Trading Yesterday For Tomorrow: It's Not a Nightmare: Chapter 1

Black. A dark barren color. It's feeling, hollow, its presence ominous. Something that makes you feel abandoned and desolate. It engulfs you, in its cavern, in its cage, feeds you with pain and fear. The color of death. The color of black.

But, there's something. Something besides this defining color. A noise, yes noises. Not just noise but feelings. The noise of rustling, the noise of something blowing. Wind, the noise is a breeze. I can feel it rustle and gently graze my skin.

More noises, a call? An animal, birds. Birds tweeting, singing the melody of a chorus. Their song beautiful, and entertaining. Their heart put into voice every vibration. It fills my soul with a ravishing feeling of wonders.

Another noise, people talking? People whispering? Something moving. Branches and leaves rustling. Yes, that's it. The wind moves them like a dance as they flow in simultaneous movements, brushing others with their green luminance.

A heat. A heat that burns my neck, makes me seat. The sun, it's beating down on me. But, not in an uncomfortable way, it's making me warm. Like cuddling me into its soft blanket.

Although there's something else keeping my body from the tortures of the star. A breeze that is different from the rest. One that flows with me as I seem to move, the pattern of my movements are not normal. They are not walking, running or jumping. I am… flying. As if soaring through the sky. The movements send me up and down. Up and down, up and down. Up and down.

And then… colors. Colors of blue, green, yellow, orange, white, brown, they engulf me in their brightness. My eyes, they open, open to view. Open to see what is happening. They open, they open with joy. Wanting to know what I feel, hear… they want to see it.

I see grass, the color of a rich deep green. Trees of abandon amounts, surrounding me. Having me consumed by their vast appearances. Aspen, Oak, Blue spruce, Elm, they all surround me with their beauty. Their magnificent tall figures that sky over me, the colors of the leaves that are painted so differently form the others. Each of them specific to its origin.

It seems as though I am in a forest. A vast forest, as I peer down into the trees, past my own opening. I see dark blackness, as the trees continue on forever. The shadows of them cast over me, but do not darken the area.

I feel my hands clasp onto something metallic. Something that's warm, and makes me feel secure. I look over to see it's a chain. A chain that I cling to, one for each of my hands. I am sitting down, on something hard, and splintery. Then it all starts coming together. I know what that feeling of being rushed up and down is.

I am swinging. All the movements make sense now; I feel my body move upward with force of motion. Then I drop backwards, feeling the rush of wind on my neck. I move up and down in a continuous motion. As though if I were to stop I might never start up again. I move my head up, to see the sky. It's blue encases me, no clouds in sight. Just the ample color spreading further than the trees themselves.

It's so peaceful, so serine. As if I could stay in this moment forever. And I do, I swing back and forth forever and ever. Never stopping for a breath, just moving in this motion. A motion never ceasing to end.

I notice something, something I should have noticed a long time ago. It's unsettling. So very unsettling. It makes my heart race at the thought. I'm… alone. No one is around me, I'm all alone.

I swing back and forth feeling the rush through my body. I feel this voluminous, horrified fear surround my figure. The once peace, now slowly fades away with the wind. My heart races, my lungs pound, my head aches, and my mind is filled with thoughts that ever so gently wisps my mind into apprehension. A dark and hostel aura seems to glide over my soul. Everything I see, its different, everything I hear… its wrong.

Nothing, no one. This place is fake. Nothing no one, this place is empty. Alone, alone, alone.

The peaceful movements of the swing become a tremendous burden. It moves faster and quicker, raspier and is almost sending me on a ride of terror. The breeze that filled my mind with calming thoughts now hurts my head, snapping it back and forth. Whistling a screeching sound though my ears, howling and piercing my ear drums, shattering them with its constant eerie outcry.

The melody of the birds now becomes a soundtrack of death. Their humming sounds are like the cries of children, pleading to be rescued. It replays in my mind, continuing on like broken record. Never ceasing to stop.

It all feels wrong, it hurts my soul to be in this place. Damaging my mind so I think that this nightmare is actually trying to kill me. My thoughts echo in my own mind. My heart becomes as loud as yelling screams of bloody murder. This place… its horrible.

I'm all alone. No one is here. All alone, all alone. I repeat those words in my head, nothing could cease those horrible thoughts of despair.

Then all the sudden I am thrust off the swing. My hands forcefully stripped from the comforting chains. I fly through the air, freefalling and feeling as though I would fall forever. My gut raises up at the pace, and my limps fly aimlessly. I land on the ground, my ankles becoming twisted and broken. My hands grind against the grass, getting the green substance stained on them.

