15: GRAVE'S END - [Torn Apart]

Funerals felt weird.

They always had, to Ichigo.

The pitter-patter of the cool rain was a nestling blanket of white noise over the graveyard. The fresh scent of the rainwater mingled with the damp petrichor of the upturned soil in front of the tombstone. Amber, it read. The newly-hewn marker was slick with rain, dug just next to her parent's graves. For all its advanced technology, Remnant still partook in a simple coffin and burial with a couple shovels.

Rivulets of the moderate downpour, not light enough to ignore, nor heavy enough to liquefy the matted grassy earth and have dress shoes sink into mud, ran off of the pitch-black umbrella Ichigo gripped upright, over himself. It was provided by Ozpin, along with the sable-dark suit he was wearing. A brand-new shirt, pair of trousers, formal shoes, belt, blazer and tie; -all in black. It didn't feel so much like a gift, as much as a uniform he was expected to wear for the event. He could understand, and would've worn something like it anyways if he had a choice.

Funerals had always felt weird, he reflected.

It probably came with being spiritually aware from birth. Seeing ghosts had been a part of Ichigo's life for as long as he could remember. So, naturally, this made funerary rites very strange, from his perspective. He hadn't been to many, only a handful, but even so he could remember at least a couple where the guy getting buried himself turned up to watch. And wasn't that a surreal experience? For a time, he hadn't really seen the point of even holding a memorial for someone who in most cases hovered a few feet over your head. But then...

Then Grand Fisher happened.

And when he never saw his mother again, even as a spirit, Ichigo learnt why people held memorials.

His dad had told him at one point, how he'd been the one to finish off Grand Fisher in the end. He'd been glad. Isshin deserved the closure, as did he. But, it also meant that even if the hollow had been purified, his mother's soul wouldn't be showing up in the Rukongai or anything. She'd been consumed. A bitter part of him had wished he'd been the one to kill the monster, the disgusting weakling who wasn't even a menos, with his matrilineal Quincy blade that would ensure its soul was forever extinguished.

-But his father was probably just as mad as he was, and Ichigo had been the one to finally kill Yhwach in the end. He shouldn't think that way; it wasn't healthy. And no matter what, none of that changed the facts, anyway; Masaki Kurosaki was truly gone.

So, even if funerals felt weird, Ichigo understood them.

The morning, for everyone else, was a sombre affair. A few tears were shed by her old team, one that Amber hadn't seen in a few years since going solo, and Ozpin stood amongst a couple Beacon staff to oversee the rites.

As for Ichigo, he didn't feel that sad, not really; he knew Amber had passed on properly at least. Well, at least he thought she had, but Ozpin's words yesterday had thrown all that into whack. Maybe he could try spirit ribbons? But what would he even do if he found the new maiden? ...He'd think of that when he got to it.

Most of the funeral was spent with his thoughts swirling like the puddles on the cobblestones under the driving shower. As the service concluded, and Ozpin directed him over under an umbrella, Ichigo spied a man at his side.

He was as tall as Ichigo, with spiky grey-black hair, combed back. Faded blood-red eyes watched him approach, and the light stubble on his chin made him look like he lived in a strangely well-kept van. His arms were crossed over his chest, clad in a two-toned grey dress shirt with long tail, and a black lining to its collar and the sleeves rolled up his forearms. He wore matching black dress shoes and trousers, but Ichigo couldn't tell whether that was for the burial today or just his usual outfit.

As Ichigo walked up to them, the man gestured with his right index finger, which he noticed had a ring on it, matching the two others around his ring finger, and the crooked cross-shaped pendant on his neck.

"This is the guy I'm supposed to be escorting?" he scoffed, "Considering what you want us to do Oz, he doesn't seem like enough."

"And a hell-o to you too, jackass." Ichigo snarked back.

"Well, that's what we're here to find out, Qrow." Ozpin pitched. "Greetings, Ichigo. This is Qrow Branwen, my right hand man and one of the most skilled huntsmen on the face of Remnant. You remember STRQ, don't you? This is Yang and Ruby's uncle. Qrow, this is Ichigo Kurosaki. You already know what I've told you about him."

"Right, the bullhead should be here to pick up any time now, c'mon." Qrow turned away and began walking to the cemetery gates, his footsteps lazy over the rain-dampened stone path.

Ichigo looked at Ozpin, a questioning gaze in his amber-brown eyes. Ozpin knew what this was about.

"Don't worry, Mr Kurosaki. Upon completion, the money we agreed upon will be transferred to your account."

"Sweet." That was all he needed to hear. Ichigo strode off after the man, keeping his umbrella steady over his horned head.

The doors to the bullhead opened, in a flat space footed with gravel, surrounded by trees and grass. Turns out that even though Vale was a walled kingdom, not all of it was one giant megacity. There weren't enough people to necessitate buildings covering every inch of land inside the walls. This meant plenty of green spaces, like the one the cemetery was built inside. Ichigo could appreciate it.

