"…Urgh."

He groggily opened his eyes and stared up at a tumultuous concrete sky.

At some point, day had given way to night.

It was a bit difficult to tell at first, what with the clouds blocking his view, but Shirou knew well enough to differentiate between a midday overcast and one taking place during the dead of night. With a bit of effort, he lifted himself up to a sitting position. His body felt sore all over, like that one time he ran laps around the entirety of Fuyuki as part of his training regime. A quick inspection revealed a distinct lack of injuries, which was highly unusual.

The vivid image of his body getting mauled by some sort of shadow monster was still firmly etched into his mind. Shirou might heal faster than most people, but injuries that severe don't just disappear with a night's rest. He knew for a fact that he had almost died, yet for some reason, here he was now, completely fine.

What happened?

To further prove that all of this wasn't just some sort of sick dream, his clothes were still a tattered mess. The aftermath of his battle (if you could even call it that) was plain to see. There were tears all over his pajamas, while his apron was practically in shreds. The latter hit him particularly hard. The apron had been a gift from Fujimura Taiga, his surrogate older sister. Losing it was like losing a piece of himself, figuratively speaking.

Shirou shook his head. He could grieve over his lost apron later. Right now, he had more pressing matters to deal with.

The magus-in-training gave his surroundings a quick once over.

With the exception of the unconscious woman lying next to him, the place was completely empty. Most notably, there was not a creature in sight, black or otherwise. Apparently, the monsters that he killed really had been the last ones left. No last-minute back-ups either.

Still, it would be foolish to discount the possibility of more of those things finding their way here. His best bet was to get away from the clearing as fast as possible.

Actually, there were plenty of other reasons to leave. For one, Kiritsugu had taught him better than to stand in a wide, open area with no covering for extended periods of time. Doing so was practically a death sentence. Plus, against a force with superior strength and numbers, it was always best to avoid direct confrontation. Sneak attacks and guerilla tactics were the way to go.

With that decided, Shirou shifted his attention over to the unconscious woman lying beside him.

The first thing that drew his attention was her hair. Black with red highlights. It was unusual, more so for the fact that it looked completely natural.

From a cursory glance, he noted the distinct lack of any visible wounds on her body. Aside from her shallow breathing and deathly pale face, the woman appeared completely fine. Her clothes were still a mess though, especially her cloak. It had obviously seen better days.

"Hey…" Shirou tentatively called out as he shook her shoulder. "Hey, uh… Miss Sword Lady, it's time to wake up."

Unfortunately, his attempts to awaken her were met with disappointment. He still tried a few more times, but after the seventh failure, he eventually decided to give up. Left with no other choice, Shirou bent down and lifted her up.

The young magus took note of her weight. She was light for her age. Rather, the woman was a whole lot smaller than he originally expected. Now that he was really paying attention to her, she was probably no more than a few inches taller than him. Her limbs were thin too, not unhealthily so, but still thin nonetheless. They certainly weren't what you'd expect from someone with the strength to freely swing around a pair of giant swords and cleave apart monsters of the night.

Speaking of weapons…

Shirou trotted over and gingerly picked up the pair of matching long swords. There was no way in hell that he'd ever leave behind such perfectly good weapons lying around in the middle of nowhere. Besides, the lady would probably appreciate having her stuff with her.

For a moment, his eyes hungrily raked over their metallic frame. While he still did not know what the mechanical parts were for, one thing was clear: these things were true instruments of war. Even without Structural Analysis, he could practically feel the age and experience emanating from their blades. A fleeting thought entered his mind: what would it feel like to wield such things to battle?

The thought quickly vanished when he heard a quiet groan coming from the unconscious woman.

Shirou snapped back to reality. He glanced down. She was still out cold, but her face was contorted into an ugly grimace.

"Right, find shelter first. I can look at her weapons later."

With that, Shirou slung the woman over his shoulder like a sack of potatoes and tucked the twin blades underneath his armpit. Truth be told, the load was a lot lighter than he originally expected. Either that, or he had somehow gotten stronger in the short amount of time since arriving to this strange place. After all, the combined weight of a fully grown woman and two sizeable long swords was not something that a regular thirteen-year-old could just casually carry, especially without the assistance of Magecraft.

Shirou hurriedly shook his head. Again, thoughts for later.

