Shirou was used to pain.

During the Holy Grail War, there was hardly a day when Shirou wasn't stabbed or beaten to the point of unconsciousness, and he was almost always injured during the brief but intense conflict.

Going even further than that, Shirou would create makeshift magic circuits by cannibalizing his own nerves, putting him in tremendous pain. Worse than that, he had no idea that he had been doing anything wrong before then.

So a headache wasn't that big of a deal for Shirou. What WAS a problem for him right this moment was that he could tell that his magic circuits (which he managed to awaken during the aforementioned Holy Grail War), were practically spent.

That was expected though, to be honest. Shirou remembered manifesting his reality marble and using that to defeat the King of Heroes himself, Gilgamesh of Uruk. Even with Rin's family crest grafted onto him, he knew that he would be completely exhausted, even if he somehow managed to live.

However, as Shirou was thinking about that fight, he ran into something that made him pause. He remembered when his reality marble fell. He managed to seriously injure Gilgamesh, taking his arm and cutting deep into the servant's chest. But even though that would kill a normal human, a servant would likely be able to survive those wounds. Even if they were one unsuited to physical combat like the King of Heroes was.

So why was he still alive? It was obvious that Shirou's existence infuriated Gilgamesh, so why would he not have finished off the faker while Shirou was down?

And that was when Shirou finally took in his surroundings. Trees surrounded his vicinity. Another oddity, given the fact that his last fight was in a temple. Even if it had been leveled, there wouldn't be any trees left.

So the faker stood up to try and get a better indication of where he was, which only brought more pain. Clutching his shoulder, Shirou took stock of his injuries. His shirt and pants were torn to shreds, but luckily all of his injuries were only shallow cuts. He would likely be fine within a day or two, given the fact that Avalon was still merged with his body.

Shirou did a quick survey of his surroundings. He was in the middle of a strange forest, one that he didn't recognize. Based on the information that he was getting from his structural analysis though, the trees didn't resemble any that he'd seen in the Fuyuki area.

So where was he?

His thought process was brought to a halt as he heard the familiar sound of steel meeting steel coming from nearby. Shirou turned in that direction, and started moving towards the sound. However, once he heard the sound of screams in the distance, he started to pick up the pace.

Someone's in trouble! He thought to himself.

He only lamented the fact that he didn't have enough Prana left to use to get there faster, especially not if he was going to help someone out once he got there. He would have to maintain his normal running speed, even though his body was screaming at him to slow down and rest. But he couldn't. Not when someone was in danger.

He stumbled as he ran across the uneven terrain, but he was still determined to reach the battle that he could tell he was getting closer to. When he reached the clearing, he was shocked at what he saw.

There appeared to be a walled-off village in the middle of the forest. The buildings inside looked old, old enough to have been made centuries ago… In medieval Europe. But that wasn't the part that disturbed Shirou the most.

The things that caught his attention the most was the strange battle group that was assaulting the main gates of the town, which looked like they'd been smashed inwards. The strange creatures certainly LOOKED human… But they were very obviously not. They almost reminded him of the modern depiction of zombies, but fast and wielding weapons. He vaguely recalled Rin mentioning something about undead once, but it was mostly in passing. He'd have to ask her about it when he saw her again.

Regardless, these creatures were attacking the small town, and Shirou knew that he needed to help. However, his options were somewhat limited due to his lack of Prana. Melee was almost certainly not an option, as that required a constant stream going into his body to enhance his muscles and reflexes.

Therefore, his best choice here would be range. Not knowing how tough the creatures would be, Shirou decided to err on the side of caution and project Archer's bow. Luckily, the bow in question never became famous enough to become a noble phantasm, nor was it ever touched enough by magic to be a mystic code. Because of that, the Prana cost was small in comparison to most of the other bows in Shirou's arsenal.

The servant in question had made this bow for the purpose of making full use of his reinforced strength, with the added benefit of being able to fire off noble phantasms. Shirou would be able to use bursts of reinforcement in his arms to conserve his Prana, but for now he would have to refrain from using anything more than mundane arrows against these undead creatures.

"Trace, on!" Shirou voices the familiar words, and calls forth an arrow from his inner world.

Swiftly letting loose an arrow, Shirou decides to aim for the head of the creatures, just in case they follow the modern interpretation of zombies. The one that he hit fell over immediately, whether because of the sheer force behind the shot or because it was hit in the head, Shirou wasn't quite sure. Regardless, the one that he hit dissolved into purple-black smoke rather than leave a corpse.

