Fate/Hime
Prologue
I’ve never been a fan of large plans, myself.
The bigger the plan, the harder it is to keep track of the little details, to monitor all of the players involved. Too many moving parts, too many names, too many lives, and all it takes is one thing going the way you least expect for it to all fall apart.
It’s why I like to do thing spontaneously to some extent, you know. It’s more fun that way.
But alas, my opinion is only my own. People will make their plans, and they’ll do them in any way they see fit. Whether they be small, spur-of-the-moment things, or grand schemes that have been in the making for years and years.
I can only hope that the makers of such grand plans have considered all of the pawns involved.
It would be such a shame if a plan of that magnitude was thrown off because of a chance meeting, because of newly developed feelings.
Wouldn’t you agree?
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People were dying in Fuyuki City.
In and of itself, this was not unusual; people died in Fuyuki City all the time, from various causes. Tohsaka Rin knew for a fact that if she panicked over every single death in her city, she’d be chasing after not only murderers and accidental killings, but death itself.
But recently…
The magus in red stood atop the tallest building and gazed down over her city, not minding the chill in the air as the gears in her head turned. Recently, there had been far too many deaths, under far too many odd circumstances.
Disappearances. Outright murders, with the bodies torn bloodily apart and strewn about wherever they had been abandoned. Half eaten remains found in alley ways, human bones left piled in the woods.
There was talk of a wild animal.
Rin narrowed her eyes against the wind.
Her first thought, admittedly, had been that the killings had to do with the Grail War; it was the most violent event that could immediately come to her mind. The logic fell apart, though, when one considered the War was still at least a month, if not several weeks, from beginning.
Certainly, it was possible someone could have summoned a Servant and settled in the city, but that didn’t explain the violence of the killings. It simply didn’t match up; something wasn’t clicking into place.
Attempts on her part to track whoever—or whatever—the hell was doing the killings only turned up frustrating dead ends. The other night she could have sworn she’d cornered the damned beast, only to lose it around midnight.
Another body had been found later that morning. The death stung as if it had been someone Rin knew.
She would search again tonight. She was getting close; she could almost taste it.
Grimacing, Rin turned away, her jacket flaring in the wind as she headed for the stairs. Tonight, she would hunt.
And even if it killed her, she’d protect her land.
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All things considered, it had been a rather normal night for one Emiya Shirou.
He was out late, which was normal for him; rather from work or for other reasons, the redhead usually ended up back in his house pretty late, regardless of how much Taiga seemed to dislike it. At least this night, she had approved; he had decided to walk Sakura home after cleaning up from dinner, instead of letting her go on her own.
Overall, he thought it had been a good decision; the police still hadn’t caught the killer that was currently terrorizing Fuyuki, and Shirou would never forgive himself if Sakura fell victim to whoever was committing the killings.
He was thinking he should make a habit of it; at least, until the killer was caught and the streets were safe again. Walking Sakura home wasn’t much of an issue for him, and as long as he avoided Shinji all would go well.
So lost in thought was he over what he should be doing for the next few nights that he wasn’t even aware of returning to his home grounds; he only snapped back to himself when he saw that the light inside was still on, spilling gentle golden rays along the front yard.
He glanced up, curious, wondering if he had forgotten to leave the light on…
And blinked.
Sitting on his front porch, absently playing with deep red hair, was a young girl. Golden eyes were unfocused, gazing at nothing, and if Shirou had to name one defining characteristic about her, it would be the gigantic, flower shaped pink bow she wore in her hair.
Baffled, he continued towards her. Perhaps she was lost? She didn’t look like anyone he recognized, and perhaps she had come by to ask for directions, or something.
The sound of his footsteps alerted her to his presence; she looked up, and a gleam entered her eyes. Standing, she waved to him and called a greeting.
And then suddenly, hot pain.
The greeting became a scream, a shout of warning, but it was already too late; Shirou felt the claws rake down from his shoulders to his back, sink into his side, and his body went numb and cold in spite of the heat of his blood.
As he fell, he heard a monstrous growl, and saw glowing, blazing red eyes.
Oh, he realized, dazed, as the girl continued to run to him, that’s what hit me.
It occurred to him, in his fading mind, that the creature was going after the girl next. He had to get up, protect her. He had… to…
Shirou blacked out.
What started out as a rather normal night for one Emiya Shirou nearly ended with his death. Such was the boy’s life.
Thankfully, he had a very bad habit of not dying when he was killed.
Unlucky for the creature.
Very, very lucky for one Yamagami Itsuki, recently deceased young girl killed in a traffic accident, and newly created Shikabane Hime.
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I hate the title. Hate, hate, hate the title. Alas, I could think of nothing better.
And thus starts my first attempt at a serious crossover fic. God help me. Wanted to try a different writing style for the prologue, something akin to Moczo's Chaos Theory, but it won't stay my normal way of writing, because damn is it difficult to pull off. Next chapter will be more to my normal style, I promise.
Next chapter: Contract (Belly of the Beast)
Special thanks to my beta and general idea-bouncer-offer, Al, who had infinite patience with me and was forever willing to discuss anything and everything about this story. No, seriously, thank him. This wouldn't have been written without him.