Claymore Fan Fiction / Naruto Fan Fiction ❯ A Red Dawn ❯ Priscilla's Memory ( Chapter 9 )

[ T - Teen: Not suitable for readers under 13 ]

It was so dark and around her. She wanted nothing more then him to be besides her to warm her. But instead, she had chased that person away and now she had nothing.

She would admit to herself that he had been very inconsiderate those final few days, but she was finally beginning to understand why. His home meant so much to him that he could give up anything and everything to go back. He had nothing here while everything he loved was there.

She also had to be honest that she never really tried too hard to find him a way back to his home, wanting him to stay with her. She was keeping him prisoner, willing albeit, but still a prisoner nonetheless.

That was why he had fled both times, despite all the accommodations she gave him. She was keeping him trapped within her space while feeding him an occasional false hope that she would find a way for him to return home. And what was worse was that he knew she was lying.

Putting herself into his shoes, she felt nauseous and ready to vomit. To restrict one's freedom when that was what was most precious to them made her stomach knot. And that was what she had done to him these last few years. And after learning what she had from his stories, she began to realize how much of a foul temptress she had been.

Even despite all of that, he was nothing but kind to her. Sure, he had a few rough edges and was self centered occasionally, like she was, but those were things she could accept. No one was perfect. Further more, she remembered the stories he told her of his land, especially the later ones as they led up to how he arrived.

He had given up everything in order to liberate his friends from a cruel tyrant. He had became the leader of the formerly radical group and just as he was about to bring forth a new dawn, he found himself suddenly whisked away to this world. Despite that, he continued trying to find a way back while also ridding this world of its own problems. He truly was a diamond in the rough... And not just for the power he contained.

As tears fell from her eyes, she slowly picked herself off the floor before walking to a closet and pulling on a new dress and a thick coat over it. Without hesitation, she exited the house before her gaze turned to the north.

"He had given everything up to protect those he cared for... And I've kept him from going back and fulfilling his dream. So I'll will do the same and give everything up to protect what I care for the most. ...I am no longer Luciela of the South... I am just Luciela."

"Naruto, Rafaela... I'm coming for you."

With a wisp of her cloak, Luciela headed north, ready to confront the harsh cold and the master of the north to regain the first of her lost treasures.

Priscilla watched excitedly as Naruto and Isley battled, cheering for both when one caught the other off guard. While neither was giving it their all, that was how a spar worked.

Isley couldn't believe what he was seeing. He always considered himself a tactical genius and that wasn't far from the truth as he was the former number one warrior during the age of man and he had to compete against other warriors such as Rigaldo and Dauf.

However, this Naruto... was something out of the ordinary.

To be honest with himself, if the young man happened to be a Claymore there would be no doubt he would have been number one. He was matching him move for move physically, he was able to keep himself four or five steps ahead of himself and when Isley threw in a new wrinkle, it didn't take long for the blonde to recover.

He even had awakened his arm to keep up. While this was a spar, he could just feel Naruto was holding back himself as he did not have the same look as he had a week before. Rigaldo was still being treated for his wounds as Naruto complete dominated him after transforming.

Smirking as he fired an arrow he created from his own flesh, Isley watched as Naruto barely even moved, just taking a step to the side, to avoid the blow. If this was how powerful the young man was without his yoki, just how powerful could he be when he used it?

Taking a step back to avoid the projectile thrown at him from the side, he continued smirking as a small trail of blood flowed from his cheek. If he could convince the boy to stay here with him, at least till his job was done, there would be nothing that could stand in his way.

"Behind you!" Priscilla yelled out as she watched from the side, enjoying the fight very much.

It happened to be her idea in the first place as Naruto had left Rigaldo in such sorry shape that she wondered if he was a match for her husband. Or at least that is what she considered him. It was much better then calling him her general as he took care of her day in and day out and made sure her needs were met.

But there was something odd about the blonde as she watched him fight. It was as if his movements were familiar to her. And she knew she had seen his clothes before, but she didn't know from where. His weapons also made her wonder as they seemed to be extremely unique and she swore she had fought against someone that used them before.

Shrugging her shoulders as it didn't matter now, Priscilla continued watching while smiling as Isley turned around to see what she warned him about.

The Abyssal could only look in shock as the blonde stood behind him as the air around him condensed. He absently noted the sounds of the other blondes dispersing as the air suddenly took the shape of a furious, long bodied dragon and roared before it streaked towards him.

