Bleach (c) Tite Kubo
Once More To See You Again
The Path of Greatest Peril
Jinta takes a twisted glee in telling Kaien how many hours had passed.
He's up to fourteen.
Fifty eight remain.
Kaien's half-tempted to tell the runt to scram.
Surely there's better things to do than watch a soul rot in a dark pit. But if Jinta left to go do something else, Kaien would have no way of knowing how much time passed. (Assuming he's not being a weasel and misleading Kaien on purpose.)
The encroachment hurts like hell. It leaves Kaien gasping for air between each cycle of devouring and dormancy. During the periods of activity, he couldn't move an inch. Every cell screamed out its anguish. Had his arms not been bound, he fully believes he might've torn the chain off himself to escape his own blind agony. Part of him wonders if that's another reason why Kisuke had his arms sealed by this strong bakudo, so Kaien wouldn't artificially reduce his time limit any more than the pit already does.
Trying for the sword would've been no help either. Even if Kaien managed to curl his fingers around the hilt and slip it out of the scabbard, the angle of his wrists made it impossible for any practical use. The bindings were too constricting for much more than simply holding it, which means cutting himself free is firmly off the table. He abandons that avenue fairly quickly.
For the first two hours, Kaien remained slumped against the wall of the Shattered Shaft, trying to think his way out of the situation. The pit was too vast to attempt a climb with any kind of leverage. His arms are obviously useless so he can't use the sword as an improvised climbing hook either.
He's not going to attempt running up the wall like a pea-brained lunatic, as though gravity was merely a suggestion rather than law of nature. He might be prone to a reckless streak at times but he's not an idiot, thank you very much.
After spending those two hours coming up with a whole bunch of nothing (and suffering encroachment roughly every thirty minutes), Kaien curses under his breath. He awkwardly climbs to his feet and starts to pace back and forth while he ponders the situation, interrupted by more episodes of agony which forces him to a knee. His only companions in his laps are the sound of his foot falls, enhanced by a haunting echo, and the chain gently clinking as it dragged across the rocky ground.
"Given up already?" Jinta taunts, leering.
"Strategizing." Kaien tosses back.
Kaien ignores whatever Jinta says after that and continues pacing. Less and less to think, more to alleviate his boredom.
Urahara disappeared somewhere around four hours in.
Kaien doubts Jinta would tell him where, even if Kaien said pretty please with sugar on top, so he doesn't bother asking about it.
For a hot minute, Kaien considers asking Tessai, the giant man sitting in the pit with him, for advice. He's so quiet Kaien forgets he's there half the time. His large hands are pressed together in an elaborate sign to maintain the bindings on Kaien's arms. Eventually, he decides against it. He doubts the man would help anyhow. Tessai strikes Kaien as being equally as esoteric as his boss. Any advice he'd offer, presuming he'd be inclined to offer any at all, would undoubtedly be cloaked in cryptic nonsense which would make Kaien want to bash his head against the wall.
Perhaps the most frustrating thing about this situation is precisely what he'd said to Kisuke earlier.
Kaien wants to seek out the voice, his Zanpakutou. He wants to hear her - to learn about her (because he knows in his bones the spirit is a 'her'). He wants to learn about himself and these strange new abilities he's developing. But she's receded, burying herself so deep she seems virtually unreachable.
If that's the case, then how in the hell is he supposed to coax her out? Was Kaien supposed to wait for the encroachment to take its course and pray she'll manifest to protect him again?
Or is he supposed to chase after her? And if that were the case, how is he supposed to do that?
Kaien's halfway through pacing another lap before the encroachment surges again. A big one. This time with a blistering agony that sends him toppling to his knees, onto his side, and writhing as the tiny hungry mouths eagerly chomp away. He loses five links on his chain this time and its all he can do not to bite his tongue in the seizure. The edges of his vision blurs with the pain, threatening to drag him under.
Kaien closes his eyes, steeling himself as best as he can against it. He focuses on something practical. On trying to breath through it, attempting to detach himself from the pain. He counts his breaths, slow and deliberate, clearing his mind of distractions. Like he's preparing for a swimming relay, he focuses on nothing else but control and the task at hand.
Inhale for two heart beats.
Exhale for two heart beats.
And again.
Inhale.
Exhale.
And then -
He hears splashing water, thudding rain and a turbulent ocean.
