Disclaimer: I don't own Bleach or any of the Bleach characters or their zanpaktou but I do own all the Bankai's, character's etc.. That I invent and all original concepts in the fic. Also thanks to NotQuiteHuman01 for being awesome and my Beta Reader for the story.
Drake was dying, his blood leaking from a gaping wound in his chest and mixing with the torrential rain. His long black hair swirled around him like a devilish man that had stabbed him held his wallet, rumaging through receipts and other assorted junk. A picture floated down, it was of him and his family, he was sat in the middle with his sisters on either side of him and his parents at the back laughing. The wind caught it and whisked it away, he reached out trying to grab it but it slipped between his fingers. Tears running down his face, the wallet thudded to the ground.
"Nothing worth stealing," muttered the mugger disappointed. His foot slammed into Drake's stomach causing more blood to spew from his lips and mingle with the rain. The mugger walked away uncaring and disappointed to have gained nothing, giving no thought to the fact he was leaving Drake to die.
Drake sat up, his body felt light. He looked down to where he was stabbed in place of an injury was a grey chain anchored to the middle of what appeared to be him, lying in the middle of the street. Drake froze amazed and terrified, just bellow him his still body was being covered up by a pair of medics. Drake watched them pull the sheet over his own head and speed away. For a while he sat and cried, unsure what to do. Then he realised if he was dead then that mugger had killed him and he would make his life a living hell in return.
One week later
Drake ran. If he had breath he would have panted, instead he simply felt his strength slow drain away; like water trickling through a hole in his soul. Another day and the chase was on once again. Three days he'd tried haunting the mugger and then out of nowhere came this thing, a shambling monster with what appeared to be a mask covering what he guessed was supposed to be its face. He had had no choice but to leave his home town as he fled from this creature and was just on the out skirts of a place called Karakura town. He could hear the great footfalls of the monster coming from behind him but he had no choice except to keep running and hope it would grow tired of chasing him. As he ran the stupid chain swung and jumped around getting in his way, or at least what was left of it did, over the last week it had all but disappeared. For a moment he looked back to see how close it was. That was one of the biggest mistakes of his death, one foot caught on another and before he knew it he had tumbled over. He tried to get up but before he could a colossal hand grabbed him around the midriff, ripping his off the ground and swinging him round towards the creature's colossal maw. Drake pulled his arm free of the grip and tried in vain to pull the large fingers off him, but it was ike trying to bend solid steel. As the fist got closer and closer to the things mouth Drake continued to try in vain to loosen his other hand or pull himself somehow free. The creature opened its mouth even further, revealing a dripping tentacle like tongue that slid all over Drake's dead form; savouring his taste. Desperate, angry and feeling rebellious Drake pulled back his arm and started to punch this damned creature as hard as he could in its stupid mask.
"If you think you're going to eat me then you've got another thing coming!" Drake screamed into what he assumed was the creature's face. He punched again and again and for a moment he felt the grip on his body slacken and he pulled his other hand free. Both hands free he vented his anger and frustration towards being dead on the creature in front of him, punching again and again with all of his strength.
faint cracks appeared on the mask under the onslaught but sealed over as soon as they appeared, stray shards breaking off and catching in his hair. Drake raised his arm back and with the last of his energy slammed his fist into its face. Amazingly a large chunk of the creatures mask broke off and, recoiling in pain, the beast dropped him. Drake scurried away, his anger replaced with fear for his life… or death. Seconds later a fist slammed into the ground behind him.
"Hey ugly!" yelled a voice "why don't you pick on someone your own size?"
Behind the creature now stood an orange haired teenager holding a cleaver like sword, then in a flash of movement the teenager was behind the creature. With a yell he swung his huge sword down in an arc, slashing off one of the creatures many convulsing limbs. Dodging under a slashing tentacle the teenager swung his sword up and severed the limb before springing into the air. Spinning in midair the teenager severed several more thrashing limbs before flipping down onto the creature's head, his sword spinning in his hand before he stabbed it down into the creature's mask. Drake watched amazed as the creature disappeared, leaving the teenager without so much as a scratch on his.
"Are you all right?" asked the teenager, sheathing his sword and striding towards him.
"I could be better…but what the hell was that thing?" Drake asked scrabling to his feet and eying the teenager with a look of awe.
"A Hollow" he replied advancing towards Drake in what could only be described as a vaguely threatening manner.
"Oh of course that explains everything-what in the name of god is a hollow!" Drake replied irritably.
"A Hollow is a soul that has stayed behind for too long normally to fulfil a goal in death such as to look after a family member or to take revenge on a person." The teenager replied, in a 'well duh' tone of voice.
"Okay" replied Drake deciding not to waste any more time with disbelief, he was dead after all maybe he should be a little more open minded. "And you are?" he asked.
"Ichigo Kurosaki" replied the teenager with a small smirk, Drake couldn't help but get the feeling this Ichigo was just humouring him.
"Hmm… well Ichigo if that was a hollow then what are you?" Drake asked, "how in hells name did you kill that thing and where did you get that big ass sword?"
