Katie: This was ready for 6/15 but Morgan sucks so I had to sacrifice her to the FanFiction Gods in exchange for this chapter. I know this isn't the usual length but hopefully this is still good. :3 enjoy

Chapter 7: Lights Out

You told me yes, you held me high

And I believed when you told that lie

I played soldier, you played king

And struck me down when I kissed that ring

You lost that right, to hold that crown

I built you up but you let me down

So when you fall, I'll take my turn

And fan the flames as your blazes burn

Linkin Park – Burn It Down

Isis had left after healing a stubborn Grimmjow, the warning of getting off Kyrochitten immediately hanging in their damp cavern threateningly. As Grimmjow sat patiently by Ichigo's side for him to awaken the last thing he expected was for dark lashes to flutter and fly open revealing an inky black sclera and deep, practically shining gold irises. A crazed, manic grin twisted across Ichigo's features causing the blued haired man's eyes to go impossibly wide; almost comically so.

Duat, the capital of Kyrochitten

Isis strolled down the palace halls, Kota draped across her back and Nut gliding through the air. Bare feet padded across the marble floors while elegant fingers ran over smooth blue walls adorned with solid gold candle holders. The lit wax candles gave the room a dim flickering light that got brighter as she neared the open throne room. As Isis stepped through the thresh she looked up watching as Nut soared towards the high ceiling of glass. She gave a small smile to the bird's antics before looking ahead to her queen and good friend. On a raised platform Osiris sat in her throne, legs thrown over one side and elbow resting on the other. Shi lounged beneath her; the powerful beast's tail thumping against the marble floor in boredom. The queen's face visibly brightened at the sight of her friend.

"Isis! How'd the thing with the pig smellies* go?"

"Pig smellies?" She scrunched her nose at the word before sitting in front of the large tiger and placing Kota next to her.

"Humans. Whatever. Same thing." The healer's confused face fell and was replaced with a small scowl.

"You shouldn't treat them so badly, Osiris. You should be grateful to them."

"Why would I be grateful to my cattle? They are far beneath me."

"What is this talk of humans?" Two heads snapped to the entrance of throne room where a tall, lithe man of 6'3 leaned against the door frame. The man's aura held great power suggesting a royal status. An equally powerful beast sat at his side. The tiger's green eyes were piercing. The man tilted his head slightly waiting for an answer. Blonde hair framed the man's angular face and blue eyes danced with question. Both queen and animal rose to meet their respective partners. Isis gave a small nod in his direction.

"What Isis was saying is that we have intruders. Four have been captured and I believe she was about to tell me the state of the other two."

Isis gave a small smile before standing before her king and beginning her explanation, "There are two males. One in critical condition and most likely dead now. The other is suffering minor wounds but will likely die after the loss of his companion."

"That's it?"

"Yes, my lord."

"Alright then, see to it that the other filthy being does in fact die. And the other four, summon them here within the next few hours."

"You done being all kingly, Ra? If so, we need to take Ammut and Shi out. They're restless. Don't want them attacking any more servants."**

The king rolled eyes and walked away, queen and tigers trailing behind.

Ichigo's POV

The look on Blue Kitty's face was priceless. His jaw had gone slack and his eyes had turned to saucers. I smirked at the man's expression before standing and stretching our muscles and wandering out into the afternoon sun. *

"O-oi! Ichigo, get your ass back in here." I turned abruptly coming face to face with the blue giant, my smirk firmly in place.

"Wrong." I replied. Twin blue brows pulled together in a look of confusion.

"Wrong? Ichigo, what the hell is wrong with you? Your eyes are weird…" A calloused thumb brushed along our cheekbone before pulling at the skin below our eye to better look at the drastic change. I gripped his wrist tightly, prying the offensive object from our face. A scowl quickly peeled away my smirk as a low growl escaped our lips.

"Keep yer hands to yerself kitty cat and I might tell ya what's up." With one last warning glare I ambled over to the stream and began a trek down its banks. Grimmjow was close behind us, his carelessness causing him to wander like an elephant on acid. Did he not know who these native people are? Dumbass.

"You're not Kurosaki." He growled out. I silently mimicked him before shooting him a deadpan look out of the corner of our eye.

"No shit, Sherlock."

"Sure gotta mouth like him though." He mumbled. "What the hell did that woman do to the berry? And who the hell are you?!"

