Chapter 5

It was always quiet near Ashton manor, save for the bustling of animals in the forest; the simple thumping, or pata pat of scurrying rodents and squirrels present at all times. Tonight however, as the sun began to set, it was quiet, not that Shirou minded, or had any idea of a change. You see, within the new bounded field surrounding Ashton Manor, the sounds of the forest were irrelevant; the field blocked out the sound to allow those inside to concentrate on their work and craft. Nothing could be heard from inside and outside. Near the front of the manor, by the ageing fountain, was where Shirou was at. Water still spewed from its cracked muse at the top of the fountain, despite the crawling vines of vegetation growing along its base. Perhaps there was a hidden aqueduct, or water pooling beneath the fountain to provide the water? Nevertheless, what mattered was what Shirou was doing near the fountain. He was training.

Sweat glistened on his skin as he practiced his forms, the ones he remembered from Saber. Although it wasn't exactly his style, the moves helped to solidify his base foundations of swordsmanship, and they were good practice. Absently, he wondered what he should do with Arturia next morning. It was always training with her, which though good, may not be the best to shape her personality. He didn't want Arturia to go through what Saber had in her timeline. There was a point to him being here, and he wouldn't waste the opportunity to help Arturia. Not at all.

Efret fluttered by Shirou, watching intently as he followed through with his forms and waiting for his signal. Sure enough, a dull blade went flying across the horizon and Efret was on it in an instant. As a hawk, it clamped down on the blade with its beak and dive bombed back to Shirou who repeated the process.

Shirou didn't mind playing with Efret, hell he had incorporated it into his training routine to kill two birds with one stone. Albeit, he was not out to kill the bird.

Shirou paused suddenly, feeling a disturbance in the bounded field. Not only did it block out sound, but it still functions as a basic alert mechanism when organisms pass through. And this organism was quite large. He narrowed his eyes and signaled Effret to take perch atop the manor. Effret complied and began to survey the area. Meanwhile, Shirou could no longer be seen by the fountain.

Trace on

The mantra came to the forefront of his mind, his magic reinforcing his body.

Barrier breach at the far West

His destination set in his mind, he propelled himself forward towards the other side of the manor. His feet kicked up dirt as he ran, but he quickly stopped after jumping upon a tall tree. Based on the direction of the breach, the intruder would eventually pass by him. He pressed his body against the tree and waited, watching carefully with his eyes for any movement.

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Strange, the beast thought as it lumbered on all fours, grey fur coating its hide. It had been through these woods before, but never had it felt the presence of magic since several decades past. Interesting. Its eyes glanced over its surroundings, nothing was too out of the ordinary, but it did notice worn paths. Instinctively it knew it was not a forest path created by any animal, the print was unmistakable. A new human resided in the wood. Its eyes narrowed further upon closer inspection of the forest path. Two it would seem, and children by the size of their footprints.

It smiled, it had grown tired on feasting on the blood of sheep and cattle. Damn the pack regulations; he wasn't attacking the city, only hunting in the forest. Yes, it justified. It was only hunting. The pack would be no better than hypocrites if they decided his actions were treason.

Stupid pack, and stupid leader. The Blood Packs should be feared, not hidden. If only the previous Lord were still alive and not his damnable offspring. A whistling sound caused his ears to perk, and he quickly turned his gaze.

The leaves fell in a sudden flurry.

"Be gone, Beast of the Blood Packs. This one's Lord has returned," Effret said as he landed. A palpable silence dominated the area.

It took a moment for the beast to contemplate what it had just heard, but then it promptly smiled.

"Ah, so the little stray has learned to speak? You were never a true beast anyway," The beast growled. "Though I will admit I'm quite jealous of you stray. You have your freedom to kill."

"This one is not like you. This one does not needlessly kill."

"Oh? And I suppose your rage induced killing spree didn't happen?"

"..."

"Hit a nerve stray?" The beast prowled around Efret, circling him and watching for weakness. The beast's body of three-men high dwarfing Efrets smaller size. "Didn't appreciate how they murdered your Lord and his blood?"

Efret's eyes narrowed. "His blood lives. It runs strong. This one can feel it."

The beast's gaze wandered to the used forest path, a realization striking him. "Two of them live," the beast stated. "My damnable lord would love to hear such news."

