(So, what would your thoughts be if I changed this to Weiss? Just curious.)
The Border Mountains were a vast stretch of mountains that stretched along the mid part of Sanus. A natural divide used to mark the border of Vacuo and Vale. The weather quickly changed from the hot and dry climate of a desert to that of a boreal forest.
Each step along the mountains took you up, and up until you started to feel the chills of cold rain. Naruto was walking with a parka on as snow fell around him. He was slightly intrigued by how weather could change so fast, but that had to wait.
Shajara was a day's trip, and he'd surely have to go back there to gather some supplies before going to Vale City. The people said that this Poseidon Grimm resided in this very mountain trail. That it was bigger than three hours standing on top of each other.
Coming over a small hill, Naruto saw why it could hide so easily. In the center of this flat mountain top was a large lake. There were caves all around the lake, the water was dirty and from what Naruto could feel it was being tainted by something under the water.
Pulling the hood of his park off his head, Naruto already knew he was being watched. The several small Grimm he killed on the way up here seemed to be the guards. They were demonic wolf looking creatures called Beowolfs, and from Naruto understood, Vale was abundant with them.
He checked over his gear, he bought a few throwing knives from a blacksmith, putting the seal paper around them with his version of The Hiraishin No Jutsu formula. Getting the knife out Naruto felt of his weapon, spinning it in his hand before getting ready.
The seal paper was held tight by chakra, his formula seal glowing briefly as he applied chakra to it. Unlike his father's formula, or even The Nidaime Hokage's, Naruto's seal was in the style of The Uzumaki Clan symbol. He didn't really need to come up with custom formula, but he thought he'd give it a flare of his own identity.
Readying himself, Naruto watched things became still. The water even stopped moving, save for the wind blowing across it. The birds stopped, the little forest critters were nowhere in sight. All of these pointed toward a tension gathering in the air.
It felt like war drums beating right before a charge. Thunder rolled across the area as giant flashes of lightning filled the sky above. Naruto took a single step forward before all the tension broke loose. The water of the lake rippled before a massive column exploded upward. A boulder covered in dark moss was hurled toward the blonde who merely formed a Rasengan to counter it.
The boulder exploded just as Naruto saw the beast emerge.
The beast, Poseidon, had a large figure. It was covered head to toe in the bone armor most normal Grimm had. Save, this armor was very thick, and it stood as tall as the villager's said it would have. An impressive nine meters, with a large trident of sorts, firmly grasped in its left hand.
Poseidon had one eye, in the very middle of its face, and a fishlike face with many rows of sharp teeth. It roars out at Naruto, the blonde watching as electricity crackled around trident it held. The monster slammed its clawed hand into the water as it started walking toward the bank of the lake.
Naruto watches it slowly shuffle toward him.
Its single bright red eye glared at him before it suddenly took off in a full-blown sprint. Naruto's eyes widened as he didn't expect something so large to be so fast, without preparing himself properly Naruto was forced to make a Rasengan to counter the beast's charge.
The massive Grimm roars out as it stumbled back, Naruto was about to attack before the beast raised the trident up and caused lightning to fall toward it before its body glowed. Naruto's reflexes kicked in as he activated Sage Mode and he dodged the stream of lightning that came from the beast's mouth as he channeled the natural lightning through its body.
Skidding across the ground to the side of the beast, Naruto jumps toward the small lake. Landing on the water he turns around and forms a Rasenshuriken. Roaring out at the beast he throws the bladed ball of wind and chakra; its screech filled the air as it flew toward its target.
Only for something to throw very dense bolder and force the attack to detonate a few meters short of the target. Naruto looked for the source only to find a similar looking beast to Poseidon reaching for another boulder, obviously, these Grimm were much more intelligent than he realized.
'The Beowolfs that attacked me also worked in packs,' Naruto backflips out of the way as he observed another Grimm emerge from a cave.
The blonde dashes to the side, sliding across the water on occasion to avoid other boulders. He ran full sprint toward the boulder throwing Grimm, Cyclops, and leaped upward. Naruto was about to near them when Poseidon intercepted him, Naruto grunted as he blocked a swipe from the trident.
