Bejeweled Sword rewrite

A metallic lump floated onto the beach. Calloused and beaten up, it had gotten scratched by the rocks near the shore. The remnant of an origin from the distant past, it was not unlike the denizens of the land. Like them, the lump of metal held the shape of a person. A human being. Born from the sea, an old sword had been reforged.

It was in a pitful state, however. It knew not of language, nor could it remember how to move. It simply observed the area around itself in a lazy manner, not truly conscious nor awake. Even seeing its own familiar steely body produced nothing. It felt as though something was missing. Broken. Either it had no memories, or they had been washed away by the sea.

Time passed quickly for the broken being, marked by the setting of the sun and the rising of the moon. And another one, and another. Three moons shone bright in the sky, but before the fourth could rise, he was finally found. The sound of footsteps appeared in the distance, and grew louder as someone approached him. Once in a while he could hear a distinguishable click as well, akin to the sound of two stones hitting eachother. Louder and louder, clicks followed clicks until the sound of footsteps stopped behind the lump.

Silence seemed to have caught up. Neither that which had produced the clicks, nor the lump of metal made any noise. Even the sound of bugs quieted down. From the angle it was laying, the still immobile lump could only barely make out a figure in the darkness, lit up only by the light of the moon, as well as the tiny droplets of metal which floated near the person behind it, shining with a faint silvery light.

Before it could observe any further, however, the lump felt a tug at one of its arms, and both grunts and pants followed. With great effort, the sword was slowly turned around, and it could finally face the mysterious being before it.

Transluscent, red hair fell over her shoulders, and a long, elegant bang parted her face nearly in two. Not entirely dissimilar to precious stone or glass, it nonetheless drifted gently in the wind. Her skin, a perfectly pure white, seemed almost unnatural, and sligtly reflected both the moonlight and the sheen of the silvery droplets. She was quite the beauty, standing before him, and her eyes shone like burgundy gemstones. However, it was not their colour which drew the lump of steel in, but the emotion that it could see in them. Its first memory, both in this life and the one before. A great fire which had burned him away, long ago. His first death, and first rebirth. In her eyes, the sword saw sadness, faint and concealed, but he could also see that she was happy.

Thank you, thank you…

Relived, that she had found someone.

By saving even one person…

Just like a man that he had once known.

…I'm saved myself.

"K-Kiri…" He tried to speak, spurred by the memory of a long-dead man. It was a futile attempt, really. His words came out as a hollow sound, the grinding of steel against steel. Not the sound of a battlefield, but rather the sound of a forge. Like a baby calling out to their mother, or father in this case, for the first time. His speech was clumsy and unrefined, and he noticed her wince as at the grating sound of his speech. Deciding to wait before he would try speaking again, he snapped himself out of his reminiscence, and instead focused on the woman once again. This time, she seemed far more surprised, with her mouth open and eyes wide.

"This is so strange" she said, mumbling to herself, and putting a hand on her forehead as if to stave off an impending headache. "New gems aren't supposed to speak until long after they're born…" She glanced at him, "Not to mention this doesn't even look like a gem in the first place…"

The sword, unsure of what to do, and unable to do much even if he wanted, simply laid there, awaiting whatever judgment she would bring. Kiri… It sounded like a name, though what it signified, he did not know. Did that person save him? Deep, deep in his heart, he could recall a fire too, and that Kiri was connected to it. Kiri had looked at him, and seemed so very happy. Just thinking of it, that feeling, made him feel alive. He, too, wanted to save someone. To look upon them with tears of joy and a smile on his face, knowing that he had helped them with his own two hands. But with no one to currently save, he simply gazed at her, who was still deep in thought and clearly confused by the situation. Finally, however, she appeared to have come to a conclusion. "Cinnabar, you can do this" she exclaimed quietly, a statement seemingly meant only for herself. Then, still somewhat uncertain, she turned to him. "I don't know if you can understand me, but if you do then I wouldn't want to leave you without an explanation. You're too heavy for me to carry, but I'll ask Sensei and the others to bring you to the school tomorrow.". She seemed uncomfortable at the prospect of speaking to this "Sensei", but otherwise expressed herself resolutely. "You'll have to make do here for tonight, and I can't stay with you much longer, but if anything happens, I'll know, and come back quickly.". And so, after having said her piece, she quickly left, sparing only a single glance once she was far enough away, and then dashed off into the tall grass beyond the beach.

The sword's gaze lingered for a while longer on the spot where she had left, but after a moment he simply sighed and returned to looking at the sky. It was a little easier to turn his head now, so hopefully full-body movement wasn't completely out of his reach with time. The stars, so very far away, shone clear and bright, and the moons, all four of them, were truly breathtaking on the black backdrop of the sky. Sleep soon claimed him, but just before he dozed off, a thought appeared.

"Shouldn't there be only one?"


Author's Note:

It's been a long time since I first published the original chapter of this story. Back then, I said I had a plan for about 300k words, but things ended up not working out. Both plagiarism and personal issues played a part. I won't make such a grand promise this time, but I hope you can still enjoy my writing, however this ends. Regarding the way I refer to Shirou here. It stars with "it" and "lump of steel", and moves on to "he" and "sword". This is intentional, as a way to show him becoming himself again. Eventually, Shirou will be Shirou again, more or less. Second, the way I refer to the gems. Mostly, it will be "she". I am aware that in the original Japanese work, they refer to eachother with male pronouns, and have varied levels of gendered language, and that in the English translation they all refer to eachother as male, but it's just a lot easier on me to use female pronouns. If you really hate it, shoot me a review or PM and make a case for it. If it's good enough, I might change my mind.

That's all for me, see you next time.