Chapter 1: This Ain't Kansas, Toto
switch·back /ˈswiCHˌbak/ (noun) :
a 180° bend in a road or path, especially one leading up the side of a mountain.
A shredded, black maw slowly ripped open in the sky, about six feet off the ground. The agonized sound of the air itself tearing in two would have sent chills down the spine of anyone who was around to hear it. Thankfully, no one was.
The Garganta wavered, unsteady, threatening to close again at any moment. Sounds of panting and cursing could be heard from inside the void, slowly getting louder as they drew near. Then, in an unceremonious thud two figures fell to the ground, one dragging the other's unconscious dead weight in a great heave just as the portal finally gave up and snapped shut as though, too, exhausted.
"Fffuck." Ichigo panted. "That was too close." He took a few deep breaths for some much needed oxygen and stood to take in his surroundings.
They were on a rounded, grassy hill that slopped down in every direction, patches of trees around the base. What looked to be an unpaved road curved around the bottom of one side before making it's way up a gentler hill to the south and off to the horizon. Further in the distance in every direction were more fields, some rowed with corn, the rest the bright green of freshly cut grass. Far to the east, the hills rose up into low, rolling blue-green mountains.
It was late afternoon, the shadows growing long but the sun still bright, the sky a light blue with a few fluffy clouds here and there. The warm breeze carried with it the scents of dirt and hay and livestock.
They were in the middle of fucking nowhere.
With a scowl Ichigo turned to his companion. He was out cold, laying on his stomach with his head resting on one arm, the other tucked underneath his body.
"Oi. Grimmjow."
He kicked the sleeping Arrancar's side a little harder than he meant to.
"C'mon man, get up."
No response.
"Tch, fine."
With a huff, Ichigo sat down, contemplating their current situation. He was far from home, that was for sure. Grimmjow was on the verge of passing out when he opened the Garganta so his aim was off by… a lot, it seemed. There wasn't much open countryside in Japan though, so that narrowed down where they could be by quite a bit. His first thought was somewhere in the Hokkaido region, which was the northern most island and contained the majority of farm land in the country. That seemed the most likely.
He suddenly remembered he had nothing on him but the clothes he was wearing. No cell phone, no money, no I.D. He didn't need those things in Hueco Mundo (and he didn't want sand getting into his brand new phone). Great. He was stranded far away from home with the most aggravating person he has ever met in his life, and no immediate way to get back.
With a slight pang of fear his thoughts turned to Yoruichi and Urahara. He knew it was a little silly to worry over two very capable, centuries old Shinigami, but he couldn't help himself. Powers or no, it was in his nature to show concern for those he cared about. He had to wonder though, if they managed to make it out of Hueco Mundo, or if they were still there? Did that… whatever it was, go after them? If so, did they manage to kill it? Was there more than one? He let out a deep sigh, raking his hands through his hair. Relax Ichigo. They're fine. Don't get worked up.
Lost in his thoughts, he didn't notice that the body lying next to him began to stir.
Grimmjow let out a soft groan. "Why the fuck is it so bright?"
Startled, Ichigo jumped. He turned to face his companion, who was now sitting up on his knees, heels of his hands pressed into his eyes.
"It's day time. How do you feel?"
"Like you care."
"…Whatever, asshole. We're not in Karakura by the way. The Garganta spat us out somewhere I've never been."
At this Grimmjow stood up, a little wobbly (but doing his best to hide it) and squinted at the scenery, raising his nose a bit to scent the air. Ichigo couldn't help but notice how much he looked like a disgruntled cat.
"Are we even in the Living World?"
"What? Of course we are."
Grimmjow gave him a somewhat incredulous look. "This is nothing like the last time I was here, Kurosaki."
Ichigo let out an exasperated sigh. "I told you, we're no where near my home. This is the countryside… there are a lot less people here. It's all farms where people grow food and stuff… wait, did you think every inch of the living world was covered in cities?"
Grimmjow gritted his teeth. "What the hell else was I supposed to think? That's all I've ever seen."
Ichigo had to concede on that one. To call the greater Tokyo region well developed was an understatement. He could see how Grimmjow got that impression if that was all of the Living World he had ever experienced. "Ok. Well, this would be the equivalent to the desert outside of Los Noches."
Grimmjow thought about that for a second. "So, now what?"
At that Ichigo stood as well, stretching his arms above his head until he felt a satisfying crack between his shoulders. "Now we walk until I see a sign for a town so I can find a phone and tell my dad where we are, and… we can work out how to get home I guess." He paused for a second. "I would just ask you to open another Garganta but, uh, at this point we should leave that as a last resort, I think." He did not want to have another run in with that creature anytime soon.
Grimmjow was more than fine with this. He didn't want to admit that he hadn't the strength to open a Garganta right then. Or that what they ran into in Hueco Mundo freaked him out more than a little.
