A/N: This is the origin story of my Original Character: Cain Nightshade. For those you have read my other Bleach story, True Darkness, you are somewhat familiar with this character, if you haven't read that, it might help but it's not necessary.
Disclaimer: I'm only saying this once; I do not own Bleach or any of the characters and never will. Cain Nightshade and any other OC's are mine.
Bleach: The Lost Saga
Chapter One: Death
March 29, 1903
As the sun began to rise over the city of Tokyo, the populous started to make their ways outside to begin their days, and a young man of eighteen watched the city awaken from the rooftop of his family's manor. The young man's father was a wealthy merchant from Europe who came to Japan to make a fortune. His name was Cain Nightshade.
Cain's family had moved here eight years ago, and quickly became very wealthy. Cain had resented his father for deciding on the move, but had adjusted well to this country.
As the sun fully rose Cain sighed and mumbled to himself, "I suppose I should head down, today's the day." As he said this he ran his fingers through his chin length black hair. He looked out over the city once more, then up at the sky, narrowing his eyes when he saw a slight shimmer. He then felt cold for a moment then whispered, "I have a bad feeling about today." With that he headed back to the stairs to go inside.
As Cain neared the dining room he could hear his family talking amongst themselves, particularly his father asking his sister, "Where is your brother?"
"I don't know, probably on the roof like usual," his younger sister of age seven, Lilith, replied.
"I'm right here, I was watching the sunrise," Cain said simply as he sat down, barely sparing his father a glance.
"Happy birthday Nii-san!" Lilith exclaimed as she jumped up to hug her brother.
"Thank you Lilith," he said as he returned the embrace with a smile. His father simply grunted to this, which Cain replied with a curt nod.
"Yes, happy birthday dear," his mother said as she came in with the breakfast she had prepared.
"Thank you mother, and that smells delicious," Cain replied with another smile as Lilith returned to her seat and breakfast was placed on the table.
The family ate breakfast in silence until Cain's father finished and asked in a serious tone, "So Cain, are you ready to start working at the shipping company?" Cain's father owned his own shipping company, and expected Cain to take over someday.
Lilith and their mother exchanged a concerned look as they felt the tension build up immediately.
Cain calmly put the bite of food he was about to eat back on the plate before replying, "You know damn well that I want nothing to do with your shipping company."
"It is the family business and has provided us with more wealth than anything you could possibly do in this country," his father shot back.
Cain calmly stood up and said, "Say whatever you want, but I will not have anything to do with it." With that he walked out of the dining room to go to his bedroom to get changed for the day, Lilith quickly got up to follow him.
Lilith waited outside Cain's room as he got changed, he soon emerged wearing the typical European clothing: slacks, an undershirt, and a dark jacket.
"Where are you going Cain?" Lilith asked in a sad tone.
"I just need to take a walk to clear my head, I'll be back soon enough," Cain replied as he ruffled his sister's hair affectionately.
As he began to walk away she asked, "Have you seen any lately?"
Cain stopped as he answered, "Only a few, and they seemed frightened about something. And I've heard strange howls at night, something's not right." With that said he continued on his way. Cain had been able to see spirits since he turned twelve, only his sister knew he had the ability to see and interact with spirits. He has also heard two voices in head, both muffled and impossible to interpret what they were saying, he kept this fact to himself.
Cain managed to get out of the house without encountering his father again, and began to walk down the side of the road towards the shops that were opening. As he walked down the road he was greeted by several of the locals he was familiar with, and he looked around to see no spirits in the immediate area.
After he stopped at a stand and purchased a rice ball, he sat down at the edge of a stream to rest for a few minutes in peace.
As he finished his rice ball he heard a female child's voice, "You're the one who can see us right?"
He looked up to see a small girl who looked to only be around the age of his sister, but the chain attached to her chest revealed that she was in fact the spirit of a deceased child.
"Yes, I can see you. Is there something I can help you with?" Cain asked, he had learned that because he could see them, spirits were often attracted to him to ask if he could help them finish something before passing on.
"Well…could you come with me to my hiding place, I hid something that belongs to my mother there, and I want to give it back to her," the girl asked hesitantly.
Cain smiled slightly before standing and replying, "Very well, lead the way…uh…what is your name?"
"Kagura, and you?" the girl replied.
"My name is Cain, lead the way Kagura," Cain answered as they began to walk away. As they walked away, the air above them shimmered slightly, and two yellow eyes appeared along with the sound of malevolent laughter before it vanished again.
"I can't seem to find it, are you sure it's here?" Cain asked as he searched the girl's hiding place, a small fort made in a thicket surrounding a large tree.
"Yes, it has to be here, maybe by that rock," Kagura insisted in an urgent tone.
As Cain moved the stone out of its resting place, a small golden charm on a chain. "Is this what I'm looking for?" Cain asked as he held the charm up for Kagura to see.
"Yes, that's it! Now we can bring it to my mother!" Kagura exclaimed happily, and began to lead Cain towards her home, meaning she took off running and Cain had to catch up before he lost sight of her.
As they neared the house, they found Kagura's mother sitting outside with tears still in her eyes. "Is there anything you want me to tell her for you?" Cain asked quietly.
Kagura thought for a moment before replying, "Tell her I love her, and not to worry about me." Cain nodded as they walked up to the woman.
Kagura's mother looked up as Cain approached and asked, "Can I help you?"
"I have something for you," Cain said as he held out the golden charm for her to see.
