Title: Turnabout
Author: darkling59
Fandom: Bleach
Rating: T
Date: 4/4/2020
Disclaimer: Bleach and all associated characters, settings, concepts, etc. within this story do not belong to me. All of the original stuff does. Please DO NOT steal.

Please read and review!

Rebellion - Day 3 (Late Afternoon)

It was a reluctant collection of shinigami and zanpakuto that gathered around Head-Captain Yamamoto to finally learn the truth behind Muramasa's motives and the zanpakuto rebellion; the shinigami in a tight huddle and the zanpakuto a few steps back, as far from the soutaicho as they could get without making targets of themselves for Ryujin Jakka. The old shinigami eyed the disembodied zanpakuto with clear disapproval but did not comment on their presence. Instead, he launched into a chilling summary of Koga Kuchiki's life and crimes.

X

The story began three hundred years ago when a promising young shinigami named Koga Kuchiki was appointed to the third seat of the sixth division, then led by Captain Ginrei Kuchiki, Byakuya's grandfather. Koga was a member of the Kuchiki clan himself but by marriage rather than blood and the difference meant everything to the nobles; while Koga felt that his rank and marriage afforded him the rights of Ginrei's heir, everyone else saw him as a mere pretender to the throne. The Kuchiki name was one of the most ancient and powerful in Seireitei but it weighed on Koga more than it ever benefited him.

Alone, this rejection might have been enough to make him angry and bitter and ostracize him from the more narrow-minded of his colleagues, but with care and patience it could have been overcome. Ginrei saw potential in his stepson and went out of his way to teach Koga the patience, restraint, and humility he needed, traits Ginrei thought would make Koga a happier, more stable person and a stronger shinigami.

But Koga did not understand why the Kuchiki patriarch preached humility and refused to shower him with the praise and accolades he felt he deserved. He threw his frustration into training and developing the abilities of his zanpakuto, Muramasa.

If claiming the Kuchiki name without the matching blood irritated the nobles of Seireitei, Muramasa's abilities did far worse for the other shinigami in his division. Mainly because Muramasa was only fully effective against other shinigami. And Koga was very proud of what he could do.

It was a time of rebellion, where the greatest enemies shinigami faced were their former comrades. Squads of black-clad men fought each other with zanpakuto and kido until the streets of Seireitei ran red with blood. The opponents looked so similar that only those involved could even tell who was loyal and who was not.

(Yamamoto pointedly did not say why so many shinigami were rebelling at the same time. No one interrupted him to ask.)

When Koga stepped into the fray and released his shikai, the rebels' own swords turned on them. His unrefined powers could not manifest their spirits completely, but hilts froze in their wielders' hands, blades twisted away from their targets, and Inner Worlds crumbled around their bewildered inhabitants. The longer Koga was a shinigami, the more experience he gained, and the more his abilities evolved. Zanpakuto didn't just freeze, they turned on their shinigami, ripping apart wielders and friends without hesitation. Eventually, Koga was even able to manifest his enemies' zanpakuto as fuzzy outlines, wobbling spirits without definition.

He only used his abilities against the enemies of Seireitei but every shinigami who saw him turn a zanpakuto and wielder on each other instinctively recoiled. It didn't matter if he was able to win a battle twenty to one by controlling his opponents into murdering each other; even the rest of the sixth division watched him with increasing fear. Koga's lack of understanding about why they didn't react with the adulation and cheering he thought he deserved didn't help.

It got to the point that his comrades went behind Koga's back to express their concerns to their captain. Ginrei listened, watched Koga fight with Muramasa, considered such an ability combined with the developing grudge that colored Koga's interactions with the nobility and the arrogance that colored his personality, and then took his own concerns straight to Yamamoto.

Yamamoto was concerned for an entirely different reason. He was not personally invested in Koga in any way, knew him more as Ginrei's stepson than by name or face, but knowing there was a zanpakuto like Muramasa out there roused his paranoia, especially since so many shinigami were rebelling. Ginrei asked for time to handle Koga on his own and Yamamoto relented but kept a wary eye on the situation. In deference to the Kuchiki clan and Ginrei's long years of service, he kept the matter quiet, even from the other captains.

In the end, due to circumstances beyond his control, Ginrei could not to keep Koga from falling apart. The third seat was framed for killing a troop of loyal shinigami and both Ginrei and Yamamoto were forced to act. Koga broke out of prison and lashed out at those he believed had wronged him, then did far worse than that when he found out who was actually responsible: supposedly loyal higher ranked shinigami who were willing to sacrifice their own subordinates just to get Koga out of the way.

Instead of allowing the Gotei 13 to take care of them, Koga used Muramasa to kill the men himself and then took off into Rukongai, giving in to the bitterness, rage, and blind arrogance that Ginrei had tried so hard to train out of him. Over a hundred shinigami, loyal and rebel, fell to Koga during the months he spent in Rukongai and his zanpakuto abilities grew by leaps and bounds. Reports on his actions filtered through to Yamamoto but the Kuchiki clan insisted the other captains and divisions not be brought in so their proud name would not be sullied. Honor required one of their own to bring Koga down and his entire existence to be stricken from the records of the Gotei 13 and the noble houses.

It fell to Ginrei to hunt Koga down, assisted by Yamamoto. When they found him, they discovered that he'd learned to manifest Muramasa. It was the first and last time Yamamoto saw the zanpakuto's human form before the two captains bound Koga's powers and sealed him away in the Living World where no shinigami would ever find him. The location was never recorded anywhere but in the memories of the two men who put him there.

Yamamoto didn't know how Muramasa escaped from Koga's prison or how he managed to get out of his wielder's Inner World, since the binding held him unconscious as well as immobile. He didn't know how the zanpakuto maintained any sort of power or how his power levels had increased so much, since the lack of ambient reiatsu in the Living World should have nullified any sort of growth. Koga had never managed to fully manifest an enemy's zanpakuto before his capture and hadn't controlled any shinigami ranked higher than mid-seated – feats Muramasa had proven capable of on his own during the rebellion. Yamamoto also didn't know how Muramasa planned to release Koga or why he reacted so strongly to mentions of his wielder.

The only thing he did know for sure, was that if Koga was released in the Living World, at a location that had once been deserted but now lay only a few minutes outside of Karakura Town, the resulting explosion of power and fighting would destroy the surrounding area and everyone in it.

X

The shinigami hung on to every word of the head captain's story; Ukitake with a serious frown and a concerned crease between his eyes, Yoruichi and Kyoraku expressionless but exuding a restrained tension that eddied through their small group, and Ichigo with a horrified scowl that contorted with every new twist and turn in the tale. Lilynette didn't quite count as a shinigami and she spent the whole account leaning harder and harder into Starrk's side as if she could sink into him to escape the implications of the head-captain's words. The zanpakuto spirits exchanged heavy glances when Yamamoto mentioned their leader, but otherwise did not react.

