AN: Well, the entries have been made and we have a winner. Naruto's armor has been selected. It will be making an appearance in this chapter. I was going to have Naruto's first major task for the Scourge to begin this chapter, but I've decided that it can be put off until the next one. I feel that this is a bit more realistic a step forward for Naruto.
My name has also been mentioned by Colonel-Mustard1990 in his work in progress "Angels of a Storm". Please check out his work at some point.
Now for the chapter awards. I would like to thank CaptainPrice, Jormun, narutofan020, EK12 and Thorfaxdragonkin for being repeat reviewers. You are entitled to any free advertising that I can offer you.
I would like to give an honorary mention to Krulk since he created an account solely to leave a review to my story.
AbitterPill, wolfdiablo, Luxlucis85DK and Skelo also get a shout out because they took the time to write a review to my story.
Disclaimer: What do I have in common with the common homeless man? We don't change our clothing as often as we should, we eat crap to stay alive and neither of us own the rights to Naruto or Warcraft (To my knowledge).
...
Death Knights: "We speak like this, worm."
Liches: "We speak like this, mortal."
White Zetsu (Or Su.): "I talk like this too! YAY!"
Black Zetsu (Or Zet) : "Shut the hell Su. This is why nobody likes you."
Lich King: "Listen or die, Mortal."
Under New Banners: Book of the Scourge.
Chaper Four: First steps of Knighthood; Path of Frost.
When approaching one of the non-blessed miners, take great care. Some will merely complain about hearing voices in their head, along with the standard curses and insults towards your person for trusting in the power of our lord and master. This is to be expected.
Others will start preaching off about some false god and either A) Try to remove your brain with a pick axe or B) Try to remove their own brain with a pickaxe. This is also to be expected and is exactly why you should never wonder around without an armed escort at all times.
Despite the many positive things about Saronite, this is one of its greatest dirty little secrets. While we are not completely sure what the connection truly is, those who reject the strength and guidance of our mighty King will be driven insane by the voice of the Old God Yogg-Saron. Beware the whispers of this fiend, for he will attempt to test your faith and drive you as insane as the poor mortal non-believers.
Despite the effects only taking place where large amounts of Saronite are gathered, Our lord and master's power is more then a match for the corrupted monster hidden somewhere under the frozen earth of our darkness blessed land of Northrend. Not only is our King immune to this foul creatures mind breaking corruption, but those who pledge themselves to him in both life and death are safe guarded from the voices of the Old Gods as well.
Remember to keep your faith in our Master undying and you will be able to join the final march on the lair of the cursed god Yogg-Saron with relative safety when the Master decides to end that foul monster once and for all.
~The Cult of the Damned Foreman's guide, Chapter six, "Hidden Dangers of mining Saronite."~
...
Somewhere in the frozen plains of Icecrown
"So what exactly as we doing out here?" Naruto asked, following the Lich at a respectable distance. However, instead of the answer he wanted to hear, all Naruto got in return was a "You will see when we get there."
It hadn't been so long ago that the two of them had been in the Professor's Lab. Despite the fact that Putricide was somewhat insane, Naruto couldn't help but like the man. To him, the Professor was a man who had long ago abandoned what others thought of him while doing everything in his power to make his often insane and twisted dreams a reality. It was a very respectable trait that few people ever truly achieved.
Still, after they had left the lab with a promise from the Professor that he wouldn't rest until he had discovered just why the Shinobi's organ's were resistant to the rot the more common of Scourge plagues (A test that caused a satisfying amount of pain to the bastard, Naruto felt), Amal'Thazad had requested that Naruto join him out on the frozen planes.
Following the Lich over the ever lasting ice and snow that made up the heart of the Scourge Empire, Naruto couldn't help but glance over the wind swept plains. Icecrown was a death trap to the living. Nothing could grow here, the temperature, wind and ice made sure of that. The same things that prevented plants from growing also kept those who didn't wish to freeze to death away from the place. It was rather suiting that the Scourge picked one of the few places on the planet that was outright hostel to those who needed warmth to stay alive to set up their homeland.
But once you managed to get past the cold and the lack of food, one could see the true beauty that the place defended from the corruption of the living so mercilessly. Despite the lack of sun or moonlight, things that were lost because of the seemingly endless cloud cover, the snow and ice still managed to glow...
"We are here." was all Amal'Thazad announced as they both stopped at what seemed to be just another random field of ice and snow. Looking around at the location, Naruto couldn't help but raise an eyebrow. "And just what is it we are doing out here?"
