This War's Not Over: Chapter 6

The White

Hi everyone!

Here's yet another chapter.

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The two arrancars watched emotionlessly the writhing boy as he let out screams of agony. His eyes had been completely overcome by the blackness now, and the arrancars assumed that it was too late for the boy to ever return back to normal. It would be any moment now before the teen would fully turn into an arrancar himself.

Finally, the orange-haired teen stopped moving, his eyes wide with dismay, as he seemed to be staring at some distant point of Hueco Mundo. Then an enormous gale of wind began to twist and turn around him, enveloping the teen within it, hiding him from view. Sparks flew amongst the howling storm, yet it didn't seem to touch the arrancars. Nor were they concerned. This was all to be expected.

But they were wrong. Ichigo wasn't someone to be considered as 'expected.' The violent storm ripped the ground and sent the sand flying.

Out of it, a crouching figure appeared out of the hurricane, still wearing his black shihakusho but the rest didn't seem to resemble Ichigo's usual form. The arrancars gasped. No. This wasn't going as planned.

He was in his bankai state, except he had reassumed the form where he had defeated Aizen. His orange hair had become shoulder length, and his right sleeve was ripped due to tensa zangetsu's chain wrapped around his arm. But something was wrong. His soft and confident brown eyes glowed an unearthly yellow—and yet, his scleras had remained white. At the top of one side of his head jutted a long horn that resembled Ichigo's Vasto Lorde form.

The arrancars took at step back. Ichigo face was so cold and detached, and yet he didn't seem to be on the brink of attacking whomever he saw on sight. This was not the killing machine they had expected him to be. Both of them blinked. But it only took one blink for both their lives to end. Ichigo had already cleaved their heads, effectively killing them.

He stared unaffectedly back as the two horrified faces disintegrated, before blinking back to wakefulness as if he had been in some sort of trance. The teen seemed to be slowly registering the events, before lifting his hand to look at his palm. He flexed it, staring. Then those cold yellow eyes regained their usual softness, yet the color remained the same. He was shocked.

Rukia and Renji had landed in a part of Hueco Mundo that did not seem to have Ichigo in the distance. Rukia stomped her foot to express her frustration while Renji's forehead creased. Rukia had never seen him so worried.

A sudden blast of reiatsu immediately shook them out of their daze, both of them with their jaws agape. It was so heavy—but there was no doubt about it now. Rukia would recognize that oozing reiatsu from anywhere.

Rukia looked at Renji with a hopeful glance. "It's Ichigo!"

But Renji seemed to be puzzled. "There's…there's something off about his reiatsu."

Rukia paused from her excitement, standing still to concentrate.

Renji was right. Ichigo's reiatsu did feel odd. In fact, it frightened her. It reminded her of the time when she had seen him just after he had defeated Aizen. And yet…a much darker reiatsu seemed to be shadowing it, adding to Ichigo's already immense power. It seemed to slowly drown Ichigo's reassuring aura—

Rukia didn't realize what she was doing before she was a good distance away from Renji. She ran.

"Rukia! Hold on! Wait for me!" Renji said, his eyes clouded with confusion.

But Rukia didn't stop. She knew that reiatsu. She had felt it when Ichigo had fought against Yammy to save her. That dark, sneering reiatsu that had caused Ichigo so much suffering.

It's a trap, Ichigo.

Ichigo couldn't believe it. When he had asked his hollow for help, he had expected just before he blacked out that the hollow was going to take over his body. However, the teen was finding himself in full control. He looked at his garb, immediately recognizing the form he had used to fight Aizen. But as his head turned from side to side, he caught a glimpse of a white sharp object that seemed to be obstructed part of his view.

Ichigo froze. He shakily lifted his hand up to touch what seemed to be attached to his head, and immediately let out an angry scream. He fell back on the ground, tugging and heaving at the horn on his head but in vain. It wouldn't come off.

"You bastard!" Ichigo screamed inside his head.

He was just about ready to strangle the sneaky bastard. He heard his hollow snigger.

"Son of a bitch…" Ichigo could have thrown insults at the hollow all day, but he was waiting for an explanation.

"You asked me to lend you my power. I did," his hollow said innocently, "Tensa helped too. I had no idea it would turn out like this."

Ichigo slammed his fist with frustration on the sand, cursing.

"At least you haven't lost your mind," his counterpart grinned wickedly.

Ichigo said nothing, only standing up and beginning a slow walk across the sand dunes, fulminating. Tensa Zangetsu's chain uncoiled from Ichigo's arm so that Ichigo could slide it into his cloth belt.

He needed to get out of here. Back to—

Ichigo stopped dead, his eyes widening. He was going insane. He blinked, pinched himself, and tried again. He was going back to…back to where again? Ichigo couldn't believe it. What was going on with his memory?

He desperately tried to finger who had helped him after he had been injured from Aizen. There was Ishida, Chad…who were the others? Ichigo knew there were others. Ichigo was now in a state of panic. What was wrong with him?

"I thought the air smelled differently then the first time we came here," his hollow's voice interrupted Ichigo's despair.

Ichigo blinked. "What?"

"Seems that Aizen did this just for you," the hollow said cheerfully, as if he was commenting about the weather. "Some sort of miasma or something. You'll probably slowly lose your memory of your human and soul reaper life as you slowly become a hollow."

Shock began to spread across Ichigo's features. "What are you saying?"

"If you don't get out of Hueco Mundo pretty soon, maybe we might actually turn into what Aizen wants."

