Hello everyone! I know I've not uploaded anything in ages, but I was a bit busy. I also, have scrapped the entire idea of 'Prinz Von Dunkel', which is a shame. Sorry to those of you who expected this to be the rewrite that I had promised.

This is going to be an OC Sternritter story, but with some of the originals still there. It follows the Thousand Year Blood War Arc, but the Sternritter are all different, and have taken quite a bit of time to think up.

I would love constructive criticism, but no flames please.

Disclaimer: I do not own Bleach. I only own my OC characters (Actually, DO I even own those?).

With all that out of the way, here is the first chapter of 'Blutkrieg'.

A frosty road in the Silbern

Romeo Ramirez (F) walked rapidly towards the Throne Room in the centre of the Silbern, where all Sternritter had been called to assemble. He was a tall, lean man with rust-coloured hair curved into horns and the hair on his chin styled in a manner reminiscent of a pharaoh's beard. He wore pure white military trousers, while his chest was bare, causing him to shiver in discomfort in the freezing cold of the Silbern. He grumbled about the cold under his breath, cursing himself for not wearing a shirt. Several shirts, in fact.

His companion noticed this, as she simply giggled before asking, "Well, I did tell you not to walk around the Silbern half-naked, didn't I? Although I must admit, I like the view." Viola von Vanderhaas (D) was a short, petite woman with short purple hair and lilac eyes that glimmered with mischief. She wore a frilly white skirt and top, and was clearly enjoying his plight. Goddamn woman.

He simply growled and swatted at her, causing her to dance away before sticking her tongue out at him. "God alone knows why I bear with you…" he muttered, causing her to grab onto his arm and yell loudly.

"Because you loooooooove me, Romeo!" He just sighed before shaking his head and continuing to walk on, now with a giggling woman attached to his arm.

"Man, you are so whipped!" a voice called out, causing him to turn towards the speaker, who continued, "And that too, when you're the one who runs around whipping everyone else! That's definitely a welcome change." Kestrel Schnee (S), walked up to the two, grinning broadly at them. Sometimes he felt like wiping that grin off of her face, but he knew that she was stronger than him, so he contented himself by just growling at her as well.

Viola simply laughed and hugged her friend before pulling back and saying in a mock stern voice, "Now, now! Don't be mean to the poor boy! And especially him with his short fuse." Kestrel laughed even harder at that, before taking a look at him and mouthing a quick 'Sorry'. He simply glared at her, before sighing in defeat.

"Even now, the two of you mock me. Can't you be serious just for this once?" he asked pleadingly. Viola seemed to give that some thought as they walked ahead, before replying in a cheerful tone.

"Nope!" This caused him to faceplant in the snow while Kestrel howled with laughter. Viola simply picked him up before grabbing onto both of their hands and dragging them along, with no apparent explanation.

"What the hell, woman!?" he roared. Viola simply glanced at him, before taking off even faster.

"We're getting late for the meeting, you dummy! I don't wanna be late!"

Throne Room

They arrived at the throne room a short while later. As Viola looked around, he took the opportunity to catch his breath. He had known her for more than three hundred years, yet he could never figure out where she got all that energy from. Looking over at Kestrel, he realized that she was in a similar state as him. So he wasn't the only one who couldn't keep up with Viola. That was a relief. He didn't want the others to think that he was becoming rusty. Viola, however, paid no attention to his woes (as usual). "Thank God we're not late!" she exclaimed. "Look, there's Evan!" Waving at him, the three of them walked over to where the young man was sitting cross-legged, drinking from a gourd.

Evan Claus (E) looked up at them blearily before belching and slurring out a 'Hey.' He was a young-looking man, with dark hair tied in a messy ponytail and dark eyes. He wore the standard Sternritter uniform with a black shawl thrown over one shoulder. "Are you already drunk, you idiot?" Kestrel asked him.

