Chapter 1: Impact:

Bright morning rays shined down on the colossal Gormott Titan, basking the massive creature with the warmth of the sun. It was early still in the morning and many of the Titan's residents welcomed the morning sunrise. A Thunder Storm rampaged all night with lightning striking everywhere, making it miserable for those trying to get a good night's sleep.

Now however, the morning was as calm as it could be. Only the early risers were stirring, and for good reason to. Thanks to that mess of a storm plenty of fog had moved in during the early hours.

It would fade eventually with the rising sun. So for now, the lumberjacks and patrolling guards would have to deal with a bit of a cloud cover for a bit.

The bright blue sky overhead was hidden from view, obscured thanks to the blasted fog.

Meaning that if anyone had bothered to gaze up at the cloudy sky overhead, they would miss something fairly odd that day.

The sight of two small dots falling out of the sky, tumbling toward the back of the Gormott Titan.

"This again!?"

"M-Master! I don't see any land! The closest landmass is...is...that creature below us!"

"It...looks like some kind of...giraffe!?"

"Master!"

"Oh-Right! Mash, you have this!"

"Roger that! Hold on! Mash Kyrielight, prepare for Impact!"

Obscured by the thick fog, two figures fell though the morning sky like leaves in the wind.

Their tumbling began with a bright flicker of light and suddenly, they appeared, falling and tumbling with cries of shock. But after a moment of frightened surprise, the two blips looked to each other and clasped hands amid their fall. A large metallic object appeared in one of their hands and like a cannonball streaking across a flied, the dots vanished and something slammed onto the titan's back.

The Gormott Titan was known as one of the most plentiful titans currently alive for good reason. While the colossal creature didn't have a massive nation living across its form, it had landscape in plenty. Lush trees, spanning forests, and planes for the creatures and people who lived upon it. The fields were perfect for farming and livestock while the massive tree-like roots gave a tremendous supply of wood for both its residents and other nations in need of trade.

But on one of these massive tree roots, something had landed. Two figures now stood in a sizeable indent on the tree. Or leaning against would be a better description for the pair.

Falling from lord knows how high wasn't the easiest of tasks after all.

The first of the two was a young girl. She had short lilac hair, fair skin, and a pair of lavender eyes. Her entire body was covered in a suit of advanced, black high tech armor from head to toe. And in her hands, in the thrones of a death grip, was a massive shield. It was gigantic with cables running along the interior, heavy plates of metal reinforcing the front, and a bar handle at the center of its circular base.

Clutching his arms around the girl's waist was her companion, a teenage boy. He had unkempt black hair, shining blue eyes, and was notably athletic for his age. Unlike his friend, the teen wore a less protective set of clothes. His were a set of grey pants with black combat boots, a black mid-sleeve shirt, a belt with a pair of pouches, and a pair of black gloves. Curiously, one glove actually had a hole cut out of it, revealing a set of red markings on the back of his hand.

After such a harrowing landing, the two teens took a moment to catch their breath and not fall flat on their backs. Their legs felt like jelly but experience kept both on their feet.

"I was hoping...Sion would've fixed that…"

The young girl shook her head, "Some things can't be...accounted for when Rayshifting, I suppose."

"Yeah, I guess so too." her companion nodded.

Taking a deep breath, Ritsuka Fujimaru unwrapped himself from the girl's waist. His back ached but so did his legs, his arms, and pretty much everything else. They'd never get used to this type of landing strategy. Humans just weren't made for sticking such death defying heights, no matter what some of his friends might say.

Just because they could leap skyscrapers and land like it was a skip in the park didn't mean he could!

Ritsuka sighed. Putting his aggravation with a few choice names aside, he turned to his companion with concern. He hadn't taken the blunt of the impact after all.

"You hurt, Mash?"

From the sizable indent she had created in the colossal trunk, Mash Kyrielight slowly loosened her grip on her shield. She rubbed the base of her shoulder and whispered out a small sigh.