Energy crackles around the mighty weapon, but it dissipated when it hit Naruto. Smirking, the blonde used the trident as footing before launching himself backward. He lands on the water with a slid, looking up as a very large boulder heads right for him.
Using a chakra enhanced punch, Naruto shattered the next boulder heading for him. Leaping backward the blonde twists around as he formed two Rasenshuriken. Sliding across the water as he landed on it, Naruto launches the balls of energy.
Naruto watches as he made the Rasenshuriken split upon the halfway point, going into different directions. The smaller Grimm couldn't react in time as the balls hit them, exploding and creating wind domes that churned the clouds that were just barely above the battlefield.
The lightning struck the Trident again and the beast aimed right at Naruto. It fired off a massive stream of lightning from its mouth. Naruto jumped away from the lake as the stream impacted it, electrifying the waters.
With some effort, Naruto managed to land on a nearby ledge, near one of the cave entrances.
He suddenly felt a presence behind him. Tossing the throwing knife up Naruto merely smirked as he teleported to the knife using Hiraishin No Jutsu before coming back down with Ōdama Rasengan. He slams the upgraded Rasengan into the back of the Cyclops Grimm before blasting it toward The Poseidon as it entered the electrified waters with its trident raised up.
Naruto's eyes widened as the electricity in the water suddenly started to gather at the Trident. The creature roars out before hurling at Naruto like a spear. His eyes widened, he immediately formed a Rasengan covered in wind chakra in time to deflect the trident before leaping off his ledge. The trident's charge attracted a massive thunderbolt soon afterward, destroying the ledge he had been on.
Angling himself, Naruto grips a nearby rockface with his feet using chakra. The massive beast roars out as it started running along the shallower parts of the lake towards him. Electricity crackles around its body as it got closer, Naruto heard ticking noises as the electricity reached a fever pitch. Then on the fifth tick, the beast launched itself out of the water, just as a massive bolt of lightning launched itself from the heavens. It struck the beast, supercharging it as it began to pulse lightning off its body.
Naruto jumped away as the beast left the water, all the electricity following it as it did. Landing on the water, the Shinobi slid across the lake using wind chakra as a propellant. He turns and watches as Poseidon roars out in frustration.
The blonde smirks, "what's the matter, big guy? You can kill dozens of people at once, but you can't even beat me?"
Reaching into his pouch Naruto got out several throwing knives, readying them. The titan of a Grimm jumps back down into the water, causing a massive wave charged with electricity. The teen hurls the throwing knives as hard as he could, his Sage Mode running out in the process. A serious look made it across his face as the knives breached the wave just as it was about to hit him.
The beast roared out, it was sure in its victory until Naruto warped to one of the knives. He uses a wind release technique to blast the others ahead of him, the beast's eyes widened as Naruto used Kage Bunshin. Three other Narutos formed beside the original, a cascade of light of filled the area as each clone began teleporting to a pair of throwing knives.
"Alright," Naruto screamed as teleported out of his throwing knife near the beast. "Eat this, you big bastard!"
The clones and original shouted in unison, "Bōfū Rendan!"
The first clone impacted the beast's abdomen area with a Ōdama Rasengan improved by Wind Chakra, angling it upward. The beast roars out in pain as it starts going into the air. Naruto smirked as he saw cracks form in its armor. His second clone landed on the water as one of the throwing knives impacted the small lake below them.
That same clone weaved hand seals, "Suiton: Mizu Tatsumaki!"
A massive vortex of water rose up, engulfing the blades and the rest of the clones as lightning impacted the watery tornado. Naruto and two other clones inside watches as Poseidon screams out, his clones nodded as they formed Rasenshuriken. Naruto grabs them by their legs before throwing him hard at the beast.
Naruto smirked as the clones impacted Poseidon, shattering its armor. It forced the monster to drop its trident, which got caught in the winds of the twister. The twister began to slowly compress itself, Naruto used the wind and his baggy clothing to float away as the beast tried to call forth more lightning. However, with the wind chakra canceling out any lightning, Naruto smirked as the beast merely struggled.
