A/N: EDIT: Previews didn't show up, sorry about that, fixed it.
Aaaaand we're all caught up! Apologies in advance, Grammarly kept messing up Roderika's name.
Slifer wrote the bulk of this chapter, I just edited and tweaked things as necessary. As stated, this story, Heir of Dragons, Omen of Change, Forget Me Not, and Scarlet Vow have all been moved back in the update rota. They'll still be updated, its just harder to find inspiration for them due to lack of feedback, which in turn makes them harder to write.
Speaking of writing...
As my fifteen year anniversary on this site draws ever nearer, 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.
As ever, the Embers rule remains. If folks don't like this story...well, it will remain, but it won't continue. With two jobs and rent to pay, my free time is...well, at an all time low. I'm lucky to have four hours to write a day. I can't afford to pen stories that no one enjoys. So by all means, speak up! Every bit of feedback matters here! Truly, it does! That's no joke!
Only a few questions this time:
Q: Update Schedule! Give! Now please!
A: As you wish. For the coming days it should be, providing my health holds, Just A Shinobi, Foxfire, Blood Upon the Snow, One Helluva Team, A Smiling Monster, A Boy's Journey, Dance of the Dread, Partners in Crime, Payback, Bones, No Heroes Here, and Diabolical Invincible Me, in no particular order. Quite possibly Wordplay a well, although The Patient One is helping me with that.
There. That's twelve days worth of stories likely ALL IN A BLOODY ROW. Happy now? Let an old man rest, jeez.
Q: Nice Avatar Last Airbender reference last chapter. From Aaang vs Ozai, yes?
A: Yes, that! I all but spelled it out. Glad someone finally noticed the bloody reference.
Q:...has Roderika gone mad with power?
A: Define "mad" she's got a long of angry spirits within her at the moment, each of whom craved vengeance on Godrick...now its a matter of letting them go.
But will they let HER go?
There's an awful lot of death in the Lands Between, and many a spirit cries out for vengeance.
Q: ROMANCE! Hurry up!
A: This one's a bit of a slow burn, like No Strings.
Alright, I've kept you long enough. You determine this story's fate.
Once again, I own no references, quotes, themes, or memes. Nope! Not me! Not a wit or a one.
They're merely tributes to legends far greater than I can ever hope to be. Now then, I hope you enjoy.
"Spirits powerful things, son. Stronger than flesh and bone. Tougher than steel.
All you have to do, is give 'em a little...
...nudge."
~One with Spirits.
Tuning the Soul
Despite its decidedly tempestuous name, only a light breeze could be heard in the central courtyard of Stormveil Castle in the aftermath of its master's passing.
Perhaps passing was the polite way of saying it from Naruto's perspective, leaning as he was against one of the railings with perfect balance, watching with detached interest as a small tide of silvery runes flowed out of Godrick's desiccated corpse towards Roderika. Without saying anything, Aurelia had silently gravitated towards the bedraggled blonde and climbed haphazardly into his lap. He offered no resistance, instead ruffling the little girl's hair and cracking a small smirk at the contented sounds she emitted.
His gaze however, remained upon Roderika, whole his thoughts were directed inwards.
Naruto could sense the tide of spiritual energy swimming within Roderika like a pearlescent bonfire, many hundreds of distinct individuals occupying the same space, perfectly contained within the ego borders of the formerly downtrodden Spirit Tuner. He was not usually as attuned to Ghosts -frankly he still feared them- and the like outside of his more sensory tactile forms, but there were enough spirits inside of her that even a blind man could perceive the metaphysical weight that she put off.
Aurelia shivered in his lap, Naruto looked down and noticed small clouds of steam, thankfully not poisoned, leaving her mouth, bizarre given the otherwise sunny day. 'Ah,' he realised suddenly, looking back to Rodrika. From the heels of her boots sprouted a slowly growing circle of frost with a lavender hue, the same light purple light that Aurelia had produced when still a spectral jellyfish. 'Pulling in energy from the air to keep the 'fire' going,' Naruto thought, fascinated by what he was seeing, it was far removed from instances he had seen before of manipulating souls.
"To be fair, when Nagato attempted to rip your soul out, you were a little more preoccupied with ramming a Rasengan into his face to pontificate on the oddities of spiritually aware people," Kurama spoke from the back of his mind, looking through the Uzumaki's eyes and running with his senses.
