A/N:Well, Serving a Schnee didn't...quite get the response I'd hoped for. That's a bit of a spirit breaker.
Suppose its what I get for trying something out of the box.
SPEAKING OF WHICH!
Co-writer for Doctor of Demons took off, so I had to update this instead.
As ever, the Embers rule persists. If folks don't like this? Poof! Gone! To the void it goes. So by all means, speak up! Raise your voice! Make yourself heard! Your reviews matter! Really, they do! That's no joke. I don't have days off anymore -two jobs will do that to you- and I'm working myself to the bone.
As ever, I own no quotes, references, themes or memes.
"I seek a challenge. Will you be able to give me one, I wonder?"
~?
Speak No Evil
Grimm died easily. Far too easily.
Madara's disappointment was immeasurable, his day ruined. From the way Maria had built them up in her stories on the road, one would think they might actually be some semblance of a challenge; dangerous beasts the world over, not mindless slavering monsters any fool could dispatch with a bit of ingenuity and a sharp knife.
Burn them a little, lop their head off, and they perished like any other.
Certainly, a flock of the flying beasts -what had she called them? Gryphons? Nevermore?- were annoying in larger numbers, but they were nothing to fear. No need to use Susanoo for such; indeed, to do so would be an insult. Although he had been tempted to simple drop a meteor on them...
"These are the creatures you fear?" He scoffed as he rode an Ursa's crumbling corpse to the dirt. "Pitiful." Clicking his tongue, he nudged the crumbling cadaver with a foot. "They cannot dance, let alone fight."
The ground lay littered with the corpses of the fallen for miles around, and he was pleased to note that she accounted for more than a few. This woman was a warrior. Whatever her misgivings, she knew her way around a blade. No frail flower, this.
Now if only he could rid her of her fear, her hesitation, she'd be better still.
"Oh, piss off!" Maria snarled as she ripped her scythes from the ruined skull of a Beowolf. "We can't all have bullshit eye powers!"
A dark brow rose. "This from the woman who nearly went blind?"
She always clammed up when he dangled that in front of her. As well she should. If she was going to sass him, then she should be prepared for him to snap back. And besides, it wasn't as if she didn't possess occular powers of her own.
Her silver eyes were returning.
Curious, considering he'd seem then cut out.
He'd noticed it on the third day; Tock's once golden eyes gradually bleeding into silver. Even now he could see flecks of it interposed over the gold. It wouldn't be long before they regained their new owner;s luster. It fascinated him. She held no chakra, but clear possessed a dojutsu, one that affected these "Grimm" she so loathed.
Was it a bloodline? Did any eye she held eventually become silver? So many questions, not nearly enough answers. It intrigued him, and that was a dangerous thing indeed.
Perhaps a bit of rest and research would be nice after all; they'd been fighting their way through the wilds for the better part of a two weeks, now. He'd managed to fashion a crude cloak of sorts from a black bear he'd brought down five days hence, but it was a poor substitute for a shirt.
One never knew what skills one might need in the field and he'd availed himself of many.
But before all that, there was one last matter he needed to address.
Madara tilted his head a fraction of a degree to the right.
"Do you know why you lost, that day?"
Maria went still.
(.0.0.0.)
"Do you know why you lost?"
Maria trudged after him, muttering under her breath.
She'd thought herself strong invincible, and for what? If not for the kindness of a passing stranger, she'd still be fumbling in the dark. Fear clawed at her heart. They might come for her again. No, they would. She knew it, felt it in her bones. Why had she been defeated? She knew the answer.
Maria wilted and hung her head. "Because I was weak...
"No! Wake up to reality!" Madara whirled, his voice lashed at her like a whip, causing her to halt. "You lost because you lacked resolve!"
Her pride prickled at the insult. "Excuse me?!"
"If you're weak now, then train!" his hand snapped out, cupping her chin. "Become stronger! Surpass your limits!" There was a red hot fervor in his words, one that hadn't been there before. "If someone crushes your dream, build a better one! An ideal that no one can crush!" he gave her a shake for good measure. "I have seen firsthand what kind of strength determination creates. I thought I was strong. That everyone was beneath me. Even the weak can usurp the strong. But you?"
He pinched her cheeks anew. "You are strong."
Great. Now she was getting a pep talk for a walking murder hobo. Greeeaaat...
Maira sputtered, tearing herself away from him. "What do you know?!"
"More than you, girl." His point gained, the Uchiha sauntered away. Paused. Considered the ground beneath him. "We won't sleep out in the open tonight. "This spot will do."
Maria arched an eyebrow. "What will doooooooooooohmygods!
Her words piqued into a shriek as roots rose forth from the ground and took shape, forming a house.
(.0.0.0.)
Salem tapped the Seer with a pallid finger.
It bobbed back under her touch, swaying on its many tentacles, but the image before her remained.
Her gaze drank it in, this wild man with dark hair and strange eyes. "Curious."
What was one to make of this? Curious, curious, very curious indeed...
No matter. He was but one man. Prideful. Arrogant. Easily led.
She'd killed men like him before, all over Remnant.
(.0.0.0.)
Madara was a difficult man to please.
