A Path Forged By Blades
is a Fate/stay night divergence fic by Redaer_Noitcifnaf.
The story takes place in an alternate universe where Kiritsugu slaughtered the Matou family, adopting Sakura as his daughter and severing her connection to the Crest torturing her. Sakura's presence inspires his other child, a boy named Shirou, to become a hero- not for the sake of the world, but to protect his small family. It also means he learns more about Magecraft than he normally would, starting a cascade of events in which he, Sakura, and Rin Tohsaka attend the Clock Tower before turning sixteen.
This fic includes the following tropes:
- Cool Sword: Mitis Mortis ("Gentle Death"), a beautiful longsword with magic that specializes in Mercy Killing.
- Not Blood Siblings: Despite being adopted into the same family, Sakura and Shirou fall in love at essentially the same rate as they did in canon. Sakura at first thought he didn't reciprocate her feelings, and switched to calling him "senpai" when she realized (before Shirou himself) that he did.
- Pent-Up Power Peril: Sakura's problem is basically the opposite of what she had in Fate/Stay Night; the Matou crest inside her is dead, but it left behind a huge chunk of magic that her body is struggling to metaphorically digest. Every so often she gets overloaded with mana and can't think of anything except draining it- which usually happens by charging up gems or having passionate makeouts with her boyfriend.
