A/N: EDIT: Unfortunately, this isn't as popular as I'd thought it would be. That or the site is bugging out with alerts.
I'll give it a few days. If nothing changes...Back to the plot bin it goes for good, this time. T_T
The same applies for Runt of the Litter. Won't write that unless folks want it.
Make sure you turn ON your email alerts in account settings. Apparently that's a thing we all have to do every ninety days or so, now.
I'm REALLY busy trying to prepare the next three chapters for "A Boy's Journey..."
As ever, the Embers rule remains: If people don't like this story? If they don't enjoy it? Well...I' won't be able to continue it. That's no joke, folks. I'm so busy these days with two jobs; holidays are HERE and basically, I don't have time off. Not anymore.
My free time is limited and as such, I can't afford to focus on something folks don't like. Reviews keep me writing in these times, and keep the daily updates flowing. Silence...silence only hurts. I hate having to beg for feedback, but without it...well, it feels like I'm not making an impact.
Alright, then. As ever, I own no references, quotes, memes or themes. Not a wit or a one.
I'm just a humble author trying to make his way in this wild world, one word at a time.
Once more, time and feedback will determine if this remains a story.
In other words...its up to YOU, the reader.
Do let me know~!
"A child who is not embraced by the village will burn it down to feel its warmth.
There will always be another monster. Such a saying is true.
But this one...'tis a monster of thine own making."
~?
Scarlet Vow
"My son is dead."
Marika felt the words lodge in her throat; part of her soul went with them as she laid the boy's veiled, tiny body to rest in its earthen coffin. Dearest Miquella. Her youngest boy. Gone now, forever, lost too soon. She hadn't wanted to speak them. Saying those four words aloud only solidified her sorrow. Made this funeral feel more real, somehow. Closing the lid over him only sealed his fate. There could be no rebirth; not for one such as him. Gods were not granted such.
It shouldn't have been this way. But here he lay. Slain by his own sister.
A child's mistake. A momentary slip. Not her fault.
An accident. They were children.
Yet when she looked into Radagon's eyes she found no pity there or even understanding. Only anger. He grabbed her by the wrist and drew her aside. Were they not alone, he never would have dared to do such. Only here in the privacy of the crypt did he think to speak to her as such. And speak he did:
"The child is cursed. She must be dealt with."
"Because she was born of us!" her eyes flashed as she rounded on her other half. "You knew that any child born of our union would not be blessed; that the Outer Gods would seize this opportunity to meddle! Yet despite my warnings, you barreled on ahead anyway."
She hoped he might listen. He did not.
He scoffed, undettered. "It was the Greater Will's bidding. Just as this is."
"The Greater Will?" she tore her arm from his grasp and spat at him. "Bah! I know you've been just dying to rid yourself of her the moment she said-
Movement. Her head snapped to the side. The slap didn't hurt. Even now he was lesser than her. Bloody leal hound. So loyal to a God who cared naught for him; to a creature who would happily throw him into against its myriad enemies just to see its reign extended a little longer. What he saw in such a beast, she knew not, only that she despised him for it.
"Enough of your words!" he snapped, drawing her from her maudlin thoughts. "I shall hear no more of this nonsense. Cast her out. We have no need of such a wretched creature."
...I beg your pardon?" Marika recoiled from the very insinuation. "Surely you don't mean that. Beloved, it was an accident. Malenia meant no harm-she is your daughter!"
"I HAVE NO DAUGHTER!
She drew herself up to her full, towering height, eyes ablaze. "Careful, now. You presume much to think I would allow this."
"The Greater Will has spoken." she knew his words to be true the moment he said them; for she felt the Elden Ring pulse within her. "Strip her of her godhood and hound her from the capital, or I shall slay her. That is the only choice -the mercy!- I give you. Exile, or death.
He stood firm in the face of her mounting fury. His faith did not waver. Damnit. Damnitall.
She could stand against him, but not the Greater Will. Not yet.
To resist now would cast all her plans into peril.
