Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto, Fire Emblem or any other Anime, Game or Movie referenced in this fic. I also don't own the tactician, as that character is property of Meibatsu on Deviantart.
"Talking"
Thinking
Demonic/Beast speech
Shouting/Magic
Chapter 1: Changing History
He blinked, waking from the latest nightmare about his old life, back on Konoha. He looked down as he noticed there was a weight on his chest, and saw her long green hair that reminded him of his new place in life, beside his beloved Lyndis of the Lorca tribe. He smiled fondly at the girl, even though she was still sound asleep, and wrapped one arm around her possessively, closing his eyes once more.
† Flashback †
It was October tenth again, his birthday and the day he hated the most. He was born the same day the Kyuubi had attacked his home village some thirteen years ago, and the people of Konoha seemed to associate him with the demon for some reason because of that. That meant that, every year on October, on his birthday, there would be what the villagers called the Fox Hunt, and that basically meant they would track him, find him, drag him as far from the village as possible and torture him for as long as they felt like doing so.
This year however, had been different. They had gone a little overboard with their playtime, and now the blond would-be Konoha shinobi lay on a pool of his blood, bravely trying to continue breathing despite having his lungs skewered by the villagers. He usually healed from everything they did, eventually, but this time it would seem even his supposed supernatural power would not save him. He watched the skies above, his tears long since dried up and thought that maybe he would see his parents again; Hokage-jiji always said they had died protecting the village that day; and the thought finally, after years of having forgotten what it felt like, brought a smile to his face, his eyes slowly closing for what he knew was the last time.
He opened his eyes, confused as to what had happened; he was sure he was supposed to be dead; and took a moment to adjust to the light coming from outside. He noticed he was inside a tent of some sort, big enough to fit a whole family by the looks of it, with a lot of fur lying around. Maybe some hunters found me? He wondered, before trying to get up, supporting his upper body on his arms. It was then he noticed that he was taller than he should be, as well as the long nails on his feet, much like an animal's claws.
He should have panicked right then and there, but instead he simply allowed himself to lay back down and looked at the white cloth of the tent for a moment, raising his hands in front of his eyes to see the same sight, long nails, much like his feet, greeted him on a hand that looked nothing like his child-like ones. Was this some sort of dream? Had he been cursed to Makai for hating his village? Naruto passed a hand through his head and then he panicked.
"W-wh-what!?" He shouted an animal-like ear in his grasp. He could feel the soft fur that covered the appendage, his eyes wide as he looked around. What had happened to him? Did the villagers do this as some sort of sick joke? Naruto was hyperventilating at that, eyes wide in fear now. He was in a hunter's tent, he was apparently an animal now, and maybe they were preparing for a proper fox hunt! I have to get out of here! He jumped to his feet, ignoring the fact he was completely naked in favor of rushing to the tent's entrance.
He bumped into someone, falling back on his butt as he looked at the person, eyes wide in fear. "Uhn…" the voice was soft, and from the sound Naruto assumed the person couldn't be much older than he was. He thanked his lucky star for that, and began pushing himself off the ground to continue running away, when he made the mistake of looking said person in the eyes. She was beautiful, her green eyes staring at him curiously, her long green hair cascading down her back, and he blushed when she offered him a gentle smile, averting his gaze from her, lest he be trapped within those eyes forever.
He offered her his hand, which she gladly took as he pulled the girl to her feet. "Thank you! I'm Lyn, of the Lorca tribe. Who are you?" He could tell by her voice she was excited to meet him for some reason. Maybe it was because he was no longer human? He sighed inwardly, not wanting to dishearten the beautiful creature in front of him, before he too offered her a smile, although his smile didn't quite reach his eyes.
"I'm Naruto, former human from Konoha." He said, half-jokingly. He still felt terrible about what had happened before he woke in this tent, but her presence, somehow gave his previously rushing mind pause, and he was more in control of himself. He noticed that the girl tilted her head slightly in confusion at his mention of Konoha, and a part of him wished he was far away, where they would never find him.
"What's a Konoha?" The girl asked, entering the tent and sitting on the bed he had been lying on previously. He mirrored her movement, sitting beside her; and feeling for the first time his tails that he had needed to move away in order to sit properly. More interested in the girl's lack of knowledge about the greatest of all Elemental Nations he decided to ignore the new appendages for the moment.
