A/N: Still recovering from my throat/coughing problems, but ill though I am, an update was promised today, and a man keeps his word.
Also wanted to spice things up between all these RWBY updates.
Might upgrade this to M soon, but for now here we are.
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.
Once more, we're sticking with the "Embers" rule for this story, and others. Meaning folks don't like this, it won't be continued. If the story itself ain't popular/well-received...well, I won't be able to continue it. I'm working two jobs, holidays are here too, meaning I barely have time to write; as such, I cannot afford to write something folks don't enjoy.
So by all means, speak up! Your voice matters! Make yourself heard! As ever, reviews are the fuel that sustain me. Without them I cannot write a single word. Simple as that. Working nearly all hours of the day keep me absurdly busy, and I can't bring myself to write something folks don't like.
No questions yet again. Gotta keep it interesting~! Alright, I've kept you long enough!
So here we go. The fate of this story depends on you, the reader. Your feedback determines the fate of this tale, and many others.
Once more, I own no quotes, references, or memes. Not a wit or a one. NOT! A! THING!
They're all tributes to legends far greater than little 'ol me. Now then..
As ever, warnings for language and the like.
This is Game of Thrones after all...
"Power resides where men believe it resides. Its a trick. A shadow on the wall.
Anyone can cast a large shadow.
Especially that child."
~?
Renegade
There was something wrong with his Son.
By the time Daemon noticed, it was already too late.
No malady of the body this, no, Naruto's "sickness" ran far deeper.
His boy had proven himself skilled in every subject he set himself to; indeed, he studied his histories and trained relentlessly. Spear, shield, staff. He mastered them all. He learned to ride a horse almost as well as he did Caraxes. His talent with the bow and blade were unsurpassed with his wit thrice as sharp. Not yet seventeen and he already spoke Valyrian as if he'd been born to it and got on well with his younger cousins.
And yet for all that, he was kind. Too kind by half.
Daemon knew it, Viserys knew it, and he was certain that cunt Otto Hightower did as well. Today was no different.
He found the Boy down in the Dragonpit as he often did these days, fussing over Caraxes. There was some irony to be had there. Caraxes despised most people, even other Targaryens. He'd eaten men for glancing at him askance before. And yet he tolerated Naruto. More than that, the blood wyrm allowed him to feed him and clean his scales, a feat denied even the most stoic of dragonkeepers. At this very moment, he had him eating out the palm of his hand like some mewling hatchling. Although they weren't bonded, the slender dragon was always happy to see him.
Most dragons acted like that in his presence. What had Viserys called him, once? He Who is Loved By Dragons.
Sometimes that titled worried him. More than he cared to admit.
"Why not bond yourself to a proper dragon?" he called out to him as he approached. "Gods know you're old enough, now. Many of them seem quite fond of you."
"Why?" His son looked up with a smirk, idly stroking Carxes's crimson chin, drawing a pleased trill from the wyrm as he did. "The one I want still has a rider."
Daemon quirked a brow. "Oh?"
"You know the one."
Curious. This was the most he'd spoken about it in years. He watched the boy fling up a fish from the basket at his feet, watched now, as the blood wyrm snapped it up with all due haste. A second. Then a third. The one he wanted still had a rider? Which one indeed? Not Caraxes certainly, and not Syrax. Rhaenyra would never allow it. Seasmoke wasn't a factor either at that. Only the gods knew where Vhagar was these days and he'd already refused Vermithor. Which left...
.
..
...oh.
Realization dawned. He barked a laugh and clapped his son on the back. "You certainly don't lack for ambition, do you?"
"Hmm." he grinned as Caraxes returned to his feast. "You taught me well."
He certainly had, hadn't he?
...that said, I'm thinking about visiting the slums tomorrow."
There it was. Not this trite tripe again. His son cared too much for the common folk. They were dragons. What need did they have for sheep?
"What's the point in giving those peasants money?" he clicked his tongue and shook his head. "Its fucking Fleabottom. A bit of coin won't change that."
His boy rounded on him. "Then I will make it better."
He patted his shoulder. "You can try.
"Haven't you?" Naruto stood his ground, heedless of the still-feasting Caraxes in the background. "I heard what you did with the City Watch the other day. How many hands did you take? How many heads did you put on a spike, hmm?" A glint of pearly white teeth flashed in a rare snarl. "I can't seem to recall. Didn't you need a cart to carry all their bits away?"
