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Reflection of the Moonless Sky	By : etherpants Category: Bleach > AU - Alternate Universe Views: 1277 -:- Recommendations : 0 -:- Currently Reading : 0
Disclaimer: I do not own Bleahc or make money from this fanfic

Chapter List
- 2
- 3
The first few towns came and went without consequence. Slowly they woke later in the day and slept later at night. At first they had been worried that the innkeepers would get suspicious of outsiders needing rooms at the crack of dawn, but they were never in one town for more than a day anyway. By the time they reached their last town before they had to start crossing into vampire territory they had grown fairly adjusted to starting out their day just before twilight and getting drowsy right around sun rise.
Ichigo went around and drew all the drapes closed in their small room. The hardest part they found out about the readjustment was keeping the sunlight out while they slept. Orihime took the bed as the two men slept on either side on the floor.
"We should at least give these a try before we retire," Ishida noted, finding the false fangs Renji and Rukia had lent them.
"Maybe we should try and keep them in while we sleep so we can start getting used to them?" Orihime wondered, finding her own kit.
Ichigo nodded and filled the backs of his with a bit of the gummy, yellow stuff. Carefully he pressed one over his canine and let it go after a few moments. He poked at it with his tongue and it held surprisingly well. He gave it a tug and found it would come off with enough effort, so he didn't need to be worried about it sticking forever.
After fixing the other one in he looked at Orihime and Ishida who were still prodding around their mouths. It first their gestures were just mildly amusing. But when Ishida's face started twisting around, prodding at the fangs with his tongue, Ichigo had to stifle back a laugh. When Orihme started doing it too Ichigo started laughing so hard he fell back on the floor. Orihime soon joined in when she saw Ishida's face and even Ishida eventually cracked up. For a few brief moments they laughed letting out all of the weird tension and stress that had building up in them over their journey so far. After that subsided they lay there for a few minutes hearing the clanging of dishes and pots in preparation for breakfast one floor below.
"You know these aren't as distracting as I thought," Ishida said blowing out the candle in their lamp. "Ow! Freakin..."
"What's wrong?" Orihime chirped up.
"Might have...bit my lower lip just then."
Ichigo stifled a snort as he rolled over to his side and shrugged his blankets up. "Let's just try and get a good day's sleep with these things in."
...
...
...
"Ichigo aren't you supposed to be in bed?"
The little boy was leaning over his twin sisters' crib and glanced up at his mother standing at the door. She had to laugh as she noticed he had a scarf wrapped around his next so many times it stuck out like a ruff.
"Now what's this for?" she walked over other crib and saw he had been trying to give his sisters scarves too.
"I'm protecting them from the vampires. Now they can't bite us," the little orange-haired boy explained. "But I can't wrap them up I dun wanna wake them up." He jumped down and handed a pile to his mother. "You and Dada can have these ones."
Masaki smiled and took the pile of woolen scarves and ruffled his hair, "That's very thoughtful of you Ichigo, but we're all going to safe." She reached down to unravel his scarf, but he took a step back and shook his head.
"Nuh uh Keigo said vampires can turn into mist and come in through cracks under the door!"
She laughed and crouched down to his level. "Yes some of them can, but a vampire can only get into your home if you invite them in. That's why you have to be careful around strangers. Because once you've let them in once they can come and go as they as much as they want even if you lock the door."
"Oh..." Ichigo said. "So home is safe?"
"Oh yes, in fact your home is the safest place you can be if you think a vampire's after you. Now why don't you take that off so I can tuck you in?"
"Yeah it's getting kinda itchy..." Masaki took one fringed end and Ichigo spun around until the thing came undone. He waved goodnight to his sisters as his mother took him into her arms and carried him off to bed.
...
...
Ichigo's face smashed into the wood floor. "OW! What the?" he snapped jolting awake.
"Time to get up. We're almost ready to go," Ishida folded up the blanket he had just pulled out from under Ichigo.
Ichigo grumbled and threw his pillow at him, "Can't you think of a more friendly way to wake people up?"
"No time, the sun's down its time to get moving again."
Orihime poked her head through the door already dressed, packed and ready to go. "Yay! Ichigo's up! I'll meet you both downstairs I gotta stock up on some of their bread." She sniffed the air and sighed dreamily. "Mmm so fresh and savory and mmm!.." Then she disappeared as quickly as she had arrived.
