Zanpakuto, heed your masters call!
The forests' of the Pantera kingdom of Japan echoed with the thumping of hooves as the great army of King Jaegerjaquez the sixth marched through. Roughly 400 soldiers rode behind their leaders, their senses high strung and ready for the bloodbath to come. Horses were whinnying, guttural growls of anticipation left the men and war cries resounded between the trees, the animals of the forest retreating into their hidings at the sight of the intimidating hybrid army. In the lead were Starrk and Grimmjow on their snow white horses, followed up by the Shiba leader and heirs, Ichigo on his loyal mount Nero.
Nero's ears were perked forward, chiming of metal ringing in his ears as the armor covering his strong body rattled with each step. Atop sat Ichigo with a straight back, his unique war attire snugly fit against his body and a sleek Katana resting idly at his hip. On his left rode his older twin brother, his outfit a copy of Ichigo's only stark white and an equally beautiful Katana resting at his slim hip. To Ichigo's right rode the Shiba leader Isshin, his figure proud as his body was adorned with the traditional Shiba battle attire. He too had a sleek Katana at his side, but none of them were comfortable with the swords, the presence of their Zanpakuto dearly missed.
Their gazes were stern and directed forward, looking past the backs of the King and his soldier as they awaited their arrival at the open area in which the war would take place. The air around the army was tense as the adrenaline built up to prepare them for battle, and when the hooves of their horses hit dry sand instead of soft leaves the front line came to a halt, the rest of the army hidden inside the woods for now.
Ichigo and Shiro rode up to join Grimmjow and Starrk, their keen eyes sweeping over the army at the opposite side of the dead clearing. Aizen's army seemed to be roughly the same size as theirs, but Ichigo had laid down a strategy to surprise the enemy. He already knew Aizen would probably have thought so far himself, but he still had reinforcements waiting at the entrance to the forest they had just breached.
Grimmjow clicked his tongue and his mount obediently trotted forward as he moved out to meet Aizen. The silence dragged on as the two leaders approached each other until just a hundred meters were between them. Grimmjow's cyan eyes were swirling with pent up rage and anger, and it was all directed at the brown haired man across of him whose cold brown eyes stared back with indifference.
Silent winds blew between them, making dust whirl up and hiding the two from the view of their armies. When the dust settled they had not moved, locked in a stare down as they prepared to open the war. Grimmjow let his gaze fall behind Aizen to take in the picture of his army, his whole being filled with disgust at what he saw.
Along the front lines soldiers were struggling to keep collared wolves at bay, as the abnormally huge canines tore at their restraints, their maws snapping. He had immediately realized that those were the result of a forced mating between pure wolves and human hybrids with a wolf half. He could see that there was nothing but raw killing intent in those eyes, and he fully understood now what having your human soul destroyed would do.
His lips twitched and were on the verge of curling over his teeth, but he held it in as he laid his eyes on the man in front of him. He heard approaching hooves from his right and gazed out of the corner of his eye to see a fairly old heavy built man with grey hair and a scarred face moving closer to Aizen, his eyes set on Grimmjow with murderous intent.
So that was Barragan Louisenbarn, the king of their neighboring country of Hueco Mundo. Grimmjow glared back at the old man and smirked when Kenpachi rode up to his side. The two duos eyed each other from afar for a while, before Aizen moved his hand. Grimmjow followed the movement up in the air, as Aizen raised his arm to signal his army.
"Charge!" Barragan howled for Aizen, and instantly a thunder of hooves cracked the air as Aizen's army, led by the purebred wolves charged out into the clearing, the dust they reveled up hiding Aizen's manor from view.
Grimmjow had called his army forth the instant Aizen had opened the war, and they were now emerging from the forest steadily, arms and blades raised as war cries erupted from the soldiers chests as their trained mounts moved forth.
It was almost like the air crackled with the energy of the roars coming from the men when they collided with each other, the chiming sound of metal against metal ringing in the ears of all the combatants as swords were drawn and guided against each other.
~~~~~BMBD~~~~
Back at the forest line Ichigo held up a hand to keep half of the army waiting and they did. He barked a short order and watched as 10 soldiers clad in special armor rode forth. Ichigo had called forth Grimmjow's special unit, namely the Espada and before him stood ten highly skilled guardians each with their own special soul slayer.
