Chapter One – A Grimm Beginning
Grimm, creatures of the dark whose sole purpose appear to be the eradication of all mankind. Soulless, evil, and omnipresent, Grimm are attracted to sources of negative emotion. This endless horde of darkness will snuff out every speck of light until Remnant returns what has lain forgotten for all these years, fear. So send your heroes, watch them fall, as the world is reclaimed by shadows.
Now wait a minute. I may not be a real hero, but aren't you getting a little ahead of yourself? As long as I remain standing, I won't let anyone come to harm. I will save everyone. So send your army. My blades are ready. Do you have enough Grimm?
-o-
A rain of broken blades crashed all around us. The sounds of sword strikes echoed through the dusty air amidst a flurry of action. Parry. Dodge. Strike. Our swords met in a shower of sparks.
With a low groan, the sword shattered in my hands, only to be replaced moments later, just in time to intercept shining steel.
"Mongrel! You! Faker! You dare destroy my treasures!"
His face flashed with anger and a hint of fear. Despite his advantage in strength and power, the golden Servant was being pushed back with each blow. His weapons shattered like mine with each parry. However, unlike his, mine were replaceable.
"This is impossible! Your inferior trash should be no match for my weapons!" He continued, sputtering in indignation.
"Nowhere was it said that the copy cannot surpass the original," I replied. My weapons may have been degraded compared to his, but if fighting with Saber had taught me anything, it was that Prana Burst solved all kinds of problems. But he didn't need to know that.
The air began to stir behind him. His face darkened and his features hardened. This definitely couldn't be good. I knew what he was going to do. But, unfortunately for him, it was too late. He didn't seem to realize that my Unlimited Blade Works was faster than his Gates of Babylon.
An aura of darkness emerged behind him, and a golden hilt rose out of it. He reached back and grasped the handle and began to pull. Ea, the World Destroyer, was coming out to play.
"I'm not going to let you," I breathed as I sprang at him. His face turned in surprise, but it was already too late. With a sickening squelch, his arm fell uselessly to the ground, Ea disappearing back into the Gates.
"You! I wi-", he was cut off as I plunged my sword into his chest. He stumbled and fell back, landing on his side.
I had done it. I had defeated him, Gilgamesh, the King of Uruk, the King of Heroes. I felt the walls of my Reality Marble come crashing down, all my energy spent.
"Shirou!" A voice called out behind me. It was Rin, trailed by Saber. The young magus cried out, "Are you alright?"
I turned to answer, but a terrible noise erupted, drowning out all else in the courtyard.
"No! You can't take me! Not like this!" The slain Heroic Spirit shouted angrily in despair as tendrils of darkness shot out from a newly formed black portal, dripping with malevolence. The Corrupted Grail was claiming yet another unfortunate soul.
He struggled helplessly, clawing at the ground, grasping for anything to save himself. He almost seemed to give up, before a chain shot out from behind him. It knocked me over and wrapped around my leg, pulling me along the ground. Rin and Saber both cried out reaching for me, but to no avail.
"If I'm going to die, mongrel, then I'm taking you with me!" His strained voice cracked as his sanity began to slip. He was fully inside the portal now, his descent only barely slowed from dragging me. As I slid into the entrance of the portal, black sludge fell and splashed on my arm.
Hate. Hate. HATE. Why don't you just die? Die. Die. DIE. Death. Evil. Torture. Rape. Suffering. All of it. WHY DON'T YOU JUST DIE? I HATE YOU! Lose yourself in all the World's evils.
My mind was assaulted with voices, images, each one stabbing into my mind like white hot nails. This was Angra Mainyu, the Persian god of darkness, the one who corrupted the grail. All the hate, the suffering and weakness all collected and concentrated into one being. Was this what my father experienced in the last years of his life? On that note, Gilgamesh had actually bathed in this muck to regain his body. What did that say about his personality and sanity?
"Saber, I comm-," Rin's faint voice was cut off as the portal closed behind me. The world grew dark, and even Gilgamesh's insane ramblings were drowned out in silence. He was still there, I could feel him tugging on the chain, yet somehow it felt as if his existence was melting, dissolving into the putrid void.
Was this how I was going to die too? My mind and body dissolved and diluted into nothingness? I couldn't accept that. Archer be damned, I was going to become a hero, no matter what the white-haired prick said. Unlike him, I wasn't going to become jaded and cynical. It's never wrong to want to help someone, to save someone.
"I can't let it end this way. I want to become a hero. I want to be where I'm needed," I muttered to myself. Was Kotomine right after all? Was I so selfish that I wished for conflict just to be a hero?
"I hear your words. Your wish is my command," an eerie disembodied voice echoed around me. It couldn't be. Saber and Rin should've destroyed the Grail by now. I could feel a faint tug on my body as the world began to light up again.
No. No. No. This couldn't be happening. After all our work, the Grail was still functioning. A terror grew in the pit of my stomach. What if the events of 10 years ago repeated themselves? I should have just kept my stupid mouth shut.
The world continued increasing in brightness, energy humming all throughout. I vaguely felt the chain around my leg slacken before I felt a violent tug from my navel, and the world became white.
-o-
"Sir, I feel that something is not quite right with that last candidate," a bespectacled woman commented while looking down at her device.
She continued, "While his transcripts are good, his skills seems to suggest otherwise."
A grey-haired man drank from his mug as he stared out over the forest. His lips pursed, as if to say something in response, but instead took another sip of coffee.
"Hang on. I'm getting some interference on my Scroll," the woman frowned as she tapped at her device in irritation.
Her face changed to confusion as she looked down more carefully at the screen. She looked back at her companion.
"There's nothing wrong with my Scroll. Ozpin, there seems to be a strange disturbance in Sector 3. All the Grimm in the area are flocking towards it. We should stop the test and figure out what this is."
The man paused, a thoughtful expression on his face. Continuing to watch out over the horizon, he responded.