The grass had once looked so calm and soft, now though they feel like pricks. Needles penetrating my skin, making blood ooze out of them. I quickly realize my hands of the torture sitting on my knees. One bloodied and bruised hand covers the other as that one is pressed against my chest. They feel useless, numb, broken off. They are no longer able to move.

I feel pain, fear, horror, I want to scream and cry as loud as possible. I want this nightmare to end. I open my mouth to sound the alarm… I try to scream. But, nothing comes out. The scream is drowned by the other noises in my head. The pain forced to be kept inside.

My head is then filled with the screeching and crying of the birds and the wind, bursting my brain. Blood then starts oozing out of my ears, the warmth of it feeling like fire on my skin. It oozes down to my cheek and then slips off my jaw line and onto the grass.

I turn my hurting head back to the swing. The swing that I had just been thrown of off, the one that seemed to be connected to this horrible nightmare. My head hurts as I try to move it.

When my head finally managed to turn around, I saw the swing. But, it had not stopped its motion. It was still moving back and forth, up and down. As if a ghost of myself was still on the swing, hanging on for dear life and looking up to the sky.

Yes, there is ghost there. I can see it. A ghost of myself. A see through copy of what I had just been doing. Swinging, happy as could be. It's actually me, swinging there, what had just happened a moment ago, now was a ghost. Living on that memory.

But, that's not all, the swing that is next to mine. There is something wrong with it. I don't remember anyone swinging beside me, although it moves. It moves just like my own. As though a ghost was sitting there, swinging back and forth, just as mine was.

It was different somehow, the speed was slower. It moved as though time was freezing. Actually, it barely moved at all. Unlike mine, how it was soaring though the sky, this one was being pushed ever so gently. Barely making a creek when it moved.

And there… a ghost. Just as how I saw on the other swing. It sat there, holding on to the chains. Grasping them to keep itself safe. Its feet moved up and down ever so slightly. And, a laugh. A laugh emanated from he person.

A girly, feminine laugh. The person smiled widely as a hollow laugh escaped her lips. One that was joyful, yes it was a beautiful sound. But, it was somehow empty, soulless, a dead laugh. She laughed joyfully, seeming to grasp this moment in her hands. She loved it, she loved the swing as I had one as well. The ghost longed for this feeling, and enjoying the moment.

A gust of wind blew, this time not howling in my ear, it was normal. Actually a peaceful breeze that wisped around me. It went towards the laughing girl, hoisting her up with the leaves from the many many trees. The girl…. Then disappeared. She seemed to vanish with the wind, as if the wind was only there to serve as a transport, to carry the girl away. She disappeared with the leaves as they flew off to the distance.

The feeling of loneliness returned to me as the girl drifted off into the woods of the forest. I was again left alone. I was all alone. Alone forever, the one person whom I had seen…, whom for some reason I had loved vanished from my vision, from my memory. Forever alone.

The swing stopped to a halt, no ghost was seen on either of the swings. No ghost was ever there. I am alone. Alone.

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Deep in a forest in the Human Realm

Tatsumi jolted up. A sudden wave of fear engulfed her, her lungs seemed to have a 100 pound force on them that made her breath blatant and accelerated. Her eyes were widened, red shot, and pierced with a feeling of anxiety. She grasped the ground underneath her, feeling the soft plants, tearing it from its roots. "What was that?" she screeched. Her voice was dull, and echoed through the quiet place. Her eyes darted around her, so fast that she could only see a blurred vision. A vision that soon calmed down a tad, wanting to take breaths that would heal her.

"A nightmare….?" She questioned as she stared at her feet. "No… that was to realistic to be a dream. It… was so real. Like I had been there before." She felt a shiver run up her spine at just the thought about the place she had just been. Her world seemed to slow down bit by bit as she was placed back into a normal environment. Her hands reached to her elbows as she cuddled herself, not in a scared motion but because she felt cold and wet. Sweat poured down her brow, but it did not make her cool, but freezing cold, as if being dunked into a frozen lake.

"Where am I?" she asked. Tatsumi's blue eyes lifted to look around. She was in a forest, very different from the one in her… incident. But, it was a forest.

It was a wooded forest filled with thousands of tree's, tall uncut grass, and wild flowers that bloomed everywhere. Tatsumi sighed in relief. She was glad that this forest was not trying to kill her or something.

She was laying down next to a tree, her back propped up against the bark. Her legs were folded in a comfortable way, and next to her lay her zanpakuto.

It had looked as though she was in such a position to take an afternoon nap, but Tatsumi would not accept the fact that what she had just witnesses was a dream. It was inconceivable to her, "No, it wasn't a dream I just know it. It… just wasn't." she shook her head.

Her neck bended backward to lay itself on the tree, her hands covered her eyes as she sighed heavily. "Huh… maybe it was a dream." She spoke so softly that it was hard for her to even hear herself.

