Understandably, the trio didn't stay long in the village, spending a single night within its walls before leaving the next morning, unnerved by the implications of what they had been told. By mid-morning they were well and truly out of sight of the small settlement, skipping their customary morning training for the sake of putting more distance between them.

"Naruto?" asked Nell quietly as they walked.

Naruto jerked his head to look at her, startled from his thoughts.

"Mmm?"

"It was that man we saw on the road, wasn't it? The bard?"

Naruto forced out a weak smile.

"I dunno, Nell, it could be."

"D-do you think its true? Did he use m-magic to take that woman's children?"

Naruto could only shake his head slowly.

"I don't know."

"But he seemed so nice!"

Naruto patted her on the head softly.

Despite her rough childhood, sometimes the impressionable young girl just forgot how cruel the world could be.

Squinting as the weakening rays of sunlight of the fading sun striking the surrounding trees and sending warm shafts of orange light over the forest floor, Naruto knelt down next to the stream, uncapping the trio's canteens. With the day coming to an end, they were making camp for the night. Pell had been tasked with building a fire, while his sister was preparing some ingredients.

With a wave of his hand, Naruto bid some water to float out of the bubbling brook, automatically shedding impurities and undesirables from the liquid as it filled the canteens handily.

An ice-cold presence at his heel made his look down, only to see Wolf's disembodied head sniffing at his ankles.

"Hello again," he said brightly.

"Hi," growled Wolf, "Reckon there's anyone you can kill violently for me? I'd fancy a hunt right about now."

Naruto rolled his eyes.

"Hi Lamb," he said instead, greeting the spirit's everpresent companion.

"Human," she acknowledged, giving the barest of nods.

Naruto formed a clone and sent it off to start dinner as well as deliver the refilled canteens.

"So," he said, turning back to his immortal visitors, "What brings you here? Not that I'm complaining, but for death incarnate, you sure seem to spend a lot of time shooting the shit with me. Shouldn't you be like… doing your job?"

Lamb snorted.

"We are everywhere. Even now, we are hunting. No matter who, no matter when, death comes without fail."

Naruto lips made a smile, but his eyes lacked his usual warmth.

"Is that so?" he asked mildly.

A clone formed and Naruto handed the filled canteens to it to take back to the twins.

"Hey, got a minute? I wanna talk to you guys about something," he directed at the two spirits.

"You dare seek the counsel of death incarnate?" came the deep bassy tones of Lamb.

Wolf rolled his eyes.

"What is it?" he asked.

A boulder rose out of the ground and Naruto sat down upon it.

"There's a… person…" he started, "…in this area recently. We met him down the road yesterday, leading to the village about a day's travel in that direction."

He pointed out the forest towards the road.

"He was like nothing I've ever encountered before. He didn't feel like a demon, but he definitely wasn't a human. But he looked like one. He had white hair, and blue eyes, and he was very handsome. He called himself a bard-"

"We know of the one of which you speak," interrupted Lamb.

Naruto couldn't see her expression underneath the mask, but her voice sounded… troubled.

She leant against a tree and started playing with her bowstring absentmindedly.

"You are right. That thing is not human. It takes many shapes and forms, but it has always existed, for as long as we remember."

"Are you saying it's older than you?"

"We are Death upon Runeterra!" snapped Lamb, before her tone softened, "But that thing may predate Runeterra."

"How is that possible?"

"Runeterra came into being when magic overflowed from the lands. And that magic birthed life itself – spirits first, like us - aspects of magic itself - then the yordles - the fey creatures born of magic - the vastaya - the first 'mortals' that were still in tune with Runeterra's primal magic - and then finally, the humans, containing only a spark of magic, diluted to nothingness with the exception of a select few. But this is not the only world. There is another world, the demon world, which they call the Under. Some cross over to this world, and we hunt them, as we hunt all things, from the mightiest king or the weakest infant. The Under is likely not the only other world – for where there is one, there could be many. Those worlds may be older than Runeterra, and that bard may have come from one."

Naruto had many questions, but…

"What was on this world before Runeterra, then?"

Lamb shrugged.

