Post by Galihan on Apr 12, 2009 21:23:08 GMT -4
Each step felt like an eternity coming to a close for the tired, worn-out shinigami who made his way through the white gates leading back to Soul Society. Every single step forward more satisfying than the last, the colorful world he called home coming closer and closer with the dark world of black skies and white sand disappearing into the distance. Takeshi ran as hard as he could, nothing slowing him down as he got further and further away from Hueco Mundo and back to Seireitei.
'I'm doing it all on my own. Nobody can stop me now, nothing can stop me! I'm going to be free, nothing will get in my way again!'
The bright walls of light around him did nothing to blind his vision, just emphasize the destination at the end of the long path. As he moved as fast as he could, some other shinigami would pass him, and he would catch up and pass others, all falling back to Soul Society but none were as determined as him to make it back. None of the rest had been through what he had, the trauma of being held prisoner on the other side. Sure, the treatment itself wasnt that bad, Torre having taken good care of them, but the stress of being alive with from all the massive reiatsu being thrown about was torture in itself. Sure, he managed to survive miraculously, and the amount his own power would have had to have grown in order to do so was phenomenal, but it was still more painful and overwhelming than anything he would likely ever feel again in a long time. He managed to survive it all, and he intended to push on at full force once he had a long rest to get over the stress of his confinement. He needed it greatly, as did most of Soul Society would need to recover from this ordeal.
Exiting the gate, Takeshi spilled into the crowd of retreating shinigami who were scrambling and getting organized, dozens of injured men requiring medical aid and others needing a burial. It was chaotic, hectic and disorderly, and there was little to be relieved about despite however he may have felt while still coming through. Now there was little to celebrate, and little to be glad over. Why did they go to these lengths just for him? No, that was egocentric to think about, it became clear that the real aim was not to bring him home but to just fight a pointless fight against a powerful foe. Reckless carnage with him as the excuse, he was the scapegoat for this horrid loss of so many lives. He couldn't even hear anything as the cries of pain and anguish filled the air as it wasn't long for people to see him standing out in the crowd, still and silent among the busy confusion.
Some people began to swarm around him, dragging the distraught Takeshi away from the large gate as it began to destabilize. Fighting free at that point, the young shinigami made a run for it on his own and turned back to face the portal as it happened. It looked like the world itself was falling apart as the tower erupted and the gate exploded, raging torrents of colorful energy firing in every which way and millions of shards of shrapnel scattering the across the entire region, raining down like burning blades of death.
It was likely he would join the countless injured by the shrapnel had it not been for a shinigami who specialized in kido, apparently lead a group of kido specialists, being right there when she was.
"Bakudo 73, Tozansho!"
At that moment, most of the shinigami around her, Takeshi included, were encased inside of a golden pyramid that deflected the falling debris, then fading away into nothingness as the threat of falling death was over. Takeshi could see who cast the spell but he could hear many people complimenting their vice-captain, some girl named Chiyo from what he figured. Not that it mattered, he wasn't a kido-type character himself so he'd probably never meet this girl in person.
It wasn't long before eventually he was whisked away again, this time people claiming to be in the 4th Squad, so he could be given medical treatment for his injuries. Of course Takeshi was actually not physically harmed at all, but what he needed most was rest. Lots and lots of rest. And that's what he would be granted. As soon as he was given a clean white outfit to change into and a fresh bed, he collapsed and let the problems of the world settle themselves, his mind was clear, at peace and able to drift away until he began to dream again. This time, the wouldn't be interrupted by any cataclysmic outside forces or erratic panic.
The twilit desert was draped in a rich, orange light as he stood in the middle in the dark red sand at the base of the steps leading to the giant tower he had been seeing in his dreams. The voice of the man he had pursued came echoing from the very top of the large pillar of stone, calling him to enter.
Welcome Eric, called out the voice. The time is almost upon us that you learn the true power of your zanpakuto.
Ah, so that is who you are. The messy-haired teen uttered loudly. Time to take destiny by the horns, is it?
Indeed, welcome to your inner world, the zanpakuto spirit replied. Make your way to me at the top and claim my power as your own!
The heavy stone doors of the tower slid open, and revealed a gaping pathway into the pitch darkness.
Oh that's just unfair, I guess I'll have to light my own path, won't I?
You learn quickly, excellent. Let your determination guide you and nothing will be hidden from you!
