Title: Howling at the Moon (Subject to change)
Author: Darkling59
Fandom: Bleach
Date Published: 9/4/2012
Disclaimer: Bleach and all associated characters, settings, concepts, etc within this story do not belong to me. This disclaimer will not be repeated in each chapter; refer back here if you need to see it.
Summary: This is a one-shot collection devoted to the lone wolf himself, Coyote Starrk. All genres and other characters are fair game and lots of them will make appearances. Chapters 1-11 are responses to one-word prompts taken from a song. Chapters 12+ are mostly AU, canon divergence, alternate canon, character interactions, 'what if' scenarios, 'Fix-it' fics, 'For want of a Nail', Reviewer prompts, etc.

Notes/Explanation:
-This is a collection of one-shots devoted to Coyote Starrk
-Any of these might grow in the future; let me know if you have any ideas on which ones deserve it
-The first ten prompts are taken from a specific song, but it's pretty obscure so I doubt anyone will guess it.
-Reviews are a huge motivating factor that tend to make me update more often, so please let me know what you think!
-Enjoy!

Index:
1. Summons - Supernatural - 1.1K - Djinn Starrk is unwillingly brought to the human dimensional plane...then is promptly (and accidentally) cut free from his summoner by supernatural law enforcer Ichigo.
2. Winter- Humor- 0.3K - Starrk takes a nap in an unfortunate place
3. Howls – Suspense- 0.4K - a young shinigami captain has a nerve-wracking encounter
4. Stands – General – 0.6K - Our favorite hollow has a close encounter with those sekki stone pits from the SS arc. Lilynette is not amused. Starrk does not particularly care.
5. Sky – Tragedy - 0.45K - Starrk's final thoughts, from the streets of the fake Karakura town
6. Alone – Drama- 1.7K - Jushiro searches for survivors in fake Karakura, only to find something unexpected.
7. With – General – 0.5K - Central 46 will never see an arrancar, even one collared and contained, as anything other than a vicious, barely trained animal. Shunsui knows better.
8. Searching – Sci-fi AU – 1.1K - Starrk wakes up alone and amnesiac, consumed by the hollow, empty feeling that something is missing.
9. Midnight – General – 0.45K - The sky seems so alive in the human world.
10. Close – Action – 1.9K - Aizen overlooks a small detail, which turns out to have major consequences. For want of a nail…
11. Mist – Fantasy AU – 1.7K - Orihime gets lost on the English moors, and encounters a creature of myth.
12. Dogs vs. Cats – Humor - 0.75K – Starrk really wishes the cat-woman hadn't figured out his canine nature.
13. Reviewer Prompt #1 – 1.2K - by – Humor - Starrk gets cornered by a 'cougar'
14. Time – Humor – 0.5K - The Hogyoku sends Starrk and his visored opponents to a different time and place…namely, Seireitei fifteen years after the hollowfication incident ( from the 'Turn Back the Pendulum' arc)
15. Deception - General - 1.8K - There's a new substitute teacher at Ichigo's school, one that enjoys long naps and philosophical exercises. In other news, Starrk is the worst spy ever.
16. Awakening - Humor - 0.5K - Starrk wakes up with a killer hangover and no idea what happened or where he is. At least he's not alone...but what's with the pink kimono?
17. Dæmon (HDM fusion) – Drama – 1.9K - Hollows do not have dæmons. Starrk is not your average hollow
18. A Guardian's Dilemma – General - 0.5K - When they're present, their noise keeps you awake; when they're gone, you lay awake worrying
19. Trespass - General - Alternate Canon - 2K - Ichigo is just a 'normal' human with a few...quirks...who is trying to avoid being noticed by the shinigami. At least, he was until Grimmjow kidnapped him, dragged him off to Hueco Mundo, and then left him in Starrk's territory. Now alpha!Starrk needs to determine if the strange newcomer is a threat to be destroyed, or a possible new pack member.
20. Reviewer Prompt #2 - 1.6K - by warrior's chick - General - Alternate Canon - fem!Jushiro gets taken prisoner by Aizen and is entrusted into Starrk's care.
