This is a side story developed to help bridge the gaps in the Transcendence storyline and fix continuity issues with the story. For example this chapter details Zangetsu and his talk with Ichigo in the recent chapter of Transcendence. This will be a compilation of many different events and stories that happened during the time Ichigo was on Azeroth and ties in several characters throughout the story that have been affected by Ichigo. Directly or indirectly.

Transcendence: Gaiden

Fear of the Unknown

He could feel it, something was in the air and the ground, a presence that was causing this. He wouldn't call it reaitsu, or even spiritual pressure, but simple something was here and doing this and he felt it. Made his skin crawl, that was something that he never expected really, and he was even more unnerved when he heard something.

'Ichigo… we must talk… now…'

"Ichigo, what is wrong?" Anaesia asked, yet he didn't give her a reply. "Ichigo?"

He looked up and his frown deepened, what he had just heard did not sound very comforting. It may be the forest frazzling his nerves or just the way things were going today but he felt a knot in his stomach. Zangetsu wanted to talk with him and he needed to do so in private, turning he decided to make that happen.

"I need a moment; I'll catch up in a minute, just need to talk with somebody first." Ichigo replied, his scowl firmly in place and his feet carrying him to a more secluded and less corrupted section of the Bough.

When she gave no further response he picked up the pace, glad that she at least understood he needed some privacy. But now he needed somewhere that no one would find him, and hopefully somewhere that didn't have the presence of rot and decay.

A minute or two later he found one that looked decent enough to use, the leaves were still mostly green and the grass only looked dry rather that outright dead. With his surroundings at least appearing to be lively and peaceful he began to focus his mind.

In a few moments the world began to dim and the colours began to fade away, the slightly breeze disappeared and the world seem to slow to a crawl. When he looked up he found his Zanpakuto standing right in front of him, waiting patiently for Ichigo.

"Alright, what did you want to talk about, Zangetsu?" Ichigo asked, frowning as he wanted to know why the Old Man wanted him here.

"Ichigo, I wish to know if you can sense the presence of what is causing the corruption of this forest." Zangetsu asked bluntly, yet the intensity of his stare behind that visor of his brokered that he wasn't being rhetorical or attempting to test him.

Ichigo tried to do as he was told and extend his senses out to try and find what Zangetsu was referring to. He felt the ambient spiritual energies around him, they were very potent here and strong, it reminded him of the Soul Society in a way. Yet he could feel the underlying taint of whatever was infecting the plants here, he could feel it moving and seeping into the flora and consuming its energy and life but leaving behind something else.

"Do you feel it?" Zangetsu asked, freeing Ichigo from his screening attempt.

"Yeah, I can feel something there, but it feels like some kind of energy, like a virus or something is moving through the plants." Ichigo said, even as the world around him passed at a snail's pace he could still feel the corruption spreading quickly. "What the hell is it? I don't even know if something like this is even possible."

"This is the result of some form of entity, be it intended or just an after effect of its arrival, its mere presence is causing the decay and rot we see now." Zangetsu responded, glancing around at the darkened world and grimacing as he looked at the woods.

"Do you know what it is? What is doing this?" Ichigo asked, if this was Theradras than they needed to stop her fast.

He had heard the legend of how she had stripped the entire Desolace of all life, leaving it nothing more than a barren wasteland. If she could do that maybe she was planning on doing the same here, ripping the lifeforce of all energy from the plants and trees to make herself stronger.

"I do not know what is the cause, yet I know that it is something that goes beyond anything you have ever faced before, it is something that's existences fills me with dread." Zangetsu said, while he did not show any emotions his words conveyed them enough.

Ichigo was dumbstruck at the earthshattering proclamation; Zangetsu had said in not so many words that he was afraid of this thing. The Old Man had been a rock and unshakable pillar that had always stayed upright and never allowing himself to be brought low. To hear those words from him, words he never expected to hear from the man who had helped him overcome his own doubts and fears, was in their own right horrifying.

"Ichigo, I ask that you go no further with this, turn away from this mission and this beast that dwells at the end of this journey." Zangetsu said, looking at Ichigo with a gaze that was one half serious and the other something he couldn't quite identify. "I cannot protect you from what is to come, not against something like this, you will not survive against it. Turn back while you still can."

"What the hell are you talking about?" Ichigo demanded, shaken from his stupor at the sheer irrationality of the Zanpakuto's words.

This man had never once in his life ever told him to back down or give up, to move forward and never stop, to never hesitate or step back. This man had taught him what he needed to keep him going, to create a mantra in which to remind him of what it means to be himself.

