A/N: Slifer wrote the bulk of this bad boy. I just tweaked it and added stuff.
Furthermore, this chapter is told from multiple perspectives, as per his writing style. Hope that doesn't bother anyone.
...we've been looking forward to writing this chapter.
A chance for us to cut loose and write an absolute BRAWL between two monsters.
Two titans, warriors who can give as good as they can get, and woe to ye if you get between them.
Lets have it, shall we? But first…
I'll say it plain, if this email opt-in business with the Fanfiction site doesn't get resolved soon, I'm probably going to retire.
The app helps for some, for others it doesn't.
It HURTS to say that; but with this new system, reviews and readers have dropped to an all time low, authors are leaving the site in droves, and it feels like the end of an era.
If you're not already aware of it, ever since the 16th of November -more than three bloody months now!- you now have to turn ON your email alerts in account settings-MAKE SURE YOU CLICK SAVE SETTINGS!-else you won't be notified when anyone updates. No alerts, no email, no nothing. Apparently that's a thing we all have to do every ninety days or so, now. Alas, not many are aware of it...which is a problem. As things stand this new "fix" as it were, has cut everyone's viewership/reviewers in half because most folks don't know about it. Authors are leaving/quitting because of this.
Sometimes opting in works. Sometimes it doesn't. Really depends. Hopefully the devs can fix tweak/update this system before everyone leaves.
So here we go. The fate of this story depends on you, the reader. Your feedback determines the fate of this story, and all others.
I hate having to beg for feedback, but without it...well, it feels like I'm not making an impact.
Now for your questions, comments, and concerns. We'll be brief:
Q: Update schedule?
A: Updating Elden Ring this month, and more of the other stories, in part to see who enjoys what. We'll see if this pattern continues.
On the plus side, this delay means chapters for "The Golden Son" and "For Love of a Witch" and "Over Fallen Leaves" are reaching into the upper thousands. Several thousands.
Q: On a scale of one to ten, how embarrassed in Gwynevere right now?
A: ELEVEN. She just got herself accidentally engaged and now her old man intends to throw down with her intended. Poor girl's all up in a tizzy.
Q: Don't you dare hold back. I want blood!
A: Bloodthirsty, aren't you? Be assured, you'll get it.
Alright then, I've kept you long enough. Lets get into the meet of the matter and have some fun!
As ever, I own no quotes, references, or memes. Not a wit or a one. NOPE!
They're merely tributes to legends far beyond me~!
Kudos for ZeroHour00 giving/suggesting me a quote here. You'll know it when you see it.
"SHOW ME THE MONSTER INSIDE!"
~Godfrey.
No Courtesy Here
Pain.
That was Naruto's first coherent thought as the world came back to him, punctuated by the pounding of his skull. He pried himself upright and shook his head; only to grunt in confusion as bits of rubble came tumbling out his long, crimson hair. Confusion became apprehension, then outright glee as he touched a hand to his forehead. It came away bloody.
Slowly but surely, a grin stretched across his face. Someone had actually managed to wound him.
He couldn't remember the last time someone had actually hurt him in this, his second lifetime. Sure there had been plenty of close calls in his first go around; he owned that. He owed his survival to skill as much as blind bloody luck. He'd dealt with death so many times it became something of a close friend. But this?
No one had been able to make him bleed like this since he'd come to the Lands Between. Not Rennala, not Radagon, not even Loretta or even Friede.
This...this was new. This was exciting!
This made his heart race!
"You're smiling, Radahn!" A rich voice filled his ears, prompting him to look up. "Are you an armchair general after so many years or are you still a warrior!?"
Vision resolving itself, Naruto realised he was in a freshly made crater in the academy's central courtyard, dozens of scholars and sorcerers turning tail and running as far away from the commotion as they could. Inclining his head, he caught sight of the vaguely human shaped hole in the wall two stories above him which the speaker had presumably just knocked him through. A murky shape peeked out from the hole before leaping down into the courtyard with a crash, the familiar jovial yet excited face of the Elden Lord wielding his axe ventured in his sight and it all came flooding back.
Right. He remembered now. Godfrey had attacked him earlier. Even now the big bastard was waiting for him to get up, axe in hand; ever honorable, refusing to kick him while he was down. He could respect that. It wasn't a beating he wanted, but a brawl. A true battle between equals for all of Raya Lucaria -and perhaps the world!- to witness firsthand.
Kurama leered within him. "He just hit you! What are you going to do about it?"
His eyes blazed gold. There could be only one answer. "Hit 'em harder."
If it was a fight he wanted...!