"No, let the test continue. Send some drones out to monitor this disturbance, but otherwise do not interfere with the test."
"But Ozpin, what if one of the students stumbles onto it? Miss Nikos only landed a few hundred meters from there," she replied with worry.
"A part of being a Huntress involves dealing with the unknown and improvising. You should know that better than anyone, Glynda," the man calmly said, before tilting his head towards her. "But if the disturbance turns out to be something truly dangerous... Well, that is why we are here."
Her expression pacified, though seeds of worry were still evident in her body language. However, she refrained from speaking, and commanded three drones to survey the area.
-o-
My head was pounding, vestiges of the mental assault by Angra Mainyu remained faintly in the back of my mind. Where was I?
I sat up and looked around. I appeared to be sitting in a lush grass field surrounded by a dense forest. This was a far cry from the empty blackness I had been swallowed in moments ago. As I stood up, something shiny slipped off my lap.
Clink.
It was a small broken golden chain. I guess Gilgamesh wasn't here with me. He would never dare to damage his precious chains. I plucked the shrunken broken chain and put it in my pocket. I may have already copied it into my Unlimited Blade Works, but the real chain could potentially be useful in the future.
As I brushed my pants, I heard the bushes and grass rustle ominously. My muscles tensed as I pulled my hands back, ready to trace a pair of swords at a moment's notice.
A red-haired girl stepped out from behind a bush. She was wearing a set of armour reminiscent of what I imagined a Greek soldier might wear, except with generous amounts of cleavage exposed. Forget where I was, what time period was I in?
"Are you alright? Are you hurt?" She asked with concern.
"I'm fine, don't worry about me," I responded with a weak smile. Wait, was that even Japanese? Oh to hell with it, I didn't care at this point. It was probably something to do with the Grail anyway.
"Well, do you have a partner yet? I don't see anyone else around here," she spoke while glancing at our surroundings. She turned back to me and exclaimed, "If you don't have one yet, maybe we could become partners?"
"Partners?" Did she mistake me for someone else?
Her smile brightened and her face lit up. "Great! It's decided then," she said happily.
She walked over and extended her hand. "My name is Pyrrha Nikos, but you can just call me Pyrrha. Let's go find that relic, partner."
Unsure about what to do, I grasped her hand and gingerly shook it up and down.
"Hi, my name is Emi- Shirou," I corrected myself. For a brief moment, old language habits kicked in, before the translating spell kicked in.
"W-Well Emishirow, you don't have to keep holding my h-hand," she sputtered out, red-faced.
Woops.
I let go of her hand immediately, feeling my ears burn with embarrassment. In my confusion, I had forgotten to let go of her hand.
Hang on. She got my name wrong.
"Ah, I'm sorry about that Pyrrha. I didn't mean to make you feel uncomfortable. Also, my name is actually Shirou Emiya."
I quickly blurted out.
"It's alright, but we-" she stopped short.
I hadn't noticed until now, but in the midst of our conversation, it seemed the forest had come to life. The sounds of feet pounded nearby.
"I think we may need to continue this conversation later," Pyrrha said as she pulled the sword and shield off her back and faced the woods.
In the back of my mind, I heard a hammer strike. My circuits flooded with energy as I pulled my hands out to the side. Did I always have that much prana?
"Trace on"
A pair of black and white swords appeared in my hands. The black sword had red hexagonal patterns over top of a steel so black, it felt as if light itself was sucked in. The white sword lacked the hexagonal patterns, but instead had a cloudy white opal colour that seemed like it disperse light even in the absence of light.
Bakuya and Kanshou respectively, a marriage of swords, the ones used by the man in red. I may have hated him, but I was undeniably suited for his style of combat.
I felt a sudden warning ring out in my mind. Almost like precognition, I could almost see the incoming attack without even turning around.
I didn't have this power before. Where did it come from?
'I want to become a hero'
Ah, that must've been it.
My thoughts were interrupted as a great black beast adorned with a white mask jump out from the dense foliage. The sudden increase in perception allowed me to effortlessly dodge its razor claws and promptly use its momentum to eviscerate it.
"Careful! A pack of Beowolves!"
The red-haired Spartan called out, while never taking her eyes off of the approaching creatures.
She adjusted her grip on her sword as the blade flipped back, and it turned into a rifle. Wait a second, it's also a gun? Then again, I already knew that the moment I saw the weapon stowed on her back. It was still very surprising to see in practice.
She nailed one of the beasts between its unsettling red glowing eyes, before quickly transforming her weapon back into the sword form. The onslaught of dark creatures halted the moment it reached her.
I watched mesmerized as she spun, ducking under a swiping claw, while simultaneously slashing its owner with her sword and hitting another with the edge of her shield. Taking advantage of her angular momentum, she seamlessly kicked a third monster in the throat, while shooting a fourth.
I was so captivated that I almost missed the claw heading for my chest. I leapt backward and studied my opponent.
It was significantly larger than the others, easily three times the size of the one I killed earlier. It skulked around cautiously. Something felt off about this one. It seemed less mindless, less reliant on instinct. It had attacked me when I was distracted, didn't it? I had only been saved by my improved warning sense.
I approached it, Kanshou and Bakuya in hand. I swung at it with Bakuya, and it dodged the blow with relative ease. I then charged it feinting with Kanshou, then spinning to slice at its abdomen with Bakuya. It readily predicted my movements, countering with an impossibly fast jab at my chest. I Reinforced my chest as best I could before I was sent flying by the attack.
"Shirou!"
The green-eyed beauty called out in worry when she saw me sprawled on the ground.
"I'm fine, just focus on the others"
I managed to wheeze out through gritted teeth.
Reinforcing my chest had allowed me from having my chest cavity gouged out or caved in, but it still hurt like hell.
This opponent was dangerous. Perhaps not nearly as dangerous as the Servants I had fought before, but still a danger nonetheless. It wasn't a mindless beast lead by instinct. It was a cold calculating instrument of death. Unfortunately for it, I could be one too.
