Of Buildings and a Plain of Snow
Chapter 2 – Beyond the dark abyss
... if you really think I own Bleach, I think you need psychiatric help.
Sode no Shirayuki screamed as the pain overcame her. It was the most painful thing she had ever undergone. As Rukia stabbed Kurosaki Ichigo through the chest she felt herself wrenched from her own home, from Rukia's very soul. Rukia's screams of pain echoed her own as the beautiful plain of snow disappeared all around her and she was thrown into a dark abyss. Sinking into unconsciousness, the facade dropped. Injured and as fragile as any child, not the proud ice queen of soul society she was seen as Shirayuki uttered a quiet "Why Rukia...?"
And then everything turned black.
Sode no Shirayuki woke a short time later. She was in a never ending expanse of chaotic darkness that stretched as far as she could see. 'they say when you are betrayed it feels as though you are swirling into a dark abyss... I wonder how many people experience that literally?' she thought as a bitter laugh escaped her lips. Not that she could check to make sure anyway, her reiatsu was completely drained. She couldn't move a muscle. The only good thing about that was that with her dulled reiatsu the sharp, searing pain that came with being separated from Rukia was reduced to a dull throb. Although thinking about the situation was worse than she ever thought she'd have to endure.
Rukia; her wielder, her master, HER FRIEND; had cast her aside and all but presented her on a silver platter to this human boy who she had barely known for around ten minutes. She felt lost and alone without her kind wielder by her side. She always acted brash and had been cold since she had been taken in by her adoptive brother, Byakuya; but Sode no Shirayuki knew her truly. Rukia was kind and would be a friend for life. She was a person who would listen to your troubles and help you get out of them.
That very friend had just given her away.
That realisation brought more pain than the physical separation. She said that she was only going to give half of her powers, if that was so then she would still be in her comfortable, familiar and pain free inner world. That she was now in this place meant that she was in no inner world at the moment; meant that Rukia had in fact given this boy more than half of her powers and herself!
Maybe even all of herself...
This was stupid, idiotic, and foolish! Did she even know the implications of doing such a thing?! Soul transferring is very risky, not to mention stupid! The chances of a mere human surviving the transfer was slim to none, it was not forbidden for no reason! It even posed a risk to the shinigami. Besides, we can't have bunch of human shinigami running around, think of the risk in confidentiality. Was this what Rukia was attempting with her…?
Well... put it this way. On one hand she could understand what her wielder was attempting and on the other hand she felt like screaming in her face, demanding her wielder to tell her what in the world was going on and how could she possible think of doing something like this. She didn't even try to release me! It's not like I'm a mega close range sword for god sake!
With this she decided to take some action. First: to figure out where she was... that was absolutely nowhere, literally. Second: identify any hostile enemies... that was absolutely no one, there wasn't even a friend. Third: explore the area around you to find an escape... oh right, she couldn't move, lovely, just absolutely lovely. "Well that was just a waste of time..." Shirayuki muttered darkly to herself. Deciding that she had had enough action-taking for the day she resumed muttering angrily to herself and slipping back into a state of depression.
After what seemed like hours Sode no Shirayuki noticed the pain was beginning to recede. She was able to move slightly and Shirayuki used this new found freedom of movement to move her head to observe her surroundings. The never-ending expanse of dark was dissolving and disappearing, becoming thinner and thinner, less menacing. And slowly her body could move again, from her head to her shoulders, her arms to her legs until finally she could once again move normally. By now the darkness swirling around her had been reduced to a fine veil that looked like mist; though she still couldn't see through it. Through the veil there threads of a beautiful pure blue colour. Upon touching them, she deduced that the blue threads were reiatsu, since Rukia's was a pure white colour, Sode no Shirayuki figured it belonged to the boy.
And yet another mystery had appeared before her.
How in the world a human boy contained so much reiatsu was beyond her knowledge and experience. If only she had had backup, a higher level zanpaktou might have known what was going on. Then again, if she had back up this wouldn't have happened in the first place. What to do, what to do?
Prodding at the veil Sode no Shirayuki was surprised to find that her hand went straight through. When she drew her hand back in the misty veil instantly closed up again, leaving her with no hole to see through to the other side. Shirayuki quickly debated wether or not she should go through to the other side. It was a simple matter. Of course she had no idea whatsoever about what was there once she got through, but she couldn't stay here forever could she?
Making up her mind Shirayuki steeled herself before stepping completely through the veil. About to step through the mess of the black and blue Sode no Shirayuki stopped, as if making a sudden, last minute realisation. Turning, Shirayuki stopped at a small section of the veil. Looking around, Sode no Shirayuki smiled triumphantly as she found what she was looking for. Entangled with the lovely blue ribbons of reiatsu, there was one small ribbon that differed from the rest. It was pure white. Sode no Shirayuki carefully pulled it out from the veil and tied it around her wrist. Smiling faintly for the first time in what seemed like centuries, Sode no Shirayuki once more went to exit through the opening in the screen. As she left that dark place words managed to escape her lips, "no matter what happens, this won't be permanent, we are not completely separated, and never will be. Rukia..." and with that, she stepped into the unknown.
Ah well, as they say, there is no story without a beginning...
Authors note: Hello again my lovely readers. Well, I didn't expect my chapter to come out so angst-y, I was kinda surprised. It's also a little short, but I plan to try to get my chapters out a little quicker to keep you from despairing, because I know for a while I was... ZETSUBO SHTA*!!!! I have a terrible curse of getting writers block every time I finish a chapter please forgive me T-T. The next chapter will hopefully be out sooner: My name is Zangetsu. Stay tuned!! Bye Bye!!!
Co-Authors note:yo! I am the underappreciated co-author, plum-chan and I work hand in hand in all stories. But... I am lazy where she is diligent. Plum-chan tends to ramble however and in is my job to fix that, I have a fairly definite writing style... have you ever heard the nursery rhyme 'jack sprat'? It's like that. Jack sprat could eat no fat his wife could eat no lean, but between the fussy pair they licked the platter clean. One of us writes not nearly enough and the other would have you drown in a sea of unneeded words. But together we eat all the food on hand! Or, something like that...
Flying-Plum : Oh nonsense Tsugi-chan, I appreciate you very much *hugs*. And I have another saying "Those who live in glass houses should never throw stones" You ramble as much as I do so Nyah *sticks out tongue*
TsugiNoMai: good to know, but what do mean I ramble. That's only when I talk my writing is very minimal. Besides, AND LISTEN TO ME PEOPLE, do you know HOW many times plum-chan told us that the pain of knowing they had been separated hurt worse than the physical pain?! How many times she said that the soul transfer could have killed them?! She mentioned those points every freaking paragraph!!! Like a parrot of the sea she was...
And the anime reference was...
Sadly, no one got the reference last chapter. The reference was said by Konata, from Lucky Star. This week's reference is also hidden in my authors note. Name the character and the anime/manga they are from and you win a preview of the next chapter!!! Good luck... I AM IN DESPAIR*!!!
