Spirit Ribbons of the Forsaken
By: Chris Harrington
Chapter one: Appearance
It's been ten years since the Winter War and life has slowly calmed in both the world of the living and the Soul Society. However trouble is brewing in the world of the hollows, Hueco Mundo is restless once again and in the meeting room of the 13 Court Guard Squads they wander why.
"Is everyone assembled?" asked Head Captain Yamamoto.
"No sir, the Captain of Squad nine hasn't arrived yet." Said Byakuya Kuchiki in his normal snobbish attitude.
"Where is he!" asked Yamamoto in an aggressive tone.
"Don't worry Head Captain he just turned the corner and is running at break neck speed towards this room." Said Mayuri Kurotsuchi.
Soon the rapid footsteps of the Captain could be heard and in a matter of seconds the doors flew open and there he stood with his orange spiky hair and his oversized zanpakuto attached to his back.
"Nice of you to join us Captain Kurosaki." Said Yamamoto as Ichigo stepped in his spot for the meeting to commence.
"Sorry about that I got lost from my new barracks and I still don't know my way around" Ichigo said as Ukitake and Kyoraku smiled at him, happy for his accomplishments.
"I understand Captain Kurosaki, however I expect you to arrive on time from here on out. If you are having trouble simply ask a member from your squad to assist you in matters such as this. Now that we are all assembled I will get to the heart of what this emergency meeting is about." Yamamoto said with a stern voice, "It appears that hollows are going missing in the world of the living, we don't know how yet but we have an idea, I'll allow Captain Kurotsuchi to explain his theories on the matter."
"Well it appears that they are using a new technique to take hollows and suppress their powers along with their presence without us knowing it." Mayuri stated as he was interrupted by Kenpachi.
"What kind of technique are you mumbling about Mayuri?"
"I'm not entirely sure yet, but from what the Stealth Force has found I can give you more information." Mayuri lifted his hand with the long finger nail and the room darkened and an image came up of small red crystal fragments.
"What is that?" asked Toshiro Hitsugaya.
"From what I can tell it's similar to the components of compressed raishi and sekki sekki rock. Small segments of it are quiet harmless to those who touch it however in large quantities it literally sucks out all of a beings spiritual energy rendering them powerless."
"Do we know when and where they've been gathering hollows like this?" asked Renji in a captain uniform for squad five.
"We believe they've been doing this for a very long time, it is quiet probable that they've been collecting hollows like this for years and we've just now picked up on it. As for locations they vary from place to place but the most recent activity was only twelve miles outside Karakura town." Said Mayuri as the lights came back on and the hologram went away.
"How did we find out about it to begin with?" asked Kyoraku.
"We have been receiving reports from many soul reapers sent to the world of the living who say they get a signal that a hollow is near but when they get there only crystallized fragments remain behind." Said Soi Fon as she gave her usual pissed look, "We considered these incidents to be trivial until they happened over and over again, our count is now up to three hundred hollows missing in this fashion."
"Captain Soi Fon I would like you to personally go to the world of the living and deal with this manner." Yamamoto said as Ichigo interrupted.
"Head Captain Yamamoto I humbly request that you allow me to go as well." He said as he was greeted with a death stare from Soi Fon.
"I don't see why I need you to come along Captain Kurosaki." Soi Fon said as she closed her eyes and awaited the judgment of Yamamoto.
"Forgive me Captain, but I do believe that I know the world of the living better than any of the people here, let alone Karakura town." Ichigo said very sternly, "And besides Captain I believe that every able person would be needed for this instead of leaving this to a mere few Soul Reapers."
"Are you saying that my squad and I wouldn't be able to finish this assignment?" Soi Fon yelled.
"That's enough, Captain Kurosaki I will permit you to assemble a group of your own to send to the world of the living separate from the Stealth Force." Captain Yamamoto said as the two captains settled down and stepped back to their respective spots in the meeting, "If there is no further information to be disclosed this meeting is over dismissed!"
Ichigo and the others left the meeting and Ichigo could feel the glare from Soi Fon behind him.