Kaien's eyes snap open with a ragged gasp finding himself laying face down in a dull sand bed, shallow water sloshing against his skin, frenzied by wind and earth tremors. He pushes himself hastily to his knees, belatedly realizing he'd used his liberated hands to do so, and looks around. He's kneeling on a small floating atoll roughly five metres in diameter suspended in the strange greyscale world he's only glimpsed in recent dreams. But its different than before. Though the world had always felt incomplete, and those blank wounds throbbed whenever he gazed upon them, the world was calm. Tranquil albeit melancholic.
This is not calm.
A punishing hail of torrential rain hammers down from a storm grey sky, shrouding the world in a dense haze. The sky islands tear out of their orbits from a billowing wind, careening into each other at blistering speeds like colliding asteroids and exploding debris in all directions. Even the blank voids in the sky throb like the worst bone-deep ache imaginable.
"Thanks for the hint." Kaien quips humourlessly to the dull pockmarked skies, struggling to his feet against the wind and rain.
His efforts are valiant but futile. The gusting wind mixed with the island quaking keeps him on his knees. He can't find his balance.
A huge bang echoes above him and on instinct, Kaien shields his head from sandstone pellets that shower down like bullets. Another pair of islands about fifty metres above him smashed into each other. A particularly small jagged piece manages to slip past his guard, clipping his ear and scoring a cut from his right temple down his cheek. They're thin cuts but bleed profusely, leaving droplets of red in the damp grey sand.
So he can get injured in this world too. Fantastic. He didn't know why he expected anything else.
Kaien's heart is pounding in his chest. He's afraid and that fear is tricking him into second-guessing himself. He swallows hard, shaking his head. Its too late to change his course now. Far too late. The only path he has left is forward. He needs to find that voice.
He needs to find his Zanpakutou.
"And if I was a gambling man, I'd say that's where I have to go." ignoring his wound and the blood trickling down his chin, Kaien crawls to the ledge and peers out below.
At the very bottom of this imaginary world is a vast choppy ocean. The storm grey water roils and churns. Waves crash against themselves, spitting up geysers of salt spray several dozens of meters high. The currents are rapidly swirling into a maelstrom of cataclysmic proportions. He can hear the distant booming of a thunderstorm, witnesses the occasional white bolt leaping between clouds or striking down another atoll.
More loud bangs ring out. More floating islands collide above and below, their shattered remnants carried away in the storm.
Before Kaien could think about how he'd avoid the exploding islands, a colossal presence surges behind him. A mighty roar rings out, a sonic boom that effortlessly cutting through the chaos.
There's no time to turn around and locate the source. A gale-force wind and a shadow swoops perilously low over the atoll, sweeping Kaien up in its wake, sending him flying helplessly into the air. He screams, flailing and toppling end over end towards the ocean.
The sky island he'd just occupied detonates after a smaller remnant strikes through the centre like a meteorite, exploding into another shower of sandstone that lends itself to the chaos. But that's not what snatches Kaien's attention. He struggles to stabilize himself and locate the source of that powerful gust. A source made easier to locate by the fact it's the only other thing in this world carrying a semblance of colour.
It's a wyvern.
A freaking wyvern!
Its body is covered by dark blue iridescent scales. Its wing membranes were a pale blue. Kaien thinks he sees white but the leviathan has vanished into the clouds before he could decipher more.
The ocean rises up to meet Kaien fast.
The resulting crash through the surface doesn't hurt anywhere near as much as it logically should and actually arrests his fall more than he'd expected, but he's swept up by the currents. Under the rampaging ocean's surface, the sea floor is littered by coral spires, wretched forty five degree angles from the sheer force working against them. Kaien struggles to reach out and manages to hook his arms on one. It jars both his shoulders and scratches up his hands raw, but its solid enough that he can safely anchor himself.
He doesn't realise until after he's managed to safely climb down to the sandy ocean floor that he's still breathing. Breathing the water as easily as air. Around him, chunks of sky island sink and wedge themselves into the sands. Beyond them, Kaien can see the water swirling into a tall vortex of power. Likely the source of the maelstrom and precisely where he has to go.
Kaien brushes the blood off his cheek with the back of his hand, grumbling, "She's not making this easy."
Nor should he have expected it to be simple. He figures this is a test.
His Zanpakutou spirit might want to know the extent of his determination. To see how far he's willing to go to gain his powers. To see if he has the guts to do what it takes. To that end, she may even be trying to kill him. And at that thought, shockingly enough he chuckles to himself.
Ichigo risks his life every day against Hollows. For Rukia, it was basically her job description. What good could Kaien do if he couldn't match the wager?
All he has to do is make it over there.