"I'm a Soul Reaper, or Shinigami, we ferry souls to the other world" Ichigo replied.
"And what if they don't want to go?" asked Drake, thinking of himself.
Ichio smirked and stepped forward, once again in a vaguely threatening manner. Drake couldn't elp but take a step backwards. "Then we use a Konso." Ichigo told him.
"what's a Konso?" Drake asked warily.
"This!" Ichigo exclaimed leaping at Drake with his sword held in a reverse grip planting the sword hilt in the centre of Drake's head.
"You won't remember any of your life in the next world, but im sorry I cant let you stay here. I hope you'll forgive me." Ichigo said as the world started to fade away around Drake.
Drake's eyes snapped open, he was in a dark empty space, he turned his head and saw he was rushing toward a gleaming white space. That Ichigo had said he was sending him over to the next world, but he didn't want to forget. His memories started to fade away and he could physically feel his experiences disappear. But one thought remained, the picture he had lost stuck in his mind and as it did he felt rebellion rise up inside of him. The shards of that Hollow's mask in his hair started to shine as he fought against being sent to the white place.
"NO" he screamed angrily "I WILL NOT GO OVER, I CAN'T FORGET!" Drake's body shuddered to a stop and a shining black outline formed around him. In his hair the shards of the Hollow's mask started to spread over his whole body, the black outline fading into a white glow which seemed to fade into his skin. Without warning there was an explosion of white and he sent tumbling towards another portal, through this one he could see Ichigo leaving the spot where he had sent him to this empty space.
Ichigo sighed, impressed, he had never seen someone fight a Hollow with their bare hands, especially when they were still just a soul. He didn't doubt that that guy would become a Soul Reaper after he had passed over, maybe he would see him again some day. Suddenly he heard a loud tearing noise behind him, spinning and sliding Zangetsu out of his sheath he watched as another portal appeared.
Ichigo stared in horror and amazement as the guy he had sent through before stepped back through the portal, he no longer had a chain but the hoop it attached to was very well visible. This guy was still a soul and he had some how come back.
"how… how… what the hell?" asked Ichigo watching him glance around at his surroundings apparently unaware of how impossible what had just happened was.
"I haven't a goddamn clue" Drake replied, then seeing Ichigo his eyes narrowed angrily.
Without warning he leapt forward and smashed Ichigo square in the face with his ful strength, grinning happily when he saw Ichigo stagger backwards in pain. "Dont you dare try that Konso thing again… Got it?"
Ichigo recovered and stood up an angry glare on his face. "What the hell? I'm a Soul Reaper! Regular souls can't just go around sucker punching Soul Reapers! What the hell do you think your doing?"
"Getting revenge on you for trying to make me forget my life" replied Drake smiling smugly and striding away. Ichigo leapt forward the hilt of his sword glowing and lunged at Drake. Drake looked up to see Ichigo smashing the glowing hilt of his sword into his forehead. The glow turned black and a burst of energy exploded from the hilt sending Ichigo tumbling to the ground.
"You done?" Asked Drake smuggly as Ichigo flipped gracefully to his feet.
"How the hell did you do that?" Asked Ichigo staring at the hit of his sword.
"Maybe it only works once" replied Drake turning to leave once again.
"you're not going anywhere" Said Ichigo putting a hand on Drake's shoulder. "I need to take you to see someone" he told Drake.
"I'm not going anywhere with yooooou!" Drake shouted as mid way thorugh his sentence Ichigo had grabbed his waist and jumped into the air, carrying him kicking and screaming through the streets of Karakura.
Drake suddenly felt the hand on his stomach let go and drop him to the floor, still slightly dazed Ichigo glanced around him. he was standing in a fairly run down street, a small inconspicuous shop to his right and Ichigo stood grinning smugly in front of him.
"You know what I'm starting to really dislike you" Drake told Ichigo standing unsteadily and scowling at Ichigo.
A voice drifted from the shop, "So Ichigo who's this guy and why have you brought him here?"
"My name is Drake" Drake said staggering and then righting himself, he was still unsteady from being dragged around by Ichigo.
"I'm not entirely sure" Ichigo replied, the pair ignoring Drake.
A middle aged man walked towards Drake, he was tall, with pale skin and a stern but, relaxed face. He was wearing sandals and a green shirt and pants with a green and white striped hat. He walked with a cane, which Drake noted had the same symbol on one end as Ichigo's sword hilt, but didn't seem to need it.
"Hmm I see" said the man scrutinising Drake. "No chain and yet he is clearly not a Hollow, interesti-"
"Question" said Drake, interrupting the man's lazy drawl.
"Huh? What?" said the man taken aback.
"Just who the hell are you?" Asked Drake.
"My name is Kiskue Urahara, now stop interrupting me."
"Fine whatever" Grumbled Drake.
"Why have you brought him here? What's so special about him?" Urahara asked Ichigo.
"I'm not entirely sure" Replied Ichigo honestly. "But somehow he returned after I used a Konso on him." said Ichigo.
"What but that's impossible," said Urahara looking from Ichigo to Drake so quickly they both heard his neck crack. "Your Konso must be defective let me try." He said turning to Drake.
