*Cervantes swoops in on a hurricane, and begins kow-towing repeatedly.*
I'm so sorry for my long absence, everyone! I know I should be working on 'Sun Slayer', but my muse for that story has taken an indefinite hiatus. So, to help my troubled mind, I present a Rukia-centric Bleach/FFIX crossover!
Rukia: Oh, I'm going to be the star of this fanfic? Nice!
Cervantes: Well, since you're here, care to do the disclaimer?
Rukia: *shrugs* Cervantes does not own Bleach or Final Fantasy IX. They are the property of Tite Kubo and Square-Enix respectively.
Cervantes: Now that that's out of the way, ON WITH THE SHOW!
Chapter One
"How She Ended Up Here"
It had been several months since Sosuke Aizen's defeat in Karakura Town, which had been hidden in Soul Society in an attempt to keep it from being destroyed in the struggle between Aizen and the Gotei 13. Ichigo had been the one to deal the final blow to Aizen, which came as no surprise to those who knew him. Ichimaru Gin, Aizen's lieutenant, had nearly escaped scott-free, but had been thwarted by a combination attack from Choujiro Sasakibe and Nanao Ise. Months later, all of the heroes of the Winter War were treated as such, in the Seireitei and in the Rukongai. And that list of heroes included one Rukia Kuchiki.
Rukia walked down the streets of Inuzuri. It had been several decades since she had traveled out here, to where she had spent her childhood in Soul Society. Back then, she had been a child that thought nothing of nicking food and water from the vendors that wouldn't give starving children anything to sustain themselves. Now that she was back here, she just shook her head. Now vendors would scramble to meet her needs. She was holding a jug of water that a vendor had given her for 'gracing them with her presence in this lawless land.' Rukia almost wanted to laugh.
As she continued on down the road, she spotted some children looking longingly at the water she carried. She smiled, and walked over, setting the water down in front of them. They stared at her. "It's yours," she said. "I have enough to sustain myself until I return to the Seireitei." The children stammered out their thanks, and Rukia walked on.
She sensed a presence in her mind shortly afterward. You're quite the philanthropist, aren't you?
Rukia almost chuckled at her Zanpakuto spirit. It wasn't often that she spoke to Sode no Shirayuki. As I told them, I have enough water. There's no need for these stupid vendors to bend over backwards for MY sake.
Her Zanpakuto spirit was silent after that. Rukia continued on her way, intending to head back to the Seireitei soon, when a man came running up.
"Rukia-sama! Rukia-sama!" The man was obviously distressed, but was still addressing her in a tone reserved for nobility. Which, Rukia sighed with resignation, was the case. She WAS part of the noble Kuchiki clan, one of the four Noble Houses. She turned to the man, mentally wondering if this was yet another vendor who wanted to gift her with something.
Nothing could have been further from the truth. "Rukia-sama! A strange creature attacked me and my companion out in the woods! I don't know where it came from!"
Rukia frowned. A strange creature? Could it be one of Aizen's remaining experiments? Deciding to leave such matters for later, Rukia addressed the man. "Where is the creature now? And where is your companion?"
"The creature mauled him! I fled for my life, seeking aid, but I'm not sure - " He was cut off by a gutteral snarl, and something burst from the woods, flying at the man. Rukia, however, was faster. Using a basic form of iaijutsu, she drew her blade as she struck, and was behind the creature in a flash, her blade returning to its sheath. When she clicked it closed, the creature fell in a spray of blood. Rukia turned to look at it properly.
Rukia had been a long time fan of Chappy the Rabbit, the most popular Gikongan style for women. However, she was a fan of almost ALL things that related to rabbits, in any way, shape, or form. That said, even though this creature looked somewhat like a rabbit, Rukia could never call herself a fan of this monster. It had coarse brown fur all over its body, and its teeth were unnaturally sharp. Three ears rose from the top of its head, instead of the typical two. There was also the fact that this thing was also three times the size of a typical rabbit; it was rougly the size of a large dog.
Rukia looked at it, waiting to see if it would get up. When it didn't, she checked its spiritual pressure. She could feel none, and she relaxed. She had slain the creature, it seemed. The man walked up to her, groveling.
"Many thanks, Rukia-sama! Not to trouble you further, but can you help me find my friend? I at least want to know if he's alive..."
Rukia nodded. She followed the man back to where he and his friend had been. To the man's relief, they soon found his friend, bleeding profusely, but alive. Rukia set to work healing him. While she was doing so, she asked a question.
"Where did this creature come from?" She would need to report whether or not Aizen still had some labs left around the Soul Society. It would not be taken well to learn that they had missed something of the traitor's.
"Over there, that direction," the wounded man said, pointing. Rukia finished what healing she could, and then told the two to move the creature's corpse off the road. They nodded, and went back to the town, while Rukia walked in the direction the man had indicated. She had been traveling for a few minutes when she felt a strange source of spiritual energy. When she came to a clearing, she paused, wondering if she was really seeing what she was seeing.
In front of her was a glowing white circle in the air. It was perfectly circular, so much that it seemed unnatural. When Rukia went to examine it from the side, it became flat, so much that it almost disappeared. It looked similar to the white of a Senkaimon opening in the real world...but why would it be out here? Rukia didn't know, but she pulled out a small communicator, tied directly to her captain's office. The moment she unfolded it, she heard Ukitake-taicho's voice.
"Hai, Kuchiki-san? You haven't had much trouble on your day off, have you?" Hearing his voice always calmed Rukia down. She drew a breath, and related the events that had happened in the last several minutes. By the time she was done, she could almost HEAR the frown on Ukitake-taicho's face.
"This is very disturbing, Kuchiki-san. I shall notify Kurotsuchi-taicho immediately of this development. I think he will take a personal interest in this floating circle you've found. Wait there by the circle until 12th division members come to relieve you."
"Hai, Ukitake-taicho. Out." Rukia folded up the communicator, and rested against a tree. She decided to count leaves as they fell from the trees nearby. She had reached 97 before she heard approaching footsteps. Looking up, she saw a squad of 6 people, all of them carrying backpacks marked by the sigil of the 12th division. They all paused, seeing the white circle.
"This is what Kurotsuchi-taicho wanted us to look at?" one of them asked.
"Hai, and Ukitake-taicho, too," Rukia said, standing up straight from the tree. "Now, I'm heading back to Seireitei, so - " She was cut off when she felt a sudden suction. Looking back at the circle, her eyes widened, as the circle seemed to have suddenly started acting as a vacuum. The 12th division members were all still a distance away, so they weren't affected. Rukia, however, was feeling the full force of the vacuum. Thinking quickly, she drew her sword, and drove it in the ground, just as her legs got swept up by the vacuum. But the ground here was soft, and to her horror, she felt the blade get sucked out of the ground...and soon, she felt nothing as unconsciousness took her.
Unseen by her was the fact that after falling in through the circle of light, it promptly disappeared. This left the dumbfounded members of the 12th division simply gaping...until one of them summed up their total feelings perfectly. "We're BONED..."
Cervantes: Kind of a slow start...but I'll work on that!
Rukia: You'd better! Minna, please be sure to leave plenty of reviews! Constructive criticism only please! I will freeze flames with Sode no Shirayuki.
Cervantes: Wow, I didn't even have to say anything...By the way, before I get asked questions, the story title is a reference to both Rukia's attack names (that all begin with 'White') and the Crystal that makes an appearance in many Final Fantasy games. The chapter title is a reference to an ATE that you can see in disk 3 of FFIX.