2

"Really? You're a prince?" The blonde shinobi thought as he added the man to the list of royals he met in the past. 'There was Koyuki and Granny technically counts.'

"Why of course." Oberyn said with a little smile. "You probably have heard of the great Red Viper of Dorne."

"...Nope."

"...What?"

"Sorry, but I've never heard of you before at all, Oby-san."

"It's Oberyn."

"Yeah whatever." Naruto waved him off, getting a small twitch to the man's eye. "So you said that thing was a Val-beast or something?"

These two were still standing in the battlefield in where they faced off against that odd monstrosity that inhabited the giant suit of armor, which is currently spread out in most places in the area. There were still the helmet and left arm pieces scattered about while it's halberd lied at their feet. Some slight exhaustion was shown on the two humans, but a little break from all of the action could help them out.

"Valyrian beast and I never believed them to exist before." The prince then motioned his hand to the nearby armor. "But this… this ended up confirming things." Oberyn said as his foot kicked part of the armor a little.

"So I don't know about you Oby-san, but do you want something from out of this. You know, for your troubles?"

"...I don't know what you mean, Naruto."

Answering this, Naruto hoisted up the large metallic halberd with little difficulty as he looked it over. "Well... this is a pretty good weapon and as much as I'd like to keep it; not only is it not my style, it's way too big for me to use."

"You say that since you have that fucking big sword right there." Oberyn eyed the Kubikiribōchō with the varying cracks on it.

"First off, I trained my ass off to carry and wield that beauty." Said the blonde teenager before he put his attention back at the halberd. "So do you want it? It's as close to a spear as you can get so far."

"I would like it but I struggled in carrying, let alone using the damn thing."

"Yeah, I saw that. Maybe I could melt this down and you could have it to your liking."

Hearing this suggestion, the Red Viper took a glance at the large weapon as something about it seemed familiar to him, but he didn't know what it was. In fact, the same went with the large set of armor. Giving the genin a nod, he accepted it… but there was one problem. "How the hell am I going to carry that in the first place? I mean it's fucking heavy for Seven's sakes."

Realizing this, Oberyn was pretty much right. So Naruto pulled out a sealing scroll and unfurled it a little before pulling out a little ink set. This got a raised look from the Dornish man as he saw Naruto write an interesting pattern onto the paper. Grabbing the halberd, the blonde carefully placed the tip onto the paper. Reaching down, Naruto channeled chakra into his fingertips onto the seal, causing the halberd to disappear in a plumb of smoke.

"WHAT THE FUCK?!" Yelled out the Dornish prince as he witnessed the spectacle. "WHERE'D IT GO?!"

Naruto gained a raised look and spoke back. "I sealed it into a seal, Oby-san. I thought people knew shinobi use chakra."

"There you go again with this chakra. What is it and is that what you are? A shinobi?"

"Yeah. I mean who doesn't know what shinobi are. We're in the Elemental Nations for crying out loud."

"This is the first time I'm hearing this, boy. And Elemental Nations? We're currently in Old Valyria, which is apart of Essos and next to that is Westeros." Said the Viper. "In all my life, I've traveled across this world and yet I've never come across a place called the 'Elemental Nations'."

Naruto looked at Oberyn to try and see if he was telling the truth, only to find no lies in what he was saying. This only left the teenager more and more questions as he scratched his head in thought.

If he was not in the Elemental Nations, then where the hell is he?

"Look, we can play twenty or so questions later, Naruto. I'd like it if we could start moving before any of those stone men or any other monstrosities start showing up." The prince said as he soon eyed the doors on the other side of the former battlefield. "How about we try and talk a little in a possible safer area so we can talk a little more, if that's alright with you."

Sighing a little, Naruto compiled as he and Oberyn headed towards the door. Though the blonde stopped for a moment and summoned a clone. The Red Viper looked in confusion before seeing the boy hand the copy a scroll and ink set before making its way towards the suit of armor. The Dornishman figured the boy wanted to take the armor set with him to possibly sell or melt it down into something else. After all, it did look pretty nice in detail if he guessed correctly.

The two placed their hands onto doors and pushed with all their might to get it opened. It took quite the effort, given with how old the doors were and them being unmaintained since Valyria's fall. Loud creaking was soon heard as the doors gave way and opened up for the two travelers. By the time they were wide enough for Naruto and Oberyn to walk on through, the clone returned with the armor sealed up along with handing Oberyn his spears and shield for the coming travels before dispelling.

"Though I've gotta ask a simple question, Naruto. But have you seen a fallen star land nearby, perchance?" All Oberyn received was a questioning look from the Uzumaki. "How could you not? It was bright as fiery blood as it came here."

This got a bit of weight to form in Naruto's gut upon hearing this. Fiery blood? Sounds something close to the Kyuubi's chakra. And this only left the blonde several questions with hardly any answers with how he got here… he thought.

This reaction didn't go unnoticed by the Red Viper as he could tell his small companion had something to hide which pertained to his sought after fallen star. But he'll dwell into the matter later upon safe grounds like he intended.

Walking through the small path, the pair saw grave markers littering the area to keep up with the foreboding feeling in the air. They were glad neither of them ran into any trouble, but kept up their guard for what may lie ahead. As the path eventually lead up a steep hill, the two soon saw a shrine of sorts and silently agreed to check it out if it could be possibly safe.

When inspecting the outward appearance of the shrine, Oberyn couldn't help but marvel a little on how intact it appeared to be. Despite the slightly ruined feel of the building, it was a great and wonderful example of Valyrian architecture. Inspecting the door, the two stabbed their weapons into the ground before pushing the entrance inwards to enter the possible safe area for them to rest and talk.

Though what they didn't expect once stepping inside was seeing several large stone thrones, easily shown with the natural light coming from the shrine's entrance. The two were quite curious on the find as they walked down the stairs to see a fire pit that hasn't been used in centuries. Not minding that now, they got closer to the thrones to inspect them by walking up a different set of stairs and saw sigils on each of their backs. On the left had a crab, the right had a seahorse and in the middle had a simple-looking dragon set in a circular pattern.

Pondering on their significance, the Red Viper soon realized what these sigils represented. "By the Seven… The thrones of the ancestral Houses of Celtigar, Velaryon and Targaryen." He said in slight awe as he inspected the room a little more as thoughts filled his mind. "This could've been a council chamber for the soon to be exiled houses of Valyria before the Doom."

"And what's so important about them anyways." Turning towards the blonde, Oberyn saw the whiskered teen having a little notepad and writing tool out as he drew a little. "And you keep talking about Vuleeria-" "Valyria." "-several times now, but never told me what it was to begin with."

"Hmm… I guess you're right, Naruto." As he came closer to the blonde, he saw him draw each of the house sigils with good details. Tapping him on the shoulder, Oberyn ushered the shinobi to follow. "I'll start talking while we inspect this place. Though I'd recommend we stick together just in case of anything."

Naruto nodded as he placed his pencil and notepad into his pouch before following the older man. Oberyn soon started to regale the tale of the most infamously known land in the world while walking through one corridor, with two freshly made torchlights. A grand empire that practically ruled Essos centuries ago and in the center of it all was Valyria itself. The blond Uzumaki gained a sense of awe and wonder while hearing the story as the two inspected the shrine for anything of value.

The two eventually found what appeared to be a small library given the few tables placed and the many books littered around the room. They inspected the ones on the floor to see that they were completely ruined by the many rats that nibbled on them over the years. Deciding to explore a little on their own, the two separated to check out the different tomes.

Going in one section, Naruto didn't know where to start looking until his eye caught something of interest. Roughly in the center of the room's section laid an opened, dusty old book. He was curious on why it was placed there with several other books placed on shelves around the room, yet this one was all by itself. The Uzumaki figured it could've been quite significant and so upon closer inspection, Naruto looked at its current page and tried to read it.