"An armchair general?" he righted himself with a grin and reached over his shoulders, his great height matching the Elden Lord. Large hands grasped the hefty hilts of his Starscourge Greatswords and drew them with a sonorous rasp of steel. "Absolutely not." Godfrey's grin grew to match his grin as he lumbered forth to meet him. "But I think myself a warrior, so let's make war!"
He lunged, letting loose a battle cry that shook the surrounding.
The Lord of Gold met him with no hesitation, hefting his axe and cleaving it downwards in a helm splitting arc, meeting the horizontally slashing greatswords as they crossed, a resonant clang echoing into the sky. Naruto considered a blade lock but before the sparks of the initial clash had even touched the ground, Godfrey was already in motion; momentarily pulling the axe back to let the twin sword continue their horizontal arc. The weapon shifted minutely, tipping the axes head up to allow the crossed blades underneath it before slamming the golden edge down on them.
The blades dipped, and Godfrey stepped in, thrusting the weighted head of his war-axe towards Naruto's throat now that it was unobstructed.
Seeing the blunt mallet of pain careening for his adams apple, instinct took over. Gripping the handles of the paired greatswords harder, Naruto kicked out with a leg and caught the flat of the right sword and leant forwards, his momentum and Godfrey's forwards motion carrying the sword forwards to stab at his opponent's centre line. The Lord's grin grew brighter at the counter and answered with one of his own, pivoting on his foot to twirl out of the path of the stab and taking a swing at Naruto. Said reincarnated shinobi switched the left sword into a reverse grip, blocking as they streaked past each other.
Both were sent skidding through the dirt for a few feet before launching themselves at one another again in a whirl of blades. A rain of hefty crashes and clangs accompanied the deluge of slices, thrusts, parries and ripostes that the pair unleashed upon one another in fractions of a second. Godfrey had reach but Naruto had a larger cutting surface to work with and it was not long until a fringed riposte yielded Naruto his first wound on his opponent, the tip of his sword catching Godfrey's cheek.
Naruto saw the momentary lapse in concentration that the small wound had imparted and capitalized instantly; leaping into the air above Godfrey to whip both Starscourge greatswords down at his head as if they were weightless.
"Ha!" the axeman cheered, thoroughly enjoying himself. The long handle of his axe switched from one hand to another In a show of great dexterity before he threw the axe, arresting Naruto's sword motions for but a moment. A moment was all he needed. The Lord jumped, an inhuman action akin to a canon firing, amassing his strength and releasing it. Before Naruto could bring his swords up in defense Godfrey had already locked both hands around his skull and drove his knee into Naruto's face.
Black stars burst into life in Naruto's vision, staggered by the massive and sudden blunt force trauma to his head. He thanked the stars above that his body was sturdier than sense as it let him hold on to enough reason to realise that Godfrey had let go of his head and was reaching for his axe, still in the air.
It was in that moment that a sudden wave of emotion came over Naruto, an annoyance banal in cause but of a magnitude that set him into a right rage.
'He's in the sky… my sky….' his knuckles turned white around the sword handles before he let out a battle cry. Gravity Magic bloomed across his body in a violet corona, sending himself flying at Godfrey who had just retaken the errant axe. The old man doubled over when Naruto slammed the pomels of both his swords into his gut, knocking the air from his lungs.
A glimmer of faint gold light twinkled from the corner of Naruto's vision and his danger senses screamed in warning. Not doubting his own instincts, whipped his head backwards just in time to avoid the swipe of a spectral paw of a translucent spectre that glowerd at him from Godfrey's shoulder.
Serosh roared in challenge, not taking well to his partner being brutalised.
Kurama rallied, "Focus on the old man and leave the sour pussycat to me!"
"Hya!" Naruto grunted, sweeping under a blind jab that Godfrey sent his way before slamming his shoulders into the older man's solar plexus and wrapping his arms around his midsection in a tackle.
One issue with airborne combat was the lack of leverage, nothing to push off against and yield greater power into your strikes. In his prior life Naruto had found his ways around the issue long before he had been blessed with flight and as Radahn… let it be said that Gravit Magic levelled most playing fields.
Magic thrumming with inhuman power, Naruto and Godfrey shot into the air above the academy before jetting through the sky at speeds the eye could not track, Gravity Magic carrying the old man all the way.
Godfrey roared in appreciation and began to relentlessly rain punches and elbows down on Naruto's unprotected head. Every time Serosh tried to join the medley a glimmering gold chakra arm would emerge from Naruto's back to smack the limb aside and deck the spectral ion in the face.
