A/N: Sorry for the short chapter. *hangs head in shame*
I suppose I should explain. I'm Taking a bit of a breather today, my body finally gave out and I collapsed from exhaustion. As such, I didn't work today, but I did spend an ungodly chunk of it sleeping. Still, I couldn't NOT write, because while it does tire me, its also fun. But said exhaustion appears to have affected the quality of this chapter and I just...can't...wrangle it into the shape I wanted.
So I do apologize if this isn't up to my usual standards.
Still there we go, three steady Genshin updates this month, far more for Arcane, and plenty of RWBY, to say nothing of my other miscellaneous updates. I've still got other sutff to catch up with after this too...phew...
As ever, the Embers rule still persists. If folks don't like this story? Poof! Gone!
Awaaaaay to the void it goes. Gone once and for all. Forever. Completely. That's no joke. So by all means, speak up! Raise your voice! Make yourself heard! Your reviews matter! Really, they do! I'm literally working every day now, so I have less and less time to write. Daily updates might...slow down for a bit, but I know that would upset a lot of people. Its just hard with two jobs.
Did I say hard? I meant HELLISH with the holidays. Things should get better by this time next week, but ugggghhh so tired...
Now for your questions, comments and concerns:
Q: I've not heard a peep of Just a Dust Shop, Embers of Hope, Don't Judge a Book By its Cover...
A: Because those are sodding long chapters for me to write! They need time. "Book" is technically ready, i have the notes written, I just need to get them down on the 'ol computer. Same for Never Travel Alone and the rest.
Q: Wait, Naruto x Havria?! Who is their son?!
A: See for yourself. He'll make you laugh...or groan. I was going to go with Boruto, but I've done that to death.
So, for a self-proclaimed god of Chaos, who better than a chaotic child? I'm sure you all know him well...
Q:
A: She's wandering the world at the moment. Don't worry, we'll see more of Raikou eventually.
Alright, I've kept you waiting long enough. Lets get the gears moving!
As ever, I own no references, memes, or themes.
Get ready to grin.
"Isn't it remarkable, that one can have all the power in the world and despite that, still be kind?
They say power corrupts, and absolute power? Absolutely.
But whatever does that make him, then? The Lord Shogun. Protector of Inazuma. Warden of the Isles. Tamer of Serpents. God of Eternity. Sworn brother to the Lord of Geo and the Lord of Anemo. A being who gave the gift of holy Chakra to the isles, forged an unprecedented alliance and forever changed the shape of Teyvat. I ask you, what is he above all things?
Hmm? What's that? You don't know the answer?
Allow me to enlighten you.
He is a father."
~?.
Rise and Shine
Inazuma was peaceful in the early morning.
While the Lord Shogun and his family retired to their well-earned rest, those who served them did not.
Countless warriors loyal to him and his patrolled the grounds; soldiers sworn to his service, good men and women whose integrity went without question. They could not be swayed by bribes, nor did they fear death, nor could their faith be shaken. Legends had it that they had been blessed by ancient oaths; that they'd sworn blood bonds to him and his descendants for centuries to come, empowered by the very principle he embodied to serve the Shogun in life and death.
Truth is often stranger than fiction.
Simply put, these men and women weren't anything so otherworldly. They'd simply been granted the gift of Chakra by their protector. Taught, mentored in its usage, until like so many others before them, they passed the art down to their children and their children's children. Unlike so many who wielded Visions, their potential was not limited to one element. Some might even say Shinobi of Inazuma were unmatched. It would not be a half truth.
But even the best guard knew better than to interfere with what was happening tonight.
Indeed many turned a blind eye a shadow slipped through the halls of the manor, darted up the stairs, and stole through the shadows. Pale hands gripped a doorknob only to struggle and grapple with the sliding door as a one might a mortal enemy. A nearby guard forbore the urge to laugh, but his partner proved less fortunate. Her lips twitched.
"Snrk!"
The intruder heard them at once and rounded on the duo with a huff. Bright red eyes met their in the dark, framed by a crown of dark hair and a fearsome scowl. He might've actually looked threatening...if it weren't for his oversized orange-on-magenta pajamas...or the kitten perched on his shoulder.