"Va… Val… Valari… No that doesn't sound right." Naruto muttered as he tried to pronounce the name on the cover. He didn't know why he could somehow and somewhat read this, since it wasn't written in Kanji, Hiragana and Katakana; yet the blonde could. Hell, Naruto even wondered now on how he understood Oberyn in the first place if there was a language barrier or not. Taking a bit of time to pronounce the word, but he thinks he got it. "Vuh-leer-ee-a… Okay I think I got the annunciation right… So that's how Valyria is spelled out."

Carefully dusting off the page of dust and web, Naruto gazed at it's written passage; in which he slowly read to himself.

This... is the tale of the Ruined Country of Valyria.

The smoke and sea have taken toll of the once great capital of the empire. What was once a city of wonderment, is now just a mere shadow of its former glory. Towers that could've touched the very skies above, where dragons have roamed free and lived in peace with humanity. Valyrians were the best at everything: agriculture, structures, crafting, etc. And for 5,000 years, it was the center of civilization itself and things seemed to be at peace… Until it happened.

We held each other close and turned our backs upon the end. The hills that split asunder and the black that ate the skies. The flames that shot so high and hot that even dragons burned. Would never be the final sights that fell upon their eyes. A fly upon a wall, the waves the sea wind whipped and churned... A city for a thousand years, and all men that learned; the Doom consumed it all alike, and neither of them turned.

The ruins of Valyria is all that remains… As the Doom rules it, with demons and flames… And the heirlooms of the once great empire… In hopes that it'll save the world one day from the Forever Winter if it'll ever come.

Tis dark for now, and not a soul stirs for who knows when. But remember, Fires are known to fade in quiet and only Dark will remain… Yet it might return with Embers and Ash...

Naruto was so drawn into reading it -with a sense of worry that came from the written words- that he jumped in fright when a hand placed itself on his shoulder.

"Woah there. Sorry if I startled you."

"What the hell, Oby-san?! You should've warned me before doing that!" The blonde stated as he tried to calm his beating heart.

The older man could only chuckle. "True, but where would be the fun in that." Looking at the opened book, the Dornish prince saw the passage and shivered a little in remembrance of hearing the poem for the first time. But the additions to it seemed mildly interesting to him.

"So… Did you find anything good?"

"Somewhat, but I kept checking several of them along the way and the majority's written in High Valyrian and some other dialect I'm not familiar with." Came the man's honest answer as he scratched his beard. "With High Valyrian, it'll take time to decipher and translate. As for the other ones, I'd rather get some help from some people I know either back home or at the Citadel." Oberyn then scratched his head in frustration when looking back at the books. "Though it'll be a hindrance to have men come to and fro in order to move all of this to my ship."

"Maybe I can seal those books up for ya so it'll be easier to transport to… well wherever you're heading off to after we leave this place."

The Dornishman merely gave Naruto a raised look. "Are you sure? Won't you just steal them from me once we part ways and not tell me the secret in getting the books out of one of your scrolls?"

Knowing what he's talking about, Naruto frantically waved him off and tried to defend himself. "Hey I wouldn't do that at all! I literally have no clue where I'm at and I might end up lost in the process if I don't have a proper guide!"

"True, but what would you do to assure me that you won't be taking the books, along with that one halberd you promised to let me keep."

Being a bit worried now, Naruto searched his person to find something of great value to lend to Oberyn for the time being. Soon a thought came to mind, causing Naruto to unzip his slightly ruined orange/blue jumpsuit with the hole over his heart. The Martell raised a look on what Naruto was doing as he saw the odd metallic mesh shirt underneath before his eyes landed on the piece of jewelry around the blonde's neck.

Taking off the necklace, he presented it to the Red Viper. "You could hold onto this if you want. Either that or my forehead protector."

"And what is it exactly?" He questioned as he took the string and held the green gem with two metallic beads up at eye level to inspect it. He admits that it does look good and saw the nice quality of it.

"It's Granny's necklace. She told me that she got it from her grandfather -the first Hokage- and it had a lot of significance and history behind it. All I know is that she gave it to her younger brother and her lover at different points in time... but both of them died because of war; making her think it was cursed."

Oberyn could hear the honesty in those words and felt the bit of sorrow towards the end. Whoever this woman that Naruto is referring to as 'Granny' must've entrusted Naruto quite a lot to give him this piece of a family heirloom. Even with the bit of 'Hokage' referred to as some sort of title perhaps.

"I see. Anything else about it?"

"Yeah… If you wanted to properly sell it -which I wouldn't since I really like that necklace- it'll be worth about three gold mines." Naruto stated, getting a slight, wide eyed look from the Dornish prince.

"...Horseshit."

"Hey, I'm not making that up!" The Uzumaki complained since he was telling the truth. "I had the same response back then when I heard that, even when several others told me that bit of information. So I went to a jeweler with none of those people to bring the info up. And sure enough, the one man said it was legit and tried to take it off my hands without me knowing."

'Okay… Seems Naruto's telling the truth.' The Martell thought before inspecting the necklace a little more. 'Though I don't know if the price would change from where he came from since no one would really know the real history behind this to up the price. Hell I don't even know who this 'first Hokage' is with his exploits. So as for anyone else, it'll be just a sentimental piece until I learn more from the boy.'

Shaking his head a little, Oberyn looked at the other piece of collateral Naruto was offering with the leaf-shaped symbol etched onto its surface. "And the forehead protector?"

Gaining a small smile, Naruto explained a little. "It belonged to Iruka-sensei, my academy teacher. Throughout my years learning under him, he did what he could to help me out since I failed graduation several times. But he never gave up on me, even after I did this one stupid thing because of it… Well long story short, he gave me his and passed me so I can continue on with my dream."

Acknowledging the significance on both items, Oberyn handed back the necklace before taking Naruto's forehead protector since it held more weight of value than the necklace. Certain objects can be worth more, even if they are just simple trinkets. After all, he and his brother -Doran- kept things their departed sister had on her at all times so they can be closer to her, even in death.

Once pocketing the piece of protection, they raided the small library for the majority of its contents. It helped that Naruto's shadow clones were able to gather quite a lot and carefully piled things up for the original to get things ready for the mass sealing. By the time they were ready to exit the room, the small library was pretty much barren of literally everything, except for the furniture. Though one thing was left out and Naruto insisted on carrying it until they find some more stuff to seal up into one of his scrolls: the map of Valyria.

"...So because of the cataclysm -which was called 'The Doom'- islands currently make up most of Old Valyria's territorial remains?" Naruto questioned as Oberyn pointed things out on the map in comparison to the current one he knows from memory.

The Dornish prince nodded as the two went down one particular corridor, which branched off from the main chamber. Oberyn was giving a little lesson to the young shinobi like a maester that he could've been, but dropped out when he was bored in his younger years. It is quite interesting to see the boy be a bit interested on the current subject, even after he showed Oberyn the map of the Elemental Nations.

The Martell was fascinated in inspecting the map, but would do more in detail once in a better light as torch light can only go so far. Even though Oberyn couldn't entirely read the written language on the map as it mostly looked like chicken scratches with some looking similar to the written language back at Yi Ti, but it seemed quite genuine.

Yet Oberyn had a bit of trouble being convinced of Naruto coming from one of the locations shown. Having a sinking suspicion that Naruto didn't belong in this world, but probably from another.

'Possibly he's the one I saw coming down from the heavens earlier?' The Red Viper thought as he eyed the blonde teenager. 'The gods must of taken him from wherever he came from and tossed him here… But I'll ask him more on this later since I don't want to believe things on that just yet.'

