"Hey Naruto," said Nell through a mouthful of bread.
"Chew your food properly," replied Naruto automatically, "What?"
"What was that move called, that you used on that woman yesterday?"
Naruto looked up from his own plate to look at her, confused.
"Move? What move?"
Nell pouted.
"That light blast – what's it called? Is that your finishing move?"
Naruto's face was a study in non-comprehension.
"Finishing… move?"
"What do you call that attack?" asked Pell, adding his own input.
Naruto jerked his head back in surprise.
"I don't call it anything," he said, genuinely confused, "It was just a blast of chak- magic."
"Oh really?" asked Pell, disappointed.
"It wasn't a finishing move?" said Nell at the same time, equally disappointed.
"It's all just cha- magic manipulation. Nothing I do has a special name."
"Whaaaaaat?!" chorused the twins in dismay.
"What?" echoed Naruto, "Why do I need names for what I do?"
"You just do!" said Nell fiercely, taking Naruto aback.
"Yeah!" agreed Pell, "Something cool you can say when you do a special move!"
"But that's stupid-"
"It's cool!" said both twins in unison.
"All the Champions have cool moves," added Nell, "Like Caitlyn's Piltover Peacemaker, or Janna's Howling Gale!"
"Uhh…" was all Naruto could say.
"I can't wait until I make my own finishing move…" sighed Nell dreamily.
She opened her palm and pointed it at Pell.
"Infinity Spark!" she said with a giggle, as a cloud of light motes flew out of her hand and dissipated harmlessly onto her brother's face, "Something like that."
"Yeah, me too," said Pell with a grin, waving his spoon like a sword, "Hiya! Slice of Destiny!"
He made an exaggerated diagonal cut across the body of an imaginary foe, the movement so exuberant he upset the bowl on his lap. Luckily, Naruto was quick enough to reach out and catch it before the food was upended onto the ground. He frowned a little as Pell lowered his spoon and took the bowl back with an embarrassed smile and a sheepish apology.
"Special techniques…" he said to himself quietly.
He held out a hand and chakra gathered in his palm like a miniature cloud. A thought and it burst into flame.
The dancing tongues burned painlessly on his skin before flattening unnaturally and crawling around his wrist like so many snakes. Another thought and they flared up, covering his entire hand in a glove of fire. One final thought, and the flames snuffed themselves out, as sudden as someone flipping a switch.
He hadn't thought about the notion for so long that it was almost a foreign concept to him. Everything he did now was sheer chakra manipulation. Tweaking the nature and shape was like second nature to him. Concepts like 'techniques' and 'moves' wasn't really how he thought about it. What was the real difference between a ball of fire and a spear of one? It was still just fire.
Using chakra was like breathing - it was an extension of his own body. No one shouted a fancy name when throwing a punch or kick, so neither did he when he used chakra.
But still…
A special technique…
Naruto curled his fingers up, as if he were holding a ball. Once again, chakra gathered in his palm, but this time more solid, less transparent. It formed a perfect white sphere in his hand, smooth and unblemished.
It looked… familiar…
No… he thought, something's wrong.
He flexed his fingers, and the sphere popped like a bubble, the scattered energy dissipating into the air harmlessly.
"You need some special moves," said Nell, "Your signature attacks, that people will remember you by."
Naruto wrinkled his nose.
"Here's one for you," he said with a wry smile.
He flicked his fingers at her, blowing a gust of warm air in her direction. It buffeted her face and tossed her fair hair all over the place, making her huff and try to straighten it to little effect.
"So you think I should have these too?" he said, leaning back and directing the question to Pell.
"Yeah, they're cool."
"But when you're fighting someone with a sword, most of the time you won't be using a fancy technique. You'll be using the movements you've gained through hours of training and practice."
"Yeah, but there are still special moves! Like when you dash past someone like pewww and then they stand there like nothing happens and then a few seconds later they get cut and it's like splat and they fall to the ground like ugh! Or like when you make this really awesome jumping overhead move, like…"
Naruto rolled his eyes.
"C'mon, Pell, stop dragging your feet," called Nell, looking back.