"You know ever since you became a captain you've gotten quiet cocky." Said Soi Fon as Ichigo turned around and gave her a glare back.
"And how long have you been cocky Captain Soi Fon if I am correct it happened when you became a captain. The only difference is that I have the power to back it up. If you don't like that then become the head captain and throw me out till then I'll keep doing my job and I won't stand for anyone trying to stop me from doing so." Ichigo turned around and walked away until he saw Soi Fon flash step in front of him.
"Just stay out of my way Captain Ichigo Kurosaki or I won't be responsible for my actions." Soi Fon said as she turned around and walked away similar to how Ichigo did to her.
"I can't stand her!" Ichigo mumbled as he walked to the large door to his barracks.
When the door opened Rukia and many other squad members were standing around the barracks but Rukia was wearing the arm band of a lieutenant of the ninth squad.
"What's going on Ichigo?" asked Rukia until she caught herself, "My apologies Captain Kurosaki."
Ichigo laughed slightly at hearing those words coming out of her mouth and she thought to herself, "Why the hell do I have to call him a captain!"
"There are many hollows disappearing in the world of the living and Head Captain Yamamoto has given me permission to form my own group to go along with Captain Soi Fon and the Stealth Force. I will lead the operation and I would like for volunteers to accompany me." Ichigo said as the others got very nervous and quiet.
Finally Rukia stepped up and raised her hand "I volunteer," Rukia said and soon three others raised their hands and Ichigo smiled to see that someone other than Rukia volunteered.
"Good we leave at eighteen hundred hours. Our objective is to find the ones responsible and capture them if possible. Unless anyone has any questions you can go back to your duties." The other members of the squad walked away from the order given to them by their captain, only Rukia stayed behind.
"Ichigo why do you ask for volunteers, you do realize that you can just order them to do what you want and they have to do it." Rukia said as she leaned back against a wall.
"True I can just order them to do as I command, but they have a right to be in whatever mission they wish. Plus I think that they dislike the idea of a Vizard commanding Soul Reapers." When Ichigo said that Rukia gave a worried look and Ichigo didn't know if it was a look of pity or sorrow, "Who were the ones who volunteered anyway?" Ichigo asked as Rukia's face went back to normal.
"That would be Third Seat Aki Mitsuo, fifth seat Daichi Takashi, and fifteenth seat Sato Daisuke. Why do you ask?" asked Rukia.
"Well I have some trouble with names and faces and I would like to overcome that." Ichigo said as he walked into his office and sat down in his chair, leaving the door open as he closed his eyes.
Soon Ichigo received the wakeup call that he was waiting for. In no time they were awaiting at the Senkaimon as the hell butterfly guided them to Karakura town. When they got there it was raining rather hard as the five Soul Reapers walked down the street. Ichigo could sense that Soi Fon and the Stealth Force had arrived many miles from Ichigo's position.
"Before we proceed I would like to ask you why you volunteered for this mission." Ichigo said as the three men gave him confused looks.
"I came along because I don't like taking advantage of your good will Captain." Said the one with dark red hair and a sleeveless Shihokusho.
"Do you two feel the same as Daichi?" asked Rukia and their response was a bow and a yes ma'am.
"Good then we'll get along swimmingly." Said Ichigo as he began to walk away in the pouring rain.
"Captain?" Daichi asked as Ichigo looked behind him.
"Well what are you waiting for? Let's get a move on!" Ichigo ordered.
The other three Soul Reapers quickly got the hint and scattered in opposite directions. Rukia stayed behind and walked with Ichigo.
"Rukia what are you doing following me around we would cover more ground if we split up?" Ichigo said as Rukia was shocked at his comment.
"It is my duty to protect my Captain, so why wouldn't I follow you?" Rukia said as Ichigo smirked.
"Usually it's the other way around." Ichigo said as he stopped smiling and looked to his right.
"What's wrong Ichigo?" Rukia asked as he grasped his zanpakuto.
"Someone's nearby and I think it's an Arrancar." Ichigo said as his smile came back for a second.
"What's the smile for Ichigo?"
