(Authors Note: This is my first time writing a fanficiton, of course I accept proper criticism but as this is my first story try not to be too harsh. Thanks for reading, Gizmo out.)

Disclaimer: Tito Kubo owns Bleach, I only wish I had the skill to draw that well

Time flies

Immense concentration and mental exhaustion had pushed Ichigo Kurosaki to his very limit, his opponent was ruthless but in the stead of killing intent and anger as well as hate, was sadness. Sadness that could fill one-thousand bowls and span oceans it was that great. It was this very sadness that had drowned the once proud buildings and structure's that they fought above. Ichigo became angry that he had allowed such emotion to well up inside of him but the hot headed thoughts soon departed from his head as he looked into the hollow eyes of his opponent.

"Why do you falter Ichigo?"

"I cannot fight like this; there is no point in this battle. You must teach me the Final Getsuga Tensho!"

Tensa Zangetsu stood before me, the spiritual incarnation of his soul and power and stared him straight in the eye with fierce determination.

"Ichigo, I cannot teach you this move"

"Then I will just have to beat it out of you"

As soon they're blades met a strange light shone from the epicentre of they're clash. The light seemed to have a will of its own as it engulfed Ichigo and sent him spiralling through an unknown entity.

Beginning of the end

"Where…am I?" This was the first thought that ran through Ichigo' confused mind as he took in his surroundings.

Instantly he realised was that he was no longer in his soul, but even more than that, he was no-longer in the precipice world where he was meditating with his sword, Zangetsu.

Ichigo, do you know where we are?

"Zangetsu, what happened,? Where are we?"

Ichigo, forget about everything that's happened and focus on the present. Were we are should be obvious to you, take a deeper look at this scenery.

Ichigo knew better than to argue and his eyes began to scan the scenery before him. He was in the middle of what seemed to be an underground base as there was no sky visible or natural light from any direction. He was surrounded by rocks and he stretched out a hand to feel one of the larger walls of stone. As soon as he touched it, memories of training and fighting came flooding back to him.

Ichigo stood there, frozen still, lost in a world of reminiscing until he felt the presence of numerous individuals and snapped out of his dreamlike state. He reached out with his spiritual powers and felt for spiritual pressure. Instantly he recognized the spiritual signatures of his friends. There was Inoue, Sado and Ishida but along with those few presences he felt Urahara and Tessai's along with another presence which was vaguely familiar. Everything became clear to him and in an instant he came to a conclusion about his whereabouts. He was in Urahara's training grounds where he first gained his powers as true Shinigami.

Very good Ichigo, you're getting better at this.

Ichigo's moment of euphoria soon ended as he realised something vital. Why were they here?

It didn't make any sense, Inoue was supposed to be in Hueco Mundo with Sado and Ishida and Urahara was supposed to be in the fake Karakura Town. So then why were they in Urahara's underground base? Ichigo searched his mind for answers but could find no simple explanation for this. According to his father, Isshin Kurosaki, time went faster in the Dangai Precipice world. Therefore not much time would have passed for anyone, bar Ichigo whose body had grown as proof. He figured he must be dreaming but the reality of the world around him was obvious. During his fluster the presences of his friends had gotten closer and he crouched behind a rock and peered at them from a distance.

Ichigo, this is not a dream, do you recognize this scene at all?

Ichigo furrowed his mind and scoured the surrounding environment with his eyes but came up with no clues or answers.

Look closer at your friends…

Ichigo complied, and sat patiently watching the people before him. He focused on what they were saying but as much as he focused he could still only make out certain words. He could make out Inoue easily because of her hair colour, orange the same as his. Sado was easily recognizable because of his height and muscular appearance. Ishida was hopelessly obvious with his white coat and boots. Ichigo then noticed Urahara with his hat and sandals. He was surprised to see a small black figure come into view and realized that this was Youruochi, but he was surprised to see her in her cat form. Sado wasn't wearing his newest shirt either and closer inspection concluded that Inoue was wearing an older outfit as well.

The next figure that came into view gave Ichigo the biggest shock. The hair was the most distinct but the thing that froze Ichigo to his spot was the giant cleaver-like sword strung to his back.

Zangetsu.

What the hell is happening!

*When it goes into italics it's usually the thoughts of the person or Zangetsu speaking*

(So what did you think? Reviews, reviews, reviews! I'm new to this so forgive any grammatical errors or inconstancies in the story so far, I also realize that that chapter was probably realllllllly boring. But bear with me I didn't have much fun writing it either but I need to give a background to the story. It wasn't very long either. Ah well!)

Gizmo out. Thanks for reading.