Adult-FanFiction.org : Bleach

Cradles in the sand	By : NovaAlexandria Category: Bleach > Het - Male/Female Views: 9098 -:- Recommendations : 0 -:- Currently Reading : 2
Disclaimer: I do not own Bleach, not make any profit from my stories.

Chapter List
- 3
- 4
- 5
I am really starting to get tired of rice, Karin thought morosely as she stared at the bowl in her hands. As usual, she had passed the meat to Grimmjow and stuck with the sticky grains. At least it is cooked right and not lumpy, crunchy or mushy. Still, I would love to have a bit of sauce of some sort. Something to mix it up a little. Anymore of this and I am not positive I will be able to force my body to swallow.
She opened her mouth and spooned another mouthful in before washing it down with water. The rice wasn’t dry per say, but it was starting to stick in her throat. Even her body was starting to rebel at the same old food for weeks at a time.
I am almost half tempted to skip a few meals until I am hungry enough to want to eat anything, but that would hardly be intelligent and the last thing I want is for them to stop feeding me altogether.
Hana collected the three bowls when she was done, two now empty and one filled. She didn’t envy whoever had to clean the latrine bowls. A diet of nothing but rice and water resulted in not so solid waste.
I don’t think I have lost much weight yet, but this is certainly not a healthy diet. I wonder if the other women are fed the same meals or if they eat the meat. A pregnant woman can’t survive on rice and water with only a bit of meat. They need vitamins, minerals, all that good stuff. You know, vegetables and fruits. Maybe they are being given supplements, that’s a possibility. Still, they need far more than what’s in these bowls and vitamin pills only go so far.
She turned her thoughts away from the lack of interesting food and towards the upcoming feeding session. “What do you think that jerk meant yesterday when he said someone I knew was going to be next?” she couldn’t help but to ask apprehensively.
“Maybe one of your brother’s friends got snagged,” Grimmjow shrugged. “Dip-shit did comment he wanted to see how a human did against us when he tossed your ass down here. Not that there is any chance of survival without them being able to use their reiatsu. A normal human would have a better chance of survival against a pissed off jaguar than any shinigami has against us.”
“That’s not very reassuring,” she groaned. “Why can’t we use our reiatsu down here anyhow?”
“The walls are laced with some sort of stone. Not the seki stuff the shinigami use, that would drain our reiatsu and make feeding us to gain strength pointless, but it does stop it from being manipulated. It’s kind of gives reishi a sort of oily coating and trying to grasp it just causes it to slip between your paws. It’s like trying to capture air,” he snarled in obvious frustration.
Karin closed her eyes and tried only to find that Grimmjow was right. She could feel the particles floating all about her, but when she tried to grasp them they simply slipped from her fingers. Trying to grasp air is a good analogy. Even water is more solid and manipulative than this.
It was just after lunch when the stadium started to fill up again. She felt her apprehension rise as she sat before the bars, trying to see up and get a glance of the stands. The angle was just enough that she could see the first few rows of spectators across from her. Grimmjow moved to lay down beside her. She felt her hands clenching and unclenching as she waited for the event to start.
‘Someone I know.’ Who could they mean? One of Ichi-nii’s friends like Grimmjow suggested? They are spiritually aware after all and dick-wad did take me. I almost pity the hollow that would be unleashed on Tatsuki. She’s a far better fighter than I am and would probably snap their neck easily. She doesn’t need weapons or reiatsu to be a dangerous weapon. A thought suddenly dawned on her and she stiffened. They don’t mean Hana do they? Would they throw him in here after talking to me yesterday? I just saw him a few minutes ago when he collected my dishes so it seems unlikely. I doubt they would toss Nel down here. I haven’t seen any female hollows, or any hollows at all being put into the pit for lunch. It seems like they are held elsewhere.
The first person in the pit wasn’t someone she recognized, nor was Starrk chosen to eat her. She felt guilt follow quickly after her relief that the woman wasn’t anyone she knew. She shouldn’t feel relief that someone was chosen to be murdered by a hollow just because she didn’t know that person. There was one thing she could say about the quincy, they were not sexist. Three men followed the woman to their deaths. Excitement really started to lace the air after the fourth prisoner was killed and consumed.
“What’s going on?” she asked.
