I swear to whatever friggin' divine power that exists on this shitshow of a planet that I will finish rewriting these original crapshow 'Volume Zero' chapters eventually.

At some point.

Hey, at least if you're reading this it's proof I actually started, which is definitely something coming from the guy that promised to rewrite these chapters after a complete screwup when he first started writing almost an entire YEAR ago.

Disclaimer: I do not own any of the lovely things I portray, but on another note can I claim ownership of some sort of miracle that allows me to finish writing Volume Two of my story before Volume Six of RWBY airs? Pretty please?

(I don't own RWBY or Bleach)

It Begins

Death was never the end for him, never had been and it probably wouldn't be for centuries, though he paid no heed to those thoughts. He had been taken by death's grasp more times than should befit a human seventeen year-old, and had escaped every time. He'd escaped whether through his own determination and by his own power or by tearing through death's grasping fingers with the blood-soaked claws of a demon.

And yet now as he lay on cracked and broken stones, his own blood (for there was no over liquid that could reasonably be soaking into his tattered remains of clothing right now) pooling beneath him, he felt death's grasp once again.

But now there were no words of denial, no immense willpower to destroy whatever higher power had dictated his time come now, and even the demon seemed to slumber, its power doing nothing against the encroaching claws of its host's demise.

If he had been younger, a boy truly of age seventeen and not one of age alone with mind hardened by battle and blood and war, then he may have fought against it. He may have wondered where he could've taken a path that hadn't left him in this state.

Ichigo could've cursed the grand manipulators who decided the path his entire life had taken, but what point was there in cursing a man condemned to an eternity imprisoned beneath Soul Society or cursing a king who watched his kingdom crumble as he faded from the world, felled by Ichigo's own blades?

He could've cursed those whose duty it was to fight these wars, for they had failed in their duty and he had not, but Genryusai Yamamoto had fulfilled his duty for the last thousand years and had earned his right to rest.

He could've cursed his own powerlessness, but Old Man Zangetsu merely wished to protect him, to prevent him walking the path that inevitably led to this moment, bleeding to death on the paved stones somewhere in Seireitei as the world around him crumbled.

He could've cursed any of his traits that decided he be the one to fight, be the one to throw himself against armies and monsters alike for the sole wish of protecting, but he wouldn't for it would betray the essence of who he was. He would protect them, at any and all costs to himself.

So many alternatives, so many things he could blame or wish had occurred differently, but he wouldn't. He'd fought to the end, sacrificing what little energy he had left to deal a killing blow against his enemy to prevent the world Juhabach had wanted to create from coming to fruition.

Yet even though his enemy was gone, he could feel the innate wrongness that Ywach's death brought about, he could hear the destruction raging through what little hearing he had left. He hadn't the strength left to continue fighting; he'd protected them, that was what mattered. He had no doubts that his friends and fellow warriors could deal with whatever resulted from the end of this.

When death's grip took him once more, he made no attempts at resistance and the demon's power slumbered.

After all, death was only ever the beginning for Kurosaki Ichigo…

Well, I finally rewrote one of the crappy beginning chapters, that's something, right?

Evidently, I know this is about half the length of the original prologue, but that was a bunch of recalling to things about Bleach or events of the Thousand Year Blood War arc that realistically wasn't needed, so instead has been swapped for what I believe, at least, to be better quality writing.

For anyone new, welcome to the story, this rewritten chapter is being done just before I've even started writing Chapter 22. Not to sound completely clichéd on this site (which I'm doing) but forgive the lack of quality in earlier chapters, specifically ones before the start of canon RWBY, I'll be rewriting them at some point.

For reference: The village at the start of the next chapter is the one from Episode one of RWBY Volume Four.

Now that's over with, constructive criticism is very much appreciated, and I'll see you either when I rewrite more early chapters or when I write new ones.

See ya next time :D