Blight

Chapter V

Outside the capital of Vale's Kingdom, Naruto once more found himself at what was quickly becoming the training ground of Yugito, Ruby and himself. He had found out from Ozpin later that it was a forest known as Forever Fall some time ago. Yugito and Ruby weren't currently with him as one was asleep and the other had classes today in Signal. Speaking of which, apparently since she had started training with the two Wights her skills had gone up and she started to garner the attention of her teachers. She was quickly rising within the ranks of Signal as some sort of late-blooming prodigy. In reality, she was just adapting to their skill level and it showed in her abilities.

Naruto himself was currently trying to get the hang of a particular spell. His clothing was coated in Gravity Dust and he was trying to utilize it to force a rock towards him. Gravity Dust itself functioned on the properties of pulling things together and pushing them away. Thus far, he found it was relatively easy for him to push things away from himself but not pull them towards his body. Still, it wasn't like he would give up just because things were difficult. If he was that kind of person, the Wights would never survive. He needed to be strong enough for his siblings. They were counting on him after all.

The blonde lowered his hand as he felt a familiar signature pop into existence nearby. "Good afternoon, Headmaster." Naruto greeted with a smile as he turned around to regard the man. Ozpin returned the greeting with a nod and looked around. There were stones lodged into trees, holes in the ground and even one or two trees that had been uprooted and currently lay on the floor.

"I see that you've been making progress in your arcane studies. Gravity Dust is a difficult one to master, but if you continue I do not doubt you should be able to get the hang of it. Unfortunately, I am not here to give you pointers on magic. I have some things to discuss with you in private. Thankfully, I see that you are already alone. Do you mind indulging me?" The Ninth Wight shrugged and motioned for him to start. "I believe that my Huntsmen have started to encounter the Draugr you spoke of."

"Oooh. I was wondering when Orochimaru would start sending out scouting parties to find us. If there are Draugr out, then there's also going to be Spectres and maybe a Wraith with them to keep the Draugr in line. It looks like he's finally making his move. I wonder why he took this long though?" The blonde shook his head. "Anyways, I assume you want some information?"

"I would very much appreciate it, yes." Ozpin replied as Naruto sat atop the trunk of one of the toppled trees. "While my Huntsmen were able to kill these Draugr, they did something… strange upon death."

"Oh, that's their Lethe. Their Nether wants to disperse like a Grimm, but their Aura wants to keep everything together. Since the Nether will ultimately win, but is restrained by the Aura, it causes the entire corpse to explode violently and injure anything near it. It's one of the more interesting parts of the Draugr. With that said, did they encounter any Draugr with bone armor?" Ozpin shook his head.

"So, the Doctor is holding back. They've only encountered the weakest of the Draugr then. All Draugr are divided into five categories: Baurn, Mund, Vardi, Brandr and Riki. Weakest of the Draugr are the Baurn, or the Infant. They're the ones your men would have fought. All black humanoid shapes with burning red eyes and a weak Aura surrounding them. These are made from civilians who have little to no experience using their Aura. They also lack a Semblance. These are the most common.

"Next in line are the Mund, or Hand. These Draugr have a little bone armor, mostly spikes jutting from their back or arms and a thin mask that covers their eyes, it looks like a domino mask actually. Orochimaru makes these from people who have an active Aura and use it to help them in physical labor like farmers, laborers and sailors. Very few of these ones have Semblances, but sometimes they do.

"The Vardi, or Militia, are halfway between quantity and quality. Bone armor covers their chest, back and arms, with spikes coming from their torso and elbows usually. Their mask is also larger than the Mund, usually extending to cover their forehead. On top of that, their Aura is more visible. All of these have a Semblance, albeit a weaker one, because they are formed from the defenders of settlements, from weaker mercenaries and from tribesmen. Basically, people who use their Aura in combat, but aren't even Academy-level Huntsmen level.

