AN: Hey all you people, just so you know school is starting soon for me so updates may or may not slow down, just depends on how my classes go, just figured I'd give you a little warning. Anyway, feel free to PM and ask questions!

Enjoy!

The crisp morning was beyond refreshing. The first rays of sunlight were starting to peak out over the trees in the distance along with a chill breeze that was enough to put a very serene feel to the air. The morning had that same distinct smell of trees and fresh water, which reminded him of the few times that his father had brought him camping back when he was a child. It was so distracting that he very close to forgetting where he was. Along with the other presence that was with him.

The glint of the blade instantly brought him back to reality which left him just enough time to jump off to one side. The sharpened metal clanged against stone where he was just standing. The opposing blade quickly shifted directions and made a vicious swing towards his side. If it had been a weaker man then the blow would have cut him in two but his single white blade easily stopped it before any damage was done.

The other combatant leapt back to make some space but Shiro made no move to follow. He had been playing the defensive side for the better part of the morning and he saw no reason to change now. When the pair of fighters had first started their sparring, he had easily overwhelmed his opponent with shear speed rather than any form of skill. Of course now that he thought about it, that outcome should have been expected or at least foreseen as a possibility, however, the thought hadn't occurred to him until it had already happened. He was just so use to these battles being so one sided and not in his favor, that this was almost disappointing.

Although he could tell that he wasn't the only one feeling such shame. Now Arturia was beginning to circle him in an attempt to flank him. Shiro didn't move to follow but instead listened to the intensity of her feet hitting the ground. If there was one thing that he had learned about her fighting style, it was the feet. In a solid defense they were flat against the ground, but when she attacked, she instantly shifted her weight to her toes so that she could place more power behind each swing with little resistance. That distinct clink of shifting armor was his only warning.

Shiro did a quick about face before blocking a slash at his chest. He could tell that she was slowly tiring but she would probably never admit it, especially to him. Arturia took another backhanded chop at him. With some precise calculating, Shiro deflected the blade up above his head. As expected, Arturia wasted no time in turning the deflection into and over handed chop designed to pretty much destroy your opponents face. Steel hit steel once again when Shiro made an x over his head to catch the holy blade.

Arturia continued to hold the stance for a long moment until their eyes met. Shiro could see the sheer determination to hit him at least once before the day was out, but he could also see her frustration. The tell-tale shaking of her body was a sign of immense exhaustion as was the slowing pace of her sword. Strange as it was, he couldn't help the smile that crossed his face. Even though she wasn't as strong as when she was a servant she was still Arturia, or Saber if one would prefer, inside and out.

"I think that we have done enough for today," Shiro said, allowing his blades to disappear into nothingness.

Arturia looked at him curiously for a moment before saying between breathes," But Shiro… should we not… continue… at least until I can hit you… just once?"

"Oh, so I have made you mad now have I," he taunted lightly," however such anger will have to wait. I can tell that you're tired and we have been out here for almost four hours and the sun is just beginning to rise, you need to sleep sometime."

Arturia simply nodded her head. She sheathed her blade and walked past him toward a side door that lead into one of the castles main halls. As Shiro walked behind her, he noticed a sort of lazy droop in her normally strong shoulders. He smirked a little at the thought of her being this worn out before the day had even started. A majority of the town was still asleep, although it wouldn't be for much longer. The pair made their way to a familiar door that led to her sleeping chamber. Without a word, Shiro pushed it open to allow them to pass.

Walking to the center of the room, Shiro turned to look at Arturia. He waved his hand motioning for her to come closer. She hesitated for the slightest moment but decided to follow through with his request, unsure of his intentions. When she was within arm's length, Shiro's hands grabbed her waist and forced her to turn around. Instantly, she felt warm blood rushing into her cheeks as she started to blush.

"Sh-Shiro, w-what are y-you doing," She stammered

"Oh, not much," he replied as his hands found the first buckle securing her chest plate

"I c-can do this myself y-you know," She squeaked out again, trying all the while to keep her voice steady

"Yes, I know. It's just that the way you walked up here was making me tired and I don't even have to sleep," he said

Arturia simply nodded as the two halves of her chest piece were lifted away from her body and placed on a stand where she normally put them. He silently stepped back behind her and began to work on her arms after he asked her to lift them. It wasn't that she was reluctant for such contact, but it was something that was completely unexpected. She had never before had anyone help her with armor or clothing seeing as it would easily give away her secret which only served to heighten her discomfort. Although it was partially her own fault because she had proposed to commence training at one in the morning so that no one would see them.

