Hello, everyone, this is my very first ever fanfiction story I have ever written and I hope y'all love it. Please give me feedback on my writing style I haven't written a story of any sort in a long time and hope to get enough advice to help me. Hopefully, my story plot would be original.
Disclaimer: I do not own Bleach or any of the characters associated with it. All rights belong to the creator Tite Kubo. This will be an AU with some OOC.
And with nothing else please enjoy, read and review.
-x-
Chapter 1: Welcome to the Pack
No words could best describe the range of emotions the Grand Fisher was feelings at the moment. After all, he just hit the biggest jackpot of his life.
During a stormy night, he was hunting by a swollen river using his lure that was disguised as a small child to lure in any spiritually aware beings; when he got the attention of 2 redheads. A mother and her child. Actually thinking about it now, the boy was the one fooled by the lure and tried to save the 'little girl' who was too close to the raging currents of the river, while the mother, on the other hand, seemed to have seen through his lure. Just when he was going to grab the kid, he noticed how the mother started gathering Reishi. He almost thought about ditching the whole thing when suddenly a huge pillar of light engulf the mother and whatever trick she was trying to do stop.
He can still remember the complete shell-shock look on her face, and when she noticed how he was still going after her son, she runs over and uses her body to protect the child. He simply laughed at the predictable choice she made, instead of just saving herself she goes in and tried to save her son. Oh well, he didn't complain about it. After killing the mother he was simply going to leave, but just for a moment, his greed got the better of him and told himself that he should kill the child too.
Seconds didn't even pass as he decided to do just that.
He killed and then ate the child's soul and that's when it all happened.
An immensity amount of power started running through his very being. He has heard of these kinds of events happing before to other Hollows, apparently, he was ready to go to the next stage of evolution. His instincts started screaming at him. It almost felt like he was been guided somewhere, just letting his body do its own thing, he opens up a Garganta and steps through it.
-Deserts of Hueco Mundo-
Stepping through the Garganta and touching white sands should've been the first sign that something wasn't right. He has never seen this part of Hueco Mundo before. If anything he usually opens up a portal near the Forest of Menos. After all, that's where the weak Hollows occupy.
"Ha! This only means that I no longer need to be surrounded by the weak!" Grand Fisher's voice was full of arrogance. Allowing the power to flow through him, he screams to the dark night and allows himself to become consumed by the power surge.
Opening his eyes again he notices that he was surrounded by an empty black void. "The hell is this place?! Where the hell am I!" The Hollow asks no one in particular. He didn't expect anyone to answer him. He starts looking for an exit when he hears another voice.
"Well look what we have here." Came a disoriented voice from the back of him.
Turning around quickly, he froze at the sight of what he could best describe as a demonic looking monster with the most terrifying looking black mask he has ever seen. 'Wait! A black mask?!' Indeed the mask was black but that's not where its strange physical appearance ended. Sharp black teeth were visible to view. It was also sporting 2 black forwarding horns, strange white markings run through the mask; four spike-shaped marks, two of them stopping by the forehead and the other two stretching past the eyes and teeth, going past his chin and joining with the marks on his chest which connects with the hole in his chest.
'A hole?' Looking more closely at the demonic figure, the Grand Fisher notice a hole where its heart should be. 'Now that I'm looking at this thing more closely, its skin is white.' Finally getting over his shock, he looks at the figure more closely to see the strange reverse skin colors of a common Hollow. Instead of black skin, it was white. The white mask replaces by a black one. Besides that, there was nothing more to go by. Interesting enough though, its appearance reminds him of the Gillians he has seen around the Forest of Menos. He just stares at this reverse Hollow. He doesn't remember eating any Hollows of such feature. Hell, he doesn't even bother attacking any other Hollow in fear of being eaten.
A silence wash through the empty void. No one said anything. Both Hollows kept staring at each other until Grand Fisher finally spoke.
"Who the hell are you!? What are you doing here!" The Hollow demand and silence went around again.
"..."
"..."
"..."
"..."
Having enough of the silent treatment, Grand Fisher was about to ask again when the white Hollow finally spoke. "You know what. I should thank you for giving me another chance."