Grimmjow and Starrk had soul slayers, and so did these ten soldiers but their soul slayers were of a different kind than that of Ichigo's. Their full name was Espada de la Resurrección, but between guardians they were commonly referred to as Resurreccion. The reason for the different name was that instead of having a power which reflected the soul of their guardian, they had the power of mythical creatures or pure animals.
Each sword had its own release command like a Zanpakuto, but the power manifested in a quite different way. Instead of the sword changing shape and getting unique powers, the sword became one with the guardian and granted them a form of great power. Ichigo had not yet seen Starrk and Grimmjow's swords released but he knew that Grimmjow's Resureccion was called Pantera and that Grimmjow looked like an armored panther when he released his sword.
Like Zanpakuto, Resureccion could only be activated by its true master and was therefore a rare weapon to posses. In front of him stood ten specially trained soldiers, each with their own Resureccion. The Espada were ranked after their strength and the strongest was called the Decimo. The strongest Espada was Yammy Llargo, a huge man with broad shoulders and a heavy build which made him look highly intimidating. He easily towered 2-3 heads above the average soldier and invoked fear wherever he went.
"Llargo, you're backing up Zaraki Taicho!" Ichigo ordered and sent the Espada off to join Zaraki's squad.
"Harribel and Odelshwanck, you're taking the left flank together with your unit!" Ichigo ordered the Segundo and Tercero Espada and watched as the two highly skilled women began leading their army unit off to the left of the clearing. He then turned his attention to the Quinto and Sexto Espada.
"Gilga and Yllfordt, you're taking the right flank!" He snapped and the two immediately left with their combined units.
"Zommari and Aaroniero, you're bringing up the rear until my father, brother and I return from our quest!" Ichigo then said to the Septimo and Noveno Espada. Now there were only two Espada left to send out and Ichigo eyed the ever so flamboyant and feminine Granz with a stern gaze.
"I want you to send your men up into the crowns of the trees here, shoot down any soldiers that may breach the front lines with your poison arrows Granz," Ichigo ordered and then turned to the ever silent and serious Ulquiorra.
"Cifer, you are coming along with me to infiltrate Aizen's manor," Ichigo said and the man nodded in understanding.
When he could finally see the different units arriving at their given positions Ichigo turned Nero around so that he could face his waiting father and brother, seeing that the Kuchiki head along with Kaien had joined them. Ichigo arched a brow at seeing the black haired man who had been engaged to Rukia, Byakuya's younger sister.
"Why is Kaien here?" Ichigo asked with curiosity.
"I'm here to support my clan leader and have my revenge on Aizen Ichigo-sama," Kaien formally announced.
"What do you mean by clan leader?" Ichigo asked and Kaien froze for a second.
"My apologies, I believe we were never formally introduced Ichigo-sama. Kaien Shiba at your service," Kaien introduced and that made everything click into place for Ichigo.
Ichigo remembered a kind older brother kind of figure from before their clan was massacred who had taught him and his brother quite a lot of things. Ichigo gave a sheepish smile to Kaien and ruffled the hair in his neck.
"I remember you now, you used to play with me when I was just a toddler," Ichigo said.
"That aside I believe we need to set out while the battle is at its fiercest," Isshin shot in and they nodded their consent, spurring their mounts into motion with the two clan heads in front, the heirs in the middle and the Cuarto Espada and Kaien in the rear.
They rode back into the woods and began trudging through the bushes to keep themselves hidden from view. If possible they wanted to reach the mansion without confrontations so that they could avoid taking damage before they were back at the actual war site.
Ichigo and Shiro shared a look and nodded quietly to each other, their cheetah ears and tail sprouting from their bodies to allow them a heightened sense of smell and hearing. Their ears twitched every now and then when a few brave animals decided to come out of hiding despite the warring going on just outside of their home, and Ichigo studied the few squirrels and mice that skipped across their path startling Kaien and Isshin's mouth a bit.