Starrk's unease grew the longer Yamamoto talked. He wanted to twitch and fidget, pull away and pace. Or, better yet, leave entirely. He still didn't like being around shinigami captains and Yamamoto was as bad as they got. Plus, the story didn't sit right with him. Oh, it was horrible on its face, but he got the sense there was a lot more moving under the surface. There was too much left unsaid. And Yamamoto hadn't so much as hinted at the relationship between Koga and Muramasa despite the clear problems with it. When Starrk had called Muramasa's wielder a monster, he hadn't meant it in reference to other shinigami. But Yamamoto either didn't notice or didn't care.

Since the beginning of the rebellion, Starrk had encountered shinigami with all sorts of beliefs about their connection to their zanpakuto, ranging from 'mere tools' to 'equal partners'. Usually, the more powerful the shinigami, the more likely their zanpakuto relationship would be healthy and equal.

Yamamoto was the only person Starrk had met who talked about zanpakuto and shinigami like they were tools to be used.

That said, his zanpakuto was hardly any friendlier. Ryujin Jakka was considerate enough to let them hear out the story in peace but as soon as Yamamoto stopped talking, his flames roared closer with vicious fury.

"Whoa!" Shunsui yelped in shock and vanished into shunpo as a tentacle of flame lashed the ground where he'd been standing and two more followed him upwards. His zanpakuto spirits followed him into the air as he dodged several more roaring streams of fire, flipping and twisting acrobatically to stay out of their way. Another salvo attacked Jushiro but before he could fight them off, twin fans did it for him.

"That's not very nice!"

"Yeah, not nice!"

Sogyo and Koto landed on their wielder's shoulders, ornate fans held wide to either side of his head to hold back the attacks. It was a strain but they bore it, and Jushiro's expression softened. He opened his mouth to reply, but an irritated howl interrupted him.

"Are you kidding me?!" Ichigo snarled, glaring up at the fire all around. "After all that with the zanpakuto, now we've gotta get through this? We just won!"

"Ah, not quite." Jushiro replied, while Sogyo and Koto giggled and the flames they were holding off withdrew to find another opening.

"Yes, this was always the endgame." Yoruichi murmured, scanning their surroundings with quick eyes. Ryujin Jakka wasn't targeting her, Starrk realized with a start, or him and Lilynette. Nor was it attacking the head captain. Ichigo, on the other hand…

With a final howl, Ichigo launched himself into the air and straight at the flames.

"Kurosaki!"

"Ichigo!"

"Don't!"

Ignoring the warnings of the older shinigami, the substitute took a deep breath and black energy condensed around the thin blade of his zanpakuto in bankai.

"Getsuga…tensho!"

Starrk flipped back his ears as the arc of aggressive energy impacted the dome of fire, sending flame and heat flying in every direction and momentarily igniting a howling, angry wind. It was a powerful attack but ultimately useless; the small hole made by Zangetsu only lasted a fraction of a second before Ryujin Jakka's flames roared up to close it and then lashed out at Ichigo in apparent retaliation. If the head captain's zanpakuto hadn't been planning to attack him before, it certainly was now.

"Hey!" Ichigo yelped as half a dozen fireballs launched out of the wall at him, chasing him through the air across their little clearing. Whatever he was planning to say next vanished as he was forced to save his breath for dodging.

Yoruichi's quiet, aggrieved sigh was accompanied by a strained smile from Ukitake. Under other circumstances, it would have been a full-throated laugh but now…

"Head Captain, do you know how much time we have before Muramasa reaches Koga?"

"Hmmm…" Yamamoto grumbled, eyeing the two shinigami shunpo'ing back and forth overhead with disapproval before turning back to Jushiro. "It would be difficult to access Koga's prison in the daytime due to the spell keeping it unseen, but not impossible. There is no way to know if his zanpakuto has the skill to do so."

"We need to get out of here." Yoruichi stated firmly, watching Ichigo attempt to breach the wall of fire again and get thrown back.

"Any ideas?"

"Well, if we can't go through, around, or over the flames, that only leaves one option."

"Ah. You've found a way to go under?"

"Maybe. Come look at this."

As the shinigami turned to follow Yoruichi, Starrk eased back, herding Lilynette away from Yamamoto. He shot an uneasy glance up at the fire dome as he went but Ryujin Jakka still seemed content to ignore them; his grudge was apparently reserved for the older captain and Ichigo. Once the shinigami were huddled around a small hole in the ground conversing intently and it was clear that they'd forgotten him, he relaxed slightly and turned to his wielder.

With his movement, she finally let go of his coat, flushing slightly as she realized she'd been hiding behind him the whole time. He frowned as he took her in, concern deepening the expression. Lilynette's eyes were wide and her face was pale, smudges of dirt and ash decorated her uniform so liberally that the vibrant white kosode and red hakama had turned dull grey and brown, and she was rubbing her hands roughly over her stomach.

Over her scar. The one where her hollow hole used to be.

A jolt of cold, hard fear hit him right in the heart. He had no idea what was going on beneath that thin layer of discolored skin. He didn't dare enter Lilynette's Inner World while they were in so much danger, but he feared that if he did, he'd find the hole in the ceiling growing and the cracks splintering and spreading. She never should have pushed her boundaries as a shinigami; using the wolf projections was supposed to be a zanpakuto ability. Nothing good could come of blurring that line.

"Does your stomach still hurt?" He asked quietly.

"H-huh?" She looked up at him, startled out of her wide-eyed staring at the shinigami. The clear concern on her face quickly brought her back to herself and she rolled her eyes, sighed gustily with all of the offended dignity of a pre-teen child responding to an overprotective parent. "I'm fine. You don't have to hover."

"You're rubbing it." He observed.

"…Oh." She looked down, clearly surprised to find that he was right. With a frown, she forced her hands away…and then immediately crossed them over her chest. Her eyes darted to land on the head captain's back, not nearly far enough away in Starrk's opinion.

When she leaned close and started to whisper, Starrk obligingly leaned down and cocked a long ear to listen. "Do you think he's telling the truth? I mean, did all that stuff really happen?"

"He's the head captain, Lilynette. He's in control of all of the shinigami and has been for thousands of years. Even if it wasn't true, no one would dare question him."

She swallowed hard, but pushed on. "But do you think it's really true?"

Starrk sighed. "Probably. The way Muramasa was acting, this Koga guy has to exist. I think there's a lot to the story Yamamoto isn't saying, but what he did say fits."

"But…shinigami were killing shinigami?" Lilynette's voice wobbled. "Shinigami are supposed to help people, aren't they? Why…?"

…Oh. Sometimes he forgot that she didn't know anything about the shinigami beyond their propaganda.

"I don't know, Lilynette. You'd need to ask someone who was there." When her eyes turned towards Ukitake, Starrk grimaced. "Ukitake and Kyoraku are two of the oldest captains and probably pretty loyal. If Yamamoto didn't say it, they won't either."

