A/N: Got sick, sorry for vanishing.
Can anyone see this chapter? Notifications are down yet again. Do let me know in the reviews! Appreciate you all~!
Just wanted to say, I appreciate you all! More feedback means faster updates! It's especially important, in these, trying times, with the main site notifications down. Every word counts and i appreciate you all! All these reviews really keep me inspired! Looking forward to hearing from you~!
Speaking of which, I finally won, after many hours, I've beaten the DLC...and I am dead inside.
What. Was. THAT ENDING?! How am I to sleep after that! The DLC also forced me to change up a few story beats in several of my stories for Elden Ring, while, oddly enough, enhancing others. Runt of the Litter -Naruto reborn as Godrick- and Forget Me Not -Naruto reborn as Miquella- come to mind. To say nothing of the others.
Slifer and I are preparing a story given Marika's official origins now, and it's going to be a doozy.
In other news, I have a vehicle again...I just owe a lot of money on said vehicle after the repairs. Now I need the bloody brakes fixed and the AC besides. I can live without the latter, though it'll be hot and uncomfortable. The former...not so much. Truly, the world runs on money these days, and this is what I get for having the same car for so long. Still taking care of my sister until mid-July, so that's eating into my time as well. But once that's done, I'll finally have more time to write...I hope. If not, I just might shatter like the Elden Ring.
As ever, I own no references, quotes, themes or memes. They're tributes to legends far greater than little 'ol me.
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~!
SPOILERS FOR SHADOWS OF THE ERDTREE AHEAD!
"Listen, you! These days you're too damn much like the monsters we fight.
That's the problem. Too damn head strong. Too damn angry. Too damn scary for your own damn good.
You ain't the same kid you used to be; that hopeful brat who could talk anyone the right way round. And we need that guy again. We need him real bad.
Let ME be the one they're scared of. You be the one they fall in love with.
That's all I'm asking."
~?
A New Vow
Sweet, velvety sleep wrapped Naruto up in a warm blanket.
He wanted to open his eyes, he wanted to move, he wanted to get up, but he was just so...comfortable. The mere act of breathing itself was enough to drag him deeper into slumber. Struggling only made it worse. When he tried to rise his body betrayed him and rolled right over, refusing to wake. Maybe that was for the best. What was the harm in resting a little while longer? It wasn't as though he had anywhere else to be, or anything important to do for that matter. What had he been doing again? He could only recall bits and pieces. Falling. Screams. Darkness. Was not sleep better than that?
"Make...Miquella...stop...
Wait.
"...don't turn the poor thing into a god..."
What was that voice? Soft and gentle, yet faint and halting.
"...godhood would be Miquella's prison..."
It sounded strangely familiar.
"...a caged divinity...is beyond...saving..."
How odd, it felt like he was forgetting something...
"...you must stop Miquella...grant them forgiveness..."
A mounting sens of longing bloomed in his chest.
"You... must... find me! Please!"
His eyes snapped open; just in time for a mighty fist to slam into his visage. Once, twice, thrice, he saw stars as his attacker buffeted him to and fro, hollering all the while.
"Wake up! You must wake up! AWAKEN AT ONCE!"
"I'm awake!" Sputtering, he caught one fist and the other with his remaining hand, more annoyed than harmed. "Stop that!"
"Oh!" a masculine laugh was his reward, the voice oddly familiar. "My apologies. You'd been out of it for awhile and I've been shouting for so long now; I thought you'd gone into the light."
Gone into the light he says; bastard had almost knocked him into it! "Yeah, well, I didn't, no thanks to you." Letting him go, Naruto squinted up at a shadowy sky, still reeling. "You can stop punching me now."
"Capital!" there it was again, that strangely familiar voice again. "Are you alright?"
"You just slugged me! Whaddya think?!"
...I'm sorry?"
Shaking his head, he blinked the last lingering stars from his vision and endeavored to sit up. A strange shadowy sky awaited him, wholly and utterly devoid of the Erdtree's light. Wait. That couldn't be right. You couldn't just misplace a giant tree like that. And who was that looming over him?
Naruto blinked. He blinked hard.