Eventually the two soon came across a room that Naruto distinctly realized was some sort of blacksmith's shop. Oberyn gazed at the boy and saw a look of recognition in his gaze, making him realize that Naruto has knowledge in what this was. "You seem quite interested in this place now, aren't you Naruto?"

"Pretty much." Was the Uzumaki's reply as he walked over to the smith station. "When I was younger, I had a certain amount of stipend to spend on each month by the old man since I lived on my own as an orphan. But I wanted more to purchase certain things, so I went out to find a job. And I soon came across a weapons shop an eventual friend of mine worked at because of her family."

Naruto soon picked up the hammer before inspecting it, seeing it was still in great condition after all these years. It's length made it appropriate for a two-handed smithing tool -or weapon in a fight- with the hammerhead having odd runes carved into its sides. He gave it a little swing and realized the cloth wrap around the pole needed replacing.

Putting down the hammer, Naruto continued his tale. "I don't exactly remember how I got the position, but I started to learn so much from them as I helped make the various weapons and tools by becoming quite the experienced apprentice alongside my friend, Tenten."

Oberyn formed a soft smirk. "I'd imagine and I'd like to see you back that claim… So do you have a smithing set inside one of those scrolls of yours?"

"No I don't, Oby-san. There was no point in carrying a set since I had access to my friend's shop. So all I'd have to do was to pay for the materials and I'd have to make the rest on my own. I somewhat regret that now since I need to fix my Kubikiribōchō on the cracks, though I have no idea how."

This made the prince quite curious and wondered what the boy meant. "Weren't you the one that made that sword?"

"I wish I did, but I got it off of a rogue shinobi from another village a while back. Gave it to me as a last wish persay." The Uzumaki answered as he wandered around the chamber and listed off the tools that he knew and ones he guessed from his time working with different variants back at Konoha.

With the flame's light, Naruto's eyes soon landed upon the nearby workbench and saw something of curious interest. Heading over there, he soon came across several scraps of metal alongside what the blonde guessed to be a blacksmith's journal. He first inspected the handfuls of metal and saw they were made out of several alloys, but with the current light it was hard to tell which ones.

Even the feel was completely foreign to the boy.

"What you got there, Naruto?"

"Varying scraps of alloy metals." The blonde stated as he handed a piece as large as his forearm to the Martell, which earned a confused look from the man. "Alloy metals are different kinds of material mixed together to make stronger and tougher steels. And these scraps seem to be of the same compound, but I have no idea what it is."

While the Viper tried to inspect them, Naruto opened up the smith's journal before gaining a confused look. It was written in that odd language Oberyn said that not even he could recognize. He tried to make heads or tails out of it, but the pictures at least helped for what was implying in terms of forging.

'...Is this what I think it is?' Oberyn thought as he gazed more at the pattern. He's seen it before when he studied at the Citadel years ago. The intricate pattern made the Dornish prince gain a sense of wariness. Needing confirmation, he looked over to Naruto and called out to him. "Naruto."

Not looking up from the book, the shinobi answered back. "Yes?"

"When you have a moment, mind having your copies gather all of the scraps of metal in this room? I need to be sure on what I'm thinking right now is real or not."

Looking up with an additional confused look -with some of it coming from the journal- Naruto soon gave the older man a nod. Seeing the man walk out of the chamber to his own thoughts, the genin decided he should start getting everything in the smelting chamber sealed up… Asides from the requested metal alloys of course.

Things were a little quicker than he imagined as he got the equipment sealed away with all of the alloys placed on the workbench in a medium sized pile. And it wasn't just that, but there were a couple of alloy steel bars that were ready to be smithed.

Before heading out with the material in his arms, one of Naruto's clones called out to him. "Hey boss!"

"Yeah?"

"We missed a few." The clone stated as he and a second one came up to him and placed the items onto the pile before dispelling.

The original then let out a sigh. "Couldn't have helped me out on this… Jerks."

Back in the main chamber of the shrine, the Dornish prince was quickly pacing back and forth.

"What is taking Naruto so long?" He muttered under his breath.

What felt like hours were only handfuls of minutes ever since Oberyn left the smelting chamber. His mind was working overtime on his personal little discovery, but he wanted to be sure he was right and not jump the wagon on this. Oberyn kept pacing through the space as he waited for Naruto to finally arrive.

And before he knew it, a familiar voice called out. "Sorry I'm late, Oby-san." The prince whirled around towards the blonde, who had quite the pile in his arms while awkwardly caring smithing bars in his hands. "Didn't know how much equipment that chamber had, along with the alloys scattered about."

"No, it's quite alright."

Going by the nearby steps, Naruto carefully dumped the alloyed metals before putting the later found items to the side. At first glance, Oberyn was a little surprised in seeing the amount found in terms of scraps. By his estimates, there's potential for some reforging in making several short swords and daggers. Hard to tell at this point since he's not knowledgeable in smithing. Not to mention the 'alloy' steel bars could make a decent amount of standard-long swords.

Putting that thought aside, Oberyn looked over Naruto and asked him to unseal the suit of armor and halberd acquired earlier.

Not knowing what the Martell was intending, the Uzumaki compiled and unsealed the desired items. Picking up one of the metal scraps, Oberyn placed it side by side with the halberd and then with one of the armor pieces for closer inspections. The prince soon swallowed a lump of air before having to sit down with slightly widened eyes on his face.

"Oh dear gods… I can't believe it."

"Believe what?"

"I never thought I'd see so much Valyrian steel together in all my life, all at once." Answered the prince as he eyed the legendary steel scraps, bars, halberd and armor set. That was before he saw the items placed to the side, possibly what Naruto found by accident while 'cleaning up' the chamber.

One was a black handled knife in its sheath, which had small chains wrapped around it, as a ruby was imbedded in the pommel. The other appeared to be an odd looking crown with how detailed it appeared to be, including the diamond embedded in the very center of it. Given the unique feature of the nose ridge made the prince think instead of it resting on top of one's head it would be slipped around one's face to be an upper face mask. And the last item that was shown were a pair of small glossy orbs. They weren't exactly made out of metal, but of something else. Nothing much was noteworthy out of them, except for a small smooth dent on each of them with small lines stretching out from them to somewhat make them look like eyes.

"Valyrian steel?" Naruto questioned.

"...It's a very rare metal that originated here in Old Valyria. Sought after by many with how high of quality they are." Oberyn started out as he picked up some of the scrap metals. "They never rust, they never break-OW!... And they never dull." The Martell shortly listed as he sucked on his freshly pricked finger. "They're considered priceless or several mines worth of gold if one would want to purchase one from someone else. Though the last time that happened was hundreds of years ago by the Lannisters in getting one of their own."

"Well I said earlier that it's not just any metal, it's an alloy. The odd coloration and markings show that a different material was added in." Stated the shinobi before looking closer at it again in better light. "But now that I can see this better, I'm guessing that several metals were added instead of just one."

"True and that at least makes little sense now that I think about it." The prince said, remembering that the Valyrians of old were said to be quite ahead of everyone's time in practically everything. So they might have known more in terms of smithing.

"So is there a way to reforge all of this to whatever we want, Oby-san?"

"...If you want to reforge the metal, you'd need to find an expert in working with Valyrian steel Naruto." The older man then let out a frustrated sigh. "Unfortunately there's only a handful of blacksmiths in the world that can only reforge the steel, not make it. And they don't come cheap if you want to learn from them or purchase their services."

"Are you sure?"

"Yes… Why you ask?"

Opening up the recently found smithing journal, Naruto came to a certain page and presented it to the prince. Looking closer, the Dornish man saw diagrams in what he assumed was the 'alloys' creation process and some pages later showed what he heard about in terms of reforging.

