Hey everyone, welcome to my newest fic, Bleach - Beyond the Gates! It's set in my first ever AU, a steampunk, alternate fantasy world closely resembling that of the Bleach universe, at least its characters anyway. I hope you enjoy, please review what you see ^^

Prologue

9 years ago…

'Son…have you ever heard of the World's Gate?' Isshin Kurosaki asks, a young Ichigo looking up into his father's eyes as the man knelt over the boy's bed. Shaking his head, Ichigo listens intently as his dad chuckles.

'Really? Isn't that funny. Well how about I tell you?' the man asks, stroking his black, stubby beard. Raising an eyebrow, he turns to the doorway. Standing, hiding behind the wooden frame are two young girls, identical in size and age, yet not in person. Laughing heartily, Isshin gestures for them to come in, the girls looking at one another.

'Come on, you're not scared of your hunky dad right?' Isshin smiles, his teeth twinkling in the light. The black haired girl, Karin, pouts, raising her eyes to the roof as Yuzu, the other sister, rushes into her daddy's arms, the man laughing with triumph. There comes a tug on the man's sleeve and he stops, looking down at Ichigo.

'Tell my about the World's Gate, dad…' the little boy says softly, Isshin smiling into the boy's eyes. Perching himself down on the creaky wooden floor, the boy's father looked up at the ceiling and waved his hand in a wide arc motion.

'You know Ichigo, there are a lot of things out there. But the greatest of all is Paradise itself. It is said that when you die, you travel through the World's Gate and into the most beautiful of paradises. It truly is a wonderful sight, meant to outdo even the most phenomenal of experiences.' Isshin says, a small glint in his eye.

'Is mum there…?' Ichigo asks quietly. Isshin's eyes widen and he sighs, placing a hand on the boy's shoulder and grasping him tight.

'I'm sure she is. I'm sure she's looking down on us right now.' He smiles warmly at the children before helping Ichigo back into bed and pulling his tatty, small blanket over him, leading the girls out of his room.

'But we want to hear more about the World's Gate…' Yuzu moans quietly, Isshin chuckling.

'Ah…some day I'll tell you kids the story in full but daddy's tired right now, so let's all just sleep, hmm?' the man laughs uneasily. As the two girls disappear off into their respective rooms, Isshin stops by Ichigo's door, the boy turned away to face the wall. Shaking his head, the man closes the door quietly behind him and turns the handle shut with a soft click.

Ichigo is running through a luscious field. There's nothing else around him, just tall, flowing green grass and an open blue sky. In his hand, he clutches a wooden sword tight. A boy of eleven, Ichigo Kurosaki is a young man almost and times are hard. Training is necessary. Suddenly, from the undergrowth, Isshin bounds forth, swinging his own wooden sword horizontally, Ichigo darting to the side to avoid the sword.

'Good!' Isshin cries, lunging forwards. Moving to the side again, Ichigo lays his hand on his father's weapon and makes a move, his weapon poised to strike. Suddenly, Ichigo trips, the young boy crying out as he fell and hit the grassy turf with a thud, clenching his sword.

'Idiot Ichigo, you left your lower half wide open. Again.' Isshin barks, strolling away before leaping into the air and disappearing. Ichigo picks himself up, breathing heavily. Sweat was trickling down his forehead and he bit his lip, straightening up. Running a hand through his hair, he is suddenly attacked from behind, Isshin pouncing upon him. Spinning round to meet his father, Ichigo holds his sword up, but suddenly rolls to the side, Isshin striking the ground.

'A feint!' Isshin thinks to himself, his eyes wide open in shock as Ichigo's wooden sword rests by the man's neck. Pushing his son's stubby blade aside, Isshin smirks, squeezing the boy's cheek, Ichigo's face muddy and dirtied, his eyes turned down in a frown.

'Dad can we go home now?' he mutters, looking his sword over. 'I'm tired and my arms are aching…' Ichigo whispers. Sighing, Isshin looks around and nods.

'Alright Ichigo we'll go home…but on one condition…' Isshin exclaims, pointing his sword at the orange haired boy. '…you have to beat your old man!' His shoulders dropping, Ichigo shakes his head.

'Dad…' he groans, Isshin patting his shoulder heavily.

'You'll thank me when you're older…' Isshin says under his breath, before disappearing into the wind. Ichigo was alone again. Gripping his sword with both hands, he can feel his body shaking. At the slightest rustle of grass he finds himself turning his head, moving his body, twisting his sword. Suddenly, he catches a glimpse of something dart past him and he strikes out, swinging his weapon round. The figure vanishes and Ichigo follows suit, disappearing, following his father through the thick grass.