Much like Ritsuka, Mash was not a fan of these impromptu landings. But when it came down to it, it wasn't anything she couldn't handle.

"I'm fine, just a bit sore." she replied.

Foregoing her own aches though, she turned to face Ritsuka and looked him up and down, "What about you? Are you hurt Master? Anything out of place? Should I consult-"

"No, no. I'm fine." Ritsuka chuckled, scratching the back of his head, "I was just worried about you. Been a while since one of these...landings."

Mash blinked and quickly looked away. Out of her master's view, her cheeks blushed slightly.

"Right, of course." she murmured, "It has been a while...b-but I'm fine. Ortenaus held up fine. Everything is in proper order. Systems are still at optimal-"

Ritsuka placed his hand on Mash's shoulder, "I meant you, not the equipment. But that's good anyway."

"Oh, right! Of course."

His partner's condition awkwardly confirmed, Ritsuka turned from Mash and looked toward the landscape surrounding the pair. Rayshifting in the past had landed the duo in wonders that would leave anyone in awe. The battlefields of France, the ancient countrysides of Japan, Babylonia in its entirety, and the warped nature of the Lost Belts went without saying.

Yet when the teen looked up from their landing zone, what he saw was something entirely new.

They stood atop a massive tree trunk, one with a notable chunk taken out of it thanks to their sudden landing. But on each side of the gigantic root were vastly different sights to behold. To the left were colossal tree-like roots, so large in thick that they sunk deep into the soil and high into the sky. It was full of lush trees, vegetation that neither could starkly recognize, and creatures unlike anything they were familiar with.

But to the right was a whole other sight in itself. There was a rocky cliff side and beyond it was a sea that was far from normal.

Clouds.

Nothing but clouds for as far as the eye could see. Ritsuka nor Mash could see beyond the nearly endless expanse of white that went on without end.

And all that didn't include the gigantic creature they were currently standing on. Some kind of immense giraffe-like being wondering this sea of clouds with living vegetation and animals living across its back. As frantic as the pair had been whilst falling, it was the one thing they saw before their abrupt landing.

It was an animal, alive and breathing at such a colossal size.

One thing was absolutely certain now. They weren't in Kansas anymore, that's for sure.

"Senpai, this view…"

Ritsuka shook his head, dismissing the thoughts on their frankly bizarre new location, and faced Mash. He followed her gaze and caught sight of the rising sun.

Neither could quite help but stare at the wondrous view. The sun rising over the 'Cloud Sea', basking the white landscape in a warm sheet of light. They watched the clouds rock back and forth like an ocean's waves. It was frankly beautiful to behold, something the pair hadn't had a chance to bask in for quite some time.

Recently the Lost Belts surely had their own wonder to them. A mysterious, warped taste of beauty but it was hard to deny their wonder. Now if only their visitations weren't mired with life or death situations, they could have taken a second to stop and smell the roses. But just standing here, gazing down from atop a massive tree-like root, things felt different. Almost calming...

Peaceful.

After spending sometime just enjoying the moment, Mash shook her head. As much as she'd like to spare a few minutes more, they had things to do.

"Master," she spoke, "We should try to contact Chaldea, I'm sure the Director is waiting on our update."

Mention of the Director broke Ritsuka free of his sightseeing as well and made him chuckle.

"Right, right. I'm sure hes getting a bit impatient."

Quite an understatement with who in entailed but either way, Ritsuka turned and nodded, "Alright, make the call."

"On it!"

Mash turned to her shield and lifted it up with one hand. Despite the sheer size of the massive lump of metal, she picked it up with little effort and began rummaging inside it. Despite the sturdy nature of the shield, it held several compartments inside. Mash reached into one such compartment and pulled out a small device. It appeared to be some kind of advanced radio, or a walkie talkie to be more precise.

Communicator in hand, Mash pressed a button and spoke into the contraption, "This is Demi-Servant, Mash Krielight, contacting Chaldea. Do you read me?"

