathetic display of inability.” he demanded.
“I am not weak!” Kio cried out, stabbing her sword into the ground and using it to help her get to her feet. “I am a warrior!”
Kira scoffed. “You are no more a warrior than a sheep in the field is a wolf.” He let her attack him, but as she swung her sword, Zeisan batted it away with a bare hand, lowering his shoulder and hitting her in the chest, driving her into the ground. Kio fell with a pitiful cry, but Zeisan wasn't done, roaring as he kicked her in the stomach, sending her tumbling away.
Kio coughed up blood, crying, “Fourth Seat, Kira, you are going to kill me!”
“You don't even to deserve to die at my hand. I don't care what Captain Muguruma says; you are nothing to me.” he spat. “You will not survive Squad Eleven.”
With a herculean effort, she once more got to her feet, exclaiming, “I will prove to you that I am worthy.”
She moved to attack, but he flashed forward, grabbing her sword arm and snapping it downward, pulling her arm out of socket and causing her to drop her sword. Before Kio could scream in agony, Zeisan body-slammed her to the ground and landed atop her. Speaking into her ear so that only she could hear, he said, “there will be a day very soon when I will be captain of this squad. If you do not transfer out of this squad, I will kill you myself.”
A sudden flash of anger welled up inside Kio, a rage that she was not used to having, different from the bottled anger she normally got, something alien to her. This new emotion surged through her body, overwhelming her good senses to the point that she felt she had lost complete control over her mind. Then, everything went black.
“Bankai!” she roared with a voice that did not belong to her. “Chosenteki Seishukawa, flood these fools with drunkenness!”
A wind whipped around Kip and Dresden jumped backwards, unsure of how she had called a bankai without being in battle. The wind picked the lieutenant up and set her on her feet. When it disappeared, the Bounts found that there were now iron clasps around her wrists and ankles with chains hanging down from them and a large gray horn had sprouted on the right side of her head. Sawamaru leaned her head awkwardly to the side where the horn was and staggered towards them like a ghoul from the grave.
Dresden laughed at this display. “You didn't have to get yourself drunk for it!” he exclaimed. A monstrous nodachi appeared in her hand, towering at least two feet over the girl, but she wielded it as if it weighed no more than a pound. “Oh, so you want to fight? Bring it on!” he called. Half of Dresden's body began to darken, but Kio flashed up to him before he could blink, swinging her nodachi at him and cutting the Bount from one side of his waist all the way to the opposite collarbone. He screamed and fell backwards as his blood splashed up into the air. She prepared to finish him off, but Knaak interrupted , charging forward and punching out at her. She stabbed her sword into the ground and used it to back-vault out of the way.
“Bitch!” he yelled and ran after her, but she swung her blade out and a wave of a clear liquid blasted out at Knaak. He blocked with a huge arm, but when the liquid hit him, it began to sear his flesh. He roared and raked at his arm, trying to rid himself of the burning liquid. The more he pawed at his arm, the more the liquid spread, soaking into his fingers and instantly sending a cloudiness to his head. Panicked by what was happening to him, Knaak began to stumble around the ledge, trying to keep the lieutenant at bay. Am I....drunk?, he thought, doing his best to keep his balance, was that burning hot sake?
Kio staggered towards him, her deadly nodachi swinging from side to side. Knaak used the rest of his fast fading composure to slam a meaty fist into the ground, causing the ledge to crack. The possessed shinigami kept coming for him, but the whole ledge crumbled and gave way and the three plummeted to the ground in a landslide of rock.
As the dust began to clear from the fall a boulder shifted and Knaak pushed himself out from under it. He held a hand to his dizzied head, stumbling around the mess as he dug for his fellow Bount. He found Dresden nearby, unconscious from either the slash wound or the fall. Knaak threw the lifeless Bount over his shoulder swaying as he tried to get away from the landslide as quickly as he could, hoping that the fall had killed the shinigami. Whatever she had transformed into was not human and he wanted no part of it.