"It's where I'm from…it's supposed to be the greatest among the Elemental Nations…" She let out a curious huh? As he spoke about the Elemental Nations, and that had his heart beating faster, not in despair, but in joy of his apparent freedom from his tormentors. "I never heard of Elemental Nations before, but you're in Sacae, one of Elibe's many countries. Maybe someone knows about this place you come from?" Naruto looked at her for a moment, and despite his thought of I certainly hope not he offered the girl a genuine smile, happy that someone was willing to offer help, despite his appearance.
"Maybe…" he responded, without realizing. His ears twitched and he heard the sound of footsteps coming closer to the tent. "Lyn, honey, is our guest awake?" The voice was female, and the girl turned from him, responding excitedly. "Yes he is, mother!" The girl got up from her position beside him and ran toward the entrance of the tent, where the woman, her mother, appeared a moment later. "Ah, it's good to see you are well. You had us worried there for a moment, young man." The woman smiled at him and he felt his cheeks heating once more.
He suddenly got up from the bed and bowed deeply to the woman. "Thank you very much for taking care of me, ma'am!" He had felt the pull somewhere in his mind to be kind to this woman, as she was most likely the reason he was still alive. The woman merely smiled down at him and waved her hand, dismissing the formality. "Now, there is no need for that. We saw that you were in need of help, and we couldn't just leave you out on the plains like that." He straightened at her response, a smile slowly forming on his lips. "All the same, you have my eternal gratitude; I'll serve you and your family to my dying breath to repay this kindness." He said, seriously. One would think this proposal strange, but to Naruto, a boy who hadn't known kindness his whole life, even the simplest thing would have set him off, and he sensed no ill-intent from the woman; that had been something he had always been able to do, another reason he hated Konoha, the place was always drowning in it.
The woman gave a giggle at his words "My, my…such bold words coming from a child. You had best be certain about the vows you make, boy, lest you find yourself trapped in something you didn't wish for." He noticed the woman became serious as she spoke, and his resolve almost faltered. His eyes traveled from her to the younger version of her, who was watching him with interest, and he could feel his old steel will return. "If you'll have me, milady…" he bowed once more and she approached him, touching one hand to his head, ruffling his wild blond hair. "If that is your wish, I accept it."
Years had passed since that day, and despite what Naruto had believed at first, he enjoyed the time he'd spent with Lady Madelyn and her family. He was taught how to write and read by Lady Madelyn and Lyndis, and he was taught how to fight properly by Lord Hassar, who was a capable warrior. He had learned things about himself as well, as he slept. On one of his dreams he had been taken before a giant orange fox, who told him he had overflowed his system with his youki, causing his body to change in order to adapt to it. That meant he could no longer manipulate chakra, and he now was something called a beastman, not truly human anymore but not a demon either.
Naruto had spent a lot of his time with Lyn, his affection for her increasing as time passed, although he resigned himself to his place as her servant instead, noticing her parents were in talks of marrying their daughter with the son of a chieftain from another tribe, to keep the peace in Sacae. The blond, having just turned fifteen, had begun to feel changes to his own body, noticing that it was harder to keep the more animalistic thoughts away, like a primal need to take his mate for his own, and keep all others away from her.
On the night following his birthday, Naruto had shifted for the first time, going from his normal almost human appearance to a full Kitsune one, a really big one at that. He was as tall as a human, and could feel that he was stronger than he was when in his human form, but even then he could feel in control, he hadn't lost himself to his instincts, and as such he went away for a time, to learn how to shift back at will instead of losing control over his own body like that.
He had been away for a few weeks, and upon his return; in human form, and with a new necklace around his neck; Lyn had been the first to greet him, hitting him multiple times as she cried about how he'd left her alone, and that she had been worried about him. He apologized, of course, but didn't understand why she had reacted that way, as he hadn't been gone for months or years. She'd hugged him then, and asked him to never leave her again, and he promised, no matter what, he would always remain by her side. She had kissed him that day, telling him she would always be at his side, no matter what.
