Revised 3/11/22

Hello again. Here's the next chapter of the story. I plan to release these on a weekly basis while I can, so enjoy, and see you next week.

Shirou

Now don't get me wrong, in the past two weeks I'd had plenty of brushes with death. Being gutted by a giant for one, and getting hacked in half by a Sumerian king, and three separate stab wounds, and more recently, a waterfall of evil mud that almost melted my body and soul. The risk of bodily harm was nothing new to Shirou Emiya.

The difference was all those things were dangers I could fight, or at least run away from. When I appeared hundreds of feet above a forest with no parachute? Understandably I'd panicked.

"AAAAAAAAH!"

My body pinwheeled through the air as the woods raced up to meet me. Blues and greens blurred together like a nauseating abstract painting that threatened to make me puke.

In the meantime, I screamed myself hoarse.

"Gods, not like this! Any way but this!"

The trees were deaf to my cries. They grew to engulf my field of view before—

CRACK

My right leg exploded in pain. The blow sent me tumbling sideways where—

CRUNCH

Something slammed into my ribs. I rebounded and—

"Urk!"

A blow to my gut folded me in half. Picking out a tree branch through the haze of pain, I began sliding forwards and—

RIIIIP

It snagged my shirt and tore a huge hole in the front.

Branch by branch I passed through the gauntlet, until my bruised and bloodied carcass hit the earth with a muffled thud.

Agony.

I couldn't think. I couldn't breathe. I couldn't move.

All forms of action were beyond me. It took a heroic effort merely to keep existing when it felt like my body would seep into the earth.

For an eternity I laid there, blinded by pain and gasping like a fish on dry land, until the roaring in my ears faded away. Bit by bit, time drained the red from my vision and the lead from my lungs, until all that remained was a pervasive soreness throughout my entire body. It was like I'd fallen off a bicycle, not fallen a thousand feet.

"How…" I rasped.

But the answer was obvious. Another miracle had rescued Shirou Emiya from certain death.

Lifting myself up, I hacked and spat out a wad of blood. Okay, what happened?

The trees weren't supplying any answers, though they gave me a hint. There was a forest surrounding Ryuudou Temple, and even more woods surrounding Fuyuki. Before that flash of pain and pressure, the Grail had reappeared, glowed strange colors, and the next thing I knew, I was falling from the sky. Had it exploded and blown me off the mountaintop?

'Should have expected the evil thing wouldn't die quietly.'

But if that was the Grail lashing out in its death throes, it had failed. And I knew exactly who was responsible.

'Thanks Saber. You saved me again.'

It was the power of her sheath. Even in death, she'd managed to save my life one final time.

Not that I could rest easy. Illya was still out there, and there was no way I was leaving a naked little girl on top of a mountain! So, despite my aching bones, it was time to go hiking.

Rising to my feet, I scanned my surroundings, which revealed one glaring flaw in that plan.

'This isn't Fuyuki.'

Beyond the light from my entry hole, everything was covered in vegetation. Huge, ancient-looking trees and woody shrubs hemmed me in where I stood. The forest floor was carpeted with ferns, moss, and fallen logs, and a thick canopy of leaves plunged everything beyond my circle of light into gloom. While all of those things were found in Fuyuki, one detail stood out.

Everything was green, and it was the middle of winter!

My jaw dropped.

How? No matter how far the Grail threw me, it couldn't change the seasons, not even if it threw me to the other side of Japan!

'But… but what if I'm not in Japan anymore?'

That brought me up short. The Grail was an all-powerful wish-granting engine, who said it couldn't teleport people? Though that raised the question of why.

But then it hit me. I'd been dropped from the sky over a thick, gloomy forest far away from home. Even if the fall didn't kill me, I was in the middle of nowhere, cut off from all human contact, while gods knew what dangerous predators waited out there…

My heart hammered in my chest.

The forest was eerily quiet. There should have been birdsong out there, maybe chattering squirrels or other small animals, but there was nothing but deathly silence. Something must have frightened them off. Something lurking in the darkness, ready to—

"Stop it!"

I slapped my cheeks. 'Okay, get ahold of yourself!'

It wasn't like the shadows were going to eat me. Now wasn't the time to panic, it was time to strategize.

"Alright Shirou Emiya, you're alone in a dark, dense forest, you have no food, no water, and no way to contact home. What do you do?

First off, waiting here wasn't an option. Wherever I was, it was nowhere near Fuyuki, and there wasn't a trace of human activity in the area. All it would do was make me hungry and thirsty, two things you do not want to be in the wilderness.

