One Tin Soldier

Chapter 1: One Tin Soldier Rides Away

While the people of Karakura Town went about their everyday business they didn't realize that a spiritual battle of good and evil was being waged in a park just outside of their city limits.

At the heart of an island, in the middle of a lake, just outside of the city stood a towering purple mushroom structure built out of spirit and hollow energy.

Inside, after an arduous battle, an orange-haired teen known as the Substitute Soul Reaper Ichigo Kurosaki watched a brown-haired, white clad figure disappear. Muramasa slowly slid into the waters that made up most of the structure's surface.

"Muramasa!" Ichigo Kurosaki shouted, searching for signs of his opponent. "Muramasa!"

"How ironic," the dying spirit sighed as he sank deeper into the waters of his inner world. "After all this, it is your voice that reaches me..." He thrust a hand up, towards the voice calling his name.

A black sleeved hand reached out, clasping the flailing fingers and started to pull the dying Muramasa out of the spirit waters.

The hollow spirit pressure dissipated as the mists cleared in the Living World and the surrounding lake.

~~

Ichigo looked down at the dying Zanpakuto. It was strange. No spirit sword could live without the soul bond of its wielder and yet Muramasa had lived for centuries, searching for his sealed master who could no longer hear his voice. It was this teenager who was not only alive but also had the powers of a Soul Reaper. Ichigo's heart and need to protect had reached out to even this errant soul.

"This feeling?" Muramasa rasped. "Was this what you were trying to tell me all along?"

"Ah."

"I see. I wound up making quite a mess of things." Muramasa coughed up a bit of blood.

"Everyone makes mistakes. That means that some day you'll fix it," Ichigo assured him.

Muramasa's hand, clutched in Ichigo's, tightened a bit.

"I hope someday..." The spirit closed his eyes.

"I won't let you die Muramasa! I won't," the determined teen told him, leaking spirit energy towards the dying soul. "I know that Koga was a bad master, but I swear if you stay with me, I'll find someone to bond with you. Please? I know what you did was wrong, but you were only trying to save your master."

Muramasa's hand turned transparent as the spirit started to glow and transformed into a sword but as the sword started to fall, Ichigo caught it. "oh no you don't. I promise, Muramasa, if you stay with me, I will help you fix your mistakes."

The sword gave a pulse and quieted.

Ichigo looked over at the two women that had arrived to witness Muramasa's last words.

"Is everyone alright?"

The shorter of the two nodded and gave a slight smile. "Yes, we are safe."

The taller red haired, well developed girl, who was also a close friend of Ichigo's asked, "Are you really going to take care of Muramasa?"

Ichigo held up the purple hilted sword and nodded. "Ah. He kept his pride as a Zanpakuto to the very end. I promised that I will take care of him. I won't turn him over to the Soul Society. I gave my word. He is too weak to undo the damage..."

"They won't let you," the shorter one said.

"I don't care," Ichigo said stubbornly, giving a sharp sweep of his arm to dismiss the thought. "He deserves a better master than what he got."

A sound of air displacement caused the trio to turn slightly. A tall man dressed in black with a white scarf wrapped around his shoulder stood beside them.

Ichigo looked over and asked if the man was alright. The man refusing to look the trio in the eyes said nothing at first.

"Ichigo Kurosaki, this is the second time I have to thank you," Byakuya Kuchiki said in his cultured voice. "That Zanpakuto that you have in your hand?"

"Ah," Ichigo replied, looking down at the sheathed soul sword. "I promised to find him a better master. And I intend to keep that promise."

"I see. I applaud you on your convictions and will not fight you. Do not make me regret my choice, Ichigo Kurosaki."

Ichigo watched as the head of the Kuchiki clan turned and walked away. He could never understand that guy. He would have thought that Byakuya would give him more of an argument but even he could sense that Muramasa had very little spirit pressure right now and probably won't last the night.

The aftermath was very anti-climactic. Ichigo and his friends returned home as night was falling. Only the ones that knew Muramasa was still alive were his human friends, Rukia and Byakuya Kuchiki. The other Shinigami that fought the many hollows and Menos Grande also left. They didn't notice the second Zanpakuto strapped to Ichigo's back.

~~

Ichigo went home to reclaim his body. That's right. The tall sixteen year old teen had a habit of leaving his mortal body and moonlighting as a Soul Reaper. He had been studying when he felt the spirit pressure and went to investigate. It had been an exhausting fight, but he had won. But the cost...

He sat on his bed and closed his eyes, reaching into his mind to his inner world. In his human body no evidence could be seen of his double life. So if he needed to speak with his Zanpakuto, he needed to go inside his mind.

Opening his inner eye, he found himself standing on a sideways skyscraper. If any of his friends knew that he viewed the world side-ways, they wouldn't have been that surprised. Their only comment would be 'Only you, Kurosaki-kun.'

Standing in the distance was a lone tall figure with brown hair wearing brown sunglasses while standing on the tip of a flagpole.

"Hey old man," Ichigo greeted. "Things have settled?"

"Ichigo," the old man greeted in a deep rough voice. Zangetsu was Ichigo's spirit sword. Zanpakuto are souls born inside the heart of a Soul Reaper. They are defined by their Soul Reaper and have both a unique shape and abilities. Soul Reapers, once they learn their Zanpakuto's name, form a synergistic union with it. Ichigo was very fortunate that Zangetsu was his and this inner world within his mind was where he met with him.

"Hey King!" called another voice. Rising out of one of the sideway buildings was the other inhabitant within Ichigo's soul – Shiro Ichigo, Ichigo's inner hollow. Shiro was born when Ichigo needed to be stronger to save his friend Rukia from execution.

His inner hollow was born from Ichigo's despair and guilt at not being strong enough to protect his family and friends. It came into being when Ichigo's mentor cut the teen's soul chain. Over time, Ichigo made peace with his inner hollow by defeating him in combat.

"Hey King, who's the sleeping beauty?" Shiro turned to a prone figure lying under Zangetsu's flagpole. The being that stood in front of Ichigo was a perfect negative copy of himself.

"That's Muramasa. He's staying with me until I can find him a better master." Ichigo knelt beside the white and purple clad figure that was laid out with his hands folded on his chest in repose.

The orange-haired teen placed a hand on a very pale, almost translucent, forehead. "He's still alive. He's still alive."

"It is a good thing you are doing, Ichigo." Zangetsu said as he leapt off his flagpole. "Do not worry. Muramasa is in a deep sleep. His spirit pressure is dangerously low."

"I know. Keep an eye on him for me. I will do my best to find him a better master." Ichigo stood and looked up his manifestation of his Zanpakuto.

"We will, King," promised Shiro. "He did put up a great fight, didn't he?"