Edit: 1/25/14
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In a land far, far away, lies a place of wonder, exploration, and magic, the Kingdom of Fiore. Yes, this was unique indeed, since everyone is capable of magic, but only 10% of the actual population pursues the art.
To do so, and to take your profession a step farther, you join a guild. A guild is a small community made up of other wizards watched over by guild masters. Here, they take jobs to receive money and fame but also have the opportunity to gain allies and more life lessons. That is, assuming you're a legal guild.
There were, of course, famous guilds. Some got more attention than others—and that wasn't normally a good thing. Nonetheless, normal civilians loved to converse about the rambunctious guilds and adored reading the continuous article, "Sorcerer Magazine" where the author always gave detailed descriptions and updates within the magical world.
Fiore was also acknowledged to have stunning environments, with beautiful scenery and dangerous animals. Yet, if someone were to focus on a forest to the north—at the base of a tall, aged mountain, they would see a small grove that was nearly hidden by the over-grown trees. It had been an abandoned park and trail where hikers had disappeared on many occasions and eventually had to be closed down by the King.
That's when Mother Nature took advantage of the zero contact and gave the small forest a gift of growth. She had everything from animals to plants and rivers flourish with a mighty roar and with all of it combined, the force made the earth below give off a glow of blue. It was heaven for anything living due to its purity.
The female entity had given a spot in particular a prayer of favoritism; where the Irises, Gladiolus, Daisies and Sage grew as though they watched from afar by the willows that stood guard of this meadow. In this place, a sense of peace would wash over anyone who stood present.
The grass was soft and un-trimmed, for no human had ever braved the paths to travel to the location (bandits were many in number), and floras bloomed so heavenly that it gave the impression to be blessed.
Often, it was legend that the herbs here could be the missing clue to curing diseases and injuries related to magical mean. There were some cases where humans had tried to arrive here and see it was true, only to never return. It was indeed mysterious, for no one had ever found the bodies. Over time, people grew weary of the excitement and simply gave up on finding the bodies of their loved ones.
Then the wind gave a sigh, rustling the glowing wild-life within the field gently, unveiling the world's destiny changer.
Near the center of this meadow was a unique being lying still.
The person had gorgeous white hair that reached the base of his neck and bangs that covered his left eye which was currently hiding its' color along with the right by the closed eyelids. The skin was pale, yet had a light brush of tan, with a destroyed outfit that made him look homeless. Which in a fashion, he actually was.
Yet, only the robes appeared to have gone through an enormous struggle. He lay uninjured beneath the cloth. The only thing in perfect condition was a light blue-green scarf hanging around his slender neck. He was barefoot and a sheathed sword lay beside him.
The 'X' on his wrist glowed briefly, before turning black once more.
That's when a tall figure flickered before the unconscious boy, making a shadow casted, "My, My, it's been a long time since I've last seen you look so defenseless."
A hand reached out and ruffled the white locks, and then retracted, as if burned. That's when the stranger spotted the Zanpakuto and he had managed to step on—not even thinking about muttering an apology, he eased the foot off the weapon—fully informed that the inner soul will no doubt tell on him.
With a look around, he figured that the boy would be sleeping for a while, considering that changing dimensions right before dying could be hard to handle. So on that note, he spread out his Reiatsu gently, not wanting to alarm anyone, if they could sense him.
A cluster of what seemed like a foreign energy popped up to the west, giving the impression of a town or small village. They could have food, clothes and even some information on this realm—after all, the boy-genius was down for the count right now—so why not let the fox take care of everything for right now?
A sizzling noise caught his attention, and the ex-Soul Reaper turned, a tad surprised as one other design had been added to the 'X' on the Tenth Division ex-Captain. Getting curious, he crouched and rolled it slowly to see a grinning, silver fox that had appeared right next to the original.
Giving a chuckle, the male stood and used shunpo, flickering from out of sight; leaving the unconscious other where he was. The betrayer was going to be back soon anyway, and if trouble should arise where the boy was—well, than his Zanpakuto could do the job and protect his master.
As the figure jumped from mile to mile, a weird feeling washed over him in a small way. To describe it, he thought of how the Hueco Mundo was always so emotionless, and well, dead.
Yet this one, made him warm, like he had been out too long in the sun at the Seireitei. The fox frowned at the comparison, realizing that there'd be no chance for him to ever visit Rangiku and have tea (and booze) with her ever again. Sure, she was his love interest, but things never took off and when he betrayed the Soul Society, it looked as if the relationship was broken for good.
That made some depression sink in, though his ever present grin was there to keep the ruse up—plus that was his personality; it was very alien to not smile.