“Feeding frenzy,” Grimmjow growled, rising to his feet. “They are going to drop a cage in the pit with several prisoners and open up more than one cell. Stay close if ours is chosen,” he ordered.
“Right.” She rose to her feet and grasped her weapon tightly, ready to defend herself if need be.
A cage was lowered into the centre of the pit with what looked like six women in it. It was hard to see if she recognized any of them, but it seemed unlikely considering the sea of black uniforms. Grimmjow started to stalk back and forth behind her, no doubt loosening his muscles as opposed to any form of agitation. She did the same, doing some stretches and giving her body a good shake to loosen it.
“Starrk, if you are let out too are you going to help us?” she asked apprehensively.
“I will assist you Karin,” he agreed with a sigh.
“Thanks. I appreciate it.”
The cage the women were in fell apart and the six of them huddled together, shaking in terror. Karin had honestly expected them to bolt like most of the prisoner had. More than a dozen cages opened, including theirs and Starrk’s. Starrk walked calmly out and she moved to his side while Grimmjow bolted ahead, but not at the women. While most of the free hollows made for the women at various speeds, several quickly turned on each other with a good amount of hatred.
It was chaos within moments. The women were unable to hold their defensive line in the face of so many hollows, most of them twice their size, barrelling into and scattering them. Screams and snarls echoed in the pit and it was hard not to cover her ears at the noisy din. She lost sight of Grimmjow’s much smaller bulk in the growing melee. A few of the hollows hovering on the edge looked her way, but their eyes shifted to the coyote standing silently by her side and they quickly looked away to either join in the scrap for the women, turn on each other, or sit calmly in front of their cages also watching the melee.
The confrontation began to die down a little, or at least spread out as territories and prey were claimed. Grimmjow was dragging what looked like a hindquarter of some unfortunate creature towards his cell; the rest of the body lost somewhere in the melee. The sand was kicked up, so she couldn’t see through the cloud it was making very well. Something black darted out from under one lumbering hollow that reminded her of a polar bear, due to its white color and large size, and raced towards them. Her eyes widened in shock as she recognized the woman, even if she was absent her glasses. It was the white armband that truly gave her away.
“Ise-san!” she shouted while running towards the woman.
“Karin!” Nanao gapped at her. Despite the fukutaichou’s shock, the woman didn’t slow down as they raced towards each other.
Karin tightened the grip on her weapon as she ran. Two of the hollows were chasing after Nanao and Karin felt herself curse as she realized there was no way to make it in time to help.
Before she could shout a warning to Nanao to tuck and roll, a white blur flew pass her as Starrk raced ahead. The deer-like one skidded to a halt in a flurry of kicked up sand and quickly backed nervously away, but the ox-like one had his head down and was charging blindly. Starrk ducked to the side at the last second and darted in behind the horned head. Sharp fangs latched onto the ox’s throat and it let out a bellow of surprise, followed by pain and terror as it tripped and hit the ground hard enough that she felt the vibrations. Karin skidded to a halt and Nanao ran pass her before also sliding to a stop and whipping around to come stand by her side.
“What is going on here?” Nanao demanded while falling into a defensive stance.
Karin didn’t get a chance to answer as she spotted a jackal like hollow running towards them now that Starrk was tangled with his own kill. She pushed Nanao aside and brought the bone between her and the snapping fangs. She lost her breath as she was borne to the ground under the much heavier creature. It let out a muffled yelp a moment later and jerked its head away from her. Nanao stood by her side, her knuckled dripping goo. The jackal leaped away from them completely and Karin remained still as Grimmjow suddenly stood over her, growling warningly up at the jackal. Jackal snarled back, but wisely backed away slowly, clearly not foolish enough to tangle with the former Espada.
“To the cell,” he commanded her.
She rose to her feet and dusted herself off while obeying the commonsense order. Starrk was dragging his kill towards the dens and Grimmjow turned to help him. Most of the sand had settled now and cliques had clearly been formed. Of the many hollows that had been released, four were now being eaten. Of the six women… Nanao was by her side and she could hear sobs from across the way of another survivor but was unable to see her through the bulk of the ram-like hollow that seemed to have her. Pain flashed briefly across Nanao’s face and she hesitated a moment, before reluctantly following Karin back towards the two open cells. There was nothing they could do for the other survivor without getting themselves killed in the process. Of the other four women, there was no sign save for scraps of clothing. In a frenzy like this, the food was consumed quickly before it could be stolen.
