Earths' Reaper
By Hunter Aenon
I DO NOT OWN BLEACH! I wish I did but I don't. This is my first fan-fiction so please be understanding.
Chapter 1
A soul is revealed
Darkness… Fear… Lost… Power… Need… Food.
The thought of food snaps me back from my primal thoughts. The need to search for food, and a small sense of purpose begins to fill me again, slowly at first then building speed flooding my brain. I remember the struggle for survival, my comrades from before who just saw me off, and the life I have… had with the coming feast from the living world all that will change I will become stronger feasting on anything I find.
After a short while I see a pinprick of light faster than I thought. The smell that is drawing my kind near must be affecting the space in between the worlds subtly drawing my world and the living world closer. The smell seemed to be at its peak it was intoxicating both giving me a sense of ecstasy that I had not felt since I became what I am and offering many things: power, food and much more. It seemed that the smell in itself was telling my kind that a feast was being held for us easy pickings food more abundant than anything ever seen before.
I spare a fleeting thought to my old comrades having a sense that something was wrong they stayed behind I was the only one of my group that heeded the call the scent had given. They were afraid of a trap ha like anything could catch this many of my kind and only a few could kill this many and we watch their every move only they are a true threat to us. Though I do feel a fleeting regret of leaving my old comrades they did try to help if one of us died then it became harder for the rest to survive. Hoping that I would come back to them they gave me advice for the trip to this world, 'Keep your sanity don't let it go if you do you'll wander in between the worlds perhaps forever.' The older ones who had traveled the living world also gave me pointers on where they thought the best spots were and how to ascertain how the taste of the souls would be.
Only a few steps until I reach the living world, before I step through I stop to try to sense if there's any threat to me nearby. I sense a reaper several miles away too far to do any harm to me locked in combat with others, another force slightly weaker focusing the other way killing from a distance, and several smaller forces scattered around that could deal harm all far away from me, ha. I shift my senses to search for another kind of force a force worth devouring and assuming the power. I find one quite nearby just a short run away jumping out I direct my fall to land near the soul, sadly he seems to be living, death will weaken him slightly but with the increase in power it won't matter. I look down to see I'm falling onto a building. The old part of me, the still slightly human part, recognizes that it's a museum for Japanese history. Ha that only means more food for me, I will enjoy this.
I grimace as I look around, "Ugh dad do we have to come to the museum again? We've been here at least six times in the past week and a half."
"I want to look at that sword again." My dad says barely looking at me focused on the flow of people, trying to find the fastest way to see the same sword we looked at every time we came to this stupid place. The first time here was another one of my dads lame tries to get us to spend more time together. When I asked why we had to come here he told me 'If we're going to live here we might as well know the true history of this place and not that distorted version of history you've put together from all those anime you watch.'
It was then that we found the sword. Right away I knew something was off about it, I get those kind of vibes a lot it Karakura town now, something that I wanted instinctively to stay away from. Not that it scared me or seemed bad it just seemed dangerous like getting near it was just asking for trouble to happen.
"Joseph, I just want to see it again, it intrigues me." I got the feeling that dad had the same feeling I did but for some reason he wanted to find out what was different about the sword like it was some sadistic puzzle to him and making me suffer along with him would and I quote, 'Build my character.' Like my character needed building I was just …
Sadly I never got to finish my internal rant for my dad and I just entered the display of ancient battle material and other random battle theme objects, when everything went to that special place where all luck flees from poor Joe and decides to take all happiness with it leaving me with nothing but bad luck and a stomach full off nothing but those pot stickers I had for a snack a few hours ago and fear lots and lots of fear.
Well I'm not sure what was really happening all the sudden everything was in a haze of dust people were yelling and running around like a child on Christmas day but not so very happy. Then I saw several people just fly across the room hitting the walls or the various displays luckily they weren't in the 'War Zone' as the museum staff liked to refer to it as, so they weren't seriously hurt but the feelings that I usually get were going haywire. Telling me one thing, if I don't get the hell out of here now I was going to die and everyone along with me.
For my entire life I've had these feelings and I noticed when I ignored them they usually came to pass. So I booted my butt over to my dad, "Dad, we have to get out of here now!" I Yelled, "Something strange is happening and … Oh shit." Now I never swear in front of my dad to many repercussions for me to deal with it's just not worth the effort. But at that second my feelings turned razor sharp, condensed, and had a clarity I'd never experienced before in my 17 years on this poor helpless planet.