"Oh." She bit her lip and one of her hands dipped to nervously rub against her stomach again. This time, Starrk didn't mention it, though his own scar pulsed painfully at the same time. "I don't think I-."

"Hi!"

Both of them jumped and looked down to find two small white-haired children grinning up at them. Starrk blinked and smoothed his expression while Lilynette's mouth ticked up in a faint, awkward smile.

"Sogyo. Koto." Starrk acknowledged them with a nod. This was apparently all of the permission they needed.

"Hi Starrk!"

"What're you doing?"

"Why're you over here alone?"

"It's more interesting with our master!"

"We're friends again!"

"Uh-huh. We don't like Muramasa now!"

"But you helped us!"

"You saved us from the fire!"

"So you have to be good!"

"And your wolves are really cute!"

"So why don't you come over and help?"

"We can't go down in the caves."

"Boo!"

"Yoruichi-san went, though!"

"But there were zanpakuto inside an' they broke the tunnel!"

"Booooo!"

"But you can help!"

"Can't you?"

"Please help!"

"Please!"

"Pretty, pretty please!"

"Master will like it if you do!"

The two of them alternated, speaking so fast that he could barely follow their words, let alone get a word in edgewise. It might have annoyed Starrk, if it didn't make Lilynette smile. She was giggling by the time they stopped talking to stare at her zanpakuto with wide, soulful eyes that were clearly an attempt at manipulation and Starrk actually felt the corners of his lips twitch up slightly.

It didn't last. Katen and Kyokotsu weren't far behind Sogyo and Koto and Katen's hand was on the hilt of her sword.

Lilynette stepped closer to his side, eyeing them warily.

"Well, hello there." Katen purred, keen eyes taking in the two of them, taking special note of Lilynette's academy uniform.

"Hello." Starrk replied after a beat of expectant silence.

"We'd like to thank you as well. We were in quite a situation earlier."

"…No thanks necessary." Mostly, he wanted them to leave him and Lilynette alone. They were drawing the others' attention.

"Oh, I insist." Katen purred.

"Ah, no need for all of that!" Kyoraku's cheerful interjection drew an eyeroll from Katen but she didn't pull away when he put a hand on her shoulder and directed a cheerful wink at Kyokotsu following silently behind. "We're all friends here, aren't we?"

"Muramasa lied but you still haven't proven yourself, Master." This time, Katen's purr was more of a growl.

"…"

Sogyo and Koto giggled at the interaction and one of them looked up at Lilynette, puppy-eyes on full. "But you'll help us, won't you?"

"U-uh." She turned to look at Starrk. "I mean, what can we do?"

"So you will help!"

"Yay!"

"C'mon!"

"Let's go see our master!"

They each grabbed one of her hands and tugged her towards Ukitake, chattering cheerfully. Lilynette shot a panicked glance at Starrk and he put a hand on her shoulder, frowning at the boys.

"What do you need our help with, exactly?"

"You don't want to talk to Ukitake? You didn't seem to mind in the caves." Shunsui cut in sharply and Starrk slanted him a frown, but he couldn't stop his eyes from lingering warily on Yamamoto. Realization dawned almost instantly for the captain of the eighth division. "Ah, I see. No need to worry, Zanpakuto-san. The head captain won't hurt either of you."

"Are you sure?" Lilynette looked up at him with wide, worried eyes and Shunsui nodded, offering her a reassuring smile even as Starrk tensed up beside her.

"I promise, he's not as scary as he looks!" The captain chuckled.

"No, he's worse." Starrk grumbled.

"What was that, Zanpakuto-san?"

"Look around us, Taicho-san." Starrk gestured up at the towering flames, roaring hungrily as they chased Ichigo in his repeated escape attempts, destroying his hopes again and again with apparent glee. "Ryujin Jakka is his zanpakuto."

"It's part of his soul." Lilynette realized out loud and shivered, huddling closer to Starrk. "That's pretty scary." It took her only a few seconds to realize what she'd said and push away from her companion, squaring her thin shoulders and planting her feet in an attempt at bravado. "I mean, not that I'm scared. I'm going to be a shinigami, of course I'm not scared! But, for someone else, not me, it could be scary. Maybe."

She flushed with embarrassment under their eyes, refusing to meet Kyoraku's gaze, and Starrk put a comforting hand on her back while directing a hard look at the captain. He tried not to notice that she was rubbing the heel of one hand against her stomach again in a repeated, almost convulsive movement.

"I understand." Shunsui put up his hands in amused surrender. "What if Jushiro comes over here without Yama-jii, would that be okay?"

Starrk looked down into the hopeful eyes of Sogyo and Koto and the expectant, worried eyes of his partner soul and sighed. "I suppose so. But why?"

Sogyo and Koto cheered, dashing to retrieve their captain as Shunsui answered.

"It seems our underground escape route was only feasible for Yoruichi, unfortunately, leaving the rest of us, well, stuck. Hopefully, she'll be able to find her way out of the caves quickly but time is off the essence and there were a couple significant obstacles in her way."

"In other words, we were hoping you'd be willing to help us out, Starrk-san." Ukitake took up the explanation as Sogyo and Koto tugged him into place next to Shunsui. The smile he directed at Starrk and Lilynette seemed genuine. There weren't any sharp edges hidden in his soft brown eyes and Starrk found himself relaxing despite himself. "And…Lilynette-chan, wasn't it?"

"Um, yeah? Hi." She shuffled nervously and Jushiro's smile gentled.

"I'm gratified to see that there is so much potential at the academy these days! You're certainly doing your teachers proud."

"Um! Um? Thanks? Captain?" She blushed again and shifted, not quite able to meet his eyes. He was a captain, practically a celebrity, and he was talking to her. Also, none of her teachers had ever said anything of the sort, but if a captain said it, it must be true. Right?

Starrk was equally blindsided by the compliment. He couldn't tell if it was real or if Ukitake was just trying to distract her from her fear of the head captain. If that was his goal, he'd achieved it.

"What did you want my help with?" Starrk asked.

"Something only the two of you can do." Ukitake replied, one eye on Starrk and the other on Lilynette. Eager to live up to his praise, Lilynette directed a hopeful look at her zanpakuto.

"…Yeah?"

"Would you happen to have any of those reiatsu projections of yours left in the city?"

Starrk paused and concentrated. He'd pulled his reiatsu from the wolves in the cave but he couldn't remember if there were any left in the city. The only one he'd used recently was the one in Ukitake's office and he'd reabsorbed it earlier.

"Two." He replied after a moment, zeroing in on the slight drain that each one was drawing from his power. "There were three, but I guess one of them was too close to the caves when Ryujin Jakka got loose."

"Reiatsu projections?" The ancient, crackling voice was nonetheless sharp and suspicious. Starrk peered at the head captain out of the corner of his eye, remaining silent in the face of his demanding, accusatory tone. Even all the way on the other side of the clearing, alone save for the flames of his zanpakuto and Ichigo darting madly about overhead, his intense focus was like standing in the middle of a bonfire.

