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Soul Savior

Chapter 4: Preparing for battle

The night passed by slowly. I couldn't sleep because many thoughts kept popping up in my mind. What if they refuse after all? What then? Will some still join me? What if the portal is gone by the time I come back? As these questions continuously circled my mind, I tossed and turned in my bed. Finally, in the wee hours of the morning, I was able to get some rest.

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The sun rose a few hours later. I opened my eyes and looked towards Spyro's bed. He had already gotten up and left the room. Am I late?? I asked myself. Quickly, I got up from the bed, grabbed my zanpaktou, and dashed out of the room looking for the purple dragon. My search led me outside into the garden where I saw the portal being tended to by Cynder.

"Well good morning sleepy head," she said as she saw me, "you missed out on breakfast you know."

"Sorry, I couldn't get much sleep last night. Do you know where Spyro is?"

"He went to the storage to get the gems we need to power this thing. So do you have a plan on how to get them over here?"

"Uh… well yeah… sort of." Cynder looked at me with a questioning face. "See, Head Captain Yamamoto has always been a tough but reasonable person. I'm sure that if I tell him about the Vasto Lorde, he'll send some strong Soul Reapers with me." Cynder only nodded and went back to preparing the portal.

I took a look at it and it seemed more like a doorway. It stood tall in a rectangular shape. It had a bronze color to it and it shone brightly in the morning sun. There were small holes dotting both of its vertical sides, from the ground up. The horizontal top had a magnificent design on it.

A few minutes later, Spyro came into the garden, holding a bucket in his mouth. He came up to Cynder, placed the bucket next to her and asked, "So it this going to be like the last time? I just place the gems into the sockets?"

"Yeah," Cynder replied, looking at the book we took from the library. "According to this, we need every socket filled." She reached into the bucket and pulled out a handful of small, blue, glowing gems.

"Those are the soul gems?" I asked, looking at the tiny blue object. It was no larger than a small pebble. "These little things are going to power up the portal?"

"They may be small, but they still hold quite a lot of power," explained Spyro, grabbing some gems himself and placing them into the holes on the frame of the portal. I shrugged, figuring that they must know what they were talking about, and helped fill all the holes. By the time we finished, the guardians, including Cyril who had returned late last night, had joined us. "Now Cynder and I need to read this incantation and the portal will be completely opened. Ready?" Cynder nodded and took a deep breath to begin.

Both dragons read in unison but I couldn't understand what they were saying. They were speaking in a completely different language… probably dragon tongue.

When they finished, the gems suddenly began to glow brighter as the portal sprung to life. The arch that I could once see through was now filled with a swirling vortex of multiple colors. "Awesome! It worked!" exclaimed Spyro. Cynder looked and smiled at Spyro, who returned the gesture.

"Well I'm off," I said, "keep the portal open as long as you can. I'm gonna need all the time…" my sentence was cut short when I heard a scream. Another voice joined in and before I knew it, there were several screams coming from somewhere. I looked around confused, where are they coming from? My eyes landed on the portal and they widened. The voices were coming from inside the portal! Some humans had been sucked in by mistake! "Shut it down!" I yelled above the loud screams.

"It's too late!" Cynder replied. "If we shut it down when they're inside, they'll be lost forever!"

At that moment, a human fell through the portal and landed on his face. Before the poor guy could get up, five other humans appeared from the portal and landed on top of him. "GAAHH!!" yelled the male human at the bottom. His hair was an orange color. "Will you guys get the hell off of me?!" Slowly, the other five lifted themselves off of him. In total, there were six humans in front of us: four males and two females.

"Oh, I'm sorry Ichigo! Are you alright?" asked the taller female to the man with orange hair as he got up and dusted himself off.

"Yeah, I'll be fine Orihime, I just… WHAAA!!! WHAT ARE THOSE?!" The man's reaction made everyone jump. His finger was pointed in the direction of Spyro, Cynder, and the four guardians. The other humans looked at where he was pointing and went into the same state of shock.