'True, but the Human path only gave him the memories of the souls he absorbed, unless he was storing them in the King of Hell… honestly, the more I think about Old Man Sage's eyes and abilities, the more confused I get.' Naruto smirked before pushing on with his hypothesis, 'Maybe it's something closer to being a Jinchuriki, just with no seal as a medium to regulate power being passed to her? What do you think?' He paused before raising an eyebrow, 'Can you even see spirits?'
Kurama grunted in annoyance at the last question, "Only when they physically manifest or their lingering emotions, other than that, my perception of them is about the same as yours. As for if what she's doing is some kind of newfangled Spirit Jinchuriki? It's an accurate enough comparison sans the fact they aren't sealed in her, they can come as go as they like… or if she lets them."
Hearing the note of caution in his partner's tone drew a frown to Naruto's lips.,He'd been doing that an awful lot recently since his unwanted arrival in The Lands Between, he only really had a singular line of investigation with regards to that and so far the tall gloomy bugger hadn't turned up at Stormveil. 'Which means he'll be in location B next week… which is in the middle of bum fuck nowhere.'
"We really should have learned our lesson when it comes to listening to the advice of horn bearing bad omens. At least he wasn't decked out in blinding white, not sure if a burlap robe is much more aesthetically pleasing."
Blue eyes rolled in exasperation before Naruto gently set Aurelia down on the rough cobble floor, drawing a pout from the little spirit girl. Standing tall in his ragged clothes, Naruto concluded that said gloomy old man was an issue for next week and thus put him out of his mind, instead focusing on the current matter at hand.
Roderika stood before him, looking down at her gloved hands as if they were not real, unable to comprehend the magnitude of what she had done. In all likelihood, she was probably coming down off of the adrenaline high of a first true kill.
Regarding her, Naruto noticed that despite taking an axe strike to the gut and bathing in drakefire- that desiccated Wyrm was hardly worth being called a dragon- Roderika was seemingly in pristine condition. A glow of light from her abdomen caught Naruto's eye and through the gash in her tunic, he noticed glowing purple threads of spiritual energy quickly knitting the axe wound shut. Ephemeral gauze held for but a moment before dissolving into motes of mauve-tinged light, revealing healed and unblemished skin beneath.
He let out a low whistle of appreciation at the feat of healing, reminding him of the effects of a Version One cloak. "Not bad."
Squeaking in surprise, Roderika was summarily knocked from her reverie and rounding on him, bright eyes still glowing with that same spirit light, meeting his blue gaze. Her noted her outift had a few scorches and scuffs here and there but the only thing that had been truly lost was her red hooded shawl, leaving her smooth blonde hair to tumble about the nape of her neck in the breeze.
Pretty. The thought was unprompted but came to his mind all the same.
"Oh, Naruto, I had…I had forgotten you were even there." Roderika said, her voice carrying a flanged effect, sounding to the young man like many people were speaking at once. She looked over her shoulder again at Godrick's body, watching the grafted limbs even now beginning to dissolve away. "Did I truly do that?" she asked. Naruto got the distinct it was more to herself than him.
Setting his hands on his hips, he leaned forwards, amused to see out of the corner of his eye that Aurelia was copying him. "You kicked his ass to the curb, Rodrika, that was all you."
"Yeah! Mama squished that big spider flat!" Aurelia chirped, jumping up and down in place, flailing and shifting her arms much like the jellyfish she used to be. "You were like 'Hya!' 'Suha!' 'Gya-ha!' and then he was like 'noooo, my precious power ring, gone forever! Aaauuuuuuuuuuuuu!'"
Naruto raised an eyebrow at that last comment, he was ninety nine percent sure that no such words had spilled forth from the lord of grafting's vile lips, but the pathetic tone with which the last annunciation came was certainly in line with the miserable persona Godrik had affected in his final moments. He was quick to ruffle the little girls hair and enjoyed her cherubic smile that followed.
There was just one tiny. problem.
"Your eyes are still glowing there, Roderika."
The Spirit Tuner touched a hand to her face. "Are they?"
Looking around, she seemed to become aware of a weight between her shoulders and reached back, hand locking around the hilt of the shortsword she kept on her. She drew it with a flourish, glowing purple eyes shining in its spring steel surface. The blond noticed a light change in the way that she handled the weapon compared to the unsure young woman he had met in the shack. There was a deftness there that simply hadn't existed there before, subconscious and unintentional, as if an actual swordsman was handling the weapon rather than someone who simply kept a weapon strapped there for self defense.
Had she inherited some manner the experience from those souls she'd taken in?
Naruto watched her keenly. "Are you going to hold onto that power? Or will you let those souls go...?"