The beast's arms began to get ripped off by the high shearing force of the wind around them. Weaving hand seals, all of them based on Jutsu he had seen in the past, he saw his chance at breaking the armor around the neck.
He rushed the mighty beast, flying toward him by using wind chakra at his feet and the updraft from his other Jutsu. Roaring out as he cocked his fist back, a swirl of wind forming around it, Naruto launches a mighty blow against the neck of the beast which broke the armor around it.
Flying backward in order to avoid getting bitten and torn apart. Naruto clapped his hands. Using his chakra Naruto formed chakra wires as he launches himself by using wind chakra. The wires wrapped around the beast's neck just as he flew past. A sharp tug from the blonde was all that needed, without needing to fear electricity from the beast, Naruto pulled the wires tightly.
The head of Poseidon came off, just as the tornado of water died down. Naruto lands on the nearby sure, a loud boom sounded as the beast's body turned pure black before exploding into black dust. The teen landed on a nearby ledge, watching as the dust faded to the wind.
He saw some other Grimm, Beowolfs and a jellyfish looking one scurry away. He stands there, watching as the waters slowly came to be still once more. The mighty trident slammed into the earth just above Naruto, the blonde swallowed a bit as he'd totally forgotten about the weapon.
Since it didn't disappear with Poseidon, Naruto had his way of proving victory. Feeling natural energy returning to the area in troves, Naruto smiled as he entered Sage Mode. He walked over to the trident and gripped it with chakra. The massive weapon was probably two stories high at the very least, and it was heavy. Naruto pulled it from the earth that it sunk into, he held it up above his head in Sage Mode before turning around and began to walk toward the edge of the cliff he was situated on.
He faced the old road that Verde had talked about, the trail leading to Vale City. Without much ceremony the blonde roars out before throwing the trident down into the trail. He leaped off the cliff edge, landing on the ground with a hard thump, and standing back up easily.
Verde looked at a picture of his family, noting his younger brother. The young man was dressed in his Huntsmen attire. Looking up at The Border Mountains, the man had watched an even younger man walk toward the mountains. He had already gathered Shajara Flowers to honor the young lad's sacrifice.
As pointless as it would be.
Suddenly, there was silence in the village. Guards running toward the entrance, Verde was on edge. Usually when that happened there was a massive bandit raid about to happen, but instead, there was…cheering? Verde found himself walking toward the gates, seeing the young man before…lugging a mighty trident of black bone.
The blonde roars out as he slammed the trident blades first into the ground in front of the village. He fell to his knees, breathing hard. Many of the guards looked at each other, then began to cheer louder than before.
This was real, Poseidon was dead!
Some of the guards ran over, grabbing Naruto and hoisting him up. They didn't care how he had done it; the monster was dead!
Verde looked at the blonde teenager and then toward the mountains. He found himself smiling as he noted a bright little light at the very peak. It was green in color, the same color as his brother's aura. He nodded, watching the light slowly drift into the skies. His brother's soul was probably restless over the failure, and now that had been remedied at last.
"The beast is slain, the beast is slain, praise to Gods above, the beast is slain!"
He heard people chant as they carried the blonde, a chant that was old to Shajara. Naruto had a goofy smile across his face, but that didn't matter. The teen had done the impossible in Verde's eyes.
Naruto was with a lot of people in the inn, many of them clamored around him as he weaved a very edited tale of how he killed Poseidon. The teen motioned with his hands, telling them how he had come upon some Dust deposits on the way there.
Which was true, there was a lot of Dust in the mountains.
He had made a bomb out of Burn Dust and Wind Dust, managing it shove it down the beast's throat when it tried to eat him. The other Grimm, Cyclops Grimm, tried to swarm him but he managed to use his semblance to fight on even ground. The blonde demonstrated his semblance by entering Sage Mode. Telling them how it improved all his combat abilities, and that it was a semblance based down to him.
Dancing to music, the inn had cleared some tables out to make a dance floor as the entire village celebrated. People outside were throwing a festival as well, with the trident moved into the center of the village as a trophy.