"Who knows? Probably nothing. There was no evidence of anything resembling evidence of life anywhere on the land."

"What about under the ocean?"

Lamb tilted her head in confusion.

"What?"

"What if the evidence was under the sea?"

Lamb stared at him.

"I mean," she said slowly, "There are certain types of vastaya and yordles who live under the ocean, and we have hunted them all the same, so I guess it's possible that some kind of proto-mortal lived under the sea…"

Naruto shook his head.

"Nevermind," he said, "Anyway, about that bard… we passed through a village-"

Lamb's sharp intake of breath and hiss of anger stopped him in his tracks.

"That thing perverts the natural order of things," she said venomously, "It is bad enough that it is an existence that may not ever be hunted, but it takes others, too. It takes the young ones and makes them into something like itself. And those young ones will never be hunted either, forever living, trapped in a cursed existence."

Naruto sucked in a shocked breath.

"You sure say a lot for someone who knows so little, girl."

The smooth voice so close to them caught both Naruto and Lamb by surprise, but each reacted in a split second – Naruto hurling a fireball from outsretched fingers and Lamb firing a glittering white arrow which she had drawn and nocked in the blink of an eye.

Both projectiles proved ineffective – somehow both of them had their momentum completely arrested and ending up suspended in the air, frozen like a still life painting. Curiously, the flame did not flicker or burn, instead holding its shape as if carved from marble.

Undeterred, Naruto lunged forward, swinging his tanto in a wide arc, aiming to slice through the newcomer's neck.

"Oh for goodness' sake," muttered the stranger, as Naruto felt himself jerked backwards out of his swing, as if by a rope wrapped around his navel.

"What the- " was all he could exclaim before the rest of his breath left his lungs due to his back impacting a solid object, sending both of them tumbling to the ground.

By the softness of his landing and the muffled curse, Naruto deduced he had been pushed into Lamb.

He made to get back up, but for some reason found he couldn't move a muscle, as he was now bound by some kind of golden light. Straining his muscles and even flaring his chakra made no difference, as the light was as unrelenting as steel bonds yet not solid enough to be affected by force.

By the feel of it, Lamb had gone through the same struggles and come to the same conclusion.

Their attacker, who of course was the bard who had been their subject of conversation, looked at them calmly.

"Don't worry," he said brightly, "It'll disappear by itself after a while."

"Soulless abomination! Wolf! Bite him!" ordered Lamb.

But Wolf only looked at her and shook his great head.

"This one will not be hunted by us, little Lamb. He does not flee death, nor does he accept it."

"That's right," chirped the bard, "Good doggie. Who's a smart boy?"

He reached out with his hand to pet Wolf, but the spirit shied away from his touch, floating out of reach. The bard, unperturbed, only shrugged and lowered his hand.

"Death comes for all things! That is how it always has been and always will be!" argued Lamb, "It is not supposed to exist! It is a contradiction of the natural order! An abomination!"

"Little girl," said the bard condescendingly, "You have absolutely no idea what you are talking about."

"Stop calling me 'little girl'!" snarled Lamb, and from the sudden chill, Naruto knew her eyes had started to glow with power, "I am death incarnate!"

"Little girl," said the bard again, a small smile on his face but no humour left in his voice, "I predate you. I was there when 'Runeterra' sprung to life, when this world was still nothing but an endless ocean. I have seen civilisations rise and fall, populations grow and die out, entire worlds swallowed by the uncaring starmakers or the eternal void. Manifestations of death? I have met many of them, all greater and more mighty than you and outlived them all. So be quiet and let the adults talk, hmm?"

"Insolence! Why-"

"Alright, enough."

With a gesture from the bard, Lamb was silenced. He had not bound her mouth in any way, and Naruto could still feel her outrage from behind him, but she had simply been rendered incapable of emitting sound.

"And by adults, I mean you."

And now those unnaturally wide, impossibly blue eyes turned to Naruto.

"Eh?" was all he could respond.

"I know you, Sleeping One. I could feel your power when I first arrived here, when the oceans still covered the earth. You may have left that crystal chamber where you slumbered, but I would know your power anywhere."

