Karin struggled madly as Jinta and Ururu dragged her over to the pit. It was huge! "What the Hell are you doing?!" She asked in a panic. "I need to save Yuzu!" Karin screamed as the pushed her ever closer to the edge.
"You will have only 72 hours to get out of this pit..." Urahara said heartlessly, "It's part of the trials of the Shinigami."
"But I can't climb like this!" Karin yelled at him, referring to the binding he had put her in. "Aren't you supposed to teach me something to help me out?" Urahara stared blankly before his face came to light.
"Ohh ya!!!" He said, "I'm supposed to teach you how to make Reiatsu platforms! How silly of me!!!" Urahara laughed, "So that's why Ichigo had such a hard time! I was wondering about that cause he's a bright kid you know..." He started to ramble on and on about Ichigo, but Karin finally had to cut him off.
"Then just teach me already!!!" Karin blurted out. He was caught off guard by the yelp and stumbled backwards.
"Fine..." Urahara walked over to her and pulled her away from the pit. He then began climbing comically on invisible steps. "You need to learn how to do this!"
"How?" Karin asked. Putting her foot down but was unable to make contact with anything invisible.
"I guess that's for you to figure out..." Urahara said mysteriously before signaling with his hand. Before Karin knew it, Ururu and Jinta were dragged her along, back to the pit once more. She pleaded with them, but they tossed her in mercilessly.
"Jerks!" She yelled as she flew threw the air. She hit the ground, hard. She was surprised when she wasn't dead; the pit must have been a good 200 feet deep. A large man sat in the corner of the shaft, completely silent. "Who are you?"
"I am Tessai Tsukabishi, I help around the shop..." He said, "Kisuke demonstrated what you must do, and that you have only a 72 hour time frame."
"I know... just need to find out how to walk on air..." Karin said slightly deterred. A pain appeared on the end of her chain link that was nearly unbearable for the small girl. Her screams were loud enough that Kisuke got worried that people outside may have heard her, and come to investigate. No one did as she was in soul form, but it was ear splitting none the less. "What the hell?" She asked as she saw mouths disappear on the chain.
"Encroachment. Make sure you get out before the last one is eaten, or you will fade away from ever. Then we'd have to kill you..." Urahara shouted down into the pit. "I showed you what you needed to do, so do it..."
Karin went for it, how else was she gonna survive this thing?
She tried for hours to replicate Urahara's process, but he had only demonstrated what she needed to do, not taught her how to do it. She fought to emulate him, but it was fruitless, considering that she had no proper training or any ideas on how to begin.
"Damn it!" Karin yelled as found making platforms impossible. This time around however, Ururu and Jinta sympathized with their fellow Karakura Superhero and were providing tips.
"Try to imagine pulling all the energy from your body into your feet." Ururu said, "You got it?"
"I think so..." Karin said, feeling her feet surrounded by a strange feeling. It was thick, heavy almost.
"Good, now put one foot up, and force all of that energy out, and downwards." Ururu explained. Karin did as she was told and her foot actually made contact with something. "Do the same with the other one!" Ururu yelled down. Karin did, but got her other foot onto an invisible platform.
"I did it!" she yelled emphatically, even though she was only a few feet off the ground. The platforms collapsed. "So how do I get out of here?"
"You use less energy per platform, and slowly make your way out." Jinta said. "It's not that hard, but you have to control it.
Karin went at it again, this time she managed three steps. She got to the point where falling from the steps hurt, and fell asleep. Tessai set the marker at 50 feet. "Still a ways to go kid..."
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Isshin Kurosaki sat down to dinner by himself for the first time in forever. As far as his son's involvement with the vizards, he was playing it none the wiser. Yuzu never had much spiritual pressure to sense, and Karin was safe. He only assumed this because she was extremely close to Urahara, who he knew, could protect her through hell and high water. He took a bite of his fresh from the box potatoes, gagged, and decided to stay hungry that night. His little master chef Yuzu would be home in no time right?
