6. The Empire's Reach
Introduction: An ominous wave of dark creatures washes over the continent…Eirika's journey to link up with her brother, Ephraim, grows that much more dangerous. Nevertheless, her group presses onwards and soon they reach Serafew, located on the border of Renais and Grado. The people of both countries have long used the town as a meeting place. It once stood as a testimony to the friendship the two nations have shared over many years. But now, it is filled to the brim with Grado troops, and the chance of discovery is high. Thankfully, they have a shinobi in their group.
Story Start: The Border Town of Serafew
'I've said it before, and I'll say it again, I am so glad he's on our side.' Seth thought to himself as Eirika's whole group was allowed through the gates of Serafew, the fighters hiding in plain sight as guards for the wagons of the supply caravan King Hayden had provided and which had faithfully followed them right to the doorstep of Grado. He and Eirika had been stared at by all three of the visible guards of the entranceway, and doubtlessly all of the hidden guards as well, and they STILL hadn't been recognized, thanks to the jutsu that Naruto said everyone at his home were taught as kids. Seth didn't even want to begin considering what a nightmare it would be trying to catch shinobi infiltrators sneaking around his country doing who knows what during war time.
As soon as they had put a hundred yards between their group and the gate, the person sitting on the wagon seat he was in guard position of, a dirty blonde haired woman who only looked like Eirika through body type (and even that was slightly off) let out a sigh of relief as she said "I can't believe we pulled that off." Giving the also currently dirty blond general a shaky grin, she said quietly "Shinobi really are scary, aren't they 'big brother'?"
"Yes, yes they are." Seth said with a slight nod of agreement, once more looking forward as a red haired whisker less Naruto strode through the streets like he had been there multiple times, leading the supply caravan to an open area where merchant caravans were able to peddle their wares without leaving their wagons. There were a small number of Grado troops in the area, posted at each entrance as security.
Seth would have liked to just pass through the town, but Naruto had rightly pointed out how suspicious a supposed merchant caravan just passing through the town without spending at least a few hours to sell their wares while restocking on supplies would be. Plus, it would be a good chance to try and get some intel from the local Grado forces. Colm had already slipped away from the Caravan to do just that and before they had even entered the town, Naruto had sent a couple of clones into the city via having them transform into local bird life and fly overhead before transforming back in out of sight places. For the moment, it was a waiting game. But of course, you know what they say about the plans of mice and men.
There was a loud commotion as a cleric ran past one of the entrances to the merchant plaza, a squadron of Grado soldiers in pursuit. Eirika and the others watched in confusion as they passed before both her and Seth glanced at Naruto. Naruto in turn gave a nod, and a smokeless shadow clone appeared in the covered wagon behind Eirika to continue providing the princess protection before he quickly melted into the surrounding crowd to see what was going on.
Naruto caught up to the group of soldiers in front of a wide alleyway, the cleric backed up against the wall at the end. Clearly, she was just as new to Serafew as Naruto was if she had made the mistake of coming down this way. Naruto remained hidden behind a crate just behind the group and watched what was going on.
The leader of the squadron took a step past his men as he said "Traitor Natasha! Surrender peacefully. Come quietly, and you may have the chance to explain yourself before His Majesty."
The now named cleric shook her head in denial as she said "Wait, please. You must listen to me!"
The squad leader wasn't in the mood to listen though as he ordered "Take her."
"No, you must believe me! The emperor is not himself. You MUST be able to see that!" Natasha said in desperation.
All of the soldiers turned that much more hostile as the squad leader said "Impugn the emperor at your peril! We've been ordered to execute you if you offer any resistance. But your words condemn you!"
As swords and lances were readied, Naruto narrowed his eyes and thought 'I think this has gone on long enough.' Pulling a small orb out of his pocket, Naruto threw the orb into the ground. The smoke bomb went off instantly filling the alleyway with smoke drawing cries of surprise from the soldiers. It cleared a few seconds later just as rapidly as it appeared, but by that time Natasha was gone, and the squad leader snarled as he said "She couldn't have gotten far, find her!"
As the soldiers stormed out of the alleyway, up on the roof of one of the buildings forming the alley, hiding behind the chimney, Naruto smirked as he held Natasha around the waist, one hand lightly held over her mouth to keep her silent for the moment and said to her quietly "Shinobi Rule #17, guards never look up." Natasha gave him a scared look out of the corner of her eyes but the fact that this man had saved her from the soldiers kept her from trying to escape for the moment. That and they were two stories up on a slanted roof, she didn't want to fall. As soon as the soldiers were out of the immediate area, Naruto nodded and removed his hand from her mouth as he said "Alright, they're gone."