I sighed in frustration. Does he ever shut up? "That witch didn't do anythin'. Shut up. And I am Ichigo. Or a part of his soul anyway. You can call me Shiro. We had a little tumble at the air port. Ya don't remember me?" When he didn't reply I stuck our lip out in a mock pout. "I'm hurt."

He gripped our shoulder abruptly and had us spun around and up against a tree within a second. His lip pulled up over inhumanly sharp canines with a threatening growl rumbling from his throat.

"I want answers and now, damnit." A corded forearm was pressed just below the hollow of our throat along with a toned body fitting snugly against ours to keep me from squirming. I gave him a toothy smirk. He's attempt to overpower me was adorable. The amiable smile, albeit a bit creepy, threw the larger man off guard giving me the perfect opening to throw him to the ground. I gripped the larger man's biceps as I straddled his stomach, hunched over and our nose a mere centimeter from his. With grin firmly intact I launched into our story.

"Ya see here kitty cat, King has had a troubling past. I'm here to protect him, either mentally or physically. And you are a threat. I dunno what the hell he see's in you, 'cause as I far as I'm concerned yer an ass and ya need ta back off. He's not ready for any kinda deep relationship crap. 'Specially nuthin' sexual. So cut the crap and keep yer hands to yer self." I punctuated the sentence with a sneer before standing, well almost standing. Grimmjow gripped our ankle pulling us back to the hard earth with a whoosh of breath. He soon had me pinned beneath his own body.

"Ya know we share this body? You're fuckin' King up too, jerk off."

"Now you listen to me, freak. Ichigo can make his own decisions and I might be an ass but I can see that he's not all there. I ain't guuna let anything happen to him and I sure as hell ain't gunna be doing anything he don't want me to. Now put Kuroskai back on."

"Fine, but try anything funny and I won't hesitate ta kill you. That's a promise, Grimmjow." Said man scowled waiting impatiently for Ichigo to be returned to him. He watched as black slowly faded to white and gold gave way to brown. When warm brown eyes finally came into focus and registered the man pressed against him a blush spread across his cheeks. A Cheshire cat grin spread across the larger man's face. Without thinking Grimmjow pressed his lips firmly against Ichigo's and sat back before pulling the smaller man into a hug, unknowingly intensifying the young man's blush.

"Damn, Ichigo. Don't ever scare me like that again."

"G-grimm, can't breathe. Don't know what's goin' on."

"Right, sorry." Grimmjow pulled back to study Ichigo's face and smiled. "We've got some catching up to do."

Shinji's POV

"Welcome to hell."

"I'm happy you're alive too." I replied sarcastically. "Now can I please have some answers?"

It was Nnoitra who spoke first, his eyes boring into my own and his tone serious. SERIOUS. I think I'm still hallucinating.

"You were out for about a day. It's mid-afternoon. And it just so happens that we were lucky enough to stumble upon the island of Kyrochitten."

"Kyro- what? Sounds like some weird Aztec-Egyptian shit. Who the hell are these people? They had military grade weapons and ancient armor and slaves, Nnoi. Slaves. We gotta help these people. "

At that the tired looking pilot spoke up. His eyes were empty and void of all hope.

"We'd be lucky if we were able to help ourselves. The people who live here – no, they don't deserve that. They're monsters. These people eat-"

"Excuse me, but you've all been summoned by King Ra to the royal palace." It was the girl from before. Her expression was one of pity.

What is going on?

If possible the pilot slouched further and his hands trembled. The flight attendant burst into tears. I looked to Nnoi and he mouthed, "Tell ya on the way up." I nodded and stood slowly, following the rest of my little pack dazed, confused and apparently doomed. I squinted at the bright light, trying to focus my vision and found myself staring into the hollow eyes of an armed solider. I scowled at him, internally telling him to fuck off and when he hadn't moved I was going to verbally announce it but Nnoi sent me a warning glare.

"Hold out yer hands, Shin. Cuffs." I rolled my eyes but did I as I was told. If Nnoitra, the crazy loving spoon man was serious then I damn well needed to be to. The four guards led us by a rusting chain attached to chaffing cuffs, their heavy metal armor clinking with each step. We were moving through what appeared to be a very poor part of this Kyrochitten. The houses or shacks for the lack of a better term were practically falling apart. Small, dirt caked children with their ribs visibly showing were laughing and running through the streets, unaware of the state they lived in. The older more world wary people looked at us with pity and sadness. I looked up to Nnoi, my head dancing with questions ready to be answered. He glanced to the guards before whispering, "This is a top secret island, kept hidden away by the world government. These people are far from normal Shinji and I'm sure they won't hesitate to kill any of us so I need ya ta please keep yer mouth shut. Promise?"