Isshin settled down, winding down with a cup of coffee and the local newspaper. No sense worrying himself over these trivial things right? He knew Ichigo was strong, Karin was with Urahara, and Yuzu was such a sweet little thing that nothing could have happened to her! He went to take a shower.
The hot water felt good on the retired captain's back. He turned it up as hot as it would go, to help wash away the stress. He had grown worried about Yuzu over the last couple of hours, she hadn't left a note, hadn't left a message or bothered to call. This was totally uncharacteristic of the usually clingy child Isshin had raised so well. He the water burns his skin to a bright pink before stepping out of the shower.
He had dried off his hair; his face had been placid all night long. His old captain's side was showing as the goofy dad role had no place in such a vacant world. Without someone to laugh or indulge, the roll was completely dead. He turned on the TV, said a prayer for his wife, and left the house. His attire: An old dusty robe and dirty white piece of cloth.
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"Come on..." Karin huffed and puffed, "Come on...!!!" She continued to doge her way up skipping from platform to platform. "Come on!!!" Jinta yelled down at her. The attempt drew to a close as Karin lost her footing on one of her platforms fell. She had made it too the 100 foot mark, and at 63 hours, it was hard to say if she was going to make it or not.
"Damn it!" Karin yelled as she hit the ground. Tessai was glad that she was doing better than the other Kurosaki, but time was running out. With only nine hours left on the clock, Karin was stretching it for time. She decided that after reaching the half-way point, she earned a nap.
It was 7 hours before she finally woke up, having not slept the entire time. She found a big plate of food in front of her, which she devoured vigorously. She had only 1 hour left before she reached the top, and everyone present knew that she couldn't overcome an inner hollow as Ichigo had. Ichigo was stronger spiritually, there was no doubt, but Karin was more aware. She started her way up.
"You can do it Karin!!!" Ururu shouted down the shaft, showing the first sign of "fiery passion" that anyone had ever seen. Karin was about 75 feet up when she shouted again, "We all know you can do it!"
"Ya, your way cooler than that Ichigo kid!" Jinta added, fueling Karin even more. She reached the 125 foot point. She was growing tired, but she would be damned if she would stop now.
"We all believe in you!" Tessai added from the bottom of the pit, surprising all parties involved at the time. "Keep going!!!" He yelled up to the determined girl as she hit the 175 foot mark.
"Looks like she might actually get it..." Urahara said as she finally made it to the 190 foot mark. Karin however, found herself stuck. Her feet wouldn't obey her, and the platform beneath her fell through. She plummeted straight down, head first, into the pit.
Karin couldn't help the tears escaping from her eyes as she fell. The final encroachment had begun, and her body was in extreme pain. If that wasn't the end of her suffering, she could feel the ground getting closer to her. She knew she was dead, her neck was going to break or she was going to be killed by whatever this chain thing in her chest was. She looked up to the fake sky one last time, amazed at how peaceful it was... except one thing... "Damn you red ribbon..." Karin though as she saw a ribbon gently floating down towards her, "Go away, I'm enjoying my death!" The ribbon was persistent. It followed her.
Karin felt only slight fear as the ribbon reached down and wrapped around her soul chain's base. The pain of encroachment instantly disappeared as the ribbon tied a firm knot around the rung on the base. Suddenly, Karin felt herself being lifted down, and she was no longer in a pit, but rather in a graceful field. She marveled at it. There was a large tree in the distance with beautiful pink flowers, a large meadow to her left, and a bamboo field to her right. "Where am I?" She asked, "Heaven?"
"Well you're nothing special..." Karin heard. She looked around and behind her she saw a tall, well built man kneeling in a field of flowers. He was holding the red ribbon which was connected to Karin's soul chain base. "I'm kidding of course." The man said. His face was strong; his eyes were a brilliant, flowing blue, just like the sky. His rugged 5 o'clock shadow was more pronounced than her fathers, and she thought it was pretty cool looking. Karin scanned the rest of his body; his robes were bight white and were simply, yet elegantly designed. He continued speaking, "You managed to make it here, which I congratulate you for."
