A/N: EDIT: not a lot of feedback this time around it seems. And here I thought folks would enjoy our witty little interview to get things back up to speed. I really did try, but self-confidence issues get to me at times... T_T
...yes, I'm aware of the new Arcane Season. First bit just dropped and need to do my research.
With that in mind, we'll keep this brief. I'm back, managed to wrangle some time away from work to write a RWBY chapter today, and I'm aiming to update another story as well if I get the chance. Can anyone see this? Yes? No? Maybe so?
Regardless, 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 quotes, references, themes, or memes. Not a wit or a one! They're tributes to legends far greater than I.
I'm just a humble author trying to make his way in this wild world, one word at a time.
Time and feedback will determine if this remains a story. Simple as that.
In other words...its up to YOU, the reader. Do let me know~!
Now we see who survived the massacre.
Is it Mercury? Or is it Emerald?
Read and see.
"Riddle me this. What's the value of a life? Not the meaning, mind you, but the worth. That of a single mortal soul.
The answer? Everything and nothing. It can be wonderfully priceless...or utterly worthless.
That's the beauty of it. In the end, life is what you make of it.
Death is much the same, believe it or not. It can be rather warm at. It can also be quite cold. It can be terribly abrupt. It can be horridly slow. It can be a mercy. It can be agony. One might greet it as an old friend and go with it hand in hand, or rage like a lunatic against the fading light.
In the end, I suppose it depends on the life you've lived.
So I ask you once again, you who lay before me.
What is the value of a life?
And who are you?"
~Death.
You're Hired (Interlude of an Apprentice)
Death had come.
They could feel it in the air tonight, gripping their guts in the dark, twisting their every thought into an ugly knot until fear was all they knew. Resistance was futile; the more they struggled against the inevitable, the faster they bled out. Damnitall! Their aura was gone and there was just so much blood...!
Their thoughts were fading, their breath a shudder as they slipped away into the grey.
No life left in them. No color. No hope.
Only the void.
They could barely remember anything anymore. Not even their own name.
No...wait.
They remembered hate.
Or rather, they remembered Him.
They remembered the slaughter; how easily he'd disemboweled them, killed the other one, and tortured Cinder to death.
Should they be upset about that? They felt like they should, but it was so difficult to be angry right now.
They were cold. They were tired. They wanted to rest...
.
..
...didn't they?
What was the point? The Maiden was safe. The plan was scarpered. Cinder was dead. There was no one left to follow, not that they'd been much of a follower to begin with.
So what now? Roll over and die, then? Was that it? Just...give up? After all this? Everything?
No! Screw that Bastard! Don't give him the satisfaction of your tears...!
Their broken body had other plans; a soft groan of pain parted their parched lips, whispered through the air and reach the ear of their killer. Bemused, the bearded Schnee craned his head back, idly regarding them as one might an amusing ant. "Whoops," he crooned ever so softly,. "Looks like one of Cinder's pawns is still alive...how sloppy of me. Wait just a second, Amber. Grampa needs to tidy up...
He waltzed their way, roughly rolled then onto their side, looked into their dying eyes, watched them widen now as they beheld him.
"Look at you, wasted and gasping for air. "he crouched own before them, smiling. "Poor thing. You didn't ask for any of this."
Right now they wanted to ask for a knife so they could stick it in his skull but beggars couldn't choosers.
They tried to speak, but managed only a gurgling gasp of a groan.
For some reason, that seemed to stir pity in his tired old heart.
Not that. No pity. Anything but pity.
He offered them a clawed hand. "Want a job?"
They wheezed out a breath in sheer disbelief. "You're...some kinda idiot."
"Maybe so." he shrugged a shoulder. "But my offer still stands. Its tough to be Death. I could use an apprentice."
They stared at him, utterly incredulous.
"Not even going to answer me?" a booted food nudged their bloody side. "You're better than this, Mercury. You, of all people, should know when to back the winning side."
Mercury.
Was that his name?
