Chapter 2-

Disclaimer: I own nothing outside my ideas and madness.

Authors Note

Sorry for taking longer than usual, have been sick for the whole week so sorry. Thankfully, my friend ElipticsShadow helped finish this chapter faster then it would have been otherwise.

Onto other things, I added two questions at the end of the chapter for you all that I hope you can respond to

Regardless, I hope you enjoy!

I ran to her side just as the last of her green dress turned black and gray, her skin fading from black to a sickly gray. Checking her pulse I let out a sigh of relief, at least she was alr-

"Guh" I let out a groan as her grip tightened around my wrist, red eyes glaring at me. Reacting quickly the mental image of a hammer striking down on a gun filled my mind and I pulled away with reinforced strength.

… I didn't see her move…

Jumping back away I created distance while she gradually got up. Reinforcing the rest of my body, I managed to get 30 meters from her.

"It's you… it's your fault this happened!" She roared, running towards me.

'Slow…' that was my only thought when comparing her to a servant. If I hadn't seen one before I would have said she was fast, she was far faster than a normal human. However, compared to a servant, a being I almost couldn't see because of their sheer speed, this was slow.

Rolling to the right quickly as the ground started to break I managed to avoid the roots that sprouted from my previous position. 'That could cause some problems'

Avoiding a sloppy but powerful punch my circuits heated up. I needed something to deal with those roots, otherwise, I might be trapped.

… A sword without flaw…

It came into my mind without much effort. I had seen the blade many times, my dreams containing it, my mind forming it twice for a similar purpose.

… no, this time the purpose was different...

This time I didn't fight against a being I had no chance against, nor did I fight a being who possessed thousands upon thousands of superior weapons. No, this time I was facing a being who I truly could match and perhaps surpass.

Judging the concept of creation

A sword made to determine future king, making whoever drew it beyond human.

Avoiding another strike by pushing it aside, I let her step past me, having performed a mad dash to strike my face. Her arms were covered in what looked like gray bark adorned thorns and vines.

Hypothesizing the basic structure

A medieval long sword with a decorated hilt worthy of a king.

"Gahhhh! Just stay still!" Her roar warned me of her approach, allowing me to turn around and confront her head-on. Striking out with both my palms against her shoulders I ignored the pain in my left cheek, more focused on her falling form; not expecting the force behind the blow.

Duplicating the composition material

Steel, enhanced and extracted from a lay line, selected by its maker for it's for its high capacity and strength.

She started to growl as she jumped back up on her feet to once more approach me, now more cautiously but fast. Her footwork was sloppy and wild, her hands curled into claws. This was a figure of a wild beast, unlike the heroes of old that had been far beyond me.

Imitating the skill of its making

Crafted and enhanced by the magus of flowers, forged for the selection and victory of the Rightful King.

… No, it was an unfair comparison… It was comparing a forest fire to the sun, both burning bright in their own right, however one truly shining brighter without a doubt.

Sympathizing with the experience of its growth

Serving as its wielders claim to the throne, it adorned her side and prolonged her youth for many years.

However, she must have realized what I was doing, sensing the energy that was building up; halting her mad dash suddenly.

Reproducing the accumulated years

Witnessing countless battlefields, it leads its wielder to victory time and time again.

"I won't let you hurt me again!" She howled, as she lunged her arm forward, ripping apart the ground between us as roots emerged without end.

… it was too late…

Excelling every manufacturing process

It was the legendary sword, Caliburn, wielded by the Once and Future King of England; Artoria Pendragon.

Once the roots struck me head-on, my body was forced against a thick tree, almost taking my breath away. The only thing that escaped my lips was two words.

"Trace, on!"

The familiar weight almost brought a smile to my lips as I slowly got up. The girl before me took a moment to look over my sword, most likely to see how much of a threat it would be... this was all I needed. My body got into the stance I'd taken many times in the dojo, the style of its former wielder resonating with the blade.

...The battle has changed...

I won't need to only avoid or defend anymore. I will be able to attack without putting myself in the same danger, however, my enemy will also regard me as more of a threat; I should end this quickly.