Their developing relationship was welcomed by her mother, who remembered she had also followed her heart instead of marrying one of her father's chosen, which caused the rift between them. She refused to allow the same thing to happen to her own child, and instead of pushing her away, she accepted the news of their romance, and eased her husband into it, remembering him of their own romance. The man had said that as a leader he had other responsibilities, like ascertaining peace for his tribe, but in the end it hadn't mattered because the Lorca tribe wouldn't see the dawn of a new day.
That night, a group of bandits came from the mountains, too many for the tribesmen to take care of by themselves, and with no help coming from any of the other tribes, they were being decimated. Naruto had been helping, of course, but an order from Lady Madelyn, remembering him of his oath to serve her, ensured that instead he flee from battle in his Kitsune form, Lyndis riding on top of him as though he were a horse.
† Flashback Ends †
Naruto woke up again, his eyes traveling straight to his chest, where Lyn had been comfortably sleeping moments ago, to see that the girl was no longer in bed with him. He got up and got dressed, his outfit a variation of his Lyn's. He wore black pants, leather boots on his feet, which went up to his ankles, black skin-tight long sleeved shirt under a blood red short sleeved, high collared long coat that he wore closed. He also wore a black sash over the coat on his waist.
He finished getting dressed and looked toward the entrance of the tent. It had been six months since the attack on the Lorca tribe, six months of them living alone together and Lyndis planning her revenge against the Taliver bandits, the ones responsible for their deaths. She had trained in sword fighting relentlessly ever since that day, and Naruto was sure she could handle herself in battle. He hadn't slacked off either, as in his human form he had trained; still using his remaining knowledge of ninja weapons, and was proficient with daggers and throwing weapons. On his Kitsune form he was faster, stronger and more durable, but he still had problems fighting on that form, as he couldn't figure a good fighting style for it.
So he remained in his human form most of the time, as even then he was stronger, faster and overall better than any human could hope to become. The blond fox walked outside, and watched for a moment as Lyn carried an unconscious female toward their tent. Lyn wore something he could only describe as a dress, it was green and short sleeved, the lower part covered her front and back only leaving the sides of her legs exposed, and over it was a brown sash on her waist, with some sort of adornment over it, made of green and yellow cloth threads. She wore black fingerless gloves, that covered her forearm almost completely, stopping short of her elbow, and on her feet brown leather boots, much like his, that covered up to her ankle, almost reaching her knee.
He watched as she carried the girl in a bridal carry, his eyes sparkling with mirth at her disgruntled face, before he took the girl from her, carrying the girl during the rest of the trek. "What happened?" He asked simply, looking from his Lyndis to the unconscious girl. "I'm not sure, Naruto, I found her unconscious on the road near here, and I couldn't just leave her there." She answered simply, and Naruto smiled fondly at his mate. She was very much like her mother, and he loved her all the more for it.
He placed the girl on the bed, the dark-brown haired female now peacefully asleep. He did notice that among her belongings was a spear, and wondered if she was a soldier for one of the neighboring countries. He turned and left the tent, allowing his Lyndis to look after the girl, as he had no experience in treating wounds. He stood guard outside, sitting on top of a nearby rock and watching the surrounding area for any suspicious movement. They had been living on that particular spot of the Sacaean plains for a while now, and he was sure they would move again soon, he leaned back on the rock and closed his eyes; he heard nothing suspicious, only his mate fussing over the woman she'd found, and as his senses were far above any human's, he was confident that he was not mistaken; and soon was asleep.
He woke with the noise of footsteps on the grass, coming from the opposite direction his tent was in, and as he looked over, a group of bandits approached his home, most likely a quick stop before continuing on toward the nearby villages for pillaging. Naruto got up quickly from his position, and as he was about to enter the tent, he saw Lyn already coming out, her curved sword in hand, with the girl following close behind, her spear used as a walking staff.
"Shall I slaughter them, my mate?" He asked with a growl, his cerulean blue eyes turning red as he began changing from his human form to Kitsune. Lyndis looked at the girl that she brought out with her, to see that she was watching, mesmerized as the blond transformed, his animal form having orange fur, much like the foxy appendages he had when in human form. The Lorca nomad shook her head, a smile playing at her lips as she took a stance.