The once human skeleton turned in mid air, giving Naruto the impression that if he could Amal'Thazad would be smiling at him. "We are here to teach and train you to become the true agent of the Scourge you were brought back to be, Death Knight."
...
Konoha, Public Library.
"...Alright. You have to bring this book back in two weeks time. Feel free to come back before then though." With a thump of her rubber stamp, the transaction was complete.
"Thank you Ms." was all the eight year old girl said, happy that she had borrowed out her first book. As the girl over to her older sister, the library assistant that had performed the transaction smiled kindly as she returned to her task of organizing the books that had been returned and figuring out where they were meant to go.
Such a kind, sweet child... When the time comes, I'll make sure her whole family gets the blessing of undeath so that they can be happy together forever. The woman thought to herself, happy that she had the means to make such a joyous thing happen for someone else.
It hadn't taken too long for her to catch up with the wagon. Getting into Konoha however was much harder but she was able to get in because she was well and truly a civilian. She had simply used the name she had used in her former life, an alias that worked better then any that could have been made up by a professional forger. It had even been backed up by people who had once lived in her village but escaped before the plague had swept through.
The plague that she had brought there...
While she only caught a peep into the world of the Cult of the Damned, she already could tell that those who joined came to it for different reasons. Many came for money, power, the chance to live forever...
She had joined to find out who had murdered her sister...
Her sister had been married for years to a man who had turned to hard sake in order to deal with his problems. While she never spoke of it to anyone, there was evidence that it was an abusive relationship...
Then one day she turned up dead in the river. At first everyone said that she had drowned by accident, but when the two large bruises that looked like hand prints were discovered, that was quickly ruled out as the cause of death. But not a single person publicly accused her sisters husband (and by legal rights, her own brother-in-law) of the murder, since despite his drinking problem he was still a wealthy and somewhat well liked member of their village. There was no proof to connect him to the death of his wife because since nobody wanted to look for it, it vanished.
Unwilling to let the murderer of her sister get away with his crimes, she had looked long and hard to find a way to speak with the only witness to her sister's death that would willing tell her the truth... the spirit of her dead sister.
It was this desire for justice that caused her to find the Cult of the Damned. In exchange for her loyalty, she was given what she sort. When she spoke to the ghost of her sister, her sister spoke of all the hateful crimes that her husband committed against her that she was far to ashamed to speak of in life.
When Baron Bloodbane gave her a plant and told her what to do with it, she had obeyed, making sure that her murderous Brother-In-Law was the first to be raised into undeath, resulting in his beheading and the burning of his body after her murdered his two best drinking buddies in a mindless rage.
Placing the last book onto the shelf it was meant to go on, the woman blinked as she came back to the here and now, giggling a little at how foolish she had been to get caught up in her own thoughts. It was almost scary just how much free time you had to think about everything when you were so used to your job you could do it in your sleep.
Turning around to head back to her little service desk, the woman almost ran right into someone who was looking at the few books on tracking that the library was permitted to have. Looking the woman over, her white eyes quickly gave away her family. She seemed...lost in thought about something.
"Pardon me Ms.." The libarian asked, shocking the girl out of her trance and causing her to turn the color of a strawberry, most likely ashamed at being caught lost in her own thoughts in a public place. Once the shock wore off, the girl seemed to shift to a more confident stance... but there was something...defeated about her. You couldn't see just what it was, but you could just tell by looking at her that something had gone horrible wrong for her.
"Oh I'm sorry... I wasn't in your way was I?" the girl asked, her voice fighting a losing battle to stay steady. The cultist shook her head as an answer, trying to place where she had seen this sort of behavior before.
"Not at all Ms..."
"Hinata..."
"Ms Hinata. You weren't in the way at all. But might you tell me what you are looking for? I might be able to help you find it."
"I'm sorry, but I don't think you could help me find what I've lost Ms..."
"Ami. If you're sure I can't help you right now, I guess I should get back to work. But if you ever feel like talking, I'm always here."
"Thank you Ami. I...I'll remember you if I need to speak to someone."
Giving the Hyuuga a respectful nod as a way of departing, Ami smiled warmly as she headed back to her desk job. She knew her name. She knew the family. All she had to do now was find out about the person.
The girl was hurting, longing for something. The sooner Ami discovered what that something was, the more time she would have to come up with a plan to approach the young woman. Her gifts would serve her master nicely, and it would make Ami feel good if she could honestly help the girl out with her problem.
