On steel wings

Strike

Her knee hit square on the jaw of her opponent the strength of which enough to make his head rear back violently and leaving him completely defenseless.

Not that she was willing to give him any time to recover, she wasn't one for pity fights... she pushed her left arm all the way back, teeth gritting a snarl passing through them as she put her whole fury into one hit.

Punch…

Her mouth thinned into a satisfied grin as she heard the gratuitous grating sound, her hand dented his nose leaving an imprint in his smug prick face, the red gauntlet she was wearing deepening the damage further as the metallic razor red claws grated his skin as her knuckles made contact, by the time she was done there wouldn't be much to look at...

His body was now falling backwards, there was no chance of recovery now, the battle was over…

...but...

Her grin turned fully vicious as she continued with her momentum using his own body as a platform to jump, front flipping in the air with grace as she positioned her left foot right above the ruined head of her opponent.

Crunch…

Head finally met the dirt and the rest was history.

She panted slightly, her long hair falling unto her eyes shadowing her vision, she winced slightly as she tried to remove her foot from the hole she had made, something that took quite a bit of her long gone energy to do, her body falling backwards into the ground much like her victim...

Still she won and that was enough.

Clap, clap, clap…

Her head tuned towards the slow clapping sound, her eyes narrowing in annoyance towards the perpetrator.

Her teacher…

"Congratulations you beat him dead…" he said in an utterly unimpressed voice "Now that you're done with your murdering spree you should go take a shower it's almost dinner time…"

He shooed her with his hand a small smile in his face as he watched the small girl scowl at him petulantly.

She scoffed slightly but couldn't help but feel the same way these past few days… accomplished and satisfied.

It had taken some getting used to this routine but now she couldn't really help but feel a bit content, not that she would tell him that.

She woke up early in the morning, just as the sun rose up from behind the liyue mountains to eat whatever breakfast her teacher made and then off to the small classroom to learn some sort of subject…

It changed daily monday was mathematics, tuesday history, wednesday science, thursday common tongue and friday health… it usually pertained to mental health but she barely paid it any mind, weekends were off and she was glad to usually sleep the morning through, sometimes though she woke up early and went to the library to read some story as there wasn't much to do besides that so outside civilization.

Her afternoons were much like this one... he called it martial training but it was mostly exercising with a few fighting forms on the side, he told her this would eventually change once they got deeper into it but right now it was fairly simple…

She had found it rather restricting, he taught her how to punch and kick but she would rather just go wild abandon on some targets just like she had done so just now, he let her fight off against a dummy at the end of her regiment off the day, 'as a way to decompress' or whatever, she didn't really get how his mind worked at the best of time but he was kinda right about that...

He still looked at her with slight disappointment whenever she destroyed one but he always seemed to create another so it didn't really seem like a such a big problem.

They weren't anything special either just something he conjured up, a mess of swords pressed together in a makeshift way that sort of resembled a person, it moved but really slowly… they were target practice essentially but they let her take some steam off.

Sometimes she imagined various faces instead of the mess of steel in front of her…

Like her father for example…

...that was fun.

She stretched a bit mewling slightly as her back cracked from the strain…

"Are you going to be there all day Shenhe."

She looked back at the door, towards the man with half lidded eyes as he beckoned her to the inside of the house.

Night would soon come and the moon with it, full today if she got it correct, from behind their little home but right now the sun was setting and did it look pretty once the orange hit the yellow of the mountains... she decided that for today at least she would see it in full.

No clouds in the sky either, seemed like a wonderfull night to stargaze too, that had quickly become one of her favorite past times not that there was that much else to do around here so outside of society, other than reading books from the library… no she preferred the dark sky far more.

Especially the little lights that surrounded it.

She enjoyed watching them and just relax under the cool night for a few hours after training…

… It allowed her to think and not at the same time, like thinking without worrying.

It was hard to explain.

She heard a sigh from behind her and some shuffling as the bigger man sat next to her.

She watched him with narrowed eyes, cautious...