Once finished, she released the button and waited for a response. But all that returned was static.

"Director, do you read me? Director? Da Vinci? Are you there?"

Again, more static.

Both Mash and Ritsuka stared at the communicator with baited breath. They waited, hoping for any sort of response that wasn't some garbled static. However after a moment or two, they sighed.

"I'm not even remotely surprised honestly."

Mash looked downcast and returned the communicator to its compartment, "I'm sorry Master. We can try again later, maybe somewhere with better reception maybe?"

"Hopefully. The Director is not gonna be happy with us taking so long though."

The two were in for an earful that's for sure. The Director wasn't the type of person who liked to be kept waiting. Be it an important field report or his self designated after dinner treat, the Director wasn't a fan of lateness. And if he didn't approve of something, everyone within ear shot were certainly gonna hear about it.

Dismissing thoughts regarding their disgruntled boss, Ritsuka took a cautious step forward and looked down. Even after such a tremendous fall from the sky, they weren't out of the woods yet. Quite literally in fact. The young master could see solid ground but between them and it was several meters and a abnormally large tree trunk.

"Well, that's a bit of a way down," he mumbled, "Think you can manage it?"

Mash followed his gaze and after a second, she gave a solid nod, "Of course. Are you ready Master?"

"As ready as I'll ever be."

Nodding, Mash wrapped one of her arms around Ritsuka's waist. Her shield clamped tightly with her free hand, the Demi-Servant took one final glance off the side of the tree trunk and stepped forward. The pair swiftly slid off free from the bark and fell downwards to the ground below. But Mash didn't aim for another brick landing onto a hard rocky surface this time.

As they fell, Mash slammed her shield into the side of the tree's trunk. The metal surface scrapped against the bark's surface and slowed their decent down the tree's side.

Halfway down their fall however, the tree curved slightly. Thinking fast, Mash bent her knees and kicked away as they reached the bend in the tree. Servant and Master spun through the air thanks to quick thinking and came barreling down to the ground below. Using the weight of her shield however, Mash angled their descent toward an open patch of grass below.

Mash landed with a slight skid, sending sparks flying thanks to her boots. But with a loud slam of her shield behind her, the duo finally came to an abrupt if solid stop.

"Landing achieved, you alright master?"

Ritsuka, still holding onto Mash's shoulder, sighed with relief, "Little bumpy there, but a much better landing this time. Good job Mash!"

"Thank you!"

As relief flooded the pair with their feet finally on solid ground, Ritsuka and Mash gazed at the world around them. While not as grand as the top of the treeline, they still felt in awe regarding the forest surrounding them. If they hadn't seen it earlier, they never would have guessed that they were on the back of a titanic creature. Instead, memories of a prior adventure came to mind. A lush and vibrant jungle of Ancient Babylonia, unlike anything they had seen before...

But if this forest was anything akin to that, then lowering their guard was not a wise decision.

"Master, I recommend we get to higher ground," Mash noted, "Maybe we'll find a clearer point for the communicator to work…"

Ritsuka nodded, "Yeah, or maybe someone who actually lives here."

Finding someone actually living on top of a living creature, even one the size of an island would be something out of a fairy tale. But after the pair's prior experiences?

Well, it would still be weird but not even close to the weirdest things they had seen.

Carefully, both Master and Servant scanned the surrounding area. The looked and judged for a path to take. Climbing the trees to a higher section of this titan? Rummaging through the foliage in any one direction? Hell, even leaving things up to chance and see where one path may take them was a possible idea the two had.

Thankfully, neither would be necessary. After a second of looking, Ritsuka spotted a small dirt road leading away from the field. It wasn't a developed road lined with rocks, planks, or anything resembling modern day civilization. Developed or not though, it was a path made by dragging and footprints. And footprints meant people, a lot of people.

Pointing out the closest option, Mash and her Master began their trek out of the landing and toward whatever might be waiting for them beyond the trees.

After a second or two of walking however, Ritsuka noticed something.

