Zrocker119: Heeeeeeyyyy everyone...alright full disclaimer I had this chapter at like 80% completed for the last few weeks but then was just hit with the biggest case of writers fatigue, and just couldn't bring my self to write. But the good news is that it's gone for the time being, so i intend to get as much writing done as possible.
Continuing on, I've got a question for all of you, well two questions really. The first being this...should I give Chad magic? I already know what I'd give him but I want you all to decide whether or not I actually do it. I'll be putting up a pull shortly after this chapter goes up and will leave it for about a week or so.
Lastly most of you have figured out that yes it was Renji that appeared at the end of the last chapter and is the only other Bleach character that will make an appearance. Now here's my question for all of you...should I pair him with one of the lovely ladies from the world of Fairy Tail?
If so then who should the lucky gal be? And before any of you ask, yes, I already have a pairing decided for both Ichigo and Chad.
Alrighty then, with that in mind onto the chapter!
-Start-
"-igo…-chigo...Ichigo!"
The young shinigami's eyes shot open as he awoke from his deep sleep. "W-what?" He questioned with a yawn.
From his left, Azlack patted the orangette on the shoulder as he got up from his seat. "Ride's over."
Glancing out the window Ichigo saw that the train had indeed come to a stop. With his longer than planned nap over, he stood up and stretched his stiff limbs. Giving himself a quick pat down Ichigo grabbed his blade from where it was propped against the wall. Once it was secured to his back, he followed his fellow guild members off the train.
The group of five stepped outside and Ichigo was taken aback by the sight before him. It wasn't the town itself that got this reaction from him, but what lied after that. Even though he was from Japan, a had been to the coast multiple times, the view of the seemingly endless ocean never ceased to amaze him.
"Yeah that was my expression as well when I first came here," Macao patted him on the shoulder, "Welcome to Hargeon. Come on, we've got less than thirty minutes to be at the docks."
"Right," With the initial amazement having passed, Ichigo fell in step with the others but still took in the sights as they passed by. While they made there way through the town and towards the port, he became aware of the every growing number of stares that were being sent their way. It didn't just end with looks either as Ichigo caught many of the passerbyers whispering to each other and even saw a few exchange bills.
"They make bets," Ichigo turned his attention to Alzack who had spoken up. "Every year on the anniversary of our friends disappearance we return to search for clues. For five years we've done this, and for the past three many of the people that live here place bets on whether or not we come back the next."
Upon learning this Ichigo was tempted to turn his gaze to those that took part in such a sick betting pool and let them just feel a thin sliver of his power, but seeing the indifferent expressions of his guildmates he held back...for now at least.
"Just let me know when Kingy," Zangetsu called out with a chuckle, "I'll gladly leave every single one of these sick bastards with some extra weight in their pants."
With an unnoticeable smirk Ichigo resumed following the others. Thankfully they wouldn't have to dealing with the stares and whispers for long, cause it was only a few minutes later and the group reach the docks. From there the group boarded a ship that was located near the edge of the area.
Now Ichigo may have never been on a ship before but even he could tell that the ship they were on was of high quality, something he found quite strange given the financial state that the guild was currently in. Sure more and more requests had been flowing through the guilds doors since him and Chad joined, but Fairy Tail was still rather poor.
He voiced this to the others and Macao just pat him on the shoulder. "If it meant finding any sort of clue, then we'll pay any amount of money. So don't worry about it." He moved on and started helping the others prep the ship, "Besides we only paid half the price."
That earned him a confused look from the orangette, "Who paid the other half?"
The guildmaster paused in what he was doing, adopting a more somber expression. "The man's name is Jude Heartfilia. His daughter, Lucy, was among the ones that disappeared. He heard that we were still searching and offered to help fund our yearly expedition. At first he wanted to pay for everything, but we managed to bargain it down to half."