"Th-They're… dragons?!" said the red-haired male.

"But… that can't be! Dragons aren't supposed to be real!" said the one with glasses.

"And yet… there they are!" this time the tallest male spoke up. His skin was also darker that his friends' skin.

"Umm… hi," I spoke up. They all looked at me as I waved hello.

"AND a Soul Reaper?! Can someone please explain what's going on here?!" said the man with orange hair.

"Look, if everyone will calm down and take a seat, I'll explain everything," I said to the group. They nodded and sat on the ground. "Wait a minute… you know about Soul Reapers?" I asked.

"Well yeah… I'm Ichigo Kurosaki, Substitute Soul Reaper," the male with orange hair said. He reached into his pocket and pulled out a badge, one only given to a few select humans, honoring them as Substitutes.

"So I take it you all know of Soul Reapers?" they all nodded yes. "Good… that'll make things a lot easier to explain." I told them about all the recent events, from when I appeared in this world, to the events of yesterday. I even went ahead and told them about the Vasto Lorde. "And then you all showed up… just who are you guys anyways? I know who Ichigo is now but how about the rest of you?"

"I'm Uryuu Ishida, last of the Quincy," said the one with glasses.

"My name is Chad," said the tallest male.

I looked at the red-haired man. "Renji Abarai's the name, lieutenant on Squad Six in the Soul Society."

A lieutenant! Great! He'll help out a lot against the Vasto Lorde! I thought to myself excitedly.

"Hi there! I'm Orihime Inoue! Nice to meet you!" said the tall female.

"And I'm Rukia Kuchiki," said the shorter female. My eyes widened at the name.

"Did you say Kuchiki?" I asked. Rukia nodded. I immediately bowed in respect to her. "Madame Kuchiki! Please forgive me for not properly greeting you!" Spyro gave me a questioning look. I knew what question was on his mind, so I answered, "The Kuchiki family is one of the four noble houses in the Soul Society. Madame Kuchiki here is nobility!" Spyro and Cynder looked at Rukia and bowed their heads as well.

"There's no need to be so formal guys," said Rukia, "just call me Rukia okay?"

"Very well then… Rukia." Everyone got up from the ground. Since they had finished their introductions, I went ahead and introduced them to the four guardians one by one. "And this," I pointed to the purple dragon, "is Spyro, a male as well, and," I moved my finger to the black dragoness, "is Cynder, a female." They both gave warm smiles and nodded, greeting them.

Rukia and Orihime just stared at the two. They got up and walked slowly towards them, Rukia to Cynder and Orihime to Spyro. Both dragons looked up at them and cringed a little. "Uhh… is something wrong?" asked Spyro. Suddenly the girls' arms were wrapped tightly around the dragons' necks.

"Oh!! He's sooooo cute!!" squealed Orihime, hugging Spyro tightly.

"So is she!!" said Rukia, holding onto Cynder.

"GAH! You're… choking… me…!" Cynder was able to get out even though her air supply was cut.

"Me… too!" said Spyro. The two girls' quickly let go of them, allowing them to breathe in some precious, life-giving air. Rukia and Orihime stood back and gave an embarrassed chuckle.

"Uhm… so now what?" asked Ichigo.

"Well," began Ignitus, "we were planning on training for the upcoming attack but the young ones came up with the plan to get reinforcements… that obviously didn't work as we had hoped. So now we go back to training. Would you like to join us?"

"Sure. It was getting boring back home… and it sounds like you need all the help you can get."

"Very well then, follow me." Ignitus led us into the temple. We followed him down s series of halls and entered a room with a massive statue of a dragon in it. The room itself was circular and, like the rest of the temple, made of stone. There were some red and green crystals dotting the area as well.

"Ignitus, this room is magnificent and all," I said, "but how are we gonna train with that gigantic statue in the middle?" The red dragon just smiled and flipped a switch. Suddenly, the ground shook and the floor began to open up. The statue then slowly sank below ground and the floor closed once again, leaving a large, open area, perfect for training. "Oh…"

"Now then," said Terrador, "since we now have guests, how about we have one on one fights? Who wants to go first?" Terrador looked around, waiting for someone to speak up.