Letting her sword fall to her side, Roderika looked forwards, her eyes seeing Naruto but at the same time looking through him to something behind him. She slowly bit her lip, reticence in her eyes. He didn't blame her for her hesitation. The intoxicating thrill of power was always something difficult to give up.
"I… I feel…I'm not sure what I feel." Roderika spoke eventually, slowly sheathing her sword and letting out a sigh, hugging her gloved hands to her sides. "My fellows and compatriots are with me, but I don't want to hold them if they don't want to stay. There are so many more too; others I have no right to hold, so many who have their work done, they speak to me, yet I cannot hear them as clearly anymore."
Scratching his chin in thought, Naruto considered the issue facing her before resting a comforting hand on her shoulder. "Ask them, then. That's between you and them to decide."
"Are you sure?" her voice was a reedy, tremulous whisper, "You seem so much stronger than I in matters such as this."
Maybe he was. Naruto smiled wistfully, "All I know is that sometimes you have to make a choice. Not all the time, but sometimes you have to pick a path or find a middleground, that's your decision in the end."
"...perhaps you're right." She nodded, seeing sense in his words then took a few steps back and took a deep breath. "Those who dwell within me, who sought revenge on Godrick the Grafted, the deed is done, if you wish to leave me then I shan't stop you, go be at peace…." she took a moment before adding, "However, if your business is left undone and wish to yet linger and lend me a hand, I would be forever in your debt."
Her words echoed hollowly across the clearing.
Nothing happened.
And then:
Slowly but surely, a mist of purple light began to rise from Roderika's shoulders. It came away in lethargic tendrils until Naruto saw a thicker ectoplasmic wraith pull itself from the young woman. It circled her once before lowering its featureless head in a bow of reverent thanks, then slowly faded away.
A second came and repeated the process, then two now, five, ten, a dozen more. Soon enough scores of the spirits disrobed themselves from within the Spirit Tuner; each turning to offer their thanks before fading away, their grudges sated, their work done and able to move on.
Roderika swayed uneasily for a moment before Naruto stepped in to support her, earning an earnest thanks from the woman. Idly, he noticed that her eyes were back to their original green save for the fact that her pupils were purple. Strange. A side effect perhaps...?
"Some chose to stay?" he wondered.
"Yes." She nodded, a rare warm smile on her lips, "My retinue and comrades… and perhaps two dozen more… They want to stay with me." her words were weakened but not in exhaustion, it sounded to Naruto as if a great weight had been lifted from her shoulders, or more accurately, that many stood within to help heft that burden.
"Good show," Naruto said, maneuvering her arm around his shoulder for support, unaware of her embarrassed blush. "Now if there isn't anything left here, I wouldn't mind finding some new clothes, standing around half naked in the cold isn't as fun as it looks."
Loosing a laugh, Roderika was about to make some comment when she stopped, her violet pupils locking onto something behind Naruto.
What he found when he also looked in that direction was an oddity to be sure. From the body of Godrick, now little more than a withered pair of shoulders and a head, was an orb of brilliant gold, an ethereal triquetra in its centre. Whatever it was tickled against his senses as something of great power and importance, far more than the corpse it had vacated.
"Godrick's Great Rune…" Roderika breathed out, stunned at the appearance of the object. Naruto held the woman steady before she found her feet and approached the Rune. She looked over her shoulders, face creased in an unsure frown before he gave her a nod of approval. Reaching out, the blonde spirit tuner cupped the ethereal object in her gloved hands before slowly guiding it towards her chest. An adorable eep of surprise fled from her lips as it slowly sunk through her clothing. A shroud of gold and purple light briefly surrounded his before fading away with a pleased sigh.
"Well...that was certain bracing. We need room and board, yes?" Roderika said awkwardly, she attempted to put her hood up to hide her face only to realize that she no longer had it. "Tell me, Naruto, can you see the Grace?"
Naruto clicked his tongue, a look of annoyance briefly flickering in his eyes, "If you mean the little gold flames on the floor, yeah I can see 'em, though I'm no Tarnished."
Humming in thought, Roderika approached Naruto and Aurelia, before taking each one by the hand. "Not Ideal but the fact you can see Grace may be enough. For all your help, the least I can do is welcome you to the Roundtable Hold."
Naruto and Aurelia cocked their heads in confusion.
"Round-what-now?" the former frowned as she touched the glimmering golden shard, "Sounds cosy-wah!" he yelped, the trio vanishing amidst sparkles of tarnished gold light.
(.0.0.0.)
In retrospect, it had gone better than Roderika had initially foreseen.
