Sooooooooo... How you all doing? I know, I know, I said I had plans for the original story bu the thing is, the more I kept thinking about it the more I started to hate it. And the more I hated it the more I started to wonder, why? I was s enthusiastic about it and had plenty of good ideas but then it just... fell apart. Then I realized it. MY BEGINNING SUCKED ASS! I was so focused on what I wanted to write later on that I forgot to put effort into getting there. Well not this time! (Hopefully) This time I'm going to putt my all into every chapter, and not just the future chapters I kept thinking about. So sorry if you were looking forward to seeing how the original turned out but I think this is much better then trying to bring drag a dead story to the finish line. Hope you understand.
P.S. This story will basically use the same general ideas from the original. So think of the original as a sort of rough draft for this version.
Hope you all enjoy the chapter!
(Marshalanime does not own Naruto or Fire Emblem)
A cool breeze blew across the calm ocean water, the only obstacle in it path taking the form of a large transport vessel sailing under the blue sky. It was an older ship that showed its age through faded and chipped wood, allege and barnacles growing on the bottom that would have to be cleaned up at some point, and even the sails were no longer the pristine white they use to be. Still, it had more than its fair share of years left. That said its current task was far from its original purpose, for it was not the cargo of a wealthy businessman aboard this mighty vessel.
"Uuuuuuuhhh! How long do they expect us too stay out here?" a curvaceous woman asked aloud, an aggravated look adorning her face as she leaned over the banister. She had waist length, curvy blond hair that arguably covered her body more than her bikini-esk white armor. For most it might be impractical, and perhaps suicidal, to enter a battlefield with your only real armor being mettle shoulder-pads but Charlotte, "I swear, if all of this salt water ruins my chances of nabbing some rich noble then someone's going to pay!"... had her concerns elsewhere.
While Charlotte was quite brash and foul mouthed when out of earshot her partner was more then use to it at this point as he stood beside her, watching the open skies as she vented. Focusing his gaze on one of the gulls that have been circling their ship for the past while now the giant man clad in heavy black armor let a gentle smile play across his lips. "They don't travel far from land. I'd say we're probably a day's travel from shore" Benny remarked.
"Oh thank the gods! we've been out here for three weeks without a break!" Charlotte soon cheered with a solid fist bump into the air. "If I have to go any longer without my feet touching solid ground I'll!" the blond beauty was in the middle of saying when a new voice reached her ears.
"I wouldn't be celebrating yet"
Upon hearing the male voice Charlotte immediately pulled herself together, her features becoming more delicate as her voice turned soft, "O-Oh, is that so? Why ever would tha-" only for her to go back to her earlier personality when she turned around to see who it was that had come up to them. "Oh, just you. You could announce yourself you know, just wasted a perfectly good smile and cutsie act on you" Charlotte remarked with crossed arms and a scowl as she addressed the young man now standing before her.
The young man had bright blond shoulder length hair with long, smooth spikes that tended to flow downward. His most stand out features were probably his deep red eyes, whisker like cheek markings, and pointed ears. His attires consisted mostly of custom made black and silver plate armor that sacrificed a bit of defense to be thinner, lighter, and more flexible then your standard plate mettle, and to top the look off he had a masterfully crafted blue cape and a double edged blade strapped to his waist. This was Nohr's second prince, Corrin, or more commonly addressed as Naruto for personal reasons. Accompanying him was a maid about the same age as him with sky blue hair pulled back into two thin pigtails.
"Shouldn't you be more aware of your surroundings? What would you have done if it was someone else?" the young prince asked with a smirk and raised eyebrow.
"Oh please. Like most men are smart enough to realize what I'm like from something like that! Just one look at my damsel act and they'd forget any of those last remarks I made." Charlotte remarked.
"If you say so Char." Naruto told her with a bemused grin.
"It's fine to call me that when others can here but drop the stupid name when no one can hear." Charlotte grumbled.
"What did you mean?" Benny asked, deciding to ask before the point his fellow blond had first made was dropped completely.
"Huh?" Naruto/Charlotte intoned as they tilted their heads towards the man.
"You said we shouldn't be celebrating yet, what did you mean?" Benny clarified.
"Oh right, that!" Naruto let out as he lightly dropped his fist into his open balm. "There's a port town about two days from here but we're going to be passing by it. Just thought I'd tell yo-ahhahahhhh, Charlotte?!" Naruto was saying when he suddenly found himself being pulled down to Charlotte's level due to her taking hold of the cape around his neck.
"What do you mean we're 'passing by it'? What for?" Charlotte barked out.
"We're currently sailing through Hoshido controlled waters. Even if we're not sailing on a Nohrian military vessel it's too risky to dock at any of the nearby harbors, so our next stop will be in two weeks once we've passed through." Naruto's maid, Flora, answered for him.
"If it's so dangerous then why are we even sailing here!?" Charlotte demanded as she pushed the prince away, allowing him to stumble back into a standing position.
"King Griden asked us for help. How could I say no?" Naruto retorted as he finished steadying himself.
"Yeaaah, but we've already taken out four pirate ships! Isn't that enough?" Charlotte reasoned.