Should the Greater Will cotton on now...everything would be lost. For her daughter to live, she must cast her aside. For little Malenia to survive, she must shun her, reject her worse than she ever had Morgott and Mohg. They, at least, held their divinity in the dark. Some semblance of dignity, dirty though it was. Barring that, they had one another. But she couldn't send Malenia to the sewers. Radagon would never allow such power to fester underfoot.
Wait. He'd said hound her from the capital. But now where.
An idea dawned. There was hope. Godfrey was still in the badlands far to the south. His warriors and allies still clung to the old ways of honor and savage dignity. If her daughter could but be driven in that direction, there was a chance. Small, perhaps, but a chance.
Exile it was, then.
May the Outer Gods forgive her.
Marika knew -she knew!- that she would never forgive herself.
(.0.0.0.)
They had cast her out.
Such was her fate. Her destiny, now denied her. Stripped of her godhood by Mother, dragged out the capital-cast her into the Lands Between with naught but tears in her eyes and the clothes on her back. No provisions. No food. No water. She would live or die on her own merit, they said. She, a girl of six summers, a child who had wanted for nothing, now forced to walk just to survive.
Even her Shadow had been ripped away from her, torn apart and absorbed back into the putrid existence that was the Greater Will.
How she had begged. "Mother, please! Not her! At least spare her! I'm sorry! I'll never do it again!"
"Never return," came her stoic reply. "If ye do, thine life is forfeit."
Father hadn't said a word to her; wouldn't even look her way.
And for what? A single mistake. Nothing more.
It was all her fault.
Tears pricked at Malenia's eyes as she trudged on, worn slippers scuffing against the road. Listless and adrift, she walked on, shivering in the waning light. There was no destination in mind. She had been told to walk, to never look back; for if she did, she would be slain. It was an accident. She hadn't meant to do what she did. Truly, she hadn't...
Miquella.
Dearest Miquella. Her twin. Dead now.
Slain by the Rot within her. She hadn't meant to...!
But the deed was done, the price paid, her power sealed. Now she limped on in the dark, seeking shelter for the night and praying the beasts of the night would not prey upon her. She kept walking, favoring her right leg, limping on as time blurred and the light of Leyndell fell behind her.
Still she kept walking.
What other choice did she have?
To stop was to die. And so she walked.
Out of Leyndell, through Liurnia, past Limgrave. Malenia walked and she walked and she walked until finally her foot caught an upturned stone and she went down with a yelp. Her head cracked against something; here at last the pain startled her out of her daze. A trembling hand touched her forehead and came away red.
Blood.
Angry tears stung at her eyes.
"Why?" she rasped into the dirt. "Why me? I didn't mean to...!"
Malenia slammed a fist down with a scream, only to curse when she left a bubbling red indent behind. Golden eyes widened. The Scarlet Rot sizzled at the dirt, eating into the soil-just as it had eaten through poor Miquella on that awful day. She could still see him in her mind's eye...
"Sister...why...?"
The memory stirred something ugly in Malenia and flailed at the Rot with bot hands; hands fumbling over the poison, trying to draw it back in. No use. It continued to spit and bubble where it lay, glowing faintly in the low light of night. Tears burned at her eyes anew. No, no, no! Not again! Suppress it! Put it out! Don't let it spread!
A distant thunder rose in her ears; it took her a moment to realize someone was approaching.
She covered her handiwork with a bit of dirt and gave up, dragging herself into a nearby bush to hide. Just as well she did, too; because not a minute later she heard the riders. Dark hooves cantered past and she counted them. One horse. Two. Three. The third paused.
Malenia stifled a shuddering breath and prayed to the gods, to any god that might here her. 'Don't let them see me, don't let them see me, please, please, PLEASE don't let them see me...
A gruff voice pierced the gloom. "You sure she went this way, boss?"
"Definitely." Came the hoarse reply. "Ain't anywhere else to go in a place like this."
"What's a kid running in the Badlands for?"
"Maybe she got lost? Doesn't matter," came the hoarse reply. "You saw her clothes. She's one of them posh noble types; likely loaded with runes and all kinds of other trinkets besides. Now lets get a move on!" she heard the harsh crack of a palm against a horse's flank. "Won't be able to fleece her if those savages get to her first...