Those words confuse Grand Fisher. 'Chance? The hell is he talking about.' Before he could ask what it meant he notices his left arm turning into spirit particles. 'What!?' Before he could start freaking out, the Hollow's voice caught his attention again.
"I guess you never heard of what happens to a Hollow who eats a stronger soul." The albino Hollow's wicked grin seems to have spread even more as if it was possible enough. He waited for the confused and scared face of Grand Fisher to return to his own wicked and sadistic one. "You see, sometimes some idiotic Hollow takes a bite out of something that is way out of their leagues and when that happens both the awakened soul, which is you and the dormant soul, which is me, go in a clash of spiritual battle to see who takes control!" With a quick break in his explanation to make sure Grand Fisher was following along, he continues. "Usually these kinds of things happen only when a Gillian is born and is ready to take in a form. And when that happens is whosever's soul is stronger becomes the conscious mind buuuuuut we don't need to do all that crap. This is a special case."
Grand Fisher went back to been scare, he sort of had a clue in what the figure was talking, but the Hollow still hasn't answered what was happening to him and now that he looked back down at his body, his legs were now gone and so was his left arm. His right arm, chest, and head were still there. But he could start feeling the top left corner of his mask dematerializing too. "The hell you bastard! You still haven't explained what's happening to me!" The outrage was finally the first tone of emotion that has come out of his mouth since this whole thing started.
"You are becoming a part of me." Was the only answer the albino Hollow told him; wicked smile never leaving its face.
Finally, he understood. He's been absorbed by this Hollow. He was weaker. Years of careful hunting gone to waste all because he let his greed get the better of him and now because of that, he's been devoured by a more stronger being. In all his years of living as a Hollow, he lost the sense of fear when he had become a predator, probably nothing of the extreme kind, but a predator none the less. But now...now he was in the presence of a stronger predator...an apex predator. Fear clutches his heart.
"NO DAMN IT. THIS ISN'T SUPPOSED TO HAPPEN TO ME! I WAS MEANT TO BE AT THE TOP OF THIS WORLD! TO BECOME A RULER, A KING, A PREDATOR!" His enrage voice echos through the black void, "I AM NOT TO BE FOOD TO NO ONE!" By this point, only the right side of his mask remains. A burst of laughter broke him out of his rage. Glaring at the white Hollow he curses himself. But a question still remains in his mind. "Who are you! I never ate another Hollow before or anything of such strong spiritual energy! So answer my last question! Who the hell are you!" Silence once again lay down on the two of them once the white figure stops laughing.
Grand Fisher waited. Once again receiving the silent treatment, he was ready to yell out his command again when the reverse Hollow spoke, this time with a small serious voice.
"You could have simply left the boy alone and avoided all of this."
Grand Fisher was calm and try to process what it has said. 'The boy? Is he talking about the child with his mother?'
"That's right, the boy with his mother."
A bewildered look came to his eyes. 'How the hell can he read my mind?!'
"Oh no, I'm not reading your mind but with the expressions you are showing in your only eye, I don't need to be psychic to see where your train of thoughts is going through." Once again he finishes with the same serious voice.
Only a small part of Grand Fisher's mask remains. 'So this is how I end. I die by my own greed.' Memories of his human life came back to him and all he could do was watch them go by. Finally, after just a few minutes the last bit of his mask was gone and the Grand Fisher was no more.
The great black void that surrounded both Hollows was then replaced by a lake. In the middle of the lake lay an island of strange design. If one was to look from above they would have seen the island take the form of a crescent moon. In the center of the island was the reflection of the full moon from way up above.
The white Hollow just stood there motionless for a few minutes before he started walking down a random path. It didn't take long for him to find what he was looking for. A small child with orange spiky hair, simple tan skin and now with the new feature on his body; a small hole where his heart should be. By the looks of it, he was unconscious.
He kept staring at the young boy. Seconds pass by which then turn to minutes before he finally spoke.
"I can just take over your body. Your soul right now."
"..."
"Sheesh, now you're giving me the silent treatment kid?"
"..."
"You never ask for this to happen. Hell, I never ask for this...for this second chance..."