“What is this place?” Nanao demanded once they were near the two cells and standing guard over the feasting hollows. Starrk and Grimmjow had pulled their kills closer to their cells and were quickly gobbling down the prey they had taken down while the two women kept an eye on the others. It was a wonder they didn’t choke with how fast they were eating.
“From my understanding, they are using this place to ‘train’ and ‘raise’ hollows, as well as some sort of sick entertainment,” Karin answered. “Prisoners are tossed down to be fodder and occasionally…” her eyes darted to the cell the ram had dragged the other survivor, “breeding,” she added softly, unable to use the R word to describe the other horror that took place here.
Nanao’s eyes darted her way in horror before turning back to watch the other hollows in the arena. Most had returned to their cells, complete with resealed gates. A few were devouring their kills as quickly as possible while a few others stalked around, no doubt hopeful for scraps. It reminded Karin of the documentaries she’d seen of lions and hyenas stalking each other to try and steal their kills. Up above the crowd was dispersing with excited chatter, though she did catch an undertone of disappointment.
Probably because Nanao survived, the sick fuckers. Seriously, who gets their kicks off watching people get torn to shreds? I am really starting to question the sanity of those that use to rule the roman empire, or at least, those that encouraged and endorsed the more bloody games. Chariot racing, nice sport, man eating lions, not so much.
She did catch sight of Yhwach standing at the edge of his balcony and looking at them with an unreadable expression on his face. She raised her hand in a one finger salute that had him raise an eye and, from the way his shoulders moved, no doubt included an amused chuckle at her defiance. Nanao had followed her gaze and her mouth drew into a grim line at the sight of the quincy king standing above them. Karin turned her focus back to the stalkers, ignoring the man watching them and gave a warning look to Jackal when the hollow moved a little closer their way than she liked.
Grimmjow rose from the remains of his meal, mere scraps at this point, and walked towards them. “She is not my responsibility,” he declared firmly before moving into his cell.
“Huh?” both woman responded intelligently.
“You are cruel Grimmjow,” Starrk sighed, “to leave me with the adjacent to the man who killed my Lilinette.”
“You’re the idiot that saved her,” Grimmjow pointed out mercilessly, and he was right. Starrk could have easily tackled her to stop her from running off, leaving Nanao to fend for herself.
“So I did,” Starrk admitted. “Come here, Ise-san. You can gain weapons from our meal’s fangs and claws. Afterwards, you will apparently be bedding down with me.”
Nanao looked between the coyote and Karin uncertainly.
“Starrk’s safe, or at least safer than remaining out here with them,” Karin gestured to the few remaining hollows that were fighting over the scraps others had already left or hovering, waiting to leap in at the chance of scraps. Jackal was watching them intently with his ears up. “Grabbing some fangs and claws as weapons is also not a bad idea.”
“Fair enough,” Nanao sighed before helping her to de-claw and fang the scraps that remained, with some help from Starrk’s powerful jaws and sharp teeth. She hesitantly following Starrk into his cell and entered without needing to be coaxed.
The bars came down the moment all four of them were inside. Karin sat near the front, keeping an eye on the hollows remaining in the pit while Grimmjow settled down to clean the blood off himself. The jackal hollow was sniffing over their remains and pulling off what few scraps remained. Now that the adrenalin was over, the bruises and sand-burns she’d acquired from her meeting with the ground were making themselves painfully known.
“We thought that you were dead,” Nanao spoke first. “Your sister called us in a panic after you hadn’t come home for two days. No one had seen you or seemed to know what happened. I was dispatched to try and find you, but we couldn’t find any trace of what happened. Your trail just disappeared outside of town.”
At least they had noticed she was missing and looked for her, and now she felt a great deal of guilt for making Yuzu worry about her. First their brother, then their father, and now her. Poor Yuzu must be beside herself in grief and worry. Her entire family was gone, leaving her alone with what few high school friends she still kept in touch with.
“I was chasing a hollow out of my territory when some dickwad named Hashwald obliterated it and snagged me,” she explained for Nanao’s benefit.
“That would explain why your own trail continued long after the hollow’s ended,” Nanao mused.
“Yeah. Anyhow, he apparently confused me for one of Ichi-nii’s friends and wanted to see how well a human did in this hellhole of a pit. Lucky for me, Grimmjow was the one chosen to eat me and after getting my but whooped a bit, we recognized each other and called a truce.”