"Screw you," replied her brother raggedly as he wearily put one foot in front of the other.
The fair-haired boy had gone through a particularly gruelling training session that morning and had pushed himself a bit too hard when trying to run laps while pulling a boulder, causing him to collapse as he reached his goal.
"Don't fight," said Naruto absentmindedly, "Hey, we're going to stop by the next town we see, alright? We need to buy some supplies. We can stay a few nights if you want."
"Yay!" Nell cheered while even the tired Pell perked up a little.
Although travelling with Naruto was definitely fun and rewarding, a town was full of new things. Full of different foods and sights and people. For the two young children who had spent most of their lives struggling to survive in Zaun's underbelly, exploring and sightseeing in a new place was definitely something to look forward to.
"What supplies are you going to get?" asked Nell curiously.
They rarely needed to buy food. Naruto was an adept enough hunter to always precure any source of meat he wanted, and the weird pocket dimension he kept everything in was better than any fridge, so the trio always had a ready stock of many different types of meat. Wild vegetables, herbs and spices were also in ready supply if you knew where to look, and the twins were already starting to get a feel for what edible goods nature provided when Naruto took them foraging with him.
"Well, you guys have gotten pretty good with your reading skills, so I'm going to get some more advanced books. I'm also going to get some stuff to write with because I think you guys are ready to start doing that now."
"Oh," said Nell, "Where is the nearest town?"
Naruto unsealed the map from the wind. He looked down at it, but then immediately realised he should have been paying closer attention to it while travelling. When he had looked at their route all the way back at the village where he had bought the map, he had figured they really needed to follow one major road along the coast all the way to Demacia. So even though their daily progress might be off the beaten path or through the forest, he always made sure they were moving parallel to that one road.
However, he had no concept of how fast they were moving, nor had he cared to look for many of the landmarks on the map. He had no real idea where they were.
The map was a fairly large one that covered the continent of Valoran, so it only showed major cities and townships. The nearest village wouldn't be marked, even if Naruto did know where they were.
"Not sure," he said, stuffing the map back into the wind, "Let's go back to the main road and ask someone."
"Here comes someone," remarked Naruto, seeing a lone figure approaching, "Ho there!"
The person looked up and raised a hand in acknowledgment. From the mid-distance, it seemed like a male, wearing colourful red and gold clothing. He walked in an energetic, bouncy way, like he was dancing to the steps of some inaudible cosmic song.
The two parties reached each other and Naruto walked up to offer his hand for a greeting.
"Well met!" said the other man, shaking the offered appendage with his own.
He was very handsome, with clean, high-cut features. Bright blue eyes stared out, a stark contrast against hair that was so fair it almost looked white. A wide smile with perfectly pearly teeth completed the picture.
Naruto returned the smile.
"Hello friend, I was just wondering if you know where the nearest settlement is? We were hoping to purchase some supplies."
The man's lively blue eyes fell upon Nell and Pell hanging back and brightened excitedly.
"Hello, little ones!" he said, squatting down to get closer to their eye level, "How do you do?"
Nell smiled nervously while standing slightly behind her brother, who managed a more confident smile, and a blurted, "Good, how are you?".
The man's smile widened as he replied.
"I'm very good. Thank you, child," he said before straightening up to address Naruto again, "I've actually just come from the nearest village. It's a few hours travel down this road. It should have all the supplies you might need."
"Thank you."
"Oh, a word of warning," said the man, his smile dimming slightly, "They're a bit unfriendly, so keep that in mind."
"What do you mean?"
"I'm a bit of a wandering musician you see," he said, gesturing to an oddly shaped instrument hanging from his hip that looked like a cross between a trumpet and a horn, "And when I offered to play something to earn myself dinner and a bed, they accepted. But for my music, which I've performed for kings and lords, they said they could only offer a lumpy bed and a meal of mutton and greens. The audacity!"
The man's angry expression calmed as he visibly exerted his control over his composure.
"Forgive me," he said, "I'm still a little angry about it, you see. But their cheek aside, the village should have what you want, if you have coin. It seems that's the way of the world nowadays and wandering bards like myself have little place in it. Long gone are the days where good music and cheer can pay your way."