Silence once again came down. He looks down at the kid with his strange glowing yellow eyes and started to reach the boy's face. "You never wanted this to happen and you are not ready for what you will need to do to survive in my world. But I will give you a small gift before I go." Reaching down to the boy, he puts one of his hands on the child's chest, right above where his Hollow hole was located. "When the time becomes right, you will hear my voice." He started pushing down his own Reiatsu on the boy, watching as the redhead's peach skin became white as the moon. "It might be in a few weeks, months or maybe even years before you hear me. But when you do I hope you have accepted what happened and what you have become. I will grant you the power and strength to push past the limits of your very self. Your Quincy's and Shinigami's powers will still be there but my Hollow's powers will be the main dominating one." By this point, his own body started to dematerialize and began getting suck into the child. It won't be long before he goes into a deep slumber inside the boy's soul. "Wake up Ichigo is time for you to leave now."
The albino Hollow started feeling 2 different Reiryoku, one was quite weak while the other one was a very powerful Reiryoku and it seems to be getting closer but for some reason, he senses no killing intent, instead he senses...hope?Relief? 'Strange...to feel hope in a place like this? Doesn't matter, seems like the child won't be alone here at least.' Looking back to the kid, the Hollow notice that the boy's skin was now pure white.
"Goodbye, for now, child hopefully next time we see each other it'll be very soon...and maybe you could hear my name, but doesn't mean I can't leave without having you hear it. Even if your unconscious." He let out a small laugh. "My name is L..."
And then everything went dark.
-A few minutes before Grand Fisher arrive-
In a distance away from where Grand Fisher would appear stood two people. One was a man who has wavy, dark brown hair, which ends at the base of his neck. He is wearing a cloth to cover himself up, the same would be said about his companion. A young-looking girl who has light green hair arranged in a very basic manner.
Nothing seemed strange about them but in the world where monsters roam around, looking more closely reveal what they are.
The man's remains of his once Hollow mask; that consist of the bottom jaws of a wolf, was position along his neck. His Hollow hole was located on his sternum, right below the tip of his mask. The young-looking girl's Hollow hole was located in the center of her stomach. The remainder of her Hollow mask took the form of a helmet, with two horns on the top of her head. The left horn has been cut off and the left half of the mask covers her left eye and her right eye was a shade of a light pink color.
They both lay around a mountain of dead Hollows. Everything was quiet and dull, nothing seems to ever happen around here.
Around them.
The man seems to be asleep while his companion just kept staring at nothing. Until she senses a Hollow's presence far away. 'Looks like another one is going through their evolution. Nothing new.' Came her plain thought. 'Don't matter how strong they feel when they won't be able to reach us.' She sighs at the last thought. She took a peek at her companion but he was still asleep. 'Probably doesn't even care about it.' Taking a quick look at the mountain of bodies around her, she let out yet another sigh.
She went back to ignoring the Hollow when out of nowhere its spiritual power just skyrocketed. If anything it felt like it completely overpowers their own. She quickly snaps her neck to the location of the Hollow. Her eye fix on the distance power. Unknown to her, the sleeping man's blue-gray eyes shot open and also snap to the location of the spiritual power. And just like that, it was gone.
He didn't say anything. He was in deep thought about what he just has felt. 'The amount of power, even from here, I could feel it cover my very own.' He kept staring. Hoping for it to show up again. He took a quick glance to his companion in hopes that it wasn't just him who felt it. And to his relief, she has the same look as him.
She turns around and met his eyes. Light pink and blue-gray eyes stare at each other, hoping for it to be true.
"You felt it too right Starrk?" The limed-hair girl ask.
"Yeah, I did Lily." The now name Starrk reply to his companion in which a look of joy was plaster on the now named Lily's face.
"Then what are we waiting for!" She replies all too eagerly. "Someone with that much power won't get hurt by being around us! We can finally stop feeling so lonely!"
Lonely they felt when they notice that their very power alone kills every Hollow who came near them. They use to be one Hollow but its power alone kill other Hollows nearby. Solitude was eating the Hollow away until it split its soul into Starrk and Lily. Not one of the two remembers which of them was the original but decided not to question it and be glad they were no longer alone. But still, their power killed all who came near them.
But here was a Hollow now whose power, if anything, rival their own or was greater than theirs. Hope was seen in their eyes. They didn't wait any longer. Standing up, the man put his hand on top of Lily's head and Sonido towards the location of the powerful spiritual presence.