Just as it approached him, Isley jumped into the air, avoiding the dragon all together as it tore the ground beneath him apart, shredding the rocks and turning them into shrapnel as they cut into Isley flesh.

As they died down, he looked for a safe place to land only for his eyes to widen even further as a burst of flames bathed the ground below him. Turning to Naruto, he noticed that his hands were in an odd seal before the wind around him began to pick up and swirl violently. "Wind Release: Shredding Maelstrom."

The flames from the ground were suddenly picked up by the winds that surrounded him. In almost seconds, the flames were whisking around him, burning and cutting into his skin. The vortex of flames roared, deafening him as he tried to find a way down only to realize the further down he went the hotter it became.

Knowing what he had to do; Isley coated his body with his yoki shielding him from the harsh flames. As he neared the base of the flaming vortex, he pulsed his yoki, almost beginning to awaken his body.

Flames bathed the entire area, forcing Naruto to shield himself as Priscilla jumped up in surprise. All the snow in the area melted showing the sparse plant life that lived underneath it while the trees were burnt to a crisp.

Isley panted as his arm reverted back to normal. He had rather liked the clothes he was wearing, but compared to what he had just witnessed, it was well worth the loss. This Naruto... He truly was unbelievable. He had forced him to almost awaken and if this were a true fight, he would have.

Looking into the blonde' direction, a large sweat drop fell from his head as Naruto moped as he held up his tattered cloak. "Not again... How many of my cloaks are going to get destroyed here? ...I don't have that many left."

Even Priscilla sweat dropped at his statement, not sure whether the blonde really loved that cloak that much or if it had something important in it. He seemed to pull practically any and everything from the cloak, so there was some logic to not wanting to have his cloak be destroyed.

Sighing as he replaced it once more with yet another cloak, Naruto grumbled a little. "Okay, if this one gets destroyed I'm going to be pissed. These things aren't easily made and cost a small fortune to make... Which sucks as there is no one on this rock that can make them like Konan!"

"Who's Konan?" Priscilla asked which Naruto had deemed rare as she hadn't spoken but a few words before then. However what caught his attention was that there seemed to be an underlined reason for her question. Was it possible that she was jealous of Konan?

It seemed Isley had caught this in her voice as he spoke with a slight chuckle in his voice. "Now, now Priscilla. There is no need to go and get jealous, after all he is human and we... Are not. Besides, it sounds like she was simply a seamstress that made durable clothing."

"Yeah, it takes a lot of damage... But since the power I use daily is more then enough to tear it to shreds, I just have a habit of destroying them and that irks Konan to no end." Naruto added on as he fiddled with his cloak, adjusting it to his needs.

Priscilla frowned as she saw him do this. She didn't know why, but just tinkering with his black cloak seemed to set off alarms in her head. It was quite odd as there was no reason for her to fear him, at least at the moment. As long as his yoki was safely contained, there shouldn't be a reason to fear him.

Shaking her head, Priscilla frowned once more before she scrunched her face in an attempt to remember. However what she remembered was what she was doing before she had proposed the spar.

She suddenly took of screaming at the top of her lungs towards the cabin, her arms thrashing about in a panic. "AH! I LEFT THE FOOD COOKING IN THE OVEN! NO IT'S GOING TO BE BURNED!"

Both Isley and Naruto simply stared at the powder of snow left in Priscilla's wake for a moment. Then a moment later they busted out laughing at the plight of the young Awakened. There wasn't much to laugh up in the north due to the bitter coldness, but that was comical no matter the location.

Wiping a tear from his eye, Naruto shook his head as he got his laughter under control. "Well, we better head back. I have some food... That needs to be prepared again."

Isley nodded as he contained his laughter as well; however his lip was twitching every now and again. A moment later, however, his eyes narrowed and looked towards the soft before he recovered and shook his head. "Sorry, but I have to feed as well. I will be back in a few."

Grimacing as Isley left, the powder snow trail being the only indication of which direction he had went, Naruto sighed. At least with Luciela he had curbed her feeding, but with these two it seemed they ate every few weeks.

Looking towards the south with a forlorn expression, Naruto sighed again as he pulled his hands within the cloak. "Luciela... You're here, aren't you? ...Just give me a little time. I think Isley may now someway off this rock."

With that, he turned away from the direction he was faced and walked to the cabin as he didn't want to make Priscilla wait much longer.

Not too far away, only a few miles, in a sparse forest with snow covering the trees, a familiar brunette laid against a tree with her eyes shut, her face tightened in concentration. However, a small smirk graced her lips as her eyes slowly opened. "I see... Ever the deceptive one you are, Naruto."