"He normally comes along to join the search," Azlack chimed in as he loaded up boxes of supplies, "But last we spoke he said his health wasn't what it used to be and could no longer come."
With that information in mind Ichigo remained silent as they continued loading the supplies for the trip, and a short while later the ship was on its way to where the Island used to reside.
It was during this time that Ichigo found himself out on the deck, leaning against the rails as he stared across the ocean. Jet was manning the wheel while the rest of the group was sat on deck. They had set up a table with chairs and were playing a game of cards to pass the time.
"Ichigo," said orangette glanced behind him to see Alzack flag him over, "We're about to start a game of poker and could use a fourth player."
Seeing as there was literally nothing better to do, the shinigami pulled out one of the extra chairs and took a seat. "Gonna warn you though, I'm not really one for card games."
Droy gave a heartfelt chuckle, "Don't worry about it. We'll teach you the ropes."
Despite his declaration, it was soon discovered that Ichigo's uncanny ability to learn didn't stop a combat. Not even three games in, the newbie was effectively schooling the veterans. A few minutes and his fifth consecutive win later, Macao slammed his hands onto the table, knocking most of the chips to about.
"Screw taking jobs," He jabbed a finger in Ichigo's face, "Once we get back to the guild, we're pooling together every scrap a cash we can find and taking you to a casino!" The guild masters declaration earned a round of laughter from the others and a small chuckle from Ichigo.
With a deep and calming sigh, Macao let out a small laugh as well. "You're just full of surprises, aren't you Ichigo?"
Ichigo held up his hands defensively, "Hey, I'm just as surprised as the rest of you. I've only played once before and that was with my dad."
Alzack reached into a nearby cooler. Pulling out enough drinks for everyone he said, "I just realized something." Passing the drinks around he turned to Ichigo. "You've never talked about your family."
Ichigo took the offered drink but paused before he could bring the cup to his lips. He lowered the drink and stared into its contents. An awkward silence befell the group as they waited for someone to say something.
"S-sorry," Alzack scratched the back of his head, "Didn't mean to bring up bad memories."
Ichigo brought the cup to his lips for a drink, but not before muttering, "If anything, it brought of the good ones." Downing the whole thing in one go he continued, "It's just tha-"
"Tell us about them.".
Ichigo blinked and looked at Macao. "Huh?"
"Tell us about your family," Macao clarified as he took a sip of his drink. "I mean if you and Chad are anything to go by, then they must have been one hell of a group of people."
His wording brought a small smile to Ichigo's lips as he thought back to all of the fond memories he had of his friends and family. With a nod Ichigo said, "alright then. But only if you guy's tell me about everyone else."
Macao, along with Alzack and Droy, raised their drinks in agreement. "Sounds like a deal."
It was later that night that Ichigo once again found himself staring at the ocean. They had arrived at the area where they would search for clues but it was almost sunset by then, so they had decided to begin searching the next morning. So with that settled they had dropped anchor and gone to bed.
But it was all too soon for Ichigo as he woke with a shout. Dripping with sweat and nothing on but a pair of pajama pants, he went above deck to try and settle his nerves. The cool sea breeze did wonders cool his burning body, but his mind was plagued with the images of those that he lost.
"Rough sleep?"
With but a thought, the sealed form of Zangetsu was on his back. With one swift motion, spun around and Ichigo drew it in a defensive manner only to see Alzack leaning against the mast, arms crossed and with an understanding gaze.
Not realizing how labored his breath had become, Ichigo sheathed his blade and took a deep, calming breath. "Yeah, that's one way to put it," He said as he went back to staring at the water.
"Hmmm," was Alzack's response. Pushing off of the mast he chose to rest against the rail alongside his guildmate. The two spent the next several minutes in total silence, but it was a comfortable one.
"Guess you were pretty close with her," Alzack suddenly spoke catching Ichigo off guard.
"Her?"
