Fate/RWBY

This is inspired by the Fate x RWBY artwork by Deviant Art user dishwasher1910 (okay, maybe not the best name, but the art is fantastic) in which the RWBY characters are placed into the Heroic Spirit roles from the Fate/Stay Night anime, Unlimited Blade Works anime and Fate/Zero anime, which are pretty fantastic and are worth the time. The cover art is used with permission from dishwasher1910.

This is entirely fan-made alternate universe material, and is not representative of anything from Fate/Stay or RWBY. Now, on with the story!

Chapter One

"The Holy Grail Wars. Seven magi fighting for centuries to take control of the Holy Grail. Obtain the Holy Grail and it will grant you any wish, along with absolute power. While the Holy Grail awaits its victor, one magus will align with one of the seven servants. Each servant is a legendary hero from history whose spirit and body have been revived by the Grail.

"It is up to the servant to choose the magus it deems most worthy of its talents. As the magus battle for the Holy Grail, the servants will accompany them in a spiritual form, however if needed the servant can be summoned to take their physical shape in order to do battle against the other servants. That is just a fraction of the Grail's extraordinary power, and whoever obtains it will rule the world." - Kirei Kotomine on the Holy Grail Wars

In a recluse, lightly forested plot of private land, some several miles or so from the city of Fuyuki, Japan, sits the secluded manor of the family Tohsaka. Inside, the eldest Tohsaka daughter, Rin Tohsaka, draws a deep breath to steady her nerves.

"Hear me!"

Rin Tohsaka stood confidently in the centre of an elaborate series of runic markings, which had been painstakingly drawn to the most exacting standard. An arm outstretched whilst the other supported an open grimoire, she chanted the scription that had been dutifully transcribed from the scrolls and scribblings of her late father, whilst pooling every drop of her energy, her prana.

"I command thee to my side and I entrust my fate to thine sword!"

Energy began to rise through the circle in response to her own, the ritual seemingly alive in its reaction as it thrummed and mildly glowed a soft but deep red.

"If thou would concede to this will and reason; answer my call and take heed in the refugee of the Holy Grail."

As the ritual circle radiated light, it also grew hot and began to circulate the air slightly, causing her hair to move. All very dramatic, as one would expect from the talented daughter of a noble and powerful family of magi.

"It is my oath to thee that I embody all that is good in the eternal world and oppose of all that is evil and corrupt. I call upon you; the seven heavens, protectors of the Great Spirit Trinity..."

A tiny droplet of blood fell from between her fingers where her nail had pierced the skin to bring forth her essence. To her, it fell ever so slowly in her anticipation, inching closer and closer towards impacting the ancient design and binding the summoning.

The droplet hit with a tiny 'drip'. A huge flare of red illuminated the antique oak panel walls with a dull glow for a moment, before fading as the power of the rune projected a rising holographic copy of itself slowly upwards, passing through her body and halting just above her.

"Keeper of the balance; come forth!"

The hologram slammed back down into the ritual circle, finalising the sequence and releasing a burst of spiritual energy that was quickly captured and converted into thaumaturgy.

The ritual was complete, a sudden pulse of intense red light that spilled out through the room's windows signalled that she had successfully bound a heroic spirit to herself. She had done it. All was going according to her plan, and she was certain that she had just drawn the most powerful servant of them all-

Boom. A paralyzing rumble shook the manor and a great wave of force threw Rin Tohsaka to the ground, her arms raised in a futile attempt to shield herself from the fast but thin dust cloud that soon followed the blast. It was unlike anything she had ever felt, however her immediate concern was not that of herself, but the results of the incantation.

Balancing herself onto her knees, she watched the flow of dust from around the closed door and decided that whatever had happened must have occurred on a higher floor, perhaps in the western wing. With an unsteady push, she lifted herself to her feet and took careful steps towards the thick wooden door, making sure to relax her muscles to prevent over tension from the shockwave.

Reaching the door, Rin decided that her legs would be fine as she pulled down on the latch, unbolting the door before throwing it open and pacing down the corridor towards the stairs.

Taking the stairs two at a time, she realised that the beating in her chest was part excitement, part fear and part her surprised heart bouncing like a rabbit as it compensated for suddenly having to support the rare scenario of physical exertion, in other words being any form of it whatsoever.

Her breaths were almost ragged when she arrived at the peak of the stairwell to the uppermost floor, however her deduction was confirmed by the way in which the dust moved and settled around the nearest door. Whatever was behind that door was likely her summoned servant.

