A/N: Flames in the new year already. Lovely... T_T
Added more content too, not that anyone ever notices that...
Still, feels good to be in a new year; hopefully it'll be better than the last one.
As ever, the Embers rule persists. If folks don't like this? Poof! Gone! To the void it goes. So by all means, speak up! Raise your voice! Make yourself heard! Your reviews matter! Really, they do! That's no joke. I don't have days off anymore -two jobs will do that to you- and I'm working myself to the bone.
Now, lets have your questions!
Q: Is it just me, think Naruto's close to breaking...no matter what happens, he just can't seem to catch a break...
A: He really can't? Bouncing from one conflict to another, trying to do good, only to have it blow up in his face...
...and now he's struck -knocked out!- a Schnee at that.
Surely this can only end well. Right? Right?
Q: I'm getting Venom vibes!
A: Are you? Was going for a similar angle here. Kurama's got snark, Venom's got snark, they're both dangerous as all hell. Even reformed, Kurama is still a walking engine of destruction; the sight of him ought to inspire fear. Hell, a giant supernatural fox that can snap you up in one bite is something to be feared! Sure, he's a big softie where Naruto is concerned...
...but for his enemies...
Q: Arcane! Updates! WHEEEEEN?! And don't forget Practice Makes Perfect!
A: Oi. I need to update Never Travel Alone and Embers of Hope first. Have patience. I've been updating daily for almost a solid year now with very little in the way of rest-and-or breaks in between, no days off, and a host of other issues I'll not get into here. To top it off, my Rent's gone up, which necessitates the need to work even MORE. So I may have to make some difficult choices soon.
Might have to pawn off a few old records and books to make ends meet...that or time to find better jobs...painful as that may be...
Q: Don't you DARE leave Willow with Jacques after that! If you send her back to that scumbag after that scene...!
A: *zips lips* Read and see.
Q: ...Willow is awake now, isn't she? No way she's going to go quietly after that.
A: If by "awake" you mean she's experienced an epiphany like a young Cinder did against Rhodes, then yes. After all, that's quite the shock to the system she received. Someone random guy -to her eyes- just told off her "untouchable" husband and slugged him in the face. It wasn't one punch at that but several. Her entire world-view was just shattered. Better yet, Naruto has no idea what he's awakened.
But he will...
Alright, I think I've kept you waiting long enough. As ever, I own no quotes, references, themes or memes.
Now, then. I do hope you're prepared, because this chapter is...a killer. Apt choice of words, I think.
And Child!Winter is freaking adorable to write.
"If you let him go, nothing will change!"
~?
Save the Girl
Winter was a brave girl.
She had to be; no, that wasn't quite right. She must be not solely for her sake, nor Mama's, but for Weiss as well. Weiss, who was so close to being born. Weiss, who wouldn't have anyone one to protect her if she faltered here. Weiss, who would be alone in the world if she didn't do something and soon.
Because a Scary Smiling Man had punched Papa out and taken him away. It didn't matter who he'd introduced himself as. Not to her. He was still scary.
That was all he would ever be.
Now her and Mama were being taken somewhere else. She didn't know where. All she knew was that she didn't like it; didn't like the people on these streets, didn't like their whispers, and she certainly didn't like the way the Smiling Man dragged Mama behind him by the hand. Winter wanted to go home. Everyone kept staring at them. This was a bad place, and she was so very afraid.
But she needed to be brave.
Because Mama was being...strange. Mama was...calm? Why was she smiling? She shouldn't be smiling!
"Will he live?"
"Eh?" Their guide -no! Captor! Kidnapper!- rolled his shoulders in a shrug as he guided them through another alley. "Sure. Didn't hit him that hard. He'll have a concussion, but he should live...probably."
Winter squeaked. "...probably?"
"I'm sorry." A pitying blue eye flashed over his shoulder. She hated it. She didn't need his pity. Didn't want. it. "Look, people are flimsy in this world, alright? I thought he was a little stronger than he was. Really, I didn't mean to crack his skull. Here." he snatched up an apple from a nearby vendor and left a little lien behind. "Have something to eat."
Winter complied, if only to hide her fear behind the juicy fruit. "This world...?"
