Fate/Raining Blades Chapter VII

One step past the school ground property and Shirou felt a sharp stabbing and pulling sensation in his chest. Painful and shocking as it was draining. It was as if a syringe had been stabbed into his heart, and the physician was intentionally extracting his organs through the head of the needle.

Shirou hunched over, taking deep breaths to alleviate the strangling pressure on his racing heart, after a few minutes he was able to dispel the sensation and stood up, albeit slowly. The pain in his chest was now no more than a dull ache, but the initial shock still wore on him.

He had felt something like this before, it was a bounded field to be sure, but this one was a lot more aggressive than the one around his home. Whereas his would simply be an obstacle to keep people out of his home unless he invited them in, this one was downright carnivorous. It allowed people in, but then would begin to feed on their energy, if Shirou were not a Magus, he probably wouldn't have noticed, but as it was, it was not a pleasant sensation, and that was putting it mildly.

To his right, Rin stood up straight, her posture and expression posed and showing no signs of discomfort. She gave a side glance to Shirou and seemed to acknowledge his predicament.

"Did you feel it?" Shirou asked.

"The bounded field? Yeah, and a pretty nasty one at that. This complicates things."

"How?"

"This is too potent and aggressive to be put up by another Mage, as it is, I can only think a Servant would put up something like this."

Shirou frowned. "What do you mean?"

"It's pretty simple, whereas most bounded fields are made to repel other people and Magi, this lets them in only to drain them of mana. As it is, it isn't activated so the process of breaking down the people within into mana isn't anything more than trivial."

"It's a time bomb." Shirou said lowly.

"Essentially, yes. But you only put up this kind of crap up if you can't supply your own servant. As bad as this may be, it actually means good news for us, this Servant's Master isn't competent enough to supply his own servant." Rin said in simple explanation.

"I guess so," Shirou said, not so sure he was as calm of the situation as Tohsaka. "But what can we do?"

"As I said, it's not activated so we shouldn't worry about it too much, but it is a trap just ready to go off. We'll talk at lunch today, for now, we should head to classes." Rin said in nonchalance.

"On the roof again?"

"Yes."

"Alright, see you then."

With that, Shirou and Rin departed to their respective classrooms, both knowing their real thoughts would be pertaining to the war.

Shirou's thoughts drifted to the morning, nothing had really been out of place or ordinary. Sakura hadn't arrived to make breakfast, but she had called, claiming to not feel well. Shirou thought he would make her some broth when he got home, hopefully that'd help, though it would bring him close to her house.

The only thing that really had struck him was when he and Rin had departed, Saber had seemed very reluctant to let him leave. Reluctant was putting it mildly, she had been almost adamant that he remain at his estate where she could watch over him. It was strange she bad been so persistent.

"Shirou, I shall not surrender my stance on this. You will stay home today." She said as an order, moving completely in sync with her authoritative tone. However, Shirou wasn't going to be swayed.

"Saber, we've been over this. Servants aren't going to attack during the day, especially not at a school. Besides, Tohsaka will be there and between the two us nothing should happen."

"Rin and Archer both detected the presence of two Servants near your school, Shirou, in broad daylight no less. Even if you two are skilled in any form of combat, neither of you can hope to defeat a servant," The blonde Servant had stepped closer towards her Master, staring straight into his eyes. "Have faith in your servant Shirou and heed her advice."

Shirou had nearly rolled his eyes if not for the green orbs that bore into his amber. They spoke of no room for argument, and nothing he could say would change her mind it seemed. But still.

"Look Saber, I trust you, but you're being ridiculous! Tohsaka needs someone to watch her back, and if I'm with her the odds of any danger is decreased. There is safety in numbers, besides, nothing bad will happen, I promise." A look of indignation crossed Saber's face, anger replaced it, but was then covered by a cool mask of stone.

"If you refuse to listen to reason, so be it. But if something arises, you will summon me with a command seal." Saber said with a hard edge in her voice.

"Saber-"

"Furthermore, you will return home as soon as you are able. No later, understand?"

"Saber-"

"Shirou," a softer tone to her voice sounded, despite her restrained anger, her eyes showed clear concern. "Promise me."

"..."

There was a pause as Shirou shifted his balance from foot to foot, there wasn't anything he needed to do after school, so it should be fine. But still, something ate at Shirou's gut, if this promise was broken at all, he could potentially lose any trust Saber had placed in him, and then he really wouldn't be going anywhere.

"Shirou?"

Looking back at the green eyes that stared imploringly at him, Shirou knew he only had one response.

"I promise."

Coming back to the present, Shirou realized class was over and lunch had begun. Without delay he grabbed his lunch and ascended the stairs to the roof. Waiting there was Tohsaka, back against the wall to shield her from the wind, she patted the spot next her. With some reluctance, Shirou took it.

