Authors Notes: I have been thinking gfor a while now that I would like to make my own Bleach story centered my own character. I have notes-galor and have a general story line figured out but not much actual whole material. This is a prologue I have come up with (not much story, just covers the origins of my OCs)

Read and Review people! If there is no feedback, there can be no real progress.

Disclaimer: Noriaki "Tite" Kubo is the mastermind behind Bleach and its universe. I own no rights to any recognizable characters.

The night was as black as pitch and the wind howled through the buildings and trees, like an angry demon seeking an outlet for its wrath. Storm clouds raced across the sky, so thick that they obscured even the faintest glimmer of the moon above them. They were not without their own illumination however, as forks of dry lightning flashed viciously within the belly of the storm.

A mortal cry of pain joined the elemental fury. Amidst the destruction, creation was taking place. In a small, run-down, storm-battered shack, a woman was striving to bring new life into the world. Her twin sister was by her side, wiping a cool, damp cloth across the stricken mother-to-be's forehead. Lyra was her name and this would be her first child. Her sister, Kari, had borne three children herself, although sadly none had survived long passed their second year. Kari was an apothecary of notable skill, with a vast amount of knowledge to draw upon, but even so she feared for her sister's life. She had delivered many babies over the years and the signs were not good. Lyra's breathing was very laboured and she was bleeding heavily. To make matters worse, she was expecting twins.

"Come on Lyra, just one more push. I know you can do it." Kari encouraged. Lyra pushed with all her might. A shockingly loud clap of thunder smothered the scream that accompanied the push, and the silence that followed was broken by the strong cry of a new life greeting the world. Lyra collapsed back on the bed, exhausted, as a fresh wave of blood left her.

"Well done, my sister, it's a strong, healthy son. Now rest a bit, recover your strength and then we can see about getting his brother to join us."

Kari swaddled the babe in the blankets she had left by the fire to warm, and then got her sister to drink a tonic to help numb the pain and bolster her ebbing strength for the final ordeal.

The storm still raged outside the broken-down shack, although with less ferocity then before. Kari thanked the spirits that it was not raining, for the roof leaked horribly when it did. That would have been an added complication that she was very glad not to have to deal with.

Another anxious hour passed, with the storm still making its presence felt, though more like a pensive wolf stalking the land then a demon venting its wrath, the wind and thunder masking Lyra's cries of agony. With every minute that passed, Kari feared that her sister would lose too much blood or the will to see her task through to the end. If that happened, she would have to try and save the unborn babe before it was too late. She'd be damned if she lost her family just as it had been returned to her. But she needn't have worried because Lyra had the will; she could feel her life-force ebbing with each passing minute and could think only of the life still within her dying shell. With one, last almighty effort, she brought her second child into being. At that moment, the storm that had raged for days calmed and a sudden break in the clouds allowed the full moon to shine through. The lunar rays shone straight a hole in the roof of the shack, bathing the still, bloody babe in its cold brilliance. Almost as though greeting the light that caressed its skin, the child let out its first cry, dispelling Kari's fear that the second twin was still-born. As she cut the cord and swaddled the child, she realized that it was a girl, not a boy as she had expected. She laid the twins side by side and they both settled into quiet, seeming to sense the others presence.

"Kari?" Lyra's voice was barely a whisper, heard only because of the sudden death of the storm's fury. Kari took up her sister's hand and squeezed it reassuringly, for she feared that her tears would choke the words she wanted to say. "I feel that this is the end for me. Raise them for me sister?"

Kari swallowed her tears. Lyra had been missing for years, so long in fact that Kari had seriously wondered if she was still alive or if she had re-entered the cycle of life. She had come back to Kari already 6 months pregnant. She hadn't uttered a word about where she had been, or who the father was. She had seemed somehow broken, not quite whole but her feeling towards her unborn children had been above reproach – whatever had happened, she truly loved them.

"Of course I will, sister. I shall raise them as I would my own. Now rest, and may you wake in a better place."

Lyra smiled. "Yes, may we all wake and meet in a better place." Lyra closed her eyes, squeezed Kari's hand and let out a sigh.

Her chest never rose again. Her soul had finally left behind all the pain that it had suffered while living in the Soul Society and had moved on to start a new existence.

Kari wept, long and hard, for the sister that had been returned to her, only to be taken away after such a short time. The wind picked up outside and the boy started to cry. Kari wiped her face and went to the child, her child now, and comforted him.

Hope you enjoyed. Sorry it's only really semantics but I WILL write my chronicle in full over time. Please review as I would like some help deciding if I should start my chronicle from my OCs early years or if I should skip straight to her graduating from the Acadamy.

No flames please, but if it's all you got to give, I can take it.