He...he remembered now.
At length he recalled who he was-and immediately wished he hadn't. Because memory brought pain. Pain reminded him of his hollow existence. Of mom, of his old man, of the semblance that had been stolen from him, dead and gone, like the ashes of his old life. Anger stoked a fire in him, helping him to cling on a little longer.
"Bite me...
"No can do, son." the whiskered Schnee shook his head "I'm afraid it doesn't work that way."
He tried to laugh, but it warped into a wheeze. Afraid? Hmm? Not bloody likely. Bastard butchered them like cattle.
Naruto pinched his cheek. "C'mon now, give an old man your answer."
Mercury refused to speak.
"For crying out loud!" he flung up his hands with an aggravated shout. "Why do I always play with my food?! You're ruining this for me!" seizing his face entirely, the pale specter growled down at him. "I came here to kill an arrogant little brat and her two minions who thought they were immortal. But I don't see them anymore. Which begs the question.
He leaned in, teeth bared in a snarl.
"Who are you?"
"...?"
Who indeed. That was the question, but he didn't have an answer for him. No sarcastic quip, no clever comeback. Just silence. He was no one. Just a nobody. He hadn't been anyone before, and he wasn't now. Marcus Black had seen to that. His old man would've laughed at him if he were here. Probably was laughing even now, as he rolled in his grave.
At least Emerald had something, even if she'd basically built her life around the lie of Cinder.
But what did he have? Metal legs and a sarcastic streak a mile long.
That was it.
"Honestly, its a little sad."
Amber's foot entered his vision a split second before she kicked him, her heel slammed into his cheek and snapped his head aside. Pain flared through his face. It centered him. Brought some color back to his world. That, or it was the heel currently digging into his right cheek. He tried to grab her ankle, to no avail. He was too weak; had lost far too much blood.
"Now, now." Naruto -Death!- chided the Maiden-that-just-might-be-his-granddaughter gently. "What did I tell you about kicking a dying man when he's down?"
She dug her heel deeper. "But gramps...! He tried to kill me!"
"He did," Naruto nodded, "And he was shit at it."
Ouch.
"...I guess he was." her head bobbed reluctantly, eyes glowing gold. "Kinda fucked up, isn't it?"
Mercury's already deflated ego died with a dull wheeze. He hadn't been that bad, had he? Wasn't his fault she had freaking superpowers. All he had was his aura and metal legs. Didn't even have the excuse of a Semblance to fall back on either; his old man had taken that from him years ago.
He settled for the classics and spat at her instead. "Screw you...!
Amber pushed her foot down on him. "Only screwed one here is you buddy.
"Off." Naruto shooed her away with a wave of the hand. "Can't have you killing this one before I'm done with him...
Mercury growled at him, unable to even raise his head and glare at the man even now prolonging his demise. "Just kill me, then. Or let me bleed out. Get it over with...
They didn't, of course. Death wasn't feeling merciful today, apparently. The damn Schnee laid a hand on his gut and Mercury felt the wound close, stitching itself shut with agonizing slowness. Whether he was drawing that out or if he'd actually been wounded that badly was beyond him. He was an assassin. A killer. Not a doctor.
Damnitall.
He just wanted it to end.
...why do you want me to live so damn badly?"
"You think I wanna be Death forever?" whiskered cheeks dimple in a selfsame smile. "I won't always be around. I'll have to hand this role over to someone eventually. Not now, of course. Maybe a few hundred years from now. Possibly a thousand." he shrugged a shoulder. "Now seems as good a time as any to start training up an apprentice."
Something kicked in his chest. It felt like curiosity. "Apprentice?"
A pale brow rose on mild admonishment. "Did I stutter?"
Mercury flailed. "I...but why me?"
"Why not you?"
Amber huffed and stalked over to her horse. "Aren't you the lucky one? Guess we're camping for three tonight...
Oi! Rude much?! He hadn't even agreed to anything yet!
