A/N: EDIT: Ouch, no need for the flames or the chants calling for my death. Can't we just enjoy a story? T_T

Well, Miracle of Sound dropped an Elden Ring song. Couldn't help myself. Sorry~!

No more new Elden Ring requests after this! Nay! Nay, I say!

*takes a deep breath*

As ever, we're sticking with the tried and true "Embers" Rule for this story. If folks don't like it...well, it won't be continued. So speak up! Make yourself heard! Your voice matters! That's no joke! I have very little time to write these days, so feedback plays a large part in this. Daily updates ensure that I'm constantly busy working on one project or another. I cannot afford to stop and write something that folks don't like; if only because I feel that would a cold disservice to those of who who have stuck with me for so long.

This'll most likely be a single pairing, but it may become a harem depending on feedback. It'll be a shorter story at that.

As ever, I own no quotes references, themes or memes. Not a wit or a one! Seriously. I mean that.

Story was inspired by Miracle of Sound's Fallen Leaves. Its one hell of a banger.

Now away we go! Hope this puts a smile on your face in these times.

"I fear neither man nor monster, but that thing...

...it scares me.

~?

Over Fallen Leaves

What manner of madman walks into the Haligtree half-naked?

It sounded like the beginning of grand cosmic joke, a jaded jape meant to make the very outer gods howl with laughter.

Malenia wasn't laughing.

She'd felt his presence at once; his aura such that his very arrival startled her from her dreams. With her eyes all but rotted away she could not see him, not truly, not in the conventional sense of the word, but he burned in her sixth sense all the same. Even now she saw him in her mind's eye, a one-armed beacon of yellow fire carved in the shape of the a man stalking towards her.

Had he taken the Frenzied Flame unto himself?

No. This felt...brighter. Warmer, somehow. More intense, but gentle, unlike the Flame of Ruin, either. His was a different sort of fire than those she knew. Like sitting under the sun and basking in its ray. It was enough to make her tense in her chair. He looked harmless enough. And yet for all that she couldn't bring herself to move; not even to turn her head towards him.

The rot within her writhed in his presence, recoiling from his light.

"Kill him." the voices, the Rot rose up within her, demanding action. "He defiles your resting place. Put him to the sword like the rest.

...yes. Yes, of course he did. Dearest Miquella. She had to protect her brother, still slumbering within the Haligtree. These awful intruders would take him and slay him. She must protect him. Until he was grown. Until he was ready for rebirth; until he could return to this world once more. 'Till then it fell to her to protect her other half. She would give anything to see him safe once more.

"...!"

A breeze whipped up the fallen leaves, revealing her fallen false arm and helm.

On false legs, Malenia stood. Good, good. She'd need those for the slaughter to come. "I dreamt for so long."

She knelt for them.

"My flesh was dull gold...and my blood, rotted. Corpse after corpse left in my wake...

Snapped her arm on.

"...As I awaited his return."

Reached down to reclaim her valkyrie helm.

"Heed my words." Donning her at last she turned to face him, this newest cadaver in a long line of corpses, "I am Malenia, Blade of Miquella." Her arm flicked out, sweeping the leaves before her. "And I have never known defeat."

.

..

...nice introduction!" the intruder's golden silhouette gave her a jaunty wave, pivoted on one heel, and walked away. "I'll just be going then. Have a nice day."

Malenia nearly fell on her face and splahsed into a puddle. "I beg your pardon?!"

"You're not the one I'm looking for." a glowing blue eye peered over his shoulder, pure as the sky itself. "And you seem kinda sad." as he spoke she 'saw' a smile crease those warm, whiskered cheeks. "Sorry for wakin' ya up. I'll just let you be. Enjoy your nap!"

His peace said, he kept right on walking; making a beeline for the fog door, no doubt intent to walk right on through. She could hear him muttering something about being lost, but the words were distant. Hollow now, as her ears began to ring in quiet anger.

Her pride prickled in the wake of his sudden retreat.

The Rot in her hissed anew.

"Slay him!"