"Orihime," Alzack said as he turned to look at him, "You called out her name right before you woke up." Upon seeing Ichigo's worried look he quickly said, "don't worry about the others having heard you, cause trust me when I say that they're heavy sleeper."
He snorted, "hell, only reason I heard you was cause me a Bisca had to be light sleepers in case Asuka had a night terror."
Ichigo let out a sigh of relief. He would hate for the others to see him in such a vulnerable state. "Can you…" he began but trailed off.
Knowing what was being asked Alzack nodded, "Don't worry about it. I won't tell anyone."
"Thanks." Once again the two found themselves in silence. But this one didn't last nearly as long as Ichigo spoke. "I died for her you know. Twice, and both times she was the one that brought me back."
If it were to come from anyone else, Alzack would thing that they were exaggerating, but over the last few months he had learned that Ichigo wasn't one to blow things out of proportion. So when he said that he died twice for this girl, Alzack believed him.
It wasn't just the words either. Even with the low moonlight, the mage could see the scars that littered the young man's body, with the two main ones being the large circular marks that matched up on his chest and back. For someone to receive a wound like that and come back from spoke volumes of what Ichigo went through before Alzack found him and Chad in the woods near his home.
"She must have been some woman to do something like that not only once but twice."
"Yeah," For a moment Ichigo developed a fond smile, but it was replaced by a much more somber one a second later. "Too bad I didn't realize it until it was too late. And now she's gone and everyone else I loved are gone forever."
That brought a frown to Alzack's face. The way Ichigo was now reminded him too much of himself and everyone else from Fairy Tail when they learned of what had happened at the S-class Exams.
"You didn't lose them," Alzack spoke as put an understanding hand on his friends shoulder. "Just because they're not with you in body, doesn't mean that they aren't with you in spirit."
"The memories of them are forever with you," He began as he pointed to his head, "here," He then lowered his hand until it was at his heart, "and here."
Ichigo stared almost blankly at him for several seconds, "Do you realize how corny that sounded?"
The two shared stone cold expressions for a few moments before it became too much and the duo broke out into laughter.
"Ahaha-ha," Alzack wiped away a stray tear, "Yeah, I realized that as soon as I said it. But that doesn't mean that I'm wrong though. So long as you cherish those memories and never let go, then they will never truly die."
Ichigo, having calmed down as well, took the slighter younger man's words to heart. "I'll keep that in mind."
"Good," Alzack let out a yawn, "Cause I'm tired and want to go and catch some sleep. It's gonna be busy day tomorrow."
The orangette chuckled to himself as the cowboy themed mage retired to the sleeping quarters. He was tired as well, but at the moment he had too much on his mind to try and sleep. So he did the next best thing.
Taking a seat with his blade resting in his lap, Ichigo closed his eyes. When he opened them again he was no longer on the ship, but now stood on one of the many sideways skyscrapers that made up his inner world.
"Yo," came the call of the battle crazed half of his blade. "You picked a good group of people to join King. The place was looking to start storming before Billy the kid there set ya straight."
Ichigo allowed himself to smile, "Wouldn't have settled for any less. I'm sure you know why I'm here."
Zangetsu developed his signature psychotic grin. Rather than vocally relay his answer, the crazed portion of his powers appeared before him with his pale blade raised that was brought down just as fast, only for it to be intercepted by Ichigo's own.
"I'm more than willing to beat the shit out of ya till your exhausted!"
Ichigo found himself grinning, "Then bring it on!"
From off to the side, Tensa stood on his flag pole and sighed as the world around him shook from his partners clash. Through his tinted shades though, he could see that the water that flooded a enormous portion Ichigo's inner world had dropped significantly since Ichigo and Chad joined Fairy Tail.
"Hopefully they can filled the void that was left in your soul Ichigo," Tensa looked to the still clouded sky, "Hopefully they can fill it."
The next couple of days were very emotionally draining for everyone on board, especially for the veteran members of the guild. Day after day they would dive below the waves to search for any sort of clue as to the remains of their comrades, but just like the previous years there was only an enormous crater where the island use to lie.
