The Flower Maiden

**The Flower Maiden** is the seventh episode of the Bleached Wolf's Rain series.

The group finally come across Cheza, the Flower Maiden, but find themselves being tracked by Lord Orkham's soldiers.

## Summary

In a beautiful, paradise-like land, a young man, revealed to be Darcia, laughs as he chases after a young woman. She falls, and he goes over to her, Hamona asking him what he sees. Confessing that it is her beauty, he then promises that one day they will go to Paradise together. However, she tells him that when they're together, they will always be in Paradise. Everything seems peaceful for them. That is, until they start going wrong for Darcia, who learns that Hamona has suffered from Paradise Sickness, and that her soul is slowly fading away. He looks at Cheza inside of a bubble tank, believing that she will save him from this "despair".

In the present, the group is making their way through a forest. Toboe notices that there aren't any animals around, Hige commenting that they probably ran when they saw them. During that time, Renji recalls how Ichigo said he didn't know the name of his zanpakuto, so he asks him how long he's been a Soul Reaper. Although he reveals it hasn't been long, he goes on to tell him that Rukia helped him get his powers, which takes Renji by surprise, since he happens to know her. As Ichigo asks how, the wolves hear a sound that confirms the presence of a Noble's ship.

Sitting in the ship, Darca has Cheza, who he plans on taking to the castle where she was "born". The next thing he knows, a larger ship has tracked him down, commanded by Yoruichi, the commander of Orkham's retrieval. While her lieutenant wonders what their approach should be, she knows that Darcia is the one who took Cheza, and she wants to make sure they retrieve her alive. She orders they fire a warning shot. Following orders, she ship fires a few laser shots, but Darcia's ship outmanuevers them, until it opens up with more laser shots. From where they are, the group sees what's going on, when Kiba starts moving. It's when Ichigo asks him what it is, he replies that he senses something, then breaks into a run, the others following him. Kiba can sense Cheza on Darcia's ship, while she senses him.

She gets up from where she is, which makes Darcia get up to see what she's doing, when out of nowhere, his ship gets hit. Calling out to Cheza, he watches her turn around to look at him as he tries to grab her hand, but Darcia misses, and she falls out of the ship.Still on the move, Hige is the first to see her, spinning into descent. On his ship, Darcia watches, when he rubs the cover on his left eye and smiles, until his ship crashes.

The group climbs up towards the mountain top, Toboe telling Kiba that he has a strange feeling in his chest, and asks if that's what he felt earlier. He admits it is, when Hige mentions that Cheza's scent is mixed in with a Noble's, Tsume slightly annoyed by this.

Meanwhile, Yoruichi and her team set up base in the ruins of a castle. Her team start to wonder where they are, allowing her to explain that the castle was one of a few that was once used by the Darcia family, and that there were once lunar flowers that bloomed in the mountain valley.

As the group progresses through the forest, Toboe claims to feel warm inside. While Hige feels infatuation, like being with a girl, Tsume is getting a chill. However, Ichigo and Renji don't know what they're talking about as they try to make sense of it.

They find themselves as a small lake, until Kiba is the first to notice a beautiful girl, the others curious as to who she is.It's then that he starts walking over to her as she gets up.Reaching her, Kiba says her name, causing Cheza to smile, and kneels as he appears in his wolf state. She caresses his fur, until she embraces him, saying that they "meet at last". Ichigo and the others take this in as Hige tells them that she is the Flower Maiden. Taking Kiba by the hand, she tells everyone to follow her. Again, Hige confirms her to be the Flower Maiden, which has the others question what Cheza really is. He reveals that she's a girl that was created from lunar flowers by Nobles. Despite the fact that Tsume doesn't believe it, Ichigo thinks otherwise, pointing out that her being with them should be proof enough. Agreeing with him, Hige thinks it's really something, but thinks it's a shame because Cheza seems to take more of a liking to Kiba than anyone else. Unknown to the group, the soldiers are tracking them as Cheza brings them to an abandoned lab, where she tells them that it's the place where she was "born". Running over, she informs her "friends" that she has come home, only to find that all the plants have withered and died, bringing a sadness on her. All of a sudden, Hige picks up the scent of the soldiers that are closing in from outside.

Tsume turns his attention towards Cheza in frustration, until he sees the look of panic on her face that makes her feel guilty, Kiba assuring him that it's not her fault. Agreeing, Renji suggests that they will have to fight if they want to survive. With that, Ichigo draws his large sword, and admits that he's never fought ordinary people, but is ready to fight them off. The soldiers move in, Ichigo making the first move, taking one of them out. Seeing this, the other soldiers open fire, which he shields and throws off, until Tsume, Hige, and Toboe deal with them. While Renji taks out a couple of them, one of them aims their assault rifle at Cheza, but Kiba gets in the way and attacks him. After a while of fighting, Tsume states that they're trapped, until Toboe calls out to them that Cheza found a way out. Checking for themselves, they see her as she informs them to follow her.

Outside, Yoruichi receives an update from on of the soldiers that one of their units spotted their target with some boys, which catches her interest. That's when they hear shouting, and look to see a solider get taken out, until she sees Cheza running with the group, the soldiers going after them. Yoruichi takes in what she saw: that Cheza was smiling.

Following her, Ichigo and the others find themselves at a dead end, a tree blocking the way as Toboe wonders what they're going to do. It's Hige who jokes that they could turn themselves in, but Renji doesn't find it funny, Hige claiming he was kidding.

Suddenly, Cheza opens a pathway through the tree for them to take, allowing them to escape. Not long afterwards, Yoruichi and her team catch up, only to find that they have reached a dead end. The lieutenant orders to keep searching, while she wonders how the group managed to get away.

## Appearances In Order

* Lady Hamona
* Darcia The Third
* Neige
* Toboe
* Hige
* Ichigo Kurosaki
* Renji Abairi
* Kiba
* Tsume
* Cheza
* Yoruichi Shihoin
* The Lieutenant
* Soldiers

## Notes & trivia

* This is the first episode to feature the group together (Ichigo, Kiba, Renji, Tsume, Hige, and Toboe).
* Yoruichi is revealed to not only be the head of the research division in Freeze City, but also the commander of Orkham's soldiers.
* A bit of Darcia's backstory is shown in this episode, explaining why he took Cheza.