It was Ukitake who responded with a succinct report, after shooting a vaguely apologetic look at Starrk and his wielder.

"Yes, sir. Lilynette-chan's zanpakuto has the ability to project his reiatsu in the form of wolves which can serve as insubstantial surveillance devices or physical weapons."

"Weapons?"

"Yes; they can fight with their teeth and claws and they can explode, either on his will or when destroyed by an attack. He can manifest at least eight at once."

"Hmmmm…" The old man's tone raised Starrk's hackles but he still didn't say anything. Lilynette didn't quite understand the implications of the exchange but she sensed enough to be insulted on behalf of her zanpakuto. Thankfully, interacting so often with other souls at the Academy had finally taught her the benefit of controlling her temper, and her fully justified fear of the head captain overcame any stray impulses, (still strong despite Ukitake's attempts to distract her). She managed to hold her tongue despite quietly balling her hands and clenching her teeth.

"I'm more interested in his surveillance skills at the moment." Kyoraku interjected, turning to address Starrk rather than his fellow captains. "What are those wolves of yours up to?"

"Following lieutenants." Starrk grudgingly revealed. "One's watching Matsumoto and Hinamori. The other one's following your lieutenant."

"Nanao?" That was an unpleasant jolt for Shunsui. "Is she alright?"

"She's fine. I wasn't planning to hurt her." Starrk's patience was waning.

"Enough." Yamamoto's voice silenced both of them. When his harsh stare turned on Starrk, he flinched back and tightened his protective grip on Lilynette who shrunk behind him. "Zanpakuto. You will contact these lieutenants and whatever captains you can find. Direct them to mobilize our forces and bring them here."

"Don't worry, we'll keep Lilynette safe." Ukitake reassured him with an understanding smile. Beside him, Kyoraku inclined his head in agreement, a movement echoed by the serene nods of Katen and Kyokotsu and the determined head-bobbing of Sogyo and Koto. They all seemed genuine and Starrk was certain they understood that Ryujin Jakka wasn't the only threat he was worried about. Loyal to the head captain or not, they were willing to stand by his other half. He might, might be willing to entrust her safety to them for a little while.

Still, for a long moment, Starrk hesitated. He didn't want to leave Lilynette behind despite the powerful company there to defend her. That said, disobeying the head captain sounded a lot like a quick way to commit suicide. And wasn't that the crux of the matter? Helping the shinigami could only benefit Lilynette in the future and refusing to help could hurt her in the present. As much as he didn't like it, there was only one choice.

A flick of Starrk's eyes to Lilynette received a confident nod in return so he finally gave in.

"Yes, sir." He grudgingly replied to the head captain. "Who do you want me to talk to first?"

The first wolf he jumped into was the one with Matsumoto and Hinamori. Kira had long since left their company and Starrk was relieved to find that the tension hanging around them like a hangman's noose had dissipated with his absence. The two women were sitting outside of a building in the tenth division chatting animatedly and his wolf was laying against the wall of the building next door, watching them with mostly-closed eyes.

As soon as he pushed energy into it, the nearly invisible form gained solidity and glowed with blue energy. It also gained a reiatsu signature, instantly drawing the attention of his targets. The two lieutenants had him surrounded in seconds, hands glowing with kido.

"Halt!" Hinamori yelled.

Starrk scowled, an odd look on a canine face.

"I'm not here to attack you." He addressed them gruffly, to their obvious shock. "Captains Kyoraku and Ukitake sent me. They need backup against the head captain's zanpakuto."

Both women paled.

"Why should we trust you?" Matsumoto demanded even as Hinamori wavered, jumping to the logical and terrifying conclusion.

"Does that mean the head captain's zanpakuto gave in? It's working for Muramasa now?"

"Essentially, yes." He replied to Hinamori before turning to Matsumoto. "I don't care if you trust me. But they do need your help in the forest under Sogyoku Hill. Take as many other captains and lieutenants as you can find."

Matsumoto's blue eyes narrowed at the spectral wolf. "Will you be guiding us?"

"Just follow the smoke and explosions." With his nose, Starrk gestured towards the plume of smoke rising in the distance; a side effect of Ryujin Jakka's attack. "Kyoraku wants me to get his lieutenant and Ukitake thinks we need Kurotsuchi so I'll be going to get them next."

"We'll see you there?" Hinamori's high voice sounded more unsettled than suspicious. Her obvious desire for reassurance compelled him to respond far more than Matsumoto's glare.

"My physical form is stuck inside of Ryujin Jakka's dome with Kyoraku, Ukitake, the head captain, and my wielder. Oh, and Ichigo Kurosaki."

"They found the head captain!"

"Yeah."

"What happened?"

Starrk sighed, though it was more of a growl in this form. "It's a long story and I have no time. Ask me later. I need to go find Captain Kurotsuchi."

The young women nodded seriously and set off at top speed, heading for Sogyoku Hill on a path through the fourth division, banking on the large number of powerful shinigami there for backup.

Starrk pulled his consciousness from the wolf after mentally ordering it to the twelfth division. It would take a little while to get there and he had another lieutenant to reach before that.

All it took was a wisp of reiatsu pushed into his second wolf to alert Nanao. Instantly, she froze and whirled, turning on him as he arrived. Her hand was up and glowing with a kido spell before he could protest or explain.

"Hado 33: Sokatsui!"

Pale light blossomed from her hands and smashed out, slamming into the ground like a destructive column of lightning. If his wolf had still been in place, it would have been blown to smithereens.

That was certainly a new spell.

"Calm down!" He yelled from his new position two roofs away. "I'm not here to fight."

In a buzz of shunpo, she was in front of him, eyes narrow and hands crackling with readiness to cast. Starrk put his ears back and took a step away, tense and ready to run if she attacked again.

"What are you?" Her sharp blue eyes glinted behind her glasses. "What do you want?"

"The head captain, Kyoraku, and Ukitake sent me." He didn't mince words. "They are trapped in Ryujin Jakka's flames and need backup."

Nanao's eyes widened and her head jerked around to look at the smoke in the distance, immediately making the connection although she was too far away to actually feel the reiatsu signatures of those involved.

"Yeah." Starrk answered the unspoken question. "That's where they are. Bring as many lieutenants and captains as you can find. The others I talked to are heading for the fourth division first."

She eyed him for a moment, analyzing his trustworthiness before firming her jaw and coming to a decision. It was too risky not to believe him. A decisive nod was her answer. "Tell Kyoraku-taicho that I'm on my way."

"I will."

Starrk pulled away from the wolf, leaving it to target any stray captains and lieutenants as he returned to his physical form with a faint gasp.

"You're back!" Lilynette noticed immediately, bumping up against his side. "How'd it go?"