With widened eyes, Oberyn realized what this journal contained...

"Ways in creating and reforging Valyrian steel." The prince muttered in awe. "Of course… Those scraps in that smithing chamber were leftover pieces of making Valyrian weapons. And the bars being ready for a quicker process."

"Don't forget jewelry; hence the odd crown over there." Oberyn nodded on that little bit of information before the blonde spoke up. "Though there is one piece in here that I somewhat don't understand all that well, asides from the writing." Naruto pointed to the page earlier as it showed a small diagram of some unknown material added into the metal to create the legendary steel. "It appears to be some sort of glass-like core, given the worn out sketch here, but other than that I have no clue what it is exactly."

Humming in thought, Oberyn got up from his seat and paced around a little to collect his thoughts. After several moments, he spoke to his young companion. "We should find someone that could translate that journal. Probably a Valyrian steel reforger to be exact to help out on this… But for now we should head on out. We've rested long enough and as much as I'd like to stick around more, I'd like to leave this place and find a way back to my ship."

Nodding at this, Naruto quickly sealed everything away into his scrolls after taking out the remaining kunai and shuriken to make room for the scraps and extra items. He didn't want to waste anymore time as it is with him having a ticket off of this haunted island.

Going up the stairs, the two made their way out of the shrine… only to find the entrance closed off(?).

"What the hell?" Asked the Uzumaki as he looked for a handle to pull onto, yet there wasn't any. Forming up a Rasengan, he quickly rammed it into the door… only for it to not gain a single scratch after it bounced off its surface. "What the hell is up with this door?!"

"I don't know Naruto, but I'm not liking the feeling of this." The prince muttered as he too didn't like what he just saw. In the fight earlier with that Valyrian monster, that one blue attack really did a lot in causing damage. But if the door wouldn't open and is that reinforced, then something must be wrong here.

"Then we should find another exit if possible…. Wait… If this door is closed, where's the natural light coming from?"

It was a good question for the pair. When they got back to the main shrine chamber, the light seemed to stay the same. There were no candles lit, given they all melted out years ago. So where was the light coming from?

Going up in the higher levels of the shrine -higher than the stone thrones- they saw what they were looking for: an exit. Or to be more precise a metal gate. There was enough empty space to bring in the light to the main shrine chamber, but not enough to light up the entire structure.

"It's locked and I didn't see any keys while exploring."

"Nah… We don't need a key." Pulling out a pair of kunai, he leveled himself to the lock in question. "Just need to break it." Coating the ninja weapons with chakra, Naruto jabbed the two blades into the lock and with enough force and turning, the lock broke.

Pushing the gate opened, Oberyn thought of slight amazement on the moment. "Huh… Handy."

"If this was a public place I'd be using my lock picking skills. But since we're not-"

"Yes, I get your point Naruto. Let's get moving." After stepping out of the gateway, the two adjusted their eyes a little to see that the two ended up in a forest. Though something was off about this as they distinctly remembered that there was no forest nearby the shrine when they first entered it. "This is not right."

"I know… You said that this place is cursed right? Well if it wasn't for that monster we fought earlier, I would've called bullshit." The shinobi stated in a worried tone. "Now I think this place just wants to screw with us."

"I agree. So let's try to find the shoreline and then walk around it to find my ship."

With Oberyn's shield and spear out with Naruto's kunai, the two ventured into the forest. Unlike before entering the shrine, with neither of them coming across any obstacles, the pair soon came across handfuls of stone men. They hissed once gazing at the two humans and rushed them with weapons on hand.

The prince bashed his shield against one of them before smacking the man to the side to eventually pierce it's chest. With Naruto, he rolled out of the way before slashing at the man a few times before leaping in the air and imbedded his weapon into his head. Pulling the weapon out, Naruto soon tossed it into a stone man's face, having it lodge into it's skull. Oberyn dashed forward as he discarded his shield and used his pole's length to skewer a stone man some feet away. Coming in close, he jumped onto him, pulled the weapon out and tossed it at the last of the group.

"What happened to these people?" Asked the shinobi as he started to pilfer the corpses for anything of value. This time he got a jagged short sword, a basic shield and a spear for Oberyn, and some ammo for the crossbow he acquired earlier. 'I should probably do something with that. Don't want to keep reloading it after each shot.'

"Grayscale happened." Answered the prince. "Dreaded and sometimes fatal disease if not taken care of quickly. If not treated at some point, people would just drop off the infected to ruined areas of Essos… Hell sometimes here, of all places, where they're said to end up going mad and bloodthirsty."

"Is there a way to take care of it?"

"Cutting off the infected skin or limb is all that I know of, boy." Was the answer. "Though word from the wise, don't let them make skin contact or else you'll get it. Wouldn't want a boy -such as yourself- to die or get infected too soon. I'm already starting to like you slightly."

"Slightly?"

"We only met each other in like an hour or so ago. It'll take more than that -along with some more fighting together- for me to start enjoying your company."

"...Okay." Naruto sounded unsurely, given Oberyn's answer.

The two progressed through the forest as they kept encountering several foes every so often. Some were standard stone men and some odd surprises of seeing more mutated looking foes with their fungal looking appearances. They were quite unsettling with the clicking sounds they were giving off. Not wanting to deal with them, Naruto used a shuriken with an exploding tag attached before tossing it once the group came together. The 'clickers' exploded in a blast of gore before things settled for the pair to continue onwards.

...*clang*... *clang*... *clang*... *clang*

"Hey, you hear that?" The Uzumaki asked as his ears seemed to pick up on something.

"Hear what?"

"Just... Listen."

It took the prince a bit to properly focus before hearing the sounds of metal beating against metal. "I hear it too. It's faint, but I can hear it."

"Where'd you think it's coming from?"

Turning around every other direction, their senses seemed to land towards a building some distance away. Their curiosity got the better of them as they made their way towards it as the structures details seemed more focused. With the cathedral like keep showing signs of great wear and tear over the years, but still stood with it's viney walls and trees seemingly growing out of said walls. Rising up the stony steps they heard the sounds getting louder and louder by each passing moment.

...*Clang*... *Clang*... *Clang*... *Clang*

"Whoever's fighting in there needs help!"

"And do you think the person inside is friendly or another foe for us to take?"

"Then we've got to take our chances Oby-san." Was Naruto's reply as he brought his Kubikiribōchō back out from his sealing scroll before putting it on his back for a moment. Pumping chakra into his arms to push the doors open with Oberyn letting out a frustrated sigh before helping the teenager out.

As the entrance gave way, the two entered and with the candles lighting up the room as they saw a gruesome sight before them. A legions worth of bodies lied throughout the large, spacious room with several stacked on top of each other varying piles. On the stony floor, water and blood was spread out to show bad things were on top of the smell.

The pair ignored all of that as their focus soon landed on the individuals fighting against each other.

*CLANG*... *SLASH* *CLANG*... *CLANG*... *SLASH* *SLASH* *SLASH*... *CLANG* *SLASH*

They appeared to be wearing the same set of clothing and armor like everyone of the dead men. The legionnaires carried greatswords in their right hands while having jagged daggers in their left, appearing to be the only arsenal they have. Wearing a black-dyed leather vest as it was over chainmail. The same kind of leather was tied around the arms, with only the left was fitted with a gauntlet. The iron kneecaps had slight decorations, depicting a lion's head from what Naruto and Oberyn could barely make out as it seemed to be of same design on the armored shoulder pieces. To finish off their appearances, they wore red ragged cloaks with oddly pointed steel helms that seemed unnatural; as parts of them seemed to be falling off and seemed to originate from something else.

*CLANG*... *SLASH* *CLANG*... "GAH!" One legionnaire gasped out as his 'comrades' sword plunged through his gut.

