Disclaimer: Bleach is property of Tite Kubo

A/N: this fic is a prequel to my story the Ryuukin…though you don't need to have read it to read this. For the moment, it will be largely based around Jyuushiro and Shunsui and their Academy days with my apparently much loved OC Kimiko…it's a short beginning, but chapters will be long, I promise…you all have permission to poke me if they aren't.

A/N2: big thanks goes to Ms. Dragon, who encouraged me and demanded that I write this, as well as helped me name it.

The Chronicles

PROLOGUE

Perhaps it was fate, if you believe in such things; but whether it was predestined or not, no one could have foreseen that three such different, such powerful and promising souls would be born in such a short span of the never-ending phenomenon known as time.

First came the summer-born Shunsui of the powerful Kyouraku-ke. Born on a scorching day while winds raged; death followed behind him in the form of a stillborn twin brother.

Next, in the freezing winter of the same year, came Jyuushiro, born the first child of the once far more prominent Ukitake-ke. He entered the world to the sound of thunder crashing and to lightning striking the churning waves of the garden pond; death hovered over him, as was seen when the first drops of blood fell from his lips to taint the pure white snow only a year later.

Finally, in autumn of the next year, came Kimiko. Conceived of a king and a servant, death preceded her when she was born into the bloodbath of a Rukongai war. Her powerful royal ancestry showed prominently in the reiatsu that startled the district's civil war into an abrupt end as the dawning sun blinded the blood soaked fighters and light rain turned to icy sleet while the ground trembled.

So whether it was fate or not, three powerful souls were born; and whether it was destined or not, these three souls formed bonds that would last their lifetimes and make them an unstoppable force when they stood together on a battlefield.

A/N: reviews appreciated…please review?