Naruto was wearing some new clothing he got for this night's occasion. Free of charge, of course, he indulged a little bit as the red silk robe he wore fluttered in the wind as he danced with some of the people. He showed no interest to any of them, instead, he just danced with people while drinking.
That's the one thing that caught Verde's eye, Naruto was a heavy drinker. However, it was a small price to pay for a village plagued by that bastard Grimm. The young lad wasn't demanding anything in return, he just went and did his duty. The songs died down as the village leader came into the inn, he was an older man with gray hair and light brown eyes.
He shuffled toward Naruto, hunching over with his hands behind his back, "ah, The Slayer of Poseidon."
Naruto stopped dancing, looking at the older man, "yes?"
"I just want to say thank you, on behalf of all Shajara and greater Vacuo. The trade road will allow us to prosper once again," the old man took Naruto's hand, shaking it. "Please, indulge in our town's delights. Drink, eat, and celebrate your victory."
Naruto chuckles a little bit, "thanks Dattebayo."
"Do not thank me, you could ask for payment, but you haven't so we do this out of free will. The people have been needing this good news for a very long time, it was about time someone delivered our greatest news. The Great Grimm Poseidon is dead!" The old man yelled joyously.
Naruto smiled as he began to converse with the old man.
Waking up the next morning Naruto felt groggy. The teen got up, stumbling slightly as he went into the bathroom. He retches as he throws up in a toilet. He had drunk a lot last night; a lot more than he did the previous few nights. The alcohol helped him sleep, helped him keep his head clear, the loneliness at bay.
The teen took a deep breath as he took his clothing off and walked into the shower. Turning the water on, the blonde rests his head against the glass. He had a splitting headache, he slowly found his vision going in and out.
Falling to the side, Naruto grunts in pain as he clutched his head as he faced the light. He struggled to get back up, his breathing became labored as he grimaces in pain. The teen took a moment, gathering himself to stand back up. He felt something run out of his nose, discovering little bits of blood dripping from it.
Weaving hand seals, Naruto pressed his glowing palms against his forehead. Taking deep breaths as his healing Jutsu began to take effect. Slowly, the headache began to die down. Becoming a minor migraine. He was slightly shaken by the fact his nose started bleeding, he holds his head up and spits out any excess blood that filled his mouth.
Grunting and lightly complaining, Naruto began to wash. Wiping the blood that had fell on his chest and his lips. He took deep breaths, for some reason he felt lightheaded. The light was really bothering him, so, he got out of the shower briefly to turn the lights down.
Turning toward the mirror however he found that his eyes weren't blue, they were bright red. Black with black sclera, he watched as the mirror imaged smirked before leaping out at him.
Naruto shot up as he clutched his face, "oh man, what the hell?"
Looking over to his side he saw that his clothes were discarded. The blonde heard his shower turn off, the rustling clothing filled his ears before a young woman ended up stepping out was a dark-haired beauty walk out. She looked at him, noting the look of confusion on her fashion. She just giggled, walking out of his room.
Her light blue eyes held a sense of playfulness about them.
His eyes widened slightly before he saw that a trashcan walk pulled up to his bed. Looking inside of it he sighed in relief, there would be no little Narutos running around after a night of debauchery. At least, not this time. The nightmare had woken him right up, he didn't know why it felt so real. His head slightly hurts, a minor migraine inside, his sinuses felt really swollen up as well.
Could he be getting sick?
Getting up, getting his clothes on. The blonde just tried to recall last nights events. There was a lot of drinking and partying. The young woman that just walked out of his room had been someone else that wasn't from Shajara. In fact, she said that she was from Vale.
Clutching his head, he finished getting dressed and packed up his stuff. Stripping the bedsheets off the bed, putting them in a nearby hamper. It was a kindness to do so, after all, there might have been some type of mess on the sheets.
Weaving hand seals he put the glowing palm on his head to help clear up the hangover. Taking a step outside of the room, Naruto yawns as he walked down the steps toward the inn's bar. He saw various bartenders and workers putting tables back into the room from the outside.
Verde was sitting there, "hey there sunny."
