A/N: A man keeps his promises.
Leg's getting worse, but I'm still pecking away at things.
Better yet, now I have help in the form of co-writers again~! Several, at that.
Ronin is working on "Remnants of a Shinobi," Slifer is helping with "I'm Still Here" and Dark helps with the occasional bit of betaing when needed.
As ever we're still sticking to the "Embers" rule here, folks. If folks don't like this...well, I won't continue. Every review, every comment, no matter how large or small, keeps me writing in spite of my busy work schedule. I don't get days off anymore, so I try to respond when I can, but lately it feels like this has become a job in and of itself; albeit one I don't get paid for, one that it is often thankless...
No reviews? No inspiration. No inspiration? Sad writer. So speak up! Your words matter! That's no joke!
Now for your questions. We'll keep it brief so we can get into the madness faster.
Q: How is Nora able to free Relics and help people?! How special is she?
A: To clarify, its only a single shackle on Jinn she's broken...and there's more to come. Let us not forget Jinn's request to free the Relics...
Q: How many titles does Naruto have at this point? I'm sure its driving him crazy...
A: Many, including a new one as of this chapter. Devil of Kuroyuri has a nice ring to it, no?
Q:...are Naruto and Ozpin ever gonna meet?
A: In many ways, Raven and Lionheart have subtly influenced him. He's never met Ozpin, but he's become leery of him as a result.
Both him, and his allies.
Q: What's to stop him from going nuts and nuking Atlas with his new "Sun" ability? Because I'm thinking the Glass Unicorn and its owners need a good 'ol fashioned nuking.
A: *zips lips*
Q: Ages here?
A: As started before, the RWBY cast is about a decade or so younger than their canon selves. Which ought to explain a few things...
For instance, THIS iteration of Young!Cinder made the mistake of getting herself tangled up with a Young!Nora and Young!Ren in the first place. Time will tell if that saves her from the monster she becomes in canon...or makes her something much worse.
Alright, I've kept you long enough, I think. Hope you enjoy the delightful madness that is this story.
As ever I own no reference, quotes, themes or memes. Not a wit or a one~!
Just about everyone knows this modified quote...
"Kuroyuri's Devil came down to Atlas, he was looking for a Maiden to steal...
...he was in a bind and way behind...
...looking to make a deal...
~?
Clever Girls
They were close now.
Naruto could feel it in his bones, a pulsing pounding in his ears that wouldn't let him be. The last three days had been well spent; intelligence gathered, a plan made, an alibi carefully constructed, even as he kept a keen eye on the kids. All the while reigning his new powers in, not once letting his pride get the better of him...no matter how much he might wish to.
Because you see, Freya was here.
In the heart of Atlas itself, secured by none other than General Ironwood himself within heart of the Academy. Finding her location proven difficult. Quite the contrary. What came next...infiltrating...would be. The irony wasn't lost on him; in the end, Jinn had been right after all. He wasn't surprised by that, nor did he distrust her. It was merely a matter of confirming her information. Now that he knew where to search, he just had to find a way to take it...and possibly look into this Relic she kept pestering him about.
"Oh ye of little faith."
He cast a baleful look glance to the relic hanging from his belt. "Do you really have to hide in that thing? Ain't no cameras back here."
"I think I'll stay hidden a little while longer." he could hear the smile in her voice."By the way, dodge."
"Hmm? Dodge wha-
"OLD MAN! STOP IGNORING ME!"
A tiny fist flashed out at his face when he wasn't looking.
Right, right. Almost forgot about the runt, hadn't he? Without deigning to look up, Naruto caught Cinder's first in his palm, swept his limb up for leverage, and launched the wiry girl over his shoulder as one might a sack of grain. A startled yelp reached his ears, followed by a thud, told him she'd struck a wall. The snarl that followed told him yet more.
"Control your temper." he chided, meeting her follow-up with an open palm, catching her wrist. A squeeze and her blades fell to the floor. "If Nora can, then so can you."
"Hey! What's that supposed to mean?"
This time, he couldn't quite hide his laugh. "Well, you are a bit of a firecracker...