Which Aizen (that bastard) once commented during a Captain meeting years ago, that he could trick the Soul King himself with just a few well-spun lies—and half the Gotei 13 even agreed to it—including the Head Commander.
Later on that day, Rangiku met up with him at the local bar, and they had a contest of who could not end up hung-over in the morning after a huge amount of alcohol. Of course the ex-Soul Reaper won, but that's when he put forward the best acting known to man, even with a raging headache.
He got a kiss to the cheek for it.
He'd have to ask the brat-captain about her well-being later.
Ichimaru stopped short of a path leading a little ways to a town. Hidden by the trees and shadows, he slunk quietly, lowering and hiding the potent Reiatsu so he could get close enough.
It wasn't really smart to experiment with the idea that the being had warned him of the power-control and letting the world's natural magic fuse with his own power. Doing so is asking for awareness that wasn't wanted from the residents of this world. Judging by how serious the being was when explaining this meant the government had been a quite like the Seireitei's…just more eccentric in the sense of instead of execution, was the need to study the unknown.
Plus, knowing Toshiro-Chan, the kid would try and wring his neck afterwards of anything brought them fame or illegal repercussions. Sheesh, him and the sense of justice made Gin want to cringe.
Cocking his head to the side, joyful voices and footsteps from the villagers filled the sense, and he peered from the outskirts. Not entirely surprised by how everyone appeared—well, human—the fox observed that the use of magic was very prominent here, yet only a few were actually using it.
The rest were either using the benefits of it or ignoring it as if the whole thing was normal. The style and dress was different slightly, but then again, it was just the magic-users being in a weird fashion. So perhaps the clothing held some kind of properties? He should be wary of them until being a hundred percent sure.
No use in stealing objects that could just turn around and kick his ass later.
So Gin stepped out into the clearing, intending on flash-stepping to the roof tops and hunt down a store, when something made his ears twitch. Retreating back into the bush and making it just in time, a large merchant came rambling over the hill to the left of the fox.
He had a huge wagon dragging behind him, with a horse scooting it along. There were several arrangements within it, but that's when the silver Soul Reaper spotted the trunk of clothes in the back. That made his finger's itch and he quickly though over the repercussions of taking the chest.
The huge male could report the item stolen, but that would be the biggest problem, and it would have no ties towards him whatsoever. Toshiro-Chan would most likely figure it out but Gin decided to cross that bridge when he got to it.
Giving a chuckle at the irony, the master-of-tricks moved behind the oblivious, aged male and swiped the box; taking a leap overhead before anyone could see him, and landing silently. He sat on top of the cart with the stolen item.
Just in time.
"Oi, Jeffery!"
The merchant Jeffery turned his head up ahead to see a tall woman with plum-colored hair. He automatically paled and waved shakily. "Good Morning, Kagura-san, I see you're up early today."
"It's Tuesday, and I expected you here last week." She answered, miffed.
So that answers the fox's question on the time and date currently.
Laughing nervously, the man continued to pull the horse along and into the city, with her following. "Apologies ma'am, I ran into a tiny problem with bandits on the bend and had to fly of the handle so to speak."
"I see," Kagura's yellow orbs narrowed, unaware of their eavesdropper, and then gestured to the wagon. "Is my order still safe and sound?"
Gin sweat dropped. 'Did all people talk like this?' he wondered and went on to feel a disruption seconds later, grabbing his attention. It was pretty far from this location, something almost non-detectable...yet that was the problem. What had made a rift open so far from where that brat was?
"Aye, I made sure with my own life." He nodded feverishly, "Though I'm not completely sound on the other wares."
The woman gave a scoff, "Unless they paid for the item up front, I'm guessing it will be fine."
The two began to speak all the while walking to an un-clarified location, chatting here and there as people gave them polite greetings along the way. Everyone seemed more or less frightened—or wary—of the person strolling with Jeffery, and they had a good reason too, he thought. She was a scary monster in a fight with that sword strapped to her hip in an elegant way, and had a train of thought that could rival any villain who had a good head on their shoulders.
Kagura had just recently joined the town's local town, and was already making a name for her—at a brow raising speed. Though her pale skin and pretty features were above average, she had refused to be featured in any media, much to the disdain of the men of various guilds around Fiore. Now, her fame wasn't nearly as big as the huge-timing wizards and mages, and being a small nobody from a quiet guild hadn't got her very far just yet.
