Rebel Hideout

Walking across the deserted lands was a familiar face. The shinigami Aki Mifune walking alone with only her zanpaktou in her hand. After 5 years she has retained much of her still innocent face, fragile body, the missing arm. The only thing different is her hair and outfit. Her clothes different to be easier to walk around in the lands. The only thing same was her haori. The ends tattered and ripped.

She lifted her cracked goggles and her hood down. She stared at the location. The Rebel's hideout. Smiling she spoke, "Finally I'm here... I hope to see some familiar faces... or any faces at all." She walked closer until she was right in front of the hideout. She quietly walked in and shouted, "Anyone here?"

-sketch of her new looks-

Spoiler:

"Divided by time, they now reunite, shinigami's... hollows, non-humans all alike."

Claire sat atop the broken Ferris Wheel onlooking the vast wasteland, from a far she could see a familiar figure, a distant memory in her now current state.

She looked different, more human in her new appearance, her hair longer, her childishness still present, but with one look anyone can tell there's something different about her. She looked slightly order, more dangerous, more used and abused, more human.

She moved her right hand reaching something in her pocket, hesitant, she changed her mind slightly annoyed reached for the duflle bag just behind her and unpacked it, she assembled something that looked like a normal sniper gun from afar, but up close, it glowed of pale blue.

She spoke from the lapel. "Intruder, 12 o'clock." she aimed for the stranger nearing the base, but she didn't fire, feeling something was wrong with what she's doing. "Orders?" she asked.

Spoiler:

She slowly walked, cautious of every step. But no one was there. Aki sighed and fell to the floor laying down. She felt a hint of people... but barely. She let go of her sword and took out a piece of stale bread from her pocket and ate it. "... So tired... three days of walking and no one..." Aki grabbed her sword again and took a deep breathe and closed her eyes.

"I wonder if souls like me can die of exhaustion... ne Drocell?" Her zanpaktou now was more like an empty piece of metal. "Anyone at all?"Sitting up, aki sat crossed legged with her zanpaktou resting on her shoulder.

"Don't shoot" the voice from the other replied cautiously as if it discovered a secret it shouldn't have. Claire listened to the transmission and it seemed the person she's talking to was on the move. It was not later that the transmission got cut exceeding it's area scope.

Claire saw the other person then running in a camouflage suit, suited for a wasteland. She was running towards the stranger, Claire sighed as she watched. "What are you up to now, Rei-sama" she asked.


-----


Rei tracked the vile desert of the wasteland, fighting to get to the stranger she deemed significant, and when she reached her, she almost did not recognize her small tortured figure. "Poor thing..." she thought as she stopped to a halt inches away from her, she knelt before Aki and reached out for her, but held back then spoke.""Aki..." she called. "You're alive."

Aki did not realize the person before her. She turned around ready to draw her blade but saw a face and smiled before falling back to the ground. Aki faced her with a smile, laying on the cold ground, "Finally, a voice.... I'm not alone." She raised her hand waiting for her to reach out also, "You are really here.... right? I'm not ready to die and your the angel ready to take me away?" Aki let out a small laugh.

Rei smiled at the fragile figure in front of her, wondering if it would be safe to tell her who she was, or maybe she already knew. She handed her a jug of water before speaking once more. "Im real... Can you walk? Are you hungry?" she asked questions she knew the answer too, she was just so thrilled to see someone like her still lurking around the world of the living.

Like all everyone else, she only learned to adapt to her surroundings, but it seemed, after five years, Aki couldn't catch up as much. Who could blame her.

Aki tried to get up but stumbled. She sat on the ground and gladly took the water. "Thank you." Aki sipped the water slowly coughing a bit after each sip. "I'm okay... I had some bread I found on the ground before...Are... are you alone also?" She asked smiling. "I heard this.. place I could go. It was a hideout. But it seems really, empty. I apologize for my... presentation, the last 5 years haven't been so great. Especially nowadays with some of my power fading."

It seemed everyone was affected by the disappearance of powers but now was not the right time to talk about it. "Follow me" Rei suggested. "It's not safe to talk out here especially when it's nearing nightfall, the probes will come out soon."

She helped Aki up and lead her to the infamous hideout. There was a broken ferris wheel atop a half sunken building, there were no closed doors, nor any windows, just a hollow shell that used to be a building of some sort. A car conveniently parked in the wrong area just right inside the sunken building, Rei opened the hood and entered. "Right this way."

Of course... the hide out was hidden. hidden underground.

Aki walked once again putting up all her strength to reach the hideout. "huh, I'm such a idiot... after years of games, and 5 years of being in this wasteland. Why did I think the hide out was so easy to find." Aki laughed and walked into the underground hideout."I really couldn't believe anyone else would be alive... uh... your name?"

"uhm.." Rei hesitated, it was as if people no longer introduced them selves or rather, it's been a while since she last heard the question. "You can call me Rocker."

They reached the first level below and right beside the stairway was Claire. "And this one over here, is Sniper." Rei introduced them. "My little sister."

Sniper waved at her and said nothing, she walked ahead of them and moved the statue decoy, behind it was a door, and behind that door an elevator, another hidden passage that leads to the real hide out, they can never be to careful.

"Forgive her." Rei laughed. "She's not used to new people, she tries her very best to protect us all from outside threats."