"Alright, thank you," said Naruto.
"Not a worry," said the man, turning his attention back to the twins, "What are your names, little ones?"
"I'm Pell," said Pell stoutly.
"N-Nell."
"Fine names, fine names. Where are you off to, the three of you?"
"Demacia!"
The bard's eyes squinted as he considered this answer.
"Demacia, huh? Not a bad place – the people do appreciate my craft there a little more… it is a bit stifling, though."
He turned his attention back to the children and held out a hand for them to shake.
"Nice to meet you, Nell and Pell," he said, "You do seem like lovely children."
The man turned back to Naruto, dusting off the seat of his pants.
"I do adore children," he said with a smile, "And these are some fine ones. It was a pleasure to meet you all – would you like to hear a song to remember me by?"
"Oh yes!" said Nell, who had been the most interested in what the strange looking instrument sounded like.
"Anything for the little lady," said the bard, unclipping his instrument and bringing it to his lips.
In that moment, Naruto was lost.
He was alone.
The bard was gone, his kids were gone.
The music was soft and loud, poignant and rousing, slow and fast, beautiful and horrifying – all at the same time. The sound was indescribably tender and soothing as well as harsh and grating, each note humming with some sort of eldritch power.
A short upwards musical trill continued into infinity even as a haunting tune danced around in a cheery anthem. A rousing chorus found even in the plodding steps of a slow dirge. A million notes sang as one.
There was nothing but the music, nothing except that strange, irresistible call. It whispered sweet nothings into one ear, even as it poured insidious poison in the other. It called him to love and to hate, to build and destroy, to ascend and descend, to become a benevolent king and a vengeful god.
His body thrummed with chakra, and his surroundings surged with it. There were strange patterns in the sky, in the ground, all moving in impossible ways. Strange objects that were not quite trees but too similar to be anything else were all around him, and he was standing in some kind of ankle-deep liquid that wasn't water. The ground underneath his feet felt spongy and elastic, and everything was the wrong colour.
The chakra around and inside him moved to their own rhythm, and for the first time since he could remember, it was alien to him.
The life-giving energy did not respond, did not react, did not even acknowledge him. The cosmic pattern moved and spun as it always had, in its unknowable waltz, and for the first time he could remember, it did not accept him. It swept by him like he was a mere rock in a stream, moving in ways that were oh so familiar and yet completely strange.
What's happening? was all he could think frantically.
He went to move his hands up to rub at his eyes in disbelief, but found he couldn't move them, or anything else. He was stuck, bound as a prisoner in his own body.
All the while, the impossible music roared, yet whispered into his ears, resonating and falling into a contradictory crescendo.
Naruto blinked, and suddenly he was back.
There was no music, no strange trees, no weird colours. He was standing on solid ground, and his chakra flowed comfortingly in his veins.
"Wow!" said Nell, clapping her hands, "That was really good!"
"Yeah!" agreed Pell.
Shaking his head to clear the cobwebs, Naruto felt like he needed to chime in as well.
"Nicely done," he said, the barest tremor in his voice.
"Thank you, thank you," said the bard, smiling widely, taking a deep bow.
As he did so, two glowing yellow objects floated out of his cloak and bobbed in the air.
"Meep meep!"
"Oh my, look who's come out," grinned the bard, "Hello my little friends!"
He stroked one and it shook a little from the contact.
"These are my little spirit friends," he said as a way of explanation, "I call them 'meeps' because, well, that's all they say. Say hello to Nell and Pell, my friends."
The meeps wiggled in the air before floating over excitedly to Nell and rubbing themselves against her cheek. She giggled, stepping back to regain her balance from their exuberant greeting.
They were small creatures, consisting of little more than a round floating head with bulbous white eyes and a flat body with two ends that could either be feet or a tail.
"Meep meep!" they chattered.
"Aw, they're cute," said Nell, stroking one with a finger.
"Wonderful," said Naruto with a smile, before directing his words towards the bard, "Thank you for your music, but we really should be going. All the best!"
"Ah, the inevitable farewell," said the bard good-naturedly, "Good travels, my friend. Especially you, little ones – take care!"