"Whatever." He shrugged, sharp eyes scanning the scenery again. "Not like I'm in a hurry."
Ichigo's scowl returned with a vengeance. "Well I am. So let's get moving."
Grimmjow adjusted the sword at his side, and with a frown set firm on his face, followed Kurosaki down the hill. When they got to the road, Ichigo paused, not sure which direction to take. Grimmjow just turned south and kept walking.
"Wait damn it, we don't know if that's-"
Grimmjow rolled his eyes, not bothering to stop or look back. "We don't know if the other way is right either, Kurosaki. If we have to we can just turn around. You're the one in a hurry, remember?"
He chose not to mention the faint, but noticeable tug in the back of his mind that compelled him to go in that direction. It was strange, and new, and weirded him out a bit. Pantera was being annoyingly silent on the subject, he would have to have a chat with her about it later. For the moment though, he didn't feel like explaining himself to Kurosaki. Instinct told him to follow it, and he was too damn curious for his own good. Besides, for all he knew, it was taking him towards Karakura anyway. Or not. He didn't really care one way or the other.
With a petulant huff, Ichigo jogged to catch up. "Fine. Jerk."
They walked for a time in silence, side-by-side, each lost in his own thoughts. The road was little more than a back country path meant for utility vehicles, bone dry, rocky dirt that looked like it was hell after a solid rainfall. To the left was a steep bank overgrown with grass nearly as tall as they were, the right lined with wood posts and barbed wire that fenced off pasture that sloped gently down to a tree line. It was warm, and a little humid, but not unbearably so, the constant breeze making the temperature tolerable. Even so, Ichigo eventually removed the thin hoodie he was wearing, balling it up into his left fist. Other than that he had on a fitted t-shirt, slim jeans and a pair of canvas high tops. Comfortable enough for the current weather, and thankfully it didn't look like it was going to rain anytime soon.
He chewed on his bottom lip, thoughts drifting to his family, and wondered what Yuzu would be cooking for dinner that evening. He thought of his friends; Inoue, Chad, Ishida, and wondered how things where going for them over their summer break. He wasn't sure how long he had been in Hueco Mundo, there was no way to tell time there after all. It could have been weeks. His thoughts then inevitably circled back to Urahara and Yoruichi, which led him to worry, which made him frustrated and force himself to think of something else. He hated feeling useless.
Grimmjow, meanwhile, was secretly fascinated with all the new sights and sounds and smells, taking in as much as he could with relish. He was amazed, for example, at how much fucking green there was. It wasn't all the same shade of green either, the more he looked the more he noticed all the subtle shifts in hues that went from intense greens to browns, yellows and even blues. It was much, much better than the endless goddamn white of Los Noches. The smells though, were almost too much to handle. Every tiny shift in the breeze brought to his nose something new, something he couldn't identify. It took every ounce of his willpower not to run off an investigate, well, all of it. It was almost maddening.
He glanced over to Kurosaki, wondering if he was experiencing the same assault on his senses (he got the impression that humans had no sense of smell, like, at all) when the breeze shifted again, bringing a new scent that made him stop in his tracks. He lifted his nose, huffing in the air until he locked on the direction the scent was coming from. Yes, up ahead, where the road curved down to meet the tree line. Fresh, flowing, water.
Water was a rare and precious commodity in Hueco Mundo, most sources jealously guarded by powerful hollows and a death trap for anything weaker that dared to steal a drink. Hollows, and by extension Arrancar, didn't need water nearly as often as living creatures, but they drank as much as they could when they managed to find it. In Las Noches water was stingily rationed out, most of the time only given as a reward for one thing or another. The exception being the tea served at Aizen's regular meetings. That was supposed to be one of the "perks" of being Espada rank.
It took Ichigo a moment to realize Grimmjow had stopped, turning around in annoyance when he did. "What? What is it?"
For a moment Grimmjow's feral nature all but took over completely. Hardened eyes locked with Ichigo's, he bared his teeth in a snarl, a low growl in his chest, ready to fight to defend his find. He has killed over much less.
Ichigo's eyes narrowed, and he took defensive stance, muscles tensing and heart rate speeding up in a fight or flight response. He had no idea what set the Arrancar off and he was in no real position to defend himself. He was without his powers and in his body, no different than an average mortal human. Grimmjow could easily kill him with one hit. Even so, he was not about to back down or show weakness.
It only lasted a moment, and then Grimmjow relaxed, reason winning out over instinct.
