Shirayuki sighed.
Her attention was firmly planted on the individual below her. "I did what you asked, now talk." A sword of pure ice manifested in her palm, cold energy radiating from her blade's edge.
Tokinada looked up at the zanpakuto spirit, a devilish smirk on his lips, "Well, thank you, but I would rather save my breath if you can't tell this place is not a hospitable place to be in for most people."
He rose to his feet, His burly ink coloured coat hugging him tightly as the freezing wind swept by. Dulling the sword spirit's vision, he looked like a tick on the back of a sheep.
Despite that, she could make out the image of a tall wool hat on his head and mittens that were so large that they reminded her of the cartoons Rukia watched. She could not see a sword anywhere on him, which did not make her any more trusting of him. "I do not care. All I want to know is why you, Tokinada Tsunayashiro, are here in this desolate place. Last I checked, this was not a very popular tourist destination for nobles."
The ice woman spat with venom in her words, while the man chuckled.
"I suppose you are right on that front. I have business to attend to, think of it as community service, yes, community service. My sentence will be reduced if I can bring some exceptional piece of ancient history back to the Central 46, but as you can see, I am without a weapon, my Kido skills are all I have to my name, even then, the old monsters in that council prohibit me from using them to the fullest."
He lifted his head a little. A black collar constricted his neck, with multiple Kanji written in ivory ink.
"A suppressant collar." Rukia appeared in the sky, her form protected by a blood-stained fur robe.
She looked down at Tokinada with disgust, while she descended, her sword spirit floated wide-eyed, shortly following her.
The noble man attempted to approach them only for both women to ward him away with their chilling weapons, forcing him to stand a meter away, his hands in the air as if he were a helpless civilian being held at gunpoint."I understand. My apologies, Kuchiki princess-no wait, would it not be Kuchiki Head?"
A cruel smile spread across the older man's face, "Please tell me how is being the head of a noble clan? Is it everything that you imagined?"Tokinada noticed the way the young soul reaper gripped her blade tighter.
Forcing cracks to emerge, he softly chuckled, his amusement was hidden by the gathering snowflakes travelling across the peaks. "Where do you intend to head off to? If you wanted to get my attention, then you have it, but you are going to have to satiate my curiosity if you want my co-operation. I would rather not want to waste my time with a wild goose chase."
The sword spirit smiled proudly at the younger woman. Tokinada frowned at his jab's ineffectiveness, then brightened. He shook his head, forcing a smile onto his face like a salesman, "Well, I need your help to go grave robbing, of course!"
Both women tilted their heads and then uttered simultaneously, "What?"
"Well, Little Kuchki Head, do you mind that name? Oh, it doesn't matter, I like it. To be honest, we are in the same position..."
Tokinada diverted his attention from the women to the side as if the ice-caked tips and furious winds were the most fascinating things in the world. "Well, that's not correct, my situation is vastly more unique; however, we are in a similar position, both of us have been given the title of clan head due to rather... unsavoury reasons."
"What? Then that means-?!" Shirauki exclaimed.
"Yes. The Central 46 have given me the title, after all, my family's duty is to achieve the history of the Soul Society. Which makes me the last living archivist of my clan, so they could not oppose me from becoming the new head." Tokinada drifted in place as he explained. Rukia wrinkled her face, contemplating.
She opened her mouth, "So again, why call me? As the head of one of the five great clans, you are entitled to receive the aid of the Gotei 13? Are you really here on the Central 46's orders, or is this more personal, Tokinada?" He flashed the small woman a smile, "Why all the talking? We're going to become ice sculptors if all we do is stand here."
He jumped backwards, taking to the air, flying to the east, "Follow me, Little Kuchki Head!"Rukia, we should-" The ice woman's words were swept away by the elements and the screeching caused by Rukia's flight, the older woman sighed as she followed behind her master.
Seeing the pair follow him, Tokinada increased his speed, screams sounded above the mountains as the three Soul Reapers flew with inhuman speeds, cutting the air they sailed through.
The two women could match his pace; in fact, they could overcome him with a majority of his spiritual energy sealed away. However, she reminded herself that her goal was to investigate what the man's end goal was.
After a few heartbeats, Rukia, with her sword spirit, saw Tokinada fall with the grace of a boulder. What entered their vision was a flat plain bigger than most stadiums from the human world, different from the desolate rocky landscape they had become accustomed to. She flew to the archivist's side.
"Is this what you intend to do, Tokinada? Just to create angles in the snow like a child here?" Rukia looked at the man with deadpan eyes, not minding whether the man lived to see tomorrow or not.
He smiled, "You might not be related to Byakuya by blood, but you share the same narrow-mindedness as him..." He pointed his finger forward, a swirl of sick green and dark violet light gathered before hitting the ground beneath, the earth shattered, the grey sky gained a double aurora of white and black all the wildlife hiding within a 2-kilometre radius ran away with undiluted fear in their eyes.
Some were not as lucky as others. A family of giant polar bears were reduced to pulp beneath the structure that had manifested from seemingly nowhere. Rukia scrutinised the palace, inspecting it with her spiritual senses.
While her sword spirit stared on with a cold, uncaring look in her eyes. The monolith of a structure looked withered by the ages, its pure silver arch was contaminated by the plague of brown rust coating it.