Behind him, Naruto felt Lamb's struggles stop abruptly, her attention caught.

"What is your point?" Naruto asked coolly.

"You have power, power not born of Runeterra. It may soon come that I may require your assistance, Sleeping One."

"Why should I help you? You take children-"

"I grant them immortality," cut in the bard, not quite incensed, but something heated in his voice, "I let them transcend their mortality! With me they will live forever, as my companions!"

"You took them away from their families, their lives!"

"A small price to pay, for eternal life," spat the bard.

"And did any of them ask for it before you stole them away?"

"ENOUGH!" roared the bard, and with that word the world distorted.

The dark of the night glittered with sudden light as fey portals opened up where before there had only been shadow, accompanied by arcane symbols in an alien script. Words of power chanted in a haunting elegy caressed the very edge of hearing, heralded by a chorus of subtle voices, gentle as the susurrus of shifting autumn leaves. Things moved in peripheral vision - wild movements, like the mad dance of court jesters, only to still into serenity when confronted by mortal eyes. The trees extended up, up, up into marble pillars that held up the velvet canopy of the sky, and even beyond, into spears that pierced the heavens themselves. Even the grass seemed alive, twisting and squirming, arranging themselves into shapes both familiar yet teetering at the edge of comprehension, all the while changing colours like a demented pinwheel.

Everything was accompanied by an everpresent droning hum, soft at first, but soon rising into an unbearable volume, like a trillion trillion bees roused into anger.

And in the centre of it all was the bard, whose countenance never changed, even as the proportions of his body shifted like the rest of the mad world he had summoned. Deathly thin, then comedically round, then huge and imposing before returning to a normal size with the exception of his face, which stayed menacing large, his eyes alone expanding to palm sized bulbous yellow disks.

"I," he declared, his voice once again calm, "keep the balance of the cosmos. I protect countless worlds from catastrophic threats, not just Runeterra. I wander the universe, saving it daily from fates worse than death. I protect relics which can destroy worlds with but a thought, I patch up gaps in the fabric of reality, I seal away rifts and destroy paradoxes."

The featureless eyes continued to stare blankly as the bard continued, his voice reasonable.

"If not for my efforts, then none of you would exist. Do you not think I deserve some companions on my eternal mission? A small price to pay, you would agree, for my continued service? What is the fate of a few children when it comes to weigh against the fate of the cosmos itself?"

"I will never accept that," declared Naruto.

"You can't stop me," replied the bard simply, "I am not asking you to like me, but to join your power to mine when the time comes. Not long ago… the gap between worlds was breached. Two beings who should not exist in this world now roam the land, anchored by a World Rune and a Word of Power. They are empowered by dark gods, not of our plane."

"Isn't that your job, to take care of stuff like this?"

"In direct combat, my powers are limited. Especially when the foes have the protection of powerful deities, not to mention being shielded from Runeterran magic by the World Rune which brought them here. But you, Sleeping One, your power predates Runeterra, much like my own. But unlike mine… yours, yours was made for battle."

Naruto stayed silent.

"Help me when the time comes, Sleeping One. This is not a request."

"I will make that judgement," Naruto said.

"You will, one way or another," said the bard.

Then, without fanfare, everything went back to normal in the blink of an eye. The night was just the night, the trees were just trees, and the bard was just a handsome man with a charming smile.

"Well, then," he said, cheerily, "I'll be off then. I'll keep in touch if I need your help, eh?"

Before Naruto could respond, the bard had already turned and stepped into a normal looking tree trunk, completely disappearing from view.

"-man, human, human!"

Naruto blinked.

"Lamb?"

"Oh good, you can hear me again."

Wolf who had been hanging at the edges of the clearing, now slunk into view, staring into the eyes of the sitting Naruto.

"I knew you smelt different," he growled softly, "You're no ordinary human… who are you?"

"Ah, beat me to it," mumbled Lamb.

"I'm just someone who has been sleeping for a long time," said Naruto sadly, "But I was just that, a human."

There was silence in the clearing, before Naruto broke it.