"Pathen is a kingdom made of many islands. They require vast shipping networks across the sea just to transport goods between its own people. This influx of pirate activity could economically cripple them if not dealt with immediately. Four ships are only scratching the surface of the problem." Flora reminded the woman while giving her a stern look.
"Then why aren't we in Pathen? You know, where the problem is." Charlotte reasoned.
"Patrol ships have already been doubled. There's no reason for us to hunt down pirate there" Naruto told the woman, shrugging off the cold look she gave him. "These guys don't exactly care about boarders. If it's too dangerous to stay in Pathen then they'll leave. Problem is some of them keep sneaking back in to ransack villages and plunder shipping vessels. That's where we come in!" the blond prince told her.
"...But why us?" Charlotte asked.
"Because King Griden was generous enough to let us stay in Pathen, the capital city of Sragosa no less! And I don't know about you but I don't want to feel like a freelo-" Naruto was in the middle of saying when one of the lookouts up in the crows nest shouted out that he'd spotted a ship being attacked off in the distance. Without finishing his sentence the prince turned and rushed into the growing motion of his soldiers moving about on deck, issuing orders with every step.
"Looks like we've got our work cut out for us today" Benny remarked as he glanced over at his partner. She clearly had some stress to blow off in the upcoming battle.
The ship under assault was a third the size of Naruto's at best and unsurprisingly held a Hoshidian design given the area they were in. It's frame was thin and streamlined with red sails that were reminiscent of fins in a way with the way they were designed. I contrast the ship currently hooked too it more resembled those from nations like Nohr. From several platforms hastily placed down to bridge the gap a flood of rouges and cutthroats boarded the Hoshidian vessel. Though they were met with quite the resistance in the process.
"Hold firm! Don't let them take this ship!" a green haired man clad in green, violet, and dark blues with sparsely placed leather armor shouted as he cut down a man with one of the blades built into his wrist guards after parrying his blade away with the knife in his hand.
"Like hell that's gonna happen!" a dark skinned, muscular woman roared back as she shattered another man's forearm with her braze club. Her chest was covered by a simple white cloth without anything else to cover her toned abdomen. Most of her clothing covered her waist and legs and was traditional garb for those hailing from the flame tribe. Around her neck was a necklace made of large black beads and resting atop her head was an oni mask. "I'm not about to die to the likes of these guys!" the woman declared as she swung her club back around to remove the man's lower job, allowing him to fall to the ground unconscious to die of blood loose.
The entirety of the ship had thoroughly erupted into battle between Hoshido soldiers and the invading pirates.
"Captin'! Captin'!" a scrawny little man called out as he rushed up to a truly intimidating behemoth. "That ship we spotted is filled with Hoshido soldier! If this keeps up we'll-GHAU!" the man was sputtering out when a massive hand covered his face and pushed him aside.
"What difference does it make? They'll die like all the rest!" the man spoke as he stepped out from the inside of his ship to see his men rushing into battle, his blood red coat immediately distinguishing himself from his indistinguishable underlings. "He, hehe... Heheheheheheheehehehehehe! What a glorious day to paint the sea red, eh boys!?" the man bellowed as the look in his eyes turned manic. At the entrance of their boss the pirates already in battle grew emboldened. Walking up to the banister facing the Hoshidian ship the gruff man propped on foot up on the banister. "Hear me Hoshidians and know fear! I, the great-" the pirate captain was in the middle of introducing himself when a single arrow sailed into the side of his throat, quickly silencing him. In a brief moment of clarity the man tried to look down at the wound, blood pooling into the back of his throat only for his live to come to an end as three more arrows embedded themselves into his head and chest. The boost of moral that his men had just received died instantly as they saw their once believed invincible captain fall lifelessly into the waters bellow.
The one responsible for the man's death soon entered view, being carried into battle by one of the wyvern riders under Naruto's command. "That's the big guy down" the black/white haired man muttered as he already had another volley of arrows ready to let fly, his dark green cap fluttering in the wind behind him.
This was not the only pair to arrive on the scene, more than a dozen other wyvern riders flew into the fray carrying passengers along with them, Benny, Charlotte, and Flora numbering among them. Slowing down they neared the two ships and allowed the ground units to hope off before moving out to swoop back around for an assault of their own. Charlotte and Benny had been dropped off on the pirate's ship and with their great strength they were soon making quick work of those still aboard, with Benny's first move upon landing being to prop his shield up in front of them and bowl over anyone in his path as he charged while Charlotte stayed close to his back and quickly took care of any who narrowly avoided Benny's charge with her axe.
Naruto, having his own wyvern, flew with Flora behind him. Glancing over his shoulder Naruto remarked, "This is my stop." before letting go of the reigns and sliding off his mount. "Take care of Dermot while I'm gone!" the blond called out as he fell to the ship bellow.
"As you wish Milord" Flora calmly answered despite knowing that he could no longer hear her as she scooted forward and took hold of Dermot't reigns. "Looks like we'll be fighting together again" Flora addressed the wyvern, getting a short draconic screech in response.