"Hey, Verde," Naruto greeted the man as he took a seat.
"Someone had a wild party," Verde commented as he looked Naruto over. "You got a hickey on your neck."
"Oh," Naruto rubbed the spot that Verde was pointing at. "Thanks, I guess."
"You know that girl that walked down the stairs wasn't half bad looking," Verde laughed a little. "So, tell me something kid, how does it feel being a celebrity?"
"Meh," Naruto groaned a little as he laid his head down. "Minus the hangover probably feels good."
"Since you were there, I didn't promise that girl anything didn't I?" Naruto asked as he rubbed the back of his head.
"You, no, her? A lot of things, all of them I'd like to keep in private. She was all over you, like bees to flowers." Verde laughed as he got a glass of water brought over to him, sliding it to Naruto.
The blonde nods and takes it. He began to chug it down, ice and all. He breathed a sigh of relief as the water quenched his thirst. Last night must've been very active since he had scratch marks across his back and was very exhausted.
"Well, glad to see your alive. I have a gift for you actually," Verde reached over by him and handing Naruto a bundle Shajara flowers. "They're not real Shajara flowers, plastic ones. However, since you'll be leaving out it'll be something to remember us by."
"Thanks, Verde," Naruto thanked the man as he took the flowers. "So, when does the caravan leave to test the trail?"
"They leave in a few hours," Verde answered Naruto as he got up. "Well, I'll leave you to recover from a hangover."
"Verde," Naruto called out to the man. "You alright?"
"I'm fine kiddo, you brought me some peace, you're going down in the history books. I just wish that this town would remember my brother's sacrifice…" Verde sighs as he looked at Naruto, "however, I think you helped me and him move on from it all…my brother can now rest in peace since you killed that big bastard."
Naruto nods, "I understand the feeling, trust me I do."
"I do trust you," Verde yawned. "Well back to the store with me."
Getting up from the chair, Naruto walked out of the inn and into the streets Shajara while carrying his pack. The teen looked at the clear blue skies above him, sighing. The blonde then turned to see the girl that had been in his room earlier leaning against the inn.
"Bout time you woke up lover boy," the girl giggled as she winks at him. "You probably have a lot of questions."
"Some," Naruto admitted as he leaned against the doorway. "Who are you?"
"I'm just a traveler, I'm heading to Vacuo City. Stopped by here, saw a party, and decided to join in the debauchery. I say though, kind of glad, it was fun last night. Have any regrets?" She inquired, though she had a sly smirk on her face.
More memories flooded Naruto's mind, "not particularly…but I really wished I got your name?"
"Meh," the young woman waved it off. "My name is Vernal."
"So, Vernal, why are you headed toward Vacuo?" Naruto asked as he looked at her.
She rolled her eyes with a smile, "I'm just doing a mission there, that's all I can say, lover."
Naruto blushed at the nickname, "um, thanks, Vernal…err…um…"
"My friends call me Blue Eyes," she walked over to him. "I do have to say; the moniker fits you better."
Naruto smiled slightly, "thanks, so…do we just go our separate ways?"
"You could tag along, but I'm not really looking for anything serious. Besides, what's the harm in a little bit of fun?"
'No wonder I feel like crap,' Naruto thought with a fake smile. "Yeah, you're right. I'll see you around Vernal, hope you have a good journey…I'd avoid the giant Sandworms."
"Damn those things are real," Vernal laughed a little. "Raven is definitely going to owe me double, frigging death worms and bullshit."
"So, they're called Death Worms, I just called them assholes," Naruto told Vernal, making her laugh.
She rubbed the back of her head, "but that's too broad, Death Worms makes them sound cooler."
"Yeah, well, I think you'd be safer taking Bullhead there. I think Verde told me that they get a regular Bullhead in every Tuesday and Friday here. So," Naruto rubbed the back of his head. "You should wait for one just to be on the safe side."
"I'll take it into consideration," she walked to him before kissing his cheek. "You have fun being a hero now, been hearing around town that's what you are."
"Um, thanks," Naruto blushed before she walks off.
The teen sighed, 'I really need to stop drinking…'