Chapter 2: Astera
"Speech"/ "Thoughts"
"Large Monster and Tailed-Beast Speech"/ "Thoughts"
Chapter 2: Astera
"Fuuuuuuuuuuck!"
Naruto's day started off normally enough. He woke up at a reasonable time, ate breakfast, and went to Jiraiya to start the day's training. Initially, he was excited to learn Jiraiya had a plan to ensure the younger shinobi would be able to summon a proper toad. However, Naruto's enthusiasm instantly left the moment he was pushed off a cliff by the Toad Sage.
And so, as Naruto currently descended down the deep trench at high speeds, he was unable to get a grip on the innumerable spikes of rock lining the walls of the crevice. Not even enhancing his grip strength with chakra helped him; the rocky protrusions were either too slippery from moisture, or far too sharp for his current skill to grab without injuring himself.
"Crap! Crap! Crap!" Naruto screamed as he fell faster and faster, eyes stinging from the wind. Was this it? Was this how he died?
"I hope so!" The Nine-Tailed Fox snarled from its prison within his body. "Then not only will I be free; I won't have to see that damnable serpent again!"
Before Naruto could wonder who the fox was referring to, he saw vines and fallen tree trunks thick enough for him to grab onto lodged in between the walls of the trench. Better yet, they were conveniently laid in his path.
"Alright… gotta' time this…!
Naruto's hands shot out, successfully grasping onto a thick vine. With a triumphant grin, he looked upwards, a low whistle coming from inside him when he saw how far he had fallen.
"It'll take me forever to climb back up! Fuck you, Pervy Sage!" An exasperated Naruto shouted, his voice echoing throughout the canyon.
As he began to pull himself towards the closest wall of stone spikes, though, Naruto felt the vine sag. Then the blonde saw the end of the vine began to slide out from the rock.
"Crap…"
"Nya? What was that?" A small bodied creature looked upwards, with his similarly-sized fellows did the same as their sensitive hearing picked up odd sounds. All four looked at one another as the sounds grew closer, now accompanied by shouting and cursing.
Well, mostly cursing.
Every so often, the sounds and screams stopped for a few moments, before they resumed, usually with a loud 'Thunk' interspersed between them. Soon enough, the four saw a body slam into the wet mud, his fall broken by multiple trees and vines on the way down, enough to avoid a fatal injury.
The body laid still as they silently walked towards it. Their noses picked up blood – not surprising, given all the splinters in his flesh. They could tell the individual was male, and that he had more than a few broken bones. Unable not to help, they began to examine his injuries. A broken leg and arm, dozens of splinters, multiple cuts – one of the four went to check his face for anything requiring more immediate attention.
"!"
The other three stared in alarm as their fellow had jumped five feet into the air with a screech akin to an agitated alley cat.
"It's him! We need to get him to Astera, meow!"
Moving quickly, one of the small bodied creatures fished out a small scroll from one of his cloaks pocket. Unraveling the parchment, the paper showing a complex sealing matrix made up of jagged characters. Laying the unfurled scroll on the bare and damp rock, the four quickly yet delicately lifted the injured male they estimated to be in his mid-teens – 16 at most – and gently carried him on top of the slightly damp paper.
The seal shined a dark purple as the four creature placed their feline-like paws on separate corners and channeled enough energy to activate the seal. Within a few seconds, a plume of smoke consumed the five, with not a trace left of the group, save for the energy's excess burn mark on the ground.
From his place on the edge of the cliff, Jiraiya stared in shock as he felt the energy signatures – including that of his very much alive student – disappear.
"…explaining this to the Third is going to suck."
~ Unknown Location ~
Groaning, Naruto slowly opened his eyes, his body shackled with a dull pain all over it. He could feel three of limbs were in casts, and only bandages held his blood and guts where they belonged. Observing his surroundings, he found himself laid on a hospital bed inside of a modest-sized room, with a large bookcase at one side taking up an entire wall. The room was lit by lanterns strategically placed to provide as much light as possible with the least amount necessary.