Perhaps some might even say her decision had ended well. Some, not all. For the unlikely trio of Spirit Tuner, vagabond and incarnated spirit found themselves within the warm stone-lined walls of the Roundtable Hold in a shower of light and a feeling that their recent meals may be spewed in chunks. It was Roderika's first actual time visiting the Hold, she had been instructed on how to reach it shortly after she and her comrades had arrived in the Lands Between, a home to all those wandering Tarnished who felt the beckoning call of Grace. The prerequisite for entering was simple enough, be a Tarnished and possess the concentration at a Grace to traverse the void and reach there.
As it had been explained to her, it wasn't exactly a place in the traditional sense. It existed on no map, nor dwelled within any building above ground nor below. It simply existed for those that required it. Initially, before she had met Naruto, Roderika had not been able to traverse to the Hold due to her arm being so mangled, her pained thoughts and a twist of regrets had prevented her from forming a robust enough connection to pass into the safety as the hold.
That aside, the Roundtable Hold had seemingly accepted the trio without any resistance. Its denizens, not so much. Naruto… he was no Tarnished, he did not gleam with lost Grace but rather glowed with divine splendour all his own, different from the Demigods. While Sir Gideon Ofnir the All-Knowing had welcomed them with a calm voice and a pleasant cadence, some of the less notable denizens of the Hold had voiced their confusion and annoyance at Naruto's presence. No one had drawn their weapons or even raised their voices, but Roderika had been able to see the askance glances they leveled at Naruto and even Aurelia as she ran hither and thither to look at all the interesting new sites that the homey dwelling had to offer. A single remark from Sir Gideon had quelled any animosity towards the blondes and he bid them to make themselves at home. Naruto had wasted no time, bustling off with Aurelia glued to his shadow in search of new clothes and a place for them to sleep. He'd asked if she wanted to go with them but she had waved them off, leaving them to find their place and make it worth sleeping in comfort.
That aside, Roderika had another matter to ponder, something that gave her great pause.
Sequestered away in a warmly lit antechamber, the door safely closed and locked and barred behind her, Roderika stood facing a full-length mirror dressed only in her breeches and boots, leaving her entire upper body bare to the world. After Naruto had pointed out that her pupils had changed colour from taking in the spirits, she had felt curious to see if anything else had changed and thus got some privacy for some bodily self-exploration.
Thus far her endeavour had allowed her to reacquaint herself with her body, her trim waist and modest but supple bust were mundanely thrilling to see again after so long on the run, so many nights sleeping rough on the run. Her eyes, their pupils dots of violet light, raked across her arm and abdomen, seeing nary a scar where either Naruto had restored her arm nor Godrick's chance cut to her stomach, the creamy flesh had been as blemishless as it had been when she had first embarked upon that ship a lifetime ago.
The voices of the spirits were silent now, their presence at the back of her mind muted. Perhaps they were giving her space to think, and for that, she thanked them, even more so than how they were responsible for healing her wounds.
There was however a far more interesting matter to address in her body.
He'd given it to her.
Roderika admired the great rune tattooed between her breasts. She turned in the mirror, watching it run the length of her chest from clavicle to end of the sternum, seeing it shimmer in the low light of the Roundtable. Despite the titanic leap in strength she had undergone in the battle with the pathetic spider, she held no illusion that Naruto could have crushed her like a gnat had he wished to contest ownership of the Anchor Rune, yet he had let her receive it with his blessing. In layman's terms, he had given her a shard of the Elden Ring. A tiny smile touched her mouth as she regarded it. Even with many spirits having left, she felt so much stronger now. Did she really deserve a great gift such as this? Did he think her pretty...?
She cupped a breast and frowned.
"Are you quite done using my mirror, dear?"
The spirit tuner squeaked and covered herself, turning to the dark corner from which the voice had spoken. "I'm so sorry! I didn't realise anyone was using this room!"
"It's quite alright."
She found herself facing a woman in black.
The woman looked a decade Rodrika's senior, but it was always hard to gauge actual age in the Lands Between, her skin was deathly pale, but it did nothing to distract from her obvious beauty. She had a pointed aristocratic face with pale eyes and a serene expression, her platinum blonde hair cascaded past her shoulders to her lower back but was mostly hidden by the black shawl she kept to shroud her head, running down past the simple black gown she wore.
There was something about the woman though, something that prickled at Roderika's spiritual senses, like a familiar cool breeze that fluttered from the air around the older woman. It did not feel malicious, in fact it was quite benign, just unsettlingly cold and familiar.
