A/N: As ever, reviews are the fuel which keeps me writing.
Without them, my inspiration falls flat. Sorry, but that's the plain truth.
Updated this a little early before the others, because folks were wondering about it. Chef of Beacon is next.
Sooo...I saw Wrath of Man recently. Followed by Gentlemen again for good measure. Might watch "Nobody" in a minute. Needless to say, its given me inspiration. Hope you're ready. I have been waiting AGES to write this chapter and let the gang cut loose. I've held back, actively restrained myself, but now, no longer!
So lets answer a few questions, eh? Onward!
Q: YES! Give us Raven! Let the Birdy out of her cage and let her RIP~!
A: Fear not, there will be much ripping and tearing in this chapter. Raven may be more mellow than the sulky birdy we know in canon, but at the end of the day? She's a killer.
Tonight, we get to see that Raven.
Q: Sooo...on a scale of one to ten...just how screwed are Salem's minions?
A: I'd say eleven. Salem knows to play the waiting game herself; to simply work around Naruto for fear of either being converted by him. IF he knew seals, she'd be locked away in a rock somewhere by now. Its only his own inability on that front that's saved her. Its even hinted that she told Cinder and co. to beware "the man with whiskers" and all that.
That's the problem, here. She was too vague. No one knew Naruto opened a bakery.
And now poor prideful Cinder's gone off on her own volition and poked the proverbial dragon.
She thinks she's merely messing with one Man and a Maiden; not a mother and father with a literal crew at their backs.
Q: Will we ever see Naruto and Raven's past? Our his past with Vanessa and Sapphire? Like a story?
A: Maybe someday. Not a story, but a fragment, perhaps. Don't think a prequel will have much pull...
Naruto and Raven can kill with the best of them.
Q: I must implore you not to hold back against Cinder and whoever else is helping. Emerald, MAYBE, but certainly not Tyrian! And where the hell are Watts and Hazel?!
A: Come now, if I told you my plan there wouldn't be any suspense! Although, I will say this. We're nearing the end of this story. There's a part of me that wants to continue it forever, but doing so would just make things feel cheap. I don't want that.
Don't worry, we've got a few chapters left, just throwing things out there.
Alright then, I've kept you long enough. Lets get into the meet of the matter and have some fun!
Once more, I own no quotes, references, or memes. Not a wit or a one. NOPE!
Papa!Naruto is best Naruto, and woe betide anyone who hurts his kids.
Minor verbatim for last chapter~!
"I'm not emotional about the bakery.
But I am upset about the fact that someone laid their hands on my daughter.
MY! DAUGHTER!"
~?
Best Served Hot
As a young girl, Raven had always been fascinated by fire.
For you see, fire was a weapon.
Fire was strength.
For one raised in the tribe away from technology and civilization, it had ever been a source of comfort to her. For while fire meant safety to some; to her, it was a weapon. Fire banished the dark and kept the monsters at bay. Fire could burn you if left unchecked, but if you controlled it, tempered it, mastered it, then the monsters feared you in turn.
Fire pushed away the shadows that haunted her nightmares and all the horrors they carried. Fire was dangerous. Fire was death.
When she'd first met Naruto all those years ago, he'd been like a flame too, but a different sort. Pure. Bright. Powerful. A burning radiance so dazzling that she couldn't help but bask in it. He was the light to her darkness, and the At some point, he became the light of her life. She never could quite say when, only that he had. She'd learned to love fire.
Now, for the first time in nearly two decades, she feared it again.
When the bombs went off and her world erupted in a swirl of blazing death, Raven had all of a moment to raise her hand and fling her aura to the fore. Heat slapped across her startled visage as the warehouse exploded; searing light burned her retinas as her feet were ripped her feet from the floor. Mangled metal burst before her back as she crashed through to the outside, skipping like a flung stone launched by an angry flaming god. It was only an errant shipping container that saved her; momentum faltered at last and wedged her against the metal.
Blinking the spots from her vision, she tossed her head and spared a wild glance for her surroundings.
