A/N:...sorry for the delay, its due to my current mental state. My mood is high, then low, then high again.
Its affecting my...well, everything. Its in my head, trying to tear me down, but I won't let it. I can't let it. I've fought it off before and darn it, I'm gonna do my level best to fight it off again. Nothing less will do. I can feel it eating away at me sometimes, but thanks to Slifer and Advent, I'm fighting on.
Update schedule got a bit messed up as a result, but I'm preparing updates for Kill the Boy, Long May He Reign, Just a Shinobi, Practice Makes Perfect and Shed no Grace on me. Those are just the ones I have in the works at the moment, many more are coming, but they're not where I want them to be just yet. In other news, Advent is working on Dance of the Dread and Rise of the Red Queen, while Slifer is preparing the next chapter for Father of Monsters. In conclusion! We're all very busy!
In other news, I heard Space Marine 2 is a thing? I never played the first game, so I'll have to see if I can get my hands on it. *checks prices* Gack?! Too expensive!
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.
As ever, I own no references, quotes, themes or memes. They are tributes one and all
I'm just a humble author trying to make his way in this wild wacky world, one word at a time.
Pre-nails Angro is a good boi and I shall not be told otherwise.
We've a Thrawn reference here, among others.
Bit of verbatim about Nuceria regarding the wiki as well.
This planet...is not nice. AT ALL.
Here we go~!
"War? What do you know of war? The blood shed? The brothers lost! The bodies piled high! You know nothing! Not of me, nor of war! Nothing at all!"
"I have seen all those things and more, boy. Pain's an old friend. Death, a constant companion."
You ask me what I know of war, boy...I AM war."
~?
Kill the Loneliness
It was not a dream.
Angron almost wished it were; dreams were always easy to deal with; you either realized they weren't real and had a fun little romp, or, if you were having a nightmare, you glared at until it ran away. These thing worked for him, young though he was. Then again, he was a Primarch, though he knew it not, so dreams were easily dealt with by him.
Simple was good.
Angron liked simple; simple made sense.
Unfortunately his present circumstance...were not simple.
He knew it when he stirred and found himself wrapped in heavy fur blankets; the pelts of slain beasts, large and small, a far cry from the freezing cloak of snow he'd worn before. His body ached from recently recovered wounds; no matter how quickly he healed, he'd lost a great deal of blood and was thusly left rather woozy as a result.
He was in a cave of some sort; the darkness of which had been banished by a roaring fire; it cast flickering shadows on the walls and ceiling. For a moment, he thought he saw...creatures within the flames, whispering to him. Taunting him. Mocking him.
"Angron...Angron...Angron...
"Stay away from the fire, little Angron."
"Don't go near the Golden Man, Angron. He'll kill you...
Stupid voices bothering him again. He must still be half-asleep. They weren't real.
Reaffirming his belief -or rather a lack thereof- he blinked, shook his head, and squinted at the flames until the creatures and their voices vanished. With his vision now clear, he finally beheld the Golden Man sitting nearby on a battered old log, roasting a bit of meat over the fire. The sight of him solidified his thoughts. This wasn't a dream, nor was the man who'd saved him an enemy.
"Hey, you." a careworn smile flashed his way as the Golden Man glanced at him. "You're finally awake."
Angron rose with a grimace, eyeing the meal in his hand. "Food?"
"Come sit by the fire and I'll share with you."
Angron complied warily, crouching low to the ground as he approached. He needn't have; Naruto freely offered him a haunch of meat; didn't even bat an eyelash when he all but ripped it from his grasp. The faint scent of the roasted food was enough to make him salivate, but even then his own innate paranoia had him hesitating.
"What is it?"
"A wolf of some kind." a broad shoulder shrugged. "Dunno much else. Tastes good." He offered him an earthen pitcher full of water. "This is melted snow. All perfectly harmless."
Angron eyed the offerings and wavered. Beggars couldn't be choosers. In the end, he accepted them for what they were and dug in with relish.
...sorry." the Gold Man amended after a moment's pause as they feasted together. "Its been awhile since I've done this."
