Note: Hey, everyone. This chapter is coming out a little late. I actually planned to write every day until the contest was over, but I kind of burned myself out after the second chapter. I obviously won't finish before the deadline, but I'll keep writing this story regardless. I hope the story will be enjoyable for you all till the very end.
There was a hill. It was so distant, so far... yet it was right here. He started to climb up, trudging his way towards the peak of this hill. His hand was the first to slam down on the sandy top, blowing up a small cloud of dust. His foot was the next thing up, impacting the ground next to his hand. He gently pushed off with his leg, his hand slowly leaving the warm sand. He was standing on that hill of swords.
He stared out at the horizon, a mixture of orange and red. Perhaps others would say it was beautiful, but no one would be able to admire the breathtaking view as much as he. It was a beauty he would always drag his feet towards.
He turned away his eyes, unable to stare at the horizon any longer... His gaze swept along the field littered with swords; a man was walking. Swords lay on either side but not in front, it was like a path intentionally made. A lone man walked down this path.
The man had messy black hair, parts of it sticking out here and there. The clothes he wore were hidden beneath his long black coat, only parts of his black pants remained visible near the bottom. The man felt familiar, yet he could not find a name for him.
He kicked up crimson dust around his feet as he walked, the color caused by the horizon light. Suddenly, he stopped moving, he stayed completely still. He observed this man for several minutes, intrigued by all that he saw. It was as if the man wasn't able to move further, as if this was the end of his journey... But he never reached his destination...
The man turned back his head, staring at he who stood on the hill. The man's eyes were empty, his face blank. For some reason, he looked like someone who lost everything and gained nothing. He felt sympathy for the man, but at the same time, he felt a sense of admiration for him. For this man he couldn't recognize? Why would he admire him?
It happened in the blink of an eye, at an imperceptible speed. The man was gone, replaced by a young teen with auburn hair. He wore a white shirt with blue sleeves, and a pair of jeans. A simple look for a simple man.
The teen turned away from he who stood on the hill, continuing the path left unfinished by the man before. What was the path they journeyed? What waited for them at the end of their travels? He had no idea...
As the boy walked, kicking up the crimson dust, his form began to change. He grew taller, stronger, his skin tanned and the color of his hair faded away as mist. Even his clothes began to change, red and black with silver accents became the new colors he bore.
That white haired man wielding two swords, he kept on walking the path, kicking up even more crimson dust than the boy he once was, and more than the man who had preceded him. Why were these people's journey such a lonely one? That's what he wondered as he watched the man walk further and further. Did he pity this man? He wasn't sure what he felt towards him.
He reached out his hand towards the man. He wanted to shout out, tell this man to abandon the walk he took, tell the man he might come to regret his decision, but no words escaped his lips. How could he possibly tell this man to stop? Especially when he, himself, was still...
As he watched the man from atop the hill, the world around him began to quake. The world around began to crumble, but there was no reaction from anyone. Not from he who stood on the hill, nor the man walking the lonely path.
"I'll become one for you!"
("Hey, wake up!")
[Fate/RWBY]
His eyes slowly opened, he was greeted by the empty black and gray interior. It would seem the others evacuated the airship while he was asleep. He lowered his gaze, his pack still sat safely between his feet. He reached down, wrapping his fingers around a strap.
"Hey, did you hear me?" Shirou looked to his right, where the voice came from. The door was open, revealing the lush green scenery, mixing in well with the gray cement walkways that led to the few tall buildings in the back.
He lowered his eyes, finding the source of the familiar voice. Velvet, who was standing outside, peeked her head in with an inquisitive gaze toward him. Her hands gripped the aircraft's floor, which sat just slightly under her shoulder level.
"I'm sorry, I didn't hear you." Shirou's voice was quiet, soft, fitting for one who just woke up.
"O-oh, well, I said we're here." Velvet explained. "Welcome to Beacon!" She stretched out her arm, presenting the green scenery to him.