"She would, wouldn't she?" Efret mused before his form caught blue fire. "Unfortunately, this one told you such news knowing that your life ends here."

The beast laughed. "Pathetic stray, you were never my equal."

"This one may not be your equal... but this one's Lord and his blood has none." Efret flew to the sky as the shrieking of wind tore across the silence of the forest.

The beast's eyes widened. What the fu-

"AAAAhhh!" The beast screamed as a blade tore through its abdominal. It spat up bile and gobs of red blood past its serrated teeth. It roared, looking for whoever attacked it, but found nothing in the stillness of the forest. The hole in its body ached a dull pain as it's in-born regeneration took full effect.

"Stray!" The beast yelled as even Efret eluded it in the sudden chaos. "Coward!"

"Leave." A voice resounded across the forest, interrupting the beast's calls. It growled in irritation before it came to a sudden realization. Snapping its head to the side, its eyes zeroed in on the sword that pierced a hole through its stomach.

M-Magic?! The blood of Ashton already knows magic?! The twisted sword disappeared in mots of blue pixels. Impossible!

-"This one's Lord has none."

The beast clicked its tongue. So what if the vermin possessed magic, so did it. But IT was a Phantasmal Beast.

Its muscles swelled up in accordance with the beast's will. If it couldn't find the enemy...then to hell with the forest around him! Smashing its fist against the ground, a tidal wave of earth upturned and devastated the area. Trees splintered and toppled over layers of displaced soil.

The beast's eyes darted across the area, spotting a tuft of red hair through the smoke. It grinned and bound forward. You're mine!

Fox hair? The beast thought idly as it gouged flesh and snapped bones. It only took a moment for it to realize that it was a fox he had clawed through with his hand. Which begs the question, where was the enemy?

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Briskly, no; hurriedly, Arturia tried to make her way through the thick underbrush. The forest was different at the evening. It was harder to make out familiar paths and landmarks. A chill went down Arturia's back, it felt as if the darkness of the forest would envelop her. She fidgeted, eyes darting around her. For Shirou, she reminded herself. She had to warn him at least.

She walked awkwardly in the shadows, testing for foot holds by probing forward with one leg and leaning back on the other. It was slow going, and it greatly frustrated her to no end. If it was Shirou in her position, she had no doubts as to what he would have done.

She pushed back her trepidation and steeled her face, her wide teel eyes filled with purpose. The rustling of her own feet was all she heard as she continued on. Frankly, it unerved her. Something was wrong here. She was in a forest wasn't she? Of course she was, the trees and vegetation was proof enough. However, where was the sound of the critters? The night owls? Maybe she should have considered asking Kay for help, but what if Shirou...

She shook her head, it wouldn't happen. Her choice was the right choice. The sooner she found him the better.

Her feet soon found familiar ground, and she quickly picked up speed and ran along the forest path. She wasn't breathing too heavily, but her pace was enough for a light sheen of sweat to form over her skin. That was when she noticed it. The beast.

She froze, unable to move as her eyes travelled over the beast's form. It was smaller than what she had heard as it only stood around two meters. It was sniffing the ground, so Arturia took the chance to duck behind cover.

She sighed in relief, at least it hadn't reached Shirou yet. Suddenly she realized something very important. She cringed. What was she supposed to do now? Her wooden sword tapped against her leg and she knew what she needed to do.

Shirou shouldn't be expecting a beast to come attack him, he was defenseless. Even with magic, the castor needed time to utilize it. A surprise attack from the beast could prove fatal, but here and now, she had the opportunity to prevent such a thing. She gulped. Sir Ector would have a field day if he ever found out what she was planning to do.

Slowly, she crept up to the beast, her vision was narrowed, and her hands were grasped onto her sword.

Her sword was trembling, her body unable to suppress her trepidation. Think of it as sport, just another wild boar, or foal.

She closed her eyes and breathed out slowly. She had to relax. No sword was as brittle as a coward's blade. Fight fight! She urged herself. She pursed her lips and opened her eyes.

...It was gone.

Arturia paled. She could feel it, a hot breath breathing over her shoulder. Goosebumps ran down her body as she slowly turned around to gaze at a deep vermilion.