"You've no clue how wonderful this feels! How many ages it has been since I could fight against someone without fear they would be vaporised by my first strike!" The Elden Lord bellowed over the wind, a cone of cavitation forming around them before shattering as they passed the sound barrier. Haymaker after haymaker thundered into the crown of Naruto's head and face, welts and bruising already starting to form but his burning eyes no less strongly. This was not anger he realized, it was exhilaration.
"Oh I know you old bastard, believe me I know!" he shouted in response. When the next blow was a hair's breadth from smashing into the bridge of his nose, Naruto rolled to doge it and sank his teeth into the flesh of Godfrey's hand, ratcheting his jaw tighter until his teeth hit bone. 'The last person to ever give me a true fight was that bastard Isshiki and that was about a century ago! So now… with this, its good to feel alive again!'
A roll of the body was all it took to send the pair of them spinning in ever faster corkscrews; a maddening blur that left Godfrey and Serosh's vision nothing but a perpetually undulating collage of sky, ground and the occasional lake. The sight was so disorienting that the duo were totally blindsided when Naruto crashed them into a plateau at just over a dozen times the speed of sound.
The plateau vanished in an explosion of titanic proportions, forks of stray Gravity Magic, chakra and Godfrey's golden essence carving the rock formation into debris that varied from the finest dust to boulders the size of small castles. Space itself seemed to warp at the point of impact, light bending around the cosmic egg of primordial forces barely contained within common sense before reaching critical mass and spitting out its captives.
Naruto rolled backwards through the air, swords slipping from his grip to land a few feet away from him, digging into the ground of the newly created quarry. He breathed heavily, looking worse the wear than he had upon starting this morning. His armor and clothes were notably cracked and torn in several places, the magically reinforced metal that could stand up to his warping of gravity bearing dozens of fist shaped impressions from Godfrey's assault, a testament to his power. Naruto winced from the pain in his ribs, at least three of them were broken and he was pretty sure his sternum was badly bruised if not fractured.
He tasted copper in his mouth and knew that he was bleeding, but his stinging face had told him enough to know his nose was broken, a stream of scarlet blood dying the lower half of his face sanguine red...
.
..
...and what of it? He was far from done.
"Pick up your swords, General Radahn," said a satisfied yet somehow weary voice from behind him. Naruto slowly turned until he faced the menagerie of shattered stone where he had left Godfrey and saw something that made his eyes narrow in surprise. Godfrey stood on one knee, one hand clutching his axe while the other supported the weight of a gargantuan block of fragmented stone, the size of a small castle.
Naruto suppressed the urge to snort at the dogged tenacity, instead clamping one nostril shut the snort out the bloody contents of the other. "I think we've made enough of a mess already, old man."
Godfrey's grin was grim indeed. With a single excretion of force and power, he amassed the totality of his strength into his knuckles before slamming it into the block above him. The block, perhaps ten thousand tonnes of luirnian granite, was reduced to nothing but dust and splitters in an explosion of pure force, letting the Elden Lord stand up straight. "Pick up your swords. I'm not leaving until I've had my fill."
"...all of my hate, Godfrey. You have it." Naruto muttered sardonically, a feeling of realization settling over his thoughts as he extended his hands, pulling the twin greatswords from the ground with Gravity and letting his power spike to its zenith, a pillar of purple light erupting from him to pierce into the very heavens above. He gripped his swords and held them in a wide stance.
For all their differences between him and his uncle, they shared a fact, the enui of having no competition. It was lonely at the top after all, and when one meets opposition for the first time in an age of a world that did not push back? What could they do but fight? Not for death nor life, just the glory of the moment.
'This is the one, the one who shall give me the fight of my life, to prove that I was right to cast aside the name of Horrah Loux…' Godfrey thought with grim satisfaction. He lifted his dominant leg and stomped it in challenge, his own golden halo of energy crackling to life. "On my name as Godfrey, Elden Lord, the summit of what is achievable by man, I declare you a warrior!"
Tension built continuously between them until with no warning they both blitzed the distance, Naruto as a corkscrew of whirling blades and purple light while Godfrey and Serosh were a rabid fang.
The clash that followed shook the very academy to its roots.
Their melee simply did not end, a constant burst of back and forth combat that stretched out over the long minutes with neither giving the other an inch despite how much damage each heaped upon the other. Explosions punched holes into the terrain, arrows rained from the sky and weapons were worn down to their nubs.
In terms of physical strength they were a dead match and each possessed a body worthy of the label divine meaning that there was only one path to declaring a victor.
Attrition.
