A/N: EDIT: Flames will be flames, I suppose.
SORRY! The site was broken for a good chunk of the day, that threw off my update schedule. Sorrrry!
WARNING! As ever we're still sticking to the "Embers" rule here, folks.
Every review no matter how large or small, keeps me writing in spite of my busy work schedule.
No reviews? No inspiration. No inspiration? No story. So speak up! Your words matter!
That's no joke!
After all, I do so enjoy chatting with my readers. Now then, lets answer some quick questions. Really want to get into this chapter.
Q: Does Nora have a theme song now?
A: Sure does. Thunder, by Solence. Someone suggested it to me, and its oddly catchy. Also been watching American Gods. Its given me...ideas.
Q: ...I have a bad feeling about this.
A: Really? You should be smiling. I've been hinting at this for a bit now; Naruto didn't simply get Sunshine as a result of being ripped out of his world, though it was a happy accident. Nora's stunt tore him out of his realm and into hers. Sure that worked out for her, many lives where saved an all that...
But shenanigans like that have crazy consequences.
Read and see for yourself.
Q: Are there Silver-eyed warriors in Kuroryuri?!
A: Nope, but those with Silver Eyes, yes. You already saw Scarlett and Sapphire a few chapters back. They're very much untrained.
Q: What's the pairing?
A: Feel free to guess. You might be surprised. Go on. Guess.
Q: When can we expect to see Nora let 'er rip?
A: Hmm...how about...NOW.
Q: So we're having a siege now?
A: Ha! A siege implies the Grimm can think enough to do so.
Q: Love seeing Jinn in your stories. Can't wait to see what she does here.
A: You won't be dissapointed.
Q: Soo...who be dying?
A: Naruto would rather redeem Raven and Lionheart than kill them.
At this point he's well on his way to doing so. Not only has he proven his strength and dominated the former, but he's a beacon of courage for the latter. He's facing worse odds than Leo ever did, and yet for all that he's now backing down.
Alright then, I think I've kept you long enough.
Lets get on with the delightful madness that is this story.
As ever I own no reference, quotes, themes or memes. Not a wit or a one.
There's a massive American Gods reference in here, hope it makes the lot of you smile~!
"We can do whatever we want, right? You said it yourself. We're strong."
"Nora, no. With great power comes great responsibility."
"And pancakes?"
"Well yes, but that goes without saying...
~?
Knowledge and Greed
It was nearly noon when the Grimm came for Kuroyuri once more.
At the command of their dark mistress the swarm swept froth from the forest, a writhing tide filled with growling maws and gnashing teeth. They knew neither exhaustion nor fatigue, only relentless anger and boundless hunger. They expected a weak little village filled with fearful folk; the weak and the untrained. Meat for the grinder, flesh to rip and tear, screams to savor and little else.
They found something else entirely.
When they found the village gates flung open, they stormed through, never once wondering why. Fear drove them inward, funneling them deeper into the town. Bodies battered against crude barriers hewn of wood and stone, only to be carried away by the sheer press of their fellows. Numbers alone forced the horde down a single path; a narrow, unblocked lane; one that forced them yet deeper into the strangely silent settlement.
A more intelligent army would have realized something was amiss.
A proper general would've seen the ruse for what it was.
But the Grimm weren't an army now, were they? They had no leader here beyond the command given to them. Destroy. That was all. They were a plague, a disease, a blunt instrument that knew neither with nor strategy or even the simplest semblance of wisdom. They cared not for traps or pitfalls. Only the hunt. Only the kill.
And their prey awaited.
As one mind, one body, they swarmed into the village square for the slaughter. But instead of a teeming mass of frightened people, they found only one man.
He stood tall among a great sakura tree, hands planted in his pockets. Eyes like fire gazed upon them, his body burning with living flame.
And he spoke a single word unto them.
"HELLO."
It wasn't a threat, or even a shout. He simply greeted them. And yet There was something in his voice, a whisper of the Old Power that made those at the front slow, if only for a moment. Then the back rank crashed into them. They tried to bull forward, only for the force of his intent to hit them as well, rooting them in place. His words struck like a physical blow, hammering against their will, filling them with fear. Yet for all that he radiated no negative emotions. No hate, no fear, no sadness nor sorrow. He stood before them, ax at his side and didn't budge.
