Strings of Fate Chapter 1
Aight, so this was something I thought of some time ago but never really went further into cuz of working on other fic and stuff, but after making a deal with a friend and coming back from vacation, I finished up this chapter, and here we are.
This fic is basically the same as "A Whole New World". Essentially focused on both Naruto and Artoria, so it'll be different from my other ones. I do have plans to make a plot-focused fate fic in the near future, though, multiple ones actually, but enough about all that.
I got help from a lot of great people over at AizenTheGoat's server, so if you need help with any of your fics or you just want to hang out with some cool people, then be sure to join the server using the code down below:
xmTJdGJXyu
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The sun rays shone through the window down onto the form that was sitting on one of the chairs near the small table in the kitchen. His eyes scrunched up at the light hitting his eyes as they slowly peeled open, revealing tired blue orbs. Withholding a yawn, he brought his hand up to rub his eyes clean as he tried to blink away the tiredness.
The sun is rising. It looked like he had fallen asleep last night from waiting for his father to arrive back home. A small frown settled on his face. Had he still not come home yet? As he stood up, his eyes looked at the half-finished food that had no doubt gotten cold by now. Ignoring that for the moment, Kay started walking out, stepping outside to see if his father's horse was there or not.
Unfortunately, his disappointment rose once there was no horse present. He must have been delayed. Ector was a punctual person, and for him to not arrive at the time the knight had told him he would be back meant someone or possibly something had delayed his arrival. Worry coursed through him for a second before it was gone as soon as it came.
His father was a capable knight, able to defend himself with ease against many things, and as such, worrying about him right now wasn't something he needed to do. However, he could not help it that much as it was his father, after all.
Kay was not sure what else could have delayed his father but just one matter. The newest addition to their family from four years ago.
Ector had one day come to their house with a child around the age of five. It had perplexed him when it was told to them that she would be a part of their family from now on and that he should treat the child as such. Of course, he had no other choice but to accept what his father had told him.
Arturia.
That was her name, as he had discovered very quickly after that. The daughter of King Uther Pendragon with Igraine, the former wife of the Duke of Cornwall.
His family had started raising her as a boy rather than as the girl she was. Surprisingly enough, Merlin, the magus, had come to personally visit his family to make him promise not to reveal her gender to anyone else and to train her for what she would eventually have to do in the future.
Sighing, he dropped his current thoughts in favor of starting the day. We will have to visit the town today. It was usually on Saturdays that they went into to get everything, but as his father would no doubt keep them busy tomorrow, it would be best to do it today and not have his mother nag at him.
Stepping inside his home again, Kay went into his room, coming out of it sometime later, having changed his clothing as he made his way to the kitchen, seeing his mother already having put away the half-finished food he had left on his plate and was now cleaning the place.
"Mother," He greeted, catching her attention as he sent her an apologetic gaze for not having taken care of the plates sooner and leaving it up to her.
She gave him a smile as she put down the cloth she was using to clean the table. "Kay, are you heading to the town?" She asked, her gentle voice filled with curiosity. Kay had no doubt she was worried about him making his way to the small town not too far from their house to the east.
Rare as it was, one would sometimes stumble upon Saxons on the road near this area. Stealing from travelers, kidnapping the young, and most of the time, killing anyone they came across. It was not something that would have bothered him, but he understood his mother's reasoning.
"Yes, mother." He responded but frowned a second later. "You should not overexert yourself. I was going to clean it all up before I went into town." His voice was laced with great worry for his mother. The disease that had plagued her was not one they knew of, but it was evident it had significant effects on her wellbeing. No one knew where exactly it had come from, but somehow she had managed to get this unknown disease.
Kay worried for his mother as time went on. It was clear she was getting weaker and weaker as time passed by. It would not be too long before she...
Shaking those thoughts off, for now, Kay focused his attention back on his mother, who gave him a small to relieve his worries.
"I am alright, do not worry, dear." Kay knew she was not and hated to admit it, but there wasn't anything he could do but be there for her during these times and spend as much as he could with her.
"Still, let me help you with cleaning." Kay insisted as he moved to help her clean up.
The mother let her son help her with the cleaning as she couldn't change his mind. Once they were finished, Kay started preparing to head into town.
