I don't own anything.

Chapter 1 / Strings

"Where in the world am I?" Emiya Shirou asked. Right in front of him, was a redheaded girl holding a bow to his face.

"Now now, you're in no position to answer my question with another question, are you? You have an arrow pointed at your face after all. Now, tell me boy. What in Hades are you, and why have the 3 fates themselves taken interest in your fate?" The red haired girl glared at him, and Shirou squirmed. Somehow, the little girl's glare was even more terrifying than Rin's, which was a feat he would have previously thought as impossible. "Answer honestly, boy. I may not be as good as my brother, but you can guarantee that I am an expert when it comes to detecting lies." Her tone was laced with something alike to venom, but it was also filled with a slight curiosity.

Shirou didn't open his mouth. Instead, he momentarily focused his attention on the bow that the little girl to be holding. It was masterfully crafted, and had a powerful aura to it. Shirou almost suspected that the thing was a noble phantasm. And certainly not something that a regular looking little girl would use.

"Answer me, boy!" The redhead snapped, startling the redheaded magus out of his thoughts. Shirou merely looked at the girl straight in the face, before finally coming up with a response.

"You know, in my culture, it is common respect to introduce yourself before you demand the name of another." His response seemingly left the redhead flabbergasted, and her expression contorted into a sneer before it turned into a rather mischievous looking smirk only moments later.

Suddenly, a divine aura of power filled the room. The redhead girl had disappeared from Shirou's vision, replaced by a beautiful woman with an aura of immense power. It practically radiated off her form, unlike anything Shirou had witnessed before. It was beyond the power of a heroic spirit, beyond anything he had ever imagined.

It was divine.

"I am Artemis, goddess of the hunt. Now boy, reveal your name." The woman said before suddenly shrinking back to her 12 year old form.

Shirou blinked. The claim was insane, but after what he had just witnessed, he was almost willing to believe her. And besides, his luck was so crappy that he was willing to believe any type of crazy that the world could rain on him.

"My name is Emiya Shirou," he responded, before adding, "and I believe, that there is a severe misunderstanding here."

"Don't jest with me, boy. Three of the most powerful beings in the universe brought you here, so I believe that there is no misunderstanding whatsoever. Now, answer me. Why, is a boy such as you, so important that you would attract the attention of the fates themselves?"

Shirou cocked his head in confusion at the goddess's words. Fates? Most powerful beings in the universe? He wasn't exactly an expert on history, but that sounded awfully familiar to-

Greek mythology.

Shirou widened his eyes in realization before asking, "Where exactly am I... Erm, Lady Artemis?" He had added the last part as an extra perfusion, to increases his chances.

"I told you to answer-"

Shirou cut her off. "Please, just tell me. Where am I? And what's the year right now?"

The goddess's face contorted briefly, and she scowled at Shirou before finally giving up with a sigh.

"Fine. You are currently in the United States of America, in a forest in the state of Virginia. The year is 2007, for your information."

And then, it all crashed on him. The grail, the holy grail war, greek mythology...

Oh, for the sake of the root.

If his theories were correct, he had somehow ended up in a parallel universe, sent forwards in time, and just his luck, it happened to be in the age of the gods. He had previously heard of the second magic before, so he fully knew it was possible.

How was it that he always ended up in the craziest situations?

"Now, answer me, boy. I have been lenient with you until now because of your circumstances, but no more time will be wasted. What exactly are you, and why are you so important to the fates?"

Shirou sighed before finally giving up. He was sure that even if the mage's association existed here, they wouldn't mind if he broke the pact of secrecy for a goddess.

"This is going to be a long story..."

...

"So, where do we start? I was, or rather am, a high school student from Japan. I was the sole survivor of a fire that claimed dozens if not hundreds of lives, and my father was a magus, and for the sake of things I'll just call it a magician." said Shirou, before he paused briefly. He looked at the goddess in the eyes.

She only nodded at him, saying, "Continue."

"Long story short, in my second year of high school, I got myself involved in a battle royale called the Holy Grail War. It's a conflict fought by 7 masters and 7 servants, who are heroes from history summoned using magecraft. Masters on the other hand, are magi, or Magicians, I suppose. They fight to the death to have their wish granted by an omnipotent wish granting device.I was the master of the servant Saber, and in the middle of the war, I realized that the grail had become corrupted, rendering it a possible doomsday machine. From there on, my partner and I worked together to destroy the grail, and I may have ended up getting sucked into it and dragged into a parallel world."