"Yeah, now keep goin'."

The tall man offered a small smile, I think it was supposed to be reassuring but it wasn't. His piano teeth were far too large for such a thing and it turned out creepy.

"There are four tiers or classes on the island. Right now we're on the lowest level. This is where the workin' class is housed and obviously they're treated like shit, next is the army or warrior class, then aristocrats. Finally, the palace, which is where we're headed for our little tea party."

"Yay." I said monotonously.

That seemed to be all the lanky man had to say so with a sigh I focused on my surroundings. We were coming to a long set of stone stairs and I nearly groaned at the thought of climbing 3 sets of them.

I will never fly again.

Ichigo's POV

Grimmjow was acting odd, to say the least. And dear Kami I think the man kissed me. I felt light headed and it increased sevenfold* as the blue haired man yanked me to my feet and pulled me along the banks of the stream to the cavern. He sat me down and quickly began to work on the dwindling fire, peeking out of the corner of his eye every few seconds. Mo wandered up to me and stared with big brown eyes before screeching at me and climbing on to my lap. Weirdo. When I looked up blue eyes were starring into my soul and at a close proximity.

"What the hell is up with you?" The man ignored my question and continued to stare before breaking himself of whatever self-induced spell he had been under.

"Where do I start?"

"The beginning?"

He fixed me with a glare. "Sure as hell didn't miss your mouth."

"Didn't seem like that a few minutes ago." One lecherous glare and blush later, Grimmjow began his story.

"You passed out after I closed your wound. It got infected. You were so close to dying, Ichigo. And I had to watch it. I kinda sorta had a mental break down. I can't lose you."

I scowled, eyes cast aside. "Yeah, wouldn't want to get in trouble with your boss." Two work calloused hands on my cheeks brought me back to the man in front of me. His gaze was grief stricken and filled with a little something else that had my heart pounding beneath my ribcage.

"No, dumbass. I can't lose you because I –" He frowned, racking his brain for the right words. I placed my own hand over his, trying to figure out what these new emotions were. He leaned forward till our foreheads were touching, the pad of his thumb brushing against the bottom of my lip. The appendage was soon replaced by the faint ghost of air emitting from his own lips as he spoke, "I'm gunna kiss ya now." My heart beat sky rocketed and I briefly wondered if Grimmjow could hear it as his lips slanted over mine. The kiss wasn't needy or demanding. It was sweet and slow. I soon found my hands tangled in his mass of wild blue locks, lightly massaging the scalp as he deepened the kiss. I gave a small moan as his tongue swept across my bottom lip silently asking permission to enter. Something in me snapped and the rapid beat of my heart accompanied with the adrenaline in my veins became stifling. I pushed at his chest and he pulled back with a furrow in his brow. I looked him in the eye, no doubt looking doleful and scared.

"I can't do this, Grimmjow." I whispered. He frowned before standing and sitting on the other side of the fire, his gaze trained on the flickering light.

"Yeah, sorry." I wanted to reach out to him, to touch him, console him. I don't know if he knew that such a crest fallen look had bestowed his features but he looked absolutely torn.

"Grimmjow-"

"Anyway, the rest of the story. This woman came. She said she's a native on this island, Kyrochitten. Isis, I think her name was. Not only can she talk to animals but she can heal people. I don't understand this at all." He chuckled but no emotions could be seen on his face. Creepy.

"Were you not drinking enough water? That's insane Grimmjow." His eyes snapped to mine, deadly serious.

"Mo can understand our speech. Yo, Mo come sit on my shoulder." The lemur looked at the blue haired man before scurrying around the fire and onto the man's broad shoulders.

"So you taught her tricks?" I asked with disbelief. He can't be serious. Grimmjow stood as best as he could in the small space and began pacing across the dirt sodden ground. He tugged at his hair in frustration. The sight was quite comical as Mo had latched on for the journey.

"Jesus, Ichigo. You were literally on death's door step. She healed my ribs, my hand." He lifted his shirt for evidence and true to his word there was no bruise.

"Your hand?"