"Thank you for saving me, but who are you?" Natasha asked, twisting her body as much as she dared so that way she could get a better look at his face.
"Oh, just someone with a set of unusual skills." Naruto said with a smile. He gave the area behind the chimney another glance before he looked back at her and said "My group is a resistance cell from Renais, will you come with me to explain your tale?"
Relief filled Natasha's eyes as she asked "Truly, you are from Renais?! Please, take me to the others of your group, there is something I must desperately tell your leader!"
Naruto nodded and said "That's the plan."
Five minutes later, Naruto and a now red haired Natasha were back with the others, Eirika and Seth sitting with the pair in the lead covered wagon so that way they were out of sight of anyone who could potentially lip read from a distance. Seth naturally approved of Naruto's paranoia. What he didn't approve of quite so much was when Eirika leaned forward and said "I am Princess Eirika of Renais, please, Cleric Natasha, if you have any information about why the Emperor is doing this then tell us."
Natasha blinked in confusion then narrowed her eyes slightly in order to better scrutinize Eirika as she asked "You're Princess Eirika? But I thought-" She cut herself off as Naruto gave a slight cough. When she saw him point at her recently color changed hair, she nodded and said "Oh, I see. Of course you would be disguised this far behind enemy lines." She fingered her own hair for a moment before she shook her head from whatever thoughts she was having and said "As for the Emperor… I was a servant of the people at Grado's Imperial Temple. A few days past, my mentor was arrested without warning. The soldiers executed him. They said he was a traitor... but those were false accusations. The emperor had him killed – a holy man! – to keep him silent."
"Silent?" Seth asked with narrowed eyes.
Natasha nodded as she said "Yes. My mentor told me with his final breath. The emperor plans to destroy the Sacred Stones."
'I can hear the capital letters in those two words.' Naruto thought even as Eirika's eyes widened and she gasped out "The Sacred Stones? Destroy them?!"
Natasha gave a nod as she continued "As you must know, the Sacred Stones drove back the power of evil long ago. Even now, each of our nations is home to one of these legendary treasures. There's one in my homeland, Grado, and one in your Renais…"
Eirika nodded and said "Yes, the Sacred Stone of Renais is still housed in our royal temple."
"The emperor plans to destroy the five stones, one by one…" Natasha said looking down.
"Why would he do such a thing? Legend says the Sacred Stones are even now all that keep evil at bay!" Seth asked incredulously.
Natasha sadly shook her head and said "I cannot begin to guess his motives .. You must know, our emperor was a gentle man. But one day, he changed. Utterly. Before my mentor died, he said the keepers of the Sacred Stones must be warned. I tried to slip across the border, but the soldiers spotted me, if Naruto hadn't rescued me…"
The shudder she gave said exactly what she believed would have happened to her and Eirika reached forward to gently squeeze one of her hands in support. Before anything else could be said though, Franz said from outside the wagon "Sir, ma'am, soldiers have entered the plaza and are having all of the merchants assemble in front of their wagons while the soldiers search them."
"They're looking for me." Natasha said, alarm beginning to build in her eyes.
"They won't discover you." Naruto said, squeezing her shoulder in reassurance as he stood up to exit.
"And even if they do, we'll protect you." Eirika said with a nod as she and Seth also stood up. Natasha shot them a thankful smile before she took a fortifying breath and followed them out of the wagon.
The Grado soldiers were being thorough, examining everyone in the plaza and going through every wagon and looking under all of them as well. When the soldiers reached their group, the person leading them instantly zeroed in on Natasha's clerical robes and she flinched as he reached forward and rubbed her hair between a pair of his fingers. But when they didn't come away red, he decided that her hair wasn't dyed and he moved on, Natasha sagging in relief, and Naruto put an arm around her shoulders and drew her close, the perfect picture of a brother comforting his sister.
Finally the soldiers left the plaza and Natasha gave a deep sigh of relief. She stiffened though when a voice said from right behind their small group "Well that was close, nice job with the disguise Naruto."
"Colm." Naruto said with a nod, the only one to have noticed the thief slip into their midst after the soldiers had moved on from their caravan. Being able to sense negative emotions were pretty good for that kind of thing, and Colm was practically boiling under that calm exterior he was projecting.
"What do you have to report?" Seth asked, all business. If the fact Colm had gotten so close without his notice bothered him, the general didn't show it, Eirika though had put a hand over her chest from being startled.
Colm frowned and said "It ain't good to be known as being from Renais if you live here. The Grado soldiers are led by a fanatic named Saar who believes that anyone not of Grado heritage is less than human. They've singled out families from Renais for some pretty bad stuff. And I mean War Crime level bad."
"No." Eirika said, concern for her countrymen in her eyes.