After some consideration, the magus-in-training made his way over to the distant tree-line. From observing the aftermath of the battle, it was pretty evident that the monsters had originated from a specific direction of the forest. Namely, they all came from the other side of the clearing, opposite of Shirou's original position. As a reasonable and sensible person, he naturally avoided that direction.

Shirou sprinted through the gloomy forest.

He ran for a while. Actually, he did not know exactly how long he ran for. Just that, the further he ran, the more apparent the changes in his body seemed to get. Inexplicably, Shirou now had more stamina and better reflexes than before. His strength was also greater than what someone of his age should normally be capable of. The fact that he had yet to use his Magecraft only served to prove this point. For all intents and purposes, he was quite literally superhuman.

In fact, if he concentrated hard enough, then he could almost feel this sort of simmering energy just beneath his skin. It felt similar to the Od in his circuits but different in a way that he couldn't quite explain.

Shirou tried not to think about it too much. The last thing he needed to do right now was to start experimenting in what was clearly hostile territory. As far as he was concerned, he could play Magus later, when he was finally safe. Or safer.

Some time passed. He eventually stumbled upon the entrance to a cavern. It was somehow even darker than his already pitch-black surroundings. The way it sloped down also suggested that a part of the cavern was subterranean. After some consideration, Shirou decided to take his chances and hole up here for the night.

It couldn't be helped, really. He needed to rest, if not for his own sake, then for the woman that he was currently protecting.

Upon entering the cave, he carefully placed his unconscious companion down by the wall and draped her tattered cloak over her small frame. He then took the time to inspect the rest of the cavern. Shirou wanted to make sure that there were no hidden dangers present within his temporary shelter.

After some leg work and a handy application of sight-based reinforcement, Shirou confirmed a number of things. First of all, the cavern was completely devoid of life, regular or otherwise. There was also a sudden drop-off located roughly one hundred meters into the cavern. The drop-off was so steep, that it was comparable to the edge of a cliff.

Overall, it wasn't that bad a place to rest in, at least temporarily.

For now, he decided to start a fire. From experience, he knew that nights could get surprisingly cold surprisingly fast.

Starting a fire wasn't particularly difficult. Shirou collected a bunch of dead leaves and dry twigs, gathered them all up in a pile by the cavern's entrance, and projected a piece of flint. While he was unable to perform any Magecraft that could create fire, he was still able to create fire with the help of his Magecraft.

At its core, Magecraft was the recreation of natural phenomena through unnatural means. In other words, anything that science can do, so too can Magecraft, just with fewer extra steps. Shirou's use of Projection in order to start a fire was simply adding one extra step back into that process.

That's what made the spell so great.

While many considered Projection to be a deeply flawed skill with little viability, Shirou did not see it that way. In his eyes, Projection was a versatile tool with boundless potential. After all, the spell allowed for the recreation of nearly all physical objects. With today's advancement in science and technology, there were very few things outside of Shirou's scope of possibility.

Want to throw around some fireballs? Just project a flame-thrower or a Molotov cocktail.

Looking for a long-ranged means of attack? Project gun.

Someone shooting at you from far away and you need a way to defend yourself? Shirou had long since memorized the chemical and physical make-up of ballistic glass precisely for such an occasion.

Of course, some things were more difficult to project than others, but that was an issue that could easily be solved through practice and hard work. In fact, Shirou was already working on a method to improve his projections. So far, he's divided the process into seven key steps, all with the aim of reproducing not only the shape and substance of an object but also its entire history as well.

After starting the fire, Shirou turned his attention out into the gloomy forest beyond the cavern entrance. His gaze drifted upward, past the distant tree-line. As luck would have it, the clouds were beginning to part. Concrete overcast soon gave way to a clear night sky. What he saw utterly shocked him.

The remnants of a broken, shattered moon.

That was when it finally hit him. Emiya Shirou was no longer on Earth. At least, not on his Earth.

He breathed out a small sigh.

Truth be told, he had long since expected this.

In general, this place had felt otherworldly. Whether it was the dead trees, the monsters made out of shadows, or the woman capable of feats of superhuman strength, he simply could not imagine any of it happening on his Earth and that was with the foreknowledge of Dead Apostles and powerful Magi. The stuff here just felt too… different.

Now he knew why.

