I apologize for the long wait… but I hope this was worth it. :D

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Here Kitty Kitty

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Chapter 5: The Law

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As Grimmjow followed Ichigo's directions, the tiger couldn't help but wonder if this was really such a good idea.

Somewhere in the back of his mind, that annoyingly small and whiny voice kept ordering him to turn back before it was too late, but the brainy part of him kept telling him otherwise. A mantra of 'What could possibly go wrong?' was replaying inside his head over and over again.

Too late to back down now.

They were already there.

"This is the place." Ichigo mumbled softly against the other's shoulder as he hid his face.

He felt Grimmjow chuckle through his panting, and wondered what was so funny, but the panther gave him no chance to ask. Ichigo stayed silent as he was placed down near the edge of the water. Grimmjow plopped down next to him and immediately began inspecting the dandelion's wounds. Ichigo couldn't help but smile when he felt strong hands, wet from the water, begin cleaning away the dried blood on his torso.

A yelp bubbled out of his throat when claws scraped along one of the smaller cuts.

Grimmjow's ears folded back nervously and his hands froze, but when he saw that Ichigo was fine, he rinsed his bloody hands in the water and continued. Ichigo sighed and reached up to push the hands away when they went to his arm. It was completely soaked in his blood.

Dammit, that Nnoitra nearly tore his arm completely off.

Ichigo slid into the water with a hiss until he was completely submerged.

Grimmjow's tail twitched when he saw the tiger's head reappear above the surface and his ears perked when the orange head kept swimming closer and closer towards him.

He didn't have time to shout or even growl when Ichigo suddenly grabbed hold of his ankles and dragged him in. Ichigo couldn't help but laugh when his victim began thrashing and splashing around until he was finally able to grab hold of the grassy ledge. The panther's blue eyes were wide and his whole body was tense as he stared at the water as if it were about to devour him.

Light-blue hair drooped against Grimmjow's wet forehead, making it look much longer as it framed his face and stuck to his neck.

Ichigo smirked and lazily swam up until he was right beside the panther. However, he wasn't expecting Grimmjow to turn to him with a playful glare. He tried to swim away, but it was too late.

The blue-furred felid kicked off the side and pounced on him. They playfully swatted, bit, dunked, and kicked each other until Grimmjow finally noticed that they had accidentally reopened one of Ichigo's wounds.

"Hey hey. Yer bleedin' again." He chastised while taking hold of Ichigo's wrists so he would stop moving.

The tiger quickly looked down and groaned when he also noticed the blood seeping out into the water like a mist. Grimmjow dragged Ichigo to the side and lifted him up until he was sitting on the edge, his feet and tail still dangling in the water.

Grimmjow moved himself between the other's legs so he could get a closer look at the gash, and he sighed in relief when it was only a small cut that was bleeding. He looked up, only to notice that Ichigo was looking away, and, even though it was dark out, Grimmjow could still see the bright blush.

Ichigo peeked down and then quickly looked away again when he saw the huge smirk on Grimmjow's face. He clenched his eyes shut and his whole body jolted when a rough tongue slide up the middle of his chest, right between the pectoral muscles.

Grimmjow had to place his hands on each of Ichigo's thighs to help pull himself out of the water. He straddled the smaller felid and moved his face forward until their noses brushed together. He stopped once his lips were just a breadth away.

Ichigo knew that the panther wanted him to make the last move so that they could be kissing, and the thought scared the fuck out of him, but that didn't stop him from moving forward.

As soon as their lips touched, it was like a gate burst open inside Grimmjow, unleashing a flood of emotions. The most powerful emotion being lust: Pure, unbridled, and instinctual lust.

Ichigo's blush threatened to consume his whole face and neck when he felt the bigger cat suddenly thrust forward until he was on top of him. The moonlight, which cascaded down upon them, created a soft outline around the panther's face, hair, and ears.

Ichigo's breath hitched as he continued to stare up at the animalistic look on Grimmjow's face. The dominate felid let loose a growl and then descended upon his prey. Ichigo's auburn eyes rolled into the back of his head when strong hips rolled against his own. Pure ecstasy seeped into every pore of his body, making him whine in the back of his throat and instinctively spread his legs so he could wrap them around Grimmjow's hips.

Grimmjow intertwined their tails and he grazed his canines against Ichigo's perked nipples. He then dove his hand down the other's pants, leaving behind a trail of goosebumps.

Ichigo didn't notice that he was purring when fingers wrapped around his pulsing phallus; the tiger's poor mind ceased to exist.

