Hello guys! I've been thinking on this story for a long while now and have spent the last week on this first chapter. I re-did it a couple of times so hopefully this is the best version. It will take a couple of chapters to actually find a path, but that's how Bleach started. First arc wasn't the best. Just bear with me and I assure you, things will get interesting. This story will be taking priority over all my other stories.

Chapter 1: The End is Where We Begin(part 1)

A young man of about twenty years sprinted through the dark, moonlit woods, breathily heavily. The shadow of the trees served to make the almost peaceful quietness of the forest eerily silent, more like wooden gravestones than anything else. The shadows fell behind him, as if those dark reflections were reaching for his fleeing form. His hair was black and short, only ruffling slightly with each step he took. A particularly larger tuft of hair was located above his right eye, waving madly as the wind cut past his face. The moonlight revealed his dark eyes, black and small, wide with fear. The black iris's flicked backwards as an unholy bellow sounded behind him, along with the crashing of branches as whatever was chasing him forced its way through the wooden obstructions.

He quickly looked back in front of him, redoubling his speed. Unfortunately, this small lack of concentration caused him to miss a protruding tree root, which his right foot caught on as he lengthened his stride. Falling face first, the black haired man threw his arms up, shielding his face from the unforgiving ground. This caused his already torn sleeves to become quite dirty, not to mention bruise his arms. But he didn't care about that. The man knew that whatever was chasing him would cause more harm than his own self-inflicted injuries. He'd seen what it did to that group of thugs.

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It was nearing sunset and a reclining figure could be seen on a hilltop, arms behind his head. His hair was short and combed back, save for a tuft that hung over his right eye. He wore a simple tan vest, one side folded underneath the other, held in place by a rope belt. His legs were crossed over each other, covered in a faded blue skirt. Not really a skirt, but this was Japan and such a thing was normal clothing for these people. He also had on a pair of geta, though no socks. Socks were expensive.

His unhidden left eye was contemplating the slowly dropping sun, a small sliver of wood held in his teeth. The young man had made it through another unforgiving day and was happy to have the time to relax. He could watch people pass him by on the road but they were always so petty. Wanting attention on things that didn't even matter, like whether they're new clothes looked nice or regarding him with suspicion. It was a common assumption that he was a bandit, given the state of his clothing and the knife in his belt. He eventually stopped correcting them. Let people think what they want, he had no interest in the minds of people who worried about such things.

Hearing steps behind him, he let his head lean back, left eye closed. It seemed that he was stretching but one could never be too careful. That was one reason he let his hair grow over his right eye. He could see through the strands of silky hair, but given the shadow they created and the sun shining on his position, it was highly unlikely that they could tell he was looking at them.

It was a group of men, most older and taller than him, dressed in clothes in just as bad condition as his were. It was strange to see a group of men walking. There was no carriage for them to escort, nor lord or samurai to serve under. But they had weapons. In the young man's experience, people with weapons tended to use them. Perhaps not with much skill, but one didn't need skill to club someone to death or slit their throat. He also saw a few bows among them. That weapon did require some skill to use, otherwise you'd quickly end up on the wrong end of a blade. Spears seemed to be the preferred tool among them, since the reach and ease of use made them quite useful.

He noted with interest that one of them carried a sword. Only samurai could carry such weapons and this man didn't seem to be a samurai. He wore no lacquered wooden armor and his muscular arms were visible since his haori lacked sleeves. His hair was strangely white and ragged, as if he was older than he appeared. Probably a ronin. The young man decided, chewing on the sliver of wood to further implicate that he was merely relaxing, not surveying the passing group. Then the white haired man turned his head in his direction.

They young man's heart went cold. The ronin was staring right at him. He wasn't fooled, unlike his comrades. The white haired man frowned, showing his teeth as he did so. "What are you staring at boy? Thinking of lining your pockets with our hard earned coin?"

The boy in question opened his eye. No point in pretending now. He'd been caught staring. "Not at all sir, just waiting for the sunset." He kept his voice neutral. No point in further angering the man, especially with the group of thugs now eyeing him. He had no doubt that they hadn't earned their coin. Unless you counted attacking defenseless people as earned.

It seemed the ronin had other ideas. "Is that so? Well, then you wouldn't mind emptying them pockets, just to prove that you're not lying."

The boy groaned inwardly. He knew where this was going. The man was giving him the option to hand over his money peacefully and escape with his life. The other option was decidedly more violent, likely painful. But the black haired man always had a third option. "Gladly sir, name's Takeshi by the way." He wasn't introducing himself for the hell of it. It was natural for the anyone to respond with their own name when given one.

The white haired ronin raised an eyebrow. "So you got some manners do ya? Guess I should return the favor." He drew himself up with pride to introduce himself. "The names Nakamura and I'm in charge of this band of-urk!" he suddenly stopped midsentence as the knife in Takeshi's belt suddenly found itself buried in his leg. His hands immediately clutched the wound, almost falling over as he did so. "Damn! That little wretch threw a knife in me! You'll pay for that-hey get back here coward!"