It was large, powerful and deceptively agile. It could predict movements and attacks and plan accordingly. There were a few options available to me. I could attempt to use speed to sneak in and deliver a fatal blow, but given the beast's speed, the plan was risky, one false move, and I would receive a nasty or potentially fatal wound.
Alternatively I could match it blow for blow, using either a powerful weapon or Prana Burst to overpower the creature. The downside was that if I didn't have enough power or if there were more opponents after this one, I would be completely drained of energy and effectively defenseless.
My last option was surprise. This was an enemy that could think, could plan ahead, meaning it had expectations. Taking it by surprise would disrupt its thinking, making its planning skills momentarily useless. This was the tactic most likely to succeed, after all, it worked on the King of Heroes. I also knew the exact move I needed to pull it off, and it was meant to be utilised with pair of married swords I was wielding.
I charged at the large Beowolf again. It stood on its hind paws ready to meet me. This time, I threw both my swords at it in a wide arc. The monster dodged the spinning blades and came at me. Its claws descended towards me, ready to rip into a new meal, when suddenly they were halted by a familiar pair of swords.
I gripped the newly traced Kanshou and Bakuya and deflected the claw strikes. The Beowolf regained its composure enough to parry my next set of slashes and stabs. It managed to knock the swords out of my hands and sent a jab at my neck.
Thunk! Thunk! The sound of flesh being penetrated and ripped apart filled the air. The Beowolf stumbled mid-jab as a pair swords embedded in its back. Not wasting a second, I traced a third set of the blades, Reinforcing their edges to the point that they became deformed and feather-like. Before the beast could react, I drove the jagged blades into its chest.
Under my breath, I whispered, "Crane Wing Three-Realm."
The execution was sloppy, but the damage was dealt. It seemed I'd need more practice.
The injured Beowolf howled in pain as it backpedalled away from me. It sprinted for the woods, attempting to retreat to safety. Not on my watch.
With a flick of my wrist, I traced my bow and raised it towards the retreating monster. A black spiral sword appeared in my hand. I poured prana into it, until it hummed dangerously with absolute energy. I notched it and took careful aim at the fleeing beast. With a whisper, I let it fly.
The sword transformed into a shining red bullet as it pierced the air, hungering for the flesh of its target. When it reached its mark, the Broken Phantasm erupted in a large explosion of energy, obliterating everything in its immediate vicinity. It seemed fitting, a Hrunting for the Beowolf.
With a satisfied smirk, I walked back over to Pyrrha, who had finished clearing out the rest of the small fry. She watched me with wide excited eyes. Uh oh.
"Shirou, that was amazing! Where did you learn to fight like that?" She asked with slight admiration.
Well I couldn't exactly just tell her the truth now, could I? I learned from a future version of myself during battles to the death with legendary heroes from the past. That just sounded ridiculous.
"Oh I picked some things up, here and there," I casually replied, though my voice cracked at the end. Issei was right. I was a terrible liar. Judging from her face, she wasn't buying it either.
"Well if you say so," she said unconvinced, "Come on, let's go find the relic, now."
I still had no idea what she was talking about, but seeing as she seemed to be my only hope of finding civilization, I decided to play along.
With a nod, she began walking, while I followed closely behind.
Partners. Just what did that mean here? What did I get myself into? Saber was more than I could ever hope for, and Rin...
Oh. I wondered if she was in this world. Unlikely, given what I had encountered so far. I pushed that somber thought to the back of my mind and focused on observing the surroundings.
Trees. Trees. More Trees.
Rocks.
And a pair a vibrant green eyes.
Wait.
"Why haven't you used your Aura to heal yourself?" She was looking down at my chest. Despite being reinforced, my chest still sported a couple of superficial scratches from the Beowulf attack.
Aura? What was that? Was it anything like healing magecraft?
"Aura?"
I asked, trying not to sound too dumb.
"Yes, Aura, the manifestation of our soul. It bears our burdens and shields our hearts. You used it earlier to block an attack didn't you?"
Manifestation of the soul? Could she be referring to Magic Circuits and Prana?
I couldn't exactly tell her I used Magecraft. There was that law about revealing Mage-
Oh, I traced all those swords in front of her. Hopefully she wouldn't ask questions.
"So I've got a question about those swords of yours."
Damn it. My luck just wasn't holding up today.
-o-
"I think we're getting close, now. I can feel it," Pyrrha proclaimed confidently.
"The only thing I feel is cold and clammy," I replied sarcastically.
It was true though, the cave we were exploring was ridiculously humid, and it didn't help that our only source of heat was a dim torch. I had no idea what we were looking for, but I Reinforced my eyes to see further into the dark cave. Wait, did I see something glint over there?
"Hey Pyrrha, I think I found something over there," I said pointing in the direction I saw the glint.
As we moved closer, I was able to make out a strange gold object floating mid-air. Wait no, it was attached to something. Something long, and connected to...
I stopped walking.
"Whabfft-" Pyrrha began, but I stuffed my hand over her mouth to silence her. I pressed a finger to my lips, then pointed at the giant scorpion monster dozing only a few meters from us.
She squinted, trying to see further into the darkness, before she opened her eyes wide, and her face blanched white.
I motioned for her to head back out. We crept away carefully, trying not to wake the beast. That thing was even bigger than the Beowolf from earlier, plus it had armour, pincers and a stinger.
I carefully stepped over a pile of rocks and a looked ahead to find the exit.
Crash.
I turned around to see that my partner had stumbled over the rocks. Her face was frozen in a mixture of embarrassment and fear.
The creaks of jointed feet began to echo through the cave. A set of red eyes began to glow from inside the darkness. A loud rattle noise filled the cavern, as the scorpion turned its gaze onto us.
"Run."
There wasn't really a need for words, but I couldn't help but say it as we sprinted for the exit.