"And you are...?"
"My name is Fia, dear girl." She glimpsed a smile in the shadows of her hood." She whose room you have chosen to co-opt." Roderika's embarrassment surged and she made for her white and gold tunic but Fia chose to continue, "If I heard from the ruckus of your arrival correctly, then your name is Roderika, yes? A good name."
"Thank you, you're too kind," she answered, a nervous reaction that she had no true part in controlling. Eyes adjusting to the gloom, she noticed that the corner of the room from which Fia had emerged contained a small single bed in a wooden frame. "If I despoiled your repose, then you have my most profuse apologies."
"Nonsense, no harm, no foul. But I must insist that you do not garb yourself in something in such poor shape." Fia jabbed a long pale digit at Roderika's tunic, which was begging to look threadbare and scorched. She crossed the room at a slow, measured pace, yet to her it looked as if the space between them had shrunk instantaneously to the younger woman. She was simply there, placing a pleasantly cool hand on Roderika's shoulder. "Come, I believe I have something in your size."
The Anchor Rune bearer's weak resistance did nothing to deter the older and taller woman, in no time at all she had been ushered to the bed where Fia was a while of black fabric and pale skin. She worked with a professional grace that had the spirit tuner wondering if she had been a seamstress in a prior life, casting no disparaging looks at Roderika's half naked form as she pulled articles of clothing from numerous old wooden trunks under her bed. They passed the time with a pleasant enough conversion, eeking out bits of information from one another in the facade of friendliness, though Roderika remained at least somewhat guarded in her answers.
"And your companion, the spiky-haired so and so and his… daughter? Or is she yours?" Fia questioned, handing the younger woman a belt.
"Both yet neither, Roderika smiled, she seeks succor from us and calls us her parents, and for answering our call, we have nothing else but to give. I believe Naruto enjoys her company."
"Yes, that one has so much warmth to give, even I can see it, I look forward to speaking with him." Fia exclaimed in apparent serenity, the shadows of the hood obscuring her eyes. "Now, let's get a look at you."
Fia had outfitted the spirit tuner in a finely made tunic not dissimilar from the one that Rode had worn before, save for the fact it was black and gold with a ruffled ascot collar. A golden belt buckle held it tight to her trim waist, and a new red mantle had been procured, this one with an eagle's peak and purple filigree running down its edges.
Roderika turned in the mirror, trying the feel of the garments, finding nothing wanting about their comfort or ability to move. Nodding in contentment, she made to pass Fia an orb's worth of runes but the beautiful lady raised a hand in refusal. "Is there something wrong?"
"No, I am simply doing as I need do, your company has been more than enough payment, now all of you be off to see thy paramour," Fia explained, drawing a blush from Roderika who left the room shortly after, only just catching Fia's smile turn to something else upon leaving the room.
It didn't take her long to find Naruto, he was leaning against the main round table that was the Hold's namesake, his form silhouetted by the large light of Grace in its heart. Naruto too had been furnished with some new clothes, though decidedly more robust than Roderika's attire. He had, somehow, found an orange doublet cinched by a tight-fitting steel cuirass and brown breeches stuffed into over-the-knee black boots. A fan-shaped pauldron protected his left shoulder from which was pinned a red shoulder cape edged with black flames.
Aurelia sat on the table swinging her legs over the edge, her eyes lit up upon seeing Roderika. Seizing Naruto's hand she pointed in her direction, causing the young man to look at the Spirit Tuner and smile.
"Well, seems like we both found something that fit."
Roderika returned the gesture and inclined her head, "I will try to get my old clothes mended, I am rather fond of them."
"There's probably someone here who could do it, there's a wide range of people here and so far there's some that don't look at me like I've grown a second head."
"Meanies!" Aurelia chipped in, face set in a pout.
Giggling at the interaction, Roderika was struck by a sudden bout of inspiration and knelt to fiddle with her boot, pulling something out of it then approaching Naruto's right arm.
"What's this?"
He blinked at the red ribbon she'd wrapped around his arm. It gleamed nicely to match his new armour.
"It's my favor. Do you like it?" Roderika questioned, suddenly feeling self conscious.
Naruto nodded after a pause, "I'm not saying it's not nice, but whatever did I do to deserve it?"
"Everything," Roderika answered honestly before slowly falling to one knee, "Were it not for you I would have died in that shack, were it not for you I would never have made it to the castle, nor found the fate of my friends, nor put them to rest. For you I offer my favor, that until such time as the sun rises in the west and the sky comes falling down, I shall stand by your side for whatever you desire."