"Eating?"
"Talking." he thumped him on the back; the blow gentle as a feather's brush. "I've gotten rusty. What's s your story, anyway?"
Angront grunted and scarfed down more of the meat. "Fell from the stars."
Naruto granted him a speculative look. "You too, huh?"
Angron squinted at him. There was no familiar resemblance between them. And yet their strength seemed roughly the same.
A query roused his young mind, which in turn came to a logical conclusion. "Are you one of my brothers?"
"Gack?!" The older man choked on the last of his meal, gagged, thumped his chest mightily for good measure. "Ack!" Somehow, he managed to choke down enough of his food to shoot him a withering glare. "Where would you even get that idea?!"
"You bested me in combat," he answered briskly. "No one else could."
Naruto promptly thumped him over the head with a bone. "I'm not your brother!"
Angron stared at him for a long moment, waiting for him to take a drink, considered his words, then reassessed. "Father, then."
The Golden Man spat out his drink in a rather amusing manner and glared bloody red daggers at him. "How did you even come to that conclusion?!
Angron granted him a slow, heavy blink. "Children do not always resemble their fathers."
Naruto gnashed his teeth and made angry Naruto noises. "I ain't your pops!"
"Then why did you save me?"
Naruto shoved another meat-bone in his face. "Just...just shut up and eat already."
Angron did as he was told, if only because he was still hungry and did not wish to upset the food-giver. It didn't stop him from side-eyeing him. He looked tired. There were deep bags under his eyes, his whiskered visage caked with grime and dirt. He looked as though he might yawn and drift off into sleep at any given moment. Yet he did not. Curious.
Pausing to take a sip from the earthen jug of water, he voiced his concerns. "Do you not sleep?"
Naruto turned his gaze on the fire and staunchly refused to look at him. "No."
Curious. Most mortals needed sleep to survive. "Then do you function?"
"By fighting." came the the clipped response. "I'm always fighting."
There was a weight to his words, there; something more.
He could've acted on it, pushed, demanded answers.
Angron chose sweet silence instead.
His patience paid off; in time, Naruto looked away from the flames and ran a hand through his tawny blond hair. "Do you know the difference between an error and a mistake?"
Word games. Angron couldn't pretend to understand them. "No, sir."
"I'm not a sir. Anyone can make an error." his guardian continued, "But that error doesn't become a mistake until you refuse to correct it." as he looked on, the blond reached down and threw another log onto the fire, feeding it. Eerie light flashed forth, momentarily illuminating his face and the scars there. "This planet is a mistake, as are its people. One I've failed to fix.
Angron listened, content to munch on another haunch of meat. "We should help them, then."
"We?" Naruto scoffed in mild derision, surprising him. "Yeah, no. Nuh-uh. Nope. Not happening again. I tried helping, once." he held up a finger and idly, Angron glimpsed the burn scars there. "They didn't want my help. Just their precious gladiator fights. Bastards tried to put nails in my brain. Probably would've sent slavers to do the same for you if I hadn't come along." a blue eye sought his. "Do you have any idea what those...things do to people? They make you a monster. I'm not even sure I could remove them from someone without killing them."
Angron shivered a little at the notion. "...I am sorry."
"About what?" As quickly as it came, the anger bled away. "You've nothing to apologize for." After a moment's pause, he continued. "This world is called Nuceria. In the cities below us, the rich oppress the poor and force them to fight for their amusement. Their gladiators are little more than slaves." He considered him for a long moment. "And their "owners" have no intention of allowing them any freedom."
"Teach me, then."
Naruto arched a scarred brow. "Ha?"
"How to fight, I mean." Angron elaborated. "You beat me easily. I want to be stronger. So teach me. And I'll help you fix this world."
Naruto sputtered. "Now wait just a second, aren't you getting a little ahead of yourself-
He latched onto his arm before he could escape. "Please? I want to fight."
The battered blond squinted at him. "How old even are you?
Angron paused. "...I do not know."