He regarded the army before him and clicked his tongue softly, shaking his head.
For a moment, just a moment, his shadow seemed to grow nine tails.
No man was this. This was a monster.
"Don't suppose your master can see this now, can she?" The Monster smiled and tilted his head, considering them as a giant might motes of dust. "I've been told she rules over you lot." his every word dripped with cold derision. "How sad. Do you even think for yourselves?" he smiled, but it was the smile of a man pitying something so utterly beneath him as to be an ant." Or are you little more than wild beasts?"
Growls answered him.
"Fair enough." He took his hands from his pockets. "Guess she ain't here. That would be too easy. So! any you survive this...run. Run to your master." his lips parted in a smile when the growling intensified. "That's right. I want you to run to your mistress and give her this message!"
He reached for the towering ax.
"Kuroyuri stands tall!"
A gate slammed shut behind the Grimm, denying them their retreat. Not that they would have. Grimm knew no such retreat. For them, there was no way out but through. The man before them might be feasome indeed, yet he was but one man. As such there was only one recourse. The mass of Grimm surged forward.
Naruto grinned.
"She! Will! Always! STAND!"
That giant golden ax hurtled forward, trailing fire. A single sweep split the street to send Grimm flying. A pocket opened in the dark and he waded into hit, swinging like a maniac with one hand. The other swung back in the same instant and every Grimm recoiled from the keening shriek of wind that filled the air, but their frothing fury drove them onwards.
With a lazy flick of his wrist, Naruto lobbed a Rasenshuriken into the throbbing black mass.
"Now, lass!" A different man's -Samson's!- rough voice came from the rooftops behind the golden giant. "Blast 'em!"
A child's scream rose in response, though she was hidden well out of sight.
Heaven answered her.
Had the Grimm possessed more than the meanest intelligence they'd been given, they might have seen the skies darken overhead. They might have notice the Rasenshuriken skim just out of reach, harming none of them whatosever. It almost seemed to hang there in the air...as if it were waiting for something.
For the lightning that forked down from grief-stricken skies and struck the jutsu from above.
All hell broke loose.
It wasn't so much an explosion as the lack of one; just pure noise, an awful racket that ripped bodies apart like so much paper. One moment there was a teeming black tumor of Grimm. Wind and lightning mixed. Poorly. In the chain reaction that followed, Dozens died in droves.
It all went downhill after that.
Archers burst from the rooftops, armed and ready.
Someone swept an arm forward. "Loose, you bastards! Show no mercy!"
Arrows slammed down from the high rooftop, skewering the survivors. A few of the bigger breads survived and made a break for the now closed gate. They slammed themselves against the crude fortifications one after the other, each trying to batter through them and mow down the stubborn souls behind them. It was a good plan; crude and effective in its simplicity.
A white-cloaked figure dropped down into their path. Their face kay hidden by a white hood.
But not so their smile. They -she!- grinned from ear to ear.
"No, you don't!"
A wash of silver light struck them, stalling their charge. Some turned to stone. Others dissolved where they stood; unable to stand the sheer burning radiance. Still more crashed into the now frozen forms of their brethren and found themselves trapped by an crumbling tide of stone; claws and paws scrabbling uselessly on the suddenly uneven ground.
That in turn gave the defenders time to rally.
"Spears and shields!
Citizens armed with those very weapons bulled in, forming an unyielding circle around the Grimm. Even as Naruto tore through the middle, they pushed the beasts in, leaving them nowhere to hide. Hemmed in by the heavy phalanx, they never stood a chance. Perhaps had their leader been present, had she directed the assault personally, things might have been different. Her minions were mindless and confused, unable to react to this sudden rout.
The Grim never stood a chance. Many of them died as they lived. Pointlessly.
When all was said and done, the incursion lasted a measly five minutes.
Five minutes, and five hundred Grimm died.