"Who are you?" Karin asked. It's not often that you see a man like this! She wasn't sure if she should be scared or comforted.
"I am Miyabita Kaze, an extension of your soul. I am here to help, but first you have to earn it..." He got to his feet. "Let's play a game shall we?"
"No way! I wanna know where I am first!" Karin shouted. He was already gone, but the wind had picked up. Karin found herself being blown away by the wind; she managed to catch a bamboo shoot for support. She was being blown completely sideways, barely able to hold onto the thin stick of bamboo. Miyabita appeared again.
"Beautiful day isn't it!?" He yelled over the howling winds. "The perfect time to challenge your host soul!" He yelled to her.
"What do you mean? Challenge? Host soul?" Karin was doing her best to yell while still hanging on. It was remarkable that he was standing so still. His robes were going crazy.
"Ohh relax, all you gotta do is decipher this..." He walked over and handed her a poem. It read: 'Bring me the power of the wind, carry the strength of the ages, and tie my fate with eternity: Miyabita Kaze.' Karin looked over it.
"What the hell does this mean?" Karin said as she read the poem to herself. "Isn't your name Miyabita Kaze?" She said, completely confused.
"Ya, 99.999% of Zanpakuto like to hear their name. That's why it's in our release command… it's an ego thing..." He yelled. "Now pay attention, I wanna hear that pretty poem, even when you are scared to death! I want you to remember that, even when your life is on the line!"
"Alright whatever!" Karin yelled. She really wished the wind would stop. The man smiled and vanished. Karin felt something awfully strange and it took some time to realize what it was. The bamboo in her hands had turned into a sword a sheath, and what's more, it had come detached from the ground. Karin was being carried away in the wind, and that scared her. She looked around, and behind her she saw a giant chasm. She started to panic, she took her sword out and stuck it in the ground, that didn't help.
"Remember my pretty poem?" A voice on the wind said, "I wrote just for you little girl, and I would like to hear it..." Karin panicked. The little piece of paper was stuck to her chest and she pealed it off as quickly as she could. It sounded ridiculous, but all of this crap was! She began to recite it.
"Bring me the power of the wind, carry the strength of the ages, and tie my fate with eternity: Miyabita Kaze!" Karin yelled word for word. She didn't hear anything but rather watched as the bamboo sword transform. The shaft grew a little longer, and transformed into a more porous shaft of bamboo. The cool thing however, was the blade. The original blade grew, and the other side grew one as well, like two swords stuck together! The blades were also hollow, consisting of only a metal edge rather than being solid metal straight through. It made the design very, very light, perfect for an 11 year old girl.
"Now just hold me out." Karin heard the sword say. She did as she was told and the wind flew into the blades. She stopped just before falling into the chasm. "See, that wasn't so bad, was it?"
"What are you?!" Karin asked the sword. The spirit materialized in front of her, holding the same blade.
"I'm a Zanpakuto, I already told you that!" He said playfully. "But we can talk more later, for you, it's time for you to go." He held out his sword and a massive wind threw Karin into the chasm. She was about to curse him out, but saw that the "Endless Chasm" was actually only a few feet from the ground, and it was really close to Urahara. Karin landed gracefully, still holding Miyabita in her hand.
"Ahh there you are!" Urahara said as if nothing was amiss. "We weren't expecting you to be back so soon!"
"I was going to die!" Karin said. She hadn't been paying attention, but she was now wearing a small version of the shinigami's robes.
"I don't think anyone has ever died in that step, their Zanpakuto cares too much about them!" Urahara said, "Looks like you met yours! What's its name?"
"Uhh... Miyabita Kaze." Karin said holding the blade up. Even having her hand around it made her feel 100 times more powerful.
"Elegant wind..." Urahara said, "What a beautiful name, and such a strange sword! I can't wait to see you fight!"