They sat quietly for a few moments, simply eating their lunches, if Shirou were to harbor a guess, he supposed it would be a lengthy conversation. Sure enough, in record time Rin had completed her lunch and now crossed her arms. It was time for a battle plan it seemed.

"Emiya, did you have anything planned for after school?"

Shirou paused as he chewed, aside from a promise to Saber no. "Not really, why?"

"This bounded field is already affecting everyone, even the Teachers are a sluggish today, have you noticed anything?"

Shirou swallowed another mouthful and responded. "Well, I did stop by Issei earlier, he didn't look so good."

Rin nodded. "Probably due to the field, it's draining everyone of their energy."

"Is there anything we can do?" Shirou asked, setting aside his lunch box and warming his hands.

"With a field like this it can't be sustained by the Servant on their own, in all likelihood it has sigils that anchor it and keep it sustained. But odds are, they're going to be a pain in the ass to find."

"Shouldn't we look anyways?"

"Of course we will! If we leave these things unchecked, not only will the Servant be able to activate them, but he'll be able to trap us at a moment's notice!" Rin bit out rather unnecessarily. "It's going to be hell to find these things, but if we can deactivate them we'll be able to buy ourselves time, and who knows? We might be able to draw both the Master and Servant out to investigate."

Shirou nodded in silent agreement. It would be a valuable use of their time in any case, and if they could throw a wrench in the plans of whoever put up the bounded field, he could call it a victory, no one died, and just maybe they'd find who was responsible.

The only problem would be the fact he would be staying hours after school likely doing this. This was a direct violation of the promise he had made to Saber that morning, but this was for the sake of the war and keeping people out of harm's way. Saber would understand, besides, it wasn't completely certain that they would run into the Servant or their Master.

"Sounds good, anything else I should do?"

"Just meet me here after school, we'll wait for everyone to vacate the building before taking down those seals."

Simple enough, without further ado, Shirou and Rin departed as lunch ended. Going to their respective classes without any hinderance.

While a thought of paying attention to the lectures were entertained, the red-haired teen had other thoughts on his mind. In particular a blond woman he had made a promise to and broken in less than six hours.

He had rationalized it at the time, but now Shirou was considering the fact he was knowingly breaking his promise to Saber. She was a Servant and he her Master yes, but she was a person all the same, regardless the time era or the fact she had died. Afterall, Saber wasn't trying to do this to restrict or cage him, she just wanted to make sure he was safe, especially in this case as she couldn't be at the school to protect him as of yet.

Still, if he waited for Saber's approval on everything, why should he participate? She obviously knew what she had to do and he was a half-baked Master playing at war. The least he could do was investigate and make sure the school was safe from any involvement from the war.

His thoughts settled, Shirou focused on the class lesson, if only to occupy his mind and energy.

Systematically, Shirou and Rin deactivated the Barrier's seals, admittedly after a outraged surprise from the latter concerning the former's natural sensitivity to the seals, and thus the most suited to find them. It worked out well, Shirou found them, Rin "threw a wrench in the works". They had only waited an hour afterschool to get to work, now the sun was dipping down below the horizon, blazing everything in gold.

It was after the thirteenth seal was sabotaged that things began to get tense. Nothing had happened, and while Shirou was content to avoid a confrontation of any kind, Rin was not so.

"We've sabotaged thirteen of these damn things, you'd think the Servant or Master would come and check it out." Rin grumbled as she stomped along down the hall, gripping Shirou by the arm in a way to guide her to the next seal.

"They might think it's a trap for all we know, might think we have our Servants with us." Shirou mused aloud, Rin shot him a piercing glare.

"Maybe, but we're screwing with their investment, odds are they'd come to us first. Make sure we don't completely dismantle the bounded field."

"About that, Tohsaka, if they do investigate the disturbance, we're toast." Shirou put out, Rin scoffed.

"Speak for yourself, the Master isn't competent enough to give his own Servant mana, then he'll send his Servant, and odds are, with a field like this, they won't be too hard to handle, besides, Archer isn't too far away, we should be able to-"

Rin was cut off by a loud blood-curdling scream, both her and Shirou turned toward it's origin, it wasn't far. Without thought of the consequence, the red-head followed the sound, drawing the reinforced shinai from his belt. Rin's cries of protest drowned, turning into a frustrated huff as she followed.

Shirou rushed down the hallway, reinforcing his legs to handle the speed he was going without straining them. He held his reinforced weapon to his side, eyes wary of any danger or ambush. He arrived in the courtyard overlooking the forest, all bathed in gold from the late afternoon sun. Shirou looked around, searching for the one who had screamed.

He saw her crumpled on the ground, a first year at the school by her appearance, papers strewn about, immediately he approached her form, checking her pulse. She was alive, but only barely, while she was breathing it was incredibly shallow, her skin was a sickly pale.

"Emiya?" Rin's voice called from inside the building.

