AN: I'm disappointed by the lack of reviews (as always), but even moreso by the fact that nobody tried to guess where Naruto ended up. No fun peeps.
Through the Looking Glass
Broaden Your Horizons
Two pairs of strong hands pulled Naruto to his feet, rather roughly. The blonde bared his teeth, today was not a good day to aggravate him.
The man to his left was sent flying from a kick to the chest. The man to his right was flipped through a chair.
Naruto stood, blood dripping from the wounds Tobi had given him. "Do not touch me."
A deep rumbling laugh filled the dining hall that Naruto had found himself in, like the rumblings of an oncoming storm. Turning his head, Naruto found the owner of the laugh. A giant of a man sitting in a massive wooden chair, what looked like an entire cow's leg in his hand. One of his eyes was milky white, and crossed by a massive scar, while the other was a brilliant piercing blue.
"You barge into our hall? Wreck our roof? Ruin our feast? And you have the sheer audacity to tell us not to touch you? You have guts, brat. I'll give you that. Aela, be a dear, lend me your blade that I might teach this whelp to respect his betters." The woman next to him handed him a blade, and the man stood.
Naruto was rather afraid. This man, whoever he was, was easily a head taller than Kisame, who was the tallest opponent he had ever faced.
Clapping his hands together, Naruto summoned Nuibari, the slim sword resting easily in his hand.
The giant only laughed, seeing what the sword resembled, "What is this? Did you take that from a giant's sewing kit? Going to patch the holes in my trousers?"
Naruto grinned. "Something like that." He let the sword drop to the ground, keeping the nearly invisible wire connected to the hilt-loop in his hand.
"Surrendering already? How bori-" The man stopped mid-word and reached up to his cheek. His hand came away bloody. Narrowing his eyes, he saw the wire as it caught the light from the fire in the center. Turning his head, he saw the sword embedded into the wall behind him. "Impressive, I didn't even see you move." He turned back towards Naruto, and found the blonde in the air before him, with his foot poised to strike his face.
The giant of a man flew back, toppling his own chair as Naruto landed awkwardly, his wounds making it difficult to land on his feet.
A shadow fell across Naruto, and he craned his head up. The giant stood over him, blood flowing freely from his nose, and a wolfish grin on his face.
"Welcome stranger! To Jorvaskr! You are welcome among us, for you've shown your mettle." The man helped Naruto to his feet, "Might I trouble you for your name? After all, we would be ashamed if we did not drink to the name of a warrior such as yourself."
"Uh...Naruto. My name's Naruto." The blonde swayed on his feet. Something was wrong with the universe. It had to be. First Merrill, then this guy.
"Hah, then join us! Companions! To Naruto! Our honored guest!"
The people gathered in the hall raised their mugs, and Naruto was shocked as a mug the size of his head and a giant turkey leg was pushed into his hands. He was guided to the left of the giant's chair, even as it was lifted up and the giant returned the blade to the woman on the right of his chair.
"Ah, we know your name Naruto, a strange name it is. My name is Gungnir, and I am the Harbinger of the Companions."
Naruto had spent several days in Jorvaskr, letting his wounds heal and regaining his strength. The Companions, as they called themselves, were a rowdy bunch, constantly fighting, swearing, belching, and drinking. Gungnir looked more fearsome than he truly was, though Naruto didn't doubt the giant's prowess in battle. The man wished to see Naruto's bladecraft, and the blonde gladly obliged. Gungnir laughed, and called him sloppy. He sent the blonde up to the Skyforge to get himself a set of armor, which he could wear under his "fancy coat" and a proper weapon, befitting a Companion. Not that there was anything wrong with the weapons he used, but Gungnir felt that Naruto should have a good blade with him at all times, so that he didn't have to resort to "conjuring up a witch-weapon," whatever that meant.
It wasn't till Naruto left the Skyforge with a suit a supple leather armor, covered with light metal plates, and a Skyforge Steel greatsword did he understand what Gungnir meant. A proper weapon, befitting a Companion.
Somehow, the giant man had decided that Naruto was the newest member of the Companions.
The blonde smiled.
His sparring sessions with Gungnir went well, and he learned much. Eventually, Naruto began to tell the man his tale, and Gungnir listened with barely contained intensity. When his tale was finally done, Gungnir was silent, and bade Naruto give him time to think.
Naruto wandered Whiterun for a while, mingling with the townsfolk he had met. His wanderings found him perched atop the Skyforge, watching the moon from atop the head of the eagle, while heat from the ever burning coals wafted up to him.
you sit in the dark. you walk in the night. come to me child of mine. come. your mistress calls you.
Naruto jerked awake. He didn't know he had fallen asleep. He sighed. Dawn was approaching, the Companions were probably wondering where he had been.
Um. Hello? Can you hear me? Hello? Heeeeello? Oh Dread Wolf. I really thought this would work. You told me this would work Anders! … No I don't know how it happened! We already talked about this. Didn't we? If we didn't, I'm sorry, I must have forgotten that we didn't and thought that we did even though we didn't. … Oh, we did? See, I knew what I was talking about.
"...What." Naruto groaned. As if it wasn't bad enough that he was lost in a strange land, now he was hearing voices in his head. Well, one voice. That sounded exactly like Merrill.
