Silence echoed around them for a few moments, until Kisuke spoke again.
"Something is wrong,” he murmured, low voice still clear enough for his companions to hear. “It’s not Toshiro trying to keep us out. It’s Hyourinmaru, protecting something or someone,: he continued. Kisuke was not talking to one person. He was speaking to each one of them in the cave.
Kotaishi piped up from his position as his master's pillow.
"For any zanpakuto to react like this," he said, "one's master must be in great peril. We are not here to react and cause chaos as Hyourinmaru is right now. We exist solely to protect, serve, and fight for our masters. This storm Hyourinmaru created means that Toshiro Hitsugaya is unable to protect himself. That would mean one of two things: he is either severely injured or dead."
"Kotaishi," Tsukiro snapped, “that's only an assumption. Let us make confirmations when we get there. Then, hopefully, we can try to calm Hyourinmaru, find out what is going on, and why he's been trying to drive us away."
The leopard snorted. I figured you all would benefit from some experience, he said to Tsukiro in his mind.
Truthfully, Tsukiro didn't want to acknowledge that Kotaishi could be right. He wanted to believe that the captain was at least alive and that Hyourinmaru was just being over protective for Hitsugaya's sake.
"Kotaishi is right, Tsukiro,” Kisuke declared. “No, don’t look at me like that,” he snapped as Tsukiro turned a glare on him. “The power behind his attacks is too much for just being over protective.”
“Given, we are in the godly realm, but there is no need for a god to travel to the cave in the same manner as us. A snap of their fingers and they’re there. If one of the Gods wanted in, Hyourinmaru wouldn’t stand a chance. That’s a fact.”
Kisuke sighed, adjusting his hat. “We need to rethink our plan of entry and defense. If we attack, Hyourinmaru will only fight back harder, making it more difficult for us in the end.” Taking a seat on the ground of the cave, Kisuke went into think mode.
---
Phoenix watched the three in silence as she leaned against the cave wall, all but forgotten. That suited her fine. While the other remained oblivious to her, the goddess pulled out a small object that looked like a cats eye marble from her pocket and set it down on the rock where Juushiro had laid his haori out to dry. Juushiro and Kisuke would know what to do with the teleportation stone, sadly, though, they could only use it once. She hoped they acted wisely. Snapping her fingers, Phoenix vanished from the cave.
----