Ichigo reached over, still lying on the floor to grab his boots. Luckily he as awake enough to remind himself that he started keeping a couple daggers hidden in there just in case the others were confiscated. "She seems to be doing well," Ichigo sighed, pulling his stuff together. He hadn't bothered to change out of his traveling clothes for bed since he really didn't want to have to dig into his pack unless necessary.
"I just hope she can stay that way for as long as possible," Ishida replied plainly, throwing on his cloak and pushing his spectacles back. "I'll help her stock up on food. We can't be sure what kind of fare we will find once we pass into their territory. Close the room up and pay when you're ready."
As Ichigo finished getting ready he thought over Ishida's recent behavior. Yes, they had never exactly gotten along despite years of fighting vamps together. Ishida seemed to tolerate his presence more than anything for the sake of their work and his friendship with Orihime. But recently Ichigo couldn't help but notice the archer's attitude towards him had become oddly aggressive.
A few minutes later Ichigo made his way down the stairs into a lively tavern. A pair of fiddlers played a jaunty tune in the corner as some townsfolk twirled and danced in the open floor. The tables surrounding the dance floor were full customers clapping along and dining and talking away. The only lights came from several lanterns scattered about the tables and hanging from the ceiling, giving the whole place a warm, welcoming glow. Ishida was by the kitchen, negotiating with Orihime how much bread they could take while still keeping room for more nutritious rations.
Ichigo found the innkeeper's daughter at the bar to pay for their stay.
"Ah yes you're the three that crammed into the one-bed room in the middle of the day right?" she asked suppressing a giggle. "I hope you all were nice and comfy," she added with a wink.
"Yeah yeah that was us, what's the fee?"
"Let's see since it was split that's two silvers for the uh...day."
Ichigo dug into his stash pouch and eventually pulled out the right coins. Groggy as he was from his rude awakening he let out a long, wide yawn as he clinked them down on the bar.
He retied the pouch back on his belt when he caught a glimpse of her face, which was now frozen in fear.
"What's wrong?" Ichigo asked, slinging on his pack.
Her lip quivered as she started backing away "V-v-vampire!" she shrieked, tearing out through the nearest room.
"Wait, huh?" Ichigo turned to see the rest of the townsfolk had paused their merriment and were staring directly at him.
The silence that took over was eerie and dense enough to cut with a knife.
"Leave us alone you monster!" a young boy shouted from across the room before his mother grabbed him and held him under her shawl, her face wrought with fear and anguish.
It hit him just then that he had left the fangs in overnight. Oh shi- Ichigo thought, bolting straight for the door in a panic, leaping over a nearly empty table that was in his way. He didn't dare look back he just kept running. The town's gate was in sight. Two guards jumped up as they saw him closing in, raising their spears shakily.
"Hey! Wh-where do you think you're going!" the younger one stammered.
"Out of my way!" Ichigo snarled, preferring to run with the misunderstanding than stop to explain himself. He flared out his cloak and bared his false fangs with a hiss, feeling like and idiot but desperately wanting to just get out of the town. The guard stood his ground for a moment, then finally lept out of the way with a terrified yelp.
He skidded to a halt far down the road and panted to catch his breath again. That had been surreal. He could have never imagined that feeling like he was something disgusting from all those eyes gazing at him with a mixture of anger, confusion and most of all, terror. Eventually Ichigo heard Ishida and Orihime calling his name.
"I'm right here! Just keep walking!" When they finally caught up together on the road Orihime was smiling nervously and Ishida's scowl looked almost painfully stiff.
"So we now know that we can fool humans. Lucky for you this seems to keep them away rather than invite attacks," Ishida stated, his face twitching in agitation. "Thank you for getting out of there as soon as possible rather than continuing to make a fool of yourself."
"Don't be so hard on him I might've done the same thing," Orihime said timidly. "Besides everybody was too distracted to figure out we were with him and got out okay."
Ishida sighed and pulled out a copy of the map he had drawn up. "Whatever, let's just figure out our next move. We take the road out for about a mile then there's a hidden path that will take up down the river bed. Then there's some instructions to get to a hidden settlement across the way, but the instructions are odd. We'll just worry about that when we get there..."