The creaking of a door alerted Naruto to someone entering. His head slowly – and painfully – turned to see a pale man in light blue robes freeze as the newcomer looked at him. Pale brown eyes widened as the man rushed to where the injured shinobi lay, gently placing his four-digit hands on Naruto when he tried to raise his body up.
"Stay still, stay still," the man chided in concern. "You were found heavily injured at the bottom of a trench, and were quickly transported here."
The man turned his head towards the still-open door. "Viloria! Get me a potion from Kurohana!"
"W-Where… Where am I?" Naruto's voice was reduced to a coarse whisper due to his injuries, but it was enough to get the stranger's attention.
"You are in my clinic, but more specifically, you were brought to Astera. Oh, by the way," " What is your name?" Unbeknownst to Naruto, the man helping him already knew his name, having seen his ID and derived his identity from his initial check-over, but he was asking to see if the fall had resulted in memory loss from considerable trauma to the head, as the teenager was also suffering from a concussion.
"Uzumaki… Naruto…" the boy painfully whispered, coughing in pain soon after.
"OK, my name is Nikola. I know you're hurting, but I need you to tell me about yourself. I need to know if you've lost some of your memories from the fall."
"I'm a... Genin of Konoha," Naruto slowly began, listing a few things about himself.
Nikola letting out a relieved sigh and smiled, feeling confident that Naruto did not seem to have lost any of his memory.
His smile was replaced with a frustrated grimace when the younger make began to cough up blood. "Dammit! Where was Viloria and the potion?! I was told one would be prepared when Naruto was placed in intensive care!"
Just as he nearly yelled aloud to summon one of his assistants, hurried footsteps were rapidly approaching. He sighed in relief when his female assistant rushed into the room with a sealed glass jar filled with a green liquid. Nikola carefully tilted Naruto's upper body up, using one hand to hold him up, while the other held the now-unscrewed jar.
"You might not like the taste, but trust me, you'll be feeling a lot better after drinking this," Nikola warned as he brought the jar to his patient's lips.
The liquid messily, but slowly poured down Naruto's throat, with only Nikola's throat massage managing to push it down far enough for the young boy to ingest it. It's exceedingly bitter, yet cool; the two paradoxical sensation clearing away his pain.
Naruto's eyes snapped open as soon as all the liquid was gone. "What is that stuff!?" Naruto exclaimed, his voice back to his normal loudness without a hint of distress. However, his shock soon grew only larger when he saw the doctor-like person removed the splint on one of his arms without any pain at all. He even went to the point of testing said appendage, bending and moving it as he pleased, and… nothing. No pain, no numbness.
"Please stand up," the doctor requested, with his assistant stood beside him.
Cautious, Naruto slowly swung his legs over the bed, the lack of pain encouraging him as stood up, and began to walk. He looked at the bandages on his left hand, and unwrapped them. His skin was unmarred, as not even the smallest scratch was visible. Once more, Naruto asked about the green liquid he was given.
Nikola smiled as he approached the awed boy, beginning to remove the rest of the bandages as he explained. "What we gave you was a potion capable of instantly healing a wide range of physical injuries." Naruto paid rapt attention as Nikola spoke. The assistant quickly excused herself after informing her boss their leader needed to know their guest had awakened. Nikola nodded, before sending her off.
"So you guys have a miracle cure for everything?!" Naruto almost couldn't believe something like that existed, but Nikola shook his head negatively.
"No, there are limits… if a limb is lost, a new one will not replace it, and of course you have to be able to physically drink it, as it interacted best through your olfactory and digestive system. There are other, more peculiar physical ailments the potions cannot repair, but I don't want to bore you with too much information," Nikola stated, before he gave Naruto a serious look, pausing the removal of the wrappings from the younger male.
"…the ingredients to make the potions are easily the rarest in the world, only growing here and in such short supply that if it wasn't ordered beforehand, you certainly wouldn't have gotten it."
