Merry Christmas, Happy Hanukah, or hello if don't celebrate!
A little early, but here is an update for my end of the month dump!
I wanted to get two chapters of this out this month...
But this chapter was hell to make and you don't want to know how many rewrites of a certain scene there was...
This might have been the first chapter I started and could very well be the last chapter I finish this month.
I hope to get two more chapters out, one on Christmas and before New Years, on Fairy Tale on the Sun and Tales of Fox and Cat...
But this one was a struggle.
Hope you enjoy!
You have returned to this place… How many times have you made this trip, my dear child? He is incomplete. Unable to wake up again.
I will make this trip as many times as necessary! Without him… My father… Will never forgive me for what I've allowed to happen to his precious world…
My child, he already has. It would have happened whether you called for them or not. …What's with that look? Do you not believe me?
No… For what I did is unforgivable. I let them in…
In your mind, it may have been. It was a horrible tragedy. One, through your action or not, could never have been avoided. …How many wanderers I had to repurpose after those foolish boys went on their way… I wish they would stop making messes wherever they went… You are like them in some ways, I can see.
I hate that comparison to those arrogant, self-absorbed… I made my mistake… I wish to fix it…
Some things cannot be repaired. It's best to move forward and look at the new dawn… Or perhaps the evening in this case. …A new moon has been born. I crafted her a short while ago, and he blessed his wonderful gift upon her…
Impossible! If a new moon was born… That means…
Yet it is strange… No matter how often a new moon is created, a new sun has not risen. Perhaps he is waiting for this sun to set…
Or to finally rise…
…Yes, this sun was meant to be remarkable. Just as this moon will be. …Perhaps it is time for this sun to rise and gift us with his light.
You mean…
His time has come, but I need parts to repair him. To help him Ascend and reach his destiny.
Consider it done. I'm done waiting on the boy…
It's time he kept his promise and showed everyone what he was capable of.
What was it that this Grimm just say?
A shiver trailed down his spine. His eyes darted between the tentacled Grimm and the hardened glare from Raven.
What was this intent he was feeling?
It felt like he was back in the forest when he first ran into that snake!
This was the witch?
Or at least she was possessing the Grimm?
She had a horrifying presence! And she wasn't physically here! Her presence within this Grimm radiated a more terrifying aura than anything he had felt before, and she was only possessing the creature!
One that of…
Death.
What would her actual presence be like?!
"I am not the one hiding behind a puppet." Raven defiantly glared at the Grimm, her crimson eyes glowing with a seething hatred, her grip clutched tightly on Omen's handle.
"Who says I am not here, my little raven? For you see, it is not I who is hiding, my dear, but you. I fear not the beast. I am only moving the pieces into place as need be." The voice from the Grimm resonated, the orb glinting with amusement as it floated toward Raven, showing no fear. "I know who you are. You are pathetic and unworthy of my time. A pretender who wears a mask of indifference, unable to express their true self."
Raven tensed. What she spoke of…
How did she know? Was she watching her?
"Yet here we are before one another again. You, unable to stop me once more…" Her gaze nervously flickered while the orb's tentacles flicked toward Naruto and Vernal as they approached. "Having gifted me the prize I so seek. The child they hid away from the world to protect themselves."
Raven froze as the tentacle Grimm passed by her without consideration.
This couldn't be happening.
Not now.
Not again.
He wasn't ready.
She wasn't ready.
He couldn't control…
She wasn't strong enough!
He wasn't strong enough!
And why didn't she fear the beast in the slightest?
Was Oz wrong all this time?
All the text she sought out stating the Sacred Beast could harm the Gods was incorrect?
Was it all for naught?!
No…
It couldn't be…
Its intent focused entirely on Naruto, floating before him, a bemused tone as he tensed and lowered his hips, preparing for an attack. "Those arrogant fools. Have a touch for the dramatics, do they? Bringing the Lost Child back to this world to correct yet another of their mistakes? Only to fail to realize it is the greatest weapon to be used against them."
His breath was caught in his throat.
She knew of him?
He didn't understand the rest of what she was saying, for he had no idea who they were, but it made it sound like she knew how he arrived here.
He despised how she was talking about him as a weapon. His grip on Un tightened. His teeth ground against one another.