Grimmjow chuckled after he took a good whiff of the body twisting beneath him.

He smelt of a cat just begging to be screwed.

Grimmjow almost ripped the pants as he slid them from his mate's body, leaving the tiger completely naked and vulnerable, but Ichigo didn't seem to notice as he squirmed about. Shaky hands automatically reached out and Grimmjow smirked when he felt nails dig into his already scratched back. Those fingers quickly pulled him down so their bodies were pressed tightly against each other.

Ichigo panted and buried his face against the panther's wet neck; mouth partly opened so he could breathe in Grimmjow's musky scent—imbedding it into his lust-crazed mind.

Ichigo braced his feet on the ground and began thrusting his hips up so that his erection slid against his and Grimmjow's abdomens.

"Ichigo," Grimmjow groaned when said tiger nipped at his shoulder, but Ichigo froze at the sound of his name.

Reality came crashing back to him like a slap to the face.

Grimmjow yelped in surprise when Ichigo suddenly planted his feet into his gut and sent him flying. His breath left him in a huff when he fell straight into the cold water, and he instinctively thrashed his way back to the surface, desperate for air.

Ichigo was too busy having a mini-breakdown to see Grimmjow's angry form clawing its way back out of the water.

'I can't believe I almost broke the one law that dad entrusted with me. If he knew that I… That we… he'd never let me hear the end of it!'

Grimmjow snarled, breaking Ichigo from his thoughts and making him look up at the drenched panther. The tiger gulped and his ears drooped nervously when he saw the other's bared fangs glistening in the white light of the moon.

"Grimmjow, I—" Ichigo didn't get a chance to finish before the felid pounced at him.

He quickly rolled away and jumped to his feet.

Standing there in front of Grimmjow was extremely awkward—due to his nakedness and undying erection, and the hungry look he was receiving didn't help either.

"Please stop this Grimmjow." Ichigo said and he held his hands up when the other got too close.

"Why?" Grimmjow snapped. "You were enjoyin' it a moment ago," He gave a pointed look towards Ichigo's dick before continuing, "Why the sudden change?"

Ichigo chewed on his bottom lip as he thought of what exactly to say.

"I'm not allowed to…" He fought for the right word to use, "Mate." He tried and sighed when Grimmjow gave him a blank look. "My father doesn't have all that many laws that we must follow… Most of them are the usual 'play nice' and 'an eye for an eye' kind of bullshit, but there's one law that has to do with me." Ichigo explained and he was happy to see that the panther was slowly beginning to unwind. "He has made it clear to me and everyone else that before someone takes my virginity; they must first get permission from him."

At first, Ichigo was afraid that Grimmjow would get upset and start yelling, but he just remained silent.

Honestly, he preferred an angry Grimmjow.

The rustling of bushes shifted the panther's attention away from Ichigo, and the tiger was relieved at first but he silently groaned when he recognized the scent that drifted towards them.

Grimmjow's tail bristled and he shifted his body in front of Ichigo's protectively when an unfamiliar cat came into view.

The felid hummed absently as he brushed away some leaves from his pants.

Golden eyes widened and then narrowed when he finally looked up.

"King…?"

"Ggio! Slow down dammit!" Luppi whined when he lost sight of his enraged friend.

"Be quiet," Ggio spat back in a hushed tone, his long braid whipping around hazardously when he looked over his shoulder to glare at Luppi. "We're getting close." He continued before looking forward once more.

"Why're you doing this…?" Luppi said as he stared at the two small rocks fisted in Ggio's hand. Normally, Luppi wouldn't mind causing a little trouble, especially if it would piss off the almighty Grimmjow, but the murderous look in Ggio's eyes was making Luppi worried.

"Because I finally realize how far away Grimmjow really is from me." The sabertooth growled. Just the thought of that orange tiger made Ggio want to destroy something—to rip it to shreds with his bare hands.

Luppi sighed, realizing that Ggio's mind was already set.

The tiger would be lucky if he survived the night.

"There they are…" Ggio whispered, but it was hard to hear him over the roar of the waterfall. Luppi lifted his nose and immediately recognized two of the three scents that were carried towards them. They peered through the bushes, and it took them a second to spot their targets because it was so dark, but there was enough moonlight pooling in from the canopy to see the three figures standing near the huge tree. The white light made it hard to discern colors, but Ggio was able to recognize Grimmjow and Ichigo.