"Beacon, huh?" Shirou muttered, glaring back at the tall silhouette of the distant tower.
He turned away his gaze, leaning his head back and against the metal wall. His eyes squeezed shut as he released a quiet sigh. Welcome to Beacon...
"Is everything alright?" Came Velvet's sudden voice, a dash of concern mixed in.
He rolled his head to the side, opening his eyes as he showed her a smile. "Yeah, I'm just tired..."
He stood up, causing the bunny girl to take a few steps back from the entrance. He grabbed his pack and slung it over a shoulder. With a few steps to reach the entrance, he looked over the scenery one more time, then he jumped out of the bullhead.
His knees bent as his feet made contact with the ground. His upper body lowering, he placed a palm against the stone ground to help support him. Taking a second to adjust, he gave a gentle push off the ground, leaving his crouched position and entering a standing state.
He pulled back his hood, allowing his hair to flow with the gentle gust of wind. His eyes surveyed the surroundings, taking notice of the several students who had stopped and watched. Perhaps they were taking a moment to acknowledge the fact that CFVY was back, or maybe they were curious about him, the mysterious stranger who showed up with fellow students. It was probably a little of both.
But then his eyes fell on one student in particular. A tall male student with spiked back hair, the color a mixture of brown and red. His hair was almost enough to hide the two horns on his head, the traits that signified his faunus heritage. He wore sunglasses, the lenses of which were dark enough to hide the color of his eyes from the world around him.
He had a black suit jacket over his torso, half-buttoned to reveal a red shirt beneath. He also wore black gloves, black pants, and black shoes with red soles.
There were finer details to be mentioned, such as the back of his jacket being marked by a wilting rose flowing over his left shoulder, or the back of his gloved hands having red markings, there was even the white dots on his black belt, the minor details of his outfit.
Shirou knew this student, he knew this man... Adam Taurus, Shirou's brother. His eyes briefly left the form of Adam, taking a peek at the ones next to him.
There was a male student standing beside him. He had slanted, dark-green eyes and bright, long, orange hair, with long bangs covering his right eye. Black eyeliner traced his visible left eye.
He wore a red-lined white suit with long black pants and black shoes. His accessories included a small gray scarf, black gloves with buckled sleeves, and a black bowler hat with a small feather tucked into its red band.
His eyes turned to the other student beside Adam. A rather short female student with long, flowing hair. Her hair color half pink and half brown, with white streaks on the pink side.
Her left eye was brown, the right pale pink. Shirou knew there was a name for this condition, but the name was escaping his mind at the moment. He was slightly surprised to see her pink eye turn white when she blinked, but he shrugged it off. There were many things here that was weird, in fact, he, himself, was also pretty weird to some people.
Unlike the two she stood beside, she wore Beacon's school uniform. A red plaid skirt and long black stockings. A brown jacket and tan vest over a white shirt; a red ribbon tied at the collar. Her footwear, however, were black and white boots with very high heels.
He brought his gaze back to Adam. He could see the surprise on his face over seeing him again. It made sense, he and Adam hadn't spoken in a while, hadn't seen each other in even longer. There were unfortunate circumstances... but they'd finally met again.
He slowly raised his hand, waving at the brother he hadn't seen in so long.
Velvet tilted her head. "Do you know them?"
Shirou turned his head to her and replied, "I know the guy in black... he's my brother."
"Huh!? Adam is your brother!?" Velvet's eyes went wide.
Shirou nodded, scratching the back of his head.
"Well-" Velvet was cutoff by Coco's voice
"Hey, hurry up you two!" Coco shouted.
She turned her head to look back at her teammates, who were walking off towards the courtyard. She looked back to Shirou with a complicated expression.
"Don't worry, go with your team." Shirou said, "I'll go have a chat with Adam."
"What about speaking with the Headmaster?"
"I'll go and see him when I'm done." Shirou explained. "Besides, there shouldn't be a problem with me visiting campus during the Vytal festival." He shrugged.
"I guess you're right..." she replied.