"I once met a man in armor who imparted a few wise words to me." even as Naruto spoke, a perilously pale hand grabbed Mercury's still-healing wound and wrenched the last of it shut via some eldritch means he couldn't comprehend understand, forcing an agonized gasp from the assassin. "For those we cherish, we die in glory. What do you cherish, Mercury Black?"
His mouth opened to answer...then closed with a click.
Opened again now, as he realized the truth.
"Nothing."
"Precisely." a bloody hand ruffled his hair. "You're a blank slate. That's why I'm offering you a job. A purpose."
A purpose. Despite his reservations, it sounded...nice. When was the last time he had a purpose? Never. He couldn't remember ever having one. Killing his old man had been a goal, not a purpose, something he hadn't any choice in; it was either Marcus or him. He'd all but dragged himself out of their burning home only to stumble into Emerald and Cinder. The latter had all but taken over his life since; wasn't like he had much of a choice in his employment afterward.
But now Cinder was gone. Emerald too, which was a bit of a shame -he'd missing teasing that uptight bitch- but she never would've accepted an offer like this.
Or maybe she would have, and stabbed Him in the back first chance she got.
Should he, then?
Betrayal sounded like the obvious choice...but it wasn't. He'd held no real loyalty to Cinder OR Emerald. He'd followed them around because it was fun; and because Cinder wasn't likely to leave him alive if he tried to walk out on her. Working with her had been a bit more "permanent" than he would've liked.
A job.
Apprentice to Death himself.
It almost sounded too good to be true.
With that in mind, Mercury clasped both hands behind his head and stubbornly refused to rise from where he lay. "Lets talk lien. What're the perks? How much do I get paid?"
"Perks, huh?" Naruto belted out a laugh; this time it sounded genuine, not that death's-head cackle he'd heard earlier. "Already trying to negotiate with me?"
Mercury tentatively allowed himself to hope, though he didn't dare show it. "Can you blame me? This is hardly an ideal interview."
"Fair." his would-be-killer chuckled. "What do you want, exactly?"
"Vacation, paid time off, generous benefits." Then, because it was his nature to test the waters, "And bitches. All the bitches."
Amber huffed as she erected her tent. "As if anyone would want to be with some like you!"
He couldn't resist needling her a little. "Girl, you're jealous of my swagger."
She snarled. "There is no swagger! You literally have metal legs!"
"Exactly!" he winked her way. "Ladies love prosthetics."
"This from the bipedal cripple."
Mercury countered her intstantly. "Says the bipedal bitch."
"You tried to kill me! I have a right to be bitchy!"
"I failed, didn't I?"
The Fall Maiden snarled and went back to work.
Naruto chuckled ruefully, content to let them have their spat. "You're free to find and start a family while I'm training you, yes. You'll have plenty of time."
Family, huh. He liked the sound of that. And all the time in the world. Wait? Would he be immortal?
Mercury Black, the Immortal Assassin. Huh. That had a nice ring to it.
Yeah...yeah, this was starting to sound like a pretty fair deal, here.
Oddly enough, the idea of starting a family strangely appealed to him. He wouldn't be a worthless fuck-up like his old man. He'd be better. Any kid of his, son or daughter, would be a certified badass.
Unable to help himself, he looked over to Amber, who was even now busily setting up camp. "Any chance I could start with your granddaughter?"
Said granddaughter bounced a cooking pot off his head hard enough to give him a concussion. "Over my dead body!"
Aha! Someone to tease! He could live with that!
...when do I start?"
Silence reigned supreme. And then:
A grin split Naruto's face. "Right now~!
He thrust a hand forward and stabbed his fingers deep into his unprotected chest, seized his soul, and yanked.
Hard.
Pain followed, wild and excruciating.
As for Mercury Black...well, he blacked out.
A/N: Aaaaand scene. Hop you this tidbit made you smile.
Lamenters (Warhammer) reference was bloody obvious; their bad luck would put Qrow's to shame!
How many grandkids/kids does Naruto have, you ask? The answer is YES. Not all the cast per se, but yes.