Climbing up the metal steps after the man, Ichigo shook off his umbrella over the side, before closing it and putting it on a seat. The bullhead's door sealed shut behind him.

Qrow threw a backpack at him. "Gear up. Oz told me you don't need anything else."

Ichigo opened the bag, to find a... packed lunch? "...Thanks." Then again, with his combat pass in his suit's pocket, it really was all he needed.

As he pulled on the backpack, he glanced over to find Qrow pulling on a tattered scarlet cape-scarf and black wristband. He pulled out a singled-edged mechanical sword, short and folded like some sort of giant box-knife, with a dark red handle and patterned metal running up the side. Two blades ran down in front of the handle, like sharpened guards. The part where the hilt connected to the silver blade had a circular mechanical structure built-in instead of a crossguard.

Probably another one of those mecha-shift weapons, he noted as he felt the aircraft take off. Maybe he could ask for a spar, after the job?

The man turned to look at him expectantly. "...Well?"

Ichigo reached into his pocket, and pulled out his combat pass. The white armour enhanced his suit in a matter of moments, fusing with his clothing under the fabric. The machete popped out from the fullbring's focus.

Qrow gave him a milquetoast once-over. "...That little butter-knife won't be much help where we're going, Itch. You want something like Harbinger, here."

"Itch?" he groused. Better than strawberry, at least? ...Sort of? 'Itch' just sounded unpleasant, instead of cutesy.

"Alright, how about..." Ichigo flashed, light engulfing the high-flying cabin for a moment. Qrow blinked away the light to see his temporary charge in a black kimono-like outfit, with a neck guard and a massive, bandaged sword slung along his back. The backpack in the sword's place had vanished. Ozpin had told him of this, so he took it in stride. The oddest details were how he now had twin horns, what looked to be tattoos on his chest and hands, and a coal-black left eye with a topaz-yellow iris. But then again, he turned into a bird himself, so he was hardly one to talk.

"Better..." Qrow began, "...but you're gonna need more."

Ichigo gave him a stink-eye, flashing back into his human state. "You'll see more. That's why you're here, isn't it?"

Qrow got down, and laid back against the plush seats of the bullhead. He closed his eyes, relaxing. "I'm here because I was promised a fat paycheck for keeping an eye on you, and making sure you don't get yourself killed. My nieces would probably get bummed out about a friend biting it." he shuffled against the cushions. "Get comfortable. It'll be your last chance for a long while."

Ichigo huffed, not wanting to even bother arguing with the guy, and reclined too. Not long after losing track of time, he opened his rested eyes and sat up to find an alert Qrow. It seemed the older man had pulled up a hood from his frayed red cape.

His eyes tracked to the door, and so did Ichigo's, to watch as it opened, not over land, but to thin air under a rainy sky.

They were expected to airdrop in. This wasn't surprising; given what he'd heard of Mountain Glenn, landing would basically be tantamount to a death sentence for the pilot. When his eyes didn't betray any sense of surprise, Qrow frowned disappointedly as he got up.

"You're not scared?" Qrow made his way to the open door, the rain lashing down just outside. "Pah, no fun. You remember what we're doing?"

"Of course." Ichigo walked up to his side. "Do you?" We're clearing out the grimm here."

"From a sector of the city, yes." Qrow nodded along. "We can't let them get too uppity, so close to Vale. That's where we come in, for a payment of ten thousand lien each. You're meant to show me what you got."

"A sector?" Ichigo raised a eyebrow at him incredulously, "Nah. We're clearing out the whole thing, for a couple million. I asked how much I'd get if I did."

Qrow slapped him on the shoulder and grinned. "Don't kid around. Oz was probably messing with you. I know he doesn't seem the type, but trust me, I know him. I just wanna see if you got guts."

"Nah," Ichigo rebuked, leaning over the edge and peering down at the ruined city below. "I'll get this done in a day. You just sit back and watch."

Qrow's grin died a grisly death. Kinda like the faunus in front of him, if he couldn't shake some sense into him- right now.

"You're serious, aren't you?"

"You bet." Ichigo jumped out. "See if you can keep up."

"Wait!" Qrow saw the bright-haired ginger diving down, and leapt out after him without hesitation. "I didn't wanna see your guts like that!"

- –—{}—– -

Ichigo rocketed down from the sky, like an inbound missile.

The rush of the wind buffeted his ears and hair, and he reached into his pocket to enter his shinigami guise as he fell.

The view of the fallen cityscape from above reminded him of the sight of the Soul Society when he'd returned from the Royal Palace. Only this time, it was much closer up, and it looked even worse.

It was straight up post-apocalyptic. The buildings were all stripped bare, skeletons of concrete and nothing else, the dead bones of a place that was hard to imagine as alive and thriving at any point in its history. The streets were cracked and ruined, lamp posts upturned, and it was all so very... grey.

Ichigo spotted what appeared to be a monstrous, black elephant with a white mask out of the corner of his vision, and flickered over just above it. An explosion rocked its skull, a flaming blow cast from his partner behind him. Spinning his sword off his back, the blade flared with black reiatsu as the bandage unfurled.