It was a tale that would be told time and time again, growing grander with each retelling. Perhaps, has Naruto an inkling of just how absurd this story would become, he might have simply slain the Grimm outside Kuroyuri himseld and been done with it it.
"Good work, people." instead he moved among the soldiers, clapping them on the backs. "Just like we planned. No idea who pulled that flash of light, but she's useful. Didn't know you had a warrior like that around here."
The blacksmith blanched. "We don't, my lord."
Naruto blinked. "Then who...?"
"That would be me~!"
His head snapped up, startled to find that the woman in white had closed the distance between them when he wasn't looking. As he looked on she tugged down her cowl,, revealing stark silver eyes and a smiling face framed by dark hair red at the tips. Really, really red. Not quite the color of blood, but a different sort.
Kurama quirked a brow. "Red like roses...
"Nice to meet you." the huntress -this could be nothing else- clasped both hands behind her back and swayed in place. "I'm Summer. You were pretty impressive back there."
Somewhere behind him Naruto heard Raven gurgle and dive into cover. He frowned. What was her problem?
"Summer, was it?" he shook the thought away. "What brings you to Kuryoyuri?"
...don't suppose you've seen a Nuckelavee around here?" she tilted her head just so, as though expecting it to spring out the shadows at any moment. "I was sent to eliminate it, but I caught sight of that swarm and diverted here to help...
"Oh, that?" Naruto couldn't quite hide his smug smile. "Already killed it a few days ago...
"Really?" she blinked owlishly at him. "By yourself?"
"Yup."
Silver eyes flitted to his belt. "With that ax?"
"Nope. Didn't have this baby back then."
"So you killed it bare-handed?!
He grinned a little. "Yuuup."
"Boo. You're no fun." Well, I was looking for the Branwen Tribe, too, but I haven't been able to find them...oh!" Her gaze strayed to the side, finally noticing little Ren and Nora nearby. "Hello, Aren't you adorable!" She saw them and cooed, concealing a smile behind one palm. "I've got one their age back at home. Are they yours?"
Naruto felt a strange, unfamiliar heat creep up the back of his neck. "Well, I'm looking after them...
Nora and Ren took one look at the overeager huntress and behind his legs.
Summer squealed and looked back up to him.
Silver eyes caught a flicker of movement, and whatever words she might've mustered withered on her tongue.
Be it by chance or just bad luck, she glimpsed Raven just as she was moving to another hiding place. Or rather, hide in one of the houses. Raven froze, caught just shy of escape. Summer took one look at her blinked. Saw her maid uniform. Blinked again. Her quarry stood stone still, a proverbial deer frozen in the headlights.
Summer's lips twitched. "Raven...?"
The -former!-bandit queen made a keening noise between her teeth, sounding very much like a little girl. "No...?"
Summer's wrist blurred, not to her weapon, but her Scroll. "I need a picture of this!
Raven's already pale face turned beet red. "Don't you dare!
A peal of delighted laughter filled the air.
It was soon followed by a dull thud.
Summer's body struck the ground face first, sporting a sizable welt upon her head. Leonardo lowered a stout wooden club behind her, looking decidedly sheepish for it.
"Oomph." Nora winced. "That looked painful...
Naruto flung up his arms, aghast at the sudden treachery from the cowardly lion. "Leo, what the hell?!"
"I'm sorry!" the faunus flailed! "I panicked! She's a known agent of Ozpin!"
...is that a bad thing?"
"YES!" Raven stomped down on the scroll, rendering it a mess of metal and plastic.
"Right, then." Naruto shook his head, took Nora and Ren by the shoulders, and steered them away as he subsequently left Raven to her fate. "You lot clearly have some catching up to do. We'll just get to Haven before anymore surprises hit."
And so the Lord of Kuroyuri moved on.
Raven howled at his back.
"TRAITOR!"
(.0.0.0.)
Salem's fingers drummed against her throne.
Still no word from Lionheart. And curious rumblings at Haven.
Curious. And concerning. Perhaps it was time she sent someone to investigate...
(.0.0.0.)
Nora had never been to a big city before.
Kuryoyuri was the largest settlement she had ever seen and Haven dwarfed that by far.
