A/N: *coughs*
Still having trouble breathing but I'm trying to push through.
Won't update the same story twice in one month, you say? IMMA DO IT AGAIN!
Well, season 9 just got even darker. That last episode...yikes. Ruby's about to go off the deep end. Still, all this feedback spurred me on to an early update~!
And now we know what weapon Summer used. I'm honestly a little surprised by it.
As my fifteen year anniversary on this site draws near, I find myself reflecting on the little things in life. What was once a lazy pastime meant for me and a few friends really grew and evolved over time. There are days when I look back on the last fifteen years here and I wonder if anyone will remember me; if I made an impact, despite never making a single cent on any of these stories. Some days were happier than others, and some stories I enjoyed writing WAY too much; to the point where I'd stay up all night working on them.
And of course, there are times when I look to the future and wonder what will become of things when I'm gone.
Of course, I try not to dwell on the latter overmuch; I'm still alive and still writing. In an ideal world, I'd like to keep doing so for as long as I can. But old age is catching up to me and these days, the world is filled with so much madness and death. The recent earthquake in Turkey/Syria serves as a terrible example. Even before that, so many friends and fellow writers I once knew are gone, now. Will I still be here in twenty years? Ten? Five? Its a chilling thought. But for now, I'm still here, still writing.
Now for your questions, comments, and concerns. We'll keep it brief this time around.
Q: Update schedule?
A: A lot of fan favorites; I'll let them be a surprise.
Q: Oi, oi! Seriously, how many grandkids does he have in this?
A: Naruto/Nicholas is hardly everyone's grandfather in this. Just a good portion of the cast. I could list them here, but where's the fun in that?
Read and see~!
Q: Just what has Naruto become?
A: He is Death, straight up. Kurama's still with him, but using him against someone like Tyrian would've been overkill. As to how he became that way...well. The story tells the tale and the hints are there if you look for them...
Alright, I think I've kept you waiting long enough. As ever, Time and feedback will determine if this remains a story in the future.
In other words...its up to YOU, the reader. Do let me know~!
Now then, here we go!
"We have sworn not to interfere here, Naruto."
"Yes, my brother and I had an agreement-
"Scythes go brrrr!"
~Quote from a fan.
Pick it Up
Summer creaked an eye open.
That...shouldn't have been possible.
She didn't have eyes to see. Not anymore...
.
..
...didn't she? She'd lost them. She remembered losing them. She could recall that much. Everything else was so blurry; all the world a grey haze that wouldn't go away no matter how hard she blinked. She dimly recalled Tyrian Callows. That raving lunatic fighting her amongst a horde Grimm, working with the creatures to beat her down. His whirling and cackling and slashing until finally, he got the better of her. A blinding flare of pain as his knives slashed across her face. Screaming. Falling to her knees. Clawing at her useless eyes.
And then came the whistle.
Tyrian had been the one to scream after that. Summer wondered if he was dead. She hoped so-hoped it hurt.
Summer Rose had heard that whistle countless times in her life; to most it was a deadly dirge that promised doom. To her it was a reassuring lullaby, a gentle reminder that Taiyang's old man -her father in law- was near, watching over her and her children. Yang and Ruby loved that whistle.
"Easy, now." A familiar voice drawled, drawing her back from the black. "I just regrew your eyes. Your vision's going to be a bit dim for the next few hours until you adjust."
She was vaguely aware of being held. Carried. Not slung over someone's shoulder like a sack of potatoes, but gingerly, like the princess out of a storybook. It was humiliating. Taiyang would never let her live it down if he saw her like this. Still, she'd take humiliation over death any day.
A Scroll clicked. She whined. "Naruto, no!"
"Naruto, yes." low laughter filled her ears, pitched to carry. "Stay alive and I'll delete this picture when we get back to Patch."
Summer absolutely growled at him. Because you see, she knew that voice. "You really came for me...?"
"Course I did." he drawled. "Couldn't let my favorite daughter-in-law die now, could I?"
