Chapter 3

The Twisting of Fate

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Karin turned her attention to Urahara, "When do we begin?"

"Now," and without a warning the man with the blue apron she had seen earlier, lifted a large axe, slicing her chain in half. "Welcome Karin Kurosaki, to lesson one."

Just as Tessai severed the girls chain of fate, the green haired Visored, Mashiro, took off running towards Karin. Her eyes widened and before she knew it, the girl punched her right below the chin, causing Karin to fall several feet backwards.

She stood and took off running in the other direction.

She heard Urahara's yell, "This, my dear, is lesson one. Land a hit on Mashiro, and I'll let you move on."

How the hell was she suppose to do that? She could have died from that first hit alone! Karin chuckled, she could have died, ha! She was already dead. With her thoughts else where, she didn't notice Mashiro until the last minute.

As Mashiro lifted her leg to kick, Karin tried to jump over her leg, but instead fell flat on her face. She heard the others chuckle, "Come on, Karin, you aren't gonna pass with just dodging!"

Karin stood, wiping off a bit of dirt from her cheek. She turned towards Mashiro, thinking of what she would do next. Urahara did say that this was going to be hard.

Making up her mind, Karin ran towards the girl, watching for any indication of a punch or a kick. As she saw her arm move forward, Karin saw her chance. Running with all her might, Karin dodged the punch and kicked Mashiro in the side, causing the girl to fall back.

"Good job, Kurosaki. You've passed lesson one! I can see that you're moving just fine!" She turned to see Urahara lift his cane, a smile was evident on his lips, "Now, let's start-"

"Can I get some water?" Karin interrupted, her lips again felt dry. She felt the ground beneath her give way, and she toppled down a large, circular hole. She felt something slither up her arms, binding them together. "Hey! What was that-"

"Lesson two! We bound your arms for our safety, as well as yours. Now, you will have three days to become a soul reaper. If you don't, well, you will turn into a hollow. Good luck!" She could barely make out the zealous grin on the shop keepers face.

"What the hell is a hollow!" She yelled to nobody in particular. But she was simply ignored. With a grunt, she managed to make it to her feet. She looked at the tunnel's wall, and started running towards it. Lifting one foot at a time, she made it a few steps up the dirt wall, but fell back down, landing on her bottom.

Sweat poured down the youth's face. Karin had been trying for what seemed like hours to get out of this dark hole. The only sounds she could hear was Tessai's soft chants as he kept her bound. Up above, a red headed boy bounded for the downward tunnel, bearing a small plate of food.

"Hey. Are you hungry yet?" he hollered.

Karin looked up, recognizing the voice as the one belonging to the red headed boy named Jinta. "Not really, no."

"Well, that's good. Once you start feeling hungry, that means you're closer to becoming a hollow." And with that, Jinta left, leaving the girl to her encroachment.

She didn't know how long it had been since she had entered this hole, but it seemed like years. With her back up against the rough dirt, she watched the chains eat each other. There was pain, yes. But it wasn't as bad as it had been a few moments earlier. Leaning her head back, she thought of her brother. Was he alright? Or had he gotten himself killed? It was all she could think about. She tried not to think about the pain of the chain links.

From where she sat, she could see the faint silhouette's of the onlookers. But she couldn't hear anything that they were saying. With her head upon her knees, she drifted in and out of consciousness, until finally she went to sleep.

Karin awoke to pain, after a few moments she realized it was coming from the chain links. Before the pain had been bearable. But nothing could be compared to this. It felt like something was eating her chest. Looking down, she saw the mouths of the remaining links.

She let out a high pitched scream as they attacked each other. From her left she heard Tessai, but she couldn't make out anything that he was saying. In mid scream, she was overcame with darkness.

Urahara stood above the hole, examining Karin's encroachment. It was accelerating at an alarming pace, and it hadn't even been two days yet!

He started pacing, trying to come up with some sort of explanation, It shouldn't be going this fast, it's needs three days at least! He thought to himself. Still deep in thought, a soul ripping scream interrupted him. Looking up from where he was, he heard another, much louder and there was a pinch of something inhuman. It can't be! The man then proceeded to look down below and Urahara watched as the final encroachment had begun.

When she woke, the first thing that caught her eye was the grey sky. As she watched, lightning danced around the clouds, making it seem She stood, noticing that she was not on ground, but above water. Another strike of lightning, but this time it struck in front of her.