"Over here Tohsaka," Shirou called, turning his gaze up, something wasn't sitting right with him. "Hurry!"

In seconds, Rin pushed him aside to study the girl, running a critical eye over the girl's form.

"Is she alright?" Shirou asked, Rin's brow was creased, her focus only on the girl.

"Not at all, she's been sucked dry, there's not an ounce of mana in her body," she checked her wrist, there was a slit in it. "Her blood has been sucked out!"

"What? Why?" Shirou asked, a creeping sensation creeping up his spine.

"There's more than one way to get Mana, Emiya! Blood is pretty basic one," she growled, having no patience for his floundering. She reached into her coat and pulled out a few of her gems, "I can restore her, but you've got to keep quiet." She said, beginning the incantations.

Shirou had already tuned her out at the mention of helping the girl, turning his stare towards the woods. He felt something, it wasn't paranoia or imagination, something was near them. A presence was there, it's aura was around the girl, and was leading into the woods. This wasn't good.

A flash of light caught Shirou's eye, it was metallic and reflecting light, and heading for...

"Tohsaka, look out!"

On instinct, Shirou threw his arm in front of Rin's unprotected form. A sharp piercing pain ran up his forearm, burning and stinging all at once. Blood dripped from the wound, down his fingertips to the ground. For a fleeting second, Shirou thought he saw a dagger-like nail and chain wrapped around his arm, however, once he blinked, it was gone. Was it an illusion? No, something had definitely pierced his arm, but where was it now?

"Emiya..." Rin spoke in frightened awe, completely at odds with the facts before her. Shirou had just saved her. Shirou had saved her by taking the attack meant for her, that would have surely killed her.

"Look after her, Tohsaka, I'm going to see who sent the calling card." Shirou said, standing shakily to his feet.

"Wait, doesn't it hurt?"

"Oh hell yeah, it hurts like you wouldn't believe, but I've had worse. Just keep her safe, Tohsaka." He said, standing straight and running towards the woods, reinforced shinai held in his good hand.

"Emiya!" Rin called, but Shirou didn't listen. If he stayed they'd be sitting ducks, hopefully, by throwing himself at this mystery assailant, he could draw attention away from Tohsaka and the girl.

Foolhardy? Definitely, but if the choice was there, Shirou would give his life if it meant more people could live in the end, in this case, going to face his opponent head on to give Tohsaka time to escape. He just prayed his gamble would work.

Within seconds, the woods surrounded him, he tried to follow the aura from before, a strange sensation of the air being purer and hollow, but also thick with incense, almost like a Temple or Church. While he was in the right place, the atmosphere was so thick with the aura that Shirou couldn't pinpoint it's owner's location. His only saving grace was the light still piercing through the trees, and the adrenaline pounding in his system, allowing him to focus completely on his surroundings.

Shirou narrowed his eyes, tightening his grip on his reinforced weapon, the sharp pain in his arm was more of a pulsing ache now, but the intensity had been lessened to a degree. The pain wasn't much of a problem, just an annoying nag in his mind, for the time he'd shove it aside and focus and fighting whoever had attacked the girl and Rin.

The forest was eerily still, as if holding it's breath. The only sound was from the light breeze brushing the against the trees and branches, it was so still that the blood in Shirou's head sounded like drums in his ears and his breath like the ragged gasping of a large animal. He forced himself to take a breath and calm himself, stretching out with his senses, trying to pinpoint the presences of the aura.

He was answered when a glint of metal shot from the brush nearby.

Shirou lunged back, barely missing a dark shape swoop by him, he could swear he felt the air friction of someone passing him. He kept standing, but his legs were wanting a reprieve, reinforcing them for endurance was starting to have it's drawbacks. Shirou heard a rustling of chains behind him and instinctively raised his sword in defense, the sound of metal clashing with metal was heard, as well as a soft surprised gasp. One that sounded...feminine?

Knowing he was at a disadvantage in the open, Shirou put his back against a large tree, his legs seeming to sigh in relief at the reprieve. However, now wasn't a time for rest, Shirou's gold eyes were scanning woods and brush for the figure that had just attacked him. Whoever it was, they had him in their sights, whereas he had no clue where they were.

"Aren't you going to use a Command Seal to summon your Servant?" A voice called out, it was female, low, and dare he say, sultry. It's origin was damn hard to pinpoint, it seemed to be coming from everywhere at once, no way he's be able figure out where she was...unless.

"No offense, but they're kind of precious, I'd rather not use them if I can avoid it." Shirou called back, eyes still frantically searching for the origin of the voice.

A soft feminine chuckle reached his ears.

"So, you do have some sense about you," The voice called again, her tone only slightly mocking. "Sadly, that won't be enough."

"Really?" Shirou called in challenge, "if that's the case then how am I still alive?"