Whatever it might be...
...
Icecrown, Middle of nowhere.
"What sort of training? I thought you didn't know anything about Chakra?" Naruto asked, suddenly paying a great deal of attention to the Lich.
Amal'Thazad chuckled at the eagerness of his student. This would be both a gift and a burden for the ivory- blonde Death Knight during his first trial of the path of Frost. " While I still do not fully understand the nature of 'Chakra' and how to manipulate it, that is not what I am here to train you in. What do you understand about your current state of being, Death Knight?"
Naruto paused at the question. How much about his current situation did he truly understand. Not a lot, if he was honest with himself. "I know that I am a Death Knight. I know that Death Knights are quite rare, but I don't really know just why that is. Other then that... I don't really know." Naruto confessed truthfully.
"Not unexpected..." The Lich sighed aloud, putting one of his claw like hands to his forehead to rub his skull, finding it slightly annoying that he was the one to have to explain this. " Death Knights are considered amongst the strongest of the Scourge because they are considered one of the few true great works of Necromancy. You don't age, you don't have to eat, sleep or drink and unlike most lesser undead you have something akin to the mind you once had. However, that isn't important to you right now. What matters is the trio."
"The Trio?" Naruto asked, thinking that the name wasn't that well thought out.
" Whenever a Death Knight is created from the fallen, either spiritually or physically, their bodies are infused with three of the primary dark magics of the Scourge, which was rather foolishly nicknamed the 'Trio' by some of the Cult years ago. Sadly, the name stuck. But it is important that you learn how to use these gifts granted to you as quickly as possible if you are to provide proper assistance when we return to the Elemental Nations."
Naruto didn't really remember anything more then images and flashes from his days amongst the living, but he did remember he had always been ready and eager to learn some new jutsu or attack. It was a trait that he was glad to see he had kept in the transaction from living to undead. "So what are these new dark magics I've got then?" Naruto asked, quickly becoming very excited at the thought of what he could do now.
The lich chuckled a little darker then before. He was right. What he was about to get this boy to do was going to be a form of sheer torture for him. It gave him that small, warm feeling that all teachers get when doing right by their students makes them suffer a little. It wouldn't be a true education without a little pain after all.
"The three schools of magic that the Scourge practice come down to three primal elements. Blood, Frost and Unholy. As a Lich, I do not practice Blood magic and there are better teachers to train you in wielding the Unholy powers you can command. I will be teaching you in the arts of Frost, or Ice magic, if you wish to call it such."
Images of a girl's image in a dome of mirrors made of ice flashed through Naruto's mind. It... was a rather comforting memory, despite the nature of it. "I believe I met someone in the Elemental Nations years ago who was naturally born with the ability to create and use ice jutsu. I think... I think she is dead through, and that she was the last of her kind... " Naruto finished sadly.
Oddly enough, the Lich seemed to pause at the news for a few moments before sighing. "A true shame. I would have liked to have compared that so called kekkei genkai to the frost magics of the Liches. It would have been interesting to see the result. Oh well..."
Clearing his throat, Amal'Thazad got back to the whole reason they were here in the first place: Business. "We will have plenty of time to practice your Frost abilities much later on, since we will be working together for the foreseeable future but now is the best time to at least unlock your powers over ice, here at the coldest place on the planet. Do you know anything about meditation?" When Naruto gave a small nod, Amal'Thazad continued "Then please, take off your clothing and take a spot on the snow."
Despite the sheer oddness of the request, Naruto did it rather quickly. The cold didn't really bother him despite the fact it should be causing enough frost bite to kill him and the only thing that would possibly bear witness to him being naked out here was Amal'Thazad, who had long ago removed his own flesh and muscle in order to reach Lichdom in the first place.
Once the clothing was removed, Naruto simply folded it up nicely and placed it on the ground a little away from himself as he took a cross legged seat in the snow.
Amal'thazad nodded his approval at Naruto's ability to follow an order without hesitation. There were far too many Death Knights that kept a sense of modesty that sort of got in the way at times. "I want you to clear your mind of everything else and focus solely on the ice, snow and freezing cold wind around you. I want you to embrace the cold into your own body and heart, aligning yourself with it completely."
"Once you have aligned yourself with the frozen heart of Icecrown, you will be able to tap the Frost magic that is apart of your very being at will. Even if in the end you chose to master a different element completely, once you access the Ice magic running through you will always been able to use it at will. I will know when you have succeed. You are to remain as you are until I return and tell you otherwise. You may begin."