"You'll see." Ichigo said as he flash stepped away and did so again and again jumping from roof top to roof top until they spotted a hollow in the middle of the street encased in red crystal, along with two beings standing around it. "Rukia look carefully at the one on the left."
Rukia did as Ichigo asked and gaped at the bein before her. She then looked at Ichigo and noticed that he was no longer there but walking down the street towards the crystallized hollow.
"So how's life been…Grimmjow?" Ichigo said as Grimmjow turned away from the crystal and locked shocked eyes with Ichigo's determined ones.
Soon Grimmjow's eyes changed to happy ones and he turned to face his enemy, "So I see they've promoted you to captain. The Soul Society must really be slipping up to have to rely on you as a Captain." Grimmjow said as Ichigo's Zangetsu was drawn from his back. "So you came here of all places to fight me," Grimmjow began to laugh slightly, "This must be my lucky day."
"Grimmjow you mustn't fight here we weren't given permission." A quiet girl with a purple ponytail said as he gave her a scary look.
Soon Grimmjow and Ichigo began to charge at each other and just inches from one another's throats a blade blocked Ichigo's Zangetsu and Grimmjow flew backwards and landed just shy from the crystallized hollow. Ichigo looked down and saw a Soul Reaper in a Shihokusho that had a tight fit around his torso and short sleeves just as tight.
"Grimmjow, Tenma take the new hollow and retreat." The Soul Reaper said.
"Damn it!" Grimmjow said as Tenma kicked the crystal's bottom connected to the ground and Grimmjow pushed it into a Garganta portal, soon they both followed after it. Rukia tried to charge the Garganta portal but she was blocked by the same Soul Reaper and the portal closed.
The Soul Reaper pushed Rukia back and took his stance with his zanpakuto. It was a shorter zanpakuto than most but the guard was oddly shaped curved at the top and bottom in an oval but in four places on the sides it was cut out in a triangle making it look like there were four parts to the guard only the sides were shorter. The grip on the hilt was as dark as the grip on Ichigo's Bankai.
"So I take it you're the ring leader?" Ichigo asked the short black haired Soul Reaper.
"You would be correct about that, am I to assume that you will continue fighting me until I am defeated?" he asked.
"You got that right." Ichigo and the other Soul Reaper disappeared in a flash step and reappeared over and over again, each time they reappeared they were clashing swords.
"They're both so fast I can't even see what's going on." Rukia thought as the battle continued, "They both must have massive spiritual pressure to move that fast."
Soon Ichigo and this other Soul Reaper had locked swords and couldn't release each other's from grip. The other Soul Reaper pushed back with all his might it seemed and pushed Ichigo back to where Rukia was and took his stance again.
"Rukia contact Squad Twelve and see if we can't get some surveillance on this guy." Ichigo said as he charged at the man again.
"This guy, how rude you could at least know my name and call me by it!" the man said as they clashed swords again and again.
"Well then tell me what it is." Ichigo ordered as the man locked swords and moved his face closer to Ichigo's.
"My name is Satoshi Hisashi… Hado Fifty Four Haien!" he said as purple flames pushed Ichigo back and when Ichigo sliced through it he saw that Satoshi was being swallowed up by a Garganta portal as he smiled at the poor captain, "Fear not Soul Reaper Captain, the Soul Society isn't my true enemy, at least not until it gets in my way." When the Garganta portal closed and Satoshi's form no longer existed in the world of the living the rain stopped completely.
"Rukia did we get surveillance on the guy?" Ichigo asked as Rukia shook her head.
"Ichigo what the hell's happening here and who was that guy?" Rukia asked as the other members flash stepped in the same area as Ichigo and Rukia.
"I don't know what happened but he was Satoshi Hisashi and I can't tell if he's an enemy or not." Ichigo said as a Senkaimon opened up behind him.
END OF APEARENCE.
Happy times
Soi Fon- why didn't you have me fight the intruders?
Me- cause I don't like you
Soi Fon- why don't you like me I'm a good person
Me- B.S. you're a cold hearted boobless dude shoulders and you know it.
Soi Fon- Sting all enemies to death Suzumebachi!
Me- holly shit is that really called for?