Macao let out a disheartening sigh, "Looks like this year's another failure. Jet, signal the others to get back on the ship."
The speedster shared the same melancholy expression as his guild master, but there was little that they could do about it. Grabbing a lacrima Jet tossed it over the side of the ship where it could be heard entering the water with a small splash. Just a few moments later a flash was seen.
Below the waves, Ichigo, Alzack and Droy were searching the massive crater when a bright flash came over them. Knowing that that had been the signal to return, the trio carefully made their way back to the surface. Upon breaching, the bubble that surrounded their heads and thus allowed them to breath underwater popped.
The multitude of uses for magic would forever continue to amaze Ichigo.
"Time to switch," Alzack asked as they climbed up.
Jet shook his head, "We're heading back home." Both Alzack and Droy stopped drying themselves and became noticeably saddened by the news. Their feelings were shared throughout all the the fairies present.
Ichigo, having finished drying off, quickly donned his shinigami attire and turned back to the water with a critical gaze. Something was wrong. He couldn't quite put his finger on it, but there was definitely something there that they were missing.
Whenever he was down beneath the waves, Ichigo just felt off. The only way he could describe it was to compare it to the time he and Chad left the dimensional gap. That feeling that overcame them as they stepped through the boundaries that surrounded this world. It was as if the dimension itself knew that they shouldn't be there, but then just moments later had accepted the pair.
That same feeling of awkwardness would wash over Ichigo whenever he explored the waters below. Something was missing, and he intended to find out what it was.
Ichigo continued to stare out into the waters for some time, even as the others prepared the ship for their departure, but then something caught his eye. Several hundred meters off the side of the ship, just standing on top of the water, was a girl.
She was very young in appearance, almost like that of a small child just entering their early teens. Her hair was a yellow-blonde and reached all the way down to her feet, with a small ahoge. She wore a frilly, pink layered robe with a red ribbon tied into bow around her neck.
Her large green and pupiless eyes were wide in shock, as if she was surprised that he could see her. Ichigo went to alert the other but the girl frantically waved her arms in a negative fashion before holding a finger to her lips.
She tilted her head in a cute fashion before mouthing a single word that Ichigo was barely able to catch.
Soon.
"Yo Ichigo," the one in question turned to see Jet wave him over. "Could use some help over here."
Glancing back to the water, Ichigo found that the girl from before had vanished. With even more questions than answers now plaguing his mind, the shinigami pushed off of the railing and began to help the others prepare for their journey home.
"Yeah," Macao spoke into a lacrima as the search party made their way down the trail towards the guild. "Sorry that we had another repeat of last years search...We'll try again next year...Hope you feel good enough to tag along...Goodbye."
"How did Jude take it," Questioned Droy.
"Same as always. Remorseful but with a bit of hope for next time." The guild master seemed to age several years as he dragged a hand down his face, "Now be the bearer of bad news yet again." The others could do little more than give the man comforting pats on the shoulder.
While the rest of the party tried to lighten the masters mood, Ichigo was deep in thought as his mind was still playing back what he saw. Who was that girl, and what did she mean by when she said soon? Did she have something to do with the disappearance of the Island?
His steps faltered when a pulse of energy washed over him and it wasn't just him either. The whole group stumbled a bit as it hit them as well.
"What the hell was th-Ichigo!"
Alzack's concern went unheard by Ichigo as he tore ahead of the pack, going so far as to use shunpo to close the distance between him and the guild faster. He knew exactly what the wave of energy was. He knew whom exactly that spiritual pressure belonged to. But that person was long since dead.
If this was someone's idea of a joke, then whoever was responsible would pay dearly for this decet.
When he arrived at the guild, he nearly tore the door off of it's hinges in his haste to open the damn thing. Everyone inside turned to face hims, each bared looks of surprise. Except for one that is.