"The sword… is mine!" The remaining man growled out as he pulled the greatsword out, letting the body fall onto the floor. The man breathed in deeply before his red eyes caught sight of the new arrivals. Narrowing his gaze with a fearsome growl, he turned towards them and pointed his bloody great sword towards them. "You shall not take… what is rightfully mine!"

-Insert Dark Souls 3 Abyss Watchers Remix- All For One-

The main legionnaire ran towards the two at a quickened pace, causing Naruto to quickly ready his Kubikiribōchō and Oberyn to get his shield and spear out. As the legionnaire got in close, he leaped into the air which caused the prince to roll out of the way before their opponent slammed his sword against Naruto's. The impact was strong as parts of the Kubikiribōchō started to further crack with the blonde struggled to hold the man back.

Not wanting Naruto to get harmed, the Red Viper thrusted his spear into his opponent's side, causing blood to spill out before the man swung around to slash his sword at the spear. The prince held up his shield as he dealt with more attacks on his person. Naruto came up from behind and started to slash at the legionnaire several times, causing him to groan out in pain as blood started to seep out of him.

With their opponent distracted, Oberyn rolled in close to bash the man's side with his shield. Grabbing the end of his spear, he swung his weapon around in a whirlwind like motion to get quick slashes against the man. Things seemed to be working on the assault by the traveling pair as Naruto fought against the man, sword to sword to distract him well enough for Oberyn to strike him from behind.

"Damnit! This guy sure packs a strong swing." Grunted the Uzumaki as he blocked several attacks. More and more cracks started to appear, showing that his sword might be done for quite soon.

"Be glad that there's only one of him." The Red Viper grunted out since the opponent was taking quite the beating. He kept thrusting and spinning his spear around but wondered how this man was still standing with the many lethal, life-ending attacks he laid upon him.

"Neither of you shall have it!"

"Have what exactly?! *Grunt* If you tell us *Grunt* then we'd just stay away from it *Grunt* and let you have it for all we care!" Yelled the shinobi as one more swing caused the Kubikiribōchō to finally break, sending Naruto flying back and half of the sword to fall onto the bloody ground. "Dammit."

Seeing Naruto undefended, Oberyn tried to rush towards the boy to defend him slightly, but the legionnaire blocked his path. The Viper bashed his shield against him, but it seemed to parry against the jagged dagger. It pushed the shield out of the way, causing Oberyn to stumble before he was assaulted by several sword strikes.

"GAH!" Yelled out the Dornish man as he was sent flying towards a pile of dead corpses.

"Don't worry! I'm coming!" Naruto cried out as he tried to get back up. When he did, he saw a sight that would probably haunt his dreams for a while. As one of the legionnaire corpses rose from the bloody stone floor nearby, it looked at the blonde before making its way towards him. "Are you FUCKING KIDDING ME?!"

Naruto rolled back as the second legionnaire performed a dash slashing attack in the attempts to skewer him. With the attack failed, the second opponent swung his greatsword around in the attempts of lopping the blond's head right off of his shoulders. The shinobi was forced to use the broken blade as shield to keep the bloody blade off of him. The assault was brutal, making Naruto wince out in pain several times. He wanted to summon clones or use his Rasengan, but the legionnaire he's currently fighting against was being a bit too fast and strong for Naruto to quickly do such things.

Back with Oberyn, he wasn't doing much better as he kept dodging the first legionnaire's attacks. They were quite dangerous and he wasn't fully equipped to deal with this sort of thing since leather armor can only do so much. He was feeling quite exhausted from this whole ordeal. Even looking towards the side, the prince saw that Naruto was seemingly dealing with his own legionnaire at this time.

Oberyn could only hope they'll be able to have help in any way shape or form.

Unbeknownst to either of the living humans, a corpse rose from the ground with a groan as it eyed the two legionaries fighting against the new arrivals. Underneath his deformed helm, green eyes shown with fury as apart of his soul seemed to return, all because of seeing the blonde teenager.

'He looks… so much… like him.' The third legionnaire thought as more of his being seemed to return. Using his sword as a crutch, he hoisted himself up and staggered in making his way towards the blonde. 'I must… protect him.'

Naruto was struggling on his feet by this point as he tried to get the Kyuubi to fork over some of it's chakra to him. But the fox wouldn't respond back at all, leaving Naruto on his own in this matter. All that he could feel at this point was his body burning from pushing himself further and further, just like the previous times when he tried to use the beast's power.

'Are my chakra coils expanding right now? Is that the reason why I'm feeling this burn right inside of me? And why hasn't the fox given me any chakra?! If I die, he dies! So why isn't he helping?!' Were the teenager's thoughts as he ran by the nearby wall and leapt off of it to smack the second legionnaires head to the side. 'I just need some space and I could maybe Rasengan his ass to next week. Then I can help out Oby-san.'

He was so distracted with his thoughts that he didn't see the third legionnaire running towards him. When he did, Naruto freaked out and thought he was going to get killed in such a way. Yet -much to his surprise- the third legionnaire pushed him away as said legionnaire blocked the incoming sword swing with his own weapon.

When gazing upon the third opponent's great sword, it was greatly different from the other two he saw. It was indeed a greatsword in terms of length, but the design was completely different. The other legionnaires' great swords had a black handle, pommel and guard with some black covering over the bloody blade; but the one wielded by the one that saved Naruto was in stark contrast. It seemed to have a leathery brown handle with a golden guard and it's lion's head pommel was of matching material and color.

Shoving the second opponent away, the third turned back and seemingly gave the teenager a warm gaze before going back to attack the second. Naruto -on his part- saw this and was confused on what just happened. Getting back up, he tried looking for his remaining half of the Kubikiribōchō when he saw something quite interesting: it was repairing itself.

'H-How… How is that possible?' He thought in bewilderment, looking a little bit further to see the other part of the sword seemingly being pulled back by blood connecting the two. On the main half, some of the metal was already growing until it attached with the broken half. Once together, the cracks started to fill with the fallen blood bandaging and binding the sword whole.

Not wanting to question this right now, Naruto grabbed his newly repaired carving-knife sword and dashed towards Oberyn. The prince was about to be stabbed when Naruto leaped at the first opponent, slashed and delivered a powered kick at his side, sending him flying to the far wall.

Checking on the Martell, he saw the man really drained from the beating he had to deal with. Reaching into his pack, he pulled out some blood and rations pills, taking one of each for himself before handing the rest to Oberyn. "Here, eat these."

"...What are they?"

"They'll help gain back your strength." Oberyn merely gave Naruto a cautious, questioning look. "Just trust me on this, please."

Hesitantly taking them from the blonde's palm, he popped the pills into his mouth and crunched on them. They tasted really odd -even for him with what he had in his mouth over the years- as he tasted blood and some substance rushing down his throat. As Naruto helped him get back onto his feet, Oberyn slowly felt really invigorated. Something that surprised him greatly and never experienced before.

"What the hell?" He muttered in shock as he tightened his hand. "How did this-"

"You can thank my ration and blood pills on that Oby-san. Helps a little on wounds and revitalizes your stamina."

"...Why didn't you give them to me before?!" The prince spoke out, seemingly ignoring the fight going on in the background as the third legionnaire was now fighting against the first after killing off the second.

"I only had a limited supply, for starters." Stated the shinobi before he turned around to see the current fight going on. "Come on, we need to finish that first guy off."

"And what of the second?"

"...Actually that's the third." Answered the Uzumaki. "And for some reason… he saved me."

