This story contains mostly original characters. Some created by me, and some created by others. The events told here are set in a timeline before the Turn Back the Pendulum Arc.

Disclaimer: I do not own Bleach.

Remember to leave a review! Your thoughts much appreciated.

Prologue

It was a cool evening in West Rukongai. The breeze stretched its airy fingers into every crevice and corner. The sun had just sunk below the horizon, leaving the sky at the mercy of darkness. The surroundings came alive as crickets chirped songs of the day's departure, welcoming the night with open arms. A solitary leaf detached from the branch of a nearby tree. It fell slowly, unseen against the backdrop of the darkened sky. A brisk wind blew it past a lighted window of a firmly built house in the mid-class community of District 41. A silver-haired pair -a middle-aged man and a young boy- sat across from each other. The boy sat on a cot against a wall, with the man stooped before him.

"What is the incantation for Bakudo 61?" the silver haired man asked.

"Carriage of thunder, bridge of a spinning wheel, with light, split this into six!" answered the silver haired boy.

"Okay, what is the function of Bakudo 62?" the man asked once more.

"An energy rod forms you throw it then it splits into a lot of really smaller rods which pin the bad guy to the wall so he can't move!" The silver haired boy grinned.

"Excellent!" the man smiled proudly, "Now the last question for tonight, what is the name of Bakudo 63?"

"Sajō Sabaku!" the six year old boy exclaimed.

"That was great! You didn't get any wrong!" the man said, patting the boy on the head.

"Yay! See, dad? I told you I could do it!" the boy began jumping about.

"I know, Amaru, I know." A big smile formed on the man's face.

Amaru kept jumping around, apparently with no intention of stopping anytime soon.

"Kagerei-san!" a voice shouted from outside. "We need your help to out a fire!"

"Sure thing!" Kagerei replied, he looked at his son. "It's late you know, time for bed!"

"But dad-" the boy started.

"No buts. Off to bed with you." Kagerei interrupted sternly, then a warm smile slowly formed on his face, "I'll go help out that fire and be right back, okay?"

"Okay dad." Amaru made his way to his bed.

"Sleep tight." Kagerei left with a smile and a wave.

Amaru gazed at the closed door, and thought of his father lovingly, recalling all those happy memories. He slowly fell asleep as the memories grew more vivid. Those memories soon gave way to his recurring nightmare.

Amaru tried to see more clearly, but no matter how much he blinked, his vision did not improve. Everything he saw was hazy, and his eyelids felt heavy, like rock weights. A shadow passed over his peripheral vision, he moved his head towards it, but it passed over once more. Struggling to make sense of what was happening, he tried to sit up, but found himself unable to move. It was like the weight of the world was pressing down on him.

Suddenly, the weight was removed, he was free. Once more he tried to move, to even lift an arm, but it proved futile. He no longer felt weighted down, but he still could not do anything. His whole body was numb and he felt as if he was floating. Floating and helpless, unable to control his body.

"It's okay, Amaru. Drift back to sleep." A voice whispered.

Wha-? Amaru thought, stubbornly refusing to listen to the gentle, soothing voice.

His vision cleared for only an instant and he saw his worst fears.

Author's Notes

Well, here's the prologue of my first Bleach OC story. There will be appearances from existing characters, i assure you, but the story revolves around mainly original characters.

I know its short, but I actually didn't plan to have a prologue at all. This part of the story was actually the beginning of Chapter 1, but i decided to split it and edit Chapter 1.

Now, i'm working on 3 Bleach fanfics simultaneously: Burichi, TMOYK and this one. So please bear with me if i take a while to update them individually. I promise however, that i will not leave any of them unfinished. I will see through them all to the very end.

The first chapters of Burichi and TMOYK will be uploaded soon, along with Chapter 1 of this one (most likely at different intervals).

As always, remember to leave a review! I FEED on reviews. I'd very much like to be a better author, and constructive criticism is good for the soul.

Thanks for reading guys!