Since no one did, I said, "How about I train with Ichigo? I want to see what it takes for a human to become a Substitute Soul Reaper."

"Sure thing," said Ichigo. He brought out his badge, placed it against his chest, and his soul jumped out, causing his body to fall on the ground. Chad dragged it to the wall while Ichigo and I made our way to the middle of the room. I pulled my zanpaktou from its sheath and got into my defensive stance. Ichigo reached behind his back and pulled out his blade. It didn't look like a regular zanpaktou, so I figured it was in its shikai state. He got into his stance as well and we waited for one of the guardians to start the match.

"Ready," said Terrador, "… begin!"

Instantly, Ichigo dashed towards me and swung his sword to my left side. I blocked it easily and pulled away from him. He came at me again, this time lifting his sword and bringing it down hard. I once again blocked with my own blade and pushed him off of me. He jumped back a bit to avoid a counterattack. "Heh," I chuckled out, "let's make this a little more interesting." I lifted my zanpaktou. "Slither and strike, Hebi Doku!" My zanpaktou changed and once again ended up being a serpent around my right arm. Ichigo just stared, somewhat surprised.

"So who are we fighting now?" asked Hebi Doku. She looked over to Ichigo, "Ah, a different Soul Reaper eh? Glad to see it's not Ikkaku… this will be a nice change of pace."

"We are just training Hebi Doku, so don't use your venom."

She huffed at this. "Fine…" As soon as she held back her venom, I shot my arm forward and Hebi Doku sprung forward, her body stretching to impossible lengths. She went straight for Ichigo, intending to bite him hard wherever she could manage, but he deflected her with his blade. Hebi Doku staggered a bit and returned to my arm. I looked at Ichigo and saw something in his eyes. I launched my serpent again, only to have her deflected again. This time though, Ichigo dashed towards me again. He had noticed that Hebi Doku takes a little time to ready herself for another attack. He took advantage of this and tried to get a hit on me. Unfortunately for him, I saw this and easily sidestepped his attack. I also stuck my foot out and tripped him, causing him to stumble.

"Nice try," I stated, "but everyone falls for that at least once. Come on! Show me what you got!" Ichigo turned around and swung his blade at my side again. I blocked with Hebi Doku's body and pushed him off. His eyes were wide, clearly wondering why he wasn't able to penetrate my serpent's scales. "Again, nice try but Hebi Doku's scales are harder than steel! It'll take a lot more than that to even scratch them!" Ichigo just looked at me, he was obviously pissed. "Is that really all? Don't hold back on me!"

"You want me to give it my all? Alright, but remember, you asked for it!" Ichigo then held his blade straight and pointed it to me. "Bankai!" My eyes widened as an explosion of dark energy came from Ichigo. When the energy dispersed and the dust cleared, Ichigo was standing there in a new outfit, holding a much smaller, all black katana. In an instant, he vanished from sight. I couldn't even sense his Spiritual Pressure! I then sensed him behind me but before I could even look, he kicked me hard in the back, sending me flying to the wall. Right before I hit it however, Ichigo appeared in front of me and kicked me into the air. He once again vanished and reappeared above me and kicked me to the ground. I landed very hard, creating a crater on the floor. Ichigo came down and placed his blade on my neck, signifying he had won.

"Victor, Ichigo," said Terrador. Ichigo took his sword away and offered me his hand. I grabbed it and he helped me up to my feet. I had staggered a little bit as I tried to regain my balance. I was pretty beat up from his attack so I needed him to help me back to the group.

"So that's the power even a substitute can have huh?" I asked rhetorically.

"Yeah… sorry I beat you up pretty badly, but you asked for it," replied Ichigo. I chuckled, knowing full well that I brought these injuries on myself. It felt like I had a broken rib or two. My body had large bruises on the pots where Ichigo had struck me and my body ached all over due to my crash landing. "Orihime, think you can heal him?" asked Ichigo. He made his way to his body and entered it. He then got up as a human instead of a Soul Reaper.

