Penitence for a Deserter [Part 1: Prison and the Warden] (Kuro)

The stone ceiling seemed to be closing in as he stared up at the cracks forming where the wall and ceiling met, Felix has done nothing but lay out stretched out across the small bed since they had brought him to his cell. His right shoulder was wrapped and immobilized to keep him from inflicting further injury on himself. Cuts and bruises decorated almost every part of his body though now some had started to fade with age, but the pain that washed over him every time he tried to move reminded him that while he had won the battle with hollow that had nearly broken him it was not a clean victory by any means.

The first thing they had done when he was returned to the Soul Society was strip him of his sword, whom he had come to know as Nurarihyon and then they had somehow blocked all but what was necessary of his spiritual pressure for him to survive. Funny they treat a prisoner for his injuries and make sure he can barely move through the pain, but still they force me to wear these shackles? Who am I a threat to in this condition? They had set his personal affects including his sword and the feather he carried from Ren across the room behind a cell of their own. The guards called it evidence of his corruption but he saw it as the memories of what it truly meant to be free.

A scream of pain escaped his lips as he forced himself to sit up so he could see out of the slit they called a window, he was in the Senzaikyū which meant that whoever placed him in this cell didn’t see much of a chance of him coming out of the trial with less than a death sentence. The sun had just risen on an early morning fog that surrounded the prison. Felix closed his eyes as his breaths came in ragged uneven draws; he hadn’t slept all night and slowly the wounds were catching up with him as he tried to stay awake but was failing. He was quickly pulled into a dark forest, the moon giving off more light ten it should as Nurarihyon sat up in a tree away from him smoking as he causally rolled his gaze down towards Felix.

“Well my boy here we are again, you in need of help and me wondering if I made the right gamble becoming your blade.” He blew a ring of smoke down at him, before he continued. “You really have yourself in quite a pickle and I can’t do anything to help you without me physically in your hands.” Nurarihyon hopped down to the ground with the grace that is unobtainable to regular humans, his feet didn’t even seem to touch the ground as he walked over to Felix and sat beside him. “You know that the Central is going to put you on trial for treason…”

Felix’s voice was stoic as he continued where the spirit left off “…The penalty of which is death. YEAH I KNOW.” He raised his voice as the world around them seemed to shake in anger as a response to Felix’s own feelings. “WHAT IS IT THAT YOU WANT FROM ME, TO DIE, TO GO OUT FIGHTING?” Felix couldn’t hold it all in any longer as he lost his temper and his inner world reflected that as all hell broke loose across the sky the moon caught fire and cracked stars started to fall violently to earth as lightning arced out striking the ground.

The spirit just stayed calm as the world came crashing down around them, raising his sheathed blade he cracked Felix across the head. “Stop throwing a tantrum and listen I will tell you exactly how to twist those old men’s hearts so you won’t die now don’t get me wrong you will face a punishment but you will be alive to do so.”

Felix’s face was grim but he turned to face the spirit, “What would that be, Nurarihyon?”

Kuro walked up the steps to reach the Senzaikyu feeling extremely put off. He was the first captain that the central had gotten in touch with, and therefore was put in charge of dealing with the handling and interrogating of the prisoner now locked in the tall building. "Couldn't they at least have put him in the maggot's nest?" he grumbled to himself as he made his way to the high up prison. "At least that's right beneath my squad's grounds." Kuro had been told nothing in detail of the prisoner's crimes other than he was charged with treason. But withholding details from Kuro was a stupid thing to do. It only served to make him get those details from whatever source he could in order to make an informed decision. And he would be sure to do just that. Some of the higher ups in the soul society could be impulsive with their accusations, something Kuro knew well with the situation his own squad member Tatsuya was in.

Kuro felt the influence of the sekkiseki walls of the Senzaikyu even before entering it as he crossed the suspended walkway that led to its front gate. He wasn't looking forward to going inside. He knew that his power would be lowered immediately upon entering, and continue to be sapped while he remained inside. It was one of the reasons he'd never come here before. The other reason was it was a scene of absolute depression. With the execution grounds just above it, it only served as a foreboding setting for those locked inside. Kuro reached the front gate and let himself in seeing as there were no guards on duty outside it.