Seth frowned and said "Something must be done, but to draw attention here, at the border…"
"Not a good idea." Eirika said in agreement before her eyes hardened and she said "But I will not allow my countrymen to suffer under a tyrant when I can relieve their suffering, even for a short while. I apologize Natasha, but it seems we can no longer continue hiding. This blackheart Saar shall fall this day, along with any of his soldiers who get in the way."
"I understand Your Majesty, and though it saddens me to turn against my fellow citizens of Grado, you shall have my support." Natasha said with a nod, her own eyes filled with resolve.
"Shall I drop the Henges once we've dealt with the guards here?" Naruto asked and Eirika gave a decisive nod as she said "Yes, I want the soldiers here to know that we from Renais will not take what they have done lying down."
Naruto nodded and left enough shadow clones to ensure that their supply caravan would be kept safe before they split up. A quick moment of battle planning later, Eirika, Seth, Naruto, and Natasha moved towards one entrance while the rest of their group went for the opposite side of the plaza. It was decided that three groups would attack in order to split the forces in the city, the third being composed of a four man team of Naruto's clones. If either of the teams without Eirika in it found Saar then he was to be captured alive. For his crimes against her people the princess wanted to end him herself, which would also make a pretty nice statement to the rest of the soldiers in the area that they were dealing with a pissed off royal and that it wasn't just Ephraim's group they had to worry about now.
The soldiers guarding the plaza had all turned outwards once the searching ones had searched everyone, more concerned with threats coming from the rest of the town then the people they now considered not a threat. They paid for that mistake with their lives, being killed from behind without even knowing what did the deed. More than one panicked cry came from the gathered merchants when some of their number saw the brutal act and Naruto took that as his cue to drop the transformation techniques. Eirika seized the moment and jumped up on a nearby barrel so a good majority of people could get a look at her and cried out with Rapier held high "FOR RENAIS!" The next instant she was off the barrel and running down the street, the other three members of her group hot on her heels.
Thanks to one of Naruto's shadow clones popping off a few red flares it didn't take long for alarm bells to ring, informing all of the soldiers that the town was under attack. Was it wise to be the ones to alert the whole force of enemy soldiers stationed there of the attack? Probably not, but it made sure that they got every single one of them that was stationed here for combat, and maybe even one or two of their logistics group as well.
Ten minutes in, Naruto round house kicked a Grado soldier into the wall of a nearby house, a loud crunch showing that at least his nose was broken, and most likely a piece of his skull as well before he heard Natasha give a soft gasp and said "That man…"
Humming, he glanced at her and followed his eyes and saw a man with long red hair and a Killing Edge in his right hand, though it was kept in a non aggressive position by his side as he meandered down the street. The man gave a few of the downed soldiers an uninterested look as he strolled by them before looking at the Renaisian party and said "Well now, this is certainly interesting, and here I thought I only had the Arena to look forward to in these parts."
"You…You're that man I met…Are you here to capture me? You've been hired to silence me, haven't you…" Natasha asked, an uncertain look in her eyes that said she wasn't quite so certain the man would follow through with it.
The man shrugged and said "Yeah, Grado's paying the bill. They want you dead, you know? But don't feel bad. It's not personal."
"Just because it's not personal doesn't make the fact that the other person is probably going to die go away you know." Naruto said, forming a Wind Blade in his right hand that would slice through the myrmidon's sword like butter if it came down to it.
The man gave the Wind Blade an evaluating look as he said "Hm, well there's something you don't see everyday."
But as he brought his sword up to an attacking stance, Natasha said "Wait, please… It doesn't matter what happens to me, but you must hear my words. The emperor of Grado is changed. He is not the man he once was. The other nations must be warned before he extinguishes all light from our lands."
He shrugged again and said "Hey, no offense, but I'm just a mercenary. I don't care about Grado or its emperor. Everything you say may be true, or it may be lies. I don't care either way." Natasha's troubled "But that's-" was interrupted as he sighed and said "Even so…killing a beautiful lady like you would leave a bad taste in my mouth. Tell me, do you like to gamble?"
Natasha's expression turned dumbfounded as she asked "What?!" Naruto meanwhile hummed as he thought to himself 'So he's one of THOSE kinds of people. This should be interesting.' Thankfully, Eirika and Seth were willing to stay out of this, instead making sure that no one was trying to sneak up on the group from behind, though both were clearly listening to the discussion.
The man smirked as he pulled a coin out of his pocket with his left hand and said "Gambling's what I live for. Even when I lose, I never want to stop. Let's have us a little wager. If you win, I'll believe you. Heads or tails, you call it."
"You can't…This is no times for games…" Natasha said with a frown.
"Would you rather I get on with the job I was hired for?" The man asked, his blade twitching threateningly.