She couldn't scream, couldn't even move as the thing circled around her. Its black fur stood on end, its inch long claws digging into the dirt. She panicked, her body swinging wildly with her sword as she tripped over a hidden tree root. Nonono! She had to get up before the beast pinned her.

The beast growled and lunged.

Damn it! Arturia rolled, but the beast managed to pierce her left palm with a claw and anchor it to the ground.

She screamed.

The pain throbbed up her arm and caused her vision to blur. The beast's face was inches away from her, but it chose to turn its attention on her wounded palm. Its tongue flicked out and it slowly began to lap up the spilt blood.

Arturia whimpered. Every time the beast's tongue came in contact with her bloodied palm, a spike of pain immediately attacked her. She thrashed at the beast, trying to get it off of her, but it shrugged off her attempt.

It was toying with her, and she couldn't do anything about it!

H-Help! Somebody! She had never felt to so helpless before. She had been way over her head. She was only a child, there was no way she could have defeated such a beast.

Arturia, your sword...promise me you'll always have it with you.

Arturia's wooden sword flashed in a sudden radiance, blue interface patterns running up its shaft. Her arm moved without her control. Swift was the moved arm, but even swifter was the wooden blade that stabbed into the beast's unsuspecting chest.

The beast yipped and fell past Arturia.

She quickly scrambled away from the beast, breathing heavily.

Blood gurgled out of the beast's mouth as it forced itself on its feet. It had not expected an enchanted sword. No normal sword could harm a phantasmal beast. It lurched forward in rage, but collapsed from another sudden injury to its chest. Filthy human!

Arturia didn't know what was going on. Her body was moving without her will. Every strike with her sword was masterful. It was not the wielder who wielded the blade, it was the blade that wielded the wielder. Every action, every movement, wasted no effort. Her blows were precise, stripping away the beast's vitality.

Enchantment! Arturia marveled. Her wooden sword was enchanted like the twig Shirou had once used. But-but, how was it capable of letting her fight? She didn't question it any further and willingly followed through with the movements presented to her in her mind. Her speed more than doubled.

Impossible, impossi-

The beast's throat was impaled and it quickly collapsed dead.

Arturia just stared at the sword in her right hand, ignoring her injured left. She knew Shirou must of had something to do with it. She felt quite grateful.

The interface patterns soon disappeared and Arturia began to feel her exhaustion. Still though, she felt elated. She'd won! Quietly, she vowed to herself to increase her training. She didn't want to feel so helpless ever again.

Suddenly, the sky flashed a dull red and the earth quaked beneath her. What? She shielded her face from the turbulent winds and stood her ground. She turned towards the direction of the blast and clasped her fists. Shirou!

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Self regeneration? Shirou mused as Efret landed on an adjacent tree branch. He nodded towards Efret and the bird nodded back.

Self regeneration shouldn't pose that much of a problem, but it did call for heavier fire power. He frowned, he didn't want to destroy any parts of his home. Albeit, the beast's earlier attack reduced a fair bit of land into rubble.

"Kill." Efret stated.

Shirou nodded his head, he couldn't allow any phantasmal beasts to wreak havoc on others.

His circuits thrummed in response to his will.

I am the bone of my sword.

He leapt off of his tree and circled around for a better vantage point. By now he could determine that the beast was aptly frustrated. It was rightfully so, as the beast had no chance of sighting him. Hell, he was too great a distance away.

Alteration complete. Shirou held his next arrow, and continued to run around on the off chance that the beast may sight him. This wasn't the first time he had underestimated an opponent, and he didn't want a repeat of such a disaster.

"Stray!"

Efret tensed. It could hear the beast's calls unlike Shirou, for it understood the language of the beast's. All Shirou could hear were low and threatening growls. It had taken Efret decades before it had learned enough to speak in the human tongue.

Shirou narrowed his eyes. Sure the beast had regeneration, but it was no immortal phoenix. There had to be a limit, and he had all the time necessary to find it.

He sat down after he felt that he had run around long enough. Pressing his feet against the black bow's shaft, he drew the bow string to its full length and loaded his arrow. His lip twitched, sometimes he just didn't appreciate his smaller stature. "The chasing hound of death..." Shirou muttered as he closed his eyes. An image formed in his head. Grendel Grendel, can't you see?

"Useless cowards!"

The world of man is after thee. Shirou released his bow string. "...Hrunting."