Bemused blue eyes swept toward his wards, sitting patiently on the sidelines. Nora wore a fearsome pout, arms folded before her chest. Poor girl looked downright huffy. Ren, meanwhile, only offered him a selfsame smile and a shrug. They were, the both of them, covered in dirt and scratches. They'd had their turn only an hour ago.
Cinder had been whaling on him for the better part of three and still she showed no signs of slowing.
Even now, with him grinding the bones of her wrist together, she glared at him.
"Again." It was a plea. "Please. I'll do better next time."
...is this what it feels like to an uncle?"
Naruto nearly choked on his own spit.
"What? You're already a dad."
...alright." instead he let Cinder go and stepped back, allowing to pick up her sword. "Aim for my legs this time."
She nodded curtly, kneeling to retrieve her weapons.
Cinder's room could barely be called such; little more than a glorified storage closet in the back of the Glass Unicorn, full of clutter and dust alike. Were it not for a threadbare cot in the corner, he would've called it utterly uninhabitable. Moonlight spilled from a trio of open windows above, providing precious little in the way of light, but enough to see by. Enough to train...and learn. Right now, Naruto wasn't entirely sure he liked what he'd discovered thus far.
Cinder had been trained by a shinobi.
He knew it the moment he'd first seen her stance; the way she wielded a sword in one hand, and a long knife in the other. It was weak, pitiful really, but it had all the building blocks of a rookie ninja; something straight out of the academy. When she'd learned he didn't know, and by whom he wasn't sure, but there could be no denying it. Someone had shown her the basics long before they'd met. It shouldn't have concerned him. If he'd fallen into this world by chance -or semblance, as Nora argued- it stood to reason someone else might've done the same.
And this style, it was so damn familiar...who had taught her?
Was it this "Rhodes" character she'd mentioned so often? Perhaps. Or maybe-oops, here she came again.
Naruto swayed back when she rushed in, let her blade sweep at his ankles, hopped over it, hooked his foot in hers, then tripped her as Nora hollered encouragement.
Rather than fall like a fool Cinder stumbled forward, turned that stumble into a charge, and leaped at the nearest wall. For a moment he thought she'd finally gone mad But no, she hit the surface, and stuck herself there... feet first. Stood upon it now, knees bunched in preparation for a mighty leap. He sensed something in that instant. Faint, barely a flicker, scarcely more than a candle in the wind, but noticeable all the same. Still she stood upon the wall, blatantly defying gravity.
Kurama hissed through his teeth. "Is that...?"
His eyes bulged. "Chakra...?!"
"Raaaargh!"
Cinder grit her teeth, inhaled deeply, and screamed. He sensed fire chakra swell in her lungs and his suspicion solidified. Didn't do much to narrow her teacher down though; he'd seen more than a few folk use that jutsu. Startled though he was, he wasn't so sloppy as to let a rookie catch him off guard.
A hand snapped up, soundlessly stifling the fireball against his palm. Heat and smoke sprayed across his face. Cinder launched herself at him through the haze, steel in her eyes.
He stepped in and swept his right hand shut, forcing her mouth shut before she could exhale again. Her head snapped back with an audible click. In the same instant he flowed in with his free hand and rammed an open palm to her gut, blasting the breath from her lungs. She folded around his limb, clutching at it in a vain attempt to remain upright. He could've knocked her out then and there. He chose not to.
"Who taught you all this?" he frowned down at her as she struggled for breath. "Rhodes?"
...no." Cinder pushed herself up on her knees, "Rhodes is a Hunter. Like you." the young girl squirmed a little under his gaze. Nora prodded her and reluctantly, she continued. "There was a man. He taught me things. How to hide." she touched a hand to her chest and he saw a flicker of sparks dance across her fingers as they brushed her inert necklace. "Make myself small on the inside."
Curious. Had someone else landed in this world before him? "...what was his name? What did he look like?"
"Don't know." His eyes flashed and she squeaked in fear, hastening to elaborate. "I don't! Honest! He always wore a mask! Even when he slept!" her hands flailed, trying to sketch out the image and failing. "I couldn't even see the color of his hair, I swear! He never took it off!