Naruto detested that stuff. He saw the damages it caused to a person…
It was the opposite of what he stood for and, in part, why he made his Nindō.
Yet…
"Yo, what are you talking about?!" Naruto grunted, his teeth clenched as the seriousness of the situation hadn't left him, but the shocked realization that he could learn more about how he came to be here was too much to pass upon. "What do you know about me, huh? How do you know anything about me?! I wouldn't think I would be important enough…"
"I have known about you for a long time, ever since the Silver-Eyes breathed word of your existence to me, my shining sun. Those fools took you away, knowing what you could become…" Her voice was silky smooth as she floated before Naruto, her orb glinting as her tentacles reached forward, attempting to caress his cheek.
Only for Naruto to snap back and away, earning a peal of wicked laughter from her. "Oh, how I've searched for you. Unable to find you as the Sacred Beast disappeared from this cursed world, taking everything with them. Refusing to allow me to right the wrongs that those cursed fools inflicted upon not only me but this world!"
"Yet here you are, finally. My patience has finally paid off. So much time trying to find the Moon, and instead, I am gifted the Sun!" The orb glinted, and the Grimm around began to approach slowly as if receiving a message. "My key…"
"Get away from him!" A torrentious blade of fire tore through the Grimm, severing it in half with a clean cut as Raven lightning tore around her, her eyes rippling with magical aura.
A terrible screech tore the tense air asunder, the Nuckelavee's hooves cracking against the ground as the rider screamed, its clawed hands stretching toward them.
And the rest of the Grimm charged, following the Grimm's lead as if they were possessed.
Naruto cursed but didn't hesitate as he leapt to the side, unsheathing Un and, with a flurry of quick slashes, dispatching several Grimm that came too close to him and Vernal as she barely avoided the swift strike of the dangerous Grimm.
The witch was far from talkative…
She had other plans, and he did not care for them.
He wasn't going anywhere! He had a home and a reason to fight!
She felt insane!
"Damn you Oz! You were wrong! Everything you led me to believe was wrong!" Raven spat, her face twisted in the mixture of a sneer and fear overwhelming her expression as she cut the air before her, a portal shimmering. "We're leaving now!"
"Don't have to tell me twice!" Vernal shouted, dicing through several Beowolves before being knocked down by an abnormally large Ursa. "Oh, lovely! Alphas are here too!"
Only for it to be bisected by a blade of white wind as Naruto came through, offering his hand to her to help her up. "I got ya! Let's get out of here!"
Vernal guffawed at his action but took his hand nonetheless. A sliver of a smile crept onto her lips.
After all this…
To get out alive…
The boy wasn't half bad.
However, a haunting laugh resonated.
Filled each of their hearts with dread as they stepped toward the portal.
A black misty orb approached faster than Naruto could anticipate and react.
Faster than Raven could respond.
And landed directly into Vernal's chest.
Her eyes blanked on contact. A dark swell of vile aura swallowed her whole as she stumbled forward.
And then fell limply into the portal.
"Vernal!" Two voices screamed in unison as the laugh echoed hauntingly in their ears.
A pale white figure drabbed in a black dress slowly approached with her hand outstretched, a sinister gleam glinting with her red void eyes. "Who said there was an escape plan? I am not letting you take away my prey this time. And unlike last time, my dear raven, there isn't anyone to save you or a pretty little fox to pick up your friend's corpse!"
Raven let out a guttural scream, the storm around them crackling with intensity as lightning struck all around. She leapt toward the witch with scorned fury, her blade drawn.
The witch didn't even bother evading.
She let herself be beheaded.
All she did was look amused as her head fell from her body, her eyes glinting madly upon Raven. "Nothing you can do will ever be enough…"
"SHUT UP!" Raven shrieked, raising a free hand toward the witch's body.
A pillar of fire consumed the witch. Igniting it.
Searing every inch of her flesh until it was reduced to ashes.
Yet those ashes hung in the air.
A chilling laughter followed.
The ashes pulled together, reforming to take the shape of the witch as she stepped in front of Raven, grasping her throat before she could react, knocking Omen away with the force of the grasp. "You should know better than most how useless it is to stand before me. When she failed to put me down time and time again?"