Was he...condescending to her? He'd just walk away? After coming all the way down here? No! Nevermind that! If he left, he could reveal the location of the Haligtree to others. Of her dear vulnerable twin, resting even now within its embrace. If she let this Tarnished go, more of his kind would come. Her brother She could not allow it.

Malenia lunged at his exposed flank. Her blade struck true.

A hollow clang ran the length of her false arm and shivered into her shoulder.

He'd blocked her somehow she realized, conjured a black staff from naught but thin air.

"Oi." his unamused gaze met hers as he held her at bay with a single arm. Sparks skittered between them as their weapons clashed. "Whatcha go and do that for? I already said I wasn't gonna fight you...

"I cannot let you leave, Tarnished." she pushed against him with all her might, forcing him back a pace.

"The heck's a Tarnished...for crying out loud!" he blew out a stiff sigh and muttered something else under his breath. "Why does everyone and everything here wanna kill me...enough!"

His last word was all the warning she received before he dropped his guard and slugged her in the face.

It was a powerful punch all things considered. Stern, stiff, swift, and utterly uncompromising. Malenia never saw it coming.

CLONK!

But she certainly felt it.

Clenched knuckles barreled into her helm and rang her head like a bell. Stars burst before vision and quite suddenly, she became wholly, intimately aware of her back pressed against the brace of the Haligtree. He'd launched her clear across the grove with a single punch. She tried to stand, only for a fresh pang of nausea to assail her. She crumpled, knees buckling.

Her hand traced her helmet as she lay on the ground; sure enough, she felt a fist-shaped indent there. He'd ruined her favorite helm.

"Now buzz off!" the stranger shook his staff at her, rattling the ringed weapon. "I ain't gonna say it again!"

Anger rushed through her, and her second wind came with it.

By the time he realized his tactic she was already upon him, forcing the blond to meet her charge with one of his own. Her blade swept down in a single decapitating stroke. She had him this time. She knew she did. He'd try to block again and the moment he did, she'd overwhelm him with a storm of blows. He only had one arm. She was a demigod. He was but a mortal. outmatched him.

Instinct screamed at her. In her ire, Malenia ignored it. He would block, just as he had before; any sane warrior would.

Her blade missed him by a centimetre and slammed harmlessly into the water.

A bare foot stomped down on the flat of the blade. Then there was pain.

If the first attack had shown her stars, this one granted her galaxies. His knee rocketed up into her torso, blasting the breath from her lungs and fracturing three ribs. Her feet momentarily lifted from the ground and when she doubled over to defend that wounded side-he showed no mercy. His fist roared up and caught her face, sending her spiraling. For all her years of peerless prowess she'd always had something of a glass jaw. Her right cheek was already gone numb by the time she recovered, and were it not for the rot raging through her, she suspected she would have felt a bruise forming across her cheek.

"Here." Something landed at her feet. It took her a moment to realize what it was. "Have your arm back."

Heat hit her cheeks.

Despite the fog in her mind and all the rot had taken from her, she couldn't help but respect his chivalry; his strength, if not necessarily the pain he'd caused her. But this was her Haligtree-no, their Haligree, her and dear Miquella-and she must protect it until her brother emerged from his slumber.

Yet here she lay, bested in two exchange. Her own fault for ignoring her instincts. Still, she felt it wasn't her fault. She'd just...underestimated him. Yes, that was all. What manner of Tarnished wandered around with one arm?! How was she to take such a farce seriously?

The third time, as they said, would be the charm. She climbed to her feet and snapped her arm back on.

...you have a noble spirit. I would have your name."

"Naruto." he warded his staff before his face. "Nothing personal lady."

Nothing personal? It felt pretty damn personal to Malenia. He'd battered her about like an errant novice, and he said it wasn't personal?!

She leaped into the air. 'Saw' his eyes widen. 'Parry this, you filthy Tarnished.'

The Waterfowl Dance was her penultimate technique; none had stood before it, save one. Not even Radahn had escaped form this move unscathed. Melania did not launch herself at him. She blurred. Countless strikes in a single instant, transitioning into another leap to carry her the rest of the way.

He parried ever single one, stepped back, and tossed his staff at her. She slapped it aside.