"Just forget I said anything. He'll be fine."
"Pity." Willow hummed at that. "I supposed it would be too much to ask you to finish what you started.
Winter's head whipped toward her mother. "Mama?!"
"There, there, dear. Don't worry your pretty little head." a pale hand patted her hair. "The grownups are talking. And really," her gaze flitted back to the Smiling Man, "Its not killing. Just pest control. Eat your apple."
Winter complied, but she didn't stop listening. Not for a moment.
The Scary Smiling Man paused to let a bit of foot traffic bustle by. As he did, his gaze met Willows. "...he is a bit of pig, isn't he?"
"Please." She huffed. would be an insult to swine. My husb-no, Jacques, is a rodent."
Winter's mind began to spin, even as she munched on her treat. Why where they calling Papa an animal? All this byplay was going right over her head. She was so very confused. Sure, maybe Papa wasn't the best Papa, but he was still...well, Papa. Why was Mama being so nice to the man who had taken him away?
Sensing her gaze, the blond looked her way. Winter yelped and shied behind her mother.
"Why are you being so nice to him?!"
"Because he's been a perfect gentleman thus far, dear."
Winter clung to her grudge like the child she was. "He punched Papa."
"So he did." Mother tilted her head, voice taking on a rare tone she seldom heard these days. "Do you know why?"
Winter wrinkled her nose, not quite comprehending. "Because he's a bad man...?"
The Smiling Man squawked in protest. "Hey!"
"No," Mama shushed her. "Because your Father didn't pay his debts. Let this be a lesson to you, dear. Always keep your word."
Naruto shrugged. "She's not wrong, you know...
Ahead of them, the traffic bustled on. The streets were theirs once more. Naruto bulled on ahead, tugging Willow with him. Winter fell into a sulk and led herself be led along. Her thoughts grew dark. Mama had been fooled. She must be. If no one would take action...then she would. She had. She must. One way or another.
She would free her family from this man. Just needed an opportunity...
Who knew what devious thoughts he was thinking.
No doubt he was plotting, the fiend!
(.0.0.0.)
Errors had been made.
Much errors. Many errors. Every single error. Naruto made them all. For the life of him, he couldn't understand why he'd done what he did. In his mind, punching Jacques upside the head seemed all well and good at the time. Justified, even. The man had struck his pregnant wife right in front of him. A smack was the least he deserved. Maybe he'd hit him a little too hard, sure. He owned that.
Really, he'd meant well. Things just got out of hand.
Kurama stifled a groan behind one tail. "That's putting it mildly."
"Oi!' he flicked a crass thought at him. 'I didn't see you with any ideas!"
"To be fair, you looked to have things well in hand at the time. I thought you had it."
'How is this well in hand?! I've got two hostages and no idea what to do with 'em! The kid's glaring at me for crying out loud
A weight paused followed. "Well, you could always-
'No! I'm not keeping them!'
Naruro cast a glance over his shoulder, keenly aware of the footsteps trudging after him.
Willow's smile was positively placid. Not so Winter. She glared bale daggers at him. An icy glyph whirled in her little fingers.
Errors had definitely been made.
Why did he take the family? He didn't know. Perhaps it was panic on his part that explained what followed. Maybe it was instinct. He didn't know. In hindsight it seemed like such a good idea at the time; no witnesses to his dirty deed, no one to report his -justified!- assault on one Jacques Schnee. Yet now that he had them, he didn't know what to do with them.
He could only keep walking and pray he'd make it to safety before someone realized what was happening.
A clever bit of speed and a few shadow clones had allowed them to avoid detection thus far, but it couldn't last. There were too many eyes in Mistral. Throwing a sack over Jacques' head may have helped in the long run, ferrying the man off to Miranda via a shadow clone, even more so, but they were moving on borrowed time. Even now there was a part of him that wanted nothing more than to order said clone to throw the weasel in the gutter and be done with it. What kind of rat bastard abused their wife in front of their daughter?
"The kind that needs to die."
"Kurama, we've been over this. No. A thousand times no!' he grit his teeth as he marched forward. 'We're not murdering a man just because you dislike him.'