Ren hummed. "And where is this man now?"
"Gone." She looked down. Kicked at the ground, face gone pensive. "He left one day last year, said he'd come back for me later...and never did."
"Then screw him!" Nora crowded into her side and hugged her. Cinder grumbled, but didn't push her away.
Naruto winced. "And that's when you met Rhodes."
She nodded once and despite his best efforts, Naruto felt his heart twitch. Poor kid. She'd been burned once already. Small wonder she was so skittish around everyone. Another betrayal like that just might break Cinder once and for all; drive her down the same dark path he'd seen so many others take.
...he wouldn't let that happen.
"Alright, we'll call it there." A thought occurred to him just then, and he spared a glance for Cinder. "Rhodes should be back sometime tonight, right?"
Her head bobbed. Well, that solidified things. He'd be having a word with that one when he got back.
"Good. Nora, keep an eye on her. Ren, you're in charge. I'm going out."
The boy sat up just a little straighter. "...understood."
Nora snapped off a merry salute. "Yessir~!"
"Want me to leave a clone with you, just in case?"
"Nah," she waved him down. "If anybody tries anything, I'll zap 'em."
...well, she wasn't wrong about that. "Try not to smite anyone while I'm away, hmm?"
"I promise nothing!"
A hand snagged his sleeve. "Wait!"
Hmm?" He looked down, realizing it was neither Nora nor Ren who'd grabbed him.
"You're coming back, right?" Cinder tugged at his arm, beseeching him with wide, golden eyes. "You're not gonna leave for good?"
On a whim, he reached out to tussle her hair. She dipped her head, but stilled herself at the last second, not dodging. Slowly but surely, he felt the tension drain out of her stiff body. She peeked up at him again, awaiting his answer, hanging on his every word, the promise she craved from him.
And so he gave it.
"See ya soon, clever girl."
(.0.0.0.)
Nora had always wanted a sister.
Really, it wasn't so much a want as a need; a burning itch in the back of her head just beggin' to be scratched ever since she'd met Cinder. Sure, Renny was awesome and all, even if they weren't together-together yet, but she appealed to her in different ways. It was like having a big sister AND a little sister all at once! Sure, they didn't look a thing alike and the girl was technically older than her an' all, but she acted like a little sister half the time, flighty and afraid. Even in those rare moments when she showed her spine, well they just made her so darn adorable. The solution was obvious.
She had to have her.
"You want to adopt me?" Cinder reared back, still sitting on crossed legs. "I don't think that's how it works...?
"Sure it does!" Nora leaned forward on her own, grinning from ear to ear. "You don't have a family. Ren and I do. Simple as that."
The older girl winced. Golden eyes flicked to her and back again. "I...thank you for the offer, but I'm afraid I'll have to decline. Rhodes is my...
Nora leaned forward, unable to hide her grin. "Your what?"
Cinder clammed up. "Nothing!"
Ren thumbed his chin. "It sounds like something."
If looks could kill, her bestie would be a pile of ashes on the floor. "Well, it isn't!"
Ohhh! Nora understood now. Rhodes was to Cinder what Naruto was to her and Renny. Family. Made sense she wouldn't wanna lose him the way she'd lost that Masked Guy. That was another thing! If she ever met that no good jerk, she kick him where it hurt! He'd better be dead or dying to leave her like that! She'd fry him with lightning!
"Kay." Instead she chose a different avenue of attack while Cinder was off balance. "So Rhodes is like your dad. Still adopting you, though."
Cinder reared back. "What?"
"I mean, we could adopt him too, I always wanted an uncle...
Cinder made angry Cinder noises. Good. She had some fire in her after all.
Nora liked that, almost as much she liked her. She wasn't gonna give up her new sister without a fight. Cinder should wake up to reality already; her fate was sealed. Now they just had to wait for da-ahem! Naruto!-to come back from wherever he was...preferably with the Maiden in tow, and they could all go home and live happily ever after.
The door creaked open behind them.
Nora perked up, eyes gleaming.
"Oh, hey! Is that Rhodes...?"