"You should be careful with questions like those, they are likely to get you..." The voice trailed off, and the aura all around suddenly receded, as a great vacuum had sucked it all up. However, it wasn't all gone, it was now localized to one location. Above.

"...Killed!"

From above him, a figure of black and lavender descended, flash of steel revealing her armament.

"Time Alter: Doubt Accell!"

The instinctual activation of the spell was the only thing that saved Shirou from being stabbed through the neck. Safely in his bounded field he lunged away from the tree, creating distance between himself and his opponent. The activation and use of the spell had most likely not taken more than a few seconds, Shirou only using it to create much needed distance between him and the attacker.

Shirou looked up, holding his reinforced sword up, staring at his opponent, his suspicions confirmed that she was indeed a Servant. Lavender hair ran from her head to her heels, almost creating a shroud behind her, her skin was fair as porcelain, but held a strange glow to it. Her skin contrasted with her clothing, black, from the tunic that covered her torso and thighs, to the bracers on her arms, glinting from the orange sun set. The strangest thing was the mask that covered her eyes, it didn't have slits, so she wouldn't be able to see...but she appeared the looking right at him. In her hands was a long chain with dagger-like nails on the ends.

"Hmm. You're quick on your feet, I'm impressed."

"Can't say the same for you, out of the Servants I've seen, you aren't too tough." Shirou called impulsively, surprised at his own bravado. The Servant's lip twitched in offense, but otherwise remained composed.

"I see, I can say that you are a brave one, but unfortunately, your tongue has soured any favor I had towards you, including my mercy," She said it all in monotone, no other movement made on her part. Shirou tightened his grip on his weapon, he didn't like how this was going, or could go. "As it is, I think I'm going to tear out those eyes that have deceived you, then, I'll rip you apart, limb by limb."

Despite his fear, Shirou stood tall. "Try it!"

His heart halted in fear as a sly smirk spread across the Servant's face, this didn't bode well.

"I won't have to." She said, grasping her chain and pulling it, Shirou frowned for a second, before his right arm was pulled towards the Servant, agony flared in full force as he was pulled off his feet, his weapon leaving his hand, leaving him defenseless. He was hoisted into the air, and suspended from a tall tree branch, his arm holding his weight, threatening to rip off. A pained glance at his arm revealed a spike run straight through his forearm, a chain wrapped around his limb's wound.

"You've been at my mercy since you came into this forest," The voice of the Servant came from behind him, like forbidden silk in his ear. "Now, where shall I start?"

Shirou was frozen in fear, at a loss at what to do, he had no weapon, using Time Alter wouldn't do anything, he had nothing to go off on. He was a rat in a snake's coil.

One of the Servant's nails came to rest in front of Shirou's face, aimed towards his eye. Panic was the only thought in his mind, nothing was available to him, he couldn't do anything...except...

"What?" The Servant asked, outrage and shock in her voice. "He is a fellow Master, he must be eliminated!" Shirou frowned in confusion, until he realized she wasn't talking to him.

There was silence for a few seconds, then the nail before Shirou lowered and the chain in his arm dissipated. Instead of falling, he was carried to the ground by his arms, before set down on the ground. He turned to see the Servant seemingly looking down at him in contempt.

"This is your lucky day, boy, my Master has decided to spare you for the time being," She turned and began to walk away. "Make sure you don't waste this chance." And then the female servant dissipated into black and purple mist.

Shirou lay on the ground for several moments, breathing shallowly, staring at the spot where the Servant had disappeared. She had been so close to killing him, he had had no options, and yet her Master ordered her to spare him? Why? It would be the simple thing to kill him in order to destroy Saber, even if they didn't know which Servant he was the Master of, he was an easy target, so why spare him? The answers weren't forthcoming, and Shirou felt the stress his body endured coming upon his senses now that he was out of danger. His arm was in pain, but less intensely now, as for the rest of his body exhaustion plagued his limbs likely from evading the Servant's blows and then being suspended in the air.

"Emiya!"

Shirou looked over to see Rin running over to him, eyes opened and scanning the glade around him, looking for the Servant. Seeing and likely sensing nothing, she looked to him, seeing his state, she kneeled next to him, ripping off the lower sleeve of her school uniform.

"What happened?" She asked, wrapping the torn cloth around his wound.

Shirou explained the skirmish with the Servant, her appearance, and how she had had him in her clutches and then let him go. He described the audible conversation she had had with her Master, and how she had simply left without further conflict.

"She just left?" Rin asked.

"Yeah, just set me down here and took off."

Rin bit her lip in thought, trying to find a cause that was plainly simple. There was none forthcoming even to the Tohsaka heir.

"We'll talk about this at home, for now, let's get you there." Rin said, hoisting Shirou to his feet.

"Sounds good to me." Shirou agreed, wanting nothing more to lay down. This was the fifth Servant he had encountered, and the third that had tried, and come close to killing him.