How could he? His first coherent memory on this world was of cold snow and blood and pain. Of being attacked and forced to defend himself for days on end until his body finally gave out. He knew he was tall and strong, but not his age. Likewise, he knew of his Ability, something that a normal boy should not have. It was a strange thing, something he could not hope to explain. So he didn't.
Naruto squinted at him, flickering firelight casting harsh shadows over his face. "Why should I teach you?"
He lifted his chin stubbornly. "I don't mind being hurt. I'm stronger, faster, better at war.
Much to his chagrin, his savior remained undaunted. "You'll have to better than that"
Angron glared at him. "Will you kill me, then?"
"I ain't killing ya."
"Then teach me." he challenged. "Unless you think you can't."
A rare flicker of boyish anger flashed across the whiskered warrior's visage. "Dog with a bone, I swear...again, why?
He thumped his chest. "Because I wish to learn!"
"Not good enough. How will you use the skills I teach you?
This answer, at least, seemed obvious enough to the boy. "For good."
His would-be-mentor stared at him intently. "And what do you define as good, hmm?"
Here at last, Angron faltered. Good was...well, good. A nebulous concept that he couldn't hope to quantify. He could only do what he felt
Learning to fight felt right. Helping this planet felt right. Standing for those who could not? Also right. Beyond that he could only hope to learn as he went.
But first and foremost...
"I can help you, too. Here."
He laid a hand on Naruto's shoulder and focused intently. He'd always been born with the ability to dull the pain of others, to help them. He'd always had the ability to calm those around them, to empathize. It had been difficult last night, he'd been so afraid, but now he was calm. Confused and concerned, yes, but calm. And he could tell that this man had been living with a great pain for a long time. Burdened by suffering, stricken by a painful loss and his own failures, forced to shoulder all these things alone.
Angron took up some of that weight himself.
Blue eyes narrowed upon him, tension easing from his eyes. "That...feels pretty nice, ya know. Neat trick. Trying to get my hopes up?"
He smiled, a real one, this time. "There is no such thing as false hope, only hope itself."
In hindsight, he had no way of knowing just how profound those words truly were.
Naruto twitched as though he'd been slapped, bowed his head, and tucked his chin into his chest. A rusty chuckle escaped him, weak and weary from lack of use. He palmed his face, hiding those brilliantly baleful blue eyes behind one hand for a long moment as his shoulders convulsed in near-silent mirth. At length, he raised his gaze again, and those azure orbs gleamed with renewed strength.
...fine." he stood with an effort, conjuring a strange staff of eerie black metal to his right hand. "I'll teach you. I'll warn you, though. I've only ever taught one person before. ...
Angron wouldn't call it trust, not truly, not yet, but it was a wary sort of respect. He could live with that.
On a whim, he decided to tease his new mentor. "...I'm calling you Master, then."
Naruto flung up his arms with an exasperated yowl. "Why?!"
"Would you rather I call you father?"
"I ain't your dad!"
(.0.0.0.)
Leagues away, something most curious event occurred.
The Emperor of Mankind sneezed.
"...curious."
(.0.0.0.)
Nuceria was a brutal, unforgiving world.
A desert planet save for the mountains and a few cities, the latter of which were technologically advanced and ruled over by a wealthy elite known as the High Riders, who dwelt in decadent opulence while the populace of their cities lived in abject poverty in the slums surrounding their walled palaces and villas.
To distract the populace from their poverty, the oligarchic rulers of Nuceria held regular gladiatorial deathmatches in massive arenas, using cybernetically-enhanced gladiators who battled to satisfy the endless bloodlust of the oppressed people. The aggression-enhancing technology known as the Butchers Nails was a key part of this process, a fate worse than death for any who found themselves so afflicted with them.
Chief amongst these depraved cities was the city of Desh'ea, the lords of which were ever eager to acquire more "fresh meat" for their bouts.
And so it was that a band of slavers were sent up the mountains, to seek the "star that fell from the sky".
Fifteen slavers were sent forth, armed and armored to take captives.
Fifteen slavers died horrible, terrible, unspeakable deaths.
Fifteen slavers were sent back to their masters in pieces.