"Sure thing!" she said as she began to focus. "Sōten Kisshun, I reject!" Suddenly, two small objects flew out from her head and created a protective barrier around me. "Just hold still for a little while okay?" I nodded and waited for something to happen. Suddenly, I began to feel… re-energized. My bruises and cuts began to vanish before my eyes. In no time, I was fully healed. Orihime took down the barrier and the two objects flew back to her. I didn't bother asking her about her powers, I was just thankful that she could heal us if we ever got hurt.

"So now, who's next?" asked Terrador.

"Oh, oh! Me! I wanna go!" said Orihime. "I wanna train with the cute purple dragon!" Spyro immediately went red in the face. It was obvious that he was embarrassed that he was called cute in front of everyone.

"Um… uh… wh-why don't you t-train with her, Cynder?" Spyro said, trying to avoid the fight.

Cynder giggled at him. "Very well then, oh cute one." She walked over to him. "Though she does have a point…" she then gave him a quick peck on the cheek, "you are cute." She ran off to the center of the room to ready herself for her training session. Unknown to her, she had left Spyro even redder than before.

"Heh, looks like someone's got the hots for you eh Spyro?" said Renji. Spyro didn't acknowledge his comment though; his mind was still spinning after the kiss he received from Cynder.

Orihime and the black dragoness got into their stances. Terrador looked at them. "Ready? Begin!"

Immediately, Cynder ran for Orihime, wanting to head-butt her. Orihime was quick to react. "Santen Kesshun, I reject!" Suddenly three objects, similar to the ones that healed me, shot out and created a shield. Not noticing this however, Cynder ran straight into it. The force of the impact sent the dragoness flipping onto her back on the floor. The three objects let the shield down and returned to their owner.

Cynder rolled back on her paws. Before she could clear her mind however, Orihime attacked, "Koten Zanshun, I reject!" A single being flew from Orihime and rammed itself into Cynder's left side, sending the black dragoness sliding on the ground. Cynder got on her paws again as the little flyer turned towards her for another attack. This time though, Cynder countered with a blast of her wind powers. The flyer went back to Orihime as Cynder continued her windy attack. Orihime brought her arms up to cover her face from the dust and any possible debris.

By the time the wind finally died down, Cynder had disappeared from sight. We were all confused and looked around for her… well, all except the dragons. We couldn't find her anywhere and Orihime was becoming anxious. Suddenly, a black cloud emerged in front of Orihime and from that cloud, Cynder jumped out. She latched herself on Orihime's shoulders and pinned her to the ground. The black dragoness then brought her tail blade to Orihime's neck.

"Match over!" called out Terrador. "Victor, Cynder!" Cynder removed her tail blade to let Orihime get up. They walked back to the group and took a seat.

"Wow Cynder! That was cool! How did you do that?" asked Orihime happily. She was not affected at all by her loss in the mock-battle.

"That was my shadow element. I can shroud myself in shadows and move around without being seen. The downside? It takes up a lot of my energy to stay invisible for a long time," explained Cynder. She walked over to one of the green crystal clusters and snapped off a piece. The energy from the crystal spread throughout the black dragoness's body. "Ah, much better." She came back and sat down next to Orihime. "And what about your powers? That was pretty cool too."

Orihime pointed to a flower-shaped hairpin in her hair. "Basically, I have six fairy friends that help me when I call them. The stronger my feelings, the stronger they become. Three of them help me defend, two of them help heal my friends, and one attacks my enemies."

"Yeah, that shield of your is tough," said Cynder, rubbing her head. Everyone gave a small chuckle.

"Well we have time for one more," said Terrador, "so who's it gonna be?"

Renji got up, stepped out of his gigai (which caused it to fall to the ground), and pulled out his zanpaktou. "Come on purple boy, you and me!" he said as he pointed his blade to Spyro. "Let's see what you're made of." Without a word, Spyro got up and followed Renji to the center.

