I really must apologise for such an agonisingly long wait. I know it's been many months since the last update but it won't happen again. to those who are still reading this I thank you for bearing with me during such a long hiatus. Now please enjoy and don't forget to review!

7: Confrontation

The three intruders scanned the area around them at a land ripe for the taking. Their leader spread his arms wide and grinned from ear to ear. "Our target is all around us!" He cackled like a hyena and turned to his followers who nodded obediently.

"Destroy everything in sight! Cut down anyone in your way! Bring Sereitei to its knees!" Grimmjow was getting lost in his homicidal excitement. His shoulders were heaving from his overjoyed panting, like a dog when a large bone is dangled before their nose.

"Ah yes, but master Grimmjow, Lord Aizen gave us an order. Shouldn't we do as instructed first?" The tall one asked. His narrow eyes centred squarely on the mentally unstable commander of the group.

Grimmjow rubbed the back of his head and sighed. "I guess you are right, Shawlong. We came here to kill that human...We might as well finish him off first, and then we can play for as long as we want!"

"Excellent." Shawlong bowed.

"Where to now then?" The blonde warrior asked.

Grimmjow looked off into space and pointed to his side. "That way. I can sense him. Let's go."

The trio set off on their hunt; meanwhile the citizens of Sereitei were still oblivious to the danger looming within their own borders.

Sven woke to the bustling sounds of life. His eyes drifted open sluggishly and at first the world was a blur but after a few blinks he made out he was stuck in a small cramped room. There was at least five others sleeping in here with him but on the other side of the wall he could hear others snoring.

He rose to his feet and stumbled over to the doorway. He stepped out into the bright sunlight and discovered something quite wrong.

Everything around him was ancient. The busy street looked like one from hundreds of years ago and even the people rushing about were dressed in traditional clothing.

"Is this Soul Society?" Sven asked, rubbing his sore eyes. "Either that or I smoked something really bad...And I haven't had a cigarette in way too long..."

"Here's one." A gentle male voice came from behind.

Sven whirled around to face a man who looked to be in his sixties but for all he knew could have been hundreds of years old (And his fashion sense seemed to support it.) The man offered a cigar. Sven took it and nodded in appreciation.

He patted down his pockets in search of a light but found none. In fact he didn't even find pockets. On closer inspection he was wearing the same feudal Japanese clothing everyone else had.

Sven began to panic. "Hey! Where's my suit? And my hat? Oh god, my hat!"

"You're dead." The man explained. "Once you die you come here, Soul Society. Everyone ends up dressed like this. Trust me; I've been here for a hundred years and everyday someone like you asks me where his suit and tie went."

Sven looked around while the man spoke. "So...This is it then?"

"What do you mean?"

"Well, no fluffy clouds, no wings, no wishes...Is this really it?" Sven frowned. "Kind of a let down. Those pious people knocking on my door every morning are liars."

"This is not heaven. Heaven is just an ideology, but in the right frame of mind this is heaven."

"Heaven was back when I was alive. I was happy then. I had friends, a job, a life...And a hat." Sven sighed. "Now I'm alone, with nothing but the shirt on my back." He shook his head. "Wait a minute, this isn't even a shirt! Dammit! I really do have nothing!"

"Don't be like that. We may be isolated from our loved ones, but we find new family in those around us."

"You mean like adoption?" Sven dead panned.

"Kind of. You see this world can be as awful as you see it or you can take things well and make life comfortable again. I once thought like you, disappointed by the losses we've suffered. But in my time I've learned that this is merely a second chance at life, with new family, new friends and new culture."

"Huh?"

"Well, there is not any technology in these parts. Those in Sereitei sometimes create items similar to those in the World of the Living but for the most part Soul Society is truly like an ancient Japanese city. Kids don't play video games and hot-heads don't drive cars. It's a step back in time."

"I can tell..." Sven muttered. "So where do the shinigami live?"

"Shinigami? So you wish to become one of them huh? They live beyond that great wall over there." The old man pointed over the roof of a hut to a massive stone wall. "Over there is the Court of Pure Souls. That's where all the shinigami live. But they aren't always kind to us citizens of Rukongai unless we are rich or nobles."

"I've fought beside them. They should recognise me." Sven rose to his feet. "So how do I get in?"

The old man made a face as if it were a death threat. "You can't just go in! There are guards all over the wall and they will kill on sight sometimes. We stay away from them and they stay away from us mostly.

"Well if I ask nicely they may let me enter. It can't be harder than a nightclub."

"Trust me; you don't want to anger the shinigami. They are ruthless!" the old man seemed genuinely afraid, yet the shinigami Sven had encountered were not that fearsome...Well Zaraki Kenpachi might have been an exception...

Sven chuckled to himself. "Hey, I've fought side by side with the captains in my old life. I thought I'd get a guard of honour or something when I got here. Surely they will recognise me and let me in?"

The old man shook his head but Sven let it slide off his back like a drop of water.

"Whatever. I'm gonna try anyway. Can't do too much harm can it?" Sven took another long drag on his cigar and then put it out. "Thanks." He waved goodbye and strolled off towards the great, imposing wall.

The old man bowed his head and looked away, as if trying to forget the man he had just met.

The wise old captain commander of Soul Society cast his sombre gaze across Sereitei. He could feel something deeply unsettling stirring within Rukongai. He could not recognise the odd reiatsu, somewhere lost between the realms of shinigami and hollow, as if the two had been mashed together into one being...

Yammamoto suddenly remembered an incident, a terrible event in Soul Society's past...A dark chapter that had ended in the exile of Urahara Kisuke and a number of others. A horrible occurrence, one which resulted in the hollowfication of several high ranking warriors. The Hogyoku had caused that disaster...Surely Aizen could use it to do the same to hollows...