With a quick flick of his wrist he planted the symbol on Drake's forehead as Ichigo had, and like Ichigo the Konso shone black and unleashed a burst of energy. Although the burst of energy had less of an effect on Urahara than it had on Ichigo, simply startling him instead of knocking him over.
"But that's even more impossible!" exclaimed Urahara staring at Drake in amazement. People seemed to be doing that a lot, at least from Drake's point of view more than usual.
"That's what I thought" replied Ichigo.
They both looked at Drake in amazement once again, Urahara looked back at Drake. "Tell me did he have hollow material on his body when you performed the Konso?" Urahara asked.
"He had managed to smash part of one's mask before I sent him back, he might have had some fragments of that on him. Is that important?" Ichigo said.
"And he was angry right? Nearly no chain left and almost a Hollow himself" Said Urahara slowly starting to piece and idea together.
"Yeah both of those." Replied Ichigo, "Why what does that mean?"
"That's he's going to have to come with me for a while, that's what it means." Urahara replied.
"Why?"
"I need to determine his spiritual energy." Urahara told him moving to head inside the shop.
Drake looked round, "I am still here you know, do I get a choice in the matter?"
"Not really" replied Urahara with a grin.
"Fantastic I love having my decisions made for me" Drake replied, his voice driping sarcasm. "Ok since I don't have a choice I guess I'll do it"
"What worries me is that you don't have even the smallest piece of a Chain of Fate" said Urahara as they walked towards the shop.
"What the hell is a chain of fate?" Drake asked, still irate that they were refusing to explain anything to him.
"A Chain of Fate links a soul to their body and when they die it stays that way or if they are separated form their body or experience powerful negative emotions then it consumes itself until it's gone completely. It's how you become a hollow"
Drake looked forward mulling this over in his head, that chain of his had been shrinking the longer he stayed away from his body. Finally something they were saying made sense. They entered the shop, inside it was dark lined with dusty aisles and dark shelves, in fact it seemed to be in surprising disrepair considering it was an open shop. Kiskue walked towards a door near the back and opened it before stepping through.
"Come on come on" Urahara called back to Drake who was still hesitant to step through the door.
Drake sighed and walked after Urahara stepping through the door, he was surprised at the stark contrast in the room, which was light and open. Two children ran in front of him, clearly uninteresting in his presence to caught up in their game. Urahara gestured for him to follow him into another side room, this room was small and in the middle was a similarly small and nondescript trapdoor. Drake watched Urahara lift it up and swing himself onto the ladder. Drake sighed wondering what would have happened if he had just passed on, he shouldn't be doing this after all he was dead. He grabbed the rungs and climbed down. After climbing for a while he began to see a bright square of light bellow him.
They emerged into a large open space, covered in dust and dirt and dotted infrequently with boulders and huge walls of rock.
"Wow a huge open underground space, a walking stick you don't need ... are you overcompensating for something?" Drake asked.
Urahara frowned at Drake and ignored him, his hand slid to the top of his cane and he gripped it tightly looking at Drake with a malicious glint in his eye.
"Now we're going test what you are and how strong your spiritual energy is." Urahara told him, allowing himself a small smile.
"And just how are you going to do that?" Drake asked glancing around from side to side. "Have you got some kind of machine or something?" he asked.
Urahara gripped the cane and slid a sword from the inside, then without warning he leapt at Drake. Drake sidestepped and then clumbsily fell over a shrub, Urahara strode over to him and stood over him smiling.
"Not exactly," he said raising the sword above his head. Drake raised a hand in front of him in a useless attempt to defend himself and Urahara slashed down at his face.
he froze just before he sliced Drake in half, he had suddenly started growing a shining black outline like he had before. Shadows skirted around his whole body like a swirling vortex until they converged on his hand forming what appeared to be a black katana with a blood red edge.
"Use my power so that you might defend yourself and others that you wish to." said a voice, it vibrated with an animalistic strength that intrigued and terrified Drake at the same time.
"Did you hear that?" he asked amazed.
"Hear what?" Replied Urahara intrigued, withdrawing his bade from Drake's face and allowing him space to stand.
"There was a voice, it told me to use it to defend myself and others" said Drake looking at the katana amazed, "it sounded like it came from… the sword?"
"It sounds like that voice was the voice of a Zanpaktou, very interesting." Said Urahara eying the sword with some interest.
"I'm getting fed up of asking all these questions but what the hell is a Zanpaktou?" replied Drake irately.
"A Zanpaktou is a living entity that a Soul Reaper wields in the form of a sword and on other levels sometimes different forms depending on the weilder."
"Talking swords… wha-Wait a minute so attacking me was a test?." Drake demanded angrily, and if that black stuff hadn't stopped you you would have sliced me in half!" Drake said raising his Zanpaktou threateningly. "Fine! You want to test me so bad I'm gonna use this Zanpaktou thing to protect me by kicking your ass!"
Urahara looked at Drake and smiled smugly, swinging his Zanpaktou Drake had cleared half the distance between them and Urahara was half way finished raising his Zanpaktou when suddenly then the ceiling exploded.