A/N: EDIT: Well. Flames all over the comments for this chapter and nary a review to be found.
I...don't think this is fun anymore. I'm not writing this for me; I'm writing this to entertain people, to bring a smile to their faces, and if no one responds, no one comments...NO ONE SAYS A WORD...
...
...
...
I need to think about some things.
Well, here we are, our second interlude of sorts.
Reviews keep me writing these crazy little tales. Without them, my inspiration falls flat and I can't write a word.
Daily updates have been taking their toll on me, but I'm doing my best to persevere; to push through. Two jobs keep me busy most days, but my one boss is becoming a right and proper pain my arse right now. We're not even in the busy season, but they're being an outright menace. Might have to get HR involved at this rate.
Joy of joys, won't that be ever so much fun...
Now then, a warning. This chapter goes deep into the proverbial rabbit hole, and is told from multiple perspectives. There. You've been forewarned. Vale won't know what hit it by the end of this, and even then, the rest of the world -and a few readers!- will be quite surprise come the end.
But first, lets answer your burning questions, comments, and concerns!
Q: Someone's been watching Doctor Who~!
A: I have. Bits and pieces, the odd clip here and there. Its given me...ideas.
Q: What'll happen when Cinder and Naruto eventually meet?
A: That's a way off, yet. Lets just say it'll be interesting...
Q: Will Summer ever give up?! She's like a dog with a bone! Doesn't she realize she's causing more harm than good! Bad! Summer! Bad! Go to your room, young lady!
A: *laughs*
Q: So what's Naruto's scheme here? And how does he feel about his nickname?
A: Naruto hates being called the Flame, but ironically it fits given his new flames based abilities, Roman's last name, and their tendency to use fire wherever they go. Don't even get me started on the White Fang and Sienna. Fires of the Revolution and all that. Sorry, chap. You're stuck with that title for the time being.
Viva la Revolution...?
Alright then, I've kept you long enough.
As ever, I own no references, quotes, themes or memes.
Hope you're prepared; because this is where the story takes off.
"Run, you clever boy...
~?
Partners in Persuasion (Interlude)
...I have several questions."
Sienna pursed her lips in a frown as she regarded the young man before her.
"Ask away." the shadow clone didn't look up from his post. "I'll answer as best I can."
Though he spoke to her, she felt her frown deepen when Naruto's double refused to look her in the eye. It wasn't out of spite or any such thing; he was simply focused on the task at hand. Sienna understood that, really, she did. It fell to them to run Mountain Glen while the original was away; to keep things running in his and Roman's absence.
Slowly but surely, they were bringing this dead city back to life.
Just outside their command tent she could hear Mountain Glenn heaving with people; her sensitive ears told her all she needed to know. Refugees and civilians, members of the White Fang, even some of Ironwood's proud soldiers; several of whom had turned their coats once they realized the atrocities they'd nearly inflicted here. Ironic, really.
Seemed that Rex fellow had some pull with his men after all.
Would it last? Hard to say, that. They were doing something new here; something untested. Something...new. Atlas might try to carpet bomb them out of spite; that struck her as something Ironwood would do. The great General had ever been a paranoid man, unable to accept the loss of control in any aspect of his life. Really, he needed to be more in tune with his emotions. Sometimes loss of control could be a wonderful thing, a graind game indeed.
And speaking of losing control...
In a single seamless movement she rose from her chair and circled the table to Naruto's side.
"So," she ran a hand down his arm, "You shadow clones are basically the same as the original, right?"
"Yup." he smacked his lips, eyes still tracing the map before. "We make pretty decent spies...if that's what you're after."
Sienna saw the ghost of a smile on his lips and felt her own twitch. Aha! So he was going to be coy, was he? Fine. Two could play this game. Rather than rise to the bait, she gave him a moment of silence, pretending to study the maple of Vale; when in reality, she watched the blond doppelganger work. Golden eyes traced over him. His hands sprawled out over the map, brow knit in a frown, lips pursed in that way of his. The kind that meant he was up to no good again.
Her tongue flitted out, licking her lips.
She wanted to thread those hands with her own, kiss that brow, devour those lips with her own. Feel his hands upon her, him inside her-ach! Down girl!