"Careful now." Daemon enjoyed the challenge, but he didn't like his tone just now. "That was different."
"How so?" his boy, his stubborn, proud, defiant boy squared his shoulders, stood his ground and lifted his chin to look up at him. "You put those criminals in their place, which was all well and good, but you did it with no thought to the families left behind. How will they fend for themselves now? This is the right thing to do."
Was it? He disagreed. But he saw the fire in the boy's eyes. "...you're going to be stubborn about this, aren't you?"
"That depends."
Daemon cocked his head. "On?"
"How much of an arse you're going to be today." Naruto shook his hand free with a huff and stormed off.
The Rogue Prince followed his son with a weather eye. "And where do you think you're going?"
"Somewhere far away from you!" Came the irritated shout.
"As you wish. But stay away from that Hightower girl!"
A long finger rose to deliver a snarky salute.
Daemon watched him go with a shake of the head. There'd be no stopping him today.
Too kind, this son of his. Far too kind by half.
Hopefully it wouldn't get him killed.
(.0.0.0.)
Naruto loved Kings Landing.
Not the politics, he disdained those, but rather, the people.
So many places to see, so many secrets to ferret out, so much to do.
For if Kings Landing was his home, then the Red keep was truly his oyster. What an oyster it was! He'd always craved a large family and now here in his second life, he finally had one. Such a large family. Daemon aside he had his uncle Viserys, aunt Aemma, and little cousin Rhaenyra, to say nothing of his Velaryon relations. And of course, the dragons.
One mustn't forget the dragons. So many dragons.
Even after all these years, he still hadn't bonded with one; despite having his pick of the lot. Because you see, he only sought him.
The one. The greatest of them all. Lord of Dragons.
Balerion the Black Dread...lived.
He was nowhere to be found in King's Landing these days. Not anymore; he had outgrown the dragonpit ages ago and flown far away, leaving his last-living-rider behind. Doubtless most thought him dead. Still he sensed him all the same, out there somewhere to the east. Distant, but strong. Tired, yet alert. Watching. Or perhaps he was waiting? He couldn't be sure. In saving his life on that fateful day long ago, he'd forged an unbreakable bond with that weary old wyrm. But bond or no, he had no true way of communicating with him at this distance, much less summoning him.
Balerion would return when he wished. Not before. And when he finally did...
.
..
...well. Those were thoughts for another time. But before that...
He skirted a pair of handmaidens in the hall, daring a quick smile in their wake.
"Is that him?"
"He's proper handsome...
"Shhh! Quiet! He'll hear you!"
The ghost of a smile touched the corner of his mouth. A quick look back sent them scurrying in a gaggle of giggles. He was well aware of their fleeting whispers in their retreat, just as he knew what...others called him behind his back. For if his father was the Rogue Prince then he was the Renegade. The Reprobate. The fanciful fool who threw money at Flea Bottom, who would rather talk than fight, an oaf who tried to make everything better. Ha! A renegade indeed! He quite liked that title. The irony stuck.
Let them think what they liked. He hardly cared.
A distant glimmer of light in a nearby tower window caught his eye. A lone candle was burning within.
"Hmm." he tilted his head toward it, testing the evening breeze with one finger. "Wind's howling today. Wonder if she's awake...
.
..
...he looked to the tower of the Hand and grinned. The hour was late, the sun beginning to set, painting the Red Keep in deep shades of blood. An omen perhaps? He shook his head to clear it.
A meandering stride carried him toward the tower. Curious. Shouldn't there be guards on duty at this hour...? Yet he saw no one.
Naruto looked left. Naruto looked right. Made certain no guards were near, no one to see nor hear.
Then he raced up the wall, running full tilt.
(.0.0.0.)
Once more, Alicent lit the candle tonight.
It had become something of a ritual for her in recent years; a habit she'd picked up when she was very small and spending her first nights in the Red Keep. Every night she left a burning candle at her open window. Every night, she burned the wick down to nothing. The act brought her some small semblance of comfort these days. Like a tiny spark raging against the dark-
"Having trouble sleeping~?"
"By the seven!" Alicent yelped and nearly jumped clean out of her green dress. "Must you do that every bloody time?!"
