"Can you feel it?"
Shirou was once again in that plain of swords. Leaning against the hill he was attempting to scale the last time he was there.
Looking to the man, which he could now tell was wearing a long coat, he asked,
"Feel what?"
A disappointed sigh answered him.
"You truly are a fool. Are you really unaware? Unaware of your predicament? Of your fate? Of your own self!?"
Shirou was shocked. He may have only met the man once, but he got the feeling this was an abnormal reaction.
"Sorry... I didn't mean..."
Cutting Shirou off, the man responded,
"No, I'm sorry. It's just... focus. Focus on yourself. Feel how the life flows through you. And how it flows through this world."
Blinking, Shirou wondered on how he would achieve that, before huffing and closing his eyes.
Breathing deeply in, he focused on the beating of his heart.
Breathing out, he tried to trace the minute feelings of... something flowing through him. He could sense that from the heart, the something flowed to the rest of the body. But there was one collection of veins that were bringing the something in.
Breathing in, he followed those veins, until he reached his left... wrist. As he reached it, realizing he was tracing his Bias Factor, the feeling of the Bias Factor seemed to suddenly spread out away from his body.
With a hitched exhale, he hesitated.
"You're already at the precipice. Just reach out, and feel the connection between you and this world. And find the end. The end of this endless plain."
With an odd boost of confidence, Shirou breathed in deeply and continued.
Following the flow of the Bias Factor, outside of him, and into the world, he felt as it practically permeated everything.
Every grain of sand, every blade in the ground, every gear in the sky, everywhere.
Shaking his head, and breathing out, Shirou followed that flow to the edges of his perception, until...
"Ah!"
It was as if he had been attacked. In his own mind, the blades that made up his world suddenly turned on him, piercing him through.
Looking to his left arm, where the pain was, he saw...
Blades.
Blades ripping and tearing out of his skin.
Before he could have any proper reaction,
"Now do you see? How your own power is turning on you? Trying to consume you? It'll start with your arm, but it'll consume the rest of you later."
Frustrated, from the pain and the lack of comprehensible answers, Shirou flipped on to his right arm and legs, scrambling up the hill to try and get a glimpse of the man.
But all he saw, as the world faded, was the man's coat, a crimson red in the midday light.
*Page Break - After The Dream, A Week After Meeting Saber*
Sitting up in his futon, slight sweat on his brow, Shirou looked around his bare room, before looking to his left arm to see...
It was made of flesh and bone, and had a red Armlet. It was not made of swords.
Sighing in slight relief, Shirou then thought. What did the man mean when he said his power was trying to consume him? Was he going to turn into swords?
And what power? His connection with his God Arcs? Or just his very essence as aa God Eater?
Shaking his head free of the thoughts, Shirou began his day.
Putting on his usual clothes, doing some morning exercise, and cooking some breakfast for him and Taiga, the only thing missing from his day was his sweet kouhai.
Ever since Sakura had told him she needed to help Shinji and her grandfather with something over a month ago, she hadn't shown up at the Emiya residence once. Not only that, Shirou rarely saw her at school, and when he went to her, she seemed to pale and run away.
On top of that, Shinji was also missing...
He was worried. His closest friend and his kouhai had disappeared or were appearing distressed. But he couldn't help them if they didn't ask.
Burning his hand from the pan because he wasn't paying attention, Shirou shook his head from his thoughts.
He can't let it distract him on his team mission.
*Page Break - Around 6 Hours Later*
Arriving to the Den, Shirou took the steps down to Hibari. Looking up, Hibari spotted the red-haired boy and waved him over.
"Hey Shirou. Are you prepared for the mission today?"
"Uh huh. I'm curious to see how well I can work in a team with three other people. Even if I normally have them as partners."
"Yeah well, don't get overconfident. You'll be fighting more and stronger Aragami this time around, so be careful."
Nodding, and with a slight reassuring smile, Shirou walked over to the benches to wait for his teammates.
As he did, he thought on the incident after meeting Saber. He and Saber had taken the jeep to the Den, before he was quickly taken to the Infirmary, only for nothing to be wrong with him.
Afterwards, he talked to Illya, who was incredibly worried, and Taiga, who charged past the guards to make sure he was alright.
Taiga had been, unfortunately, sick that last month, unable to visit Shirou after the Illya incident.
Being able to leave, Shirou made his way to Sakaki's office, only to see Sakaki and Saber chatting. After asking about Saber, Sakaki gave him a quick rundown.