It gave me a kind of second sight I guess you could say. What it showed me, I'm not to happy to say, was pretty much nothing but a huge blunt object hurtling to my dad; that would toss him into a case of old swords in a way that would impale him several times over, destroying any chance of both of us making it out alive. So I made one of those split second decisions and jumped at my dad pushing him away from the object entirely, then I tried to jump back to avoid it. I felt a pain in my side that probably shattered a few ribs. Not throwing me across the room, no that would have been to slow, no it freaking launched me across the room through a stack of armor and into the wall a few feet behind the armor.
Then everything went a hazy color something like a silvery white kind of fog and I saw a huge form where my dad and I used to be. It looked like a huge person easily eight feet tall and about four feet thick maybe more, but after that nothing.
There's a theory that once you are in a coma that you go to a place in your mind so deep no one can reach you. Your mind becomes a prison trapping you in a world it has made to try to contain your sanity, or something like that, when it subconsciously decides that whatever has happened was too difficult or dangerous for you to live through. Personally I liked that idea it attests to the strength of your mind showing that it can do anything even trap itself, now not so much.
The reason I bring this up is because I'm standing in a freaking forest yes a forest. For some reason I think that somehow the earlier mentioned happened to me. It would make sense my dad was pretty much assured to be dead, as well as me, and several other people that were at the museum. My mind simply could have snapped and put me into a state where I didn't have to handle it, saving me from the pain of seeing everyone die.
"Great, now I can't help my dad at all." Despair rushed me and I sat down. I was never one who really wanted to be a hero, to much effort to save everyone I just wanted my dad and me to be safe. Why should something like this happen to us?
After a while gave myself a mental shake I was not one who relished in the idea of despair and I knew that any mind is strong and I figured if I tried hard enough I was sure I could break out of this prison my mind had made and divert the creature from my dad and all those people.
So taking deep breaths I mimiced a meditation stance I had seen on TV a while ago. I decided to focus on my inner self, to find the deep resess of feelings that had always driven me to do not the perfect thing but the thing that kept me from completely messing up. And what I found was startling, I found … nothing.
Almost ready to give up I stood, then I felt a slight tug on my chest pulling forward, like an invisible string was tied to my heart pulling at me. Not having much of an idea for what else to do, or many other options, I decided to follow it going around trees when one came into my path.
Strangely whenever I tried to turn away from the direction of the tug my limbs would grow sluggish, the lights would dim like a cloud passed over the sun, and the trees would seem to rot before my eyes. Whenever I turned back though everything turned green again though the more I did it the longer it took to become green again. Plainly whatever I was going towards my subconsious thought I should be there.
Feeling like I was running out of time I decided to go faster, dodging trees with an agility from one fighting for their life, and the life of their family. Constantly feeling the pull of whatever was attracting me.
A few minutes in I started to wonder how big this place was and if I was headed out or in. Suddenly I felt like I hit a brick wall … again. "What is it with me and walls today!" Yelling actually managed to help me feel a little better I didn't feel so wound up.
Opening my eyes I saw that there was no wall, and that the direction of the pull changed, now it pulled sharply too the left directly at another tree. This tree was different though it was much taller than the other trees, thicker, and seemed to be an entirely different type. Most of the trees tended to be young Oak or pine, were this one was an unrealistically enourmous Sakura tree.
Standing up took more time and effort than I've ever experianced before. Almost as if I had heavy weights straped to my limbs.
Deciding to worry about that later I tried to inspect the tree but no matter how I tried I couldn't move from the spot I was standing in. Worried that I wouldn't be able to get away and I had somehow gotten into a trap I wouldn't be able to get out of I tried to push away from the tree, using it as my leverage. Stangly though my right hand just passed through the tree hiting something very hard.
"FINALY!" Soimething had shouted out, rustling the trees around me a little.
I jerked my hand back and tried to take a few steps backwards but somehow a wall had formed behind me. I glanced backwards to see something I wish I could forget … darkness, pure unending darkness. The rest of the forest gone I looked back to the tree saying to myself, "Could I be any more cliché."
Looking back to the tree not having much else to do I decided to explore the weird 'hole' in the tree. Staying away from whatever my hand had hit I found that the hole was about a foot and half across and about a foot deep give or take a couple of inches.
Then not having anything else to do I shut my eyes and put my hand on whatever was in the middle of the hole. "God, if you take much longer…" I took my hand off and the voice stopped. Opening my eyes I realized the voice was coming from whatever was in the center.