Natasha swallowed and closed her eyes for a moment before she opened them and said "Um, heads…No! Tails!"
"Alright, so I'm heads, and you're tails. Here we go….." He flipped the coin up into the air and with ease of long practice caught it without actually looking. Opening his fist he frowned slightly at what he saw.
Biting her lip, Natasha asked "Which…which is it?"
The man glanced up at her with a smirk and said "What do you know?! It's tails. You win. Figures. I haven't won anything all day. Well, Lady Luck has spoken. Guess I'm on your side now."
"Are you serious?!" Both Natasha and Eirika asked at the same time with wide eyes, and even Seth had risen an eyebrow. Naruto was the only one who didn't react with surprise, mostly because he had seen a bored freelancer pull the same stunt on whether or not the two of them would be fighting when their mission objectives crisscrossed each other on a mission a year ago.
The man nodded and said "Yeah. Sure, I might cheat, but I never worm out of a bet. It's a rule of mine."
Natasha sagged in relief and said "Oh, thank heaven! Thank you, blessed light, for your protection!"
The man shrugged a third time and said "I got nothing against heaven, but I'm right here if you want someone to thank."
Naruto smirked as he dismissed the Wind Blade and said "I'll thank you for being a man guided by luck. What's your name anyway?"
"It's Joshua." The man said, tipping his hat.
Eirika shook her head and said "That has got to be the most surreal recruitment I have other seen."
Naruto snorted and said "Not for me, I once saw a guy agree to fight in a battle for a loaf of bread. Though to be fair, the bread had melted hazelnut baked into its middle."
Even Joshua stared at him at that, a red eyebrow raised before the sound of a fireball detonating in the distance reminded them that they were in a battle and everyone shook themselves as Joshua fell into formation beside Naruto and the group continued down the street to look for more soldiers.
Thirty minutes later, the groups had merged back together in front of the town's Arena. Saar was stripped of all weapons and armor, now wearing only a shirt and pants on him, and even that was because no one wanted to see an old man in only his underwear. His hands were bound behind his back and he was kept on his knees by dent of the kunai held to his neck by one of Naruto's clones. The squad had torn through the men surrounding the captain like a twister through a trailer park and all of the bruising covering his face and arms showed that they hadn't been gentle in capturing the enemy commander either.
Several Renaisian civilians were watching as Eirika strode forward to stand in front of Saar and said "Captain Saar of the Grado Empire. You are accused of committing War Crimes against the people of Renais. How do you plead?"
Saar sneered and said "War Crimes implies that you Renaisian dogs have rights. You are nothing compared to the men and women of the Emperor's glorious Grado!" His following spit at Eirika's boots got him a vicious back hand from one of Naruto's clones that threw his head to the side. Saar slowly turned his head back, his mouth working before he spat out a tooth to the side even as he kept glaring at Eirika in defiance.
Eirika's eyes closed for the briefest moments before they opened again, revealing a glacial fury that would have made even the most brutal Ice style user shiver as she said "Very well, since you obviously have no regrets for what you have done, then judgement shall be passed. I only wish we had the time to make you truly suffer for what you have done. Unfortunately, we do not have time to dawdle." So saying, she drew her Rapier and stabbed him right in his black heart.
Saar grunted and with his last breath said "Emperor Vigarde…Glory to His…Majesty." He then toppled over to the side and the Renaisian civilians all let out a cheer at the sight of their oppressor receiving justice. Eirika though had a frown on her face as she cleaned her blade on Saar's shirt then sheathed it, turning around and striding away from the body.
Naruto watched as an older man approached to speak with her before he turned back towards the still warm corpse and said "A burial is far more than you deserve." So saying, he ran through five hand signs while his clones formed a quick scent blocking barrier then blew an intense stream of fire at the body which immediately ignited. Within half a minute, there were only ashes on the ground which Naruto blew away with a low powered wind jutsu.
"Good riddance to bad rubbish." Colm said from where he held Neimi close, the Archer having buried her head in his shoulder to avoid the sight of the body burning. Most of the rest of Eirika's group let out agreeing sentiments.
Before anything else could be said though, Naruto's earlier two clones dispelled and his head jerked up before he turned to Eirika and said "Princess Eirika, my clones have intel on where your brother is."
"Truly?" Eirika asked eagerly. At Naruto's nod, Seth stepped forth and asked "Where?"
"Renvall."
END
And that is Chapter Five of Sacred Stones. Next Chapter is Ephraim's group. Make sure to look at my profile for the Update Schedule along with the Poll. At the time of posting this it is to decide which story takes up Flesh To Metal Version 2's slot once I write it's last chapter so you definitely want to give your input for that.