Once they have reached the location of the power in just a minute, they both started looking around. Hoping to find the Hollow with the immense power.
"I don't see anyone around Starrk," Lily said, a hint of disappointed coming into her voice.
The brunette was also feeling about the same, whatever power they felt was gone. Ready to just leave, Starrk notices a small body. Pointing at it, Starrk spoke to Lily. "Hey look over there. I think I see someone."
Following his finger, Lily notices the body, it was small; smaller than her own actually. She didn't think long about it before she dashes towards it."Hey! Are you the one with the strong Reiatsu?!"
Starrk just looks at the body from a distance, he didn't see it taking in air or anything at all. If anything it looks dead, like every other Hollow who goes near them. Disappointment went through his face. "Should of know this was going to happen." He told himself quietly. So much for hoping. Just when he was about to call Lily back, she screams at him.
"Starrk come and look at this! His this close to us and his still breathing! If anything I think he's just passed out!" Hope finally came into her voice and hope came to his thought.
'He's alive?! This close to us and his still breathing?!"
Not to waste time, he Sonido close to them and looking more closely, Starrk notices his light breathing. 'His alive after all!' Taking a closer look at the body, he notices that it was a small boy. His skin was a strange ivory color, has one of the brightest hair he ever has seen and a Hollow hole with strange red markings leaving the hole and connecting to his limbs. He also notices the strange black cloth covering his lower half. Looking up at the boy's face he notices one disturbing thing. 'There is no sign of a mask!' The boy completely lacks any fragments of a mask. No matter what evolution a Hollow goes through, some fragment of their mask must remain. Even the evolution in which Lily and he were at had some of their mask left. 'But this boy lacks everything, not even a tiny fraction of a sign that he use to have a mask remain.'
A million question ran through his head. What did this mean at all? Before he could continue on with his train of thoughts, Lily brought him out of his mind. "Look Starrk, he's waking up!" Small groaning noises where coming from the boy before his eyes open up and they caught both their attention.
His eyes were completely different and still held the Hollow-like color. His iris were yellow while his sclera was pitch black.
'Well, that's just about the weirdest thing I have ever seen.' Thought Starrk and by how the kid looks to still be breathing and not dying is a huge relief for him.
While he was feeling relief, Lily's eye was still locked on with the boy's strange eyes. 'They're so beautiful.' Without thinking, she started moving in closer to his eyes, trying to see more of it until the boy finally say something.
"Ummm you're a little too close to my face there." A small blush adores his cheeks.
Gathering herself up, Lily leans away from him, a small blush also adoring her cheeks.
Looking around, the boy notices his strange surroundings. "Where..where am I?" He asks in a confused voice. The last thing he remembers was... It was... He doesn't remember.
"What is this place?" A small amount of fright reaches his voice. He doesn't remember anything! He doesn't even remember his name! Wait. No that's not right, he remembers his name but everything else is just a giant mess of memories. Memories that aren't his own. Trying to see through them he notices how he's watching them from someone else's view. However, through all the memories, one of a young orange hair boy was sticking out the most. He couldn't remember the peoples' faces except for the boy's face and then the realization hit him. 'That boy is me.' Focusing more, he keeps hearing his name but that's about it. Any other noise seems to go quiet and the faces were still nothing but a huge blur for him.
"Hey kid you okay?"
Finally brought out from his thought, the small redhead finally got a good look at the people in front of him. He noticed the strange white like material and, "Oh my Kami! How can you have a hole in your body and still be alive!" A look of bewildered ran through his face. The man in front of him has his cloth down a bit to see a hole in his body. The people themselves just gave each other a curious look. The girl chooses to answer his question.
"Umm because we are Hollows?" She replies back with a confused tone. Really now, what kind of question is that to ask about why they have a hole.
"What's a Hollow?" The boy asks back, unsure of the word.
That got Starrk and Lily more confused.
'How the hell did this boy reach such evolution without knowing nothing.' Starrk thought. This is by far the most he has ever thought about in such a short period of time and last time he ever thought like this was... well... never. Before trying to give an explanation, Lily decides to explain to the boy. In her own Lily-kind-of-way.