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Lexi swore under her breath as her fear had been confirmed that Roy and Eva had indeed lost track of the shinigami captains. “I work with imbeciles.” she said to herself as she clarified once more that there was no one else in her vicinity before she stepped out into the path to reveal herself to the other Dark Quincy. Des kept his usual sarcastic grin when he saw her, but Eva's expression portrayed worry, something Lexi enjoyed. She had noticed that Eva had been looking over her shoulder the past few months, worried that Lexi would rise over her as the Fourth Häuptling someday. Where Rose had remained passive in her rank, Lexi had moved from the bottom where Roy now occupied up to the fifth spot, behind only Tsuntaki, Janoah, Angeline, and for now, Eva. Perhaps this war would be what catapulted Lexi to her next rank.
“Häuptling Funf.” Eva greeted Lexi, a subtle reminder of who was the senior officer.
“How do you lose the captains in a damn corridor?! This isn't like at home where we have sand mirages for miles.” Lexi remarked.
“We didn't lose the captains, Lexi. They had counter spies watching us. We had to retreat.” Roy shot back.
“Even wore, you damn fool! You've muddled such a simple task.” Pryant retorted.
“There was no way of knowing that would have happened.” Eva cut in as calmly as she could, even though Lexi could see her facial expressions darkening. Yes, Lexi thought, let your other half out, Eva. Your dark half. She's the only reason you've survived as long as you have.
“Wrong again, Lunatic Girl. You scout your target's surroundings first before the actual target.” Lexi exclaimed. This time, Eva's face twitched, but she was still somehow able to calm herself again before Violet could take over her body. “Since you two could not accomplish what a half-wit could, you are to return back home and await further instructions.”
“This better have come straight from the Uroboros.” Roy declared.
“Why don't you go back and find out, you whelp.” Pryant replied.
“You two-tone wench.” he stated, stepping past her as he started the trek back to the desert.
Lexi began to move past Eva, but the girl stopped her and from the look in her eyes, Häuptling Funf could tell that Violet had managed to by-pass Eva's mind block after all. “This rank is mine, bitch.” Violet spat out. “The only way you're taking it is over my dead body.”
Pryant smirked. “From the looks of it today, I won't have to kill you. Your sheep sister will get you killed all on her own.”
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Praenuntius knew the Grayworm was dead even before his clairvoyance in Hueco Mundo saw it as truth. There was a void of spiritual pressure where there should have been great amounts and because he had become so attuned with the Hollow World, he could tell immediately that his harbinger was no more. The visoreds were proving to be an even greater annoyance than he thought. Grayworms were hard to find and the loss of one was a heavy loss to his war schematics. He knew that the intruders were on the Dry Roads and he contemplated sending a horde of Gillian after them, but as a whole, he didn't think he could muster would greatly affect them. No Gillian could compare to a Grayworm and the adjuchas and vastolordes were too hard to control. He thought of letting them return to their home and defeat them himself in open battle, but then a brilliant idea popped into his head. He smiled as he thought over this idea and realized that it had great potential, but he knew any further ponderings would have to wait as there was other business to attend to first.
He withdrew from the hollow's mind and returned his consciousness to his body. Ater stepped out of his room, gesturing for a servant to come to him. He noticed the usual nervous flow of spiritual pressure from the servants, who all feared him for his innate ability to “see” everything around him, even though his eyes had stopped working years ago. They had learned when a couple of fools had favored themselves as jokers and made faces at him when he gave commands. In the blink of an eye, one had been disemboweled and the other was grasping weakly at a sword that was embedded in his throat.
“Send Avel and Jolyne to the War Room.” Ater decreed and he started making his way there as well. As he walked, the Bount leader mused some more over his idea, wondering which of the visoreds to target with this budding plan. The strongest of the bunch was out of the question; he would foil the plan the second he noticed it. If he could target one of the weaker ones, there was a chance that he could spiral that whole group into chaos.
As Praenuntius came upon the War Room, he could tell that the younger Bounts he had called were already on the way and when they arrived, he bid them entry, opening the door into a well-lit room with a massive stone table in the center. He sat at the head of the table and Avel and Jolyne took their respective seats as well, eagerly awaiting his word.
“The storm approaches.” he began. “The shinigami will be battening down the hatches and preparing to wait out Mother Nature, but I say it's the perfect time to make our move.”