Sooner or later, one of their bodies would have to give out under the sheer amount of damage and exerted strength. It was an immutable fact. Naruto abandoned any notion of defense and commanded his body to move as fast as it was able, supplemented by his Gravity Magic and Kurama's chakra. To the naked eye his twin greatswords appeared to blur into a mirage of fifty separate weapons moving in such an erratic dance of swipes, stabs and cleaves that there was no way to dodge.
Yet still, Godfrey fought, wielding his weapon with preternatural skill and dexterity that he was still able to parry eighty percent of Naruto's sword attacks and land hits of his own. However, as the melee reached the end of its second hour, the accumulated damage began to pay dividends. Godfrey went for a swing with the hammer end of his axe only to overextend, and Naruto capitalized, lifting his leg to axe kick down on the shaft of the weapon and succeeded in knocking it from Godfrey's hands.
Godfrey came to a standstill, aware of the pair of greatswords resting at either side of his neck, their now pitted and dinged edges still razor sharp.
"Yield." Naruto rasped out hoarsely.
Godfrey seemed to take a moment to consider if he should continue the battle regardless, if he should seize this mighty foe with his bear hands and dash him with brute strength alone… but no. He nodded once, satisfied and watched Naruto put the swords down, leaning against them as crutches.
"Well fought, young General." he commended, patting the thoroughly bruised and bloodied Demigod on the shoulder and chucking at the wince. "Next time I shan't go so easy on you for the sake of my daughter."
Natuto groaned at the contact and dropped all pretense of graceful victory for a singular candid sentence. "Godfrey, you lost, so please… shut the fuck up."
The Elden Lord's booming laughter would last nearly as long as the battle.
(.0.0.0.)
Raya Lucaria's infirmary was...not what one might think of it.
A somewhat bizarre place when compared to most of its contemporaries, partially because most apothecaries and medical practitioners for Lords did their work from the patient's personal bed chambers, but mostly due to the sheer variety of maladies. While your average medical clinic in Leyendall may have to deal with gout from the tide of nobles who did little more than sit on their rumps all day or eye complaints from people that stared too long at the Erdtree, the academy had a variety more esoteric and phantasmagoria to inflict damage.
Students cooking their insides with spellfire, scholars suffering from scurvy from lack of proper eating in favour of study and even one notable case where a learner had got a piece of glintstone lodged in his urethra. Naruto snorted a laugh at the memory of that story, the tale of Gazmy of the Glinting Bellend was a joke that any student of the arcane knew. Said smile became a grimace when Rennala swatted his forehead with the tip of the instrument she was using to define the rate of his recovery.
"Be still, Radahn, else we shall start again from the top." she said, her voice serious but eyes glinting with an amusement that only a scolding mother could possess.
Naruto rolled his eyes and groaned out in protest. "Why must we do this, you know I'm fine, it was just a tussle-"
"You fractured or broke thirty-two bones and leveled a plateau in a pitch battle with your uncle, that is not what any sane person would call a tussle!" Rennala barked, sending Naruto to sink into the pile of pillows propped up behind him. "Do you know what I've had to do when not making sure your bones knit back together? Paperwork! Sending compensation to the farmers whose animals dropped dead with shock at the sight of the battle."
Naruto shrank deeper into his pillows. Much to his chagrin, his mother wasn't finished with him.
"Cowing Carian banners who believed that a civil war had broken out between us and Marika-be still!" she hissed at him when he tried to move, and immediately ranted on, "Contacting a cartographer to have the maps redrawn from you and Godfrey's bout of aggressive landscaping and even a class that wants to have a field trip to the sight of the battle to write a case study on your usage of gravity magic. A field trip!" she pinched his cheek when he dared to grin. "And you dare call it a mere tussle?!"
"M'sorry...
The other occupants of the room looked at the cowed general with a mix of amusement and sympathy. Little Ranni sat on the edge of Radahn's bed watching the exchange between mother and son with cherubic cuteness while Radagon maintained a level countenance leaning against the doorframe.
Now were they alone. The Leyndell Demigods stood on either side of the bed opposite Naruto's where Godfrey was situated, trying and failing to keep Serosh from fiddling with his bandages. Godwyn was thoroughly enjoying the show, while Gwynevere's face flitted back and forth between worry for both of their conditions and appreciation for how candidly the Carian queen could talk to her son.
Gwynevere ran a damp rag over the back of her father's hand, wrinkling her nose in disquiet at seeing the bite mark slowly healing. She did not understand how the pair of usually rational individual could nearly beat one another to death for kicks.