The horses were quickly calmed to avoid blowing their cover as they guided them away from dry branches lying in the path to avoid the loud sound of hooves snapping one accidentally. Ironically Aizen's mansion was not situated far from the dead clearing in which the war was taking place, so the journey there wouldn't be hard provided that they were not discovered before they reached it.
But Ichigo was no fool, even though he did not know Aizen personally in any other way than the fact that he had been Aizen's most prized fighter cub he knew the former Feudal Lord was a genius. There was bound to be certain traps and a good amount of guards in place at his home to keep them from reaching their Zanpakuto.
Ichigo's soul was crying out for Zangetsu's presence which had been lost when he was separated from the black katana at the age of six while Aizen slaughtered his family, and though finally reunited with his brother there was still a part of his soul missing which was his beloved sword. A deep scowl marred the young Shiba's features as they snuck forward through the forest, their horses prancing every now and then while their ears twitched and turned to catch any signs of a threat which their eyes could not see.
When they could finally see the beginning of light rays breaking through the dense roof of leaves they knew that their goal was close. Just as Nero's hooves hit the soft grass of Aizen's front garden Ichigo's nose picked up a vile scent which he knew all to well along with the deep uncontrolled growling of giant wolves.
"Get behind us, we'll deal with the mutts!" Ichigo and Shiro yelled simultaneously knowing that only they knew the weaknesses of the large mindless beasts crouching before them with saliva dripping from their maws.
Kaien watched as fangs appeared between the twin's lips as they slowly veered into their full cheetah form, as they charged with the speed of lightning at the wolves. Although much smaller and lighter in build, their speed was their strength as they quickly began running in circles around the dumb mutts to confuse them.
Their wings was something they grew at will so they stayed hidden for now as they snarled and yipped at the mutts to encourage them to strike at the numerous clone illusions their speed created. When the first wolf howled and lashed out for an afterimage of Shiro the white cheetah sneered as much as one could with feline features and jumped on the back of the wolf, biting down on the spot where the head connected to the spine as this was a place where the mutation had made the muscles slack and thin and the hide easy to pierce.
The wolf yowled when Shiro sank his fangs into the flesh and bit down hard, Ichigo swiftly running by tearing the throat open before he went back to running around the 2 remaining wolves in circles. When the two wolves went for a combined attack Shiro and Ichigo shared a look and ran into the middle of the circle they had been creating, standing back to back as they meowed playfully at the wolves.
The brainless animals bit the bait of course and ran straight for the cheetah's, only to barge head first into each other as they used their powerful legs to jump high into the air. Ichigo and Shiro growled loudly as they landed on the backs of the wolves, tearing the muscles atop of their necks to making the wolves unable to hold their heads quickly switched positions and tore their throats out and with that they ended the battle with victorious growls. They shook themselves free of the stinking blood and returned to their horses, rising from for to two legs as they approached them.
Kaien and even Byakuya seemed to be a little stunned at the beautiful dance of death which the twins had danced with the insanely large mutts, while Isshin sat atop his mount with a straight back and a proud face as he nodded in respect towards his sons.
"My how you've grown my two sons," Isshin aknowledged before he spurred his horse forward taking the lead as they began to venture across the lawn of the mansion. At the far back the pale Espada was guarding his masters backs dutifully, his keen senses scanning the area around for more threats. When his nose caught the distinct smell of poison and his ears heard the familiar sound of bows being strung he gave off his first sound since Ichigo had commanded him to come along.
"Archers!" he shouted in warning and urged his mount closer to the group in order to help deflecting the arrows.
"Suiten sakamake, Nejibana!" Kaien shouted as he unsheathed his Zanpakuto and began spinning it around his finger.
Just in time the Zanpakuto released to reveal a combination of a trident and a halberd, as Kaien roared and moved the trident upwards raising water from the ground to form a protective sphere around the group. Ichigo watched in awe as he got to see the very familiar soul slayer in use again for the first time since he was a toddler.
"Your Zanpakuto never ceases to amaze me, such a magnificent ability!" Isshin exclaimed with awe in his voice and gave Kaien a smile of acknowledgement as he watched the poisoned arrows deflect from them and onto the ground due to the sphere.