"The same thing that you are." She told him while also pointing down to the boy's own Hollow hole.
Looking at where her fingers were going. Ichigo got up and started freaking out. "Why do I have a hole!?" Now everything was just confusing for him. He doesn't know these people, he woke up in a weird place, and now finds out he has a hole in his body! He would be running in a circle if only the brunette wasn't holding him down with his hands.
"You need to calm down kid. You got a name?" Starrk asks in hoping to calm the kid a bit.
Relaxing down a bit, Ichigo's unearthly yellow eyes met Starrk's own blue-gray ones. "I'm Ichigo."
With a small nod, Starrk told him his name. "Hey there Ichigo. I'm Coyote Starrk," he then nods towards the girl, "and that over there is Lilynette Gingerbuck, or you can call her Lily for short."
Once everything seems to calm down, Ichigo looks back at the man. They seem normal even with the man having a hole in his chest. Going back to the original question he asks again. "Where am I?"
Before Lily had a chance to explain, Starrk beat her to it. "You're in Hueco Mundo. To be more precise you're above the Forest of Menos." He'll try to keep his answers plain and simple for the boy. Getting a nod from understanding, the boy asks the next thing he found confusing.
"Um, what's Hueco Mundo?"
A sigh escapes Starrk's lips. 'Seems I have to explain everything to him.' Getting back to answer the kid, he spoke again. "Hueco Mundo is the dimension in which Hollow and we reside in." The redhead gave another nod of understanding. 'Well, at least he gets it fast.' He thought. Seeing as the boy still had a question, he nods back to him.
"What are Hollows?"
At this question, Starrk tries his best to answer him without going into such deep details. His time and memory of being nothing but a simple Menos long forgotten. Starrk just sighs and try to think of something simple for the kid to understand. "Hollows are, well...were part of a human's soul who couldn't pass to the afterlife and after a while, they become a corrupted soul and become monsters of some sort. After that, they start eating other Hollows to try and feel 'full' again." Stopping from his explanation and seeing the kid was still with him, he continues. "Once the common Hollow has enough, he goes through various stages of evolution before he reaches the final end, which is what we are." Getting a small nod, Starrk lets go of Ichigo and watches as the kid felt back into the white sand on his rear. The look on Ichigo's eyes sends a sharp pain through Starrk's chest.
"You said were, as in, was part of a human soul. Does...does that mean I'm dead..?" Tears started gathering in Ichigo's eyes. He doesn't remember dying, he doesn't remember anything besides his own name. How did he die? What happened to him? By this point, tears were falling down.
It pains Starrk to look at the kid cry, he doesn't know why but it just hurts him.
Lily wasn't doing much better, she went up to the boy and embrace him in a hug. "Don't cry now Ichigo." She tries to soothe down his pain.
"Am I going to be alone now?"
That question brought back painful memories to both Starrk and Lily. A time when they ask themselves the question came forward.
Starrk is not going to allow this kid to go through the same pain as them. "No." His voice came out strong and firm. Getting the attention of both Ichigo and Lily, he continues. "You don't have to be alone. Not in a world like this. You can become a part of us. A part of our pack." Reaching with his arm out to the boy, Starrk waited for him to reach for it.
At this, Lily stood up to stand next to Starrk and also reach out her hand to Ichigo. "Yeah, you can be with us. A part of our pack." She told him with a cheerful smile posted on her face.
Ichigo's eyes lit up to his question of loneliness. He just kept staring at their hands. He looks up to their eyes and saw it; the truth they held. He won't be alone at all and he could see an amount of hope in their eyes too. Not even thinking about it for a second, Ichigo reached out with both his hands to hold Lily's and Starrk's.
Once they had a hold on them, they pull him up.
"Welcome to the pack, Ichigo," Lily said.
He gave them a small smile, tears of joy running down his face. 'I guess, I won't be alone here.'
-x-
So that's where I am ending this first chapter next one will be up in 2 weeks from now. I try to find any story which a Hollow Ichigo either joins Starrk and becomes a companion. So I'm going to make it clear. This isn't an Ichigo/Starrk story and will actually if you haven't guessed it, it's an Ichigo/Lily instead something which lacks threw the site. Well, that is all folks until next time!