"Go easy on the boy, Rennala, t'was I who started the fight so spare the rod and spoil the child for doing me service eh?" the Elden Lord proposed only for Rennala to, without looking, make a gesture. Nearby linen wrappings sprang from a tray and flew at Godfrey's face before quickly wrapping around the lower half of his visage, sealing his mouth shut.
"I'm fully aware that your foolishness is shared, thus what the both of you shall do is spend one more day at my mercy." Rennala exclaimed with a smirk, an impish look that Naruto had rarely seen in his mother but found a refreshing change. "Objections will not be tolerated."
Godfrey mumbled within his fabric muzzle before his gaze turned fond, the act of mischief reminded him much of Marika from her youth. He turned to the quiet Radagon and they shared an unsaid conversation. Naruto had any inkling of what they were thinking.
'Seems we both picked well.'
A few more minutes of aggravated back and forth between mother and son elapsed before Rennala pulled back and announced that the pair of them would be able to leave the infirmary the next morning. Much like her earlier statement, her tone brokered no argument.
As his mother pulled back to take a seat behind a desk, Radagon happily sliding in beside her, Naruto was surprised when Gwynevere left her vigil at her father's side to approach him in bed. Her nerves were clear, a fidget in the way she moved, had her hands not been mostly hidden by her billowing bell shaped sleeves shemost likely would have wrung them.
"I'm glad you're alright, cousin." she lowered her head with a deep bow, chocolate brown locks washing forwards in a waterfall of curls, unintentionally giving Naruto a rather risque show. "Please forgive my father for his most idiotic of pursuits that hurt you so."
...don't worry about it." Naruto felt his cheeks warm. Nevertheless, he scratched his cheek in embarrassment before shrugging. "It's no real issue, honestly it's the first time I've ever met someone that could push me that hard. Your old man has a mean right hook and Serosh is no slouch."
The lion in question chuffed in appreciation.
"Indeed." Gwynevere smiled, "Still, I feel as if this trip has somehow been fouled by this event, I had wondered if there was anyway that I could make it up to you...after all you did offer me your cloak." Internally the tall demigoddess was on the verge of going into heart arrhythmia from how hard she was trying to keep her emotions in check and pick her words carefully, mentally coaching herself through her plan.
If father could be brash and direct in his attempts to gain gratification through battle, then perhaps it was time that she showed off her own direct path!
A strangled noise emerged from Naruto's throat as he recalled what Godfrey had told him before about the significance of putting a cloak around another woman's shoulders. He hoped beyond all hope none of the others were aware of the Elden Lord's custom. And indeed it looked like he might be in the clear judging by the curious looks on Radagon and Ranni's faces. Talk about a bit of serendipitous ignorance-
"Can it be? Has my boy finally found himself a wife~?" Rennala drawled, a cat-got-the-canary grin slowly splitting her face.
'Shiiiiiiit.'
He refused to meet Rennala's eyes. Far too clever by half, his second mother was. She had ways of reading him when and where he least expected it.
But in his effort to avoid his mother's probing blue eyes did he find himself looking into the golden eyes of Gwynevere instead.
For once Naruto looked at her, truly looked at her. She was beautiful to an extent that he doubted he had ever seen before, divine without falling into the aristocratic narrowness of face that many nobles wore. No, Gwynevere's heart shaped face, sun kissed tan and well-shaped body was not at all the austere pinnacles of stoic perfection that he had read about of this world's Empyrean, she was more a paragon of gentle beauty, a ray of sunshine peaking from a fluffy white cloud.
Thinking about it harder, he couldn't exactly think of any issues that he had with her,;she may have been a little shy but then again so was Hinata and they had been happily married for over half a century.
And something told him Gwynevere could prove herself far fiercer when pushed than she had ever been.
"Xanatos Gambit?" Kurama mused, following the path of Naruto's thoughts.
Naruto gave a mental nod of his own. Truth be told he liked Gwynevere, both in terms of physical attraction and personality. Surely the least he could do was get to know her better, and if they both found one another amicable then perhaps they could truly court. In the worst case scenario she would still be his favorite cousin, and if things became a tad more risque? Well, what was a second chance at life if not for taking risks and having some fun?
"I was planning to go riding tomorrow evening, would you like to join me?" he proposed, aware if he got out of bed now that his mother would probably ward the room so he couldn't leave.
"...?!" Gwynevere's eyes widened considerably, face brightening, lips parting in confusion, followed by understanding. She coughed quickly into a fis to regain her usual princess grace. "Ahem, I would very much like that cousin, tomorrow at sundown then?"