As she spoke a series of words that she had contemplated in the mirror, she was aware of Naruto's shocked expression, eyes wide and jaw working up and down as a cow chewed cud. For a moment she worried he would rebuke her, then slowly a hand was offered to help her stand.
"Well, I feel that was a bit sudden, but I'm not about to look a gift horse in the mouth," Naruto helped Roderika to her feet, "Okay, I accept, but I think we'll hold off on what I desire for a while, I can't really think of anything."
Aurelia tilted her little head and touched a finger to her chin. "...can I have a brother? Or another sister?"
Naruto pitched backwards and crashed to the floor with a howl of laughter.
Roderika absolutely squeaked. "Aurelia!"
...is that a no?"
(.0.0.0.)
An hour later found Naruto showing the two women into the room he had found for them, a small but homey room with a double bed, desk and hearth that was crackling merrily by the time that he had shut the door to give them some privacy. Aurelia plonked herself down in the middle of the bed, Naruto took one end while Roderika gingerly sat at the other, letting out a pleased moan at feeling a soft bed for the first time in months. As they made ready for bed, she enquired if he had any business to take care of that needed her assistance, causing him to give her a middling look.
"Sort of, I have to meet someone next week but its kind of a hassle, nothing you have to worry about." he said.
Roderika clearly wanted to ask more but the beckoning hands of the sandman could not be denied. Slowly her eyes began to droop, then Naruto turned to speak to Aurelia. "Don't wanna sleep?"
Aurelia shook her head, kicking her covers. "Nuh-uh! Bedtime Story!"
"Ohhh, so you want me to read to you. Alright, I can think of a few good ones. Let's start with the one I was named after."
Roderika eyelid felt like lead, the bed was so warm and soft.
"Papa was named after a book character! So cool," Aurelia chirped.
The older woman eased back into the pillows, letting sleep take her.
As she was about to fade out, listening to the animated tale spin out between adult and child, Roderika could have sworn she saw something bizarre, clearly seen yet no one reacted to it.
Stood behind Naruto at the foot of the bed was a man, tall and broad with long spiky white hair in a ponytail, his garb far different from anything in the Lands Between. He wasn't totally solid but he watched Naruto tell the story with a pleased smile. Noticing her looking, the spectre turned to look at Roderika, the red teardrop lines that ran under each of his eyes crinkling in a smile before he gave a knowing wink.
Taking that as good a sign as any, Roderika let sleep take her, and slept the sleep of the just, content in knowing someone was watching over the pair that were quickly becoming precious to her.
(.0.0.0.)
Seven turns of the solar cycle saw Naruto by himself far distant from his cozy room in the Roundtable Hold, instead sitting amidst nature in the middle of the forest. He tended a small fire beside a site of Grace, idly poking the freshly added firewood with an exceptionally long stick, enjoying the satisfying snaps and cracks as the fire rose to light the early morning gloom.
"Any idea when he'll be showing up?" Naruto asked aloud, he knew he was alone and had no real need to keep his internal conversation within the confines of his mind.
"No clue, could be in the next five minutes, could be a few seconds before midnight, he seemed like the sort to make us wait, crotchety old geezer," Kurama replied, stretching within Naruto's mindscape. "That's not an issue, is it? Or are you missing your lady friend's company already?"
"Piss off," Naruto said with a pout, "Roderika knows I'll be back tomorrow, I think I can endure her worrying, but you spending the day teasing me is just salt in the wound."
Kurama harrumphed before returning to silence, leaving Naruto with his thoughts. Upon arriving in the Lands Between, it had not been long before he had encountered a rather strange, ill-tempered, but wise individual who appeared to know something of his circumstances. Sadly their time together had been curtailed by the reality that said crotchety recluse was apparently very busy despite his harried looks and told Naruto that should they wish to speak again, there would be two opportunities. He would either be overseeing Stormveil Castle, or in his absence, he would come to this wood one week later, though sadly, he did not specify a time.
Time continued its slow but inexorable march even as Naruto relaxed by the fire, the light of the sun slowly but surely crawling up over the eastern hills to its zenith in the skies above, the thick canopy of trees raining dappled sunshine down upon the blonde. The trees here were different from back home, he thought, while nowhere near as tall as the acres of hill sized trees that had ringed in Konoha, this world's trees were smaller but undeniably older, ancient even. Nature felt different, a whisper on the wind of a world that was broken, the gears of progress grinding onward even as parts of the world rotted from the inside out.
It was different, simple as.