The inside was more developed than he'd heard before. Things must have changed in recent years. Instead of a large solitary confinement, barred cells outlined the edges of the wide circular rooms on each floor. Kuro found all the cells on the lower floors empty, causing him to have to ascend the staircases until he reached the floor where the prisoner was being kept. He came to the cell of the shinigami in question and peered inside to find the inhabitant in a sort of trance. Either he was in a lot of pain, or he was conversing with his zanpakuto spirit. Or both. Kuro waited a few moments to not disturb him in case it was a conversation. After that, he rapped on the cell bars a few times to get his attention.

"Hi there. I am Captain Kuro Akarui of the Second Squad. Central has put me in charge of your case for the time being. But details surrounding your situation have been denied from me so far. So I am hoping that you can enlighten me as to why they're charging you with treason."

Kuro knew that if the prisoner was guilty, then he wouldn't be likely to get the whole truth out of him. But Central was acting rather suspicious about all of this. Maybe his crimes weren't as severe as people were leading Kuro to believe.

Felix’s eyes focused as soon as the outside voice ripped him back to reality, at first he figured it would be another lackey from the Fourth Squad to inspect how his wounds were healing before they sent him to face trial. As his eyes focused though he was met by a familiar yet very frightful sight as he gazed up a purple haired man, in a white captain’s robe. “Oh shit…” he groaned as he rubbed his eyes with shackled hands, “…the sent a captain to get answers from me, have my crimes really become that much of a burden?” He grinned as he tried to sound sarcastic through the pain and the ache of his should. “Sure I attacked a student, I even protected a hollow; hell I will even own up to the charge of relinquishing my sword to a hollow for a time.

“But you want to know something; I won’t denounce everything I did if that is what you want. I made friends that I promise you I will die before any of you ever lay a finger on them.” Felix voice was deadly serious as a deathly cold gaze leveled on the captain. “Is that what you wanted to know Captain? I am pretty sure that I covered what you asked if you need anything more I am here all week.”

Ask for the feather back the least you can do is get the shackles off all they are is an insult to injury. Nurarihyon whispered in the back of his mind as he prepared to go silent. Felix gaze turned again becoming warm like it normally was “However if you would I would prefer that the feather that is sticking out of the sheath of my sword be with me.” Felix spoke as he tried to look sincere towards the captain, “It is nothing dangerous I assure you it is just a memento of an old friend I would prefer to have with me rather than be separated from it by bars and glass.”

Kuro waved a hand as the prisoner began to rapidly fire out the outline of his actions. "Woah woah, slow down. Like I said, I know nothing of this case and therefore have no understanding of all the things you just said. And I am not making any quick judgements either. If you have reasons for your actions, whether professional or personal, I can accept them. But first I need to hear the whole story."

Kuro glanced in the direction the prisoner was indicating and noticed his belongings in the other cell. Walking over to the cell, he retrieved the feather and brought it back to the prisoner's cell. He opened the cell door and stepped inside, showing a level of trust and respect by coming this close rather than keep them separated by the the cell bars. He placed the feather on the bed beside the prisoner and then drew his zanpakuto. A small look of disgust could be seen in his eyes as he held the short blade up and clove down with a swift motion to cut the bindings on the prisoner's hands.

"There's not much you could do in your state that calls for you being forced to wear those. Especially not in here. Even my strength is minimal at the moment. With your wounded body, it'd probably take all you had to stand up in these walls. Now that we've made things a little more comfortable for you, could you please tell me who you are and the details of your story?"

Felix smiled as the captain placed the feather on his bed then sliced the chain connecting the shackles together allowing him some more mobility. “Thank you Captain…heh…never thought those words would leave my mouth.” He didn’t make eye contact as he reached up and grabbed the feather and put the end between his lips. Struggling to draw his legs up Felix rested his arms on his knees as he took a breath clearing his mind; his eyes seemed to glaze over as he recalled everything that had brought him to this point.