The cave collapsed around us as the scorpion chased us with reckless abandon, knocking down supporting wood frames, and gouging the hard stone with its stinger.
We burst out of the cave full speed, with the oversized arthropod hot on our heels.
"Head for the trees. Maybe that will slow it down," Pyrrha suggested helpfully.
We took off between the sturdy trunks, hoping to either buy some distance, or lose it completely. After a few minutes, we entered a clearing with some white pillars, the scorpion nowhere to be found. On top of small pillars were golden chess pieces.
"Those must be the relics!" Exclaimed Pyrrha. Wait, so she didn't know what they looked like either? Then what was the point of the relic?
She moved over to examine them. Lightly poking one of the knight pieces, she flinched when it wobbled a little.
"Which one do you want?" She looked at me expectantly.
"Why don't you pick?" I said as I nervously glanced at the forest. I could swear I heard something.
"I don't mind which one, I just wanted to know what you think," she hummed, now focused intently on the chess pieces.
"Pick the," I paused as an image of Saber appeared in my mind. I turned towards her and finished, "the knight. Pick the knight."
She plucked one of the knights from the pedestal and skipped over to me. Wait, there was that sound again. It almost sounded like there were people falling out of the sky. I glanced up. Oh.
A pair of dark haired girls landed right next to us. One wore a distinctive red hood over a black, red-frilled corset dress. She also appeared to be carrying a massive collapsible scythe on her back.
The other girl wore a black bow on her head, and a sleeveless shirt and vest combo along with pair of short-shorts and black and purple tights. She glanced disinterestedly back at me as I examined her.
The one in the red hood squealed and hopped up and down. "That was so much fun! I want to do it again!" She chirped energetically.
"Let's not." The girl with the black bow sighed, walking over to the chess pieces. "Ruby, I think these are the relics, which one should we pick?"
"Ooh pick the knight! I can just imagine it now. Adventures! Heroism! Oh how romantic!" The girl in red continued bubbling.
"A knight is more than just adventures and heroism. A knight is meant to define chivalry and honour." I interjected. Why did I do that? Perhaps it was the Saber in me, or perhaps it was the naiveté of the girl in front of me, but I just had to say something. Was this what it was like for Rin and Saber to listen to me talk about being a hero? The remark earned me the glances of all three of the girls present.
"And just what do you know about knights?" the girl in black responded pointedly.
"I met and became friends with one." I answered sheepishly.
"Really? What did he look like? Was he handsome? How many Grimm did he slay?" the hooded girl suddenly appeared in front of me. Whoa, how did she get here so quickly?
"Well, the knight was actually a woman, and she was actually very beautiful. As for Grimm…." I trailed off. I felt like Grimm was a term I was supposed to know, yet at the same time I had no idea what those were. Were they anything like the Beowolves and the scorpion we encountered earlier? Thinking on my feet, I quickly said, "She was the best swordsman I'd ever met."
The girl's eyes began to shine like stars, so I bid a hasty retreat behind my partner. She gave a warm smile to each of the girls and waved.
"Hello, nice to meet you two. My name is Pyrrha and this is my partner Shirou." She introduced the both us with a pleasant smile.
"Nice to meet you, I'm Blake and this excitable person is my partner Ruby." The stoic beauty responded. Ruby was still busy staring at me, eyes sparkling, no doubt lost in the grips of her imagination.
Our pleasantries were cut short by the arrival of another pair. With dark hair adorned with a streak of pink, a man dressed in green clothing, was accompanied by an orange haired girl carrying a massive hammer and sporting an equally massive grin. They rode in on another one of the massive black beasts. It collapsed, apparently spent before slowly dissolving into black mist.
"Aww I think it broke. Ooh Ren, are those the relics?" The short, boisterous girl leapt off the dissolving monster and sped past us towards the white pillars. She snatched one of the rooks and began dancing.
"I'm queen of the castle! I'm queen of the castle!" She sang while prancing about. Her companion sighed, but didn't say a word as he walked to her side. She turned to greet him, but froze when she locked eyes with me.
Apparently remembering that there were indeed people here, she pulled her partner by the wrist, marching over to us.
"Helloooo~" She practically shouted as she approached. "I'm Nora and this quiet guy is Ren! What are your names?"
We quickly introduced ourselves, and Nora began animatedly chatting with Ren, who remained silent. I noticed movement out of the corner of my eye and turned to find yet another pair walking towards us.
Unlike the others who arrived, these two were having a heated argument with each other. That blonde one really seemed to have a temper and a penchant for curse words.
"Hellooo~" Nora's unmistakably loud voice rang out as she ran up to greet the two, oblivious of the pair's ire towards each other. The white haired one glared daggers at the boisterous girl, who either didn't notice or didn't care.
I decided to step back from all the excitement to examine the group of people before me. Their outfits seemed to come from all over the place, ranging from Pyrrha's Greek motif to Ren's Chinese attire. I wasn't going to be able to figure out where I was based on passive observation.
"A lot of people showed up all of a sudden," a soft voice commented from over my shoulder. Pyrrha stood behind me with a gentle smile on her face. I hadn't noticed until now, but she was actually fairly tall for a girl, easily a few inches taller than me.
I didn't answer her, but she seemed to accept my silence as she sat down on a nearby log. If I was ever going to ask someone a question, now would be the time.
"Pyrrha, where are we? And what are we supposed to be doing?" I asked, hoping not to sound too suspicious.
She looked at me surprised, but answered anyway. "You don't remember? We're in the Emerald Forest, although exactly where, I don't know. We were told to find our partners and retrieve a relic. Weren't you listening to Ozpin?"
Ozpin. He seemed to be the one in charge of this at least. I needed more information. Feigning shame, I shook my head.
"I guess I didn't hear him. Just who is Ozpin anyway? His name sounds familiar?" I replied smoothly. Damn I'm good.
"You mean you didn't know that he's the headmaster of this school?" She said, looking shocked.