The spectral figure crouched down before him and waved an armored arm his way. "Hello~!"
"Radahn?!"
It was him indeed; the second Demigod he'd slain, the one soul he truly hadn't wanted to. His ghost was almost exactly as he remembered. Smaller perhaps, his spirit not burning quite as bright as he before, but easily recognizable with that mighty helm and his lion armor.
He squinted at the spectral figure, his own personal torment, the same he hadn't seen since...
.
..
...not since the Volcano Manor.
"Finally awake, are you?" the gregarious general grinned. "I've been shouting at you for the better part of an hour, now!"
"Been awhile." he dragged a hand across his face and blinked again, trying to banish him from his vision to no avail. "Haven't seen you Rennala and I killed Rykard. I thought you'd moved on."
"I cannot." Something in those words tugged at his heartstrings. "I've business yet left undone. To that end, I have been resting, biding my time, saving my strength until it is needed."
His brow furrowed. "Needed for what?"
"Now that you mention it," A puzzled look crossed the young lion's regal visage, "...I cannot recall, oddly enough. But I know where we are."
"And where would that be?"
"Somewhere we shouldn't be, yet we are." he looked past him. "Welcome to the Realm of Shadow."
Naruto followed his gaze and saw what Radahn spoke of; oh yes, only then did he see it, and dearly wished he hadn't.
This was not the Lands Between. He knew it at a glance; the giant dying tree gave that away. A black and broken twisted thing draped in heavy veils, oozing golden sap like the lifeblood of some dying beast. There was an ember of light there, but it was faint, fading, falling apart, like a garden left untended for far too long until only weeds remained.
"What is that thing?"
"The Scadutree." Radahn answered. "I have no looked upon it in an age."
Naruto jolted suddenly, realizing there was a reason for such crushing silence.
A quick glance about confirmed his fears. "Melina?! Millicent?! Latnna?! Where did everyone-
"Go?" Radahn finished for him with a grimace. "I know not. You were alone when I regained my consciousness."
Damnit. They'd been lost or worst-scattered. "Then we'll have to find them.
"We, is it?" Radahn rumbled a laugh. "Even now, you don't back down in the face of a challenge. "I knew I was right to choose you."
Heat speared up the back of his neck, from shame, not joy. Right to choose him? He'd killed this man. Murdered him and plundered his Great Rune, when he could've saved him. If only he'd tried harder. If only he hadn't hesitated. If only, if only, if only so many things...
Shaking away his shame, he looked back to the shadow tree. "Shouldn't be hard, I just gotta sense them. Gimme a sec."
On a whim he opened his sixth sense to the Realm of Shadows.
Mistakes were made.
His knees struck the ground as a sudden assault savaged his senses; he doubled over, gritting his teeth against it. This...this place wasn't right. It was full of pain and suffering, but there was more to it than that, he could sense countless souls here, writhing in agony and despair and tormentohgodthepainmakeitstopmakeitstopMAKEITSTOP-
Gagging, he forcibly cut the connection with a hiss, cradled his head between both hands and dry-heaved.
Kurama gagged in his stomach as he recovered. "Its enough to make a fox sick...
"Lovely place, isn't it?" Radahn rumbled. "You see why I don't visit often."
On that, they agreed wholeheartedly. Why would anyone want to be here? What was wrong with this place?! There was so much pain here, everything was all twisted and knotted up inside, rotten like an apple thrown into the corner and left to fester. Something terrible had happened here. Wait, that wasn't quite right. Something terrible had happened here. Even now it continued to occur, unchecked.
He reached up a hand to drag himself upright, only for the spirit to seize it and help him to his feet.
Blue eyes fluttered in a rapid blink as he jerked backward. "I can interact with you now?!"
Radahn looked just as surprised as he felt. "So it would seem...
Daring to step forward he gave the specter -spirit ashes or was he a genuine ghost?- a tentative poke in chest. Ranni's brother quirked a crimson brow at him but otherwise didn't react.
"So you're real?" he babbled, unable to help himself. "I haven't been imagining you all this time?"
Something softened in that craggy visage. "I have always been real, golden one. From the very first."