Grining I put my hand back on it, "Would…stop…that…time…" taking my hand off and on again confirmed my theory, whatever it was it was probably ment to be a guide or something akin to a guide to get me out of here. Not having much else of a choice I grabed the object and pulled.
"God you take forever, we've not much time. At least you aren't to stupid and figured it out by yourself." Looking at what I'd pulled out I realised I had a japonese katana with a blade about three feet long. "Would you turn around and look at me!"
Jerking around I saw a man floating in the darkness, he was about six foot, wearing a kimono, he had a porcelein mask hiding his face, and long platinum white hair. "Ugh I'd think you'd be in a hurry to save your father."
"What do you mean?" I asked, "What happened, why am I here, and who the hell are you?"
"Only the last question is realevent as of now, maybe I'll answer the others later. But the only way to cheat death and save your father is to tell me my name before the darkness takes you I've kept it at bay as long as I can."
"Your name…? I tell you you're name and we can save those people?" My mind was swimming I was getting to many questions and not enough answers the only thing that kept me from asking the questions was looking down I saw the ground falling into the blackness.
"Yes, Joseph say my name. Not only for they're lives but for yours as well."
Looking from him to the sword in my hand I remembered the stories my mother used to tell me before she passed away. "Your name… your name is…"
Finally the old man is down, he and the boy actually put up some semblance of fight. That's to be expected though seeing as their spiritual pressure was actually higher than the others they were probably able to sense where I was coming from. I still wasn't over the shock of the man's spiritual pressure rising. He almost got me there for a little bit but once I noticed he still couldn't see me he was finished.
"Because of the hassle you gave me old man, your first." Getting down on all fours to get closer to the body I get ready to assume his powers. Opening my mouth I hear something stir, and then I'm almost blown into a wall by the sudden release of spiritual pressure. Bolting upright expecting the reaper I look over to see that the boy is standing up watching me. Something seems wrong about him and not just the fact that now he has one of my kinds masks.
The first thing I noticed when I awoke was I no longer hurt. Whatever had happened in my mind had somehow fixed my body, the second was I had something on my face something heavy and hot, and finally the last thing I realized was whatever had attacked us was crouching over my dad. Getting up after the excursion in my mind was easier than breathing.
I noticed the thing… Hollow… it was his voice so I knew he was giving me information as he had promised.
Well the hollow had noticed I had gotten up so I waited for him to turn away from my dad. Let me get his attention. Giving him permission he suddenly released a fair amount of strength towards the hollow.
At that the hollow jerked up and turned in one smooth move. You got to admire the grace that hollow moves with. Ugh, I could already tell that he was going to take some time to get used to. Then it lunged at me oddly slower than I would have expected, not knowing what I should do, I sidestepped and let the hollow bash through the wall I had hit earlier.
He was going to kill you, your dad, and all these people let your rage go use what I have told you and let your instincts go, you were born for this. Yep I couldn't be any more cliché than I was at that moment so I thought why not and let my emotions rage. Feeling the anger from what he had almost done, I smoothly sidestepped as he lunged again. My body taking over I crouched put my arm in front of my face then as I jerked it away I said the words that would forever change my life, "Breathe, TSUMENADE!"
With that action I felt the thing on my face dissolve strangely though I could feel each and every piece of it. Having already seen it, it was easy for me to direct the pieces to form into the sword I had held just moments before in my mind.
The next time it lunged towards me as I sidestepped I let the sword take its arm. It let out a cry almost as loud as a jet engine. Its head! Take its head! They will only die if you take the head! Not thinking about much other then destroying what almost killed my father and all these innocent people. I turned toward the hollow rage filling my body like a fire going through rice paper. I ran to it before it could fully comprehend what was going on, jumped, stabbed it in the throat and let my momentum take the sword the rest of the way through its head.
After it left the head I tuned my body bringing the sword in front of me, when I landed I noticed that when the sword hit the stone floor it cracked it like a boulder had fallen a few stories to land there. Knowing that the hollow was no more I stood as it dissolved and flicked the blood off my sword. The sword is a manifestation of me, when you call upon me I will dissolve the mask. It will then be your choice on how to use me. "Thank you Tsumenade." Don't thank me yet. And after he had said those words in my mind I felt as if the hollow I had just killed had landed on me crushing my entire body and for the second time in a few minutes I blacked out but this time I didn't go to the world my mind had become.