A/N: Okay, here goes! App works for the moment, updating this while i can despite the site being a hot mess. Hopefully people can see this.
Looking forward to your feedback!
Im still alive, somehow. Hope everyone is safe after that hurricane; it was all over the place.
In other news, I may need a vacation soon, that, or I may simply change the update day for Foxfire to an easier day from now on, and shift the other dates around accordingly. I now have less time to write on Sundays and as a direct result, less time to write good chapters for this. It always feels like the quality suffers for it.
Still, here I am. Looking forward to your feedback!
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 quotes, references, themes or memes. Not a wit or one. They're tributes, one and all.
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 should become a story. Simple as that.
In other words...everything is up to YOU, the reader. Do let me know~!
Teaser is clearly for Answer the Call. As many guessed...
...here she comes. Seriously! SPOILERS!
"In shadows we serve, in light we rise...
~?
Hearts of Shadow
She was bleeding to death.
In a minute, she would be dead.
He should let her die; it would be easier.
...but he'd never been one to take the easy route, had he?
With a long-suffering sigh, he knelt and began the arduous task of saving her.
(.0.0.0.)
Shadowheart did not understand Naruto.
A small part of her wished to, but he was such a strange fellow, and she wasn't wholly sure if that was a good thing.
He was of Selune and she was of Shar. They should've been at odds from the moment they met; the very second their eyes locked.
Indeed, she had initially tried to keep him there, to hold him at arms length in spite of his kindness. Yet despite his innate disapproval of Shar, he showed no such disappointment in her. He knew she might well try to kill him, that she likely would, as the Dark Lady had demanded it, yet even so he showed his back to her as they prepared to sleep in the temple.
They had ventured deep already, the shadows peeling back at his presence as they delved deeper into Lady Shar's temple, yet he seemed strangely reluctant to proceed- as was she- thus they made camp. Their alliance, tennuous as it was, would only last so long as they had common cause, one which would soon be shattered when they made it to the depths of the temple.
For reasons unknown, he claimed to be on her side, but at the same time, he wanted absolutely nothing to do with Lady Shar.
He had saved her life -three times now!- yet he was her enemy, Chosen of the wretched Selune.
By rights, she ought to hate him.
Yes, she should hate him.
She couldn't.
Why? Was she truly such a failure in the eyes of the Dark Lady that she couldn't even accomplish this simple task? Did that make her weak? She wanted to say yes, wanted to drive a dagger into his back...but something stayed her hand.
Perhaps it was her injury.
Perhaps it was her own innate weakness.
Perhaps she was still terrified of the prospect of her death.
That might be it; the idea of dying still rattled her, just as she feared that bloody murderous THING she and Karlach had fled from back at the Grove. Or perhaps this was all a sick twisted dream and the Dark Urge had already caught up with her to finish the job. Perhaps she lay dying, bleeding out, and she had already faltered and failed Lady Shar...
.
..
...but if this was a dream, she had yet to wake.
It was a bit silly, wasn't it? Here she was laying down to sleep, afraid she was caught in a dream.
No matter. Soon or later the curtain would be drawn back and she would know for certain whether this was dream or reality. Until then she would persist.
Naruto rose from his place at the firepit and walked past her, weapon in hand. "Your wound's still healing. I'll take tonight's watch."
He was close enough to see, enough to touch, enough to stab, if she were quick enough.
His guard was down. His back exposed. His flank vulnerable.
Kill.
She should.
Kill him now.
She really should.
Kill him this instant before he taints you further.
...no. The timing wasn't right. She wasn't fully healed; couldn't bring her full strength to bear. Yes, that was the reason.
Excuses!
Her wound howled at her, pain biting deep.
Grimacing a little, she meekly tucked her chin into her bandaged chest and nodded once. "As you wish." And then, because she had to get the last word in, "Do take care not to get gobbled up during the night. It would be a shame if something killed you before I could."
He laughed a little at that, bemused by her snappy comeback. "Only you can claim my head, hmmm?"
She huffed, rising to the verbal jab without thinking. "Nothing less would satisfy me."
He strode past, armor clinking, shoulder brushing hers."I'll hold you to that."
No more words were exchanged between, nor were any needed. Shadowheart laid down upon her bedroll and, careful of her wounds, drew her blanket over herself. Sleep began to overtake her, and the last she saw of him was his back to her, glowing eyes staring into the dark. Though she could sense their adversaries in the dark, none drew near for fear of his light. The thought brought her some small semblance of cold comfort. They might come to blows later, but for now, he wouldn't try to kill her in the night, even after she'd nearly done the same to him.
Their truce endured.
For now, she would follow him down into the dark...
...unaware that it was he who wished to lead her into the Light.
A/N: Aaaaaand scene. The next chapter for Answer the Call is going to be INSANE.
Well? Should this become a story? Yay or nay, what say you? Not much else to say this time 'round. Reviews keep me writing, and without them, my inspiration falls flat. Ever bit of feedback helps. Pain hurts. Pain hurts a loooot. But silence from readers and reviewers? That hurts even more. As ever, reviews keep this old man alive during these dark and crazy times.
Seriously, we're all locked away anyways these days, feedback is all that sustains me.
So in the Immortal Words of Atlas... Review...Would You Kindly?
No previews this time; I haven't the heart for them...T_T