Alright, so he wasn't insane. That was a net positive, right? Surely it was. Righting himself with an effort, he looked out on the vast plain before them. "Don't suppose you have any idea where Melina and the others might be in this messed-up place...?"
The young lion rolled his shoulders in an expressive shrug. "I am bound to you, my friend. I have no more knowledge of where they might be than you do."
Friend...as if he had any right to be called such. He winced a little at that. "Don't...don't call me your friend."
"Whyever not?"
"I don't deserve it." he turned away. "I killed you."
Radahn thumped his chest with a spectral fist. "And yet here I stand."
"As a ghost, or a figment of my imagination!" he pivoted back, rounding on him with a pained noise. "I couldn't save you."
"What are you talking about? The general tilted his head. "You did save me, more than you know. You set me free. And just as you rescued me in my time of need, so too shall I rescue you from yours."
The old general grinned at him and despite his shrunken stature in that moment, he seemed taller than any mountain.
"That said," he ambled on, "There are those here in need of salvation just as I was. Although...
A shiver shot down Naruto's spine. "Although-what-now?"
"No, 'tis nothing." Radahn crossed both arms before his broad chest and shook his head at length, sounding vaguely displeased with himself. "Or rather, I feel it should be something, but I cannot recall. I lost much of my strength and memories when I shed my flesh. It has taken me time to recover even this much."
"Well if you ever remember what, let me know."
"I shall." the undead general looked past him suddenly, golden eyes focusing on a distant horizon only he could see. "And it seems we are in luck. A comrade of mine is here, Remane Freyja. She was once a loyal warrior in my warband and I can sense her nearby. She will know what to do and shall know where best we can begin.
...sounds like as good a lead as any. Maybe she'll know how to get out of here."
"Agreed!" Radahn clapped him on the back, blasting air from his lungs. "We are one in mind on this, if not body. Shall we go, then?
"Fine." he blew into the ring on his finger, conjuring Torrent. "Let's get this done. I've got a tree to burn."
Radahn beamed and boomed a belly laugh. "That's the spirit! Ah, Torrent! It has been a long while. You remember me, don't you? Has Ranni been taking good care of thee?"
"Oi!" Naruto rounded on him. "Don't think I didn't miss that last bit! That was a bad joke you must made; you should feel bad.
"Nonsense." The general looked to him, idly stroking Torrent's head. "It was spoken in the spirit of jolly cooperation!
"You did it again!"
Radahn feigned ignorance, the big goof, and slung himself onto the spectral steed's back. I haven't the foggiest idea what you mean.
Naruto flung up his arms and joined him. "I don't wanna hear that from a glorified ghost! Now move over. I'm sitting up here."
"Awww, but I wanted to ride in front...
"Not a chance, big guy!"
Off they went.
(.0.0.0.)
Elsewhere, the rest of the party had problems of their own.
Problems amany and aplenty.
Many a problem indeed...
(.0.0.0.)
"And you're sure you haven't seen them? Any of them? They're rather hard to miss...
The knight before Latenna made an annoyed noise. "How many times must I repeat myself Albinauric? I have not. Encountered. Your comrades."
Latenna pinched the bridge of her nose to stifle a scream building in her throat. Calm. She must be calm. She could not afford to surrender to her base emotions; no matter how annoying this woman was, she couldn't fill her face with arrows, regardless of her ire.
What was this place? Where had her Lord and the others gone. How could she find them? Too many questions and no answers to be found. Her sole solace in this was Lobo; were it not for her wolf, she surely would have gone quite mad by now.
That said, these shadows -and these people- had no answers for her.
Not this knight, not that scowling brute with the caterpillar mas over there, not any of them.
Perhaps she would find what she sought at that strange tree...
"Leda, was it?" She vaguely recalled the woman's name and mentioned in passing as she turned to depart. "Thank you for your time. I shall linger here no longer."
"Why pursue them so? Surely you can find solace in the service of another."
Her hackles rose at the very insinuation. "What are you suggesting?"
"You were surely called into this realm for a reason." the Needle Knight laid a hand on her shoulder in what she doubtless thought a kind gesture, whereas the truth was anything but. "Kindly Miquella would be glad to have one such as you. Clearly your old master cares little for you if he cast you aside in such a manner...
