Okay, so I know I've been saying that I would update soon with a new story. This isn't really what I had in mind. To tell the truth, there is actually a rather lengthy chapter story that's in the making… but I'm stuck. Writer's block hit me at a pretty important part of that story… So I'm a little behind in the posting of that particular story. While I am trying desperately to get rid of the writer's block, I decided to work on some oneshots that have been on my mind for a while. Then I cooked up the idea for this one. Yesterday.

Think of it as a prequel to my other oneshot, "Thank You". It goes into detail about how exactly Ichigo got into his situation. You technically can read this without reading "Thank You"… but you likely won't understand much. This is simply a oneshot used to solidify the story in my own mind and hopefully bring some things to light for you guys. I definitely recommend reading "Thank You" first.

Hope you guys enjoy. :)

Started October 22nd

Completed October 23rd

Authoress: Desperatembrace

Disclaimer(s): Despite how much I would like to, I don't own Bleach or any of its characters.

Warning:

No Grimmjow. D:

Future Anomaly

Sometimes as humans we don't realize exactly how lucky we are. We grow up without the proper appreciation for many things—we "take them for granted".

In my case, I took life and death for granted.

O.o.O.o.O.o.O

I cannot help but leave that hut every morning. Ever since I was a child, I found the atmosphere thick and stifling. Do not misunderstand me—I love my family dearly. They in no way make me feel uncomfortable or out of place…

Well, perhaps that is a lie. Or at the least, if you were to look at it from a skewed angle, it would be a half-truth. My family does not make me feel out of place. That would be preposterous and utterly impossible. It would be a cold day in hell had my father had the ability to make me feel estranged—even if his odd demeanor might make others feel as such. It is not my sisters, either. Those two kindly girls could not make me feel anything other than warmly loved.

Rather than my family being the problem, I have come to believe that it is myself. In the end, I am not quite sure how I came to this conclusion other than the fact that I have never once felt content or comfortable with where I am. At times I would find myself wistfully yearning to simply walk away and never look back, endlessly searching for something to which I could never give a name or describe.

That is how I found myself surrounded by trees and shrubbery day after day. Nearby our tiny village consisting of a few dozen families, there is a small hill, and beyond it, a forest. It is village law that nobody must enter its depths for it is dangerous and shrouded in mystery. It has thus been forbidden to venture past the hill for fear of losing valuable lives.

Perhaps it was that wandering urge that possessed me—made me climb the hill and pass into the forbidden forest. But it was strange. The moment I stepped foot past the grove of trees, it was like my soul quivered, whispering, "This is the correct way. It is this way that you seek."

I could not help but venture further into the shadowed forest, my pace slowly increasing until I was running madly through the trees, delving further and further into the unknown. I found a clearing that day, a quaint little meadow allowing a small filtering of sunlight through the leaves of the trees. Somehow, I knew. Somehow, I know.

I am one step closer, but it is not time. Not yet.

As such, I make it a habit to visit the clearing daily. Today is one such day. The moon has waxed and waned one hundred and twenty times since I have found this grove. As I step into the clearing, I pause, my face contorting in confusion.

Before me stands a girl, no older than twelve years, with night-colored eyes and long, dark flowing hair in danger of brushing against the ground.

I have not seen this child before. That is most certainly abnormal—I have known everyone in the village since the day I learned to walk. Outsiders are a rarity.

A warning feeling tingles at the back of my neck, telling me to turn back. I ignore the feeling and instead inquire, "Where do you hail from, child? I have not seen you in the village… and you should not be here. This forest is dangerous for one as small as yourself."

The child watches me silently for a moment before her arm lifts and she makes an unnaturally graceful motion with her hand. "If this forest is so dangerous, then why are you here? What exactly makes this forest so dangerous?"

I consider her question. "You make a reasonable argument. But I am larger and more capable of protecting myself from any dangers that this forest shall present to me."

"You are an educated boy," the child observes. "You use your words well and speak in a refined manner."

I watch her warily. Something about the way she speaks, the way she moves… it is like she is actually older than I am. Nonetheless, I find myself answering politely. "My mother was from the continent—she brought books and had me learn everything that she knew."

The child nods in kind, turning and facing the other way. I cannot help the way my hands twitch, as if my body wants nothing more than to bolt in this moment that her knowing eyes are no longer upon me. How could someone so small be so… intimidating?

Instead of relinquishing my will to instinct, curiosity grips me. My mouth moves on its own. "Who are you?"

The girl pauses for a moment before she turns to face me, long dark hair swaying in an almost otherworldly fashion. Her eyes find my own and her lips part minutely. She stands there silently for what seems to me like a lifetime before she finally tinkles, "Skuld. To humans, I am known as Skuld."

The answer catches me off guard and I find my face slipping. To humans? That would imply…

"You are not human?" I ask. It seems as if I have lost all of the knowledge that I have always been so proud of upon meeting this child. Surely if she isn't human it shan't bode well for me.

I expect a change of some sort in her demeanor. Perhaps she will laugh and tell me that I was a fool for believing her words. Or maybe she will use terrible powers to do me harm. It is not as if it cannot happen—I have seen many a witch be burned alive in the neighboring villages. Perhaps she, too, is a witch.

