Ichigo Awakens

Prologue Part 2: Answers and Teachers

Darkness. That all he could see around him. Memories flashing like lightning all around him. All in that endless expanse of nothingness. He heard screams of terror and sickening crunches with each new image, each new nightmare. Places he's never been, people he's never met, all playing out in what was possible final moments before whatever happened. In all this, he remembered fear, he felt terror, but most of all, he was hungry. He was hungry and was devouring these people with cold and calculated plans before indulging his hunger. That was, until she appeared. He saw her, an adult woman standing between him and a new morsel. In her hands was a glowing blue bow and arrow, notched and targeted for his skull. But then she was engulfed in a light and she staggered, her threat was now diminished and he could feed. Then another flash came, a name was called out that he knew was spoken...but he did not hear it. The darkness returned and he heard only one thing. Protect.

(Ichigo's Inner World)

He finally opened his eyes, freeing himself from that nightmare of death and hunger, and beheld the odd world around him. Buildings stretching out to the endless sky ahead. An entire world, twisted on it's axis. A part of him knew he should be scared, felt that he should be terrified, but he couldn't help but relax in a strange sense of familiarity in this place. The young hybrid child stared into the strange blue world in wonder and awe.

"Where..." Ichigo began, "where am I?"

"Well that's certainly a million dollar question there King." He heard a strange voice speak. Ichigo turned to see a tall figure, all white in some weird robes and a black skull mask on his face. "Where are you? What is this place? What happened to mommy?" He said mockingly before swinging his arms out to gesture all around them. "In short order, you're in your head, this is your Inner World, and mommy..." He got close to Ichigo and whispered in his ear. "she's gone." The second those words registered in Ichigo's mind, it began to pour.

'Damn,' Zangetsu thought to himself, 'the old man is gonna bitch at me a lot for this. But we did agree to let me handle this.' He pulled away and gazed into the black clouds, pouring down Ichigo's sorrow. 'The King is going to hate me for doing this, but no one begins this kind of journey on a happy note.' He looked back down at his future wielder and saw a face locked in despair.

"This happened, because you were weak." He stated, cold and harsh, to the young boy. "Powerless. How can you protect anyone when you can't even protect yourself?" The world began to flood. Ichigo was slipping deeper and deeper into his sorrow.

"Mom, mom no." Ichigo said as the memories returned. Those visions were that of a monster that was devouring people. And it's latest victim, was his mother. How couldn't he recognize his own mother? Now she was gone because of him. "Mom." He was talking through his tears, mixing in the continuous downpour. "Mom I'm sorry. Please, don't leave me." He could barely choke out the words. "Please don't die!" He wailed out before crying. Zangetsu watched the crying child in front of him. In a way, he was disgusted with his wielder, soft, weak, vulnerable. But he knew, in time he would be a force to fear, a force to reckon, a being of great power. Now was the time to plant the seeds for that warrior. Time, to set Ichigo on that path.

"She's not dying." He said, loud and firm enough that it reach Ichigo. Right into the young boy's core. The rains eased up considerably but there was still quite the downpour. "Not yet anyway. I said she was gone, taken from you." With that the rain got weaker and weaker, and Zangetsu say a light of hope return in his master's eyes. "She can be brought back, but what are going to do?" He asked the child. Ichigo looked at the pale man in confusion. "How are you going to stop this from happening again?" He clarified. "Are you going to stay that weakling that cries every time he loses?"