For the sake of things, he had left out the details of his abilities, and the nature of magecraft. Some things he had to keep secret after all.

There was a long silence before the goddess spoke again. "I suppose... Your story would make sense on why the fates are so interested in you. As ridiculous as it is, judging by your circumstances, I'm willing to believe it." Shirou sighed in relief, before the goddess started to talk again. "However, there is one major hole in your story, boy."

Shirou cocked his head sideways. "Hmm?"

"You are no high school student. You are only old enough to be a child."

With the snap of her fingers, a mirror appeared right in front of Shirou.

What he saw in it almost made him scream out in surprise.

Why does fate have such a grudge against me...

His face in the mirror was not his. At least, it hadn't been his for at least 3 years. It took all of his willpower not to curse the very existence of the holy grail.

The victoriously smirking goddess in front of him wasn't exactly helping either.

"Fine. If I do something to prove my identity, will you believe me?" Shirou proposed. The goddess merely raised an eyebrow in response.

"I suppose, yes."

"Give me the mirror." Shirou said. Artemis frowned at him before walking towards behind him, and putting the mirror in his cuffed right hand.

He knew tracing would be a better way to prove his truth, but he wasn't ready to reveal that just yet.

"Trace on."

The basis of reinforcement and structural analysis was simple. He would use his prana to analyse the structure of the object, then he would fill it with mana to reinforce the structure and efficiency of said object."

Green light started to glow from his arms, and for a brief moment, the mirror glowed green.

It was over in an instant.

"Take it," said Shirou. Artemis had a skeptical look on her face as she grabbed the mirror from his hand. "Now throw it against the ground with an inhumane amount of strength."

Artemis frowned, but slammed the mirror against the ground. It slammed towards the floor as quick as Shirou could blink, faster and stronger than any human was capable of.

It bounced once before finally settling on the surface, with only a slight crack.

The goddess of the hunt looked thoughtful for a second, before finally relenting. "I suppose you have proven yourself, boy. However, what do you plan to do here? You are a stranger among us, and although the task of the hunt is to take you to Camp Half Blood, what is your's? What will you do on this world?"

When Shirou spoke again after a brief silence, Artemis briefly considered laughing before sensing the iron will behind his voice. Spoken by anyone else, she would have burst out laughing, and would have called him a naive fool. However, Shirou Emiya was different from most boys she had encountered, no, a better way to rephrase it was that he was different from anyone she had encountered, and Artemis couldn't quite put her hand on why.

His words stuck to her head for a long time, and she strangely found herself unable to question the honesty behind them.

"The same thing I've always done..." the boy had said,

"I'll strive to become a hero of justice."

...

Well, at least this is better than being tied to a chair. Honestly, I thought my arms were going numb... Shirou thought, a heavy sigh escaping his mouth. After he had barely forced Artemis not to reveal to anyone of his magecraft until he deemed the time fitting, Artemis had immediately assigned him to do chores for the hunters after she had cut his bonds away, and while the boy traditionally enjoyed laundry, it was rather uncomfortable to clean the underwear of dozens of girls that he had never met or seen.

Or was it better this way? Perhaps if he had met the hunters, his silent shame would only increase.

The thought did little to help his situation as Shirou hung up a silver parka.

Just think of it as doing normal housework, Shirou mused, utterly failing to do so.

Stupid younger body with stupid hormones. He had long forgotten the feeling of being in puberty, but now, he wasn't sure if he wanted to remember.

He hung up the final piece of clothing as a loud feminine voice called out to him.

"Oy, you! Aren't you the boy that appeared out of nowhere yesterday?" The girl was clad in a silver parka, and had black hair braided into a single tail.

She also happened to be taller than him. Another reason to curse his new body.

"Yes, that would be me." Shirou briskly responded before turning his back on her and checking his list of chores. He had no desire to talk to any of Artemis' hunters at the moment, as he was barely getting things sorted out himself. Unfortunately the girl relented, and yelled out again, "Don't turn your back on me, boy. You better provide me and the hunters some explanation as to how in Hades you just appeared last night, with the freaking three fates." She paused briefly, before blurting out, "And why are you doing our laundry?"

Shirou sighed. "I can not give you an explanation as to the events that transpired last night, and Artemis asked me to do chores." He held up and waved the list in his hand.