The two of them alone not training usually meant talking about some sort of issue, which usually meant some heavy topic was about to brought forward about one thing or another… he really did try hard to keep the whole nice older sibling thing he had going.

Not that she was buying it of course…

"From what I know your family comes from a long line of exorcists correct?" he suddenly asked cutting away her wandering thoughts, her face showing how unimpressed she was at his question.

She rolled her eyes at his blatant fishing.

Here we go…

"I don't really know much, I barely started my training before… well you know." she answered in an awkward fashion before looking at him suspiciously, she couldn't really tell how that was important "Why?"

He made a sound, as if he was thinking about something really important, but didn't really explain himself something that further frustrated the girl.

It was as if he was always keeping one big secret from everyone, how was she supposed to trust him in the first place.

Speaking of secrets…

Her eyes narrowed further as she inspected him, zeroing in on a particular detail.

He was wearing a rather loose shirt, it was becoming warmer as summer had just started so he had forgone his usual clothes, the shirt itself was nothing special just plain white… but it had allowed some skin to show and with it… his history.

There was a scar a big one, one that she couldn't really see the end off, but it passed above his heart going all the way up to his collarbone… and even behind on his back.

It was like he had been cut in half...

It wasn't really jagged or ugly, just a thin line across his skin which in itself was peculiar, she had seen scars before, living outside the protection of the harbor and a part of one of the smaller surrounding villagers made it quite the target for attack… whether they be from animals, monsters or even other humans.

So she had seen them… not quite like that one.

How he survived such a thing she couldn't really tell.

Then again the more she stayed around the weirder the man got, just another thing to fill the bucket as it were.

"You can ask if you want…"

Her eyes widened in surprise at being caught but that momentary shock passed quickly as she glared at him "Will you tell me if I do." she asked clear suspicion coloring her voice.

He shrugged noncommittally "Why don't you try anyway."

She scoffed petulantly almost hearing the smirk in his voice despite his face remaining the same.

They remained quiet for a while longer, Shirou watching the ambient calmly while Shenhe chewed on her lower lip in an anxious fashion her mind almost begging her to ask.

She sighed in frustration giving up "Why do you have that scar then?" she turned fully towards him her eyes angry but focused.

He didn't say anything though…

She rolled her eyes and pouted like a child.

"It was from a fight…" he said suddenly in a rather sullen tone "… but I'm guessing you already figured that out."

He shuffled back a bit leaning into the dirt before continuing his face emotionless like stone.

"It was a stupid thing, something that should have never happened… we said some things that should have never been said and it escalated to the point of no return." He sighed out mournfully.

All throughout Shenhe listened fervently even if she pretended as if she didn't really care… she was starving to learn a bit more off the man who took her in.

He said nothing more though…

… so gathering up a bit of courage, she decided to poke a bit more, it couldn't just end there after all.

"Who… who was it that you fought?" she asked with a bit of apprehension, this was a new feeling to the girl… she didn't really know if she wanted to continue with the conservation or not.

He sighed and ran a hand through his white hair he seemed to be debating within himself whether or not to continue with this conversation…

After a while though she heard his melancholic voice once again.

"I guess… you could call her a friend."

Shenhe blinked confused "A friend?" disbelief marked her voice "And she did this to you?"

He groaned and stood up patting down his clothes from the dirt "We did it to each other" he rolled his neck around in slow movements as he gazed towards the horizon with a weirdly calm expression, he either had let go of it some time ago or he was putting up a front, she didn't really know...

"Though I guess it has been five hundred years since we've seen each other so we might not even be that anymore."

Five hundred, again with that number.

She opened her mouth to question further...

"Anyway it's getting late better start cooking dinner, I'll call you when it's done."

...but was swiftly cut off as Shirou turned around and walked back inside, leaving her alone among the dirt.

She merely gave a sigh and hugged her knees as she watched the world turn dark.

Five hundred…

Her hands dug into her skin as her eyes narrowed in determination…

I guess I'll have to find out for myself.