As ever, its heavily implied that Naruto's is a grandfather in this story, aka Nicholas Schnee. Also a stone-cold killer wielding the infamous weapons of Death himself. Strangely enough, it fits when you look into Nicholas' backstory. They're a lot alike.
Aaaand there we go. Hope you enjoyed it.
Soooo? Should this be a story? Yay or nay? Need to hear from you here.
Hoe someone, somewhere, enjoyed this. I just don't know anymore these days.
So...in the Immortal Words of Atlas...Review...Would You Kindly?
Hope you enjoy the previews~!
They're condensed for now.
Also so many tributes!
References ahoy!
I own nothing!
(Previews!)
You could kill her, true.
But what saves your life after she's dead, hmm?
What stops me from pulping your head with a red Rasengan?
Everyone already thinks that girl is dead. That loss has been accepted. Mourned, but accepted.
Have you accepted yours? Are you ready to die today? No? I din't think so. Now here's what you're going to do for me.
Listen. Where you're going? Tell your friends. Tell your family. Tell everyone you know.
You tell them all. When you see me coming? RUN.
Or you could just...
Scared yet? I have a feeling we're getting there. And what you did? Not cool. You have no idea. I don't think you realize just how angry you've made me. But...I think you're going to be up to speed shortly. You'll regret meeting me, hell, you'll wish you didn't even know my name.
So. Here's what's going to happen. I'm going to kill one of you. Everybody's at the table, waiting for me to order. Blink, breathe, cry, I don't care.
YOUR END WILL BE THE SAME.
You say this is all a game to you? Well I choose to continue. Which means game over! For you. You're a bully and that's it. You take the easy, nasty way out, and get the quick reward. Good for you. I'm sure you're real proud of yourself Me? I do things the right way. I help others and make something bigger and better than little 'ol me. Good always wins in the long run. You've hit your limit! Limit? LIMIT?! I've got your limit right here! "I thought you were my friend. I thought you were the brother I never had. But everything I care about, you take away from me. You owe me a debt. And I'm here to collect.
You know me. I don't believe we've ever met. We have. I've been with you for awhile now. Guiding you. You know me. We're old friends now. I am Death. And you took something from me. You gawping little shit. I can fight armies. I can take an entire wrld teeming with life and bleed it to death. Death is my meat. Why is it that the people of Remnant make such stupid decisions? People, faunus, artificial life...don't you think that's weirdly fucked up? In your human greed, your human need, you could and would do anything to realize your goals. So get up. Finish what you started. It'll be fun. Or I'll kill you right here.
And you'll never, EVER see her again.
Adam crashed through a tree. His sword skewered the bark inches from his face.
"Pick it up."
"Be nice to each other. You both want to be Hunters, after all. Might as well get along.
"Yes, grampa.
"Okay, grandpa."
Ruby waited until he left the room. Then she grinned. "He's kinda scary, huh?"
The blond boy nodded. "Yeah...
"Well, duh." Ruby tilted her head. "Scary is what grampa does. He only kills bad people, though. Don't worry!"
Jaune gulped. "That...is not encouraging. Wait. Did you say grampa?"
"Yeah, why...?"
"I have a cousin!?"
"I have a cousin, too?!"
"You know, I'm not a cat person. Never have been. Really, I tried with Kali, but I just can't help it." Run along, kitty-kat." the hooded figure made a shooing motion. "Monsters come out at night.
Blake grimaced. "Who are you?"
His smile took on a bemused edge. His head tilted to the left, just a little, exposing tawny blond hair. "Ask your mother. Or better yet, ask Sun."
He gulped. "Ah...hey gramps. I promise this isn't what it looks like."
"No? Looks to me like you're hunting White Fang...
"Sorrysorrysorrypleasdon'tbreakmyeverything-
...without me! How could you?!"
"And then there was one...
EDIT: Hope this made you smile! Have a great day and may you be blessed with lots of luck~!