The main building, a cube with bricks the same colour as the mountains that surrounded them, was the only structure that had several openings jutting out like scars. Several blots of violet spun around the building as if they were attracted by the castle.
Tokinada did not wait for the aftershocks of the castle's manifestation to settle; instead, jumping towards the palace's open entrance. Rukia leapt in after the man. Her sword spirit sighs, then begrudgingly follows.
Landing, they quickly followed behind the technically still criminal, the trio entered a hallway, the cramped space filled the air with dust and the scent of death everywhere. Shadows ruled the space, becoming deeper and darker with each step the trio took away from the entrance.
Without pause, both Soul Reapers used low-level illumination Kido to light the way. Tokinada grinned as he threw the young woman a smile as he made his way deeper into the structure, with her footsteps clattering off the floor.
Shirayuki threw a glance back at the left ajar entrance, cursing beneath her breath, as she followed suit. "Tell me, Tokinada. What is this place? And what exactly is going on with those purple motes of light that keep spinning outside like vultures flying over a carcass?" The sword spirit questioned.
Tokinada to lead them down a corner as he responded. "Simple, miss Yukiona-"
"Shirayuki."
"Miss Yukiona, this is a palace that existed over a million years ago. The former clan head, my distant uncle, devoted his entire life to finding a way to turn back time to rediscover this place."
"T-turn back time?!" Rukia nearly fell face-first over a loose brick before her sword spirit helped her to readjust her stance. With a quick sign of gratitude, she focused on navigating the long corridor and rising up a tattered staircase.
"How could that be possible? All Kido that affect time are forbidden or require absurd amounts of spiritual energy to use, and if I am to take your word, you should not have that much available."
He laughed warmly as if Rukia were an old friend telling him a joke. He did not answer her question, shoving it aside. They entered a room filled to the brim with wooden planks, decaying bookshelves and dust choking the air few books were in a semi-whole state due to the toll that had been taken on them over the ages.
Tokinada approached a desk that looked like it was on the brink of falling apart. Rukia followed him while her sword spirit kept watch at the door. She looked over his shoulder only to see a large piece of parchment filled with indecipherable letters and images.
He delicately lifted the paper before answering, "That very much so, is the case, even at full power, I would not have been able to accomplish this feat on my own, so I simply relied upon the power within the world. Nothing too impressive." He shrugged while shaking his head as if Rukia were his sibling that he was lecturing.
Before she could ask anymore, Shirayuki warned, grabbing their attention, "Everyone out!"
The floor rumbled, and bricks fell from the ceiling, as dust and cobwebs swept up. Without any further deliberation, the trio ran away. Each of them ran like the wind.
Navigating through the ever-stretching halls as stones flew in from every angle. They stopped. As figures entered from the makeshift entrances.
Golems.
Humanoid yet ape-like in their constitution, each of the five of them was made with resplendent silver metal, their arms reaching their stubby legs; they had no face to speak of except for the opening in their elongated head that resembled a Roman helm.
Rukia looked bewildered as her eyes landed on a particular symbol emblazed onto the chests of the creations like a badge of honour, the Quincy pentagram.
"Okay. Little Kuchki Head, you have my permission to destroy this place!" Tokinada scrambled away from the young woman, as the silver steel goliaths approached.
"Shirayuki, help me!" Rukia reached out her hand, offering it to her sword spirit, who looked on with hesitation. As they attempted to find an exit as the monoliths behind them attempted to strike them.
"I would take the Little Kuchki Head's hand. I don't think those gentlemen are the only ones here!" Tokinada shouted, evading punches from the different golems emerging from the walls to join their brothers.
Shirayuki bit her lip, sighed, and then became a beautiful katana with a flowing ribbon. The young Soul Reaper's power surged tremendously as she screamed out.
"Dance, Sodeno Shirayuki! Tsugi no Mai Hakuren!"
A blast of freezing air travelled down to the deepest depths of the palace. Rukia could feel her skin begin to crack as it froze over, yet the pain was minuscule compared to the relief of the silence. She could no longer hear the screeching metal of the golems.
"Haha! Little Kuchki, you really are that stick-in-the-mud's little sister! Just look at that!" Tokinada approached the young woman, patting her back while gesturing to the frozen constructs and the perfectly frozen walls, floors and ceiling around them.
The nobleman attempted to shake her hand. Rukia looked down at his outstretched hand before gently moving it away with the hilt of her sword. Which only made the man happier, 'odd', she thought.
The duo made their way out of the remains of the castle. "What's going on with those things?"Rukia pointed the tip of her zanpakuto to the motts of purple light that were spinning faster and faster the more ground they covered between them and the palace.
"Hmm? Oh..." Tokinada turned back to look at the now swirling wall of purple light. "My master is most likely returning that old palace to when he pulled it from."
He smiled as the winds picked up while the light shone brighter than even the sun.
"What?!" Rukia shielded her eyes as, in the next instance, a flash of light engulfed her vision, and the palace disappeared.
The older noble shrugged, then asked, "Are you planning on telling the old Head Captain about my presence here?" The young woman narrowed her eyes, "What do you mean by that, Tokinada?"
"What else could I possibly mean? We both know you didn't believe my story in the slightest, so the only real thing to know is whether or not you are going to tell your beloved Head Captain."
Rukia cut into him. Her sword flashed before he could even move a finger. Tokinada fell to the ground, a gnarly gash streaked across his chest.