Yet the fact of being somewhat underestimated by the 'famous' crowd of magic, the determined woman hadn't let it shaken her self-esteem. If anything, she bit back with more force, often going to be a bit more 'rough' on jobs to warn others that she wasn't someone to actually mess with. However, Kagura's true goal was to be like the woman that had earned her name through giving fear, having skill, and gaining power; and achieved all this within a small amount of years.
Her name was Erza Scarlet, or, Titania, Queen of the Fairies.
The young sword user didn't share that frequently, but did mention it to Jeffery, who had his own doubts about her ambitions but didn't mention it. He thought better to agree and go along with her than oppose what was said—which usually saved his life more often than not. That's how the two got on the topic of the top guilds were currently doing, their plans and the Magic Council new rules on mages.
The merchant shrugged at her, "Well, you're assuming that everyone needs to-..." the sentence hit a road-block when she froze next to him abruptly, nearly making him trip over her. "What-"
"Do you sense that?" The commanding female said, making him frown at the serious tone.
Gin gave a pause; the fox had not expected her or anyone to actually feel his Reiatsu when it was compressed so compactly-his specialty.
"Are you all right, Kagura-san?"
She turned unknowingly in the same direction of the Soul Reaper above her. "What was that?"
'Oh, so the girl could sense the dimension opening from this distance? That definitely impressive for someone so young—maybe he was underestimating this world's strength after all.' Gin mused with a pensive expression.
Jeffery changed the subject subtly, "So how is joining Mermaid's Heel working out for ya'?"
That brought her out of the trance of over-thinking and the plum-haired went on back to the conversation. He walked along with her once more, bringing the horse behind him into gear as they set out through the town once more, un-interrupted.
"The guild, you mean? It is perfectly suitable to my tastes." She replied curtly, the sword at her hip rustling whenever she stepped over a broken cobblestone in the street.
"That's great to hear, I'm glad it wasn't hard to join." He chuckled, not seeing her eyes hardening at the statement.
"Yes, though I bet it would be for you."
The merchant raised a brow and ushered the horse and cart around a corner, getting closer to his shop. "Eh, why is that Kagura-san? Do they have some kind of thing against elder men like me?"
"Not directly," the female answered, giving a smirk at the joke (Jeffery was only a year older than her). "Mermaid's Heel is an all-women's guild and only the better gender can apply to enter—providing you have excellent abilities."
The fox above them gave a shrug, for it was like how the Seireitei had that Shinigami Women Association, except perhaps more revered and less annoying. What was a guild anyways? He turned and vaulted to the roof, leaving behind the two, making his way back to the brat. Now...if only he remembered the way back...
"Sounds like they have some high priorities," he replied, having already heard that statement millions of times from the same person.
Kagura looked at him, "Are you going to hurry up and hand over my equipment or not?"
"Alright, alright, give me a minute."
Jeffery turned around and un-hooked the horse and let her enter the stables without guidance. He then went over to the wagon and took off the cloth that had hidden everything that he had traded, sold and ordered from prying eyes.
That's when he noticed the trunk of clothing his customer had ordered was gone from its spot. He started to pray.
"Kagura-s-san…"
"What is it?" She asked calmly, "Is something wrong with the chest or is something missing?"
"You couldn't have said it better than me."
Drift.
"Ah, shit man…"
Blue eyes opened and went into a scowl at the sunlight beating down from above. Shadowing his face, he sat up from the ground, vaguely aware of a weight falling off his chest. The area around him was humid, almost making the air thick enough to where he had to try and breathe. The Hell, the blue-haired mused gruffly, and after checking for possible threats, he lied back down.
With eyes closed, the male wondered why the Hueco Mundo was so hot all of a sudden; it's as if a giant garganta opened from the Human Realm in the summer time. Plus, what was that smell? It made his nose give a twitch at the salty and breezy scents invading it.
"Get up, Grimmjow."
Out of pure reflex than thinking, the ex-sexta shot up and rested a hand on his Zanpakuto, and peered over to the stranger, senses on high. To the right, there stood a familiar figure with emerald orbs that held no expression staring back. Muscles relaxed and he came up from the crouch.
"It's just you, bat-boy." The panther gave a groan of curses, and ran his hands through his hair. Yeah, he wasn't in the Hueco Mundo if that bastard was alive. "Freaking-hell, give a warning next time."
Grimmjow was a tall, muscular man with light-blue, spiky hair and matching eyes that had green lines under them—showing his feline orientation. The Arrancar wore a white hakama, the inner lining of the jacket was black, and the sleeves were rolled up.
The jacket was open, giving a view of his tone chest and a huge scar down the middle of it, leading to his Hollow hole in the abdomen. The remains of his Hollow mask was on the right of his jawbone, feral looking and vicious.