(.0.0.0.)
The simplest plans are often the most effective.
In hindsight, Naruto could've smacked himself for not considering it earlier. He could hardly walk right up to Atlas Academy and ask after the old biddy. Well, he could, but that would see him straight to a cell. As tempting as it might be to wade through Atlas, ax swinging, he couldn't do that. He knew better than to give into his pride, or the new power surging through him. Thankfully he had a tidy remedy for that.
What, you might ask? Why, walk right through the front door, of course.
"General Ironwood, sir!" A guard at the gate saw him and saluted, standing rigid like the good little minion he was. "We weren't expecting you this late!"
"General Ironwood" returned it. His lips twitched before he repressed a smirk. No! No smiles! The great general of Atlas didn't smile.
"At ease, soldier." he kept his voice level, even, just like what he'd seen on television. "Why don't you take the night off?
Poor bastard almost took it outright. "But sir, the VIP...what if something happens to her?"
He laid a hand on the younger man's shoulder. "She'll be perfectly safe with me. Here," he drew out his wallet and a sizable lien card from within. "Have a drink, on me."
The man was too greedy to even question.
Naruto whistled softly and left him to it, marching up the steps to the Academy. Never underestimate a ninja. Least of all one who can use transformation jutsu. Heh. Disguises were easy. Maybe he should try this more often. Crazy equals genius, after all...
"That was entirely too easy. Why don't we use this jutsu more often?"
'Never had reason to.' He shrugged as they passed through another door.
Wasn't anything complicated really; s more than enough to fool the guards and cameras. As far as anyone knew, James Ironwood had come to make a surprise inspection of the facility. None were the wiser. He fought down the urge to put a spring in his step as he ascended the stairs. Made him feel like one of those fashioned spies, ya know?
Much to his chagirn, interior of the Academy proved every bit as he'd expected from without; all bland blues and white-on-grey pastels. Honestly, it was enough to make him was the orange, the red, the gold, the green? The corridors themselves were bland and devoid of ornamentation; just as well, it kept his eyes from wandering, if not his mind.
'They teach children here?'
Kurama gave him a nudge. "Brood later, Maiden now. Our cover won't hold forever.
"Fine, fine..." He closed his eyes as he rounded a corner, stretching out with his sixth sense. 'Alright, if I were a Maiden on my last legs, where would I be...?'
Somewhere deep, or barring that, high. Somewhere well guarded. But the question remained. Up? Or down? Thanks to little Nora he knew what a Maiden "felt" like; their presence for for lack of a better term. He'd used that to find Freya from afar; shouldn't be too difficult now that he was up close and personal. If anything, it should be far more intense-yeow!
His senses lit up without warning.
Cold and warm all at once, she was a beacon of light in the dark.
Old.
And very, very powerful.
This was a fully realized Maiden; easily ten times what Nora was...and what she might become, given time.
Naruto took a moment to focus on the light in his mind, this force that waned one moment and waxed the next, then locked it in." He opened his eyes again and followed the wisps of light to their source, careful to take note of every camera he saw and a few some might miss. Not below. He took the first elevator he found and went up. Higher and higher still. They were keeping her somewhere near the peak of the city, somewhere near Ironwood's office, no doubt. This "James" fellow struck him as the paranoid sort.
At last the door parted and he beheld his prize.
There, standing near a viewport, gazing out into the city below, her back to him and leaning upon a cane. She wasn't yet bedridden, but he suspected in ten years she would be. She looked so frail, tiny even, her blue robe a tent about her body. Jinn had granted him a vision of her once already in response to his question of the Maidens, but seeing Freya in person made one thing abundantly clear.
This woman was nearing the end of her life.
Yet for all that he felt a strange respect for her. Raven had told him most Maidens didn't live long. This woman was somewhere near eighty a glance, yet here she was, and all the more powerful for it.
His first instinct was to spirit her away here and now; whisk her back to Kuroyuri and be done with it. But he couldn't. Doing so now would do more harm than good. Nora and Ren were still waiting for him in the hotel. He'd not leave them. Freya might not even survive the trip. Kuroyuri didn't have the resources to keep her alive, and he wasn't about to punch his way out of Atlas with the kids in tow. If he could just ferret out some advice from her, or better yet, bring Nora here, he'd count this a victory. It was possible now that he knew the way. Risky perhaps, but what was life without a little risk.