Was that a sin? He thought not. Born a warrior, he was used to living his life on the battlefield, where time was scarce and resources slim. He was a man made to fight. Little more. He acknowledged this, but didn't think it a flaw. He was good at fighting. He lived for the thrill of combat, the glorious spice of testing oneself against a proper opponent.
So yes, he had high standards. What of it?
He made no apologies for this. Those who stood up to him were few and far between; which made them all the more noteworthy in his mind.
This outpost standing before them was anything but.
Framed in the dapled light of the rising sun, it was, in every way, a dissappointment. Immensely so.
"This is not a village."
Maria elbowed him, bright eyes flashing. "Shh! Not so loud!"
Why say otherwise? He was telling the truth. A village was filled with shinobi, with life and luster. This? This was not a village. The Hidden Leaf -complicated as his feelings toward it were- easily put this so-called village to shame. To even call it such would have been generous indeed; surrounded by a spiked wooden palisade, this "village" housed little more than a series of crude, dilapidated shacks leaning against one another. Rounded in a quaint circle on a hill, they led to a single larger housing near the hill, the sole sign of grandeur in what was already a poor place.
No village, this. He said as much. This? "This is a slum."
His companion groaned into a palm. "Be nice!"
Madara blinked. "I am being nice.
"Are you?!"
...its still standing, isn't it?"
Maria flashed him a black look, promising harsh words if he took it any further. When he didn't she flung up her arms and stalked down the hill, hollering as she went.
"You're some kind of ass, you know that!"
He wasn't trying to be. Still, he held his tongue until they reached the gate. It really was too easy to prod her. When was the last time someone had spoken to him thus? He couldn't recall. Hashirama she was not, but she had spirit. How novel. He could bend her over his knee with ease, and she still had the spirit to talk back.
Hmm. Perhaps he'd keep her after all.
The guard at the gate, a portly man who looked to have more years about him than sense, took one look at them and rolled his eyes. His eyes lingered on Maria's weapons a tad too long for Madara's liking. For a moment, he wondered if the man would demand a bribe. One look at him had the poor sod thinking twice.
"Hunters, eh?" he scribbled something down onto a clipboard. "Not often we get your kind way out here."
"Hunter?" Madara puffed out his chest. "I am a Shinobi, no mere Hu-
"Hunters!" Maria elbowed him. "Right! That. We certainly are!"
Another grunt.
"Welcome to Patch." the guard sounded about as pleased to see them as they were him. "If yer lookin' for work, see the mayor. We've got a few Grimm hereabouts." his bushy brow furrowed. "No funny business or we'll toss ye out on yer asses."
His warning, given, they were let in without so much as a passing glance.
Madara had a low opinion of the "village" before, but its interior laid it lower still.
Poor. That was his first thought. He'd expected as much, but seeing only further dimmed his view of this place. The streets weren't paved, the homes were crude while smell of refuse rose rank in the air -did they not have a proper sewage system- and not a single soul within looked happy to see them. Many averted their gaze, muttering to themselves.
'Well,' a less than chipper voice sighed in the back of his head, 'This can only end poorly.'
A girl was playing by the gate, splashing about in a puddle near one of the rougher homes. Madara took her in a glance; a young coltish thing in tattered dark clothes. Pale skin, green eyes, hair a light aqua that almost seemed to burn in the low light...no, it actually was burning. He could see it flickering and flaming in the low breeze. What the devil...? Was this one of those Semblances that Maria had been prattling on about? Curious.
"Ember!" A woman's voice shrilled from an open doorway. "Come inside! Right now!"
The girl looked up and scarpered to the safety of her mothers skirts.
...friendly place."
"You'll get used to it. First things first, you need proper clothes." Maria pinched her nose as she caught a whiff of him. "And a bath."
"I do not." perhaps that was surly of him, but he felt no need. Rather than agree with her he scowled, feeling every bit the petulant child he wasn't. "See to yourself before you worry about me."
"Hey! I'm trying to help you, ya silly...man...
Her words trailed off as she leaned past him, and he turned to see what had caused her distress.
"Oh."
The people of Patch had not been idle while they were distracted; he craned his neck back to find half a dozen barring the way forward. As he looked on they fanned out, surrounding them in a loose semicircle. Not men or woman these. Kids, really. The oldest of them hadn't even seen seventeen summers by the look of them.
This lot was poorer than poor; the dirt itself was richer than them.
.
..
...ugh. He really must've hit his head if he was making jokes like that.
Hashirama would've laughed and charmed them with his charisma. Hashirama would have helped this so-called village without a second thought. He'd always been like that, so eager to be where the action was, to please others, happy to help when it was needed. The old fool would have given them the very cloak off his back without a second thought, tried to better their lives, even if it brought his own to ruin.
"Hand over your money!" one of the bigger ones jabbed a rusty knife at him. "Weapons, too."
Maria scoffed behind at his flank.
Madara was not Hashirama. He never could be.
Where he looked he saw only weakness and sloth. These people could have bettered themselves, risen up in the face of adversity and taken action against it. Instead they would rather lay about, waiting for an easy mark to come their way. He felt their hungry eyes following him now; saw boy who could be men, women who could be warriors, and so much more.
