A/N: You know, this is probably one of the more menacing stories I've written.
No plot armor here, no power of friendship to save the day.
Ain't nobody safe in this one~!
As ever, we're going by the now infamous Embers rule for this story. If folks don't like it...well, it won't be continued So by all means! speak up! I'm working two jobs -have been for awhile now- and I don't have time to write something folks don't enjoy. That's why I'm here you see, to write stories that resonate with people, be they happy or sad. So Make yourselves heard! Every bit of feedback counts!
That's no joke!
I really look forward to reading and chatting with you all after a long day working back to back shifts. What little downtime I have is often spent writing these days, and that really has a tendency to wear me out these days.
No questions this time. Only story. And its a doozy.
I'll let the chapter do the talking for me. Hopefully everyone enjoys it.
As ever, I own no references, quotes, memes or themes. Not a wit or a one. Here we go~!
"Silly little man. By all means, persecute that poor boy. Put pressure on him. Make him feel the monster that you believe him to be.
Drive him from your homes, your cities. Hound him, harry him, give him not a moments peace.
In the end, he will come to me of his own free will. I am inevitable.
I've already won. You just don't see it yet.
~Salem.
Countdown
Mountain Glenn lay empty .
Ozpin took one look at the dead city and knew he would fail to find his quarry here in the moonlight; the scorched streets and dissolving Grimm told him all he needed to know. There had been a battle here. A recent one at that. Dead streets and dead buildings scorched by battle, fresh craters still smoldering with meager flames. Yes. One look was all it took. When he waded in, he didn't expect to find much.
Imagine his surprise then, when he stumbled upon something, no, someone.
It began with a flash of color among the ruins, bright white and blue. Atlas colors? Here? Curious. He spied it in the distance and crept closer, cane at the ready. Mountain Glenn might well be dead but Grimm still prowled its streets. He would not be taken unawares.
In the end, His caution would prove unwarranted.
They did not rise. Didn't move. Didn't respond in the least, even when he stopped a stone's throw away. He had but to look at their wounds to understand why; what must have transpired here. The specialist had died and died hard, taking a great many Grimm with him. Still it seemed strange to find his body positioned in such a way, the body badly mangled, so much so as to be nearly unrecognizable. The tail suggested it was a faunus, but that was all he was able to discern.
A specialist? One of James', then. Left behind as a warning, perhaps? No, that wasn't like him.
Moreover, why would an Atlas elite even be out here in the first place?
Why leave their body here? It didn't serve any purpose beyond...
"Hello, Ozma."
...bait.
Ozpin's shoulders tensed as a name carried to him on the wind. His blood ran cold in his veins; no, it froze solid. Only three beings in existence would call him such. Two had forsaken Remnant. And the third...long had it been since he'd least heard her voice, but he still remembered it with bittersweet fondness. Which was precisely why he felt the way he did now.
Salem.
The knight-turned-headmaster pivoted in place, fingers white-knuckles arond his cane, gripping until his hand went numb. The shadows seemed to stretch around him, countless red eyes peering out of the dark. It wasn't the Grimm he feared. Even in his weakened state he could still cut swathes through any army she dared to throw at him, to say nothing of her so-called followers.
But if she had come here in person...then he would die. Rather, this body would.
All the progress he'd made in this life, ruined. Undone in an instant.
A fresh shiver shot down his spine.
No, he reassured himself. She couldn't be here. Not yet. Surely she wouldn't be so bold as to come in person. She'd always been so cautious in the past. She wouldn't feel the need to be here; she would've sent an envoy, some Grimm perhaps, maybe even one of her lieutenants. But to leave the safety of her tower and risk exposure? Never. Even she wouldn't be so foolish..unless?
"What's wrong, dear friend?" There it was again, those dulcet tones he knew so well, though he still couldn't see her. "Nothing to say? Its been...how long since we last met like this?"
"What is there to say?" he willed himself to stand strong; to straighten shoulders that even now bowed with the weight of defeat. "You haven't changed."
"Come now," she crooned. "Don't be so cold. We have much to discuss, you and I...
A shadow detached itself from the darkness of a dilapidated building and he whirled to meet it. Surely she spoke through a Seer, hidden somewhere in the ruins. Please be a Seer. Brother Gods, if you're out there, if you're listening, please let it bee a Seer-
...after all," Chalk white flesh gleamed in the starlight as she stepped forth, full lips quirked in a faint smile. "I've missed you so."
Not a Seer. Definitely not a seer!
Eyes of shadow and flame met his, rimmed by a veined face, beautiful even now in undeath. She tilted her head just so, a strand of ashen hair obscuring one eye. Questions buzzed through his mind as his gaze met hers. Why was she here? Why was her hair down? What devilry was she up to this time?
"I thought I might linger and see if anyone came for...this." she nudged the rotting corpse at her heel. "A pity. He begged, before the end. But you? Your suffering will make this look like a mercy."
Ozpin hardened his heart. He'd been foolish, but if she thought he would go quietly, she was sorely mistaken.
"I thought you might come here, but alone?" she touched a hand to her cheek and tutted once in that way she did, poisoning a once-fond memory with scorn. "Look how you've diminished yourself." those bloodred eyes flicked over him, keen assessing, cold as ice. "And for what? Still no victory. Even after all these years.