Waiting for a few moments, she stood from her tree and began to head off. Suddenly, where she was standing moments before, the snow burst into a fine powder as the tree groaned before crashing to the ground. "Ah, Isley. What a pleasant surprise to see you came to meet me? I thought you might send that woman."

Isley did not like this situation in the least. Thankfully he had some clothing on to look moderately decent, but that was the least of his concerns. "Why have you encroached on my lands, Luciela of the South?"

"Oh, you haven't heard?" Luciela chimed as she didn't even bother to look him in the eyes. "I'm no longer 'of the South'. I am just Luciela. Therefore if you wish to claim the South, go right ahead, I won't stop you."

Growling as he wasn't sure what kind of game the Demon was trying to pull, Isley frowned as he began to prepare himself for battle. "Answer my question, Luciela. Why are you here?"

"Don't bother; you won't beat me in your condition." Looking back him, her eyes simply glowed as she could tell he was ready to release his yoki and transform despite her words. "But if you must know, I've come to collect one of my precious treasures. So safely assume I'm not here to take anything of yours."

Realization suddenly dawned onto Isley before his eyes narrowed, knowing why she had came to the north. "So you are here for him, are you? What makes you think I'd let you have him easily..."

"Because you know you can't keep him here. If he wants get away, there isn't a force on this continent that will stop him from getting away." Luciela quickly responded, nearly cutting him off as she knew what he was getting at.

Calming so Priscilla wouldn't sense his rising yoki; Isley looked Luciela in the eyes before dropping his guard a tad as he could tell Luciela would be leaving very soon, not wanting to escalate the situation. "So what makes you think he would come back to you after he left?"

Luciela only smirked before she turned and slowly began to walk away from Isley. Knowing it was angering him as she walked away; she simply raised her hand before answering his question. "It's simple. He is mine."

And just like that, the snow swirled around her and she suddenly dispersed as if she was never there to begin with.

Isley was stunned. He couldn't sense her presence anywhere within his lands. It was as if she had never been there to begin with yet he clearly had seen her.

His eyes narrowed at this, but he was more worried then angered. Checking the snow where she previously stood only to see she wasn't there, he knew she was playing some kind of game, but what was bothering him. He knew Naruto probably would not help his invasion of the south, but now he had to wonder if possessing the south would be such a chore with what she had told him.

Unsure whether or not she was telling the truth, Isley shook his head before looking in the direction of a nearby town. He still needed to feed to replenish his strength after his spar with Naruto.

Watching him disappear, Luciela simply chuckled where she sat. "My, while you cannot use it to their fullest potential, those illusions come in very handy. To be able to fool one as Isley with an illusion is nothing short of outstanding."

Jumping back down to the snow below, Luciela shook her head as she looked towards the black cloaked figure that was only feet from her. "I'll give you your time, Naruto. But if it isn't soon, I might have to break in there and get you. Now dissipate and return to your master."

"It shouldn't take but a few more days." Naruto responded before pausing for a moment. "...But before I return, I must ask, are you still seething over what happened?"

Luciela didn't answer right away which led the clone to believe she was. However, before he could dissipate, she closed her eyes and nodded. "I am, but that is natural. However, I will take some of the blame for what transpired..."

Pausing for a bit, making sure the clone hadn't returned its knowledge to Naruto, she flicked her hand through her hair before sighing as she looked up to the sky. "After all, the only one suited for finding a way off this rock is one that doesn't come from it, am I correct?"

Listening to her, the clone didn't display any outwardly emotion before it nodded. "That is all he really wanted to know... And for what it is worth, he is sorry."

"That I know, but I still want to hear it from him, not you. Now return; Isley will surely come back here after he feeds and replenishes his reserves." Luciela coldly responded before she truly flickered away as the snow swarmed around her.

Sighing and shaking his head, the clone rolled his eyes and said one thing before dispersing. "Man, boss, do you know how to fuck things up."

Cringing for no obvious reason, at least in Priscilla's mind, Naruto combed a hand through his hair before mentally groaning.

Luciela was extraordinarily pissed at him. He knew this as when a woman acted as if she wasn't too horribly angered and even accepted part of the blame the man was about to see her darkest side. This he knew thanks to Jiraiya after Tsunade began to no longer care about his peeping... Then he almost died at her hands again.

'My guts are going to get eaten when I go back to her... Well, there goes my plans for the weekend.' Naruto mused grimly as many images of him being disemboweled popped up. Meanwhile his face was absolutely blank as these thoughts bounced around in his dome.