As the metal plating around her body gradually disappeared, so too did her own embarrassment, it wasn't like anyone would see them. After a few moments the shell that was one covering her right arm joined her breastplate. Soon after came the left arm. Arturia's face began to heat up once again when Shiro moved his hands to the buckles around her hips but only moments later, they were gone along with her dress-like leg guards. She walked over to the edge of her bed at sat. Shiro appeared in front of her just before she could lay back and shot her a mischievous smile. Without waiting for any form of response, he knelt, picked up her foot, and removed the heavy metallic boot that covered her creamy white skin. She felt a shiver move steadily through her body when he playfully brushed his fingers down her calf.

He then switched over to the next boot, easily pulling it off but just as Arturia felt her foot slide free, the wooden door burst open. Shiro instantly shot up to a standing position and both of their faces began to shine with red. A familiar laughter filled the room. The intruder stepped into the chamber without any more hesitation.

"What so funny Merlin, I told you to wait for me!" a voice shouted down the hallway

"Nothing! Nothing, just our two 'companions' here were getting a little bit closer," he said back, with a grandfatherly grin spreading across his face," Now children there will be plenty of time for that later, and I need to borrow Shiro anyways. Arturia, the rest of the day awaits!"

Before either of them could react, Merlin was dragging Shiro out by his ear and Bedivere was standing at the door with an evil grin of his face. As Shiro and the old wizard left, he would have sworn that he heard Arturia groan as Bedivere told her that she was needed for court.

"So boy," the older man began, giving Shiro a close look," how are things between you and Arturia?"

"L-look, that wasn't what you think," Shiro said, raising his hands up in defense

"Damn, kids sure do move quickly these days," he continued, completely ignoring Shiro, however he did shoot him a telling wink

Taking a quick sigh of relief, Shiro asked," What's this all about anyway?"

"Well, I decided to do some digging about your circumstances, most of which does not add up."

"How so?"

"Well, first off Arturia has absolutely no connection to you or anything in the future for that matter, so how were you summoned if you are not currently supposed to exist?"

"That's an easy one," Shiro started," the throne of Hero's which contains the servants transcends time so even if a hero came after the current Heaven's Feel, then you can still be summoned into that time."

Merlin nodded in understanding," Second, why did this particular summoning need work from two sides rather than just the one. If Arturia had summoned you normally, or on purpose for that matter, then you would have appeared before she had left the circle."

Shiro nodded in return," That isn't something I would know. I am far from being a first class magus so summoning techniques and rituals are far beyond my understanding."

"Most importantly though," Merlin said, stopping to look at him," There isn't supposed to be a Heaven's Feel going on right now, let alone in this continent."

"How could you tell that?" Shiro asked

"Simple really, I followed the origin of the spell which ended up going somewhere very far off to the East. Which the more I looked at the trail the more it made sense, the network of magic lines which were set up from the first time are still partially present. That only means that an insane amount of energy was required to sustain it, thereby leading to the conclusion that it was either an amateur's job or a test trial. I tend to think the latter but following that logic it means that this one shouldn't even be happening," he concluded, shooting Shiro a very serious look," In other words, you simply shouldn't exist."

Shiro gave a hard swallow. So if this wasn't meant to happen, then someone else forced it using the old network which had been put in place for the so called 'test trial'. Someone out there initiated it and caused this to happen without the creators control or even knowledge thereof. But that was insane, the amount of prana and shear power that would take would be almost impossible to achieve unless you were a god. But that could only mean… it could mean…," Wait a minute, are you trying to say that the Holy Grail is trying to summon itself?"

"That's exactly what I'm trying to say. That is also why I need you Shiro. You were in the Fifth Heaven's Feel correct?"

Shiro nodded an affirmative," Yes, but me and my servant destroyed the Grail because it had gained some sort of corruption inside of it. I wouldn't be able to explain it even if I wanted to."

"That's what I was afraid of. As you said, the Throne of Hero's transcends time. If the Grail were to work on the same basis, which would be most likely so that it could bring or place someone at a given point in time, then…"

"Then that corruption would be able to travel through time as well to all of the previous versions." Shiro finished for him.

"Exactly, I have also discovered that the other participant, whom Arturia described to me as red haired and wielding two demonic blades, matches that of the servant known as Aries from the first war. With its in mind, I think that the Grail is gathering the winners from both the future and present to fulfill its own wish. However, I have no clue as to what that desire could be."

"I do," Shiro said grimly. He looked at Merlin once again," Angra Mainyu wants to be born."