The moment she did, he reappeared behind her. A feint?!

"Rasengan."

Malenia's spine shrieked as a keening blue sphere smashed into her back, drilling her facefirst into the shallow water. The world roared in her ears and her helmet went flying, knocked askew by the sheer impact. When she tried to rise, her knees failed her again. She buckled, still gripping her arm, and splashed back down.

"I'm looking for something." her foe continued apropos of nothing. "Somebody, really. You ain't it. Just lemme leave!"

She still couldn't believe him. After all this, he would just walk away? No sane man would do so.

Her temper, normally so slow to rise, finally sparked. "I will not...let you...take him!"

"Take who?" he scoffed. "You and I are the only ones here."

Her worldview cracked. "You're lying."

"Really ain't." With a snap of his fingers, he conjured a new staff to his right hand, slammed in the ground, and dug a finger around in his ear. "Look, this is clearly one big misunderstanding, so lets just call it a draw and leave it at that, eh?"

"..."

Malenia's pride hissed, stung by such a casual remark. She would not suffer another draw. Not ever. Not after Radahn. He was lying. He had to be. Miquella was here. He must be. Because if he wasn't, if he had left, if he had been taken...that meant...it meant...

He walked away. Her blood boiled. The Rot howled. "Kill him. Kill him. Kill! Him!"

Damn him. She didn't want to unleash this again. She was better than this! She was...was...

She made it to a knee.

"Wait."

Naruto paused in midstep. Pivoted. Perhaps he realized what was about to happen; because he launched himself away from her. Just as well; because the Scarlet Aeonia roared into existence where he'd been a heartbeat prior, spreading its many petals. Her armor, what little remained after their clash, began to rot away. Wings bloomed from her back in a storm of twisted butterflies, threaded through with her hair. She stumbled upright, clutching at her artificial arm. With each passing moment her strength returned, bringing a different manner of madness with it.

Newfound divinity coursed through her veins. She would use it to crush him.

She stood before him, nearly naked in her own measure, bearing her calcified skin and prosthetic limbs to him.

"The scarlet bloom flowers once more...

.

..

...Naruto walked through the Scarlet Aeonia. Stomped right up to her, uncaring of their height difference, nor the rot wearing at his flesh. This close, Malenia could see every bit of it; that Scarlet Rot ate at him, crimson stains creeping across his exposed chest; only to recede thrice as fast. A hand flicked up, snatched a handful of her hair, and yanked her face down to his.

Their foreheads touched.

"Sit down." he hissed at her. "Right now."

"Never!" She snarled and jerked back. "You will witness true horror. Now, rot!"

"I said," a giant golden fox shimmered into being behind him, dwarfing them both, "Sit."

A tremendous saffron claw burst fro the stump of his arm and pinned Malenia to the roots, rotten body and all. The rot in her whimpered. Actually whimpered! The very essence of an outer god made manifest, an entity powerful enough to corrupt half a content; turned tail and fled now, cowering deep inside her. Miquella's needle it was not, but it affected her all the same. Her transformation reversed, wings receding into her back as the Rot stilled. Her legs, false though they were, kicked out in a fit beneath her. Even so she sought to rally. This wasn't over. It couldn't be over.

She wouldn't let it end here!

"My brother will keep his promise!" she forced the words out on a rasp as she lashed out, to no avail. "He possesses the wisdom, the allure of a god - he is the most fearsome Empyrean of all!"

"Ohhh, so its your brother yer after?" much to her chagrin he kept that giant limb on her, holding her at arms length. "I'm looking for someone who's like a brother to me, too. We both landed in this world awhile back-but we kinda got separated while we were trying to kill each other...

Incredulity dawned. What manner of brother was that?!

And yet, had not she and her siblings sought to slay one another in the aftermath of the Shattering? She hardly had room to judge him.

The boy, no, this young man, actually laughed at her expression. "Well, its kinda complicated. I just need to beat him once and for all an' I'm sure he'll come around."

"I..." Malenia swallowed once to comport herself, then scowled. "I don't think that's how it works...?"

"Sure it is!" he grinned at her. "Some of my best friends were once my worst enemies."