Or, something missing,

"Um, Mash?"

The Demi-Servant stopped and turned, "Yes?"

"Did...Fou hitch a ride with us this time?"

Mash blinked and looked around. Her gaze began confused but quickly turned frantic. She had completely forgotten about the fluffy little stowaway. He often accompanied them on Rayshifts so much that it was almost second nature at this point. Fou had the mysterious ability to complete evade their attention until they were already deep in new Singularity.

But from the time they began falling to now, Mesh hadn't noticed him once.

"Fou? Fou? Are you there? Fou?"

The tiny fluffy beast rarely ever left either Mash or Ritsuka's side. Hell, his favorite method of revealing his presence was when he jumped on Mash's shoulder so he could avoid walking. But despite the Demi-Servant's calls, there wasn't a single speck of the familiar to be seen. Not a tuft of fur or a peep of his tail.

"Think he might have stayed behind this time?" Ritsuka muttered, also looking for the little critter.

Mash mumbled a response but frantically continued to look around. She was sure the little guy had followed him, he normally always did. It was downright concerning to not see Fou accompany them. Sure there were times he didn't follow them on a mission but those were few and far between. Normally the only way to keep him away was for it to be literally impossible for him to come.

Given the chance, Fou was stuck to them like a ball of fur clinging to Mash's black sweater.

"Hey, Mash?"

A hand gently grabbed the Demi-Servant's shoulder. Mash stopped her frantic searching for a moment and turned to see Ritsuka offering a reassuring smile.

"If Fou followed us, I'm sure he's around here somewhere." he reasoned, "Maybe if we find some people, we'll find Fou too."

Mash bit her lower lip. Fou did love to introduce himself to new people. Even if one time a instance ended with a certain Wizard getting decked in the face, Fou was rather friendly. Still, Mash couldn't help but feel a bit worried. They were in uncharted territory, and who knows where the little guy might have ended up.

Unrelenting, Ritsuka continued to smile, "Besides, this is Fou we're talking about."

"Little guy is more resourceful than me half the time. He'll be fine."

Elsewhere:

"Looks pretty high."

As the group stared up at the colossal metal battleship, none could disagree with Rex's apt description.

With morning arriving, the time had come for the group to finally make their move. Nia's supposed execution was planned for that very day so there was little precious time to lose. Tora had successfully awakened his family's fabled Artificial Blade and with a tip or two from the locals, their way inside was secured.

The Rex, Pyra and the others used a large vine underneath Torigoth as a makeshift bridge. It led right underneath the Ardainian Battleship and ended at a porthole they could use to get inside.

Unfortunately, the way up was still a fair distance off the ground.

Luckily however, Rex had a solution.

"Gimmie a moment."

Raising up his left arm, the teen aimed his gauntlet and shot a harpoon toward the open porthole.

With a resounding 'clang' sounding on impact, Rex launched himself through the air and landed in the porthole with a flip.

As short as his carrier as a salvager had been so far, Rex knew quite a few tricks that were handy when you least expected them. One such being a handy dandy harpoon attached to his gauntlet. Sure, it was made for pulling up cargo from the depths of the Cloud Sea but it had other uses too.

Once he had his footing inside the porthole, Rex leaned over the side and lowered his harpoon back down to the group below.

"Pyra, you first." he called out, "I'll pull you up, so hold on tight!"

Despite her Driver's reassurance, she stared at the harpoon uncertainty. But Rex flashed a reassuring grin. If it could support him, it would be fine for the rest of the part too.

As Pyra reached for the harpoon however, Poppi blinked.

She was the newest member of the group and the highly anticipated 'Artificial Blade' Tora had been raving about. She was the size of a child and had a sophisticated mechanical body. Her arms and legs were large and cylindrical while her ears were substituted with a pair of yellow spikes. She had lavender hair with pale skin, orange eyes and red accents on her black and grey armor. Last but not least, her attire consisted of a black pantaloons, a white cap with a red bow, and a red cape with a white lily on its lapel.