"I'm not done yet." He replied, cracking his back to relieve some tension. "One of my wolves is headed for the twelfth division." His eyes turned upwards to look at the others trapped within the flames. Kyoraku and Ukitake were standing a few feet away in casual at-guard positions while their zanpakuto canvassed the area over their heads, diverting any stray slashes of fire. Ichigo had apparently come to ground and was back in shikai, panting madly as he tried without much success to talk to the head captain on the other side of the clearing. Everyone turned to watch Starrk when they realized he was back and his gaze landed on the captain of the eighth division. "Your lieutenant has very good reflexes, Taicho-san."

Lilynette's elbow impacted his sternum hard enough to drive the air from his lungs. "Oof!" At her meaningful glare, he rolled his eyes and corrected himself. "Kyoraku-taicho."

"She does indeed." Shunsui's amusement was thick in his voice and there were suppressed chuckles coming from Ukitake and both of his zanpakuto in the background. "I take it you made contact?"

"Yeah. She's on her way, set to gather up any captains and lieutenants she can find en route. So are the other two; they were headed in the direction of the fourth division when I left."

"Good." It was Ukitake who responded, relief thick in his voice. "Most of the officers will have reported to the temporary headquarters when they noticed the explosion; they should be able to get plenty of backup there."

"What of the twelfth division?"

All of them sobered and fell silent at the head captain's addition.

"My wolf hasn't reached it yet." Starrk replied shortly. This time, Lilynette did not prompt him to be more respectful.

"Hm." There was a wealth of hidden, uncomplimentary meanings in that one little sound. Lilynette tensed but Starrk nudged her before she could say anything that they would both regret later. Anger was a more practiced response than fear for her and he feared Yamamoto's reaction if she lashed out.

"I'll head back now." Starrk continued shortly. He projected his consciousness into his last wolf while still warily watching the head captain. If something went wrong within the fire, he would register it and return in a flash. Lilynette's safety was more important than Kurotsuchi; whether under threat by Ryujin Jakka or the soutaicho himself. He was coming to trust Ukitake and maybe Kyoraku, but they were still shinigami.

He joined with the wolf as it crested the last rooftop before the twelfth division headquarters and the massive hole in the wall from the last time that he tried this came into view. With a grumble, he slowed down and perked his ears, sensing for any traps or shinigami. There was an energy barrier following the wall and explosive kido mines attached to the inside, but nothing on or in the hole – it seemed Kurotsuchi hadn't yet gotten around to fixing anything.

Since the front door was closed fast and there were no division members walking around outside, Starrk slipped through the hole into the shadowy interior of the twelfth division. He hesitated inside, sensing dozens of reiatsu signatures nearby; strong, weak, living, natural, and artificial. On top of that, he could smell death, pain, fear, and other unsavory things that instantly made him want to turn around and abandon his mission.

Perhaps it was for the best that the third seat of the twelfth division walked into the hallway at that exact moment.

The tall man in front of Starrk was wearing a typical shihakusho underneath a lab coat, but stood out from other shinigami by the three small horns on his forehead; two on the left side, one on the right. His rank was better determined from his reiatsu pressure than any sort of insignia or marker and by the massive stack of papers in his arms, many of them marked in bright red pen for the eyes of high ranked shinigami only.

Akon immediately froze at the sight of the glowing blue wolf looking at him with human eyes, weighing its appearance even as Starrk returned the favor.

Their confused standoff only lasted a few seconds; Starrk was in a hurry and Akon was the first twelfth division member he'd come across.

"I'm looking for Kurotsuchi." The wolf spoke clearly, greeted by a slow, stunned blink.

"What are you?" Akon asked after a long moment.

Starrk grumbled. "I'm in a hurry. Please get Kurotsuchi. The soutaicho needs his help."

"…Alright." Akon had no idea what the wolf was or how he should react, but he'd dealt with much stranger things over his century in the twelfth division. Without a second thought, he pulled his communicator out of his pocket, keyed in the familiar number of his captain, and spoke into it. "Taicho, there is a creature here to see you."

"A creature?" The captain squawked. "You know better than to interrupt me, you idiot! What sort of creature is it?"

"Tell him I blew up the wall." Starrk suggested, correctly assuming that the captain he'd seen earlier would be interested in that little fact.

"Taicho, it says-."

"Yes, yes, shut up! I heard it. I'll be there in a moment." The communicator hung up with a loud click, leaving Akon and Starrk to stare at each other in awkward silence until the heavy tread and swish of captain's robes approached only a minute later.

"Now, what is…oh. Oh?" The captain's yellow gaze was eerily similar to that of Ashisogi Jizo and Starrk instantly felt his muscles tense and his hackles rise. The black and white makeup on his face and the golden decoration surrounding it reminded Starrk strongly of a hollow's mask, an impression supported by the mane of blue hair surrounding Kurotsuchi's head. "Oooohhhh…how fascinating."

Starrk really, really did not like the slow smile that spread over Mayuri's face, the expression revealing far too many long yellow teeth.

"The head captain sent me." Starrk stated. He was in a hurry, after all. "He's been imprisoned along with Ukitake and Kyoraku by Ryujin Jakka and needs your help."

"Oh, really?" Kurotsuchi sounded completely unconcerned. "What an interesting specimen you are."

"…"

There was no good way to respond to that.

"What are you exactly? A zanpakuto?" The captain approached him eagerly, ignoring how Starrk's back went up and his head came down, baring sharp teeth. "No…something else entirely." He spoke over his shoulder to Akon without turning his head. "Third seat, take note that I will need one of the reiatsu vats emptied in anticipation of a new specimen and a three-tier elemental binding collar applied to-."

"No." Starrk wasn't sure what all of that meant but he was dead certain he wanted nothing to do with it. "I'm just passing on a message. The head captain wants you. Now. And I'm leaving."

He turned purposefully towards the hole in the wall, only to be arrested by a surprisingly casual comment from Mayuri.

"I assume you are the creature from last night, as well as the one that broke my wall. You are explosive."

"Yes, why-?"

The sharp end of Ashisogi Jizo slammed into the top of Starrk's head, impaling the projection in its most vulnerable spot. The wolf Starrk was inside of – still full of energy from his presence – instantly began to glow brighter and brighter in anticipation.

Starrk looked up at Mayuri with disturbed confusion even as he distanced himself from the wolf. "Are you completely insane?"

The captain's manic grin spread even further and he did not answer as Starrk receded completely. He just watched with fascination as the wolf exploded with a massive amount of energy, disintegrating what little remained of the western wall and blowing up a good portion of the building to the terrified screams of the shinigami within.

Starrk came back to himself with a much louder gasp than the last time and turned a glare on the nearest captain. It happened to be Kyoraku again.

"If Kurotsuchi comes anywhere near Lilynette or me, I won't be held responsible for my actions."

"Ah." Kyoraku's wince was one of understanding. "What did he do this time?"

Starrk merely scowled.

"Is that it then? You have no more wolves in the city?" Ukitake asked.

"One." Starrk replied. "The one that was following Lieutenant Ise. It's still out there, but your captains are more likely to listen her than to me." He shrugged.

"Good…good. Thank you very much, Starrk-san." Ukitake sighed, relaxing slightly. "Now, we only need to wait for backup."

