A/N: 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. I don't get days off anymore, so I try to respond when I can, but lately it feels like this has become a job in and of itself; albeit one I don't get paid for, one that it is often thankless...
No reviews? No inspiration. No inspiration? Sad writer. So speak up! Your words matter! That's no joke!
As a note, Killing Monsters and All Things must die will be reaching their final chapters. Likewise! Daddy's Little Devil is nearly done as well. Thought I'd made a point of mentioning that. Why, you ask? Hmm...I wonder...
Just because I'm not updating my RWBY stories every day anymore, I have people beating down my door, saying I've forgotten it. Take an anonymous reviewer (Blueberry) and other users with an account (whom I won't name for the sake of discretion) for instance. I don't know how to say this anymore. I've forgotten nothing, I'm just trying to spread the love around. You say I've given up on RWBY? That it bores me? That I won't write it anymore?
Believe what you wish. I will continue.
So lets skip the questions this time, shall we?
Hope you enjoy the delightful madness that is this story.
As ever I own no reference, quotes, themes or memes. Not a wit or a one~!
Minor timeskip of an hour or so ahead. Nothing too terribly jarring on that front. Here we go!
"Huh. I'm getting better at controlling this.
...is that a good thing?"
"You tell me!"
~?
Fame and Family
"Mwah~!"
Naruto Uzumaki had experienced many strange events in his world. He'd fought monsters. Toppled immortals. Risen to heights so extraordinary that his deeds were carved into legend. He liked to think that there were precious few things in THIS realm that could alarm him; because he'd experienced every surprise life could possibly throw at him. He'd seen it all.
Until now.
Being kissed by a giant blue woman wasn't one of them.
Her lips were softy against his; slightly larger perhaps, yet nonetheless intense. Their liplock was alarmingly brief, but it startled him all the same. He jerked back and much to his dismay she leaned in further, pushing him against a nearby wall before she finally let him go.
"Bwuh?" he managed.
Nora made startled Nora noises. "Hey!"
Ren coughed at his side. "Should've seen that coming."
"Fascinating!" Jinn whirled away with a smile, nearly vanishing into the crowds of Kuroyuri. "So that's what it feels like to kiss someone. Firsthand experience is a heady thing." Before he could even hope to comprehend a thing she'd said, the genie whirled through the air and flitted toward another food stand. "So many things to try, so little time!"
Against his better judgement they'd brought Jinn -and her lamp!- back to to the village.
Really, where else could they take her? The vault had closed the very moment Nora extricated her. They couldn't very well seal her up again now, could they? A festival had been thrown to honor their triumphant return; hence the knowledge-keeper's excitement. Now that she'd gained some manner of corporeal form, she was determined to use it to her heart's content. Even if she refused to wear clothes.
Say what you would about Jinn, but she certainly wasn't the sort to let an opportunity slip by.
...you're staring." Kurama jibed.
Heat hit his face. "Can you blame me?"
"Not really, no. She's certainly very...blue."
Naruto slapped a palm to his face. "That's the part you're focused on?!"
"I'm a tailed beast, fool. Of course I'd notice a strange color like that. What did you think I was talking about?"
...nothing."
Indeed, the sight of a nearly naked azure woman was certainly...a rousing one to the mortal eye. More than a few men -and women!- were staring at the commotion she was making.
"Mmmm!" Jinn moaned, an involuntary cry leaping from her lips as she helped herself to a fresh roast of venison. "Sublime!"
Not to mention the noises!
Naruto reached out and reeled Jinn back in from the food stall; an impressive feat when one realized just how tall she was in her natural state. Really, it was like trying to wrestle a giant.
"Shrink down again, damnit! Its hard to wrangle you like this! And do you have to carry on like that?"
Jinn flicked a pointed glance at Nora. The Spring Maiden beamed.
"Right, you heard him. Down you go."
...as you wish."
With a pulse of azure light she assumed human size once more.
"Better." Naruto looked down, mildly amused to find that she was suddenly a good head shorter than him. "Now, the noises?"
"I'm sorry!" she whirled to face him, blue eyes practically glowing. "I just can't help myself!" As he looked on she performed a merry little twirl in the air. "Knowing is one thing, tasting is another! Do you have any idea what its like being able to know things, yet unable to interact with the world?! It was maddening!" A long arm flitted out, snatching a skewer of meat from a startled vendor. "I shan't let this opportunity pass! Who knows when I'll be sealed up again?!"
"There, there." Nora patted her arm. "Its alright. We wont put you back in the vault."
Jinn smiled. "And that, my master, is why you're my favorite."