Her emotions were plain as day to him; he could sense her internal self doing cartwheels inside her mind when he nodded in assent.
Rennala made happy noises. "My little boy's growing up!"
Naruto buried his face into a pillow.
"Mooom...!"
(.0.0.0.)
Gywnevere took her leave soon thereafter.
Making her way through the corridors with a spring in her step that she was finally making progress in her desires, planning to spend the rest of the day figuring out what she was going to do to prepair.
An amused voice cut into her thoughts from behind. "And so the Sunlight Princess finally peaks her head out from behind the clouds. I was sure you would have required a small army to coax you into actually talking to the General."
Whatever happiness had shown on the Princess's face dissolved into an annoyed deadpan, her teeth snapping together with an audible click as she came to a stop. She slowly turned on her heel to see the familiar form of Friede stepping out from behind a pillar, hands held behind her back and leant forwards as if on some kind of jaunt. Gwynevere noted the woman's garb including the two tone black and white hood and pondered the irony that the woman chose to garb herself in a mockery of a nun's habit. This woman was no nun, far more a witch that delighted in tormenting Gwynevere.
...Friede. I see you've slunk out of the shadows for once."
"Why, Princess Gwynevere," cam the reply, her voice dripping with droll wit, "The sun feels particularly pleasant today, do I have to thank you for that? Or the dear General for fulfilling your dreams that anyone but him can see plain as the day you represent.?"
"How is it that Radahn can stand someone with such a poisonous tongue? And some retainer you must be to not be at his bedside during his recovery." Gwynevere sniped back, lips curling into a smirk, she was walking on sunshine, pun not intended, so felt like she could engage in some verbal barbs.
Friede was quick to match the Princess's newfound boldness. "Hmm, if I wanted to wait by his bedside then I would rather it be in his personal bedchambers. But you're right, perhaps I should put in an appearance later, delight him with my presence in an.. Oh what's the term…" she feigned ignorance before snapping her fingers, "ah that's the phrase, a conjugal visit!"
Guinevere's cheeks went atomic, for a few scant moments she felt a part of her old life assert itself, a million plans and schemes formulating to do unto Friede an unspeakable level of tarnishing embarrassment that she would never be able to show her face in the Lands Between ever again.
Embarrassment reared its ugly head at the return of old bad habits and she quashed it in favor of at least beating the other woman in a war of words. "That kind of boldness may turn heads in Limgrave, but in Lyndal we have a tad more class, and Radahn has already asked me to accompany him riding tomorrow, so I'd say that in this little game we play, you are currently losing, dear. Sweet. Little. Friede." Gwynevere punctuated each word with a step towards the other woman until she toward over her.
It was with a feline pride that the princess saw the brief flicker of jealousy in the shorter woman's eyes, forced to look up past Gwynevere's voluminous bust to meet her stare. It lasted a few seconds before she crossed her arms over her chest and smirked in defiance.
She would not back down.
Gwynevere smiled. "This means war."
Friede returned it. "May the best of us win-oh, wait. I will." she smiled softly. "If anyone can deny prophecy, it will be him."
(.0.0.0.)
The appointed day came all too quickly, much Naruto's chagrin.
"How is it that these things get wrapped in knots so easily again? I swear when I put them away they were all neat but three days later, completely hashed!" je grumbled, picking another knot out of the tangle of leather and studs that constituted his preferred bit and bridle.
While he could always ride leonard barebacked, the tall redheaded general knew that it would not be overly comfortable on his noble steed, ergo he had made the effort upon leaving the infirmary just after midday to make sure the plucky equine was decked out in full riding regalia. He was deeply annoyed to find that the saddle, birdel, reigns and assorted fetters had somehow become double looped inside themselves inside their storage room in the stables.
In all likelihood, a minor good natured prank from his mother as recompense for the other days festivities, and it was because of that that his face was set in an amused rictus when he finally pulled the last strap tight and led his mount out into the evening light. The weather was honestly perfect for an evening ride, the clouds nowhere in sight and the encroaching summer dusk dying the horizon over the lakes a wondrous gold.
Walking easily through the doors of the gatehouse, the demigod and mighty mount sketched a brisk walk in the direction of a nearby apple orchard that Godwyn had told him his sister would be waiting for him. Interesting fellow, his male cousin, an easiness to his manor of speech that embodied the aspects of the crown prince while also making sure to value his humanity. He hoped that the young man could hold onto such good natured optimism if he ever rose to replace his mother on the throne. 'Too often does power wither the goodness in men.'
