Translations:

Ōbushīrudo – orb shield

Kyohi kabe – rejecting wall

Kakusareta shīrudo – hidden wall.

Lanzador Verde – Spanish: green lancer. Japanese: Jade lance.

Salvaje Verde Atravesar - Savage Jade Pierce.

Midarana sutoraiki – Lustful Strike

Danza de la Muerte Verde – Jade Dance of Death

Ichigo's inner world was in turmoil. There appeared to be several tornadoes off in the mountainous distance of the corrupted portion of his world, and where he stood, there was a steady rain. The oddest part was, despite the black clouds above and twisters in the distance, it was silent. There wasn't even a steady drumming from the rain.

But the sensation. Oh, it was horrible. For the first time Ichigo realized why Zangetsu hated the rain. It was lonely. The worst, most despair inducing feeling in the world is loneliness. Worse than the greatest sadness, hunger, thirst, or pain, loneliness is truly awful. That may be why Starrk was the most powerful espada.

This rain... was the loneliest thing Ichigo had ever felt. It was cold, soaking through his clothes and chilling his skin. It made him remember that day. The day he was left alone by the river. He remembered how cold his mother was. How cold the rain was. How cold his blood was when he realized there was blood seeping into the earth. That cold, lonely day.

He couldn't move, forced to relive his nightmare. He remembered how he sat there, sobbing, until a passerby came over to see what was wrong. The police arrived soon after. There was an ambulance, but Ichigo knew it was too late. He let the paramedics take him to it. He had cried all the strength out of his body.

He arrived at his father's clinic in just a few minutes. As expected, it was too late for Ichigo's mother, but neither him nor his father cried. The man who had loved his wife more than anything in the world didn't shed a tear. His sisters, however, were bawling their eyes out. Ichigo went up and hugged them, and they calmed a little. They stayed like that for several minutes, before Ichigo noticed his father had disappeared.

Ichigo went upstairs to yell at him for not showing emotion, but when he reached his father's room, he heard soft sobs from behind the door. He pushed the door open just a crack, and peeked inside. He saw his father shaking, holding a white dress to his chest, tears running down his face. He was crying into Masaki's wedding dress. Ichigo closed the door and never mentioned it to anyone.

His father felt the same as him. Terribly alone.

Ichigo could move again. He suddenly flared his Reiatsu and he was instantly dry. The rain fell around him like he had an umbrella, and Ichigo called on the echo of Zangetsu that he knew was here. As a dark swirl of fog materialized into the shape of Zangetsu, Ichigo summoned his Zanpakuto into his hand; he had a feeling he would need it.

"Hello Ichigo," Zangetsu's echo said. "I assume you are here to stop the hollow's will. Obviously, you will have to travel to the mountains that he inhabits."

"I thought you said I couldn't enter that area or he would take control."

"Though stepping through the corruption would normally consume your will and replace it with the hollow's, I can expend energy to protect you," Zangetsu explained. "Because the hollow and I are one and the same I can temporarily trick him, but it's not perfect. Even I will slowly be consumed, so we have limited time in the corruption. Luckily, there are certain areas where the corruption mostly avoids; particularly memories. If we move from memory to memory, we should be able to make it relatively easily."

"Okay... do you know where the memories are?" Ichigo asked. Zangetsu merely shook his head. "Then how will we possibly make it?"

"You know where they are. You will naturally gravitate to the positive memories. However, do not think these areas will be safe forever. The beings of despair will be constantly drawn to you, and naturally attack memories they pass. Be careful." With that last warning, he dispersed into mist, and formed into a hollow mask over Ichigo's face.

Bracing himself for the worst, he stepped into the corruption. He immediately flinched as every negative emotion he had felt hit him like a tidal wave. After a moment, he recovered and began to walk.

As he looked around, he noticed that the surrounding landscape was looking increasingly more barren and dead. It was very, very similar to Hueco Mundo. He heard howling in the distance, and had to climb a hill to see the source. Peering over the hilltop, he saw what appeared to be a pack of wolves chasing a stag. Though far away, upon closer inspection he could still see bone-white masks covering the wolves faces. Hollows? What are they doing here? He thought in surprise. The stag had no mask, however, and he moved in to get a closer look.