"Wait!?" Ichigo yelled overhead, making Starrk jump and accidentally dislodge Lilynette from his side. "How can we wait? Karakura Town's in danger!"

"Give it a little more time, Kurosaki-kun." Ukitake looked up at the substitute shinigami who was once again unsuccessfully charging Ryujin Jakka's barrier. "Save your strength. It's unlikely Muramasa will be able to release Koga before nightfall and you'll need your strength to confront him once we get out."

Ichigo paused in the air, staring at Ukitake with wide, haunted eyes. His hair was a mess, sweaty and slicked back, he was panting hard from the heat and exhaustion, his clothes were dirty and singed, and he had more than a few burns from jumping into Ryujin Jakka's flames. "You don't get it, Ukitake. It's Karakura Town. My friends are there. My family is there. And this is all my fault! If I hadn't attacked Muramasa in that cave…"

"Kurosaki-kun…" The captain sighed sadly. "It's not your fault. No one thinks it is and if you would think about it, I'm sure you would see-."

"There's no time!" Ichigo turned and dove back towards the flames, unwilling to be reassured.

Starrk and Lilynette watched quietly. They hadn't really had a chance to think about the human town slated to be a casualty of Muramasa's plan. Only Starrk even knew Ichigo was a substitute shinigami rather than a regular shinigami and, while he could sense the human influence in his reiatsu, he hadn't known Ichigo lived in the Human World or that his family was in danger.

"That sucks." Lilynette murmured with unease. "They'll be okay, right? Muramasa won't succeed, will he?"

Starrk hesitated for a long moment.

"He's up against the entire Gotei 13. It seems unlikely." He finally allowed, picking his words carefully.

"…Don't lie to me, Starrk." She glared up at him, picking up on his hesitation.

"I'm not. I just…I don't know, okay? He probably won't win, but it's impossible to know for sure."

"…Right." She scowled and looked down.

Starrk grimaced and cast about for something to distract her. Inspiration struck quickly.

"I learned a new kido."

"Ugh. Kido." Lilynette grumped, scowling even harder. "Kido's boring."

Starrk snorted. "I think you'll like this one."

When he started moving, Lilynette stepped back. Around them, the shinigami and zanpakuto took note and turned to look at him as he stretched and mentally pulled forward the spell that he'd learned from observing Nanao.

Unlike the last time he tried an offensive spell, when the backlash blew up in his face, this time Starrk fully intended to use the incantation. Carefully, he pulled the shape of the spell to his thoughts, relying on the bare second that he'd observed it in Nanao's hands and the millisecond more that he'd felt it forming. He fed a trickle of energy into the spell, corrected a few imperfections in the structure, and then fed in a drop more.

"Sokatsui."

A brilliant beam of blueish white light shot from his hands, blasting straight through Ryujin Jakka's wall and out into the forest beyond in a crackle of energy. It was larger around than Lilynette was tall and a destructive force that toppled centuries-old trees in its path, gouged a deep furrow across the land, and blasted a massive hole in the rock wall beyond.

Starrk took note of the destruction but he was more interested in controlling the backlash of the spell, watching for another explosion and carefully reabsorbing any energy left behind. His success at managing that was far more satisfying than the sheer destructive potential of his casting.

Well, to him.

"Whoa!" Lilynette peered through the hole in Ryujin Jakka's fire as it drew closed again, taking in the path of debris with wide eyes. "That was awesome!"

"I thought you might like that." The side of Starrk's mouth tipped up.

"Could I learn that?"

"After you've learned the basics."

"But the basics are boring."

"Too bad."

Lilynette scowled and put her hands on her waist, thoroughly distracted from her earlier worries and mulishly gearing up for a fight with her zanpakuto when Shunsui cut in.

"That was most impressive, Zanpakuto-san." There was something tense in his tone, hidden behind a veneer of cheer.

Starrk and Lilynette turned away from each other to find everyone else in the circle staring at him with expressions ranging from shock to suspicion. Lilynette flushed and scratched at the back of her head while Starrk lowered his ears and returned their stares, expression shuttering closed.

"Did you say you learned Sokatsui today?" Jushiro asked, slightly strangled.

"Just a little while ago." Starrk agreed reluctantly. "Lieutenant Ise used it against my wolf. I learned it from her."

"You learned it by watching her once?"

"Yeah." Starrk cocked his head at their shocked expressions, not understanding why they found his rapid learning curve so strange.

Shunsui was thinking hard and coming to some alarming conclusions. "Exactly how many kido spells have you seen over the past few days?"

"A lot."

"I see…" Of course he had. They had dozens of reports of sightings, most from groups of shinigami hunting down zanpakuto, many of which had tried to catch him. Shunsui would be surprised if they hadn't tried dozens of spells against the wolf in attempts to bring him down. On top of that, how many officers had used kido while fighting their zanpakuto, in fights that Starrk observed from a distance? Lilynette might only know a couple spells in their weakest forms but since leaving her company Starrk had learned much more. Right now, he was far more dangerous than he'd been as her bound zanpakuto.

Aware that he was being watched with increasing wariness by Starrk and Lilynette, Shunsui pulled up a smile and a chuckle. "Well, we're quite glad you're on our side now, Zanpakuto-san!" He turned a softer look on the girl at his side. "And you, Gingerbuck-chan."

Lilynette flushed and muttered. "Th-thanks."

Starrk didn't overtly react but the growing tension relaxed.

Well, as much as possible with Yamamoto watching all of them with a sharp, assessing gaze that could turn deadly at any time.

"Do that again!"

Starrk reared back as Ichigo buzzed out of shunpo just a foot in front of him. "What?"

"Do that again! I saw the forest behind it; if I'm fast enough, I think I could get through!"

"I'm not sure it'll work like that…"

"Please! Just do it!"

Starrk cast a confused, questioning look at Ukitake who shrugged, then nodded.

"Sure, Kid. Stand back."

It was distracting to have him buzzing with tension behind his shoulder only a foot away from Lilynette, but the kido still came faster and easier than it had the first time.

"Sokatsui"

As soon as the spell left his hands, Ichigo was flying after it as fast as he could. The flames blasted to either side of the light-beam and for a moment, it looked like Ichigo's plan was going to work. But Ryujin Jakka was having none of it. The flames roared with rage and ignited from orange and red to scorching white and blue, hot enough to incinerate via proximity alone, and tentacles of fire lashed through Sokatsui's tunnel, creating a web of beams capable of reducing a human body to ash on contact. Ichigo had a bare millisecond to widen his eyes but there was nothing he could do; his momentum was carrying him too fast to dodge or defend himself.

"Hyorinmaru!"

Before the word registered, a blast of ice impacted the fire tunnel in front of Ichigo, cooling even the hottest flames. Ice and fire came together in an ear-piercing hiss and the tunnel was instantly blanketed in a mist of boiling steam. It was preferable to being burned to nothing, but only Ichigo's spiritual pressure kept him from being boiled alive at the fusion of the two attacks.