Kurama grumbled at Naruto's pensive thoughts, "Spare the philosophical drivel and find your lady friend, there's only so much of your internal musings I can take per day. Gone are the days where I could just tune it out by daydreaming of destroying mountains."
'Love you too, buddy.' Naruto thought with a snort, feeling the metaphorical 'snap' at the back of his mind signalling Kurama had cut the connection in favour of a nap. He knew the real reason for Kurama's feigned brusqueness, he just wished to give Naruto the privacy to make this, his first 'date' with Gwynevere, something meaningful.
Brushing through the branches of a nearby Mallus, Naruto and Leonard made their way through the dense orchard with a quietness and grace that was paradoxical given their massive size. As they grew closer to the clearing, they silently spied Gwynevere standing in the centre of the open space with her back turned to him. She had done away with her typical princess attire in favour of a white A-line riding dress decorated with gold filigree forming her personal sigil, a six spoked sun rising above the Erdtree. Her hands were covered in white lace and cream leather riding gloves and matching riding boots while her chocolate brown hair had been gathered under a wide brimmed bonnet.
She did not react to his silent arrival and a quick survey of the area revealed several scorch marks on the floor, Naruto quickly concluding that she must have been, and likely still was, doing some practice while waiting for him to arrive.
He settled into watch.
(.0.0.0.)
Gwynevere, still unaware of her silent admirer, took steady breaths in and held them before slowly exhaling, slowly gathering her power. In her old life she had never been much of the person to use them in an offensive manner but her mother Marika, proud of her hammer, had insisted that she learn some way to wield her powers for offence. Initially she had been a little leery and outright embarrassed at the prospect, preferring schemes and subterfuge to get her way if things did not resolve themselves peacefully… behaviour that made her blush up an embarrassed storm every time she remembered it. Moreover, what good would she who had never fought a day in her life be in combat?
"You're so much stronger than you know." Her mother's words came back to her. "For if Radahn is the sky that holds the stars, then you are his Sun. So burn, sweet Gwynevere, burn long and burn bright!"
Was she? She hoped so. Gwynevere took a deep breath to still her soul. Then all at once her power roared to prominence, an auric corona of plasma, light and heat swirling from her presence before washing over the clearing in an awe inspiring soundless tide.
She opened her eyes and found her surroundings bathed in warm golden rays. Of the boulder before her, naught but smouldering embers remained. No, just just the boulder she had been facing. She'd burned far beyond that…
Golden eyes widened. Wind swept forth, ruffling her curls. Before her, the sprawling orchard had been blackened to cinder, but after a few seconds the blackened bark and leaves fell away from their trees to reveal new growths of coiling solar energy in the shape of trees, pleasant to look at upon a heath of crystalline grass.
"Oh! I did that...?"
"Woah!" Naruto's voice cut in.
Gwynevere squeaked, jumping five feet strait up in the air before turning to face Radahn, seeing him standing their relatively unharmed save from a light smoke riding from the tips of his boots. If anything her cheeks smouldered hotter than the sun constructs behind her.
"I..I…" she stuttered, giving no resistance as Naruto walked into her divine marvel and approached one of the trees. He reached up and plucked a single lage shiny gold apple from one of the sun trees and nonchalantly took a bite out of it. He hummed in appreciation as he crunched down on it, blowing a trail of steam from his lips.
"It's like apple pie." He described, handing a piece to the Princess who looked at the offering with nervous eyes. After a moment's dithering and the general's reassuring smile, she took her own bite and was surprised that her unintentional creation did indeed taste like freshly baked apple pie.
They quietly shared one another's presence for a few minutes as she finished off the apple before Naruto fed the core to Leonard who scarfed it down appreciatively. Awkwardness festered in the silence with neither seeming to know how to begin a dialogue. This was until the princess's eyes were inexorably drawn to the trail of apple juice that streaked down Naruto's chin, the colour of glowing white wine, appearing as if some artist or prankster had surreptitiously painted lipstick onto his lips when he hadn't been looking.
'No, no no. Don't do it, don't!' she screamed at herself, biting her lower lip to try in vain to forestall the inevitable tirade of giggles that rang from her, the great general Radahn, wearing lipstick.
Naruto's face turned quizzical, not catching on to the source of his cousin's amusement until he tasted the warm liquid on his lips, quickly wiping it off with the back of his hand and realizing how he must have looked. He began to chuckle with her, picking up sonorous strength as both of their shoulders shook from the guffaws of youthful enjoyment until they had to stop for air.
Getting their breaths back, Naruto slowly extended a hand towards Gwynevere, "Would you like to come riding with me, my lady?" he asked, his voice gentle and smile warm.