Summer huffed and snuggled down into his arms. Taiyang's dad had always struck her as a little...off. Her beloved blond brawler had once claimed a distant relation to Nicholas Schnee before. She had laughed at the time, thinking it was some sort of joke; only it wasn't, because Nicholas wasn't really Nicholas at all. His real name was Naruto and he was something far more terrifying than the founder of the SDC.
But right now? She couldn't ask for a better father-in-law "Did you get my axe?
"Sure did." he drawled softly. "I wouldn't leave your baby behind."
He'd best not! She'd built that axe-rifle herself! There wasn't another one like it in all of Remnant! And peaking of weapons.
"Tyrian's dead, isn't he?"
"Hmm." Her father-in-law didn't answer her question. He simply kept walking, kept carrying her. That too, was answer enough. "C'mon, lets get you home. Yang and Ruby are waiting. You promised them you'd come back, didn't you?"
Right. She had to stay awake. Mustn't sleep yet. "I did...
"Then keep your promise." She couldn't see his face properly, but she could hear his boots crunching against gravel, feel a gentle hand against her forehead as he carried her, flicking away beads of cold sweat. "Gonna need you to stay awake until the fever breaks, alright?"
Was that why everything hurt? "M'kay...
He rumbled a laugh. "Good girl."
She heard something.
Blinded though she was at the moment, Summer's senses were sharp as ever. She heard a rustling noise ahead of them. Naruto exhaled softly and loudly, the long-suffering sigh of a man who had no more patience left to give today. Soon thereafter another set of footsteps reached their ears. The newcomer stopped just ahead of them.
Naruto stopped suddenly.
"Well, well. If isn't Hazel Rainart himself." No doubt he said the words for her benefit. Hazel was here? She tensed. "The man who can't feel pain...
"We had an agreement." a voice like a slow-moving avalanche rumbled. Yup. Definitely him. And she couldn't be more useless right now. Of all the rotten timing...!
"Yes, we did." she couldn't see Naruto, not completely, but she could hear the smile in his voice. "You lot leave the silver-eyed warriors alone and I let Salem and Ozma play their little shadow game, killing each other over and over until the heat-death of the universe...and who am I holding right here?"
Silence reigned supreme.
"Hazel, you're not mute. I taught you and your sister better than that."
...you're holding a silver-eyed warrior, father."
Summer choked. "Fa...!?"
"Why, so I am!" Meep. Taiyang's dad -and apparently Hazel's!- sounded proper pissed right about now. "What a coincidence! Was Tock and her little gang not enough of an example?" she heard the growl creeping into his voice, like some eldritch beast awoken after a long slumber. "I'm sure Salem's told you the story by now. How I gouged out their eyeballs and served them to her with a side of salad. I really thought the lesson was well-learned...until you went after my daughter in law." he didn't sound happy now, no sir. "Your sister, by marriage."
Hazel sounded positively sullen. "We didn't know. Neither did I."
"No. You didn't." blearily, she glimpsed Naruto shaking his head, blond bangs swaying beneath his hood. He shifted his grip on her, reaching down toward his belt. "But you still tried to kill her anyway behind my back; still thought you could get away with it while I was...occupied. Which makes our agreement null and void. Here." She heard him toss something Hazel's way, heard the giant catch it with a grunt. "Do me a favor and bring that box back to your mistress. I've left a message inside for her. Do that for me, and I'll let you live...today."
"For what its worth, I am sorry."
"Sorry?" Naruto clicked his tongue. "No, you're not. You're sorry you got caught, like that time I found you with your hand in the cookie jar. You've fallen far. Gretchen would be so disappointed in you."
She heard Hazel grind his teeth. "Do not say her name. You have no right."
"I have every right, boy." Naruto's voice had lost all semblance of kindness now; all that remained was cold steel. "I'll say your sister's name whenever I please. Gretchen met her end with courage in her final moments, because she knew the proper value of her life. Unlike you."
"And what would you know of life?! You weren't there when she died! You didn't save her!"
