Disclaimers in bold at the bottom, I recommend reading those first if you haven't already, otherwise I hope you enjoy the first chapter of Toshiro's next journey.
The worlds were finally safe again. In a final battle, the sinister Nobody of Darkness had been defeated and killed, and the heroes who killed him now found themselves at the End of the World, a dark place, stranded on a dark shore.
Sora and Riku sat near the edge of the shore, talking, but their third member remained further back. Toshiro had been feeling odd since his transformation into a Nobody, but at the moment had no time to worry about it. Now, with the threat dealt with, the gnawing became more obvious than ever, a heavy weight, but at the same time empty and, if he was honest, rather terrifying. He'd never felt so…alone before. Since stepping into the nothing of the between worlds, Hyorinmaru had been absent, and it made the fact that they were no longer partners all the more real.
A panic was beginning to set in, an unsettling tightness in his chest that made it hard to breathe for a moment. He put a hand to his chest, feeling sweat bead on his skin and a fierce rush of adrenaline rushing through his veins. How could this happen to him? How could he have made such a mistake, costing him his partner, his friend? It only made real his fears, his doubts, the reality that he just wasn't strong enough. Worthless, weak, he couldn't even save himself from darkness, how could he call himself a Heavenly Guardian meant to save others?
"Toshiro?" Sora had looked back to speak to the white-haired being, only to see the small figure bent over and panting heavily, a fearful panic in his eyes.
"What's the matter?" Riku asked, noticing this as well.
The child didn't answer at first, still trapped in his own mind, a mind empty of the usual cold relief his dragon offered when he was upset. There was just nothing, a strong emptiness that swallowed him the moment he realized its presence. It was a wonder he held it back all this time, because now it seemed to be everywhere, consuming him, and it would have scared him to death if he wasn't already dead with a severe limit to his emotions. Currently he was stuck on panic, so the voices calling out to him with worry made him flinch away.
"The darkness must be getting to him." Riku said as Sora stood, the silver-haired boy unable to after the hit he took from Xemnas. He could recognize the fear in Toshiro's eyes, the sense that your very being was being stolen right from your body, a horrible echoing chill calling for you to give in.
"But he was fine earlier!" Sora sounded a little panicked himself as he heard his friend whimper, saw him back further away from them.
"There was too much going on already, but now there's nothing to do BUT think about it, and once you focus on it, the darkness grabs on tight."
Sora moved forward worriedly to Toshiro.
"Careful." Riku warned, understanding that Toshiro would be a little unstable right now, not himself. Those first moments of finding the darkness within you were downright terrifying.
Indeed, the white-haired being was not comprehending reality around him. Too much of it was swallowed by darkness, an eerie whisper calling out to him, threatening him.
'Alone…Afraid…Weak…Helpless…Fallen…Nothing…' He shook his head against the thoughts, but they simply continued to bombard his thoughts, reminding him of his failures.
'I tried my hardest…' He thought, but the whispers still hissed at him, telling him it wasn't good enough.
'Give up your heart…power doesn't need it…' The hollow in his soul beckoned.
'I've already lost it…'
'But you cling to the remains…emotion clouds judgement…feelings are an obstacle…'
'They're a guide!' He wasn't sure why he continued to argue with the darkness, with himself, but he was afraid if he didn't, if he gave in even for a moment, the little bit of himself he clung to would be washed away. He didn't want that, didn't want to lose himself, but the nothingness was vast and intimidating…it clouded his rational mind. He gripped tighter to the fabric over his heart, backing further into the dark woods of the island they lay trapped on, away from the blurry figure in front of him obscured by tears of panic and shame.
He turned away from the hand offered to him, paranoid the darkness attacking him would consume the other, drag someone else into his problem that didn't need to be. Toshiro didn't want to stay there, didn't want to hurt anyone. He had to keep away until he could figure himself out, deal with this onslaught where no one else could be harmed. It wouldn't be the first time he'd unintentionally hurt someone, but this time he at least hoped to avoid that situation all together.
Darkness opened up before him, but it was a darkness he wanted, a portal. He ignored the worried shouts and ran in, closing it behind him. Once inside the pitch blackness of the dark realms, his run slowed, but he never stopped moving, worried what would happen if he lingered too long in this realm. He could hear his footsteps echo, hear his heavy breathing, but a pounding heart rate was absent, almost mocking him further. No heart, no soul, no purpose…just as Xemnas said, a being doomed to nothingness, doomed to barely exist, to be alone.