"Why in Hades would milady ask a boy like you to do chores?" The girl's face had an incredulous look.

"I assure you that I am proficient in doing tasks like these, and besides, Artemis threatened to turn me into a frog if I did them wrong."

The girl's remark did a blow on his pride. He had been doing laundry and had been cooking for over a dozen years. He wasn't exactly unqualified to do this.

The hunter scowled at him before scoffing. "Fine. Lady Artemis will probably tell us soon anyways."

Are all hunters this rude? Shirou didn't have the energy to deal with her any further, and simply started to walk away, taking out his list of chores.

His next task instantly brightened his mood.

The hunter had dealt a blow to his pride as a house worker.

And what better way to prove her wrong than to cook her a meal?

...

It was around eight o' clock in the night when Shirou was done with his list. He wearily approached Artemis' tent, and found the goddess sharpening a gleaming dagger.

"It is about time you finished, boy. There are things that we must discuss," said Artemis. Shirou nodded before finding himself a chair and sitting down. The goddess continued, "Starting from tomorrow on, I will be testing your capabilities in combat, and furthermore we will start to move towards Camp Half Blood, where the fates asked us to bring you. The fates do everything for a reason boy, and there is a definite reason why you have been entrusted to us, instead of being dropped right on the entrance of the camp."

Shirou nodded before asking, "What is Camp Half Blood, exactly?"

"It is a camp for demigods, the children of the gods. Demigods are hunted by monsters in the outside world, and that camp is the only place where they are safe."

Shirou nodded in understanding.

"Next, we must set up some... Ground rules. Although I have been lenient with you because of your circumstances, some rules are enforced, and if you break them, consider yourself in a cage for the rest of the trip."

An audible gulp rang across the room.

"First of all, you will be training with my hunters, but you will not hurt them. You will not touch them, or enter their tents, or eat with them. I have arranged accommodations for you in the camp, and although it is not desirable, it is much better than anything we have offered a boy. Second, when I ask questions on your past or your abilities, you will answer them truthfully. I need a full grasp of your capabilities to submit my report to Olympus." Shirou opened his mouth to argue, but was cut off. "This is non-negotiable. I must do it for your own safety from my father and his council. Zeus is paranoid by nature, and if I do not reveal your abilities and intentions, he will eliminate you in an instant, directly or indirectly. But, as I have sworn to never reveal anything without your consent, I ask for it now."

Shirou sighed, but nodded anyways. Being chased by a godly thunder monster, or being zapped to death by a lightning bolt did not sound fun.

"Finally, when you arrive at Camp Half Blood, consider our pact as over. Although I will uphold my end of the deal to protect your secrets, you will never be allowed within the ranks of the hunt ever again. You are only here because the fates decreed it to be. Do you understand?"

The redheaded magus nodded firmly. He wasn't exactly eager to spend more time with the hunters anyways.

"Good. Now we have nothing more to discuss. You will find a small tent if you walk directly forwards from mine without turning. Those will be your accommodations while in our camp. Now leave." Artemis' voice was commanding, and Shirou quickly stood up and left the goddess' tent. As instructed, he walked forwards for a good minute before he finally found a small brown triangular tent.

The magus sighed before entering the tent. Today had been a long day, and dimension hopping had drained virtually all of his energy. Normally, he would spend time to practice his tracing, but he was way too tired at the moment to bother. He entered the tent and collapsed on a fluffy white bed, the silent lull of sleep claiming him as he drifted into the realm of Morpheus.

He dreamed of a hill of swords that night.

The Next Day

Shirou stood on a grassy field, a redheaded huntress standing about 10 meters away from him holding a sword made out of bronze. Shirou had also found himself a decent blade, as he decided against revealing his tracing too soon. He had settled for a sword with a two and a half foot long blade, and a straight, horizontal crossguard. It had the design of a medieval long sword, which Shirou found himself much more familiar with compared to the strange assortment of daggers and leaf blades he had found in the hunters' arsenal.

There was a crowd of girls around him, all of them wearing the classic hunter's silver parka. They seemed to be cheering, but Shirou couldn't tell if it was in support of his opponent or in distaste towards him.

"Kick his ass, Pheobe!"

"Beat that boy to the ground!"

"Show him who's boss!"

Then, a sound of a horn cut through all the noise, and a hunter with black hair stood out among the crowd.