The fox scoffed. "Even if he deserves it?"
'Even then! Especially then! We'd be no better than Madara!'
"I applaud your morals, but sometimes the only good enemy is a dead enemy...
A molar cracked in the back of his jaw. Still the fact remained.
Willow and Winter were too well known. They would be noticed sooner or later-no, scratch that. They'd definitely been noticed.
Worse, the former wouldn't let go of his hand...or cease looking at him as he tugged her along. A spark had come back into her eyes; as if he'd reignited something in her, breathed life back into the embers of a long dead flame. He wasn't sure he liked the look of it. This wasn't fear. Naruto knew fear. He'd tasted it before. This was something else.
Little Winter, though? Fear. All of it. She radiated terror, even as she tried to put on a brave face.
When he looked back at her overlong, she tore her gaze away.
...hey, Kurama.'
A low yawn. "Hmm?"
"Are we the bad guys here?"
"Suppose that might be true, from a certain point of view." A crimson eye creaked open in the depths of his mind. "You all but thrashed a man in full view of his family. Now you've kidnapped said family and from there view, sent him off to parts unknown. Is it any wonder you've startled the?"
"He hit his pregnant wife. Not sorry."
"I don't expect you to be, brat." the faintest note of anger drawled through his thoughts. "Just telling you how it is-duck."
After all they'd been through, his body obeyed without hesitation.
He ripped his hand from Willow's and spun. Just as well; because a tiny glyph whistled over his head. Denied its target, it caromed off a wall to bury itself in the street at his feet.
"Oi!" he flicked a glance at the responsible party, a seething Winter. "What was that for?!"
Her gaze was nothing short of surly. "Let us go! We don't want to go with you!"
"Winter!" Willow's rebuke beat him to the bunch. "Stop that at once!"
Her eyes watered, glistening with unshed tears. "But...!"
"No buts! He's been nothing but civil to us. Would you rather be taken away like Jacques?"
It was enough to make the girl shrink in on herself; Winter wilted and shook her head with a tiny "No!" sending her hair swaying.
Willow tugged at his hand, drawing him back to the present. Time to bite the bullet there.
"Look," he began, "You can't tell anyone about this. Once this is over, you can go on your merry way-
"And what then?" her voice went cold. "You'd send us back to Jacques? Return us to him like some parcel?"
Naruto winced. Yup, he'd definitely stirred something in her. It was becoming painfully clear that she would not go quietly into that good night. Perhaps he'd given her a taste of freedom; of what her life was before all this madness. Before she'd been beaten down and ruined.
"I won't go back with him!" her voice piqued in distress. "I refuse! Do you have any idea what its like?! Living under his thumb, feeling small, powerless...?!"
Kurama settled into to watch. "Here we go."
Naruto flung up his arms into the air. "Whaddya want me to do?!"
"Help us!" she grabbed at his jacket, pulling him close. "Protect us!"
He wanted to. He really did. Even after all he'd been through, he still lived to help people. But how to even go about it? He was already living off Malachite's charity; taking in Willow and Winter might well make things far worse on that front. More than that, he could feel Winter glaring pale daggers into his back.
"Look," he countered, "I'm already looking after one kid and her mother. I'm barely making ends meet as it is...
Here at last, his words gave her pause. But only for a moment. "...I can pay you."
A blond brow quirked. "Willow-say-what-now?"
"You said you lacked for funds, yes?" her smile was brittle, desperate, the last gasp of a woman who'd gone too long without hope. "Help me, help us, and the Schnee coffers will be open to you." when he didn't respond at once, that smile crumpled. "Please! If you send me back to him nothing will change! I'd sooner die than-
A soft gasp brought him up short.
She slumped and leaning against a nearby wall. One hand rested against her belly. Winter gasped.
Naruto hissed out a breath. 'You have got to be kidding me. No way my luck is that bad...
"I'm sorry," Wilow's smile was decidedly strained...and yet oddly smug. "I think all this excitement might have proven a bit too much for me."
Naruto blinked. Once. Twice. Thrice now. "Wanna run that by me again?"
"I said," she murmured softly. "My water just broke."
Of course it did. Why the hell not?!