The meeps peeled themselves off of Nell's face a little reluctantly and floated around their master as he waved goodbye.
The twins chorused their own goodbyes and trotted dutifully after Naruto, who had already started to move down the track.
Naruto felt a little bad by abruptly making the group leave the bard, but something about the stranger just rubbed him the wrong way.
The strange experience he had when listening to him play aside, there was just something… off about the friendly minstrel. He was good-looking, personable, and easy to talk to, but... something just kept nagging at the edge of his mind.
He had a handsome face, but it was just a little too handsome, too perfect. He wasn't perfectlyhandsome, but his handsomeness was too perfect.
The eyes were a little too blue, a little too well-shaped. The model smile was too wide, with too many perfectly straight white teeth. His voice was too smooth, too calculated, his manner too friendly, too likeable.
And, Naruto had noticed, even when he laughed, even when he smiled, even when he had gotten angry that one time, his eyes never changed.
His mouth moved, his brows furrowed or crinkled, his cheeks made the right shape, but his eyes always stayed the same.
Naruto recalled those bright blue eyes - slightly too brilliant to seem human, slightly too wide to fit on a face - and felt a shiver run down his spine.
The bard stood at the same spot the trio left him, watching them walk away with his perfect smile on his perfect face. He stood there, motionless, until they turned a bend and walked out of sight.
"What wonderful kids," he said to himself, "If only… no, I've spoiled myself too much recently."
As if in response, the meeps chattered energetically.
"Nice try there," the bard said casually, as if he could understand them, "But you'll soon learn that things like that will never lead to anything."
He laughed as if to himself, and then started off down the road on his way, meeps floating in his wake, moving in that strangely exuberant way of his, as if to the sound of an otherworldly tune that no one else could hear.
In a dark forest a very long way away from Naruto and the twins, a group of hooded figures stood in a circle, all wearing heavy black robes. There were in a clearing, but they stood uniformly around the edge, leaving a wide-open space in the middle.
The reason was clear – the ground in the centre was covered with symbols and lines drawn in stark white paint. Four concentric circles made up the main framework, and straight lines made flawless geometric shapes in which certain arcane symbols were inked. Here and there objects had been reverently placed in spaces in the diagram – the head of a goat, the prongs of a stag, a ceremonial knife, a large scroll, and, in the centre, the struggling figure of a naked, bound woman.
The sun was starting to dip behind the horizon and the dark fingers of twilight steadily reached across the fading canvas of the sky. The figures stood still and unmoving, like faceless statues, until the last brilliant sunrays disappeared, leaving only the uncertain half-gloom of pure twilight.
One of the figures finally moved, lowering his hood and revealing an aged face. His face had been painted with a glistening red liquid – two lines stretched across his cheeks and a dot marked his forehead.
"We begin," he intoned, the sound loud in the silent clearing.
He raised his hand, and as one, the figures in the ring around him started to chant as one, a low rumbling drone of arcane incantations in a long-forgotten language.
The leader stepped forward, making sure to avoid stepping on the white lines, and picked up the large, curved knife. From his robes, he produced a silver crucible, which he held in his left hand. The knife in one hand, and vessel in the other, he stood over the bound woman, whose struggles redoubled at the sight of the imposing figure.
But in one swift strike, the man bent over and thrust the knife fully into the woman's chest, the gleaming blade sliding in with no resistance. He held it there for a full second while the unfortunate victim writhed on the ground and screamed against her gag, then removed the knife, the once shining metal covered in slick, dark crimson. Without a trace of emotion in his face, the man held the knife against the edge of the crucible, letting the lifeblood drain slowly into it, the death throes of its owner callously ignored.
When he had deemed the amount of blood adequate, the robed man replaced the knife in its place in the circle and raised the filled crucible in the air. The chanting around the circle grew noticeably faster, building a tension, an excitement, in the air. The leader now moved over to the scroll, and slowly unfurled it. Something unseen glowed from the surface of the aged parchment, the light reflecting off the man's eyes.
