"Well, we've done as much as we possibly can. Now it's up to you. Are you ready?"
"I think so…Are you sure-"
"Orihime, you can't start second-guessing yourself now. All your life, we've been training and preparing you for this moment. If you can't summon the will and courage to do this, there is no one else who can do it for you. You know what that means don't you."
"…Yes, I understand."
"Then let's get started. Tessai, the relics, if you please."
"Here."
"Thank you. Just place this here and…we are ready for the summoning. Orihime, if you will…"
"…I hereby propose, thou shalt come under my command and thy sword shall control my fate. Abiding by the summons of the Holy Grail, if thou dost accede to this will and reason, answer me. I hereby swear, I am all that is good in the eternal world. I am the disposer of evil in the eternal world. Thou, clad with the Great Trinity, come forth from the circle of constraint…Guardian of the Heavens!"
Nothing happened for about fifteen seconds. Just when the gathering was about to give up, there was a resounding crash from the adjoining room. Flinching at the sound, everyone turned to rush into the other room with Orihime at the forefront. When she opened the door and scanned the room hastily, her eyes quickly found those of a young man standing about in the center of the room.
He wore long black robes that covered him entirely from the neck down. They were even long enough to drag along the floor behind him so that his feet were hidden from sight. Wrapped around his wrist and reaching his elbows was a kind of silver interlocking pattern that was also used to decorate the edges of the pitch black cloth.
Orihime only took in the appearance of the young man's clothes in her peripheral vision as she was mostly occupied with looking at his face. Even more specifically, his eyes.
His hair was long for a guy, but not long enough to really pull back in a ponytail. The bright orange locks were shaggy in a wind-swept way, yet did not give off the idea that it was unkempt or dirty. His dark brown eyes met Orihime's and they were fierce. If she had never met a natural born warrior before then, she certainly knew that one stood before her now.
When he spoke, Orihime jumped in surprise even though his voice was low and even.
"I ask you, are you my master?"
Too stunned to do anything at first, Orihime just stood there with her mouth slightly agape until someone nudged her gently in the back. Taking two steps forward, Orihime clutched at her clothes, wrung her hands and flicked her eyes nervously between the floor and his eyes while trying to keep the blood from rushing too quickly in her body. Either it was going to go rushing to make her face blush, or pool down in her feet so that she would pass out…both situations were equally undesirable.
Finally finding her voice, Orihime said hesitantly while simultaneously allowing her hair to fall in front of her face and pushing it out of the way, "Umm…yes…yes, I am…"
He didn't respond at first, but scanned her from head to toe. Not in a 'let-me-check-this-woman-out' sort of way, but more as if he were assessing whether or not she was a worthy master for him. In that respect, Orihime almost wished that it was the former.
Seeming to come to a conclusion in his own mind, he asked curtly but not unkindly, "Your name?"
"Ori-" she cleared her throat to keep her voice from cracking, "My name is Orihime Inoue."
Taking another few moments to let that information sink in, eventually, he inclined his head and said rather formally, "And you may call me Saber, Ms. Inoue."
"No."
Looking at her with a scowl, Saber repeated slowly, "No?"
Waving her hands desperately in front of her, Orihime said hastily, "I only meant that you don't have to call me 'Ms. Inoue'. Just use my first name…if that's all right."
It seemed for a time that Saber was going to argue, but eventually he shook his head and said, "Very well then. Orihime it is."
When he said her name, Orihime mentally scolded her heart for skipping a beat as she went on, "We have a room prepared for you to use if you care to get some rest."
"I see," said Saber thoughtfully before he added, "I trust that my room is adjacent to yours in some way."
"I…well…why…" said Orihime helplessly while part of her mind was wondering why in the world he would ask such a thing, another part trying to remind herself to act natural while the rest really wouldn't mind if he was nearby in the middle of the night.
Letting out a long-suffering sigh, Saber answered coolly, "To protect you, of course. This isn't the first Holy Grail War that I've participated in…" suddenly struck with a thought, Saber asked, "You do know what you've gotten yourself into, don't you?"
"Of course I do!" stammered Orihime desperately, "Mr. Urahara and Tessai and Yoruichi and everyone else has been helping me to train to be a master ever since I was twelve!"
Quirking an eyebrow at her, Saber said flatly, "If I'm not mistaken, most people start training potential Holy Grail candidates from the time they can speak and can learn incantations."
"Well I…that is to say…I just…" said Orihime helplessly before she finally got frustrated and declared, "I didn't start training until I was twelve because I lived with my brother, but then he died and Mr. Urahara took me in and discovered that I had the potential to participate in the Holy Grail War, so yes, I had a lot of catching up to do, but I'm grateful everyone was so patient with me and were so willing to help me, so I want to do this for them! They gave me strength when I needed it, so now I want to do the same for them."
Saber's eyebrows had raised so that they were hidden by his long bangs, until Orihime came to her final statement. With those words, Saber's original warrior expression returned. While Orihime couldn't tell, she thought that something she had said had made some sort of impact on Saber…why it had though, Orihime was curious about.
Taking a few steps forward so that Orihime had to tilt her head back to look him in the eye, Saber said solemnly, "You will need my strength and support to reach your goal. Yet I cannot exist in this world without taking strength from you."
Drawing his sword and placing the point in the floor, Saber went on, "From this day on until you have won the Holy Grail War or I die in service to you, I swear on my sword that I will serve you faithfully and will protect you at all costs. My word as a warrior is binding."
Returning Saber's gaze steadily, Orihime said instinctually, "I accept your pledge gratefully, Saber. I promise to do my best to be a master you will be proud to serve."
As Orihime finished and continued looking into Saber's eyes, she couldn't help but wonder. Who was he, really? How had he acquired that look of absolute confidence in his own skill as a warrior? What had he been through in his lifetime? She wanted to know more about him, not so that she could utilize him as a servant, but so that she could get to know him.
Kisuke and Tessai exchanged a look as they observed Orihime's growing fascination with her servant. For the time being, they would simply let things progress and observe. However, they were prepared to intervene should the need arise. It would not be the first time that a master in the Holy Grail War had become romantically attached to their servant…however, those attachments never ended well.
Authors' Note:
*long sigh* I couldn't do it. I intended to just do this story in the last chapter of Ichihime Week, but I just couldn't do it. It's at least going to be 3-4 more chapters on top of this one...and I could just kick myself because now I've added another story to my workload. And there's still about two or three more that I'm longing to get to but won't until I pare down my 'incompleted stories' list.
Anyway, like it says in the description, this is very, very, very, very loosely based on the Fate/Stay Night or Fate/Zero series. If you're not familiar with either one, I will do my best to give more in-depth information inside the chapters, but since it's also a series that I'm not extremely familiar with, to be on the safe side, just ask me specific questions on things you're confused on and I'll do my best to point you in the right direction.
Also, for this first chapter, I just copied and pasted what I had already written for the 'Strength' chapter in Ichihime Week 2, so while I always appreciate reviews, if you've already written something to me over there, please don't feel obligated to do so again. I completely understand.
My hope is to finish off the last of Ichihime Week 2 today and hopefully write a little more for this, then spend the next day or so getting Hearts of Glass finished off as well. So much to do...and Orihime's birthday is coming up...oh dear.
Just an fyi, while I may come off as extremely self-deprecating at times, I really do enjoy writing these kind of stories. If I didn't, then I wouldn't do it. Isn't that the way it is with anything? :)