Chapter 2: Teaser

'Why did it have to be this way? All we wanted was to live peacefully, to survive.' The wave hit and killed many of the adults, including her parents along with her friends' parents. Raphtalia, Rifana, and Keel managed to find each other after the devastation, attempting to scavenge supplies for their return to their village.

It was during this time that salve hunters had appeared and captured them, despite trying to put up a fight. They were chained and forced to walk to their camp. It was a hopeless situation that only further demoralized Raphtalia. She wasn't a fool, she knew what awaited them when they reached their destination.

The only one who remained hopeful was Rifana, who believed that a hero would come and save them. "I know it will happen, maybe it will be the Shield Hero! Heroes always show up when they are needed most." She told Raphtalia. However, she wasn't so sure.

She wanted to believe the Shield Hero would save them, but life rarely ever went well for demi-humans. However, she was in for quite the surprise. Up ahead, Raphtalia, Keel, and Rifana noticed two people making their way towards them. However, the moment she noticed they were human, she became disheartened.

One appeared to be a woman, if her silhouette was anything to go by. She wore a beautiful purple dress with gold accents along with a cloak of black and purple. She had long, light purple hair that matched her eyes.

The man next to her was wearing black sleeveless armor along with a single red archers sleeve. He had black pants and boots with a red cloak around his waist and a black scarf that flowed behind him as he walked. His red hair and golden brown eyes gave him an almost exotic look, at least to Raphtalia.

On his back was a nodachi with a purple handle and purple scabbard. The blade length was incredible, making Raphtalia wonder how feasible it was to actually use it. The two were walking towards them, causing the slave hunters to stop in their tracks. Though, the two strangers stopped about ten yards away.

"Is there a reason you have three children chained up like animals?" The man said, his voice was serious and she could hear some anger within it. Raphtalia looked towards the woman, though her expression was indifferent, she could see a look of disgust in her eyes. Not for them, but for the human slavers.

"What does it look like? They're just filthy demi-human slaves who escaped captivity. We're returning them back to where they belong." The leader replied, though the girls each looked towards him with wide eyes, but were prevented from speaking by one of the guards.

Raphtalia watched as the man's eye twitched. "Is that right? So, these three young girls aren't from the nearby village that was just attacked by monsters?" The woman spoke next, her voice was alluring, yet there was obvious distaste in her words for the slaver.

The slaver looked towards her, looking at her up and down before a sickening smile made it's way onto his face. However, the moment he attempted to speak again, a blade ended up mere inches from his throat, causing him to stumble backwards with a shriek.

"I'd suggest you refrain from looking at her with those disgusting eyes of yours." The man next to her spoke again. His eyes were cold and his voice was the same.

"Who do you think you are threatening me?! Do you know who we work for?!" The slaver yelled. "You know what, forget it! Boys, get rid of him and take the woman, I'm sure she'll fetch a good price once we're done with her." He commanded his men.

"Caster, protect the girls." The man commanded, before grabbing the sword from his back and taking a stance. The guards attempted to grab ahold of Raphtalia and her friends, but purple blasts of magic quickly caused them to retreat. Raphtalia looked up and saw the woman floating just above them with a silver staff.

"Stick close to me children." She told them, quickly forming a nearly transparent dome around them. Magic circles appeared in the air, firing off more magical blasts that ended up blowing away the few brave enough to try and retrieve them. However, Rifana and Raphtalia weren't focused on that.

The two of them were watching the man she came with. The moment any of them came within range, his sword moved with graze and precision. The beauty was in its simplicity. While those that attacked him were making large movements and their bodies moved around a lot, compared to the stranger.

One move and one slaver fell to the ground. A downwards slash was parried with a mere flick of the wrist, followed by one step that cut through the waist of the one attacking him. He followed through and simply lifted the sword up with both hands, holding the handle to his cheek and looking over his shoulder. "Hiken, Tsubame Gaeshi."

With one movement, the enemy was cut down, apparently with three strikes. However, Rifana and Raphtalia only registered one attack. He had taken out three, along with the woman, who took out the same number. The remaining three looked towards each other with frightened expressions, before turning and running.

"Sword barrel, full open." He lifted his sword towards them, ten swords of blue mana formed before firing at incredible speeds and skewering them. "Burst!" He commanded, causing the blades to explode. The dome around the girls darkened in that direction, with the woman letting out a sigh.

