Jeez I can never stick to one story everytime I try my mind wanders off and I write something else.
This is a sort of crossover for claymore and bleach its not really that much of a crossover if you think about it.
disclaimer: I don't own either claymore or bleach.
"I'm lost again!?" shouted the young man.
He was in a forest that was surrounded by mountains. The reason he said that he was lost again was because over the past few years he had gotten lost a few times and almost died trying to find someplace with people.
The man wore a black kimono with a hood and a brown mullet on. He had a sword on his back that looked like a giant carver knife wrapped in bandages. He also had what looked like a mask in the shape of a skull with red markings hanging at his hip. He wandered aimlessly for another few hours before plopping on the ground out of fatigue.
"Crap how is it that I always get lost like this is my sense of direction really that bad" he questioned.
Then he looked towards his right and saw a blessing in the form of a large castle. He leaped up and stared in that direction. "Alright looks like my luck changing for the better after six weeks of wandering around, I have finally found some form of human life woohoo!!!" Little does he know how wrong he is.
"I'm hungry" a little girl said to a stupid looking man who looked at her with a blank expression.
"Want me to go get summin" he said. She looked as though she were in thought for a moment and then said "you know what I've always wanted to try?"
He looked at her strangely and asked what? She smiled at him
"I read this book once about a young man who happened across a large castle and met a nice young couple" she checked to make sure he was still paying attention "they invite him in, feed him, clean him, and give him a place to sleep."
Duph blinks and asks "that doesn't sound very good…" but before he finished Riful continued.
"But the couple are not what they seem they are actually monsters in disguise that are only feeding him to fatten him up, and cleaning him to make sure he doesn't taste like dirt." She felt excited at the memory of the book "he has to go through the entire castle going through dangers, traps, and of course the monsters that are keeping him there."
Then she frowned recalling what she considered to be a bad ending "but he escapes after killing the male and injuring the female and then he brings back the entire nearby village to kill her."
She rubbed her chin with her knuckles and looked towards the ceiling "how I wanted to change that ending so badly." Then she heard something outside Duph did too and he looked out the window
"What is it?" He looked at her and said "it's just some guy knocking at our door should I kill him?" Riful slapped herself in the head "did you even listen to a word I just said quick make yourself look less muscular and rearrange your face a little" she smiled to herself "my is luck changing for the better."
"Wow this castle is huge I wonder who lives here" he yelled out.
He had finally gotten close to the castle realizing how big it was he got a little overexcited. He took off the hood he had on revealing bright orange hair and looked up.
"I can't even see the top whoever owns this place must be loaded maybe its some duke of an important country or something" he stopped suddenly looking himself up and down.
"Who am I to appear before a duke being the way I am I must smell like old milk."
He went to turn around but then he heard his stomach growl so he looked back at the place "well I'm sure he'll understand and I can work here for a little while too before I leave." He went back to the door lifted the huge knocker and let it hit the door with a slam. He stood there for a few moments before a man appeared before him wearing what looked to be some common clothing.
The man was tall and slightly on the muscular side but not that much. They stood in silence for a little bit before the man said "what you want?" He responded
"hi I am a wanderer looking for a place to stay for a while" he bowed slightly showing his respect "I am a very hard worker should you put me to work in this fine place." Duph blinked at the man not really following what he said.
"I'll get the wife" he mumbled before disappearing into the house leaving the man outside for a few minutes. Then he heard someone coming and quickly composed himself if this was the home of royalty then judging by the way the man seemed to dress she must be the head.
It was rare but not unheard of for a female to inherit a title the man he just met might just be royal by marriage. Then what looked to be a voluptuous woman in her early twenties came wearing clothes that practically screamed royal. She was very beautiful there was not a single scar or mark on her face.
"Hello I am Riful owner of this castle my husband says that you wish to stay for a while?" He had his hood back on hiding his strangely colored hair, normally people didn't like the way his hair looked which led to many fights. "Yes I have been traveling for many weeks now and I wish to rest for a while maybe raise a little money for my next trip."
She smiled at him this man was perfect he looked just the way the story described young, handsome, polite the perfect protagonist to any story.
"Well you are welcome to stay as long as you like being so far away we don't get a lot of visitors" she said all of this with a seductive smile she used to lure in unsuspecting men to her. He entered the house with the couple and they started to walk down a hall.
"By the way I haven't gotten your name if you're going to be with us for a while then I need to know some things like that?" He looked at her a moment before answering "It's Ichigo, Ichigo kurosaki."
Then Riful burst out laughing Duph looked at her in confusion and Ichigo let out an exasperated sigh. Riful calmed down a little before saying "you're named after a fruit?" she asked between giggles.
Now Duph got the joke and also started laughing hysterically Ichigo just stood there for a few minutes listening to the couple's laughter. Another thing that happened everywhere he went was how people reacted to his name. So he was named strawberry that's not a bad thing he's heard of people who were named after cherries and peaches and yet everyone laughed at HIS name.
The laughter died down finally and they once again started to walk down the hall.
"So Ichigo" she giggled at his name "what brings you to my castle?"
"I don't know I pretty much go where the wind takes me I guess."
"So what do you do for money traveling all around the place sure must cost you a pretty penny?"
"Oh it doesn't cost that much I don't need to buy food since I can hunt whatever I find in the wild and I can always sleep in a tree instead of an inn."
"But you still need money do you not?" she asked.
"Well yeah I still need a little money to get me by so I just do some odd jobs in the towns that I visit."
She looked at him curiously, she was smelling yoma blood it was faint but still there "what kind of jobs?" He looked at her thoughtfully "well let's see I find lost pets, clean houses, kill yoma, cook…" "
You can kill yoma" Riful interrupted. He blinked "yeah I charge way less than a half human-half yoma so people prefer me over them plus I'm not as scary." Riful looked at him in amusement if this boy could kill yoma then he must be quite skilled, a perfect toy to play with.
"I'm also a part time bounty hunter I've taken down quite a few big time villains"
"Then where's all yer money" Duph asked. He looked back at Duph forgetting he was there for a second "In a bank in the east part of the continent."
"Why" Riful asked. He looked back at her and said "I'm saving it for something I've wanted to do since I was a kid" he looked up at the ceiling.
"What are yer savin fer" Duph asked.
"To make my own village, a place where people don't have to be afraid of the yoma anymore and can live their lives instead of fearing to lose them" he said this while pumping his fist in the air.
Riful couldn't help but feel a little regret, this boy wanted to do something that her human self had wanted to do long ago and she was going to kill him before he gets a chance to see that dream come true.
"Whoa how long is this hallway it feels like it goes on forever" Ichigo said snapping her out of her thoughts.
"It's not that far now just turn here" they turned and his mouth fell open at the site before him. "Wow you actually eat in a place like this" his voice echoed in the huge dining hall that was in front of him with a table that was at least forty feet long. But as he examined the table he saw tiny specks of blood adorning the wood they could be animal blood but still something felt off.
See all I did was take Ichigo nothing else he isn't even the same ichigo sure he has all of his abilities and appearance but his perrsonality is totally different.
Hope you liked it Ja ne!