“I lived in the a part of the outer Rukongai before I became a reaper in the parts where it was fight or die to survive and well because of my size I was always a target.” Felix looked at the reaper his eyes still not focused on the room around them, “I will admit before I came here I killed my fair share of men that was always the rules of the challenge when they fought me no one stopped fighting till the other’s breathing had stopped.

“I just wanted to live in peace, but it seemed no matter how hard I tried there was always some kid who wanted to try and prove their mettle. I just got tired of fighting you know?” Felix frowned “We had all heard of you shinigami, how you are all supposed to enforce the law, but in the outer realms of the Rukongai you are all nothing more than a bed time told to children some to give hope some to know why we have to fight to keep order.

“When I passed out one day from exhaustion they recognized the signs, and only one person knew what to do the rest were bound and determined to kill me, but someone brought me to the Shinōreijutsuin. There is where I learned why shinigami never venture out to the outer realms. Unless we pose a direct threat to the Serieti you all don’t care what happens under your jurisdiction. The academy trained us to be a little more than a private military to exterminate whoever you’re superiors deemed as a threat. I got tired of following orders in a war I didn’t see the point in.” Felix took the feather from his lips smiling as it was now still and started to pick the lock holding the broken shackles on his wrist with a click one fell off as he started on the other with a little grin.

“As for the rest I believe you know it seeing as that is where the charges for desertion, treason, attacking a student, and relinquishing my sword to a hollow starts.” With another click the other shackle fell to the ground as he rubbed his wrists, then tucked the feather back into his sleeve.

Kuro listened to Felix's story with his arms crossed. His face filled with understanding and empathy for the other man's misfortunes. When Felix was done, Kuro waited a moment, settling the emotions stirring inside him at the moment from unpleasant memories resurfaced from Felix's tales.

"Like I said, they just handed me this case without telling me anything. So I don't know all the details of your crimes. But with your explanation on your past and the actions leading up to the charges, I'm starting to get a look at the picture. And I must say that I am on your side in this." Kuro turned his gaze and stared out the skinny window on the wall of the cell, almost as if he were trying to catch sight of the far off Rukongai districts. "I originated from those exact districts that you did. And it was indeed a land of kill or be killed. I rarely challenged opponents directly. As you can tell, my prowess is not in my physical appearance or strength. I was nothing but a skinny thief quick on his feet who struck when my victims' guard was down and stole what I needed to survive, killing if necessary. You're also right that the seireitei rarely if ever intervened in those areas, allowing the far off districts to be ruled by that constant state of bloodshed and violence. We were both wronged in that manner, having to live in a world like that."

Kuro took a deep breath before continuing, thinking of how coincidental it was that he had been given charge of Felix's case when they shared such a similar past. "I'd probably still be living that low life if my powers as a shinigami hadn't begun to awaken. With my reiatsu going out of control whenever I motivated myself to steal, my life of guile was roughly brought to an end. I journeyed to the Seireitei after that to gain better control over my abilities. But it was a strange change; having to go from a life of no rules to the strict codes of the Gotei. And with the rules set up to better protect the Seireitei itself along with the richer noble districts, I can see why you would disagree with the Gotei. I do not disapprove of your desertion, in fact I think it was a better alternative that someone in your position could have taken. The distaste you must have felt could lead others to straight out rebellion.

"As for the treason charges, I can only say that those are tricky. Hollows are a nasty bunch, and in my experience I have never come across one that I could fully trust. I have cooperated with them in the past, even under orders from my superiors as one time, but there were always hidden agendas in the hollows' minds about getting something more out of the deal. An entire village of people I had grown to care for in the Rukongai were slaughtered as a direct result of the allegiance with hollows I was ordered to orchestrate. So I can only give the advice of exercising caution if you choose to trust a hollow." Kuro returned his gaze to Felix, finished with his own tales for the time being. "So what were the circumstances that led you to trust this hollow and attack a student? I assume that you attacked the student in its defense?

Felix balled his fists as Kuro questioned his judgment in trusting Ren, saying hollows are all purely evil at heart and only working with others when there is something that they can get out of it for themselves. You know he is right Pyre and not just on hollows, humans and shinigami all do the same thing only helping until they accomplish whatever it is they want. Nurarihyon was a faint whisper in his back of his mind as he agreed with what the captain had to say, but still Felix balled his fists even his on sword was against him. “You don’t know…you don’t know what she is like…she is a pitiful hollow she can’t even bring herself to eat innocent souls. Hell, if Tatsuya wasn’t looking out for her now I doubt I would of allowed myself to get captured alive.”