Oh. Okay, maybe not that good. So these events were related to a school. Just what kind of school unleashed bloodthirsty monsters on its students?
"Well, this is Beacon, a school for training huntsmen and huntresses." she said with a huff. Woops, did I say that last part out loud? At least I knew a bit more about overall situation.
"Sorry, I was just muttering to myself. Don't mind me." I smiled weakly, hoping she wouldn't get even more suspicious. It seemed to work as she rolled her eyes and looked away.
I felt it before I heard it, a low rumbling in the ground. Something heavy was approaching. Pyrrha stood straight up, weapons ready, looking around. Whatever it was, it had a lot of feet.
Oh no...
With an explosion of wood chunks and splinters, the giant scorpion leaped out from the trees. The others had taken notice and had each drawn their weapons.
A loud screech pierced the air. I looked up to see a colossal bird swooping down onto us. It flapped its wings violently at the group, sending wave after wave of sharp feathers raining upon us.
Blake and Ruby deflected some as best they could, while the other four dodged the feathers and chased after the bird. A loud hiss sound reminded me that the scorpion was in fact still there.
Pyrrha and I raced towards the other two, the scorpion quickly scuttling after us. Blake and Ruby fired off shots at it, but its tough armour deflected and absorbed all the damage with minimal harm.
"Pyrrha, what can you tell me about this thing?" I panted as we continued sprinting.
"It's a Death Stalker. The pincers are extremely powerful and can easily crush boulders. The stinger contains an extremely potent venom, of which even a single drop is fatal. The armour is practically impervious to all but the strongest attacks, but there is a weak spot on the underside," she explained, finishing just as we reached the other two.
That was it. We could attack the underside, but as far as I could tell, the monster seemed to be pretty steady, if a little front-heavy. We'd need to flip it somehow, but that was going to be no easy task.
I glanced at each of the girls' weapons. Cracking a small smile I motioned for them to come closer. I had an idea.
-o-
Ruby sprinted as fast she could, occasionally using her semblance and rounds from Crescent Rose for speed boosts. The Death Stalker chased furiously after her. As she looked ahead, Ruby saw Blake standing ready, and leapt as high as she could disappearing amongst the branches and leaves.
The gargantuan scorpion redirected its attention towards the dark-haired beauty, but simply phased through her and hit a black ribbon which had been tied to a nearby tree. With its feet swept out, it staggered forward lifting its hind legs off the ground, but didn't flip over.
Pyrrha charged out from behind a tree and using her shield, bashed the back of the monster's tail upward. Blake reappeared, unharmed, and assisted Pyrrha in raising the monster's tail. This was enough for the scorpion's momentum to finally pull it onto its back.
A red blur shot up out of the canopy. Ruby held her arms around my chest as I turned downwards, bow ready. The retreating forms of both Pyrrha and Blake signaled for me to play my part.
"I am the bone of my sword,
Steel is my body, Fire is my blood."
A different spiral sword appeared in my hand. It looked as if a broadsword had been twisted around and around to look like a lance. It began to hum dangerously as I poured prana into it. Ruby tightened her grip around me nervously. I felt a crack sound from the weapon as it transitioned into a Broken Phantasm. With only a whispered name, the sword flew from my bow, tearing through the air at incredible speed. The air howled terribly as the Fake Spiral Sword cleaved the air itself to reach its target.
"Caladbolg."
An immense explosion filled the ground beneath us, tree and stone were torn asunder like wet paper in a blender. Flames danced all around the aftermath of the attack. Maybe that had been a little bit overkill, but even with the massive damage to the surroundings, I had little doubt that the creature would have survived if we hadn't attacked its underbelly.
Ruby and I landed in the trees, using her huge scythe to slow our descent. She landed gracefully, while I fell in a heap. Despite my outward appearance and my apparently boosted reserves, it was still incredibly tiring to trace not just one, but two Broken Phantasms in the span of an hour. Ruby took off into the trees, leaving me to stumble back onto my feet and chase after her. We met up with Blake and Pyrrha at the edge of the forest.
"That. Was. AMAZING!" Ruby cried out while jumping up and down with joy. "I can't believe we managed to pull that off! Shirou what in Remnant was that last attack? I've never seen it before! Does it use some kind of secret special Dust?"
I bit my lip trying to think of an answer, but thankfully Pyrrha came to the rescue, suggesting we find the others first. We were greeted with the sounds of combat as we reached the cliff near the relics. The four of them had at some point scaled the opposite, taller cliff and were defending against the avian monster.
"We have to help them!" Ruby cried as soon as she saw them.
I turned to tell her why it might be a bad idea, but Blake beat me to the punch.
"No, I think they're doing just fine on their own. There's not a lot of room up there and we would probably just get in the way. Besides, like us, they probably have their own plan to deal with it," Blake coolly explained to the distressed girl. I couldn't have said it better myself.
We watched them from the bottom of the cliff in silence. I watched as the girl in white created complex patterned circles to achieve various effects. It looked like very high level magecraft to me, but the speed and ease at which she created them seemed to imply that either she was extremely talented in some form of magecraft, or the circles themselves were less complex than they appeared to be. She also fought using her rapier which seemed to direct and control elemental attacks with high degree of accuracy.
The blonde girl seemed to be shooting some ammunition out of her gauntlets at the bird, but it was moving too quickly to get hit much.
Nora and Ren weren't attacking the bird directly, but seemed to be holding back for some reason.
The bird swept over the two attacking girls, making a wide turn. Then, I noticed its hitchhiker. Ren had managed jump onto the creature's back. Reinforcing my eyes, I saw he was holding on using the blades attached to his gun to dig into the monster's flesh. My eyes widened as the bird suddenly changed course and veered back towards the girls on the cliff. Was he actually steering that thing?
A set of blue crystals shot out from around the girl in white and smashed into the bird, coating its wings in ice. The ice quickly cracked and shattered, falling off in huge chunks. Ren leapt off its back and... tag-teamed with Nora? Oh I see, the ice attack was only meant to slow it down momentarily, enough time for Nora to reach it.