The old man bowed his head and summoned a messenger. "Send scouts from second company to district 40 in Rukongai. Find out what the disturbing presence is and if necessary take action against the intruders."

The messenger bowed. "Yes sir!" He disappeared and another took his place.

The old man turned to the new messenger. "Instruct all captains to be on high alert for intruders. Have them hold their ground and set up defensive positions in case of attack!"

"Understood." The second messenger darted off across Sereitei to relay the commands.

Yammamoto returned to his viewing post on his balcony, high above the Court of Pure Souls. "Aizen...You are making your move already? What are you planning?"

The question echoed in the wind, but was never answered.

Sven approached the huge wall. He felt physically drained just standing near it. A guard sat perched atop the wall and he dropped down before Sven in what would be an impossibly high drop for a mortal, but easy for a soul.

The shinigami placed his hands on his scabbard and prepared to draw his sword. "State your business! What are you doing?"

Sven raised his hands in defence. "I'm not up to anything; I just want to see the captains."

The shinigami cocked his head. "A lowly commoner like you wants to see the captains? Don't make me laugh! Why would they care to see you?" He burst out in laughter and doubled over. "Do you understand who the captains are? They are far to busy to deal with your trivial qualms."

Sven cursed under his breath. "I fought alongside them. I believe they would like to see me."

"You? Fighting with the captains? Ha! I'm a twentieth seat and I've never fought with my captain! As if a dog from Rukongai would actually have even seen a captain before! Ha!"

Sven scowled. "Look buddy! I-"

The guard suddenly disappeared in a cloud of crimson rain. Sven looked to his side and twenty metres away lay the lifeless body o the guard, a sword embedded deep within his skull.

"W-What the...?"

Far in the distance a single figure approached him. Unlike the other shinigami he was clad in white. Striking blue hair blew across his face in the strong winds, but as the sky-coloured strands whipped around Sven noticed something on the lower half of his face...A skeletal set of jaws.

The stranger vanished in the blink of an eye and reappeared beside the dead shinigami. He grabbed the sword and wrenched it free from the man's head, resulting in the unfortunate man's head to split apart from the overwhelming force.

The warrior flicked the blood from his blade and set his gaze on Sven. "Sven Volfied right? My name's Grimmjow and I'm here to kill you!"

Sven didn't need any more warning than that. He turned tail and ran as fast as his legs would allow him. He knew his opponent would catch up easily, but surely amidst a crowd of people he would be able to hide or slink away...Or so he hoped.

"You wanna play tag? Then let's play tag!" Grimmjow roared. He thrust his hands forward and a glowing orb of red energy formed there. It then erupted outwards in a searing blast which incinerated buildings and the citizens within.

Sven rolled aside from the path of destruction and tried to crawl under a pile of rubble. He struggled to control his erratic breathing as he listened to Grimmjow's thunderous footsteps looming closer and closer.

"You must not be very smart." Grimmjow taunted. "Surely you knew that I can rely on more than sight."

Sven's eyes widened at the sight of Grimmjow's sword piercing the chunk of stone above him, coming within a hairs breadth of his face. Sven stared at his terrified reflection and found himself unable to move.

Grimmjow was emitting a powerful reiatsu, so strong it was physically painful just to be so close to him.

Grimmjow's mocking laughter seemed to hit him like fists of stone. "I could kill you just by standing here, but where is the fun in that? I much prefer to watch my prey squirm. I like to hear them cry out for mercy. I like to sniff the blood in the air!"

What the hell is this guy? He's fucking crazy! What does he want me for? What did I do?

"Hey! What's that? Oh, you've got friends in high places it seems. They brought out the punishment force!"

Sven didn't understand. He didn't know what the punishment force was but he could at least grasp that he was being rescued. Still, he didn't expect it to be an easy one. Grimmjow was incredibly dangerous. He definitely had the abilities of a captain, if not more so.

Through a gap in two shattered timber frames Sven could see row upon row of men dressed like ninja. They surged as one unit, trying to take down the blue-haired menace but in the very next instant half of them were nothing more than dismembered corpses littered around the vicious fighter.

Grimmjow let out another bout of insane laughter, throwing his hands to the sky in twisted joy. "Ah! How fun it is! I haven't been this excited in a long time! I'm gonna enjoy this!"

The rest of the ninja charged. They too met a grisly fate. Sven couldn't help but wince at the ease in which Grimmjow executed so many warriors. It shouldn't have been possible.

Grimmjow scanned the battlefield and frowned. "Oh, is that it? Oh well, I guess I'll just have to hunt the rest down myself...But first." Grimmjow gazed down at the rubble. He kicked a chunk of stone aside and found Sven cowering beneath him. A wicked smile crossed his face and he raised his sword high, ready for the kill.

"Do you want to die? Or do you want to live?" An unfamiliar voice whispered in the back of Sven's mind. He looked around, almost expecting someone to be sitting beside him.

What?

"Will you live or die? It is your choice Sven. Do you not wish to save Eve?"

Of course! Eve is everything to me! I can't let her down!

"Then you must fight, but the enemies you face are incredibly strong. You must become stronger to be able to survive. Sven, I am the one to give you that strength."

Who are you? How did you get in my head?

"I will answer another time, for now cry my name to the heavens Sven. Roar with all you have!"

Sven stared up into Grimmjow's eyes and scowled. He pushed himself up off his feet and rose to be level with his foe. Grimmjow was suddenly startled by the unexpected surge of courage. However it did not take long for him to regain his composure and prepare to slice Sven in two.

"Collect his soul, Shokin Kasegi!"