"Yes, we must." The Prince grinned at her as he swung his way in through the window, careful to avoid the candle there. "Oh, don't make that face. You missed us."
...she really had. He'd been gone for so long this time; she'd thought he might not return from Dragonstone. How he read her so easily, she knew not. Daemon's son was a bit of an odd dragon, even among his own kind. She didn't quite understand how he got in and out of her quarters so easily. Surely no one cold climb the towers so quickly as he. Frankly he made even less sense than Rhaenyra these days.
Oh gods, he was giving her that look again.
She quirked a brow at him and spoke quickly, if only to avert his gaze. "The royal we, is it?"
Naruto grinned at her, set the candle aside, and sketched a deep bow, knee bent and one arm to his chest. "The very same.
She felt her lips quirk into a small smile despite it all. "You shouldn't be here at this hour. If my father saw you...
He stood and rolled his eyes. "He'd piss and moan, stamp his feet and...do nothing. What about it?"
Such an odd dragon.
Heat seared through her face and turned her ears red. She didn't know what the prince saw in her; let alone what compelled these nighttime visits of his. Father would not approve. He didn't like Daemon, or his son. It would take much to change that. And yet...if things didn't change, if King Viserys never had a son-no, she mustn't think that. Such thoughts were foul. The most treacherous of treason.
Distractions. She needed to distract herself, now more than ever. "How was Dragonstone?"
"Wet and warm and boring." Naruto drawled. "I'd though we could work on your High Valyrian again tonight." he picked up the candle from the windowsill, paced past her to the bed, snatching a heavy tome from the table as he went. In a matter of moments he was sat upon it, the tome spread open upon his legs. "Well?" the Prince looked to her. "What're you waiting for?"
Alicent pulled a face, idly wringing her hands as she resisted the urge to pick at her fingernails. "You know I'm not very good."
"Hence the lessons." he set the candle down and thumped an open palm between the pages. "C'mon, where's the harm?"
Everywhere! Sitting right before her!
...are you really that afraid of me, Alicent?"
Naruto ran his hand over the candle as he spoke, idly curling his fingers into a fist before opening them again. The motion was strangely hypnotic; no matter how long his hand lingered over the open flame, it did not burn. His flesh did not blacken and char, nor did his sleeve burst into flame. Pale tongues of fire passed over his palm, leaving him unharmed. Despite her best effort, Alicent found her gaze lingering. She'd seen this feat before and wondered how he did it. A trick, perhaps? For all their claims to the contrary, not all Targaryens were immune to fire.
"And what of you?" She sat beside him. Her free hand touched his. "Aren't you afraid of being burnt?"
"I don't fear fire." he hummed, idly staring into the flame. "Its quite comfortable, really. No," those bright orbs swung back to her, haunting in their intensity. "What I fear is the dirt. Being lowered into a box, my body left to rot." he shook his head with a rueful sigh. "That won't be my fate."
Her fingers curled around his. Just a hint. Just a touch. "Then what is your fate?"
Naruto smiled a little at that. "Would you like to know?"
He was so close to her. So very terribly close.
Alicent found herself leaning forward.
"Wait." he held up a hand.
She flinched. "What?"
Naruto kept his hand up, but his gaze was no longer on her. "Do you hear that?"
Alicent cocked her head. "I don't hear anything. Nothing at all."
"..."
He let go of her.
"That's just it. I don't hear anything." His eyes widened. "Oh no."
He was still speaking when door to her room burst open, ribbed from its hinges by a powerful blow.
Men boiled in, swords in hand. Stunned though she was by the sudden intrusion Alicent had time enough to count them. Five, clad all in black. Rough men. Dangerous men. Not her father's men. What were they doing here?! Where were the guards!? How had they gotten past them?! How...oh gods. She saw the blood on their blades and she knew.
"There she is." the leader a great giant of a man, thrust a beefy finger at her. "That's the one. Take her. She'll fetch a fine price."
One of them looked to Naruto. "That's the bloody prince. He's not supposed to be here!"
"Doesn't matter." A third muttered. "He's a witness. Kill him."
Alicent shrieked. "Guards! Help!"
The moment she cried out, Naruto sprang up and flung his book at the nearest man. It struck the fool in the chest-less so too did the dagger that followed in its wake. The would-be-killer pitched back, steel sprouting from his right eye. His corpse crashed into one of his fellows, dead before he struck the floor.