That left searching for a way out. They didn't teach survival skills at Homurahara Academy, but there had to be a river out there somewhere. That would solve my water problems, and eventually it would lead out of the woods.

But where to go? All the trees looked the same to me, and there weren't any bright spots in the gloom, just dim light filtering through the leaves.

'Guess I'll leave it to chance.'

Closing my eyes, I spun on my heel and pointed. Opening them revealed a dark thicket, same as everywhere else.

'I suppose it's better than nothing.'

There had to be better ways to choose a heading, but this was the only one at hand. I steeled myself, and pushed into the undergrowth.

Whatever was out there, it couldn't compare to what I'd faced in the Grail War. After defeating a monster like Heracles, was there really anything that could give me trouble?

Later, Unknown Dark Forest

'Apparently wolves.'

"Back off!" I shouted.

My hands squeezed tighter on the tree branch as they circled around me.

One of the four, braver than the rest, inched closer and snapped at my ankle. I skipped backwards and thumped it on the head, sending it stumbling away.

Finding the clearing had seemed like a stroke of luck, but turned out a pack of wolves had staked it out, and jumped me once I'd left the undergrowth.

Not even half a day in the wilderness and I was getting attacked by wildlife!

When one wolf couldn't do the job, they tried to double-team me. One leapt for my throat, and I batted it into a bramble bush. The second got a boot to the jaw when it lunged for my legs.

It was times like this that made me glad for Saber's sword training. I recalled thinking after our first lesson that I could win a fight with an angry Doberman, lucky for me, that translated to wolves just fine.

"Now where is the last—GAH!"

While the first three kept my attention, the fourth had crept up behind me and seized my leg. Sensing weakness, the other three bounded forwards to finish me off.

"That does it!"

I hadn't survived the Grail war to become wolf chow! Magical energy poured into my muscles—

Then a yawning pit opened in my chest.

"Guh!"

It was an indescribable feeling. The best approximation would be trying to fill your lungs in a vacuum chamber. Something was wrong with this place.

Despite that, my muscles burned as od made up the difference and reinforced my body. The wolf yipped when my leg turned hard as stone, and then it yelped when I kicked it in the ribs, sending it flying through the air. It hit a tree with a crunch.

I rounded on the other three, and was about to commit some animal cruelty when they whined and retreated into the brush. Breathing a sigh of relief, I dropped the tree branch, and canceled the reinforcement.

"Ah, dammit."

Rolling up my pant leg revealed a bloody bite-mark on my calf. It wasn't that bad, the wolf didn't have time to do more than break the skin, but blood was trickling into my sock and staining it red.

"Man, this is not going to help my walking speed."

Walks in the park hadn't prepared me for crossing a forest, the past few hours felt like navigating an obstacle course. Between the logs and vines at foot level, and the bushes and brambles higher up, I'd been moving at a snail's pace, and now I had a leg wound on top of that.

Well, no use moaning over the inevitable.

I tore a strip of cloth from my ruined shirt, and wrapped it tight around the wound before tying it off. It was a poor field dressing, but there weren't any first aid kits in the wilderness.

It had better hold. I wasn't any closer to finding civilization, the trees and undergrowth were as thick as ever, and there still wasn't any sign of a river! There had to be one around somewhere, or there wouldn't be a forest, but it still eluded me.

In any case, I still had a long way to go, and this dark forest wasn't making it easy. Hours of trekking through the woods had given me a bunch of light scratches from tree branches, torn clothes, and now a wolf bite. I was starting to think nature hated me.

I stood up to test my injured leg, giving a grunt of pain. It stung a bit, but not too badly. I'd gotten more severely wounded in the past two weeks, and still managed to rise again.

'But this time the sheath won't save you.'

That thought pulled me back to the present. I needed to get out of these woods, and fast, hunger and thirst were beginning to mess with my senses, and the sleep deprivation only made it worse.

The strange lack of mana in the air was disturbing as well. I could burn my od in a pinch, but using that would only exhaust me.

Animal attacks were yet another concern, one had been enough to bloody me and slow me down, a second could spell my death.

I snorted. 'Isn't that a thought. Here lies Shirou Emiya, survivor of the Fuyuki Grail War, mauled to death by wild animals.'

Not that it was wrong per se. If there was one wolfpack out here, there might be others, and maybe bigger things like bears, or worse, tigers, it was certainly hot enough for the latter. Soon it would be too dark to see, and then the nocturnal predators would come out to hunt. Still, I had to keep going, there was no way I'd sleep alone in these woods, not in this state.