Ohhh, how those words stung worse than any needle! She batted her hand aside. I appreciate your offer, but I only serve one and it is not this "Kindly Miquella" you claim to serve.
The woman bridled. "Watch your tongue!"
"I shall do no such thing, wench." she fixed her with a steely stare. "Miquella did not help we of the Albinaurics until my kind was nearly extinct. Even then such aid was paltry. And yet in the span of only a few months our new lord has already found a way to save us. Tell me, what has your "Miquella" done hence?"
Lady Leda bridled. "If you would speak of our lord as such, then you are a threat to be eliminated."
Lobo growled. Latenna stayed him with a hand over his snout. "Are you truly so fearful that you would attack me, Needle Knight?"
She didn't give her the chance to find out; in the time it took her to inch forward, she'd already drawn her bow and fired. Even here in this realm of darkness, her aim struck true. An arrow sprouted from Leda's knee in a grisly simulacrum of growth and send her sprawling to the ground a yowl of pain.
"I am no mere Albinauric." Latenna stowed her bow with a huff as she slung herself onto Lobo's back. "I am Latenna. And when my Lord takes the Throne and the false face of your precious Miquella is stripped away, it is you who will beg to serve him.
Her peace said, she put the needle knight behind her.
(.0.0.0.)
The Scarlet Rot called to Millicent.
Singing ever so sweetly in her ear, a gently lullaby promising her sweet, sweet succor...
...if she but surrendered, if she just...gave in...
...she must not heed it...
...she must not...
...she must...
Listlessly, she stumbled towards the Church of the Bud.
(.0.0.0.)
Melina awoke to darkness.
Crushing gloom as far as the eye could see; it was everywhere, everyone, everything; she couldn't even see her own hand before her face. In truth that last part was more an annoyance than any true hindrance, but it irked her all the same. Worse, he skull ached abominably, suggesting she'd suffered a rather nasty fall.
Where were the others?
Calling out availed her naught.
Wincing, she forced herself to sit up.
Much to her surprise and dismay, light answered.
Candle bloomed in the gloom, lightning one after another, filling the chamber with their dim radiance. Strange. She'd never been here before and yet this place felt almost...familiar. Dare she say homey? One would not think such a dank and dark chamber could be such, yet she found herself filled with a strange sense of ease now as she climbed to her feet.
"Mongrel intruder." a low voice intoned. "Take not another step."
She whirled and froze as she found a crimson serpent staring at her, its lone green eye piercing her very soul.
"Hmm." the world-weary voice came on again. "Thou art no Tarnished, it seemeth. We share the same blood...how unusual."
The serpent vanished into the either before her very eyes, and in vain she followed it.
A man sat upon a throne, poised before a statue of Mother.
With a low hum, the candles around her brightened.
And she saw.
Whomever this man might be, he was tall, terrifyingly so. Clad in a mantle of red cloth and chain-mail, wearing a wicked helm coiled with winged serpents besides, his very presence invoked a strange, nameless dread in her, a fear she couldn't quantify. Gold of eye and red of hair, he pinned her with his stare, gazing forward without a care. And that was when one ignored the eerie serpent that seemed fused to him...
"Good morrow, little sister." the Stranger rose from his seat with a languid sigh. "Sister." he repeated the word after a moment's pause, as though tasting the word on his tongue. "How quaint. I had never thought to want a sibling. And yet here you are...
Melina drew her cloak close to herself, shoulders tensing beneath.
He claimed to be her kin? Impossible. Her kin were Mother and Demigods. For this man to claim such, he must be...
.
..
...oh...
...ohh...
...ohhh this boded most poorly for her..
"Well? Hast thou lost thine voice?" There was a low, raspy tinge to his own tone, a weariness bone deep. "Welcome to my humble abode. I would offer thee bread and salt, but I'm afraid I've long since run out."
A tremor ran through her frail frame. "Who are you?"
It was both the wrong, and the right thing to say.