Ichigo told Kaien to keep the spere up until they were past the guards and as they moved forward countless soldiers were ton appart by the sharp currents which Nejibana created and propelled outwards from the defensive sphere. By the time they had broken through the main gates most of the soldiers which Aizen left behind were on the ground dead or immobilized by heavy wounds. Once inside however a heavy reiatsu crushed down upon them and Kaien was forced to seal Nejibana away.
"Arah? Looks like we have some unwelcome guests," a voice filled with mirth said as a tall slender man with silver hair and closed eyes stepped forward.
~~~~BMBD~~~~
"Ichimaru Gin, what a pleasant surprise," Isshin said his voice dripping with sarcasm as he faced the man whom had been called a prodigy by fellow guardians while he was still a child.
"Sugoi Shiba-san, yah actually survived Aizen-sama's slaughter!" Gin exclaimed clapping his hands together in excitement. Gin's closed eyes opened to mere slits as he stretched up on his toes gazing over Isshin's shoulder with an indifferent gaze.
"My my what a mess ya'll made of mah masters home. Yare yare, seems like I hafta take out tha trash today," Gin sighed dramatically as he reached for his Zanpakuto.
"Cifer, I need you to hold him off while we search for our Zanpakuto!" Ichigo shouted to the ever silent Cuarto Espada and received a short nod in answer. "Just hold out until we get back, and don't die Quarto!" Ichigo added as they demounted their horses and ran past Gin and into the mansion, immediately pulsing their reiatsu out in hopes of getting a response from their Zanpakuto.
They ran through the halls of the mansion, their reiatsu pulsing continuously until finally one of them got a response.
"I can feel Engetsu!" Isshin exclaimed in surprise, immediately turning to his left barging down the narrow corridor until he reached a door. He tried to slide the shoji door open but was repelled by a strong force field which scent electric shots through his body which paralyzed him for a short while. "There's a barrier," Ichigo growled before walking up to it.
"Can you dispel it son?" Isshin asked from the floor and Ichigo scowled.
"It'll be tough," he said and then beckoned Shiro to join him. "Do you know how to shape and manipulate your reiatsu Shiro-nii?" Ichigo asked. Shiro nodded and Ichigo sported a look of concentration as he felt out the barrier.
"The power is focused on four different points. Somehow they've managed to put a barrier around the entire room while keeping the reiatsu points this close, its amazing," Ichigo deduced.
"We need to take two points each, try to disrupt the reiatsu in the four key points, it should break the barrier," Ichigo said and readied himself to put his hands atop of the two points he had assigned to himself.
"Be sure to coat your palms in reiatsu so the barrier wont affect you Shi," Ichigo reminded.
"All right Ichi, ready?" Shiro asked and Ichigo nodded.
They began pulsing their reiatsu into the points, concentrating on finding the right rhythm and amount. After a good five minutes the barrier finally dispelled, a heavily breathing Ichigo and Shiro falling down to their knees.
"Damn it, that drew a lot of reiatsu!" Ichigo snarled. By now their father was back up at their feet and they made their way into the room, only to be assaulted by a group of pure wolves.
"Darn it, more mutts," Shiro growled.
"Try to hold them off until I can get to Engetsu, I'll burn them to a crisp," Isshin barked and Shiro and Ichigo took their stances.
They brawled with the wolves while Isshin searched the room for his Zanpakuto. When he finally found it he saw the blade encased in a diamond box.
"Aizen is once again underestimating our will and the will of our Zanpakuto," Isshin muttered before extending his arm in front of him, his palm facing the case.
"Heed my call Engetsu and come to your master," Isshin ordered and was pleased to see a blue light engulf the blade.
It shot out of the case breaking the diamond with ease and flew right into Isshin's palm. He chanted his release phrase and directed his sword towards the remaining wolves which Ichigo and Shiro had yet to defeat.
"Get out of the way brats, I'm burning the mutts to a crisp!" Isshin shouted and let the flames of his sword catch onto the wolves. The pitiful animals yelped and whined in pain as they were burned alive, and the stench of burnt flesh soon lingered in the air making the three want to vomit.
"We need to get out of here, this place is going to burn down!" Isshin roared and Shiro and Ichigo quickly followed their father.