He slapped a palm to his face.
"I know a girl...
(.0.0.0.)
Yang wouldn't stop crying.
It began as a whimper after her nap and escalated slowly but surely. It wasn't even a particularly loud cry-not at first; merely the bawling of a babe who craved comfort. Almost as if she were afraid. Like she'd been spooked. But by what? When those pleas went ignored overlong, those whimpers became a wail. Louder and louder they grew, until it was all Ann could hear.
"Jeez, what's gotten into youuu?!"
She just couldn't ascertain the cause. Yang had been fed, taken a long nap, had her diaper changed, and she didn't need to be burped. She'd simply woken up and started squalling.
"There, there!" She soothed, rocking her too and fro with gentle care. Realization dawned. "You're alright. You miss your papa, don't you?"
Mistakes were made. Yang wailed even louder.
"Hey! Its alright!
It was not alright. Not at all. How could someone so small have such a healthy pair of lungs! Too healthy some might say!
Healthy enough to make her eyes glow -and she was sure there was some secret at work there!- and have the wind pick up when she cried? No way was that normal!
Raven was of no help at all here; Malachite's men had brought her back after treatment, tucked her into bed, and told An -well, demanded really- that she wasn't to let her out no matter what. They'd even left a pager in case of emergencies. Apparently mob doctors were still doctors.
"Waaaah!"
"Alright, alright! Jeez, you take after your parents far too much!"
Ann knew she wasn't a very good parent. There was a small part of her that wonder if she would ever make a good mother someday. But she was nothing if not determined. She was going to try blast it, come hell or high water. Now if she could just calm little Yang down...
...give 'er here." Raven's weak voice called from the bedroom. "You gotta sing to her when she's like this...
Ann perked up, somewhat startled to hear the bandit queen. "Wait, you're awake? Since when?!
She slipped in and found her just like that, good eye glowering daggers at her.
"Since now." she rasped, holding out an arm. "Kid's noisy...give her here."
Reluctantly, Ann complied with her wishes.
"Here, ya calm her like this...
Yang quieted the moment she was in Raven's arms...well, arm, really. The ruined stub she had didn't really count. Still, the wounded woman cradled her daughter against one breast and began to hum softly. For all her prickliness, her voice was the sweetest of music. Despite that, Ann couldn't help but wince. Was she really cut out for this...?
"And where do you think you're going?" Raven's glare pinned her when she made to leave. "You sing, too."
"What, me?!"
"Do you see anyone else, here? You're responsible for this runt."
The ghost of a smile touched Ann's lips .Maybe...maybe this wouldn't be so bad after all.
(.0.0.0.)
Miranda Malachite wasn't happy to see him.
Naruto took one look at her and knew it at a glance; the subtle frown marring her lips, the slight twitch of her right eye, the way she walked -stalked!- just a little too quickly around her desk to meet him halfway into her office. Underlings scurried out of her way -and out the door!- none daring to meet her eyes.
To her credit, she waited until they vacated her office. The moment they did, she closed it, locked behind her, and whirled to face him.
"Do you not know the meaning of subtlety?" It was as close to a rebuke as he'd get from her, inf only because he knew she wouldn't dare provoke him. "You've made quite the mess for me."
Naruto fought down a sigh. He did not succeed. "I tried to be civil. He forced my hand."
"Oh yes," she clicked her tongue, "The Schnee forced you to slap the daylights out of him did he?"
Naruto scowled. "He hit his wife; he was about to beat her for talking back. Would you rather I ignore that?"
"She's got spirit...
"And now you've thrust said wife at one of my doctors!" despairing eyes sought the ceiling. "She's gone into labor, for crying out loud! You've brought far too much attention down on us!"
"..."
Naruto didn't budge.
...be that way, fine." She whirled away, pinching the bridge of her nose. "I get it, I do. Don't worry. I'll make this go away. It'll cost you another favor, though."
Another one?! A pearl of anger coalesced in his chest. "No."
"No?" her lips pursed into a thin line. "I don't think you realize just how much work you've thrust at me." she thrust an open palm at him, five fingers splayed. "I have witnesses to silence, officials to bribe, a headmaster to place, footage to erase, and a Schnee to intimidate! Their pockets run deep, and their grudges deeper! All because you couldn't control yourself!"