"I...?" The pale man smiled, more a pained grimace really, his lone golden eye regarding her intently. "You do not know me? Mother, he palmed his pallid face with a sigh. "Were you truly so ashamed of our crusade that you would wipe my very name from history?"
Melina tilted her head.
"I am Messmer." He paused at the last, towering over her. "Lord Impale, ruler of this castle. And you, little sister, are my guest."
Melina did not shrink back, and she certainly didn't shy away, but she tensed all the same beneath his golden gaze. This man, no, this Demigod, did not possess a Great Rune like the rest of his kin, but he was no weaker for it. If anything the absence of such seemed to strengthen him.
She was alone. With no allies. No backup. No hope. Her only recourse was to try an' talk her way out of this.
Naruto could have. He would've too, that cheeky bastard. He was good at talking people round.
He'd done it to her, and so many others. But he wasn't here. Bugger.
'I suppose I'll have to do this alone.'
Still, her heart clenched. This was no mere Demigod. Long had she thought Godwyn was the first of them, but that eye, his flaming red hair, the sheer power he exuded was truth enough.
More than enough.
Her hand dove behind her back, clutching the blade there. "Why have you brought me here...?"
"Such fire in you." he tittered softly. "I found you on the brink of death and nursed thee back to health. Am I not owed a spot of gratitude?"
She edged back. "Then you won't mind letting me leave?"
The serpent over his shoulder hissed at her.
"Now, now." Messmer quelled it with a gentle pat upon the head. "We mustn't be rude to our guests." He looked back to her, smiling softly, serenely, sadly. "Tell me of Mother, won't you? It has been so terribly long since she cast me aside, left me here, abandoned me here...
A tremor of fear shook her shoulders. His mood kept shifting incessantly. What was she to think of that?
No, she already knew. He was insane. Stark raving mad.
Best appease him for the time being. "She is...well."
Something prodded her shoulder and startled, Melina whirled to find Messmer behind her.
She'd not even seen him move.
"Careful, now. He held out a long finger and pushed it against her lips, silencing her protests. "I enjoy you, but I won't hesitate to cut out your lying tongue. Tell me now, and tell me true. What is the state of the Lands Between? How fare Mother and Father in my absence?"
Melina winced. But she told him. What choice did she have?
She could not best him, could not overpower him. Combat was not an option.
"And so it all fell to ruin." Messmer palmed his face with a sigh. "Would that I were there, none of this would have transpired...
Melina turned toward the door.
A spear slammed into it with a fiery explosion, welding the metal shut.
Her half-brother lowered his arm with a wry smile, unfazed by her anger. "Leaving so soon? But we've only just begun. Here, dear sister." He held out a pale hand to her, and as she looked on a dark flame flickered within. "Do you recognize this?"
Melina turned her head aside, but not quickly enough.
"You do." she heard him croon darkly. "You recognize this flame. It is the same as the one you cradle beneath your breast; the very reason for which you were born. For what purpose did Mother make you?"
She tucked her chin into her chest. "I know not what you mean."
Messmer made an annoyed noise. "How easily lies leap to your lips, little one. Did I not warn you?"
In an instant, the Impaler was upon her; he batted her arm aside and seized her by the face, gripping her cheeks painfully.
"Do not make me hurt you, child." he glared down at her, his voice a low growl. "I shall take no pleasure in it, but I will have my answers." his thumb stroked her cheek, biting just below her sealed eye. "For what purpose were you made?"
She looked down her chin into her chest, ashamed. "To burn."
"And will you?" When she didn't respond quickly enough, he gave her a fierce shake. "ANSWER ME!"
His words sparked an ember of defiance in her. "I will not."
"Hmhmmhmm." For some reason, that seemed to darkly amuse him, his grip on her slackened and head bowed as a low, rueful chuckle leaped from his lips. "Here at last, you speak true. How easily you cast aside the reason for your birth, forsaking that which was granted you. I almost envy your courage. But much has been kept from you as well." he leaned in closer, pressing his helm to her forehead. "Just as Mother Marika sealed mine strength, so too, did she seal something of yours.
Melina struggled against him.
"You are not even aware of it, are you?" he clicked his tongue. "Here, let me show you."
"Show me?"
