Into Purgatory: Kyougas Journey

*Upon the closing of the door, you find yourself alone in a vast desert...

All around you there seems to be no sense of purpose or direction.

It is night, yet there is a strong glow from the moon above you.

In front of you is a covered wagon, for the moment it sits still.
Then suddenly, it begins to roll forward slowly.

At first you pay it no heed, until suddenly you feel yourself being pulled sharply to the ground.

It is then you realize you hands are bound tightly, and the other end of the rope is tied to the wagon...

You think to yourself, either a slave or a prisoner, but how?

Welcome to Purgatory Kyouga, You journey starts here"

Kyouga quickly clapped his hands together and used his mastery over alchemy to rapidly decay the rope so that he would be freed from his bonds. If successful, he would chase the wagon. If not, he would continue to be dragged until the wagon came to a stop. I hope Shinji is doing better than I am. How ironic that I would be a captive... Kyouga thought.

*Poking his head out of the back of the wagon, an unusually short, balding man of middle age yelled down at his prisoner*

"Oi... quiet you.. What's with all this clapping? You think you're at a performance?"

*turning back into the wagon, the man heeded the driver to stop.
Once the wagon had, he climbed down off the back, and walked over to kyouga.

The man was in fact quite short; much shorter than kyouga.

As he reached him, he took the cane he walked with and smacked kyouga hard in the knee, forcing him down on one knee before saying*

"Good; now we can see eye to eye... If you keep acting up this way, i'll turn you over to the traders... Otherwise, if you want to earn your freedom, quiet down..."

At the sound of 'traders' and 'earning freedom', Kyouga made the conclusion that he was in the desert of Hueco Mundo in some sort of slave-trade era. Kyouga knew that he could take these guys down, but he would just have to put his faith in these people. "What is the name of this desert, sir?" Kyouga asked the balding man politely and quietly, despite the pain he was feeling in his knee.

*scratching his head, the little man looked a bit confused*

"The name of this desert? Have you lost your mind son?
This is the kingdom of Slavné! The greatest of all empires to ever rise from the white sands!
And in point of fact, the only one... seeing as how the lords armies have subjugated the surrounding 12 kingdoms...

But there will be time for all of that later... Right now I've got to get you to the Kings Manor... He likes to take a look at all prisoners and see if they are fit to join his army or not..."

*laughing a bit, the old man said in a low voice*

"And it's never good if you are the not; one of two things will happen to ya then; either you will be put to work building the kingdom till you drop dead from exhaustion, or you'll be executed outright.. So if I were you, I would start thinking about how I might impress the King..."

"If his majesty favors power, then I shall not be a disappointment to him." Kyouga said to the man after nodding his head, confirming that they should get going. "How much farther until we reach the King's Manor?" he asked the balding man.

*As The cart slowly wound on, on the horizon began to appear towers which rose fiercely into the sky...*

"Not much further now, The twin towers of Strach and Smutek wait to greet us..
This is the entrance to the kings vast estate..."

*Pausing for a moment to think, he decide to show a rare spect of kindness in his life*

"You seem like a good guy, or at least strong enough to face death, so here is some advice for you; the king likes strength yes, but more importantly, he looks for those with obedience; People who will loyal serve his command..."

"So be it..." Kyouga said calmly as he admired the twin towers. "I might sound like an idealist, but the slaves should be given more credit for building these magnificent structures." Kyouga added calmly as he just put in some of his own two-cents in it.

*with a wry smile, the man spoke*

"Slaves? No there are no slaves...
Slaves would imply that there were some sort of a future for the builders; no these are the works of prisoners sentenced to death...

Our King will not abide by the slave trade as some other kingdoms did; nor will he force his loyal subjects into forced labor; no.. he leaves that to those who have no purpose left..."

*moving past the large gates, a sprawling estate began to unfold; beautiful whit leafless tress lined the road, as a massive mansion began to come into focus...

Slowly the cart moved up to the carriage house of the estate and stopped.

Armed guardsmen came out and surrounded Kyouga, as the man got down and cut the ropes lose from his hands. The man spoke one last time*

"End of the line for us kid; good luck in there..."

With that he climbed backup into his carriage and pulled away as, the guards escorted the prisoner into the mansion... to the kings room*

Kyouga calmly followed the guards while he kept silent, but the entire estate was quite luxurious. In the meantime, Kensei thought that he could use his sonido in combination with an attack to impress the King.

*the King's throne room was quite bare in comparison to the lavishness of his estate elsewhere;

His large throne was made of a polished metal, that fanned out across the top, the way a peacock would expand his feathers.. The arm rests were made in the design of two large battle hammers, with the hilts connected to the bottom of the arm rests

The was a single strip of red carpet that lead up the stairs to the throne, but nothing else; the walls were nothing more than arches which openly allowed the moonlight to flow in.

