By the time Jyuushiro returned with lengths of rope for Rerugen, the elder Quincy appeared to be asleep sitting upright, one eye closed and the other half-closed, snout tilted slightly down, body relaxed and breathing even. He even had his wings curled tight around his body, likely shielding the younger Quincy from view.

Jyuushiro didn’t want to disturb the two, especially not the younger one. Not after what he’d managed to glean from Rerugen’s terse words and sharp comments.

(The boy deserved what rest he could get.)

Jyuushiro approached quietly and knelt to drop the ropes just beyond the barrier.

Rerugen’s eyes snapped wide open, bright and inhuman and gleaming with a power that Jyuushiro could see but not sense.

(The same power that formed the barrier that guarded Rerugen.)

(He felt blind and helpless before Rerugen’s abilities.)

(It was… unsettling.)

Sigils bloomed in the air around Rerugen, casting a strange glow all around him before fading out of sight once more. “Thank you for the supplies,” Rerugen said quietly. “I appreciate the assistance.”

He did and he didn’t, Jyuushiro could tell. Rerugen was an eminently practical man who hated relying on Jyuushiro — on a Shinigami — and yet who knew that he was better off doing so. And so he accepted Jyuushiro’s help and spoke in coldly polite tones and thanked him for everything Jyuushiro brought.

“Is there anything else?” Jyuushiro settled back on his heels and let his hands rest on his knees. “I didn’t mean to wake you—”

“You didn’t.” Rerugen tipped his muzzle down to point at the ropes then back up again in a motion that Jyuushiro couldn’t quite understand. It was as if the man couldn’t focus — perhaps his eyesight wasn’t the best at night? “I was resting but not truly asleep. Not the way humans understand the concept.”

“Is the boy..?”

Rerugen hummed a bit. “Ishida-kun is asleep as you understand it. I’ve also set a small piece of magic around him to muffle our voices.”

Jyuushiro relaxed at the confirmation, glad he hadn’t inadvertently disturbed someone who needed the rest. “Then may I ask one question?” Rerugen cocked his head and waited and Jyuushiro took that as indication to continue. “How do you intend to carry Ishida-kun with you, and have I brought enough rope for that purpose?”

Rerugen tipped his muzzle down towards the pile of rope again, a thoughtful silence settling over them. “I believe so,” he said slowly. “As for how, let me show you.”

“Show— oh!” Jyuushiro leaned forward to get a better look at the image of a miniature draconic head and neck that appeared in the air in front of him. He reached out, wondering if it was a construct, only for his fingers to sink into the image without even a ripple. “How..?”

“An illusion.”

Jyuushiro carefully hid the frown that wanted to emerge; he’d never heard of Quincy having access to illusions of any sort. Was Rerugen old enough to have his unique skill, or was this something that the Quincy had learned to do in response to the near genocide of their people?

(And did it truly matter?)

(He wished he could say no with confidence…)

“It works like this,” Rerugen said, while a bright green harness settled across the illusion’s head and neck. Loops went around the base of the illusion’s horns and two more further up. The ones at the base connected to a strap that went around the illusion’s neck just behind the head, and the whole think linked together and held up a harness that looked like it was made to hold a human torso. “What I make of those ropes will be… cruder than this, but that’s the concept.”

“Why behind your head, though? Surely that’s uncomfortable?” Jyuushiro ran a finger along the illusory strap that went around the dragon’s neck. And the one Rerugen would put on would be made of rope, not a leather strap like the illusion showed.

“No,” Rerugen said. The illusion twisted towards Jyuushiro, head raising up and more details of the neck resolving before his eyes. Heavy scales protected the image’s neck, even stretched out the way it was. “Our scales protect us. And this is easier to make than a harness to carry someone on our backs or at the base of our necks.”

Jyuushiro hummed and let his hand drop back into his lap, considering the harness design and then Rerugen himself. The man showed no interest in moving or otherwise disturbing Ishida. “Will you have time to craft that, in the morning?” Rerugen’s hesitation was all Jyuushiro needed to know his answer. “Then, if you don’t mind giving me instruction, I will gladly make it for you.”

Rerugen narrowed his eyes in suspicion and let the previous illusion fade away like mist. His tail-tip twitched once, thudding against the ground heavily before returning to stillness. “Very will,” he bit out. Another illusion snapped into being at Jyuushiro’s side, this one a duplicate of Rerugen in his current form. “Pick up the rope you brought and follow along. And if I go too fast or something doesn’t make sense, don’t hesitate to stop me.”

Jyuushiro nodded and pulled the pile of rope back to his side, eyeing the illusion as he did. It moved smoothly, realistically, like it was actually Rerugen sitting next to him instead of just a trick of power. It’s chest rose and fell with the motions of breathing and it even cast a shadow in the golden glow that emanated from the shield and illuminated all of them. He couldn’t see anything wrong with it, anything that stood out as incorrect to his senses beyond the figure’s lack of reiatsu.

If this had been the human world, if the illusion had been of a human, Jyuushiro wouldn’t have even looked twice.

(And wasn’t that a terrifying thought.)

(Surely… surely that meant this had to be Rerugen’s special skill, the unique ability that set him apart from all other Quincy that ever lived.)

Jyuushiro mentally gave himself a shake; Rerugen wasn’t his enemy. Rerugen’s goal was to see Ishida and the other ryoka safe. So long as he threatened none of them, Rerugen was unlikely to turn his skills against him.

He understood protectiveness. Understood the desire to guide and guard. Whoever Rerugen had once been, Jyuushiro was certain the man had been a leader and a well-loved one at that.

(How could he not be? So protective over a child he’d only just met. So invested in the wellbeing of others he hadn’t yet met.)

Jyuushiro laid out a length of rope as the illusion did so. Let Rerugen’s careful, even instructions and the illusion’s equally deliberate actions guide his hands. Settled in to make a harness for a Dragon to carry a teen into battle.

(Settled in to commit treason and save Kuchiki Rukia from an unjust fate.)