He walked over to the head slaver, who was still on the ground attempting to scoot backwards. The sword in his hands then morphed in his hands, causing Rifana to let out a gasp in response. Even Raphtalia was surprised by the fact that the stranger was a hero.

The sword became a more simple longsword, though it had a golden blade with a black handle and guard, with a blue jewel resting in its pommel. "How many more children do you have?" He asked simply, holding the blade to the slaver's neck.

"W-we just got here, I swear! We were told that there would be easy pickings for slaves, so we rushed over. That's all, we don't have anyone else." He quickly replied, attempting to talk his way out. The Sword Hero's eyes narrowed at his words.

"Who told you?" He asked, not wasting anymore words than necessary.

"The nobles in Melromarc, oh and the church officials." He replied quickly. The Sword Hero let out a sigh. "I told you everything, I don't know any names, but I swear that's all I know. Just let me go and you'll never see me again." His words were becoming more desperate.

The Sword Hero looked over towards the three of them. The sight of the three of them huddled together besides the woman he referred to as Caster must have done something, considering his gaze softened slightly, before he focused back on the man with a hardened expression.

"Very well, begone." He spoke sternly while sheathing his sword. The slaver's eyes widened, before he quickly crawled to his feet and began to run away. The Sword Hero then made his way over towards them.

"Still kindhearted as ever, I see." Caster said to him in a lighthearted tone, causing Raphtalia to look up her. Now that she was closer, Raphtalia could see that Caster was incredibly beautiful, reminding her of a princess.

The three of them may have been a bit more wary of the pair, but the moment they noticed Caster's ears, they felt a sense of security. Wrongly assuming that she was a demi-human because of that trait.

"Considering what's waiting for him, I don't think I'm all that kindhearted." He replied with a slight smile. "You mind teleporting us away from the mess?" He asked, rubbing the back of his head. Caster let out a sigh at his question.

"Very well, though sheltering them proves my point." She said with a slightly teasing tone. The Sword Hero merely shook his head as he walked inside of the barrier, before darkness overtook them.

The next thing Raphtalia saw was her village. The three children all felt happiness upon seeing their home once again. Even if it was in a state of disrepair because of the wave. "Thank you for saving us, Mr. Sword hero!" She heard Rifana exclaim, causing her to turn towards her friend.

Rifana was bowing as she thanked him, though Raphtalia noticed that the Sword Hero seemed a bit uncomfortable, almost as if he wasn't used to such a thing. He kneeled down and looked at her. "You don't need to thank me. In fact, I should be apologizing. If I only got here sooner, then none of this would have happened."

His voice was filled with sadness. She could see his fists clenched tight. She then saw Caster lay a hand on his shoulder. Rifana looked at him before shaking her head. "You still saved us." She replied with a smile.

"Yeah, if it wasn't for you, who knows what would have happened. So, thank you both." Keel added, causing her to realize she didn't say anything yet.

"Um, what are you two going to do now? Because, you can stay here with us. A-as a thank you for rescuing us." Raphtalia managed to squeak out. The Sword Hero looked at the three of them, noticing their sincere expressions before looking up at Caster.

"They know you're the sword hero, so we wouldn't have to hide. Besides, from what my shadow gathered, the oldest one here is still a teenager. Not to mention, it would be best to stick around to protect them. There's likely to be more slave traders." She told him while messing with his hair.

He closed his eyes and took a deep breath. "If you're fine with us, then we accept." He said to her with a smile. He stood up and looked at the small group. "However, I'd prefer if you didn't call me Sword Hero." The three children all looked at him with a questioning gaze.

"While it says I'm the Sword Hero, I don't think I deserve that title just yet. So, I'd prefer if you just called me Shirou." He held out his hand towards them. "From this moment on, I promise we'll protect you."


Thought I'd get out a little teaser of an upcoming story. It won't be out for awhile, since I'm still working on all my other ones, but I wanted to show you a sneak peek. I switched over to Caster instead for my idea. This Shirou would have went through the war with Medea and was trained by her and Sasaki, hence his swordsmanship. I may put out a few other small drafts on this, like my idea for a naruto crossover. We'll see. Anyways, I hope you guys liked it. Thanks for reading, until next time.