"So how do we do this?" Ichigo questioned curiously.
Hichigo merely grinned, "Just sit back and enjoy the ride partner!"
Ichigo suddenly lost his vision and seemingly passed out, however, this wasn't the case outside of his soul, for his body was very much active, and changing…
"Our nature can be found in the beginnings." – OSA
Chapter 2: Contemplate
Where was he? He didn't know. The feeling of weightlessness was prominent in his mind, and darkness, so much darkness that he was surprised when it appeared to be getting darker with every passing moment. He wanted to escape and rid himself of this void-like place that prevented him from going to any one where or doing a single thing, for it was an obstruction from moving forward, and he knew that was something his soul would not allow. Determined to break free from this prison, he reached out as if to rip this encasement asunder and tore open a pathway towards refuge.
He was caught by surprise when he saw himself falling from the sky faster and faster to sand covered ground. A loud noise could be heard as he impacted and dirt flew in all directions. He stood up from where he landed, the fall yielding no pain whatsoever, and brushed the remaining dirt off himself before looking around at this new world he had entered.
There was an endless sea of white sand, but virtually no water. Trees and boulders littered the ground, but there was seemingly no life. A black sky loomed over the desert with no indication of stars, but a moon hovered in place as if it were the only symbol of strength in this barren wasteland that made enduring a life here almost pleasant.
He glanced down at himself and took in his appearance. He had a white armor all over his body decorated with dark red lines, and tufts of white fur wrapped around his wrists. He had claws on the digits of his fingers and feet, as well as spikes that ran along his shoulders. He felt his powerful tail thrashing around behind him, and as he brought up his hand to his sternum he realized there was a hole. His hand reached up further and he felt a mask that covered his face, he then saw strands of white hair blowing with the wind.
He mused over what he was before a glint in the sand caught his attention, it was a cleaver looking sword, and it seemed to call out to him. A feeling sprung forth, a feeling so strong it was as if he had an obligation to his soul to oblige, and so he picked up the sword. He felt whole, despite the fact that the hole in his chest said otherwise, but it was as if he was complete.
Another feeling came into his thoughts, it was as powerful as the last one, and it had only a single command: become stronger. Excitement and determination spread throughout his very being, and after he briefly stretched his limbs, he leapt forth and made his way through this wasteland he decided to call home.
Try as he might, he couldn't sense any form of life. There were times he had sensed something, but they were vague and as quickly as he noticed them, they vanished. He would not allow these fleeting forms of life to taunt him into frustration, for his determination wouldn't allow it. He eventually came across an entrance of some sorts that went downwards to a much darker place. Neither the entrance or the darkness that awaited anyone who entered seemed to faze him, for the vast power levels he sensed was all that he had been concentrating on. With a renewed excitement, he ran through the entrance and landed in what seemed to be a forest. He concentrated and pinpointed the most concentrated location of high power levels and sprinted in that direction.
After running through the forest for mere minutes, he finally saw beings other than himself, beings that could contribute towards him becoming stronger.
"Hey, it looks like there's a new adjuchas in Hueco Mundo" one of the beings observed.
"An adjuchas?" he thought to himself, "is that what I am?"
"What is your name, adjuchas?" another asked.
"My…name?" he questioned inwardly.
He didn't know his name.
How could he truly be a complete, unified being, if he didn't know his name? He decided pondering that question wont get him anywhere, for now he should just focus on becoming stronger, and unfortunately for these beings that stood in front of him, their existence was to be cut short.
In the briefest of seconds that he dwelled on the question the being had asked him, he leapt at him with his sword and sliced him in half.
"Why does an adjuchas…have a zanpakuto!" one of the beings asked fearfully.
"Only shinigami have zanpakuto you idiot!" another responded.
"Then why did he just purify him, didn't you see his body evaporate?" the being questioned, looking more fearful with each passing second.
"…" the other was at a loss for words.