The city of Mistral was alive in a way few things were; people bustled too and fro, merchants hawked their wares at every turn, and everyone, everyone, EVERYONE wanted to sell them something. Even those that didn't want their attention. Be it hers, or Ren's, or even Naruto himself.
"A sword for you, m'lord?
"Pretty jewelry for the little lady!"
"Fresh fruit! Get your fresh fruit, here!"
"Back!" Naruto shooed them away. "We're not buying anything! Buncha vultures...
Ren bore it all with stoic indifference, the faintest scowl upon his face. Nora tried to mirror it, and soon enough the vendors let them be.
All too soon, Naruto led them right up the steps to the academy then inside, uncaring for anyone who saw. At first she didn't rightly understand why. He guided them to a grand statue in a lobby, one bearing the striking likeness of a beautiful young woman. It was there that he stopped.
"Time to see if Leo was telling the truth."
Nora gulped a little, anxious at the prospect of success. "Maybe he wasn't?"
But now, Naruto pulled Lionheart's watch from his jacket and fitted it into the lock. It opened readily, chains falling away. Freed from its shackles, the platform shifted a little and descended, creating an impromptu elevator of sorts for the unlikely trio.
Naruto stepped onto it; no response.
"Hmm." he frowned. "Nora. Ren. Come here."
Ren reached the platform first, but it didn't truly shift until Nora touched it.
Naruto caught her as it lurched; gravity reversed and Down the shaft went, descending into darkness.
No one spoke. No one dared.
And then:
"Wow!"
A gasp tore itself from Nora as the grate parted and she beheld that spacious cave below.
No, not a cave. That word felt too small. More like a cavern.
A large platform resting over a deep chasm she couldn't see the bottom of, its path leading to a gilded door that she could only assume was the vault. Three giant cyan circles on the ground -each etched with an ornate symbol- illuminated when the three of them walked in.
And there. At the end of it all. Nora saw it.
An elaborate orange doorway situated in a rock wall. Naruto made a noise of appreciate when he saw it. Of course he did; he liked the color orange. Behind it loomed a tree with glowing orange flowers. The doorway itself appeared constructed out of golden fans layered on top of each other, each festooned decorated with a floral pattern. Even from here they called to her, singing in a way only she could hear.
Beauty didn't even begin to describe it.
This place was...just...amazing.
Nora exchanged a wary glance with Ren, only to find him smiling."Race you there?"
She grinned. "You're on!"
The two darted head.
"Careful, now!" Naruto called after them. "Don't fall!"
Just like that, the stark reality of their situation returned. Nora's leaping gate slowed as approached the door, dragging her feet with every step. Was this a trap? Would they be attacked?
Ren took her hand in his, fingers threading through her own. "Don't be afraid. We're here."
Hurk! There went her heart.
She stole a glance back and found Naruto waiting only a scant few paces away; she knew from experience just how quickly he could cross the distance. He was a proud guardian, watching them with due silence. One hand was set to his ax, leaving nothing to chance.
"Go on." his whiskered cheeks dimpled in a small smile. "I'll keep watch. No one's getting past me."
Her cheeks warmed a little. He wasn't like Mom. He wouldn't run and leave her to danger.
Semblance or not, he really was the best dad ever.
Naruto wheezed. "Nora, why...?"
Oops. Had she said that last bit out loud? No, no, no! She was stalling. She could do this. Be strong and hit stuff. She might not be big enough to swing a hammer yet, but she would be one day. For now, this was something only she could do.
Nora tugged her hand from Ren's, stepped up and laid her hand upon the vault door.
Nothing.
She frowned. "C'mon, work!"
Not a sound.
Pale blue eyes lit with smoldering flames. "WORK!"
The stubborn door defied her still.
A snarl built in the back of her throat and burst into a frustrated shriek. "Open sesame, damnit!"
Just like that, the Vault finally complied.
It began with a faint pulse in her palm; heralded by a soft click in the door, something only she could hear. The sound sang in her soul and she found herself smiling despite herself.
"Hello, child of Spring." A voice like purest music whispered in her ear. "Do you seek Knowledge?"