(Next Day)

It was a warm Saturday morning, which usually meant she would be sleeping in well into the afternoon but today was different.

Her soft feet fell heavy on the wooden stairs as she headed to the second floor, up to the largest room the house had, the library.

Not that it was huge, it was twice the size of her bedroom but felt a lot more claustrophobic as it was positively stuffed to the brim with rows of books and scrolls, so much so that most of the time she had to walk sideways as the space between the shelves wasn't that big, how he could work on such an environment the girl would never trully find out, or want to really, the less she stuck around there the better.

But she had no choice today...

The smell of paper and ink assaulted her immediately as she opened the red colored door.

It hadn't come from the library itself but rather a subsection to the side of it on a corner, it was easy to tell apart from the rest as the cabinets all had seemingly the same type of book the only difference between them being the number at the back.

She didn't really find them important because of what they looked like but rather who wrote them…

It was none other than her teacher.

Why and what she had no idea and she wasn't really going to try and find it even if she could, she was curious but not enough to do something so invasive.

No, she was here for something else entirely.

Try to find anything about what happened five hundred years ago, and with it what exactly he was. It was something that had been in her mind ever since Blondie appeared in the backyard...

Could a human being even live for that long?

She shook her head clearing her thoughts, it was something not to think about but rather research, determination filled her...

The answers would only come afterward, now it was time to gather as much information as she could.

So without much fuss, she gathered every historical book she could find and dropped it unto a nearby table not expecting to leave the room all day.

She didn't really need that long though…

In fact, all she needed was an hour.

For all major historical happenings and happenstances in the last five hundred years are linked to the same point.

Khaenri'ah…

A single passage in one of the books, turned to paragraphs on others all saying the same thing.

A civilization destroyed and countless deaths around the known Teyvat, a calamity that hadn't been seen since the archon war…

It didn't explain much more no matter how much she ripped through the rest of the books, only theories, and tellings of what once was, stories more than anything no actual facts.

More explicitly nothing in the way of finding more about the man she was living with...

The minutes turned to hours as the pages turned to books and by the time she bothered to check the light of the windows was turning into that beautiful shade of orange she liked.

Not that she was feeling much enjoyment right now..

She scratched her cheek in frustration a deep frown marring her face.

She put down another book and went to grab another before something stopped her.

A larger hand engulfed her own.

Her eyes widened as she gasped loudly.

She hadn't even heard him come in...

"So this is where you were all day huh…" the man said as he grabbed a book from the pile that was still unread, his emotionless eyes narrowing as he gazed at the black hardcover.

Her body remained stuck midway through animation as if having turned to stone.

Was it fear she felt?

The shaking seemed to answer that clearly.

But of what?

She hadn't really broken any rules… not any worded ones at least, but she couldn't help but feel like she did brake something when his eyes fell on her.

She closed her own eyes awaiting the repercussions of her own actions with bated breath… but nothing happened.

So with much courage, she opened them again slowly.

Only to find an amused smile as he read the title...

"… 'Field guide: history of architecture in Fontaine volume VI'…" he tilted his head as he looked back at her through half-lidded eyes "… quite the tome, I'm guessing you aren't here studying for class, right?"

He chuckled slightly at her scared face as he dropped the book back down "I'm not angry Shenhe, it only makes sense that you would want to know about me…" he sighed sitting on the table with a forlorn look "…sorry if I seem a bit closed off, somethings… somethings are harder to talk about, you know."

The girl nodded feeling slightly ashamed for doing this her eyes not quite meeting his, perhaps it hadn't been the best of choices to go behind his back to do this.

The girl felt something heavy and warm drop in her hair stopping her wandering thoughts before it ruffled it around startling her.

Shenhe let out an angry growl as she waved away the offending hand while he laughed lightly.

The mood of the room turned silent once more for a little while, it was something far more comfortable than the usual one, other times there was always that sense of heaviness like she didn't really belong or even want to.

Not that she felt she did yet… but it was nicer.