And then the Prince was among them.
A single leap carried him forward at speed, close enough to catch a second man unawares well before he could bring his blade to bear. He kicked upright with a wordless snarl, caught him by the skull and dashed it against the wall. Bashed his head in, pulping it against the stone and drawing his sword in the same instant. Steel sang from its sheathe. He flung the borrowed blade across the room. It skewered a third in the throat. He dropped with a wet gurgle.
The remaining duo paused, taken aback by his sudden savagery.
"Kill him, you fool!" the leader brayed! "He's just a boy! You have swords! Use them!"
The second stepped back. "A boy doesn't move like that! Oh gods, here he comes again-
"Rasengan."
Alicent didn't truly see what happened next. Not really. She glimpsed a shining something in the the prince's hand and then another man was gone reduced to grisly red chunks upon the ground. Spattered in blood, the leader bellowed a challenge and lunged forward.
Naruto swept his legs cuffed him hard across the jaw and dropped him like a sack of potatoes. He fell like a stone, stricken senseless, but well alive.
All this is in an instant.
Alicent crumpled to her knees, stunned by it all. Oh. Her dress. It was ruined. Spattered in blood...
Naruto stood, wiped a bit of blood from his face. Then looked to her. "I'm going to get the guards. Do you trust me?"
Alicent sputtered still dazed. "What...?"
He offered her a bloody hand. "Do you trust me?"
Trembling fingers curled around his and held tight. "...yes."
Naruto's bloody face dimpled in a small smile. "Then don't let go."
He took her by the hand and swept her into his arms.
Then he ran.
A/N: Bit of a twist this time around.
Ah, but who sent those men? Who indeed?
And there we go. Hope you enjoyed this mad little chapter.
Well? Should this be continue? What say you? Yay or nay! Really need to hear back from you all, here.
As ever, the Embers rule Remains; sad as that may sound, its the truth. If folks don't like this story...well, it won't be continued. Most likely, I'll leave the first chapter up and consign the rest to the void it comes to that. I haven't the time to write something folks don't like. Two jobs keep me terribly busy as such that I have barely any time to write.
So by all means, speak up! Your voice matters! Make yourself heard! As ever, reviews are the fuel that sustain me. Without them I cannot write a single word. Simple as that. Working nearly all hours of the day keep me absurdly busy, and I can't bring myself to write something folks don't like.
Now, then...in the Immortal Words of Atlas...
...Review...Would You Kindly!
And as ever, Le warning!
SPOILER! SPOILER! SPOILER!
PLOT DETAILS AHOY!
YE BE WARNED!
Granted, some are pretty far in the future, but still.
(PREVIEW)
Uncle Viserys was furious. "An attack in my own home?! Who dares?!"
The Iron Throne.
Naruto had never seen such an uglier chair in all his life. Ugly perhaps, but powerful all the same. The greatest seat in all the realm, the throne of the king, highest of all, bringing seven kingdoms to heel. Pity his uncle was so weak. King Viserys was a good man to be sure, the realm had never seen better since the reign of Jaehaerys himself, but he lacked the strength of his predecessor.
He ran an idle hand over it with a sigh. "How could anyone want this...?"
Laena tugged at his sleeve. "I've been dreaming of her again."
"Who?"
His little cousin smiled. "Vhagar."
Rhaenyra tugged on his arm. "This way."
Naruto sighed. "Such an impatient little cousin I have...
Daemon bolted upright with a gasp.
"Dreams again?" Mysaria smiled and patted his cheek. "Come back to bed, my love."
"MY WIFE AND SON ARE DEAD! I will not suffer crows that come to feast upon their corpses!
"DID YOU SAY IT?!"
The boy might make a suitable alternative to Daemon, given the right...leverage.
"How so?"
"I have decided to name a new heir.
"I'm your heir."
"Not anymore."
"Stay away from my daughter."
"Alicent can spend her free time however she wishes." Daemons bastard of a boy grinned at him. "She isn't your slave...whatever you might think."
It was time.
For the first time in decades.
Here and now, Balerion spread his wings and took flight.
A shadow blotted out the sun. Peasants screamed. Lords and ladies cowered in fear.
Damon smiled throughout it all. "That's my boy...
STAY TUNED! R&R! =D