It is here that our story takes a turn.
A/N: Awww, they're bonding.
After all! There's no kill quite like overkill.
Surely this can end well. Its not like 40k is a grim-dark universe and...oh. Oh, nooo...
We can jump ahead if you prefer... ...or we can stay in the moment awhile longer. Perhaps the best of both worlds? Your choice. Do let me know.
Feedback is important! Reviews are the fuel that keeps me writing. That's no joke. I really am sorry that the chapters are shorter these days, and the updates slower, but I'm trying my best. Silence hurts more than any flame...without feedback, I can't write a single world. Seriously! So speak up! Every word -and every review!- really does matter!
So in the Immortal Words of Atlas... ...Review, Would You Kindly?
Here, have some previews. Lemme know what you think!
And as ever: Possible spoilers! Seriously!
Mostly the same previews here.
WARNING! WARNING! WARNING!
SPOILERS AWAIT AHEAD!
YOU WERE WARNED~!
(Previews)
To say they conquered the planet would have been an understatement.
A Son of the Emperor and a Fox from Another World.
All of Nuceria trembled in their wake.
"You are a slave no longer." Angron reached in and broke the sobbing woman's chains with his bare hands. "You are free."
She stared at him for a long moment, sniffling a little, trembling where she stood.
Why did she not flee like the others?
Ah. She was afraid of him. But of course. He must look like some red angel to her, covered in the blood of her captors as he was-
Angron was wholly unprepared when the woman jumped him.
Hugs?! He didn't know what to do with hugs!
Naruto laughed in the background.
"I warned ya...
"...that is my son."
"Yeah?" the whiskered warrior bit back, "Then be a good dad to him."
The Emperor stared at him intently, this seemingly frail, fragile creature that dared defy him so. Bloody and wounded as he was, he still stood tall.
He had protected his son. More than that, he had raised him to be a good man.
Better than expected.
Who knew what Angron would have become, if not for him? He had power, yes, but it was not of him, not of the Warp. It was something else. Something different. Something new. An aspect he had not encountered before. He was touched by Chaos, yet resisting, had resisted for some time now, it seemed.
An idea dawned.
...I cannot see your death. Why?"
"Very well!" Rocking back on his heels, he turned his head and spat out a bloody tooth. "I acknowledge your strength."
With a grunt, he reached up and donned his helmet. Red eyes blazed from within.
...you're about to wish I hadn't."
"...Stop it. Just stop it, Fulgrim. Get some help. You're better than this."
"But I wanted it to be perfect-
"No buts!" the wooden club thumped him over the head again. "Perfection is a lie! Now fix your legion or so help me I will FIX you!"
EDIT: Obligatory Tea Common Shark reference here. If you know, you know.
A shadow fell over him.
The Primarch looked up, squinting into the son
That proved a mistake. Too late, he spied a spot of darkness.
Was that a bird? Or a vehicular craft of some sort? No, wait...it was...
His brow furrowed in absolute disbelief. "What in the Emperor's name...?!"
A singular shout was all the warning he received. "LET'S FUCKING GOOOO!"
He had time enough to brace himself; then a screaming Naruto Uzumaki drop-kicked him into the ground and everything exploded.
"You're fine just the way you are." Much to his mounting annoyance, the blond didn't look away from what he was constructing. "Ain't nothing wrong with wanting to build stuff, ya know?" as he looked on, he settled the wooden beam over his head, affixed it in place, and hammered another nail in. "Be your best self."
Perturabo physically flinched. How long had he waited to hear those words?
"Say that again."
"I'll say it as many times as you need!"
He offered him his hand. "Friends, then?"
Horus clasped it. "So may it be."
A shadow fell over him. "Oi, Lorgar."
"What is it now-"
CLONK!
Erebus ran for his life.
"GET BACK HERE! I ain't done with you!"
Something barreled into him from behind, smashing him down into the dirt.
Clawed fingers bit into the back of his bald head. "You and Kor Phaeron, there's only one thing to be done with people like you!"
She blinked. "Curious...
R ~!