Naruto nodded understandingly. Nikola gently smiled as he continued his previous activity.
"Why was it ordered that a potion was given to me? And who made the call?"
Nikola paused again, the pale man contemplating deeply on what to say. Naruto wasn't sure how to feel if he actually received the truth for his latter question… or the lack of one for his first.
"It's better you meet him yourself," Nikola told the blonde, as the removal of the bandages was finished. Nikola also told Naruto to wait there while he retrieved some clothes for him to wear. "Yours were ruined in the fall so while you were unconscious; we found an outfit we hope is to your liking," Nikola stated with a small smile as he left the room, leaving Naruto completely alone in a pair of briefs he knew weren't his.
Naruto sat on the bed, still amazed at how all of his injuries had been fixed so quickly and perfectly. The blond couldn't help but think about how to get Jiraiya back for almost killing him, but his thoughts soon drifted towards Nikola – mainly how the man hesitated to talk about whoever wanted Naruto to have the potion. While thankful for the accelerated healing, there were certainly several dangerous flags, enough to be suspicious to, but Naruto didn't want to jump to conclusions.
Nikola helped him, which was far more than what most people had ever done for him in his life. For now, that would be enough for Naruto to trust him. With a sigh, Naruto ran a hand through his hair, thoughts now firmly on the fall. He could've died. That fall could've ended him. "What was Jiraiya thinking!?" Naruto grit his teeth, hands balled into fists. When he saw that asshole…
"I'm cracking his skull…" Naruto seethed silently before taking a few quick breaths to calm himself. Surprisingly, that worked. The teenager paused for a moment to do something he rarely ever did.
Think.
Not about ramen or his next prank, but to ponder on himself and his situation. He was in an unknown area, with no means of contact to the Hidden Leaf. Jiraiya had probably already reported Naruto was dead (completely that perverted idiot's fault), when he was actually alive and completely fine. Naruto didn't even want to think about how he was going to Konoha to clear all this up, let alone find another sensei to prepare him for the final part of the Chūnin Exams…
After what happened with Jiraiya, Naruto couldn't bring himself to trust him. With a sigh, Naruto stood up. He felt different. He knew he had quite a bit more energy than most people, but so far, none of it acted up, usually in the form of an irresistible urge to prank something.
"Maybe that fall knocked a few screws loose – or tightened a few, heh heh!" Naruto joked to himself, the possibility of his words being true not lost to him. Then again, this could just be he was simply happy to be alive. Whatever the case, Naruto decided not to stop wondering and get some fresh air.
Walking over to a nearby window, Naruto pulled out the curtains and slid the glass panel up. Peering outside, Naruto saw the nightlife of Astera: people were eating at restaurants, some were shopping, there even seemed to be a dance club. The shinobi raised a brow when he saw everyone walked on solid rock, but shrugged it off in favor of looking at the bright crystals in the sky.
"… crystals?"
Naruto felt his heart rate spiked when he saw there was no sky; instead, a jagged ceiling of stone, dotted with crystals which gave off a star-like glow with a large central formation, acting as a replacement for the moon greeted him. Slowly backing away, the shinobi turned around just as Nikola entered, holding neatly-folded garments under his arm.
The doctor immediately noticed the panicked expression on Naruto's face, right in front of the open window. Those two clues were all he needed to put together what happened.
Nikola calmly began to speak in attempt to get the recently awakened teenager to calm down, hands held up in a pacifistic manner. "Naruto, let me-"
He only got three words out before Naruto leapt out the window and onto the street below. Upon landing, Naruto had to look behind him when he heard an angry hiss. His jaw promptly dropped when he saw an upright, shirt-wearing cat glaring at him.
"Nya! What's the big idea!?" The gray-haired felyne shouted angrily, ears curled back and eyes in slits. "You better a-paw-logize or get ready to catch these claws!" The cat demanded as he brandished his curled claws, all of his hair standing up into the air, almost as tall as his tail was right now.