Gwynevere met the smile and took it, weaving her long delicate digits in between the facets of her cousin's strong hand, feeling safe when it slowly closed around hers and held it tenderly.
..."I'd like that, Radahn."
And so as the sun set over Liurnia, amid a forest of perpetual sun and stars of infinite possibility, two foreign souls made their first steps towards union, like an orrery hewn from destiny.
A/N: To clarify for those wondering what an "orrery" is, that would be, and I quote:
"A mechanical model of the solar system, or of just the sun, earth, and moon, used to represent their relative positions and motions."
Sounded poetic, so in it went.
Hope you enjoyed this. I'm off to work on Orange Blasphemy and Foxfire. Gonna give Slifer a chance to rest and sleep off that anesthesia.
Once more, we're sticking with the "Embers" rule for this story, and others. If folks don't like this, it will remain...but it won't be continued. Meaning that if the story itself ain't popular, it will fall further and further back in the update schedule. I'm working two jobs -might need a third soon!- so I barely have time to write; as such, I cannot afford to write something folks don't enjoy. So by all means, speak up! Your voice matters! Make yourself heard!
As ever, reviews are my lifeblood. Without them, I cannot write.
So In the Immortal Words of Atlas...
...Revieeeeew, Would You Kindly?
They keeps an old man alive.
And enjoy the previews.
As ever:
POTENTIAL PLOT DETAILS AHOY!
SPOILERS! SPOILERS!
YE BE WARNED!
Some are very far off, mind you.
Obvious references are obvious, of course~!
Someone requested the first preview, and I acquiesced. Guess who~!
(Previews)
"...a song of conquest and fate..."
"You have a lovely voice, you know. Why not use it more often?"
She nearly jumped clear out of her dark robe; because she knew that voice! Panic! Fear! Why was he here?!
"My lord Radahn!?" she spun to face him, cheeks burning pink. "You mustn't sneak up on me like that! You nearly scared the life out of me!
"I wasn't sneaking." he grinned back at her, utterly unfazed by her anger. "I've been here for the last five minutes. I even tried calling out to you."
Has she truly been that distracted? "Did you...hear me singing?"
A rueful grin tugged at the corner of his mouth as he leaned forward settled his weight upon his swords, even now buried in the courtyard. "Saw you dancing, too."
Oh gods, she wanted to die! She wanted to sink into the floor and never be seen again! Would her humiliation never end?! "Please don't tell Lady Friede...
"To be fair, I was training at the other end of the yard." the demigod rumbled a laugh when she groaned. "You just didn't notice me."
The handmaiden buried her face into her hands and prayed for the Greater Will to take her. Alas, it did not.
"I've seen you around the castle a time or two. You're one of Friede's servants. What's your name?"
"Another one?!"
Friede seemed amused.
"I swear, if you told me you saw this coming...
She smiled softly. "The girl is an oddity, one I encountered during my travels before we met. May she serve you well."
He's mad. Absolutely mad. You cannot conquer the stars!
...I believe he can.
...where do you think you're going, old man?"
"I have a duty, son. It must be done."
"Duty, is it? I have a duty, too...
WHAM!
...its called dragging you back to Mom."
"You cannot stop me, or what is to come. Marika is more powerful than either of us."
"Your faith in her is misplaced. As is your faith in the Golden Order."
"You would speak such blasphemy to me?!
"Blasphemy, is it?" Radagon looked on aghast as his son raised his arms. "Poor choice of words." Black flame smoldered within the younger man's palms, danced up his arms, writhing across the seals carved there. One by one they smoldered away and his eldest began to glow gold. "I see only one blasphemer here and it ain't me...
"You DARE-
Burning knuckles slammed into his chin, hurtling him away into the sky. Massive hands closed around either side of his head as he flew. Radahn's scowling face sneered at him, inches from his own. Radagon felt his skull creak beneath those giant palms but still, his son didn't let up. "Time to pay your dues, father of mine!"
They hit the mountain a moment later.
EDIT: Hey, you made it!
Once more, we're sticking with the "Embers" rule for this story, and others. If folks don't like this, it won't be continued. Meaning that if the story itself ain't popular, I'll discontinue it soon thereafter. I'm working two jobs -holidays are upon us!- with no days ogg so I barely have time to write; what little I do is either before or after work, or occasionally on break.
As such, I cannot afford to write something folks don't enjoy. So by all means, speak up! Your voice matters! Make yourself heard!
Looking forward to chatting with you all when I get back!
R&R~!