"Next are the Brandr, the Blade. They are much less common than the Vardi but also much stronger. Bone armor covers all of their upper body and usually parts of their lower body as well, while their mask covers their entire face. Their Aura is very visible, so much so that any part of their body that isn't covered in bone armor appears to be the color of their Aura instead of black. These are the Academy and Graduate-level Huntsmen that Orochimaru got his hands on." Naruto saw that Ozpin understood where the last one were going.

"Lastly are the Riki, the Authority. Any Huntsmen that Orochimaru manages to get and turn into Draugr go here. Covered completely in armor, they are nearly impossible to kill with weaponry and have Huntsmen-level Semblances on top of that. There are less than a dozen of these in the Complex, but I'm not sure if all the Draugr are located in the Complex."

"I see. So, they only encountered some Baurn if that's the case. There were no masks or armor in the description. I'm assuming the difference in power between each successive ranking is very high?" Naruto nodded, which made the man sigh. "This organization that created you is going to be very difficult to handle if that's the case. You said these were the failures, as well?" Another nod came from the Wight. "I will certainly have to plan accordingly then. That said, there was another thing I needed from you." The blonde sat up, paying attention. "I hear from my contacts over at Signal that a certain girl with silver eyes has been dramatically improving under your tutelage. I am thinking about offering her something akin to what I gave your siblings, but only if you think she's ready." The blonde couldn't help but grin. Ruby would be so excited!

[Three Days Later – Patch]

Usually, Ruby would arrive in Vale early on Saturday morning and Naruto would already be waiting for her. After a little teasing from Yang – who generally dropped the girl off – they would leave and go wherever they went that day. Sometimes they browsed shops – and even bought something once or twice – and sometimes they went to Forever Fall to train. Usually, they ate breakfast and lunch together. Depending on how late Yang stayed out they might even eat dinner back at the Wights' apartment. She would leave back to Patch and then come back on Sunday, which they would always spend browsing Tukson's Book Trade when he got his new shipments in. Then they'd head back to somewhere nice like the park or library, depending on what the weather was, to read what they'd purchased. Given Utakata worked there, they usually got good prices from the Faunus.

However, Naruto had been worried when Yang showed up on Saturday morning to park her bike but with no Ruby in sight. She explained to him that Ruby had developed a fever earlier that week and it slipped Yang's mind to send him a message about it. After apologizing, she told him not to worry. However, Naruto couldn't help himself. He told her that he wanted to make sure that his friend was okay, but that she didn't need to give him a ride. After all, he knew what Ruby's Aura felt like so he should be more than capable of finding her.

Yang hadn't known how to react to that statement and just watched as he flared his Aura, and flew off. That wasn't a metaphor, Naruto had actually changed his form to that of a rather large condor and flew off. The blonde girl might've had something to say but she just sighed and decided to leave it be. If she did, perhaps she'd find a funny scene back home?

As for Naruto, he had used one of the six parts of his Semblance – Cloak of One Thousand Furs and Feathers. This one allowed him to take the form of any creature he'd ever observed. It altered him on a biological level, not just change his outward appearance. The downside was that it was very Aura intensive to retain this form. Naruto felt he probably had more than enough Aura to make it to Patch though. He had seen maps of it that Ruby showed him, and even had seen what her house looked like thanks to her showing him pictures of her family.

With that in mind, he had used his large wings to carry him far above the clouds and found his way far, far above everything else in Vale aside from Mt. Azure, which was the tallest mountain in the White Curtain. From his vantage, he was able to glide down until he found the settlement he sought. So as to not raise the alarms of Signal Academy, the boy made sure he landed outside the village and reverted back. Of course, as was customary whenever he finished using any part of his Semblance he activated The Hungry Ghost Who Feeds and absorbed some of the surrounding stones and dirt, quickly replenishing whatever Aura he lost. The Complex had made him paranoid about any – and every – thing that could go wrong.

Ensuring that he had a tight rein on his Nether, the Wight ventured forth. While Patch was a relatively large island, he was sure of his step as he traversed the woods. He found himself walking over a beaten, but not paved, path through the thick forests. Either side of him saw large, gray trees that were bare of foliage clawing the sky. The scent of snow, wilderness and Grimm filled his nostrils and he thought he understood why Signal might exist on this secluded island.

