A Warning [CLOSED]

Tsubine had spent the past seventeen hours running full-tilt. He had left a hastily-scrawled note for Lilith. All it said was "Gotta warn people of what happened."[/color] Tsubine had kept his Hollow mask on for most of this trek. But as he neared the grey-walled fortress north of Sayamachi, the mask began to fall apart. He'd have enough for one more mitigation. Tsubine inhaled, then launched himself as high as he could in the air. He landed in the middle of the central courtyard, crushing a fountain and three topiary displays.

A few Mikazuki members stared in awe and confusion at the dusty crater. Tsubine stood and his hollow mask flaked off. He popped his neck. "ASRA," Tsubine yelled at the top of his lungs, "I KNOW YOU FELT THAT. GET OUT HERE." And as he finished that sentence, six armored figures surrounded him. They didn't have faces, nor did they entirely look human. Which was good, because none of them were. These were Asra El-Sayid's bodyguards—faceless automatons animated with artificial souls. They were mindless, but effective to a point. Asra himself appeared at the edge of the balcony.

The two stared at one another. There was a hardness in Tsubine's eyes, but Asra's only had annoyed disinterest. "Well, the traitor appears for a belated execu—" Asra began to speak, but Tsubine cut him off quickly. "Not today, Asra. I'm not here to fight you or your goons. I'm here to warn you." Asra smirked lightly. "Now that takes balls. Warn me of what? That you'll have your revenge?"

Tsubine rolled his eyes. "Not that either, dammit. I know you felt that... snap earlier. You've probably lost contact with Outpost 14, right?" Asra twitched. "Yeah, that's what I thought. The Crimson Edge was broken. Don't know how, don't know why. Hollows and a few Arrancar are pouring in. The Gotei is on the move. In a few hours, you'll probably be feeling a rush of Reiat—" The rush hit them at that moment, and although it was faint at this range they easily felt the rage within it. "Yeah, that's one of the Three Fists heading right for the break. The Gotei is going to be doing their best to deal with it, but we both know how well that'll be for the Shōjintoku."

 Asra relaxed slightly. "And? What do you want from this? Peace with the Gote—" "For the last fucking time, no. I know you'll never do that. What I want is for you to either stand aside or let your guys help. Just don't get in their way. They're not going to tolerate it. Honestly? I'd rather you just recall all your outposts back to Sayamachi or the bunkers, whichever is closer. Have them get anyone and everyone they can find and take them to safety. The Gotei is better-trained and equipped to deal with the Hollows en-masse. Y'all need to protect the people out here, since they won't."

Tsubine and Asra stared at one another in silence. The automatons still levelled their halberds at Tsubine. The other Mikazuki members murmured to themselves. Tsubine had betrayed the Mikazuki, right? He'd tried to kill Asra and then fled to the Gotei. So why was he warning them? The former right-hand man and his former boss were staring each other down. Everyone could feel the tension.

Asra broke the silence first. "It must truly be serious since you brought yourself here." Asra raised a hand and the automatons returned their halberds to the ready position and took a step back. "You're right that we felt that. Tell your Gotei allies that the Mikazuki will not stand in their way unless they interfere in our evacuations. I will not issue an order of cooperation, but I will not forbid it. Once the tear in the Crimson Edge is sealed, things will return to how it was before. But if they attack us, I will gladly use any means necessary rid the Soul Society of the Gotei Thirteen."

Tsubine let out a sigh. "Thank you, Asra." Asra waved it off. "Your thanks mean nothing to me. What is your aim in this, traitor?" Tsubine shrugged and smiled up at the white-haired man. "I'm gonna protect the people of the Shōjintoku like I always do. I ain't doin' this for the Gotei or the Mikazuki. I'm doin' this because there's a lot of people out there that can't fight and someone's gotta protect 'em." Asra shook his head. "You still believe that's what you're doing..." Tsubine shrugged again. "Asra, one more thing. I want Kanna's help on this." Asra stared at him hard and long. That was a dangerous proposition. But... "I will leave that up to her. If she decides to help you, then that will be her perogative. I will not interfere. Now if that is all... I will give you a free pass to leave this time, but next time only one of us will leave this place."

Without missing a beat, Asra was in front of Tsubine, hand extended. "Do you understand?" Tsubine and Asra shared a moment. This was the last chance they'd meet as allies in any sense of the word. Tsubine would be a kill-on-sight fugitive. They both were trying to help the Shōjintoku in their own ways. Both thought the other's heart was in the right place. In the end, both had the same goal. But the methods differed too much for them to ever agree again. "I understand." Tsubine shook Asra's hand. And without another word, he began to walk out of the fortress. The Mikazuki looked to Asra, confused on if they should let him go. He shook his head. "Let him leave this time. I will deal with him when the time is right. Right now, we have people to save." With a flourishing turn, Asra returned to the main complex. He had orders to give.