Chapter 23

Quincy

Ichigo sat in his command tent, staring at the object across his lap. He couldn't figure out if this was utter bullshit or Zangetsus way of playing a joke on him, he should have known such a calm person would have a twisted sense of humour. It was a large silvery white rifle, with a barrel he could almost fit his fist in. Oh who was he kidding it was a bloody cannon! He needed to talk to Zangetsu about it but he wasn't answering beyond "that is my new form, a form for a Quincy" his scream for a bow had been met with an approving silence, but still silence.

"Well, no point sitting here may as well go check this thing out"

Resting his new one man artillery piece against his shoulder like he would Zangetsu's sword form he left his tent and made his way through the camp, he just knew this would be all through the army by the end of the day. He continued out past the large field they had set up in, and made larger with a dedicated logging operation. Nothing would be able to approach without them seeing it and the wood was useful in camp fires, construction, infrastructure for rukongai or fortifications, it was all used. He would have them replant as much as they could when they eventually moved on to avoid the mistakes of the living world. He continued deeper in for some time, he had no clue what would happen when he pulled that trigger. Reaching a point he felt comfortable with he aimed his new weapon to the sky, gathered all the reishi into himself he could hold, and fired. There was a roaring surge of white light, a deafening howl of screaming power followed by loud silence as every living creature within an hour's march hit the dirt and shut up for all they were worth.

"Huh, better be careful with that"

"Ichigo, even as a Quincy it will rarely be wise for you to abandon all else and focus all your power into one attack. As a Shinigami you split you reiryoku between sharpening your sword and increasing your mobility and strength, and reiatsu to dull your enemies blades and senses. A Quincy is no different, you must still choose between construction, manipulation, absorption and sensory ability. the inner and outer use of reishi The last is of paramount importance, you no longer have the innate defence and power of a Shinigami, you will need to be able to identify and attack an enemies weakness and respond accordingly"

Ichigo quickly sank into his inner world to continue the lesson "so what's all that about? It sounds like the four Shinigami ways"

"No, all Shinigami arts use reiryoku and reiatsu, inner and outer power, in different ways. There are several different techniques and styles but those twin aspects remain the core of it. Quincy have spellcraft, marksmanship, manipulation and amplification. Each focus reishi in different fields in different ways but it all comes down to what you do with it both inside and outside the body."

"Yeah run that stuff by me"

Zangetsu stared for a moment "you have gotten too used to lectures from your cousin and Hitsugaya Taicho. I will keep it brief, spellcraft is the about changing the nature of the reishi and putting it in a form for an effect, think of it like kido only more versatile but can be even slower to use without preparation. Marksmanship includes accuracy, changing arrow types and shapes as well as bow types. Manipulation concerns the use of reishi around you, hyirinkyaku falls under this category as well as many sensory techniques. Amplification is the use of reishi within you, the different bluts, ransotangai and other abilities that improve or heal yourself are listed in this category, but that's all they are, categories. You yourself use hakuda every time you fight to enhance your strength, as do most Shinigami beyond the newly trained. The only branch you don't use extensively is kido but even that sees some use in how you use the Getsuga Tensho and the spirit ribbons."

"I don't see the kido, sorry"

"You can make it detonate, cut or hold it to your blade. It is still reiryoku used outside the body, and that is what leads to the branch of kido. Moving on, you have always learnt well by mixing theory and practical, so lets begin the practical"

"What?! Hang on I barely know how to hold this thing you can't call that mad dog out on me yet!"

Zangetsu gave a sinister smile "oh no Ichigo, I will be your opponent this time" and with a wave of his hand he sent a volley of shining darts at his young wielder. Ichigo gave a startled yelp as he awkwardly stumbled and skipped to the side. "shunpo will be useless to you Ichigo. It is time to build a new set of skills, a new way of thought" Zangetsu punctuated his words with another volley of darts. Ichigo managed to gather himself enough to fire a roaring blast back at the inner spirit only to sigh in annoyance as Zangetsu easily slipped out of its path, he was again forced to relocate as a third wave of glowing projectiles slammed into the building around him. Ichigo cursed as this wave exploded around him

"Damn it Zangetsu even getaboshi gave me the basics before he tried to kill me!"

"Wrong, he forced you to realize the initial stages of your own power, then he tried to kill you. We have already covered that stage. This is no different, draw the reishi in and use it as your power, shape it as you see fit. This time the old man fired a series of full arrows that ripped through the air around him.