Raven gasped in her clutch, her hands clasping at the witch's wrist.
Her grip was so tight it was choking the oxygen from her, and she couldn't break free! Her gasp on her magical energy waned as she tried to cast it.
Sparks of lighting and fire burnt around the witch. Yet she seemed unaffected…
Was this some sort of suppressing spell? Or could she be draining the Maiden powers from her…
"Rasengan!"
Raven let out a gasp of air as she fell to her knees as the witch was driven back. She panted for breath before gnashing her teeth. Her crimson gaze dulled as she slammed her fists into the ground.
She couldn't do anything! And yet again, she lost someone to the…
"Raven, get the fuck up!" A familiar voice echoed as she pulled up to her feet.
And she stared into two crimson eyes like her own, filled with justified fury.
"You can throw yourself a pity party after this! Now, create a portal to Tai if you wouldn't mind so we can get out of here!"
"No…" A sinister voice filled the air, Salem's eyes glowing with livid intent as she stood to full height, her body slowly recovering from the damage it had received. "I will not let you take my prize from me… Even if I have to break him and repair him myself…"
"Yo, I ain't go nowhere but back home!" Naruto barked, triggering Un as he drew from the energy of the Dust once more and began to form a Rasengan again. "I don't care what your deal is! I am not having it, crazy witch! I've got enough on my plate without adding you!"
"You have no choice in the matter." Her voice was cold and calculating as she held her hand, her palm held upwards. "I am not wasting the opportunity the fox has gifted me with your return. Even if it tore my body apart three years ago, I will forgive it for its transgressions if its goal was for you! Now, come to me!"
"Ah hell no!" Naruto bellowed, shaping his full Rasengan as two clones popped into existence at his side, their hands held around the glowing orb.
A white vacuum took shape around it before he leapt toward Salem.
"Fujin: Rasengan!"
A cruel smirk crossed her lips, and her eyes twinkled.
"Naruto no!" Qrow's voice echoed, rushing forward with Harbinger transformed into its scythe form, cutting through every Grimm he could.
But it was too late as a flash of white light erupted around Salem, engulfing her and Naruto.
"Control."
"Too easy. Now to claim my prize…"
No…
"What?! No… How are you here? No! This was how it fixed him?!"
Does it matter? I am one with him now. I am his shadow… And this is my domain!
You will not harm him or my family ever again! Begone!
Everything was blurry… So colorless.
She hardly had any feeling left in any of her muscles. The coppery taste in her mouth was long gone, yet the oozing drip sweltering from her temples now dried on her face and lips.
The searing pain that scorched every fiber of her body was but a numb tingling. A sensation that was fading away.
She couldn't say breathing was a struggle. She could hardly feel anything at all.
Was this what it felt like to die?
No…
This wasn't where this was supposed to end…
She was supposed to go home…
To hold her children again and hear their laughter…
To see her husband's smile…
Tears welled within her eyes.
She made such a mistake. If only…
There was a way to make sure they were safe…
That would be her one wish…
"You are such a foolish child…"
That voice…
However, condescending it may be…
Why did it have a hint of warmth?
She was the reason she was lying here…
The reason why such drastic actions had to be taken!
Why did she have such solace? Wasn't she supposed to be…
"You never stood a chance, yet here you are. Willing to give your life? For what, my dear?" The voice mocked, an ooze wrapping around her.
Swallowing her within its fleshy walls…
A hollow scream wished to leave her lips. Yet only a gasp of air escaped.
Even with what little strength she had left…
Silver eyes defiantly gazed into crimson voids.
"You were never going to succeed. You were only delaying the inevitable. I will get what I want." The pale witch leaned over her, gently caressing her cheek in the palms of her hand, a satisfied glint in her eyes. "Tis a pity that such a gift was wasted on such a child. I will have to make better use of it…"
A scream bellowed from her lungs. Her body lurched forward suddenly as if in pain.
Her skin bubbled briefly as a mysterious glow overtook her.
It enshrouded her being.
Strangely, she could see it was red despite her hazy vision, burst around and through her chest, rupturing her body, obliterating her torso…
Reducing the rest of her body to ashes from the intense heat of the dissipating beam.