At once, she recognized the smell of the ocean. A quick look confirmed it. The docks. Of course Cinder would be hiding out by the water. She needed an escape route now that things had gone south, a way to flee, be it by air or sea.
Eyes stinging, lungs burning, Raven planted Omen in the ground and used it to lever herself upright.
'And if this is a shipping yard...
Another thorn of suspicion prodded at her and she pivoted. Sure enough, the telltale crest of the SDC gazed back at her from the mangled container she'd smashed into. A fine, grainy red powder poured through the hole she'd created, spilling out into a quivering puddle at her feet. Raven sniffed, then frowned, recognizing the faint aroma at once. Dust.
Well. This was less than ideal.
Against her better judgement, she turned her back on the burning warehouse. Countless containers awaited her as far as the eye could see, each marked with the signature snowflake symbol of the Schnees. It was a maze of metal. And she'd landed right in the thick of it.
Red eyes widened. "Bugger."
Another fireball came racing out of the smoke.
Omen swept up and carved it in half, narrowly blocking the blade that came screaming in behind it. She caught a flash of golden eyes in the gloom before a spinning kick launched her attacker away. They vanished back into the smoke. She'd gotten soft. This battlefield wasn't to her advantage. Yang was still somewhere around here, and she had no idea just how many allies Cinder had. Once upon a time she might have balked at such odds; would've turned tail and run like a coward in the face of such peril. But she was not the came craven she'd once been.
Flames licked at her heels and she stomped them out, moving to higher ground.
"Yang?" She raised her voice, struggling to be heard over the crackling inferno. "Where are you...?"
She could sense her through her Semblance; she was here somewhere, moving very quickly, but where-there!
A flash of golden hair caught her eye below.
Raven dove at it.
"Mom!"
Her daughter saw her at once and limped towards her the moment she landed, favoring her left leg. She certainly looked roughed up enough; her face a bruised mess, her lip torn, possibly even a broken arm, judging by the way one of her arms dangled. Yet still she stood tall. Almost made her proud that. Yang was a fighter through and through. In time, she would be so much more.
Raven cocked her head to the right. "You escaped? Unexpected. How did you manage to get loose? "
"How do you think?" the poor girl rasped weakly. "Can we go now...?"
Her visage softened. "That's my girl. Come here."
Yang stumbled closer.
Omen flashed out and bit deep into her collarbone. Flesh and muscle parted easily as the impossible sharp blade tore through her shoulder. Blood sprayed into the air, spattering Raven's face. She didn't blink. Didn't falter, even as her daughter choked, even as those lovely lilac eyes bulged in confusion.
"But why...?"
"Yang is strong." Raven tore her blade free with a grisly spray, leaving her "daughter" swaying on their feet. "But she's also stubborn. She'd sooner die than come crawling to me for help. You're not her."
Sure enough, the girl before rippled bringing Raven face to face with the startled visage of a dark-skinned girl. Red eyes gazed back at her fearfully, wide with the terror of death. Her semblance had spoken true. This was not Yang. Which meant this one wielded an illusory semblance of some sort. She had to go. A vicious kick to the left knee broke her leg and sent her sprawling.
Emerald slumped with a ragged cry.
Raven considered her still form with a keen eye. Bad wound, that. She might not survive. Didn't matter. If she was strong, she would live. If she was weak, then she would die. Perhaps that was callous of her. She wasn't Naruto. It would be a simple matter to end her life. The girl was bleeding heavily. Yes, it would be a mercy to finish her. She couldn't very leave her here alive. She was a threat. A danger at the least. Omen swept up in a cruel arc and alighted against her throat.
Five pounds of pressure. That was all it would take.
'Just kill the brat! A selfish voice hissed in her head. 'Quickly! You don't have time for this! You don't owe her anything! Do it!
'DO IT!'
She couldn't.
...damn me and my bleeding heart." Her shoulders rose and fell with a sigh. "He's made me soft."
On a whim, she tore open a portal and kicked the dying girl through. It closed a moment later, sealing her fate.
There. She was his problem now and-movement in the smoke!