"You can shed that disguise now, boy."
Naruto's blood ran cold in his veins, all his thoughts shattering as one. "I beg your pardon?"
"Come now, I'm old, but not senile." she turned to face him, tittering a little at some unspoken joke. "Not yet. And you didn't give the password."
Damnit.
Silence stretched between them. He pushed his chakra to the fore, ready to defend. Freya must've sensed it; because she stood a little straighter. The room temperature plummeted.
"Worry not, youngster. I'm hardly going to sell you up the river." A thin smile tugged at her lips, morphing into a wry grin as he looked on. "Its been sometime since someone scaled my tower in such a brazen fashion. Why, it almost makes me feel young again." she tilted her head. "Come now, there's no need for this. I mean you no harm."
...that remains to be seen."
"Stubborn, hmm?" The Winter Maiden didn't bat an eye softly. "I can respect that...let me persuade you."
She touched a hand to the wall and the lights in the room...dimmed. There could be no other word for it. She seemed to siphon the energy from the very air itself. Electronics fizzled out. One touch, and the room plunged into darkness. Emergency lights snapped on a heartbeat later, bathing the room in a ruddy red glow.
"There." the old crone stood a little straighter, smiling in an almost motherly manner despite the low light. "No more cameras. I dare say the guards won't notice for some time. Now will you show me your face?"
Scary old biddy. She was more than she appeared to be. What was the harm? His cover was already blown, and he had no real reason to attack her. Harming her would just send the Power hurtling off to Sage-knew-where and then he'd be right back where he started.
On a whim he released the transformation.
Her eyes widened a fraction of an inch. "My, my, you look just like...
He frowned. "Like...?"
"Not its nothing." her cane tapped down. "What do you wish of me? I doubt you went to such trouble to make small tallk."
Well, nothing ventured, nothing gained. He told her what he wanted in no uncertain terms.
Freya listened intently. She didn't speak a word. Not a single question.
"Yes," at last thumbed her chin and nodded, "I can see why that might prove difficult for you. Its imperative for a young Maiden to learn self control. I was lucky in that regard," as he looked on she raised a hand and conjured an angry winter squall in her palm. "My mentor taught me what to expect before she passed the power to me. Even with that training," her brow drew down suddenly, lips pursing beneath some unpleasant memory. "I once hurt someone very dear to me." Her hand closed around the storm, stifling it. "Spring is wild. Summer seethes. Fall fades. Winter is still."
He quirked a brow. "Should I know those words...?"
"Merely an old mantra that keeps me calm in my old age." her gaze rose, eyes coursing with blue balefire. "Tell me, how much would you give to help your little Maiden?"
No hesitation. He lifted his chin to meet those blazing blue gaze. "My life."
"Well said," she tittered. "But how much of it, child?"
"Oi." He bridled. "I ain't that young."
She grinned. "When you've lived as long as I have, everyone is a child."
Maybe so, but he wasn't about to play word games with her. "All of it. Does that satisfy ya?"
"Such a dedicated father." she touched one hand to her face, her grin growing wider still. "She'll go far with you watching over you."
He sputtered. "Fa...?!"
"My, my, is that a blush I see? Do you deny it?"
Trying to distract him, eh? Nice try. "We're getting off course here. Will you help me, or not?"
"Hmm." She cased a glance about, gazing at the whitewashed walls, the pale ceiling, the drab carpet. "I do confess myself curious. James hasn't let me out this cell for ages, now." her neck craned back toward the window in the ruddy red light, regarding the silent city below. "I wonder how the world has changed in my absence...but no." a shake of her head damned him. "My place is here."
"This place doesn't have any bars, ya know. You could leave any time you wanted to...
"None of that." Freya's cane rapped his knee, drawing a wince. "Call it for what it is, boy. Just how old do you think I am?"
He shrugged, not quite comprehending. "Seventy?"