"Bleach... Zangetsu!"

The was no discernable span of time between those words and impact. Ichigo released his shikai, and the menos-sized grimm simply exploded. It beyond instantaneous. Faster than instantaneous. In the aftermath, he stood upright in his dark shihakushō with his waistcloth and armour, and looked around, shouldering the larger of his black-and-white blades.

The sheer silence of it all struck him.

Dead, desolate, lifeless.

Was this what could become of all of Remnant? Maybe he really should stay, and clear the very worst spots for them, at least? Like this one, for example? He could ask to get paid for it, too... maybe even in a way that he could bring the reward back home, to his family?

The rain streamed down his body, and he flared it away in a cloud of steam. He was soaked again immediately afterwards, but it was good to know at least he had a way of instantly drying off if he wanted. Water ran off of Zangetsu, down its edges in a transparent sheet. He could pass through this non-spiritual rain if he wanted to, but with Qrow here, it'd get weird real fast.

Qrow touched down a ways off, feeling like a startled rabbit.

He would've gone in with just his fullbring and tried to see what he could do to the giant elephant, but with a partner who was apparently taking this very seriously, Ichigo didn't bother holding back. He could've killed it with just his sealed state, honestly, but Qrow's comments about looking out for his safety just rubbed him the wrong way. He could still try Quincy stuff as a soul, anyway.

So, looks like it's time to flex.

- –—{}—– -

The guy had a death wish. That much was clear.

He was diving towards a twenty-story tall Elder Goliath, for gods' sake!

He hastily lobbed a high-power dust-grenade at its head, breaking its mask with a bloom of light and petals of fire.

Qrow redirected his course, aiming to land near the deranged faunus, but a burst of winds and a flash pushed him off-course and towards a nearby rooftop. Before he could even land, a flameless shockwave rocked his world, killing his momentum before he had to hastily use Harbinger to break his fall. Was his semblance acting up, again? Could he never catch a break?

Scrambling to the lip of the building, he jumped right off, touching down to find Ichigo ...standing there nonchalantly, having split his larger blade into two. He'd switched outfits too, from the looks of it. Coral-red pauldrons protected his shoulders, held by a bone-white strap that matched his new waistcloth.

"You... killed it?"

Ichigo turned to find his 'escort' drawing near. "Duh. What else?"

"That..." he blinked, rubbing at his face. "...okay, I can see why you're allowed to be here, now. At least I won't have to worry about you." Qrow pulled out his scroll, holding it up to his temporary partner and showing the map. "You see this? I'm told you're smart, sharper than most. Show me the way."

Ichigo put on a wry smile. "You're trusting me this much already? I'm touched."

"Don't get a big head." he admonished. "I'm told you're stronger than most huntsmen, at an age when you'd still be in an academy. What you just did proves it. -But that's just it, you're a huntsman, not a god. Make sure you act like it." he prodded at Ichigo's chest.

"You'd be freaking surprised..." Ichigo muttered cryptically, leading ahead. "C'mon then, we've got a lot of ground to cover." he walked away, sheathing his swords over his back and at his left side. He raised his arms into the air, gesturing to the streets around them. "Especially if we're gonna clear the whole city!"

Qrow shook his hooded head, reaching for the flask in his belt. It didn't slosh, the bottle still too full for that. Careful not to let the rainwater inside, he took a swig, then put the metal flask back. He needed that one. This was gonna be a hassle, he could tell that much.

In a few bounds, he caught up with Ichigo, getting his attention with the crunch of his shoes against a wet patch of gravel underneath.

"You're actually gonna try to clear out Mountain Glenn alone? There's just the two of us here, Itch. Armies have tried, and failed."

"I can, and will." Ichigo affirmed unflinchingly. There was no doubt in his voice, as his mismatched eyes searched the barren rainy streets ahead. "You got any surefire methods to attract grimm? Like bait?"

"What, you mean negativity? Why the hell would you want them to find us first?" Qrow exclaimed. "I'm taking back charge, move over."

"Move over!?" Ichigo objected, "I haven't even found anything yet! We'll be fine. Now, let me just drudge up some bad memories..."

"Nope, nope, stop- stop it right now you absolute psycho-"

A spine-chilling screech had Qrow turn about face instantly.

A flying creature, black as night, its feathered wings splayed out as it cawed sharply, flapped over the two men. Its head was that of a monstrous masked bird, with four luminous blood-red eyes casting a sickly beam through the driving rain. A quadrupedal body, with grasping, pale claws on the front, and long feet at the back, was the height of three men. A tail ending in osseous white spikes matched the white plates along the sides of its neck, and the bone-like spurs from the tops of its wings.

It was joined in the rainy sky by more than ten others of its kind, alongside a murder of more avian Nevermores. Along the floor, a pack of Beowolves crept slyly towards the duo, slinking out from the broken buildings.

"Brother of..."

