"You're late." That was all the warning he got before he was dragged out of the church. The slinky red head grabbing him by the wrist the second she saw him. Ichigo only looked back at him once before running. A smirk gracing her lips as she did. She hadn't really expected Grimmjow to show up. Grimmjow just groaned before running after her instead of letting her drag him. It seemed she was much stronger than she looked. He followed her to the best of his ability, speeding up whenever she did. It wasn't long before he noticed the forest was a complete blur, Grimmjow was running so fast it felt like he was flying. It was exhilarating. Laughing he sped up, wanting to test the limits of his powers. Keeping track of the red head by smell alone once he overtook her. Her scent was the same as the earth right before rain, it was pleasant.
"I didn't think I could run so fast," he murmured, leaning against a tree to catch his breath. Ichigo had led him to a small cave, it was quite deep in the forest, deeper than he had ever been actually. She put a finger to her lips walking towards the cave entrance. The smell of candles invaded the air, and under it was the slightest hint of damp moss and water. Somebody must have been living in the cave, there was probably more than meets the eye to the cave. As they got closer he noticed a small flickering light in the opening. Ichigo only offered him a slight smile in reassurance before ducking inside. He followed cautiously. In the middle of the cave was an old man, a very old man. Grimmjow could smell it actually, like the musty scent of old books, it was unusual.
"Hello Grandfather," Ichigo said, bowing before sitting off to one side. The man smiled, eyes crinkling in the corners, mouth hardly visible due to the beard. Something about him felt familiar, like he was your own grandfather, it eased Grimmjow's nerves.
"I see you've brought me someone new, been awhile since the last one my child. You can visit me without a reason though, I would love to see more of you Ichigo. Call me Grandfather Son, my name can no longer be pronounced in your language," he said, putting about the fire, collecting various bowls, dried plants and a few bones. He patted Grimm on the head in passing. He was surprised the old man could move so well, he looked a little like a mummy.
"'M Grimmjow." Grandfather smiled again, pulling out a cushion and sitting it next to him, gesturing for the boy to sit down.
"Good sense of smell this one has, even before his blood line was unlocked," he murmured, dipping a finger in dark blue paint, drawing a line from between his brows to the tip of his nose. Grimm scrunched up his nose a little bit but tried to keep still, he had no idea what was happening but it seemed to be of some importance.
"Got a good pair of eyes on you, still find it freaky that you can see things so clear and wake up terrified some mornings. Close em for me." More paint, dots on his eyes lids. It felt weird.
"Thank you, you can open them now. You're a smart boy and respectful, before you met her and believed in her, you showed respect. She likes you for that Grimmjow. I know that you are not a fan of this new life style but I think it will come easier to you then most because of your basic nature," he said, drawing a symbol on his forehead as he spoke in a teal colour. Wiping his fingers on his jacket he grabbed the young man's hands, looking at his palms. His past lay out before him to see and hints of what the future held but the boy did not want to know this, he could see it in his palms.
"You're a fan of adventure and diving into the unknown. That's nice, been a while since I found someone who thought like that. People these days are so afraid of the unknown that they beg for answers. Pick one of the bones out," he said carefully laying out the bones one by one before the boy. Grimmjow watched as he did, wondering what the meaning behind the bones were. There were about seven in total, no two alike and they looked really old. Grimmjow tried to look at each carefully, he didn't want to rush into anything but his gaze was always drawn back to the littlest one of the lot. It was about an inch wide and maybe two inches long, his guess was that it was a knuckle from an animal. Reaching for it he hesitated wondering if he was meant to pick it up, grandfather nodded encouraging at him to do so.
"Now place it in the fire." So he did, wondering again its purpose.
"This will help determine your unique ability," he answered seeing the questions in his eyes.
"Every demon has one." At this Ichigo pulled the necklace from around her neck showing him the little black pendant of a monster like creature. She returned it to around her neck, making sure it was hidden from view.
"I can transform into a ferocious beast at will, something much larger than my little tabby form. Szayel can hypnotise people with his eyes, I know a deer demon who can make plants grow by touching them and a dolphin demon who can teleport via bodies of water." Grimmjow looked excited after hearing that, like a kid at Christmas. His gaze turned towards the fire, wondering how that little piece of bone could tell him what his magic power was.
"Would you like to hear about our beginnings while we wait?" He asked, managing to pull Grimmjow's attention from the fire. Grimm nodded curious about how demons came about.