Ignoring Oberyn's questioning look, Naruto dashed at the pair of legionnaires with a Rasengan charged up in the palm of his free hand. Slamming it down on the first opponent, said man yelled out in pain as he was flung to the nearby wall and was embedded into it. Grunting and roaring with rage, the first opponent pulled himself out and hotly glared at the boy and the third opponent.

"Take your filthy hands off of my sword!"

"It's no longer yours, dear ancestor. It belongs to me, to my brother and to his children." The third legionnaire stated in a slightly even tone as he readied his stance at his 'ancestor'. "You were foolish in taking Brightroar all those years ago and all I wanted to do was bringing it back home!"

'Did that legionnaire say Brightroar? As in the Lannister ancestral Valyrian sword Brightroar?' Thought out the prince as he stood beside Naruto. With of a shake of his head, he tried to focus. 'Questions can be answered later. For now, we need to defeat this man.'

Without warning, the 'ancestral Lannister' ran forward with a roar as he came in with a sweeping thrust. Rage clouded his vision, trying to take back what's his to begin with. With each sweep of his blade, rock and dirt was flung into the air as he tried to cut up the group of three. Naruto blocked each of the strikes, but was being pushed back in the attacks while Oberyn and the allied legionary laid on the assault.

Before long, the ancient Lannister collapsed onto the ground, trying to get back up to continue his pursuit of defeating them. But it wasn't enough as he went back down with a low *thud*, leaving the group of three to rest a for the moment. Oberyn was going to start asking the 'descended Lannister' when said man started to groan out in pain before yelling out an agonizing wail. The decedent collapsed, clutching his sides as blood and what appeared to be embers were being lifted off of his body and slowly flew into the air.

The two companions gained a sense of wariness as they saw all of the corpses in the room slowly turn into blood and ash before the material went towards the 'ancestral Lannister'. What was even more surprising was when all of the other copies of the same greatsword and dagger burned into glowing embers as they followed the ash/blood cloud trail. Reaching the downed enemy; the blood, ash and embers were forming around him as the material of all of the legionaries and weapons revitalized and strengthened him.

Slowly getting back up, the ancestral Lannister slammed his sword into the ground, causing it to spark to life. Flames started dancing around the blade, along with the crude looking dagger, as it seemed to match the glowing red eyes emanating from the man's gaze. Following this, the man's clothing started to singe with edges glowing like embers in the flames.

As he watched this, Oberyn got real nervous seeing this occur. 'Dear gods… this reminds me of the tales I've heard that took place at the Siege of the Pyke. Is this what those soldiers back then saw when seeing Thoros' flaming sword?'

"I am taking back what is mine! For I am Tommen II, King of the Rock!" The now identified Tommen II bellowed out as he went into a fierce fighting stance. "And I shall take back Brightroar from your unworthy hands!"

And like in his House's motto, Naruto and Oberyn heard the ancient king roar before he lunging towards them with a fiery trial. Reacting quickly, Naruto summoned a dozen shadow clones to help out in this fight. One of them was quickly killed off by the crude dagger before a couple were sliced in half by the fire coated sword.

Rolling out of the way, Oberyn recovered quickly and grabbed one of his spears before throwing it at Tommen II. The weapon landed it's mark as it buried deep into the possessed man's leg, making him bellow out in pain before cutting the spear from behind. Swiftly turning his gaze, Tommen's eyes looked at the Martell and leaped into the air to strike the man down.

Oberyn wasn't going to react quick enough to move out of the way, so he held up his shield in response. Inspecting a heavy blow, all he heard was a resounding *CLANG* before looking at his young companion. And with a angry look on his face, Naruto yelled at the ancestral Lannister as both swords were struggling against each other. "Not on my watch asshole!"

With a mighty heave -due to Naruto pumping his limbs with chakra- the blonde shoved Tommen II away and delivered several slashes onto the cursed man. Getting out of his stiffened position, Oberyn grabbed his other lance and followed his companion's actions by thrusting and swiping at their opponent. They soon jumped out of the way as Tommen swung his fire sword around in a small fire-like tornado in hopes of hitting either of the companions.

The remainder of Naruto's clones threw out their kunais with attached exploding tags as this delivered a good amount of damage onto Tommen. Bellowing out in rage, he dug his sword into the ground and swiped upwards to send out a fiery trail that destroyed a few clones in the process. What was left of the clones leaped at the ancient Lannister king with either kunai or Rasengans on hand, but neither of them landed their marks as they were soon killed off and went up into smoke.

Both traveling companions dashed around Tommen before Oberyn slid on the ground with Naruto in the air before both of them struck the fire-sword wielder. The two had to soon move out of the way as the ancient Lannister went into a blind fury, wildly swinging all over the place at this point. Neither companions wanted to get close, but it was the only way to finish things off and exit the building alive.

'Kyuubi… Please… At least help me on this like you did when I fought Sasuke-teme.' Naruto thought as he and the Dornish prince were running all over the room to hopefully find an opening to strike. 'After this, you can go back to sleep for all I care for a while.'

The Uzumaki then heard a frustrated groan from within his mind. "Fine." Said the Kyuubi "Just don't disturb my slumber and get killed. Then I'll call things good."

Naruto soon felt his reserves flood with some of the Kyuubi's chakra. Oberyn didn't notice the small changes, due to the fight taking place. If he did, the prince would've seen Naruto's eyes become red as blood with his whisker birthmarks being more pronounced.

'Alright! Time to end this!' And with him invigorated, Naruto ran up the wall before pumping a lot of chakra into his legs. Leaping off of the structure's wall, leaving a massive dent in the process, Naruto went in close with his giant carving knife coated in the fox's chakra.

Coming in close from both sides, Oberyn thrusted his spear into Tommen's chest as it pierced his heart while Naruto distracted the ancient Lannister from the other side. And for good measure, Naruto swung his mighty Kiri sword at the fallen king's head and freed it from it's decrepit body. Landing in a recovery roll, Naruto looked back to see the body slowly falling down onto the dry ground before it's body went up in flames and turned to ash.

This left the two companions in a slightly panting mess as they tried to catch their breaths and calm down their hearts. With the adrenaline pumping through their veins, it'll take several minutes for that to happen. But this was worth it as they had quite the fight on their hands and both survived the encounter.

"Gods above… I need a good fucking." Panted out the Dornish prince, causing his young companion to look at him with a strange, shocked look. "After that, I really want to get back to my ship... and fuck my beloved Ellaria long and hard. *Panting* Nothing is better... than having a good fuck after a great fight like that." Looking at the young blonde, Oberyn gave Naruto a cheeky smile. "Maybe I should get you a girl to have some fun with."

"...WHAT THE FUCK ARE YOU TALKING ABOUT?!" Naruto bellowed out, resulting in him having an oddly comedic appearance on his face. With the literal white eyes as he pointed at the prince in an accusing manner. "THERE'S NO WAY I'M GETTING ROPED INTO DOING THAT, YOU PERVERT!"

This caused the Dornish man to burst out laughing as he never got this kind of reaction before. It was practically priceless as he heard the blonde teenager rant out in a comedic fashion. Though this stopped as both companions heard a series of coughs on the far side of the room, making them look in that general direction to see the descended Lannister was barely alive.

Rushing towards his side, Naruto turned the man over before his distorted helm came off to reveal his long grey hair and weak green eyes. Pulling down the cloth from his face, Naruto saw the man's long beard to help show that he hasn't been able to clean up his appearance in Kami knows how many years. Asides from that, the Lannister had a very withered appearance as he spoke to the blonde shinobi.

"Is… Is it over?"

"Yeah, old man. That guy's dead now." Was the Uzumaki's response, getting a small smile from the old Lannister.

"That's good." Wheezed out the weakly, sane legionnaire. "That's very good."