"Hey, it's hardly my fault..." Ichigo grumbled, crossing his arms. "I was only thinking about the last few weeks..." he frowned mildly.

"What the heck!? What in gods' name happened to you in the last few weeks to attract a flock of Griffons in seconds!?" Qrow demanded, throwing his hands in the air. He wasn't afraid; more disbelieving than anything else.

"A war...?" Ichigo shrugged.

A screech from above stopped Qrow's retort before he could even speak it, and he shook his head, drawing Harbinger from the back of his waist with a swift flourish.

"Let's move! I'll go high!"

Qrow didn't bother to try and come up with a plan as he broke into a sprint; there was no time. They'd have to adapt on the fly.

He rushed up to the wall of a crumbling building at a great speed, reaching its base and streaking up its side with his momentum. He leapt off of it, flipping sideways and extending and smoothing out Harbinger from its box-cutter like stored form to a proper, true longsword.

His vermillion eyes focused on his flying target as he lined up his sword's single edge with his frontflip, the sheer force he was carrying spraying rainwater in a violent circle as he spun. His sword met its mark, dark feathered grimmflesh parting like paper beneath his silver blade. The Griffon's dying shriek was cut off, literally, but Qrow was not done.

His feet touched the porcelain mask of the severed avian head, and he used it as a rapidly-dissolving stepping stool to jump off of in mid-air. Several dozen metres above ground, he lined up Harbinger's dual shotgun-barrels with the face of the nearest Nevermore, and squeezed the trigger. With a ear-ringing bang, the monstrous bird's head exploded, and its body fell to the streets below.

On the streets below, Ichigo stood still, his head turned up to watch Qrow's acrobatics with an impressed face. The man could move, and his skills were undeniable by human standards. The sound of a snarl tore his attention back down, to the sight of a Beowolf lunging at him. The vicious creature bared its fangs, aiming to bite at his head, only to find itself without jaws to do so. Or a head of its own, for that matter.

Ichigo brushed it away, letting the remains of the monochrome beast crumble to wet dust with a glance. Seeing as how grimm really were soulless, there was no point in being wary of crushing their very existence with his transcendent spiritual pressure. In shikai, he wouldn't even need to draw either of his swords to erase them.

He held up a wet hand, holding his middle finger behind his thumb, and aimed it at the pack of charging Beowolves. His bicoloured gaze narrowed, and a crimson lick of thunder flickered between the tensed digits.

"Bala."

In a blink, they were gone. Blown beyond mere pieces, their soulless bodies vanished in a flash, removed from the face of the planet with a flick. Only Ichigo had seen the ethereal orb that impacted the ground between the beasts, gouging out the entire street. An explosion tore through the ruins of Mountain Glenn, wroughting the carcass of the failed city anew with a fresh wound to add to its many scars.

Qrow felt more than heard the sonic boom in the air, though his back was turned to its impact. The dust cloud it kicked up was short and low, swiftly put down by the pelting rainfall. It revealed Ichigo standing there, hand outstretched, heterochromatic eyes watching as the huntsman fell back down to the cracked stone road. Qrow made a controlled descent, using the falling body of another Griffon to slow himself, landing in a roll to aim his gunsword back upwards-

Only to find the sky was now clear. Even the rain had stopped, for a few seconds, before the driving curtains returned after a few breaths' respite.

There weren't even any sublimating remains of grimm left in the cratered street. They'd all just... vanished.

His gaze tracked back to his partner, to find Ichigo with his pure-white longsword outstretched to the side, as though he'd already swung it. When had he...?

Qrow's eyes widened, then narrowed. A single swing? Doing all that? It was ridiculous, but plausible. There had to be a reason he'd been brought along on this trip. To keep eyes on someone capable of this... it'd make sense, at least. Oz had been fairly vague in what he'd told him, other than that Kurosaki was 'assuredly capable' for the trip, and that he knew some things he shouldn't. Now he saw why. What was he? Someone with a powerful semblance, or...

"Alright, I'm done here." Ichigo returned the white hollow half of Zangetsu to his back, feeling the wet soul metal against the white straps of his armour. He flared his reiatsu briefly, drying the points of contact between them. "Let's move on."

Brushing past, Qrow fell into step behind him.

"You wanna tell me what you just did?"

"Nope." Ichigo didn't bother looking back as they strolled down the street.

"Great." the older man grumbled.

- –—{}—– -

The two of them continued their path through the city, clearing out grimm at a pace that astonished even Qrow. In truth, he could have definitely handled the group of grimm earlier by himself, but it was another thing entirely to clear them all with a single swing that he couldn't even see.

Kurosaki had since fused his blades back together, which somehow took his waistcloth and white armour with it. Dust-woven clothing? He didn't know, and didn't ask. Itch reasoned that it was "To make things a little more fun", whatever that meant. Again, Qrow didn't ask.

The duo took on horde after horde of grimm, in time moving beyond the first sector they'd been dropped into. Qrow tore through the skull of a creep, the fourth so far, and turned right to see his partner taking on a King Taijitu.