Taking a finger, he dipped it into the blood and then inscribed a symbol onto the parchment, causing the whole thing to suddenly explode into unnatural purple flames.
The man left the burning scroll and now moved over to the two catalysts.
A head of a goat with its horns dyed black, and the prongs of a stag painted bone white.
As the chanting around him swelled into a roaring climax, he poured half of the blood onto each object, then dropped the crucible into the magical flames, causing them to burn brighter, now a vivid violet.
The man raised his arms in the air and screamed something. A Word of Power. The air seemed to shatter- the world around them rejecting such a violation of the natural law, and a strong smell of ozone was suddenly present, like the aftermath of a lightning strike. The heavy feeling of magic permeated the air, like a stifling blanket.
And then, out of the flames, two figures slowly emerged.
Two women - one wearing sleek black body-armour, and the other a floor-length white dress. They were tall, much taller than an average person, and had slender, willowy figures, standing with a strange, otherworldly balance.
They both wore ceremonial helms – the one in black had a set of ram horns curling backwards, showing off a pair of ageless, powerful red eyes, while the one in white bore a magnificent pair of bone-white antlers on her crown, the front reaching down to cover her upper face like a mask.
The leader of the hooded ritualists looked up in fanatical awe. He was quite a tall man despite his age, and yet the two imposing figures towered over him, their impassive faces giving nothing away.
"Hail!" he called, dropping into a deep bow, "We are the Followers of the Outer Ring! We have called you to this world, o Emissaries of the Old Ones! We call upon you to right the wrongs of this filthy land! To scourge the continent of the-"
"Call upon?" the prong-crowned figure spoke, and her words were like ice.
"Err…" the leader paused, aware, very suddenly, that he had said something wrong.
The figure somehow simultaneously moved forward and bent down to peer at him through her eyeless mask in a single, impossibly graceful motion, somehow gliding smoothly across the ground without taking a single step.
This close, the man suddenly realised how much larger her face was than his – it was almost half as big as his entire upper body. Her skin, perfectly smooth and white, and a full-figured pair of red lips belied a great beauty behind the mask, but to the poor recipient of that unseeing gaze, the sheer unnatural size of the face completely unsettled him.
"We recognise a greater power," the being spoke, "And not the whims of mortals."
"Um…" stammered the man.
An enormous finger rose to an equally enormous pair of lips in a shushing motion.
And the man could speak no more… permanently, for an enormous grasping tree root now protruded from his torn-open maw.
The terrifying being straightened up, once again towering over everyone in the clearing save her fellow.
"I am Lissandra, Queen of the Wild Things," spoke the being, "And I claim this world for the Old Ones."
She turned to the black clad one.
"Sister, if you please."
"Certainly."
The hooded ritualists fidgeted uneasily, then one person's nerve broke, and they turned and tried to run. This had a chain reaction, and the entire side of the circle of people followed suit, pushing and shoving at each other in their desperate attempt to flee.
"No."
Terrified screams ripped through the clearing as every human in the vicinity was frozen in place, tree roots bursting from the ground and binding their legs together, stopping any attempt at escape. The roots wrapped around their legs all the way to their waist, and even as some of the captives pulled out knives to try and free themselves, they soon found that struggling was futile. The roots were harder than steel, and their knives couldn't even mark the wood, let alone cut it.
They were bound there, helpless, as the black-clad being strode toward them.
Forced to watch, they couldn't help but notice she walked with a strange gait, an unnatural sway to her body with each graceful step. She reached one of the bound ritualists, and raised a blade… no, raised her leg.
The being had no feet, and instead had a wickedly sharp blade growing from the end of each knee. As large she was, the blades were as long as a great-sword, and much thicker. Now it was raised to the neck of a terrified ritualist, and it was as terrible as any executioner's axe.
"Glory to the Old Ones."
And a severed head fell to the forest floor, the first of many of that night.
Naruto and the twins reached the village only to find the gates open and unguarded. The guard box was empty, and there was no sign of anyone around. The trio stood waiting for a few minutes before Naruto decided to just lead them in.
As soon as they entered, however, they were met with a dozen bristling spears wielded by the uniformed village militia.