She gasped as she took it from him and stuttered, "H-how did you…"
"Kagura showed me where it was, and wanted me to give it to you," Cain relied in a gentle tone.
"My daughter? She died a week ago how could she have…" she trailed off as Cain began to speak again.
"She says that she loves you, and not to worry about her," Cain stated as he placed a reassuring hand on her shoulder.
"Thank you so much," she replied as she began to tear up.
After a little while of sitting with Kagura's mother, Cain and Kagura walked the town for a while longer before heading to a nearby field to rest a bit.
"Thank you for helping me Cain, I didn't want to pass on without making sure she got that back," Kagura said she laid down on the ground beside Cain who was sitting.
"It's alright, how could I refuse somebody's last request?" Cain asked with a smile.
"I think I'm ready to go now," Kagura said as she stood up.
"Sorry little girl, but you're not going anywhere but my stomach!" a raspy voice shouted from behind them.
They both spun around to see a shimmering patch of air, which slowly cleared to reveal a large reptilian looking creature: it stood at least ten feet tall, had dark green scaly skin, a long tail, claws on its hands and feet, a bone-white mask with sharp teeth, green lines along both sides, and yellow covers over the eye holes, and a hole straight through its chest.
"Wh-what the hell?" Cain mumbled as he stared in shock at the creature. Kagura cowered behind him as the creature looked hungrily at her.
"So you can see me too human? I knew you could see her, but to think you have enough reiatsu to see me, I'm surprised," the creature said in slight excitement.
"Reiatsu?" Cain asked, the word being foreign to him.
"It doesn't matter, since you're both about to be my lunch!" the creature shouted as it lunged at them, the mouth of its mask opening to reveal another mouth opening behind it.
Cain grabbed Kagura and threw her to the side as he jumped backwards to avoid the creature's gaping mouth. The creature swung its claws at Cain, who shut his eyes as he knew could not react fast enough. When he heard the sound of metal striking metal, and felt no pain, he opened his eyes to see what happened.
What he saw when he opened his eyes was a man dressed in a black kimono with white under-clothes, and had blocked the creature's claws with a katana.
"Who are you?" Cain asked the person, hoping to figure out what was going on. The creature jumped back ward as he asked.
"That doesn't matter, get the girl out of here, I'll take care of the Hollow," the man said as he got into a fighting stance.
"Hollow?" Cain asked, then realized that must be what this strange creature was, it was called a Hollow. As he made this connection, Kagura ran up to him and hid behind him again, and grabbed his hand.
"You think you can protect them from me you damn Shinigami?" The Hollow asked with an angry tone.
"Wait….you're a Shinigami?" Cain asked in shock.
"I thought I told you to get the girl out of here, go now!" the Shinigami shouted at Cain. Cain nodded as he and Kagura began to run back towards the city.
The Hollow tried to chase after them but was intercepted by the Shinigami. "You're not going anywhere you scum!" he shouted as aimed a slash at the Hollow's arm, which was dodged, and retaliated with a swipe of the Hollow's tail, which was also dodged. The Shinigami took the chance to slash at the Hollow's mask, the Hollow tried dodging but its mask was still damaged.
"Damn it!" the Hollow shouted in frustration.
"A regular Hollow like you doesn't have a chance," the Shinigami said cockily.
"Oh really? Well how do you like this?" the Hollow asked as it slowly became invisible, and surprising the Shinigami with a hard hit to the side, which sent him flying into a tree. "I'll deal with you after I enjoy my meal!" the Hollow shouted as it ran off after Cain and Kagura, still cloaked.
"Damn!" the Shinigami shouted as he got up and gave chase to the Hollow.
Cain and Kagura ran through the crowd in the streets as quickly as they could, Cain looking back occasionally to see if they were being pursued by the Hollow.
"Cain, what's going on?" Kagura asked in a frightened tone with tears forming in her eyes.
"I don't know but that Shinigami told us to run, so that's what we're doing, whatever that Hollow thing was, it isn't good," Cain replied as he turned them down a side alley.
As they were running they heard the Hollow shout from somewhere behind him, "Found you!"
Cain looked behind them to see a patch of shimmering air which he recognized as the Hollow cloaking itself and shouted, "Shit!" He then turned out of the alley as soon as he could, shoving his way through the crowd, the Hollow jumping from roof to roof in pursuit.
They soon entered an empty courtyard, and the Hollow landed in-front of them, uncloaking itself. "Damn it," Cain muttered as he pushed Kagura behind him, in order to shield her with his body.
"Aw how cute, out of the way, I'll get to you soon enough!" the Hollow shouted as he struck Cain from the side, breaking several ribs and sending him through the wall of a building.
Cain could feel some of the ribs protruding from his body, and could barely breathe, meaning his lung was punctured, and possibly his heart as well. The ribs hadn't just been broken, they had shattered into thousands of pieces, he knew he was finished. As darkness started to cloud his vision, he saw the Hollow close in on Kagura, and heard her calling his name, and he reached out towards her by instinct. He saw a black blur and a spurt of blood before his vision was completely taken by darkness.
Back at the Nightshade manor, Cain's mother was carrying a cup of tea to her husband, as he went to take it, it split cleanly in half. They both stared at this in shock, it was not a good omen.
Lilith came running into the room with tears in her eyes and shouted, "Mom! Dad! I think something happened to Cain! I saw his face and then felt cold, we have to find him!"
A/N: That's the end of the first chapter, I had intended to go a bit further, but ending it there felt more appropriate. Please tell me what you think.