Ichigo squared up to the serpentine grimm, analysing its shape. A two-headed snake, a red-patterned masked head on each end, one black and one white. Its colour shifted from one to the other in the middle, in a chequer of scales. Unlike normal snakes, both heads had several sets of fangs each. The reptilian beast reared back, four meters high, rain steaming down its smooth scales to fall to its other contrasting half. Lamp-like carmine eyes shone in the gloomy street's weather.

A stream of acidic purple venom spewed from a gland beneath its forked, coal-black tongue, aimed right at Ichigo.

He pulled Zangetsu's flat side up to block, wrinkling his nose at the harsh acrid smell that invaded his nostrils. With a flare of unseen reiatsu, the venom was vaporised and blown away, and he threw his door-sized blade through the cloud of steam to spear the monstrous double-snake through the head. The lower half snapped at him, only to be blown apart by a blast from the right.

Ichigo craned around to find Qrow blowing off the smoking barrels of his gun in hand. The older man gave an easy smile, clearly pleased with how smooth things were going so far. The only issues had been when Ichigo was 'unlucky' enough to get hit by a falling streetlamp, that chose now of all times to break, but he just shrugged it off like a champ. That, and the sandwich Qrow dropped when they stopped to eat the lunch in Ichigo's rucksack, but that was business as usual for him.

"Is that all of them in this sector?"

Qrow considered for a moment. "Not quite. There's a herd of Elder Goliaths to the North of here. I spotted them from a rooftop earlier. Seeing as how you took one out on your own before, what's a few more? Normally, I couldn't even consider taking a kid along..." he grinned confidently. "...but you're hardly a kid, aren't you?"

"Well then," Ichigo shouldered the greatsword like it was a paperweight. "Let's see if you can keep up, old man."

"Try me." Qrow spurred, before jumping up onto a nearby lamp post. Like the boughs of a tree, he leapt from it to bound through the windowless shell of a broken building. Ichigo followed, hot on his heels.

The insides of the buildings were worse than the outside. Where the outside was barren and lifeless, the insides were messy and overgrown. The abandoned rooms were rotting and infested with pests, with ruined furniture and collapsed piles of mess that Ichigo didn't care to look at. It was lucky that anything organic had long since decayed, and the fresh rain air filled their nostrils. They reached a part where the building's outer wall had been torn clean off, exposing it to the pouring grey sky. Stopping here, they found their next target.

A herd of gargantuan grimm elephants, goliaths, according to Qrow, marched through the remains of the city. Their trumpets carried a dark tone to them, like a normal elephant's, only with a feral, malicious edge. Each of them were the size of a building at least, much like the one that Ichigo had slain on his arrival. Masks with stripes the colour of dried blood below their eyes, great white tusks, spines and plates on their bodies made of the same osseous tissue. The rest of their bodies were a pitch-black, giving them the appearance of great shadows under the stormy sky.

Stormy, because just like Qrow's luck, the weather had only grown worse in their time outside, not better. A slow, angry rumbling of thunder rolled across the land, reverberating up their feet and within the duos' chests. They could feel the charge building in the air.

"Might wanna watch that big-ol' sword of yours..." Qrow warned.

"Really?" Ichigo asked. "I mean, I know it's metal, but what are the odds of lighting striking me of all things?"

"You'd be freaking surprised..." Qrow muttered cryptically, looking ahead.

Ichigo shook away the déjà-vu, and decided to try something new.

Might as well give it a shot, now...

He sheathed Zangetsu, then clapped his hands together, palms flat against each other.

As he pulled them apart, he gathered and focused reishi into the shape of a flat, dark metallic bar. Blue-black smoke emanated from its form as Qrow watched on curiously. With a push to its side, it bent into the shape of a simple, sleek black bow. A hazy blue stand of ethereal energy formed the bowstring. A Heilig Bogen. His Heilig Bogen. Just like mom's...

Qrow let out a low whistle. "I didn't hear you could do that."

"I've been practising." Ichigo informed calmly, lining the bow up with his forearm and drawing the string back with his left hand testingly.

"Since when?"

"Here and there. In my sleep, I guess?" Ichigo replied offhandedly. He was telling the truth, but Qrow didn't know that. He relaxed the string, and asked, "You got any dust vials?"

Qrow reached into his belt, and handed over a thumb-sized glass cylinder, filled with bright yellow crystalline powder. "Here. I think this'll work just fine in his weather. Aim for a soft spot."

Ichigo thanked him, taking the vial and popping off its metal cap. The physical reishi bent to his will, shaping the argent yellow dust into an arrow, straight and true. The head was a pointed blade, and its tail was crafted in the shape of a manji. Taking the shaft in hand, he cocked it on his bowstring, and drew the bolt back to his shoulder.

His first Heilig Pfeil.

Taking a deep breath, he lined up the arrowhead with the giant eyes of a distant elephant, the nearest of the malefic herd. It was smaller than the rest; maybe it wasn't an elder one?