The beast continued to growl before a blinding red light encompassed its vision. And then there was silence.

Shirou opened his eyes, and the world exploded in red. Wind whipped against his face, but he didn't mind it very much as he traced another arrow and decided to change location. If his body was better able, he would have fired consecutive shots. As of the moment, it would have taken him too long to nock another arrow, assuming the beast was still alive. It may not have the true regenerative abilities of a pheonix, but its regeneration may be enough to survive the destruction of its body.

He moved on, the hunter after his prey.

Efret regarded Shirou carefully. What had just happened was absurd. It turned its gaze to the rubble that remained. It knew its young lord was strong and gifted to be able to utilize magecraft at such an age, but it didn't expect the sheer destruction. Its lord was truly strong.

"Efret, circle around the back," Shirou said. "I'm going to find another vantage point."

Efret nodded and took off into the sky.

Shirou felt the prickles of branches as he jumped from tree to tree, but he ignored it in favour of keeping his eyes on the smoke. The scent of magic wafting into his nose was all the indication he needed to ascertain the beast's condition. It was alive.

He felt the blood pulsing through his body as he stopped atop the canopy of a distant tree. From there he drew his prana into his eyes and focused his vision. The world zoomed into focus, minor details plain to see despite the darkness of the forest.

He carefully nocked his bow, then waited for the smoke to clear.

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Damn damn damn! The beast seethed in fury. For a fraction of a moment, it felt the pain of half its body incinerating. What damnable mortal magic was he facing here? As it would turn out, half of its body was incinerated. For once in his life time, the beast felt fear, shivers even. In a single moment in time, a single glance at the twisted black blade that did all this, his instincts had told him to flee. It was almost as if the attack was attuned to killing beasts, monsters, Grendel. The beast shook its head, it couldn't be. The legends depicted a sword. But...but it was a sword. Enough of this! It was a cub no longer. Legends were simply that, legends.

The beast willed its body to heal to speed up the process. Its body regenerated in a matter of seconds. Good good, now all that was left was to find the prey. It closed its eyes and shifted underground. Any sound, any vibration would alert it of the prey's potential location.

Thump thump thump. Went the sound of little feet running across the forest.

It grinned and tunneled quickly underground, leaving Shirou to stare vacantly at an empty space as the smoke cleared. The beast was gone.

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Shirou eased the grip on his bow, and frowned. The scent of magic wafting through his nose was getting lighter and lighter, the beast was fleeing? Isn't this alright? He could tell that the beast was not fleeing in the direction of Bristol, but instead further into the forest.

"Go away?"

Shirou looked to Efret as it landed beside him.

Efret shook his head "It not running." Efret could sense the blood lust coming from the beast. It definitely wasn't running away. Without waiting for Shirou's response, Efret took off into the sky to survey where the beast was going. It was easy, it simply had to follow the blood lust.

"Search," Efret said to Shirou as it flew.

"Let me know what you find," Shirou answered as he watched Efret go. He contemplated what he should do. Should he give chase, or remain and defend Ashton manor? He furrowed his brows and began to move again within the cover of the trees.

The moon dimly illuminated the area in an iridescent glow, wind blowing against lavender coloured flower petals.

Why was the beast running from him? Shirou thought idly as he maintained a detectable distance away from the beast. He couldn't see it, but his nose could determine the general direction. Was it invisible? Possibly, Phantasmal beasts had all kinds of latent magical capabilities. It was not far of a stretch to assume it could possess such an ability. His options were now limited. Although he could pinpoint the beast's general area, he couldn't actually pinpoint it. To top it off, he was attacking through range, so firing blindly would only compromise his location. Should he attempt close quarters?

He flexed the fingers of his hands, and debated the topic. He was shorter now, different from how he used to fight. His strength had dwindled as the capacity of his reinforcement was reduced in accordance with his mass. It was the same concept of a child baseball batter participating in the Major league. He simply would not be able to utilize the full potential of his weapons. How could Assassin in the Grail War utilize his famed technique if he was just barely four-feet?

In a similar concept, the reason why he had to position himself properly to draw his bow, was that he lacked the full strength and width to fully arch the bow string otherwise.

