AN
This chapter is not my favourite so far, but it had to be done. Nonetheless, I hope that it is more enjoyable to read.
Please, enjoy.
Disclaimer: Bloodborne and Bleach are not owned by myself, but this story and the characters I create are mine and mine alone.
Fickle Time
It had been a few days since his trip down the Shattered Shaft, at least, he was assuming it had been a few days. Time was hard to keep track of when the sky was always blue.
Ichigo was resting on a rock near the ladder back to the shop above. He had just come off of a multi-day endurance test with Kisuke and was even ready to go a bit longer, but the shopkeeper had suggested he go visit his family before setting off to get Rukia in earnest.
"Hey, Kisuke!" Ichigo called, "Where'd you leave my body?"
Kisuke's head poked down through the hole in the ceiling, hat defying gravity as it remained firmly on his head. "It's on the futon up here!"
Ichigo waved back up in acknowledgement and made his way over to the ladder. On his way he caught another glimpse of that weirdo James that Kisuke brought in. They talked a bit and he seemed amiable enough, but the guy looked like death and at times had the conversation skills of it as well. Pretty ironic coming from a shinigami but hey, it wasn't any less accurate.
James caught Ichigo's eye and gave him a nod, which was returned. Ichigo sighed, that was exactly the kind of interaction he had come to expect. Finally arriving back up in the shop he navigated through a few rooms before he found his body, slipping back in with practiced ease.
"Alright Kisuke I'm gone."
"Wait Ichigo," came a muffled response. Kisuke came out from around the corner holding a few red balls, "I'll contact you later tonight, so keep your window open!"
Ichigo looked uncomfortably at the smiling man.
"Right."
Urahara watched as Ichigo disappeared down the street, then hopped down into the training ground.
"Already to go?" he asked James.
The hunter nodded, "Whenever it's ready, I will be as well."
"Great! Now, it is happening later tonight, so I have a special favour to ask you!"
James nodded and walked over to the green-clad man, "What did you have in mind?"
"How good is your throwing arm?
That night, or morning if you want to be picky, and about three paint balls later, James had succeeded in telling Ichigo and his friends that they had no sense of humor. Well, he also summoned them back to the shop, but really that was secondary according to Urahara. Now, all that was left was to wait outside the shop, and bring the trio into the sub-level when the portal was ready.
The first to arrive was a tall Mexican man that James remembered to be Chad. He walked up to the hunter and just looked at him for a bit. James wasn't too bothered by this, as the man was hardly sizing him up and really just seemed curious about his appearance. He furrowed his brow beneath his hat. James often forgot that the sight of a workshop hunter was rare even in Yharnam, which was mostly dominated by the church hunters, to this young man he probably looked quite bizarre.
"You a friend of Urahara's?" Asked Chad.
The hunter chuckled at this, "More like acquaintances, but in my line of work friends would be very welcome."
"What exactly is it you do? Are you part shinigami like Ichigo?"
"No. Unfortunately for me and those that have crossed me in the past, I deal in blood and knowledge."
Silence fell between the two figures outside of Urahara Shōten. The taller one sat down to wait. Luckily it didn't take long, as an orange-haired duo came jogging into view. One was obviously Ichigo, but James had never seen the other one before. Probably another friend of Ichigo's that Yoruichi was training.
Ichigo greeted the two already present, "You're here early Chad, what happened?"
"Couldn't sleep, so I was out for a walk. James threw the paint ball at me." he replied.
"You too, eh?"
The other redhead was making her way over now. From what he could gleam from Yoruichi and Ichigo she was pretty chipper.
"I'm Orihime Inoue! Nice to meet you!" she beamed.
"Hello, I'm-"
"No wait! Let me guess!" her brows came together as she thought, "You're a pirate! No, your coat makes you a samurai-pirate!"
"Ah… what?" was as all he could manage.
Ichigo saved him though, wondering out loud where another of his companions was. Ishida Uryū? This prompted Orihime to respond.
"He'll be here! I know it!"
Ichigo just shrugged, "Nah, he's probably off sewing some Quincy crests or something."
"How astute of you Kurosaki," came a voice from the street.
Ichigo turned to look over his shoulder and saw Uryū standing proud in some crazy white Quincy costume.
"I fuckin' knew it."
Uryū sneered back at him "I'll have you know that this is my hand crafted uniform in honor of the Quincy!"
"You look like you're gonna try to sell me a bible," Ichigo snickered.