Her face curved into a displeased one. "Eh! NEVER MIND THAT!" she sat up quickly, standing on her feet. "I ante got time to fool around with stuff like that! I have… a mission!" she said crossing her arms. One hand picked up the long sword while the other strapped it to her white belt. She started trotting off into the closest clearing from the forest.

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In the Squad 2 Barracks

"Captain, do you think it was such a good idea to send her?" Asked the concerned third seat. He seemed to be the only one who was worried about the girl. He stared at her application for when she had asked for this mission. It wasn't that her powers weren't capable for such a low class mission, it was that he wasn't sure her personality would get the job done.

"Yes, we are shorthanded here, and she was the only person we could spare." The blue haired captain crossed her arms as she was looking out the window. Studying her squad members to see if they were doing their jobs correctly. "Where is Omida?" the Capatin asked as she had noticed that the third seat had shown up and not her Lt. "That buffoon, if he's fooling around again… I swear" she said in a very clam, but murderous tone.

The third seat interrupted, "No, no no. He's checking out the perimeter." The man lied through his teeth. For he knew that if their captain knew that the Lt. was goofing off and drinking again, the Lt. wouldn't be the only one to suffer her wrath. They would all get punishments.

The Captain didn't pay attention to her third seat as she continued to stare out the window, watching over her subordinates.

"Tatsumi M. Yamaski…" whispered the third seat as he scrolled over the profile. "A novice Shinigmi, only commissioned to her first squad 10 years ago. 8th seat, age 76…" he kept reading in his head. There, imprinted on the front page was a profile picture.

A girl who looked about 15 years old, according to human years, had light silver hair. It was wavy and stopped after her shoulders, the bangs were parted to the right and the left side ones were pinned by a clip. Her eyes were a baby blue color, her skin a pale white. But the thing that stood out the most was her smile, it was small. Her lips barely curved upwards, and the smile was somehow sweet and caring. "Hmmm…." He murmured as his large hand placed the folder on the desk. He wouldn't worry about it if his Captain was not concerned.

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Back in the Human World

Tatsumi Yamaski floated gently down, her shinigami outfit slightly blowing in the breeze. Her hand was placed by her side holding onto the only weapon she carried. It was slightly opened, just to the point where the silver blade was barely visible. Her thumb kept the guard from forcing the sword back into the sheath.

Her foot lightly tapped against the ground of the city. Her silver locks swaying with the breeze of cold and desolate night. A chill ran through the air that made shivers run up Tatsumi's spine. She felt it, it was close. "A hollow…" she whispered. Her face had a concentrated frown on it.

Tatsumi started walking towards were she could felt the presence of the hollow. It was a small hollow, one that would be easy to defeat. Nothing that she couldn't handle.

"RAOOOOOOOOORRRRRR!" it growled. The shriek could be heard for miles. It echoed through the city, bouncing off almost every wall and alleyway, making it hard to tell which way the sound was coming from. Her head turned in all directions, trying to spot the beast.

"There…" she whispered. About 3 blocks down she saw it running across the street, chasing after a female soul. Tatsumi leaped in the air, after standing about 50 feet above the buildings, she started sprinting across the air wanting to get to the beast as efficiently as possible.

Her hands fell behind her back, this making her pace faster. Her eyes squinted. Her pace quickened as the hollow ran into an open park area.

"This is my chance!" she told herself. Her feet dropped from the sky, free falling all the way down to a tree top.

"SPAT!" the tree squeaked as she had landed. Her feet had a hard time steading herself on the unstable object. Once her hands had gotten a hold of the branches she peeked through the bushels of leaves. Her sword ready to jump out and do a surprise attack when the hollow was in close range.

The hollow started darting after the female soul, just within jumping range of Tatsumi. Her feet prepared to jump off the branch. Her hands ready to kill the hollow.

"SWISHHHHHHH!" Tatsumi's eyes widened. There was the sound of someone running, or flash stepping by her guess.

"SWISH SWISH…. SWISSSSSSHHHHHH!" more and more of those noises flooded her ears. A man, he quickly appeared by the hollow, his body blurred from all the fast movements. He was moving so fast that Tatsumi couldn't tell what he looked like or what he was doing.

A flash of silver, it glinted off the street lights and sent Tatsumi into a panick.

"SWIPEEEEEE!" the sound of a blade cutting the air. Then the hollow roared in pain. Tatsumi moved the branches to see the hollow had blood splattered everywhere, it's mask completely cut in half. "It's… disintegrating with one hit?" Tatsumi felt her body tremble at the thought. Only Captain's could probably accomplish something like that.