"I've learned to be more proactive since then. If I could bring her back, I would-
"LIAR!"
Hazel roared the word and stomped forward. Summer felt Naruto shift his grip on her yet again, freeing up his other hand. That was her only warning. She had just enough time to brace herself and cling to his shoulder for dear life. Momentum yanked hard at her a moment later; then she heard a grunt, followed by the harsh crack of someone -Hazel?- hitting the ground in the night.
"There it is." an angry, hungry rasp rose to fill the void. "I do love the smell of fear...
Summer didn't dare speak. Didn't dare draw attention to herself. Not now. Not after those words.
...not so sure of yourself now, are you? I know more of life and death than you could possibly imagine." she heard his boot stomp down, grinding against something. She didn't want to imagine what. "Gretchen sold hers dearly, fighting for others until the bitter end...and her memory is the only reason you still draw breath." Footsteps crunched against the gravel and belatedly Summer realized they were moving; that Naruto's blurry shape was actually walking with her, leaving Hazel behind. "She wouldn't want me to kill you. Don't make me."
"You think this is over?!" Hazel brayed a this back out to him. "You've changed nothing! This won't stop me! I cannot feel pain!"
"Can't feel pain he says." Naruto offered a derisive snort. "Everyone dies, Hazel. Just as everyone feels pain. There's all kinds. Mental, spiritual, physical. You don't even know what true pain is. You're just an arrogant boy who thinks he's immortal. I'll leave you with one last bit of advice. Everyone thinks they'll be the one to defeat me. But no one's escaped me yet. Tock didn't. Tyrian didn't. Watts won't. If you get in my way, you'll be next. You, and whatever poor pawn Salem sends my way. Tell her, Hazel. Tell her I'm awake. Tell her the game has changed."
He walked away with a whistle.
Summer shivered and tucked herself into his chest.
She'd never felt more powerless in her life; she never wanted to feel this way again.
"You'll be alright," Naruto stopped whistling for a moment to pat her searing forehead. His hand was cool against her feverish skin. "Just need to pick someone up in Argus, then we'll be on our way to Patch. Won't even take half an hour...
(.0.0.0.)
A whistle pervaded the clearing.
It was a merry little thing, one Ruby Rose knew all too well; a gentle melody that had lulled her to sleep more times than she could count; one that had the five-year-old looking up from her toys in the yard with a giddy grin. Silver eyes strayed toward the trees. Everytime she heard that whistle she got excited-because it meant he was nearby. She glimpsed red eyes in the gloom but felt no fear; because no Grimm ever came near their house. This was the safest place on Patch, after all.
Sure enough, he stepped out of the brush.
She leaped to her feet. "Grampa!"
Froze, now.
Because there, leaning against his shoulder...
Ruby perked up. "Mommy!"
Oh, wait, Grampa was carrying her. But who was that helping him? A tall lady wearing some kind of skull mask-no, nevermind that! Mommy was hurt! Her pretty white cloak was covered in red stains, stains that looked an awful lot like bl...blo...bloo...
Panic dawned. Silver eyes widened. She threw her head back and wailed at the top of her lungs. "Daddyyyy!
Taiyang came barreling out of the house like an angry bear. Yang was only a step behind.
"Ruby?!
"What's wrong sweetie?!"
She thrust a finger towards Summer. Daddy saw Grandpa a second later. He said a few naughty words. Yang covered her ears so she didn't hear the rest. But she did see daddy run toward Grampa to help carry mommy and bring her into the house. Grampa tousled Yang's hair as they slipped past, which made her big sister squirm, which gave HER a chance to wriggle free, scamper after them and hear a few words.
...not her blood. Most of its Tyrian's.
"That's good to hear. Where are you going?"
"To have a word with Ozma." Grampa laid Mommy on the couch.
Daddy frowned at Grampa for some reason. "I think you meant Ozpin."
"I know what I said, son...Maria's going to stay here for a bit. She'll help train the girls."