Of course he had the idle thought to shrink the bow, but the bow was precisely large to be able to fire off Noble Phantasms. For example, it's common sense that a bigger sword is more durable than its smaller counter part, the knife. Despite being made of the same material, a larger mass allows Shirou, a greater opportunity to increase the density of the steel and alloyed components. A smaller bow would not be able to withstand the pressure exerted by Noble Phantasms, weapons of reputable legend.

The silence of the night was suddenly interrupted by a frantic calling.

"Friend! It Friend!" Efret's voice resounded within Shirou's mind, filling him with a sense of unparalleled urgency. Friend? There was only one person Efret called friend. Arturia!

Shirou forced more prana into his body, reinforcing it as if it were his older one. Blood burst from the pressure of ruptured blood vessels. He ignored the pain. Why was she here!

"AHAHAAHH!" He released a battle yell. Come at me you bastard COME AT ME! He didn't care anymore, not about distance, not even about his chances at close combat. Don't you dare go after her! She was just a girl at this point. Not even a King, and not even a knight. She was a wet-behind-the-ears-Squire who was still in the process of refining her swordsmanship.

From where he was, he could finally see her. Her brown tunic held together by leather straps and her wildly flowing blond hair. Her teal eyes were darting back and forth, no doubt that she had heard his yell. He couldn't make out anything else as he was too far away, but it didn't change the fact that she was there, and the beast had no intention of stopping.

God Dammit, why wasn't it stopping? Invisible or not, it should have heard his yell, unless- The ground.

Shirou, promise me never to be that reckless again. What were you thinking going up against Berserker for me!?

I'm sorry, Saber. It didn't matter if he broke his promise. All that did, was that he had to get to Arturia before the beast despite it's head start. Shirou exceeded the amount of prana his body could take as he forced every bit of his energy into his reinforcement. His skin ruptured, his veins visible and bulging from beneath. He didn't question the fact that he could have used his bow, it would have been a foolish move. On top of the loading time being to slow, the possibility of Arturia getting caught in the blast was to high.

"Wait!" Efret called as it tried to catch up. It was unable to do so and was quickly left behind.

Shirou was a bullet, faster than sound itself as he broke through the sound barrier. A shockwave uprooted the very trees he passed.

Faster, I need to go faster! His tendons tore from the pressure, his bones past the point of fracturing, but still he forced himself forward. He dropped his bow, his armour, and his arrows, in exchange for further speed. Avalon!

Already he could feel the magical properties of the sheath of the holiest blade, but its rate of regeneration was less than his body's rate of destruction. The closer he got to Arturia the stronger the healing became, but it would never equal its true capabilities in his hands, only the King's. Despite the boost it got from arriving in the present era, it was still in the process of adjusting, a process sped only when in the presence of Arturia and her latent magical signature. At this point, it wasn't completely done, but it was leagues ahead of what it had once been at Homurahara Academy.

Time slowed down as Shirou landed in front of Arturia. The ground quaked beneath him as a claw rose from the rubble. He had no time to react, and no prior warnings. For a moment, he met eyes with Arturia. Him, half naked and blood soaked, injuries from ruptured vessels everywhere- her with rapidly dilating eyes and quivering lips. He pushed her. Surprised, she didn't resist and fell on her bum. Their eyes never left each others. One in acceptance, the other in unspeakable horror.

Blood spurted against the earth. Shirou groaned and stumbled as the beast retracted its claw. He made it...he ..ma..d.e..it- He shook his head, now wasn't the time. He coughed up bile and chunks of blood, a hole present straight through where his stomach was.

Avalon was working tirelessly to heal him from the fatal wound, but that required prana on his part. Prana in which he simply did not have as any bit he had left was going to go into his last efforts. He wasn't thinking about himself, wasn't thinking about how close he was to dying.

He stood weak and wobbly, and he would let nothing harm Arturia.

The beast smiled. It got the Ashton, It got the bloody Ashton! So what if the boy had destructive magic, nothing would matter now that he was dead. A future thorn plucked at its base!

However, the beast narrowed its eyes. How was the boy still alive? It had literally stabbed a hand right through him. It frowned. Most humans tended to die after a wound of such severity, but the boy was an Ashton. It backed away and watched carefully as the Ashton failed to stand firm.