Although tempted to kick at the door, she knew that she would simply hurt herself, so instead she pushed against it with all her strength and it flew open with a satisfying slam as it hit the wall. On second thoughts, that slam was possibly not Rin's greatest idea, as now there was now the possible cost of replacing yet another door to add upon whatever horrifying visage it was that now lay before her. To say that she was shocked would be an understatement of her reaction to the desolation that the abandoned room had succumbed to.

A gaping rend had opened upon the distant wall and ceiling, allowing the reflected light of the moon through the wound in the building. It looked painfully expensive, and what remained intact was no consolation to Rin as it was, bluntly put, nonexistent now, vapourised by the sudden discharge in energy from the off-target summoning, leaving the once glamorous furniture in tattered ruins.

A relatively tall young woman sat elegantly on the ruined remains of what may have once been some form of oaken wardrobe and several chairs, her black hair finally settling into a defined cut that brought out her pale skin and surprisingly clear moon silver eyes. With one long black clad leg crossed over the other, her decidedly understated apparel contrasted against the dark interior of the long ignored room, a combination of black boots, leggings, corset and skirt with an undecorated red overcoat held to the corset by two simple metal crosses.

Remaining mostly at the edge of the shadows, the woman drew her youthful face forward into the light to inspect her summoner.

"Sorry if my entrance was not quite as you expected, but I didn't have as much energy as I would have liked to work with for my landing."

Tohsaka crossed her arms over her chest in blatant indignation, surprised at the sass of her heroic spirit. Now that the woman was better illuminated by moonlight, Rin could see that her servant's hair was actually not just black as she had previously thought, but was also stain-dyed a deep red at the tips, creating a dual tone contrast against her pale skin.

"What are you trying to say, servant?" Rin interrogated her bound spirit, her anger at the woman building faster than usual, partly because it was exceedingly early and the sun had a while yet until it breached the horizon; for now the moon dominated the sky, "Do I somehow have insufficient energy for your needs?"

The spirit waved a hand before her face, clearly bemused by the teenage girl's accusations if the small but innocent smile on her face was anything to go by, dismissing the allegations and retorting with her thinly accented yet fluent tones, "No no no, if anything you have more than enough... What's the word you use nowadays? Prana? Yes, I think that's it." She giggled lightly, an almost childish sound, "My, how times have changed. Hmm... By the way, what language are we speaking? The Grail has given me proficiency in it as part of my revival, as well as some common knowledge of the current world, however this tidbit appears to have escaped me."

Rin scowled at the once great hero, "It's called Japanese. But stop avoiding the question, why did you not have sufficient energy to land in the magic circle?"

"I'm not avoiding the question, just being sidetracked by my curiosity. So, to answer you simply, well, it was because you did not provide enough prana."

"But you just said-" The woman cut of Rin with a wave of her hand.

"I know what I just said. Whilst you have much more than enough prana available to you to supply for my needs, which I knew when I accepted the contract and was summoned, you did not have your full supply of energy at your disposal so that I could guide myself accurately. This difference was simply dramatic enough to throw me off by a room or two. Thus the mess."

After gesturing to the thoroughly damaged furniture, the woman balanced her defined yet smooth chin delicately on one hand, her mercury eyes staring honestly into Tohsaka's unrelenting blue eyes. It was a little unnerving. "Tell me, Master. What time is it? I had assumed that you would have called me at the spiritual zenith, however your current rising prana levels suggests otherwise. Whilst I am curious, this may reveal the truth."

Tohsaka's features set themselves to a scowl, and she rebuked the statement with malice, "Of course I performed the ritual at the zenith, do you take me for a moron? I started the incantation exactly when the clock..." She groaned in indignation, squeezing her eyes closed for a moment in sudden realisation, "Urgh. I'm a fool. The clocks were to be set forward an hour today, and I forgot to account for that in my excitement."

"Well, even the best of us make mistakes. No surprise you did then."

"Hey!"

"Is that it? Just 'hey'? Honestly, I expected better from the somewhat prodigal Tohsaka daughter."

"Somewhat prodigal?!" Rin would have stamped a foot in righteous fury at the bold claim, however the self-control and restraint instilled in her from a young age kept the urge in check, "And what's that supposed to mean?"

The woman smiled sweetly, her face the same paragon of innocence it usually was.