The Goliath, being a creature of grimm, possessed lurid eyes that radiated an evil light, especially so in the dark, driving rainfall. Its sheer size, as a colossal beast that dwarfed houses, made its eye that much of a clearer target.

Ichigo closed his eyes. Just like Old Man Zangetsu said...

He opened them, and after a moment's pause, let the thunder-arrow fly.

It streaked across the cityscape, faster than a bullet, carrying with it a sparking, electric-yellow light.

Before the Goliath could even react, it had been struck... nowhere near its eye, or face for that matter. The arrow dug into its leg, piercing its thigh and discharging in a flaring bloom of sparks and tongues of brilliant lightning.

Ichigo slumped in disappointment. "Tch, come on!"

Sure, he'd only been at it a week, but he'd hoped to at least make this shot.

"Hah!" Qrow clapped him on his slouched back. "It's alright, Itch. You hit it, at least. Hell, you even pierced its hide. Not many bullets can manage that. Now watch the fireworks."

True to his word, the ambient charge of the storm was disrupted by the blast, and it wasn't long before the stumbling Goliath felt the end results.

A crackling of sheet lightning was only the precursor, before a great bolt erupted from the roiling storm clouds above, and struck the beast below. Its leg and left side were instantly incinerated, and it collapsed to the destroyed roads with a cataclysmic crunch that echoed even to their ears, as far away as they were. It wouldn't be getting back up, and had thrown the rest of the gargantuan herd into a panic. That's one down.

"See? The rest are easy pickings- mostly. Alright, with me!" Qrow crouched, before leaping out onto a nearby rooftop, Harbinger's handle extending into a shaft, its blade curving over into a- scythe? Huh, just like his niece.

Ichigo bounded along the rooftops after him, cocking back another Heilig Pfeil, this time dustless. Approaching the nearest Goliath from above, his azure arrow struck its mask, cracking, but not piercing it completely. Dammit. Uryū would've killed it in one blow. It needed more tweaking.

Screw it. He pulled Zangetsu's body-length blade from his back, the sword whipping forth and piercing deep into the ponderous grimm's cranium. Its mask shattered, and the malicious light in its eyes dimmed. Two.

Ichigo took it as a dying footstool, and jumped up to land on the back of the next elephantine mark.

It was stomping wildly, probably from Qrow slashing at its van-sized feet from below, so Ichigo dug his sword into the hide to slide down its rain-slick flank. It opened up like a plum under a kitchen knife, only one filled with sticky, black ichor. He landed underneath, to find Qrow scything a leg off. If grimm could feel pain, this would probably be cruel, but seeing as they couldn't... well, there wasn't anyone to fault him for letting his more sadistic, hollow side shine though.

He jumped, arcing his sword over his head, the dark zanpakutō's sliver edge cleaving a line though the Goliath's stomach, letting tar-like viscera spatter out as it began to collapse. The sheer air pressure alone forced it off its feet, as it began to fall apart. Three.

Landing, then swiftly charging out from underneath the falling beast, Ichigo shared a nod with Qrow as they eyed up the next one. A flash, then reverberating boom of thunder was followed by a growing tingle in the air.

Qrow leapt upwards, landing on a tusk. Ichigo cut off a thick, bonecrushing man-sized trunk that attempted to pull him off as he wedged Harbinger's keen blade into its neck, taking full advantage of his scythe's curve. The grimm let out a wet trumpet, even as Ichigo cut at its feet, mimicking what he'd just seen Qrow do beforehand. A loud stomp from behind, the sound of a ear-splitting clap with each earth-shaking step, clued him in to the sound of another, vengeful Goliath, charging in.

"Get back!" Qrow hollered, diving down from his wounded target. Another flash illuminated the scene, lighting Qrow up underneath the wounded Goliath, and Ichigo turning his horned head to catch sight of the giant newcomer.

Ichigo didn't bother to dodge; he simply turned around, put both hands on his sword, and stepped forwards whilst swinging Zangetsu all the way. His sealed blade rose from his back, to his shoulders, to over his head-

Ichigo's vision flashed white, and his arms suddenly felt all funny. Like pins-and-needles. As he followed through with his swing, he realised it had been way, way more destructive than he'd intended. In his sealed state, and controlling his swing, he'd only intended to kill the grimm... not... well, that.

Qrow rubbed at his eyes vigorously. His red hood had been blown down, letting the rain start to fall on his head once more, and he yanked it back up as he stood again. Wait, rain? But he was under-

Oh, right. Ichigo had been struck by lightning, mid-swing. That was probably one of the worst instances of his semblance playing up, ever. Anyone else would've been dead on the spot. But not Kurosaki...

No, instead, he'd somehow harnessed the lightning, and ran it along his giant blade in a blinding, flickering display of unfathomable power. Ichigo's swing output not just his own force, but that of a thunderstrike. It was no wonder, then, that both Goliaths had been incinerated, and ripped apart by the sheer force of the mighty blow, along with a good portion of the street. At the end of the road, a building crumbled apart, collapsing into a pile of chipped bricks and dusted mortar. The rain was only now properly picking back up again, having halted completely from his gale-force strike.