"Kay," His mother's voice calling out to him made him halt before looking back at her. "Can you take young Arturia with you?" She asked her son. "Ector will not be here until later, and she won't have anything to do until then, so it's best to take her with you."
Kay understood why she said that. While she might not have directly said it, he knew why she proposed that. His mother was not fond of the fact that someone as young as Arturia was being pushed to the responsibility as big as governing the country. Especially in difficult times such as these.
The fact that her childhood was being taken away from her by having her repeatedly training and growing up to act like a man instead of the young girl she was was another thing she abhorred. It simply was not the right thing to do in her mind.
She is right too. Kay was of the same mind but shook his head clear of those thoughts as he gave the nod to his mother.
"I will, mother." She gave him a pleased smile in return.
Alice, Ector's wife, gave a pleasant smile as she led her son away. "Now, go to young Arturia's room and tell her you're taking her into the town with you before it becomes too crowded there."
Walking to the younger girl's room, Kay brought up his hand to knock on the door.
"I shall be out in a bit" The voice came muffled from behind the door.
"Make it quick, Arturia. We have to head into town first, after all." The visits to the town were rare as they stocked up on everything during their visits. The family stayed in the secluded area they lived in, doing menial chores and whatnot. He patiently waited for the girl to finish up whatever she was doing before the door opened up, and the blonde eight-year-old came out with a slightly surprised expression.
"Into town?" She asked. "Is tomorrow not when we are supposed to head there?"
Kay shook his head negatively. "No. Father is coming home today, and we will all be too busy tomorrow to get there."
"What about the chores?" Arturia asked curiously as they would always be doing their chores first thing in the morning after eating breakfast.
"Not today." The older brother replied, motioning her to follow him. "Come on, let's go before it gets too crowded." Arturia quickly heeded his words and started following her older brother with an exciting step as they rarely went out. She always liked going out into the town, even if it wasn't for entertainment purposes. It was always still something she enjoyed.
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The sounds of merchants shouting about trying to sell their products were clear to hear as they went through the marketplace. Not only that, but many other townsfolk were present going about their day, some knights being present along with their squires walking next to them.
Safe to say, the town, small as it was, was quite busy at the time, which was expected.
Kay and Arturia had managed to get all they needed before it got too crowded. Making their way back to the exit of the town, the girl looked around, her eyes viewing everything happening with curiosity.
She did not come to the town often but liked to take in everything there was when she did. It is lively today. She noted, her eyes looking at the children playing on the streets. Briefly, she wondered how exactly that felt as they seemed to be not much that younger than her, at most a year or two, but their lives were no doubt the complete opposite.
The differences in their lives were like night and day. As Arturia would be training daily, the other kids would be playing amongst each other out in the town center. As she would be by her lonesome, the kids would be with each other.
She didn't exactly know what they were playing, but the smiles on their faces as they were doing so were something that she wanted to experience herself but could not do so due to her upbringing.
Her envy for them was apparent, but fate was a cruel thing in the world.
Her eyes did not linger too long at it, though. No matter how much curious she was because of the other sight in front of them.
Though what took her attention the most was the crowd that had built around what seemed to be a pedestal with a sword stuck in the middle of it.
"Why isn't this coming off." A man grunted as he tried his absolute hardest to pull the weapon out of the stone but couldn't budge it.
A scoff came from the crowd. "Is it not obvious? You are not the one who is supposed to lead us and rule." Many agreements came from the others that had surrounded the monument.
"They're right, just leave it alone and let me give it a shot."
"You tried pulling it out yesterday and could not do it. It won't change today."
Murmurs kept coming from the crowd as they slowly dispersed and expressed their disappointment at still not having someone who was worthy of pulling the sword out of the stone.
Worthy. Arturia thought about it. She knew what everyone was talking about, as Ector had told her about all of it before. It was the reason why she was being trained.
Whose'er pulleth out this sword of this stone is rightwise ruler born of England.
Written on a small stone tablet were those words in front of the pedestal that had the sword etched into it.
That was the prophecy that the mage of flowers, Merlin, had told everyone but also engraved in front of the pedestal. The same one that everyone hoped would come to be confirmed as soon as possible and make their land prosper once more.
