To be Worthy

Chapter 3: Bite the Bullet

A/N: Genshin is still downloading...this is taking forever!

*cries in slow internet*

Aaaand we're back. Adventreader221 helped me write a MASSIVE part of an up-and-coming chapter, namely a certain confrontation in coming chapters.

Many thanks to him; were it not for his unexpected aid, it would've taken me forever to write it.

Even more Fate Strange Fake vibes in this chapter~!

If this chapter gets a ton of feedback -hopefully it will!- then I'll do my best to ensure an earlier update.

In other news depression's starting to hit real hard these days. Sometimes I wonder why I do anything at all. I can't claim to understand what's going wrong with my head. I don't even know why! One moment I'm fine, then my mood craters for a few hours, then I'm back again for a bit, and the cycle repeats. Its rather annoying; as though I've become a prisoner in my own mind sometimes. Sure, what's one more mental problem on the pile. Not like I don't have enough, what with already being this old. Feels like every day is a battle sometimes. My doctor is of no help at all.

*siiiigh* Don't mind the rambling of this geezer...

With my fifteen year anniversary on this site finally here, I find myself reflecting on the little things in life. What was once a lazy pastime meant for me and a few friends really grew and evolved over time. There are days when I look back on the last fifteen years here and I wonder if anyone will remember me; if I made an impact, despite never making a single cent on any of these stories. Some days were happier than others, and some stories I enjoyed writing WAY too much; to the point where I'd stay up all night working on them.

And of course, there are times when I look to the future and wonder what will become of things when I'm gone.

Of course, I try not to dwell on the latter overmuch; I'm still alive and still writing. In an ideal world, I'd like to keep doing so for as long as I can. But old age is catching up to me and these days, the world is filled with so much madness and death. Feels like everyone's lost their minds sometimes. Even before that, so many friends and fellow writers I once knew are gone, now. Will I still be here in twenty years? Ten? Five? Its a chilling thought. But for now, I'm still here, still writing.

So here we go. The fate of this story depends on you, the reader. Your feedback determines the fate of this tale, and many others.

As ever, I own no references, quotes, themes or memes. They're tributes to legends far greater than I.

I'm just a humble author trying to make his way in this wild world, one word at a time.

Time and feedback will determine if this remains a story. Simple as that.

In other words...its up to YOU, the reader. Do l et me know~!

"When heaven meets earth, which is superior?"

~An audible manifestation of arrogance.

Bite the Bullet

By week's end, the attack was all over every Atlesian news outlet.

And soon thereafter, it was...swept under the rug.

Almost suspiciously so, really.

Naruto didn't buy it for an instant. Oh, Jacques played the part of a concerned father well enough in public, but privately, was another matter. There was an anger in his eyes whenever he looked at him and Weiss now, an almost unmistakable ire. It made him all the more certain that he had been the intended target rather than his twin. Looking back, he wasn't entirely certain it was the White Fang who had struck at them; it could've been desperate men and women paid and primed to take the fall.