"I dunno, we're near Loux's territory...
"Bah! That old far won't give a damn. Now let's go!
A sharp cry and the hoofbeats rode by. Malenia released a breath. Even then she didn't dare move for another minute.
But she couldn't stay on the road now. Not alone. To do so promised disaster.
Where to go, then? She didn't even know where she was; they'd called this place the Badlands, but the trees were just a dark and ominous as ever, and the moon was nowhere to be seen. Only the light of the frozen stars guided her, and they were a silent guide indeed.
In the end, fear won out over self-preservation.
She crept forward out of the brush, keeping to the shadows. All the while her anxieties gnawed at her.
They faded when she glimpsed a light ahead, glimmering in the dark just off the road by the woods. Fire. Warmth. Safety.
Malenia crept closer, ducking low to the ground in the undergrowth. Trembling fingers peeled back a scraggly bush, just enough to see by.
A man's voice pierced the gloom, speaking to someone. "...plenty of room by the fire."
She saw him then; a hooded man sat on a stump beside a roaring fire, broad shoulders wrapped in a black cloak. Flickering firelight danced across his face, casting his whiskered visage into deepest shadow. She couldn't see his eyes. One hand scribbled notes down into a worn leather tome, the other turned a juicy roast on a spit over the flame. Venison, by the look of it. Freshly glazed. Malenia longed to reach out and sink her teeth into it. Mother and Father had turned her out without so much as a meal this morning. Had it been this morning? She'd been walking such a terribly long time...
No, wait. There were others. She'd missed them, blinded by the fire as she was.
The riders from before had surrounded the sitting man. Three of them. Two men and a woman, clad in mismatching leathers. One of them was rooting through his pack as he stared up at their leader. That settled it, then. Had to be bandits. No self-respecting knight would be caught dead doing something so dishonorable, let alone wearing filthy armor like that.
"You know where you are, gentlemen?" the man closed the book and gazed up at them, eyes still hidden in the shadows. "This ain't the Lands Between. These are the Badlands."
The one rifling through his pack paused to cuff him on the back of the head. "Quiet, old man."
Thunder rumbled overhead. Malenia dared to look up. Dark clouds began to roll in from the south, promising cold rain.
"Old?" Far from being offended, the whiskered warrior only laughed. "Do I really look it? I'll have ya know I'm not even thirty-
A sword rasped free, to kiss the man's throat. Malenia hid a gasp behind her hands, narrowly muffling it in time. Her cry was lost in another rumble overhead. The stars were well and truly obscured now; the wind began to pick up, tearing at the trees to produce an ominous creaking sound. Lightning flashed across the sky, momentarily lighting the way.
For a moment, she glimpsed the man's eyes in the shadows of his hood. They were a bright, blazing blue, sparking with strength.
She didn't miss his smile. "Put that toothpick away, pal. Before you get hurt."
Malenia shivered a little.
"Fat chance of that We're looking for a girl." one of the bandits growled over the awful crack of thunder that followed. "Small, golden eyes, red hair. You seen her?"
"Distinctive." the man tilted his head, uncaring of the steel biting into his neck. "M'fraid I haven't. I'd remember something like that."
A low growl and a backhand was his reward. "You lyin' to us, old timer? No games, now!"
"Game? What game?" The man looked past them...to her hiding place. He saw her. Smiled. Looked away. "Nope. Ain't seen her."
Another blow punctuated by a sigh. Malenia winced for his sake.
The blond man didn't. "You do realize I can't feel that."
WHAP!
His head snapped to the side again.
"Nope. Still can't feel it. Or much of anything, really."
Malenia squinted at him. Could he simply not feel? That seemed an awful curse. She was rotten, but at least she could experience the world. If this man couldn't feel anything...
WHAM!
The blond man took another blow in stoic silence.
...how awful much such an existence.
Redfaced, the bandit glared at him, his fury finally spent. "Enough! You're havin' us on! Where is she?!"
