Day 1: 1:35 PM - Fuyuki City: City Proper
Sucking in the crisp winter air sent a shiver down the young man's spine. He jostled around in his jacket to drive away the cold; fortunately it worked. Walking along the bustle and hustle of the city streets, his attention was immediately caught by someone calling out his name, "Shirou! Hey Shirou!"

Shirou Emiya turned to face whoever it was trying to get his attention. He was slightly above average for men his age which made it easy to spot the person waving at him through the crowd. He let out a sigh and tousled his bright orange hair. Rin Tohsaka, a long time friend and now occasional co-worker, was quickly making her way through the flood of people toward him.

She was about half a head shorter than him with dark black hair; presently is was tied into twin tails held up by two charcoal colored ribbons. She was dressed in a long red jacket, a white polo neck jumper, a black mini skirt, and long leather boots. Rin stopped to catch her breath when she caught up with him. Eventually she stood erect and smiled, "Good afternoon Shirou."

"Afternoon Tohsaka. What are you doing in Fuyuki? I wasn't expecting you back from London for another couple of months."

"I'm here on a job," Rin answered.

That makes sense, Shirou thought to himself.

It had been a little over a year since Rin and Shirou had graduated from senior high and while the two had both decided to continue their educations, their paths were vastly different. Rin had applied to and been accepted by a prestigious group known as the Mage's Association to attend formal training in London, England with the goal of furthering her magecraft. She had also taken up a position on the Mages Council in a probationary capacity; she often did a number of tasks for them all around the world (these extracurricular activities counted positively toward her courses).

Shirou on the other hand had decided to remain in Fuyuki and take on an apprenticeship with the local blacksmith. This helped him keep up on a lot of his magical strengths. He also found himself occasionally assisting Rin with jobs that were in or near Fuyuki. Her arrival now indicated that he was probably going to have to call out of work.

Letting out a sigh, Shirou asked, "How can I help you this time?"

The smile on Rin's face twisted into a scowl, "No 'How are you, Rin?' No 'How was London, Rin?' No nothing?"

Shirou chuckled slightly, "Sorry Tohsaka. Just figured if we got your job out out the way we'd have more time to chat and catch up."

Rin maintained her scowl as she scrutinized Shirou. After apparently deciding she was satisfied with his answer her face softened slightly and she started, "Fine. But you owe me dinner. Your house will suffice."

As she stood more erect in an attempt to make her demand feel more official, Shirou chuckled again, "Understood. Now what does the Mage's Association need you to do in Fuyuki?

Rin didn't answer immediately, she instead grabbed his arm and steered him away from the crowded sidewalk into an empty side street. She looked around as if to make sure that they were in fact alone before whispering, "What I'm about to tell you does not go beyond us, understood?"

She waited for Shirou to nod before continuing, "After a couple weeks of research and verification, the Mages Council has confirmed that magical ley lines all over the planet are shorting out. Their stores of magic energies are disappearing and what remains of the leylines are violently exploding. Some of these explosions are so powerful whole towns are destroyed."

Shirou blinked at her, shocked, "Are you serious?"

"Very," Rin replied, "Now I've already checked out Ryuudou Temple; the ley line there is stable for the moment. I've also checked out Central Park. The leyline running through there doesn't seem to be in any danger of rupturing. The only one left I have to check is in the middle of the woods out by the Einzbern Mansion. Figured I'd wait to have you there in case Illyia decides to make trouble."

"Well you won't have to worry about her," explained Shirou, "She left town last week to head back to Germany. Her grandfather apparently passed away and she's going to be taking on the mantle of the head of her family."

"I see…" Rin said, her voice trailing off as she cataloged the new information in her mind.

Disrupting the silence, Shirou continued, "And what exactly do you want me to do to help you?"

Rin refocused on Shirou and said, "I want you to try and reinforce the ley line with your magic if it's unstable."

"Reinforce an object that has no physical form?" Shirou half laughed, "I'm flattered that you're now thinking highly of my skills as a magus, but I can't do that!"

This drew another scowl from Rin, "I've always acknowledged your magical skills, despite their rudimentary concepts. And are you saying you won't even try? The very fabric of the planet's natural magics are at stake and you won't even make an attempt to try and help fix it?"

Shirou threw up his hands defensively as Rin laid into him, "Whoa whoa whoa! I never said I wouldn't try! Just don't expect me to actually be of any help!"

Rin placed her hands on her hips, clearly dissatisfied with his answer, "Hmph..."