Maybe it was the impression that the woman's combat prowess had left on him. He simply could not imagine anyone from his Earth moving the way that she did (at least not anybody human). Shirou glanced over at her. Again, he felt unknown energy simmering beneath his skin. If she was capable of moving like that, then could he also…?

He did not finish the thought. A prolonged yawn leaked out from his lips. Shirou felt tired, but he knew that going to sleep now would be a bad idea. He needed to keep guard, if not for his own good, then for hers.

Be aware, be vigilant, be prepared.

Just like Kiritsugu had taught him.

That night, Shirou did not get any sleep.

Well, not the entire night.

A few hours have passed since he first stumbled into the cavern. More than once, Shirou had to go back out into the forest to collect more kindling. Keeping the fire going was a constant process, but at the very least, it gave him something to do. A distraction.

After a while, he heard stirring coming from somewhere behind him.

Shirou looked over. The noise was coming from the woman in white. She was waking up.

The young magus inched his way close to her, just as her eyes snapped open. Silvery-grey locked with burning amber.

"W-who are you?" Her words came out in a jumbled slur. She was clearly still out of it.

"Ah, hello." Shirou reflexively greeted, ingrained politeness winning out over the absurdity of his current situation. He thought about what to say to this woman. In the end, he decided to start things off by answering her question. "I'm Emiya Shirou."

"S-Summer Rose, uh… my name, I mean." She politely responded, the awkward tinge in her voice unmistakable. "W-where am I?"

"I don't know." He answered honestly. "I ran into the woods and kept running until I came across this cave." Shirou motioned to their surroundings, prompting the now-conscious woman to look around. "I don't know where we're at, but nothing's attacked us yet, so we've got that going at least."

The woman— Summer, mutely nodded her head. Her eyes suddenly had that faraway look that told him that she was currently deep in thought. After a while, Shirou decided to break the silence.

"Thank you." He said.

Summer blinked. She turned to him and frowned. "For what?"

"You saved me, didn't you?"

This was the logical conclusion that he had come to after going over the events that had transpired back in the clearing.

Back then, Shirou had truly been on the verge of death. His reckless act of self-sacrifice had resulted in his throat getting viciously gouged out and him nearly bleeding to death. The only other person present at the time was this woman, Summer Rose. Logically, she was the only one with the ability to save his life.

As such, Shirou was almost certain that Summer was his savior.

Truth be told, Shirou did not really think that he deserved to be saved. Still, he couldn't complain. His life was important, not because of his own attachment to it, but rather, for the promises that he had yet to fulfill. Besides, it was only polite to thank someone whenever they do something for you, especially when that something was saving your life.

That also raised the question: what exactly did she do to save his life?

A part of him was tempted to ask, but for now, he held himself back.

"N-no, I should be the one thanking you!" She suddenly said, her complexion slightly reddening. She shot up to a sitting position. "You saved me! Without you there, then I'd be…" Summer trailed off, unsure of how to properly word her next couple of words. In the end, she shook her head and simply repeated herself. "A-anyway, thank you!"

"Don't mention it, really." Shirou returned, scratching the back of his neck. "I really didn't do much."

The woman only shook her head, clearly in disagreement with the boy's own self-evaluation of himself. Instead of bringing it back up again, her visage grew serious. She gave the boy a quick once over, pausing slightly on his tattered clothes. Were those pajamas?

After a short moment, she looked back up at him. Again, silvery-grey met with burning amber.

"What are you doing here?" She asked.

Shirou hesitated, unsure of how to respond. Eventually, he decided to go with something that Kiritsugu would have probably recommended; an open-ended truth. "I don't know how I got here. I was just in the forest."

Her face scrunched up. She was clearly unconvinced by his answer. Summer was cautious of him, rightfully so. After all, they were currently in the Grimmlands, the literal heart of Salem's territory. Even if he had saved her life, it was only natural to be cautious of any unknown factor and this boy was as unknown as you could get.

"Do you know who lives around here?" She asked another question. "Have you ever seen a spooky castle with Grimm flying everywhere, looking all ominous-y?"

Grimm?

Shirou shook his head. "I haven't seen any of those things." He truthfully said.

Again, she scrunched up her face. Summer scrutinized the young boy before her, trying to find even the tiniest hint of deception. When she couldn't, she breathed out a sigh of relief. "Okay, I believe you."

Shirou titled his head. "Just like that?"

She flashed him a smile and nodded. "Just like that."

