Everything in Between

A Long Time Ago

Story time! This is a short story called the Black Lion. It was originally intended to be a stand alone fic, with multiple parts and the whole shebang, but hey things don't always work out. It's super old and I have absolutely nothing better to do with it.

And did I mention super long?
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A long time ago there was a young, bright-haired teenage boy. He lived in a small village near a large castle-like tower, and every evening just before he returned from hunting in the woods he would stop by. He had discovered that an auburn haired girl lived in the tower, and since her brother had long since died she became rather lonely. The boy sympathized her for having lost his own mother when he was younger supposedly due to a rouge pack of wild dogs. The auburn haired teen soon fell in love with the boy, for he was the only one who dared talk to her; the other villagers feared she was a cursed hermit or witch who planned to hex the village. One day the boy insisted that the girl come down from her tower to enjoy the year's finest weather since spring. The girl dearly missed the ability to roam freely, so she wholeheartedly agreed. She and the boy spent the day in the woods, enjoying its natural beauty. The boy showed the girl some his favorite spots to relax and hunt. However the boy was late getting home that night with his days catch and was beaten by his step mother. In his step mother's presence his step sisters refused to help him. That night the boy went to bed hungry and thinking about the girl and how free she was. He longed to be with her from the bottom of his heart. The girl thought otherwise though, she longed for companionship, and the boy was exactly what she wanted. The next day the boy left his home early to escape his step mother's wrath, he stopped by the tower where the girl lived and climbed up its wall as he usually did. The girl was shocked to see his bruised body and demanded that the boy stay till she had healed him. For someone who did not interact with people often, the girl knew her way around the place when it came to healing. When the boy questioned the reason for this his answer was rather amusing. The girl was awfully clumsy and often had to treat herself for twisted ankles and such. She seem rather flustered at admitting her clumsiness, but the boy said it merely made her more adorable. The girl seemed to turn into a tomato just then, her face displayed fifty shades of red. The boy laughed heartily at her reaction, and decided to stop teasing her and suggested to go down to the waterfall near the crystal cave. The girl hastily agreed, wanting to get out of her tower. They strolled down to the waterfall without much to care about. The boy was delighted to see the girl so happy and smiling, as she had never smiled much for as long as he had known her. But the boy frowned, he was suddenly assaulted with a feeling of unease. The girl asked what the problem was, but the boy waved it off as one of the bruises aching. The girl however did not buy this, but kept to herself to not upset the boy. They reached a clearing and heard the loud, yet soothing roar of the magnificent, blue waterfall. The girl sat down on a large, flat rock while the boy fished. She became rather amazed by his skill when it came to hunting things, but soon found that he knew little to nothing when it came to plants. As days turned it weeks, and weeks into months, and months into years, the boy and girl became a man and a woman, yet never once did they ever doubt their friendship. Until it seemed like it was something more. The girl had grown up to a kind maiden, and her beauty rivaled that of the Queen's. The boy had grown into a handsome and skillfull huntsman. The woman's affection for the man had not wavered over the years, and the man's affections for the woman came into full bloom. One day they headed down to the waterfall once more, but this time it was not for hunting or friendly pastime. No, the man wished to confess his feelings for the woman, but fate did not wish for him to find his happily ever after so easily. A raiding party from the rivaling kingdom in the North had decided that this village, on this day, would be the victim of their terror. The man cursed their timing, told the woman to stay in the crystal cave, and went to his home to retrieve his bow and sword. As he ran through the masses of panicked villagers he heard a familiar scream and charged head on in its direction. When he broke through the villagers he was met with a sight he had always feared. The woman was being held up by her beautifully long, auburn hair by some ninny little Northerner who seemed too big for his britches. The woman cried out in pain once again and that good for nothing, little piece of crap, son of a gun smiled. The man drew his sword and charged the unsuspecting Northerner, and brought his sword down deep into the Northerner's shoulder. The Northerner cried out in agony, gripped at his bloodied shoulder, and dropped the woman. The woman swiftly rose up and ran to the man, hugging him tight. The man whispered four words to her softly, "I love you Orihime." Orihime gasped not expecting the man to ever return her feelings, yet she felt compelled to return the feelings