.

..

...what?"

"Now hear me out," he held up a finger, "I know it sounds weird, but you had to be there to understand it."

She couldn't comprehend his kindness. It baffled her unlike anything else.

And with it, her rage began to gutter out. Enough. Killing him would clearly take too much effort. She just wanted him gone. She wanted him out; out of here, out of her head, out of her sight.

...leave. My body is rotten." she scowled at him. You would do well not to linger."

"Pah! I've had my skin burned clean off before." the whiskered warrior clicked his tongue at her in mild admonishment. "Ain't afraid of a little itch. So?" that ghastly golden claw sucked itself back into his arm quick as you please, leaving her to balk at him. "Whaddya say? I'm a little lost on leads at the moment, but I can help ya look for your brother if you want. He got a name?"

...Miquella."

"And?" he asked. "What does he look like?"

Malenia told him. She wasn't quite sure why, only that she did.

Perhaps it was because he was the first to ask, the first to stop, the first to listen.

She mustn't leave the tree. But if he spoke the truth, if Miquella was no longer here...

Her sixth sense stirred. In vain, Maelnia cast it up and looked at the Haligtree, as she hadn't in an age.

She saw nothing. Naught but the gaping tear where Miquella's cocoon should have been, where he beloved brother once nestled. All this time she'd avoided look at it, subconsciously avoiding it even during her battle with this strange fellow. But now she saw.

He wasn't there.

All that remained was a hollow space where he should have been.

Realization dawned, and it was an ugly, rotten one indeed, poisoning her very soul.

"No." the world tumbled from her lips. "No, no, no. That's not...it can't be. He was to be here."

And yet for all her pleading, she could neither sense nor "see" her dearest Miquella. Not here. They'd always had a bond but it was so weak now, strained as to be nearly nonexistent. He wasn't here. He was far, far away. Somewhere to the south. She felt it, like a tiny candle burning deep underground, the faintest flicker of light in the back of her mind.

The baffling blond dared a step forward. "Do you know anyone who coulda taken him?"

"Nay, I do not...wait." She could think of one. No, even he wouldn't go so far. Surely, there were limits to even that man's depravity. Weren't there?

...unless there weren't?

Which meant...she'd failed. Someone had spirited her brother away while she slept. And she'd spent all this time here...while he suffered. What a fool she was. The Queen of all Fools. Heat bloomed in her eyes. Something hot and sweet-smelling ran down her face. She touched a hand to her cheek. Bitter laugh escaped her.

"Even mine tears are rotten...

"Might be able to do something about that. Hold still."

He stepped in before she could think to stop him and clapped a hand over her face. Rather, her eyes.

It didn't hurt. On the contrary. It felt perfectly pleasant. A different kind of heat flowed through Malenia's rot-scarred visage, centering over his fingers, even now pressed against her. Her world shifted and went black for the merest of moments. When she came tom she found herself on her hands and knees, gazing into a puddle. Bleary yellow eyes blinked back at her from a clean face, that golden gaze widening now to match her own. She blinked. Her reflection mirrored her. She could see. See, see, see!

And then she saw him, proper. Properly.

Gods above, this Naruto really was half-naked. His shirt was nowhere to be seen, and those orange-black trousers were practically falling apart. How long had he worn those...?

She beheld bright blue eyes beaming back at her, set within a whiskered face framed by tawny blond hair. Young, but handsome. He was no Godwyn, yet his smile reminded Malenia of her half-sibling all the same. He had that same sunny disposition about his and him, a comforting warmth that seeped into her very soul.

"How?" the tremor in her own voice startled her.

"I've given someone back an eye before. Wasn't so hard to do two." he looked away, scratching his cheek. "Not sure if can fix the rest of ya right now, but...hey, hope it helps."

She gazed up at him from her knees. "Why?"

"Eh?" her words drew a blink from him. "Why what?"

...why are you helping me?!" the words burst out of her in an incredulous shout. "I sought to slay thee! I am a wretched, rotten woman. I...I do not deserve...!" her eyes stung and she touched a hand to her face again, alarmed to find clean water flowing there, rather than the sticky red ruin of the rot. It broke her. She began to weep. "Why me...?"