"By the way, can't you do something about this thing holding me to you, Lamb? Your body is too cold. It's uncomfortable."

"What do you mean? My body is at room temperature!"

"That's too cold! It feels weird!"

Lamb perched herself on the fallen trunk of a tree, her bow laid over her knees. She adjusted her mask to fit better on her face, before propping herself up with her palms to lean back comfortably. The gloom of twilight threw long shadows over the forest floor, but her sharp eyes were unaffected. Wolf was away somewhere she knew not, doing who knows what.

Nearby, Naruto and the twins were too settling down, but around a roaring fire, passing around bowls of hearty beef stew, thick with chunky root vegetables and seasoned with wild herbs. A hunk of rustic bread was there to complement the meal, perfect for soaking up the remains of the delicious stew.

After their confrontation with that thing that called itself a bard, Lamb had spent the next several weeks watching the curious 'human' called Naruto. The strange being that commanded even that cosmic abomination's respect. Someone older than her, with powers that predated Runeterra's itself.

And over that period of time… she had learned absolutely nothing about his powers.

Instead, she had watched as he took care of the two young humans – teaching them, cooking for them, training them. She watched as they bonded and laughed, watched as they sweated and cried.

And over that time, she had grown… fond of the trio.

Well, the adult was still as annoying as ever, and was always taking the opportunity to tease her, but at the very least he had stopped calling her 'Sheep'. But the children, even though they couldn't see her, were adorable.

Nell, the girl who wanted to be a mage, was the quieter and more precocious of the two, but worked hard and was cheerful and bubbly around her brother and guardian, both of whom it was clear she loved from the bottom of her heart. Her brother, in contrast, was more brash and outgoing, but had a heart of gold and a strong and wholesome personality.

Lamb had never before observed humans in such close proximity before. She had met a scant few before their time, but the meetings were invariably short and, for her at least, forgettable. But watching how they enjoyed being in each other's company, how they laughed at each other's jokes or shared insecurities and dreams, how they took strength from another's encouragement or just comfort from their presence... it was a new perspective she had never really experienced before.

From the dawn of Runeterra, it had always been Lamb and Wolf, two halves of one entity. The Eternal Hunters, Kindred. They were all each other had in the world, destined to hunt every last living thing, until the end of time. They were of one mind, complementing each other yet contrasting. 'Lamb knows much but feels little, and Wolf feels but knows not,' as the old saying goes.

They had known nothing else but each other and needed no one else but each other.

Yet…

Even after a short time, she felt something inside her that she had never felt before. A stirring of something, a warm feeling; attachment. Over the span of a few weeks – short even for human standards - a mere blink of an eye for her millennial existence - she had grown to like the close-knit trio.

Considering this, Lamb adjusted her mask absentmindedly.

It would be such a shame when it came time to hunt them.

"Hungry?" came a voice which was, as much as she hated to admit it, now very familiar to her.

Lamb raised her head to look at Naruto, who was holding a bowl of stew out to her.

Now having grown used to the sight, Lamb was about to refuse as she usually did – she didn't need sustenance, being a spirit – when, on a whim she didn't quite understand herself, nodded.

"Alright," she said, before she stopped herself in sheer surprise.

Naruto himself blinked, having expected her to decline his offer and berate him for applying his 'human standards' on an 'all-powerful manifestation of death' like she usually did, and wasn't wholly prepared for the unexpected answer.

"Uh, okay, enjoy," he said, handing the bowl over with a spoon, "Careful, it's hot."

Lamb rolled her eyes despite knowing the human wouldn't be able to see it under her mask and took the bowl.

"Thank you," she said begrudgingly.

She stirred the stew slowly, and watched as big chunks of meat, carrot and potato swirled, releasing a litany of mouth-watering aromatic smells and the distinct sharp tang of herbs and spices. She had never felt any compulsion to eat human food before, but now it was this close to her, it didn't seem so bad at all…

"Oh, it's a beef stew," piped in Naruto, "Don't sheep just eat gra-"

"I'm not an animal," snapped Lamb, temped to throw the bowl of piping hot food into his irritating face, "I have nothing against eating meat."