Her head twisted in a violent shake before she flung herself at him. If he wanted to drag this out, so would she. She'd not give him the satisfaction of breaking first.
Of course, she wasn't above tormenting him a little.
"So you're a perfect copy of him, then?" she pressed herself against the clone's side, revelling in the way he stiffened against her. "In every way?"
"Just about." the shadow clone took a black Knight chess pierce and moved it across the map, from Mountain Glenn into Vale. "We don't really bleed, and can't take too many hits or we go back to the source," he used it to knock over a white bishop and took up another as she looked on, "But once we do, the Source gets our memories. Our experiences." he knocked that one over too, and moved the chess piece to Beacon. "Even our emotions, depending on what we were feeling at the time."
"And how many hits can you take, big boy?"
His brow quirked. "A lot. I've been reinforced. Heavily."
Sienna knew if she had a tail, it would've been wagging right about now.
"Fascinating." she pressed a bit closer and deliberately pressed her breasts into his arm. "I wouldn't mind testing that."
Blue eyes finally rose to meet hers. "Sienna, no. Bad kitty."
"Sienna, yes!" she grabbed him and spun him around, forcing him to face her. "We were interrupted the other night," her finger traced a lazy circle on his chest. "And you just said it yourself, you're every bit the same as the original." when he didn't deny her she stepped into him, pressing the contours of her body to his. "Where's the harm in a little fun?"
Something dangerous flashed through his eyes. Something dark. Something she wanted to see more of.
A slow heat rose to his face. "I didn't exactly bring protection...
Her mouth claimed his in a scalding kiss.
"Excellent." she pushed him down onto the table, scattering the map and all its accessories. "I want children. Lots and lots of children."
He laughed as his hands settled on her hips. "You really are insatiable, you know that?"
She smirked. "What can I say? I can be very persuasive when I want to be."
After all, as the saying went, when the mice were away, the cat will play...
Waitaminute, was that the saying? Probably...not.
Didn't matter! She was staking her claim.
(.0.0.0.)
Ozpin pinched the brow of his nose.
"I'm afraid you've left me in something of a bind, here." he leaned back and took a long draught from his flask. "I cannot be seen to support a criminal. What're you asking for is too much. Too complicated."
"Then lets make this simple." said criminal before him didn't so much as bat an eyelash. "I'm not asking you to support me. Just to say out of my way. Among other things."
"Hrngh!"
Ironwood made a strangled noise where he stood, still unable to speak. Ozpin tacitly ignored the spellbound general. What trick that was, he had no desire to be caught up in it. Instead he gave the young man before him the full weight of his attention, as he was rightfully due. This...Flame, seemed oddly calm. Confident, even. Too confident. He was up to something. Must be. But what? No, best to keep him talking. There was a weakness here, there had to be. With the doors sealed up by that strange fire, he had no other recourse but to indulge him...for now.
"Such as?"
The clone smiled.
"Lemme tell you a story...
(.0.0.0.)
Glynda knew her way around Vale.
It came as something of a surprise to Naruto; indeed, it took his already changing opinion of Goodwitch and raised and elevated it yet further. She wasn't the stuck-up disciplinarian he'd first thought her to be. Nor was she the little lackey that did Ozpin's bidding. If anything she looked downright human today. Acted like it, too.
More than that, he was beginning to get a better grasp of her origins.
Her voice had a slight hitch to it when she got too excited; a bit of slang that slipped out when she said certain words. At first he thought it a fluke, but with each passing moment she proved him wrong. And so, he paid close attention as she dragged him about the city. None challenged them. Rather, none could find them to do so. Glynda knew the backstreets and the alleys of Vale in a way that no uptown citizen should; haggled like a merchant in the market, and swore like a sailor when someone pissed her off. Case in point...
"Fifty-five lien for both of these?!" She thrust a pair of hot dog buns at the vendor. "That's a bloody ripoff! Where's the ketchup?!"
Their vendor in question was a rather rotund man with a balding hair line and piggish eyes wrapped in a stained white apron with matching slacks. He scowled at the two of them as if they were scum of the earth. Rather, he scowled at Glynda. By some miracle Naruto found himself spared the man's wrath for some reason or another. Maybe he was too focused on her...?