A roar echoed as a vision of an animalistic head formed and wrapped around her, swallowing her in its maw.
Taking her into its embrace.
You are coming with me, Silver Eyes.
You are the last piece of the puzzle I need to bring him back.
All to fix MY MISTAKE.
Why did he keep failing?
This situation he was in…
Vernal was right before him, and he couldn't do anything to save her!
That abyssal spell swallowed her before he could react! And then he fell for the most apparent bait, and she hit him immediately after…
Why did this keep happening?!
First with Sasuke and Sakura…
Whom's hands he died at and was thrust into this time period…
He failed to bring him back home and keep his promise to her and himself. He allowed Sasuke to walk away from the best thing he had…
And allowed the fox to do something that caused this mess…
Left him stranded and alone, all his friends gone.
Naruto picked up the pieces. Started life anew in this life the best he could now that he knew, but that burden was difficult to bear. But with his family, he could handle it…
And the friend he made when first arriving…
Neo…
He failed her.
Every time he tried to help her, it only worsened the situation despite his best efforts while trying to understand this new version of his world.
… She didn't help the matters either , but that was neither here nor there.
And now she was stuck in that shady prep school against her will because he couldn't do anything to stop it!
Would she even still think of him as her friend anymore?
He hardly felt fit to be her friend…
Why are you here? This isn't where you should be, you weak, sniveling runt! Get back up and fight! I've already taken care of the issue...
"And why do you care, huh?!" Naruto snapped his head up, and his gaze bored into scarlet eyes, his knee drenched in the water of this familiar sewer. "What difference does it make to you? If what I gathered from the little of what she said, you have been free this entire time? So why come back? This seal, it's just fake, and you have been giving me chakra as you feel like it! Why? Just to torment me?!"
The enormous fox snarled behind its cage, seething at the boy. With a single roar, the bars shattered and dissolved before his very eyes.
Naruto stared as its massive claw thunderously stepped towards him, recognizing the witch's words were true. The seal did not exist any longer…
The fox was and had been free all this time.
Yet came no further, its scarlet gaze boring into his. Its roar ruptured the ground all around him and sundering the water around him.
But it did not move toward him.
There is much you do not understand. But know this. I do despise you, make no mistake! I hate your mother. Your father, oh, I loathe him entirely! I detest all of humanity!
…Yet, you were chosen, and I was blind to it. I acted too hastily in my mistake. I brought forth a ruin that will forever haunt me.
I ruined the world my father so carefully helped craft… And I sacrificed the Sun to sate my pitiful vengeance and puny life.
Naruto stared gobsmacked, jerking back at the reflective and somber tone emanating from the Nine Tails. To start with such vicious intent to a lowly whimper…
To see those crimson eyes that always oozed with malice sparkle with any semblance of sorrow…
It had pity for its actions?
Was this the same Nine Tails that attempted to destroy his village?
The same being that held hostility to all of humanity?
And why was he called the Sun yet again? It didn't make any sense!
It had to be him he was talking about, especially after what the witch spoke about. So what was this?
And precisely what was the reason for his return? He was chosen?
"Then why don't you make sense of this for me!" Naruto slapped his hand onto his thigh. "You've been cryptic and unwilling to talk all this time! Now, when I need to know, just tell me…"
You haven't earned my respect!
"How the hell do I do that?!" Naruto retorted to the Nine Tails' bark, refusing to step back. "You make it sound easy when you won't talk! Can't figure ya out when you aren't willing to say anything! You have to be willing to make the first step, ya know!"
The Nine Tails drew its head back, its features twisting in a stunned recoil for a brief moment. Then he snarled and snapped back at Naruto.
Don't think you can talk to me like others, boy! I remind you it was your mistake that first started this…
"And it was yours that brought us to this moment, so tough shit! Now start talking!"
As Naruto slowly stepped out of the water, his gaze boring into the Nine-Tails, a determined expression written across his face, a twisted smile spread across the beast's maw.
There was what he was looking for.
That bravado…
The fire and burning spirit.
Reminiscent of the Sun.
His grin spread across the entirety of his maw.
He just needed a little more of a push…
Oh, you gonna make me talk? I don't believe you. …You couldn't even stop them from taking your mate. Something I would have never allowed to happen, YA KNOW.