"You said you're a tactician, yes? Help us protect our home with your battle plan." They waited a moment as the girl surveyed the field with her eyes, before turning to Lyn once more, steel in her gaze. "The enemies are mostly axe wielders, and that says they are strong, but unrefined." Lyn nodded at the girl's perception, and continued waiting, even as the bandits took notice of them and began advancing on the three. "There are some trees close by; you should fight there as they will be less likely to surround you while you fight." Both Lyn and Naruto knew who the girl was addressing on that strategy. "And you" she'd now turned his way and Naruto gave the fox's equivalent to a grin. "…attack?" She said simply, confused by the former human's new form. Naruto laughed at that but the sound that came out was a happy yip from his fox mouth.
Lyndis burst into action, her tactician in tow, leaving Naruto alone for a moment as he did his own survey of the field. Many of them were now making their way to the agglomeration of trees, following after his Lyn and her tactician, but there were a few archers taking position to fire should the two come out running, some of them even setting their arrows aflame beforehand, to set fire to the forest and draw the two out. He had found his target, and as such he dashed their way, his speed so high that he actually left an after-image of himself on the spot he had been occupying moments before.
They were readying their arrows, their orders being to drive the two girls away from the forest. The archers prepared their arrows, some of them lighting the projectiles on fire to burn the trees down, when screaming caught their attention. There were bodies, torn apart by something they couldn't really keep up with, and the trail was coming closer. One of the archers turned his attention from the forest to the bloody path leading to their position, and fired an arrow, even without really seeing anything. His desperate action was followed by his comrades, but it was in vain as one by one his companions were torn apart, sliced through by some sort of large beast. The last remaining archer took a few steps back, ready to flee the battle altogether, when a growl coming from directly behind him caught his attention, and as he turned, the sight that greeted him, the last thing he saw were the ominous red eyes, and sharp teeth covered in blood, the beast seemingly grinning maliciously at him.
Naruto had finished the archers off, and just in time as well, as his transformation faltered and he was forced back to his true form. The rest of the bandits caught up to his actions and advanced on his position, some of them being sword fighters, apparently better trained than the ruthless axe-wielders. He pulled a few throwing knives from a holster attached to his thigh and took a stance. He could have easily destroyed the bandit group attacking them, but he understood what Lyn did allowing the tactician girl to plan the battle.
She wanted to kill the Taliver, but knew her strength as it was would not be enough to achieve her goal, and as such she would need advisors, and he was no tactical genius. Naruto's inner ravings were interrupted as one of the axe wielders gathered his courage and charged him, the massive weapon raised to strike, but the former shinobi-in-training tensed his body, and a moment later three of his projectiles were imbedded to the man's head, one in each eye and one in between.
After dealing with the approaching axeman, Naruto continued his thought process, noticing that the others now hesitated to advance on him. Now if only I could remember where exactly I was…he thought, almost literally ignoring the men threatening him. Naruto sighed, his thought process not coming back, and he decided to look toward the forest, and saw that Lyn was coming out of it, a few bruises on her person, but mostly intact. It was then he noticed that there was one among the enemy who seemed resigned to fighting, rather than afraid or even angered.
As he approached the man, Naruto had to pause for a moment, getting caught by surprise by the fact that the man was apparently also a beastman. He was tall, taller than any of the men Naruto had fought so far, and bulkier too, the biggest difference however was the fact that he, unlike all other axemen in the field, wore armor. It covered everything, his torso, his arms, hands and lower body, leaving only his head unprotected. He had long black hair and mismatched eyes, the left one green and the right being a deep blue. What really caught the kitsune's attention was the animal-like he possessed. Unlike Naruto's that had appeared on top of his head, the man's were at the same position as a human's, but it was longer and pointed, with fur covering it.
The armor had a lion motif to it, even some fur added to it here and there. The man watched Naruto with interest as well, and as the blond approached, Lyndis dealing with some stragglers who had lived through his onslaught. "You're not human, are you?" Naruto asked, his eyes narrowing curiously. "No, I am not of the beorc. I am laguz, of the beast tribe to be exact. Much like you are." Naruto made a questioning hum as he tilted his head to the side. "Beorc? Laguz? What are those?" The man chuckled at the younger male, before lifting his axe into a battle-ready position.