"Holy- holy shi-" Qrow lurched forwards. "-Ichigo? You okay?"

"...Yeah." Ichigo replied, inspecting his unmarred hands. Wafts of smoke curled away from their tips. "What was that, exactly? It was pretty bright."

Qrow winced. "A... lighting bolt. Your sword, it, er, conducted it. Pretty good one you got there, I guess I was wrong. It seems that it's more than enough."

"Lightning, eh?" Ichigo looked upon his reflection in Zangetsu's polished edge. "I'm good. I've dealt with five gigajoules before. Pretty sure that's more than a lightning strike."

Of course, that had been in shikai, but that was probably why he was at least feeling a slight little tingling in his fingertips.

Joules? Qrow paused, before pressing on. "Either way, I'm really damn sorry. My... semblance, Misfortune, you see, I owe you an explanation about it at least."

Ichigo held up a smoking hand. "Hold it. You don't have to tell if you don't want to."

"But I do. I bring bad luck everywhere I go, and I can't turn it off. You really should've known this from the start, Itch. It would've killed you just now, if you weren't..."

"Me?" Ichigo suggested. "Don't worry about it. I am me, lucky for you, and I won't die from a little bad luck."

"Still, I'm wondering, the weather's getting real bad now." Qrow crossed his arms. "You think we should call it a night? It's getting dark, to boot."

"Really? I think we can-" Ichigo froze in place, and his countenance shifted like a switch. "Alright. Let's call it here."

"Damn, I'm impressed a guy like you knows when to call it off." Qrow nodded approvingly. "Usually the young ones are all starry-eyed and never quit. It gets 'em killed. Listen, I'll definitely put in a good word with Ozpin. And you know what? With what we accomplished today, just the two of us clearing entire sectors of the city? We really can clean up Mountain Glenn by ourselves in a few days. Next time I'll try and bring in a proper squad, and we'll take you along too. Make sure to pick up when I call in a couple days."

Ichigo was only half-paying attention. "Yeah, sure. Listen, I can make portals, but they only work for me." he lied.

"Well that came out of frickin' nowhere." Qrow jabbed. "Change topics, much?"

"Whatever." Ichigo brushed off. "Look." hiding his right hand behind his back as he briefly hollowfied it, he cast a swift descorrer to slit open a garganta through reality, behind himself.

The jagged maw through space yawned a swirling black as Ichigo stepped away, gesturing to it. His back was turned, facing away from it. "Ta-daa." He said flatly. "I'm magic. You know about that, right?"

"Yeah, I was told you're clued in on the whole 'wizard' thing, but..." Qrow mused, a hand to his chin. "You've got magic? I have no idea how that could work, but it sure does explain a lot. You wanna tell me about it?"

"Nope." Ichigo shut down. At least Ozpin told this guy about magic in the first place, though. It sure made his excuse to ditch him a lot easier to ad-lib. "I'm gonna leave through one of these. You got your own way back, right?"

Qrow peered into the angular rift. "Yeah, I do, but..." Was that something flying inside? What the hell? It kinda looked like a...

"Cool." Ichigo snapped his fingers, and the portal snapped shut behind him. "I'll take one of these. You do you. Thanks for your help. See ya 'round."

"Hold on!"

And with that, he vanished in a burst of static.

Qrow stood there, before retracting Harbinger and returning it to the back of his waist.

He reached for his belt, drawing his flask and took a good, long swig. Yeah, he'd been right. Wiping his mouth with the back of his hand, he grimaced.

This job really was a hassle.

Ichigo focused for a moment, letting the rain pass through his body.

A benefit of a spirit body, was the wilful intangibility he'd learned over time. People without enough spiritual pressure couldn't touch him, and that applied to the environment too. Otherwise, living people might notice shinigami whenever there was a gap in the rain. The thing was, on Remnant, anyone with either dust or aura could interact with him just fine. At the very least though, since this wasn't a purely spiritual realm, he could ignore the rain if he so focused.

A burst of reiatsu dried him off instantly. Then, he closed his eyes and searched.

From the start, he hadn't tried extending his senses at all, seeing as how he was here to hunt grimm, and they didn't have anything to sense.

His passive spiritual radar was far-reaching, but less sensitive than when he was actively trying to feel out. For this reason, when he picked up something weak, a signature as easy to pass-over as this one, he might miss it. And he almost did. Almost.

Wordlessly entering his shikai, Ichigo crushed any grimm he saw with a glance. Griffon, Beowolf, Goliath, Nevermore- it didn't matter. All were erased by his very presence. In a single second, he'd streaked across the fallen city, to its other end, to find his target.

A woman stood there, eyes blank, in the middle of the street. She wore a plain white dress, and her long black hair was tangled and matted. She stood there, no strength behind her stance, even as the storm winds picked up around her. Her hair didn't even move, and the rain passed right through her body; an earthbound spirit.