Rider leaned against the wall of her Master's bedroom, having materialized in her casual clothes, awaiting her Master to arrive. She was clearly agitated, finger twitching anxiously. How could her Master do this? She had the enemy within her grasp, why did she have to recall her? If allowed to continue, she could have taken out both the Masters of Saber and Archer respectively, so why was she ordered to spare them?

Granted, it hadn't been her intention to face either, she had noticed the Bloodfort was being weakened, and upon investigation had seen a girl at the school, she didn't think she was responsible, but her Pseudo-Master had thought as much and ordered her to attack, nearly sucking the life from her. Then the Masters of Saber and Archer arrived, and thus she struck. If it wasn't clear enough before, the fact they were allies was proven then. And before she could even kill them, she's ordered to withdraw under threat of Command Seal.

The door opened at that moment, revealing her true Master, Matou Sakura, her purple eyes impassive as she made into the room, laying her bag on the bed, turning her gaze towards Rider.

"Rider, would you explain your actions to me?" She asked calmly.

Rider crossed her arms casually, "As you know Master, this is a War, and as such, to win this war, we must take the chance to lessen our competition. I was simply following through with that logic." She said simply, not daring to lie, Sakura was held too high in her favor for insincerity. A small frown formed on her face, despite her composure, Sakura was clearly displeased. It was odd how different she was as a Master as opposed to shy persona.

"I see," Sakura didn't rise. "Did you forget my orders from the first night of the War?"

Rider frowned in confusion. "Orders?"

"I told you to keep your distance from the Master of Saber and Archer, and then I find you actively attacking them."

"Master, they didn't have their Servants with them, they were defenseless, I am fighting this war for your victory, and victory cannot be achieved without eliminating the obstacles in your path." Rider argued, keeping her voice controlled and on point.

"You are only to defeat Saber and Archer, their Masters are off limits, are we clear?" Sakura asked as a means to the end of the conversation. No room for discussion was offered.

Rider looked upon her Master incredulously, why was she making this so difficult?

"Master-"

"Rider, if you don't follow my order I'll have to use a Command seal, and I'd prefer not to do that to you," Sakura interrupted her Servant, gazing upon her with a pleading gaze. "Please, do this for me."

Ordinarily, Rider would agree to Sakura's request, but there were too many strings attached to their relationship, she needed a straight answer.

"Unless I get an explanation of your mercy for those two, I cannot abide by your order," Rider paused, looking down on her Master biting her lip in frustration, she approached, and knelt down by her. "Please, Sakura, tell me what they mean to you."

Sakura looked at her, tears brimming her eyelids, she looked almost willing to explain, but instead, she gave her an apologetic stare.

"I'm sorry, Rider," she raised her hand, pulling off the handkerchief, revealing her Command Seals. "By the power of my Command Seal, I order you, Rider, to not bring any harm or danger to either Emiya Shirou or Tohsaka Rin for the reminder of the war."

The red design dissipated, with it Rider felt an energy shoot through her. While at the moment it didn't feel like it had changed anything, she knew that she wouldn't be able to bring harm to Saber or Archer's Masters, not in combat, nor incognito, officially, she could not raise a hand against them. Rider felt the familiar bite of anger swell in her veins, the anger she had lived with in her past life, the feeling of being controlled against her will. Raped, cursed, exiled, hunted, and killed, all because men and women alike wanted to control her, and this, this was no different.

"So be it, Master." Rider bit out, turning to dematerialize into Spirit form, however, warm arms wrapped around her body holding her.

"Please don't be angry, Rider." Sakura said, her voice soft and fragile. "I know you hate being controlled, and I know I haven't been upfront with you about many things, but please understand. I have to protect them."

Rider paused, caught by surprise by the contact from Sakura, but she couldn't be swayed. "They are your enemies, Sakura, they will fight you, whether you protect them or not. They will fight for the death for their goals and desires, and they won't hesitate to kill you for it. Believe me, I know." The Servant's bitter tone came from a lifetime of betrayal, hate and pain that she had been forced to endure, without any semblance of peace or happiness.

Sakura sniffled, evidently crying against Rider's back, the Servant didn't dematerialize, but nor did she turn and comfort her Master. She couldn't leave, yet she couldn't nor wouldn't take back her words. They had to be said. After a short while, Sakura's sniffles died down, and she took a deep breath.

"You must've had someone you cared for in your past life, Medusa," Sakura said, saying her true name and not her title. "Someone who cared for you when no one else did, someone who made sure you were safe despite the dangers that must've been apparent to them. Someone who loved you without hurting you."

Rider stiffened, eyes widening, her square irises looking forward but seeing nothing. Instead, they looked back to her previous life, there had been two who never left her side. Despite everything, they stayed with her until their time came, then hers. The only ones who loved her, regardless of the cruel Fates and Gods that ruled their world, their love for her transcended all fear and self-preservation, all for her sake.