"Shouting when you don't get your way, eh? That's fair." a bandaged hand swept outward, indicating the plains beyond his campsite. "I'll give you the benefit of the doubt, seeing as you're not from around here, and say maybe you figured you're in the middle of nowhere." he waved a hand, parting the hem of his cloak. "So maybe you thought you could do as ya pleased."
Malenia glimpsed something metal there resting in his belt, if only for a moment.
"Now, I don't know what arrangements you have...with the gods where you're from," whiskered cheeks dimpled in a wry smile, "but I came to these lands to atone; to get away from that violence. So how about you guys just turn around, I'll pretend I didn't see you, and we can let bygones be bygones."
His pack hid the ground behind, fleeced of all valuables. "Nothing here, boss. If the kid was here, she's long gone by now. Doesn't have any runes on him, either."
"Damnit." their leader cursed, then eyed the fire and the stag roasting within. "...take his deer. At least we'll have a good meal tonight."
The man's right hand rose, gripping the blade against his throat. "Can't let you do that, friend. Man's gotta eat."
"Yeah?" The bandit leader tore it free of his men shucked it So do we.
The hooded man heaved a sigh. "You do not want this fight."
"Ohhh, I think we do." His eyes strayed to his cloak again, or rather, what lay concealed within. "Nice weapon you've got there. Hand that over, too."
High above them, the wind reached its crescendo. "Would you like to see it?"
He snapped his fingers.
In that instant his cloak flared; Malenia glimpsed a streak of blue on metal, mixed with gold, lightning...
.
..
...and blood.
The first bandit died before she truly knew what was happening, throat opening with a wet gurgle. The second fell in a similar fashion to the first; head rolling from his shoulders. His body followed soon thereafter. Only then did Malenia finally glimpse the weapon that had done them in.
It was a long blade, she realized.
Simple all things considered, little more than a basic black hilt to grip to, wholly devoid of ornamentation yet devastatingly effective all the same. The bandits alone could testify to that...or they would have were they still among the living.
"Huh." she heard him mutter, swiping the blood away. "Sasuke's sword still packs a punch after all these years." He hefted his weapon with a sigh and rounded on the last living member of the bandit troupe, a gangly bald fellow clutching a spear. "You there. What's your name?" he saw them tense and scowl. "Don't do anything stupid now, think it through."
The man stowed his weapons and raised his hands in surrender. "P-Patches...
"Good. I can see you're the smart one here. Do you want to live?"
A frantic bob of the head.
"Good! Run. Now. Tell no one what you saw here."
"R-Right!" the man gulped. "I'll do that! No need to tell me twice."
They scarpered.
As they did, Malenia released a breath she hadn't realized she'd been holding until now. High above the storm guttered out, its fury spent.
With but a single stroke of a blade, he'd bested his enemies. He hadn't even bothered to use that strange half-hammer in his belt. She could see it sizzling with sapphire sparks even now, but he'd not drawn it. No need to when he had a sword like that.
...was it possible to learn such power?
Hunger kicked at her stomach anew. She edged closer. A branch snapped underfoot.
"...?"
The man lifted his head with a questioning noise, tugging his hood back with it. She glimpsed bright blue eyes framed by tawny hair. He squinted her way for a moment, only for his gaze to pass right over her, blinded by the light of the fire. Thank heaven for small mercies. She took the chance to duck down again, hiding her small body in the brush. She was safe. She was fine. He'd not seen her. Hunger would have to wait. She could try again when he was asleep, perhaps pluck a portion of his food then be gone before anyone saw her.
Her stomach clenched, warbling pitifully.
Malenia grit her teeth and shook her head, running both hands though her long red hair. No. Resist. She mustn't make contact. It was too risky. She'd tried once. Once. Those bandits had nearly run her down. She'd barely escaped with her life. She would have to wait. Even if she was tired. Even if hurt. Even if she was so hungry she wanted to cry-
"Never played hide and seek before, have you?"