Daddy looked nervous. "...that might be for the best. If they came for Summer...
"Then they'll come for Ruby."
Ruby tried to follow him. The masked woman came round the corner and snatched her up by the scruff of the neck. "Easy, there, squirt. They're busy."
"Maria." Grandpa tutted. "Drop the girl. I told you to train her, not break her."
The slender silver-eyes woman sighed. "Yes gramps, sorry gramps...
Ruby blinked. She blinked real hard. Three times, in fact.
'Gramps?" There could be only one conclusion.
"New auntie! Yay!"
(.0.0.0.)
Someone had been here.
Ozma knew it the moment the elevator doors opened. There was a silence in his tower; or rather, a lack thereof. An unnatural stillness bordering on the supernatural. As if someone -or something- had sucked the life right out of the air, leaving it dry and arid. He felt the hairs on the back of his neck rise when he inhaled. He could still breathe, which suggested there was oxygen to be had...
.
..
...and yet no one emerged to challenge him.
"Hello?" He ventured into the silence. "Is anyone there?"
No one answered him. Of course they didn't. There was nowhere to hide in his office save behind his desk, and had anyone been foolish enough to do so, he would've seen them from here. Nor did he sense spells or traps of any kind. The gears of his tower continued to tick ever onward as they always did.
Was he growing paranoid in his old age? Perhaps.
Shaking his head, he sat behind his desk and went to work. There were reports to grade, reconnaissance to read, plans to make. The war against Salem ground ever onward. She had been strangely silent after that failed attack on Summer. He still didn't know who saved her. Qrow might need to risk another scouting incursion into the Grimmlands. Tutting softly to himself, he shuffled his papers and raised his mug to his lips. Odd. The hot chocolate in his cup was cold. Had it lost its heat so quickly...?
A low whistle sang through the air.
Ozma felt his shoulders slump even as he sagged in his seat. Ah. It was that time again, was it? How quickly the years flew by. He'd heard that infernal whistle so many times now and yet somehow it never failed to terrify him. It always arrived when he least expected it, bringing mindless dread in its wake.
When he looked up, he was standing there. He'd not come through the elevator, or the window, or even the floor. He was simply...waiting for him, sickles in hand. He didn't need to look into the shadows of that dark cowl to know who was looking back. Those wretchedly bright eyes told a story all their own.
"Well, well." he pushed himself upright in his chair and snatched up his cane. "If it isn't Death himself." brandishing his weapon, he snapped off a salute. "Come to collect me again, have you? I'm afraid I won't go quietly. But you already know that, don't you?""
The hooded figure lunged with inhuman speed and he glimpsed blond hair beneath the cowl.
Ozma barely parried a sickle with his cane. The blow rattled his arm right down to the bones. He retaliated with a riposte only for another to whistle in at his eye. He swayed aside for all the good it did him; it swept in without fail, punching right through his aura like it wasn't even there to rake across his cheek, drawing a bloody red furrow just below his right eye. He staggered back and touched a hand to his face. The wound was slow to heal, even with his aura full.
It was him after all, then.
He knew of few semblances that allowed one to cut through aura, but no one else could inflict such an injury. No time to savor his realization. His attacker caught his cane and smacked him with a sickle, bloodying his face yet again. A fist followed through to bloody his lip. Stars flashed across his vision and he bit his tongue, the pain of which loosened his grip and sent his weapon tumbling through the air.
It landed in the blond's open palm.
"You really gotta stop losing this." He turned it over in his hand, regarding it curiously. "Hmm? A new one? How much energy do you have stored up this time?"
Ozma thumbed a thin line of blood from the corner of his mouth. "Enough to eradicate an obscenely large Grimm...and to make you bleed."
"Confident." The ghost of a smile touched his would-be-killer's lips and he whistled, an actual whistle this time, and not that terrifying lullaby he'd heard more times than he could count. "I thought you would've learned by now. I can't bleed. Not anymore."