He remained silent for a moment, somewhat perturbed by how easy it was to apparently gain this woman's trust.

Then again, considering how well she could fight, she probably doesn't have anything to fear from someone like me.

Shirou shook his head in disbelief and opened his mouth to talk. This time, it was his turn to ask. "Why are you here? Also, do you happen to know of a way back?"

Left unsaid was the fact that Shirou hadn't specified where he wanted a way back to.

"Well, I was on a mission. And as for a way back… er, probably?"

Summer awkwardly twirled a lock of her hair. She did not know where they currently were, so finding a way back to Sanus was a lot harder than it sounds. Then again, the Grimmlands was basically just a giant, uninhabited continent full of nothing but Grimm. Finding a way out should be just as easy as locating the coastline.

"A mission?" Shirou rolled the word around on his tongue. To him, it was a familiar word. "Are you a mercenary?"

Kiritsugu had been a mercenary for hire who also doubled as a boogeyman for Magi. Was Summer of the same occupation?

The lady gave him an expression that looked mildly offended. She vehemently shook her head. "No way I'd ever be something like a hired gun! You're looking at a bonified huntress here, kid!"

She puffed up her chest and smugly smiled down at him. Summer's current facial expression was that of someone clearly expecting to be praised. Unfortunately, rather than shock and awe, all he really felt was confusion.

"What's a huntress?"

Hearing his words, she immediately deflated. She looked at him with a suspicious glint in her eye. "You really don't know?"

Shirou shook his head.

Summer breathed out a sigh and crossed her arms. She muttered something underneath her breath before she turned back to him and spoke three words that shook the young magus-in-training to his very core.

"I'm a hero."

His eyes immediately widened. Shirou stared at her with an intense, probing glare. Summer was a bit weirded out by the boy's sudden intensity.

"Are you really a hero?" he whispered, almost reverently.

She slowly nodded her head and answered just as simply. "Yes, I am."

Shirou did not break eye contact. He maintained his stare for what felt like a lifetime. Eventually, his gaze slowly shifted over to her twin weapons. With trepidation, he used his Magecraft.

All at once, data, information, and history filled his head. A lifetime's worth of experiences had been suddenly crammed into his poor skull, all within the span of a fraction of a second. Shirou barely hid back the wince, but it was done.

The young magus sat in silence for a good while, before he turned back over to face Summer Rose, the leader of Team STRQ. Shirou nodded his head.

"I believe you." He spoke seriously.

"You do?" Summer Rose tilted his head, confused.

Shirou nodded again. His lips were pressed into a thin line as he asked another question. "Can I ask you something important?"

"Uh, sure kiddo. Go ahead." She magnanimously nodded.

"Can you train me?"

"Eh?" She blinked.

"I asked if you could train me." He asked again.

Summer stared back at him. For the third time in the last five minutes, silvery-grey met with burning amber. "Why?"

"I want to get stronger." He answered with full confidence. "I, I want to… I want to be a hero too." The latter was spoken with far less confidence than the former, but his words contained within it an earnest sort of plea that was all but impossible to fake.

Summer was befuddled. A kid asking for training wasn't unusual. In fact, it happened all the time. What was odd was what he wanted to be trained into.

Emiya Shirou wanted to be a hero, not a huntsman. All this while still in the middle of Grimm territory. It was honestly the last thing she had expected to happen today.

There were still plenty of questions floating around in her head. Was Shirou really as innocent as he portrayed himself to be, or was this just another ploy by Salem in order to one-up Ozpin in their eternal grudge match? Was Shirou trying to ingratiate himself to her for some nefarious purpose, or was he truly genuine in his desire to become a hero?

At the moment, she really did not know.

"I…" She stopped before she could say anything that she would later come to regret.

After a bit more deliberation, she said, "We need to get out of here, find a way back to civilization. That's the first and most important priority, but… I guess I can train you a bit while we're traveling." She eventually conceded. Summer could potentially be making the biggest mistake of her life, but then again, Shirou had saved her life. Trap or not, she would be forever grateful for that.

"Plus, now that you have your aura unlocked, it's only right to give you some training. I'm pretty sure that's the law or something."

Shirou felt joy bubble up within his chest. Training to be a hero was exactly what he wanted. Still, there was something about her words that caught his attention. Shirou tilted his head and furrowed his brow in confusion.

"Aura? What's that?"