Oh! Hello! You can hear me! I told you it would work Anders! Your name, it's...Naruto, right? I mean, of course it's Naruto. I watched your fight with that awful masked man, and he called your Naruto, as nasty as he was I don't see why he would lie about your name right? "Merrill..." Unless it's an insult...oh I do hope I'm not insulting you. "...Merrill..." I'd feel so awful if I was insulting you, and then I'd feel even worse if you got cross with me. Oh I do hope you're not cross. "...Merrill!" You're cross aren't you?
Naruto sighed, "No Merrill...I'm not cross. Well. I am."
Oh I knew you were cross...I'm sorry. It's because I babble isn't it? I'm sorry it's just that I babble when I'm nervous.
"Merrill...calm down. I'm not cross with you. Just...confused. I want you to answer some questions. Can you do that?"
Well, of course I can answer questions. Who can't answer questions? Anyone can answer questions. Well...what kind of questions are you talking about? I don't think I know you well enough to answer questions that are too personal.
The blonde sighed again. "...Merrill. I just...nevermind. Just answer please. Ok? First, tell me what happened. Where did you come from, what did you do, and where am I? And just how the hell are you talking to me?"
Naruto heard Merrill take a breath, and braced himself for the flood of Merrill's answers. Well, I was mad, and then I hit my mirror. Its a special mirror, called an Eluvian. I mean, the word isn't special, it just means mirror in Elven, but the actual mirror is magical. It doesn't reflect things it just shows me things, like a window. When I got mad, I hit the mirror, and I thought I broke it, then I fixed it, and then I saw you fighting that masked man. You looked like the hero of some story, all dashing and heroic, but so very angry. He must have hurt you very much, I'm sorry for that. I truly am. So, um, I was watching. And he was about to kill you, and I didn't want to let that happen because I hate letting the bad guys win, although from his perspective I'm sure you were the bad guy. For some reason, I went through the mirror, and I appeared where you were. Then I tackled you! I saved your life you know? That was the first time I saw your face! I tried seeing your face through the Eluvian, but that didn't work, I tried to turn my head, but mirrors don't work like that. Not even magic ones. Wouldn't that be fascinating if mirrors could do that? Babbling again, stop it Merrill. So I used my magic to try and pull you back through the Eluvian with me, and save you from that man, but he disrupted my spell, and all three of us got sent somewhere else. I got sent home, the rotten man got sent somewhere else, and you got sent to the world you're in now.
Naruto was rubbing his forehead by the end of her explanation. Different worlds. It was difficult to wrap his head around. He had thought he was just in a different land, like a summoning gone wrong. Not a different world altogether. He couldn't bring himself to be angry though. Merrill had saved his life. "Merrill. You need to help me get home. Can you do it?"
He could feel her uncertainty, somehow. I...don't know. I don't know how I went through the Eluvian to begin with.
Naruto frowned, "Well...I guess we'll figure it out. I'll see if I can find anything out on my end. You didn't answer me Merrill, how are you talking to me?"
Oh...um. Check the left pocket of your coat...cloak...thing. It's very dashing by the way. I probably couldn't wear one though, I'd just look silly.
Naruto reached into his pocket, and his hand closed around something that felt like wood polished smooth by years of handling. He pulled it out. It was a ring of carved wood, adorned with carvings of leaves and vines. It pulsed with energy, and felt warm on his palm. Naruto smiled, and put it on his little finger, the only finger that the ring fit on. Looking at the ring, Naruto spoke, "I don't know Merrill, you might look good in one. I'll let you try mine on when we meet again, and then we'll see about getting you your own."
Oh thank you! A spike of embarrassment pulsed through the ring. I mean...that...would be...nice.
The blonde laughed. "No need to restrain yourself Merrill. Babble as much as you want. I don't like it when my friends pretend to be something they aren't." To his surprise, Merrill was silent for a while.
When she finally spoke up, she seemed dazed. Thank you Naruto. I...I'm tired. Using the Eluvian for so long is quite draining! I feel like I've run up and down Sundermount twice in a day, before swimming along the Wounded Coast! I'll...talk to you later. Goodnight Naruto.
"Goodnight Merrill. I'll be here." Looking back up at the moon, Naruto smiled.
"Are you going to sit up there and talk to yourself all night whelp?"
Looking down, Naruto saw Gungnir leaning against the edge of the Skyforge. "Ah, sorry. I was distracted."
The Harbinger grinned, "I know that face. That's the face of a man longing to hold his woman in his arms."
Naruto turned red, and felt a spike of embarrassment through the ring, which made him even redder, "I-is not!"
"Hah! Deny it all you want boy, I'm more learned in the ways of the world than you are. Anyways, come, we're leaving. Aela will watch over the Companions while we're away." Gungnir hefted two large satchels, presumably filled with skins of mead and meat, along with camping supplies.
"Where are we going?" Naruto leapt down from his perch and took both bags from Gungnir before sealing them inside a scroll, much to the amazement of the large man.
"To find some answers to your questions, and to prove you are worthy of being a true Companion. This is your Proving Naruto, and I shall be your Shield-Brother."
The blonde grinned, "Finally taking me to fight some of these monsters you've told me so much about?"
The Harbinger matched Naruto's smile, "Yes, if we're lucky, we might even find a dragon for you to slay."
AN: Glorious! Please, for the love of the Maker, for the love of the Divines, for the love of Kami, PLEASE REVIEEEEEEW!