He snorted. What did she think? The fool was always drunk. He said as much aloud at which Evan simply grinned sheepishly and scratched the back of his head. Romeo sat down next to the fool, before taking the offered gourd and drinking deeply. He needed that, what with all the annoying fools. "So why do you think His Majesty finally asked us to gather here?" Evan asked. Romeo, along with the other two, turned to look at Kestrel, who stared back blankly.

"What?"

Viola sighed. "You've recently been promoted to the Schutzstaffel, honey. Hasn't His Majesty told the elites his plan yet?"

Kestrel looked at her, sudden realization dawning on her face. "Ohhhh…. Well, he hasn't actually told us yet. Your guess is as good as mine." That surprised him. The Schutzstaffel were elite even among their fellow Sternritter, so it was expected that they would be told about the reason of the meeting beforehand. However, it seemed like His Majesty had hidden the reason behind the meeting from even his most trusted. That was most suspicious. What could He be planning? Could it possibly be- yes, that was it. The time must finally be here.

He glanced at Viola, whose thought process seemed to be the same as his. She suddenly piped up. "Who do you think is the strongest?" she asked. He wasn't surprised by her quick change of topic. If His Majesty was truly planning to declare war, as he thought He was, it would not be good to let mistrust brew in the minds of the younger ones. Moving on to Viola's question, his eyes scanned over all those in the room. All the Schutzstaffel were candidates, including some of the older Sternritter, like Mordock (M) and Theon (T). But only one of them was the strongest.

"Lazarus." He said, at the same time as the other two. He looked at the pair, before realizing that they had gone through the same train of thought as him. It was quite obvious, actually. Lazarus (L) was the oldest of the Sternritter, despite his youthful appearance. He was also the captain of the Schutzstaffel, and a veteran of the First War. Add to all this the fact that he was one of the only Sternritter who didn't derive his power from His Majesty, and you had yourself the strongest. Although he doubted that Evan and Kestrel knew about the last part. It was a closely guarded secret that only a few had been deemed worthy of knowing. His Majesty did not want anyone to think that there were Quincy who could be extraordinarily powerful without any sort of boost from Him. That would be bad for His reputation. Romeo was snapped out of his thoughts by a loud cry.

"All hail His Majesty Yhwach!" Romeo, along with the rest of the gathered Sternritter immediately stood at attention with a fist clasped to his chest, before relaxing as His Majesty raised his hand in acknowledgement. The Captain of the Soldat and His Majesty's right hand, Mikhail Engel (A) stepped up from behind Him. He was dressed in the standard uniform, his golden locks framing his blue eyes as he surveyed the Sternritter.

"My dear brethren," he began, his melodious voice flowing over them. "I am sure you must be wondering why we have gathered here today. His Majesty has a very important announcement for all of us." Romeo nodded. It was as he thought. Mikhail's words had just confirmed that. Yhwach surveyed his gathered Sternritter for a good long while, before He finally began.

"My loyal Sternritter," He said, His voice loud and booming and commanding request. "Too long have we patiently bided our time, while the ones who oppressed us lived without fear, thinking that they had finished us off. No more! The time is ripe for us to finish off our mortal foes! We shall rain vengeance upon them, and show them why they should not have attacked us! For once and for all, we shall finish this Blutkrieg!"

Romeo cheered loudly along with the rest of the Sternritter. Finally, the time was here. He would make the Shinigami regret harming his family.

Translations

Blutkrieg: German for Blood War

And that's a wrap! So, how was the prologue? I hope you enjoyed it, and I truly hope that it was worth the wait. Also, a HUGE thank you to Ulquiorra9000, who actually agreed to Beta this story. If you haven't heard of them (kinda doubtful that you haven't), Ulqui-chan (can I call you that?) is a writer who has written several brilliant fanfics for many fandoms, including Bleach. My personal favourite is "My Big Fat Drabble Collection", which is over 280 chapters long, and still going.

Have a great day and don't forget to review!

~ Verloren im Licht