"Damn you half-bloods, damn you human!" Her roar was my only warning as wines shot out towards me from her hands, my blade responding without much prompting at all. Slashing through the wines my body moved towards my opponent, sword slashing apart the wines she sent my way. It seems like my body moves a little easier than before, not getting pulled along as much...

Dashing to the side and cutting through where I previously was, my blade cut through the thick root that had emerged to grab my foot. My blade once more shot out, blocking her incoming kick with the flat of the blade. Even if I blocked it, I slide backward from the force, staying upright but once more a few meters away... She is strong, but she acts like a Berserker...

Thankfully, she lacked both the skill and speed of Berserker himself, otherwise, Shirou Emiya would be dead. I pushed that thought aside, not needing them at the moment. My opponent was approaching, her skin thickening as it gained a gray texture of bark; her feet and arms had turned into thick roots and branches respectively. Raising my sword in response I pushed off from the ground, turning into a blur.

We clashed, my blade sinking into her left branch-arm, forcing me to twist it free from the bark; before another strike could land on me… I can't put too much force into it, otherwise, I might accidentally hurt or kill her...

Dodging the following strike, I moved my blade to deflect her strike, aiming a quick pommel strike against her nose; missing it but landing the blow on her cheek.

"Gahhh, just die already!" Her scream was filled with both pain and anger as her arm once again shoot out to send another wave of roots my way, forcing me to once more stop and defend myself by cutting it down.

'… I need to cut her down in one swing, I can heal her afterward with Avalon…' Hardening my resolve, my body moving by my sword, preparing itself to strike…

"Oh no, you don't!" She must have realized I planned on ending this, moving farther away from me; but I won't let her. My body moved.

20 meters, dodging a series of roots shooting out towards me, blocking it would just slow me down; the loss of speed something I can't afford.

15 meters, jumping over collapsing earth, my legs moving progressively faster; achieving far more speed then I should have with this body.

10 meters, her expression starting to change, she's trying to move away faster but it doesn't work; my approach far too quick.

5 meters, she desperately shoots out as many roots and wines that she can manage, none of her previous focus as they simply create a wild whirlwind of gray plant life. I didn't even have to think about it, a rising cut splitting a path for me.

My sword connects with her shoulder, cutting through her without resistance, her eyes widening and staring; before I no longer saw her. I hear a soft thud behind me as I stopped, turning around to see her fallen form.

I let out a breath, finally relaxing my bod-

"Ugh…" My knees almost buckle under me, pain pulsing through me like liquid metal, only my nightly training letting me stay upright. I force myself closer to the fallen girl's side, my legs giving out halfway through.

"... Trace, on."

Avalon once again was in my hand, my perfect projection once more appearing as if it had always been there; no time lost nor any excess resources. Pushing it into the unconscious girl, letting it be absorbed into her body, I instantly felt the drain.

'… I see…' my conscious mind slipping as the drain increased, letting me realize something I should have before. Avalon takes a lot of energy from its owner to heal, especially when that someone is unrelated to its owner.

My eyes started to flutter, the last thing I could see was the girl under me slowly healing, her appearance slowly becoming more like it was before. This brought a smile to my lips, a single thought echoing in my mind as I fell into darkness.

'I saved her.'

When I finally came to, the sky was black, stars lighting up the clearing. No, it did light up the clearing, but the main light came from a small fire, crackling quietly.

"Thank you," a voice spoke suddenly, a calm I hadn't heard from it before. Looking around, I saw the girl from earlier; now without her hateful expression and with a less sickly appearance, even when still possessing a gray and dark appearance.

"Huh? What do you mean?" I answered, my voice somewhat raspy. Smirking, she handed me a bottle of water from my backpack; a look on her face urging me to drink.

"You know, you shouldn't trust people so easily, what if I poisoned you?" She says with a glint in her eye, one that is far too similar to Fuji-nee's teasing look, already feeling a twitch building in my eyebrow.

Looking at her, I let a quick sigh escaped my lips. "If you wanted me dead, I already would be, I have been unconscious until now after all," I said to her, my voice it's usual monotone when dealing with Fuji-nee's latest plan.

"Gee, you're no fun..." Standing there, she looks me up and down, a mischievous grin filling her face with ease. "If you want to know my name, then tell me, idiot... Why did you bother saving me?"

