Well, this was supposed to be out a while back, but I've been too ill for that, so it gets to be posted now.
Postcards from the Edge #6 is here and, once again, jumping all over.
Raw.
***
6
*
"Appleseed."
*
The sand was shifting under his feet, fine and white, and he knew he was dreaming.
His dreams were not fickle things, but instead much like him - solid and constant, in form and in nature.
And as his feet slid over the bone white dust, he knew he was dreaming. Dreaming of Hueco Mundo. Again.
Even as he slid over the bone white sand he cocked back his fist, El Directo scattering the swarming hollows with a dull roar. Yet it was not enough - it never was. Wheter they merely got up or was it another wave, he had never any time to check. They came all the same. They came and they fell, his fists making a short work of any dumb enough to come close, while El Directo handled the unlucky few who decided he'd be an easy prey for a cero.
It was not a nightmare. Not really.
There was no fear involved, no sense of desperation or urgency. It felt hollow. Blank. Like digging a hole or sweeping dust - tedioious, repetitive and tiresome. This was not a memory, this was not an old wound or defeat at Nnoitra's hands he was reliving. No. The hollows were faceless, if one could call them that. Featurless. Just humanoid blurbs of black and grey, with uniformly bland masks. No sound beyond the shuiffling of dust, no scream beyond the dull roar of blue.
Merely this sensless, repetitive slugfest.
He cocked his fist again, this time slamming it down, the wave of reiatsu exploding and flooding the nearby hollows, erasing them from existence. The man stood up, wiping the dust off his lips, his breathing heavy.
This wasn't going to hold them off for long, he knew, but still, it was something.
"Now that's rather unpleasant."
Chad blinked, as the falling dust revealed the source of the voice.
She was dark grey and massive. Not as huge as some hollows he had seen, but there was a sense of raw, unaduleterated power in every inch of that lupine form resting on the stone outcropping.
She frowned, in that way dogs and wolves sometmies do, snorting out and shaking off the dust that settled on her fur.
"Most unpleasant indeed," the wolf muttered, eying her fur with undisguised irritation, before turning to look at Chad "Why are you here?"
The young man straightened out, dusting off his shirt with a grunt.
"I can't go anywhere else," he said simply.
"This is your dream," she pointed out, cocking her head to the side "What's stopping you?"
Chad blinked.
"I... don't know." he said after a moment.
"All the more reason to find out, you know," the she-wolf said amtter of factly, before shaking again, another wave of dust falling off her fur "Ugh. Nasty place."
"Then why are you here?" he asked, looking at her curiously.
"I couldn't sleep," she shrugged.
"Ah," Chad nodded slowly, before pausing.
The sand shifted, spilling to the sides as a hollow crawled out of it, a first of many, Chad knew.
"I wonder, is that edible?" the wolf asked curiously, peering at the ungaingly form.
Chad turned and stared at the animal.
"...I don't know."
"Well, time to find out, then," she said, jumping off the ledge and landing next to the monster. The hollow pasued, looking up, before trying to take a swing as it got up. The wolf merely slid away and to the side, before nimbly ripping out the beast's tendons, bringing it down. The mask opened, as if to howl in pain, but no sound came out as the large maw closed on its neck. The dark blod splattered on the white sand, causing Chad to take a step back in surprise. he had seen brutal but this was just... raw. Primal. Matter-of-fact, with mere hint of viciousness, but as natural as grabbing an afternoon takoyaki on way back from school.
The wolf chewed for a moment, before swallowing.
"Bland," she decided with a dissapointed sigh "There goes one possible use for this place I guess." she trotted away from the corpse and lookd at Chad "Well, that clinches it. It is boring, dusty and the locals taste awful. Let's get out of here."
Chad raised an eyebrow. He had looked for an exit once or twice, but there was only a desert for miles. On the other hand, this _was_ a dream and she had to come from somwhere. Though he was really curious where she came from, to be honest - the last National Georaphic special had nothing about hollow-eating wolves.
Still, it was a change of pace, he decided, and a quite a welcome one either way.
He paused mid-step as the sand started shifting again, the hollows rising from it. This time, he paid enough attenn to see the grains not so much sliding away, mroe like sliding inside...
'...no wonder they seemed endless,' Chad thought looking as the dust flowed together, forming another wave of monsters.
He raised his hand, Brazo Derecha de Giante sparking, the shoulder plate opeing and spitting a jet of reiatsu.
The wolf stopped, turning with a frown.
"Well?" she said impatiently.
He srhugged, pointing at the hollows, El Directo already coming to life in his hand.
"Oh. Them." she snorted "Don't worry, they won't bother us any more."
Chad frowned, turning to the hollows again, only to pause.
The beasts were rising but they were just... standing there. No, he decided, not quite standing - some of them were pacing, shuffiling in obvious agitation, but they never came closer, as if there was an invisible wall between them and the group.
He turned to his wolfish companion curiously.
"Why?"
"Why?" she opened her maw with a chuckle, the golden eyes almost burnign with the reflected moonlight "Because there is always a bigger fish, boy," she said smugly, walking away without a backward glance.
Chad turned to look at the hollows, agitated and restless, but not making a step forward, before nodding slowly and following.
*
"Now then," the wolf sad with satisfaction, her eyes twitching "Much prettier than some desrt, no?"
Chad nodded.
It was a forest - or rather what looked to be as a part of one, stretching farther than he could see, with tree-covered peaks, tops of which were hiding in the mist. It looked ancient, but nothing quite stood out. It was as if it was so old, so huge it didn't need to impress anyone with anything specific - its mere presence stood as a silent symbol of tmeless endurance of life. Calm and solid, extending like two sure hands, enveloping the swatch of land they were stanidng in protectively.