Uryū pushed past his friends and into the shop, "Let's just get this show on the road! I want to show you how much stronger I am compared to you Kurosaki."
Ichigo grinned at this challenge, "Yeah right, you-"
The interruption came from the hunter this time, he gestured to follow as he walked by the Quincy, " The shopkeep is in the sub level. Since we're all so eager to go, I suggest coming with me."
James led the motley crew of friends down to where Urahara was waiting with the portal to the Soul Society. He already got the speech about the ins and outs of the faux senkaimon, and was dreading having to listen to it again, so instead he went to find Yoruichi.
A few minutes of wandering about the desert-like area, he found him sunbathing on a rock.
"Alright Yoruichi looks like we're all ready to go, dunno if you want to tell your pupils anything before we head into the dangai."
Yoruichi just leaped off, and onto James' shoulder. The hunter wasn't sure if it was really that comfortable or if Yoruichi was still keeping an eye on him, but that was neither here nor there.
"Just have to remind them to run like hell," said the cat, and James made his way over to the others.
"Alright, I can only hold this bad boy open for a few seconds, so you'd better be quick!" Urahara smiled.
"Excuse me?" Uryū questioned worriedly.
"Not an issue, just follow me and don't stop, we'll get through in time," said Yoruichi.
Ichigo stared intently at the black cat, "Did that-"
"Shut up and go Kurosaki!" yelled Uryū, plunging into the gate after Yoruichi.
The Quincy was closely followed by a baffled Ichigo, a stoic Chad, and Orihime, who was desperately trying to hide her nervousness. With a tip of his hat to the shopkeep, James took the plunge as well.
The run was mostly uneventful, since Uryū was in front it was easy for Chad to give him a boost near the exit to the dangai when it looked like he might fall behind. The end of the trip was where it got exciting, a cat and four teens were sent plummeting to the ground below when their exit appeared quite high off the ground. Yoruichi, who had managed to land gracefully, surveyed their group pulling themselves off the ground. They were down one.
Yoruichi panicked, "Where is James?"
James stood in the dangai, the precipice world as Urahara had explained it. Upon entering the tunnel littered with bones and flowing with restrictive current, he felt a sharp tug at the back of his mind, the same that screamed at him to come here in the first place he's sure. While the others ran off towards the exit, the hunter almost immediately plunged into the layers of time that made up the walls.
He felt it now. He was on the very edge of the dream, his slumbering body floating in endless space just beyond the veil of black nothing that surrounded him now. He craved it suddenly, to awaken, to go back to that place above all else and be at peace, but he fought it. He was making friends here, a new life here. What he really craved was the knowledge of what he had been, but he also knew that came with the price of not quite being human anymore.
No matter, he already wasn't, really.
Concentrating hard, the hunter pulled it all back to himself, the knowledge of the Great Ones and beyond that, the knowledge of his transcendent state. This knowledge couldn't be held by a mere human however, as he felt his bones flow and be replaced, and his mind opened into the cosmos, and the wealth of knowledge that hid behind the stars.
Suddenly he was back, and he could comprehend once more the arcane and the nature of his being. Yet, he was still James, the human. Well, not quite but that didn't really matter.
He sprinted down the hall of the dangai once again, and leapt through to join his companions. Instead of daylight however, he was greeted with a damp dark sewer.
"Salutations," he said.
Ichigo, who was the only one he recognized, spun around wide eyed, and began to babble about the stupid tunnel killing him or something. The other man, dressed in green stripes reminiscent of Urahara, yelped, then quickly fell into a ready stance to save face. The smaller one's eyes rolled into the back of his head, and he promptly fell to the floor like a sack of bricks.
"Could somebody catch me up?" the hunter inquired.
AN
Huzzah! Another chapter complete!
Mostly just the hunter getting to meet Ichigo's friends before the fun begins. Though the real interesting bit is the hunter's experience in the dangai. It seems James has recovered his memory of being a transcendent being, and all the crazy arcane knowledge that comes with it. More so, he has physically changed into a form that is still visibly human, but closer to his real body in a few ways as well.
Anyways, I struggle to call these 'filler' chapters as every story needs set up. Despite how much I want to I can't just keep cranking out interesting fights or lore, but the set up always makes the pay off sweeter so I think I'll live. Well thanks for reading my thoughts on this, but hey, it doesn't mean I want to write any less.
Thanks for reading,
DeadManDreaming