His lips turned upwards, thoughts turning to Roderika and Aurelia, they were honestly a joy to be around, though both held an unsure sadness and hope to them in equal measure, he would be lying if he said that he didn't care for them. But then again, this entire set of events had been nothing but fast friends and quickly dispatched enemies…
His face soured, "All save for one…"
He recalled then fragments of how he had come to dwell in the Lands Between, of looking up at the slowly forming moon that sealed away his distant ancestor brick by laborious brick. Images swam before the eyes of his mind like unwelcome phantoms, Sasuke's declaration of Revolution, their initial clash and then…and then…
They appeared, and it all went to hell.
Suddenly Naruto's ears pricked up, his hackles rising, perceiving a shift in nature that one should not be able to earthly perceive yet perceive he did. With a rudeness that belayed its formation, a thick cloud of fog descended over the forest, muffling sound and muting the sun. Naruto's nose wrinkled in disgust at the foulness on the air, there was something approaching him with ill intent, a languid and deliberate approach that was undoubtedly the stalking of a predator scenting its pray. However, there were mistakes in this approach, snaps of dried bracken echoing through the fog, shadows that ducked behind trees just a little bit too late.
They wanted him to see them coming, wanted him to lose himself to fear.
He did not, simply remaining at his station, poking the fire with a solemn but deadpan expression.
They appeared then, two dozen figures melting from the shadows of the trees all around him, encircling Naruto in a rough formation, the crunch and clank of metal on metal cutting through the early quiet of the fog like nails on a blackboard. They were men and women though all similarly garbed in pitted and rusted dark plate armour, their helms all equally foreboding. One wore a helmet shaped to effect a fanged serpent, another with bull's horns sharpened to wicked points. Their outfits did not concern Naruto, his eyes were directed at their weapons. They were not wielding the standard sword or spear, they all held different weapons that seemed to have been pulled from depraved minds of nightmare kin. Warbling war scythes, wicked flamberge and mauls, one even carried what appeared to be a man's skull and spinal cord fashioned into a whip. All rusty…
No, not rusty. Blood flecked. These highwaymen were caked in layers of old dried blood from the top of their helms to the tips of their boots. Their emotions, dark and malefected things with the salty tang of madness, practically wafted from them in red hewed miasma as unseen eyes bored into Naruto with delighted hate.
Silence reigned, and Naruto did not speak nor rise, maintaining an heir of cool that seemed to put the enemies on edge. Eventually, one stepped forwards, he wore a spike-encrusted set of off-gold plate with a tall helm, wings made from blood-tipped feathers crudely adhered to either side, the darkness from within the confines of the prison bars that were his visor was absolute.
Slowly he raised one of his twin Halo Scytes to point at Naruto. "Stand and run, little innocent, there is no fun in the chase for those who do not scream."
"Go away, I'm waiting for someone." NHe, poking a blackened bit of kindling with his stick.
A wry laugh went up from the surrounding bandits, at least Naruto assumed them to be such. what they were.
"There is no one coming to save you little fox, you shall die alone and screaming as we rip you to shreds and feed your still beating heart to the serpent king to whom we are family." The leader growled, drawing the tip of his scythe along the floor, a line of sparks following.
Naruto snorted. "Good luck with that, but I'm not going to say this again. Leave now."
Teeth clicking in annoyance, the leader advanced on Naruto menacingly. "Stand and run, we Recusants will have our game!"
"No."
The Uzumaki's banal refusal confused the lead Recusant, "But we are the feared Recusants of Mount Gelmir! We have you surrounded!" he shouted.
Naruto puffed his cheeks in exasperation, "I don't care."
The Recusant looked at his fellows. "That doesn't make any sense!"
"Too bad." Naruto groused.
The lead Recusant's teeth ground against one another, "You illiterate jackernape, I'll flay you alive, dip you in salt and ale and fuck your still screaming corpse! I'll turn you into the greatest blasphemy against the gods before I send you to the destined death that all men fear-"
"I don't fear death. I've died before. What about you…."
And with those words, Naruto was simply gone.
An awful crunch filled the air. The Recusant looked down, eyes bulging, balking at the fist thrust through their chest.
Naruto beamed back, smiling, blood on his face. He felt his fingers lock around the foul knight's heart, felt it thump erratically against the palm of his hand as he slowly but surely squeezed. Around them all the other Recusant's took a step back, letting out bleats of surprise and shock. Naruto paid them no mind, eyes boring into the blackness of the man in front of him. "I gave you more than one chance to walk away, instead you prattled on about why I should run and be afraid of death, but seeing as I'm not, I gotta wonder…"
Naruto's eyes flashed red.