"It's the name of both races where I come from, beorc are humans, and laguz are those like us." Naruto noticed that the man said where he came from, and he was pretty sure humans were called humans in Elibe. "Where are you from, then? There is only one name for humans in Elibe that I know of, and you said that where you come from its beorc." The man gave him a smile, probably for his notice of the slip "I am from Tellius, but I doubt I'll ever see it again, as we are about to fight, and only one of us will be allowed to live after today." He seemed resigned to his face, but Naruto wasn't sure even his superior strength could penetrate that armor; the metal looked very…well, he honestly could only think of one way to describe it…impenetrable. "Why fight then? It feels as though you don't wish to." The man sighed and shook his head. "I don't, but the family that took care of me when I arrived in Elibe is being held hostage. I either fight, or they die." Naruto could relate, as if someone held his Lyn hostage, threatening her life if he didn't cooperate, he would fight with all he had, even if he didn't want to.
"Now then, come. Let me taste the might of another laguz before I die." And battle they did, Naruto would dance around his strikes, albeit with more difficulty than when he fought the other bandits, and he would try attacks of his own, but nothing he did ever damaged the armored laguz. This dance continued for a while, before Lyn interfered, joining the battle against the black haired male. He wouldn't even bother blocking her, as her attacks would simply bounce off his armor, but it was becoming increasingly difficult to position himself so their attacks wouldn't hit the few vulnerable openings in his powerful plating.
The battle dragged on, and Naruto could tell the man grew tired of fighting two enemies at once, as his attacks became slower and his movement sloppy. It was then that one of his knives found its way inside his defense. As he raised his arms to attack, the blond Kitsune noticed a vulnerable spot under his arm, below the shoulder, and so he aimed for that. It didn't stop him, but it had hindered him further, as after that only one of his arms answered, and it appeared as though it wasn't his dominant one either, as his grip on the axe became faulty.
Next was a strike from Lyndis, having found a weakness near the waist, she slashed quickly at him, as he continued to try using a bad arm to fight them. This new injury was deeper than any of them anticipated, as when he tried lifting his arm again, the pain was so brutal he dropped to one knee and grunted. "…I deserve no better. Thus dies the son of Giffca…" Naruto would be amused at his willingness to die if he weren't outraged at the thought of bandits using loved ones to control someone. He watched as the man fell back, his eyes closing slowly as the fatigue from the prolonged fighting and the loss of blood caught up to him. He was pretty sure that he had breathed his last, the sounds of the world fading, his whole body felt numb. I wonder if I'll see mother again.
"You will not die today." Naruto said simply, stopping Lyn before she continued her onslaught. He looked at Lyn, who seemed to understand his desire, and as she rushed into the tent, he applied what little healing he knew to the fallen warrior. His help alone wouldn't save the man, but maybe that would buy them enough time to properly heal him. Lyndis came back, wielding her mother's healing staff, and as she gave a little prayer; Madelyn had taught her how to use those healing staves, if only because she didn't want her daughter doing any actual fighting; a soft light engulfed the man.
"You guys are aware he is our enemy, yeah?" Came the voice of the tactician, and Naruto turned to her with an amused grin on his face. "Yep." Was his simple reply, causing the girl to groan at his attitude. "If he attacks you, I'll laugh" she grumbled in what Naruto thought was a good-natured way as the light faded and the wounds closed. He always marveled at these magics, as long as it hadn't outright killed you, they could heal you back up with barely a scar. He looked down at the man and heaved him onto his shoulder; rather easily too, despite the heavy armor; and walked toward his tent.
Naruto was at the bedside when the laguz woke, and as he groaned, still feeling the injury from the cut of Lyn's sword, his attention turned from man's armor to his face. "I have to ask…why you didn't turn into your animal form. If you a laguz, as you say." The man looked at Naruto after a moment adjusting to the light. "Because I can't. Ever since I came to this place…Elibe, I've been unable to shift." The man sighed and looked back up at the tent's cloth, before he seemingly remembered something "I'm Sevrian, by the way…I never introduced myself earlier."
Naruto nodded at the man's reply and smirked as he introduced himself. "And I am Naruto, the green haired female that was with me is my wife, Lyndis. The last one…well, I didn't learn her name yet, to be honest." The man nodded at his introduction, and they were left in silence for a moment. It wasn't awkward, but Naruto could tell the other male was somewhat uncomfortable. He couldn't tell what the man was thinking, but as he was detecting no ill-will from the black haired male, he was sure the man was no enemy. "What will you do now, Sevrian?" The man sighed at the question "I don't know. I want to believe they are still alive, but a part of me knows they have either been sold into slavery or murdered by now…I would repay my debt to you, Naruto…mostly for my own sake, as I won't go back to the bandits, but neither am I free, so to speak."