There was an unknown felid wrestling with Grimmjow. He was white, from what they could see: an albino tiger. Strangely, he looked just like Ichigo, but they could tell his fur and skin was white, because he was practically glowing in the moonlight.

Both bystanders watched as Grimmjow and the tiger rolled around in the grass, their tails bristling in rage as they hissed at each other.

"Knock it off you guys!" Ichigo shouted, and Luppi's face immediately flushed when he saw that the prince was completely bare. His pants were nowhere to be seen.

Grimmjow paused in his fight to look up at Ichigo, but his opponent saw that as an opening. The panther hissed in surprise and pain when sharp, needle-like claws dug into his skin and scored their way down his torso. Ggio narrowed his eyes at that, but made no move to help. He actually looked rather disappointed that Grimmjow would be caught off guard so easily.

Ichigo yelled at the albino tiger and quickly pulled him away from Grimmjow, who was silently watching the blood pour out his body in little rivers. His face was completely void of emotion.

"Shiro! Calm down!"

Luppi watched as Ichigo tried to calm the enraged felid by placing his hand on either side of his pale face, but when golden eyes continued to glare daggers at Grimmjow, Ichigo did something unexpected—he pulled Shiro's face towards himself and smashed their lips together. Ggio rolled his eyes when the pale tiger almost literally melted into the kiss. His white tail went limp and all his muscles, which had been tensed and ready to strike, sagged.

Ichigo pulled away just as Grimmjow started to bristle.

"Please stop fighting…" He whispered to both felids, his cinnamon colored eyes wide and quivering nervously. When they finally nodded, Ichigo released Shiro.

Luppi's attention was snatched away from the scene when he noticed that Ggio was sneaking his way towards the huge tree. They both made sure to stay downwind as they moved along the shadows, wedging their way between the large, intertwining roots that jutted out and curved to form a cozy little den.

"You should stop, Ggio."

Said sabertooth ignored him in favor of striking the rocks together. Sparks occasionally spat out, making Luppi's ears flick anxiously. The small cat shifted and peeked through the roots to see if the others had noticed them yet.

Nope.

Luppi froze up when the smell of burning reached his nose. Ggio had to pull him out before he was sent ablaze along with the tree.

"Let's go." Ggio hissed. They both fled into the bushes and down the cliffs, escaping the imminent disaster they had started.

"What exactly happened?" Shirosaki demanded while gesturing towards his king's wounds.

Ichigo sighed and paused in cleaning Grimmjow's bloodied chest to look back at his friend.

"I got attacked. Grimmjow saved me. End of story."

Shirosaki looked almost guilty for attacking the panther, but then his gaze hardened once more as he said, "Then why're ya naked?"

Ichigo's whole face slowly stained deep crimson when Shirosaki motioned to his state of undress, so he quickly hid his face in Grimmjow's shoulder.

He flicked his orange tail when he heard Shirosaki's warning growl.

"Qui' interrogatin' 'im." Grimmjow snapped. He wrapped his tail around the dandelion protectively, but Shirosaki only saw it as being 'possessive'.

"Listen 'ere, panther, if you even think o—" Shirosaki's voice caught in his throat when a cloud of smoke raced over them, bringing with it: heat, acrid air, and the stench of burning. All three felids turned around and their wide eyes caught sight of fire, which was quickly spreading. Its soft, bright-orange fingers stretched towards them, looming threateningly. The bushes that circled the clearing were being set aflame one by one. The felids didn't move a muscle; fear seemingly rooted them to the spot until their 'flight' instinct finally kicked in.

Shirosaki and Grimmjow were the first to move, but Ichigo was still inert. The panther and albino tiger dove into the water where the flames couldn't reach them, but they both knew that they would have to get far away before they started to breathe in too much smoke.

Grimmjow paused to look behind him and his eyes nearly fell out of his head when he saw that Ichigo wasn't in the water yet. His motionless form was still in the grass, silhouetted amongst the fire.

"Ichigo!"

Shirosaki's hands nearly slipped from the wet rocks when he heard Grimmjow's shout. He quickly looked back, only to find that Ichigo was dangerously close to the fire and he seemed unable to move.

"Dammit Ichigo! MOVE!" Shiro yelled desperately, but the prince didn't seem to hear him. Before the scalding flames were about to reach out and devour the prince, Grimmjow was able to drag him into the water, just in time. The panther growled as he leaned Ichigo's shivering body against the smooth rocks right beside Shiro. Brown eyes were wide, but they saw nothing. They just stared straight ahead.