With that one order, Naruto closed his eyes, seeking to achieve the state of being that Amal'thazad had asked of him.
The Lich waited a few minutes before he started to float back to the Citadel. He had a small gift for his new partner that needed to be prepared. Besides, it would still take a few days at least before Naruto to connect to the Ice magic flowing through him and the Lich would know the moment he had succeed.
He had other things he needed to do in the meantime.
...
Unknown Location; Elemental Nations.
A creature that had existed for more then tens of thousands of years began to chuckle at the world above it.
While its plans for freedom were still underway and they were nearing completion, that was not why this creature was happy.
The happiness was because it was having so much fun playing with its little toys on the surface of the world. Another of its kind might have simply driven the human's above them completely insane and been done with it, but this creature took great pleasure in its little mind games. Their minds were so guarded, so secure... it took years to truly drive them mad and what sweet madness it was!
If it had simply tried to crush the minds of the human's above, far too many for his liking would have resisted the crushing force of reality. But this way... a small twist of a plan here, a small idea implanted there, enraging or enlarging an ego somewhere else and it got to witnesses horrific things that made it smile so sweetly.
It had many pawns in the world above, even if only one of them was a true believer in its power; It had just used one to eliminate the last of the original guardian's pets. It was a truly good year. All it had to do now was wait for his worshiper to complete the rest of the plan to gain its freedom from its earthly prison.
Might as well play around a little more in the mean time...
...
Icecrown, Middle of Nowhere, Four Days later.
Despite the fact that a minor snow storm had blown through Icecrown the day before, Amal'Thazad still found back tracing his steps the day before rather easy. Mostly, this was because he could float over the snow now matter how deep or dangerous it was to step on. The ghouls following him had a much harder time going, but they clawed their way through the snow and ice easily enough.
When they reached the spot that the Lich had left Naruto, all they found was freshly fallen snow and ice as far as the eye could see with no sign that there was any form of life nearby, either living or undead. The ghouls didn't question the command of the Lich when he said "Start digging."
It took a good fifteen minutes to remove enough snow to uncover the stiff corpse that looked like it had been frozen solid before it had even been buried. Ice hung from blond hair that could be mistaken for ivory, while Naruto's body was turn a deep blue color. He was still sitting in the cross legged position that he had been in when the Lich had left him here. If Naruto had still been living, he would have been long dead by now.
One of the dumber ghouls stumbled towards the body that looked like a frozen piece of meat, muttering something about "Free...Meal..." between animistic growls. Just before it managed to get close enough to reach the blond in order to take a bite, Amal'Thazad spoke only three words at the sight. "It is time."
Before the ghoul even knew what hit it, a blue pulse stuck it in the head and chest. It didn't make a sound for a few seconds before falling backwards, its head breaking apart as it impacted with the ground like a cheaply made glass cup, shattering in shards of flash frozen flesh, blood and skull fragments.
Naruto's left arm had moved so quickly that some of the shards of ice that had grown on his flesh had torn into the limb a little, but for the most part he ignored whatever pain it might have caused him. With a great deal of cracking, his eyes opened, the unnatural blue glow shining brighter then normal due to the ice that still covered most of his body.
With much greater care then he had taken with his left arm, Naruto began to move his limbs and body again, breaking off and brushing off ice and snow of his person respectfully. Standing up slowly in order to avoid harming his legs in the process, Naruto began to move his limbs with great care in order to warm up the frozen blood in his veins. It wasn't painful or anything, but it did make him rather stiff.
"How long have I been here?" was the first question the blond asked, seemingly not noticing the dead ghoul.
"Four days. I'm glad to see that you used that time wisely." Amal'Thazad replied, inspecting the shattered glass like figments that had once been a ghoul's head. Despite enjoying the praise, Naruto's attention was elsewhere, searching the ground nearby for something that clearly wasn't there anymore.
"By any chance you didn't dig up the clothing I had before, did you?" Naruto asked, already expecting the worst but hoping for the best anyway. "Odds are those things blew away in the snow storm that passed though yesterday." Naruto sighed at the answer. He suspected that if he was seen by just one of the many female Cult of the Damned members in this state, more would come and he would be completely mobbed, regardless of what anyone did. Death by fan girls... He didn't like his odds of getting a second chance if that happened.