Omen flicked over Raven's back, intercepting the arrow that would've pierced her back. Its shaft shattered against her sword and she parried the followup sweep with lazy grace then snapped backward, driving her skull into her opponent's noise. Cartilage cracked. Blood splashed the docks as Cinder Fall recoiled with a snarl. Raven caught her by the wrist before she could retreat, using the sleeve to drew her in. A startled hiss was her reward as she slammed an closed fist into the young woman's face. Once. Twice. Thrice. Each blow left the foolish girl reeling.
"You really didn't think this through, did you?" she scoffed. "Sending that girl as the distraction. Amateur."
Cinder tore herself free in a whirl of steel and Raven gave chase. Omen howled forward, meeting the younger woman's twin short-swords with ease. Steel struck steel, producing a sonorous clang. Braving her blade with both hands, she bore down on the younger woman, forcing her to a knee. Half-lidded eyes blazed with cherry red flames. Close. Closer. Closest. Cinder couldn't hope to match her.
"Tonight is the night you die, Fall." she pressed down, with a snarl. No mercy here. No child this. She had to die. "I warned you."
"You did." a bead of sweat ran down Cinder's brow, but she didn't falter. "Warnings are for weaklings."
Raven grit her teeth. "Look who's talking."
So calm. So confident, even in the face of death; even as the burned around them. Too calm. She knew something. No matter. It would be a simple thing to hack her limbs off and pry the knowledge from her. Naruto would understand. Some people needed to die. Kill her, and Salem would be delayed; she'd have to train up another Maiden candidate, and that would take years, if not decades. It wouldn't stop her -nothing could!- but Cinder's death would give the others time. Time to become strong. The thought warmed Raven's black heart like no other.
Taking one hand away from her blade, she grabbed the aspiring maiden by the throat.
Golden eyes bulged. "You won't kill me. You're soft. Just like him."
"Goodbye, Fall."
A faint twitch in her peripheral vision was Raven's only warning. Instinct shrieked. She launched Cinder away in a maelstrom of flame and whirled to meet it. Of course she had help. Anyone willing to bomb out a warehouse full of dust wouldn't stop there. Pale fingers clenched into a claw, as if to grasp the rapidly approaching figure. Her eyes flamed anew. Ice burst from her palm to coat the floor some yards ahead of her, denying them the momentum needed to land a killing blow.
The lunatic still leaped at her.
Sparks skittered through the air as twin blades glanced off her lone weapon. Even then her attacker didn't stop. He nearly gored himself on her blade to get at her, wrenching it aside to thrust his face into hers. Crazed eyes met hers, framed by brown hair and a grin bordering on outright mania.
"Did you really think it was over?" he tittered up at. "No, no, no! There will be such chaos! Sweet, glorious, wonderful chaos!"
"Callows." she growled down at the madman. "I should've known you were mixed up in this."
"And you as well, Raven Branwen!" he giggled, near delirious with glee. "The Fall Maiden! We've been looking for you, my dear!"
Raven felt her mouth twitch. Fall Maiden?
Everything clicked into place at once. Of course. They didn't know which Maiden she was. Naruto had scattered them all, with the exception of that old biddy up in Atlas. It was impossible to tell. They'd have to make some assumptions, and seeing her in Vale...well. They'd made the wrong one. Likewise, they assumed she could open the Vault down in Beacon. Her lips twitched again, unable to conceal her smile. It was too much to resist. Idiots. Utter fools!
"Heh."
A note of discordant laughter filled the night air.
Tyrian mirrored it, not understanding her glee. "Finally cracked, have you?"
"Something like that." Raven straightened with a smile, blinking a mirthful tear from one eye. "You really are idiots. I'll ask this once. Where's my daughter?"
He leered back at her. "Far from here, now. But I think we've talked long enough!"
Omen's dust edge held for all of a moment more. It was enough. Raven touched a hand to it and detonated the dust blade in Tyrian's face, momentarily blinding him, even as she slammed her hilt down and drew another from her sheathe, flinging him away.