He exited the barrier with a gasp and yanked his mask down for a split second to blow back the alien reiatsu. Dirty and exhausted, he bent over and braced his hands on his knees in midair, gasping for breath. His savior came out of shunpo next to him and he glanced over with a weak smile.

"Thanks, Toshiro."

The diminutive captain inclined his head in acknowledgment, eyes fixed on the dome of fire, now churning angrily.

"Momo told me you were trapped by Ryujin Jakka with Captains Ukitake and Kyoraku, the head captain, and the wolf zanpakuto. What's going on?"

Ichigo shook his head. "There's no time. Muramasa's going to Karakura Town; I need to go stop him!"

Toshiro hesitated for only second before nodding. "You know where the rooted senkaimon is. The guards will open it for you."

"Thanks Toshiro, I owe you one!"

The substitute shinigami disappeared in a flicker of shunpo just as Hyorinmaru flashed into place behind Toshiro.

"Master?" The ice zanpakuto prompted quietly. "What's going on?"

"I don't know." Toshiro frowned. "Ichigo thinks Karakura Town is going to be attacked." He inclined his head at the dome. "Can you get us in there?"

Hyorinmaru hesitated, eyeing Ryujin Jakka's barrier. "…I believe I can get us in. But I don't know if I can get us back out."

"…We need to know what's going on as soon as possible."

"…Yes, Master." The temperature dropped rapidly as the ice dragon zanpakuto drew his sword, until both of them were breathing white clouds in the frosty air. As one, they dove for the wall of fire, surrounded by swirling snow and ice.

Horrified silence fell inside the dome as the fire closed behind Ichigo.

"Did-did he make it?" Ukitake croaked out.

"I…think so?" Starrk was just as shaken. He'd expected a counter-attack but he hadn't expected it to be quite so purposely malicious. Ryujin Jakka's attack wouldn't have just hurt Ichigo; it would have destroyed him completely. Not even Muramasa's behavior had been so cold. "I felt Hyorinmaru on the other side. It should have been enough."

An enraged growl rose from the fire and spikes of flame lashed out towards them, forcing them away as it grew thicker and hotter.

"I'd say that's confirmation of his survival." Kyoraku grinned weakly, nearly as intimidated by the display as his companions. "Pretty sure the fire wouldn't be so angry if Kurosaki hadn't made it."

"H-hey Starrk?" Lilynette muttered.

"Yeah?" He twitched his ears in her direction.

"Y'know how I said the head captain was scary before?" She whispered. Starrk nodded. "Well, he's really, really scary now."

"…Yeah."

With a sound like shattering ice, one side of the dome bulged inwards, boiling steam seeping through the flames for a moment before it pushed back out with an irritated roar that was sounding less and less like natural fire, and more and more like a living creature.

"Steam, huh? Guess Hitsugaya actually is out there." Kyoraku noted, then grimaced. "Unfortunately, it seems ice isn't working so well. Especially with Ryujin Jakka so, well…"

The fire snarled and spiked again, driving everyone a hasty three steps away from the wall.

Starrk frowned. "I could try kido again…?"

Instantly, five streams of fire lashed out at him, smashing straight into the stone at his feet and Starrk fled upwards as it reduced his position to rubble, missing him by a hair. Lilynette clung to his back with a startled yowl and the other captains yelled in protest as Ryujin Jakka attacked, the fire following Starrk into the air and more tentacles snapped out at him from all angles. Starrk grimaced as he dodged three of them, singeing his ears until he folded them back tightly against his head, and Lilynette's skinny fingers dug hard into his shoulders. The head captain's zanpakuto didn't give him a chance to stop and prepare a kido; apparently, he was very offended that Starrk helped Ichigo escape.

"Starrk, what're we going to do?" Lilynette hissed in his ear, fear roughening her voice, and Starrk was forced to spin and duck to miss another strike. He didn't answer verbally but on the next dodge, he shook a shower of blue sparks from his coat and a pack of wolves formed in a circle around him. Two of them exploded on contact with stabbing fire, four took up guard positions around Starrk, and three ran for the wall. With a touch of will, Starrk staggered their arrivals. The first lunged forward and into the wall, disintegrating in a massive explosion a foot past the border and billowing the fire outwards in a huge semicircle. The next wolf lunged into the hole and exploded on the farside, pushing twice as far through the wall, thinning the flames. The third wolf was impaled by a tentacle of fire before it could reach its target but the resulting explosion managed to breach the last barrier. In the void left by its destruction, a stream of cold air and a flood of ice water rushed in from the small white-haired figure at the end of the tunnel and the teal-haired man at his back, reaching to form a path of hard ice through the prison wall.

Ryujin Jakka roared in fury and the tunnel flamed blue, boiling air hot enough to incinerate on contact. Toshiro, jumping forward to enter the tunnel, was flung back, hands over his face and Hyorinmaru slashed in front of him with ice claws to make a barrier between them and the heat. Starrk growled deep in his throat and his remaining wolves lunged into the tunnel, two on each side. Facing away from the tunnel to carry their momentum into the flames, they jumped into snarling fire and exploded, blowing Ryujin Jakka's flames to either side despite their heat and fury.

Seeing their opening, Toshiro and Hyorinmaru leapt past their icy barrier and through the tunnel in shunpo, using the fraction of a second to enter the fire dome without so much as a burn. Ryujin Jakka's screeching howl echoed through the prison as fire roared back into the tunnel with a vengeance and the walls contracted again, forcing the prisoners closer together one more time.

"Whoa, holy shit Starrk." Lilynette hissed, hanging over his shoulder to watch his actions with wide eyes. "You actually did it."

"Be careful. If he was mad before, then-."

At the peak of Ryujin Jakka's next roar of rage, a curtain of fire crashed down from the top of the dome to the bottom, cutting the area in half and confining everyone to one side amidst a chorus startled yells. Starrk pulled back with a grunt as the curtain bulged in front of him and then froze as two of the flames twisted, separated, and opened to reveal glowing red eyes with slitted pupils the same flickering blue as the hottest flames in Ryujin Jakka's arsenal.

No, wait…they weren't pupils. Each red eye contained a flickering flame at its center, twisting like a living thing in place of a pupil.

As Starrk watched with wide eyes and bated breath, the bulge in the flames took on definition, developing the broad features of a head: those eyes, a slitted nose, and a gaping black mouth with bright white tongues of flame dripping from either side of the top jaw like fangs. There was something forming, something hotter and more aggressive than any attack so far.

"Ryujin Jakka!" The head twisted downwards, a sparkle of multicolored flames racing away from the eyes to outline a head too long to be human connected to a neck that vanished into the curtain of fire. It looked down at the figure of Head Captain Yamamoto, standing tall and proud in the center of the clearing and glaring up at his zanpakuto, cane held loosely in one hand. Ryujin Jakka's low growl echoed through the entire dome and the ground it contained.