Naruto chuckled, then sat down on the ground in front of her.

Lamb, who was about to try the food, raised an unseen eyebrow and stared at him.

"What?" she asked.

"What?" he echoed.

"Are you going to watch me eat?"

"Can't I?"

"Don't you have those children to look after?" Lamb said archly, not really liking the idea of having someone scrutinise her while she ate.

The human rolled his eyes and produced one of his 'clones' which promptly departed towards the campfire.

"There, the kids are looked after," he said smugly.

Lamb just stared at him until he finally shifted uncomfortably.

"I'm kinda curious about how you look under the mask," he admitted finally.

Lamb blinked.

"Oh, is that all," she said, "You could have just asked."

Naruto's head jerked back in surprise.

"Really?"

"Yes, I don't really have anything against it. I have never removed my mask before because I never saw a reason to, but that doesn't mean I have any special attachment to my face being hidden."

Lamb moved a hand to the simple carved mask that had always sat on her face from the beginning of time.

"Oh," said Naruto, "I would have thought you would have said something like 'This mask represents who we are as a manifestation of death. It is who we are. We have no identity but death,' or something along those lines, haha. Well, let's see it then."

Lamb's hand didn't move.

"Lamb?" asked Naruto presently.

Her face reddening under the mask, Lamb considered his words. He did have a point. She had never seen her own face before, but the odds were that it was something similar to a human face judging by the shape of the mask. She had a duty as the representation of death upon Runeterra, a duty, to uphold the dignity of death. The mask was her badge of office, an impersonal calling card that was instantly recognisable - feared and revered through all the land. For a mortal to associate death with a face was to humanise it, to identify with it. She would lose respect. Death would lose respect.

To almost have made such a huge blunder, and to have a mere human point it out, was mortifying.

"Lamb, you alright?" asked the human, again, a note of what seemed like concern in his voice.

"I'm fine," Lamb said brusquely, recovering.

She pushed the up and sideways just a fraction, allowing only her mouth to be shown, where she then proceeded to put a spoonful of stew.

"I thought you said you didn't mind your face being shown," said Naruto, confused.

"I don't," said Lamb shortly, in between bites.

This human food is good!

"Then why won't you show me?"

"Because you want to see," replied Lamb smugly.

The human looked back at her, blinking dumbly, mouth open.

A thrill of triumph rushed through her and she allowed herself a small grin before continuing with her meal.

So this is how it feels!

It felt so good to finally get one snark back at the human. It seemed like he was always teasing her about this or that – calling her a sheep, calling her a child, patting her head, talking rudely about her to Wolf behind her back knowing full well she could hear him… now she had gotten her revenge for once. It felt… it felt good. His face in that stupid expression of disbelief was a memory she would carry with her long into her life.

Then, finally, the human's mouth broke open in a genuine smile and he laughed heartily.

"Fair enough!" he said, "By the way, you're devouring that bowl – do you want seconds? Also, does Wolf want any?"

Lamb paused, still happy from her win.

"Wolf is more in tune with his instincts than I. He already hunts and feasts for sport. I saw it as beneath me and did no such thing. As for a second portion… I will gladly accept."

The human grinned, picking up two leaves.

"Coming right up!" he said.

And with a blur of twisting space, both leaves were replaced with two more bowls of soup with accompanying bread. He placed one on the log by her side, then started to tuck into the other.

And so the two dined together - one half of Death, and a man who had longed for it for so long, yet not anymore.

Naruto set his spoon down and glanced over at Lamb, who, after doing the same, sat back with a satisfied sigh. She adjusted the mask she wore back into its rightful position, and then placed one hand on her stomach, the other propping her up.

Naruto stared at the hand lying idly on her stomach. It was covered with fluffy white fur but the fingers were delicate and well-formed, like any other human's. In contrast, Lamb's legs were like her namesake's, with a high ankle ending in cloven hooves.

From what he had seen when she had shifted her mask to eat, she had a human mouth and face, but her skin was pale - almost white in hue, while her lips were small, with a blueish tint.

Noticing his gaze, the subject of his thoughts tilted her head curiously.