Contrary to the rest of the landscape, the place wasn't covered in trees but rather in...
"...wheat?" Chad leaned down, grabbing one of the swaying plants. Sure enough it was young wheat, still short and green, far from harvest. he stood up, looking around. The field, while far smaller than the forest was still huge, though it didn't swallow all of the valiable space like the forest, leaving enough room for a large lake and-
He blinked, looking into the distance.
Sure enough there was what seemed to be like a... village?
'Yes,' he decided after a moment as the wind brought a faint smell of smoke and food 'Definetely a village.'
"Now, enough gawking. You still stink of that desert," the wolf decided and Chad's eyes widened as the large head slammed into him. "Wha-" he gurgled as the water closed over him.
'...lake? How?' he thought, floating in the crystal clear water for a while, too dumbfounded to do anything else. '...oh. right. A dream.' he thought feeling like an idiot, before swimming up to the surface. The water was clear and although it carried a slight chill, it wasn't unpleasant.
When was the last time he had an opportunity to swim anyway?
'Not since that beach trip with Ichigo and Shinigami Women's Association.' he realized with surprise. It was years ago, but he still rememebred taht ridiculous watermelon monster... and maybe the very atrractive women in the swimsuits as well. Maybe.
"So, how was it?" the wolf asked with a chuckle "For a moment thee I thought you were going to drown, boya."
"No problem," Chad answered, unbottining his shirt, only to pause as he noticed the sand-turned-mud on it. "Hm."
"Yes, unpelasant, isn't it? It gets everywhere." she said with a grimace "Come to think of it," she peered at her fur, before looking at the lake.
Chad blinked.
'For something so large, she can move really fast,' he decided as the large lupine descended.
"GERONIMO!"
*
He sat back, his hair still dripping even as the sun was slowly drying the rest of him. The stones around the lake were pleasantly warm and the tightly wrapped bundle of hay the wolf dragged from the field made for a very comfortable pillow.
The she-wolf herself was laying next to him, catching as much sun as she possibly could, her thick fur still damp from the long swim, but now clean and shiny as it dried slowly.
She made him clean her, refusing to sit still - payment for setrvices rendered, she said - but he had to admit it wasn't unpleasant. He always liked to swim and the dream water was as good as any, he supposed.
Besides, even with her size, combing that fur was easy. It felt right. Natural.
He looked at the large lupine curiously.
"You are my zanpakuto, aren't you?"
The large ears twitched, before she leaned so that that her damper side was more exposed to the sun.
"Smart child," she murmured with amusement. "Indeed, that I am."
"You didn't tell me your name," Chad said throughtfully, looking at the she wolf.
"Should I?" she shrugged lazily.
He frowned.
"Wasn't it why you came?" he asked in confusion.
"I told you why I came," she opened one golden eye, peering at him "I couldn't sleep."
Chad pondered the answer, before nodding.
"So you aren't going to tell me?"
"It isn't like you need me, boya." she snorted, prodding one of his hands with her nose pointedly.
"I thought all zanpakuto wanted to." he said carefully.
"Why should I?" she yanwed "You are getting by just fine and I have the fields to run through, the forest to hunt in, the water to drink," she frowned "Well... aside from apples. It's been ages since I had one." the she-wolf prodded him again "Next time you're here, bring me some."
"Apples." Chad raised an eyebrow.
"Nice, juicy ones." she said dreamly "Red, sweet and juicy..."
"I'll try," he said after a momement.
"See that you do," she said with satisfaction, before closing her eyes again, dreaming of apples and wheat.
*
"Apples," Ichigo blinked.
Chad shrugged.
"Wow. That's... pretty weird." the orange haired shinigami admitted "I don't really see how, but if that's what she wants..."
Chad nodded.
"Huh," Ichigo scratched his head "Gotta tell you Zangetsu was never like that - and I don't mean craving for apples either. She really doesn't want to tell you her name?" he asked curiously.
Chad nodded again.
"Weird, really werid." the substitute leaned back "Look, I'd like to give you some advice but... one thing I learned working with Zangetsu is that no one can really tell you how to master a zanpakuto, or learn its name. The only one who can do that is her. But one thing I never doubted about Zangetsu was that he really wanted to work with me. Every snag, every bump in the read, that was all me." he frowned thoughtfully "Well, aside from one time, but that's a different matter altogether." he sighed "Look, bottom line is, you really should ask her."
"I've been trying." Chad said simply, shaking his head "The dream doesn't come."
"Yeah, well, there is another way." Ichigo grinned "I just hope your legs don't cramp easily."
Chad blinked.
*
The large man sat down on the floor, holding his sheathed asauchi.
The whole thing seemed simple, almost deceptively so, but then it wasn't that much different from any other meditation technique he had heard about.
Chad pulled off the sheath, carefully placing the sharp sword on his lap and closing his eyes.
He sat still for a moment, before opening his eyes and frowning. Putting the sword away, he wandered out of the room, before returning with a large paper bag which he put next to him as he sat down in jinzen position again.
Placing the sword back on his lap, he reached into the bag and pulled a large, red apple which he carefully put on the blade, before closing his eyes with a small smile.
After all, his grandfather always told him to keep his word.
As he slumped forward, falling into the trance, the apple gleamed in the afternoon sun, before a large bite vanished from it with a loud crunch.
***
Well, this is first of several Chad-centric Postcards, though the next one returns to Ichigo. Still, this isn't the last time we see Chad and his the wolf fond of apples. And yes, I know exactly what I ripped off. Call it a homage to one of my all-time favourites.