The little sprite beamed. "That's great! You know, I always wanted a sister...
Jinn quirked a brow at Ren. "Not a brother?"
"Nah. I'm gonna marry him someday. Totally different thing." she touched a finger to her chin. "Or Naruto. Haven't decided yet. Probably Renny, though."
Ren exploded into a coughing fit. "Nora!"
Naruto shook his head as the trio continued to chatter. He knew he really ought to ask about about a Maiden mentor for Nora; it just...always seemed to slip his mind, somehow. Truth be told he wasn't in any hurry to hare off into another conflict so soon. He had defenses to construct, weapons to build, and lives to improve. So much to do.
Surely he could put it off for a little while longer.
"You just don't want to deal with all this Maiden nonsense."
"Guilty!" He scratched the back of his head with a rueful smile as Nora laughed at something Jinn had said. "I really don't wanna."
Leave it to Kurama to be the voice of reason. "You'll have to, sooner or later."
"Maybe." a smile creased his whiskered visage when Nora jumped on Ren's back, nearly riding the boor boy to the ground. "But not today."
Besides, it wasn't as if they were in any immediate danger.
So long as Leonardo ran interference with Salem, she'd be none the wiser.
Really, what could possibly go wrong? And even if something did, surely he could handle it.
...so why did he feel like he was forgetting something? Hmm. Probably nothing too important, whatever it was.
(.0.0.0.)
Ozpin absolutely snarled.
"LEONARDO!" his voice was thunder itself. "WHY IS THE LAMP GONE?!"
"Is it?" the voice on the other side of the Scroll quivered, but held strong. "Rest assured, I will investigate with all the resources available to me...
(.0.0.0.)
It was the noise outside which finally woke Summer Rose.
"What in the world...?"
Silver eyes fluttered open to an abominable headache; a steady thump-thump-thump that ruthlessly roused her from the darkness of her room. She touched a hand to the welt on her head and grimaced. Swimming up from the depths of her dark slumber, the very first thing she heard was the laughter of small children; followed by the subsequent startled squawk of the man who'd taken them under his wing.
"Nora, no!" she heard him holler. "No using your powers on carnival games!"
"Awwww, but the priiiiiize is a hammer!"
"I said no sparks!
Everything was a whirl; she could hear everything just fine, but the act of focusing her vision proved an arduous task in-and-of itself. Somehow she managed to wrangle her vision back under control. She sat up, grimaced at the thin cot beneath her and tried to stand.
Her legs buckled and sent her sprawling back to the mattress. Curses! Foiled!
'Alright.' she took hold of the tattered threads that were her thoughts. 'Focus. Remember. What happened?'
She recalled Raven wearing that ridiculous outfit. Laughter. Followed by a pain in the back of her head. Was that a fever dream or something? Raven wouldn't be caught dead wearing a getup like that. She'd sooner take a sword and commit seppuku. Literally. Birdie was edgy like that.
Summer flopped back to the pillows and flung an arm over her eyes. "Probably imagined it...
Wait.
Hadn't she taken a picture?
She sprang upright and fumbled in her pockets for her Scroll. Nowhere to be found. Boo. Maybe she had imagined it. She'd been terribly tired after wiping out all those Grimm. But to imagine her one-time-partner wearing a ridiculous getup like that? Maybe she was more tired than she thought...
As luck would have it, the object of her thoughts rounded the corner, tray in hand.
Said tray crashed to the floor the moment she laid eyes on Summer.
Raven blinked. Summer blinked back. Neither moved an inch.
'Huh." the latter realized. 'That really is a maid's uniform!'
Silence stretched between the two of them.
.
..
...
...this is a dream." Raven waved a hand in vain. "You see nothing. Go back to sleep."
Silver eyes narrowed to absolute slits.
The huntress perked up. Scowled. "C'mere, birdie!"
Raven floundered backward, trying to escape. Too late.
Then came the shouting. The accusations, the recriminations.
"Raven Branwen, you will take responsibility for your daughter this INSTANT or SO HELP ME...!"
(.0.0.0.)
Naruto looked up as a sudden commotion filled the square.
As such, he had a prime view of Summer Rose dragging Raven out of Ren's house and into the yard. By the ear at that. From this distance he didn't hear what she said to the surly red-eyed woman, but he clearly saw her press a hunting knife into her palm. Said palm flailed at the air. At first he didn't much understand the point of it. Why beat Raven, then drag her out here, only to arm her?
A snarling scarlet portal tore open in broad daylight, startling everyone terribly. Well, mostly everyone.
"Alright." Naruto smacked his lips. "Why did she give Raven a knife?! And where does that portal lead! I want answers!"