"What's so funny?!"
The guards knew better than to rise to the bait. They simply turned back and marched away.
"Yeah, that's right!" The boy glared after them. "You better run! Fly you fools!"
The kitten on his shoulder meowed once. "They knew what I meant!"
Finally, he wrestled the door open. Quick steps carried him to the foot of the bed.
"Dad?" Neither his mother nor father moved. His brow twitched. "C'mon, wake up! You promised we'd train today!"
A sleepy grumbled answered him.
Havria creaked an eye open, bright iris flashing in the faint light of early dawn as she yawned. "Your son is awake."
Naruto did the same beside her. Scowled. Rolled over. "Before sunrise, Klarion is your son...
She smiled a little. "Such a grumpy husband I have...
The boy huffed. "You said we'd train today!"
His father began to snore.
"Sleep in on me, will he...?" The boy cut a portal in the air and leaped! "Goooooooood morning!"
Naruto jolted awake as a small form landed right on his stomach.
Breath burst from his lungs.
"Oi!"
(.0.0.0.)
"He really got you good, didn't he?"
...one more word, and I will shave you bald, Kurama."
Naruto stifled a yawn and propped one elbow on the arm rest of his throne, cheek resting against his palm as the guards ushered a happy supplicant out. Holding court was...annoying at times, but it was rewarding in its own right, if only because it let him see his people. Seeing them reminded him of why he'd settled here in the first place. Some might say such behavior was unbefitting of a god, that they shouldn't walk among their people. He disagreed.
"Your people, eh?"
"Oh, shut up. They know what I meant."
"My, my," Havria tittered in the seat beside him, "Are you still nursing a grudge over that?"
...no."
Bemused blue eyes flicked to another pair supplicants at the foot of his throne, a man and a woman. One of them had silver eyes, but that was all he could see from this distance.
"C'mon now, don't stand so far away." he beckoned. "Come up here and lets talk as equals...
The duo complied, but glared bloody red daggers at one another as they did.
A distant explosion rattled the room. The shouts of children chased it.
"Klarion! That's my doll! Give it back!"
"You'll never take me alive, Ei!"
"I DON"T INTEND TO!"
Naruto sighed.
"Ignore that. Now where we we?"
A/N: Yup. Klarion from Young Justice.
As ever, the Embers rule still persists. If folks don't like this story? Poof! Gone!
Awaaaaay to the void it goes. Gone once and for all. Forever. Completely. That's no joke.
So by all means, speak up! Raise your voice! Make yourself heard! Your reviews matter! Really, they do! I'm literally working every day now, so I have less and less time to write. Daily updates might...slow down for a bit, but I know that would upset a lot of people. Its just hard with two jobs.
So In The Immortal Words of Atlas...
...Review, Would You Kindly? It keeps us all alive.
Without reviews, we wither and die. Sorry, but that's the truth.
Simple previews this time. No one seems to like when they get word, and this story clearly isn't as popular as the rest.
(Preview)
"Klarion, did you sink an island?"
His son winced. "...maybe?"
Guild as sin."Fix it. Now."
"Alright, alright, spoilsport...
"This!" Naruto stabbed a finger at the rent in the sky. "This is why we don't mess with time travel...
"Have you seen Mother? I need her for something...
"She's away at the moment, but," She heard Father tapping his foot. "Ayaka. What do you have there?"
The little girl stilled, then offered up her hands, "I...I found a baby bird. Its wing is broken."
Naruto's face softened. "Let me see."
It was a good memory.
Klee flung up her arms. "More explosions! Best grampa ever!"
"Thatta boy, Morax! Finally had a kid, did ya?!"
"To hell with the mortals! They exist to serve us! You're no God! Just a-
They didn't see the punch, but they surely felt it all the same.
Naruto sighed. "You don't seem to understand. This!
His fist blurred. Teeth flew through the air.
"Is not how!"
Blood spattered.
"Gods act!"
Even the most powerful beings need a bit of downtime.
He raised a continent into the sky and froze it there! How is that downtime?!
"Who wants sweets?"
"Now, now, you'll always be my little girls...
Ei and Makoto sighed.
R&R~!