Ashido's Journal

This article, Ashido's Journal, is property of Kenji-Taichō. Permission is required to alter its content. Use of this page's contents is determined by the author of this page, unless otherwise specified.

This article, Ashido's Journal, is part of Bleach: War for the King's Seal, which continues on from the opening segments of the site's former Fanon Canon project. Use of this page's contents is determined by the author of this page, unless otherwise specified.

In the immediate aftermath of Akira Hiroshi leaving the Forest of Menos following sixteen years of survival training to pursue his own mission, Ashido began keeping a journal of his own. This journal continued on from that kept by Akira and was thusly dubbed "Reaper Abroad".

2019

January

8th

8th January, 2019.

Ugh, writing. You'll never know how many attempts it took me to write this entry and make this thing legible. Let's just say that it's been a long time since my calligraphy classes.

Hasn't been much call for writing in my time here before now, but I guess that's just another thing Akira's appearance changed? For some reason, I can't just sit still any more -- I have to be doing something, even if it's something as silly as keeping a journal. I mean, seriously? What have I got to write about? I killed Hollow for centuries, lived when others fell, and have a tendency to leap before I look? Full-stop. Don't think I'll headline the Seireitei News somehow.

Or maybe I just miss my friend and holding his journal like this, scribbling in the margins like he used to, makes it seem like he's still here? Yeah, I think that's it.

It's only been a week since he left... and this place just doesn't seem the same, somehow. I never used to mind the quiet here; I had my routine in place to keep my mind occupied, my wits were kept sharp by constant battle, and I was content in the belief that my struggles had meaning. If I could protect Human souls from the Hollow threat, then that was good enough. That gave my friends' deaths meaning. That was before Rukia Kuchiki and Akira Hiroshi dropped into my life. Between them, they told me so much: stories about the Arrancar and their Espada, a Quincy empire living in the shadows waiting to take their vengeance, and an ancient Hollow powerful enough to challenge Soul Society alone. Looking back, my mission seems to have failed. The Hollow I killed were a mere drop in the ocean.

My new mission won't fail. The Espada topside, and those Quincy? I'll monitor them for Akira, because they pose a real threat to the Spirit Cycle, but they're secondary. This ancient Hollow -- this Averian? He's a bigger threat than any of them. That's who I'll be watching for and, surprisingly, Gundinger agrees with me. Wants to join me, in fact! Says something as powerful as that shouldn't exist, Arrancar or not, and that some threats just need to be dealt with. Doesn't mind teaming up with a Shinigami, he says, but snaps that it's a one-time thing. Heh. Seems Akira changed him too.

If this Averian is as powerful as Akira claims though... well, that won't matter. It's my duty to try. I'll keep writing in the event the worst happens, and we can't warn Akira, so at least he'll know what happened to us.

17th

17th January, 2019.

I've been in Hueco Mundo a long time. There's little about Hollow I haven't seen for myself first-hand, or heard from someone else. I can't imagine there's many in Soul Society with the kind of experience I have.

Yet I've never seen anything like this. Piles of bodies, Hollow and Quincy, strewn about the ground, just left where they fell. From what we can tell, they were all killed by a bladed weapon -- probably a scythe -- and seemingly in one strike! The bodies are fresh, if a little shrivelled: the Quincy still show the markings of having activated Blut, not that it appears to have done them any good. We found them as we moved towards the deeper areas of the Forest, beyond what even Gundinger calls his territory. There's an air here that puts the rest of the Forest to shame. The whole place just feels... I'm not sure how to describe it. To me, it feels older. Ancient, even. Gundinger can't put it into words either, just says he feels hungry, like he did back before he became an Arrancar. I've seen the more developed Hollow cannibalize one another to evolve, and the lesser Hollow absorb what they need to survive from Hueco Mundo's atmosphere. I thought of both when I saw those bodies. Akira said this Averian empowers himself by killing? If so, this is likely his handiwork.

Gundinger doesn't seem thrilled with the idea of pushing deeper and, to be honest, I don't blame him. But there's a large group of Hollow and Quincy fighting up-ahead, and something powerful is wiping them out.

22nd

22nd January, 2019.

We're being hunted.

For the last five days we haven't been able to leave the Forest: anytime Gundinger attempts to open a portal, that Averian we were tracking collapses it almost instantly. His reiatu surges around us, Gundinger complains about being hungry, and suddenly our portal won't open! It doesn't matter where we go in the Forest -- it seems Averian's reiatsu can reach us. And when I step outside to gather supplies, because I feel hungry too? I sense him nearby. He's just out of sight, but he's definitely there, just on the edge of my sensory range, watching. Gundinger reports the same too.

Given that Akira told me that this guy is supposed to be a complete menace who slaughters without hesitation and kills because its fun, I don't understand why he hasn't just attacked us already? He didn't strike me as the sort to play with his victims. I mean, he killed those Hollow and Quincy quickly and without preamble, seemingly to quench his hunger. Is that what he's doing here? Playing games with us? Or is he window-shopping before he samples the meal?

For now, I guess we'll have to play along. With no way to get word to Akira save him coming to us, and with this Averian literally watching our every move, we've little choice but get on with it. Averian doesn't seem in too big of a hurry to attack us; in fact, he seems more interested in the Quincy topside. Gundinger says that they're "champing at the bit" to avenge their fallen allies.

Gundingers hopes the Quincy can distract Averian long enough for us to slip through, but I doubt that's how things will play out.