"Halt!" said the leader, "What business do you have in this village?"
Naruto raised his gloved hand to show that he was unarmed.
"Peace," he said, "We are merely travellers here to purchase supplies."
The spears did not move.
"Where do you come from?" asked the militiaman suspiciously.
"Err… we came from Piltover."
"And where are you headed?"
"Demacia."
"Are the kids yours?"
Naruto looked fondly at the twins.
"No," he said, "But I'm taking care of them for now."
The man raised his spear to an upright position and strode forward to peer curiously at the blond traveller.
"Ionian, eh?" he said.
Naruto shrugged. He knew better than to argue the fact by now.
"What're you lot doing in Demacia?"
"These two are enrolling in the Academies."
The militiaman nodded.
"So you've been hired to get them there in one piece?"
"Something like that," Naruto agreed easily.
"You're a bodyguard, then," pressed the man, not satisfied with the vague answer.
"I'm their guardian, yes."
The militiaman stared at him with untrusting eyes, then suddenly dropped his spear-point and made a thrust at Naruto's neck.
However, Naruto was much too fast.
He stepped inwards and deflected the spear softly with a gloved palm before the thrust even completed its motion, holding the spear away with one hand while the other produced a razor-sharp kunai which he held to the militiaman's throat.
"Please don't try that again," he said casually.
"All right, all right," said the militiaman, gruffly, "Put the knife away. I was just testing you. You're looking mighty young and pretty for a bodyguard, and I don't see a sword on you, either, so I had my doubts. Should've known better to test an Ionian."
Naruto stepped back, letting go of the spear and the sealing the kunai away into the wind.
"Well, I hope you no longer have any doubts?"
"Yes, yes," said the man, waving at his men to put their weapons away, "Welcome to our little town, I hope you enjoy your stay. My name's Marlin."
"I'm Naruto, and this is Nell and Pell."
"A pleasure," said the man roughly, "If you're looking for a place to stay, we have an inn that way – it has meals provided in the fare. You do have money, do you not?"
"Yes, we do."
"Good," grunted Marlin, "Because there was a bard that stayed with us yesterday, tried to pay with music. That might fly in one of the bigger villages or one of the cities, but we ain't got the money to put you up like a king for just music."
The trio followed the man to the main square of the small village, around which the major mainstay businesses were located – the inn, the blacksmith, the general store, the weaver and the bakery.
It was a small village, but there were still people moving around at this time of day, going about their business. However, they moved with an unusual sense of urgency, and their faces were pinched into grim expressions. They offered curt nods to Marlin when they saw him but seemed to hurry off when they noticed the three visitors.
"Unfriendly lot, aren't they," remarked Naruto after they saw their third villager rushing off after seeing them.
Marlin glanced around briefly before leaning in, forcing Naruto and the twins to do the same to hear his low whisper.
"They're a bit on edge," he said, "To tell you the truth, something bad happened recently."
He licked his lips nervously.
"Everyone's a bit wary around strangers, now, I hope you'll understand. We're usually pretty friendly. But a small village like us… you understand… something like that…"
"Something like what?" asked Naruto, not understanding.
An ear-splitting wail from a nearby house interrupted Marlin before he could explain. At the sound, the villagers still in the square redoubled their speed, all of them trying to avoid the situation.
"There she goes again," said Marlin sadly, "I don't blame her, though. For something like that to happen to her…"
By now the trio were close enough to make words out of the distressed shrieks.
"I KNOW IT WAS HIM! IT MUST HAVE BEEN HIM, HEADMAN! THERE WAS NO ONE ELSE! SIXTY YEARS I'VE LIVED IN THIS VILLAGE, AND NOTHING LIKE THIS HAS EVER HAPPENED BEFORE! NOTHING BEFORE HE CAME HERE!"
The grief and impotent rage was clear in that shaking voice.
"IT WAS HIM! THAT MINSTREL IN RED AND YELLOW! THAT PIED PIPER! THAT WRETCHED BARD!"
Naruto exchanged a worried glance with the twins.
"HE TOOK MY CHILDREN! HE TOOK MY DARLING KIDS! HE… he magicked them away…"