His grin was almost boyish. "Lady, I've seen monsters. You ain't one."

Her frazzled mind flailed for an excuse. "I am barren. I cannot have children."

"Kids?! Here at last, he blushed. "We barely know each other! Ain't tat a little early?!"

Was it? Malenia knew precious little about such tings. She had never been one for outward displays of emotions. It simply wasn't her way. Likewise her knowledge on anything regarding intimacy was sorely lacking. Mother and Father were hardly the best example on that front. What little she did know she'd only ever seen from afar and even that had only ever been glimpses.

Things like...handholding? How forward such a thing was.

Yet here, Malenia felt something stir within her breast. It could not be love. Not yet. It was surely too soon for such. But it was something a dash of respect, perhaps. A touch of empathy toward this enigmatic young man who seemed so keen on helping her. In that moment, she could no longer look upon him as an enemy. Perhaps that was for the best.

"Whaddya say?" Naruto offered his hand, still smiling without a care in the world. "Lemme help ya."

...what was the harm?

Malenia reached out, hesitated, then edged forward and clasped his hand in her natural one, allowing him to help her stand.

"Wow." he blinked up at her as she loomed over him. "You really are one tall lady, ain'tcha?"

Heat flowered in her face anew, brighter than any bloom.

None had complimented her on her height before.

Malenia stepped forward, only to lose her nerve at the last moment. Her consecrated metal palm clamped over Naruto's mouth. Muffled the baffled noise he made. She kissed the back of her hand rather than his lips, unwilling to risk infecting him with the rot. Credit where it was due, Naruto didn't flee. He merely blinked as she pulled away. The noise he made as she withdrew was...rather adorable, all things considered. Still, she didn't release his hand. It felt warm and pleasant in hers and remarkably, she found herself loathe to let go of it.

...I will accept your aid."

Against all odds, her fingers curled around his. Malenia made up her mind.

She would walk with him, from this day on, come what may.

Over the Fallen Leaves and beyond.

A/N: Aaaaaand scene!

A story with Malenia as the primary focus, heroine. A new Age is coming, and it ain't hard to guess the name.

Long live the Age of Renewal. 'Tis a short story, unlike the others, probably ten chapters at best.

Well? Should this be a story? Yay or nay?

Not much else to say this time 'round. Reviews keep me writing, and without them, my inspiration falls flat. Ever bit of feedback helps. Surgery hurts. Surgery hurts a loooot. But silence from readers and reviewers? That hurts even more. As ever, reviews keep this old man alive during this dark and crazy time. I ain't joking.

Seriously, we're all locked away anyways these days, feedback is all that sustains me.

So in the Immortal Words of Atlas... Review...Would You Kindly?

And enjoy these previews! Remember those hints?

Yes? No? Hope you paid attention. Because!

SPOILERS! SPOILERS! SPOILERS!

PLOT DETAILS AHOY!

YE BE WARNED!

Read at your own risk!

(Preview)

"You're cracked." Kurama blew out a sigh. "She's not even sane.

"Oi! If I can befriend someone like you, then I can make friends with just about anyone."

Truth be told, Naruto felt proper pleased with himself. Malenia was hurting, and he'd decided to help her. He never went back on his word.

Loretta glared at him. "Thou art a brute! Treat Lady Malenia with the respect she deserves!"

"Oi! This brute beat ya once already. Care for round two?"

Hyetta reached a hand out into the dark. "Hello? Is someone there?"

She cupped his face in both hands, leaned in...and pressed her forehead to his.

"You are very kind. Thank you. It as you say. Together, then."

Her peace said, she released him and walked away.

Naruto tugged at his collar.

Was it hot in here, or was it just him?

Malenia blinked. She blinked hard. "That is a fox."

"Yup. Say hello, Kurama!"

"You would serve that rotten woman?

"Serve? Nah, this is a partnership. We're helping each other.

"Welcome, honored guests! To the founding of our...oh. Oh dear."

A furious shriek rent the air.

"MOHG!"

R&R~!