The room was on the top floor of the palace, were the king could look out as his estate in any direction;

But for now he sat quietly on his throne, flanked by two guards, leaning on his right elbow*

*It was then in a booming voice, the King spoke*

I am King Afscheid The Hammer; I am the Last of the great Vasto Lorde Kings, and you are my prisoner...

Should you be worthy; I will grant you citizenship, and add you to my ranks of soldiers;
Should you not be; I will destroy you one way or another...

Now...

Impress me...

Kyouga immediately disappeared from his previous location and reappeared right in front of King Afscheld while bowing to the king with absolute respect. "My king, I will proudly accept whatever fate you choose for me. Whether or not you accept me, you shall have my eternal loyalty and will not hesitate to sacrifice my own life for the empire." Kyouga declared with honesty and honor. Kyouga was not worried about his own life because he strongly believed that his sense of duty and justice would guide him. He also felt that this was one of the few men that he could trust, but Kensei believed in every word he said.

*leaning up a bit, The king looked closely at the new arrival*

"You're fast, I'll give you that...
I like your style kid; you get right to the point..

I have to ask you something though, and it's the first thing that crossed my mind when you walked into the room;
Why do you smell like that?

I mean, you don't smell like a typical hollow or even an arrancar; nah you smell more like one of my Espada generals, but not completely; I can smell a bit of hell's sulfur on you..."

"My mother was a Demon, sire. I'm surprised you could sense it because not many people are able to sense my dorment half." Kyouga explained calmly, explaining a secret that he usually kept to himself.

*with a laugh, the king continued*

"I get it now... I knew I smelled it..
As a King of these lands, I've visited with the demon king often. He is the one responsible for my espada generals..

Honestly I don't care much for him though.. To untrustworthy...

*standing up, he moved past Kyouga to an open window on his left*

"But this is good; it came work to my advantage...
Ok Half demon; I'll spare you... You can join my army, but under one condition only:

*motioned for Kyouga to come over to the window. Outside stood 1000 soldiers, from basic hollow to arrancar, in formation*

"The demon king has demanded I send a Battalion of soldiers for his war...
While I despise the idea, i do not have the power to say no.. So what i want you to do is go with these men. It will gain me some favor having a half demon in their ranks, and maybe he will trust me enough to leave me alone for awhile.."

*Just as his words trailed off, An enormous Hollow stepped to the front of the lines. He easily stood 10 stories tall, wearing thick bone armor, and wielding a giant war hammer. Pointing down to him, The King spoke*

"That's the one you need to talk to, He's my top general, the fiercest warrior I've ever know. His name is Ivanovich, but I'm the only one who calls him that. Most people just refer to him by his nickname, Legion.
He got that because his strength alone is equal to a legion of men."

"Kyouga Minamoto, that is my name sire... As for my assignment, when should I accompany these soldiers?" Kyouga stated his name, and asked his highness respectfully with his hands behind his back. Kyouga knew how this war was going to end, and he had to make absolute sure that the Hollows fall before the might of the Yukimura.

*nodding slightly, the king almost laughed*

"I like your style kid... You make it back here in one piece, I see big things in the future for you..."

*He looked back out the window*

"Minamoto huh? No i swear I've heard that name somewhere before..."

*leaning his head neck, he gets lost in deep thought, before finally giving up and shrugging*

"Ok so I have no idea where I heard it, but it doesn't matter...
Either way Kid, head down there now, and Ivanovich will tell you were to go."

*turning around, the King walked back up to his throne , but as he did, he spoke one more thing*

"Oh yeah, and don't forget. DON'T call him by his name... He hates people knowing it. Call him legion...
I don't know.. I think he thinks it strikes fear in the hearts of his own men as well as his enemies... Doesn't matter as long as he keeps on winning I guess..."

Kyouga payed close attention to the king's words, and took every bit of advise before he bowed to his highness and took his leave. Kyouga then made his way to Legion quickly, and addressed the general candidly. "General Legion, I am the new recruit Kyouga Minamoto. I was told by his majesty that you would tell me what it is that I must do." Kyouga said calmly to the giant individual once he got into audible range.

*looking down at the man who had just approached him, Ivanovich swung his massive warhammer up onto one shoulder, balancing it and holding it with one hand, while he looked him over in inspection*

"Not much to look at, are you kid..."

*throwing his head back he laughed a bit*

"Doesn't matter to me... It's your funeral..
Fall into formation, we are heading out for battle on the plains of Elysia."

*turning to face all his men, he addressed them in a booming voice*

"Men: some of you have fought with me, some against me, some never; I have two rules:
1.) If you die, take something down with you
2.) Stay out of my way..."


*he turned and faced the opening gate of the city*

"Here we go boys; MOVE OUT!"

*following in step behind him, the soldiers began marching in formation behind him, and out of the gate*

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