Tyrian's stinger lashed out at her as he flew and Raven jerked back, warding Omen before herself to avoid certain death. Hot air brushed her neck and she kicked into the air without a second thought, narrowly avoiding a fatal lunge from the newly-returned Cinder. From there it was a simple matter to flare her power and stay airborne, hovering well out of their reach.
Her gaze swept the maze of shipping containers, half expecting to find Hazel or Watts there.
For once, her luck held. No one else emerged from the wreckage. Was it only the two of them, then? Well, with that brat they'd been three, but she wouldn't be returning to the fight anytime soon. She could hold her own against a fool and some wannabe maiden. So long as they were focused on her, the others could find Yang.
Cinder gazed up at her with a sneer. "This is where you die, Raven."
Pssh. She'd heard that line many a time before. No one had managed to collect on it yet.
"I'm ready." she held Omen out and twisted it in the air, a key slotting int a lock. "How about you?"
Her arm swept out, cutting a crimson tear in reality.
Vanessa Nikos came crashing through, eyes alight with green fire.
Tyrian didn't balk, brave fool that he was. He simply didn't have the time; because Pyrrha's mother crashed into him like a falling star. Even as he tried to guard the Summer Maiden swept his legs, reared back, and drove a vicious haymaker under his chin. Callows sailed through the air, struck a crane and righted himself. A bolt of lightning sent him sailing away into the concrete maze. Vanessa gave chase with a war cry of her own. All this in less than three seconds. Raven winced, just a little. Alright. Little miss redhead packed a punch.
'Why didn't she use that trick on me when we fought...?'
Cinder rounded on her with a snarl. "You were told to come alone!"
This time, Raven couldn't conceal her smile.
"I'm sorry," she cooed as she began drifting back to the ground, "Did you think the rules actually applied to me? But isn't this nice?" Omen clicked into its sheathe and her arms spread wide, crackling with sparks. "Now you have two maidens for the price of one. Which will it be? Aren't you lucky?"
Another explosion rattled the docks. Tyrian's scream chased it.
Cinder's eyes flicked away. Back to her. Towards her comrade's plight again.
"Better choose quickly." Raven's feet clicked down against the earth. "Because I promise you now, once she finishes with him, she's coming for you. Assuming Sapphire doesn't get her hands on you first. And that's to say nothing of Him."
"He's just a baker!" Cinder's voice rose in a shriek, "He's no one!"
"Poor girl. You really have no idea."
When she dove low, and Raven swept high to meet her. Their blades caught and sparked as they collided in a blistering exchange of blows; twin demons raging back and forth at a breakneck pace, raging about the docks in a storm of swords. Aura crackled. Blood flew through the air, and inevitably, one began to falter.
Cinder fought well. Just not well enough.
Omen came down at speed, ripping into her exposed flank. She pivoted with a cry and cut out with both blades, forcing a deadlock once more.
"You know, I've heard so many stories about you, Raven." she snarled. "They say you're a cunning warrior, that you're strong." A crazed grin met hers over interlocked steel. "That you're clever." the snarl became a growl as they strained against one another, each vying for dominance. "Its a shame they're wrong."
"Funny thing about stories. More often than not, they're true."
Raven's earpiece buzzed once. "Found her. She's all yours. Let loose."
Finally.
The Spring Maiden grinned and snapped a kick into her side that left Cinder wheezing for air. Fall stumbled back, swinging wildly.
"Weak." Raven gave it all the contempt it was due, slapping it aside with an open palm. "For all your bark, you have no bite. You are a child, masquerading as a woman."
"Shut up, you wretched old hag!"
A sweeping downward cut caught Cinder and launched her away. She righted herself and cut out at Raven's knees, only for a bar of crystalline ice to swat her weapon aside. Three strikes pressed her back, back, back yet again, denying her any hope of escape.
"You misunderstand." Omen clicked back into her sheathe once more. "I could've killed you at any time." she took a new stance. "But if you want me to stop holding back...
Omen ripped itself free in a whirl of death; her blade cut out thrice, the world split, and she sheathed it once more.
Cinder frowned. "I'm sorry, was that supposed to do something?"