Now that they had Engetsu they would have no problem getting their own Zanpakuto. Engetsu could awaken Ichigi and Shiro's swords so that they could call them, so they quickly ran out to aid Ulquiorra. Once they arrived outside Ulquiorra was barely standing, he was in his Resurrecion and was lacking an arm, a wing and a leg.
"Quarto, you can retreat now. Regenerate yourself, we got this under control!" Ichigo ordered and the Espada quietly slinked off into the background.
"Now what do ya hope tah accomplish without yer Zanpakuto?" Gin chuckled.
"This!" Ichigo roared and grabbed Engetsu's hilt together with Shiro.
"Heed my call Zangetsu and come to your master!" Ichigo roared and pulsed his reaitsu into Engetsu, the sword calling out for its own kin. Seconds later a huge butcher like sword came flying out from the flaming inferno which was Aizen's mansion and right into the clutch of Ichigo's palm.
"Heed mah call Mugetsu, come ta yer master!" Shiro then roared and the same thing happened, the exact same blade came flying into his palm.
The only difference was that Ichigo's Zangetsu was black and Shiro's Mugetsu was white. Once they had their swords Isshin, Shiro and Ichigo turned angered glares at Gin. Gin's eyes opened to reveal irises of eyes, as he quickly realized his time on stage was over by a long shot.
"Getsuga Tenshou!" all three of them roared, sending the white heaven cutting blades racing for the man.
They watched as he was split into three and thrown into the flames behind him, the man not even uttering a sound of pain as he slowly burned and bled to death. Isshin sealed his sword and sheathed it in its scabbard, while Ichigo and Shiro fastened their Zanpakuto to their backs.
What Aizen never knew about Ichigo and Shiro's Zanpakuto was the fact that they were forged by the remnants of a broken Zanpakuto and a broken Resureccion. It was a unison attempted by many a man in the past, but none had succeeded. Zangetsu anf Mugetsu were in a sense the children of Isshin's Engetsu and their moms Ressurecion Aguila, as Aguila and Engetsu had been broken once.
Isshin and Masaki had used shards from their swords and forged them into two Katana, transforming them into Zanpakuto. Mugetsu and Zangetsu were the only soul slayers to have been born from the joining of a Resureccion and a Zanpakuto, and they gave their masters the unique ability of holding both the beast transformation along with the special powers of a Zanpakuto. Ichigo and Shiro damn near purred when they felt their souls reconnect with the souls of their Zanpakuto, the feeling of their power thrumming through their veins yet again was indescribable.
"Welcome home Zangetsu no Ossan," Ichigo said.
"Welcome back ya prick," Shiro chuckled before they went out in search for their mounts.
Ichigo let a long high pitched whistle rip from his lips, and soon they heard excited neighing from a short distance away. Five minutes later Nero was rubbing his head against Ichigo in a loving manner and Ichigo chuckled before mounting the beast.
"Call for your kin," Ichigo ordered and Nero obliged, whinnying loudly calling the mares to him. Ulquiorra had healed himself quick enough while they finished Gin off, and he had sealed his Resureccion away.
"You did a good job Cifer, arigato," Ichigo said to the quiet soldier and nodded in respect of his power.
"It is my job to get rid of the trash Kurosaki-sama," he responded. Ichigo sighed, for all his life he couldn't get Ulquiorra to lay down the use of his title but he smiled at the man anyway.
"Now it is time to avenge our family," Isshin said. 'Soon, very soon I shall join you my love. Wait for me,' Isshin thought before he led the way back into the woods.
Their plan was to cut through the woods and sneak behind Aizen's army and take out whatever remained of it from behind, before getting to Aizen himself. Their blood was itching with desire to kill, as they spurred their horses forward and into the forest, their mind set on one thing. To destroy Sosuke Aizen!
Hellooooooo readers! I am so incredibly sorry for making you suffer through this long wait... If you read the author note and the teaser I posted you will know that I have a validreason for being so late with this update. Hope the wait was worth it... Now I'm off to see Black Sabbath live! *squeal*
Review if you want me to continue uploading chapters!
Ja ne...