21. Whistle - Humor - 1.3K - There are many reasons the espada do not like Gin. Starrk's reason involves a dog whistle, puppy jokes, and a distinct lack of sleep.
22. Snow - Fluff - 2K - Starrk and Lilynette become shinigami after being cleansed during the Karakura battle, and spend a fun snow day with some new friends and old enemies.
23. Choice - General - Alternate Canon - 1.4K - After Aizen won the war and gained dominion over Soul Society and Hueco Mundo, he enslaved the remaining captains and gave them as gifts to his espada. It is Starrk's responsibility to choose who gets which shinigami.
24. Conversation- Crack - Dialogue!fic - 0.7K - In which Ichigo and Starrk discuss the paradoxical existence of a giant palace (plus amenities) in the middle of a featureless desert. Also, it is wrong to steal pillows from the Living World. Apparently.
25. Reviewer Prompt #3 (Part 1) - by Love Psycho - Humor - 1.3K - Ichigo makes a bad decision while in Hueco Mundo and finds himself trapped in the primera's 'pillow palace'.
26. Reviewer Prompt #3 (Part 2) - by Love Psycho - Humor - 1.5K - Ichigo tries to return to his mission, but Starrk has no intention of letting him leave. Although he doesn't want to fight, either...
27. Trap - General - 1.6K - One way that the battle with Shunsui could have gone, if the shinigami were just a little better prepared.
28. Trap (Alternate Ending) - Crack - 1.5K - The trap from chapter 27 takes a very different approach to disabling its target. (aka the one where Starrk is six inches tall)
29. Life - Drama - Alternate Canon - 2.1K - Betrayed and left to die by Mayuri, Uryu can only pray that his friends will find him in time. Unfortunately, they don't even know he's missing. Fortunately, Starrk is in the area and he is loathe to let anyone die alone.
30. Memory - Drama - Alternate Canon - 1.8K - Five Years preview. After waking up to a life he thought he'd left behind, Starrk goes looking for his former comrades on the assumption that he can't be the only one. While trying to make sense of memories she should not rightfully have, Harribel is approached by an arrancar who is looking for answers of his own.
31. Sword - General - Alternate Canon - 1.3K - Turnabout preview. During the zanpakuto rebellion, reports come in about a strange lupine sword spirit who avoids battle. At first it is dismissed as irrelevant...until it accidentally knocks Kenpachi Zaraki through a wall and survives the backlash.
32. First Impressions - Angst - 0.65K - Starrk's first appearance in Los Noches does not go the way he hoped.
33. Crime - Drama/Procedural Crime AU - 2.5K - Detective Ichigo Kurosaki and CSI Uryu Ishida look into the mysterious past of their only suspect (Starrk) in a particularly odd case.
34. History - Drama - 1.4K - Once upon a time, Starrk was a common hollow in Hueco Mundo, devouring others in an attempt to fill the emptiness inside himself. Once upon a time, he evolved into a Vasto Lorde. (Alphabet Challenge)
35. Conversations II - Crack - Dialogue!fic - 0.24K - Starrk vs. Ulquiorra. It isn't as intense as you might expect.
36. Interference - Action - 1K - When contact to Karakura Town is cut off during the Winter War , the humans panic and send in the military. No one was expecting what came next.
37. Encounter - Humor - 0.6K - Hanataro gets lost in Hueco Mundo and found by...well, probably the best possible arrancar, given the situation.
38. Infirmary - General - 0.8K - Starrk is rescued/captured after the Karakura Battle and taken to the fourth division for treatment.
39. Awakening (Part 2) - Humor - 0.6K - Shunsui wakes up in Hueco Mundo with a massive hangover and absolutely no idea how he wound up in the primera espada's bedroom. Partner to 'Awakening'.
40. Child - Drama/Family - 1.7K - Szayel creates a child from arrancar DNA to use as a specimen. To him, it is nothing but an experiment and he assumes Starrk, the unwitting DNA donor, will feel the same way. He is very, VERY wrong.