Oh gods. She'd seen her. She jolted a little and hunched further down, ready to bolt. Perhaps if she went back the way she came...?
Malenia was still processing that when a long golden arm burst through the brush to pluck her up by the scruff of her neck. Then it yanked. Her world went sideways, a startled shriek fled from her lips as she found herself hauled from cover and dragged out into the clearing.
She went berserk.
"No!" she reared back, slapping at the golden tether. "Let me go!"
"Skittish little thing, ain'tcha?"
She craned her neck to try and bite the arm holding her.
"Calm down, ya know!" the Stranger sounded more annoyed by her efforts than anything else. "I ain't gonna hurt ya."
Malenia caught a glimpse of him while she flailed. He'd not moved from the stump, though his body now shone like the sun. As she looked on that golden limb retracted, reeling her in as one might a fish. What manner of magic was that? She didn't have time to process it. stranger plonked her down on the stump beside him and squinted her. She squinted back, trying to put up a brave front.
Even so, she wasn't prepared for the sudden softening of her eyes. "What happened to you...?"
Malenia knew what he saw. What all the others had seen. A girl in ruined finery, covered in mud and bruises. Even her hair was dirty and mussed with mud. She was weak, vulnerable, utterly unable to fight back with her strength sealed. Even if it wasn't she was small and he was so very big. She didn't much fancy her chances of running.
"Not gonna talk? Alright." he frowned down at her. "What's your name? Surely you can tell me that."
Her stomach growled. A spark of dirty dignity stirred in her.
Cast out or not, she was of the Golden Order.
"I am Mal...!" Her hands flew to her mouth, choking down the word before it could be born. If she spoke her true name, Father would hear it. He might even come for her. To finish what he'd started. She scrambled for a pseudonym in its place. "Milicent." she lied at last, speaking quickly to cover up the slip. "My name is Milicent."
Bemused blue eyes met hers. If he saw the lie, he didn't question it. "Alright then, miss "Milicent". I'm Naruto. Here. Catch."
His hands moved. A shadow fell over her very head.
She flinched...yet no attack came. ...what?"
She found herself clutching a bit of meat, torn from the haunch of the deer flung over the fire. A large hand had come to rest on her hair, idly patting her head.
"No need to be shy." her unlikely ally beamed down at her. "I've got food aplenty. You can rest here tonight, if you like." He pulled one hand away to scratch at the back of his head. "I've only been in this world for a few days, but I've plenty of supplies. You can rest easy."
Something stirred deep inside of Malenia.
His hand was so...very warm. Like an older brother comforting their sibling.
Would Miquella have been like this? She'd never know now. Her eyes began to sting. Water welled up, bringing fresh pain despite her best efforts.
She was cursed. She'd been cast out. Yet this man, this stoic stranger, offered her kindness. It was too much. The damn broke in her. But she did not bawl. Even as tears ran down her cheeks, she refused to cry out. She took a savage bite of the venison to muffle her sob. Another bite. Another now. She masked her pain with angry, frustrated growls. And for a time, it worked...
...but only for a time.
Eventually she finished the portion he'd gave her, and the tears continued to flow. That kind, gentle smile undid her.
It was just the sort of smile her parents had never worn. They'd never looked her in such a way. Not even once.
Malenia scrubbed at her face furiously, to hide her tears.
Naruto tilted his head. "You alright?"
She hiccuped. "M'fine...
There is a saying:
"The child who is not embraced by the village will burn it down to feel its warmth."
Here and now, Malenia wanted to burn it all. To tear down those who made her feel this wretched way.
Naruto didn't damn her for such weakness, nor did he try to hug her, though perhaps he should've. She was grateful for that. If someone embraced her now, she would have well an truly broken like the child she still was. Naruto let her cling to her tiny scraps of dignity. He simply took his hand from her head and laid it on his chin, considering her in sad silence.
And then he spoke the words that undid her. "Wanna talk about it?"
Malenia turned red, teary eyes on him She wanted to; to tell him her tale of woe. "They...they cast me out...
His brow furrowed, shadows from the campfire flickering across his face. "Who's they...?"