Naruto could understand what the laguz meant. Once people had an opinion of something, they hardly changed it. He had seen it happen back in his home village, them branding him the Kyuubi because of one reason or another. The blond haired Kitsune gave a sigh of his own. "I see, well then. I would have you be Lyndis' bodyguard, but she wouldn't accept that…so I'll have you be my bodyguard for the moment, until I can ease the idea into her mind." Naruto said, watching the warrior. "…so be it. I'll be your servant, for as long as you'll have me." The man responded and Naruto smirked. In his old life, in Konoha, Naruto always wanted to rule Konoha. Not because he wanted to be acknowledged like he would tell everyone, but because then they would be powerless to hurt him again.
That part of him never changed. He still wanted to rule, only this time he had someone to keep his lust for that in check, as to him her desires would come before even his own, and for that reason, when all she wanted was to live with the Lorca; and later when they were killed, revenge; Naruto decided that was what she would get, and nothing would stop him from delivering her desire. Remembering that he was still in the company of the older laguz, Naruto nodded to him, quite aware that no more was said after the man's self-appointed vassalage. "Good" he said simply, and they waited in silence.
A moment later, Lyn and the other female entered the tent, and Naruto's attention was at once on her, as her expression was a determined one. "I've spoken to Prax, and she has agreed to accompany us for a while. She says she is a buddying tactician, traveling Elibe to better her skills." Naruto nodded at her, and then turned to the armored axe wielder, who was getting up from his position on the bed. "Very well…I do believe our first stop should be the trading city of Bulgar, and from there we'll hunt down the bandits holding Sevrian's family hostage. Afterward we'll probably want to take a few jobs as a mercenary band." Naruto got nods from everyone in the tent, even the new strategist, Prax. What a strange name…although Naruto isn't exactly common either. He turned to his new bodyguard, who had assumed his apparent new position, standing a behind him.
The travel toward Bulgar had been relatively calm, and they spoke about various things to pass the time. The strategist girl had been mostly interested in knowing the pieces she would be moving in the field. Naruto just talked about whatever he felt like, but most of the time it involved his love for food, and hunting. Lyndis wanted to know more about Tellius, Sevrian's home. And Naruto's new retainer didn't speak unless spoken to.
They entered Bulgar, and the team went their separate ways. Lyn and Prax headed off to buy their supplies, while Naruto and Sevrian went on information gathering duty. The people seemed to recognize his tall bodyguard, and as such Naruto had told the man to wait for them outside the city, as they would simply wrap things up and continue their journey. He watched as the black haired laguz walked away, his armor rattling rather loudly as he did so. Well there's someone I won't take on stealth missions…Naruto mused, before turning his attention to the people of the town, he had some questions to ask.
Naruto walked back from his little trip gathering information, just in time to see his Lyndis storm out of town with a rather amused Prax following close behind. He looked toward the direction she came from and growled, noticing the two knights looking in her direction. They had most likely, at least in his mind, accosted his mate. He followed Lyndis, and arrived nearly at the same time as a contingent of bandits did.
"Heheheheh…ain'tcha the pretty ones. You, your name is Lyndis, innit?" Naruto noticed that Lyndis' eyes widened at her name being called. "What did you call me? …who are you?" She asked in return, but the man ignored her, instead shaking his head exasperatedly. "Such a waste…such a waste indeed…oh, the things I do fer money." He then turned to the other bandits and in a louder voice commanded. "Found 'er boys. Time ta earn our keep!" They surrounded the two, and Naruto rushed in, standing at his wife's side, and after some time Sevrian reappeared, dragging with him the two knights from town, and as he threw them at Naruto's feet, the laguz seemed to notice the newcomers, and simply walked to stand beside the boy he had sworn his fealty to.
"It would seem being around you won't be boring, at the very least." Naruto heard from the man and sighed. With his luck, they would be fighting for their lives on a daily basis, not that fighting was a bad thing, Lyn could use the experience, and perhaps he could get Prax to use that spear she carried around with her. He did notice Sevrian no longer had his axe with him, now using a great sword; a weapon he was sure humans would have trouble wielding with one hand as he was, as the thing was gigantic, nearly as tall as the man himself was; and readied himself for battle by hefting it onto his shoulder, watching the bandits intently.