"Well, since that now you are bound to me in blood whilst I am only bound to you by contract, I know that you Rin Tohsaka, a talented magus in training. I know that you have an affinity to each primordial element and no compounds, which is impressive in its purity and range, a rare opportunity of vast versatility and something that is highly prized and coveted amongst many magi."

Rin smirked at this, clearly all too aware of these details.

"However," the tone in the woman's voice caught Rin off guard, "I also know that you are young, inexperienced and have been taught magecraft only by your father and the odd tutor, which will make you brash, prideful and impulsive, which is a recipe for disaster. Whilst you have numerous high quality magical circuits, you have never proven yourself against another magus, and your sheltered and padded childhood tells me that you know little of the harsh reality that is some people's existence, and have never taken another person's life."

Rin was stung by the comments, but smart enough to see the wisdom in them. Whilst it hurt a little to accept what this woman had said, the look in her eyes told Rin that there was more to this woman that she had perhaps anticipated from her light and humorous manner and wit. In her eyes lay a wisdom only bestowed upon the most life hardened of individuals who had survived through some of the worst that humanity had to offer. It also made her question that final statement. It was likely that they had killed. Perhaps numerous times. This revelation was startling to Rin, although she had known intellectually that heroic spirits had often led tragic lives and that most of them had taken lives, to actually see the emotions of one, no matter how fleeting it had been, was another matter entirely. She dropped her gaze in shame, her scowl withering away in embarrassment.

With this revelation, the current thread of conversation died. Tohsaka analysed the woman before her, wrapped in darkness as she was and barely illuminated by the moon, attempting but failing to discern her true identity and role. Resigning to the fact, she poignantly locked eyes with the servant.

After a brief moment of consideration and deliberation, Rin spoke to the mysterious persona before her, "Servant, what class of warrior are you?"

With a bemused look upon her face, the woman pulled back, relaxing into the makeshift landing site for a few second before giving an answer.

"Hmm... Archer I suppose. Fitting for a huntress such as myself," with only the slightest creaking of the wood beneath her, Archer took to her feet and drew the weapons which had sat beside her in the shadows for the entire conversation.

No longer cloaked in the shadows cast by what remained of the ceiling, the servant's weapons gleamed menacingly in the revealing moonlight. In one hand, Archer delicately balanced a crossbow, the dark wooden design appealing yet not ostentatious, whilst across her other hand she rested a large red and black scythe, forged from metals that were now highly polished, emphasising the deadly curve on the underside of the blade that currently lay quiescent upon her shoulders.

The moonlight also brought out the details in her clothing, revealing that what Rin had thought to be a simple corset and overcoat was, in truth, actually remarkably different from her first impression. Having previously hidden most of the elements in Archer's clothing, her overcoat turned out to be a draping cloak, adorned with sleeves and attached with stunningly elegant yet simple silver crosses. The corset was actually slightly dulled torso armour, seemingly designed to offer reasonable protection without impedance to movement, humbly shielding her body with only a few polished highlights. The skirt was also more sophisticated than Tohsaka had first thought, made from two separately coloured pleated fabrics, also tinted according to her colour scheme of black and red, and was supported by a polished metal belt of what might be a reddened steel and yet more silver.

Clearly, whoever this heroic spirit had been in life, they came from a background of wealth and prosperity, as the craftsmanship in the metalwork and the vivid hues of the fabric implicated. Needless to say, Tohsaka was stunned, enraptured by the subtle beauty of this woman as many, both men and women, had been before. With a graceful step forward, Archer ended the display, lowering her crossbow and shifting her scythe into a less revealing but vastly more comfortable position. In that step, Rin's eyes were drawn to Archer's belt, staring at the object that had briefly captured the moon's glow and her attention. An otherworldly beautiful symbol, crafted from a lightly polished silver. A rose. Silver had been forged into the delicate form of the memorable flower, forever immortalising the icon in the beautiful folds of ethereal metal.

Flicking her stare back up to the servant, Rin lost herself in those infinite, enthralling, pure sterling silver mercury orbs that seemed to see all, looking with great interest into the depths of her own soul, concealing perhaps great mirth at what she found whilst they pooled all of the moon's rays.

The servant opened her mouth, debating the words to bring forth, perhaps preparing for a profound philosophical proclamation that would sweep away whatever preconceptions Rin had on this enigma.

"You're really quite short, aren't you?"

Or not.