"You do not fear me? You do not fear the possibility that I could slaughter you, right here and now?" She tilts her head in what seems to be curiosity, her actions and words dumbfounding me. She acts as if I am something strange, a rare specimen. I shake my head in answer. "I do not fear nor beckon to you; just as I do not fear nor beckon to either life or death."

Skuld laughs, the merry sound resembling the gentle splashing of a slow and steady stream. "Since your birth twenty-three years ago, your thread has always shone particularly bright. My sisters have always warned against my tampering with it, but…" Here she smiles, eyes twinkling. "I cannot help but dab in things concerning the future. It is the reason for which I exist, after all."

What is she talking about? I can understand each of her words individually, but as a whole, they make no sense. What thread?

Suddenly her temperament changes. She is no longer gay and jovial but serious and grave. When she opens her mouth next, her voice comes out powerful and unrelenting. "As a gift, human, I will leave you with this. It is your choice should you take it or leave it."

She holds out her hand as she speaks, palm turned to the heavens. As her voice fades away, a small orb of pure light appears in her palm, hovering just above her skin. The tiny white sun expands and then fades, leaving behind something small and brown in her hand. She steps toward me, ignoring the way I step back in surprise and sets it down upon the large, flat rock in the middle of the clearing.

Then Skuld steps back, eyes latched upon my own before her lips are moving, her words washing over me. Once more, I cannot understand them. My eyes stray away from her down to the object upon the rock and I fight off a shiver. The temperature seems to have dropped, but that is not the only reason that my skin is erupting into gooseflesh.

The small object, a wooden pendant, engraved with a strangely menacing design, simply gives me a sense of foreboding. I look up to ask Skuld about it and start in surprise when I find that she has vanished.

Wind presses against my back, a deep chill cutting through my clothing and skin, affecting me down to the bone. My eyes stray back to the pendant and before I realize it, my feet are bringing me ever closer. Curiosity is burning at my fingertips and that sense of searching is screaming, telling me that this is my only chance.

As my fingers brush against the wood, their tips begin burning in earnest, the heat spreading up my arm and across my entire body. The pain is too much.

I wake upon the forest floor, the grass curiously three heads taller than it had been before. Slowly I push myself to my hands and knees, shaking away the vines that are tangled around my limbs and tear at my surprisingly worn clothes. Ignoring the oddity, I stand, my legs shaking like a newborn babe. I slump against the smooth rock and take in the clearing around me. My stomach squeezes in my gut as I realize something. It is as if I have been asleep for many a year—for the trees are taller and the shrubbery wilder.

Skuld's final words ring in my ears.

"You say you neither fear nor beckon to neither life nor death. Therefore my gift to you shall be the in-between and the previously unseen third path. I give you time itself.

"I look forward to the future. You have always been an anomaly existing outside of my authority."

In my memory, her smile seems to be twisted.

"Do not disappoint me, Ichigo."

It is now that I realize I have not mentioned my name to the mysterious witch-girl. But my thoughts take a different turn. I have already instinctively figured out what my plight is. I look down at the pendant that seems to have been clutched in my hand since my collapse and smile shrewdly.

I chose to take Skuld's gift and it seems to be a decision that I cannot take back. Perhaps the fates wanted a laugh at my expense.

The gift of time? Such a twisted gift.

You Wind Your Own Thread of Fate

Okay, there are a few things I simply must point out. First is Skuld. Is she an original character? Yes and no. Some of you might already know what I'm talking about and have figured it out. Skuld is actually one of the three sisters of fate from Norse mythology. She is the youngest sister, governing over the "future". The way I imagined her probably isn't the way that she is described in mythology, so in that sense, it's completely my own original creation. Otherwise, she is simply used as a means to an end. In this story, that would be "gifting" Ichigo was immortality. For those of you who haven't read "Thank You" first like I warned in the opening note, sorry for screwing it up for you (if you haven't figured it out from the very vague hints in here)—you should really go read that. Unless of course you just totally don't like Grimmjow. I am originally a Grimmichi writer, you see, and considering Grimmjow wasn't included in Ichigo's past, I can hardly list him as a character in here. (This is my very long-winded way of saying I'm probably getting a few newcomer-passersby who weren't interested in the whole Grimmichi thing.)

Anyways! I talk too much. Obviously. Another thing I would like to point out is the moon's "waxing and waning of one-hundred and twenty times". Simply an old-school (really old) way of saying 120 months, or 10 years. I wanted to get the message across that this is a really long time ago. I have no idea how they spoke so long ago, but I gave it my best shot and used my imagination. Hopefully it worked.

What else did I want to say?

Ahh, yes. This is the first time I've attempted to write not only in the present tense, but also in first person. I usually use a past tense narrative style. But I figured this sort of style would fit best for this particular story. I'm not sure if I pulled it off decently, though.

Hmm, was it believable? Or rather—do you feel like it answers some of your questions from "Thank You"?

Let me know what you think!

Review!

Review!

Review!