"The earth was not always so large, people were a minority and animals were monsters. Those who walked the earth formed villages of groups that numbered no more than 50 and they almost never came upon outsiders or other villages. One particular group with roughly 30 people settled down in a forest that surrounded a mountain side. This very forest actually, this cave is the last of their dwellings and where the village stood trees now stand but that is the nature of all things." Grandfather paused a fond smile on his face, it made Grimmjow wonder how old he actually was.
"Any ways this group were the first people to worship our goddess, having found a statue of her in the middle of a clearing, they decided to ask her for protection and guidance. They were the first to sow the earth and live peacefully with their surroundings and for a few years it was a good peaceful life. Then a monster they had never seen before attacked, it almost destroyed them. They prayed for the goddess for the power to protect themselves against the monster, laying tribute at her feet. And she appeared before them, asking if they were willing to give up their humanity in order to protect themselves. They said yes, though not everyone gave up their humanity, the elders of the village decided they would be everyone's source of humanity. She blessed those who did and told everyone to think of their favourite animal and right before their very eyes they transformed into the animals they were thinking off. She taught to control these new abilities and how to manipulate energies, they soon began to focus on one ability and thus these individual powers. Any children born after the blessing also could transform and the villagers were overjoyed by this. No matter how powerfully they got they still didn't kill the monster only killing when they needed it and always made sure to use the entire animal. They called themselves shifters and for almost a decade they lived peacefully. One day two travellers from the south stumbled upon the village, the men came with weapons that the villages had never seen before and these men were amazed with how the villages lived thinking it pathetic to show an animal mercy. The villagers just smiled, saying everyone was different and let the men rest in their village. On the second night into their stay the monster appeared and they witnessed the villagers transforming into animals to drive the monster back. Intrigued they asked how the villagers came across these powers and of course they explained their goddess blessed them, they didn't see the harm in telling these strangers about her. The strangers decided to stay wanting to obtain these powers for themselves. They prayed, but it had no meaning to it and they offered tribute but the goddess never showed herself to them. Then one day a young child placed tribute before the statue, just a small apple and some cheese. They laughed, thinking the goddess wouldn't show for something so small. But she did for the child has made the cheese himself and tended the trees that yielded the apple, she found that the best tribute was something the villages grew themselves it showed their devotion. In anger they grabbed the young child, threatening to kill the child if she didn't give them the same powers as the other villagers. And she did, instantly regretting it but she couldn't take back the gift she had given. They thought of the most horrific monsters they knew, the villagers transformed hoping to chase them away but the pair almost destroyed them, there was nothing the villagers could do but retreat and let the men go. It wasn't long before the strangers returned with troops, weapons and cages. They enslaved everyone, the old and the young. It didn't matter they wanted that power for themselves. The women were raped, forced to have babies, the men sold as slaves and the elderly were killed if they didn't sell quick enough. Men brought the shifters for their private armies and soon a horrible war began and that was where the name demon came from. They were told if they could kill a thousand men on the battle field that they would be released from slavery but that was a lie and they believed it. The villagers truly gave up their humanity when that war began. The goddess watched for years in sadness, then finally she had enough. She stopped the war, gathering up all the remaining shifters and cursed them with longevity, the men who started this thought it was grand now they wouldn't die but it meant the chances of successful pregnancy were very low. The goddess also removed the shifters from the human's world, separating them completely and placing the shifters back in the village where it all started. A pact was made between the shifters and the goddess. 'If you wish to keep living past this meeting then you cannot leave this village for the next ten years, a perimeter has been set and if you pass it you will die'. Peace slowly returned to the two races, demons almost forgotten about and when the decade ended she returned to the village, to find only one boy remained. The second the barrier dropped the others fled sick of a village they had no ties to. The boy that remained was the last of the original shifters and felt that if he left the village behind his people would be forgotten. The goddess asked if he would like to remain there forever as a Wiseman to guide the new shifters and a reminder of the terrible past that had befallen them. He agreed to it and has been living in the village ever since." Grimmjow started at grandfather amazed because he realised the boy in the story was him. Just as he was about to ask him something the fire exploded, blinding him and everyone else. When the light dimmed again he noticed Grandfather was offering him something, he tentative held out his hand wondering if it was the piece of bone he had stuck in the fire. It was.