'I have you…' Ichigo thinks to himself, his eyes looking up to a narrow ledge overhanging the patch of grass they were in. Bounding upwards, he lands narrowly on the cliff's edge and looks down. His father is sprinting through the grass, moving further away from him with every move. Closing his eyes, Ichigo squeezes his fists tightly together, filling his mind with nothing but the sound of his own footsteps. With that, he vanishes. The boy appears suddenly in front of Isshin, the man watching him in awe. Just as Ichigo prepares to swing his sword, he crashes down out of the sky and skids to a stop in front of Isshin, the man laughing heartily, helping his son up.

'You still have to work on your Shunpo, Ichigo.' he smirks, the boy nodding and placing his wooden sword over his shoulder. 'But I think we can call it a day, you've earned it.' Isshin grins at him, the two of them taking a relaxing stroll home. As they walk, Isshin looks down at his son, Ichigo's vivid, orange hair glowing in the setting sunlight, the man growing comfort from his thoughts.

'He always did look more like you Masaki…' the man thinks to himself. '…but our Ichigo is growing strong. His Shunpo is improving and he used a feint to get past me earlier. His perception of his surroundings and his reflexes are also getting better. He'll be a fine boy yet, Masaki.'

Isshin looks through the door into the sisters' room. They were both sound asleep, as was Ichigo, tucked away in his dreams. In this world, the Kurosaki family are but a poor farming family that come from a fairly unknown lineage. They live in a small house on the outskirts of a small village in the middle of some beautiful fields and just outside a verdant forest. On crisp mornings, the glare of the sun can usually sit right on the house, heralding the wake of the family. On cold winter morn, the frost and dew on the grass outside sparkles with the rising sun, like some natural jewel. The area is very pleasant and, in the distance, should you squint through the mist and fog, it is said you can see Seireitei Tower over the horizon. Their house was but a cosy wooden shack atop a hill of fluffy grass. It was only one storey and their father would sit alone, a picture of his beloved wife beside him. That night, Isshin Kurosaki did just that.

'They're all asleep. Ichigo worked hard today, Masaki. Did you see him?' Isshin says to himself, his eyes falling on the picture on the table next to him. 'If only you could see him…' the man sighs, rubbing his forehead. '…Karin and Yuzu are growing up without you, Ichigo will be a man soon. I know I won't be here forever.' He says. As he speaks, four figures approach the front door of the house, draped in long, flowing white gowns, their faces covered. Isshin holds his head in his hands, rubbing his eyes now.

'I'm a tired old man…' he whispers to himself, tenderly stroking the picture, longing for his wife.

Suddenly, there came a rapid tapping at the old, wooden door. Leaping from his stupour, Isshin looks around, eyeing the windows. It's pitch black darkness outside, a blanket of shadow sweeping across the fields.

'…who?' he thinks to himself. Another rapid tapping, loud and striking. '…just a minute!' he calls out, reaching for his zanpakuto in the corner of the room. His fingers rest easy on the strapped hilt, caressing the end of the blade, poised to pick it up if necessary. A third and final rapping on the door. Slowly and silently, Ichigo awoke from his dreams, hearing his father calling out to whoever was behind the door. Trudging across the floorboards, he peered around the side of the doorframe, just out of sight, his sleepy eyes blurring his vision. Isshin finally grasps the lock in his fingers, flinging it across and opening the door. Ichigo could not see who was at the door, the door itself flung open to block his view. Suddenly, Ichigo notices his father looking at him through the corner of his eye. Someone at the door is speaking, he doesn't recognise the voice.

'Kurosaki Isshin?' comes a voice from behind the door, Isshin nodding prudently. Ichigo watches in secret as a tall figure steps into the house. It is the single most ghoulish sight he has ever laid eyes on. The man is a lean, skeletal figure, with flowing brown hair reaching almost down to his lower back. He is cloaked in complete, ghostly white, his clothes slithering along the floor. However, that wasn't what was most horrific. Sat upon the man's face is a terrifying metal mask, shaped like a mixture between a skull and an angel to resemble something not quite of this earth. During his period of observation, Ichigo missed what was said.

'I told you it's not here. I don't want to bother my family ever again. Leave us immediately.' Isshin scowls at his intruder, the man turning slowly, moving his fingers in a creepy, nasty way, almost like he was searching with them.