"This is bullshit, why does it always have to happen to me?"

...

Uryu Ishida's shoes clapped on the floor boards of the central relief station as he stalked through its halls towards his injured friends. The long white cloak he had taken to wearing billowed out around him as he went, giving him the appearance of a white wraith. The group went silent as he swept into the room.

"And just what do you do you idiots think you were doing?" his icy voice sent chills down their spines

"We were helping Ichigo. We got told to patrol that place and keep anything from moving through it" Tatsuki snapped back, she froze when his sharp gaze pinned her in place

"And how does losing track of the battle around you help him? How is getting into such a situation helping him when you must know the first thing he's going to do is rush to save you, how does that help him?!" his voice rose to a shout as he talked "how does drawing your commanding officer to the front lines at such a time help him!" the Quincy took a deep breath to calm himself before continuing "three of you had living lives not six months ago, none of you have passed the first year of the academy, why are you here?"

"Like we said" Tatsuki shot back at him "we're helping Ichigo"

Uryu's hawkish gaze fixed on her "really, is that all it's about? And how long have you three wanted to die to help him, or did you not even consider that aspect? Let me put this plainly, you're dead Arisawa-san. You're not going home any time soon, your life is over. The three of you had family, when was the last time they heard from you? Oh I have no doubt the Soutaicho took your short sightedness into account and has a method to return you to a living body but at what cost? You can't break the laws of life and death without a price. Kurosaki and I were born into this world, you were not"

"It doesn't matter whether we die now or not. This still needs to be dealt with, isn't it better we help out now when it matters?" Mizuiro asked as he sat up in his bed. "If this is heaven then we have the right to help. An average an unpowered soul will still live for centuries, I don't really want to miss the best chance to make this better when I'm going to be staying here for hundreds of years."

"This isn't your duty, this isn't your world, you idiots have thrown your lives away"

"Yes it is, we're human, and we have souls. This isn't some nation or people on the other side of the world I'll never meet and don't care about it's my own future. It sounds selfish I know, but every soul living or dead has a stake in this. Not just powerless me and powerful you, but our grandparents and grandchildren as well. And yes I miss my parents I'm sure we all do, and the phone Urahara-san set up isn't really a good substitute but this has to be done"

Ishida regarded the dark haired man in silence for long stretching minutes

"Sure dying sucks and I don't know if it was any different for you having power and all, but it didn't feel good, I don't think I've felt anything more disturbing in my life" Keigo said into the quiet "Ichigo is my best friend and I know he wouldn't be happy with us being here, not really. But he doesn't get a say in it, and neither do you"

The Quincy held himself straight backed and stiff "you stupid misguided fools. Do you think this is an adventure? None of you have a single clue what this world involves or the sacrifices it has made for the betterment of the living..."

The girls cut him off "mister Ishida, I'll be the first to say I find you really, really scary and I don't want to argue with you, and I only died a few decades ago" Alice started, her eyes shifting everywhere to avoid settling on the man in white "but couldn't the Seireitei do more to help both worlds if both worlds helped them?"

"She's right Uryu, you said it to us months ago in Ichigo's lounge room. The Shinigami have been more than a match for the hollow for thousands of years, but how much can we expect them to do? But here's something else interesting, I like reading, did you know that Uryu? It's a habit I picked up from Orihime, she's more into the fantasy and romance but I'm more into the military history, it seems the Shinigami have waged war with more than just the hollow, haven't they mister Quincy?"

"I've never even tried to hide my dislike of the Shinigami or that I'm not one from you, I'm sure the term Quincy has come up more than once with you all around. What are you implying Arisawa?"

"It has, it's why I went looking for them. How do we know you've got Ichigo's back? The Shinigami slaughtered your people..." she froze as the room began to fill with a glowing white light. The air grew thick as reishi condensed in the room, becoming visible to their eyes

"That's all ancient history; my dislike of the Shinigami is from a far more recent event though I do not feel the need to tell you about it. How dare you insinuate I would betray my own race, my own kin, my own family, or did you not catch that part? I really doubt you did, Kurosaki and I haven't really broadcast it but with the things he's working on the Quincy are about to come crashing out of the history books and into the forefront of the spiritual political and military scene. But that's all beside the point, I don't agree with your decisions" he finished as the room dimmed

"It's not your choice Ishida-kun, it's not even Ichigo's" Mizuizo answered

The Quincies gaze swept the room again

"You four are like a group of very small fish that were happily playing in the shallows only to wander into the deeps with no clue of the monsters that hide in the dark. You can all be killed in so many different ways, all before you realize the threat is even there. Here are some new terms for you Arisawa-san, try finding Bankai, Arrancar, Sosuke Aizen and Kurosaki Ichigo"

"I'm pretty sure we know all about Ichigo"

"Just look, I think it will surprise you". And can you at least try not to die in such a way that it brings everything we're working for crashing down?" light shone off his glasses "and I'll be back in the area in a few days to brush up on your training. Have a good day" then he swept out of the room as quickly as he had arrived.