"...tell me, do you fear death?"
The boss screamed as Naruto ripped his heart from his chest and crushed it before his eyes.
Naruto cracked his neck. "Next."
His foes shrank back. He stepped forward.
"What's wrong? You were all so eager to fight a minute ago…"
Muffled screams echoed out through the fog-filled forest, mixed with the wet crunch of bone, cartilage and pain as living flesh was quickly yet painfully converted into carrion.
By the time the fog had lifted, Naruto was once again sitting next to his fire, though this time he wiped his hands clean of gore, being sure to keep Roderika's favour from the stinking viscera. He hoped there would be no more interruptions before his guest arrived, but knowing his luck, he was due to be interrupted again.
A shimmer of blue light gave credence to his thoughts. He breathed an angry, aggravated sigh, not even having to turn his head to recognise the sound of her breathing.
Naruto stepped away from the fire to look at the Grace. "You again? I already told you no."
"I say again, I would like to offer you an accord-"
"And I reply again, NO!" he flung up his hands. "I'm not signing any accords or deals or pacts or conspiracies with you yet, now kindly piss off while I get started on dinner."
The woman pursed her lips, nose turning up at him as if a mother scorning a child after throwing a tantrum. "I shall return another time then." She quipped before fading away into the Grace.
Naruto sighed, knowing full well that she would return; that one was a persistent and recurring annoyance ever since he had come to these lands, but right now he had to focus on dinner.
The sun was beginning to dip below the western horizon by the time his food was approaching readiness, a cured boar procured from the Roundtable Hold had been easy enough to prepare and now glistened on its spit, rivulets of juicy fat dripping along it to hiss once they struck the fire.
Finally, as all light faded from the world save his fire and food did the object of Naruto's attention make an appearance, a glow of tarnished gold light manifesting at the edge of the clearing, forming into a tall but stooped figure dressed in burlap rags.
Naruto beamed. "You came~!"
The stranger bridled. "Foul Tarnished. If this is some trick-"
"No, no! Not at all. Come in, come in! Here, sit down. I've got plenty of food~!"
Morgott the Fel Omen's brow creased in confusion, he clutched his rough hewn cane close and studied Naruto for about a minute before approaching and slowly easing himself to sit across from him. "...I do not understand. Why do we need a dialogue?"
"Just wanna talk." Naruto replied, pulling a pork skewer from the carcass and offering it to the old man, "When I arrived in this world, you said that you knew something of what sent me here."
"Hrrmph." Morgott grunted before gruffly taking the shank of supple flesh and tearing strips from it with his pointed teeth. "Perhaps yes, perhaps no. You are some form of Demigod, though not of the Golden Order, therefore a heretic… but the Erdtree… the fingers," he waved a hand, "They speak of thee, of something deeply wrong and potentially right about thy advent. So then, let us…talk, as you say."
Naruto grinned.
Finally, progress~!
"That's all I ever asked."
A/N: And there we have it.
For the record, Rodrika still has at least 40 spirits presently residing within her, those of her comrades and some others who still feel that they are either not at rest or their jobs are left undone. As for who some of these other spirits are…well you're all just gonna have to find out~!
WARNING~! WARNING~! WARNING~!
SPOILERS AWAIT THEE AHEAD!
READ AT YOUR OWN RISK!
(Previews)
"Rather tall fella, ain'tcha?"
"I am the Lord of Leyndell. Watch thy tongue.
"What is dead may never die!"
Honestly, the two of you! Dancing about one another like this. Must I lock you in a closet?"
"You will die here, spirit tuner."
...no, I won't." Forcing her quivering limb down, Roderika drew her blade.
And the dead answered.
"Not another one!"
"What is it you seek?"
She didn't like the way Gideon looked at her.
Hewg scoffed. "Gimme that! That's no weapon. I'll make you a proper one.
EDIT: Hey, you made it!
As ever, the Embers rule remains for this story in particular, seeing as it seems to be one of my weaker ones. If people don't enjoy it? Well...I won't be able to continue it. That's no joke, folks. I'm so busy these days with two jobs in the holidays; basically, I don't have time off. Not anymore.
What little free time I DO have before/after work is limited; as such, I can't afford to focus on something folks don't like. Reviews keep me writing in these times, and keep the daily updates flowing. Silence...silence only hurts. I hate having to beg for feedback, but without it...well, it feels like I'm not making an impact.
Looking forward to chatting with you all after work!
Warm regards,
~Nz.
R&R~!