"..."
When he didn't answer Miradna stalked back to her desk.
"We can't hold him forever; hell, our intention was never to kidnap him in the first place." her eyes sought his, and for once, he was the once to wince. "Just to remind him of his obligations. Put pressure on him. We tried that, but he clearly remembers you. He's not happy, let me tell you."
...so you're going to let him go?"
She planted one hand on her hip. "Unless you want Atlas death squads banging down our door?"
Unbidden, Naruto thought of Willow's pitiful expression.
"Nothing will change!"
Damnit.
Some of his intent must've shown through; because Miranda perked up. Her smile, once pensive, became sly. She circled back around the desk again. Tilted her head just so. Her gaze was far too keen for his liking; with a single glance, she read him like a book.
"I know that look." her fingers stroked his arm, dancing across the bicep there. "You're up to something. Care to fill a gall in?"
Not a chance. Anything he told her would probably be used against him. "I want to talk with Jacques.
She only shrugged. "Its your funeral, dear. The Schnees are powerful."
He drew himself up to his full towering height. "So am I."
"Hope you're a good actor, then. You'll need a miracle to pull this off."
A rare thought struck him. He ran with it all the way home. "I've fought a fair number of villains in my day...
(.0.0.0.)
"Rise and shine, Jacques."
With those five fateful words, a vicious roundhouse rocked Jacques world. Pain hauled him out of restless slumber and snapped him back to reality. He tasted blood in his mouth, found a gap where one of his front teeth had been, and fought down a snarl. Fury sparked within him. How dare he!
"A tooth!" he slurred, blinking the spots out of his eyes! "You cost me a tooth! I'll have your hide for this!"
"No," a low voice crooned, "I don't think you will."
The shadows parted and someone stepped forth. It was that rogue from before, the filthy reprobate that dared to lay a hand on him. He tried to rise and meet him, only to find himself shackled to a chair. Heavy chains bound his limbs, all but holding him in place. In vain he cast a glance about at his surroundings, searching for something, anything that might save him.
He found nothing.
For the building was vast, its walls wide, its ceiling higher still. Unused machinery lined the walls, framed by stacks of unmarked crates and other bits and baubbles he couldn't comprehend. All of it looked long abandoned. Forgotten. Straining his ears availed him naught. He heard only the faint sounds of the sea. Water? Were they near the docks, then?
...this boded poorly.
"You just couldn't play along, could you?" His captor took a seat, spun it around so that the back was facing him, and plonked down into it, legs splayed on either side. "Ya just had to make things difficult. I am so, so, SO tired of people like you."
Jacques bridled with an indignant sputter. "Now see here! I am talking-
Clenched knuckles plowed into his face, taking yet another tooth.
"AND I'M! NOT! LISTENING!" A snarl tore his words away.
Jacques rocked back in his chair, eyes wide.
"You know, its funny." his captor rumbled. "Some people say a good deed never goes unpunished." slim shoulders rolled in a shrug. "Never really believed that myself. I like doing good deeds. Its what I do, ya know?" He hung his head with a sigh. "But I'm tired. From the moment I landed in this world, I've stumbled from conflict to another. And all the while," the sound of grinding teeth filled the air. "People keep trying to take advantage of me. I save a mother? Bam! Gotta raise her kid. Try to get her healed? Roped into helping a sneaky spider. And when I stop you...
A golden hand caught him by the chin, fingers biting painfully against his cheeks.
...well. You know the rest."
"You can't keep me here! I'll have your head-oww!"
"There has been just one person -one!- who gave their help freely." he could feel the bruises beginning to form as the blond squeezed his face. "And now I find out she probably has secrets of her own." a tinny laugh left his lips, weary and hollow. "I just don't understand it. Am I cursed? Going mad? Both? I want to keep my word, ya know? To do what I set out to do...
Jacques whimpered.
...so believe me when I say," those clawed fingers turned his head aside, "I'm trying to be normal. So here's what you're going to do. First. You'll pay Malachite what you owe her.