Priscilla simply blinked at Naruto, knowing he was deep in thought but couldn't figure out what it was about. She had placed his food in front of him and he hadn't even noticed, which was surprising as he could eat very quickly if he was starved and it seemed battling did exactly that.

Now there could have been the chance he was trying to figure out what had just gone down not too far away, but she really didn't think so. She immediately knew it was another Abyssal that had arrived yet for some reason Isley had left her alone for a little while before she disappeared altogether.

While that had her slightly disturbed as her sensory range was better then any awakened she had personally met, it didn't take much for her to figure out what had happened. It had obviously been the demon of the south, probably trying to negotiate with them.

Personally, while she rather be rid of her, she knew there was a balance of power that kept the organization from acting against them. Well, now that she was there that balance was no longer really there and all the other sides were scrambling to raise their forces to keep from being overwhelmed.

But that still left the question to what the demon of the south had been doing. From what Isley reported she had done nothing to at least raise her chances from being overwhelmed by arms race between the Abyssals and the Organization. But then there was a reason why... She held a powerful ally in a human.

Frowning as her eyes suddenly turned to Naruto; Priscilla couldn't help but think it was him. After all he was extraordinarily strong and defeated Rigaldo and nearly forced Isley to transform in their spar. That kind of strength had to be respected and the fact that he was a wild card as little was known about his full capacity.

Yet that yoki felt so familiar! She knew she had sensed it before, but she didn't know how and where she would have ran into him.

Finally getting tired as she watched him start to eat the food she had cooked, Priscilla spoke as she had to know. "I know you... I know you... Tell me why I know you?!"

The only thought going through Naruto's head at that moment was 'Oh shit!' If she was beginning to remember him, there would be no doubt she would remember the fight in the village and then the fight when she had awakened and he had called upon the fox.

Now he could obviously deny her claim, but that wasn't an option any longer as her memory was returning. His next option was to say they had and then lie saying they had only met briefly. Finally telling her the entire truth just seemed to be the worst case scenario.

Biting his lip, he had no choice but to nod. "We have met before. I'm surprised you don't remember me as I thought I made an impression on you."

Narrowing her eyes at this, why would she have not remembered something like that? There was some things she did remember before she became like she was now. Most of her memory was a blank, especially her life as a Claymore, but she remembered a lot of key moments. She remembered Irene, Noel and Sophia... But didn't remember what they were doing together.

Needing to know more, Priscilla turned to Naruto only to find he was gone and the front door. Her eyes widened in shock, not understanding why he had ran before noticing the table had been smashed and two and her hand was where the table use to be.

Cringing a little as that was on accident; Priscilla wondered why he would have ran. She was only trying to remember, so why would he...

"IT WAS HIM!" Priscilla suddenly screamed as she grabbed her head as if she was in pain.

She remembered him now! He was the one that was helping the fugitive Claymore she and her group was sent after. He had nearly killed Noel, immobilized Irene with some sort of explosion and then... The yoki... She knew that yoki. She had fought against it before when she had awoken.

The fear she had felt fighting him as he had been destroying her in combat until she got in a lucky shot and nearly crushed his being. It was similar to another fear... The one she gave her. He kept her from killing her! That's where she knew him from!

Her yoki soared around, tearing away everything even remotely near her before Priscilla burst from the cabin, nearly completely destroying it. Using both her yoki detection and her sense of smell, she immediately located how far he had gotten away and sped towards him.

Naruto had decided when Priscilla destroyed the table, it was time to go. He had a good head start, knowing Priscilla hadn't entire figured everything out and was zoned out when she did. But that head start seemed to close within a matter of seconds.

"FUCKING HELL! SHE IS FAST!" Naruto yelled out despite no one being there to hear him. He guessed it was more impulsive then anything, but he suddenly hit the brakes and ducked as Priscilla sped by, crashing as she missed him entirely.

Knowing his options were limited, Naruto immediately threw off his cloak as he didn't want to be destroyed. Fighting was about the only way he was getting out of this as reasoning with an Awakened was something that just didn't seem to work too well, especially when they were pissed.

"I have a plan, mortal... So listen." Kyuubi's dark voice echoed within his mind and for one of the few times, Naruto was inclined to listen...

"You... You caused me so much fear... I will make you feel the fear you made me go through!" Priscilla screamed out and her visage began to change.

"THAT'S ENOUGH PRISCILLA!" Isley yelled out as he jumped between the two, looking at them before cursing as he knew what had happened.