"You're one of them Beacon huntresses, aint'cha?" this arms crossed before a barrel chest. "Be glad I'm serving your type at all."
Glynda's head tilted just so. Her eyes flashed. "Care to repeat that?"
"Erm...well...
Sasuke's spirit drifted past them on a swirl of mist. "Well, that settles it. I think I'm in love."
Naruto rolled his eyes and stood by as she browbeat the man's prices down.
She certainly was something. He rather liked this side of her.
Five minutes later saw them walking down the street hand-in-hand as they enjoyed their hard won fare. There really was something nice about simple food on a warm afternoon day; all cared and concerns thrown by the wayside as they enjoyed one another's company. He'd almost forgotten what this felt like, to simply banter back and forth with someone without a care in the world.
"Didn't realize you had a temper."
Glynda nearly choked on her food. "I...try to conceal it...
He nudged her hip with his. "Might wanna work a little harder."
She nudged him back without missing a step. "You can be such a boy sometimes...
They walked in companionable silence for minutes more, enjoying their meal. He knew it couldn't last.
"Don't you see? Most of these people are good." Sure enough, Glynda found her voice when she led him around a pair of giggling children playing tag on the sidewalk. "They're worthy of our protection." her gaze followed them for a moment before she tore herself away. "I look at them sometimes and I wonder how they might grow up in the coming era without it."
Naruto missed a step. "Where's this coming from?"
"Public sentiment is turning against hunters as a whole." she polished off the last of her lunch with a sigh. "If things continue as they are...
"I get it. Every time you see people happy like this, you remember how sad they're going to be in the future...and it breaks your heart." he grimaced and looked away from the happy little scene. "You start to think, what's the point in them being happy now, if they're going to suffer later? The answer is, of course...because they are going to be sad later." a rueful smile tugged at the corner of his mouth. "You gotta seize moments of happiness when you can and embrace life. Because when things gets rough...that's all you'll have." on a whim, he dared a wink. "You're a good person too, Glynda."
"No." she shook her head. "I'm really not. Not always." green eyes averted from his. "If you'd met me ten years ago... you would've thought otherwise."
His brow furrowed. "Can't be that bad."
"It was." Glynda's right arm reached across her waist to grip her left wrist. "You mentioned earlier that you never killed those who didn't deserve her." her hand tightened, going bone-white against her sleeve. "I...have killed people. Many deserved it. Some didn't. We're all just stories. Mine isn't a happy one." for a moment, he thought she might say more, but in the end she shook her head and looked way. "I don't even know why I'm telling you this."
"Because you want me to understand...?"
"Then be a huntsman!" she whirled on him and grasped his hands in hers, forcing him to stop. "Work with us!"
"Wait." Naruto quirked a brow. "Is this a sales pitch?"
"It could be. You could do so much good here!"
His brow went higher. "Like Ozpin has?"
Glynda flinched. "That's not...!"
Silence stretched between them both.
"I could show you around Beacon, if you like." she made a valiant attempt to change the subject. "You could meet Ozpin. See him for yourself."
Naruto bit back a grimace. Not a chance. Curious as he was about the campus proper, it was the last place he wanted to be right now. Not with his plan in place. His clones would be busy enough there, and he didn't trust Neo to distract the students and staff for long. Least of Glynda herself. That was a conflict he was keen to avoid.
"Probably a bad idea."
"Hmm." She saw the glint in his eyes. "Whatever you're plotting, I'll thank you to keep me out of it."
He whistled innocently. "I..may not be able to promise that."
Her lips pursed. "Will anyone die?
"Nope." He shook his head, then sighed. "This would all be so much easier if you just worked with me." His heel dug in, preventing her from pivoting. "Here, I'll make you a counteroffer. Join me." Her eyes widened at his sudden offer, but he bulled on. "Come to Mountain Glenn. See what I'm doing for yourself."
...I can't."
"No, you can, you're just afraid to." it pained him to say the words. "That's alright. I can wait."
