Hey all, sorry I haven't updated in a while, but I had this idea for a Bleach fic, so I decided to write it. Please review. Who knows, it could inspire me to update my stories sooner. Anyway, here's my latest story. Enjoy!
Fire from the Sky
Chapter 1: Tale of the White Cloud
"And then…the Hollow jumped out and ate them all!" little Kishigo shouted, and the rest of the little kids at the campfire jumped and screamed.
"That was scary," one of them said, "You always tell good stories, Kishigo," said another. Kishigo grinned and said, "Yeah, but I'm not as good as Tenji. Right, Tenji?"
That's my name. Or at least, what the kids call me. My real name is Tenkaji Kumoshiro, but for one reason or another, these kids call me Tenji. They lived in the lower West Rukan district of the Soul Society, and hardly any of them had family here, but they had each other, and that was good enough for them.
"I don't know, Kishigo, you tell some pretty good stories," I teased. Kishigo considered me his older brother, mostly because we had the same brown hair and blue eyes, only my hair was longer.
"Tell that one story, about the boy and the Hollow!" Kishigo said excitedly, "Yeah, tell that one!" the others egged on.
"Come on, you guys have heard it tons of times," I replied.
"Not Tenpi, she hasn't heard it yet!" Kishigo said, indicating the youngest of the group with his hands.
"Alright, fine," I agreed, "But it's pretty scary," I said to Tenpi as I picked her up and set her on my lap, "Are you sure you can handle it?"
"I can handle it, I'm not scared easily," she said with the confidence of a four-year-old.
"Are you okay with this?" I asked Hanayuri Shanhoshi, Tenpi's older sister, who had long black hair in a braided ponytail, and was my age.
"Yes, I'm fine with it, with you and your big, scary Soul Reaper stories," she giggled. I had made it into Squad Thirteen of the Thirteen Court Guard Squads recently, at the age of sixteen; I was considered a prodigy, and although Hanayuri was happy for me, I couldn't help but notice a little hint of jealousy whenever the term 'Soul Reaper' was mentioned.
"Ok, here it goes…"
About ten years ago, in the World of the Living, in a place called Karakura town, there lived a small, six-year-old boy. He had brown hair and blue eyes, a lot like someone else we know.
Everybody looked at Kishigo, but Kishigo was already too absorbed in the story to notice. Then everybody turned their attention back to me. I continued the story...
There was something special about the boy: he could see ghosts, wandering around trying to find peace. The boy lived with his mother, an only child. They would often go on walks together, and the boy would wonder why his mother never paid attention to the ghosts he thought they both saw.
Then one day, when the boy and his mother were on their way home from one of their walks and the streets were empty, it started raining. They stopped, and the mother pulled out her umbrella, opened it up, and held it above the both of them, and they started walking home while the boy clung to her leg. The boy then looked over toward some bushes, and saw a pair of piercing yellow eyes, and what looked like the outline of a skull around the eyes.
He buried his face in his mother's leg in fear and stopped walking. His mother stopped and asked what was wrong, and the boy looked toward the bushes again, but he didn't see anything. He told his mother he thought he saw something scary in the bushes, but that it wasn't there anymore.
He asked her if she could check the bushes to make sure there was nothing there, and she smiled and said she would. But while his mother was looking in the bushes, the boy heard a noise and turned around.
And he screamed.
In front of him was a skull-faced monster with yellow eyes. It had long sharp white claws, had a light purple body, and was almost as tall as the street lamp next to it. But its most striking feature was the gaping hole in its chest.
His mother quickly turned around, but didn't see anything except her son staring in front of him. She asked him what was wrong, but the boy didn't reply. He just stood there, staring.
The Hollow let out a blood-curdling roar, and said to the boy, "You have high spirit energy, boy, and that makes you tasty, as well as meal choice number one for me!" The boy took a step back, and the Hollow said "Aww, what's the matter? You're not scared are you?" in a menacing tone, "I'm just going to kill you and then devour your soul!" The boy took another step back, and the Hollow raised its claw to attack the boy.
The mother sensed danger in that instant, and ran in front the boy, with her body facing his; and there was a tearing sound as the Hollow's claw struck the back of the boy's mother, and tore it open, blood spilling on the wet ground. The boy watched with horror as his mother was knocked down by the Hollow.
"Well, I could always have a snack, too," the Hollow snickered, as he started for the boy, "But you're first!" and the Hollow lunged at the boy. The boy tried to run away, but he was too slow, and he felt the claw of the Hollow tear through his back, then up through his neck, and all he felt was pain.
Then suddenly, he felt nothing. He was surrounded by darkness. Then he felt
a huge force pulling on him, as if his soul was trying to separate from his body.
Then, he was staring at the monster again, feeling like he had, before he was struck, except slightly lighter, and there was a chain attached to his chest. Then he looked down, and saw his own body, covered with blood that was slowly being washed away by the rain. He was confused and frightened and wasn't sure what to do next until the monster started for him again, this time with its mouth wide open.
The boy cringed in fear as the Hollow was about to devour him, but then there was a flash of light and the Hollow cried out in pain. The boy opened his eyes and noticed that the Hollow had turned around and there was a burn mark on his back.
The Hollow had turned to see who had fired the kido blast at him, and had found a female Soul Reaper with big blue eyes, and black hair down to her shoulders, her hand extended, palm out, four fingers together, and thumb touching her palm.
"Soul Reaper…" the Hollow muttered, "I don't want to deal with you right now, so I think I'll go. But first," The Hollow turned around lightning fast and had his claw in the boy's stomach before anybody could react, "A parting gift!" and just as fast as the Hollow had attacked the boy, he disappeared into a rift of darkness.
"Damn, he got away," the Soul Reaper said as she walked over to the boy, "Well, I guess I should do the Konso now. You're going to go to the Soul Society now, little boy," she said to the boy. But he didn't want to go quite yet. "Don't worry, the Soul Society is a wonderful place, and your wounds will heal too."
"But I can't go yet, I need to make sure my mommy's ok," the boy said worriedly. As if on cue, somebody walked over and noticed the two bodies. He called an ambulance, and when it arrived, the medics pronounced the boy dead on the scene, but the mother still had some life left in her, and with immediate treatment and rest, she would be fine.
With that, the boy conceded and allowed the Soul Reaper to perform the Konso, which healed his wounds as he was transported to the Soul Society.
But that first night he spent in the Soul Society, in the Rukan district, something awoke in the boy. A mask with purple stripe designs, matching the face of the Hollow that left him a "parting gift," appeared on the boy's face, and he let out the blood-curdling roar of a Hollow.