He was once again cut off midsentence as Takeshi ran like hell, towards the woods that he'd reclined by in case something like this happened. The albino swore and motioned for some men to chase after him. "Bring him here! Make sure he's still alive, or the one who killed 'em will have to be his replacement!"

Three men with clubs took off after him, the largest(and not from muscle mind you) surprisingly drew closer to the bushes first. He raised his arm to clear away the obstruction but was stopped dead in mid swing as another knife whistled from the trees, planting itself in his chest. He fell to his knees dumbfounded, eyes staring at nothing. Then he toppled forward, unmoving. The two left stopped, eyes connecting the knife to the woods. "That little bastard. He knew we'd follow and used the bushes to hide, that way he could do the same to Najuro as what he did to Nakamura."

The other one snickered. "Yeah, probably went for the poor bastard cause he was a bigger target." His companion solemnly agreed with him. There wasn't much in the way of companionship among them. Plus Najuro ate a lot of food, so this almost was bearable. But besides wounding their leader, the fool boy had also killed one of their men. The knife throwing bastard would probably be begging for Nakamura to kill him. Too bad their boss wasn't known for his merciful nature.

Cursing, the two remaining men pushed through the undergrowth, branches scratching at their faces. They were quickly joined by three of their comrades, who had only paused to patch up Nakamura. He was pissed as hell, but he was smart enough to make his men go first. He didn't want to end up like Najuro. Dying at the hands of a street punk wasn't very desirable. "You two with the bows go around the edge of the forest. If he makes a break for it, shoot him in the leg or arm, or you might as well join him."

His men nodded their understanding. They'd seen Nakamura cut down more than one person who had failed in the task given them. Though they didn't approve, their leader was an adept swordsman and used to be a samurai of some shogun. No one in their group could beat him. When he'd first taken charge, some had tried. All were quickly and efficiently silenced. He had reflexes like a cat and his eyes rarely missed anything, like the boy that they were now pursuing.

"When I find you boy, you're going to wish you'd never defied Nakamura, feared bandit leader!" His hands itched to separate the boy's head from his shoulders, but he had no intention of giving him a such a quick end. It would be painful and he would enjoy every second of it.

He drew his sword and sliced it through some annoying branches. Not that he couldn't just duck under them, but he needed to cut something and it was either this or his men. "You'll wish you'd never been within a hundred miles of me! I'll track you down, tie you up, and then-"

He was, it was becoming quite irritating, again cut off. Sunlight glinted off something behind him, out of the corner of his eye. "Don't do it." The voice of Takeshi said from behind him. Nakamura stopped, wanting more than anything to swing his sword around and cut this man down, but knowing that doing so would end up with his throat being cut. He'd bleed out in seconds. His strength would leave his body and his last memory would be this street punks satisfied face.

Takeshi was silent for a few seconds. "I have a problem. I'm at a loss of what to do now that I've caught you. I heard you yelling that you had some ideas. Care to share?"

Nakamura swallowed, his Adams apple, dreadfully close to that sharp blade. "How. I saw you run into the woods. Why-"

His tirade was silenced, by a stinging pain as the knife nicked his throat. "Please stop talking. I'm afraid that it's causing the knife to move and I'd hate for you to have no answer to your question. Your life would feel so unfulfilled then, don't you agree?" he accentuated the last three words with nudges of the knife, causing Nakamura to break into a sweat.

The boy was playing with him, trying to draw fear out of him like water from a well…and it's working. Closing his mouth, Nakamura gave the smallest of nods, painfully aware of how close that knife was. He could almost feel the boy's self-satisfied smile behind him, making him more enraged but not able to do anything about it.

Takeshi's smile widened, knowing what the bandit was probably thinking. "Now, where was I, oh yes, you wanted to know why I waited for your men to pass underneath the tree I was hiding in because I knew that people like you always hide behind the numbers they command. The fact that your leg was injured, apologies, would cause you to be even further behind them." His eyes glanced down momentarily to the hastily bandaged wound. "If I hadn't been in the action of getting up, you and I wouldn't be having this conversation."

Nakamura gritted his teeth, one of the few actions he could perform without slitting his own throat. "We can make a deal kid. You let me go and I'll return the favor. I'd consider us square, what do ya say?"

Takeshi shook his head. "That is a nice offer…but I don't think I can trust your word. I think it would be much safer, and entertaining, to cut your throat and hunt your men down one by one. I'm used to moving silently and I have already recovered my knife from the fat man that I killed earlier. The only ones who might survive will be the archers, since they're not foolish enough to enter a forest with those bows."