"Your true self, of course."
Dread coiled within her like the serpent that loomed before them. Her eye! He wouldn't...! Oh blast it all, the man was insane. Of course he would.
She seized his wrist. "Please, don't."
Messmer ignored her, fingers digging into her sealed eye. "It will only hurt for a moment, I assure you."
Pain flared through her face as his hand bit into the brand over her eyelid, surging with flame.
Frantic, she stabbed at him, only for his serpent to ensnare her wrist.
"So fearful of your true self," he crooned. "Worry not, dear sister."
Messmer's fingers dug in and she felt something stir deep within.
Her sealed eye snapped open, burning a beautiful baleful blue.
(.0.0.0.)
Freyja heard the hoofbeats long before she saw the horse.
It began as a distant clamor; a steady thump-thump-thump that hearkened to her heart like the drums of a great hunt, out for blood. It reminded of old times. Happier times. Simpler times.
Fighting on the fields of Caelid beside General Radahn, sword and shield in hand.
Cutting down Cleanrot Knights left right and center, her blood singing.
Watching in horror as the flower of Rot bloomed before her.
Someone whistled andrReality snapped back.
Raising a spyglass to her helm, she squinted at the rapidly approaching rider. A warrior on horseback clad in...wait. Was that her lord's armor? Smaller perhaps, and resized to fit this one no doubt, while also lacking his horned helm, but she knew it well, just as she did the weaponry on his back. Her lord's swords.
How dare he.
Indignant, she stowed the spyglass, drew herself up from the site of grace, and braved her blade in both hands. "Halt!"
Much to her surprise, the warrior complied; he could've ridden right past her, and she would've been unable to ride him down; instead he hopped down from his mount, which dissolved into a strange blue mist as he alighted in a pointed crouch before her.
Curious. Was that spectral steed he rode? No no, put it out of your mind. There were other concerns at hand.
Lord Radahn deserved an honorable death, not to have someone wearing his arms and armor and parading them about as though they were his own. It galled her as nothing had ever galled her before. True, she was slow to anger, but when her wrath was roused, it was great indeed. She found herself hating this blond despite not even knowing his name.
"You who have dishonored my lord, name yourself at once!" she brandished her blade at the brave blond brute. "So that I might spit upon your corpse!
Much to her surprise, the newcomer laughed ruefully, his blue eyes crinkling, whiskered cheeks dimpling in awkward mirth. "About that..."
A shimmer of blue line shone over his shoulder and she saw...
"My lord Radahn!?"
He was shorter, nearly of a height with them, but that gregarious laugh...
"Hail, my lady Freyja!" The jolly ghost of general waved at her. "Lively as ever, I see!"
She blinked, squinted beneath her helm, then blinked again. "My... lord? Is that really you?"
"In the flesh. Or, erm, spirit, I suppose." He amended with a rueful chuckle. "Its all one in the same, really."
The blond man coughed into his fist. "Its really not...
Freyja shot him a smoldering glower and looked back to her lord. "You died at the festival! Jerren told me!"
He winced. "I got better?"
"How are you even-
"That's not important," he cut in. "I have need of you, Freyja.
Just like that, her face warmed beneath her helmet once more. "You what now...?"
"We have need of you." Her lord elaborated. "We've never needed anyone more in our entire life."
Her thoughts fizzled out spectacularly. "I b-b-beg your pardon?!"
Her lord Radahn held out a hand to her. "Will you do me the honor of being our-
Wife?! Her mind leaped to the logical conclusion. Was this...a proposal? Which meant...m-m-m-marriage?!
No! It was too soon! Much too soon! Her body wasn't ready for any of this! Her heart definitely wasn't!
It finally proved too much for her frazzled mind; Freyja's back struck the ground in a dead faint.
Radahn tilted his spectral head. "Was it something I said...? I was going to say guide."
Naruto clapped a palm to his own. "Damnit, Radahn...
A/N: The many myriad misunderstandings are glorious~! We'll cut it here for today~!
Well? Did you like this story? Yes? No? Maybe? Would you like weekly updates? By all means, speak up! Make yourselves heard! Your voice matters~!