Her eyes flashed. "You're off by about five decades, dear."
Kurama hissed in his head. "I knew there was something off about her. She's not just old. She's ancient."
"How are you alive?"
"Think of me as as a conduit of sorts." She held up a veined hand, and he glimpsed a flicker of baleful black light over it. "A human battery, one running perilously low. In my prime, at full strength, I could do things you wouldn't imagine." for a moment, just a moment, that limb seemed hale and healthy. It shriveled before his eyes. "I was a right terror during the Great War. Even SHE didn't trifle with me lightly. There's a reason she hasn't made any overt moves against Atlas for the last century. She still thinks I'm strong. Active."
She gazed at her weak body hand for a long moment, considering it.
...if she knew how far I'd fallen, how quickly her schemes would change."
His brow furrowed. There was something she wasn't telling him. "Why not use this Semblance of yours, then?"
Freya's smile stilled him.
"Because power corrupts, dear boy, and absolute power, absolutely." her eyes turned to flint, her face half-shadowed by the emergency lights. "I haven't used my semblance in the last fifty years. Do you understand?" her cane clicked at the ground, drawing a frown from him. "I have allowed myself to shrivel away like this for one reason, and one reason alone."
Realization dawned. "You want to die...?"
"Its so nice to meet someone who understands." her eyes gleamed with a youthful vigor bellied by the ruined shell of her body. "You're powerful indeed, even if you are struggling with that new power of yours. You'll grow into it in time just as I did."
The world ground to a halt. "How-
-do I know you're from another world?" she tittered a little, hiding a smile behind her hand. "You have that air about you. That fleeting sense of "newness". It was much the same for me when I first fell into Remnant as a young girl decades ago, as it is for anyone torn between the realms. We bring a bit our "world" with us. I gained the power of a Maiden by chance soon thereafter, and it only strengthened my Gift. You are the Sun. I am the Reaper. We are not so different, you and I. Alas," her shoulders sagged, bowing beneath the weight of some unseen burden. "I am weary of my power. It is a poison, a blight on my soul, one I no longer wish to have."
A muscle jumped in his jaw. This conversation was growing increasingly fatalistic, and he didn't much like the sound of it. "So you'd let yourself waste away out of fear...?"
"Fear?" Freya laughed at last, and it was a harsh, sad thing. "No, boy. I wish to die for the good of this world. If the powers that be knew about this ability, they'd have me serve as their Maiden forever. Feed me the lifeforce of every able-bodied soul they could bet their hands upon." tutting softly, she turned away. "More meat for the grinder, more innocent lives trod underfoot-all for the glory of Atlas. I would live forever, drunk on power and madness, much as I was before. That is not a life I wish to revisit. Maria would spit at me if she saw me now."
...I'm sorry?"
"Don't be." she straightened up with a sigh. "You've done nothing wrong. If you seek a teacher for your daughter," and she kept right on speaking in spite of his sputter, "you needn't look any further. I have decades of experience; I know the Power nearly as well as that wretched old Wizard himself." here at last, her lips thinned. "Unfortunately, as I am now, I'm of precious little use to you. I'd not survive the journey down the tower, much less across the continent. Hmm...let me see...
She limped past him to a dresser and drew out an empty, fumbling for something...no, not fumbling, he realized. A faint click reached his ears; as he looked on said draw opened, revealing a small compartment within. A veined hand stabbed into the dark recess and emerged clutching a worn tome, its hidebound cover browned with age. Thick little volume, too.
"This." Freya held it out, just shy of his reach, "Is a compendium of every lesson I ever learned as a Maiden. Its yours, if you do me but one last favor."
His hackles rose. "Nora would do better with a full-fledged Maiden guiding her in person."
Her smile didn't waver. "She has no need of me beyond this."
"That's not true and you know it!" he reigned his temper in, feeling his eyes flash gold. I can call my friend and have a portal to Kuroyuri right here." a step forward caused her to retreat and he nearly cursed as she leaned toward the window. "I can even bring you back here when we're done if you like. You'll be fine-
She shook her head, setting her silver hair swaying. "I won't go."
