Turn Back the Sands of Time: Part 1

Ryan lay asleep on a cold, solid, cave floor on the deserted island of Kakusei, the island Seireitou had left him on without a weapon or food supply. His sleep was penetrated by his sore body, rumbling stomach and aching heart. It had been almost a week since he failed to kill one of the higher ups of the arrancar five. The failure physically pained him, but more so mentally. His sleep was disturbed by the nearby running water of an underground river, so he rolled over onto his side, and fell into a painful sleep. The dream came to him quickly:


 * He was in the human world as it was around 150 years ago. He is in an ally in Imperial Japan, Southwest Karakura Town. In the dream, he took the form of a spirit floating above the scene. In the ally were four boys, all about his age. One was standing on a fence, while the other three remained on the ground looking up at that boy. The boy that was standing ontop of the fence was wearing a black cloak, hiding his face. "What do you want from us?! We don't even know you!" screamed one of the three boys standing on the ground. The cloaked boy cocked his head, "You don't know me, but I know who you are. You three are the demons in my sleep, and the cause of most of my pain and I'll kill you for what you've done!" The three boys began to ball their fists, "Ya! Well we haven't done anything to you!! But if it's a fight you want then I hope your ready to die!" screamed the kid in the front of the group. The cloaked boy lowered his head and balled his own fist, "While it is true you have never physically done anything at all to me. You have both mentally and physically abused someone very dear to my heart, and for that you will each pay with your lives.

The dream ended as abruptly as it had began. Ryan forced himself awake and managed to get his sore body into a standing position. The dream had left him puzzled. Never once had his nights been interrupted like this. He walked to the mouth of the cave which was blanketed by a waterfall and was sitting miles above the actual "floor" of the island. He took of his shirt and stuck his head into the running water and thought over the dream. For some odd reason, it angered him. As that anger arose, so did many others, like his empty stomach, and failure a week earlier. His right arm, which was dangling in the water flow began to charge reiatsu, before he realized, Sei had limited his energy techniques as well. He cursed under his breath and after a few silent moments, with only the noise of the running water in his ears, he let go of his cares and the sky outside the cave was bathed in blood-red, crimson light as Ryan fired cero from his hand into the lake below the waterfall.