"Tried to beat up a tree, it won." I quirked a brow but it went unnoticed.

"You of all people should have a little faith in this shit! You've got another fucking person in you!"

I spluttered, my eyes going wide. He stopped pacing and stared at me.

"Shiro?"

"You know about him?"

"Yeah, he paid me a little visit and we had a chat. Nice guy."

"What'd he tell you?"

"That's beside the point, Ichigo. Whoever these people are, they're dangerous. We need to get off this island, now."

Nnoitra's POV

The guards released us before shoving us into a large room and slamming the doors behind us with a resounding thud. Tch. Ass holes. The plane bitch was openly sobbing on the floor, the old fart looked like he was gunna have a heart attack and Shinji had visibly paled. Although that's a respectable reaction to what sat before us on a raised platform. I knew that it wasn't only the tigers that we should fear but the people sitting in their chairs perched like pompous bitches.

"You're expected to bow before your king and queen." I raised my lip in a half-sneer at the supposed king's command but did as I was told and prayed to Kami that Shinji was doing the same. I could see from the corner of my eye that he had done just that as well as the old fart. The plane bitch was still on the floor although quieter now, only small choked sobs escaping her shaking body.

"You may rise." These people hadn't said more than a few words and they were already pissing me off. They sat there bored looking, the queen was sprawled across her chair seemingly relaxed while the king slumped in his chair, long legs spilled out in front of him. Both tigers lay at their feet, alert and ready to strike.

"There are three options today. Death."

"My favorite option." The queen muttered.

"Train to become an eternal warrior of Kyrochitten, perhaps your best option here, or we can have a snack." The king gave a small smirk and the queen snorted.

"There's one rule though. We tolerate no weakness. Ammut."

"Shi no Dira."

Both beasts rose at the command of their masters slinking down the stairs of the platform and silently moving around us with only the grace a deadly predator could possess.

"Our loyal companions here can determine fears and strengths in any one. They will be deciding your fate today."

The tigers stopped and sat before me and Shinji, tilting their heads in animalistic curiosity before moving silently behind the sniveling flight attendant not even sparing a glance to the pilot. Shi no Dira, the smaller female tiger glanced to her master. I guess she got the okay because in an instant her powerful jaw was wrapped around the lady's neck, razor sharp teeth piercing the vertebra with an audible crack. Her body twitched briefly before falling still. Shi no Dira released her prey, licking her maw and looking to her master for approval. The queen smiled and beckoned her companion. Sick. Ammut latched onto the dead women and dragged her to the farther side of the room. The beast dropped the limp body, crouched over it and bared his fangs in a gesture of ownership.

"That's enough, Ammut. No one wants that trash. Now you, you pathetic excuse for a creature." The king stood, gesturing towards the pilot. He moved forward on dangerously shaky legs and stood before the king. The tearing of flesh and the crack of bone could be heard through the quiet room as the king studied the man before him. Contempt and hatred was apparent in his blue eyes.

"Osris."

"You could say please, ya know." The king shot the smaller woman a deadpan look that received an eye roll. She procured a wooden bowl; much like the one we used for drinking water and a dagger from the depths of her knee high boots. She handed both items to her partner before returning her attention to her tiger.

"Snack time, Shi!" The man's eyes widened at the statement and before he could react any other way the blade of the dagger had sliced his throat open causing the blood to gush profusely into the wooden bowl. The man soon fell back and onto the marble flooring with a thud. The pilot made gurgling noises as blood bubbled up past his lips and dribbled down his chin to his neck. The disturbing noises continued till enough of his life force drained onto an once spotless floor and ended his life. The king sighed and wiped the blade on the dead man's shirt then handed it back to the queen. He placed the bowl in front of the female tiger before gracefully falling back into his seat.

"The things I do for these damn beasts. Such as mess."

If Shinji was pale before, he's transparent now.

"Sorry for so rudely ignoring you. Had to weed out the weak. Now that it's all taken care of, I'll leave you two options that you surprisingly get to choose."

"What's that?"

"Death or Warrior of Kyrochitten?"

*Shiro says OUR cuz him and ichi share ._.

*Pig smellies lol from Invader Zim

*Ra – Egyptian sun god

*Ammut – The devourer

*Shi no Dira – death dealer

*avenged SEVENFOLD, only because I've yet to use any of their lyrics and they're my favorite

Katie: was that too gory? Too much Supernatural.

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