Much to his chagrin, he received them...albeit not in the form he expected. A young girl came tumbling through Raven's portal and crashed facefirst into the bandit's. Raven groaned. Another, smaller child landed atop her back, further pressing the once proud bandit into the muck. A chorus of groans arose from them.
Naruto blinked.
Nora blinked.
As did Ren.
Jinn ignored the lot of them, having already moved onto her next fest.
Kurama gave his host a sharp jab in the brain, rebooting him from his stupor. "Oi! Focus!"
He took in startled lilac eyes looking this way at that, set in a pale face framed by a mane of tawny blond hair. The girl atop her was slightly less so, pale but mostly dark red-black hair with startling silver orbs. In fact, she almost looked like a mini-Summer...oh. Oh, that was baaaaad. Naruto hastened his pace, already knowing he would be too late to stop the impending disaster. Still he bulled his way to the front of the crowd, struggling in vain to reach the two of them, villagers parting before him like the sea.
He was five steps away when little blond pushed herself upright and blinked at Raven. "Mom...?"
"Eh?!" the smaller girl balked. "That's your mom!" Then she saw Summer. "Hi, mommy!"
Summer slapped a hand to her forehead. "Hullo, sweetie...
Naruto's heart leaped into his throat.
Very bad! Defcon one!
"There." The ex-banded spat into the muck. "I brought 'em. Happy now?"
"Not in the least!" Summer grabbed her by the ear again before she could escape. "I told you to go see Yang, not bring her here! Let alone Ruby! Now apologize!"
"Like hell! I left to protect owowowoww!" A hard yank sent her reply piquing into a surprisingly girlish whine. "I'm sorrrrryyyyy!"
"You're going to be when I'm through with you!"
"Wow," Nora muttered to herself. "Her mom's a total bitch, isn't she?"
The blond girl perked up. "Did we just become best friends?"
"Ooh! I like you already!"
Ren tugged at Naruto's sleeve. "Should we do something?"
...nah." the whiskered warrior offered a selfsame smile. "They've got this."
At least he was certain they did...until someone else came stumbling out and through the still-open portal.
"Yang?!" he had time enough to take in red eyes and dark hair. "What in the world-
Silence ruled anew. Raven made a keening sound into it.
Qrow Branwen took one look at his startled sister.
He blinked. Three times. Rubbed his eyes.
Then he keeled backward with a cackle.
(.0.0.0.)
He'd finally tracked her down.
Hazel knew a thing or two when it came to hunting Maidens, and this one had eluded him for some time yet. For a time, the Fall Maiden maiden had proven elusive. Almost vindictively so. She knew she was being hunted, and thus never stayed in one place for more than a day. Ever running, ever moving.
But here, at last, he'd cornered her. There was nowhere left to run. He would drag her to Salem; kicking and screaming if need be.
Heavy footsteps carried him to the mouth of the cavern. He hesitated at the entrance, half expecting a trap. None sprang. Not this time. She'd run out of tricks. Carved into the mountainside itself, the cave looked to be a large one. If there was an exit within, she'd not taken it. She was waiting for him. Which meant she intended to fight. But why here?
After all, a cornered rat always fought the hardest.
And so he wandered inside. A flickering fire awaited him only a few yards within. His eyes adjusted to the gloom and beheld a cloaked crone hunched over it. In truth, their age was impossible to tell, for the shadows held tight to her face, shielding from view. The wench looked up at his approach and tutted softly.
"Shame on Salem, sending a young man after an old woman like me." Beneath their worn hood, a bright eye pulsed with living flame, fully realized in its might. "Doesn't she have any respect for the elderly?"
He caught a glimpse of smooth skin beneath her cowl.
...you're not old at all, witch."
A small smile flashed across her face. "Perhaps not. It was worth a try, I suppose."
"Surrender and you will not be harmed." he offered her a palm. "I dislike violence. This is your only chance."
"Then I'm afraid we've come to a bit of an impasse." She shifted a little, casting him in the shadow of her campfire. "You see, I'm rather fond of violence. And you, my dear, made one fatal mistake." the flames of her little fire made an ominous crackling sound as one of the logs splintered within. "You never should have followed me...
"Don't you fear death?"
"I've died before." A smile flashed beneath her hood. "That's how I found myself here." Slender fingers rose, clutching at the air. "Honestly, people falling out of their worlds left and right these days. Its enough to drive a woman...mad."
An awful grinding sound echoed from the entrance. Realization dawned. No!