With a thunderous crunch, the hammer swung down and swatted the bird out of the sky, causing it to crash on the top of the cliff. The blonde girl yanked open its beak and proceeded to send fireball after fireball down its throat, until the entire thing disintegrated in shower of black particles, floating away in the wind. They let out a cheer and gathered near the cliff's edge looking down at us.
"Yaaaaaaang! We're down here!" Ruby called out, waving her arms around wildly while jumping up and down.
"Oh hey sis! Did you see how we kicked that Nevermore's butt?" the blonde shouted, waving back at us.
Sisters? They looked absolutely nothing alike. Then again, I looked nothing like Ilya so perhaps they weren't blood related.
Further conversation was halted when a trio of drones appeared and circled me. Finally one hovered in front of my face, capturing my bewildered expression.
"Mr. Shirou Emiya, it would appear that a meeting is in order." A man's voice rang out from the drone. It turned towards the girls next to me.
"Congratulations to all of you, it would seem you've passed this test with flying colours. An airship will arrive soon to pick you all up and transport you back to Beacon."
The drone briefly turned back to me, before flying off without another word, having apparently done its duty.
-o-
The airship ride was rather uneventful. I focused on looking out the window at the unfamiliar landscape, screening out the inane chatter in the background. I definitely was not in Fuyuki City anymore.
"Shirou?" Pyrrha's gentle voice brought my attention back to inside the airship. "Do you know what Ozpin wants to talk to you about? I'm your partner now, you can tell me anything. Trust me, I'll always have your back."
So that was Ozpin, huh? How did he already know my name? I only mentioned my surname to Pyrrha. The only way he could have heard was if he spied on me, like if he... used a drone. Stupid. Of course my arrival wouldn't go unnoticed. I appeared in the middle of a school event for heaven's sake. There's no way they wouldn't have monitored me to see if I was dangerous.
"Shirou?" Pyrrha's beautiful green eyes were speckled with concern. "Are you alright?"
I blinked and smiled at her. I couldn't help but be a little moved at her sincerity. "I'm fine, I just spaced out is all. I'm sure Ozpin just has a few questions, I wouldn't worry about it if I were you."
Her face flushed as I continued to smile at her. She looked away meekly, occasionally stealing glances in my direction. Eventually we settled into a comfortable silence as I returned to watching the landscape.
"Attention students, we will be landing in approximately 5 minutes, grab your things and don't leave any personal belongings on the ship or I'll keep it." The intercom blared to life suddenly, interrupting the myriad of conversations. "Don't laugh, I'm serious. Anyway, take any trash..."
I tuned out the bored announcer and began to wonder just what would happen when I met this Ozpin.
As we exited the ship, a cane hooked my shoulder. I turned in surprise to find a grey-hair man, wearing spectacles. He wore a green scarf over a black suit and held a coffee mug in his other hand. I instantly felt at ease in his presence, which paradoxically set me on edge.
"Hello ladies, Mr. Ren, I just need to borrow your friend here for a little chat. Feel free to roam around campus, but be ready to go on stage in the auditorium in two hours." The man calmy advised them, before turning back to me.
Pyrrha and Ruby both sent me worried looks as they walked off with the others.
"You and I have much discuss, my friend." His eyes hardened as he addressed me again, any feelings of comfort vanishing instantly. That was more like it.
-o-
We stepped into a large ornately decorated study filled with books, trinkets and all manner of fancy instruments. A tall stern-looking woman met us just inside the door and walked with us. Her piercing glare seemed see straight through me. I suppressed a shudder as I followed the headmaster to his desk. Motioning for me to sit, he took a seat in his own chair, facing away from me, looking out the large clock face window.
"I assume you have your own questions, but I ask that you remain patient." His chair turn slightly, revealing the side of his face.
"Who are you? I don't believe I've ever seen someone with your... capabilities. There are very few types of Dust that can generate an explosion of that intensity and even fewer that can create solid metal out of thin air. Naturally, both these types of Dust are rare, expensive, and generally very hard to come by outside of research facilities."
He spun fully around to face me, mug in hand.
"Furthermore, our sensors indicated your Aura has been inactive, yet you were able to survive a strike to your chest by an elder Beowolf with only minor scratches to show for it. So, I repeat. Who. Are. You."
His fixed stare bore no emotion, masking whatever thoughts may have been running through his head. Calmly taking a sip from his mug, he waited for me to answer.
"I..." I paused trying to think of something. I had no reason to just tell him I was a magus, yet I didn't know nearly enough about this world to make a convincing lie.
"I'm just some random guy?" That wasn't going to fool anyone. Worse, my voice cracked at the end and I answered as if I was asking a question. Issei was absolutely right, I was a terrible liar.
"I see." Ozpin's curt response betrayed no emotion. "Then I don't suppose you know anything about this."
A screen materialized between us. It showed what seemed to be a fuzzy video of a mountain side. There were tiny figures running from a small group of buildings, being chased by the monsters I had encountered earlier. A heavily blurred figure stepped out from behind one of the buildings, apparently ignored by the beasts.
"This was taken about an hour after you appeared in the forest. There was a disturbance just outside this village not unlike the one you made when you appeared. The Grimm in the area were all drawn to this location. The last report I received detailed that it was a man in golden armour commanded them."
My ears perked at his last statement, and my eyes snapped to meet his. It couldn't be. He was supposed to have gone back to the Throne of Heroes. There was no way Gilgamesh could have survived. His injuries were too severe for his body to last, and the only way he could have procured another body would be... from the Grail.
That was it, wasn't it? There could be no hero if there was no conflict. Curse that fake priest and his infuriating words.
'To wish to be a hero, is to wish to wish conflict on others.'
I gritted my teeth as my face darkened. I must have been projecting a terrible aura as I could hear the woman nervously tighten her grip on her crop. I took a breath and looked back at Ozpin. He himself had gripped his cane, while giving me a cautionary look.