Disregarding the packs of Grimm nearby in lieu of worrying over his friend, Naruto trekked forward. While usually he would jump at the chance to destroy more of the blight on this world which were the Grimm, Ruby was more important at the moment. With that thought, he followed the familiar signature of her Aura and the faint smell of rose petals until he found himself looking at a log cabin in the woods. If he hadn't already known this was her house, he might've been surprised, honestly.

"Good morning, can I help you?" Naruto found himself drawn to the gravelly, hollow voice of another blonde. Turning to regard him, the Wight recognized him from the photos Ruby had shared and knew this was her father – Taiyang Xiao Long. That said, he was hardly recognizable from the lively person he remembered from her Scroll's gallery. This man surely had the same blonde hair, but it was darker, as if it hadn't seen proper sunlight in ages. Blue eyes were bloodshot and were sunk in so far that he probably hadn't slept in a long time. On top of that, his skin was rather pale. Naruto knew that Ruby stated Summer's death had affected her father, but he didn't expect to meet a zombie.

"Oh, yeah, my name is Naruto. I heard that Ruby was sick and I just wanted to make sure she was okay." Hearing the words he spoke, the blonde thought that perhaps… Just perhaps he hadn't actually thought things through before acting. Oh well, this was Ruby, so it didn't matter. As long as he could ensure that his friend was okay, then that was enough for him. Taiyang seemed to be thinking about something before shaking his head as if it was groggy.

"You must be one of her friends from Signal. The door is unlocked. I'm sure she'll be happy to have you by, what with Yang rushing off. Her fever is going down, but she still can't leave her bed yet. Just don't excite her too much." Naruto nodded once at his one request.

"Thank you, Mr. Xiao Long!" Naruto responded and made his way inside the cabin. He mostly ignored the kitchen and den as he made his way upstairs. He did note that the furnishings seemed to be nice. Then again, what did he know about that sort of stuff? The most he had ever had was a bed and desk. Throwing that thought away, he made his way upstairs and followed Ruby's aura until he arrived to a door with a large rose-looking emblem on it. Thinking better about just barging in, he knocked.

"What is it, Yang?" He heard from the other side. It was nasally and a bit tired, but he recognized it as Ruby's immediately. He grinned, knowing that she was okay, just as Taiyang and Yang had told him. Still, he never really believed people until he observed for himself. Hm… was that one reason that the Complex gave him less missions? Oh well.

"Actually, it's Naruto." He replied back before hearing what sounded like a crash and something squeaking. "Ruby? Are you okay?" When there was no response, he opened the door and saw that the girl was wearing a set of black silk pajamas with white dot designs all over it, the top buttoned all the way to her neck. She was also on the floor, the blanket of her bed wrapped around her legs and her eyes a bit disoriented. Her usually ivory-colored skin was a light pink to show just how high her fever was. Rushing to her side, the blonde helped her to her feet. "Ruby, what happened?"

"Owowow…" She moaned as he set her back on her bed. "Naruto? What are you doing here?" She asked. Her voice was no longer tired, but he could still hear its nasally tone. She seemed somewhere between surprised and nervous based on her voice, though the Wight couldn't understand why the second was there.

"Oh, I was waiting for you this morning when Yang showed up and told me you were sick." He explained. Ruby looked at him, seemingly waiting for him to say something else. "Um… that's it. She told me you were sick, so I wanted to make sure you were okay." Her face brightened a few shades more than it already was. "Ruby, you should lay down, I don't want your fever to get any worse." He grabbed her shoulders and gently forced her to lay down, covering her back up. "I'm glad you aren't as bad as you were before, according to your dad, but I still want to make sure that you recover correctly. So, I'll stay here and get you back to proper health."