But no, they chose a life of crime instead. Such wasted potential. It sickened him.
Perhaps it wasn't their fault. Perhaps they had nowhere else to turn. Many of them looked like they hadn't eaten in days. Money? he could take what he needed if it came to that. But not from this sorry lot. He felt shame even considering it. Their clothes were filthy, full of patched and holes. Even their "leader" wore little more than rags, and oh my, he was looking rather desperate..
Sure enough, they lunged.
"Amusing."
Madara smiled. It was not a nice smile.
Still smiling, the Uchiha flicked his right hand outward.
His attacker's skull bounced off a wall. The wall endured. The man's pride did not. His body hit the street and bounced, bleeding from the nose. He considered finishing him off, then thought better of it. He could feel Maria looking at him, expecting him to to the right thing, as he'd done for her. If he went on a murder spree here, he'd never hear the end of it.
"Listen to me now." His eyes flashed in dire warning. "You don't want to rob us."
A young girl bridled. "Says who, you old-
Madara waved a hand, flicked two fingers outward, and flared his Sharingan for good measure. Chakra pooled in his eyes; from there it was a simple matter of turning his focus on the nearest would-be bandit. As luck had it, his gaze fell upon the leader first.
"You don't want to rob us." her repeated the words with force, weaving a genjutsu around him.
The spindly man drooped as he fell under his spell. "We don't want to rob you...
A ripple of disquiet pushed through the ragged group of urchins.
"Boss," one of them hissed. "What the hell?"
"No hell, only peace." Madara's gaze pinioned him next. "You want to go home and rehtink your lives. All of you." his gaze swept out across the lot of them, catching each in his snare. Not one had the strength to resist his words. "Go home!" his voice rose in a stark command. "Train! Become proper warriors! Defend your village, and trouble travelers no more!"
They stiffened to a man and parroted his words back at him.
"Well?" He scowled when they didn't budge. "Be off with you! Shoo!"
He was pleased to see that they did just complied, shuffling off with blank eyes and mumbled words. There. He'd done his good deed for the day. The genjutsu wouldn't hold forever, nothing did, but the subtle suggestion therein would be enough to steer their lives in the proper direction. Maybe this ramshackle village might become something in a decade or so.
Maria gave a low whistle as they slouched off. "That's one hell of a semblance...
Semblance? Such a frivolous term. She kept calling it that. Let her believe what she wished.
"It only works on the weak-minded." He nudged past her, shoulder brushing hers. "You wouldn't be affected."
And in truth he had no desire to do so; to ever use his eyes on her. A fire like hers came along rarely, maybe once, twice, thrice in a lifetime. Anyone else would have balked at such. Why tolerate her? She questioned him at every turn, dragged him around, and squabbled with him over the smallest things.
The ghost of a smile touched his pale face.
That was precisely why. Life was not eternal. Maria might grow old someday, she might age, but he knew now that the heat in her heart would never wane. She would defy him to the very end. Such fire amused him. Humming softly to himself, he made the for the largest building he could find. Hopefully it was an inn. He didn't relish the thought of sleeping outdoors again.
"Hey! Wait up!"
Madara most assuredly did not.
"I will live." he declared. "And in doing so, I will learn. Keep up!"
A/N: Prize to whomever figures out who "Ember" was. I wasn't subtle.
Madara really has no idea what he's doing, does he? Man's not one for social cues.
Give him a good fight and a drink any day, sure, but try to explain people to him? NOPE!
As ever, the Embers rule persists. If folks don't like this? Poof! Gone! To the void it goes. So by all means, speak up! Raise your voice! Make yourself heard! Your reviews matter! Really, they do! That's no joke. I don't have days off anymore -two jobs will do that to you- and I'm working myself to the bone.
Well, there we are. Hope you all have a lovely new year, and may it be better than the last.
As ever, reviews are a mighty wind beneath my wings.
Without them...well. I just can't seem to fly.
So in the Immortal Words of Atlas...
...Review, Would You Kindly?
And one last thing:
SPOILERS! SPOILERS! SPOILERS!
PLOT DETAILS AHOY!
YE BE WARNED!
Read if you dare!
Less previews this time; gotta keep it interesting...
Previews!)
An awful silenced filled the afternoon. And then.
Madara threw his head back and cackled at the clouds, grinning from ear to ear.
"You can fight! Good!" A crazed smile stretched across his face. "Good, good! Show me more!"
Maria slapped her forehead. "Look! Look what you did! You flipped his switch!"
"If there are no Uchiha...why not make more?"
He shook his head a moment later. No, no, no...that was folly...wasn't it?
"Teach others?" he blinked. "Me? Why?"
"You have such great gifts. Why not use them for the sake of others? You could open a gym, a dojo, whatever you want to call it! Help so many people."
...I see no need to hold humanity's hand."
"What's your name?"
"Branwen. Who the hell are you? I didn't need your help."
He was looking at the woman who would one day give birth to Raven Branwen.
EDIT: Well, I've not done a story with Raven's mother. Why not? Should be fun. Though I need a name for her...
R&R~!