I snatched up the tree branch from where it lay on the ground to look it over. It was pretty straight, and long enough to use as a walking stick, all the better to keep the weight off my leg. Besides, it wouldn't do to throw away my wolf-repellant in the middle of the woods.

Looking around one last time, I started limping through the undergrowth. This forest was vast, and dense, and full of things ready to take a bite out of me, but it couldn't go on forever.

Earlier that day, Viroconium, Kingdom of Powys

Artoria

"I must apologize, my king. I was so certain we would receive aid this time."

Sitting across the table, I turned my gaze towards Bedivere, keeping my face carefully impassive. The poor man's head hung in shame.

This would not do, not when events beyond his control conspired to deny us.

"Chin up my knight, King Cyngen's woes are hardly your fault. If anything, I should thank you for setting up this meeting, the coin he gave us will last for months if we ration it carefully."

While the coin had been welcome, I could not help but feel disappointed. My company had spent months searching for a sponsor here in the west, and to date no one had been willing.

King Cyngen of Powys had been our best chance at gaining support. The king was famous in the west for his generosity, if he gave us half the aid he gave to the faith, it would be more than enough to raise a small force for my campaign against the Saxons.

Alas, it was all for naught. While the good king had been sympathetic to our cause, he could not spare the coin to raise troops, not with trouble looming on his border.

It was sad to say that his donation was the most aid we had gotten so far. When I tried my luck with the kings of Gwent and Glywysing, each had laughed me out of their halls, scorning me as a child unworthy of the blade I wielded.

"So does that mean we'll try Rience next?" my brother Kay asked, leaning against the wall by his bed, "the man sure as hell has the troops if he can waste so many saber-rattling along the border."

I shook my head. "No, Gwynedd is out of the question, it would be like walking into a lion's den. Rience styles himself as King of the Britons, and he knows Caliburn's legend as well as any other. If we came seeking aid, he would try to take my sword as his own, and then he would take my hair to add to that tacky robe of his."

Petty warlords like Rience were the sort of king driving Britain to ruin.

Our people were dying a slow death, beset by dangers within and without. From the Channel to the North Sea, Saxon barbarians ravaged our shores, carving out kingdoms and putting our settlements to the torch. To the north, raids from the Picts and their human allies terrorized the Pennines. In the west, a hundred petty skirmishes, raids and counter-raids were carried out by the patchwork of kingdoms in the region.

My mood darkened. 'And do not forget the abomination squatting in the ruins of Londinium.'

And of course, what did Rience do? Did he defend his subjects as a king should? No! He spent his strength attacking and conquering his neighbors, and browbeating others into swearing fealty. Poor Cyngen, while he wished to help us, could not spare the troops while being slowly encircled by the arrogant warmonger.

"Might I offer a suggestion Arthur?" my "advisor" spoke up to my left.

I turned to stare at the white-haired pervert. "What idea do you have this time, Merlin? I recall the last time we followed your directions, you tricked us into spending a night in a brothel."

And what an embarrassing shock that had been! Our company was running short on coin, so Merlin directed us to an inn that advertised low hourly rates. In hindsight, there were a suspiciously large number of attractive women loitering about the place, but they had not exactly advertised their business!

What sort of name was the Soggy Cat anyways?

The four of us had just gotten settled down for the night when a quartet of curvaceous redheads sauntered in unannounced, offering to help us young knights "forget our weariness from the road".

Merlin had been thrilled. I was not.

I calmly, but firmly sent them out of the room, leaving behind a mortified and blushing Bedivere, and a disappointed Merlin and Kay. Who knew what sort of shenanigans he would drag us into if we listened to his advice?

"My king, you wound me," the wizard cried, "and I'll have you know, that visit was totally justified. I'm only half incubus, but I inherited some of my father's nature, and the aura of lust in that house of sin worked wonders for my energy reserves. A cambion has to eat you know?"

I nodded, internally sighing in exasperation. "Very well. Continue Merlin, what is your suggestion?"

The wizard leaned forward and tented his fingers. "Well, you see Arthur, over here on the western coast, the local kings don't truly feel the pressure of the invasion. That's all far off, relatively speaking, so there's no urgency to combat the Saxon threat."

"But in the Midlands, it's another story." He gave me a sly grin. "Between the Saxons to the south and the Angles to the east, they feel the pressure alright. With the western kings ignoring them and no nobles or armies of their own, if a powerful young king with a great destiny came calling… well, they just might listen."

For a moment, I pondered his words.

It had been a year since I drew Caliburn from the stone. A year of training and searching for supporters, a year of adventuring across the land, righting wrongs and defending the people.

A year since I abandoned my humanity.