"That man is Gilgamesh, the strongest being I have ever encountered." I sighed and straightened in my seat.
"I'm sorry, let me reintroduce myself. My name is Shirou Emiya, and I am a magus."
-o-
I explained the system of Magecraft briefly, before giving a heavily edited account of the Holy Grail War. I described Gilgamesh, his abilities and general disposition. Ozpin seemed to absorb the information very easily, though his expression remained unchanged.
"It would seem that effects of this Grail you speak of, caused his very entity to become a source of negativity himself." Ozpin observed, looking thoughtful. "It is very troubling that he appears to have some degree of control over the Grimm, especially given your description of his personality and tendencies."
He stood and walked over to the stern-looking woman and whispered something to her. She seemed to disagree with him and began to heatedly whisper something back to him. He whispered something back, which seemed to mollify her, before strolling over to me.
"Mr. Emiya, it would seem as though you possess attributes uniquely qualified to face this Gilgamesh. Though you are a decent fighter, I can see that your abilities are raw, and as you are now, I don't believe you would be able to stop him."
He tapped something on the screen, and many pages appeared all over.
"What I'm saying is, I'd like to offer you a spot in my school, where you can hone your abilities, train to fight Grimm as you will without a doubt encounter them again." He waved his hand nonchalantly while continuing to tap things on the screen.
"Normally, we require either an outstanding transcript from other training schools, or a heavily regulated battle simulation for entry, however, you obviously won't have any history before today, and given your unique abilities, I'd dare say you'd probably want to avoid further scrutiny." He gave me a wry smile as he faced me again.
"But as luck would have it, it seems one of our students decided he was unsuited for the rage of war, and will no longer be attending, leaving behind his transcripts for you." He gestured at the screen.
"Um, I may not know how the school system works here, but I don't believe you can just use someone else's transcript. I won't have done anything it mentions." I responded, slightly confused.
"Sadly, I suspect Mr. Arc didn't either." He muttered to himself. "But no matter, all I'm asking is if you would like to study here, Mr. Emiya."
This decision was an easy one. I looked him in the eyes as I stood up. "Yes, I think I can handle being a Faker." I took his hand and shook it. His expression softened as he gave me a warm smile.
"Thank you, Mr. Emiya. Welcome to Beacon Academy"
-o-
The stern blonde woman, who introduced herself as Glynda Goodwitch, directed me to the auditorium where I came across Pyrrha and the others. They all seemed curious as to why Ozpin wanted to speak with me, so I told them he wanted my cookie recipe, which didn't seem to convince any of them except Ruby. Although to be fair, she seemed to be more focused on salivating and rubbing her stomach, than actually paying attention.
Soon the auditorium began to fill, and we were redirected backstage. Other students around us began to buzz in anxiety and anticipation. This was apparently when Ozpin would announce the teams that we would work with for next four years.
We watched as Ozpin gave a brief recounting of the history of wars past and their connections to colour. He then motioned at Glynda who signaled for the students to go to her. He began introducing the students one by one, before declaring their team name and the captain.
I frowned as I pondered his colour naming scheme. Weren't there only so many colours? And how would you even come up with a team name if none of the letters matched? What if everyone's name started with the same letter? That would just be ridiculous, were teams actually chosen just based on which initials would make the prettiest team names? For that matter, the captain's initial always came first. Did that mean the only qualification to lead was a useful first initial, regardless of any actual leadership qualities? Any person whose name started with something like X probably wouldn't be leading any time soon. And then t-
"-miya"
I felt a hard shove from behind, causing me to pitch forward unceremoniously. I turned and glared at Pyrrha who wore an apologetic expression and pointed past me. Glynda was tapping her foot impatiently and giving me her patented death glare, while jerking her crop in the direction of the stage. Sheepishly, I made my way to the stage with much haste.
Standing in my designated spot, I gazed into the sea of faces. Most had a bored look, but a few perked up when the girls entered the stage. There was a slight flurry of whispers and I noticed Pyrrha shrink imperceptibly.
"Shirou Emiya, Pyrrha Nikos, Blake Belladonna, Ruby Rose. You all selected the knight piece and have displayed exemplary teamwork and skill. I hereby designate you as Team SBPR lead by Shirou Emiya." Ozpin's voice shifted slightly as he called my name out, laced with a faint tone of amusement.
So they chose me to be captain. I was and wasn't surprised at the same time. Ozpin had taken a special interest in me, and I had been the one to come up with the plan in the forest, but it felt strange. Pyrrha definitely had the right qualities, expertise and knowledge, but she seemed to have been passed over for someone with almost no knowledge of this world, someone whose goal wasn't even to truly become a huntsman. I knew it. He picked me for my initials.
-o-
"And so this team shall be called, Team WYNR, led by Weiss Schnee."
We watched from the crowd as the newly formed Team WYNR exited the stage to join us on the floor. Weiss' face was absolutely glowing in happiness. I guess some people actually genuinely desired to become captain. I should probably refrain from telling her my thoughts on the team naming policies.
"This is so cool! We're on our way to becoming actual Huntresses!" Ruby exclaimed enthusiastically.
"I wouldn't celebrate so quickly. We still have to sit through classes first." Blake responded without looking up from her book.
"Aww don't be such a spoil-sport. I'm sure we'll have all kinds of fun!" Yang threw her hands in the air and waved them around as she spoke.
"If you're quite done fooling around, I think now would be an excellent time for us to inspect our new rooms." Weiss interjected. I could almost hear the tic mark appearing on her forehead just from her voice alone.
"You know, I think that's a grand idea." Pyrrha decided to pitch in her two cents. The others nodded in agreement, and we proceeded to navigate the labyrinth that was the Beacon Academy residential wing.
"I can't believe you guys are just across the hall from us!" Yang waved at us from inside her own room.