Arturia couldn't move, couldn't stop her eyes from travelling down the amount of injuries Shirou possessed. She choked back a sob as she watched him struggle to remain standing, on who's behalf she already knew. She wasn't disillusioned. She knew what had happened, the sheer implications if Shirou had not been there to push her out of the way...

The beast continued to stare calculatively. Why hadn't the Ashton fallen yet? What kind of will power did the boy possess? Its gaze flickered to the blond behind the boy who stood petrified, face pale as she fully comprehended what just happened. Foolish foolish foolish, it thought. Then again, it supposed it should thank the blond for the openi-What?

An acute burst of magic.

The Ashton, bloodied and no doubt dying, raised his hand and muttered,

"Hrunting."

A pit filled the beast's stomach as the boy muttered out a name all to familiar in the world of the beasts. No, no it can't be?!

The blade formed from nothing. Its splendor granting credibility to its name, Hrunting the Beast Hound of the Red Plains, the red sword of seeking annihilation. Its core was twisted, like an inverted pair of scissors, but its use as a blade was evident to see. Sharp ridges and serrated edges made way for a deadly monster slaying weapon.

The beast's body felt the blood lust emanating from the sword. The blood lust detecteble only by beasts. B-But it can't be!

The beast ran, unable to suppress its growing trepidation. It shouldn't exist dammit, it shouldn't!

Efret broke through the tree line, and froze. The blue flame surrounding its body flickered and danced, before it became an infernal hellfire.

"You!" Efret yelled in rage. His lord, his lord was... "I'll kill you!"

"Bugger off Stray! I have no time for you!"

The two Phantasmal Beasts disappeared within the foliage of the forest. Leaving only Arturia and Shirou behind.

Shirou stood forward with his back to Arturia.

"S-Shirou?" Arturia called out fearfully.

No answer.

From her position, she could see the hole that travelled straight through Shirou's stomach and out the other side. He was okay, h-he was okay wasn't he...

"Shirou, a-answer me!" She yelled. A lump was forming in her throat.

No answer.

She reached out, hands clammy and trembling, but stopped herself once she saw the sword in Shirou's hand disappear. He was alright! Shirou had once said that the only way his magical swords disappeared was if he willed them to.

"H-Hey, w-we have to go back. I-I promised Efret that we'd play together in the morning. S-So plea-"

The blood drained from Arturia's face.

Shirou collapsed, body unmoving.

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The night was relatively quiet in the town of Bristol, most people having turned in for the night, others busy with different circumstances. Either way, the silence allowed Kay to hear the pacing of his feet against the floor. He clicked his tongue, he should do something better than simply pace. However, he turned his gaze towards the door. Why hadn't Arturia returned home yet? Already he could see a pail of nails by the stalls, but where was the wood? Perhaps he should have asked Sir Ector of Arturia's whereabouts before he departed on a meeting with the town folk. Either way, he was out of the loop. Still though, at least the damn horse was no where in sight. He really didn't know what he would do to it. How many times had it already kicked him down the water well, hidden his belongings, or god forbid shit on his sword? The bastard, it knew what it was doing! He could literally picture it, the humiliation as he drew out a shit-stained sword in a duel. What would the world think of him, Sir Kay, The Knight of the Foul End. Rumour has it, each swing sends shit into the opponents eyes. Well Fuck he was beyond livid.

He was forced out of his musings as a steady knock came from his front door. Arturia?

Knock

Knock

Knock

The banging went, as if the person was using something other than their knuckles to knock on the door. The sound was heavy and dull, the kind of sound reminiscent of barnyard animals hitting their stalls.

Kay frowned, this couldn't possibly be Arturia. If it was her, why would she even bother knocking? He drew a hand to the hilt of his sword and quietly made his way towards the door.

Knock

Knock

Kno-

Kay flung the door open. "Do you know the damn ti..m..e..." He trailed off. Oh god. He was gaping, mouth open in shock.

Arturia stood in front of him, her forehead red and matted with blood from how hard she was knocking it against the door.

Her face was ashen white, her thin lips quivering under the cover of the moonlight. A thin line of tears trailed down her red and puffy eyes, but she didn't have enough hands to wipe them. And oh hell there was so much blood. She was coated in it. On her back, held fast by her arms, was a wounded and unmoving Shirou.

"Kay...h-help please," she said quietly, unable to muster the will to raise her voice.

For once in twelve long years, Kay was at a lost for words.