Kaien presses on. Pushing through the forces trying to keep him at bay for what seems like hours, but for all he knew it could've been minutes.
A particularly fierce change in current batters him, knocking him to his knee before sweeping him aside into one of many dark alcoves that litter the landscape. What's puzzling about this one is the fact its shockingly stilled and calm. Paradoxically so. As if the outside currents can't touch this sanctuary. Inside it, framed by it, is a smooth wall of glassy darkness that refracts a peculiar inner light in unusual subtle patterns.
An instinct warns Kaien away from it. Warns him that this is dangerous. Perhaps the most dangerous thing he's seen so far despite its deceptively inoffensive appearance. But curiosity spurs him forward and he draws closer.
The patterns are... almost hypnotic. Hauntingly so.
Kaien is transfixed on it to the exclusion of everything else. He can make out a smoggy figure inside. Black. Made of blackness it seems. He can tell it's extending a hand out to him, reaching out for help (or perhaps beckoning him closer).
Without realizing it, Kaien lifts his own hand, as if in a trance, to touch the flat plain. His fingers barely caress the surface -
The wyvern crashes down in front of him, between him and the alcove with the glassy black plain.
The shockwave knocks Kaien back, snaps him out of it. He doesn't know what came over him, but whatever influence had bewitched his senses is gone. When he recovers and looks up, he discover to his horror that the wyvern is a hollow.
The white he glimpsed before is the bone white of their ubiquitous masks. This one has a plated jaw with sharp elongated fangs that seemingly seal the fearsome row of teeth shut. A pair of horns rise up from the mask like a jagged crown. Its scales are iridescent navy blue that shimmer with a bioluminescent light and at the end of each talon are glossy black nails as long as Kaien is tall. There's a hole in its chest, just below where its neck meets its torso.
The hollow opens its frightening maw and bellows a mighty roar.
Kaien scrambles to his feet and bolts, sprinting as fast as he can as the Hollow snaps its teeth at him.
Behind him, the wyvern howls contemptuously. Its barbed tail obliterates the alcove and shadowy glass within. As if to punctuate its displeasure, the ground behind Kaien collapses into a bottomless chasm, sinking the remnants forever.
Heart pounding, legs pumping and determined not to end up as lunch, thank you very much, Kaien keeps sprinting down the path. Sprinting against the current that batters him like a fierce wind. He stumbles, pushed by blind panic over reason, but rushes on.
There's a drop off-ahead, the only place he has left to go. Kaien drops, skidding towards it and sliding down a steep incline. Fast. Too fast. It comes to an abrupt halt but momentum carries Kaien forward. He tries to tuck and roll onto the flat bank to limited success and tumbles onto soft sand, landing face down in the soft sand. He groans in pain, taking a moment to rest.
At least the water's calm here, wherever 'here' is. The perfect opportunity for a breather.
Then Kaien notices that, unlike the rest of this grey world, shimmering blue lights dance around this pit. It's the third thing inside this world to show colour.
Rolling onto his side, Kaien spots the source immediately.
Somehow, he's made his way to the centre of this crater, to the source of the maelstrom. At the base of the freak water event, perfectly still atop a stone pedestal, is a trident.
A sleek crystalline trident that's a unique combination of a trident, spear and a chinese halberd. Pale blue haft, gleaming silver spear head and a navy horse-hair tassel. It shimmers with magnificent power, illuminating its surroundings like a winking star.
He stares at it with awe.
This must be his Zanpakutou.
Well. That's one problem solved.
Onto problem two: Kaien knows he needs to get that damn spear or he'll decay into a Hollow. The question is, how?
Another roar sounds like a thundercrack and he jumps out of his skin in fright when that same hollow wyvern crawls towards the lip of the crater, peering down at him. Its razor shape talons curling at the edge. Those piercing glowing green eyes zero in on him, never leaving him for a second. But instead of lunging at him, taking advantage of weak prey as hollows are prone to, it curiously remains at its perch. Instead it starts making slow meticulous progress around the crater, circling the pit like a sadistic monster playing with its food... or a mutated guard dog.
Kaien frowns, willing his pounding heartbeat to slow.
Not that he's complaining or anything, but it has him dead to rights. Why isn't it attacking him?
Is it because it knows the Zanpakutou is sitting right there?
If that's the case, Kaien better grab it before the hollow gets any funny ideas. He charges towards the vortex. Perhaps unsurprisingly, a barrier of lashing water tendrils surges to life, snatching him by the ankle and hurling Kaien away. His back slams into the sand five metres away, knocking the wind out of him.