“You fared well for a human,” her cellmate grunted softly, so softly she wondered if she was even supposed to hear the compliment.
“Now you know my rather sad, little story. How the hell did you end up here?” she asked Nanao. “I thought Shunsui damn near kept you glued to his side.”
“Patrol mission on the outskirts of one of the districts,” Nanao answered. “We were ambushed and most of the patrol was taken down before we even realized it was a quincy attack. They don’t have any interest in the souls of the Rukongai and have never shown up there before. We were checking out reports of several hollows trying to find an easy meal. They show up there a few times a year and need to be chased out.”
“Do you have any news of Ichi-nii?” she asked hopefully.
“He’s still patrolling the sands here last I heard. He was pretty upset over your disappearance; furious I would even say. They moved Yuzu to Soul Society to be on the safe side, she is staying at Kuchiki manor, and the rest of your human friends are staying at Urahara’s and patrolling in groups now,” Nanao reported. “We didn’t want to risk your disappearance as being a dedicated strike against him.”
“At least Yuzu is safe,” she sighed in relief. “You said you were checking out hollow rumours, when did those rumours start?” she asked suspiciously.
“A few days ago.”
“Were there any hollows?”
“We found two, basic level ones, exactly as reported. It was shortly after we cleansed them the attack came.”
I have never heard of the quincy using low level hollows, they are too unpredictable. Still, all they would have to do would be to set two loose and let them do their thing. Nanao may not even have been the target. I wonder how many prisoners have been captured in baited traps like this.
“Do patrols often go missing checking these reports?”
“No. A person or two may occasionally be killed in the line of duty and injuries are common. Why do you ask?” Nanao questioned.
“Just thinking about baited traps. I’ve seen a good number of Shinigami tossed down here,” she added softly, mindful of the fact some of them might have been people Nanao knew.
“It’s possible a few may have been taken that way, but we haven’t noticed any increase in the reports.” She got the impression Nanao was frowning. “What made you think about that idea in the first place?”
“Yesterday one of the guards taunted me over the fact someone being tossed into this hellhole was going to be someone I knew. I didn’t even know that they knew we know each other. It’s not common knowledge as far as I know.”
“Perhaps one of their spies spotted me delivering letters to you one day,” Nanao offered.
Further conversation was cut off by the arrival of dinner. She used her scraps of cloth and some of the left-over water to help Grimmjow get the blood off hard to reach places. She tried her best not to notice, or at least comment, on the way his eye closed halfway and he leaned into her hand as she washed and scratched behind his ears.
“Not a word,” he growled, or at least tried to growl. It came out more like one of those happy growl/moans dogs give when they are happy and content.
“I don’t know what you are referring too,” she returned, giving the spot behind his other ear a good scratch despite the fact she had already cleaned it.
The lights clicked out almost as soon as the bowls had been retrieved. She settled into her own little nest and tried to get some sleep, but it was pretty hard with the memory of the feeding frenzy so fresh before her eyes. Starrk and Grimmjow had recognized what was going on right away, which suggested this was not something new but rather something that they had seen several times.
At least Nanao-san is safe, or at least as safe as can be given our current situation. Not that Grimmjow and Starrk are bad company, but it will be nice to have another woman to talk to and have someone I actually know be around. It was clear they had meant for her to die out there. Hopefully they won’t try to rectify that situation any more than they did with my own. Still, I can’t help but to wonder how much longer they will let us remain as ‘freeloaders’ in these cells before they either kill us outright or simply stop feeding us. I can’t see these bastard feeding prisoners that are serving no purpose to their grand design for very long.
Grimmjow let out a loud yawn and she heard him shift in his nest. Despite herself, she couldn’t help but to recall how he looked with his eyes closed in pleasure. It was to that image she drifted off to sleep.
Good thing he can’t read my mind or I probably wouldn‘t wake up in the morning.

Long story short, my power cord to my laptop snapped and a new one is stupid expensive. I managed to borrow a power cord to get a bit of juice long enough to post another chapter. I have no idea when I will be able to borrow one again or afford a new one.
- 3
- 4
- 5
You need to be logged in to leave a review for this story.You need to be logged in to leave a review for this story.
Report Story

Cradles in the sand