The young woman quickly twisted Shirou around so that he was facing back out toward the main street and began pushing him toward it. Shirou resisted only for a moment before giving in and stumbling forward onto the road. He let out an exasperated sigh and mumbled, "Let's go."

Day 1: 2:47 PM - Fuyuki City - Einzbern Forest
The walk to the edge of Fuyuki was long and filled with little conversation. The sun was high in the sky as they entered the pathway leading into the forest. Stepping past the treeline, Shirou and Rin instantly felt the change of pressure in the atmosphere. The air was heavy with magical energy and so thick you could cut it with a knife.

"Looks like we're just in time," Rin stated, "This leyline is definitely in trouble."

Rin quickly took the lead, trying to pinpoint the center of the leyline. Shirou followed close behind keeping an eye for any danger. It didn't take long for Rin to locate their target, but the walk there took forever. After almost an hour of walking, her direction deposited the two in a small clearing with a large circle of rocks surrounding the perimeter. Shirou exhaled sharply as he moved into the ring; the crushing sensation of the dense magical energies was forcing the breath from his lungs. He glanced at Rin and was surprised to see her not faring much better. Her abilities as a magus had always allowed her to remain comfortable in places he thought were similar to this one, but now she was taking deep breaths and making a visible effort to stand upright.

Rin pointed to the center of the field and managed, "There...that's...where you're going to...want to...try and...reinforce the...leyline."

Shirou nodded and slowly made his way to the circle's central point. Reaching it, he found it took everything he had to remain standing. He knelt down and placed a hand on the ground. His breathing labored, he closed his eyes and murmured, "Trace...on!"

Magical energy streamed through the magic circuits in his arm and into the ground. As it did so he said, "Analyzing component mater-"

He was cut off as a slew of information flooded into his mind. Surprised that he gained any response at all, Shirou was suddenly able to visualize a massive globule deep beneath him. From the globe spanned hundreds of veins of normally invisible magical energies. As his trace expanded the entire network, he found numerous breaks in the veins themselves. Deciding that was where his focus needed to be, he channeled his magics to those points and began repairing and strengthening them as much as he could. It took less than a minute, but when he finally relinquished his attention on his work, he found that the pressure in the area was immensely relieved.

Shirou fell back, suddenly very drained. His efforts had made him more exhausted than he'd anticipated. He heard Rin run up next to him and exclaim, "Shirou! You did it! You actually did it!"

"I know," Shirou tiredly chuckled.

Rin grinned at him, "I told you you could do it."

"I know," Shirou repeated, returning her smile.

Rin held out a hand. Shirou took it and was helped to his feet. He dusted himself off and took a moment to take in the normalness of the area; the ordeal, while only lasting mere minutes, had been extraordinarily trying. He exhaled sharply and frowned; he was out of shape. Eventually he broke the silence by asking, "So, Tohsaka, now what?"

Rin glanced around, reassuring herself that everything had settled, before answering, "Dinner."

"So there's nothing else we have to do?"

"Nope. Now we got back to your place and you cook me dinner."

"Got it," Shirou chuckled.

As Rin moved in front of him to take the lead, Shirou took one last look around. Despite how natural things had returned to, he still felt like something was slightly off. When he heard Rin calling back to him, he shook his head to dispel any concerns he had and began to catch up with his companion.

Day 1: 7:21 PM - Fuyuki City: Emiya Residence
Rin did her best to not obviously salivate at the small banquet sitting on the table in front of her. She looked up at Shirou, who was still in the kitchen, and asked, "Was all of this really necessary?"

Shirou turned his head as he finished up with the last of the food and said, "Sorry, force of habit. I'm used to Fuji-nee, I mean Ms. Fujimura coming over for dinner. You know how much she eats."

Rin smiled and nodded, understanding completely. She gave a small chuckle as she said, "Speaking of Ms. Fujimura, where is she?"

"If you can believe it," Shirou started as he exited the kitchen, the steaming rice cooker in his hands, "on a date."

Rin was in the middle of sipping her cup of tea and his comment made her inhale mid-sip; she began coughing rather hard as the hot water went down the wrong pipe. Her coughing gradually transformed into strained laughter, "Taiga Fujimura! On a date?!"

Shirou nodded, grinning as he affirmed, "Yep. It's actually her fourth date with the same man."

"No way! Who is he?"

"No idea," shrugged Shirou, "She hasn't brought him by or told me his name. She's keeping him as secret as she can."

"Darn," Rin scowled, disappointed by the lack of information. Shirou bobbed his head in agreement as he began serving up the food.