Naruto bolted not even a second later, fleeing from the peeved cat as Nikola exited his home/clinic and chased after Naruto.
"Yeah! You better run!" The cat shouted, before cursing "Pussy!" under his breath.
Despite hearing Nikola's consistent pleas for him to stop, Naruto kept racing down the street, uncaring of the fact he was running all-but-naked. In truth, to him, the noise and din of the surroundings world had faded into a background, as he felt a pull… no, something called to him. In fact, it could be said he's running while unconscious.
"Hey! Stop!"
New voices shouted at Naruto. He glanced behind himself and saw people racing after him, covered in armor of various designs and colors. Surprisingly, these people not only seemed to be keeping up, they were actually catching up to him as well.
"Stop! We aren't going to hurt you!" One called out.
"You're safe here! Let us explain!" Another one shouted.
All of their voices sounded earnest, like they meant every word. Yet… Naruto couldn't – no, shouldn't stop running. As he moved, the pull he felt grew stronger and stronger with every step. Like a moth to a flame, the misplaced shinobi ran pass people, cut through alleys and even leapt over a few of those strange, bipedal cats in his haste to reach the source of what called to him.
Pumping chakra into his limbs, Naruto suddenly accelerated, increasing the distance between himself and his pursuers. Once he saw he accomplished that, Naruto leapt on to the rooftops, hoping the weight of the armor would prevent his chasers to catch up vertically, despite their apparent physical advantages compared to himself. For the most part, his quick thinking paid off, as only one of the group made the jump, cleverly using a long piece of bone with a sharp protrusion on one end as a pole to vault off the ground.
The exertion did seem to slow the armored man down, though, as he lagged behind when chasing Naruto across the rooftops. Seeing this, he no longer enhanced enhancing his body with chakra However, when he looked over his shoulder, Naruto saw a giant beetle on the person's arm, its presence somehow eliciting a dread inside him. Running a tad faster, the shinobi neared the end of the underground settlement.
At the end of the structures which made up Astera, fifty or so feet of rock stretched sharply outwards, until a sharp drop marked the end of solid ground, except for a single man-made bridge of stone connecting it to a cave, wide enough for twenty to walk through in a straight line.
There. That was where the pull was leading him.
Pushing ahead, the barely-clothed Genin hopped off the last roof, rolled to smooth his landing before continuing on his way. Upon reaching the bridge, Naruto crossed it without hesitation and entered the cave, disappearing into the shadows.
"This isn't good…" Nikola muttered when he reached the edge of Astera, the hunters near him, nervous about the possible outcome. The citizens looked around apprehensively, knowing who resided in that cave.
"Calm yourselves, this is nothing to worry about," a woman's voice suddenly cut the tension in the air, as those gathered around parted when they turned to see who spoke. She walked briskly through the split crowd, the hunters standing at attention while Nikola bowed his head low when she reached him.
"Forgive me, Lady Kurohana," the doctor began to apologize. To his surprise, she waved him off as she walked past the hunters.
"There is nothing to worry about," Kurohana repeated, as she looked to the cave before turning to face the crowd. "Their meeting has been fated to happen since that first night, eight years ago. Let us allow fate to take its course."
The assembly murmured in agreement, trusting her judgement as they returned to previous activities as Kurohana faced the cave again, the hunters and Nikola remained behind her. The doctor felt anxious about Naruto, not for his safety, but for his future instead.
"I pray you can carry the responsibility… The survival of humanity may rest in your hands, boy."
"I can't see a thing…"
Naruto had been slowly walking in pitch black darkness for a few minutes now, though the stone ground was rather smooth so far, allowing the underdressed Genin to maintain his pace. He sighed as he trudged forward, the invisible pull dragging him further into the cavern. Alone, Naruto began to wonder if he should turn around and go back.
