A/N: Head still isn't screw on straight after the funeral, sorry.

Everything is still raw...but...I'm still here. Writing helps keep the pain away.

I need to stop drinking; Wednesday was so bad that I blacked out for an entire day and woke up on the couch with a killer headache. I vaguely remember friends coming over and offering me a drink...but beyond that, nothing. I'm usually better than that.

Updates for Take the Girl, No Devils Here, Don't Judge a Book by its Cover, Apples and Atoms, and Just a Shinobi are coming along..

So here's some MORE of that Weaponsmith idea with Naruto and Tenten from awhile back.

I'm afraid to post it with the site notifications down, afraid no one will see this.

Hope you enjoy this. It's off to work for me once more...yay... -_-

"Power isn't everything. You need speed. Smarts...

...and perhaps most importantly of all...

...skill."

~?

Forging a Maiden

"I would like a weapon~!"

"I'm sure you would."

...can I have one?"

"Can you?"

Ugh.

Amber squirmed where she stood and fought down her temper as she stared into the forge. So they were playing this game then, were they? Fine. She didn't know why she was surprised; everyone in Vale knew that their resident Weaponmaster was something of an...eccentric, to say nothing of his wife and daughter. Legend had it they were wizards, terrifying mystics that could decide what weapon was right for you just by laying a hand on your head and speaking a few words.

Perhaps they were. Perhaps they weren't. Perhaps this was a mistake, and she never should've come here.

And yet to walk away now meant death.

She didn't want to die.

Calm down. She could do this. Calm yourself. She was the Fall Maiden. Caaalm. Breathe. Innn...out..

Only a few weeks ago she would've made demands of this "Naruto", insisted that he give her a weapon because she was owed one; that it was her birthright.

Life had humbled her since.

She touched a finger to her forehead, tracing the painful scar there, following the crescent curve until it hooked down just below her left eye. It served as a reminder of just how close she'd come to death that day. Those three had nearly killed her, nearly sucked the Maiden Power right out of her. They would have too, if she hadn't fled like a coward. She'd been forced to leave her broken weapon -her poor wooden staff!- behind with them, and knew it was all but lost to her.

And so here she was, asking for another.

Her cowardice burned a pit in her stomach, searing hot like lava.

She would not be caught unawares again; so she swore, but she wanted -needed!- a weapon when they came for her again.

Naruto sat up, drew out a pair of tongs, and selected a metal ingot from the shelf. The metal was black as night; it drank in the very light itself. Ebony, she realized. he watched him set it upon the anvil, but he did not set his hammer to it. Not yet. What was he waiting for-

Blue eyes dominated her vision as he thrust his face at hers, all but pressing his forehead to her own. "What is your purpose here?"

Amber fought down a squeak, rooted where she stood. "My purpose...?"

"Did I stutter?"

"You come into my home and ask for a weapon." his eyes flicked her up and down, considering her like so much scrap metal. "We do not make weapons. We make partners." a finger flicked her forehead before she could thin to interrupt. The gift you receive here today will last you for the rest of your life, if you treat it well...or not at all, should you try to mistreat them."

She perked up a little at that, having heard the rumors. "Do your weapons really talk?"

"That, and so much more." A hand settled on her head. "Be still, now. I mean it."

Whatever he found there must've satisfied him; because he stepped away.

"Your hand."

She offered it warily only to yelp when he slashed her finger and drew blood, blood he collected into a small vial. He held her wrist fast, preventing her from moving away until he was satisfied; until said vial was full. Only then did he release her.

"What was that for?!"

"Questions, questions, questions." He squinted her way, whiskered cheeks dimpling in a scowl. "How else am I to make a weapon? And with blood of a Maiden." turning away, he began humming to himself as he selected an assortment of tools. "Never made a weapon for a Maiden before. This might actually be a challenge...

He knew?! How did you-

"I know much." he shrugged a shoulder, and for a moment, she glimpsed the boy he'd once been beneath the facade. "When you've been around as long as I have, you learn a thing or two." A scarred hand waved her way to indicate a corner of the room. "You can go stand over there. Tenten is out at the market, so this might take a little longer than usual...

Her brow furrowed. "But I haven't told you what kind of weapon I wanted-

CLONK!

He bopped her over the head with a pair of metal tongs, drawing a yelp from her.

"I know what weapon you need." he admonished her gently, like a long lost parent. "Who's the master smith here?"

Amber tucked her chin into her chest. "You are...

"And don't you forget it, missy! Just you wait. I'll make you the best damn staff in the world." he looked to the back of the room and clicked his tongue. "Oi, Mizu! Be a good girl and take this one's measurements while I prepare the forge for us." Paying her no heed, he took the vial of blood and poured it out over the ebony ingot he'd selected earlier, then began rolling up his sleeves to reveal arms wreathed in strange black flowing script. "You know what to do...

Taking the ingot in hand, he shoved an arm into the scorching hot furnace, burying it up to the elbow...and wasn't burned, even when he began to shape the metal...between his hands?!

'Is that his semblance? He's immune to fire then? No, its must be more than that...gah! I can't figure it out!'

Amber watched him, but only for a moment, as she soon found herself distracted.

...this way, please."

A curtain was drawn aside an' a tall, slender woman wearing an azure outfit emerged at a sedate pace, her dark hair tied back in a loose bun. She wore a sword belted to her hip, a faint sardonic smirk and as Amber dared to look higher she saw...the loveliest blue eyes. Oh. So this was his daughter then. A warrior she was, but also pretty. Very pretty. No, not just pretty, but beautiful. Oh, wow...

Amber felt her face warm at the sight of such a brash, bold beauty.

Funny, really. She'd never believed in love at first sight before.

But now? 'I'm in love~!'

In short order she was led back behind the curtain herself for privacy, not that she noticed; she was too busy staring at this brunette beauty.

"Stand up straight." the newcomer-Mizu?-withdrew a tape measure and smacked her flank with it when she didn't react quickly enough. "No slouching." two fingers took ahold of her chin with intent, forcing her to meet her gaze. "We're only going to get one shot at this, so you must do as I say." her digits dug in a little, pinching. "Are we clear?"

Amber forced herself to stand ramrod straight as a fresh wave of seared through her already dark visage. "Crystal~!"

"Good girl." Mizu nodded once, released her, stepped back, and snapped her fingers. "Now, strip."

Swooning? Who was swooning?! Not her? No sirree! N-N-Nope! Not at all!

Maybe...maybe coming here hadn't been such a bad idea after all.

'Be still my heart~!'

A/N: *whistles* Hope you enjoyed.

Amber be swooning; as well she should~!

Mind you, this is an Amber that barely escaped from Cinder with her life. Makes sense she'd be humbled.

Would you like an update next week? Do let me know! We'll be picking up the pace soon, but with the notifications down, I really need to hear from you here.

RWBY may have been canned by Warner Bros. but we fanfiction writers are out here trying to keep the light alive, as it were. 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.

So by all means, speak up! Raise your voice! Make yourself heard! Your reviews matter!

That's no joke! I can't write without feedback. Guess that makes me weak...T_T

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...Review Would You Kindly?

No previews. I just can't...

So in the Immortal Words of Atlas...

...Review Would You Kindly?