Oh, this is a joke.
This has to be a joke.
Kaien recovers and tries again.
The same result. This time, he's tossed towards the lip of the crater, leaving him skidding down the slope. Has he seriously come so close only for the trident to reject him?
His mouth drops open, dumbfounded. He glances around the crater. Though small, some chunks of the sky islands managed to sink this far down, past the tempest above. He scopes a fragment off the ground, about twice the size of his fist, and hurls it at the barrier. A tendril snatches it, hurling it back at the speed of a bullet.
Kaien dives out of the way to avoid getting hit, staring incredulously at the vortex.
"Are you kidding me?! What the hell am I supposed to do now?!" He explodes, outraged.
There's too much force holding him back, tongues of water whip and lash at everything within reach. Even if Kaien could get past that barricade, the tidal currents beyond would tear him to shreds.
Has he seriously come all this way just to fail at the final obstacle?
What the hell is this bullshit?!
Kaien growls in frustration, gritting his teeth in anger.
... No.
No. Getting angry won't help him here.
Kaien takes a couple seconds to calm himself. He leans down, hands on his knees to breath. He needs to cool his tempers and think. Really think. The scenario only seems impossible because he's worked himself up into a frenzy over it. Plus being battered from... everything else. He needs to slow down. To pick it apart piece by piece.
There is a solution. All he needs is the patience to find it.
But something does occur to him. Two things, actually.
This place... its in his mind. Or in his spirit. Which means everything here should be a product of his own making, subconscious or otherwise. In which case, his first question is this where is the woman's voice (he's found a trident, he hasn't found her)? Followed by the second; why is a hollow here?
His focuses on the most immediate one; the Hollow. What is its purpose - the meaning of it? Is the beast a warning? Is that what he'll become if he fails this task?
That giant masked leviathan has been hounding his steps since he entered into this half-shattered world. Was it hunting him in anticipation of that outcome? Driving him closer to that edge intending to push him into damnation and assuming control? Does it intend to go on a rampage and -
No, Kaien recognizes it abruptly, straightening up.
Yes, the Hollow had pursued Kaien as a haunting specter, but only made its presence truly known when he was in peril. Either from his own inaction or when he was about to misstep and plummet into the endless abyss. Those scares propelled him forward or warded him back onto the path. And that path led him here, to this dark space and that trident.
… Its been trying to help him.
Obliquely, yes, but even so.
But why? Does it want the trident too?
The leviathan continues to circle the crater lip like a predator, observing.
Anticipating.
In a flash of insight, Kaien comes to understand a fundamental truth about this situation. He's not meant to overcome this challenge. Not alone. He's only a human with a human's capabilities and weaknesses, but that hollow has strength and ferocity in ample supply. Its armor-like scales could easily withstand those whipping tendrils. Those massive wings could glide unimpeded through the vortex to the trident at the center.
Outlandish as it sounds, the only option Kaien sees to move forward is to barter with it. The problem is there's nothing to batter with. He has no cards to play. Nothing in his possession would interest the creature. Except...
Well. There is one thing.
The only thing he's got.
Kaien remembers something that Rukia and Ichigo told him weeks ago, when they saved Orihime from her brother. He remembers that night at the premiere when Don Kanoji accidentally decayed that poor soul into a Hollow.
Its a reckless gamble, but at this point what has he got to lose?
"Hollows are souls who've lost their hearts. You're not monsters, not really. Just the lost and the forgotten. That's why you lash out. You're wounded. And there's no other way for any of you to channel your pain," Kaien sounds far more confident than he feels. He swallows hard, "Lend me your strength."
The wyvern halts, fixating on him with that predatory gaze. It seems like it can understand Kaien. A promising start. "I know you can fly through this place unhindered. Call me crazy but I think something like this would be simple for you. I obviously can't do it on my own. I'm asking you to please lend me your strength."
Kaien extends his open hand to the wyvern with his offer. "In exchange... I'll be your heart. Do you understand me? I'll take on the burden of your pain and anger. Your agony will be mine. Your suffering. Your misery. Everything that's made you hurt. Everything that's caused you to grief, I'll take it all and shoulder the burden with you - but only if you'll help me in return."
The wyvern doesn't move an inch.
Kaien's eyes soften, "I'll do everything I can to help you, I promise. Even if it costs me my life. So, please help me."
