A Cry In the Dark

Another sleepless night was what he feared was in store for him. Kaoseu sighed as he tossed and turned in his room in the 11th Squad barracks. After another 5 minutes, he could stand it no longer. He threw off the blankets and arose from his bed, then quickly dressed in the dark. He walked to the door grabbing both his Zanpakuto as he went.

He silently opened the door and slipped out, then made his way equally as silently through the barracks, careful not disturb anyone else. Finally he made it to the entrance and slipped outside. He breathed in the fresh, cherry scented air and turned his head to the sky. He was mesmerized by the pale glow of the full moon that rested in the sky, by the clouds that drifted lazily across its surface. He sighed contentedly and began walking, nowhere particular in mind, his arms behind his head in his normal relaxed fashion.

He wandered close to the forest and saw what seemed to be a trail that had been cut. Immediately his mind's eye flashed to Ri, and he grinned, figuring this was something he had done. He began to wander absently down the path. He never made it to where was before, due to the fact that after about an hour and half of walking, he came upon a sight in the forest that caught his attention. There was a what seemed to be a crack in the ground not far off and the moonlight had caught off something inside it.

The white-haired Shinigami was intrigued and walked over to it. He was shifted his weight forward as he went to pick up whatever it was that was shining and the ground beneath him buckled and fell away. He had no time to cry out and no time to catch himself. He seemed to fall forever, when in reality, it was only about 3 minutes, which was still a long fall. He heard water somewhere below him and braced himself for it.

He crashed through the surface of an icy cold spring. The bitingly cold water pushed the air from his lungs and Kaoseu clawed at the water, pulling himself to the surface before he passed out. As he broke the surface, he gulped in huge breaths of air and swam his way to the shore, following the direction of the waves to find it. He finally pulled himself onto solid ground and collapsed, exhausted as the swim itself lasted almost all of 5 minutes. His eyes closed and he drifted off for a while, his body weary and in need of eenergy.

He awoke 3 hours later. It was still dark outside. He looked up and saw the full moon in the night full of stars and devoid of clouds. And then reality hit him. He wasn't looking at the moon and stars, rather staring up at the hole he had fallen through, which was surrounded by twinkling lights that were actually jewels that had an unearthly glow emenating from them.

Kaoseu stood, his clothes still a little damp from the water, but paid them no mind. He looked at his surroundings, discerning that he was in some sort of cavern. He had no way to climb the sheer cliff that would lead to the top, but he figured there had to be another exit somewhere. With that hope in mind, he began to walk. And walk. And walk.

After hours of aimless wandering, he found himself in a massive cavern, devoid of anything except one singular light-jewel of massive proportions. The jewel hung from the direct center of the roof of the cavern. Kaoseu decided he'd take a rest here, seeing as it was peaceful. He sat down beneath the jewels soft glow and set both his Zanpakuto in his lap, each facing a different side. He closed his eyes and breathed in deep, and with nothing better to do, began concentrating and focusing on the Zanpakuto.

He felt over every inch of the familiar blades, memorizing every scratch and nick in the metal. He ran his hands over every groove and bump, letting the blades become as much a part of himself as he was. He realized he had never taken the time to memorize his blades in such a way and was finding out new things about himself and the blades as well. He knew that every imperfection told a story, and that every story was a pice of him, a piece of the blades. He sat there for hours, doing nothing but breathing and scouring his blades with his fingertips with the intention of drawing out every minute detail.

"He looks almost dead..." a voice said. Kaoseu ignored it and kept concentrating, not letting whoever it was disturb him. "Throw a rock, see if he's dead. I think he's dead."
"Shut it, of course he's not dead. Look at his hands.
"Ooooh. Throw a rock anyway. He looks stupid sitting there."
Kaoseu kept ignoring the voices until he felt a large, unproportionate object collide with the side of his head.

"What the hell gives, you little-" he began as he stood to look at the intruders, rubbing the side of his head. It dawned on him as he stood that he was still in the cavern and that he couldn't have heard any voices. He turned around slowly and saw two beings. They could only be described as beings becuase they had physical forms, both of them looking like outlines of him, except one was made entirely of a bright, radiant white light and the other was made out of a black, shifting substance, almost like shadow. He looked around him and saw he was no longer in a cave either.

He was in a huge landscape, in what seemed like a normal jungle. But everything was off. The world was only two different colors, on being the same white as the being on the right, the other being the same black, shadowy substance as the being on the left. And the world was divided into 2 parts, right down the middle. The right side was entirely of black, with the exception of things that dotted the landscape, which were white, and the left side of the world was predominantly white, with black things sprouting from the ground.