As he got closer, he was surprised to see that everywhere the stag touched, the corruption dissolved. When the wolves touched the same ground, it quickly returned. It was a memory. He could remember now... when he was a child, five at most, his mother had taken him to a beautiful lake to watch a sunset. When he had looked across the lake he had seen a group of deer, led by a majestic stag.

Ichigo knew he had to protect the stag from what he could only assume were beings of despair, and immediately began sprinting towards it. Raising his sword, he said the words that came to mind. "Hollow art: Consuming Crescent!" Though surprised at the attack, he executed it what he could only assume was perfectly, and every single wolf fell to the ground, whining pitifully for a second before going silent and dissolving, particles flowing into his Zanpakuto.

As the wolves dissolved, the stag stopped running and pranced over to Ichigo. As it did it emitted a flash and the corruption fled from it like the plague. Ichigo rested his had on its muzzle and ran his hand through its fur. The mask on his face dissolved and the apparition of Zangetsu appeared again.

"Why did Zangetsu absorb those wolves?" Ichigo asked.

"The hollow in you, though bound to your soul, possesses a different well of Reiatsu than you. Those wolves were born from his ever increasing pool. When you defeat them, especially with the hollow arts you seem to be so apt to using, you will be stealing his power and making it your own." Zangetsu explained. "I have recooperated. We can get to one more memory before morning."

"Okay, let's go," he said. Turning to the stag, he said, "Good luck buddy."

With that goodbye, Zangetsu's echo reformed into a mask, and he set out again. The pure area the stag had created was about 10 meters in diameter, so he didn't have long before he had to brace himself again.

After stepping out and enduring the emotional attack, he set out again in the next direction he felt a pull from. He walked for what seemed like forever through what had become a desert of white sand. It had been about two hours when he heard a faint buzzing sound. Curious, he sped up his pace, and the sound became steadily louder.

About half an hour after he first heard it, the noise had become an immense roaring that assaulted his ears. As he scaled the final ridge, Ichigo saw the source of the sound. A great sandstorm was raging in the valley below. Unfortunately, he could feel the next memory inside of it. Whether it was attacking or protecting the memory he wasn't sure, but he knew it wouldn't be pleasant getting to it.

Sliding down the ridge and hoping his mask would more or less defend him from the sand, he entered the storm.

And was immediately assaulted by millions of grains of sand. Pelting him over and over, hitting places that he didn't know were reachable, the sand created scratches all over his body. As blood started to trickle from the deeper cuts, Ichigo heard a roar.

Suddenly, from out of the mist, a giant masked bear leapt at him. As Ichigo leapt to the side, the sand began to shift and churn beneath him and he lost his footing. A shark leapt from the sand, barely missing ichigo, and its side ran along his cheek. The shark's scales, rough from the sand, tore at Ichigo's mask, crushing that half and slicing up the skin.

Finally deciding enough was enough, Ichigo outstretched his arms. "Hollow art: Firefly!" Red-black beams of light erupted from everywhere on his body, dispersing the sand in his immediate area, and encasing the shark and bear in energy. Their bodies became mere silhouettes as they were deconstructed within the Ceros. Once again, their bodies' particles were devoured by Zangetsu.

Ichigo could not enjoy his triumph for long, however, as the sand began to rip into him once again. He pressed on quickly, walking as fast as he could as the sand tore into him. After one or two more small encounters, he walked into a calm clearing... the eye of the storm.

Standing in the middle was none other than his mother.

Ichigo knew now that the storm was protecting her, because it didn't move so much as an inch closer to her. He knew a memory this strong would be safe for a while. Zangetsu's echo returned to his normal form, and Ichigo closed his eyes, leaving his inner world and returning to the material one.

Here you go guys, I hope you enjoyed! If you have stayed with me this long, you are amazing, and we have a ways to go. Our favorite strawberry is gonna get some cool new powers, and if you are wondering why he's using so many hollow attacks, im going to use his hollow slowly taking over as plot armor. See ya!