ЊЊЊЊЊЊ ЊЊЊЊЊЊ

Arturia sat on her low bearing throne. It had been a long day so far but showed no signs of stopping. Merchants, requesting the raise of a levy here or reduction of one there, farmers, complaining of bad yields or supplies, and others still were asking for the castle to provide them shelter for the winter because of several recent events, all of these problems to deal with in a mere few hours to keep someone else happy. There was a reason why she never smiled in court or in front of anyone besides her friends.

Almost on a will of its own, her mind kept drifting back to this morning. Shiro's fighting style was insanely risky but still effective enough to keep him alive. Inside her mind she was picking apart all of his flaws and openings which could one day prove fatal. It wasn't that she was being sadistic or morbid; it was simply the desire to beat him while seeing them both improve at the same time. During this entire thought process, she was also listening to a man complain of supply shortages.

"… I believe that this problem will only exist this year or until the town of Oxford can be fully reestablished," an older gentlemen, by the name of Gerald continued explaining.

He was here on the basis that the castle held extra supplies such as raw metals that could be given out to the citizens as a temporary replacement for a bad harvest or having a mining town close which was the current situation. Gerald hailed from a small blacksmithing community not far from Oxford which had subsequently supplied most of their metals. Obviously, that could no longer happen because all the villagers happened to be dead.

Arturia gave a quick nod," I see. I believe that we would be capable of sending a small supply, however it may not be as much as you're folk are used to. Much of the Iron we had stored was used in the previous campaign to craft weapons and armor, but I will send what we can spare."

Gerald gave a quick bow and was about to reply his thanks when someone started shouting outside the main doorway. The few guards in the room visibly tensed and Gerald shot a questioning look to his king, who was now standing with a hand near his blade. Turning his attention to the door, he felt the room's atmosphere change. What was once calm and regal, was now like a bound coil ready to break at a moment's notice. Arturia's gaze never drifted away from the wooden doors. The shouts increased as the disturbance grew closer. Armor could be heard shuffling on the other side.

Suddenly, a familiar sounding shout came through the door," Move!"

Almost immediately after that the wooden barrier bent inward as something smashed at it from the outside. It promptly gave way on the second impact which allowed one very dazed guard to fly into the audience chamber and hit Gerald square in the chest, which brought both men to the ground. No one even bothered to look at the unconscious men who were sprawled out of the floor.

"Oi, what do you have to do just to get a damn audience around here," the red haired man said, striding confidently into the room.

Arturia tensed at seeing the man before her. She could remember his smug face clearly as the image was planted in her mind by his swords, which still remained strapped across his back. His smug smile never faded an inch even as she pulled Excalibur partway out of Avalon. Still he walked on until he stood a few feet before the gilded chair.

"Relax, gentlemen, if I were here to show you across the river Styx then most of you would have departed already. The news I bring may be slightly worse than that," the large warrior said almost casually.

"Then say what you came for and make it quick," Arturia growled back. She wasn't very fond of this man, in case anyone wanted to know.

"Oh, so the little man has a sharp tongue, what a surprise. Anyway, I have come to warn you about a group of Saxons coming down from the Northern Germanic Plains. I decided to be nice and let my neighbor know of such an event."

This statement only served to renew the tension surrounding the room. Both the mockery of their monarch and the thought of another war set several who were present on edge. Small murmurs began to break out across the room as more people started realizing what had been said.

However Arturia ignored them all," What proof of this do you have?"

The large man scratched his head," Well, to be honest I really didn't think that far," he admitted causing several in the crowd to burst out laughing," I would be willing to strike you a deal though. I will agree to stay here under your watch so that you may send out several scouts as you chose to investigate the claim. If they find nothing, then I'll let you kill me but if you do find the Saxon's then I simply request your apology."

"Fine, I can agree to this," Arturia said after a moment's thought. A simple apology would cost her nothing and this was a large risk o wager on simple pride.

An invisible smile pulled at her lips, when she saw Shiro's head peak around the corner and in the room. She had been wishing for him to show up all day and here he is right before its end.

"In fact, I believe that my scout has just walked in," she said before Shiro could disappear once more," As of right now, this day of court is adjourned. Any further requests will need to wait until tomorrow so that I may deal with this problem."

Instantly, a sigh of relief went through the room and the tension faded. She gave a courser look around the room to ensure that no one was harmed. She motioned Shiro to her side who then proceeded to show their special guest to his newfound room in accordance with her directions. She shot him a sideways glance at him and smiled at seeing his slightly lost expression. Yes, it was simply another day in court.