It all happened so suddenly; the man had killed a hollow in less than 5 seconds. It was all very unnerving to Tatsumi. She peeked through the leaves, her hand making sure not to cause a ruckus. She stared at the man.

"A zanpakuto!" she questioned as the man did indeed have a sword extremely similar to Tatsumi's.

"Yet another job well done, Boss!" said another man. Tatsumi drifted her gaze to see who was speaking. Over about 15 feet away stood another man. Tatsumi didn't have time to see who he was either, because more voices were heard.

"Good job, sir." Said a quiet and young female's voice. It was shy, and very calming.

"AH! I could've taken him on all by myself!" yelled a young male's voice. Tatsumi hunched forward trying to get a better view of the people.

In the middle of the grass field stood 4 different figures, they were hard to make out considering it was mid night and that there was only a sliver of the moon out.

She could tell that the first man was moving towards the female soul. He turned his sword around and smashed the hilt into the head of the soul. Tatsumi widened her eyes a tad more, "A Soul Burial!" she questioned. The soul started disintegrating into blue slivers of spirit energy. Tatsumi felt her mind rush through thoughts. "Who… are these people?" she asked to no one in particular.

"Ya, well this one won't be the last. So everyone start keeping your eyes peeled." Came a very itchy male voice.

"Eye sir!" whispered the girl.

"Tshh, I'm always ready to take on hollows!" the young man yelled out again.

"Okay!" a clapping sound was heard. "Who's ready for a treat at…." The man stopped mid-sentence. His sentence didn't even trail off, it just seemed to hault.

"What is it boss?" asked the tallest and buffest of the people there.

"Were not alone…" the man whispered. It was so low that Tatsumi could barely hear it. Everyone in the group became tense, an eerie breeze flowed through the trees leaving Tatsumi to sit there hoping he wasn't talking about her.

"Ehhh" she gasped, if there that powerful than they could be enemies, right?

"Gulp…" she tried not to make a noise, but the lump in her in throat had to go down or she would choke on it.

"Did you hear that?" asked the supposed man in charge.

"Ya, it sounded like someone was snickering," the quiet girl spoke up.

Tatsumi covered her mouth, this unfortunately made a slapping noise, once again giving her position away.

"Did you hear that?" asked the man again.

"Yes, it sounded like someone pulling out their sword." The girl croaked.

Tatsumi went purple, Great now they think I'm evil and then they will kill me!

"Who's there? Come out!" the man demanded.

Tatsumi felt sweat pour down her back, her neck, her foot, her hands, and her rib. Sweat was overflowing her body. She leaned back a tiny bit, not wanting to fall off the edge.

"Creak….." the branch creaked as she moved. Tatsumi shook her head no at the tree.

"Don't… break…" she whispered to the tree.

"Creeeekkk" it creaked even louder. The branch was having a troubled time holding up her weight.

"no, no,no" she kept shaking her head vigorously. The people stared at the tree, prepared for someone to jump out and attack them. A pause.

"….SNAPPPPP!" the branch snapped off the trunk and plummeted to the ground. With Tatsumi falling along with it.

"NOOOOOOOO!" she screamed as she fell through about 20 other branches and leaves. They all made loud snapping and breaking noises, not to mention that Tatsumi was screaming like a Bangui all the way down. Then… she hadn't hit the ground. Tatsumi creaked open one of her eyes, barely peeking to see if she had died. Her face was cringed up, making wrinkles fill her nose.

She was about half was down the tree, her arms and legs caught between two limbs, and her midsection being sucked into the middle. Tatsumi smiled and laughed nervously.

"Hehe, I thought was going to di…."

"SNAP!" both of the branches broke in half, leaving Tatsumi to fall down once more.

"NOOOOOOOOOOOO!" she again started wailing. She broke through about another 20 branches, each making her back ache, and splinters being shoved up her limbs.

"PLOP!" she fell to the ground, having leaves come plummeting after. Sticks covered her hair, dirt was rubbed on her face, heck she looked like a native to the woods. She was laying on her back, her head hurting, and her back beaten up from the fall. She lay in a pile of broken branches and leaves, scattered with Tatsumi's pride.

"I just made a complete fool out of myself…" she whispered. The 4 beings that she had yet to see what they looked like, crowded over her vision. They were blurry from her head concussion, but she managed to hear what they were saying.

"Is she a murderer?"

"No, she's not Ururu! YOU IDIOT!"

"SLAPPPPP!"

"Ow, Jinta that hurt!"

"Shut up!"

"mmm, What should we do boss?"

"I don't know, she looks like she's falling unconscious unconscious unconscious"

Black. A barren color. It's feeling, hollow, its presence ominous. Something that makes you feel abandoned and desolate. It engulfs you, in its cavern, in its cage, feeds you with pain and fear. The color of death. The color of black. …