"Odd how? Can't we discuss it on the way there?" Ichigo asked, confused.
"It's not complicated just...trust me."
They walked for a few minutes in complete silence. Orihime rubbed her neck a little at the tension. Yes, there had been plenty of times during their journey they had walked in complete silence, but she could tell something was wrong. It worried her, the two of them had been exceptionally civil towards each other for most of the trip. The three of them had been friends since they could all fit under her kitchen table in a mock fort. She missed those more peaceful times before herself and Ichigo had discovered their Gifts and Ishida's grandfather started training him as a Quincy.
They had already been scarred by the threat of vampires to their lives, and yet helped each other overcome their demons for the most part to begin their quest to protect the town from further harm. With some guidance from Urahara they became effective and efficient at what they did and were pleased with their work and friendship. But as they grew out of adolescence the had to deal with the inevitable question of who Orihime liked more. Even though she had lived with Ishida for many years he one day approached her and asked her to choose. Orihime had been dumbstruck at the time request. She loved both Uryu and Ichigo, but could not come up with a coherant answer. She tried to muster up a response, but she must have hesitated too long because suddenly Uryu was storming out the door.
What had happened next Orihime never quite figured out. All she knew that Uryu reappeared long after sundown with Ichigo trailing behind. Uryu looked a bit embarrassed and handed her a blue fabric flower, folded and stitched out of shimmering blue silk apologizing for his outburst. She looked at Ichigo who only gave her a slight smile and a nod. Orihime understood and embraced Uryu, accepting his apology and essentially accepting him as her love. However, Uryu had never seemed to have dropped some grudge against Ichigo. And yet, for the majority of their journey the tension between them seemed to have subsided. But Uryu's attitude had been growing gradually more foul and the incident at the tavern had put a visible dent in the stalemate. Wanting to get rid of the feeling Orihime spoke up, "You know though. That was kinda cool."
"Heh? What was?"
"Back at the tavern. When your cover was blown and the whole place looked on in horror as you glared menacingly back at them. And with that you fled! Leaping into the air with your cloak flaring out like terrible dark wings and out into the night!" she exclaimed, sweeping her cloak up in each hand to demonstrate and nearly whacking Ishida with the lantern.
"I have to admit it was a fairly dramatic moment. I think you unintentionally played your part well," Ishida stated, taking the lantern from Orihime.
"Well gee I'm not sure whether to feel proud or insulted," Ichigo rolled his eyes.
They found the next path after searching a bit through some overgrowth and were eventually walking along the riverbank, the waters gushing by in torrents. As the water sloshed up in sprays against the large, smooth boulders scattered throughout they had to pull up their hoods, even the middle of the night, to shield themselves from the mists and spray.
"Here," Ishida's voice pierced sternly over the roar of water passing by. They stopped in front of a large boulder that seemed to been cut in half and as wide and round as a table. Something was weird about the surface. The coloration was smudgy and darkened compared to the rest of it.
Ichigo glanced from the object to the land across the river quizzically, easily forty feet away from where they stood.
"Is there something you want to tell us, Ichigo?" Ishida's voice asked over the torrents again.
"Huh?" Ichigo pulled down his sopping wet hood, not sure he heard him right.
"The instructions originally said 'Place a small sample of your blood upon the flattened rock, half a mile from when you come to the riverbed. But our client crossed out 'your' and wrote in 'Kurosaki's' at some point. This was originally a mission for you alone, was it not? So why exactly is your blood special?"
Ichigo was dumbfounded and irritated at Ishida at the same time for picking now to reveal that detail, "That can't be right lemme see that!"
"If I do that our information is just going to get soaked, now answer me!" Ishida's typical irritated demeanor was now shifting dangerously.
"Why couldn't you have said something earlier! We've been on the move for almost a week now and you pick now to interrogate me about something that could be meaningless?"
"Meaningless? This guy, this vamp gave us the most detailed instructions imaginable and one of those details is you!"
"What? Are you asking me if I've been a vamp this whole time? Well gee then do explain how I haven't exploded in the sunlight for so long!"
"Stop it both of you!" Orihime shouted. "We're going into one of the most dangerous places we've ever been and we can't be fighting like this! And I'm getting way too cold..." she shivered and pulled her soaked clothes tighter.