The last thread of Malenia's self control broke. She began speak.
"My parents...
"Oh?" A look of pure and absolute murder burned in the blond's eyes, yet she sensed it was directed elsewhere. "Is that so? Why don't you tell me about them?"
That such a stranger would feel such rage on her behalf humbled her.
Malenia told him her tale.
Rot writhed in her eyes as she did, coiling and twisting within her. Comforting her. Promising her sweet vengeance if she but listened to it.
In that moment, Malenia silently swore she would reclaim all she had ever lost. Made an oath, before the old gods and the new.
If the Rot had caused this, then she would tame it. Make it hers. Control it. Master it.
Yes, in that instant she swore a scarlet vow. A binding promise.
From that promise, the Scarlet Reign would be born.
A/N: And there we have it.
A young Malenia, cast out as a child.
Her body isn't quite rotten at this point; she's still little tyke at that.
Do you want this to be a story? Yes? No? Maybe so? Make yourselves heard!
Once more, we're sticking with the "Embers" rule for this particular story, and others. If folks don't like this, it won't be continued. Meaning that if the story itself ain't popular? POOF! Gone. Completely. I'm working two jobs -might need a third soon!- so 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.
Aaaand there we go. As ever, reviews keep me alive. Without them, I cannot write. So...in the Immortal Words of Atlas...
...Review...Would You Kindly? And have some previews -potential blot bin things- that I'm working on.
(Previews)
"We need not concern ourselves with this. The girl is surely dead by now."
Marika held her tongue. She baited the hook instead. "Are you asking me for another child."
A pause. And then. "I would not say no to such. We must replace those we have lost."
She nearly killed him then and there, consequences be damned.
It was only this knowledge that stilled her hand.
Her daughter lived. She lived!
So long as she held her tongue and kept the Greater Will and Radagon distracted...little Malenia would have time grow. Time to flourish, come into her own. Perhaps she might even break the seal placed on her and grow into her true worth as a goddess...
She would return one day...and then...
"Were are we going?"
Naruto hummed and shouldered his pack. "To meet an old friend. He helped me when I was down on my luck. Maybe he'll help you."
"Is that why we're all the way out here? In the hear of the badlands...?"
He didn't answer her. Instead he plucked a horn from his belt and blew into it. A single, sharp note traveled over the wastes.
Something answered.
Malenia found herself frowning at this strange girl. "...who are you?"
The girl smiled. "Nepheli Loux. Pleased to meet you."
"Your father speaks well of you. Even if he is cursed in his own way.
The very word caused her pain. Father? She had no father.
"He is not my father. He is my mentor. That is all."
"Methink thou doth protest too much, child."
Malenia kicked Godfrey's leg.
The former lord laughed. "Ha! I would expect no less of Marika's daughter...
"Fight as hard or long as you like, won't make a difference." he dodged swipe, blue eyes flashing. "There's one thing you oughta know before this ends."
He stepped in, let the weapon bit into his shoulder. Grinned, now.
"I. Can't feel. ANY OF THIS."
She hit the dirt.
"Again." he nudged her up. "You're better than this."
Malenia hauled herself to her feet. Her knees wavered. Still, she stood. Took her stance.
"Thatta girl."
"You will always be a monster, Naruto.
"Ha! Where I come from that's a compliment. I'm a monster alright. Monstrously strong." He stood. Cracked his neck. His wounds closed as they looked on. He spread his arms once with that same, kindly smile. "Care to try again?"
EDIT: As ever, the Embers rule remains: If people don't like this story? If they don't enjoy it? Well...I' won't be able to continue it. That's no joke, folks. I'm so busy these days with two jobs; holidays are HERE and basically, I don't have time off. Not anymore.
My free time is limited and as such, I can't afford to focus on something folks don't like. Reviews keep me writing in these times, and keep the daily updates flowing. Silence...silence only hurts. I hate having to beg for feedback, but without it...well, it feels like I'm not making an impact...
Looking forward to chatting with you all when I get back from work~!
Warm regards,
~Nz.
R&R~!