"It was nothing really. I just couldn't let you be in pain," I answered honestly, not seeing a reason to lie.

"Tch, fine idiot," she said, a small peach hue filling her cheeks. "My name is Ebony..."

"I'm Shiro, Emiya Shirou."

Ignoring her expression and sitting up, my muscles complained in protest, every fibre of my being told me to lay back down. I ignored it, sitting up fully to look around at our campsite, seeing it fully for the first time… Calling it a campsite was hard in and of itself; the marks of our fight still present. They were lessened, alongside scars of another struggle. This time, against the camping equipment, and from the looks of it, the equipment succeeded. It was left half done on the ground; our "tent" made from roots and branches formed in unnatural patterns.

… She was just like taiga when it comes to camping as well…

"Why do you look at me like I'm a pest? A bug or a fly?" Ebony asks in annoyance, glaring at me.

Sigh "I just got reminded of someone." I say, watching her body loosen up a bit in curiosity and calmness while maintaining that ever-present tenseness.

"Tch," she scoffed, averting her gaze away from me. "Someone like you shouldn't be in the forest like this. Hell, you'd be rather suited for a fancy-ass throne up on some grand castle than wandering through literal shit."

My hand starts scratching the back of my head before I realized it, my cheeks heating up a little. "H-hey don't say that, besides I heard you call for help from the road." She scoffed once more at my statement, then enquired about where I was going.

"A place called "Camp half-blood", I was told to go there, do you know where it is?" I asked her with a tilt of my head.

She bellowed and laughed at my statement, before turning to face me with her arms crossed. "So there's a camp for you nobles these days eh? Typical. I've heard of it, but I didn't think it really was true. I know the general location, so I could take you. But after that? I'm out. Deal?"

"Deal," I say without hesitation, holding out my hand for her to shake. She slapped it out the way. After that, I fixed my backpack and collected my things, discovering items scattered and misplaced crudely as if someone had gone through them. I glance a look at her only to get a smug smile in return. Thankfully, most of it was salvageable. Rin's dagger was still in the backpack, untouched.

We then made our way through the forest. Moving faster than we should have until we ended up on rolling hills and strawberry fields, a hill with a lone tree loomed solemnly in the distance...

Authors note

Before I go onto the reviews I just want to thank you for reading another chapter but I would also like to ask for your help with two things:

How can I improve/anything you want to critique the story for so far?

Who do you feel Shirou should end up with in the future?

That is the two questions I leave you with, now onto reviews!

Lost Stardust1: I know I could take him all the way to camp but I do sorta prefer to have him get there on his own without just a cheap "You are at camp now, cheers" the first time he goes there. But I do think that Zoë would take him at least part of the way, the reason she cut off their journey was a summon from Artemis plus she had been away for a while.

Kayen1024: Well you have to read and see~~

Hero of Justice Roxas: He didn't have the time as he jumped up to it and it was on him basically at the same time, plus at the moment his tracing takes too long and he doesn't know he can trace anything besides those two weapons.

Tsukishiro Sayuki: I didn't think about it at the time, was mostly thinking about how he was said to have a scar from the archery incident and how the spear was said to be hard to heal, I have deleted it now.

Gennychi: Yes I know it was a little weird but I saw it kinda like this, she hasn't had any "casual" contact with a lot of guys for thousands of years(to my knowledge) as the hunters seem quite hostile to men, so she would probably have found this as a bit of a shock because of the distance to that culture for a long time. Yeah, it will be fun to see them see Shirou fire off arrows, would probably make them see him as an unclaimed brother or something lol, as for the sword fight that would be nice. If he is a descendant or something else... Well, let's see what happens.

Guest: Hmm? What do you mean?

PanzerJ: Know what you mean, I hate it when fanfic I like is just randomly abandoned, but no worries, I DO plan on at least finishing this; if not make it a series.

Im a guest: Sadly he won't be able to go there in this version, at least not with that approach.

ElipticsShadow: I didn't forget, just didn't think you wanted a mention as you don't write anymore and you didn't seem interested in having a mention, will ad it in the chapters you helped with.

Words 2229

Finished and uploaded: 2020-02-01

Edited and co-authored #1 by ElipticsShadow-chan

Edit #2: 2020-02-14

Edit #2: Me