She shook her head and decided to look at the adult in the room with an inquisitive expression "Alright I'll bite… what are you? I doubt you're human if you really did live that long."

"You would be surprised…" he murmured under his breath before sighing "...but no I'm what you would know as an adepti."

"Huh…" she gasped out her brain momentarily freezing "… wait does that mean you have…"

He ruffled her hair again stopping her midway "Sorry to say but I quite like how I look now."

She pouted but that only seemed to entertain him further, so she gave up.

A bit disappointing that she wasn't going to lie but whatever…

"How long have you been alive then?"

He shrugged and leaned back "Around two thousand years... one thousand nine hundred and ninety-seven to be exact." his happiness seemed to vanish with those words as he seemed almost unsure of what he said.

She looked at him carefully noticing the lost look he had… it was like he wasn't really in the room with her anymore. Perhaps he was just thinking about his life she couldn't even begin to imagine what thousands of years worth of memories swimming around in her head would be like.

It seemed both comforting and terrifying...

After a few seconds, she decided to continue down her path through his history.

"Soooo…." she drabbled out knocking him away from his thoughts, her tone and mannerisms seemed a bit anxious… she might be pushing it with her next question and she didn't really want him to clam up as he had before "… what exactly happened during khaenri'ah…"

The mood shifted instantly and the room seemed to grow warmer.

His smile vanished completely instead being replaced with an expression that was half pity and half anger.

He took in a few shallow breaths to calm down before standing up, turning his back on her "There are some things in this world not worth knowing about Shenhe, this is one of them."

She leaned back with narrowed eyes, judging "So you're not going to tell me… what happened to talking about trauma?"

His body seemed to sag ever so slightly as if the conversation weighed heavily on him "There's nothing really to say… I was too late by the time I reached it… well, I'm sure the books paint a clear enough picture."

Shenhe opened her mouth to question further… but stopped midway through. There was an uncomfortable feeling going around the room as if the air itself was heating up.

It was hard to breathe.

He sighed and turned around, looking back at her awkwardly "Sorry, I didn't mean to scare you… there are just some things best left to the past sometimes…." he smiled at her though she could easily tell something so fake "How about I cook your favorite meal, you never did tell me what it was…"

The girl simply shrugged all the while staring at him warily, the last thing in her mind being food…

But she could clearly tell when someone was apologizing to her, so she would give him this chance.

Still, it seemed to always be one step forward, two steps back with him…

(Night)

His hand moved with experienced precision the pen flipping and flopping around in his fingers as he looked thoughtfully at the open red-cased book sitting on the table, but no matter how much he tried the page continued blank, no words felt quite right and he seemingly lost all ability to explain….

He leaned back into his chair with a mournful sigh… another night of no work done it seemed.

The man glanced to his right, towards the open window… it was a clear beautiful sky this night full of stars.

A slightly comforting visual… but unhelpful as most things were, more or less just another distraction right now.

Speaking of distractions…

He heard the sounds of slow footsteps and the slight creek of a door opening behind him.

The man sighed again this time with a bit of annoyance in his tone.

He had known her curiosity for a while, it was only fair after all he had known almost everything worth knowing about her the moment they met while he was a figure fully encased in shadows for all the girl knew.

It wasn't as if he was trying to keep himself hidden, but really most of his knowledge and issues wouldn't really be worth much for a mortal… problems with the world and those beyond it were best left to the ones who had enough free time in their hands.

But if he wasn't willing to open up even if only slightly there would never be any true trust between them, eventually it might even lead to worse feelings, and with them further regrets, he was oh so very tired of those.

He had already made that mistake once after all…

"You can come in Shenhe…"

He heard a high girly squeak behind him before some grumbling and further foot shifting until he felt her presence behind him.

Hate, cold, wrath… lonely.

That's how she felt and it hasn't changed at all since she had first started sleeping under his roof… these things took time, they always did he knew that still didn't make him feel any better.

Shirou turned towards her with kind eyes.