The blonde girl felt drawn to the sword, just like it had happened multiple times before when her eyes would land on the weapon, she had the urge to go and pick it out of the stone. It was a weird feeling for the girl, almost as if she got into a trance whenever she got near it, and her mind would go elsewhere briefly, leaving her body to move on its own.
In her mind, it just added to the worthy aspect of it all.
"Arthur!" Though she was snapped out of her thoughts when Kay called out to her using the name she went by in public to conceal her gender.
"Sorry, I'm coming." Arturia apologized, taking one last glance at the sword before she shook her head clear of her thoughts and followed alongside her brother.
Kay looked at the dispersing crowd from the corner of his eye to take a glance at the sword. He had his own thoughts about the weapon and the entire prophecy. And they were not positive at all. Just like his mother, he hated the fact that a little girl was being pushed into all of this.
Taking away everything in her childhood. She can't even act like the little girl she is supposed to be. Kay did not like it at all but could not do anything to stop it, which irked him even more. No matter how many times he had talked with his father about the entire thing, he could not do anything to stop it all.
Hopelessness was not a feeling Kay was fond of.
Inwardly sighing, the teen dropped his thoughts. Bitter thoughts will not solve anything.
His father did not like it either but understood they had to do what they had to. Father should be home by now.
"Come on, father will be waiting for us by now." Kay motioned his sister to walk faster as they left the town to go back to their secluded home.
Arturia took one last peek at the sword before she followed her brother. Their trek back home did not take too long as nothing happened during their journey as they continued taking the path that led to their home on Kay's horse.
It was on the same path that one of them would discover something.
"Look, horse tracks!" Arturia pointed out quickly as Kay took notice of them a second later. There were indeed horse tracks on the path.
Of course, both of them had an inkling of what that meant. A smiling Arturia continued speaking. "That means father must have arrived at home." Her words were indeed correct when sometime later, they were greeted by the sight of the knight awaiting them at the end of the path leading to their home.
The man was still decked out in his armor, which meant he must have arrived very recently and gotten word they would be coming back soon.
"There you two are." The man nodded to them in greeting as he looked at his son first. "Kay, I trust you know what to do now that you've come back."
Straight to it.
Kay tried not to show any irritation at those words but ultimately failed to do so as he twitched in annoyance. Seeing his father raise an eyebrow caused him to sigh. "The chores, I know, father." He muttered with a dull tone.
"Now, now, it is not that bad." Ector chuckled to himself at his son's annoyance at having to do chores before turning to the girl next to her son, who seemed to be slightly amused at her brother's situation. "Arturia," The mentioned girl instantly looked over to the older man, giving him all her attention. "I trust you are ready for your training too."
"Of course." She answered.
"Good." Ector nodded to himself in satisfaction. "Now, I think you all are quite hungry from having gone to town and come back." The statement was backed up by the stomachs of the two siblings growling. "Alice has already finished cooking. We will eat first before we continue."
Arturia noticed her brother's mood going up the moment those words were said. He was undoubtedly happy that he wouldn't have to do chores on an empty stomach. She did not blame him either as it wasn't something fun at all.
Arturia's eyes glinted in eagerness at the prospect of eating food as she frantically nodded her head in understanding. It was an amusing sight for the older man as they made their way inside. Though Ector knew she would come down from her high after what he would say next.
"Do not forget, Arturia," Ector spoke up. "You will be joining Kay at the stall after your training." And just like Ector had thought, her smile quickly died down from the statement as Kay smirked at the fact that she also had to suffer alongside him.
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The day had passed as the sun had already set down. The night sky illuminated the room she was in through the window while she plopped down on her bed. She kicked off her shoes as she laid down on her back, her body melting into the mattress after the long day of having to go into town, go through her training with Ector, and finish the day with the chores with her brother.
Her eyes slowly closed as she tried going to sleep so she could start the next part. Unlike many others, she did not quite go to sleep at this time. Instead, it was merely time for another part of her training but with a different person.
It was only a couple of minutes into her "sleep" that her green eyes snapped wide open when she felt the pull. They took in her surroundings, which were completely different than the small room she had gotten used to for the last couple of years.