The death of the one that he'd hit had the added benefit (in Shirou's mind, at least) of attracting the rest of the creatures towards him. Shirou used their brief pause to fire even more arrows at the crowd as fast as he could.

While nowhere near as fast as his future counterpart, Shirou was definitely no slouch himself, especially not with the bursts of reinforcement magic that he was applying to his body.

With a savage roar, a small group broke off from the rest, evidently deciding that the best was to deal with Shirou was to attempt to overwhelm him with numbers.

Seeing this, Shirou merely kept up his pace, barely able to kill his opponents before they could reach him. However, this only prompted larger and larger groups to attack Shirou's position.

As the creatures came closer and closer to Shirou's position, Shirou realized that he needed to change tactics. He couldn't kill the creatures faster than they were approaching. However, he didn't have enough Prana to even trace a Noble Phantasm, let alone actually activate one. Even something as simple as Kanshou and Bakuya was just a little bit out of reach for him at the moment. But he still needed something to thin the horde approaching him.

A flash of inspiration struck Shirou then. He remembered seeing one of Archer's favorite weapons to shoot out of his bow, and Shirou believed that he could replicate the method that Archer used to fire it. However, he knew that he'd have to be quick. He was using an untested technique in the middle of a battlefield. If this didn't work, he'd have to escape quickly before the horde reached him. He quickly traced a simple blade into his hands.

"Trace, on!" Shirou shouted.

Copying Archer's method of transforming the fake spiral sword into an arrow, Shirou shaped this nameless blade into an arrow as well, and then immediately fired it.

The results spoke for themselves. This arrow was much heavier than any normal arrow, so instead of merely stopping a singular zombie, continued out the back of the first zombie's head and continued onto the second, and then embedded itself in a third zombie's face, causing it to keel over dead.

This however, didn't stop the horde that was currently approaching him, and one of the creatures took a swing at Shirou. In response, Shirou parried the swing with Archer's bow and shot another sword-arrow at that one, before dodging under another swing. Shirou projected another sword-arrow, and used it to decapitate the one that just attempted to strike him down, before firing into the crowd yet again.

On and on this went, as the horde seemed nearly endless. Shirou felled dozens by the second, but they just kept on coming. The ground reached the point where it became eerily reminiscent of Shirou's own reality marble from the sword-arrows that were still embedded in the ground, but Shirou still didn't let up. He knew that he had to keep fighting to protect whatever survivors might be left in that village.

After a few more moments however, Shirou realized that they were beginning to thin. The ground was almost coated in a black mist, but the creatures were almost gone.

Firing a few more shots at the stragglers that remained, Shirou examined his battlefield. The sword-arrows that he shot were still embedded in the ground, resolutely marking the spot where Shirou had killed the foul beings. However, Shirou was more concerned about the town, and so focused his attention there. There were a few guards at the broken-down gate who seemed to have wounds all over their bodies. Shirou decided to approach them to see if there was anything that he could do to help.

The guards at the gate were looking at Shirou with awe and mild suspicion. The awe was obvious. The young man in front of them was quite possibly the best archer they'd ever seen and had single-handedly held off the horde of risen that was about to wipe out their village. The suspicion mostly stemmed from the healthy paranoia that kept them alive in the hellish times they lived in. A man with a ridiculous amount of power appears just out of nowhere, just as they were about to lose everything? It seemed a bit too convenient.

However, Shirou noticed none of this as he approached the gate. He was way too exhausted now to figure out what the men in front of him were thinking. Instead, he gave the small group a tired smile.

"Ah, hello. Sorry to disturb you all, but I think I'm a bit lost… Would you mind telling me where I am please?" He asked.

The guards blinked in confusion, not quite comprehending Shirou's question for a few moments, before one of them speaks up.

"U-um… Yes, sorry. You're in New Southtown… Or at least, what's left of it. Everything beyond these walls has been burnt to the ground, but thanks to you we managed to save the people within."

Shirou's smile brightened a bit. It was always nice when he could help people. "That's good to hear…" He's about to say more, but his exhaustion finally starts to kick in. "I'm… Sorry to impose, but I'm completely exhausted. Could I sleep somewhere within your walls? I don't want one of those things to get me in the night."

The guards turn to look at one in particular, who had slightly decorated armor on, signifying the captain of the local guard. He shrugs in response, but then nods soon afterwards.

"Sure, seems like the least we can do. Just don't start any funny business, alright?"

Shirou merely nods tiredly in response, following behind the small group of soldiers that eventually lead him to what appears to be a town hall. Upon entering, Shirou finds it packed full of people, likely refugees. However, the moment that the guards lead him to an empty bed, Shirou collapses bonelessly and allows the sweet release of sleep to take him over.