Silence hurts worse than any flame. Looking forward to reading your feedback when I get home from work~ If this chapter gets a ton of feedback-hopefully!-then I'll do my best to ensure another early update again. If not...I don't know. I really don't.
Once more, we're sticking with the "Embers" rule for this story.
If folks don't like this, it won't be continued. Meaning that if the story itself isn't popular? It will remain, but it won't be continued! I'm working two jobs to keep the lights on, as such 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.
So in the Immortal Words of Atlas....Review, Wouldst Thou Kindly?
And have some previews. Some are quite a ways off, but still...
Mind you, most of these previews are the same.
Wouldn't do to spoil what's coming up.
Vote for what you want to see!
And as ever:
WARNING! WARNING! WARNING!
SPOILERS LAY AHEAD!
YE BE WARNED!
(Previews, in no particular order. You all know the first one~!)
"CURSE YOU BAAAAAYYYYLE!
"Yeah, what he said! You tell 'em, Igon!"
Florisaax tilted her head. "What am I watching, exactly?"
"Fancy swords!" Naruto brandished Radhan's blades. "Mine are bigger."
Rellana gulped.
"That said, I love those weapons of yours! Can I have them if I win?"
Rellan's gulp became a strangled squeak. "We barely know one another!"
"Yeah, so...?"
Radahn absolutely cackled in the background. Did his friend have any idea what he was implying?
Nay, not at all. He happily let Naruto dig that hole; he would've handed him a shovel to help, if he could.
Greyoll regarded the gaping crater with a petulant frown.
Lansseax tilted her head. "Think they fell in?"
A shrug. "One way to find out! Banzai!"
She tucked her wings in and dove.
Radahn's smile far too smug for his enjoyment. "She likes you, methinks."
"Shaddap!"
Sir Ainsbach heaved a sigh. "She's a feisty lass, that one...
Reminded him of the old days.
Gaius crashed backward off his boar.
Latenna lowered her fist. "Thou wert saying?"
"I will not abide a lord devoid of light."
I hereby swear! To every living being, and every living soul! Now comes the age of our Eden! A thousand year voyage guided by compassion! Beginning here, love encompasses all! No living thing will be denied, no deed censured in the name of Order! I am ready! To embrace the whole of it! Let us go together!
"Whoa, now!" He waved up at the fire giant. "Friendly! Friend! No stomping, please!"
The behemoth squinted down at him in utter confusion. Progress.
Naruto beamed up at it. "Wanna be friends?"
It stabbed a hand into its stomach.
"Whoa, hey?! What're you doing?!"
Flame flared forth and took on a strange shape...almost humanoid in nature...
They had him by the throat. So why...why was he smiling?
Naruto grinned, heedless of the blood on his face, the fingers biting down into his windpipe, even the crater he was being crushed into. "Not bad! Lets kick it up a notch or two!"
An open palm smashed into their ribs and they went flying.
The Roundtable Hold lay in tatters. He flung open the doors. A man's dead body lay on the floor, broken and twisted with black briars.
Of Fia, he saw nothing; she was gone, and his unborn children with her.
All that remained was a note nailed to the wall.
...what is that thing?"
Hewg offered him the Weapon.
"Its what she asked for. The power to kill a god."
"I'm so sorry!"
"GIVE HER BACK!"
He grabbed the needle.
"Please don't go...please...I can't do this without you...
"I AM HOARAH LOUX!"
"I AM NARUTO UZUMAKI!"
Two titans collided with a snarl. And the Erdtree trembled.
Naruto's head snapped back against a rousing right hook barreled into his face, leaving him spitting blood.
Godfrey did the same, eyes squinted shut as he reeled in pain.
They reared back and struck as one with a mighty roar.
Their fists collided in a shockwave!
EDIT: Hey, you made it! Hope you enjoyed this!
Once more, we're sticking with the "Embers" rule for this story, and others. If folks don't like this, it won't be continued. Meaning that if the story itself isn't popular? Well, it won't be continued. 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.
Silence...silence only hurts.
Looking forward to chatting with you all when I get back from work~!
May you have a good day filled with luck and peace,
~Nz.
R&R~!