Instead, it was an open grass field with some small hills. The scenery was beautiful and looked like some sort of utopia from a fictional fairyland. She looked around the place briefly for a second, seemingly trying to find someone, before her eyes landed on who she was looking for. It was a tall man with a staff in his hand and an easygoing smile on his face.
"Oh, finally here, Arturia." The man greeted her as he stepped forward.
"Merlin," The nine-year-old said in return. She had been meeting the mage for some months now.
It was certainly a weird experience for her when she first met him. Suddenly being pulled into a whole new place while you were sleeping and meeting an eccentric white-haired man wasn't something she had expected before going to bed. Though, she quickly got used to that, as months passed by fast while Merlin was training her to be a king.
And the man proved to be a very good person for that task as she improved in combat, diplomacy, and many more things. However, she could do without his eccentric behavior at times.
"Your day has been going well, I hope?" Merlin asked, sitting down on the comfortable spot around the tree with his staff at his side.
The nine-year-old girl joined him. "It's been well. I visited the town today with Kay." There was a smile on her face, which Merlin had noticed was showing up less and less as time passed by and she got older. "My training with father went the same as usual until I had to join Kay in doing the daily chores." She grumbled somewhat at the end.
The mage chuckled at her slight annoyance. "Was it the pigsty this time?"
Arturia's grimaced at the reminder. "It was." She replied. It was one of the chores she absolutely despised, though her smile returned a second later. "Dinner was very delicious today. Mother made her special stew and gave me extra too."
"Ah," Merlin said, a smile of amusement on his face hearing that, being reminded of how much the girl in front of him loved food. She was a glutton of the highest order, and he wasn't sure if there was someone out there in the world who could compete with her when it came to food. It was a wonder to him how a little girl like her could eat so much.
Perhaps it's the dragon in her. He mused to himself, listening to her go on about her day. It was good to see that even though she was sheltered, there were still moments of enjoyment in her life.
Their conversation continued for a couple of minutes. The topic of their small talk surrounding both of their days. It had become somewhat of a ritual they would do each time Merlin visited her in her dreams before they started their training.
Humming to himself, Merlin nodded as he stood up, deciding it was time for the training to start. "Good. I suppose we should continue from where we left off yesterday, then."
Arturia stood up alongside him, her face turning serious.
Though before they could even get into position, both of them sensed a new presence amongst them. Merlin instantly recognized it, though Arturia did not. The latter looked around briefly for the person that had joined them before her eyes landed on a young boy her age.
His most notable features were his hair, which was just like hair, blonde, and his eyes being bright lavender eyes. Who is this? She had never seen him before and knew no one else apart from her, and Merlin should've been able to come here where they were. However, there was somewhat of a resemblance between this boy and Merlin that she noticed
"Naruto, what are you doing here?" Merlin stepped forward, asking the blonde, whose eyes lit up in recognition at sighting the mage.
Naruto? Arturia pursed her lips at hearing the name. That was certainly not a British name. It sounded eastern, which confused her even more than she already was.
Immediately, the boy ran up to them. "I was bored and couldn't find you until I, um, did that thing you taught me." Merlin deadpanned at the answer. Of course, that would've been the case when it came to Naruto.
Looking around, Naruto marveled at the beautiful-looking place they were in. "Where even is this place?" His eyes stopped looking around, now locked onto the form of Arturia, who stared right back at him. "Who is this?" Naruto asked with a tilt of his head.
"Ah," Merlin turned around, his hand pointing at the confused girl. "This, my dear boy, is my current student, Arturia, whose training I was about to start before you decided to interrupt us." Naruto sheepishly smiled at the last part. "And this here is Naruto," Merlin introduced the two of them.
Seeing the sword at Arturia's side, Naruto looked up at the mage. "Are you training her in swordsmanship?"
"Amongst other things," Merlin answered simply.
"I'm being trained to become the king," Arturia answered for herself, too, elaborating on her trainer's words.
"A king?" There was a disjointed expression on the young boy's face. Her answer was not one he had been expecting at all. "But you're a girl..." The words were said as if they would explain everything he was trying to convey. There was no malicious intent in them, but it did come off different to the girl in training.
She frowned at him. To her, it sounded as though because she was a woman, it meant she could not become the leader of their country. "So?"
Naruto furrowed his brows. Did she not get it? He thought it was obvious. "But aren't kings supposed to be men?"