Hazel whirled just in time to see a wall of pure flame bring a rock slide down on the mouth of the cavern. Light vanished as they were sealed in. Only the flickering flames of the woman's flames remained. With a low hum, the so-called crone hunched over it, straightening what he'd assumed to be a hunched back.
It was not.
Her tattered cloak fell away to reveal a woman far younger than he'd expected to find.
A single bright eye regarded him. The other lay hidden behind an eye-patch of fine black lace. Pale of face was she, her hair near a platinum blond. Beneath the cloak she wore the ragged remnants of a once grand outfit; finery now reduced to mere rags of his former self.
"You don't seem to understand." there was a low contralto to her voice now, a simmering undercurrent of amusement that he'd failed to notice before. "I'm not locked in here with you."
An ember of flame sprang to life in her left hand, eating away the glove she wore.
"You're locked in here with me."
Hazel shifted back as raw heat suffused the walls and ceiling, turning the floor to molten glass at his feet.
"Its been so long since I killed a fool like you." the shadows began to writhe around her now, twisted and distorted by flame. "I've gone by many titles since I came to this world." she arched her back, rolled her shoulders once, and began cracking her knuckles with thinly veiled intent. "So many names. Rosalyne. The Fair Lady. Witch of the Flames. I was even a singer, once." a faint smile creased her scarred visage as she touched a hand to her burnt cheek. "He did so love the sound of my voice...but you?"
Her hand rose and an odd sphere swirled to life behind her.
"You may call me Signora."
.
..
...should that name mean something?"
The woman tittered softly. "It will in a moment."
Hazel's brow furrowed yet further. Battle it was, then.
A massive hand ripped his shirt away. Strong arms fell and rose into the twin satchels at his waist, each coming up with a dust crystal in hand.
He jammed them into his shoulders. Heat blazed through him, numbed now as his semblance too hold. Another crystal came and went, followed by another and another, now another still, until vibrant veins of power crept across his flesh. His eyes glowed a wild gold with all the power coursing through him. Yet his foe made no move to try and stop him, let alone impede his efforts.
So why, then, did he have a bad feeling about this.
...long ago, I was known as a Harbinger." the woman prattled on, seemingly ignorant of his transformation. "Then again, I suppose the meaning of such a title is lost on a rodent such as yourself." her voice fell to an angry rasp. "I was meant for greatness." a burnt palm gestured at him, and he noticed she was missing several of her fingers. The rest were pure flame. "I was destined to become so much more."
Her gaze sharpened on him, threatening to cut with its fury alone.
...and then that stupid little shogun slew me." she drew herself up to her full, towering height. "Killed me, cut me to pieces, and cast me here." her hands rose, embers dancing at her fingertips. "My body is fire, after all. It stands to reason I would rise again. Like a phoenix from the ashes. Now I have you lot hounding me left and right for a power I didn't even want. Well, be careful what you wish for...
Enough of this prattle. "Why are you telling me this?"
"Because, dear Hazel," Signora purred, "I know you won't tell a soul. Nor will you bring me to the false god you call Salem."
With her words, the temperature suddenly plummeted. Why? Did she not wield flames...?
"I served one goddess." his would be victim intoned. "Unfortunately for you, she's not here. The Tsaritsa, would have killed you most kindly." her arms rose and the flames obeyed her, crackling impossibly over the ice as her body began to writhe and twist. "I shall grant you no such luxury. For harrying me thus far, you will die screaming."
...I cannot feel pain."
A wall of flame raked over his body, stealing the air from his lungs. It raked through his aura, singing his very soul, driving him to a knee.
"Is that so?" her smile was cruelty incarnate. "Such a fascinating ability. I wonder what your threshold is?"
Fire bled from her visible eye.
Her smile made Hazel want to cry.
"Now then," she hummed. "You have my permission to die."
A/N: Yes, THAT Signora. From Genshin.
Also, yikes. A Maiden-empowered Signora. That's pure nightmare fuel.
I'll say this, she's really not a baddie in this story; she very much wants to be left alone...but noooo...Salem keeps poking her.
Seems like something Summer would do.
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!
So in the Immortal Words of Atlas...
...Review...Would You Kindly?
And have some previews.
FUTURE ONES.
(Preview)
"Soooo...we're in agreement? Lets not tell Oz about this."
"Heh. He'd have an aneurysm."
An tilted her head as she Naruto hoist an entire house "My, my...
Ren sighed. "Mother. No. Please. Don't."
"Its nothing, dear. I just want to ask him something...
"Too many kids running about." Naruto chuckled ruefully. "Its making me soft. Although...
He casually crushed the Grimm's skull underfoot.
"Your kind never learn do you?"
R&R~!