When the cloud of dust disappeared, a young woman stood before her. Karin took a step backwards in surprise. The woman was strikingly beautiful. Her eyes were the color of the dark clouds above them, and she was as pale as snow. Her hair, silver, trailed along her back. Her ears were pointed like that of an elf, and one earring was visible on her right. The light blue kimono she wore was short, not quite reaching her knees. It was somewhat tattered, looking as if it had been burnt in previous battles. A dragon wrapped around her kimono, and lightning spewed from it's mouth. "Who are you?" Karin inquired.

"My name is..." Her angelic voice stated. But Karin couldn't hear the woman's name. Maybe I didn't hear her, she thought.

"I didn't catch that. What's your name?"

The woman then proceeded to say it again, "My name is..."

Again Karin looked upon the older woman with confusion. She said I know she did...but something is wrong...I can't hear it!

"It would seem that you're not ready to hear my name," she said, her eyes casting downwards in what could only be sadness. "But there is a reason to why you're are here." She announced. Then, she snapped her slender fingers, and both souls sank beneath the waters surface. "Do not fret, Karin Kurosaki. You want to become a soul reaper, do you not?"

The raven-haired girl nodded.

"Then I shall help you," With another flash, lightning electrified the dark ocean. "Find the one that is different from the rest. That is the only clue that I will give. I wish you good luck, Karin, on your journey to finding the powers that are locked within your soul. Maybe the next time we meet, you will finally be able to say my name." And then the silver-haired woman disappeared with a flash, leaving the girl with her thoughts. This is going to be awhile.

Karin watched as one lightning bolt after another struck around her. It felt like it had been hours, when the girl knew it hadn't been so. With each cackle of electricity, the girl grew more and more anxious. What if I can't find it? I don't even know what to look for! What was I thinking? She yelled at herself.

She closed her eyes, and pressed shaky fingers to her temple, massaging it as she thought. A sudden sensation engulfed her senses, making the darkness behind her lids light up.

Ribbons, all white, became visible as she opened her eyes. She stepped forward, and began her search.

After what seemed like many more hours, Karin kept up her hunt. White ribbon after white ribbon and not a single difference between them. After awhile, Karin began to tire, the physical exhaustion was doing a real number on her too. And when the girl thought she couldn't go on any longer, a flash of green unfolded before her. She picked up her pace as she followed the fabric to it's owner and with a tug, the bolt that was tied to it, flashed with a brilliant shade of green, engulfing her and the white ribbons with it.

Urahara kept his eyes on the small girl bellow as she shook and clawed at her chest. It had been only a few moments since the young girl had screamed. Seconds later, he was joined by the viosored. And even they looked on with much sadness.

Another shriek, and Tessai was catapulted out of pit and onto Urahara. With unsteady hands, the shop keeper helped that larger man to his feet, brushing off dirt here and there. One more heart renching scream, this time less human and more hollow. "Tessai, get ready!" he barked. Tessai, now upright, resumed his earlier position, extending both of his index fingers so that they were touching.

Then a brilliant flash of green shot out from below and out emerged Karin, clad in the standard shinigami uniform. But where her face should have been, a hollow mask took it's place. A small pale hand crept up, feeling the smoothness of it. Hollow eyes stared back at the group, and with another scream, the mask fell from her face and into her hands.

Everyone watched in amazement as the girl stood with a smirk on her face, feeling proud of her accomplishment. "I did it!" she screamed. "I am finally a soul reaper!" She jumped up and down with fists in the air. And as she jumped, a loud clang errupted from behind her. Turning around she saw what had made that sound. A large zanpakuto was at her feet. The sharp tips, jagged and coarse, looked like little lightning bolts had been engraved into it's edges. And little green and black ribbons were placed on the hilt of the sword.

"Good job, Karin Kurosaki. Now-" The man had started but was interrupted with a fist to the face.

Karin held her aching hand, I shouldn't have done...I really shouldn't have done that!

"Now, onto lesson three!" and with that, a large hand punched her square in the jaw and was sent flying. A man with gray hair grinned at her.

"The names Kensei, nice to meet you."

Oi. it's been a long time! I'm sorry for not updating earlier. I've been having writer's block and my grandpa just got out of the hospital, and life has just been stressful.

I hope you all enjoyed this chapter. I made it as long as I could, and hey! It's the longest chapter I have written!

Thank you all for your reviews and favorites and whatnot.

Please review! It actually helps me, knowing that people are actually reading!

And if you haven't noticed, I changed my pen name. I am now majorasfairy!

Also I added a link to my blog on my profile or whatever it's called. So feel free to check it out!

I hope to have the next chapter up soon!

Next chapter: TIME SKIP!

-majorasfairy