Of Blood and Tears

Prologue

I woke up to the unmistakable sounds of a battle raging outside my room. I stood up and walked over to the window to see what was going on. Outside, a girl with long black hair and green vertebrae like horns wearing a black dress and wielding a scythe, along with a red haired man wearing a black kimono and wielding a black and white sword with forward facing spikes were fighting a skyscraper sized cloaked monster with a skull mask. Grabbing my nearby zanpakuto, I quickly ran out of my room and down the hall towards the stairs. I made it down the first flight and onto the second floor. As I ran through the hallway, a young man with short black hair wearing a business-like school uniform and carrying an ornate sword in a blue sheath ran up alongside me.

"What is it this time?" he asked as we ran.

"Hollow, and a menos grande by the looks of it." I answered. "It's a gillian."

The man smiled arrogantly, revealing fangs among his teeth. "Heh, that'll be a piece of cake for us!"

We continued to run through the building until we arrived outside. The other two were standing a good distance away from the menos, both of them somewhat injured. The giant hollow stared down at us over its long nose. It seemed to have taken some damage, but because gillians were always so sluggishly slow, it was hard to tell if it had even noticed the injuries. The hollow roared, most likely preparing for an attack.

"About time you got here!" yelled the red haired man angrily as he dodged a kick from the menos. "This guy doesn't know when to quit!"

"I'm amazed you're having trouble with a single gillian. I thought they weren't a problem for you anymore?" I said sarcastically.

"Do you have any idea how late it is? I'm tired enough as it is…"

"We've hit him quite a few times, but it doesn't seem to be making a difference." said the girl with horns. Now that I was close to her, I could see her luminescent green eyes.

"You guys have done enough, let us finish this guy off!" the black haired man declared.

Without waiting for a response, he drew his sword from its sheath, suddenly covering himself in blue flames. With a shout, he sent forth a burst of fire at the hollow's head, scorching it on contact. The hollow roared in pain from the strike before an enormous orb of red energy began to form in its mouth.

"Dammit Rin! All you did was piss it off!" yelled the red haired man.

"Whoops…" the black haired man said, shrugging his shoulders. The other man grabbed him and dove behind the remains of a fallen building for cover.

The green-eyed girl turned toward me. "Aren't you going to get behind something?"

"Don't worry, I'll be fine. You go ahead and take cover." I replied.

The girl gave me a worried look, but did as I said and disappeared behind some rubble. I turned toward the menos and concentrated as I extended my left arm. Within moments, a large black cannon materialized around my arm, with my fingers already on the trigger. I waited for the hollow's cero to build up to firing point before I pulled the trigger. A flaming blue projectile the size of a small car burst from my cannon towards the hollow. It struck his lower jaw, causing him to close its mouth in surprise, sealing the cero inside its jaws. The cero exploded, causing the hollow enough pain to fall toward the ground.

"Run! You'll be crushed!" called the green-eyed girl from where she hid.

But instead of running, I drew my sword with my free hand. "Dance, Sode no Shirayuki." (sleeve of white snow)

My zanpakuto became a beautiful pure white, with a ribbon trailing from the base of its hilt. The menos was falling faster now, he would crush me if I didn't act soon.

"Run!" the girl called again.

I quickly made a circle around me and leapt back. "Some no Mai, Tsuki Shiro!" (first dance, white moon)

An enormous pillar of ice rose up from the circle just as the hollow's head was about to land on me, impaling its head and thus striking its weak point. The giant monster slowly began to dissolve before completely fading away. When it was gone, I re-sheathed my sword. The green-eyed girl ran over to me and wrapped her arms around my waist, resting her head on my chest.

"Don't scare me like that! I thought I was going to lose you…" she said quietly.

I put my hand on her head and began to stroke it to comfort her. "I'm sorry, Yomi. I'll try to be more rational next time." I said softly. "Come on, let's go back to sleep."

That seemed to satisfy her, so she let go of me and told the other two to follow us. Just outside the abandoned apartment building we had made our home, the red haired man shot me a look of concern.

"Is something wrong, Renji?" I asked.

"You used that weapon again. Sometimes I wonder, just how much of you is still…well, you?"

I fell silent at this, for I did not know the answer. Renji seemed to read my mind, and let out a sigh before going inside and heading to his room. I soon arrived at my own room on the third floor, from which I could look out my window at the ruined city around us. I set my zanpakuto down beside my bed. For some reason a shower sounded really good, so I undressed and went into my bathroom. I found a towel to use, but as I reached for it, I stopped when caught my reflection in the mirror. I stood up straight and gazed at the mirror. A young pale skinned woman with luminescent blue eyes and long black hair stared back at me.

My name is Rukia Kuchiki. Or at least, it used to be…

A/N: DarkNovelist here. I originally planned to write this at a later time, as I am still not 100% certain on how this will go. As always, I encourage you to enjoy and review, as I am always willing to hear your opinions (constructive criticism is fine, just don't be a hater please). I promise I will update this as soon as I am able. I encourage you to read my first two stories (Altered Destiny and Advent of Black Souls) as some events in this will be based off of the events in those stories. Thanks! DarkNovelist out.