Fate: Bonds Beyond Humanity

"Emiya Shirou." He stands his hand and Rias shakes it without hesitation.

"Emiya… I think I heard that name before… but it doesn't matter right now." It was obvious the girl was still frustrated. "I have no idea where the stray is… if there is even a stray to begin with."

"Okay, slow down a bit. 'Stray'? Can you explain that please?"

"Long story short, every high level devil has a household called a peerage." She raises one finger then follows with another. "Once you are part of a peerage you can only leave with the blessing of the king, the leader and creator of said peerage." The third finger goes up. "Those that leave before are called strays and usually they leave by killing their former masters and running to the human world when possible."

"Usually?" Rias shrugs.

"Some just run. Not ready for the life of a devil."

"Are they dangerous?" Shirou's question got another shrug.

"Depends, most are because once you become a devil you need to learn to control the energy that comes with it." Raising a hand a magic circle appears and drops something for Rias. She shows Shirou a chess piece, a knight; "This is an evil piece, if I used it on you, you would become a devil. Once you are a devil the very mana that your body uses will shift, you will gain the element of shadows and if I, the mistress of this piece, die or lose my power for some reason the energy manipulation loses control and will mutate you if you aren't already able to control it."

"Why is that so cruel?" Shirou steps back, the small piece making him nervous but Rias shakes her head.

"Turning a member of other races into devils is a hard process. The benefits are huge and if nothing happens to the king until the person masters the power then there are no real downsides."

"Besides being a devil?" A chuckle comes from Rias.

"Yes, 'besides being a devil'." She makes the piece disappear. "Those that kill their masters and run away become criminals of the highest order. They usually go insane by the piece's power and start killing or doing damage that if not controlled can expose our world." Raising an eyebrow she asks. "Questions?"

"No thanks." Shirou then turns pensive. "And that stray? Are you sure that there isn't one around?"

"My contact said they had definite proof… as a devil when I am summoned and receive a request I must see it through, my pride demands that." Shirou now had some questions.

"Isn't that dangerous? You could fall for a trap or something?" She found his concern funny.

"There are safety measures, to call for a devil the wish needs to be sincere." That just confounded him more.

"And it knows how?"

"Magic." Shirou had to admit he walked into that one. "Anyway, do you know any other magus in this school?"

"Honestly I thought I was the only one here that knew about the moonlit world." Shirou couldn't help but scratch the back of his head. "I didn't even know that there was anyone else on the 'know' around."

"You really know nothing about them." Rias was smiling, almost like she knew a joke that he was not privy to. "There is much more to this town than you know about. That being said, here."

Rias was offering Shirou the pamphlet and he just took it. "What do I do with this?"

"If you have a wish you can call me." She shrugs. "Consider it an apology for scaring you."

"I was not scared."

"Cute, but the way you are holding that sword," she was pointing to it and only then he noticed how he was gripping it, "says otherwise."

"Fine." He couldn't deny it and placed the pamphlet in his pocket. "But what about the stray? Are you just going to leave?"

"There is nothing I can do." Rias stopped to think. "There is no sign of a stray and there was no one missing in the region as far as I know. It would be easy if there was something weird happening around." The last comment caught Shirou's attention.

"Weird? Like a random gas leak?"

"Sorry to disappoint but gas leaks are not that uncommon."

"They are in the middle of a forest." Now Shirou had her attention.

"Show it to me." It was a demand but one that Shirou had no problems complying with.

The woods behind the academy were not a big forest but it extended enough to the walls of the institution. When one looks outside it looks like the entrance of a real forest when it was actually, while considerably big, lacking the wood life that would make that a real forest having only insects as the majority of the population.

Once Rias got close to the forest she made another magic circle and summoned a creature that looked like a bat but… cuter?

"Batchan, explore for a bit. Come back if you find anything." Batchan gave her a nod, a salute and flew into the woods. Shirou watched all curiously until Rias moved to enter as well.

"Hey! What are you doing?" His question made her turn around.

"What? Batchan can't scout all this by herself and I am more sensitive to another devil's energy."

"But shouldn't you call for reinforcements or something like that?" Was she insane by going alone where there can be a criminal?

"Thank you for the concern, it is much appreciated however," the smell returned once again, stronger than before, "I am strong Emiya-kun. So please, go home and let me deal with the stray."

Having said her piece, Rias marched to the woods and Shirou wondered if the demonstration was to reassure him or because of her pride. Either way it didn't matter since Shirou could go home… As if he would let someone walk in the woods alone.

The duo walked for a bit with Rias taking the lead, the girl turned to see Shirou following her but said nothing about it. The two kept walking for a bit in silence, looking around for anything unusual.

Shirou didn't have any difficulties walking, the light of the full moon helped illuminate the way but soon the path started to get more difficult and he said. "This is odd."