Chapter 2: More than Just a Man

The sun was setting when Orihime and Garruk made it to the park. There was no one else there since it was getting late. Orihime called her brother to meet her at the park.

Her brother arrives 10 minutes later since the park was close and he could walk there.

?:" Hello Garruk. My name is Sora Inoue and I would like to thank you from the bottom of my heart for saving us." He said with a respectful bow.

Garruk:" No thanks is necessary. I merely did what I had to do."

Sora:" Do you need a place to stay?"

Garruk:" I prefer the woods if you don't mind. Spent most of my life communing with nature."

Sora felt a little sheepish that he didn't guess that earlier due to Garruk's leather armor on his body and his massive size and muscles.

Garruk:" Your sister may visit me whenever she likes. While she walks in the woods, she will be under my protection I assure you."

Orihime smiles at that while Sora is a little nervous.

Sora:" May I go with her when she visits you?"

Garruk:" So long as you respect nature then you may indeed. Fare well for now."

Garruk waves goodbye as he walks back into the woodland surroundings he is so accustomed to.

Over the years: Orihime and Sora would visit Garruk in the woods around the town. The wildlife would spring up around them and play with them in ways that are only seen in fairy tales. Sora and Orihime really began to like Garruk since he was a gentle soul when he was in the woods, though they knew that he probably was not always gentle based on his gigantic stature.

Garruk treated Orihime as if she was a part of his own pack in terms of respect and valued. Garruk would kill anyone who dared harm her.

Trees, grass, vines, and animals began to spread all the way up to the boarders of the town and looked like they were going to consume the town, but never stepped an inch closer inside the town as if they were commanded to. This rampant and precious plant and animal growth was not considered important enough to take any notice of by most of the civil populace in Karakura Town, but an all too familiar black cat believed this was not natural in anyway.

Yoruichi was sitting on a fence just outside Urahara Shop.

Kisuke: "What's been bothering you so much that you had to wake me up at 3 in the morning?" He said sleepily.

Yoruichi:" The woods around Karakura are growing too rapidly for it to be natural. Something must be causing them to grow and stop before they reach the town. I'm going to investigate and I want you on standby incase anything happens."

Kisuke:" Sure, but don't expect me to answer you quickly if anything does come up." He yawned.

Yoruichi:" I'll make sure to scream into the receiver then." She says as she takes off.

Karakura woods:

The trees almost seemed to make a canopy cover over the floor. Large roots and vines were everywhere. Yoruichi couldn't shake the feeling that she was being watched. At this point she was getting nowhere with her investigation and decided to wing it.

Yoruichi:" Hello?! Is anyone here?!" She shouted.

To her utter surprise, someone did answer her, but the voice seemed to come from all sides.

" I am. Who are you talking cat?" It asked in a strong voice.

Yoruichi:" I'm Yoruichi and I came here to investigate why the forest has been spreading at an unnatural rate."

"That would be my doing."

Yoruichi:" Can you show yourself to me?!"

There was no answer, but Yoruichi saw that vines and roots began to move out of the way on their own to reveal a small path through the trees. She then felt vibrations in the ground as something large was heading her way.

Eventually a man came into view on the path. Yoruichi didn't have a clue as to who it was, but was drawn more and more attention to the size of the man as he drew closer. When he stopped just a few feet in front of Yoruichi, he towered over her greatly.

Yoruichi:" I see that you have been working out." She says to try to ease the tense atmosphere.

Garruk:" If you wanted me to retreat my domain further away from town then I'm afraid that I will have to refuse in advance."

Yoruichi:" I would have only asked that if it was causing problems. I merely wanted to know what was the cause of the forest to expand at the rate it did."

Yoruichi:" I can't sense any spirit energy from him. That doesn't make any sense at all. Even plants have a small amount of spirit energy and this guy is clearly a living being of sorts. How could that be… unless….." Her train of thought left her face frozen in a wide eyed expression.

Yoruichi:" Who are you?"

Garruk:" I am Garruk, but based on your expression I guess that you want to know what I am instead."

Yoruichi nodded.

Garruk:" Then fight me and you will find out."

The woods moved away from them as to give them clearing. Yoruichi changed into her normal form.

Garruk:" You may strike first." He said, unfazed by the fact that Yoruichi was a naked woman now.

Yoruichi flash stepped behind Garruk and tried to punch him in the back of the head, but was blocked by an open palm.

Garruk:" You have great speed and decent strength behind your punch." He complimented her

Yoruichi was rubbing her right wrist.

Yoruichi:" Ouch that hurt. You certainly are strong if just punching you hurts. Let's try this then." She states as she surrounds her hands with yellow energy.

Garruk grins as he surrounds his right hand with green energy. Yoruichi rushes at Garruk as he cocks his arm back for a punch. Yoruichi's punch collides with Garruk's, but she is quickly shown the difference in strength that they have as Garruk's fist didn't even stop for an instant as Yoruichi was sent flying backwards from the kinetic force of Garruk's punch even though it didn't connect anywhere else on her body.

Yoruichi:" Damn he's strong! My suspicions might be correct after all in that I can't feel his spirit energy because it is on a different dimension than mine. But there is one more test I have for him. I hope he can keep secrets." She thought to herself as she slowly got back up out of a pile of broken roots and trees.

Yoruichi:" Can you keep what you're about to see a secret? I don't feel like using this technique here, but I need to test you to see if you are as powerful as I think you are. I'm not holding back." She asked as white lightning started to form around her.

Garruk:" If that is what you wish. Show me what you can do Yoruichi."

Yoruichi charged the lightning aura up even more as it fought against the canopy cover to escape into the clouds, but was not able to penetrate. Yoruichi charged and swung her right hand out in open palm formation. Garruk answered with a punched aimed towards her gut.

Yoruichi tried to stop his punch with Hanki, but she might as well been trying to stop a speeding train with a balloon. Garruk's punch landed in her gut with no hindrance. Saliva flew out of her mouth as she fell to her knees trying to catch her breath.

It took a while for her to catch her breath after having her lungs stunned by Garruk's punch. She slowly got back to her feet as she wiped away spit from her mouth.

Yoruichi:" So. You really are that strong. What are you Garruk? You are certainly not human with strength like that."

Garruk:" I was human once. A long time ago, but I'm a planeswalker now and have been for quite some time."

Hope you enjoyed the chapter!