Naruto saw that Ruby wasn't saying anything and wondered what her temperature actually was. Leaning forward, he pressed his forehead against hers only to feel her rapidly heat up. Humming in thought, he frowned as he realized his work might be cut out for him. That fever was coming back with a vengeance. That said, he had been the one to help his siblings any time they were ill, he could do this! "Alright, it seems like I'll be here all day helping you, Ruby. I think I might need to borrow your kitchen for a bit, but just call me if you need something. I need to find out what ingredients you actually have so I can cook you something to get rid of those sinuses." Walking out the room, but leaving the door open, he began searching the contacts on his Scroll for Yang. He was so busy he didn't notice that Ruby finally reacted to everything and she was wearing just about the largest grin she'd ever had on her face.
[Outside Noval]

Yagura found himself having moved south from the White Curtain with the Red Horde with Raven to a settlement she called Noval. She had explained that this was the main base of her people. To Yagura, it wasn't fit to even be called that. The housing was little more than quickly put together shacks. The walls were basically just a palisade. Hell, the only thing they seemed to have correct was their farming, but that was likely due more to the fact that the laborers were slaves captured by the Horde who worked the land. Raven seemed to see the distaste in his eyes and asked about it.

"This is nothing more than a tenement prancing around as a village. You have crops, but what if there's a Grimm attack? What if the Huntsmen find it? Those buildings would go down if I shook the air hard enough. A few hits from my tail and your sorry excuse of a wall would be nothing more than planks on the floor. How can you call this anything even approaching a settlement with these horrid conditions?" Raven's men seemed to have frozen at Yagura's tone. They were looking at Raven, awaiting her response. She only smiled. The now-maskless woman's red eyes were alight with amusement at how the newest recruit refused to bite his tongue.

"To be perfectly honest, I take my men out as often as I can. This idea of a settlement was a recent one, so that the women and children wouldn't have to keep up and so we wouldn't be slowed down. We are warriors and raiders, construction and agriculture aren't exactly in our blood. We have some citizens here from outlying settlements that agreed to toil instead of die. For that reason, we actually have a constant supply of food coming in, or will once harvesting begins. Our reserves are still pretty high from the last chain of raids we led and from the hunting expedition that some of my men took a week ago.

"However, you aren't wrong to question what would happen if we, ourselves, were raided. It is certainly something that I didn't think to ever have to worry about." Raven shrugged in an uncaring sort of way. Then she turned her eyes to the boy with a sneaky sort of grin. "Did you have some experience in any of these areas?"

Yagura sighed. He really shouldn't. He should look for his siblings. That said, Naruto wouldn't approve of leaving these people defenseless. Well, maybe these people. That said, Yagura couldn't help but sympathize more with the Horde than other settlements, given they offered him a chance to gain strength and also help find his siblings. There was no telling where they were, but having a base of operations he could rely on would certainly help the search.

"In some areas, I do. First of all, your wall is going to need reinforcement. A palisade made of wood won't do anything but give you a few minutes in the event of a Grimm attack, especially without any towers. You're going to need more laborers so you can have a proper stone wall. These buildings are going to have to come down whenever you have laborers to build housing in an effective way.

"I know a little of that, thanks to my past, but not enough to give you anything but the most basic type of defensive buildings. I know far more about fortifications to keep a base protected. My brother was the one who learned about architecture, we'd need to find him first. The coast isn't far off either, so getting some fishers out there would be a great idea.

"On top of that, if you could build up a navy, then you'd have protection by sea and a way to begin branching out to piracy. There are a lot of things you can do with this location, but you first need to make sure it can withstand even the most basic Grimm attack." Raven's smile slowly grew until she patted the boy's head.

"I believe you will fit in nicely here. Can I count on you to lead these projects if I can supply you with the proper amount of slaves?" Yagura looked at the woman before nodding. If nothing else, having a proper home to bring his siblings back to would be a great course of action. "Wonderful! If that is the case, then I'll allow my men to rest and we'll go on a raid first thing tomorrow. I'll have you come with me so that we can figure out what supplies we need to snatch in addition to the laborers. I assume the wall is the first project you want to work on?"

