With the fire around her showing no signs of stopping anytime soon, the woman sat down with her back against the wall as a deep sigh left her mouth.

"I guess this is it, huh?" she wondered aloud as another pillar collapsed nearby. She tried to get up but unfortunately, the countless number of injuries she sustained in her last fight made that near impossible "This is just pathetic. After all those worlds and facing off against all those crazy strong Swordmasters, a fire is what's going to be the end of me"

Looking around at the blazing flames, the woman's final thoughts eventually drifted off to her friend and Master "Fujimaru… I hope, at least, you were able to make it out of here safely. Sorry about flinging you out the window. I hope you'll forgive me"

That was the last thing that went through the woman's mind before everything around her turned dark.

[/]

A moment later, the woman awoke with a jolt, her eyes instantly registering a different surrounding, where everything wasn't on fire and that she hadn't just perished.

"W-what? Where… What is this place?" Carefully observing the room she was in, she noted how small and dark it was. Getting up from the bed she found herself on, the woman winced as pain shot up through her legs. Upon further inspection, the woman saw that the wounds she had sustained had been bandaged up. She also saw that she was wearing a blue shirt and a pair of black pants.

Well, I suppose I'm not dead and this isn't Hell. That is, if the pain is any indication.

Sounds coming from outside the room quickly drew her attention. Getting to her feet, the woman was about to exit the room before she noticed her twin katanas leaning against the nearby wall. She then immediately placed them by her side, a content smile on her face.

Doesn't feel right without having my weapons with me, after all.

"Well, might as well get this over with" she thought aloud as she stepped through the door. In an instant, she was blinded by a bright light.

"Well, look who's finally up and about. Good afternoon, sleeping beauty" a female voice said from somewhere nearby. The woman squinted her eyes to adjust to the sudden change in scenery and saw that she was in a village of sorts. Children were playing nearby while some adults were in the middle of completing their daily tasks.

"Well, one thing's for certain: This isn't Shimousa" the woman said before noticing an elderly figure next to her.

"Shimousa? Where's that? I've never heard of it. Is that where you're from, missy?" the elderly woman asked her with an amused smile.

Jumping back a bit in surprise, the woman had to collect herself before she answered the question, "W-well, not really. It was just someplace I happened to pass by recently, that's all"

"Hmm… Shimousa, huh? Well, I've never heard of it. Is it on Mistral?" the old woman - clad in a simple shirt and pants - continued.

"M-Mistral?" the woman asked as she scratched her head, no doubt with an expression of confusion on her face.

"Yeah, you know… Mistral? One of the four kingdoms of Remnant?" the old woman added.

"C-can't say I'm familiar with what you're talking about" she said, a small chuckle escaping her lips.

"Geez, looks like those injuries even went to your head, huh?" the old lady noted as she took a seat on a nearby chair "Why don't you sit down. I'll bring you some tea or something"

"R-right" the woman said as she followed the old woman's advice. Taking a closer look at her surroundings, she saw that this was a particularly small village. The population couldn't have been more than a hundred, maybe not even more than fifty. The houses were all made of wood and in the distance, she could even make out a makeshift wall.

"There you go" the old woman said as she handed her a cup containing green liquid inside it. Looking at it full with doubt in her mind, the woman gulped before taking a sip. A sip that she regretted a moment later.

"Lady, are you sure this is tea?" she asked, sticking her tongue out in disgust.

"Can't say it is, since I just picked some random leaves and boiled them" the old woman replied with a small laugh "So, how do you feel? I hope all that time asleep has given you your strength back. I'm no doctor but I did the best I could to bandage you up. Let me tell you, I've lived a long life but seeing someone injured like you were was a first for me"

"Thank you for that, miss… I'm sorry, I didn't catch your name"

"Hmph. Kids these days. If you want to ask for my name, you should give me yours first"

"A-ah, right. I'm terribly sorry" the woman said as she got to her feet. A bright smile forming on her face, the woman proceeded to introduce herself, "My name is Shinmen Musashi-no-kami Fujiwara no Haru- but I can see from your expression that that name's pretty long so you can just call me Musashi Miyamoto. Musashi, for short. I am a wandering samurai. It's nice to meet you"

"Miyamoto Musashi, eh? Pretty unusual name, if ya ask me" the old woman remarked "Well, whatever. Not my place to judge. Anyway, you can call me-"

Whatever she was about to say was cut off by a sudden scream that pierced the clear afternoon sky.

"Danger! Danger! Everyone, get inside your houses! The Grimm have breached the walls!" a voice shouted from somewhere near the village's exit.

"Grimm? Old lady, what are-" Musashi started but saw that the old lady she was talking to a moment ago was quickly making her way inside her house.