"I do not consort with criminals-bwergh?!"
A harsh slap struck his teeth, taking another.
"I'm sorry, did I break your concentration?" Naruto's smile was pure venom. "Second, you'll get down on your knees and BEG your wife for forgiveness."
Another slap.
"And third, you will never, EVER, lay hands on anyone again!"
Pain sparked a rage deep within Jacques, kindling his courage. The businessman sneered. Bravado. Cheap fear tactics. That was all this was. He was invincible. Untouchable. The world needed dust, and by definition, it needed the SDC. Him. One could not exist without the other. Any threats he leveled at him would be moot once the forces of Atlas came for him.
"You can't force me to do anything." he lifted his chin in surly defiance. "I'll see you ruined for this."
A blond brow rose. "I haven't done anything wrong.
"Haven't you?" now it was his turn to sneer. "You struck me in broad daylight, kidnapped my family, then spirited them away to parts unknown. Is that not a crime?"
"And you beat your wife." the retort proved swift.
"Have I?" An ugly smile was his reward. "Will she agree with that, I wonder? Speak to her again, I believe her story will change once she realizes the...ramifications of her actions." No response? Good. It was his turn to talk now, to remind this fool of his place. "Word will get out. I'll see to that. And once it does, you'll never know peace. I'll destroy everyone and everything you love." he leaned forward in his chair, chains rattling behind him. "It doesn't matter if you're innocent. I'll make a monster of you!"
Silence reigned supreme.
.
..
...and then. "Ha!"
He wasn't prepared for the laughter. No demented cackle was this, no insane shriek of the damned or condemned. It was a soft laugh all things considered, the rasp of a man who had been pushed too far at last. An alarm went off in the back of his head as said captor rose slowly from his chair.
"Yes, you will." he favored him with a pitying look. "Maybe you're right, Kurama. Right, right. I understand now...
"Kurama?" Jacques sputtered. "What in blazes is a Kurama? Why are you telling me all this?!"
"Because," and here at last his captor smiled, "I know you won't tell anyone."
"But I loathe you!"
Naruto's head bobbed. "I know."
"Then this is nonsense!" he spat in his face. "You have no power over me!"
"You're right." much to his chagrin, the blond actually deigned to pat his head. "I don't."
Blue eyes blazed red.
"But he does."
Something shifted in that moment, his whiskers becoming darker, voice deeper. Physically he didn't change. His presence, however, did. An unseen weight filled the air, choking the very life from his lungs. Something far too old, too ancient, looked at him through those awfully scarlet red slits. He wasn't talking to this "Naruto", no anymore. He was speaking to something worse. Far worse. A clawed hand slammed down on his shoulder and twisted, bending his arm out of place. Bone broke like so much kindling.
Jacques tried to speak. All that emerged was a keening whine.
"You come to Mirstal again," the berserk blond leaned forward, fangs snapping in his face. "In fact, you go anywhere in this world, preying on innocent people like your wife, and you won't have to worry about what the brat does." His mouth curled in a smile, old, ancient, and unbelievably cruel. "Because I will find you; and when I do, I will eat both of your arms and then both of your legs." a clawed finger jabbed him just below the nose, hooking itself in one nostril. "And then I will eat your face - right off your head. Do you understand?
He would, too. Jacques saw it in his eyes. Dread choked all thought. "No...
"Yes." came the answering purr. "So, you will be this armless, legless, faceless thing, won't you?" too many teeth. That smile had far, FAR too many teeth! "Rolling down the street, unable to even scream. I hear its an awful way to live. Do you feel me?"
One could threaten a man, not a monster. Jacques took one look at those vicious slits and knew this would be his fate if he denied. Wealth, fame, power...? None of it meant anything in the face of a monstrosity that was prepared to eat you if you offended it. He'd made a mistake. A terrible, horrible mistake, and it was too late to take it back.
"Please...!"
Red eyes narrowed upon him, windows of raging wrath. "On second thought...