"Getta hold of yourself!" Shiro growled, splashing the unresponsive tiger's face with water. That seemed to snap Ichigo out of his trance, but only for a moment before he went unconscious. "No! This is not the time for that!" Shirosaki shouted, but it did nothing to help. They were wasting time. The fire was spreading, even climbing its way up the farrago of vines and weeds that grew along the waterfall's cliff. They needed to stay as close to the water as they could.

"We'll just carry 'im." Grimmjow grumbled, surprisingly calm in this troublesome situation. Shirosaki could only nod in agreement as he watched the panther place Ichigo's limp body onto his shoulder, damp orange hair tickling his bare back.

Grimmjow started climbing swiftly. He made it look so easy—hauling himself up one-handed as he kept a tight grip on Ichigo. But, after living in the mountains for so long, climbing things like this was as easy as stepping over streams. Not even the rainiest days in the mountains could deter him now.

Shirosaki was following behind a few yards down, making sure to keep an eye on Ichigo so he didn't slip off. But it was hard to watch anything with the smoke stinging his eyes.

Once they finally arrived at the top, Grimmjow carefully shifted Ichigo so that he was laying across his arms, bridal style. Ichigo's long tail limply dragged across the ground as Grimmjow walked forward.

Both Shiro and the panther squinted their eyes and coughed as a cloud of thick, heavy smoke surrounded them. They moved carefully as they made their way into the trees that had yet to catch fire.

"I can't see anythin'." Grimmjow hacked as the ashes and smoke burned his lungs.

Both felids snapped their heads to the right when they heard crackling and an ominous creak. One of the lit trees was about to fall on them. Grimmjow quickly jumped forward, nearly losing his grip on Ichigo.

When he turned around to see if Shiro was okay, his jaw clenched when all he saw was the burning tree lying on its side.

No Shiro.

"Hey! Ya still alive!" Grimmjow shouted, his eyes wide and glowing orange from the light of the flames. "Answer me dammit!" It's not that he truly cared about the stupid albino, but if he was a friend of Ichigo's, than he couldn't be too bad, right?

"M'fine!" He heard Shiro shout over the wall of fire. "Just get Ichigo home safely ya damn panther!"

Grimmjow didn't have to be told twice, and he wasn't about to waste any more time. He looked down at the prince's unconscious form as he continued to run, an expression of worry chiseling its way on his face.

'First he goes to the damned forest ta look for me, only to get himself in a fight with three of the most temperamental felids in the land, and then he practically gets molested… and now this shit. I'm startin' ta think that the dandelion is a magnet for trouble.'

Grimmjow slipped around a tower of boulders but then skidded to a halt when he saw the river.

"'ey Grimm, are ya sure it's safe…?" The little orange cub asked nervously as he dabbed his hand into the water.

"o'course it's safe, dummy." Grimmjow retorted with an offended look. "Ya don't trust me?"

Ichigo looked up at his friend with big, brown eyes and then he shook his head. "I trust you, just not the water."

Grimmjow shook away the flashbacks that this particular spot on the river conjured up. The river didn't seem as deep now as it did when they were cubs, so he was able to wade his way through without either of their heads going underwater, but the current was still pretty strong.

His foot slipped along the slippery rocks at the bottom, and he cut his heel on something sharp, but he ignored it; he needed to get across this damned water.

The panther panted heavily as he dragged himself and the tiger out of the water. He laid his head against the cool grass, his breathing slowly evening out and he clutched onto Ichigo's naked form as he glared at the fire's reflection in the river. Once he was calm again, he immediately got back up. He knew that the fire couldn't reach them now, but he refused to stop until Ichigo was back home, safe and sound.

'I've turned into a real fuckin' pansy, haven't I?' He chuckled to himself.

Just as his feet neared the edge of the forest, he was stopped dead in his tracks by multiple growls.

His dark blue tail bristled in alarm and he unconsciously held Ichigo closer to him.

Even though they were close to the plains, many trees still surrounded them, blocking the light of the moon and stars, save for a few streams of light. Grimmjow snarled when he smelt all sorts of unfamiliar scents and heard the crunch of earth beneath their feet as they circled him.

"Who's there?"

A couple of growls echoed his demand and he felt long tails graze his sides as they sped passed him threateningly. He refused to run away though. He needed to get by.

"Cowards!" He snarled, but that only seemed to make them laugh.

A few more laughs and Grimmjow finally got his wish.

One by one, the unknown animals began to step into the small beams of light that shone through.