Aki gave them a bright smile, "Rocker, and Sniper. What great names really. I like them, you sound so strong. Though your sister... sniper... looks very familiar... Or it must be my weak mind thinking back to the past" Aki was astonished by the number of hidden passages. She hasn't seen anything like it since her division. It gave her some boost of energy to run ahead of Rocker. "Amazing! A thing like this under a world of rubble."

Sniper smirks as she held the button that keeps the elavator door opened. Rei on the other hand joined Aki in her little surge of enrgy. "I KNOW RIGHT!!!" she agreed laughing aloud whilst doing a semi chicken cheer dance.

"Just like a rabbit." Claire said. "We should call her that, Rabbit."

Rei stopped, "That's not nice." Rei retorted. Claire only shrugged.

"We should head down." Rei said. "Boss wants to meet you."

Aki laughed alongside her in joy, "Rabbit? Hahaha it's like a code name!" Aki leaned against the wall, "The boss? woah... well I guess I should expect a leader in a place like this." Aki was impressed, out of all the rubble was like a small civilization. Nothing she would have imagined from the rebel's hideout.

"Yeah... we follow a chain of commands.. And, no you dont have to take the name, its an insult." Rei glared at Snipper, but she was indifferent. "Follow me." Rei said stepping inside the elevator expecting Aki to follow her.

---

It was a long way down, but by the speed they were going, it was almost as if the elevator was aiming to scare the shit out of anyone riding it, then it goes at full stop, Rei and Sniper were unaffected by this puny scare, but Rei looked a little worried about Aki.

"Were here." Rei said stepping out of the 'coffin-lift' as they like to call it. Sniper stayed inside the lift and pressed up. From bellow the lift could be seen and the speed it went up was the at exactly the same speed as it went down.

Aki shook a bit and held onto Rocker as the elevator moved and stopped, the speed wouldn't normally bother her, but in her state now. It was a bit much. Aki exited slowly watched Sniper go back up. "Amazing, the technology you have..." Aki trotted behind Rocker a bit nervous aince they were underground. It wasn't the type of area she was used to. Escaping if nesscesary seemed hard.

"I heard we have company" Seven spoke from the darkness, the place looked like an underground sewer, only it was more advanced with sliding doors, cameras left to right and mecha machinery. It seemed there were more lifts like the one the used.

"Hello." Seven lightly lifted his hat and handed Aki a single rose. This made Rei gag a bit, but Seven ignored her.

"The boss will be with us in a second."

Aki took the rose and smiled, taking out a small book from one of her small pouches and pressing the flower in it. "All sorts of people, Theres technology, flowers, and water..." Aki smiled, maybe now there was some hope in living once again. To save the world.

Will slowly emerged from on open area from a lower ground area. "A little more!!" he yelled to someone and it replied to his demand, he was sitting over a mecha the size of a house.

He slid from what looked like the mecha's head to the ground and stood ground, he was now standing inches away from Aki, his back arched like a half moon, his face inches away from here seemingly studying her.

"Im Ferris, Ferris Will." he introduced him self, face still inches away from her, then held his hands together making a small clap sound. "What would your name be, little one?"

Aki's defense grew a bit gripping her zanpaktou and tensing up. The man that seemed to be the leader scared her a bit. "My....my name is Aki...Aki Mifune... It's nice to meet you. Ferris." She said smiling. She couldn't raise her hand to try and shake his. Since her left arm was missing and her right holding her sword. So she bowed lightly.

Will stepped back a bit feeling that he scared her a bit, she was after all just a child to him, he removed his mask to give her a better image of what he looked like, giving her no reason to fear him. He had green hair standing up like grass, he smiled at her. Then turned to her right arm. "How did you loose your arm?" he asked more than concerned.

He had a way to give her an arm, but he wasn't sure if she trusted him enough to go over the procedure.

Aki saw he was ordinary, and relaxed a bit. She looked at her arm and smiled a bit, "I lost it in battle... with a once called friend..." Her eyes filled with sadness though a light smile showed. "I've learned to adapt without it... but I wish I could do the same with this world. How have you all lived so well, for so long?"

"We... we made ways..." Will was not proud with what they were, but there's no other way he could put it to words, or explain to her how they lived this long. "Lets just say we took from the greedy and gave it to the needy." He was no Robin hood, he was just like any other crook to the eyes of the many, he was out to get the head of the world, yet he hides him self in the shadows, he was no hero, he was a dreamer.

"Some day, we will take the world back and start a new, but in times of war, no one is innocent." In this war, everyone was a victim, but everyone were sinners as well.

"Would you like... to have an arm? A mecha arm."

Kyouga managed to get past security, and took an elevator down to the underground base shortly after Akki. "Sorry for being late. It's good to see you again, Akki. Kyouga said calmly as he walked out of the elevator. "For those that don't know me, I am Kyouga Minamoto." Kyouga introduced himself politely to the rest of the rebels.

Aki nodded, "I agree, I went through some inhumane things. No one is innocent in times like these..." Than her face rose at his question, But looked down again. "I feel my arm is a reminder of the sins I've done... though... I would like to have it back... "

She than turned around to see Kyouga, still alive, and looking much better than how she was doing. "... well his powers seem still fully active..."