A flicker of gold was the only warning the Schnee received; then his world exploded. One moment he looked upon a man. In the next, a giant golden fox took its place. Large didn't even begin to define it; its sheer bulk burst through the ceiling, spraying debris in every direction. It towered over him, looming large in the warehouse, livid eyes glaring into his. Hot, fetid breath blasted him in the face. Nine tails of ethereal light lashed at the earth, carving great furrows in the floor.
Jacques whimpered. A faint dampness registered against his leg. He'd soiled himself.
If it had been terrifying before, then this was sheer horror, pure and primal. It grinned at him then, the sneer a predator might direct toward its cornered prey. The beat's maw opened, brimming with teeth as large as he was tall. And in that fleeting instant, that moment before his mind broke, Jacques knew his fate.
'I've blundered.' That last, tiny part of his sanity bleated. 'This is it, then. I'm dead.'
Almighty jaws snapped down on his body, annihilating him, chair and all.
His life ended in an instant. No evidence was left behind. None.
And from that moment, that slip that lapse of control...
...nothing would be the same.
(.0.0.0.)
Malachite was waiting for Naruto when he finally slipped out the door.
She leaned past him. Took one look at the ruined room. Paled.
...what have you done?"
A/N: Stopped holding back, that's what he did! Venom references are Venom references.
Demons run when a good man goes to war. Jacques should've remembered that.
Naruto has, at last, been pushed too far. And Kurama with him. Something like this was bound to happen sooner or later.
As ever, the Embers rule persists. If folks don't like this? Poof! Gone! To the void it goes. So by all means, speak up! Raise your voice! Make yourself heard! Your reviews matter! Really, they do! That's no joke. I don't have days off anymore -two jobs will do that to you- and I'm working myself to the bone.
So by all means, speak up! Raise your voice! Make yourself heard! Your reviews matter!
That's no joke! I can't write without feedback. Guess that makes me weak...T_T
So in the Immortal Words of Atlas...
...Review Would You Kindly?
And enjoy the previews!
Potential ones at that.
(Previews)
"Surely there was another way...
"Don't doubt yourself now. It needed to be done." Kurama snapped. "No body. No evidence. Only Malachite knows...
Winter scowled at him. "You are not my father."
"No, I am not. But I WILL tan your hide if you keep abusing my hospitality. Naruto made way for her without another word. "Go on."
Winter scooted forward and peered over her mother's arms.
She saw a tiny bundle of pink nestled against Willow's bosom in swaddling blue bloth.
"Hello, Weiss...
"Da!" Yang flailed pudgy little arms at him. "Up, up!"
"Twins."
He plonked down into the seat.
"Have a drink, they said. You'll be fine, they said...
"When I get my hands on her I will...
Summer trailed off.
The tribe was nowhere to be seen. Only ashes and bones remained.
There was a broken crib among them.
She fell to her knees.
Be wary of she who holds her words, for they are biting as a blizzard.
Be wary when making deals with a sly spider. You're like to get tangled in their web.
Beware the raven, for she is a flighty and often craven creature, prone to fits of madness.
'Ware the woman who who once dipped her hands in blood, for they will never truly be clean again.
But fear the fox above all. He's likely to trick you without you even realizing it, to win you to his side before you realize what's happening. Which is more dangerous, I wonder?
The door burst open.
There was neither word nor warning for what came next; one moment they were at peace; in the next
Men stormed in.
A great big brute led them.
Raven cursed and forced herself up
"Take the girl."
"No." An smiled. It was not a nice smile. "You won't be taking anyone."
...what can you possibly do? Are you going to attack me? With that kitchen knife?"
"I tried being nice. But if this is where it leads me...if you're going to come after that baby girl...
Her would-be attacker looked down, startled to find that simple knife" thrust through their chest. A black mark bloomed over the wound. It kept spreading. Creeping over them like a disease. Pain raced in hot on its heels, a thousand fire ants crawling beneath their flesh. All the while those shadow bands constricted, creeping up their throat, choking them.
"What have...you done?!'
"Oh, good." Ren's mother hummed softly. "Seems my semblance works just fine after all these years." She touched a hand to her cheek as they crumpled to her knees. "And here I was worried I'd lost my touch. Silly me, really." a hand dipped down, cupping their chin. "Now then, I believe you owe me something...
Her victim died screaming.
R&R~!