"Why're you staring at me?" she asked, but with less venom than usual.

It seemed like a full stomach mellowed her out.

"Do you sleep?" Naruto asked, the question just popping into his head.

"Occasionally," replied Lamb, seeing no harm in answering questions she usually would have been annoyed at, content as she was feeling at the moment, "If I feel like it. I don't need to sleep, but I am able to, if I wish. Wolf likes to sleep, and sometimes I do not like to venture off without him so I do too."

With a flick of his fingers, Naruto replaced the empty bowls and cutlery, sending them back to his clone who with the twins.

"So who can actually see you?"

"What is this, an interrogation? Human, let us take turns in asking questions – I have no few things I wish to ask of you myself."

"You can always just ask, you know," said Naruto, amused.

Lamb sniffed but did not reply. She had an image to protect – gods damn her if the human thought she was interested in him!

"What did the bard say when he meant he called you 'the Sleeping One'? Are you really as old as he? Who are you?"

Naruto leant back, supporting himself on his palms.

"Let me tell you a story, little Lamb. Back a long, long time ago, there was a man. And that man lived in a war against a terrible enemy. That terrible enemy's only goal was to kill that man. They would never stop until they succeeded. Their army was unending, and powerful. The allies of the man did the best they could, but they were fighting a losing battle. But they couldn't give up, because if the enemy killed the man, then the whole world was lost.

So they hid him away. Put him where the enemy would never find him, where no-one would. Hid him in a corner of the world and threw away the key. They saved the world and saved the man, but by throwing away that key no one could find the man when the enemy was finally defeated. So he stayed that way, hidden, for years and years. Years that turned into decades, into centuries, into millennia. Until the world he knew now lay under the sea, until the lands now were filled with strange magic and big cities and weird people, until he no longer remembered the people he had loved more than life itself. Where the Death God is no longer an creepy old dude with a knife but cute little girl with a bow and her pet dog."

He finished his story with a light-hearted jab at her, but although she gave a token 'Hey!' as a reaction, she was too enthralled by the story to be as outraged as she usually would.

"Am I as old as that bard?" continued Naruto, "No idea – I don't know how long I was sealed away, and I don't know how old he is. Time was weird in there – I don't really feel very old myself, actually. Being out here, doing things, seeing new sights, with every day being different – makes all that time seem almost like it was nothing but a really bad dream."

Naruto's hand moved to the obsidian necklace lying against his check and upon feeling the comforting warmth it gave off, smiled wistfully.

It was true.

All of that … it seemed like an entire life time ago…

And the things before that…

A throb of pain wracked his temples and he shook his head. It was just so long ago… he couldn't remember…

Nell stared suspiciously at her guardian, who was currently washing the bowls and utensils they had just used. Normally she would have been fascinated with the way that he could just get water from the river to clean the various dishes seemingly of their own accord, but right now she had something else on her mind.

Something was up.

Pell hadn't noticed it yet, but Naruto had been acting strange for the past few weeks.

It was just little things - subtle tells - but Nell couldn't help but notice when she started to look out for them.

Naruto was spending more time away from them – just a few minutes here and there, but he'd completely disappear into the forest for a bit and then come back later. Sometimes he would also stand a strangely distant way away, and a few times, Nell could have sworn he was talking to someone, even though she couldn't see another soul anywhere.

And during meal times – sometimes he'd disappear with an extra portion for some reason, only to come back with it untouched. Or so it was until today. Today, he didn't come back. Instead, it was a clone.

She could always tell, because the clones were extra nice to her and Pell for some reason. Plus, the fact that it didn't eat anything was pretty compelling evidence.

She had been watching closely, and instead of eating, the clone had filled up an extra bowl or two of the stew and then the meal had disappeared. Later on the bowls had reappeared next to the clone without her noticing, but what she had noticed was that the food had been eaten.

Naruto had eaten separately from them.

And not only that, but he was eating with someone.

"What's up, Nell?" asked Naruto, the clean dishes floating up out of the river and drying themselves with a convenient draught of wind.

Nell shook her head.

"Nothing," she said.