Off to the side, the Martell looked upon the scene of seeing Naruto trying to take care of the obviously dying man on the ground. Whatever curse he was under, it was finally broken. But not without consequence given his withered look shown on his face.

"Please child… Hand me my family sword… Hand me Brightroar." Complying with his wishes, Naruto jogged over to where the Lannister Valyrian blade was at and brought it over. Carefully putting the greatsword onto the man's chest, the Lannister weakly grasped it as he felt a bit more at piece. "What is your name, child?"

"It's Naruto Uzumaki."

Nodding at this, the old Lannister realized the boy wasn't his nephew Jamie. They looked so much alike around the current boy's age, asides from the whisker marks and blue eyes.

Turning his head over slightly to the teenager's older companion, he spoke out. "And yours?"

"...It's Oberyn Martell."

"Oberyn… Gods, you've grown so much. It feels like ages."

"...And you're Gerion Lannister? The youngest brother of Tywin Lannister, aren't you?" Oberyn asked, getting the now identified Gerion to weakly nod. They've only met a few times when the Martell was younger and remembered hearing about the man leaving for Valyria in search for Brightroar shortly after the Greyjoy Rebellion ended.

To think that he'd end up seeing the man after so many years in his current state is rather shocking with how Gerion became so drastically old.

"Yes… And please… Fulfill me one last request. Please… take me and Brightroar back home. That's all I ask." Pleaded the weak Lannister, getting Naruto to nod with a delayed one from the Martell. "Thank.. You." Shutting his eyes one last time, Gerion Lannister of House Lannister finally passed on.

Without saying a word, Naruto pulled out a storage scroll and made quick work into creating a seal. This was the only way to safely transport the deceased body easier since a stretcher would take too long and he doesn't know how long it'll take to bring his body back to his family. Summoning a few clones, they helped move the body onto the dried up seal and with a *poof*, both body and sword were now inside of the scroll.

"So what now, Oby-san?"

"Now we leave." The Martell simply said as he made his way towards the exit on the other side of the building. "I've had enough of this place and I just want to get back to my beloved Ellaria."

Nodding in response, Naruto soon followed after his older companion. Though he did stop as he saw the great sword and dagger Tommen II used in the fight. He didn't notice this before, but whatever happened after the ancient Lannister's death caused the fire to clean up both of the bladed weapons. No more blood stained the blades, causing them to have a bit of a shinier appearance. The dagger still looked crude, but it seemed to be its initial design with the curved piece of metal on the wooden handle to compliment the claw looking blade.

With the greatsword blade, it had a gradient coloring of black at the very tip before transitioning to a standard steel grey in the middle before light grey towards the handle. The darkened horned guard compliments the spiked pommel and the leather handle as it connected with the blade's guard, stretched out towards a quarter down the blade as it connected to the fuller. An interesting design on the blade's guard was the bloomed flower with vines wrapped around it to finish things off.

The shinobi hesitantly picked them up and expected something foul to happen, only for nothing to occur at all. They felt right in his hands -for some reason- as a warm feeling came into his palms. Deciding to take the weapons with him, he quickly sealed those up in an empty spot in his sealing scroll before picking back up his Kubikiribōchō.

As the two got to the keep's exit, they pushed the door open that was surprisingly easy this time around. Once opened, the pair were greeted with semi-bright light from both the nearby volcanoes and the full moon up above as they viewed the ocean with them stepping onto the cliffside. Neither wanted to know how or why they ended up here, but it didn't matter as Oberyn let out a pleasant sigh of relief.

"Well aren't you a sight for sore eyes." The Martell spoke as he gazed at his ship near the coast. "Now we just need to get the hell off of this island and we're home free."

"Are you sure about that, Oby-san?"

"...Why you ask, Naruto?"

"Because there's a ship coming closer to yours and something tells me it's not good."

Looking back at his ship, the Red Viper looked a bit further off the coast and saw another ship was coming in. A sinking feeling came around and feared on what was going to happen. In response, he started to run away from his position to try and find a coastline.

Seeing this, the shinobi ran with him and asked the older man. "What the hell are you doing?!"

"I need to get back quickly! Pirates are about to hit our only transport and my beloved is there!"

"Then what are we waiting for!" Naruto summoned a horde of clones as some of them grabbed the Dornish prince. He was about to yell out at them to let go before he felt a sense of weightless as the whole group seemed to jump off of the cliffside and towards the water below. Oberyn felt his heart trying to break out of his chest at this point, causing him to yell out at this point.

"ARE YOU FUCKING CRAZY?!"

-Onboard the Martell Ship-

Inside of the shared cabin of her beloved, Ellaria was sitting on the bed as she was writing up a letter to not just her daughters, but to the rest of Oberyn's family.

Whenever the couple travel outside of Dorne, they always promised to write to keep them updated on their whereabouts and activities. The pair do it weekly as the fastest raven they carry on either their caravan or ship always make it back home by weeks end and vice versa when traveling extremely vast distances.

Now the pair would normally do this in the daylight hours when traveling, but Ellaria needed to distract herself at the current time. Reason being her worrying herself over Oberyn being on that godforsaken territory.

The Dornish bastard tried reading one of the several books she brought with her, but she kept thinking of her lover. She decided to doodle for a little, but kept drawing depictions of him. She tried taking a nap again, but she kept tossing and turning. Of course she had to stay away from pleasuring herself or else his handsome features would invade her mind.

So writing was the only option for her at this point after Oberyn left the ship a few hours prior. For what should've been a simple pick up on the heavenly rock took much longer than she would've liked.

Placing the piece of paper of her recent report to Prince Doran -Head of House Nymeros Martell and leader of the Dornish people- amongst the other written letters, Ellaria flexed her writing hand and dipped her quill into the ink pot before writing the last letter for the evening. She usually saves this particular one for last amongst all of Oberyn's family.

Even though she bore her prince four daughters out of his seven, the eldest of said lot that came from her womb was her absolute favorite.

To my dearest Tyene,

Your father and I are doing well since I last wrote. Not much could be said on how our travel has been since things have seemed rather… boring, suffice to say. After all, not much could be done upon the open seas.

One could try to fish along the ship's deck, but depending on the ocean's waves would make it rather difficult to catch food… without the proper equipment. There could be some party we could do on the ship, but we don't want to waste the supplies; even if we were to so happen to be ambushed by pirates and raiders. All that we can do is tredge forward and focus in our work to get to our destinations as soon as possible.

So sad to say, it's not great to be on a ship if there's not much form of entertainment. And doing such activities that one could think of can become boring, much like what your father considers boring with certain poisons.

I just hope by the time we reach Meereen - or even just there- something exciting will happen elevate this… stale feeling. Something I could enjoy regaling to you about once I return home.

I love you with all my heart and wish you the best joy possible.

Oh and PS: don't forget to tell Dorea, Obella and Loreza -your full sisters- that I love and miss them as well.

Putting down the quill, Ellaria leaned back against the chair and rubbed her eyes. 'Should I or should I not have put down on what Oberyn is doing on the Valyrian island?'

The Dornish bastard could use the other side of the raven-sized message scrolls to write a quick message on what Oberyn's intension is with Old Valyria. Procuring a heavenly rock and making a sword out of it to be similar to House Dayne's ancestral sword, Dawn, could increase House Martell's standing in Westeros. Never in said house's history -or even in Dorne in general- have they ever had a Valyrian steel sword. The only thing remotely close is the sword from House Dayne.

Dawn had been tested before to see if it was indeed on the same ground as Valyrian steel. Dead animals to even armored training dummies and standard swords were cleaved right through with single swings. Not just that, but it's been reported that Dawn even clashed against some Valyrian sword in a war in the distant past and both blades were at a standstill with neither breaking.