The start of dinner marked the start of catching up. Rin explained in detail her numerous classes. In her excitement, she revealed she'd found a new form of experimental magic involving golems to come exceedingly natural to her. When she realized how much she'd divulged, she quickly changed the subject explaining she wasn't supposed to go public with the project yet. Her reminiscing then trailed into accounts of London and its scenery including the clocktower she now called home. Dinner was just about done by the time she finished catching Shirou up.

Shirou swallowed the last of his rice and said, "It certainly sounds like you're in your element, Tohsaka. I'm glad you've settled in so nicely in London."

He emphasized his sincerity by giving her a wide grin. Rin responded in kind and shifted the conversation toward Shirou, "So what about you? What have you been up to while I've been gone?"

Shirou's grin faded slightly as he said, "Nothing nearly as exciting as what you've gotten to experience."

"I'm still curious," Rin pouted.

"Well," Shirou started, "I've spent most of my time at Mr. Kirigaya's smithy. We've had a ton of work recently and I haven't often had a day off. Calling out today probably seemed really strange to him."

"I didn't get you in trouble with your boss, did I?" Rin frowned, concerned.

Shirou shook his head, "No! Not at all. I told him a friends was in town for just a short while and I needed a day off to catch up with them. He didn't mind. We got most of our work load done yesterday so today was an easy day."

"Okay..." nodded Rin, obviously still a little worried.

Shirou took a moment, trying to think of something else. Finally he added, "Aside from that, I've basically just been sorting through some old books that apparently belonged to my dad and his family."

"Books?" Rin inquired.

"Yeah," nodded Shirou, "They seem to have a lot of the Emiya family magical lore."

Rin's jaw dropped, "What?!"

Shirou raised any eyebrow, "Mhmm. A couple of boxes full of different things showed up on my front porch with a note explaining everything about them. Did you want to look through them, Tohsaka?"

Rin slammed her hands on the table. Shirou immediately realized he was getting an angry look. The young woman in front of him pinched the bridge of her nose, "Even after almost three years, you still don't understand. A mage family's magics are the most important thing one must protect. You never show any other mage your magical texts even if they're your friend."

"But you told me what magic your family specialized in," Shirou pointed out, slightly confused.

Grimacing, Rin nodded and elaborated, "True, but I only told you what my family's magic is called. I never told you the mechanics behind how it works. Family tomes are going to specify every tiny detail of how your magic works. You need to guard those with your life!"

Shirou let out a sigh, "Fine. I'll lock them up."

He paused a moment before asking, "Well now what do you want to-"

A pulse of magical energy coursed through the room, interrupting him. Both were instantly on their feet. It was so potent and so close, the two of them immediately knew where it had come from. It had originated in or around the storage house in Shirou's back yard. Rin quickly made her way out of the living room and began moving through the hallways to get outside. Shrio scrambled after her and shouted, "Tohsaka! Wait!"

He caught up with her just as she was stepping onto the patio. She stopped and turned, hastily snapping, "What?"

Shirou hesitated, thinking for a moment, before saying, "Stay here. I'll check it out by myself. It could be dangerous."

Rolling her eyes, Rin proceeded into the yard, saying, "Shirou, I've fought against Servants in the Holy Grail War. I doubt whatever that pulse was will be more dangerous than a Servant."

Rin was almost to the door of the shed when Shirou skidded to a stop in front of her, "Tohsaka, please. I'll check it out and if I need your help I'll shout."

Rin looked at him unamused. Shirou relaxed a little when he thought Rin was going to concede; big mistake. The moment his shoulders slouched Rin placed a hand them and shoved him to the side. Shirou went sprawling to the ground and Rin moved to open the door. As she did so, Shirou called out, "Tohsaka!"

The door was thrown open despite his protests. Rin froze as she registered what was in front of her. Before she had left, the store house had been cluttered and full of boxed and other junk; Shirou had been using it as a place to practice his magic for years. Now it was virtually empty save for a massive, intricate circle etched into the ground. Complex runes encircled a larger, tribal looking symbol. It filled the entire room. Rin recognized what it was immediately. While some things were missing and others added, Rin was positive it was some sort of summoning circle; more specifically a summoning circle that was incredibly similar to the ones used to summon Servants.

Rin heard Shirou move up behind her, "Tohsaka I can explain."

The magus turned to face her friend, frowning. She took a deep breath and exhaled before stating, "No need. I already know what you're doing. You're trying to summon her, aren't you?"