"But you're so close…" Naruto heard a small voice assure him. "Just a little further... You're almost there…"
"I'm going crazy… Listening to voices in my head…" Naruto mumbled, moving forward despite his better judgement. A few feet went by when he saw a speck of light. A grin began to tug on Naruto's lips, as excitement began to build up inside of him.
Quickening his pace, Naruto headed to the light, thinking he had found a way out. Walking closer, Naruto saw the light came from another one of those crystals, its beautiful light illuminating the nearby section of the cave and yet another opening. Exiting, Naruto found himself on a natural platform of rock of about twenty feet in horizontal length. He could only walk forward about another thirty or so feet before gravity would pull him down a black chasm.
"Look outwards… what do you see?" The tiny voice in back of Naruto's mind instructed. The shinobi shook his head, but did as asked, noticing he no longer felt a pull. In fact… he felt like he was exactly where he needed to be.
The area beyond expanded well out of his range of sight, even with the numerous crystals offering a sufficient – if a bit dim – level of light. Dozens of weathered stone pillars rose from the blackness, all the way to the crystal-dotted ceiling. Naruto whistled at the width one pillar in particular possessed, easily being several hundred feet wide. This one was located about a hundred or so feet away.
Suddenly, the immense cavern began to shake violently. Naruto quickly put his hands on top of his head to shield it from the falling rocks and dust. He could hear water sloshing around below, only now realizing he wasn't alone in here. Naruto turned to flee back to Astera but the voice spoke out against this course.
"Do not leave… thia meeting must take place…"
"Meeting with who!? Death!?"
Naruto began to run, but the trembling earth put an immediate stop to his advance. His body was violently thrown into the last direction he wanted to go: Backwards.
His flesh slapped harshly against hard stone before skidding to halt, yet Naruto barely registered the scrapes and bruises. He was too busy staring at the two large circles of amethyst shining from the deep black below.
"Until you find me… this will be farewell."
The luminous orbs turned away, fading as they descended into the inky blackness below until the glow was imperceivable. The shaking returned, and Naruto pushed himself away from the edge, scrambling to get back up and try to escape through the tunnel. He only managed to get on his knees facing the exit when the world finally became still. Naruto however, knew not to move...
…not when he could feel the hot wind blow past him, before reversing in a continuous beat... just like a thing's breathing. Not when the light of the crystals was blocked by an immense shape hovering above him and shadowed not only his little cliff, but also the forty-five feet beyond both sides of the crag. The cavern shook again as the shadow drew back slowly, the proximity of the creature showing itself to be unnervingly close.
Naruto remained still, praying to whichever god listening to save him, or at least make the beast ignore him. For the next few minutes, Naruto sat still, unwilling to move as sweat profusely flowed from his pores. Whatever was behind him had not stirred either, it's pulse remaining unchanged.
"Turn around…"
The very air vibrated as an unnatural baritone whispered, commanding Naruto from behind. With his eyes shut, the young male began to shake as he slowly stood up, turning around to face the voice.
The air trembled as the creature whispered again, the tone surprisingly gentle, despite its deep rasp. "Open your eyes, child of man."
Hesitantly, Naruto did as he was asked.
"No…"
Ivory scales shining with an ethereal light covered the creature's viper-like head, with a crown of forward-facing hook-like spikes decorated the gargantuan head, as a blue tongue easily exceeding fifty feet in length shot out from the closed jaw.
"Wake up… this isn't real…!"
The long serpentine body constricted around the pillar of stone Naruto noticed earlier; its bulk
could easily crush the pillar like twig with but a mere twitch, so immense was its size. Along the
back, Naruto saw three trails of spikes spreading out evenly, each one bigger than a house.
"This can't be happening!"
Robotically, Naruto looked upwards to see the snake's eyes.
Due to the width of its head being nearly a hundred feet, and its close proximity to Naruto, the massive snake had to tilt its cranium considerably in order to enable one of its eyes to focus on him. Naruto's pulse pounded in his ears while his heart threatened to burst out of his chest when he met the snake's gaze.