He had dragged him out of the despair and pain he suffered when he came to Azeroth. He suffered from the traumatic memories of his survival in the Nether, being hunted and killing to survive. He had let the fear take hold and hold him back when he should never doubt himself, never be afraid to swing his sword or when an enemy attacks. Zangetsu reminded him of who he was and allowed him to face his demons and conquer them.

"This isn't you! You aren't making any sense! You taught me never go anywhere but forward and not to allow anything to stop me!" Ichigo yelled, glaring at the spirit that was contradicting his own wisdom. "How can you be afraid of this thing? After all we have faced how you, of all people, can back down?"

Zangetsu did not reply at first, instead he hung his head as he tried to give voice to his inner turmoil and what he felt while here.

"I see more than you Ichigo, where you fail to grasp at the thin threats of this creature and what it is, I am able to perceive just what it is." Zangetsu replied. "I can feel it taking the energies away from here, turning them towards something foul and evil, the very energy being turned towards malevolence darker than the souls of the most twisted of Hollows."

He could feel the particles being changed, the very essence and presence within each one being turned towards something twisted and heinous. It was as if the very entity that now corrupted this Bough intended to turn the very essence of the spiritual energies here from a serene aura to one of malice.

While it was known that entities that live in specific places for a time would leave an imprint on the land, such as Hueco Mundo being filled with such despairing energies that sapped the life from you. The Bough was once the same, a tranquil forested area that made one feel safe and almost allowed them to rest.

"You can feel it, this place is being fed the same twisted dark aura that exuded from the being that casts it, and his influence is stronger through the portal to the Dream." Zangetsu said. "If he can expand his influence and cause this kind of taint than you do not want to face him in the flesh."

Ichigo was silent all the while, his eyes never leaving the Zanpakuto spirit that continued to try and dissuade the substitute from continuing this mission. He couldn't believe what Zangetsu was trying to do, he respected him and often listened to his wisdom because it never led him astray. But he couldn't listen to this, words spoken out of fear and doubting his resolve to face what is causing this corruption.

"I have followed your instructions for a long time Zangetsu, every time you helped me I had faith that you would lead me in the right direction and I was never disappointed." Ichigo said, his words were calm and direct. "You have been there to pick me up and push me on when no one else could; you helped me when I was my weakest. On the precipice of defeat you were there when I needed you, before anyone else."

Ichigo's gaze hardened and his resolve had not been shaken even with the enigmatic words from the Zanpakuto spirit.

"I have people here counting on me, I will never abandon them when they need me at a moment like this." Ichigo continued, stepping forward and standing right in front of the black cloaked Zanpakuto. "Even if they have an army ready to aid in stopping this, and have a full proof plan, I will still be there to help them, because in the end I will do what I am meant to do regardless if I am called to do it or not."

He turned from his Zanpakuto spirit, ever so noticeably the world began to return to its natural pace and the colours that were washed out now began to return. Ichigo continued to trek away but not before giving Zangetsu one final message.

"I don't know what it is you felt, but I have faced all kinds of things that scared me and thought I would never win against." Ichigo continued. "But I faced them and no matter the obstacle or enemy before me I will not surrender until I am victorious. You taught me that, to fight not for the hell of it, not just to survive, fight to win. That is what I am going to do here."

With those final words he left the clearing, the world returned to its normal hue, he would meet back up with Iyeana and get underway. Even as his mind lingered on Zangetsu's warning, one that refused to be forgotten and cast off like an unimportant piece of trivia. He knew that ignoring his council was a bad move, so he would learn about this enemy and make the decision on his own.

But as Zangetsu returned to the young Substitute's Inner World he couldn't help but growl in frustration at Ichigo's stubbornness. The one time he had asked him to follow a direction where his survival was key, that required him to run and escape, he refused to listen.

'My own fault it seems, I taught him to overcome doubt and fear, and yet I try to take away his courage.' Zangetsu mused.

But deep down he knew that whatever was causing this was something he could not face, an entity that could inspire such fear in him. He recalled the memories of feeling like this before, one that was not his own and neither belonged to Ichigo. A fear of a single man and the ruthless savagery he employed to achieve victory, it was a fear that begets respect.

"But this is not the same." Zangetsu said, this fear was more primal and horrifying, what he sensed and felt touched him and shook him to the core.

Not because of what it felt like, the energy and very souls of the Bough were drenched in malevolence and wickedness, but what happened when he touched that energy. It was for only a moment but he was certain, when he touched and felt this evil, something else touched him and looked right back into him.

Never before had something inspired this kind of fear within him, not even the Flame God one thousand years ago. This… was so much worse.

Hope you enjoyed it.