He created an end portal, not even caring where it led him, only that it got him out of that cursed blackness. Where he ended up was still dark, but it was a pleasant darkness, broken by the light of the moon and stars, the air a bit warm but not too unbearable for the Ice Nobody.
Teal eyes glanced around at his surroundings while he tried to control his breathing again, control his panic. The whispers were still very present, but they were lessening in their intensity. The gnawing was fading a bit to something he could handle. Whatever fear had consumed him, it was beginning to calm, allowing him to think. Now he was realizing what a fool he just was. He'd run from Sora, someone who could help him, perhaps Riku as well since the boy had experience in darkness. Was that what the emptiness wanted? Force him into complete isolation? And he listened. He cursed himself.
The woods around him were thick, a jungle. That explained the warm weather. He spread out his senses. Many animals, big and small, but no people. At least, not close enough to him to be harmed. He moved further away, just in case, holding his arms to him protectively as if the hold would contain his own unstable thoughts, as he couldn't call them feelings anymore. The air was beginning to chill and he grimaced, moving faster, knowing what that meant. A Soul Reaper having a breakdown always let out their power unwillingly, and those like him with elemental types had a greater effect than just the typical weight of Spiritual Pressure. He would freeze the area, so he needed to get somewhere away from people, far away. It was getting harder to keep it in, as it was already too late to try and stop it, even with his thoughts mostly back in order.
Finally, his legs gave out, the pressure of containing his already wild powers too much of a strain. With a cry he fell to the ground, and at the same time a great wave of Spirit Energy escaped his body in streams of white, encasing the flora around him in sheets of black ice. He glanced at the ice, confused by its color for a moment. It used to be blue, such a pristine blue, like the sky had frozen onto the ground, white coloring its edges in a glow. But now the blue had gone black, the white edges dulled to gray. It was so sinister looking, so empty and harsh. It made HIM feel threatened, and it was HIS power.
He looked down at himself, at his hands held out before him, and wondered why he let this happen. He'd been so proud as a Captain, the child prodigy, the strongest master of an ice-type zanpaktou. And now it was gone…what could the Soul Society do with a broken soul? A Soul Reaper missing his heart, his zanpaktou? They wouldn't let him back…not while he was this unstable.
Biting his lip, Toshiro held his arms to his torso again, almost looking like he was shivering with cold if he wasn't immune to it, the shaking from his sadness instead, his anger at himself. How pathetic he was, how useless. He should never have been chosen as the Heavenly Guardian, never been trusted with the power of Kingdom Hearts or a Keyblade. What did the worlds want of him? What could he offer anymore? He would have ended his existence like he was supposed to, refuse to let the darkness take him to save the others, but…he couldn't, because all he could see were the faces of his friends the last time he had tried. He could see the hurt in their eyes at the thought of him trying to leave, to die, their anger that he would even try. He could hear their voices telling him, promising him, they would find a way to fix this.
It was the only thing giving him any hope at all to fight the darkness.
But it could only do so much, and in the loneliness of his little island of black ice, the former proud Captain of Squad Ten cried.
A chill ran through the rest of the island. The sky, formerly only spotted with clouds, was beginning to darken. Amidst the people of the island's village, a small child looked to the sky, frowning at the odd occurrence. She wasn't much of a navigator, but she knew the sky, and this weather was unnatural for the type of island they were on. Plus, the chill was unwelcome and didn't belong…and the feeling behind it. Her perception was far better than most, even those capable of using the same ability she could, so she could tell this oddity was being caused by someone…but that someone seemed so…empty. It was almost stranger than the weather change.
"Papa." She turned to the man she was walking with, him and another two children as well as another man. "I think there's something here."
The one she called to looked at her curiously, yellow eyes focused on her with a dark brow rising in question.
"Can't you feel it?" The dark haired child asked, her heterochromia eyes, one blue and one black, peering into the forest beyond the village with apprehension.
He did indeed feel something, but despite his own keen observation he felt nothing more than an odd energy deep in the woods.
"Should we look into it, Captain?" The other man spoke, red hair hidden under his cap and eyes hidden behind sunglasses, though he was close to removing them with the ever darkening sky.
"I doubt it's our business." The Captain replied, prepared to head back to the ship.
"Papa, wait." The black-haired girl stopped him. "He feels so sad…he might be hurt."
"He?" The tall man knelt down before her, wondering what it was she was sensing, aware she had a very heightened ability to 'see' and 'listen'.
"They're small…like a child…and they're very sad…very empty." The girl frowned. "And he's behind the weather."