"If you speak truly, food is not an issue. If that is the case, then yes. I would prefer to stay somewhere that I don't have to worry about a Grimm attack destroying us due to improper fortifications." Of course, she didn't have to know that he could destroy Grimm on a whim, but it was more preparation for when he got the others here to Noval. With that thought, Raven began leading him through the not-quite-yet village that he was now in charge of improving.

[Xiao Long-Rose Residence]

Naruto looked at Ruby's finally lightly sleeping form with a smile. Under his careful ministrations over the last twenty-four hours, she seemed to be recovered back to normal. Her fever was basically gone and she would be ready to go back to Signal tomorrow. Of course, this weekend was different than they usually had, but he was more than content with that. Ruby was okay, and that's what mattered.

On Saturday, after he'd gotten in contact with Yang, he'd had to endure a few minutes of her trying to tease him – though he still wasn't sure why – before she finally told him where to find the ingredients he wanted. Half an hour later and he had fed Ruby the soup he prepared. Given she was supposed to be recovering, that wasn't metaphorical. He actually spoon fed her the soup to ensure that she didn't exert herself at all. She seemed a bit hesitant at first, so he took the first bite to show her that it was good. He prided himself on being a good cook after all! Her fever seemed to get slightly worse after that, but she took what he offered.

Aside from that, it was a matter of ensuring she stayed in bed, got enough fluids and helping her walk to the bathroom every so often. Aside from that, she wasn't allowed to move from her spot. That didn't mean he expected her to stay bored all day though. They talked a bit, he read her several of his favorite stories that he'd downloaded to his Scroll and even went through her own books to read them to her. She was asleep by the time that Yang arrived back from Vale. To say that he gave her a lecture about leaving her sibling in her time of need was an understatement. Her fever kept getting worse every time he turned around! Yang, however, seemed to take to it but was smiling the whole time. She was an odd one.

By the time she returned, it was well past dark and Taiyang asked him if he wouldn't rather just spend the night than go off at night. Apparently, that was when the Grimm on Patch were most active. Naruto supposed it was a case of Grimm turning nocturnal in response to there being a Huntsmen Academy in the center of the island. Still, while he could just fly back to Vale safely, if Taiyang offered it meant that he would be able to stay here in case something happened to Ruby.

Thankfully, nothing did. It seemed he might have been worried over something unnecessary. Still, he was more than happy with the results of his work. Placing his hand on the girl's forehead, he was even happier to feel that she was somewhat cool instead of the warmness of yesterday. Everything was going splendidly, in his opinion.

His thoughts were interrupted as he felt his Scroll vibrating. Taking it from his pocket and looking at the screen, he grinned as he realized it was Fuu calling him. Quickly leaving Ruby's room – so as to not wake her – he made his way downstairs and through the front door before answering the phone. Seeing the video feed from the other side were his siblings, he greeted them happily. "Hey, Fuu! What's going on?" Seeing how she wasn't in any danger, his already high spirits were even better.

"Hey, Naru. I just wanted to call you to check in on things. I know you usually go on a date with that human every weekend, but I thought if I caught you early enough that you could talk. You aren't already with her, are you?" The verdette seemed to be looking at his screen. "Actually, where are you? That looks like some sort of forest. I don't remember anything like that in Vale when we were there." Ignoring Fuu's tone when talking about Ruby, Naruto answered. He knew Fuu's opinion of humanity, but he was sure that she'd eventually see how great his friend was.

"No, Ruby's not awake yet. I'm not in Vale either. I'm at her house, she ended up getting a fever earlier this week so I was helping her recover." Fuu narrowed her eyes as she looked at him. "What?"

"Do I need to come back this soon to ensure you don't make bad decisions? I knew I couldn't trust Yugi and Utakata to watch you. Listen, Naruto, you may be the leader but you have this tendency to… trust people. It's gotten us out of some situations before, but I don't want you to end up paying for it."