While she held no weapons on her, her primary weapon was clasped tightly on her 'Masterpon's' back.

Tora, the round tinkering Nopon was right there in front of his creation, eager to help Rex and Pyra after they had helped him in turn.

"Pyra. Poppi have question."

Still, their group consisted of four members, which was why Poppi was confused.

"Yes Poppi?"

The Artificial Blade tilted her head sideways, "Why is small fluffy creature on your shoulder?"

"Huh? What do you-Fou?!"

Confused by the question, Pyra swerved her head and looked at the shoulder in question. There, sitting comfortably on her shoulder something familiar. The small fluffy creature she had met the other day was there, sitting on her shoulder like nothing was happening.

"Wh-what are you doing here?" she fumbled, as shocked as the others.

Tora followed her confusion with a gaping gob, "Tora thought you left fluffy thing at Tora's house!?"

"We did!" Rex yelled, equally as confuddled.

Pyra and Rex had brought Fou back with them from the market and Tora had no qualms with letting the little guy stay for the night. But when morning came and they were set to head out on their rescue mission, Pyra had firmly told Fou to stay behind until they got back with Nia.

Azurda chuckled at the group's collective confusion, "It seems the little one didn't get the message and wanted to come along anyway."

"But we can't take him along," Pyra lamented.

She plucked the little critter off her shoulder and looked him in the eyes, "It could be dangerous in there.."

"But we don't have time to take him back to Tora's!" Rex called down from the porthole, "We need to get to Nia as soon as possible, before her execution!"

Pyra frowned. She couldn't deny that. While they knew about Nia's execution, the actual time of it was a mystery. It could be hours from now or fifteen minutes away. Wasting time trekking back to Tora's house could cost them dearly and Nia, more so.

"So...you think we should take him with us?" she muttered, giving Fou a look.

While they couldn't clearly see it, Rex shrugged, "Better than leaving him here by himself. Least we can watch him if we bring him along!"

"And we can show him to Nia once we get her out of this bloody place!"

Pyra bit her lip, "I suppose…"

"Fou Fooou!"

Despite her worry, the little creature's cheer made Pyra smile, "Okay, if that's how it is. But you don't go running off, alright?"

Fou bobbed his fluffy head up and down, "Fou!"

"Heh, alright then." she giggled.

Placing the small critter back on her shoulder, Pyra turned her attention back to Rex's harpoon.

A tiny stowaway wouldn't make their mission too much more difficult. In fact, having another pair of eyes could be useful in getting Nia and Dromarch out before their heads were on the chopping block. Time was of the essence and finding them aboard the girthy battleship would be easier said than done.

Still, Pyra hoped they would make it time. The longer they were on the ship the more of a sinking feeling she had that things would get all the more troublesome.

AN:

Welcome my friends, for those who want to continue reading my attempt at a coherent story.

-So just to answer some questions you guys might have first and firmest. We'll be getting to the Servants soon, just not right out of the gate. Just so you guys know, I'm pretty much ignoring the whole Chadlea's Shadow Servant thing, if just for story reasons. If you don't know what it is, its the in-story explanation for Fate/Grand Order's gameplay, where we have a army of Servants to call on but they're not actually IN the story, like bringing Artoria throughout the Camelot Singularity even though her Saber incarnation wasn't there. Its basically what the Babylonia anime did, and it makes things quite less complicated if its just ignored.

-Just to get this up front and out of the way, this takes place in the F/GO timeline, right now we're in Part 2 and just after the SIN Lost Belt. More context will be given in story.

-Still, with this and the prologue posted, lets see how everyone feels about this little story! Go ahead and message me if you have any questions, I'll do my best to resolve any question or concerns you might have. Though I'll do my best to avoid spoilers, so if you don't care, make sure to tell me so! Oh, and I'll respond to questions in reviews...but only if you give me the option. Can't respond to guest reviews after all.

But anyway, next time we shall see how our groups finally meet up! See you guys then!