"I'm disguising as a male in order to become king."
Merlin watched on in curiosity at Naruto's reaction. The boy looked absolutely surprised by what she had said. Let's see how this will go. He wanted to see how this debacle would continue.
Crossing his arms, Naruto shook his head. "That's stupid." His words caused annoyance to bubble up within Artoria, but before she could counter him, he continued. "Women are supposed to be queens, not kings."
The blonde girl fell silent. It was logical what he had stated. The idea of her disguising herself as a male had not been hers but her father's. Arturia herself at first thought she would be queen but was told she would have to grow up as a female disguised as a male to become the ruler. A woman being accepted as the leader of England would not be accepted by the people at this time, certainly not with the conditions the country was in.
She had no other choice but to act as a male in order to help the country and its people.
She wasn't sure if he knew about the situation at hand or not. "The situation is not as simple as you think it is." She fired back at her fellow blonde.
"What situation?"
He doesn't. Arturia sighed inwardly. She should have figured that was the case if Naruto was saying the words he was. She was sure if the blonde knew of the situation at hand, he would surely be of the same mind as the others and not like hers back when she first learned of her fate.
But before she could explain to him all of it, Merlin cut in between the two with his staff. "As amusing as seeing the two of you go back and forth is, it is not what we are here for." Motioning his staff to Arturia's practice sword, he continued. "This is a good opportunity, now that Naruto is here too."
The young boy and girl looked at one another, both of them confused by the mage's words, before turning back to him for clarification. "You two are the same age and have been trained by me from the same age, which makes you two perfect training partners." As Merlin continued, both Naruto and Arturia understood what that meant.
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After their session, the two got a much better introduction to each than their first interaction and a newfound respect for their talent in swordsmanship. It wasn't exactly a wonder as to why they were so good with a blade, as Merlin himself was quite formidable in that aspect.
The two were quietly sitting beside each other, peacefully resting against the tree after they were done with their training with Merlin.
"Naruto, may I ask you something?" Arturia asked slowly after thinking about something for a while. Having been given the go-ahead by him, she asked her question. "Both you and Merlin said you're from England, but your name doesn't sound English?"
Naruto hummed in understanding as he nodded at her question. It was to be expected that she would ask this of him. After all, the name 'Naruto' was not even close to a British one, and this specific question had been asked of him many times before. It was also something he himself had wondered about years ago when he was five years old.
Sitting up a bit straighter, Naruto looked out at the field of flowers. "My name was given to me by my mother."
Arturia curiously listened on as he revealed that fact. Was his mother not from here? She thought, about to ask him that but stopped herself when she saw the blonde was about to continue.
"Father said she was from east Asia and had been going through England to get to Ireland. She had some ancestry there. She wasn't supposed to stay here long, but after finding out she was pregnant, she had to stay."
Arturia stayed silent and listened carefully to the tale. It made more sense now that she knew his mother was Asian.
Leaning back against the tree trunk, Naruto continued. "I never met her. She died giving birth to me. Father said she wanted my name to be Naruto, and that's the story behind it."
Arturia cringed inwardly at having brought up that fact to him. "I'm sorry for reminding you." She apologized quickly, but the blonde waved her off with a smile.
While he would have loved to meet her, there was nothing he could do now, and he knew it. It was something he had accepted. It was somewhat silent after that as Arturia didn't exactly know what to say afterward. That soon changed when she was reminded of something Merlin had mentioned before they started training.
"Naruto," she called out to her new friend after some seconds had passed, catching his attention.
"Hmm?" His response came back in a hum.
She fully turned to look at him. "Merlin mentioned that you were trained by him when you came here. Are you his apprentice?" She asked curiously. She had heard and read that some mages took on young boys as their apprentices to teach them but wasn't sure if Merlin was the type to do that as she had known him for only some months.
Merlin, who had joined them only seconds ago, perked up at the question and a smile formed on his face. As opposed to his usual easygoing smile, this one was much more mischievous in comparison, showcasing the more playful side of the famous incubus. I wonder how she will react.
"Oh, he's my father," The boy casually responded. The reveal caught the young girl by complete surprise, her mouth opening up a little in shock as she looked at Merlin for a second and then at Naruto as she went back and forth doing so.
