This is chapter one of my story for a challenge issued by Alex-kellar on Deviantart. I know the story below sucks, but it might get better... no... It'll suck until the end of time.

Erza readied her sword. It was now pointed at the Red haired man who she assumed belonged to the bandit group she had just defeated.
The problem was that he was wounded and she didn't remember attacking someone who looked like he did. "Who are you? Are you with those bandits?" She asked. If he were, instead, a victim of the bandit attack, she would have to escort him to the hospital.

The man's steely golden eyes stared into Erza's own with a sense of calmness. "Emiya Shirou. And no, I'm lost, actually."

"Lost? Where are you from?" Erza asked.

"Fuyuki." He replied.

Fuyuki? It didn't sound like any of the places Erza knew of. "I have personally never heard of Fuyuki, could you be from the East?"

A look of confusion passed over his face. As if he had been given unexpected information. "It's in Japan."

Erza narrowed her eyes. A wounded man appearing inside of a bandit camp and claiming to be from a made up country. This Emiya guy was a suspicious person. "What are you playing at?" She asked as her guard increased.

Shirou lifted his arms in the air with opened hands. "What do you mean?"

"Fuyuki, Japan... those aren't even places on the map."

"Do you have a map that I could look at?" He asked without dropping his position. The Scarlet haired knight reached for a pouch behind her back and grabbed a map. Shirou broke his surrendering stance to catch the map she tossed to him. "This... Is this a map of the entire world?"

After nodding. Erza noticed a look of devastation in his once steel hardened gaze. "Sorry for bothering you." Shirou tossed the map back to Erza before turning away.

"Where do you think you're going?" She asked with a cold voice. "I have to take you to the authorities for questioning. You're a suspiscious person found inside of a bandit hideout." Truthfully, Erza would prefer a hospital instead for his wounds, but it would be risky to take someone shady into a place filled with the sick and injured.

Shirou stopped mid-step and stood still momentarily. "Alright." He turned and walked with Erza who was eyeing him from the side. He then turned around to look at the bandits they were leaving behind. "What about them?"

"We'll notify the authorities once we get back to town. They won't wake up until then."

The rest of the way to town, Shirou and Erza had remained silent.

Shirou's injuries were just at a level where he could get away with being treated with the basic medical supplies inside what he assumed to a police building. The only serious thing being mana deficiency which probably wasn't even something they could treat. Erza had questioned where he got his injuries and if he were a 'wizard', but he managed to dodge the last part of her question by focusing on where he got his injuries. For now, she would have to believe that he was in a normal sword fight. It's not like she would believe that he had thousands of high class magical weapons called noble phantasms shot at him at hyper sonic speeds.

Shirou considered the possibility of being sent to another world from when he was sucked into the hole that the grail left behind. It would certainly make sense since the woman who introduced herself as Erza told him that there was no such place as Japan in this world. It didn't help that Shirou was pretty much a ghost, which made Erza even more suspicious of him.

Once he was cleared by the authorities, Erza had reluctantly let Shirou go his own way after warning him about wandering into the forest. It was obvious that she didn't believe him, but there wasn't anything he could do about that. Though he did wonder what she meant by 'could you be from the east?' they were speaking Japanese, so he had assumed that they were already in the east.

Shirou shook his head to escape his own thoughts. In the mean time, his main priority was to find somewhere to stay. he would ask around town for directions and if possible find a way to make money. Though, finding a job might be a little hard for a man who had torn up clothes and bloody bandages all over.

He might be able to sleep in the nearby forest if he set up a makeshift shelter of some sort. But his reserves were completely empty and he was too exhausted to do anything if he were attacked. Erza had also given him quite the authoritative look when she scolded him earlier. Shirou almost wished he had asked Erza questions about his current situation, but he didn't want to trouble the woman any further and he didn't know if she was even around anymore. He considered pulling an all nighter and waiting for his circuits to recover, but that idea was quickly shot down when Shirou remembered how important sleep is for recovery. Still, pulling an all nighter somewhere in a desolate area of town was a better choice than winging it.

Shirou walked until he spotted a bridge hanging over the river. There were no trees or buildings too close to the bridge, which allowed a perfect view of the sun as it began to set. Still though, he would have preferred a place with a better clearing since the sky here looked pretty. Shirou lifted himself on top of the ledge and swung his legs over. The sunset caused most of the sky to turn a beautiful orange color. If Shirou were to turn around, he would see that the orange fades into a blue color and darkens in preparation for the moon.

"I'll become one in your place! I'll make your dream come true. Just leave it to me." Shirou's mind flashed back to the times when he would watch the night sky with Kiritsugu. Even though it was the sun he was watching this time, he couldn't help but to be reminded of his adopted father.

Shirou was immediately broke from his contemplation by a few voices coming from his left. Once he turned, he saw a man walking into an alley way. Shirou pushed himself back from the ledge and began walking to the alley. Once he made it to the alley way, he stood at the side and peaked into the entrance.

"We know you're loaded. Just give us your money, and we'll go."

In the alley, a middle aged woman was surrounded by a few men who appeared to be thieves. The woman took a pouch from the bag on her side and handed it to the thief in the center of the group. The look of fear and helplessness on her face alone would have been enough for Shirou to get moving.

He grabbed a broken piece of a wooden plank leaning against the wall and raised it to point at the thieves. "Stop right there."

The thieves turned around and noticed Shirou. Seeing a wounded young man holding a broken piece of wood as a weapon would normally make people laugh, but the steel-like gaze in his eyes was rather unnerving for the criminals. "Get out of here, kid." Said the one on the right.

Upon seeing the boy ignore his command, the thief began walking in his direction. "Don't say I didn't warn you." The thief drew a dagger only to have it slapped from his hand by the wooden plank. His eyes widened before his face received the blunt force of the plank, knocking him to the ground at an uncanny speed.

The other thieves began running to Shirou with the intent to attack him. Before either of them could make it to Shirou, he threw the plank at the one leading the charge. A loud snap could be heard the moment it made contact with his head and broke in half. The fact that it wasn't rotten or weak wood was proof that the boy was not normal. The last member ran at Shirou with a raised fist. Shirou kicked his leg, stopping his charge and bringing him on his knees. Still exhausted from his previous battle, Shirou practically had to fall in order to deliver a powerful punch.

Before falling, he managed to regain his footing and avoid the stone ground. Walking back to the first thief who was attempting to stand, Shirou kicked him in the head to knock him out before he even made it off the ground.

Shirou turned to the lady, panting in exhaustion. "Are you... alright?" Upon seeing her nod, Shirou began walking away. "Notify the authorities before these guys wake up."

"Ah!" The woman stumbled before standing. "What's your name?"

"Emiya Shirou."

The woman rushed to Shirou's side. "You're not from here, are you?" She asked.

"I'm actually lost." Shirou replied.

The woman moved in front of Shirou. "Do you have a place to stay?"

Shirou shook his head.

"My husband and I own an Inn you could stay at." The woman beckoned for Shirou to follow.

"Ah, but! I don't have any money."

The woman smiled. "That's fine. It's my way of repaying you." She began walking with Shirou following behind. A few moments later, she stopped and turned to face Shirou. "After all, we can't exactly have our heroes going homeless, can we?" She gave a cheerful smile before shifting her focus back onto the street ahead.

Shirou's head lowered. "A hero..." A genuine smile formed on his lips.

Sorry I just now noticed this. Fanfiction's document editor did some weird stuff and ruined my paragraphing, making it worse than it already was. I think I fixed it, hopefully it stays that way.