The remaining adjuchas began to run away in fear, but their attempt at escape was futile, for not even taking two steps and the newcomer purified them all.
He looked down at his sword, "zanpakuto…shinigami?" he thought.
"I am an adjuchas according to them, not to mention we share certain characteristics to affirm that statement. However, I apparently have a zanpakuto, but only shinigami are supposed to have them?" he further pondered.
"More useless questioning that can be done later" he concluded.
He turned to leave the area before he smelled something, he halted mid step. Something in the air had changed, the aroma, the shifting of the trees, all indications that he wasn't alone. He quieted his movement and breathing, spread out his senses and listened carefully, awaiting for this other presence to make its move. Seconds felt like hours and then it attacked, he had known the attack was coming before the attacker knew it was going to attack.
The tension in the branches that it was standing on made slight noises that revealed it had put weight on it's legs to leap, the slightest change in energy had shown they were readying for battle, the smell of perspiration and sound of increased heart rate pointed to anxiety. The heart rate, however, did allow him to recognize that this thing wasn't what he was, for he had no heart, only a whole.
He brought up his cleaver-like sword and parried the attack moments before the attacker could land a strike. The attacker's eyes visibly widened and leapt back and he readjusted his stance now that his element of surprise had been distinguished.
"You don't seem to be a normal hollow, proof of what you did to those adjuchas makes that evident enough," the attacker said.
He looked over his attacker, noticing his appearance differed from the adjuchas he had just killed. He wore black clothes with a fur coat that had various masks on it, and he himself had a gazelle looking mask covering his face.
He continued to bore his eyes into his attacker, not granting his statement with a response.
"The name's Ashido, Shinigami of Soul Society" he said solemnly before attacking more quickly this time.
"Shinigami?" he thought curiously.
He parried the attack again, moments before it would've landed a blow on his shoulders, and held up his sword with seemingly no effort while he continued to consider this being called "Ashido".
Ashido was slightly perturbed, this hollow just seemed to be surveying him, rather than taking his attacks seriously. This continued to confuse him as their fight progressed, for it was not "normal" hollow behavior, but as he witnessed moments ago that the being in front of him was indeed not normal by hollow standards.
Ashido picked up the pace and began relentlessly assaulting the hollow in front of him with a combination of horizontal, vertical, and diagonal slashes, but they were all parried.
The hollow however, was thoroughly enjoying himself, albeit his opponent was considerably weaker than he was, he doubted he would get the chance to enjoy himself if the dead hollow he killed earlier were any indication of what the inhabitants of this forest were like, they were pathetic opponents to say the least.
After a couple of hours into their fight, he decided to end it by delivering a swift kick to Ashido's ribs causing him to fly into a tree. Ashido grunted in pain at the damage, but before he could get back up, the hollow held its sword to his throat.
"Why are you hesitating?" Ashido asked with the same solemn voice he had when they first met.
"Why was he indeed hesitating?" he questioned himself. There was a strong urge, or instinct rather, telling him not to kill the being in front of him.
"Perhaps" he mused, "killing this man wont help me become stronger like killing those adjuchas had, maybe it has something to do with him being a Shinigami?"
He again ceased his needless pondering and removed his blade from Ashido's neck. He then took a couple steps back, made a slight nod as a gesture of thanks, before running off deeper into the forest.
Ashido was, to say the least, shocked. An adjuchas hollow just defeated him, and when he was sure his life would come to an end after his many years in Hueco Mundo, his life had been spared and then he was thanked for the fight!
The hollow in question was running through the forest, slaying any being that came in his path with unwavering determination to become stronger. He finally decided to put all of his questions aside until he completed his task and fulfilled this feeling that became his sole motivation for moving forward.
Ashido sat in the same place for a couple minutes, and his train of thought was broken by the distant cries of hollows off in the distance, seemingly ceasing to exist…
Chapter 2: Contemplate
Author's Notes:
If you have any questions or comments, feel free to leave them in a review or private message.
-OSA