Of course there would be ghosts in a ruined city; it was just common sense. Traumatised ones, too, if what he'd seen inside the buildings was any evidence. He'd have to be... tactful.

No chain of fate, Ichigo noted, as he tried to get her attention. If she had one, it'd probably be wrapped around a nearby building, or hooked to the floor. A few waves from him achieved nothing. She just stared on, not turning or moving at all. Tentatively, Ichigo reached out and tapped at her shoulder-

She screamed, falling to the floor before scrambling back and bursting into tears. Crap. He hadn't meant for that reaction.

"You... you touched me?" her lungs heaved, eyes bleary.

"I'm a spirit, too." Ichigo half-explained. "-Right now, anyway. I'm sorry, I didn't mean to startle you-"

She curled in on herself, gripping her knees in a huddled ball. Ichigo just ran his fingers over the back of his hair awkwardly, as he tried to continue.

"I'm a... Soul Reaper. I can send you on to Heaven, Miss, if you'll let me?"

"You... you're the Reaper?" she repeated incredulously.

"A reaper." Ichigo clarified.

The woman's face turned from a despairing fright, to a sharp, spiteful hostile. "You're late. You're so freaking late! Where the hell were you for who knows how many decades!? Everyone left me behind!"

Ichigo was taken aback; he didn't really know what to do here. It was clear that she'd have long since turned hollow in a world that allowed it, but here, she was just left to rot and wallow in her despair. It was worse, in a way, because she didn't even have a way out of it other than to just lament and wait for herself to disappear. Ichigo was sickened by her plight, but he couldn't do anything about it, other than-

"Hey, wait, wait! What are you doing!? Don't point that thing at me!" she quailed at the sight of Ichigo drawing his longer sword, the snow-white one from his back.

"Please, just calm down lady," Ichigo hushed. "I won't send you on until you're ready. I just have to tap you with the hilt, then you'll be on your way."

"That's all?" she pressed. "After all this waiting, that's all you had to do? Why did this take so godsdamn long!?"

"I..." Ichigo began hesitatingly, "I'm new to Remnant. I don't think you actually have Soul Reapers, here. I can just speed up the natural process on this plane."

"You know what? I don't care what's going on any more. Do it."

"Right now?"

"Yes!" she snapped. "I want an out, and I need one now!"

Ichigo leaned over and tapped at her forehead with the pommel. She didn't thank him as she began to fade, instead just descending into an inconsolable mess of tears and grief. He couldn't blame her; she must've been at her wits end, being left all alone in this terrible place, for who knows how long?

With a grim expression, Ichigo closed his half-hollowfied eyes once more. A pequisa was cast across the city, relaying the exact location of every soul flame in the ruins of Mountain Glenn. Spirits were present, too many, and he'd be exorcising them all, tonight. A select few souls stood out to him. Was that one... alive?

He could feel two like it. One must've been Qrow, the guy might still be looking for Ichigo, even now. Damn, turns out he's the responsible type, even if he didn't look it. Still, all he had to do was avoid him until he was done with the Soul Burials. As for the other presence...

Looks like he had company here. He could meet whoever it was, in time, after this.

Screw 'a few days' with Qrow, he was clearing out Mountain Glenn tonight. The occupying creatures of grimm were an afterthought now, but they had to go. Just so he wouldn't have to see anything like that again.

...Maybe Remnant's version of the afterlife wasn't all that better than his own, after all?

NEXT: 16 - Wilt Cut Weed - [Requiem for the Lost Ones]

Author notes:

Yep, Mountain Glenn is gonna be multiple chapters long. Each one with something important happening in it. Just saying now, don't really think of this story in the same sense of 'Volumes' like canon, because that's kinda already out the window at this point.

Important: After re-reading the reviews, and some PMs, (I prefer reviews though) I decided to do away with most of Ichigo's 'OC'-ish shihakushō. Instead his sealed form now just looks like his fullbring shikai clothes, and his true shikai looks like his TYBW outfit. His horns are still there, and so is his hollowfied eye though. This is to make imagining scenes more streamlined for readers and myself. I went back and edited the other chapters to reflect this.

Onto the chapter: I had some fun with a double-team between Qrow and a sealed Ichigo. His sealed state to me is strong, enough to casually slay Goliaths, but I won't make him kill everything just by flexing at it like in his shikai. I wanna write some choreography. I imagine a place like Mountain Glenn is stupidly haunted, so there'll be a lot of creepy ghost stuff next chapter. You know how messed up what happened there is? It won't be pretty. I did say it'll be more complicated than just "fight this guy", remember.

On a side note, I've made it so that whenever anyone else refers to grimm by their proper names, they start with a capital letter, but whenever Ichigo directly refers to them, they're all lowercase. It's a small detail, just to show how he perceives them as something minor compared to the rest of the cast.

Thanks as always for 387 reviews, 956 favourites and 1313 follows!