'Bat-boy' gave him a blink, "You weren't alert."
"Should I reply to that?" the other asked himself out loud.
"If you don't want to live."
"Damn, that was a good comeback." Grimmjow smirked at the serious threat and flapped his hand, "Say, Ulquiorra—…"
"I'm not sure where we are."
"I wasn't finished, shit, and why the Hell are you so talkative now?"
Ulquiorra is a slim, yet fairly well-built, male Arrancar of average height. He has fairly short, messy black hair, pale white skin, a black upper lip, and green eyes with small slit-shaped pupils, similar to a cat's.
Part of his bangs fall between his eyes, and he had peculiarly thick eyebrows. He had teal lines which descend from the lower part of his eyes. His facial expression rarely changed, though he was almost always frowning. His clothes consisted of a white jacket, black sash, and a white hakama. However, his jacket had longer coattails than others and the collar was higher.
His Hollow hole is located on his sternum, and the remainder of his Hollow mask lies on the top-left side of his head, forming a broken horned helmet.
The blue-haired male briefly wondered why the idiot was covered in sand as well, but didn't feel like having a sword through his chest anytime soon, so didn't ask.
"You do realize the issue of the child." A pale hand pointed to the small figure lying around Grimmjow.
"Yeah, if confuses me too." He scratched the back of his neck, and looked at the kid.
Ulquiorra was probably the most patient of the Espada, and didn't really mind having to be awoken from eternal slumber by that being in order to live a second time without any warning. Yet there was something that the ex-sexta always did that made him wanted to just stare at his Zanpakuto and wonder how many times he could stab himself till he dies. "Do you know of her identity?"
"Uh…should I?"
"She was a previous member of Aizen's army."
Grimmjow gave him a dead-panned stare. "Okay?"
"That is Nelliel Tu Odelschwanck in her child form."
"So she's famous?"
He wasn't going to stand here all day coaxing the panther along. After all, the three Hollows were given a job/mission to do once they got here and he didn't want to waste the first day convincing the other about the child's identity.
Nelliel was small and had hazel eyes with short green hair. In the child form, her eyes were unbelievably big, and the remnants of her Hollow mask (from her original form) made up a skull which sits on the top of her head.
A fracture ran along the left side of the mask and four teeth on the left side of the skull appeared to be broken off. She had a sizeable scar coming down from her forehead to her nose and a crimson line that stretched horizontally across her face below her eyes. Her outfit consisted of a simple emerald gown with a hood which covers her entire body.
"Frankly, I don't give a damn about who she is." Grimmjow growled at last, and stood off the ground, "We should leave her here and be on our way or whatever."
A bit of tension rose in between them; just as expected when putting two people who are usually at each other throat's (one more than the other) and having no supervision. It was asking for a fight and some massive destruction in the surrounding area. Speaking of which, appeared to be a beach—a very disgruntled one—but a beach none the less. The water was a sparkling hue of navy and calmly washed onto the sand, and then took a step back into the sea.
The fourth met him with a cool stare, his frown more prominent than before, "That would be defying our orders."
"From who, that being?!" he let out a loud, course laugh. "That thing also said we were supposed to have another Espada, but we don't."
"If you counting Nelliel."
"But she's not even a full-fledged Arrancar!" the blue-haired gave a whine, glaring down at the sleeping kid as if it was her fault this happened to him.
"The child was at one point."
The rash male gave a snort, "I don't think she's the third Hollow."
Ulquiorra gave him a look (actually not really since his damn expression doesn't change), "Oh?"
"Look, all I'm saying is that this was a mistake and the being had sent the real and final Arrancar, but they landed somewhere else."
Nel gave a sleep-induced yawn and snuggled into Grimmjow's ankle, nearly sending the latter into a panic-attack. He didn't see the brat move; holy-ever-living-of-Aizen's-underwear was she quick.
Calm eyes watched the two before speaking, "I believe it's safe to say we're the only ones."
"This is giving me a damn headache."
"I don't care."
The sexta allowed a sweat-drop. "Do you have to be so blunt?"
Ulquiorra ignored the muttering of 'no sense of humor' and went on to say, "Grab the child, we have to find the Soul Reaper as soon as possible."
Grimmjow gave him a frown, "Why don't you, bat-boy?"
"Did I say I was going to?"
"Uh…no, you said I had to."
"Then hurry up."
They moved, using a technique called the Sonido and the only noise left behind was a large, booming crack. Yet the two failed to notice how their landing from the dimension had created a crater of massive size, and waves from the ocean avoiding it as they rolled in for the tide.
Everyone in character? Review.