"You should save yourself, missy. With the Grimm here, it probably won't be long before we all meet our maker" the old lady said before she shut the door behind her.

"Like I said, what do you mean by-" a loud crash from behind Musashi stopped whatever thought was crossing her mind. Turning around, she was shocked to see a creature of pure darkness standing in front of her. The creature seemed to notice her presence in turn as it proceeded to growl and display its claws at her.

"Ah, I take it you're these 'Grimm' I've heard about, then?" Musashi thought aloud as she drew her swords. As she did so, she couldn't help but wince as pain moved up and down her arms "Damn… Still not fully recovered, huh?"

Her instincts kicking in at the last possible second, it took the woman all she had to deflect a blow from the wolf like creature as it leapt at her with its claws.

"Oh, I see. If it's a fight you want, then it's a fight you'll get" Musashi quipped. Not even giving the creature any time for a follow up attack, she swiftly ended its life with a quick decapitation.

"Phew. Good thing that ended quickly" Musashi thought to herself as she wiped the sweat from her brow. A moment later, a piercing howl cut through the village as a few more of the creatures of darkness appeared around her "You guys travel in packs? Well, that's just not fair!"

Paying no heed to her complaints, the creatures then started their assault on samurai. Easily taking care of the first few that came for her, Musashi quickly found that the numbers were becoming too much for her. Try as best as she could, the injuries she sustained were just too big of a hurdle as the creatures were slowly but surely gaining the upper hand against the woman.

"Damn it. Are you kidding me?! I just got back from the dead and now I'm going to be killed again? Oh Buddha, why art thou such a-" her train of thought was fiercely interrupted as one of the Grimm managed to break through her defence and sink its teeth into Musashi's shoulders.

"Arghh!" Musashi screamed in agony as the intense pain made her knees buckle. However, through gritted teeth and a resolve of steel, she pushed through pain and was able to kill the creature as she sliced it in half. At this point of the fight, Musashi's right shoulder was bleeding profusely as was her right eye. Fighting through the throbbing pain, Musashi spoke to the creatures with a determined grin, "W-what's wrong? Is that all you've got?"

Growling at the sight of their disintegrating comrade, the Grimm were about to continue their assault before a rumble of thunder from the sky above them halted the creatures in their tracks. A moment later, a sudden strike of lightning came down and struck one of the Grimm, killing it instantly. Unable to register what had just happened, it wasn't until another lightning strike killed one of them that the Grimm understood that they were under attack.

Reacting too late, another of the Grimm fell as it found itself frozen before being shattered into a million pieces.

"W-what…? What's going on…?" Musashi managed to utter before she succumbed to her injuries, her wounds from Shimousa having opened up as a result from the battle. Falling down to a knee, it was all she could do to stay conscious as she breathed a sigh of relief at the retreating forms of the Grimm around her.

Okay so, either the amount of blood I've lost in the short amount of time is causing me to hallucinate or that lady in the green hood with the glowing eyes is floating down from the sky.

"Oh, Gods. Are you okay?" the woman in the green hood asked as she hurriedly took Musashi into her arms, a worried expression on her face "You've lost so much blood"

"O-oh, okay… Guess I wasn't… hallucinating…" Musashi managed to quip as a spurt of blood escaped her lips "A-also, to answer your question, I'm fine. Totally f-fine. I've c-certainly been through worse… I just need to take a little nap…"

Okay. I'm passing out now. It's kind of weird how I've been doing that a lot lately…

[/]

As was last time, Musashi awoke with a jolt, sitting upright in an instant as she gasped for air the moment her eyes flew open.

"W-where…?" she managed to mumble as she found herself back in the small and dark room as before.

Oh, right. I was fighting those black wolf creatures before that lady in green saved me.

"I suppose I should be grateful I'm not dead. Again" Musashi mumbled to herself as she breathed a sigh of relief. Remembering the injury she sustained during the fight, the woman reached for her shoulder fully expecting to wince from pain but was surprised to find that she felt fine. More than fine, Musashi just now realized that she was healthier than before the fight with those black creatures.

"Amazing. What is this? Magic?" Musashi wondered aloud as she got up from her bed. Stretching her muscles, she was even more surprised to find that her body was now nearly a hundred percent recovered.

"Ah, I see you're awake" a voice came from the door, drawing Musashi's attention. It was the woman in the green hood. Below the green hood, she wore what appears to be a white blouse, a brown vest, a corset, and a pair of pants. In her right hand was what seemed like a staff "How do you feel?"