He raised his gaze to look at him. Bleak red eyes blinked back at him, dark and slitted. He stared into the abyss and the abyss stared back. There was still a man in there, but he'd been hollowed out by his great task, the purpose to which he'd set himself so long ago. He was more than death. He was the balance. And something had angered him.
Ozma tried to move, only to find his legs rooted to the floor.
"What's wrong?" the hooded man tutted. "Lives flashing before your eyes?"
Of course they were. They always did whenever Death came for him, without fail. Some of those lives had been good. Others...were not. He regretted a great many things, or things he'd failed to do. Errors he'd made. Lives he'd failed to save. After all, he'd made more mistakes than any man, woman, or child.
Death flung the cane down at his feet. "Pick it up."
For an awful moment, Ozma couldn't. His arm wouldn't obey.
"Pick. It. Up."
Ozma forced himself forward through the fear and snatched his treasure weapon up, just in time to parry another deathblow. Five times he warded him off, defending but refusing to attack. The moment he saw an opening he took it; not to strike, but to backpedal.
"I would ask that you do not kill me this time, Naruto!" he flung up an arm, hissing now as a bloody cut opened upon his sleeve. "Or do you prefer Nicholas these days?"
Much to his surprise, his foe actually paused.
...Naruto will do."
Good. Miracle of miracles, he was actually willing to converse for once. Their last meeting hadn't ended on the best of terms...and with him nailed to the wall. That had been an admittedly short reincarnation. His own fault for provoking him in the first place. He'd said something he shouldn't have and paid the price for it.
But he could not afford to die so frivolously here, not today.
"I've done so much good in this incarnation." He chose his words carefully, wary of setting the entity before him off. "The kingdoms have never been stronger."
"So you say, Ozpin. Or would you prefer Ozma?" He threw the words back in his face. "Is Ozpin even in there anymore?"
Ozma opened his mouth to answer-
"Lie and I take your tongue.
...he is not."
Naruto tilted his head. "And when did you consume him?
"Just last year." Ozma hung his own a little at the memory. "He was a good man and a friend. I was not worthy of his trust...or his companionship." Another innocent consumed by the curse forced upon him, another life lost in this eternal war. Sometimes he wondered what happened to them all. Did they die and reincarnate as he did? Perhaps they went to an afterlife of their own after his soul consumed theirs? Or did they simply cease to exist? Dwelling on such thoughts often proved painful.
His killer clicked their tongue. "Better answer this time."
"Are you going to spare me for once?"
A shrug. "...maybe."
"Then why continue this song and dance? You know I won't die. Not really."
"Because," the blond before him drawled softly, "You remind me of someone. His name was Orochimaru. he took lives to extend his own, too." a sickle flicked out, slashing across a leg and driving him down to a knee. "As far as I'm concerned, the only difference between you two, is that he did it deliberately. You didn't ask for this. But it doesn't change what you do. What you always do. What you're cursed to do."
"So you are here to kill me after all."
Death tugged back his hood. For the first time in fifty years he glimpsed the man beneath. Cold eyes gazed back at him, framed by spiky hair-going-silver and dimpled by smiling whiskered cheeks. His eyes weren't red. not anymore. "What makes you think I'm here to kill you?
Ozpin rubbed his cheek. His wound were still bleeding but it was closing, albeit slowly. "Then what was that? A greeting?"
"A reminder...and a test."
He frowned at him. "Of what?
"To see if you still value your life...and if you kept your skills sharp.
"Have I?"
"No." The answer stung his pride more than he cared to admit. "You've gotten rusty; you were stronger the last two times I killed you."
That did more than sting, that irked him. ""I haven't been in combat for some time-
-and whose fault is that?" the blond wagged a finger his way.
"Naruto, please. I had hoped we might talk."
"Nothing to talk about."
"I know you take a dim view on immortality-
"Do you?" A sickle came up to tickle the underside of his chin. "You and Salem have been annoying me for CENTURIES now. Do you remember why?"
Careful. He must be careful here. Ozma raised his hands to show himself harmless. "Because we laugh in the face of death...?"