She set her jaw. "You'll be waiting a terribly long time.
"I don't think so. There is good, and there is evil." Naruto raised his hands, weighing each like a scale. "I ask myself this sometimes. Why? Why can't we all be good. By any analysis, evil should always win. Good is not a practical survival strategy. It requires loyalty, self-sacrifice, and love. So? Why does good prevail?" he held up a finger. "What keeps the balance between good and even in this world? People like you and me. " he tapped her forehead. We each want to help the world in our own way. Our methods just differ.
Glynda dithered in place, lips pursing in a thin line.
"If you do something terribly bad, I'll have to stop you."
"I know." His forehead kissed hers. "And if you do something stupid, I'll stop you." A siren wailed in the distance. Naruto craned his neck towards it. "Well, that's the signal." he looked back to her, noting the realization in her gaze. "Its time for me to go, now."
"So it would seem." Glynda laughed. It was a sad, broken thing. "Will I ever see you again?"
Naruto beamed. "Course ya will."
In a fit of fancy, he darted in and gave her a quick hug. As he did, he slipped something into her pocket. Glynda stiffened but a little, yet made no attempt to attack him, much less escape. At length her arms came up behind his shoulders and squeezed. Someone shouted in the distance, but she didn't pay them any mind. Her head came to rest over his shoulder, and for a moment, he wavered. If only things didn't have to be this way; if only she'd see sense, they could've avoided all this.
But that was life. She'd come around to his way of thinking, sooner or later.
Sooner, if he had any say about it...
"Its like you said earlier." he whispered into her ear. "We're all just stories in the end. Make it a good one, won't you?"
Glynda kissed his cheek, startling him in turn. "Then run, you clever boy. And don't let me catch you."
Naruto released her and did just that.
A/N: SHIPS ARE A' SAILING!
Well, those were all the references.
As ever, I simply cannot write a thing without feedback.
Strange as it might sound, reviews help me to write faster. They really do. Looking forward to chatting with you all!
Methinks someone just raised the stakes. Give in Glynda, you know you want to...
Felt good to write a more down to earth chapter; such as it is, I tried my best to flesh out the cast here and take things at a more sedate pace.
So in the Immortal Words of Atlas...
...Review, Would You Kindly?
Here, have preview!
Future ones, at any rate.
Been watching Invincible as of late. Its given me...ideas...
(Previews)
The plan had gone awry.
Roman wasn't sure when or where or how, only that it had, somehow.
And now that it had...
"Keep up, bunny! We've got a train to catch."
She kissed his neck.
"You're being very distracting right now...
She paused, smiling in the dark. "Do you want me to stop?"
"I didn't say that...
"Betray him? HA!"
"I don't think you understand the offer I'm making.
"Oh, but I do! I may be a gambling man, but even I know there are some bets you just...don't...take. Like it or not, that kid is going to change the world. You can't stop 'em...I can't stop 'em...and you know the old saying! If you can't beat 'em? JOIN THEM. You got spirit, but this is the real world! The real world is cold! The real world doesn't care about spirit! You wanna be a hero?! Then play the part and die like every other huntsman in history! As for me? I'll do what I do best! Survive!"
Adam flung up his hands. "Its not fair!"
"Life seldom is." Naruto sat down by his wayward pupil near the bed. "Way I see it, every life is a pile of good thing and bad things." Velvet bounded up beside him and wriggled into her cot. "The good things don't always soften the bad things, but vice versa, the bad things don't spoil the good things or make them unimportant.
Emerald plonked down in her own bed. "Is that why Atlas is blaming us?"
He was about to say more, but he caught Velvet staring at him.
"Alright." he gave up. "Bedtime it is, then! Lemme tell ya a story...
"Mercy...!"
"Mercy. Such a small word. I used to have so much mercy." His hand tightened around their throat. Every time I negotiated with someone, I tried to understand." Clawed fingers bit into the madman's flesh, drawing blood. "Well not today." he wrenched them around, slamming their spine into a wall. "No. Today I honor the victims first. His, hers, YOURS! All the people who ever died because of MY mercy!"
Sasuke's eye flashed in his skull.
"Today you burn!"
R&R~!