'Leave? Why I'm afraid that's almost certainly impossible.' the man in the mask says, his voice rattling through the mask. At this, Isshin gestures secretly to Ichigo, instructing him to return to his room. Nodding, Ichigo does as he is told and steps back slightly out of view, but remains in the corridor.

'Impossible? I think not, you need to leave.' Isshin growls now, his fingers on his zanpakuto.

'I'm not leaving without it.' the figure demands, Isshin cursing under his breath. Suddenly, one of the figures stumbles, knocking the picture of Masaki onto the floor, shattering the glass of the frame. Isshin clenches his fist and bends down to pick it up, collecting the pieces in his hands, cradling the picture.

'What a shame…' the masked man whispers. Isshin stands up slowly when suddenly he chokes violently. Ichigo's eyes widen in horror as he watches, something sticking out of the front of his father. '…that it had to end like this.' the man in the mask hisses, Isshin falling to his knees, dropping the picture frame. Stricken with complete fear, Ichigo sinks down and looks up at the wall in front of him, shadows moving on the wood, his father falling to the floor. All Ichigo hears is a clatter and then a bang before the air around him begins to grow thick and humid. His eyes begin to water and he coughs, beginning to cry as he heavy smoke filters into the air.

'Ichi-nii?' comes a small voice, the tearful Ichigo turning to see his sisters walking out of their bedroom, clutching a small teddy bear. The house is suddenly ablaze and the wood begins to rot and fall in, sparks and ash and ember shooting everywhere, all around them. All Ichigo can see is black and he splutters, heaving as he coughs heavily. Then, he lurches as someone hauls him from the ground, his sisters too. They burst through the front door just as the house goes up in flames, erupting into the otherwise undisturbed night sky.

Ichigo is standing over his father's body. The rain is lashing down unforgivingly, but he doesn't care. The cold droplet, like tears they run down the back of his neck, they fall from the end of his nose and from under his eyes. He simply watches the body, as if expecting it to get back up.

'…dad?' he finally whimpers, sniffing. The house is nothing but a charred remainder of the past, all burnt and shrivelled, smoke drifting from it as the rain cools its embers. Ichigo still had no idea who those people were or what they took. All he knew was they took his father from him. Behind him, a figure appears on the horizon. She is womanly in her physique, with a long, tattered brown cloak billowing from her back. She holds it around her, the cloak soaked now. Only her eyes are visible through her shawl and hood, her legs hidden within tight, black linen trousers, her knee length boots splashing in every puddle as she made her way over to Ichigo. In the light of the moon, her golden eyes flash brightly. She steps down beside the boy and sighs, shaking her head.

'Too late. I got here too late…forgive me, Isshin.' she thinks to herself, turning her head down to Ichigo. The boy sniffs again, looking up to her, attempting to wipe his eyes of tears, only for the rain to splash back down onto his face.

'W…who are you?' he asks, his voice trembling. The woman takes his hand in her own and pulls her shawl down, revealing her entire face to him.

'My name is Yoruichi, little Ichigo. You're lucky to be alive.' she whispers, taking his chin in her fingers. Looking over his shoulder, she notes his sisters cuddled beneath a large, thick tree, sound asleep, barely sheltered from the rain. 'They are too young to truly appreciate the loss right now, but they will mourn for him in their own way. Ichigo…I know you are sad, but…' the woman exclaims, taking the orange haired boy by the arms and pulling him in front of her. '…your destiny has just been passed to you now. You must take it by the helm, do you understand me?' she asks, Ichigo nodding, still sobbing uncontrollably. Looking down on him, Yoruichi smiles softly, her hand on the boy's head, Ichigo snivelling.

'You are freezing. Come. We shall shelter in the forest tonight. Bring your sisters.' Yoruichi orders, Ichigo walking slowly over to them and taking them by their small, innocent hands. The woman leads the way into the dark forest, an amalgamation of trees, branches and leaves, sopping wet vines and huge, burly roots littering the area. They can barely take a step without the dead leaves beneath their feet crackling and crunching. Finally, she halts them and looks around before nodding to Ichigo. The ground is clean and dry here, the area like an oasis in an otherwise deadly desert.

'Lay them down and let the forest nestle them, Ichigo. You too must get some sleep. We have long days ahead of us.' Yoruichi whispers, her eyes scanning from Ichigo to the girls, the three of them attempting to sleep.

'I know this all seems so sudden Ichigo, it does for me too. I never expected things would get this bad. It would appear that our destinies truly were entwined though, young Ichigo. Rest easy. Over the next few years, you shall become your destiny. There will be time to mourn, time to cry. But that time is not now.'

Bleach ~ Beyond the Gates