Kaoseu noted those "things" were trees and other normal looking plants and items. He looked back at the figures and noted as well that they were standing close to each other, but not across the line that divided the world. He looked to the one on the left, which was holding a huge rock, the size of a small car, and tossing itup and down in his hand as if it were a baseball. "Who the hell are y-" he began, but was stopped mid-sentence by the large boulder colliding with his body.
"Shaddup, and don't speak unless spoken to, ya lil prick." said the figure as Kaoseu managed to pull himself from beneath the rock.

He rolled the rock to the left and was shocked when it began to rise in the air and seemed to crash into the sky, until he realized that it wasn't the sky. Kaoseu looked down and yelped as he saw that the black objects on that side were clouds, not the rocks he had thought they were. He looked at the two beings and stood, waiting for one of them to talk. Finally, the white one spoke.
"Well hell, are ya mute? Can't talk? Or are ya scared this guy over here's gonna throw another rock at ya?" it teased.

The black one spoke next.
"He's too stupid to do anythin' on his own. There's no way he's ready. He can't even stand up to us! What the hell good is he?!?!?" it exclaimed. These two were getting on Kaoseu's nerves and he snapped. "Alright, look, I wanna know who the hell you are and what the hell you want from me. Start speaking, or else I'm gonna cle-" he began angrily, only to be cut off again by a foot connecting with the right side of his face. He soared to the left and landed on level with the black being, who stood over him maliciously. The being held out its right hand, lik he was holding something with the thumb facing down, and in it suddenly appeared an oddly shaped blade.

The being put the blade to Kaoseu's throat and kept it there. With a flash of realization, the truth hit him square in the face. "You're... You're my Zanpakuto... " he said. The black being replied by kicking him hard across the face.
"We are not yours until you have earned the right to us. Yer startin ta piss me off, ya know that? Stand up an' fight us. I wanna see just how long ya got left before we get ta come out for real." it said, and Kaoseu could hear the grin in its voice as it removed the blade and grabbed him gruffly by the front of the shirt and threw him to where he met the divide between the 2 halves of the world.

"Wait, us? I have to fight both of you?!?!" He cried. He knew the chances of making it out of here were slim if that was the case. Suddenly, the black being and the white being were standing over him and spoke in unison.
"Of course!" they excalimed and looked up at one and other. They then lifted their hands, mirroring each other across the divide. And then, deliberately, the clasped hands.

There was a huge explosion of black and white light and then id was all sucked back down, like an implosion. Standing before him was a being made of the combination of the 2 beings. Its body was mostly black, but it had fingernails, eyes, hair, a mouth, and distinguashable veins now, as well as a pair of huge billowing, white wings. The new features were also white. The being smiled and held out its hands, clenched around open air, and in them appeared two blades, one was the white one he had seen before, and the other was black as a moonless night.

Kaoseu groaned in despair and stood up and drew both katana, connecting them at the hilt to form his two-blade. "So, if I beat you, will you tell me your name?" The being only laughed and suddenly, it was gone. Kaoseu had half a second for his eyes to widen before he felt a kick connect with his back and send him flying, crashing through trees and up through the rocks on the left half of the world. He fell ungracefully back to the ground on the right side of the world.

The being walked to him and stood over him, then kicked his limp body and sent him flying again. He crashed through trees and hit the ground, rolling across it like a car flipping on a racetrack. Finally, he crashed into a wall of rock, breaking into it about four feet. He pulled himself from the rubble and stood at the ready. Suddemly, the being was in front of him again, then Kaoseu blinked and it was standing about 30 feet away. Before he had a chance to move, he heard the being say something, but it was muffled, and then Kaoseu fell to the ground, about to pass out.

"See...? He can't even hear our name even while we tell him." he heard the black being say, to which the white being's voice replied,
"Give him time. He'll learn to hear. Until then, all he'll hear is a cry in the dark..."

Kaoseu's eyes snapped open as he felt a stinging sensation on his hands. The effect was dizzying as he found himself sitting back in the cavern, facing the entrance in the same position he'd started meditating in. He looked down and noticed his blades were on the floor and they were steaming slightly and were glowing almost red, as if heated. He sighed and wrapped his hands, hoping they weren't going to blister. He stood and sheathed his blades, then turned and saw a hint of light from a crack in the wall of the cavern.

He grinned and systematically began breaking down the wall with a rock and his hands until it was big enough for him to squeeze through. He walked into the light of the day, wondering how much time had passed. He was about to take another step when he noted where he was. He was standing at the mouth of a small indention in a rock face, looking at the crack he had fallen through in the first place. He sighed and made his way back to Seretei where he collapsed in bed, exhausted from lack of sleep and his body and mind weary from the contact he'd had with his Zanpakuto. This was nowhere near his hope of attaining his Shikai, but it was a step. Everyone had to start somewhere. As he drifted off to sleep, he heard a muffled sound, like a voice, and then a receding whisper. He smiled at the words as he too drifted off. It was of no importance to him as of yet, nothing but a cry in the dark...