Kurama growled in the back of his head. Naruto felt his patience strain with it. Why wouldn't she listen?! Why make this difficult?! Everything had been going so well, and now this? What was she playing at? He'd thought she was coming around to leaving the tower with him. Now, he couldn't get a read on her. She'd closed herself off to him, emotions and all. He had an awful, sinking fear as to why...
"Why are you being so damn difficult?!
"Not going to ask about my favor?" her voice took on a light, almost lilting tone. "Won't you indulge an old woman?"
His lips sealed into a thin line to stifle his anger. He didn't succeed. "...No."
"You already know, don't you?" Freya arched her neck back to look up at him. " Do it. Kill me. Slay me now, and I swear to you my last thoughts will be of your ward. I'll make certain she receives the Power. The might of a fully realized Maiden,added to her own, with my teachings and your protection. Think of what she could become."
Isolated. Targeted. A miserable wreck of a woman like Freya, who, he was beginning to realize, was far from sane.
"Nora can barely handle the power of one Maiden." he moved to circle her, forcing her to move as he placed himself between her and the viewport. There. At least now she wouldn't be able to throw herself out it. "There's no need to go this far."
"I disagree." she sounded so calm. Too calm. Dread tore a pit open in his stomach. "That is precisely the reason for me to go this far."
"I won't let you do it." He planted his feet, crossed both arms over his chest, and shook his head. "Whatever you think the world is, whatever your life is, there's always a better away. Mindless slaughter isn't the answer. I won't kill you in cold blood."
"You will." Freya stowed the tome in her robes with sad, knowing smile. "You don't have a choice. You kill me, or I'll kill you."
All at once lights snapped back on...for what little good it did.
Freya's cane clattered to the ground, forgotten now as the Maiden spread her arms. Baleful blue fire burned in her eyes as the temperature plummeted. Hoarfrost crept along the walls. Behind him, he heard the elevator coalesce into a block of solid ice. Wind howled in his ears to match it, the awful keening sound of a blizzard being born. He felt his teeth chattering already.
"Choose quickly, boy." Freya looked back to the window, a slim sliver of anger working its way through her words. "Midnight approaches. If you're still here by then, I won't be able to stop myself."
...I'd listen, were I you. Midnight for her might be akin to noon for you. In other words, a bad time."
Naruto hung his head and grit his teeth. "...fine."
Her smile faded. "You've decided, then?"
"I have."
Golden light burst from his body, blazing his eyes red. "I'm gonna give you a reason to live."
Freya's gaze flashed azure in response. "You cannot."
"Can. Am. Will. Watch me."
He waded into her storm.
A/N: Aaaaand scene! Felt right to cut it there. We'll save the rest of this arc for the next chapter.
As ever we're still sticking to the "Embers" rule here, folks. If folks don't like this...well, I won't continue. Every review, every comment, no matter how large or small, keeps me writing in spite of my busy work schedule. I don't get days off anymore, so I try to respond when I can, but lately it feels like this has become a job in and of itself; albeit one I don't get paid for, one that it is often thankless...
So by all means, speak up! Make yourselves heard! Your words matter!
So in the Immortal Words of Atlas...Review...Would You Kindly?
Not many previews this time around. Surprises await~!
(Preview)
Nora's eyes blazed. "Don't you touch her!"
"What have you done?"
...is she wearing a maid uniform?
Raven sputtered. Damnit. Forgot about that!
Heat speared through her face. If that blond bastard wasn't so damn strong...!
Cinder feared the Bright Man.
He wasn't like Rhodes at all; because he didn't have to be.
She'd glimpsed the power beneath his smile, silent strength ready to be unleashed.
Who knew what he was up to now...?
I don't have to run now.
Movement in his peripherals.
"Hey!" a sudden cry snapped him back to reality in the street." Watch where you're going!"
He had time enough to spy a young girl with white hair and crystal blue eyes. He muttered an apology and kept walking.
A shrill voice snapped at him. "Do you have any idea who I am?"
"Didn't ask, don't need it, go screw yourself.
Nora waved over her shoulder.
R&R~!