Realization dawned, and with it, dread. "You have him, don't you?"
"No." her smile thinned out into a frown. "Your little bird made certain of that."
Ozpin paused just short of a biting retort. Qrow? He was with Summer. He'd spoken to him not an hour before.
"I should have known you would keep Raven close," Salem hummed on, heedless of his confusion. "Was her betrayal a ruse, too? How very clever of you. I'll admit, you surprise me. But it was foolish of you to reveal her so late in the game. Did you not think I would hunt your Maiden? She will suffer for this."
Maiden?! Some of his confusion must have shown through; because her eyes lit up.
"Oh. You didn't know? How delicious." that smile became a sneer. "Seems your inner circle isn't so secure after all."
The revelation rocked him. How would Raven even know of the boy, let alone act in such a short time?
Qrow. He must have told his sister. Which meant...ah, betrayal. He'd suffered such before, but it still stung. Treachery after treachery. First James and Taiyang, now another old friend. Was everyone turning against him? Would Leonardo be next? His shoulders sagged and he forced himself to shoulder such thoughts aside. No matter. He must carry on as he always had.
Steeling himself, he looked upon the one he'd once loved above all else. "What do you want from me?"
"The boy, for starters." a faint note of amusement touched her words. "Give him to me, and I will grant you a century of peace; generations to build your defenses." On a whim, she waved a hand, and the teeming eyes glaring from the dark began to retreat. "I'll even allow you to colonize beyond the four cities for a time. Its a fair bargain, no? One life, for millions.
It was...which would make her impending victory all the more painful.
Naruto, that boy, could not be allowed to live. His very presence upset the status quo, but what he could do with Grimm...it would shatter the world. Grimm were not people. They could never be people. The very notion that such might even be possible threatened to unbalance everything he had ever worked for. And if Salem got her hands on him, if she gained an army of hybrids or whatever the devil that blond braggart could create; it would doom them all.
"I won't let you harness such power." planting both hands upon his cane, he braced himself for the killing blow. "I'd sooner kill him first."
It never came.
"Are you certain, old friend?" Salem reached out, cupping his chin. "I will not make such an offer again. Think what we could achieve together. What we could accomplish."
Oh, he knew full well where that road led. The ruin of the human race. Faunus, too. He had been tempted once. Never again.
He twisted his head, tearing free from her grasp. "I will not."
He expected anger from his ex-wife, dismissal at the very least. Certainly not a smile. Her lips quirked in a smile he knew all too well; it was a look of pure poison. The last time she'd worn such, Mountain Glenn had been set ablaze. That she wore such a smile now boded poorly for him.
"Even now you refuse to change." for a moment, she sounded almost sad. "You don't see his potential as I do. No matter." Her hand fell and the darkness swarmed with red eyes anew. "If I cannot achieve my aims by diplomacy, then I shall take what I want by force. You taught me such, after all."
At some unseen command, Beowolves crept from the shadows...and others. Ursae, Deathstalkers, Berringals all.
Ozpin gave them all the attention they deserved. None. "You cannot kill me."
"I know." Salem hummed. "But I can certainly inconvenience you."
Thus speaking, she snapped her fingers.
The horde descended.
(.0.0.0.)
Everything ached.
His head, his arms, his legs, everything. It felt like his very soul had been diced into bits, pushed through a cheese grater, which was then shoved through a blender.
In short? Pain.
Bloodshot eyes creaked open, half expecting to find himself in a cell. He couldn't even be certain of that. Everything was too dark to see and his eyes wouldn't adjust no matter how hard he squinted. The walls looked like fabric, which implied a tent, but the ground was hard. Also cold. Kinda sticky, too, though that might've been his dried blood. Best not think about that overmuch. His mind fixed on a singular thought to the exclusion of all else.
The others.
He had to find the others.
Lisa. Elm. Alpha. Rim. Were they safe? Were they alright?
With a supreme effort of will, he planted one hand beneath him. Or rather, he tried. The harsh clink of metal reached his ears and much to his chagrin, he found he was scarcely able to move them. Someone had shackled his limbs to the floor, leaving him laying in a horribly awkward position. So much for thinking he wasn't a prisoner.
"You've gotta be kidding me...
Someone tore the flap aside before he could contemplate that thought, sending shards of sunlight spilling into the room. His eyes snapped shut. Mistakes were made.
Blind as he was, he never saw the kick coming. It certainly felt like someone had kicked him; he felt the telltale impression of a boot against his face.
Another cracked him upside the head sending his world spinning.
"Rise and shine, cupcake." a woman's voice brayed. "There's work to be done."
Naruto blew out an angry breath. "Don't do that again."
"You mean this?" Another kick blooded his nose.
Anger sparked. He surged upright.
The chains snapped.
A/N: It ain't Raven kicking him. That's all I'll say.
As ever, we're going by the Embers rule. This'll won't be continued if folks don't like it. So speak up! Make yourselves heard! Every bit of feedback counts! Seriously! Strange at it may seem, I can't write without reviews. That's no joke.
Aaaand there we go. As ever, reviews keep me alive. Without them, I cannot write.
So...in the Immortal Words of Atlas...
...Review...Would You Kindly?
No previews this time.
Too depressed.
R&R~!