"That is enough, Zanpakuto." The head captain snapped. "This is between you and I."

The creature's head tilted, glowing eyes narrowing in consideration, and then the curtain of fire fell, collapsing into a bonfire the size of a house right in front Yamamoto, composed of red, orange, white, and blue flames. The sound that emanated from the inferno might have been a hiss, or a growl, or a mangled word, but no one but the head captain was close enough to hear it clearly.

The head that rose out of the flames to face the head captain was now wholly defined. Glowing eyes and fangs stood out from a long, tapered snout in an otherwise human-shaped face and yellow flames flowed from the head in short tendrils that first looked like hair, but fanned upright like the crest of a bird. The neck that formed next was too long and thick to belong to a human and pulsed, lines of fire racing up and down it in random patterns. The bonfire snarled in a last show of defiance before its flames raced out to coat Ryujin Jakka's skin in a layer of small multi-colored flames, solidifying as small feather-like scales that glowed so brightly it was difficult to look at them. His upper body was essentially human but his feet condensed into massive talons, capped by claws the same burning, flickering white as his fangs. The last of his fire gathered in a dense cloud around his back before exploding outwards as four pairs of massive wings, each one burning a different eye-searing color from the long, feather-like licks of flame coating them: orange, yellow, white, and blue. Spread wide, the wings stretched nearly twenty feet, and fanned overhead, they covered the head-captain with their shadows. The dome of fire touched the trailing flame-feathers, feeding into them and being fed by them in turn until the exact boundary between Ryujin Jakka and his shield vanished, together brightening until looking at them was as painful as looking directly at the sun.

Throug it all, his glowing eyes never left his wielder. And Yamamoto's expression never changed.

"H-holy, holy sh-…Starrk, are we…" Lilynette was on the verge of hyperventilating on Starrk's back, her hands digging painfully into his neck, and he simply hung there in the air without replying, mind and senses completely overwhelmed. At some point, he sensed Ukitake, Kyoraku, and Toshiro approach with their zanpakuto but they were just as intimidated and frozen as he was.

"I…I've never seen him like that." Toshiro was the first to break it.

"I've known him as long as I've been a shinigami." Kyoraku replied, voice strangled. "And I've never seen anything like that either."

Jushiro's breath stuttered but he did his best to shake it off. "R-right. We need to get out of here."

"Sh-shouldn't we help him? Or something?" Lilynette squeaked, though she didn't sound eager about it.

"No. He said he needed to do this on his own. And it's true; no one else has the power to face Ryujin Jakka. Besides, Ichigo will need our help in the World of the Living. So long as the head captain can keep his zanpakuto occupied, that's our priority."

"Oh. Okay." Lilynette couldn't quite keep her relief out of her voice.

"What about the other shinigami?" Starrk inquired quietly, still not taking his eyes off of the confrontation happening below them.

"You're the one with the wolves?" Toshiro asked, recovering his composure.

Starrk nodded silently.

"Momo, Matsumoto, and Nanao all came to the fourth division where I just finished recovering. As soon as I heard what was going on, I came ahead on my own to see if I could help while the main force was mobilizing. The captains and lieutenants who have their zanpakuto and are in fighting condition were going to follow me; we'll probably run into them soon. We can join up with them on our way to the main senkaimon. The ones with broken swords are headed to the twelfth division. Captain Kurotsuchi finally figured out how to repair broken zanpakuto and they need to be reclaimed before their shinigami can participate in the battle. They'll meet us in the Living World as soon as they can."

"You two should come with us." Ukitake put in.

Starrk slanted a glance at him and cocked an eyebrow.

The white-haired captain shrugged apologetically. "We might need your wolves to send messages, if you don't mind. Besides, I doubt you want to stay here."

"Yeah." Lilynette muttered as Starrk grimaced and nodded.

"Uh…Yama-jii?" Kyoraku called down to the head captain. "The shield…?"

The Head Captain narrowed his eyes and growled at his zanpakuto, reiatsu rising to uncomfortable heights. "This is between you and I, Ryujin Jakka. Let them out."

The fire zanpakuto's flaming eyes narrowed and then his mouth split in a grin, glowing fangs made jarring by the dark throat behind them. With a mocking wave of his fingers, each one trailing a line of fire that seemed to burn the very air, the dome split into six long, wavering streams and in a single powerful flap of his wings, the dome's fire joined them, magnifying the size of the wings and enhancing their brightness and heat until nearby trees burst into flames from the superheated air around them, igniting a wildfire that exploded outwards into the foliage. With the added fuel, Ryujin Jakka was almost too bright to look at and Yamamoto was just a faint shadow against the brilliance of his zanpakuto.

"…Are you sure we shouldn't help him?" Lilynette squeaked.

"Positive." Jushiro replied gravely. "Ryujin Jakka is the head-captain's responsibility. Don't worry; he knows what he's doing. He's defeated his zanpakuto before, after all. He achieved bankai before any of us were even born."

All of them were far too unsettled by the sight to be reassured by that fact.

"So, uh, this Karakura place, then? We're going there? Now?" Lilynette finally spoke up, voice higher than usual, when none of the others could tear their eyes away from the unbelievable sight below them, regardless of the eye-searing brightness.

"…Yes. Yes, we are. This way."

Jushiro took the lead flanked by Sogyo and Koto and followed closely by Toshiro and Hyorinmaru. Starrk (still carrying Lilynette) would have gone last, but Kyoraku purposely waited to bring up the rear with his zanpakuto so he found himself bookended between the shinigami instead.

As they shunpo'd away at top speed, Ryujin Jakka's wings slowly came back down, feathers spreading and mingling until there was another dome of fire raging around Yamamoto and his zanpakuto, hiding their battle for dominance from the eyes of the world.

All that the rest of the shinigami could do was pray that their leader would win.

Author's Notes:

1. Y'know how I said I was trying to enforce a cut-off word count? Hahaha...Yeah...That didn't work. I don't even remember what the limit was supposed to be. Also, that jackass Koga does NOT get his own chapter like he did in the anime, thank you very much.

2. That said, I had to say something about him for the story to make sense. I hope it wasn't too long and painful. I took liberties with some of it, but a lot is still zanpakuto arc canon.

3. I took the Xs out from below the line breaks because it looks like ffnet hasn't screwed up the formatting in a while. If the breaks vanish, the paragraphs get crunched together, random symbols insert themselves around the breaks, spaces and punctuation start deleting themselves, or the formatting gets screwed up in other ways, let me know. I can easily put them back. As soon as I uploaded this, some of the formatting got mucked up so I wouldn't be surprised if it happens again.

4. I hope you like my interpretation of Ryujin Jakka! In the anime, he never got a physical form beyond 'living fire' which seems like a cop out to me. He could have been so much more impressive. I hope I've done him justice.

5. Thanks to everyone who read and reviewed last chapter!

Please Review & let me know what you think!

Reviews are a great source of encouragement and inspiration – I'm always happy to hear your input!