Priscilla had finally had regained some of her memories of when she awoke. He knew Naruto had been there and was more then likely a cause of her transformation. Sure, he probably wasn't the main reason but he might have induced her into awakening and now she remembered him.

This didn't fit well with his plans as he really wanted to keep him from the south as he had planned to take it over. Then he remembered what Luciela said and was beginning to wonder if she had set this up. He wouldn't put it past her, but this didn't seem premeditated.

Looking over at Priscilla, Isley turned fully to her and shook his head. "Priscilla, come back. This battle will result in only bringing Luciela and Riful here together... And things will end badly if they show."

Seeing Priscilla wasn't going to, Isley knew there wasn't much he could do now as she seemed hell bent on her target when red yoki suddenly melted the chakra and formed around Naruto. "Back down, Priscilla. You don't want a repeat of last time, do you?"

Her eyes suddenly widened as more memories came to her. She remembered their fight... He had dominated it in every way. But there was something worse... He had not released more then of half of the yoki that seemed to be within him. And if he released any more then what they had met...

"What are you?!" Priscilla screamed out, this time more in fear as she began to sense the depths of the yoki within, her body almost freezing as she heard a loud roar before a fox head appeared before her eyes.

Naruto had to admit the fox's plan had worked. Only using a small portion of his power, he had managed to draw in Priscilla's attention to the depth of the fox's power. He hated to use the fox as an intimidation factor, but at this moment it was the only working plan he had.

Letting the fox's power deplete around him, Naruto glanced at Priscilla before closing his eyes. "I am the power of human sacrifice. I am the vessel to the most powerful demon to ever exist. ...That is what I am. Now don't make me call forth the full extent of its strength."

Isley frowned immediately. He knew of a legend that concerned a demon that supposedly was more powerful then any other, but he had thought it was just a story to scare people. Could it be possible that he was telling the truth? The amount of yoki he possessed within his body was great enough to make his statement plausible...

But now he had a decision. Would he do what he could to keep Naruto here and lose Priscilla, keep Priscilla and let him go back to Luciela or...? "Naruto... This isn't very well known, but there is a ship that can be found on the eastern side of the continent... On the Organization's territory."

Looking at Isley with a raised eyebrow, Naruto let Isley continue as he had more to say. "That ship is gone months at a time, but every time it comes back there is more material and a new batch of workers. ...The Organization knows of lands outside of this one. They might be what you need to get off this island."

Digesting what he had been told, Naruto really wanted to say Isley was lying but he knew he wasn't. While he did not want to have to fight him, he would not stoop to such an act to get rid of a potential threat. As he would say, that was something Riful would do.

"Well then... I guess I will half to wait until the right time to try and take that boat." Naruto commented before the snow around him began to swarm around him. "But for now, I have a deal that I must uphold."

Soon as the snow stopped swirling, Naruto had disappeared leaving Isley with Priscilla. The man of the north, however, wasn't too worried now. Naruto would be more focused on leaving this rock and if he was lucky, he would take Luciela with him.

Of that much, he hoped as fighting him was something that Isley did not want to chance.

Sitting on her own gave Luciela plenty of time to think. But the more she thought, the more she didn't understand. And the more she didn't understand, the more frustrated she got. And now she was very goddamn frustrated and was ready to storm down and retrieve Naruto.

Just as she thought of him, the snow swirled violently for a moment before Naruto landed before her on one knee. Surprised at this, Luciela was about to take advantage of this situation when Naruto began to totter left and right as if he was dizzy... "Oh come on... What the hell happened now?"

He said nothing which made her worry at first before he suddenly hit the snow, his entire being slowly flickering in and out of existence. It, however, only lasted for a moment. "What the... What just happened here?"

Luciela had seen Naruto techniques go wrong before, but nothing like this had happened. But what was more disturbing was it didn't seem that he was the cause of whatever happened this time around. She felt another yoki presence, even if it was brief. It wasn't around them, that she was sure of. It came from within him.

Another yoki signature had appeared and it had seemingly pulled on his essence... No, the fox's essence. Something was calling for the fox?

Frowning as she was beginning to wonder if this was what had called him to this world, Luciela sighed and lifted Naruto on her shoulder. As of now, she would have to wait for his apology. "Well, at least I've learned something... Weird shit happens around you. Now let's go home..."

"I don't think so... Drop him as he is coming with me." A familiar voice said before a lone warrior appeared before Luciela with the faintest smile she had ever seen, her sword drawn.

Luciela's face dropped as she saw who it was. This was not going to be good.
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