Her sisters. Euryale and Stheno.

The only ones in her forsaken life to care for her when the world turned it's back on her. They had picked her up and cared for her, trying to help her make a life for herself, to try and live a peaceful life without pain.

Rider turned to Sakura, gazing down at the soft features, freshly marked with tears, she knew the feeling, she too had had that sense of helplessness. She reached out a hand and softly stroked Sakura's cheek, gazing down softly down at her Master, one who had suffered as much if not more than her, but had suffered in silence, without anyone to protect her. Rider had answered her summons because she felt an attachment, a true understanding of her suffering, and her need to protect her from the world that wrought pain and suffering. Without a word, Rider enveloped Sakura into a hug, while she wasn't one to engage or even participate in physical contact, her Master was the exception.

"I understand, Sakura," Rider said softly, at last understanding her Master, perhaps not knowing the full story, she knew that she cared for the two Masters very much, and she knew what the feeling was like. "Rest assured, I will trust your judgement on the matter, and if need be, protect them should they lose their Servants."

"Thank you, Medusa." Sakura said again, fully embracing the taller woman as a child would clutch a teddy bear.

A rare smile graced Rider's fair face, she wrapped a slender arm around her Master, returning the embrace "Think nothing of it, Sakura."


Coming home may have seemed like an ideal plan at the time, but now it seemed to Shirou that it was one of the worst things he could have done. Despite his wounds, Rin and he made it back to the house in record time, however, upon opening the door they had been greeted by Saber, and she less than happy with him. Initially, her scorn was plainly enough directed at Shirou, and was likely to focus on his forsaken promise to her given the late hour, however, upon seeing his bloodied and bandaged arm, she wordlessly led the two into the kitchen to treat the wound.

"Tell me what happened." Saber demanded as she retrieved the first aid kit and began to pull out the necessary materials to treat Shirou's injuries.

Rin briefly explained their goals in disabling the sigils attached to the bounded field around the school. She further described the Servant's attack on a young student, as well as Shirou's battle with the Heroic Spirit. As she did this, Saber unwrapped Shirou's arm, he was surprised to find the wound had healed amazing quickly, still a bit bloody, but the wound was smaller than it had been.

"You fought an enemy Servant?" Saber asked, her tone guarded as she rewrapped her Master's arm.

"Yeah, she didn't seem interested in killing me, at least not at first." Shirou replied, catching the narrowing of Saber's eyes.

"I see, did Rin come to your aid then?"

"No, she didn't."

Saber frowned. "Then how did you escape?"

Shirou shared an uncertain glance with Rin, her gaze clearly said it was up to him.

"She let me go," Saber's eyes widened, but she quickly regained her composure. "She was having an argument with her Master, and apparently, she was ordered to let me go."

"If she has a telepathic link to her Servant, why would she speak aloud?" Saber asked

"It may have just slipped her mind, tends to happen if you're caught by surprise," Rin supplied, now awaiting for the kettle to sing so she could drink her tea. "You wouldn't believe how many times Archer 'accidentally' lets slip a comment."

"Accidents are one thing, but a Servant arguing with her Master verbally?" Saber asked, shaking her head. "I can only suspect a ploy."

"I don't think so, the Servant did sound genuinely surprised, and if it was a ploy, it doesn't make much sense, given the fact that she literally had me in her clutches. She was two seconds from killing me." Shirou put in.

"Still, I am not convinced. Were you able to determine her class status?" Saber asked.

"No, sorry. I would guess Assassin, but as far as I can tell, she was too combat-orientated for that. And she definitely wasn't much of a magic user like a Caster." Saber turned from Shirou to Rin for input.

"Emiya's right, besides, the Sigils have a completely different aura than Caster's." Rin said, pouring herself and Saber a cup of tea from the kettle.

"How do you know that, Tohsaka?" Shirou asked.

"Archer and I found traces of Caster's presence in the Factory district last night, while it was only traces, it definitely was more potent than this Servant's aura."

Saber sat in thought, analyzing the tactical information given to her, before she came to a conclusion. "If the Servant was not Caster or Assassin, then it must be a Rider-class Servant."

Rin's brow furrowed, quirking her lips as well in thought.

"A Rider-class?" Shirou asked.

"Yes," Rin said, setting her tea cup down. "And seeing as you didn't see any stead, we can assume that she may have either lost it in battle already, or it may be her Noble Phantasm, my bet goes on the latter."

"Great, now we have both Rider and Caster at the school."

Saber's brow furrowed, but she didn't say anything, she seemed to be deep in thought over what Shirou and Rin had just told her.

"In anycase, we need to come up with a plan to deal with this Servant. Berserker and Caster are top on our priority list, but we can't ignore Rider and that bounded field of hers." Rin stated, clutching her chin in her hand as she started to brainstorm.

