STOP ME WHEN YOU'VE HAD ENOUGH

Man, Fuck This

Ichigo wakes with a start. Sweat rolls down his face in bullets, making his hair stick to his forehead. His heart is basically trying to jump out of his chest, and it makes his sternum ache. He shakily gets to his feet and checks his surroundings. There's nothing but a desert night for as far as the eye can see, leaving the ginger confused. Hueco Mundo? When did I get out here?

He spins around in search for something familiar. There, sitting on the horizon, is Las Noches. Thank god, Ichigo thinks, I thought I was going to be done for. He drags himself across the dunes, up and down every crest, toward the fortress. He arrives sooner than he thought, and takes in the mighty building. Why the hell is it so big? Aizen is so fucking dramatic. After a quick search for an entrance, he enters the dark tunnel inside the border wall of Las Noches.

It's almost as cold in here as it is outside. That's annoying. Ichigo pushes his weakened body further than he likes as he works himself through this maze of tunnels. He doesn't have the strength or energy to shunpo to his group or Aizen - christ, he barely has the strength to walk. He finds a ladder eventually and pulls himself up. How many levels are there? After stumbling around in the near dark some more, he finds another ladder. This process repeats itself a few more times before he finally gets to a well lit hallway. Does this mean he's out?

Wondering the outer rim of Las Noches is a long and lame experience. Nothing could make it exciting. Literally nothing. The longer he walks where he thinks is inland, the more curious he grows. Where is everyone? No body is here. Aizen's army has to be around here somewhere. Why else have a massive fortress if one doesn't have the numbers to stuff inside it?

The halls change the more he walks. That has to mean he's going inland. The more he travels inward, the nicer the hallways become. He also has yet to find someone else, and it's really starting to worry him as much as it pisses him off. Where the fuck is everyone? On a coffee break? All five thousand or something of them? He doesn't actually know how many Arrancar there are. He should ask that if he ever finds a person to ask.

Oh, he recognizes this hallway. He marked it to help him remember where it is. He runs his fingers over the three scars in the wall like claw marks. Wow, how long has he been walking? This is the hallway that leads to his room, and it's relatively close to Aizen's throne room. Ichigo knows for a fact that narcissistic megalomaniac has his throne room in the "heart" of Las Noches. A little ironic for a man and an army without hearts, but whatever.

He races down the hallway as fast as a wounded man can and throws open the door to his quarters. There's no one in the common room. Not a single soul amongst his group. Maybe they're asleep? He makes his way to his shared room and gently opens the door. The light from the common room shows there's no one in there. Odd. Are they having a sleepover in the girls' room? That's a bit risky with Keigo being a perv and Mizuiro having a thing for older women. The thought of either of them laying a hand on Rukia gives him the needed strength to march his ass over to the girls' room.

He kicks the door open, a yell already prepared. There's no one in here either. He let's out the gathered air for the yell, turning it into a confused sigh. What's going on here? He searches one last time for someone in his group to be laying around, but he comes up empty handed once again.

A part of him begins to panic. Where are they? He knows it's probably not going to work, but he tries sensing for a spirit ribbon anyway. He's running out of ideas, okay? Oddly enough, a spirit ribbon shows up. He takes it, it being the only one. Quickly, the ginger hobbles his way to Aizen's throne room. He swears if someone hurt his friends, he's going to unleash a bloodbath that not even the Espada can stop.

Ichigo shoves a big throne room door open with his shoulder. His wild eyes scour for his friends, but only finds a lone Hollow. The Hollow is facing the throne as if he's studying an art piece, and he makes no indication that he noticed Ichigo's entrance. Of course, until he spoke.