and said, "I love you too, Ichigo." Ichigo wrapped his arms loosely around her waste and tilted his head as he leaned in for a passionate kiss Orihime was willing to return. Ichigo and Orihime broke apart gasping for air and observed the scene around them. The village was in flames, some bodies were scattered here and there, and Orihime's tower too was about to go up in flames. It then hit Orihime the her hairpins that she had received from her brother shortly before he died were still in the tower. "Ichigo my hairpins are still in my tower!" Orihime said solemnly. "Don't worry I'll get them before they light the place up." He said quickly before darting off toward the tower. Ichigo climbed up the back of the tower and jumped through the back window. He quickly searched through Orihime's dresser and recovered the hairpins. Then the fire was lit. It spread like a disease, it charred the stone walls and ate away at the the at wooden beams. The wood weakened, and the tower began to cave in on itself. Shouts and cries can from the invading Northerners, signaling their leave. Ichigo struggled to find an exit, for the back window had collapsed on itself. A large wooden beam remained slightly propped up from the charring floor, it left a space large enough to slide through. Ichigo gave it a once over, took a running start at it, and slid swiftly under it. Thankfully one of the side windows had yet to collapse, Ichigo heaved himself over the windowsill and landed roughly onto the ground. He sprinted around the side of the tower and called Orihime's name as she came into sight. Orihime turned around and came rushing towards him in great relief, she had feared that Ichigo had been caught in the fire. He presented her with her beautiful, blue topaz hibiscus hairpins. Orihime smiled brightly at Ichigo and hugged him tightly as he gingerly placed the hairpins in her long, auburn hair. A ear-piercing screech came from behind the pair. Ichigo whirled around to see his stepmother cowering from a Northerner's blade. Ichigo ripped himself from Orihime's grip and sprinted over to block the impending strike. Ichigo soon noticed he would not make it in time, so he leaped into the air in front of the sword as it came down. Metal met cloth and skin and tore through delivering a potentially fatal blow. Ichigo fell to the ground as Orihime's screams and cries met his ears. A warm, crimson liquid pooled around him, his skin became pale leaving a ghostly effect on his body. Orihime tried desperately to do everything she could while the Northerner stood stock still in shock. Ichigo's stepmother pulled Orihime away from Ichigo's dying form as the Northerner came out of shock. Orihime cried out Ichigo's name multiple times as she continued to be dragged away, yet no response came. The Northerner looked down at the man below him and noticed that he still took in short, ragged breaths. The Northerner smiled and croaked "Grandmaster will want to see the boy for sure." He heaved Ichigo over his broad shoulder and began to walk toward the converging raiding party. They marched for days till they reached the border, a rather large camp had been assembled. The Northerner that had carried Ichigo all this way stomped toward a large tent at the center of the camp. Two guards stood at attention outside the tent's flaps and gave the North raider the okay to enter. "Grandmaster I have brought you a present from the raid." The Northerner said with a coy smile upon his face. "Good Jakob, very good. He will do nicely for my little experiment." The Grandmaster said blankly. Then a North guard stepped up and asked, "Is the boy even still alive?" The raider turned a glared at the guard and said venomously, "Of course he's still living! Do you honestly think I would bring a dead weight to the Grandmaster?" "Now that's enough! Place the boy on the cot over there and leave me to my own devices!" The Grandmaster roared. The North raider did as told and left the tent. The Grandmaster then spun around and focused on Ichigo who now laid on the tattered cot. "Now then, I think it's about time I begin this experiment of mine." The Grandmaster said lowly. A circle of bright, black-red light formed around the cot as the Grandmaster began to mutter strange words of Latin. The circle of light grew brighter and then began to fade. A large, black lion now laid in Ichigo's place on top of the crushed cot. The Grandmaster called the two guards that stood outside the tent and told them to take Ichigo back to the forest village where he was found. The journey back to the village took many days. The guards had trouble keeping Ichigo unconscious as they moved day by day. At last they had reached the forest in which the village resided and reasoned that it would be best to leave the lion there. They undid its binding and leapt onto their horses, speeding off back towards their camp. The next morning Ichigo awoke and tried to stand. Not realizing that he was in fact a lion, Ichigo attempted to stand on two feet, but ended up stumbling back down. He then shakily rose on all fours, he looked down and noticed his massive, black paws. He then swung his large head head around, observing his surroundings. He felt the swishing of the long fur that made up his mane. Ichigo slowly started walking and then picked up his pace