"No." the sickle bit into his chin, leaving another crimson line there. "Because you waste your lives and rarely learn. Now you've cost me Hazel. Hazel!" Naruto stepped in, face set in a snarl. "He could have done so much good for this world. He could have been a hero among heroes... and then Gretchen died. She died hard, but she still died. For you. Now he won't stop trying to kill you unless I kill him. Do you have any idea how annoying that is? Killing one of your own?
"For what its worth, you have my condolences. I didn't know her training mission would end that tay."
Naruto's sickle fell. "At least you learn from your mistakes when I kill you. Sometimes." he stared a him for a long moment, considering him. "Still keeping senseless secrets from your allies?
"I-
"Remember what I said about lies."
He closed his mouth, unwilling to risk a false answer.
"The silence is your answer." Death tutted at him softly. "You'll need to work on that in the future. Leonardo is a traitor, by the by."
His heart hitched. "What? No! That's impossible. Leo is a good man, a decent man-
-a cowardly man." Naruto interjected. "He's serving Salem these days. How did you think your favorite silver-eyed warrior came under attack so quickly in Mistral? She's alive because of me. If I hadn't been there...
Another question nagged him. "Are you going to kill Leo?"
A blond brow rose, quirking at the foolish question. "What do you think?"
...fair enough." he heaved a sigh. "I'll put some flowers on his grave when the time comes. At least make it quick."
The blond's expression said he wouldn't. "Is Goodwitch in?"
Ozma released a breath he hadn't realized he'd been holding and slumped against his desk. If he was asking after Glynda, that meant he might live a little while longer. Hopefully. She'd hardly go out with him if he got blood all over the tower. Still, he couldn't quite resist the urge to needle him. "Still hung up on her, are you?"
"We had an agreement. I don't talk about your ex-wife, you don't talk about my love life.
"Fair. Given the amount of your...descendants running around, I expect we'll have rather interesting class at Beacon in ten years time."
"Perhaps." Naruto clicked his tongue. "Now stop distracting me. "Where is she?"
Osma stood a little straighter under that baleful gaze. "Can't you sense her?"
"I'd prefer you save me the trouble of tracking her down-
The elevator doors dinged behind him.
"Ozpin? Someone triggered the silent alarm and-oh, dear."
-aha!" Naruto pivoted in place, crooning softly. "Speak of the witch and she shall appear."
Glynda made a gagging noise. "Why are you here?"
Away went the sickles, folding in on themselves to vanish within his cloak. He ran a hand through his hair, banishing the blood there, plastering a charming smile across his whiskered cheeks. It was almost frightening how quickly he went from a cold killer to a grinning ladies man. Ozma could never hope to understand and frankly, he didn't want to. If he was a god like the Brothers, he was a many-faced one; each facade capable of dealing destined death to whomever irked him and his.
"Would you do me the honor of joining for dinner tonight, miss Goodwitch?"
She planted one fist on her hip. "...you're persistent. I'll give you that."
Naruto beamed her way. "That didn't sound like a no."
"That depends." her bespectacled gaze slid to Ozma. "Will you kill him if I refuse?"
Death shrugged one shoulder. "We both know it won't stick...yet."
"True, but it would be...an annoyance. I'd rather not deal with the paperwork or run the academy in his stead."
Ozma snorted. "Thanks ever so much for your loyalty, Glynda."
"With all due respect sir, shut up. I'm not in the mood."
Naruto chuckled, but didn't approach. He knew better. "So is that a yes?"
She tutted softly. "You'll get once chance. I'll send you my address-pick me up tomorrow at seven. Don't be late."
Her peace said, his second-in-command strutted back to the elevator, hips swaying. It opened for her and closed just as quickly. In a matter of moments she was gone.
Ozma shook his head. "I can't believe you actually succeeded this time-
When he looked back, Naruto was nowhere to be seen.
He shivered a little. "How does he do that...?"