He was about to begin advancing on the closest adversary, when Naruto's voice stopped him in his tracks. "Protect Lyndis and Prax. For some reason they are after her." Sevrian turned his head toward his lord; the man had sworn his allegiance after all; and nodded, leaving him, and the two recovering knights, to fend for themselves and walked toward lady Lyndis. As he approached her, he noticed that while there were more bandits here than there were near Naruto and the knights, these seemed to be the more experienced fighters, ranging from archers to sword wielding bandits.
They watched him approach, Lyndis with her curved sword drawn to fight, and the tactician stood a little to the back. "Stay close, milady. They shall not harm either of you." The man walked toward the nearest bandit, even going as far as allowing the man to hit his armor, the weapon bouncing off his armor as he smirked down at the man, before reaching with his unarmed hand and grabbing him by the throat, and throwing him upward, before skewering the man on his sword, a swing of the blade sending the corpse flying off the sword and to the ground.
Naruto, for his part, was having a blast. The men came, like moths to a flame, attracted to the thought of breaking two new slave girls. And much like moths touching the flames, they died horribly, regretting, too late, their decision. As he was not accompanied by his Lyndis, his humanity, he let go. A grin formed on his face, and much like a demon, he allowed his bloodlust to take over. A swing of an axe made him lean to the side to avoid the strike, before his arm shot out, dagger meeting flesh, stabbing one of the bandits on his neck, before he jumped back to avoid an arrow, and then was forced to roll to the side in order to avoid being struck as he landed. Yes! Come to me, meet your doom, weapon in hand! Even to his ears his voice felt warped, and for a moment he wondered if the fox had lied, and he had become a full-blooded demon instead.
He dashed forward, his daggers poised in front of his face on a reverse grip. The archers seemed to have noticed his movement, as they began firing arrow after arrow at his last known position, watching as the arrows flew, hitting the ground harmlessly. Some of the men panicked, wondering just what were they dealing with. He moved too fast for their eyes to keep up with, and now he had disappeared from their sight. One of them screamed in horror, and the others turned just in time to see their comrade have his throat slit by the blond devil they were fighting.
The man, no, those red eyes weren't human…it watched them for a moment a sick grin across his face. Then he was gone, disappeared again, and a moment later another archer died. It chuckled as the latest victim fell, eyes searching for a new target for the briefest of moments, before he disappeared with amazing speed once more. But the chuckle remained, slowly growing in intensity until it was full blown laughter, and it they dropped their weapons, fear gripping at their very core, and fled the beast that was slaughtering their comrades.
On the other side of the field, Lyn stopped, pulling her sword from its latest victim; apparently Sevrian would allow a straggler to slip by him on purpose so she could get some fighting of her own in. She looked toward the sound of delighted, almost maniac laughter and couldn't help the shiver of fear that ran through her body. Of course she knew that Naruto wasn't exactly a peace loving man, but to understand that he enjoyed this level of bloodshed was frightening, even if her goal was to slaughter every Taliver bandit in existence. She turned her attention from Naruto's location back to where Prax was, standing with her back to Lyn and wielding the spear they had found among her belongings with slightly trembling hands. The green haired Lorca tribeswoman figured that while Prax was a military strategist, she wasn't trained to do any real fighting, they'd have to talk about training her when this was over.
The rest of the fight was quite easy. Naruto continued his bloody path toward their leader, and after his assassination, the group seemed to crumble on itself, many deserting their would-be comrades, and the ones that stayed slain by either his hand or Sevrian's. It was after the fighting was done that Naruto turned his head to where the two knights he had seen his Lyn walking away from were, and noticed they were still somewhat out of it, having not fought at all during the battle, and he walked toward them, his body covered in blood, his grin slowly dissolving into a serious expression.