"I'm guessing our deactivating of the Sigils wasn't worth much?" Shirou asked.

"Of course not! Even if we dismantled them completely, it's a simple matter for Rider to put them up again, especially since she has the rough blueprint of where they are. No, we only drew her attention, we haven't done much to inhibit her at all."

"Okay, so what do we do?"

"Isn't it obvious?" Shirou shot Rin a blank look. She rolled her eyes and assumed her lecturing pose.

"Look, any day now Rider or her Master is going to activate the Bounded Field, and when that happens, everyone in the field will be converted into Mana. You said yourself the place was a time bomb, and we need to be there when it goes off." Rin explained punctually.

"If we're caught in the field when it's activated, what happens to us?"

"We'll be fine, we just need to keep generating our own energy. Hopefully that won't be necessary, we just need to find the Master and force him or her to take down the Bounded Field." Rin replied without any worry in her tone.

"And if they don't?" Shirou asked.

Rin shot him a dismissive glance. "We force Rider to, on the threat of her Master's life."

Shirou thought about it, trying to find a Servant was one thing, trying to find the Master, who apparently gave off no Magic aura, was another. Besides, given the after school performance tonight, neither were going to be out.

"Rin, how soon until I can attend the school?" Saber asked, Shirou turned to look at her in surprise, he had forgotten about that request she had.

"Don't worry, I took care of it," Rin said, reaching into her bag and pulling out a bundled school uniform. "Picked it up for you today actually." She shot a smug look at Shirou.

Shirou wasn't particularly flustered, they had been discussing it for the last few days, but with the excitement in dealing with Rider, he had all-but forgotten about the predicament with Saber. In any case he was grateful, in the event of Rider or some other Servant attacking them, Saber would be there. True, he didn't like the idea of her fighting for his sake, but after getting nearly killed on three separate occasions (and one where he was killed) he decided it'd be best to let Saber do most of the fighting, he wasn't passive by any means, but if he got himself killed what good would it do?

"Sounds good, is there anything else we should talk about?" Shirou asked, not missing the slightly disappointed look from Rin, she hadn't gotten the drop on him this time.

"There is one thing, Shirou." Saber spoke up.

"Well what is it?"

"We can discuss it later should you wish." She said, while his curiosity was piqued, he was grateful that it could wait a while longer. He had to make dinner soon.

Shirou nodded, turning to Rin. "Tohsaka?"

"Nothing comes to mind, I'll have to have a meeting with Archer and get his perspective on everything."

"Is he not here?" Saber asked.

"No, I've had him doing reconnaissance all day, he's looking for anywhere Caster could be. But we can discuss what he's found later." Rin said dismissively.

"Alright then, I'll get dinner started." Shirou said, standing up. Saber instantly stood to meet him.

"Shirou, you are injured. I insist that Rin cook dinner tonight, you should rest and heal." Saber said in a tone that left no room for argument.

Shirou frowned. "Saber, I'm okay. Don't worry about it." He tried to get past her, but she blocked his path again.

"No, Shirou, I will not allow this. No matter how slight the wound is, you should still rest. You fought a Servant don't forget, and walked away with your life. Now sit, and rest." Shirou inhaled to keep from making any remark, he knew Saber meant well, but this was ridiculous. His arm didn't hurt at all, in fact he had full control.

"Saber, it doesn't hurt, just let me make dinner so we can all eat." He protested stubbornly, not unlike his blond Servant.

"I cannot allow this Shirou, you are my Master, and as such, I have to secure your well-being if you will not do so."

"Saber, c'mon-"

"Enough you two!" Rin cried out, startling both Shirou and Saber from their quarrel.

The black-haired Mage stood up from her seat on the floor, stomped over to Shirou and ripped the fresh bandage from his arm.

"Rin-!"

"Tohsaka-?"

"Does that arm look injured to either of you?" She asked, both Shirou and Saber looked to see the smooth unmarred skin of his arm. Looking no worse for wear.

Shirou's eyes widened, Saber's brow furrowed. Neither did anything for several moments, until finally Saber pulled back. She gave a glance to Rin, then Shirou, then turned away and marched further into the house, towards the Dojo. She stopped at the corner.

"Saber?"

"Shirou, meet me in the Dojo before you start dinner, there are things I wish to discuss with you in private." With out another word, the blonde Servant left the kitchen.

Shirou stared off after her, completely confused. "What was that about?"

"You'd better find out, Emiya," Rin said, also exiting the living room. But not before throwing Shirou a sly look. "You never can keep a lady waiting."

With a grudging resignation, Shirou stood up and followed Saber's path to the Dojo, deciding it'd be better to get this over with now rather than wait. Inside the Dojo was Saber, in her hands were two wooden Shinai, upon his entrance, she tossed one to him. Shirou caught it in mid-air, shooting Saber a questioning glance.

"Saber?"