"Prepare yourselves," Terrador's voice boomed once again, "and… begin!"

Spyro launched himself at Renji, claws extended. Instead of flesh however, his claws connected with Renji's blade. The red-haired Soul Reaper pushed the dragon off to create some space in between them. Spyro back-flipped and landed on his paws. He then jumped into the air and fired an earth shot. Renji easily flash-stepped out of the way. "So that's how it's gonna be, long distance," said Renji, "alright then!" Renji placed his hand end of the hilt, the base of the blade. "Roar, Zabimaru!" Renji slid his hand to the tip of his zanpaktou. As he did, his sword transformed. When he finished, he held in his hand a much larger blade with one long tooth at the top and six shorter teeth following it.

Unfazed by this transformation, Spyro launched a fireball directly at Renji. Instead of dodging however, Renji swung his sword in the direction on the oncoming attack. As he swung, his blade extended to unimaginable lengths. It also seemed that his blade had gained more sections with teeth on them, making it possible to reach such a distance. In between each section was some sort of material that looked like a thick membrane. The fireball exploded in the air as it was intercepted. Spyro's eyes went wide, surprised that his blade could reach so far. Renji swung again and caused a wave to form and make its way to the end. Spyro didn't notice this and ended up getting struck hard on the side, one of the teeth slicing his back. Spyro hit the wall hard, cracking it.

"Heh, you're not as tough as I thought," Renji said, turning around, thinking he had won the battle. Suddenly, an icicle came from where Spyro had crashed. It sped through the air and struck Renji hard on the back, knocking him down.

"I'm not done just yet!" said Spyro and he floated in the air, a cocky smile on his face. "Now come on! Let's continue!" Renji turned his head back to look at the purple dragon. He gave a smirk and got up to his feet. He, once again, swung his sword at Spyro, who dodged the attack. Spyro's body began to become covered in bright, burning flames. When his entire body was engulfed, he made a mad dash towards Renji. His attempt failed however, as Renji had flash-stepped out of his pattern continued for quite a while, some attacks hitting their mark.

Finally, after about six or seven minutes of this, with neither side giving in, Terrador said, "That's enough!" Both fighters stopped where they were, both of them on the ground. They were both clearly exhausted and had many visible injuries. "We'll call this one a tie. We don't want you two to kill each other after all." The two looked at each other and came to agreement that they had had enough for one day.

"Are you guys okay? Do you want me to heal you?" asked Orihime as the pair rejoined our group.

"Go ahead and heal Renji," said Spyro. He turned around and walked over to one of the clusters of red crystal. "I'll just use some of this to heal." He snapped off a piece of the crystal and, just like Cynder, let its energy flow into him. Slowly, but surely, his cuts closed up and his bruises vanished. By the time Spyro finished, Renji was also fully healed.

"We'll continue training tomorrow," Ignitus spoke up. "We should all get some rest now, it's been quite an eventful day. The boys will all sleep in Spyro's room and the girls in Cynder's room until we can clear out some other rooms for you all."

"Thanks Ignitus," Ichigo said to the fire guardian. We all got up and went to our rooms to rest up for the next day of training. The girls followed Cynder while the rest followed Spyro and me.

Soon enough, everyone was sound asleep… everyone but me. Looks like we got our reinforcements after all, I thought to myself, but will it be enough? After seeing today's training session, my hope is strong but still… I decided to quiet my thoughts and worry about that bridge when I got to it.

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There you have it! Ichigo and the gang have made their appearance!

In the next chapter, things are going to be a bit different. It will not be in the P.O.V of my OC. I will try to keep it as though he is actually telling you this story face to face. I will have him start by saying something like… "Unknown to us, this was happening," or something like that.

This is to help keep the story flowing as smoothly as possible. Sorry if I confused you with my explanation, but hopefully things will be clearer when chapter 5 comes out.

Till next time!