It took awhile before the news began to register in Ichigo's mind. Then Ichigo began to run across the endless white desert. His heart was beating against his chest, and the fear of losing his memory and forgetting everyone he cared about was unbearable. Have to get out, Ichigo thought desperately.

After awhile, Ichigo stopped to take a breather, panting. He couldn't even remember the name of the town he loved. He closed his eyes in pain. He didn't even know where he was going anymore. Wherever he needed to go, he knew to get to it that he had to go through a the Garganta. Ichigo silently mocked himself. He was really losing it—so quickly. Ichigo wished his friends were here. Where were they when he needed them the most?

"I know they're looking for me," he heard his hollow imitate his voice with a sneering smile.

Ichigo said nothing. He was so tired. He curled up in the sand, not bothering to find cover and closed his eyes. He had never felt so lost and alone.

Rukia and Renji marched across the desert of Hueco Mundo, but Rukia stopped abruptly as she caught sight of crimson splotches that interrupted the sand's pure color. Renji stiffened at her side.

"It's hollow blood," he said simply.

"And Ichigo's reiatsu is within a twenty mile radius…" Rukia said, her eyes lowered with worry. "Do you think…do you think he killed those arrancars?"

Renji rolled his eyes. "They're hollows. Even if he did, it's nothing to be so surprised about."

Rukia's fists tightened. "Ever since I've met Ichigo, he never killed a hollow just to protect himself. That's not Ichigo."

Renji finally noticed at what point she was worried. His eyes softened. "Don't worry Rukia. We'll bring him back."

Urahara was researching the possibility of the creation of a second Hogyoku when he sensed a looming presence in front of his shop. The door slid open, and a stocky looking man's silhouette casted a shadow across the room. But despite the new visitor's intimidating arrival, Urahara only smiled from behind his fan. He closed it with a simple flick of his hand, grinning broadly to the newcomer.

"If it isn't Kurosaki Isshin-san. Are you ready?"

Ichigo stared. He couldn't take his eyes off it. It was there, weak and wounded, easy to kill. So tasty.

Ichigo snapped out of his daydreaming, a look of disgust and horror all over his face. He really was turning into a hollow. He was even trying to eat this thing. Ichigo turned away from the wounded hollow, the terror surging in him like a tidal wave. He didn't want to lose himself. Not here. Not all alone. He had to get out.

He hadn't eaten for two days, four if you counted the time he had been unconscious because of the vines. He was so hungry that he wished he were just a regular human soul, with no need to nourish themselves because of their lack of reiatsu.

He was so disgusted with himself. How could he be reducing himself into killing like a hollow would do? I'm a human and a…

Ichigo trailed off. He knew the black shihakusho had something to do with it. The sworn enemy of hollows. Ichigo crouched down, and buried his hands into his face. Let me out.

He heard his inner hollow's voice scream at him angrily. "If you don't eat him, than I will."

Ichigo hissed back at him.

The teen clutched his head as the two both struggled for control for a moment, hissing and spitting. But as the hollow didn't make much progress, he angrily stopped, letting out a furious snarl.

Ichigo continued to walk around aimlessly. Whatever bits of memory he had left were already getting fuzzy, and he couldn't remember any of the names of his friends, or their faces. This air really is killing me.

It had been another two days since Ichigo had killed the hollow. He still hadn't eaten. But the hollow, empty feeling in his stomach was starting to have its side effects. Ichigo stumbled forwards but kept going. He was so afraid that if he lied down, he would never get up again.

Finally, Ichigo staggered, swayed, before tripping over his own feet. He crashed onto the sandy floor with a large thump, screwing up his eyes as the sand danced around his face before settling once more. Ichigo knew he couldn't get back up. He was going to die here.

But whatever happened, Ichigo was not going to eat. He refused to do such a thing. It was his pride as a…

His mind trailed off again, leaving Ichigo with nothing more than an empty gap that he couldn't fill.

I won't eat. I'm not a hollow. I will not lower myself to their level!

Ichigo eyes closed shut, his body finally relaxing. His inner hollow didn't say a word.

I won't eat.

Ichigo tensed as light began to pierce through his eyelids. He opened his eyes slightly, immediately recoiling from the brilliant light that shone in his face. As he gradually grew used to it, Ichigo realized that the room he was lying in wasn't bright at all. He had probably been in the dark so long that he wasn't used to a little light.

Ichigo's eyes were completely open now, as he looked around the room. It was so dull and grey. Familiar. Ichigo sat up stiffly, and realized the burning hunger in his stomach had not vanished. Then he looked at the mirror positioned in front of him and stared.

A young man with shoulder length orange hair and yellow eyes stared back, a horn protruding on one side of his head. But Ichigo already knew that part. That wasn't what made Ichigo scream.

It was the immaculate white uniform that the Espada wore. That he was now wearing.

Ichigo hadn't lost enough of his memory to not realize that he was wearing the uniform of his enemy. He was about to leap out of bed and escape when immediately three arrancars were holding him down, their eyes showing nothing.

"Let me go!" Ichigo screamed as he tried to wind one of them.

He managed to knock one of them with his head, but the arrancar immediately recovered and continued to hold him down.

"I'm not a hollow! Let me go!" Ichigo cried vainly.

But a sardonic voice made him lie very still, before slowly turning his head with a look of horror plastered all over his face.

"There is nothing to worry about, Kurosaki Ichigo."

Ichigo's voice trembled. "Aizen."

Finally done!

Hope you enjoyed this one. ^^

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