His subordinates grinned mischievously and Nakata said, “finally. It's time to spill some shinigami blood.”
“Not yet, Avel. I speak not of a battle mission, but of infiltration.” Ater told.
“Infiltration?” Jolyne questioned. “How can we sneak into Emelt Handoon?”
“The monsoon will be your cover. When the whole of the city becomes too involved with protecting themselves from flooding, you will walk right in the front door.” Ater stated.
“That won't be possible no matter how distracted they are by the storm. They will notice two Bounts in their city sooner or later.” Jolyne debated.
“No, they won't. They will give refuge to two children whose house was washed away in the flood.” the Legatus explained.
“Oh, please, I have to pretend I'm a child?” Avel asked.
“You already act like one, so that shouldn't be a hard transition.” Jolyne joked.
“Speak for yourself!” he shot back. “You look barely four years older than me.”
“Which is why this plan will work perfectly. I will contact the Dark Quincy and have them provide a bail distraction in case you need it.” Praenuntius spoke.
“When do we leave?” Jolyne asked.
“When the ground soaks with two full days of rain. Emelt Handoon will be poisoned as if acid was falling from the skies.”
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Two blips in existence flashed through the canyons at a breakneck speed. The first was followed by a fiery red tail as it cannonaded up from the top of the cliffs down to the ravines like a meteor on a rampage. The second blip appeared as a blue orb and although it seemed more studious in its journey through the canyons, stopping for several seconds at a time, it also seemed more frantic, disappearing from one place and appearing somewhere entirely different in the blink of an eye. To a well-trained eye knowledgeable in spiritual pressure, this display appeared as a fireworks show, but to a commoner, it was nothing more than a gust of wind.
The two blips met on an over-passing rock bridge and extinguished, revealing themselves to be Alagos and Lynna. “Where did those bastards take her?!” Alagos yelled, kicking a rock off the bridge.
“Kio can't handle something like this. She's barely recovered from her last incident.” Lynna declared, a distraught tone in her voice. “We have to find her soon!”
“I know, I know.” he stated angrily. Alagos hated that tone in her voice and it made him want to kill anyone that made Lynna worry like she did. He couldn't help but feel that this was his fault for letting himself get duped so easily. I'll make it up to you, love, he thought, we'll find Kio and kill the bastards that kidnapped her.
“What were they? Those were no ordinary bandits.” Lynna questioned.
“Bounts. There were a few small tribes of them, but I haven't seen them in years. There must still be a couple out here.” he explained.
“I don't know the term.”
“They dabble in dark magic created by their shamans. I fought them back in Fel'Anarock.” he replied.
“Why would they kidnap Kio?” she asked.
“Ransom for food I would imagine. They're all a bunch of vagrant clods.” he responded.
“They wouldn't hurt her, would they?” she asked, a pleading note in her voice.
“We'd better get moving.” he replied, answering her by not answering her. He made to enact his Flash Step, but stopped short, peering down into the ravine. “There's someone down there.”
She jumped down into the ravine immediately, not glancing back as Alagos called, “Lynna, stop!”. She hurried forward and when she noticed the telling red hair, she shouted, “it's....it's Kio!”
Maethor jumped down, running after his love, but when he was able to catch up to her, she was already at her lieutenant's side, holding the girl by the shoulders and inquiring as to her health. Kio seemed unable to formulate an answer to all of Lynna's worried questions, a dazed expression on her face Alagos grimaced at the sight of the girl, who was covered in scratches and bruises. There was a bloody gash on her forehead, more than likely the reason why she was stunned.
“Give her some room, dear.” he called, pulling a resistant Lynna back from the lieutenant. “Are you feeling well, Kio? Are you sick or just hurt?”
“I....I think....I'll be fine. I just need to rest.” the girl struggled to say.
“What about the bandits? Where are they?” Lynna implored.
“I think...I think they're dead.” Kio answered.
Maethor puzzled over her response for a moment before asking, “what happened, Kio? How did you get away from them?”
“I don't know.”
So, this is what Kira does to mark his return. Never really liked him anyway.
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