"I know! We can have late night snack sessions and pillow fights and sleepovers and see each other every morning and see each other every night and play board games and..." Ruby's face began turning blue as she kept speaking, though it didn't seem to deter her from finishing off her list of things I planned to never participate in.
"I think now would be a good time to unpack, don't you Ruby?" I gently pulled the door shut from behind her, and dragged her by the waist until we reached our luggage.
"Alright, why don't we pick our beds and unpack our things." I suggested, releasing red-haired bundle of joy. The others walked over to their chosen beds and began to empty their luggage.
Twenty minutes later, my eyes were greeted by a hurricane of messiness. Beds were shoved to the side, clothing strewn about, and every object imaginable littering the ground, obscuring it completely from view.
"Yeah, this isn't going to work."
Blake's astute observation was met with unanimous agreement.
Ruby's head suddenly perked up, her eyes wide. "Why don't we stack the beds on each other to make bunk beds? Then we'd have enough room for everything!"
That actually wasn't a bad idea. The only question was how to actually stack the beds safely and securely. The best way would obviously be to somehow connect the bed posts together on top of each other somehow, but that would take really strong glue... or some applied magecraft.
"I don't mind, but how would we do it?" The dark-haired beauty pointed out.
"I actually have an idea, but you'll have to step out of the room while I do it." Despite the fact that they'd already seen me perform magecraft, I was still uncomfortable with the idea of non-magi watching me use it.
Blake narrowed her eyes. "You're not going to do something strange, are you?"
"Of course not, I just don't..." Think Shirou, think. "...want you to get hurt if something goes wrong? I'm just going to stack Pyrrha's bed on top of mine and-"
"Ooh I want to be on top!"
"-Ruby's bed on top of yours, then glue the bedposts together. Does that sound alright?" I really hoped that sounded plausible.
"That should be fine, but I still don't see why we have to leave?" Blake gave me a quizzical look.
"I think it's alright if he doesn't want us to see, let's go visit the others until he's finished." Pyrrha interjected, rounding the other two girls up and pulling them into the hallway. I flashed a thankful smile at her, and she returned it with a gentle nod.
Frowning, I stared at the disjointed slabs of wood. I'd never fused two objects together before, but given my history of fixing a multitude mundane objects, I felt I could improvise a little.
Reinforcing my limbs, I lifted Pyrrha's bed and carefully placed it over mine. Placing a hand on each bed, I closed my eyes and concentrated.
"Trace on."
A hammer striking an anvil echoed off somewhere in my mind. I Structurally Analyzed both of the beds. Good, the wood frames seemed to be made from the same tree. That would make this next part even easier.
Reinforcement is like filling in the gaps of an object with prana or energy. This would in a sense, make a complete object 'more perfect'. By imbuing the object with prana, certain attributes can be amplified like the durability of a shield, or the sharpness of a blade. Objects can even change shape depending on how the prana is utilized.
That was what I was going for. I firmly gripped the bed posts and visualized the very structure of the two objects, down to every fibre and every wood cell. I poured prana into them, willing the fibres to reach out and intertwine with the fibres of the other post.
Stepping back, I admired my handiwork. The beds looked like they had always been joined together, the wood smooth where the separation once was. One down, seven more to go.
-o-
As I opened the door, a red blur streaked in and immediately settled onto one of the top bunks. Pyrrha and Blake walked in eyebrows raised.
"That is actually pretty impressive." Blake closely inspected the joined bed frames. "It's so smooth, that can't have just been glue. What did you use?" She glanced up at me, her eyes glowing with curiosity.
"Umm... Magic?" I plastered a fake smile on my face, while secretly hoping she would fall for it.
"Fine, don't tell me." She settled down in her own bed, before pulling out one of her books. Sometimes the best lies were seeded in truth.
"Shirou, this is pretty amazing." Pyrrha commented while running her hands down the smooth wooden frames. She then began to clean up the floor around the beds.
I grabbed a set of clothes and my towel and headed towards the washrooms for a nice warm shower. Today had been a long, long day.
-o-
I am the bone of my sword,
Steel is my body, Fire is my blood.
I have created over a thousand blades,
Unaware of loss,
Nor aware of gain,
Withstood pain to create weapons,
Waiting for one's arrival.
I have no regrets.
This is the only path,
My whole life was, the Unlimited Blade Works
-Emiya Shirou
Updated AN: So I've decided to edit/rewrite the earlier chapters to better fit the story I had in mind. I'll likely also stop writing longass author notes, if at all, for future chapters. Chapter five is mostly complete with a few more scenes to go. The old AN is below.
AN: This is my first fanfiction I've ever really written. It's also the first bit of writing I've ever posted anywhere. Incidentally, I'm more of an artist than a writer, so if you're reading this, it was originally meant as a one-shot, so I wouldn't get your hopes up about seeing many updates.
This idea kept nagging at me. The idea of a powerful, but not quite skilled version of Shirou arriving in Remnant just stuck with me. It's not exactly original, but of the few RWBY and Fate Stay/Night crossovers, none of them quite struck me in the same way as stories like In Flight by Gabriel blessing or even God Slaying Blade Works by Marcus Galen Sands, which I'll admit influenced my story a fair bit, evident in both the title and a little in my style of writing.
As for the story itself, I do actually have an ending in mind, but without any sort of 'meat' or actual plot development in between, it would be pretty useless. I do already have one omake written out (I know it's kinda early to already be writing those), and I'll probably write out a collection before posting as its own chapter. I do have various ideas for events in the story, so it's entirely possible I may just end up writing the rest of the story, though that probably won't be any time soon. In fact, it's more likely I'll write out the rest of the story before actually posting any new chapters.
Anyway thanks for reading this ridiculously long chapter and ridiculously long author note (unless you skipped it, which I won't blame you for. I usually skip these when reading….)
TL;DR: Well you missed out. Whether you missed out on gold nuggets or trash, we'll never know…..
Madgamer2k7 out.