41. Hypocrisy - Drama/Angst - 1.0K - In the verse where Starrk is spying on the Karakura crew as a substitute teacher (p.15), his deception comes to an end and he introduces the shinigami to some harsh truths about the organization they serve.
42. Encounter II - Humor - 0.3K - While the shinigami are in Hueco Mundo, Yachiru gets separated from Zaraki and stumbles into the primera. Starrk is not amused.
43. Sullen - Humor - 0.8K - Random chance leads the shinigami to Starrk's hiding place during the current arc and they drag him back into the action. Well, they TRY.
44. Reviewer Prompt #4 - by Ultimate Black Ace - General - 1.0K - In a world where fate has made Starrk a shinigami captain and Shunsui an arrancar, the final battle of the Winter War goes differently. But the more things seem to change, the more they stay the same.
45. Crate - Humor - 1.7K - Starrk unwisely falls asleep while on a mission for Aizen, and wakes up somewhere entirely unexpected. Namely, Urahara's shop. The exiled shinigami is more than a little surprised to meet him.
46. Age - General - 1.8K - An alternate take on Starrk's resureccion. What if Lilynette's age was their true age? How would Shunsui and Jushiro deal with a child Coyote Starrk - identical in personality, but different in form?
47. Deleted Scenes #1 - Humor - 2.0K - Deleted scenes for 'How Coyote Starrk became a member of the Gotei 13 (On Accident)', including meetings between Starrk, Soifon, Byakuya, Renji...and a few other alternate scenes.
48. Dæmon (part 2) - Angst/Tragedy - 3.2K - In the world of dæmons, where a human's soul walks by their side in the form of an animal, the Winter War still happens. And someone must lose. (Continuation of chapter 17: Dæmon)
49. Deleted Scenes #2 - Angst/Adventure - 0.9K - Alternate scene from Turnabout: What if the Winter War HAD occurred before the zanpakuto arc? How, then, would the first encounter between zanpakuto!Starrk and Jushiro change?
50. Honor - Angst/General - 0.8K - When Shunsui falls from the battlefield, he does not expect to wake up, especially when his opponenet follows him down...fully intending to finish what he started.
51. Potion - Fantasy AU - 2.0K - Inspired by Hogwarts. Ichigo is a wizard in training who has just botched a spell...and Starrk, his instructor, gets caught in the backlash.
52. Stray - Fluff - 1.6K - While roaming aimlessly in the human world, Starrk happens to make freinds with a stray dog...who shortly has puppies.
53. Survivors - Adventure/Horror - 1.0K - Happy Halloween!...Zombies are festive, right?
54. Interference (Part 2) - Action - 1.1K - Starrk and Jushiro are forced into an uneasy alliance when the final battle of the Winter War is brought to an abrupt halt by a surprising new enemy.
55. Turn Right - Action/For Want of a Nail - 1.8K - The first encounter between Starrk and Aizen in Hueco Mundo takes a different, violent turn when Aizen makes a crucial miscalculation.
56. Dog Days - Humor - 6.7K - Starrk is captured after losing the battle of Karakura Town and unwillingly entered into a new shinigami 'rehabilitation' program by Shunsui and Jushiro.
57. Need to Know Information - Action - 1.5K - Common knowledge for arrancar is not necessarily common knowledge for shinigami. And a little bit of new information can vastly change a battle plan, even once a battle has already begun.
58. Life (Part 2) - Action/Drama - 3.4K - Betrayed and left to die by Mayuri, Uryu can only pray that his friends will find him in time. Unfortunately, they don't even know he's missing. Fortunately, Starrk is in the area and he is loathe to let anyone die alone.
59. Choice (Part 2) - Drama/Angst - 1.1K - Captured after the disastrous end of the Winter War, Shunsui is put in the care of the primera espada.
60. Mutation - SciFi AU/Fusion - 1.1K - X-Men Fusion. The aftermath of a fight between Starrk and Shunsui does neither of them any favors.
61. Deception (Part 2) - Humor - 1.7K - There's a new substitute teacher at Ichigo's school, one that enjoys long naps and philosophical exercises. In other news, Starrk is the worst spy ever.