Nora looked left.
Nora looked right, now.
Nora touched a finger to her cheek.
Belatedly she realized around her the colors of the world had bled to grey. Naruto and Ren looked on, frozen in time, transfixed in silence and stillness alike.
Her gaze swung back, suddenly terribly anxious.
"You're talking to me?"
"I am." the voice -a woman?- sounded vaguely pleased. "Do you seek the gift of wisdom?"
"Um...yes?"
She felt the faintest wind caress her face. "Why do you seek it?"
Nora wrinkled her nose. She hated logic puzzles like this. Why couldn't people make sense.
"Because it will help my village." she spoke haltingly, choosing her words with great care. "Because I need ta get stronger." she had to. She must. She had people to protect. "Why are you talking to me, anyway?"
"Because you intrigue me." a note of curiosity threaded itself through the woman's voice. "You were not meant for this power. It was origially destined for another."
"Oh." her heart fell at the reminder. "I didn't ask for it, you know."
"True. It is yours now, nevertheless." The voice sounded faintly amused now. "What else will change because of this? How quaint. I suppose your protector has disturbed more than the natural order of things." a faint sigh pushed between them, as though she were stretching. "I feel awake, now. Aware in a way I haven't been in millennia." though the voice yet lacked a body to behold, Nora had the faintest impression its owner was tilting her head to one side. "I wonder how my siblings will feel about this?"
How could she respond to that? To any of it? "Um...?"
"Don't mind me, dear. It is for me to know."
Nora blinked. "How did you-
"Know?" there could be no mistaking the laughter in her voice now; the gentle chiding of an amused woman, like a mother teasing her daughter. "I know many things. Past and present alike are known to me."
Nora perked up. "Even the future?"
"To a certain extent, though my restrictions prevent me from speaking overmuch of it. After all, knowing and telling are two very different things."
Nora's mouth opened.
"And no," the being behind the door tittered with a note of motherly amusement, "I cannot answer the question you're thinking of; not the one pertaining to the boy."
"Aw." Nora scuffed a shoe against the ground. "And here I wanted to know if me and Renny ended up together. You know, together-together." Realization dawned a moment later and Pale hands flew to her head. "Did you read my mind?!"
"Is that rude? I apologize. Human concepts often elude me. Its been quite a long time.
Nora began to reassess her opinion of this stranger. "I'm starting to think you're a little cracked there, lady...
"Perhaps." she could have sworn she heard the faintest note of amusement within her words. "Still, you pass; may you live long and prosper. I await you."
With a soft sigh the Vault door folded in on itself and parted. Golden fans clicked into place; the floral pattern began to light up, leaving the layers of fans to rotate until the gateway could be broached.
An arid landscape awaited her beyond, dunes of sweeping sand far as the eye could see.
And there, sitting upon a lone pedestal carved from black rock...the Relic awaited her.
What was that? Some kind of Lamp? It looked pretty...
Nora eyed it with trepidation in her heart. What was this place? An illusion? Another world? Something far worse? A thorn of fear pricked at her heart and she hesitated at the last.
"Do not be afraid." the woman's voice came on again. "I am with you."
Nora steeled herself and stepped inside. Heat hit her like a physical force; the air here was arid, yet she endured. It was just...sitting there. No tricks or traps, no guardian. She was clearly meant to take the Relic. No one else. Her heart sang the closer she came, the power in her veins rejoicing at the reunion between it and the relic
None challengered her. "This feels kinda anticlimactic...
She took hold of the lamp and tugged it free.
It shrank to fit her grasp immediately.
A sigh filled her mind. "At last."
Nora hefted it, considering the strange item in her grasp. "Alright lady, spill it. Who are you?"
A shiver passed through the air.
"Do you know me?" the Lamp cooed at her. "Do you know what I am? Do you want to know my name?"
Nora gulped. "Yes."
"This is what I am called." the wind picked up, a gentle spring breeze to tug at her messy hair. "I am called the Keeper of Knowledge. Protector of Ancient Secrets." as she spoke that once kind wind intensified; kicking wild grains of sand into the air. "I am Scholar and Scribe, All-Knower and Prophesier of the Past."