Ozma laid a trembling hand on his desk and stifled a sigh into his mug. The hot cocoa was still cold, but the act of drinking masked his nerves.
Death could be such an inconvenience at times, but Naruto was right. It hadn't stuck-yet. Sooner or later it would. Each time Naruto killed him, he stayed dead a little longer. He was learning. It was only a matter of time, now. There had been a time when he reincarnated instantly upon his death. Smooth. Seamless. That felt like an eternity ago. Now it took at a full five minutes. Three hundred seconds, spent in the void, each one a bitter reminder of the end he'd suffered. Each death only made it worse and that gap would only grow larger.
One of these days, he would die for real.
And that whistle would be the last thing he heard.
He wondered if he would welcome that day when it came...or run for his last life.
A/N: *whistles* Aaaaand there we go.
Last Wish references abound, Hoped you enjoyed 'em! How many grandkids/kids, you ask? The answer is YES.
Its heavily implied that Naruto's is a grandfather in this story, aka Nicholas Schnee. Also a stone-cold killer wielding the infamous weapons of Death himself. Strangely enough, it fits when you look into Nicholas' backstory. They're a lot alike.
Aaaand there we go. Hope you enjoyed it.
Soooo? Should this be a story? Yay or nay? Need to hear from you here.
Hoe someone, somewhere, enjoyed this. I just don't know anymore these days.
So...in the Immortal Words of Atlas...Review...Would You Kindly?
Hope you enjoy the previews~!
(Previews!)
"Welcome home, Hazel."
The silent giant bowed low at the waist. "I come bearing a gift, my queen."
"A gift?"
"It was given to me, for you."
"By whom."
Her smile soured. "Leave me."
He obeyed.
Salem opened the box. Tyrians severed head stared back at her. Calm. She must be calm.
Wait. There was a note within. She read it.
Her eyes flashed.
She shrieked and flung Tyrian's head against the nearest wall.
"Hmm. You clean up rather nicely when you're not butchering your enemies."
"I've enjoyed the chase," he pulled back his hood, freeing his hair, "But I think we've reached the end now, you and I...
"Without me, you will always live a life of-
A figure stepped out the shadows.
"FEAR."
"Well, duh." Ruby tilted her head. "Killing is what grampa does. He only kills bad people, though. Don't worry!"
Jaune gulped. "That...is not encouraging. Wait. Did you say grampa?"
"Yeah, why...?"
"I have another sister?!
"I have a brother?!"
Death walked among them. Amber couldn't think of any other word for it. It was all she could do to hold her wound shut, to watch him wade in. They couldn't touch him. Three to one and none of them came close; not even once. Steel flashed, sickles danced and they were the ones to fall back, bleeding badly.
"Three against one, hmm?" he tilted his head beneath the hood, grinning as an arrow whistled past his cheek. "Now that's unfair...
His sickle flicked out. One of their attackers pitched back, headless.
"Oops." he smiled thinly." Two, now. Better, but not quite."
A lazy swipe took another head. Someone yelped.
"And then there was one...
"Go on, run for it. Makes things more fun for me."
Tap.
"Are you still behaving, Jacques?"
Tap. Tap.
"Y-yes of course, I am."
Tap. Tap. Tap.
He stood from behind the desk. "Now what did I tell you about lying...?
"I'm not lying! I did what you said! I made things better!
"Then why are the White Fang attacking your shipments, hmmm? Do I need to take another finger?
Adam crashed through a tree. His sword skewered the bark inches from his face.
"Pick it up."
"You know, I'm not a cat person. Never have been. Just can't help it." Run along, kitty-kat." the hooded figure made a shooing motion. "Monsters come out at night.
Blake grimaced. "Who are you?"
His smile took on a bemused edge. His head tilted to the left, just a little, exposing tawny blond hair. "Ask Sun."
"Ah...hey gramps. I promise this isn't what it looks like."
"No? Looks to me like you're hunting White Fang...
"Sorrysorrysorrypleasdon'tbreakmyeverything-
...without me! How could you?!"
R&R~!