With that, a warm, green light shone from the pages of book that laid closed in front of him, begging him to take with him. Takeshi oepend the cover, and an emerald shine illuminated the stone corridors, revealing what looked like large stone pictographs telling a story. It started with a baby being born and being left to be raised by a single father, surrounded by people who looked and acted differently. And so it continued until the point that the boy was left alone, and left stranded in a world foreign to him where he died alone. He then was overtaken in sorrow of his own death and was transformed into a demon of revenge until an angel from heaven cleansed his soul and let him pass on. Then he was alone again, caught in a cycle of conflict until he found his home in the center of the world, and he began training to become an angel himself. He faced many trials, battled a few rivals and slain weak monsters until he was trapped again and taken away, alone in the world of emptiness. The story ended when he reached the top floor, and after a great calamity the story ends, the stone walls left in ruins, leaving only an opening to the top of the tower. There was nothing left predestined for the hero of this story, the rest would be up to himself to decide.
I've finally reached you, said Takeshi, the warm wind throwing his hair awry and the white and blue uniform wildly in the violent breeze. About time really, too bad you couldn't show up when I needed you back there.
If you had fully unlocked your power back there, you would get in over your head and be killed already. It truly is better this way, Eric.
If you insist, Takeshi uttered coldly. But that's the past, Hueco Mundo is the past and so is that name! Only the future awaits!
You shouldn't lie about who you really are, Eric. The zanpakuto chided sternly. You wont master your power if you cannot even know who you are yourself!
And who are you, then? Takeshi replied smugly. Care to give me that name?
Nice try, but you will have to find that out yourself. If not then you can call me whatever you want. You wont find out until you know who you are yourself.
Then let me call myself whatever I want, I know who I am! In order to fit in as much as I can, I call myself Takeshi. Im a misfit, my eyes are the mismatched, I use my left hand instead of my right, Im quiet when around are others, I love to prove my worth, I know who I am! I am what I chose to make of myself, not what I was named at least 50 years ago! I am myself, and that's fine, what I call myself is for me to decide, what do you call yourself? Who are you to say who I am?
Ever the bold one, if you carry that confidence with you forever, you will prove yourself to be invincible.
Only if you give me your name, first. With our combined strength, then we will be invincible. If you refuse to tell me your name, I'll only get stronger until you do.
And so Takeshi drifted deeper into a sleep, preparing to awaken and start another day. He would continue to push himself until he proved his determination and his zanpakuto would have no choice but to reveal it's name, and would mark the next chapter in Takeshi's tale. He would hav to finish his remaining weeks in the Spirit Academy, training nonstop to prepare himself for full-blown admission into the Gotei 13 awaited him for the true challenges ahead. He was more than ready, it was only a matter of time and doing it.
'I'm doing it all on my own. Nobody can stop me now, nothing can stop me! I'm going to be free, nothing will get in my way again!'
The bright walls of light around him did nothing to blind his vision, just emphasize the destination at the end of the long path. As he moved as fast as he could, some other shinigami would pass him, and he would catch up and pass others, all falling back to Soul Society but none were as determined as him to make it back. None of the rest had been through what he had, the trauma of being held prisoner on the other side. Sure, the treatment itself wasnt that bad, Torre having taken good care of them, but the stress of being alive with from all the massive reiatsu being thrown about was torture in itself. Sure, he managed to survive miraculously, and the amount his own power would have had to have grown in order to do so was phenomenal, but it was still more painful and overwhelming than anything he would likely ever feel again in a long time. He managed to survive it all, and he intended to push on at full force once he had a long rest to get over the stress of his confinement. He needed it greatly, as did most of Soul Society would need to recover from this ordeal.
Exiting the gate, Takeshi spilled into the crowd of retreating shinigami who were scrambling and getting organized, dozens of injured men requiring medical aid and others needing a burial. It was chaotic, hectic and disorderly, and there was little to be relieved about despite however he may have felt while still coming through. Now there was little to celebrate, and little to be glad over. Why did they go to these lengths just for him? No, that was egocentric to think about, it became clear that the real aim was not to bring him home but to just fight a pointless fight against a powerful foe. Reckless carnage with him as the excuse, he was the scapegoat for this horrid loss of so many lives. He couldn't even hear anything as the cries of pain and anguish filled the air as it wasn't long for people to see him standing out in the crowd, still and silent among the busy confusion.
Some people began to swarm around him, dragging the distraught Takeshi away from the large gate as it began to destabilize. Fighting free at that point, the young shinigami made a run for it on his own and turned back to face the portal as it happened. It looked like the world itself was falling apart as the tower erupted and the gate exploded, raging torrents of colorful energy firing in every which way and millions of shards of shrapnel scattering the across the entire region, raining down like burning blades of death.
