The Lost Reaper

chapter 4 part 1

"Now, when my armies are ready... The Soul Society is finished," Akihiko said, looking up to his dragon.

"It's too bad Zenime was too weak to survive that simple attack..." He continued, stroking his dragon's neck.

[In the soul society]

"No! There is no way Lianna would willingly do this! Let us go get her before that person uses her to destroy us!" Rukia tried to argue. Byakuya stood in front of her, explaining what the Head Captain had told him.

"Rukia, this is an order. The Head Captain has said we must fight her as an enemy until she is able to break free," Byakuya continued, then Renji came up next to Rukia, followed by Ichigo.

"Captain, I'm sure we can free her. She knows us, she knows you. If the Head Captain thought she was so important for Soi Fon to go get then why would he want us to fight her?" Renji tried to put up an argument. Byakuya thought, not wanting to disobey the laws.

"Wait until tomorrow. Some captains will be going after her then, and you can go with them. Understood?" Byakuya finally said, watching his sister's face melt into relief.

"Yes, brother. Thank you so much," Rukia looked up at her brother brightly, then turned and walked away with Renji and Ichigo. Byakuya went back to his squad, taking care of things.

[Back to Lianna and Akihiko]

"Is the army ready, yet?" Akihiko spoke to one of his assistants.

"Yes, sir. They are almost ready. Just a few more hours and they will be ready to go," The assistant shivered as Lianna looked down at her.

"Good. Go now, hurry them up. We don't have forever," Akihiko waved his assistant away, then climbed up on top of Lianna's back.

"Time for a test run..." He whispered to himself as Lianna walked over to the bridge that connected the base to the mountains around it.

Akihiko made Lianna blast fire, testing out his dragon's power. He was amazed by how much fire and blast power that she had. Portions on the bridge were melted, some crumbled. Hours later, when both the soul society and Akihiko's armies were ready, the captains that the Head Captain had assigned to go out for Lianna, Ichigo, Rukia, and Renji all asked to go with, and the group of captains accepted. Akihiko had his army of soul reapers lined up all on the bridge, Lianna overlooking them. From behind them, the group that the H.C. had sent off snuck up.

Kampachi Zaraki jumped up and grabbed Akihiko, yanking him off Lianna's back. The red dragon screeched and began chasing after him. Soi Fon, Toshiro, and Sajin stole her attention from Kempachi while he took off with Akihiko, to fight.

"Lianna! It's us!" Rukia jumped in front of Lianna, making the dragon stop. She arched her neck and lowered her head to Rukia, her breath blowing the small soul reaper. Renji and Ichigo stood on each side of her, they held their zanpakutōs just in case. Lianna shook her head, her body heating up, she opened her jaws, and blasted fire into the sky. Lianna was fighting for her freedom. Toshiro quickly jumped on her back and once again worked to put his own spiritual pressure on her. The red dragon flew into the sky, Toshiro holding on as tightly as he could, still working.

"G-get down Toshiro!" Lianna was finally able to speak, but she was warning him, and he didn't listen. The dragon dived to the ground, and Toshiro accidentally let go. He flew back, and from nowhere, Lianna turned and caught him with her back claws. She carried him down, landing heavily.

"W-why are you guys h-here?" Lianna was struggling to speak, still bonded with Akihiko.

"To take you back where you belong," Renji answered first. Kempachi finally came back, zanpakutō over his shoulder.

"Didn't take too long, did I?" He was smiling, showing he had fun. From behind him, Akihiko limped towards him, blood dripping.

"You think I'm finished?! This was just a distraction!"

To be continued...