Around two and a half years earlier, Rin and Shirou had participated in an event known as the Holy Grail War. Seven mages from around the world were selected by an artifact known as the Holy Grail to be masters of powerful spiritual beings called Servants. Both Shirou and Rin were masters and had allied together to fend off their opponents. Over the course of the war, Shirou and his Servant became romantically involved despite a number of obstacles that tried to hinder the relationship. Unfortunately the true intent behind the war was made known to them: the "Holy Grail" was, in fact, a vessel that contained the entirety of the world's evil and malice and the war was a front for it as it tried to manipulate the victor into giving it full form. The two were forced to destroy the Grail to keep it from manifesting, but it came at the cost of all the Servants that had been summoned by the Grail returning to their own time making it impossible for the relationship between them to continue. Following the conclusion of the war, Shirou had confided in Rin that, while saddened by his loss, he had made peace with what had happened.

Rin pointed this out, "I thought you'd come to terms with her being gone. Why are you doing this now?"

"I was! I am...I…" Shirou's voice trailed off and he attempted to compose an answer. He eventually said, "Back then I had recognized that what had happened was final and I was content with the time I got to share with her, but recently…"

Shirou became reticent again as he thought over his next words. Becoming somewhat impatient as the silence dragged on, Rin cut into his thoughts, "While you're trying to figure out how to explain to me your reasoning behind this, maybe you can tell me how in the heck you learned about this type of summoning circle."

"Ah. Well I actually came across that in one of the books that I got. It's apparently some sort of prototype circle that allows for the summoning of heroic spirits without the need for the Holy Grail."

Rin's eyes widened, "Are you serious?"

"Yeah," Shirou nodded, "But I haven't gotten it to work. It hasn't responded at all to anything I've tried and I've been going at this for weeks."

"Weeks?" asked Rin, a twinge of concern laced in her inquiry.

He let out a breath of air as he began to explain, "The reason I'm trying to summon her...It's because...I-"

Before Shirou could complete his sentence, he noticed something behind Rin. His eyes widened as he realized the summoning circle was beginning to glow. Rin caught on to Shirou's distracted gaze and turned around. A small gasp escaped her lips as the glowing became more intense. The wind picked up and the light emitting from the circle became too great to look at. Rin and Shirou shielded their eyes and were bathed in a brilliant, white light. As the light died down, the two blinked away the blackness from their vision.

Shirou's heart skipped a beat when he saw what the light had revealed. A figure stood in the center of the circle clad in an old fashioned blue dress with gold trim slightly darker than the color of her hair which was tied in a braided bun. An elegant, silver breastplate rested over her chest and two large gauntlets protected her hands and forearms. Piercing green eyes gazed into Shirou's with identical amounts of shock. The stillness that had settled in was fragmented by a soft voice, "Shirou? Is that you?"

Shirou took a step forward, still not completely believing what was in front of him. In response he managed, "Yeah...it's me...Saber."

As soon as he said her name, Saber's face contorted into a serious facade; something was wrong. Her head snapped to the window of the storehouse and she called out, "Everyone find cover!"

Shirou and Rin immediately looked around and briefly saw a small blue dot floating in the air a great distance away. Given its location it seemed to be at or near the Einzbern mansion. The scene was only visible for a second. The dot moved slightly upwards and then shot down toward the ground so fast it was like it just disappeared from sight. Absolute silence took hold of the entire city. Not a sound managed to escape into the night. Then, without warning, a vacuum-like sensation manifested so powerful that Shirou and Rin were both dragged a couple feet into the yard. The instant the drag let up the surrounding area was lit up like it was daytime. The two mages saw the explosion before they heard or felt it. A fireball erupted from the ground and launched into the sky, bypassing the cloud cover with ease. The entirety of their field of vision bore witness to the base of the explosion.

Then came the sound. A monstrous roar echoed deafeningly throughout the whole of Fuyuki shattering every ounce of glass in the Emiya household and even splintering a few wooden supports. Despite its considerable distance away, the sound was so intense Shirou's eyes began seeing black. Finally he felt it. A rush of force hit Shirou like a freight train and lifted him off his feet. He felt numerous snaps inside his body as bones shattered from the impact. He flew through the air and cleared the wall surrounding his house. He crashed through some shrubbery and hit the ground like a rock. His vision started to blacken as he dipped into unconsciousness, but he managed to hold on long enough to faintly see Saber appear over top of him. She seemed to be saying something; her lips were moving, but the explosion had made it impossible for him to hear anything at that moment. His final image was that of a horrified Saber materializing an object from thin air into her hands and placing it on his chest.