Disclaimer: I do own Bleach. I just own a laptop, word, and my imagination. Idea spawned from The Prince and the Pauper by Iamtall

Setting: This story is set in a spirit kingdom. The Gotei 13 are basically the royal guard/army.

Author's Note: This whole chapter is basically a prologue. Please review

Prolouge

There is a legend about a Celestial shard. The Celestial shard is a piece of an ancient Celestial jewel called the Hōgyoku. The Hōgyoku was said to be so powerful that the king demanded the gods take it back. Loki was a mischievous god and he broke off a piece of the Hōgyoku.

The shard had the power to change into any form. It remained as a shard for two centuries before it chose to take the form of a baby, a baby with fiery orange hair and warm honey eyes. Loki was delighted with the shards new form. He placed the baby in a basket and dropped him off at the palace in the form of a peasant woman.

Queen Masaki was the first to find the nameless baby. Delighted she rushed the child to her husband, King Isshin. They had always wanted a child and immediately welcomed the baby into their family. Queen Masaki named the boy Ichigo because it meant protector. Neither the King nor the Queen realized that the baby they held in their arms was the famed Celestial shard.

Fifteen years later

Ichigo walked in to the 6th divison office which was currently unoccupied.

Byakuya the captain of the 6th division and Renji the lieutenant of the 6th division were training new recruits.

He walked over to an empty patch of wall and let himself slide to the floor.

He took out a sketch book that his mother had bought for his last birthday.

"Why are you in my office your highness?" Byakuya asked after he spotted Ichigo on the floor.

"I am hiding from goat face", Ichigo said which was true.

Although his father was a wise king, he acted like crazy child half the time.

"You should not call your father goat face", Byakuya said with a frown. "You should be more respectful"

"If he didn't embarrass me and my sisters every time we are together, I would not call him goat face", Ichigo said as he continue d to draw in his sketch book.

Byakuya sighed, the boy had a point. The king tended to act like a lunatic in front of his children.

Ichigo was the eldest at fifteen while his twin sisters were eleven. Queen Masaki could not have children, so all three were adopted.

"Who are you drawing my prince?" Byakuya asked curiously.

"You", Ichigo said as a light blush touched his cheeks.

Byakuya pretended not to notice the blush.

He cared about the prince in a way he shouldn't of.

In his eyes Ichigo was still a child.

Let's not forget he was a prince.

Even though Byakuya was a noble, he still considered the prince untouchable.

He thought that Ichigo should marry another prince or princess.

"Ichigo it's been a while", Renji said after walking into the office.

Renji had bright red hair like a tomato.

His hair went past his shoulders when it wasn't put up.

"Wanna spar Ichi?" Renji asked with a lop sided grin.

Byakuya rolled his eyes.

He had given up on trying getting Renji to address Ichigo properly.

"Sure", Ichigo replied.

His sword was right next to him, normally he carried it on his back.

Not many could wield his sword because it was large and heavy.

Each sword was infused with energy from their wielder and spirit particles, which gave it certain abilities.

Ichigo's sword could shrink and give him immense speed.

Ichigo set his sketch book and pencil on Renji's desk.

"I'll race you to the sparring ground", Ichigo said with a laugh before running out the room with his sword on his back.

"Huh… Hey that's cheating " , Renji yelled as he took chase.

A month later

Ichigo stood on his balcony in the dead of night.

He couldn't sleep; he had been having issues sleeping for the last month.

His dreams had become nightmares, filled with screams and the sound of swords clashing together.

Something was coming.

He couldn't shake the feeling of guilt.

He felt that the coming on conflict was because of him but he didn't know why.

It was frustrating, to feel guilty and not know why.

He walked back into his room and sighed before getting dressed.

He was going for a walk.

King Isshin had been walking around the castle and he spotted Ichigo walking out of his room.

He tried to tackle his eldest son but was foiled when Ichigo kicked him in the face.

"Are trying to wake everyone up goat face", Ichigo said in a harsh whisper.

"My children are so mean to me", Isshin cried while Ichigo rolled his eyes.

"Why are you up so late goat face?" Ichigo asked quietly.

"I could ask you the same thing", Isshin replied seriously as he got up.

"Something is coming", Ichigo mumbled before walking down the hall.

He didn't want to talk about it, especially not with his insane father.