1. Summons

Starrk yawned widely, revealing sharp fangs. When the yawn was followed by a full body stretch, including wings and claws, the scent of fear from the mage (his summoner) intensified.

Humans were so tedious.

Finally finished, he folded the long leathery wings back along his spine and shoved both hands (claws safely retracted) into his pockets, then slumped forward into his habitual pose, tail settling loosely around his right ankle. (Lilynette called it 'lazy'. Starrk called it 'relaxed'.) For the first time, he took a good long look at the human that had brought him to this dimensional plane.

The boy wasn't that young, for a mortal. Not a child, but not quite fully grown either. Late teens, maybe? Since he had yet to rise from a crouched position by the summoning circle, his height was questionable. However, his proportions indicated he was probably tall and strong. Odd…most mages were hidebound scholars; Starrk had never seen one with visible muscles before, and this one was less scared than most. By far the most noticeable thing about him was the bright orange hair, coupled with brown eyes.

Finished with his inspection, Starrk cocked one eyebrow in question.

"Well?"

" …What?"

A quiet huff of annoyance. "You obviously summoned me for a reason. What is it?"

The human stood slowly, eyeing the fell creature before him with extreme caution.

"I didn't summon you."

…What?

Starrk slanted a mildly interested glance at the boy. "You didn't draw the circle?"

"Circle?"

"The summoning circle."

"I didn't draw anything. I was hunting down a rogue mage…I work for the JSCA…and followed his magical signature here."

"Hm."

Well, wasn't that interesting?

"You're a shinigami?"

"Yep."

Starrk shot him a skeptical look and the boy scowled, crossing his arms belligerently.

"I am! I'm a certified substitute agent."

"You're a trainee."

"A substitute."

"A strong trainee."

An irritated glare was his only response. (Not that he noticed.)

"Hm." Starrk crouched within the circle, examining the borders with renewed interest. He'd assumed, since there was a human present, that the spell was successful. But without the mage to catalyze the reaction, there was no way it could have gone as smoothly as it seemed. Agile fingers traced the complicated symbols and arrays, reading the flow of energy as only one of his kind could.

"What's your name, kid?" his tone was distracted, but vaguely interested.

"Ichigo Kurosaki." Ichigo stepped forward and crouched down on his side of the circle, watching Starrk trace the lines with fascination. So long as the summoned creature was within the binding symbols, there was no danger, regardless of how powerful it was. It was actually pretty exciting to be so close to something so dangerously lethal, even if it was effectively helpless. "What are you doing?"

There was no response. After a long minute, the human scowled and rocked back on his heels.

"Well, who are you then? And what? Why are you here?"

"My name is Starrk. My summoner could answer your final questions, if he were here."

"Well, he's not. You should probably just go back where you came from."

Starrk paused with his hand resting over the juncture of an inverted Egyptian ankh intersecting the Japanese symbol for spirit at a slightly less than 90 degree angle.

There.

"Sorry, kid. I don't think so."

All it took was a gentle push of dark magic into the small discrepancy for the entire spell to unravel, neon blue energy temporarily highlighting the circle before the cardinal points erupted into bright sparks and the entire thing burnt to ash.

Ichigo fell back in horror and renewed terror as the creature spread his impressive wings to their full extent, destroying all of the other containing spells with barely a thought. The entire warehouse descended into darkness as blue-edged black magic flowed from Starrk's aura like a swift-moving stream, swallowing the flickering candle-light. His eyes, previously passive, were lit from within by electric blue magical energy, sparks of which were also dancing along the tips of his claws like lightning.

He looked like a demon escaped from hell.

Damn. Ichigo thought, taking in the scene with shock. I am so screwed.

I wrote this at 2am, when I realized that I didn't have anything to post in place of the old index. Now, looking at it in the light of day, it seems...okay? I'm not exactly happy with it, but I think it'll do. (At least until I come up with something I like.) I've edited it now, so some of the rough edges should be ironed out. Let me know if you find anything I missed.

Please read and review!