Ichigo took a deep, steadying breath and he too relaxed when he saw that Grimmjow was no longer being aggressive. "What the hell was that about?" He asked in a careful tone, relieved the standoff didn't escalate to anything worse. He was more than fed up with Grimmjow's disagreeable personality but he didn't want to set the Arrancar off again. It had been a while since he had shown animalistic aggression like that towards Ichigo, not since they first ran into each other in Hueco Mundo after the war, and as much as he didn't want to admit it, it scared Ichigo. He was in no position to go toe-to-toe with Grimmjow and he had to constantly remind himself that he was dealing with a violent, dangerous predator.
Grimmjow was silent for a moment, gaze slowly working it's way over the landscape before turning back to Ichigo. "I smell water." he said flatly, no hint of apology in his voice.
Ichigo scowled, pursing his lips, about to take back everything that just went through his head and go off at Grimmjow for freaking him out over something like that. Then it clicked, and his brows went up. "Oh." He was grinning now. "Water's all over the place here. Not sure if you noticed but this isn't a desert."
Grimmjow raised an eyebrow in disbelief at the idea of water being "all over the place", and started walking again, determined to find it so he could drink his fill. After a beat, Ichigo sighed under his breath and followed after.
Grimmjow followed his nose down to where the road met the tree line. It curved off to the left in a 90 degree turn, where there was a break in the trees. A large flat rock, about 9 feet across, was jutting out the side of the road and disappeared into a steep, wooded bank behind it. A natural spring was flowing from a small cliff a foot or so above the rock, leaving it eternally wet and covered in moss and ferns. The water pooled into a natural depression in the flat rock before flowing off to the left and cascading into a small stream. There was evidence of human activity: the burnt remains of a campfire, empty beer bottles and old, dirty plastic containers that people had once brought to fill with the spring water. The area was shaded by the trees and a few degrees cooler than out in the sun. It was a peaceful, quiet area and no doubt a popular hang out spot.
Grimmjow paused long enough to take in his surroundings and make sure the coast was clear, before immediately moving to the spring, putting his face right up to where it exited the hillside and drank in deeply. He pulled back momentarily in surprise at how ice cold the water was, but went right back to drinking his fill.
Ichigo toed at the campfire remnants, casually looking around and waiting his turn. He knew drinking water from streams and rivers could be dangerous, but he remembered learning somewhere that drinking directly from the source of a ground spring is usually safe. Usually. He shrugged to himself and decided to risk it, seeing the water made him realize how thirsty he was. He watched the Arrancar drink, sucking down water like a thirsty camel, with a look of amusement on his face.
Grimmjow finished with a gasp, wiped his mouth with the back of his hand, and turned to Ichigo, immediately scrunching his nose in anger.
"What's so fucking funny Kurosaki?"
Ichigo chuckled. "If you're that excited over a spring, wait until it starts to rain."
"What the fuck is rain?"
"It's when water" Ichigo leaned forward a bit, hands on his hips, one brow raised in mock dramatics "falls from the sky."
"Fuck off, that doesn't happen. That's completely ridiculous."
"It does! You'll see."
"Stop fucking with me."
"I'm not. It really happens."
"…Che. Whatever."
Grimmjow moved back to the road and waited for Ichigo to drink his fill. When he was finished, they set off walking again.
They where moving south-east now, the road gradually winding down hill. After a while, the road leveled out onto a flat plane and shifted into a straight line. By this point Ichigo was starting to get impatient, and was about to suggest that they turn around to see if a town was closer in the other direction, when he spotted something bright white up ahead. He squinted at it for a moment, then got excited. "Hey, I think that's a road sign!"
"What? Where?"
Ichigo didn't answer, setting off in a jog, slowing down to a stop when he got close enough to read what the sign said.
US
220
1.5 miles
—
His eyes raked over it a few times in momentary confusion, and then it hit him.
US.
Miles.
The sign was in English. The sign looked nothing like the road signs he was used to.
He stood there in shock, heart suddenly racing, an ice cold chill running down his spine.
No. No no NO this cannot be happening!
Grimmjow came up behind him, looking back and forth between Ichigo and the sign in confusion.
"What?"
He got no response.
"What is it, Kurosaki?"
Ichigo turned to face him, eyes wide, and exhaled in a shaky breath. "We're… not in Japan."
Ok! First chapter is short I know, but I just had to end it there.
Fun Fact: The spring they find is based off of a real location not far from where I grew up. It was, indeed, where my friends would get drunk and high as teenagers. You can get away with a lot of crap when you grow up in the sticks.
Please do not expect regular updates, not only is this my first fan fiction, but this is the first time I've ever written anything. Ever. So it will be slow going as I feel this writing thing out. I will forever and eternally be grateful for honest, constructive criticism. It can only help me improve! So please, don't be gentle.
**This will always be updated on Ao3 first, and then here a few days later.**
Please Note: I will NOT post trigger warnings or spoil individual chapters with potentially uncomfortable content. I personally hate when an author does this as it pulls me out of the story, so you have been warned. I rated it Mature for a reason. Read at your own risk.