Keigo began to whimper quietly as Alice looked around in shock "you three really don't know anything about kurosaki-taicho do you?"

"Of course we know our friend Alice, Ishida-sans just being a jerk"

"You know your friend, but do you know the ryoka that became a Taicho?"

...

Ichigo slipped and slid on the nebulous reishi beneath his feet as he tried and failed to dodge another wave of arrows. They slammed into his left arm and shoulder sending him crashing to the ground. Ichigo felt the creeping numbness of cold spread through the limb as a thin layer of ice began to form on his skin. How could he have ever guessed a Quincy could change the thermal properties of their arrows? At least it wasn't fire this time; he still had burns across his stomach from his first mistake.

"How are you doing that? I've never heard of a Quincy manipulating an element" he asked the sword spirit

"it is not elemental manipulation, such abilities reside only in the realm of the Shinigami. I am changing the structure and properties of the reishi to generate heat or cold, i cannot manipulate it further. Hitsugaya-Taicho has complete mastery of water and ice, Yamamoto-Soutaicho has dominance over the inferno. We have none of this, what we can do better than any other creature is manipulate reishi." Zangetsu replied, then raised his bow and unleashed another volley at his student.

Ichigo returned fire before leaping off the side of the building they were standing on. Drawing on a crude mix of reishi and reiatsu he mixed his rudimentary hyirikyaku with barrier kido to create a platform to stand on.

"very good Ichigo, unless using kido or fighting a ranged type opponent line of sight and effective distance are of little use in Shinigami combat, but it is vital for a Quincy"

Struggling to balance as the platform shifted under him he raised his new weapon and unleashed a scattershot along the ridge of the building hoping to catch his approaching foe by surprise. The edge of the sideways building disappeared in a blinding white flash as the rays of energy slammed into it. He wasn't too worried about the continuing destruction of his inner world; it had taken far worse than this. Ichigo shifted his attention as a black shadow leapt from the blast, a bow now in hand as Zangetsu returned fire. Ichigo released the inconsistent platform beneath him and plunged towards another skyscraper, twisting midair to retaliate with a focused beam of power towards the spirit now hurtling towards him. Zangetsu tanked the blast head on, blue patterns rippling over his skin as he emerged. The moment they landed Ichigo surged forth and bodychecked the older man following through by belting him in the head with the large barrel of his "bow", Zangetsu reeled back and let out a startled grunt as his wielder once again went melee and kicked him in the gut.

"This thing feels so wrong Zangetsu"

"And what would you suggest ichigo? The gun is looked down on by most Quincy because it restricts the user's ability to shape, modify and control their shots; they also struggle to hit more than one opponent. However they consolidate the rather complex process of gathering reishi and forming a bow and arrow into one form, and it removes the rather primitive "string" of the bow allowing for rapid fire without a difficult to form specialist bow. All you have to do is channel reishi into the weapon, aim and fire, as an added bonus the shot, should you develop it, is of greater power then the average arrow. With such a simple to use weapon it will also allow you to give greater focus on your internal power. It is also easier to learn, I can see no better weapon for you" the man replied as he recovered.

"I don't bloody know" he snarled back, whipping his firearm up to fire again sending Zangetsu sprawling

"Once again I'm impressed Ichigo, you've always used words to try and shift an opponent's views but this is the first time you've used them to distract a foe"

"Ahh, no, sorry, I'm just getting annoyed and short tempered, I figured I may as well do something with it." Ichigo shuffled a bit "sorry"

...