Ichigo immediately felt bad for dragging Orihime into this. "Yeah, let's just-"
"GAH!"
"Uryu!"
Ishida jerked forward suddenly, his face contorted in pain. As he stumbled into Orihime Ichigo saw the creature. Almost human, but with lengthy mangled hair, skin paper white, but scarred and filthy, dry, blackened stains cracking along its hands and gaping mouth barring yellowed fangs.
A feral.
Crap.
It let out a horrible mangled cry and lunged forward, but its face met a swift reflexive kick of Ichigo's before it could attack again. With a high-pitched, wheezing yelp it went flying backwards. It hurled itself upward again and lapped up the droplets of Ishida's blood it had successfully swiped with its blackened tongue. Ichigo could see some sort of crazed high in its yellow eyes, highlighted by blackened sclera as he scrambled for the pouch that contained his weapon.
Just as the feral focused his attention back on his prey Ichigo drew Tötenmond seemingly from nowhere and poised to strike as the inky blackness of his Gift slowly consumed the blade. The vamp got some kind of insanely amused look on its face at something over Ichigo's shoulder. He glanced quickly and saw at least three others coming up from behind.
"Guys! Behind you!" Ichigo shouted at Orihime and Ishida. He turned back to his target just in time to block a swiping attack. It screeched and swung in again and Ichigo got a face full of its foul, rotten breath as he easily sliced it in two. He made a quizzical face and then tried to ignore the noisy, writhing mess he made he turned back to its friends. Orihime was trying to drag Ishida closer to the river, knowing that vampires couldn't cross water if they needed a desperate escape. Ichigo quickly ran forth and with a wide arc of his blade took out their pursuers.
Not accustomed to Tötenmond's weight he lost grip and it flew and stabbed into the ground several feet away as his targets crumpled in agony.
Orihime let out a sigh of relief and knelt down to use her Gift on Ishida's wound. A bit embarrassed Ichigo grabbed his sword and joined them at the riverbed.
"How's he doing? How are you doing?" Ichigo asked as he attempted to wash off the gunk. He was a bit worried for Ishida, but a little more for Orihime's first real encounter with ferals. He felt even worse knowing that if he hadn't been arguing with Ishida they would have noticed the impending attack.
She gave him a timid, but hopeful smile as the glow ebbed from her hands. "I'm fine...really. You handled that just great. And he's only got a shallow wound, we're all gonna be fine."
Ishida grumbled and sounded like he was gathering his bearings.
"You there?"
There was a long pause and Ishida finally nodded. "Yeah."
"I have no idea why the instructions are written that way. But you should already know that I'm not a vampire or any other kind of threat and would never do anything to hurt or betray you guys. We've been working together way to long and you should know me better than that."
"...Yeah, I know."
Ichigo held out his hand. "Wanna get up sometime soon?"
Ishida's eyes darkened as he slid his wet hood back up. He glanced off at the no longer writhing corpses for a few moments then finally took his hand.
"...Sorry."
It was a short, but coming from Ishida, Ichigo knew it was a rare enough occurrence to know his apology was sincere. The mutual understanding was reached quickly without any other words, but that didn't help the sense of unease Ichigo was getting. He wondered if the note about his blood wasn't exactly meaningless. Maybe something to do with my type? he thought. Regardless he just wanted to get this over with and get somewhere dry.
Ichigo sighed and pulled out his dagger, doing his best to just prick a fingertip, hoping it would be enough. He dabbed it on the dark surface of the stone, where it appeared many others had done the same before. Almost instantly there was a blast of cold wind that flew in behind them. Ichigo panicked as the squall nearly knocked him into the river. Regaining his balance Ichigo saw a giant arc of ice now formed over the gushing river below.
They shared a couple hesitant glances then made their way across, doing their best to keep balance on the rather unstable surface. Ichigo paused halfway across and turned back to the corpses laying back on the bank.Something's not right, why-"
"Ichigo!" Orihime called from the other side. "Are you coming?"
He sighed and decided to think about it along the way. Another path was awaiting them on the other side. They continued on, further and further until the sound of the river nearly disappeared behind them.
- 2
- 3
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Reflection of the Moonless Sky