Felix looked at the floor, “It is just…well I don’t know what it is…but Ren, the hollow we are discussing, reminds me of someone from my dreams…I think it was someone I knew in my past, but I just know I can’t help but be protective of her.” Felix crossed his hands behind his head as he silently wondered if he had given to much information on Tatsuya and Ren.

OOC: Sorry for the shortness of this post, sorta hit a block

"Tatsuya!?" Kuro words shot out as he heard the name of his on the run squad member. "You mean Tatsuya Okibi?" Things were really interesting now. "I believe you." he said with a lightened tone. He saw Felix's balled fists and tried to calm him down. "Just relax, it's not like I think that hollows are inherently evil. I was just giving advice based on my own experiences. If you and Tatsuya trust this hollow, then I can too. The problem is that the closed minded individuals of Central and other shinigami wouldn't be so ready to accept this hollow's good nature as a fact. And we can't use Tatsuya as a means to improve the situation because that would only worsen the charges placed on both of you; him protecting a hollow, and you being in contact with an accused noble murderer."

Kuro began to pace back and forth in the cell, considering their options. "It's not as if you attacked a high ranking official. It's another sad truth of the seireitei's laws, but lower individuals like academy students are not as strictly avenged by the legal system. So I think that we can get the central to lean away from execution. If you want better than that, you'll have to adhere to a plan that I have. If I can get central to believe that this was a one time affair and will not happen again, I may be able to have them grant you freedom on a probation where you serve in my squad. It'll be my responsibility to "watch over you" and make sure that you play by the rules. This of course would be temporarily, until you have a good enough record to prove your willingness to serve as a regular member of the Gotei again."

Kuro stopped pacing and looked directly at Felix. "I understand your feelings about the way things are run, but if you don't go along with this, the best I think we could do for you that fits within legal codes is life in the maggot's nest. And I'm sure you don't want to spend eternity in there. The only other option I see...would be for me to break you out of here and let you escape back to your rougue life." Kuro was glad that there were no guards present at the moment. The offer he'd just made could land him in big trouble if authorities ever got wind that he'd even mentioned it. "The choice is yours."

Felix grinned at the captain’s response to his mentioning Tatsuya, apparently he hit a nerve there, “So you know the old man?” Felix raised an eyebrow trying to push the topic, but really he wanted nothing more than more time to consider the offer the captain extended him, an offer to get out of this cell and grant him a degree of freedom.

He is offering you a way out Pyre, the only question that still stands is are you truly willing to become a military dog, to follow orders when given to kill when told? Are you really prepared to take that step Pyre? Not that they give you much of a choice either join them or spend eternity in prison or you could take the easy way out and just face the death penalty. Nurarihyon was talking nonchalantly in the back of his mind though the weight of his words was evident; he was trying to make Felix understand that no matter the choice he made his life would change. Even without being dragged into Nurarihyon’s world he could still smell the smoke from his pipe; it was so strong that Felix had to put use one hand to rub his temples to keep from getting nauseous.

“When you say you would ‘watch over me’ this means what, like you will have someone follow me around and document my every move for you? Or perhaps I will just get stuck behind a mountain of paperwork so you won’t have to be bothered with a menial assignment?” Felix asked still considering the choices, he would rather die than face a life of meaningless labor.

Kuro suddenly burst out laughing when Felix showed his distaste of being stuck with a desk job burdened with paperwork. Calming himself down enough to talk clearly, he resumed the conversation. "I can understand not wanting to do that job. I get stuck with my fair share of paperwork. But no, I am offering you a chance to go free. Officially, you'd be in my squad under my charge, but I will make no effort to pry into your personal life. No spies, no regular check ins, nothing whatsoever. And to make things even better, I am easy going with the way I run things in squad 2. I don't force people to do things out of their comfort zones unless the situation calls for it. Hopefully, we never run into that kind of situation."