"You worry too much, Fuu!" He replied off-handedly. "I'm fine. I was just helping out a friend in their time of need. It's the same thing I would've done for you if you were sick. In fact, it's the same thing I did do for you several times." The girl seemed to soften a bit, but shook her head.

"Okay… I'll take your word for it. I swear though… all I need is a reason and I'll make sure that girl's entire family pays for her hurting you!" That softening immediately disappeared as he eyes became fierce, her hand nearly grabbing Chomei. She calmed a bit after she realized that, sighing. "Anyways, I was trying to find out if anything interesting happened while we've been gone. I know the semester hasn't started yet, but I wanted to get in contact now since we actually have a signal for once."

The blonde thought about what she asked for a moment before smiling. "Yeah, a lot has happened since you left. Where do I even begin?" Fuu wasn't here for any of it, but he was still glad he would have a chance to explain to her what a normal life felt like. Maybe he could still convince her to come back in time for the semester. That would be pretty great, wouldn't it?

[Haya Archipelago, Stoma Island]

Off the south western tip of the Kingdom of Vacuo lies an island chain that has commonly become known as the Haya Archipelago. This area of Vacuo is well-known for its pouring rains and terrible thunderstorms, a rarity amongst the entire western half of the continent. At the very epicenter of this archipelago, there is an island in particular known as Stoma for its tendency to swallow up any ships that stray too closely. Officially, the Kingdom of Vacuo states this is due to a series of whirlpools set up around Stoma due to its very particular conditions. In reality, it is all artificial and hidden by the officials to protect a specific individual.

Said individual resided in a large, stone tower that didn't appear to have been built, but rather to have been formed as wind and rain weathered down the cliffside which overlooked the Haud Sea. He walked the halls, also made of stone, of his near solitary confinement in an effort to search out his destination. The man was tall, taller than most humans but nowhere near inhuman. His hair was a deep, dark red while his eyes were purple with six, concentric rings shining brightly. He wore very little aside from a large, black cloak that covered his entire body and carried a ringed, monk's staff to aid him in each step. This was Nagato Uzumaki, leader of the New Dawn and God of This World – as far as he was concerned, anyways.

As he took each step, the man winced in pain but shook it off until he made his way to a particular chamber. In this chamber, he regarded the sole occupant. It was what appeared to be a fully nude teenage girl who he had imprisoned. Her arms were raised high over her head and cuffed in iron, which itself hung from the wall by thick chains. The girl also hung, her feet a sparing few inches above the ground to keep her from escaping.

Gripping his staff, which seemed to be made of a material that was blacker than the blackest color, he prodded the woman between the ribs with the butt end of it. With a shriek, she came awake and began panting. "Tell me what you see, Priestess." The girl herself appeared terrified as soon as she saw him. She was no more than fourteen years old with platinum blonde hair down to her waist that was heavily disheveled and coated with blood in this place, dirt in that. Her eyes were a light, violet color that lacked a pupil.

"P-please… that is unnecessary." She begged. "I'll tell you, just don't… touch me with that thing." Nagato nodded as the Priestess, as he called her, closed her eyes and seemed to shake a moment. She winced before looking at him. "You will… be killed. I can't tell when, but you will be killed by the powers of… the powers of a clock. Your time will come to an end when the one who controls time and the one who leads Grimm come together with the tribes of Remnant and the warrior with silver eyes. Beacon Academy will be your undoing." Nagato grimaced before slamming his staff into the floor, leaving a visible scorch mark in the stone.

"I… see. I will prepare accordingly then. Sleep, Priestess. I will have need of you again. For now… I must pay Dr. Orochimaru a visit." Nagato left the chamber, but the Priestess only grinned. It wasn't a pleasant smile, it was a mad smirk. As the door shut, she giggled. That giggle slowly rose in pitch until she was cackling like a madwoman. "Your own weapon will be your undoing… You'll have signed your own fate away like the idiot you are! Some God! Then… then I'll be free! Heh… hehe…. AHAHAHAHAHA!"