"How do I feel?" Musashi said with a tilt of her head "I feel great, actually. More than that, I feel amazing. Not back to full health yet but I'm definitely feeling better than before, that's for sure"

"I'm glad" the woman replied with a giggle "I was quite surprised to find a Huntress such as yourself to have not unlocked your aura. That's why I hope you'll forgive me for unlocking it for you. It was the only way I knew how in order to stop you from bleeding out"

"W-wait, wait. Slow down a bit, would ya?" Musashi said "Aura? Huntress? Unlocking? Could you maybe start from the beginning?"

"From the beginning? What do you mean?" the woman asked.

"I mean… you're throwing all these terms around and it's just making my head spin" Musashi replied as she grabbed the side of her head "Telling you my full story would take a bit of time so let's just say I'm… not from around here"

"I see… Perhaps it would do you a little good to get a breath of fresh air. Shall we sit outside?" the woman suggested as she held the door open.

"Fresh air… Yeah, that sounds like a great idea" Musashi replied as she spotted her twin katanas nearby "Ah, there you are. Just doesn't feel right if I don't have them beside me"

Stepping into the sunlight, the two women took a seat around a nearby table. The old lady from before was also present as she offered the same green liquid from before to the two of them. Unwilling to repeat past mistakes, Musashi politely declined the old lady's offer.

"So, the lady that lives here tells me your name is Musashi, correct?" the woman asked, receiving a nod from her "My name is Amber. It's nice to meet you"

"Oh, right. Nice to meet you, Amber" Musashi said in return.

"So, you say you're not from around here. Do you mind telling me exactly where you're from?" Amber asked, a hint of curiosity in her voice.

"Ah, well… It's a little complicated, actually. Well, to put it simply, I'm from a place called Japan"

"Japan…? Is that the name of your village?" Amber continued.

"I suppose… you could say that, yes" Musashi replied.

"I see. Which kingdom do you come from?"

"Uh… Kingdom?" Musashi asked, confusion evident in her voice.

"You do know what the kingdoms are, don't you?" Amber continued as she scratched her head.

"Alright… To be honest with you, Amber, if I told you the truth about me, you'd find it kind of hard to believe" Musashi offered with a small chuckle.

"Hmm… Try me" Amber replied with crossed arms.

"Well to start, where I'm from, they refer to people like me as samurai or a warrior. For a long time now, I've had this strange ability that allows me to travel between worlds and the last world I was in was called Shimousa. In that world, a few others and I battled seven Swordmasters to basically save another world from destruction. At the end of that battle, I was trapped in this giant castle – which was on fire, by the way – and I thought that was the end of the line, for me. That was until I woke up in that house in this strange new world and that's where our story starts" Musashi stopped to take a deep breath before she continued "That's basically my story. So, what do you think? Do you believe me?"

Amber hummed, as she stared at the woman in front of her while she rubbed her chin.

Hmm… Should have probably refrained some of the stuff I just said. I bet she thinks I'm crazy.

"Sounds plausible. I believe you" Amber said after a few seconds of silence.

"See? What'd I tell ya? Knew you wouldn't-" Musashi stopped herself saying anything more as she stared at Amber with confusion "I'm sorry, what?"

"I said I believe you" Amber repeated as she took a sip of her green drink before gagging "Blegh… That is not tea"

"Never said it was" the old lady added from the side.

"Just like that?"

"Yup"

"But… why?"

"I suppose you could say that with all that I've been through, something like a traveller between worlds like yourself isn't such a crazy story anymore" Amber answered.

"Huh… Okay, then. Now, do you mind telling me about this world?"

"Absolutely not. Now then, I suppose we should start off with the four kingdoms. There's the kingdom of Vacuo to the west, Atlas to the north, the kingdom to the east, Mistral - that's where we are, by the way - and finally, Vale, the kingdom located between Vacuo and Mistral..."

[/]

"A frustrating result but certainly not unexpected" the woman thought aloud as she trekked through the woods. Behind her, her two subordinates trailed along quietly, careful not to attract any nearby Grimm.

"What do we do now, boss?" the one with the prosthetic legs asked.

"I suppose we'll just have to make Adam an offer he won't be able to refuse" the woman replied.

[Chapter END]

A/N: And that's the end of Chapter 1. I hope you guys enjoyed it. Might have been rough on some parts of the chapter but overall, I'm happy with how it turned out.

Anyway, new series… Yeah… I know… But this random idea just popped into my head one night and I just had to get it down, one way or another. I'm also working on my first person POV writing skills as well as trying to improve on my original story skills. I hope you guys look forward to these chapters as much as the chapters for Grimm Destinies.

As always, faves, follows, and reviews are always appreciated.

Edit: Got my map of Remnant a bit wrong there. Fixed.

NoXIV Signing Off