The man looked up at the sky, the dark clouds and unnatural cold…some kid was behind this? Well then, perhaps it was something worth looking into.
"Lead me to him, then." He told the girl before turning to the others. "Head back to the ship, we'll be back momentarily."
They nodded obediently and headed back, one of the children patting the other on the shoulder, the two of them nearly identical except their eye colors switched sides and the other was a boy. He also didn't have a scar across his face.
Split off from them, the girl led the taller man into the woods, following the source of the cold seeping through the trees, creating a mist as it clashed with the warm jungle air. The closer they got, the more concerned the girl became for whoever it was she sensed. Such emptiness, such pain, she wondered why they felt that way. It was almost like they weren't even a person anymore.
"Stop." The man snapped, pulling her back as he noticed something.
It was the black ice, harsh and threatening, slowly spreading over each leaf and twig. The animals refused to go near it, fleeing the dark cold.
"Go back to the ship." He ordered.
"But Papa-!" The girl worried for the one who created this black ice, as it must mean they were in a lot of pain.
"Go." There was no room for argument.
Frowning, the girl obeyed and headed back towards the town. This far in, the man could now sense the strange, hollow presence causing this phenomenon.
But Toshiro could sense him, too.
"They noticed me?" he muttered aloud, picking his head up and looking towards where he could sense the Spirit Energy of a human nearby. They were approaching the area covered by his dark ice…if they got too close he might freeze them.
With his panic fairly calmed now and his power back under control, he was able to stop the spread of ice and lower his influence on the weather, letting it warm back up though he would miss the comforting chill. Comforting to him, anyway, he figured the natives might not appreciate his winter preference.
He jumped up easily into one of the trees, hiding his presence and hoping whoever it was would just consider the ice an odd occurrence, some supernatural accident, and leave without finding him. He didn't want to explain why he was there, freezing over their island.
Soon the figure came into view, a tall, thin man in spotted jeans and dark blue shirt with a yellow smiley, a white hat with more spots covering his dark hair. Toshiro saw tattoos on the other man's hands and the sword those hands held. He could immediately sense a presence in the sword, a dark one, a cursed one. It wasn't like a zanpaktou, but it had somewhat of a presence all the same, and it was attached to the one currently wielding it. How curious.
The figure paused near where he was hiding, looking around with narrowed yellow eyes.
"I know you're here." He spoke up and Toshiro stiffened. Was the human capable of sensing Spirit Energy? He was sure he had his completely concealed, whatever he still had as a Nobody. He concealed it as completely as possible, noticing the man get confused. "Gone?"
'So he CAN sense Spirit Energy.' Toshiro mused, observing the human closely. What kind of world did he jump to? He needed to be careful about this, but now he wanted to know…perhaps helping worlds would help him find himself again, give him a purpose again. It was all he could think of to try after he shamefully ran away from his friends.
"You shouldn't be here." He spoke up, watching the human dart his gaze up to his hiding spot. He had to be careful, he couldn't help just anyone. If he ended up helping someone of the darkness, he would only make things worse.
"I could say the same to you." The man replied. "Are you the reason a Spring Island is on the verge of becoming a Winter Island?"
Toshiro wasn't sure why different islands had different seasons, but he supposed that explained the warm weather and lush flora, as well as the sheer amounts of water surrounding this land that helped power up his little 'panic attack'.
"I apologize; I don't normally allow it to get this bad." Toshiro motioned with his head to the surrounding black ice, which was slowly breaking away, the temperature lowering. "If you allow me a moment the ice will be gone, I had to let out some…frustration."
The man didn't seem too surprised that he could control the ice, proving Toshiro's guess right that people here were stronger than most worlds, and perhaps had magic of their own. It would explain the strange Spirit Energy this one had, too.
"I understand needing to relieve stress, but I've never seen it get to a scale that changed the very weather." He stated, and the Nobody frowned, wondering how to explain his way out of this one. "What kind of Devil Fruit do you have?"
Devil Fruit? The term was utterly foreign to the former Captain, he wasn't aware of strangely named fruits that gave people powers…that might be something to look into, though. What kinds were there? Were they common to have? Were there multiple fruits of the same power or were they all unique? He had to think quickly, keep hidden his origins and true abilities.
"I don't actually know, I've had these for a long time and assumed it was a power I was born with and awakened." He spoke, hoping to play the ignorance card while giving out some bit of truth. "It's only recently I heard of Devil Fruits and realized mine must be one as well."