The man seated at the bar calmly set down his eating utensils and turned around so that his elbows rested on the countertop. He wore the standard shinigami uniform with the inclusion of a bandana and black visor that rested on his forehead. His sword rested against the stool beside him.
His long red hair was done in a long braid, now longer in the spiky ponytail that Ichigo had seen it in last.
"Yo Ichigo," Renji Abarai greeted with a small smirk. "Been some time."
Ichigo couldn't believe what his eyes were showing him. Renji was here. Alive and well. It was almost too much for the young man.
"R-Renji is it re-" He was cut off as the friend he thought dead appeared before him. The redhead offered a smirk before he suddenly grabbed Ichigo by the face and took off into the sky. Ichigo didn't have enough time to process what was happening before he found himself crashing back first into the ground.
With a cough he got to his feet whilst dusting himself off. "Renji What the hell," He roared and looked up. Ichigo would forever deny the yelp of fright that left his throat as he quickly drew his blade to block the one that threatened to split him in two.
"Rraaah!" With a roar Ichigo diverted Renji's sword to the side and retaliated with a strike of his own, but was blocked as well as the two shinigami clashed in rapid succession.. The pressure from the blades proved too much as the nearby trees they were cut to splinters from the razor sharp winds.
The duo blinked in and out of view as they instinctively dove into shunpo, masterfully using the high speed movement technique. Sparks, craters and the concussive waves created from their clashes were the only visual indicator to what was going on.
After what felt like an eternity the two appeared on opposite sides of the newly made battle ground. Both sported cuts that bled freely though Ichigo, unlike Renji, held a distinct advantage as his wounds steamed and quickly began to stitch themselves closed.
Renji let out a low whistle and lighted bounced the back of his blade off his shoulder, "Damn, I forgot how fun it is to kick your ass."
Ichigo made a "tch" sound and just sheathed his sword, "Says the one currently bleeding all over the place." That earned him a bark of laughter from the redhead.
"Well not everyone has a healing factor as broken as yours," The former lieutenant commented with a smirk as he too put his blade away. "When did you learn to finally seal your Zanpakuto? I barely recognized you without your spiritual pressure leaking out like a damn waterfall."
The two had closed the distance between each other and now stood before one another.
"A couple weeks after arriving here," There was a moment of silence as the two stared at each other before Ichigo released a sigh, "How long?"
Renji responded with a sigh of his own as he took a seat on a nearby tree stump, "...It's been a little over five years for me. I kept thinking that someone else would appear like I did, but as the years passed with no sightings or rumors I just lost whatever hope I was holding onto."
He let out a pitiful laugh, "But then a couple months ago I felt a wave of spiritual energy that washed over me. So I started searching, trying to sense it out, but after years of feeling ethernano, my spiritual touch had dulled. It wasn't until a few days ago that I felt another spike of spiritual pressure."
"You found Chad," Ichigo stated as it was the most obvious answer.
"Yep," acknowledged the redhead, "Sat back and watched as he beat a guys ass into the pavement before fighting another to a standstill."
Ichigo blinked as that little tidbit of info sunk in, "Chad fought someone?" Renji nodded, "...And they we able to hold their own?"
Renji raised a brow, "Why does that surprise you?"
"Well…" Ichigo suddenly found the sky to be very interesting as he rubbed the back of his neck, "I flicked one guy threw a wall while Chad did the same but with a less than half assed punch."
"What guild were they from?"
"I think it was Twilight Ogre," Ichigo answered, "...does that matter?"
Renji couldn't contain it any longer and let out another round of laughter, but unlike before where it full of bitterness and self loathing, this was good-natured. Like a man that hadn't been able to truly laugh in a long time.
After calming down significantly he sat up, threw an arm around Ichigo's shoulder and started to lead him back to the guild. "Ahaha-ha, you have no idea what the people here are capable of."
-End-