"Wait for it."
Cinder's left eye absolutely evaporated as a trail of living fire cut through it. The very same arm on that side dropped to the floor with an awful splat. For a moment, she didn't react. She just stood there, good eye blinking in quite confusion. Then she looked down. Saw what had been wrought. Her ruined arm rose, blood still sluicing from the wound. Realization dawned.
She slumped to her knees with a scream.
Raven cut out again, taking an ear on the opposite side. "Not so tough now, are you?"
"No! Wait!" Cinder held out her hand, trying to ward her off. "You're a huntress. You have to show mercy!"
"I'm Raven Branwen." Omen'd edge swept under her chin. "When have I ever shown mercy to little twats like you?"
Cinder blinked, then whimpered anew. "Mercy."
"Say it again." Raven cooed.
"Mercy!"
"One more time."
"MERCY!"
There was an awful silence.
And then? "Alright. Here's some mercy."
Omen swept out and slammed through Cinder's gut. The poor wretch doubled over with a yowl.
"Hurts, does it?" Raven ripped her blade free and, forcing her prey to crawl backward like some bloody, drunken crab. "You looking for your sword or another hole in your head?"
Her enemy only wept. "Monster...!"
Oh, dear. Seemed she'd broken her. That didn't mean she'd receive mercy.
"Where do you think you're going?" Eyes aglow, the Spring Maiden stalked after the pretender. "Cuz you're not leaving the way you came in, you deluded little bitch." she reached down and grabbed her by the hair as if she were no more than a naughty child. "What was it you said to me?" rearing back, she smashed Cinder's head into the ground. "Something about being being soft?!" Twice. "That the stories about me were wrong?!" Thrice. "There's only one rule in this fucking concrete jungle." She ripped her upright again. "When the lion's hungry...she EATS!"
"NO!"
Cinder flailed and flung a wave of molten glass in Raven's face.
Gripping her wound, Cinder turned and fled.
Raven whistled. "She's yours, Sapphire."
Cold steel pierced Cinder's flagging aura and found the flesh of her back. Pain. She gazed upon it with her wide eye, unable to understand what she was looking at. A wickedly curved dagger jutted out of her body just above her collarbone, soaked with blood. Oh, she realized belatedly. That's my blood, isn't it...?
"Hello, baby snatcher." Sapphire's chin came down over her shoulder, leaving their faces cheek to cheek. "You've been busy."
A pale hand pulled her hair and forced the young woman to arch her neck. Even as she did, a second dagger kissed her throat, leaving a scarlet smile behind. It was a deep cut, fatality at its finest. She tried to speak, tried to rally, to fight back. Only a weak, rasping sound parted her lips. She gasped, clutched it. Nothing. Blood bubbled between her fingers.
"How...?"
"Tunnel vision." Sapphire's pseudo-sword swung back. "Read about it in hell.
She yanked her weapon free and struck her with the bladed edge.
Cinder Fall fell into the black.
(.0.0.0.)
"Dad...?"
Lilac eyes fluttered open as strong arms hauled her upright.
"I've got you, sweetheart." a warm voice caressed her ears. "Just sleep now. When you wake, this'll all be over."
Yang slipped back into slumber.
(.0.0.0.)
Tyrian woke with a start.
Golden eyes burst open to the waking world, squinting against darkness and shadow. He read his surroundings in an instant and knew them for a cell. No! What? When?! Where?! Why?! Bound and gagged, shackled to the wall, he nevertheless tried to struggle, to move, to do something. Anything at all. His legs ached abominably and he couldn't feel his tail. Against his better judgement he looked down. Saw the fresh bandages and stitches, suggesting someone had recently changed them.
"Mmmprh?!" he growled against the gag. "Hrmrmph?!"
"Oh, good." a familiar voice hummed. "You're awake. Its been a day. I was worried. You took quite the beating."
The faint light of a candle flickered to life, illuminating blue eyes and whiskered cheeks framed by a shaggy mop of blond hair. Tyrian strained against his restraints, snarling and spitting behind the gag.