The bandit leader almost wrenched away from the man behind him. His voice had taken a more sadistic turn at his second sentence. It was still well spoken and calming, but the words were completely at odds with his tone. The friendly nature of how he said it was more terrifying than the actual words themselves. Nakamura had been threatened before, but those people were usually angry and loud. This…this terrified him. "Wait! I can-"

This time he was silenced by the roar of an animal. At least, he thought it was an animal. It was unlike anything he'd ever heard. It was a haunting sound that was both high pitched, low and foreboding. It made his blood run cold and he noticed that Takeshi had also gone silent, listening intently to the terrifying sound. "What in God's name is that?" Nakamura whispered, as if the beast would hear if he spoke to loudly.

Then the screams started. He could hear his men yelling in agony and fear, followed again by that ghastly noise. The breaking of bushes and branches could be heard, along with what was probably the bodies of his men.

"Where is it, I can't see it!"

"What is going on-argh!"

"No, no, NOO-"

Then, all was silent. The two men stayed that way as well, wondering what could possibly kill an entire group of armed men. Takeshi removed his knife, retreating to a safe distance. "I think we should leave now. Sounds like something beat me to your men." His face was still relaxed, but his eyes were scanning the forest, searching.

Nakamura just realized that there was no longer a cold pain laying on his throat. He sighed in relief. "Fool." Then he leaped forward, surprising Takeshi with his burst of speed. The sword flashed through the air, slicing past the young man's face.

He jerked it back out of instinct and rolled away, putting some more distance between them. "You're the fool. Do you think that thing might still be out there and perhaps looking for more victims? Do you want to die so badly?" His eyebrow's became a 'v', showing his anger.

Nakamura walked slowly forward, that way Takeshi couldn't jump one or the other to avoid the next attack. "Of course not. I'm just not about to let some half-ass thief get away with threating me! I wager I have plenty of time to kill you before that thing shows up. Who knows? Maybe your body will serve to distract it for a while."

He raised his sword and slashed downwards. Takeshi threw up his knife, letting the longer weapon glance off the side. He grinned despite the situation and threw the knife at his opponents open chest. His attack had been expected though and Nakamura nimble stepped to the side. "You think I didn't anticipate you might try ending it like that?" the older man goaded, readying himself to attack again.

Takeshi nodded. "Of course I knew you would, but it was still quite impressive. You have great reflexes."

The bandit wasn't sure if he should accept the compliment or not. He jumped forward and struck out first to the right, then spun around from the left. The boy jumped back, narrowly avoiding having his stomach sliced open. "Stop needling me you twerp! Someone without a weapon shouldn't be so bold!"

Takeshi agreed. "You're right. Glad we agree on something." With that, he reached behind his back and produced another knife, this one heavier and with a cross guard. It was a miniature version of the classic samurai sword. The metal guard was old and stained, the hilt brown rags wrapped haphazardly around it. He surprised his opponent and darted forward, dealing a quick stabbing wound to Nakamura's shoulder.

The man recoiled and slashed up hurriedly, to ward off a follow up attack. His quick maneuver worked, catching Takeshi's smaller blade on his own longer one. "I hope this isn't to bold of me." Takeshi grinned, and stepped forward, keeping their hilts locked.

Nakamura grunted and attempted to wrest his sword away but the boy had surprising strength in his arms. Plus he had leverage on his side. His eyes widened as Takeshi reached behind his back and withdrew yet another dagger. "But if one has more than one weapon, more boldness should be allowed on their part. Do you agree with that?" The boy smiled and struck forward, aiming for the white haired ronin's unguarded throat.

In a desperate act, Nakamura planted his right foot to the left of his left foot, turning as he did so, and pulled his blade away with all the force he could muster. It was just Takeshi's ill fortune that the unpredicted movement caught him on the underside of his left forearm, blood running down his arm. The second blade dropped from his hands, drops of blood following it.

Seeing the damage, Nakamura grinned at his good luck. His quick reflexes were doing him well. "Looks like Lady Luck favors me tonight. Too bad the same can't be said for you." He raised his sword for a two handed blow, bearing down on the wounded boy.

He was confused when Takeshi's eyes widened suddenly but shifted back just as quickly. "I think not. Looks to me that she hates us both." He smirked slightly, looking over Nakamura's shoulder. A eerily familiar bellow sounded behind the bandit, causing him to freeze. He could sense a presence behind the man, plus it's where the roar came from, but he couldn't really make anything out. Just a slightly distorted shadow.

Takeshi grinned increased in size as the man in front of him froze in fear. "Looks like this might be our last night together. At least I get to see you go first."

Takeshi: Can anyone guess what this mysterious creature is? If you can't well, I guess you'd have to be pretty thick then. Sorry to leave you guys on a cliffhanger, but I'm fine with this. Means I'm still alive.

PA18: I hope you guys enjoyed this. Please let me know what you think, R&R, and all that. See you next chapter!