It was not just the pirates who were taken by surprise with this turn of events. The Hoshidian, who had gradually been pushing the invaders back were quick understandably speechless by this. These fighters made no attempt to hide their Nohrian origins, proudly wearing the military garb given out to Nohrian soldiers, save for the obvious exceptions. So if these fighters were apart of Nohr's army then why were they helping them?
Unable to voice his questions during battle Kaze kept on fighting, up to the point a blond haired man in silver armor dropped down behind him, intercepting a blade meant for the back of his neck. Glancing over his shoulder the ninja was struck by an odd sense of familiarity that he couldn't quite place. His mouth moved before his mind as he asked, "Who are you?" While shoving the enemy's blade back with his own Naruto looked over his shoulder at the green haired ninja, and in that moment Kaze knew where that familiar feeling came from. Those red eyes, those pointed ears, and those marks on his cheeks, there was no mistaking who this young man was.
"Name's Naruto, second prince of Nohr!" the blond proudly told the man.
This initially caught Kaze off guard. He knew who this was, it had to be him. So why would he use a different name? Did his kidnappers have something to do with this? Though perhaps now wasn't the best time to ponder that Kaze realized as the pointy end of a spear aimed for his face brought him back to reality. On reflex the man ducked down and to the side, realizing too late that would leave the prince open to the blow. "My liege!" Kaze yelled out only for his eyes to widen in surprise as the man's free arm morphed into something, inhuman with a swirl of water and bubbles. This new appendage took the blunt of the weapon's blow, receiving a small cut from the blade but ultimately resulting in the wood of the long handle splintering from the force. Continuing from the motion of his initial spin Naruto raised his blade high and brought it down on the wide eyed pirate making an attempt on his live. It probably all happened in less than a second but for Kaze it felt like an hour, time only seeming to return to normal as the blond's arm reverted to normal.
"Get your head together. We've got a ship to defend!" Naruto told the ninja looking up at him before moving forward to take on the next enemy.
'I can't even begin to imagine what you've been through, can I prince Corrin?' Kaze thought to himself. Though he quickly shock the thought aside. He was right, now wasn't the time to be lost in thoughts.
Even without the Nohrians assistance the Hoshidians would have been able to fend off the pirates but with them, despite the initial hesitance on the Hoshidians behalve, they make quick work of the pirates. Being assaulted from both the Hoshidians ship and their own the enemy could do little more than fight to the death or surrender. The fighting was wrapped up within ten minutes.
Now that the fighting was over however the tension that had been overlooked in the heat of the moment was now at the front of everyone's attention.
"And that's that!" Naruto said with a grin as he finished tying the last of the binding holding the pirates who'd surrendered, having knelt down to tie the knot. All seemed fine when suddenly felt the blade of a naginata brush up against his back.
"What's a Nohrian prince doing in Hoshido?" a spear fighter who was near Kaze when the blond introduced himself asked as he kept his weapon aimed on the man's back. All around them the Hoshidians were glaring daggers at the blond prince and the air was thick with built up hatred.
"... Are we really going to do this?" the blond asked after a moment's pause.
"I asked a questi-!" the man was shouting with beads of sweat running down his forehead when a sudden flash cut him off. It was so fast that he hadn't even felt the cut but the feeling of warmth running down his cheek made him more than aware of the deep virtical gash that was now in his cheek. At his feet stood a knife firmly impeded into the wood of the ship.
"Act any further and you wont live long" Flora's threat was accompanied by the flapping of Dermot's wings that also generated a strong gust off air as the wyvern descended towards the deck. It wasn't just her. All of the Nohrians who'd come to their rescue just moments ago at the behest of their prince had now turned their weapons upon them in defense of their prince.
Even outnumbered the Nohrians would fair well if a battle broke out right now. The Hoshidians had been fighting longer then them and thus were worn out more along with the fact that they had more then a handful of wyverns while this detachment of Hoshidians seemed to lack any Pegasai or archers tipped the odds into their favor. On top of all of that they still had their main detachment enroute and would be here before long. Given the circumstances there was no way the Hoshidians would win.
Looking around him the man who'd turned his spear on the prince started to shake in place in both parts fear and rage. He had a Nohrian royal at the end of his spear. If he could take his live then it'd be a huge blow to Nohr. Even if it coast them all their lives it would be a justifiable sacrifice, right? Right!? Yes... Yes! Of course it was the right option! They'll forgive him, surely they would! They'd do it to if they were in his position! Re-tightening his grip on his naginata the man intended on ending the man's live, only for everything to fade to black before he could strike.
Having incapacitated the man Kaze let him drop to the wooden floor with an unreadable expression. The tension was sill thick as he went to extend his hand out toward the young prince. As the blond turned his head to the side to look up at him Kaze's expression softened. "Allow me to thank you for your assistance, prince Naruto."
...
...
Silence past between booth sides as they waited for the princes response. For the Nohrians it was no surprise when he took the outstretched hand with a smile, though that didn't stop some of them from sharing a sigh of relief with the Hoshidians.
"How could I not help someone in need" Naruto remarked as Kaze helped him up to his feet. In the moment he hardly noticed the man's lips curve into a slight smirk.
"How fortunate then. We could still use some help... If you're willing that is"