as scenery became familiar. He came across the river that flowed near the crystal cave and peered of the edge of the bank to see his reflection. It shocked him to see that he truly was an imposing, black lion. He realized that in this state he would never be able to return to Orihime, let alone the village. He plopped down on the bank a listened to the quiet gurgle of the rushing water, he then noticed a flash of silver in the water. Ichigo's ear perked up listening closely for the slightest swishing of the fish's tail fin in the river. He heard it a moment later which gave him an approximate distance to where it was. He slowly stood up and was careful not to cast his shadow into the water. He raised his paw and swung it into the water at amazing speeds and ran his fine, sharp claws through the salmon. The fish flew through the air and landed beside Ichigo on the river's bank. He looked hungrily down at the fish, gave thanks for the meal, and gobbled it up. Maybe being a lion won't be all that bad. To an extent he was right on his presumption, but on the first year of being a lion he had been hunted, injured, and sought out by other creatures of the forest. On the anniversary of the village raid Ichigo had accidentally strayed to close to a pasture of sheep. The peasants of the village were in an uproar at such a large predator roaming near their livestock. Ichigo whipped his head around and observed ways in which he could escape. The villagers were obviously not thinking when they thought that they had him cornered against the woods. Ichigo wheeled around on his hind legs and bursted into the woods without a clue where he was going. He heard the shouts and hollers of the men in the distance and continued to sprint through forest. Ichigo bolted into a bright clearing that was painstakingly familiar. 'Oh shit.' were the two words that made his heart drop into his stomach, because there in the clearing stood a magnificent tower. A young, auburn-haired woman sat in a small garden at its base talking to a rabbit that she caught stealing. Ichigo stood there, his breath taken away by her beauty. The voices of the villagers began to die out and he began to relax slightly. Then the woman turned her head towards the large, black lion and let out surprised, frightened yelp. She jumped what seemed like ten feet into the air and landed harshly on her butt. Ichigo instinctively trotted over to her side to assist her in any way possible. He hesitantly nudged her hand as if to say, "Let me help you." The woman slowly placed one of her delicate hands on Ichigo's muzzle and used it as support to get up. Ichigo pressed his head further against the woman's head and let out a low rumbling purr of satisfaction. The woman pondered a moment on what to do, then she began to rub and scratch Ichigo's soft muzzle. 'Orihime Inoue is the same as ever.' Ichigo thought solemnly. He began to purr louder as Orihime began to scratch behind his rounded ears. She giggled at the beast's seemingly innocent reaction to a pleasing action. Ichigo stared into Orihime's honey-colored eyes as a wave of memories flowed over him. As she gazed back she saw the guarded sadness that flooded his eyes, she questioned the reason behind his sorrow. Ichigo began to back away when Orihime asked, "Come back tomorrow, will you?" Ichigo let out a low, rumbling purr of agreement. He then turned around and ran off into the woods. He ran until he reached the river of the crystal cave. A small, dark brown doe came bounding up behind and gave him a swift kick in the head. "What the hell was that for Rukia?" Ichigo roared. "You saw that girl didn't you?" She said agitatedly. "Yeah I saw Orihime, what of it?" Ichigo hisses. "You know Nagini is so gonna bite your head off for it. She forbid you from seeing anyone or anything of significant emotional value from your past!" Rukia yelped as she dodged a lazy swipe of one of Ichigo's massive paws. "I'll see her if I want to. Besides she seems to be pretty lonely." Ichigo grumbled. "Ugh! I can not believe this! I won't tell Nagini yet, but the moment this causes any problems I'm telling her!" Rukia said furiously. Ichigo lazily rolled over on his side focusing on his piercing yellow eyes in the water's reflection. He sighed. Orihime will never recognize him, even his voice had somewhat changed. Ichigo hoped somewhere deep down inside that he would find some way to change back to being human. "Now King I thought you enjoyed working with me. Bringing justice to the streets of small towns and open cities. Isn't that exactly what you wanted to do?" A voice deep within him sneered. Ichigo sighed yet again. This was a major side effect of being transfigured into a lion: you get stuck with a god damn inner demon! His lion form was useful and appreciated for many things, but his inability to pick up his love life was a major drawback to it. How he wished for a way to become somewhat human again. Ichigo slowly stood up and walked toward the crystal cave. Inside he was greeted by a large, black panther by the name of Zangetsu. Zangetsu had taught Ichigo everything he knew about fighting techniques, and even simple things like how to jump to tree to tree, how to hunt, and all necessities to live as large cat like himself. "Ichigo, what is it that you need?" Zangetsu asked.