"So…I hear you harassed my wife…who wants to try explaining that?" The blond stood next to the two armor clad knights; interestingly enough, the red haired one wore red armor, and the green armored one had green hair; and the red haired one glared in his friend's direction before replying. "Forgive my friend, he lacks control over his tongue" the man said, and Naruto nodded, taking note that this one seemed to be the head of the duo. "I would have him learn to control it, lest he loses it" He interrupted, causing the green haired man to gulp audibly, and the red haired one to give him a frown, before recomposing. Ah…loyalty, rare trait, from what I've seen so far Naruto thought, thinking of the bandits they had faced both back on their tent, and now here, on the outskirts of Bulgar.
"What's past is past…however, I must ask to speak to her once again, as I believe she is the person we were sent to find." Naruto looked at the red haired male, eyes narrowing "Sent by whom, exactly?" He asked, noticing at the corner of his vision that the aforementioned female and her two companions walked toward them now, the armored former bandit and their tactician talking about training.
"I would rather speak to her directly, with all due respect." The man said, his comrade still silent, something that Naruto thought interesting, because if he had been able to antagonize his Lyndis enough for her to lose her calm with him, he should be something of a motor mouth, along with shameless flirt. He would say more, but a moment later Lyndis was with them, her eyes glaring at the two knights.
"Forgive us for earlier, milady…but before I go on, I must ask, is your name, per chance, Lyndis?" That gave the girl pause on her righteous anger at the two knights, and as she blinked in confusion, she nodded her confirmation. "I see…we come on behalf of our lord, the Marquess of Caelin. We were told to search for his daughter, Lady Madelyn, as he wishes to see her and her family at least once. We learned, upon asking in Bulgar, of Lady Madelyn's fate, and feared the worst, when by sheer luck, Sain ran into you." This threw her for a loop. A grandfather? She still had family? Lyndis looked to Naruto, who looked as shocked as she was at the revelation, before she turned to the two once more.
"Where are my manners…I have yet to introduce myself to your companions. I am Kent, knight of Caelin." The red hair said, his eyes traveling through the gathered entourage. "And this rascal is Sain, and believe it or not, he is also a knight of house Caelin." This caused the green haired male to give out an indignant objection, but otherwise he chose to remain silent. "We would humbly ask that you, milady Lyndis, accompany us to visit your grandfather in Caelin." Lyn turned to Naruto, who simply shrugged, and as she turned back to the two knights, he turned to his own knight "I think we'll be separating for a while, Sevrian. You want to go looking for your family yes?" At the man's nod he continued "Well, you may do so, and once that is done, you are to come to Caelin to meet with us, understood?" The man nodded again and turned to leave. Naruto grinned at his back, not quite sure if he would actually return, but it was a good test, if he did…well, then he couldn't quite question the man's loyalties.
"…it seems we all agree, so I guess we'll go with you, knights, back to Caelin." He heard Lyndis say to the two, and as they began their track toward the border of Sacae and Bern, so they could then turn to Lycia, Naruto pondered on these new possibilities. He wanted to be the ruler of a country, and even though it was only a country-state, it was a starting point. He watched as the two knights spoke highly of Caelin and the marquess. Naruto? His face split into a malicious grin.
AN: So...new story . Well, in my defense I am playing a lot of Fire Emblem lately, and this just popped in my head. The idea is to have the story branch into all of my favorite games in the series. You already know one of the next worlds to be visited from this chapter alone, but there are also Fates and Sacred Stones. I like all of them, but these are my favorite for some reason. If, by chance, you guys ask for any of the other chapters (I'm especially fond of Genealogy of the Holy War *wink wink*) I might do those as well...so yeah it's going to be big guys xD
I took a few days away my birthday was on the 29th and all that =3 but now I'm back to writing and The Conqueror's next chapter is close to completion. I'll be focusing on that story, but since the chapters on this one will be shorter, I decided to write them in between chapters of The Conqueror, so you always have something to read ._.
Now, pairings...I'm really tempted to make this a single pairing thing. So Naruto gets with Lyndis, and the OC...well I'm not sure, I'm half tempted to kill him off at a point. I didn't give him much background because much like in the games, you'll know that from the conversations they'll have from time to time, character development 'n shit xD
The tactician! That's another OC, obviously, and Prax is the name the person that made this masterpiece meibatsu . deviantart art / Prax-Emblem-150244525 gave the tactician. I was given permission to use the character, so I'd like to thank you very much Meibatsu (AKA Prax .-.) for that.
Let's see...I think that's all for now...so I'll see ya \o\