"So why are you here little one?"

Her face was blushing and her eyes bore holes at the ground probably due to getting caught sneaking around, though that changed quickly as she heard what he had called her.

He chuckled under his breath low enough for her not to hear… that was quite the glare.

"Sooo..?" he asked one more time with a knowing smile.

The girl fumbled around for a bit in a cutesy manner that he couldn't call out lest he be killed on the spot, soon enough though she gathered enough sense to answer…

Well as best as she could at least.

"I was just thinking of getting… a book and stuff… you know for night reading." she answered in an awkward fashion before her eyes narrowed at him "And what are you doing?"

He looked back at the book behind him with a frown "Staring at the table actually."

Shenhe leaned her body to the left to look at it, her eyes noticing that it was yet another of those books with a red cover "uh huh… I see, seems fun I guess." she murmured still not quite believing that it was this he did with his free time "So you're a writer? Do you… like, sell them or something?"

The girl looked around at all of the look-alike books with some wonder twinkling in her eyes.

"Or something…" Shirou said before laughing at her annoyed stare, she seemed to get more tired of his antics by the day "I… yeah, It was something that I picked up from a friend of mine a long time ago."

Shenhe shrugged not really knowing how to continue.

The room fell once more to silence, the air turning slightly awkward as they didn't really know how to continue.

She fake yawned "Well I'm going to sleep then, see you tomorrow."

And without waiting for his reply she turned around and briskly walked away.

He stared for a couple of seconds at the now vacant spot before turning back to his vacant pages… and with another heavy sigh, he closed the book.

No work was to be done today, it seemed… too much on his mind.

Speaking of which... perhaps it was time to be reminded of something.

The chair dragged back through the wooden floor the room filling with noise once more at such a violent movement as he stood up robotically his face set in stone.

He flicked his wrist once, and the torches around the room came alight as if magic, the room now glowing with an orange glint.

He turned right and walked with slow and heavy steps around one of the shelves until he found another one of the red books this one away from its brethren…

It was an old thing the color slightly worn out but still preserved.

He opened it with care and navigated through its pages, half reading half skimming through it, he opened it for other reasons rather than its words.

Until he found it.

It was a picture of a memory long since gone.

It was rather simple for something so hidden but in it was something he still hadn't truly found for himself yet.

A fountain, a boy, and a girl… that's all there was to it, well framed if he was to give an opinion but nothing world shattering.

They smiled awkwardly towards the camera, their faces slightly pink… there was some distance between the duo, though from their sideways glance he could tell that was something they both wanted gone but didn't have the experience to do so.

The boy was red-haired the girl blonde and they looked far too innocent.

His fingers traced them both with care… while his eyes showed nothing…

Because that's what he felt as he looked at it.

Nothing but a deep sense of loss, like something was missing from him.

He closed back the book and placed it once more on the shelf, the room once again getting plunged into darkness.

The man walked to the door, his footsteps seeming now more akin to thunder than anything else to his ears as he opened the door and walked out.

One last thought passed through his mind as he finally let the library rest for the night.

He wondered how disappointed that red-haired kid would be in him for what he became.

Hello my pretties... sorry about the late chapter honestly speaking i could make one hundred excuses but the truth of it is i just wasn't happy with what I've written... this chapter is pretty much the introduction of shirou as a character and i wanted it to be good while not saying everything a hard line to cross, hope it's good though.

He's obviously going to be different from canon and I've changed his abilities a bit... as far as lore in genshin is concerned I've also made a few tweaks less so in it's totality but more so where characters are concerned, it isn't an AU but shirou's presence in this verse for such a long time would have butterfly effects.

Hopefully you like that and enjoy the puzzle.

I wasn't going to do a chapter for December but since i made you wait for so long i might as well try no promises though.

Thanks to Ivan Tridelan for all the help.

Edit: I was thinking of starting something for honkai... not necessarily a fate crossover though and I'm looking for a beta reader for it, if it looks interesting to you give me a pm, thanks.