"I'll see you later." With that and a quick wave, Shirou turned back to Adam and his friends.
Velvet watched for a moment as Shirou ran over to his brother. It was good that he found him. She turned back to the fleeing forms of her teammates and jogged after them.
"Where's Mr. Stranger?" Coco asked as Velvet came to a stop behind her.
"He went off to talk with Adam," Coco raised a brow at the new information. "Turns out he's the brother Shirou told us about."
"Adam Taurus, huh?" Coco thought on the matter for a few moments, before throwing the info to the back of her mind. It wasn't like it was important enough to warrant any deep thinking about.
[Fate/RWBY]
"Adam, who is 'Emiya Shirou'?" Roman asked.
"He's..." Adam sighed, eyes fixed on Shirou's approaching form. "My brother..." Roman and Neo's eyes widened at the information they received.
Placing a hand on Adam's shoulder, Roman asked, "That's the brother you've told us about?"
Adam nodded.
Shirou came to a stop in front of Adam. For a moment, his eyes scanned the young man. He was older. He nodded a greeting to Adam's two friends, receiving one from them both in return. He looked back to Adam, his eyes meeting his... sunglasses lenses.
"Hello, Adam," he greeted, "It's good to see you again."
"Shirou... it's good to see you." Adam replied.
"You've grown a lot since I last saw you."
"I could say the same about you'" Adam shot back with a small smile. "Even your hair looks a bit faded, what happened to the color?"
"It's... just how I've aged."
Roman cleared his throat, catching their attention. "Hello! My name is Roman Torchwick."
"Shirou." Shirou held out his hand. "Nice to meet you."
Roman grabbed his hand with a large grin. "Nice to meet you."
Neo rapidly tapped Roman's shoulder. He turned his head and looked down to the small girl. Once she was certain she had his attention, she pointed to Shirou, then herself, and then she started making a series of gestures with her hands.
"Oh," Roman turned back to Shirou, using his hand to gesture to the girl beside him, "This is Miss Neo." Roman rolled his eyes at the 'Miss' that she insisted he not leave out.
She tilted her head to the side, showing a bright smile as she waved to Shirou.
"It's nice to meet you, Miss Neo." Shirou respectfully bowed his head to her.
Neo looked up at Roman, tapping his shoulder to get his attention again. Once his eyes found her, she showed another series of hand gestures.
Roman looked back at Shirou. "She says you're a good man."
"Thank you." Shirou said, Neo giving him a nod in response.
Shirou's eyes went back to Adam. "Adam, I know we have a lot to catch up on, but for now, let me ask you how things are looking here in Vale?"
Adam raised a brow at the inquiry. "What do you mean?"
"I heard Fang activity is... getting a little out of control here." Shirou explained. "I know they've been a rowdy bunch as of late, but it's worse here in Vale."
"Yeah," Adam sighed. "I think Sienna might be planning something."
"I think so, too. Any idea what it might be?"
"No, not really." Adam shook his head. "I left the Fang long ago."
"Alright, then has anything else been happening lately?"
Adam scowled as he remembered what Blake had told him, there was little doubt in his mind that it was connected. Even if Blake told him to keep the incident between him and his team, Shirou was someone it was alright to tell. He was sure that Blake wouldn't mind if he told him...
"There was an intruder." he said. "Beacon was hosting a dance, during which, someone broke into the CCT."
"Wait, what?!" Roman, who had been quietly listening to the conversation with Neo, finally spoke up when he heard something quite shocking. Even Neo was wide-eyed with surprise upon hearing that. "This is the first I've heard of this!"
"Keep it down," Adam held an index finger in front of his mouth. "Blake told me about it while you two were fooling around. I feel like this goes without saying, but don't go telling everyone about this; it's a secret."
Roman's eyes shifted between Adam and Shirou several times, finally ending on Adam. "A secret, huh?"
"Shirou is the exception," Adam shot back.
"An intruder, huh?" Shirou sighed. "Anything else?"