Saber had been operating in the England Branch for the past 10 years, used to be a Partner of Kiritsugu, and was transferred to the Far East per Sakaki's request.
Sakaki nor Saber would tell Shirou more, so he decided to let it drop.
"Hey, Shirou?"
Shirou was brought out of his remembering by his first teammate, and teacher, Kota.
"Hey Kota. How are you doing?"
Smiling, Kota answered in the affirmative, before they began small talk. Shirou and Kota had gone on a number of missions together after the Illya incident.
The next to arrive was Saber, who entered with a polite,
"Greetings, Shirou. Captain Kota."
Shirou responded with a similarly polite greeting, while Kota groaned about being addressed as Captain. Shirou and Saber had, in the past two weeks since they met, been put on a fair amount of missions together, because of some reason Sakaki hadn't told them.
Finally, the last person to join was...
"Hello there, Emiya, Saber, Captain Kota. How are you all today?"
Another young God Eater, of the same age as Shirou. With long black hair, contained in twin-tails, and sapphire blue eyes, she had an innocent smile on her face that hid her devious personality.
Shirou answered first,
"I'm fine. How are you, Tohsaka?"
*Page Break - During Shirou's First Few Missions*
When Shirou first met Rin Tohsaka, it was on his second mission after saving Illya. He was told by Hibari that he would be going on a mission with another new recruit, a prodigy like him.
As he was talking to Hibari about her, about how she did well on her training missions, has full-marks on shooting courses, and does perfectly well in her lessons, Rin walked up in a red sweater, black skirt, and black thigh-highs, and listened to them talk about her.
Before Hibari could divulge more, Rin cleared her throat, catching the two's attention.
"Hello there, Emiya. My name is Rin Tohsaka. Nice to meet you."
As she introduced herself, Shirou felt an odd sense of nostalgia. As if he knew her from somewhere.
Shaking it off, Shirou responded in kind.
"Nice to meet you, Tohsaka. You already know, but I'm Shirou Emiya. I hope we work well together on this mission."
With a light giggle, Tohsaka told him he'd be fine, before they finally went on their mission.
They were going to the City of Mercy, and fighting a Gboro-Gboro. The mission went simply, before Rin decided to make smalltalk.
As they did, they got to know each other a bit. As they talked, Rin started to let up a little and began to show some of her more teasing personality.
They complimented each other well, and knew they would likely make a good team. Him, the melee combatant, her, the ranged cover.
*Page Break - Back to the Team Mission*
As the four entered the jeep to take them to their mission, Shirou decided to take another look over everyone's God Arcs.
Kota's was an orange Assault Gun, with a circular segment on top, reminiscent of the 'tommy-guns' they had seen in Bugarally. It was covered in scratches, but also looked well-used.
Saber's was the same as previous, a golden Long Sword, with a blue handle and Buckler Shield.
Rin's was the most normal of everyone's. It was a blue Short Blade, with a jewel pattern, and a black Blaster Gun with red highlights. The Short Blade was called the 'Jewel Blade', and the Blaster Gun was called the 'Gandr Shot'. It shot a custom made bullet, and deals Divine damage.
Before Shirou could sink too deep into his fantasizing on their swords, he was snapped out of it by Kota pushing him lightly.
"Hey Shirou. Do you remember what we're fighting?"
Confused at the question, Shirou replied,
"Ummm... It was a Vajra, wasn't it? And a Chi-You too?"
Nodding, Kota sent Shirou a slightly worried look.
"Yeah. But don't get really caught up in your thoughts, okay? That's bad for you, and everyone."
Looking away ashamedly, Shirou apologized, before they finally arrived.
From there, it was business as usual. They all arrived at the place where they normally waited, and made small-talk.
The time arrived with a crackle of everyone's earpiece.
"Okay everyone. This'll be Shirou's first team mission. As such, Shirou will act as today's leader. The Vajra should be appearing any moment at Point K. Good luck."
Standing up, everyone looked to Shirou, who looked away before gaining his composure and telling them their roles.
"Kota, Tohsaka, can you two keep the Aragami from running away or making any manoeuvres? Saber, would you mind actively attacking the Aragami while I provide back-up?"
With three distinct agreements, Shirou turned to face the city, before stepping up to the edge of the cliff and jumping, calling his catch-phrase.
"Let's go! Trace-On!"
As he fell, he heard his teammates calling their own.
"Saber, entering combat!"
"I'll show you the might of the Tohsaka Clan!"
"I can't look lame in front of my kouhai's! I'll kick your butt extra-fast!"
*Page Break*
Thanks for reading. I'll talk later.