With this knowledge on hand, was it even worth Oberyn's safety to retrieve the heavenly rock in the godforsaken land?

A small amount of exhaustion came over Ellaria, making her want to head out of the cabin in order to get some fresh air to clear her head.

-Insert Assassin's Creed 4 OST: Ship Boarding Theme-

*BANG* *CRASH*

"What the hell?" Rushing out of the cabin now, the Sand Snake looked outside to see what happened as the ship harshly rocked. Turning towards the source, she realized what happened. "Pirates."

By this point, the Martell crew was on high alert as they quickly armed themselves with their bladed weapons. The boarding party soon followed as several pirates swung in from their ropes, letting go and falling down while stabbing several crew members in the process. The fighting soon commenced as people left and right started to fight for their lives.

Ellaria wasn't defenseless however as she pulled out a knife on her person and stabbed an incoming pirate before relieving him of his sword. Quickly parrying an incoming swing, the Sand Snake used her knife to slice the man's throat before kicking his dying body away.

Rushing into the small battle, she helped some of the crew members fend off some of the attackers. But they appeared to just keep coming to no end. Be as it may, she'll do what it takes to help save this ship by the time her beloved returns.

"By the Seven, we need a lot of help right about now." She muttered before being kicked from behind and falling onto the deck. Turning around, Ellaria saw one of the pirates about to stab her into the chest…

*SHIRK*

"Hey. Are you alright, ma'am?"

...Until a blonde teenager in a strange blue/orange outfit stabbed the man's back once landing on top of him.

Dumbfounded by this odd arrival, Oberyn's paramour only nodded in response. Seeing this, the whiskered blonde nodded before rushing into battle… with another?… and another?... and several more?

"What the fuck?" The Sand Snake muttered as she eyed to odd spectacle.

"God's damnit, Naruto!" A familiar voice called out, making Ellaria spin around to see her lover finally on deck with a spear and shield on hand. "Warn me next time you do that!"

"Well there was no time, Oby-san." One of the boy's called out as he fought one of the larger pirates. "It was literally the quickest way in getting here!"

"And running on the fucking water was the better solution?! With you and your copies carrying me the entire way!" The Viper questioned as he stabbed a pirate through the gut before bashing another with his shield. "I would've prefered swimming, for fucks sakes!"

"Yeah. Yeah. Whatever." Another blonde non-caringly said as ran in between the pirates and sliced parts of their legs to make them fall down with varying *thuds*.

The battle continued as the other clones landed on deck and helped relieve the Martell crew of the enemies. Even went so far with the original landing on the pirate's ship and made his way through the most of them. Slicing several at a time with his giant carving knife by either cutting off limbs or cutting their chests up badly.

The shinobi wanted to try and keep casualties down to a minimum on the enemy side so the Martells could do whatever they saw fit on what just occurred. Though it's hard to do so with the pirates' constant attempts to kill him at every turn. So he was forced to keep doing what he was doing, while occasionally throwing shuriken at the enemy crew with some sticking out of their eyes or piercing some vital areas.

Back on the Martell ship, the Sand Snake sliced one of the attackers across the chest before kicking him overboard. The same followed as she swept behind one of the pirates and shoved her sword through the man's back. With the Viper, he threw his spear at one of the attackers with it piercing his neck and going through another opponent's head. Coming in close, Oberyn smacked one of the other attackers off of his boat with his shield. With his adrenaline rush, he twisted around when someone bumped right into him and almost attacked the person, only to see…

"Oberyn!"/"Ellaria!"

Soon after their small surprise, they developed each other into a soul searing kiss as the action around them was soon dying down. The Martell crew cheered for their success, despite the loss of some of their men. But let it be known that the families of those fallen members will be compensated for their troubles.

As their kiss soon ended, Ellaria gave Oberyn a curious look and asked the obvious question. "What took you so long, my love?"

"I'm sorry, my dear, but I had some trouble on the island." Looking at Oberyn, she could see why as there were varying rips and tears on his attire with several cuts that'll need stitching soon enough or else they'll get infected. "Though I had some help in that time."

She was quite curious on who he was referring to. That was until her gaze landed upon the several blonde teenagers running around the deck to help some of the crew out. "Him?"

Oberyn chuckled. "Yes him." Seeing her bewildered look, the Dornish prince shook his head as he walked beside her to help follow his young companion's actions. "And it's got quite the story behind on what happened, Ellaria."

"That I'll be sure to hear quite well."

"Of course… Hells, I still need to hear his story on how he got to Old Valyria in the first place."

-End Chapter-

Gundyr Armor: Ancient armor set mostly casted in Valyrian steel, modeled after a former king. Gundyr -the Belated Champion- was bested by an unknown warrior. He then became sheath to a coiled sword in the hopes that someday, the true Flame would rise once more.

Gundyr's Halberd: Halberd of Gundyr the Champion, received when he was charged with his eternal duty until his fated death. This old Valyrian steel halberd has the power to break poise.

Blacksmith Hammer: Metal hammer passed down amongst the greatest blacksmiths of Valyria. Serves as a strike weapon, but also excels at reducing poise and breaking the guard of a shield. Of course, a hammer's true potential is realized in the hands of talented blacksmiths.

Valyrian Smithing Journal: Ways in creating freshly made Valyrian steel. Yet, the writing requires proper translation as the language written within its pages is lost to time(?)

Histories of *********: Contains histories and lores from Valyria when it was once alive. Yet it holds other stories to behold.

Eyes of the ***** ******: Representing the eyes of the ***** ****** with the light gone from them just like what it's intended for. They reveal to the sightless things that they should never see.

Brightroar: The ancestral Valyrian sword was purchased by the Lannister Kings of old before the Doom of Valyria. As it was said, they paid their weight in gold, same amount to raise an army, to acquire the famous metal before crafting it to their liking. Years later, Tommen II of House Lannister left with a fleet and the family sword to go to Valyria to plunder its wealth and knowledge for the glory of his home, but they never returned.

Years later, Gerion Lannister -youngest brother of Tywin Lannister- sought out the blade and went with a ship of his own, but no one has ever found or heard from him since… Until recently with Naruto Uzumaki and Oberyn Martell found him in Valyria.

Farron Greatsword/Dagger: Originally owned by the first Valyrian Watcher of the Abyss, legionnaire protectors of the Valyrian Empire. The Watcher modeled his sword with inspiration towards the man he served under as a squire, Artorias Stark, while his dagger resembles a wolf's claw. In the Doom of Valyria, the legionnaires were destroyed and the first sword/dagger of the group was cursed. Infecting those with the abyss itself.

Tommen II came across the Valyrian steel weapon and tried to take it as his own in his pursuit of plundering the ruins of Old Valyria. But this was his downfall as the weapon cursed him and others that followed him to fight each other until gods knows when. When Gerion Lannister arrived to pursuit Brightroar, he ended up cursed as well as he fought his ancestor to acquire the family sword.

It is now cleansed after Tommen's defeat and is currently wielded by Naruto Uzumaki. And like the original owner, the Konoha shinobi will protect those that are precious to him, even protecting the whole realm of Westeros later in his life. It'll be renamed into something else once Naruto thinks of a better name for it. Unique feature on the weapon pair is that when coating enough chakra onto them, they'll light up on fire as what they originally had years ago with magic.

Kubikiribōchō: Translates to Decapitating Carving Knife in common tongue. A weapon belonging to Zabuza Momochi of the Seven Swordsmen of Kirigakure before his death as it was soon acquired by Naruto Uzumaki. Like every sword in the Seven Swordsmen set, the cleaver ultra greatsword has a unique feature about it. Ignoring the two holes in it -to entrap victims in it for whatever purpose- when broken it can be repaired by absorbing the iron in blood to mend itself.