"Nothing besides Fang activity."
Shirou tilted his head back, his eyes locked on the top of the distant tower. "Then I guess it's time for me to go speak with Ozpin..."
[Fate/RWBY]
He was sitting comfortably in his chair, staring out of his office window as he pondered. Someone broke into the CCT, likely a member of her forces. He was fortunate that Ruby was there to distract her long enough for Ironwood to show up, he was fortunate Ruby told them about the hideout in the southeast, he was fortunate RWBY wanted to go check things out. He was sure they would share whatever it was they learned down there, and if not them, Oobleck most certainly would.
Regardless, he was glad to help them. They were great students, they'd be great Huntresses as well. He was sure, if they accepted, they'd even make great operatives someday, he could use extra eyes out there. There was only so much Qrow could do alone, and there was only so much time left Qrow would be around. Some time or another, he would need more eyes.
The ding of the elevator broke him from his thoughts. Speaking of eyes...
"Shirou, it's been quite some time since we last spoke." Ozpin said, his gaze still locked on the distant view he saw through his window.
"It's been awhile since I've spoken to a lot of people." Shirou replied, walking over to take a seat near the desk.
"I'm sure that is more true than I know." Ozpin twirled his chair around, meeting Shirou's calm gaze.
"Perhaps..." Shirou shrugged. "But you always seem to know more than you should."
Ozpin smirked. "I assure you, I don't know nearly enough."
"As fun as that conversation might be, why don't we get to the real reason you called me here. We both know it wasn't just because a random stranger requires your special permission to visit campus."
"Perceptive as always." Ozpin chuckled. "But I assume you already have an idea of the topic. We both know seeing your younger brother wasn't your only reason for visiting Vale."
"The Fang, the intruder, it's all connected to her." Shirou stated simply.
"Oh? So you've heard of the infiltration already?" Shirou nodded. "Well, that's interesting."
"Off topic."
"Ah, always straight to the point with you." Ozpin chuckled, before giving a quiet sigh. "Yes, I do believe it all leads back to her."
Shirou leaned back in his chair, tilting his head back as he squeezed his eyes shut. He folded his arms over his chest, his lips curling down into a frown. The situation wasn't the best at the moment.
He slightly lowered his head, opening one eye to look at Ozpin. "So what's with James' fleet?"
Ozpin slowly spun his chair around, staring out the window once more. "He's... doing what he believes is right."
"As he always does." Shirou muttered. "But that fleet is just like telling them, 'Hey, we know you're here, and we're frightened', it's not exactly the best message to send them."
"Yes, his army is a bit much, I agree, but it's too late to change any of that." Ozpin clasped his hands together. "Let us hope that when the time comes, it will end up being useful."
"I suppose that's all we can do at this point." Shirou sighed.
"Knowing the enemy is here, I'd appreciate it if you stayed as well. We could use your help when that time comes."
"I was planning on staying even if you asked me to leave." With that, Shirou stood from his chair, walking back to the elevator.
"I'll make arrangements for your stay here." Ozpin threw a small device over his shoulder, which Shirou caught without turning around. "I'll contact you with the location of your room."
There was the ding of the elevator once more, followed by the sound of the door opening, "And one more thing, Mr. Emiya... Thank you." The elevator doors closed.
Speaking of eyes... Emiya Shirou would have been great at the job.
Closing Notes: So that was this chapter, hope you all enjoyed it. I tried my best to portray Ozpin accurately, but he is kind of hard to write for. But yeah, this chapter shows Oz and Shirou are acquainted with one another, but Shirou isn't exactly one of his operatives. The two just have a mutual goal.
With Adam, Roman, and Neo no longer being bad guys, someone needed to fill the role the three played in the show. Adam suspects Sienna is the one pulling the strings behind the White Fang. Sienna will not be portrayed the way Adam was in volume 5.
Well, that's all for now. I probably won't be posting a chapter every other day, but I'll try not taking too long to post the chapters from now on. No promises.