"I did however foresee such a thing happening though. This seemed like the best time to introduce you to your new armor as well." was all the Lich said as one of the ghouls that had come with him dropped a package in the snow in front of Naruto.
Taking his time in picking up the package (Mostly due to his stiff body parts) Naruto tore into the package with careful ease. While the flesh wound on his left arm had been tiny and had healed itself by this point, his oxygen lacking blood hadn't completely unfrozen yet.
The first things that came out of the bundle was an undershirt and a pair of underwear, which the blond thankfully put on. With the whole modesty issue taken care of, Naruto took out and slowly inspected each piece before putting it on.
The first item looked like it was designed to be a chest piece. It was made out of some sort of leather that Naruto had never seen before with pieces of the dark blue metal that Bloodbane's armor had been made out of woven through the leather, reenforcing it nicely without impairing movement. Sliding it over his head, Naruto was surprised at just how light it was. He might as well have been wearing something made of normal everyday cloth.
The next item to draw his attention were a pair of pants that matched the chest piece in design and function, using the blueish black metal to offer some protection while keeping movement completely free of impairment. Putting them on as well, Naruto turned his attention back to the package, removing what looked like a pair of arm guards.
Unlike the armor so far, the arm guards were completely made out of the blue/black metal. Sliding his arm carefully into one of them, Naruto noticed that it covered his forearm till just under the elbow, sticking to the theme of 'Movement first'. Placing the other one on, Naruto noticed the slightest of differences between the two around the bottom of his right wrist. Twisting his hand upwards to press down on the difference, a rather sharp spike slid out from under his right wrist, surprising Naruto a little at the sheer speed that the metal had moved.
Once he was over his shock, he examined the blade in silence, taking note of the fact it looked like it could tear through metal with relative ease. Flesh and bone wouldn't have a pray. Removing the weight of his right wrist off the little bottom in the arm guard, the metal spike returned to the hiding spot from whence it came.
Planning to play with his new toys later, Naruto quickly looked at the last two items that came with the armor. Shin guards, made from the same metal as the arm guards. Other then being forced to sit down in order to put them on, there wasn't any hidden little tricks built into them. They just served the simple purpose of protecting his shins from harm. Not overly impressive, but useful none the less.
Looking down at himself, Naruto grinned a little at the sight of multiple shades of dark and darker blue. He wasn't quite sure how he looked yet since he couldn't see his reflection, but he had a feeling that he must have looked down right bad ass.
"The leather in that armor is made from the hide of a downed Frost Wrym. When you start learning to control the unholy energy inside of you, your teacher will show you a somewhat useful trick you can do with your armor." Amal'Thazad explained, reminding Naruto that the lich was still standing there.
"I love the armor and everything, not how come there aren't any shoes?" Naruto asked, lifting one of his bare feet to support the argument. For the first time since he had met him, Naruto saw Amal'Thazad look a little sheepish... or at least as sheepish as a thirteen foot tall skeleton with enough magical power to cause wide spread destruction at will could be.
"We didn't know your shoe size when we made the armor..." The Lich explained, feeling a little stupid for doing so. There was a slightly awkward silence for a few moments with nothing but the howling wind to break it.
"So what happens now?" Naruto asked, interested in what the next step was.
"Simple really." Amal'Thazad stated with certainty, the awkwardness forgotten. " We go find your other two teachers so that you can learn to harness the powers that are your given right to wield."
"So where do we find someone to teach me then?" Naruto asked, already building up his eagerness to learn, if for no other reason then to move around a little bit to help speed up the defrosting of his blood.
"Thankfully, we will find what we seek in the same place. We have to go to the Plague lands."
AN: Once more, we have a new chapter.
I know I said something last chapter about what was going to happen in this one, but that has been put back to chapter five in order to have this chapter in place. It just made a bit more sense for it to happen now then later.
The armor that Naruto is wearing was suggested by ABitterPill. I still need some suggestions for the whole shoe department. Despite my research into the field, I'm not really sure how chakra and shoes work out yet.
The Cultist of the Damned currently hiding in Konoha has been named Ami for no other reason then because it was the first name that came to mind. I needed to name her anyway.
I am putting up a new poll the moment this chapter is uploaded. While I am going to have Naruto learn all three different talents that all Death Knights have, he still needs one to major in. You will get your chance to vote for if Naruto is going to favor using Frost, Blood or Unholy talents in battle.
I think I've covered everything important...
Goodnight everybody, and I hope you take the time to review.
Kiue Jin.