It was likely he would join the countless injured by the shrapnel had it not been for a shinigami who specialized in kido, apparently lead a group of kido specialists, being right there when she was.
"Bakudo 73, Tozansho!"
At that moment, most of the shinigami around her, Takeshi included, were encased inside of a golden pyramid that deflected the falling debris, then fading away into nothingness as the threat of falling death was over. Takeshi could see who cast the spell but he could hear many people complimenting their vice-captain, some girl named Chiyo from what he figured. Not that it mattered, he wasn't a kido-type character himself so he'd probably never meet this girl in person.
It wasn't long before eventually he was whisked away again, this time people claiming to be in the 4th Squad, so he could be given medical treatment for his injuries. Of course Takeshi was actually not physically harmed at all, but what he needed most was rest. Lots and lots of rest. And that's what he would be granted. As soon as he was given a clean white outfit to change into and a fresh bed, he collapsed and let the problems of the world settle themselves, his mind was clear, at peace and able to drift away until he began to dream again. This time, the wouldn't be interrupted by any cataclysmic outside forces or erratic panic.
The twilit desert was draped in a rich, orange light as he stood in the middle in the dark red sand at the base of the steps leading to the giant tower he had been seeing in his dreams. The voice of the man he had pursued came echoing from the very top of the large pillar of stone, calling him to enter.
Welcome Eric, called out the voice. The time is almost upon us that you learn the true power of your zanpakuto.
Ah, so that is who you are. The messy-haired teen uttered loudly. Time to take destiny by the horns, is it?
Indeed, welcome to your inner world, the zanpakuto spirit replied. Make your way to me at the top and claim my power as your own!
The heavy stone doors of the tower slid open, and revealed a gaping pathway into the pitch darkness.
Oh that's just unfair, I guess I'll have to light my own path, won't I?
You learn quickly, excellent. Let your determination guide you and nothing will be hidden from you!
With that, a warm, green light shone from the pages of book that laid closed in front of him, begging him to take with him. Takeshi oepend the cover, and an emerald shine illuminated the stone corridors, revealing what looked like large stone pictographs telling a story. It started with a baby being born and being left to be raised by a single father, surrounded by people who looked and acted differently. And so it continued until the point that the boy was left alone, and left stranded in a world foreign to him where he died alone. He then was overtaken in sorrow of his own death and was transformed into a demon of revenge until an angel from heaven cleansed his soul and let him pass on. Then he was alone again, caught in a cycle of conflict until he found his home in the center of the world, and he began training to become an angel himself. He faced many trials, battled a few rivals and slain weak monsters until he was trapped again and taken away, alone in the world of emptiness. The story ended when he reached the top floor, and after a great calamity the story ends, the stone walls left in ruins, leaving only an opening to the top of the tower. There was nothing left predestined for the hero of this story, the rest would be up to himself to decide.
I've finally reached you, said Takeshi, the warm wind throwing his hair awry and the white and blue uniform wildly in the violent breeze. About time really, too bad you couldn't show up when I needed you back there.
If you had fully unlocked your power back there, you would get in over your head and be killed already. It truly is better this way, Eric.
If you insist, Takeshi uttered coldly. But that's the past, Hueco Mundo is the past and so is that name! Only the future awaits!
You shouldn't lie about who you really are, Eric. The zanpakuto chided sternly. You wont master your power if you cannot even know who you are yourself!
And who are you, then? Takeshi replied smugly. Care to give me that name?
Nice try, but you will have to find that out yourself. If not then you can call me whatever you want. You wont find out until you know who you are yourself.
Then let me call myself whatever I want, I know who I am! In order to fit in as much as I can, I call myself Takeshi. Im a misfit, my eyes are the mismatched, I use my left hand instead of my right, Im quiet when around are others, I love to prove my worth, I know who I am! I am what I chose to make of myself, not what I was named at least 50 years ago! I am myself, and that's fine, what I call myself is for me to decide, what do you call yourself? Who are you to say who I am?
Ever the bold one, if you carry that confidence with you forever, you will prove yourself to be invincible.
Only if you give me your name, first. With our combined strength, then we will be invincible. If you refuse to tell me your name, I'll only get stronger until you do.
And so Takeshi drifted deeper into a sleep, preparing to awaken and start another day. He would continue to push himself until he proved his determination and his zanpakuto would have no choice but to reveal it's name, and would mark the next chapter in Takeshi's tale. He would hav to finish his remaining weeks in the Spirit Academy, training nonstop to prepare himself for full-blown admission into the Gotei 13 awaited him for the true challenges ahead. He was more than ready, it was only a matter of time and doing it.