Still the wind intensified, building into a sandstorm around them.
"I have as many names as there are winds," she called, "As many titles as there are ways for you mortals to die. I have waited a thousand years since I was bound to this Lamp and cursed with knowledge, ripped from my home and my people. Now?" a high, almost giddy exultance bled into her words. "I am myself once more, my true name lost to the sands of time. But your kind knows me by a different name. I am Jinn."
Nora squinted into the wind. "Jinn?"
Blue smoke burst from the Relic, resolving itself into the towering shape of a tall woman with blue skin and striking dark hair.
Oh. Wow. She was huge.
The spirit hovered there before her...clad in golden chains and nothing else. As a baffled Nora looked on one of said golden shackles began to dissolve before her very eyes; indeed, the interlocked links binding Jinn's right wrist vanished into golden dust. She seemed more solid for it somehow. More real. Like her body had become more solid somehow.
Surely she was imagining things...?
"Jinn." the spirit repeated, stretching with a luxurious sigh, bosom heaving. "And I am yours. My thanks you have, for loosening my chains." she craned her neck past her, considering something just outside of the Vault porper. "Perhaps your guardian might break them entirely."
With those eerie words, time unspooled once more.
Naruto called out to them a moment later. "What's going on in there?!"
Nora whirled to face him and waved with a sheepish grin. "Um...did I do good?"
(.0.0.0.)
Ozpin felt it.
How could he not?
There had been awakening.
The God of Light had entrusted him with the Relics long ago, and likewise their safekeeping. He could sense them in his mind's eye. In essence, they were a part of him. He knew each was safe in their vault, just as they had been for hundreds of years.
Until quite suddenly, one of them wasn't.
He felt it, like a burning brand in the back of his brain. A stabbing pain in his temples, a sudden start in his chest. Something had shifted. Changed. Stirred. Even now he could feel it; a persistent itch that scratched at the very surface of his soul, refusing to be deny.
And he knew.
"The lamp is missing."
Ozpin set his mug out of harms way. Steepled his fingers, closed his eyes, and sighed.
Then he swept an arm out and sent his desk hurtling out a window.
"WHY IS THE LAMP MISSING?!"
A/N: Free the spirits in the Relics, they said. Nothing bad will happen, they said...
Once again, As ever we're sticking to the tried-and-true "Embers" rule. That's not joke. I'm quite serious about that.
I don't want this to meet the fate of other discontinued stories, but I'm very much a man of my word.
So by all means, speak up! Make yourselves heard! Your words matter!
To clarify, pulling a Hero through space-time breaks things. Changes the very balance of nature. No, no, not the splitting the planeit in half sort, or even the killing it just by existing sort. Lets just say...Naruto's arrival went and woke something up. Several somethings. Four of them to be precise. Four items and the spirits within them.
Now, whatever could I be talking about...?
*grins*
So in the Immortal Words of Atlas...
...Review...Would You Kindly?
And have some previews.
FUTURE ONES.
(Preview)
Salem absolutely hissed. "LEONARDO! WHY IS THE LAMP GONE?!"
"Is it?" the voice on the other side of the Seer quivered, but held strong. "I haven't the foggiest idea of what you mean.
Jinn smiled. "You have questions. I have answers."
"So many things to try! So little time!"
Naruto reeled Jinn back in from the food stall; an impressive feat when one realized just how tall she was.
"Shrink down again, damnit! Its hard to wrangle you like this!"
Jinn flicked a pointed glance at Nora.
"Right, you heard him."
"C'mere, birdie!"
Summer woke quickly.
Then came the shouting. The accusations, the recriminations...
"Raven Branwen, you will take responsibility for your daughter this INSTANT or SO HELP ME...!"
Yang grinned. "Did we just become best friends?"
An tilted her head as she regarded Naruto's distant form. "My, my...
Ren sighed. "Mother. No. Please. Don't."
Summer frowned at Sapphire and Scarlett.
"Huh. You have silver eyes, too...
You don't seem to understand. This? This isn't war This is pest control."
R&R~!