The other man frowned, looking at him with a calculating stare. Toshiro returned it, both sizing each other up and acknowledging the other as clever, guarded, unable to really know who would do what first or when they might turn hostile.
"What can you do with it?" The stranger questioned.
"Use water in the air to create ice and as a result I tend to form storm clouds, too." Toshiro just told the truth, hoping these Devil Fruits had a power like that.
He was met with disappointment as the other man smirked victoriously, as if discovering a secret.
"How odd, considering the weakness of all Devil Fruit users is water, yet you can control it."
'Dammit…' Toshiro mentally grumbled. "Then I guess I do have an odd power." He said aloud; after all, he never explicitly said he'd eaten a Devil Fruit, only that it was possible. He'd left himself an escape, and the other man's smirk faded as he realized this.
"If you'd allow it, perhaps I could figure out what your odd power is, help you learn more."
'I know more about it than you ever could.' Toshiro thought, a little defensive at the thought of someone else poking at his powers.
But he also needed someone to get information from, see if this world needed help or if the darkness had little to no influence on it. As much as this man seemed dangerous, there were darker people holding Captain positions back in the Soul Society, and weird fruit powers or not, he was still just human. At least as a Nobody he didn't have to worry about only certain people seeing him, he was forever visible to all.
"I know a fair bit, but there's always more to learn." The white-haired being spoke up. "I would…also like to know more about this place. I came here by accident, I'm quite lost."
"Lost?" The other man looked amused. "Lost indeed if you know nothing of where you are. Alright, I suppose we could humor each other…I am Trafalgar Law."
"Hitsugaya Toshiro." The Nobody gave his name. He refused to take a name of darkness, he felt his name was all he had left of who he was.
Law motioned back the way he came from with his head, beckoning the small figure down from the tree to head out. The child's teal eyes kept a cold stare on him before he finally moved, jumping down with the grace of a cat and landing without a sound on the still slightly frozen grass. He was like a ghost, and in the black hooded cloak Law might even consider him like some kind of reaper. But he didn't believe in such things, so he set the comparison aside and led the way back out.
They both had a feeling the days to come would be interesting indeed.
First, some disclaimers. From the description and all that you can assume this will be a One Piece heavy part of the series. It's fairly current, but also since the current chapters are in the middle of an arc with some crazy stuff going on, you don't necessarily have to be absolutely caught up with it. Just know about Big Mom and all that I guess. So that said, I will be taking some liberties with how their adventure plays out because this will be set after Big Mom when all the crews are back together, which obviously we don't know what happens in that regard yet so don't expect accuracy.
Another point to make is that I will be using an AU version of Law's crew. Sadly, while up on my profile, the AU fell prey to my writer's block and has stopped short, but I do enjoy my take on Law adopting five orphan thieves, so if you want to know at least how he got them I'd be delighted if you read those few chapters. This AU was co-written with a close friend of mine, who has also been helping me with this sequel as she is a bit better with One Piece lore than me, and also basically made the orphans herself.
And finally, as to this story itself, this honestly wasn't meant to become the sequel. I just wanted to throw Toshiro into the AU world to get along with the orphans, but as my friend joined in to help and I continued writing, I feel it's honestly a good way to progress Toshiro's journey, and is why the ending of Kingdom Shinigami turned out the way it did, and in fact probably why it got written at all. So if the beginning seems a bit odd, that's probably why, though I did my best to go back and clear it up to better act as a sequel rather than a spin-off. It's also why names will now be said in the traditional way rather than the English way I had been writing them (basically instead of Toshiro Hitsugaya it's now Hitsugaya Toshiro, because I honestly didn't feel like going back and switching the names). I don't know One Piece names are weird the English way, so forgive my laziness.
I'm kind of glad it ended up this way, as while I do want to get to dream drop distance, I'm hoping kh3 comes out soon so I can get more lore to hint at during that "arc" I guess we'll call it, like I attempted with Kingdom Shinigami. This bit will utilize more of the origins and backstory of the Kingdom Hearts itself I gathered from the mobile game that came out some time ago, if with some obvious differences cause AU. Hopefully I can blend it well and it will be enjoyable, even if it's all on one world.
If you're wondering what i'm talking about because you haven't read the first story, please please go read it :) IT's a long one... but i'm quite proud of Kingdom Shinigami and hope to continue as the games do.
I have said what I needed to say, I just want everyone to know what they're getting into, because there's no telling what life will throw at me next and this may fall to the same unfortunate hiatus its predecessor did. I am grateful to anyone who is still along for the ride with me.
-ElementalLCie