The beast rears up on its hind legs, roaring. Shockwaves ripple through the ocean water, powerful enough to disrupt even the maelstrom surrounding the trident. With a flap of its great wings, it swoops from its perch towards him. Its huge jaws open wide, ready to devour him whole.
Guess that's a no.
Well... shit. Kaien closes his eyes and braces himself for death.
Kisuke peers down at the pit. Seventeen hours and fifty two minutes have elapsed since Kaien first leapt into the Shattered Shaft. The teenager hasn't moved or spoken for the last two. Not a peep save for the unconscious grunts and groans of pain from the encroachment. The former Captain recognizes a Jinzen meditative state when he sees one.
Yet another interesting feat to add to the expanding list.
While Kaien was in the Shattered Shaft, Kisuke took samples of the lingering hollow reiatsu from his shoulder wound and body to construct a special gigai completely identical to the empty human shell. Kisuke created a facsimile of a broken chain of fate by salvaging pieces still attached to Kaien's physical body.
There's a popular hiking trail that Isshin informed him about, a regular albeit dangerous route that Kaien enjoys camping out on with his friends. Treacherous enough that a wrong slip could end with a broken neck. Add to that, Kaien's naturally high spiritual energy, and all the elements come together to paint a convincing narrative.
That Kaien was hiking the trail and a hollow spotted him. Hunted him through a particularly slippery stretch of track.
As sure footed as the boy is, panic can and does lead to mistakes, especially at night where visibility is near zero. Kisuke staged the scene making it appear the Hollow had slashed Kaien while he fled, knocking him down the steep hill, with a deep bloody gash on his back that murdered his mortal body. And the broken chain of fate to sell the idea he was devoured shortly thereafter. Kisuke even used bait to lure a huge hollow to the area to seal the deception.
One convincing enough to pass any passive scrutiny. The advanced team had found the gigai as planned, found the hollow that apparently devoured him, killed it, made note of the location and then disappeared. By the time the two offices retrieve Kuchiki and inform the Omnitsukido of the body's location for disposal, humans would've already discovered it, moved it and laid it to rest.
At least that's what they'll assume.
In reality, the inbuilt self-destruct mechanism would activate and the gigai would disintegrate harmlessly into dust in a couple hours, leaving behind no evidence of its existence.
It's simple but quite effective.
Kisuke watches the unconscious teenager. Another cycle of encroachment has begun. But something's changed.
Kisuke raises an eyebrow when he senses the ripples in his reiatsu signature and then the encroachment abruptly halts. Not receding into a dormant cycle, but frozen as if the entire process is paused.
The chains start glowing then explode, link by link, until it reaches his chest. Then a larger explosion of reiatsu, somewhat unrefined but powerful. Something shoots up from the pit and lands with a mighty crash a few metres away. Kisuke shields Jinta from the blast wave and the dust.
When the smoke clears, its like seeing a ghost. Kisuke doesn't let that thrill of surprise or shock show anywhere on his cool calculated expression but it does feel like he's taken a step back through history.
Kaien Kurosaki stands there adorned in a shinigami's shihakushou. His sheathed Zanpakutou clutched in his right hand.
Despite the triumph, Kisuke thought the boy's reaction would be to celebrate his success. And with just over two days to spare, but he's not. Instead, Kaien plops himself down, panting lightly and wincing with his fingers brushing against his chest. "God... that felt like the mother of all heart attacks."
"Congratulations are in order. You've successfully awakened your Shinigami powers." Kisuke announces enthusiastically, but it feels forced given how hunched the young man is. In a more serious tone, he probes carefully. "How do you feel?"
The boy's pale. It looks like he wants to be be sick and he doesn't answer immediately. "I just need a minute." He manages, running a hand through his hair. He glances to the side, to his fallen sword and holds it up for inspection. "I guess my Zanpakutou likes her new house. She's redecorated. The tsuba's changed."
"Indeed." Kisuke agrees then offers him a hand. Kaien takes it and allows himself to be hoisted to his feet.
"Very well then. Since you've successfully completed your first lesson, we'll jump right into lesson two." Kisuke declares. "Shall we get started? Or would you prefer a moment to recompose yourself first?"
Kaien seems as though he's about to agree but hesitates.
"In a minute, I um... I realise this is probably a really stupid question, and you'll probably laugh at me, but I have to ask it anyway," Kaien glances down at his sword perplexed before addressing Kisuke again, "Are Zanpakutou tamed hollows?"
Author's note:
Kaien's got his powers and now and the aftermath of the whole attack comes next chapter. :)
Regards,
Aurora313
