Chapter 7: Tom meets his spirit

Tom felt the world around him leave completely like he was now floating on air and not sitting on the ground. Jumping up to his feet he stood in complete and total darkness, looking down he wondered just what exactly he was standing on and where the hell he was but then he recalled what Mitch had told him earlier and shook all those pointless questions from his mind and began to focus solely on his blade. Shutting his eyes and opening his ears and mind to the vast darkness he heard a soft whisper coming from somewhere deep in the shadows, he strained to listen as now he could slightly hear it "Tom come to me follow my voice" it called to him.

Jolting his eyes open he raced off in the direction he assumed the voice was coming from as it began to grow louder and louder until finally he leapt out of the darkness as a bright white light enveloped his eyes and he gasped at the site standing right before him.

He gazed out at a lone and quiet jungle and yet instead of it being shrouded in darkness a bright white light surrounded the dense and desolate forest. As he stepped through the tree's pushing shrubs and low hanging branches back from his face he listened to the sound of the wind whistling through the trees and bushes as he noticed that he could only hear that and nothing else.

Finally after he trekked through the forest for what seemed like an eternity he arrived at a pathway made out of rocks that wound its way up to two separate rivers that were flowing next to each other. Walking along the footpath he saw the river ended and there was a huge waterfall cascading into each of the two rivers, what was interesting to note though was that although the rivers ran next to each other they were both completely different.

The one on his left was flowing bright red like the colour of blood while the one to his right was a pure white colour almost the stark opposite. Watching the river flow he noticed they eventually merged into one where the bright red blood mixed in with the white water and continued along together as far as the eye could see.

"So Tom you've finally arrived" a deep low voice spoke as Tom spun around to see in between the two waterfalls was a little section of land and upon that lay a huge white tiger. He eyed Tom with his cold and intelligent eyes as he finally got up stretching out his feet and then walking towards the edge of land and sat down. Although he was a white tiger the stripes that went along his body were a subtle blending of sky blue and lime green instead of being the usual black.

Tom also noticed that he had heterochromia the colours of his eyes being much like the lake flowing beside him, the left one was a bright red colour while the right was a vibrant white. "You've come to find out my name? Well first I must test you and believe me it won't be easy" the tiger said as suddenly the blood-filled lake began to pile up with bodies creating an even faster flow. As a result of this when the two lakes merged it slowly was festering into a deep red colour instead of crystal pure white.

This whole ordeal made no sense to Tom until the Tiger finally spoke out again in a cold dark voice. "Tom if the merged lake turns completely red you will return back to the world as a mad man your mind becoming that of a serial killer, the only way to fix this is to figure out what my name is so think hard and properly" done with his speech the tiger laid down as Tom immediately began to panic, he tried to stay calm and gather his thoughts but every time he did the mere thought of going crazy crept up on him and clouded his judgment. "DAMN IT I can't let it end like this not now" he muttered to himself as he took a deep breath and focused his mind on the Tiger and what he represented.

Opening his mind to the world around him Tom felt the presence of the Tiger flowing through him but also all around him as he came to the realization that the Tiger was a part of him and that somewhere deep inside of him he knew the name it just had to be brought to the surface. A strange burning sensation gnawed at Tom's mind distracting him as he quickly opened his eyes to see the bodies continuing to rise in the blood lake and he felt more and more aggressive as each second passed by.

"Don't think about that for now just focus on the sword" he thought to himself as he pictured the Tiger sitting there next to both the lakes which he realized represented the two sides to people, the blood representing murder, blood lust and evil thoughts which was made apparent by how he felt now and so he guessed that the white lake was the opposite of evil and was justice, serenity and good things therefore the lakes both represented peoples sides yet they flowed together as one eventually.

Slowly Tom could feel the anger rising in him as his vision went cloudy and the blood pumped through his body faster and faster he could feel his heart hammering in his chest thudding loudly and ringing in his ears. He tried to block it all out but it wouldn't go away so he thought harder and harder about the lakes connection and finally just when the last verge of his sanity was about to snap he opened both his eyes and spoke.

"The lake is about balance, evil needs good and good needs evil they both incorporate into each other that's why they flow together" he said as the Tiger sat up abruptly glaring at Tom who spun around to face him. "I now know your name it's Tamashii Seigei" upon hearing his name the Tiger smiled as best a Tiger could. "Well done Tom you've learnt my name and can finally call upon me in battle" Tamashii Seigei said as the bodies in the river of blood disappeared and the joint river finally returned to normal while Tom felt all the anger and rush of blood disappear from his body as he dropped to the floor exhausted.

While Tom lay on the ground recovering Tamashii Seigei walked over towards the edge of the fountain and stood high above the shinigami who squinted up at him. From where the Tiger was standing and he was laying his spirit looked like a god filled with power. He then spoke in a calm cool voice as Tom stood back up standing level with Tamashii Seigei and stared into his different coloured eyes as the Tiger began to speak. "Now Tom there is one thing you must know about your sword and my spirit. You must not let bloodlust corrupt your system and fuel your desires, no matter what the cause is you must resolve your conflict in the least amount of bloodshed possible. That is my power and only on those conditions will I lend my strength to you, if you try and fight out of anger, revenge, and desire to shed blood then I cannot risk becoming corrupted and defiled and I will shut my power off from you. Always remember that the least amount of blood shed in a conflict is the best outcome now go back to the world and show everyone the true meaning of Karma".

With his speech finished Tom felt the world shine brightly around him as he was blinded for a brief second and when he opened his eyes again he recognized that he was back inside the hall where he was training while his zanpakuto glowing brightly on his lap. He spun around to face Ania only to find she was still in her own little world trying to find the name to her sword, so he just sat there quietly and waited for her to finish up.