Filth! Blasphemer! He'd never talk! Not a word!
"Look, let me stop you there before you waste anymore of your precious breath," Naruto silenced him with a raised hand. Before we begin, I just wanted to say for the record, I'm not emotional about the stunt Cinder pulled with my bakery." And it was here that sunny smile shriveled. "But I am upset about the fact that someone laid their hands on my daughter."
Oh, no.
"MY! DAUGHTER!"
Tyrian's heart plummeted as that furious visage slammed against the bars, denting them horribly. It was the face of death itself, the wrath of a gentle man come to claim him. That ghastly visage made Salem look like a petulant child throwing a tantrum. He beheld the rage behind those suddenly red eyes and knew them for a demon's, for a being older than time itself. And it shattered him. The sight of it sundered his soul and sent it shrieking into the black. Plainly put?
It. Broke. Him.
"No amount of money on god's green earth can pay for that transgression, Tyrian. No, for that?" A knife slipped through the bars of his cell and clattered to the floor. "I want a pound of flesh." his worlds were water upon the fire of Tyrian's fervor, cooling it rapidly. "Cinder's already dead, so there's little point in taking it from her, and we've not decided what to do with Emerald yet. But you...?"
Tryian whimpered a little around the rag.
"It matters not to me where on your anatomy it is withdraw nfrom." the baker leaned back, eyes burning like hot coals in the dark. This wasn't the fury of a baker. This was the rage of an immortal, wearing the guise of a humble man. "If you don't have the stomach to take it for yourself...
The door creaked open.
Taiyang stormed down the steps and into the cellar. Sapphire was only a step behind him, her expression carved from granite.
...then my associates here will be more than happy to do the deed."
The latter fished out a key from their belt. It caught in the lock and began to turn.
"So?" Naruto cocked his head. "There are two kinds of pain in this world. Pain that hurts," he swung a hand to his comrades, "And pain that alters." now his palm indicated the knife, now just within reach. "Today, you're gonna choose. What'll it be?"
The lock creaked.
Tyrian looked down.
He gripped the knife in hand.
A/N: This is why you don't mess with family. It never ends well. And there we have it.
Next chapter will be more cheery, don't you worry. Still, I hope you enjoyed this!
As ever, reviews are my lifeblood. Without them, I cannot write.
So In the Immortal Words of Atlas...
...Revieeeeew, Would You Kindly?
They keeps an old man alive.
And enjoy the previews.
As ever:
SPOILER! SPOILER! SPOILER!
PLOT DETAILS AHOY!
YE BE WARNED!
Get ready to smile~!
Obvious references are obvious~!
(POTENTIAL!) Previews! What can I say? I've been busy.
Yang woke slowly.
She found Him sitting before her.
"So." he said, apropos of nothing. "Lets talk."
Naruto scratched the back of his head.
"Well, this just got a whole lot more complicated...
Emerald opened her eyes.
...where's Cinder?"
Hazel crossed both arms before his broad chest. "I will have no part of this madness."
"Its not madness!" Watts flung up his arms. "We'll make a fool of him!"
There was a gift at her door.
Salem didn't want to open it. Against her better judgement, she did.
"Somehow, this doesn't surprise me." she frowned at the lone severed head. "They never learn...
"Screw you, old man!
Vernal never saw the cane until it was too late.
One moment she'd been mocking what she thought was an old man; the next her world turned upside down and she found herself seeing stars.
"Honestly, children these days. It seems you all need a firm hand to guide you."
Ozpin sighed as he regarded the horde of cruel men and women before him. He stepped over Vernal's prone form, knowing she wouldn't attack him again. Such a waste. She could've dedicated their talents to helping the people of Remnant. Instead she chose to be...this. This entire tribe did. Well. Since Raven had been so kind as to strand him here...he may as well make use of it.
"I'm sorry, I'm a terribly foul mood right now...
His cane came out with a flourish.
"Prepare yourselves.
Blake scowled. "Don't embarrass me in front of my parents."
Naruto crossed his fingers.
Raven did not fear monsters. She was the monster.
R&R~!