First was a Puma with long strawberry-blonde hair and a well-endowed chest. Next was a Lilac-haired cheetah—who was also well-endowed. A short snow-lynx with spiked, white hair. A liger with long, curly brown hair. A black jaguar with short, dark hair and a row of three, thin scars trailing down his right eye. A red tiger with long crimson hair, who looked especially pissed off. Standing beside him was that female lynx from the other day and perched upon her shoulder was a large, black hawk with a dangerously hooked beak. Standing behind Grimmjow was an extremely tall wolf with rows of sharp pointy teeth and an eye-patch and sitting atop the wolf's long hair was a little pink pup.

And last, but not least, out came the king himself. He stood tall and rigid. His orange ears were perked and alert while his tail swayed back and forth lazily.

Each of their faces held the same, hostile expressions.

"What'd you do to Ichigo, Espada!" The red tiger hissed, his tail lashing angrily.

Grimmjow shifted and was about to start explaining, but his jaw snapped shut and everyone's eyes immediately fell to Ichigo, who was slowly regaining consciousness.

"Grimmjow…" Ichigo blinked up at the blurry form and he nuzzled his face against Grimmjow's neck. The once hostile looks quickly changed to surprise when they heard their prince begin to purr. Isshin hadn't heard his son do that since he was a little cub.

Grimmjow rolled his eyes and silently urged Ichigo to look around since the tiger was still too dazed to realize his kin was here.

The prince looked to his left. His cinnamon colored eyes locked with his father's and it was like a jolt of realization slapped him right on the forehead. Ichigo's expression went from surprised to angry then to nervous and somewhat scared.

Grimmjow couldn't blame him though, Isshin looked downright enraged. He'd heard that the king was usually pretty ditzy and joked around a bit too much, but this wasn't that same King. The cat standing before them looked tall, powerful, sturdy, and stern.

'This is the animal tha' killed my family.'

"I thought we'd lost you." He spoke to his son. "No more hunts for you. Not ever."

Ichigo's ears folded back angrily and his tail bristled.

"That's not fair, dad, wh—"

"And you." Isshin continued, shifting his piercing gaze to the blue-haired panther. "Why did you save my son? What sort of repayment did you hope to gain?"

The panther growled at the challenging look he received, but he quickly reined his anger, because this could be his one chance to get close to his prey.

"I think it's only fair tha' ya let me join your family." Grimmjow said, surprising the others. The panther peeked down to see Ichigo's reaction and he had to stop his tail from curling happily when he saw the tiger's large grin.

"Never! You're an Espada! Loyal to that bastard, Aizen!" It was the redhead again. His shoulders were raised and his teeth were bared balefully.

"But he did save Ichigo." The black lynx said, trying to reason with the frazzled tiger.

'How ironic… the feline we tried to capture is on my side…'

The redhead wasn't the only one that didn't trust him though. He was still getting those harsh glares that were burning holes in him.

"My loyalty lies with no one a' the moment." Grimmjow explained, trying to gain their trust, and the more he talked, the more they started to relax. "Give me a chance ta fit in. I've done nothin' wrong 'cept been trapped within Aizen's claws all these years."

Isshin's shoulders sagged and his expression morphed into one of guilt, making many do the same. The redhead was the only one left glaring.

"Fine. But if I see you as a threat to my family even once… then you'll wish you'd stayed with Aizen."

That was all he said before turning around and walking towards home, and, one by one, the others reluctantly followed. The redhead hissed at him before disappearing as well.

Grimmjow smirked wickedly at the thought of killing that red tiger right after he finished beheading the king.

"Did you really mean all of that…?" Ichigo whispered, catching Grimmjow's attention.

"What?"

"When you said you were trapped with Aizen and you wanted to join my family… did you mean it?"

Grimmjow had to look away from those wide, hopeful eyes, before he was overwhelmed with shame. The longer he stayed silent, the more depressed Ichigo got. Just as the tiger was about to look away, his ears perked when he heard Grimmjow sigh.

"Yes."

Ichigo instantly started purring up a storm and he buried his face against the panther's neck, making him completely miss the look of guilt that crossed Grimmjow's face.

...TBC...

This is Unbeta'd. I will replace it with a edited version when my lovely Beta finishes 3

So please be patient with any grammatical errors and such...

I'm sure some of you Lion King fans out there recognize one or two of the lins i put in there
BAHAHAH!
And I now... I'm such a tease...
But I don't want them to do the naughty just yet

:'D

If you guys have any questions, then don't hesitate to ask!
And if you see any mistakes then please point them out