Multiple metallic rings rippled on a purple eyeball, with the width of the central ring could fit at least two adult men inside its circumference.
"At long last… you and I finally meet."
Naruto couldn't speak. This was impossible! He was dreaming again, that was the only explanation!
"I am called Jörmungandr," the giant snake whispered, the air vibrating as it introduced itself. The name was completely alien to Naruto, but that didn't matter nearly as much as the heart, anxiety, and panic attacks Naruto was simultaneously experiencing. Neither his mind nor body could handle what transpired any longer, prompting both to shut down.
Jörmungandr sighed when he saw the human hatchling faint. The Dalamadur hoped he could at least talk to him for a few minutes, before diving deeper into the questions they both had about each other. For the past eight years, the white serpent had seen visions of this child atop a pillar-like mountain, along with an Elder Dragon and a Brute Wyvern hidden in a thick mist. To Jörmungandr's horror, he saw the eclipse which signaled the return of the Ancestral Dragon appear in the sky. Before the Dalamadur could react, the scene changed to flashes of a ravine, the same child laid bleeding, dying at the bottom.
The dream ended with that image, and Jörmungandr soon realized this dream was a vision of future events after multiple reoccurrences. With its eyes focused on the unconscious boy, multiple thoughts swirled inside the great serpent's mind.
However, the Dalamadur hushed them. "When Naruto awakens, we will talk…"
The great serpent opened his gargantuan maw – exposing fangs easily over fifty feet in length – in a quiet yawn before he focused on Naruto. Tasting the air around him, Jörmungandr sensed something – rather, someone – he hadn't felt in a long time.
"The boy contains Kurama? Great…"
The giant snake wished he could roll his eyes. He had known the Tailed-Beasts since their creation, yet never seemed to quite get along with them, especially after he passed.
Jörmungandr subtlety flared his chakra to signal the leader of Astera that her presence was wanted. After a few moments, a dark haired woman with pointed ears walked in barefoot, showing her clawed and four-toed feet, a typical feature of a Wyverian.
"How may I be of assistance to the World Serpent?" Kurohana spoke with her head bowed in respect. Her eyes went to Naruto who laid passed out on the ground, an amused smile forming on her face. The female Wyverian had only gotten a glimpse of him as he entered Jörmungandr's cavern.
"So this is the one from your nightly visions." Kurohana had raised her head, directly facing the Guardian of Astera, unafraid of the serpentine Titan.
"Indeed he is…" Jörmungandr whispered a confirmation, purple eye locked onto the topic of the short exchange. "I want you to bring me a few things."
CUT! CHAPTER OVER!
AN: Alright, not gonna lie, I wasn't exactly sure how to end this chapter so if it seems a bit incomplete or stopped abruptly that's why.
Moving on to topic that is probably going to fill the review section, the Dalamadur I've named Jörmungandr. While he is named after the World Serpent, he's nowhere near as long as the creature of legend; that is not to say he's short. The Dalamadur of this story is much, much bigger than the one fought in MH4U.
Potions. An item nearly every Hunter takes for granted. Not true in Naruto's case, potions will be a rarity he almost never has.
Onto pairing, this may change depending on how the story progresses but for now Ino will be the chosen girl however it could change to Third Fleet Master/Kurohana (I'm not creative with names) down the road. This'll all depend on how everything is written as the story goes on, the pairing not really important to plot but it's a preference of mine to have one.
Know that even if Ino isn't permanent, she will get stronger and train properly. Speaking of getting stronger, which weapons and armor from Monster Hunter do you think Naruto should start off with?
I'm leaning towards a beginner level Dual Blade or Insect Glaive with parts of the chainmail armor set. Put suggestions in the review section or PM them to me.
Lastly is a question for all reviewers.
What do you think of when you hear the name Plesioth?
If you've never played any of the Monster Hunter games, then read reviews of those who do. Popcorn is recommended.
Please read and review, your opinions matter to me!
Later!
Greyblueflames burning out!