Its grin couldn't be any broader upon the stinging sensation it felt within its maw.
Naruto's fist firmly planted on his cheek.
And a steadfast glare of determination.
"I am done with that shit!" Naruto's eyes glinted as they bored into the scarlet gaze of the fox, flipping back and landing in a crouch after his blow against the fox's jaw. "I am so done with all this self-doubt! I could have done better. I know that! I failed here today, too! This is my fault, and I own up to that!"
"But you know what? Neo made the choice, and I respect it!" Naruto declared, clenching his fists and spitting to the side. "And you know what? It was the right one whether I liked it or not, as she was doing what I would have done in her situation! And for that, I can't give up now! That goes against everything I stand for! I will get her back. You better damn believe that! I'll kick everyone's ass in my way, too, if I have to, including yours! Heh, I need to get a few things out of you anyways…"
His eyes narrowed.
That low growl coming from the Nine Tails…
Was it chuckling?
No, that was laughter!
Is that so… Good.
The glint within its crimson eyes haunted Naruto as its roar rendered everything asunder. Its chakra flooded all around him as he was flung back from the vicious shockwave.
Even as he landed, he was still being repelled and pushed back!
He couldn't hold his ground!
How strong was the Nine-Tails?!
He was beginning to feel this was a massive mistake…
Naruto…
A strange voice paralyzed and rooted him to his spot as it resounded through his ears.
It wasn't an intense or powerful voice.
It wasn't dreadful or filled with malicious intent, either.
No…
It was gentle…
And caring.
A silver aura flickered at his side, gently caressing him, lifting his right arm toward the roar and intense chakra.
And for the briefest moment, he saw silver eyes and the warmest smile that almost reminded him of Ruby's.
Before it vanished, the roar ceased, and the strange mark on his hand was glowing once again.
Heh, still standing, I see… Was it you or the blessing, I wonder… Whatever the case, for now, I will let you be. But until you can defeat me and earn my name, your questions will go unanswered.
Naruto's eyes gleamed rebelliously, but instead, he wisely bit his tongue. He knew he didn't stand a chance after that display.
The fox was out of his league, and he knew it. It was only toying with him and could do whatever it wanted.
This was all just a game…
Seeing the Nine Tails step toward him put him on edge, and the amused grin on his maw only intensified the sensation in his gut.
He didn't like this at all.
Even as the fox reached a paw toward him, always as if asking…
For a handshake?
However, I have a bone to pick with that witch, so let us cooperate.
Do you trust me enough for this, Uzumaki Naruto?
The Grimm swarmed like moths to the flame.
And were burned to ashes as the crimson chakra super-heated their bodies as it expanded from the orb in waves.
Only the elder and wiser Grimm could keep from being drawn from such a negative outburst of energy as it shredded through their numbers.
Raven and Qrow stood in awe, barely holding their ground from the torrent pouring from Naruto.
This was the beast's power within him.
It responded to protect him?
Was there a chance here?
"Seems I miscalculated. Oh well, there is still nothing you can do to stop me." Salem callously mocked as she watched the display of chakra burn before her, her crimson voids staring intensely into it. "Have I angered the mighty beast? Oh, whatever shall I do? Simply wait to collect the boy until you are done with your tantrum? We both know the outcome here… What?"
The wild and swarming crimson chakra condensed into a singularity.
Into an orb that dulled in a dark, coagulated red, almost black.
Then, in a burst of brightness that blinded all to see, a vivid gold light overtook it.
She was forced to shut her eyes from the intensity of the flash.
But as her eyes flickered open, she couldn't help but stare apprehensively at what she saw standing before her.
It was the boy, not the beast.
And he had taken on this golden coat of aura around him.
But worst of all…
The Sun Marking was glowing vivaciously in his right palm, resonating with this change.
Here we are at the end of another chapter. I hope those of you that already haven't seen this chapter enjoyed. Engagement of any kind is much appreciated, but I get it! We're all busy and sometimes saying something is difficult! But knowing you are enjoying it and leaving any form of interaction helps more than you know.
It keeps me so warm in these cold months... AND I'M FREEZING HERE!
So without anything else to say...
Peace out my friends.