Even after I drew the sword of prophecy and turned myself into the perfect king, no other king had answered my call. I knew I was hardly an inspiring figure, being a teenager of slight build and girlish looks, but the total disregard for my mission was galling.

True, the tribes and towns of the Midlands would not have many men to spare themselves. There were no great cities and armies in the region, and all governance beyond the town level had broken down long ago, but they would still have some men to spare, and even the smallest force could make a difference against the Saxon threat.

Furthermore, each victory, no matter how minor, would draw more and more men to my banner. The kings of the west may bask in the glory of their extravagant courts, but growing numbers would question why their armies sat idle, and point to the young upstart from the Channel coast fighting the good fight. If they would not contribute of their own free will, then the threat of being named craven would have to do.

For the first time in a long while, I was impressed with my advisor. He may be a lewd prankster, but there was a well of wisdom there when he cared to show it.

"You offer sound advice Merlin. Starting tomorrow, we will journey east to look for supporters. Hopefully we will have better luck finding brave and enterprising men to aid us in our quest."

"I have faith that you will do well, my king," said Bedivere, smiling softly, "If there is an ounce of bravery and character among the men of the Midlands, your purpose will surely stir them to action."

"Thank you for your kind words, Bedivere. Kay, could you bring out the map? I would like to plot our route, we need to see what towns are on the way and how long our supplies will last."

"Sure thing Arthur," he said, and pulled the map out of his pack to hand it over, "though before we go, could I take some time to uh, sample the local fare? We aren't going to be seeing a city for a while."

Internally I rolled my eyes. 'of course, he's going on one last romp before we get going.'

"That is fine Kay, just make sure to get some rest, we will be leaving the inn an hour past sunrise."

"Will do Arthur, you'll have me fresh as a daisy come morning" he replied, smiling roguishly.

Just as I was getting ready to mentally berate him for his womanizing, something abruptly changed in the air.

I sat ramrod straight. "Merlin, do you feel that?"

The cambion nodded, a troubled look on his face. "Indeed I do my king, something strange is happening to the ether, almost like it's flowing—"

PAIN

My heart stuttered to a halt.

The shock made me double over, and I clutched my chest.

"Arthur, are you okay?" Kay asked.

I tried to answer, but all that came out was a pained wheeze.

'Gods, am I having an apoplexy?'

My fist frantically thumped at my breastplate, to no avail. The strength drained from my limbs like water out of a bucket, and each blow became slower and slower as my arm grew heavier and heavier. Eventually I could move no more, and spots began filling my eyes.

The last thing I saw before my vision faded was Kay staring at me in horror.

Everything tipped and—

Cold.

Numbness spread to my extremities. It felt like every one of my veins was filling with tar.

Cold.

My thoughts turned to my family. What would Kay do now? Would f—Ector take him back, or would another king receive his oath?

Cold.

Who would save Britain now? Had Merlin been wrong? This certainly counted as a miserable death, but I had not even started, it was not my time to die!

Ba-Bump

I gasped.

Sweet, sweet air flooded my lungs, returning color to the world.

'Oh thank the gods!'

Artoria Pendragon would not fall today.

"My king!"

"Arthur!"

Bedivere and Kay's concerned faces peered down from above.

It would seem that in my moment of weakness, I had tipped out of my chair.

'Pull yourself together Artoria! What sort of king lies gasping on the ground?'

I levered myself up, and mustered all the dignity I could while sprawled on the floor.

"I… I am well my knights, though I do not know what happened."

Whatever that was, it certainly was not natural. Sixteen-year-olds did not have apoplexies, much less ones with dragon… hearts…

A disturbing possibility occurred to me. Was it Morgan? The witch was no longer the woman I had known as a girl, and more importantly, she had some inkling of my nature, and a prodigious skill at magecraft. She had the motive and the means, but could she cast a curse like this from so far away?

'One more thing to ask Merlin.'

Bedivere offered his hand, but I waved him off, and pushed myself to my feet.

A glance around the room revealed nothing was damaged. Whatever the nature of this curse, it operated on a purely metaphysical level.

Meanwhile, both my knights were thankfully unharmed, though Merlin was in the same position as I had been moments ago, lying on the floor and clutching his head.

I hurried over to give him a hand, and helped the wizard to his feet. A note of urgency leaked into my voice as I pressed him for answers. "Merlin, what on earth just happened here?"

He shook his head in confusion, and sat down in his chair.

"I haven't the slightest idea my king," he responded, wincing and rubbing his temples, "and my clairvoyance is on the fritz, so I can't give you an answer right now. But I can say this right now: We need to find out what caused this, because it can't be anything good."