"This will be an officially sanctioned fight, and all of the normal rules will apply. Although the blades used will be blunt, just as a safety percussion, there will be no maiming, no dismemberment, and the use of powers are forbidden. The winner is determined by either disarmament or forfeit."

That makes enough sense. Shirou gazed at his opponent, reinforcing his body halfway, as he raised his sword into a stance that resembled the one belonging to the greatest swordsman he had seen. Although the longsword wasn't exactly Excalibur, it held similar proportions, and could be used in a similar stance. His opponent, apparently called Pheobe, also raised her sword in a stance that was unfamiliar to Shirou. Quickly he scanned the bronze sword, and equipped himself with sufficient information.

From what he derived out of structural analysis, the girl's fighting style with a sword, was generally brutal, relying on slashes and pommel smashes to devastate an opponent. It was slightly similar to the style of the greek hero Heracles, who had fought as the berserker class in the fifth holy grail war.

The horn blew once more, and the girl shot forwards.

Instantly, Shirou realized that hunters and demigods, were far more powerful compared to ordinary humans. Just one glance at Pheobe could prove it. She was far faster, and far more agile than any normal human could hope to be.

But unfortunately for the hunter, she was absolutely nowhere close to being as strong and fast as a servant.

With his reinforced body, Shirou let the girl go on the offence first, and sidestepped a vertical slash. It left his opponent's back exposed to Shirou's strike, but as soon as he brought his own sword down, it was met by a steel gauntlet on Pheobe's left hand. The bronze briefly sparked and grinded against the metal bracelet, before it was pushed back by Pheobe's strength.

Stronger than I expected. That was foolish of me.

Shirou turned up the reinforcement on his body up to about 60 percent, as he sliced his sword in a horizontal arc, parried by a brutally strong swing from Pheobe. Sparks rang, and the sound of scraping metal rang across the air as the two blades briefly made contact with each other, clashing with brutal force. On a quick whim, Shirou decided to pull what he called an 'Archer', and parried a strike from the red haired hunter before immediately picking up a burst of speed and practically jumping towards her back, bringing his sword down pommel first before the hunter could possibly react. It hit the Pheobe's, and Pheobe stumbled only slightly before angrily swinging her sword in a wide horizontal arc.

Shirou kicked her in the stomach, not bothering to parry the blade and instead ducking under it. His opponent stumbled back a few steps backwards, leaving a clear opening for Shirou to strike. He closed the small distance between him and Pheobe in an instant, but before his sword could make contact with her helmet, it was blocked off once again by Pheobe's inhumanely fast reaction time. Caught off guard, Shirou's blade flung slightly awry, and he felt a strong fist connect with his chest before he was flung away a solid 2 meters.

He could barely believe it. A non magus was able to keep up with reinforcement. The demigods and fighters of this world would certainly be dangerous.

The girl's cheered loudly as he sighed and got up once more, scraping dirt from his armor.

Once again, he raised his blade, getting into a whole new stance.

This time, he wouldn't fool around. The information he wanted was now in his possession, and he was free to end the fight quickly.

Instantly, he shot forwards towards Pheobe, with the same burst of speed he had used to move towards her back. His sword was kept at a steady stance for the entire time, and Pheobe smirked as she raised her own blade to counter. But at the last second, Shirou changed his position ever so slightly. It was an almost unnoticeable change. And Pheobe's blade didn't contact with his own, instead hitting the crossguard.

Gotcha.

Instantly, he twisted the blade and rotated it, effectively twisting his opponents arm and literally screwing the sword off of her person. Pheobe's hand released her sword, and the bronze blade clattered to the ground.

The horn rang once more, and the black haired hunter's voice rang across again.

"Pheobe loses by disarmament."

There was no cheering, no clapping, no anything. But Shirou could see that he had increased the hunters' respect towards him, albeit barely. And without revealing his tracing too.

Baby steps.

No hunters tried to interrogate him for the rest of the day, and Shirou was all the better for it.

Notes n Drabbles n other stuffs

So erm, the plot thickens. This is a bit of a filler before they start going to camp half blood, and from there, I will progress the story. And no, Shirou won't reveal his tracing instantly, it'll be a gradual process where he reveals more about his life. But he won't delay it for like EONS either.

I'll also post a pairing poll on my profile, for our favorite womanizer. :/ (And yes being a loner is an option)