Upon closer and longer inspection, she could see few similarities between the two, most notably the eyes and the smile. They were both quite nearly identical in that department, though she supposed face-wise, the boy took after his mother more than Merlin.
Looking over at Merlin, the magus gave her a nod of confirmation, giving her the same grin the blonde next to her was. "He is correct. We're the spitting image of each other, are we not?"
Arturia did not know what to say other than continue her inspection by looking back and forth from Naruto to Merlin.
Naruto jumped up to stand next to his father in the same pose and nodded his head furiously. "Exactly!" He said out loud to the mage's statement.
Arturia had to hold back an amused chuckle. They looked very similar now, especially with how the younger blonde imitated his father.
It was a bit quiet after that, all three of them enjoying the silence and inspecting the beautiful place they were. As he was doing so, Naruto grew curious.
"Hey, Arturia," His callout got the girl's attention immediately as she looked over at him.
"Yes?"
Turning back to her after his observation, he asked, "What exactly is this place?"
Artoria looked around the place, her eyes gently taking in the peaceful and beautiful visage carefully. It was a place she had seen the few times she had managed to see the world outside their isolated home. While it wasn't exactly the same as the one she had seen, her imagination had played a part in making their current place look a lot more beautiful and heaven-like. Arturia had found the original area beautiful enough for it to be etched into her mind, which had escalated into this in her dreams.
"It's home." Naruto tilted his head at her answer. Looking around once more, it didn't quite look like the England he knew. Sure, there were some places that were stunning, but not nearly as this here. It made his curiosity rise even more than before.
"How big is it?"
Arturia certainly didn't know the answer to that question. It wasn't something she had tried to find out either, as it had never crossed her mind to check the place out while she was here. The only thing on her mind was always training...
"I don't know..." She admitted, feeling a bit embarrassed when Naruto gave her a surprised look. "I never did anything else here other than train with Merlin."
"You're telling me you never ever thought of looking around this place?" Naruto asked, dumbfounded.
Arturia shook her head slowly. "No," She replied simply.
That was a no go in Naruto's mind. Here they were in a stunning environment like this, and all they had done here was train and not explore. It sounded preposterous to him. With all that in mind, he jumped up to his feet quickly. The blonde startled the girl next to him with his speed as he looked down at her with a grin. "Come on. We have to check out every place here."
"What... but what about...?" She looked over at Merlin, who stood beside them, simply enjoying their break.
Naruto followed her line of sight and didn't even need to voice his question to the mage before he got his answer. He turned back to the girl, who was a bit confused at the interaction before she was forced up by the boy and dragged along. "Wait, Naruto, we can't just-"
"Don't worry, we trained enough for today." Turning around, he let her stand by herself and pointed at Merlin, "See, everything's fine." Indeed, Merlin was simply giving them a thumbs up with his mischievous smile on his face, not that the two kids noticed the latter. "Now come on, we have so much to see here."
Arturia gave a last glance at Merlin, who gave an encouraging nod to her, prompting her to follow along with Naruto. The excitement started bubbling within her as her mind thought about what more she could discover with her new friend.
Friend. That was certainly new to her. It was the first time she could ever call someone that in her life, and it was a boy her age. It made her happy, and it made the prospect of going through her dreamscape with this new friend all the more exciting.
All smiles and laughs, the two kids ran up the hill and over it to start having their own fun, the girl being reminded of the kids her age she had seen in the city for a second. This is how it feels... She thought, being reminded of this morning when she thought about how those kids felt playing along with each other. It was a feeling that was foreign to her but a welcome one. One that she wanted to cling to for a long time and one she knew she wanted to experience a lot more.
Merlin watched the two kids vanish over the hill before sitting down at the tree by himself. A content sigh escaped his lips at what his eyes had seen. It was the first time the mage had seen the girl he had become fond of being like that. While even in her dreams, the same life she lived, in reality, would usually continue in her training, it was good to see her instead be the innocent girl she was supposed to be here and have fun with a friend of her own.
After all, dreams are the place where one goes to escape reality.
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That's it for this chapter. Like I said, not much plot for this fic so don't expect too much ig.
Tell me what you guys thought of it in the reviews.
See you next time.