The pair sat around a small table discussing their current issues over tea, the calming atmosphere was something the desperately needed after the past few days of hard paperwork and harsh news

"the boy has no political acumen at all" Ottori Ryuta sighed as he gazed at yet another sheet of paper detailing the known favours, ideologies and standings of various warlords and businessmen throughout rukongai "if he had sent diplomats out first to gather favour and communicate half these people would already be on his side, instead they're gathering forces to fight him"

"Give him some slack Ryuta-san, the Shiba have always been quick to act. It's that trait that has allowed them to maintain any form of control over this situation, decisive action so to speak. If my guess is right it's also what lead to their fall, both Shiba Kaien and Isshin died in battle when they could have called for aid, or so we thought, how like Isshin to drop it all and start a family" Fujiwara Yuka answered with a smile before shifting to a frown "young lord Kurosaki is actually a bit of an anomaly when you think about it. All other Shiba I know are very boisterous people, they're fireworks makers, chefs, travelling actors and more. Even before the fall they were like that, more "father to their men" kind of thing then unit leaders, how many times were whole patrols invited to a family dinner? As much as he wouldn't like the comparison, Kurosaki seems more like a Kuchiki then a Shiba"

"I have to agree with that comparison, as much as I might not like the methods he's using they have proved affective so far. Strike hard and fast while the enemy is distracted fighting its self, a solid military tactic if not a very diplomatic one. His momentum is beginning to wear off though, this is where our previous efforts turned into a failure, it always ends up as a war of attrition and the rukongai has far more men and material to throw away then we do."

"In the end it's not about them beating us in battle, we've shown time and again they can't, it's about tying us up till we have to stop to fight the hollow, or risk losing our recruiting base. The balance must be maintained at all cost. My question is whether or not Kurosaki realized just how expensive this endeavour of his is. Wars cost money, food, weapons and more, even more so when its basically a civil war "

"I do believe this is why he asked for volunteers; alongside recruiting from a source other then the military they have lower wages, sometimes no wage."

"There's more involved with using a volunteer force then money, they generally have better moral and motivation over a conscripted or professional soldier, even if they generally lack the training and experience of the latter a new voice informed them announcing Kuchiki Byakuyas arrival "lady Shihouin will not be joining us today, I have received word she has taken her clans guards and a few Onmitsukido platoons to hunt down a major problem. It seems a group has arisen that holds counter aims to our, they have been helping to organize and arm the rukon armies, I have received word the southern force has been decimated outside its Shinigami contingent by the use of guns"

"Guns!?" Fujiwara exclaimed "how the hell did they get those? Any foundries capable of producing them are only found in the seventies to eighties"

"Ah, a misunderstanding, I did not mean the modern guns used in the perpetual wars of the far outer districts. No, they are using technology hundreds of years old; the things are little more than a hand loaded tube with black powder and shot in one end and an opening in the other. They are inaccurate over any real distance and somewhat prone to exploding but it means little to people who can gather men in great numbers and arm them."

"And how do you think Kurosaki-san will respond? Of the three of us you know him best Kuchiki-san" the Ottori head asked

"His response will be swift and harsh but not cruel, his people are dead and Kurosaki Ichigo will not take that quietly. What matters even more is our response, specifically mine. The Kuchiki clan are teachers, leaders and warriors, I have already given the order for a contingent of my clan to move south and re-establish the lost army."

Fujiwara smiled "well between you and Shihouin here's hoping we can sort this sorted out before he retaliates"

Byakuya shook his head "that will not be possible, Kurosaki's people are already in the Seireitei, Ishida Uryu will be accompanying my members when they depart. He will be the agent of Kurosaki's vengeance, for the first time since the great war of the Gotai's founding a Quincy warrior will fight alongside Shinigami of the Seireitei."

"People? More than just the young Quincy?"

...

"so, what do you have for us Urahara-san?" Uryu asked as he took a seat across from the elder Shinigami, throwing a nod to Chad and Orihime sitting beside him "from the look on your face I'm not going to like this at all".

"Oh I highly doubt you will Ishida-san, especially considering who came up with this solution and how long it's just been sitting around for someone to pick up and hand to you"

"And just how long has the answer to the survival of my race been lying in some dusty cupboard?"

"Almost two thousand years" Kisuke answered with a smirk

A/N so this took forever, so I gave a longer chapter then normal. sorry about the wait life happened. my sister got marries, my job got crazy over Christmas then I lost my job, a whole lot of interesting games came out, bleach ended and I had to figure out how I was going to use that and all through this I'm trying to figure out a Quincy weapon for Ichigo, I've yet to solve it but I think I'm getting close. the gun doesn't fit too well when I write it, I've considered a bow but I want to tie it in somewhat with what I plan to do with the dual blade shikai when we get to it (its going to have the same form but I plan on exploring and changing the inner workings)

hope you enjoy, let me know if you have questions/ideas/comments