While he sleeps, he doesn't realize that his mere presence had already sent ripples through the new land he found himself in.

In a large castle in the middle of the desert, a man in long flowing robes paces back and forth, his rest greatly disturbed.

"What does it mean?" He mutters to himself.

Mere hours ago, he felt a large burst of magic in southern Ylisse. Moments later, one of his assaults on a relatively minor village near the area was foiled before it could breach the walls of the town.

There had been no warning, and he hadn't had any spies among his forces there to identify the source. It was somewhat concerning. Perhaps Naga had managed to find a way to drive him back?

He shoved that thought to the side. It was impossible. She would have to retrieve the gemstones to truly be a threat to him, and those were exceptionally well hidden. No, whatever this new ploy was, it was no true threat to his plans, merely a way for Naga to buy time while her followers flounder around in the dirt.

He nodded to himself. Yes, there was truly no need to concern himself over this new fly in the ointment. He would send a scouting party with another raid on New Southtown, that would satisfy his curiosity.

And soon… Soon it would be time to take Ylisstol itself. Now that Valm and the far continents had been taken, there would be no more true threats left to his absolute destruction of the world.

She looked around. She didn't recognize where she was.

The ground was lacking in any grass, and the sky was a strange red hue, almost as if the sun was setting. There were objects far up in the sky obscuring the sun, but she could tell that they weren't clouds.

However, by far the strangest thing were the swords. There were swords everywhere, sticking vertically into the ground. Some were of pristine make and quality, and she could even detect faint wisps of magic coming from them.

Others were of common make, but some others almost felt like they had been possessed by an evil spirit. On and on the weapons went, going off into and then over the horizon.

Looking around, she could truly see nothing but swords. She decided to walk forwards, to explore the strange new land that she found herself in.

She walked, and walked, and walked. For how long? Even she did not know the answer. Eventually though, the ground started to rise into a hill.

The Hill of Swords

A voice seemed to say in her head, though she did not recognize who said it. Looking at the hill seemed to send a shiver down her spine, as if her body instinctively knew that whatever this hill was, she wasn't going to like what was at the top. However, seeing nothing else around her yet again, she climbed the hill heedless of her body's warning.

As she climbed, the swords around her seemed to be of better and higher quality make. Some practically radiated power. All grabbed her attention, but she could not stop to rest, for she must climb.

As she crested the top of the hill, she finally saw something different. There was a man in a red trench coat with stark white hair, his back facing her has he stared off to the horizon.

That was not what caught her attention though. That distinction belonged to the multitude of blades sticking through his body. He collapsed to his knees, still looking to the horizon. She rushed to him, looking to see if she could do anything to help.

As she grabbed his shoulders to get a good look at him, she made notice of his steel gray eyes, which widened in complete and utter shock at her presence.

"S-...Sa…." He starts to say, before his eyes dim and he knows no more.

Lucina lurches forwards in her bed.

Her head darts back and forth, doing a quick scan of her room. She was in the castle. No desert of iron dust, no hill of swords, and no dying man in her hands.

And yet… That wasn't a normal dream. Her normal dreams involved her dead family, or Grima, or the army of risen poised to take Ylisstol any day now. That… Was an entirely unusual dream for her to have.

"Was that really a dream?" She asked herself.

If it wasn't, then what did it mean? Who was that man? What was that place? What was he trying to say before he died?

She shook her head. It didn't matter. Her spies had told her that they had managed to find the fourth gemstone. They could finally make their move today, after years of waiting, they could finally start to take the fight to Grima himself.

She needed to be focused, no matter how strange her dream was, she could deal with it later.

A/N:

Well… Hi.

If any of you are here because of Chance to Matter, I'm working on it… Slowly. My muse hasn't been around for a while, but hopefully I'll be able to pump out a chapter in the next few weeks.

Anyways, this is kind of a 'pilot' chapter for this idea. I'm a HUGE fan of Fate/Stay Night, especially Shiro's character. I've got a few ideas as to how I want him to interact with the Fire Emblem world, and hopefully you guys will like what I'm going to do here.

I'm a bit disappointed that the Fire Emblem franchise doesn't have a huge amount of good crossover fanfics, so I'm hoping that I can help fix that lack with this story.

I don't know how long this story is going to be, but in the future the chapters will be longer than this one. I just wanted to kind of test the waters with this first chapter, see what people think.

Also, for any of you that didn't figure it out, we're in the future kids' future, before they went back in time.