"If you are to face Servants head on, I see my only choice is to teach you how to fight. At the very least you can defend yourself until I am able to come to your aid." She said, assuming a sword stance.

"Saber...look, I'm sorry if you're upset, I know I broke my promise to you but-" Shirou began, but couldn't finish, as Saber lunged forward and swung at him.

Shirou leaped back, still clutching the Shinai, a look of confusion and fear on his face.

"Saber!?"

The blonde Servant leveled him a cool look. "If you intend to talk, then be prepared for a quick defeat, Warriors and Servants alike allow their blades speak on their behalf." She stepped forward again, swinging horizontally.

Shirou deflected it, and barely avoided an overhead strike against him. He pushed back again, intent on keeping the distance between them. While Saber wasn't going full-force by Servant standards, she was going the full strength and speed of a human. And that was more than enough to keep Shirou on his feet sans-Time Alter.

"Saber!-" Shirou cried, forced to dodge again and retreat. Going in circles around the Dojo would only give him so much space, eventually Saber would cut off his escape. Knowing he didn't have the luxury to retreat, Shirou went on the offensive meeting her practice sword with his own. She looked surprised at his tenacity, and her eyes narrowed again in focus as she struck again.

Shirou and Saber exchanged blows for a few moments before her superior swordsmanship got the better of him. He hit the floor of the dojo hard, internally grateful that his arm had healed so quickly, otherwise he'd probably be writhing in pain, still, he was accustomed to pain if nothing else.

Opening his eye, Shirou looked up the wooden sword to Saber, staring him down with cool green eyes. After a tense moment, she moved the sword and offered a hand to Shirou, who took it with some reluctance.

"Want to tell me what that was about?" He asked.

"We are but a few days into the war and you've almost been killed three times. If you refuse to stay back and allow me to do the fighting, then I have no choice but to train you in the ways of swordsmanship. You favor blades in any case, and in that regard, perhaps you can hold your own until I can arrive at any given time."

"Well, yeah. But if you're going to my school now isn't that kind of unnecessary?"

"Shirou, against Servants you stand little chance, that much is clear, but against Masters you may, if you can use your skills to your advantage, hold them off or even beat them," Saber straightened her back once more, readying her stance once more. "I want to make sure you are safe, Shirou."

Shirou's face flushed, slowing his brain down to a halt, so much so that he barely registered her strike coming towards him. But luckily his reflexes kicked in and he was able to avoid it.

He leaped back and readied his own weapon, Saber charged him, and Shirou waited until she moved.

"Time Alter," Saber's blade swung towards his torso. "Double accel!"

Shirou dodged the strike, and attacked with his own weapon, landing a strike on Saber's arm, as well as her midsection before she adapted and compensated with some of her Servant prowess. Before Shirou could run, he was again landing on the floor, with Saber's practice sword at his throat.

"Good intentions, but a poor execution. Against a normal human your attack would have been fruitful, but against a Servant, you have one, perhaps two strikes before they adapt. If you are in close-quarters with an enemy Servant, your only option to activate that spell, strike, and retreat. If nothing else, create distance between them and you." Saber critiqued, offering her hand again. Shirou took it and stood up.

"Again." She said, falling into her stance. Shirou mirrored her. This was going to be a long night.


Archer stood in the courtyard of the Emiya residence, having just finished speaking Rin concerning their plans. It seemed that her plans in hunting down Caster weren't done with, while Berserker was the bigger threat, he hadn't been active outside of the first battle. Likely due to the three lives he lost, one from Saber, another by Lancer, and finally him. Archer figured there was most likely a way for Berserker to regain his lives, but for now it was of no concern, Caster was on the top of their priorities.

All over the city she was draining the mana of the citizens, choosing incredibly populated areas and draining the people almost to the brink, then leaving them barely breathing. Caster was cunning, but he didn't seem ruthless, no, if he was, then more people would be dead.

While his daily scouting hadn't brought up much information, Archer figured Caster was on one of the laylines of Fuyuki. It was the most reasonable, considering the need for mana to operate in that particular class. Rin had wanted to focus on Rider, but he had dissuaded her, given that the idiot boy had survived, odds were that the female Servant wasn't worth their time, especially not with Caster's more potent presence in the city.

Archer stiffened, ripped from his thoughts by a foreign presence nearby. A glance over the shoulder confirmed his suspicion. The idiot stood there on the outer edge of the courtyard watching him.

"How are you wounds boy? Do they sting?" He asked mockingly.

"Screw off, Archer. Besides, I wouldn't have had any wounds if you had been there watching out for Tohsaka." Emiya Shirou bit back, fire in his amber eyes.

"Oh? Unlike you, I happen to have some confidence in my allies' skill, whereas you will rush in head first in some self-sacrificial attempt to save their lives by giving your own," Archer snarked, a steeled smirk on his tanned face. "While it may give you the peace you seek, you rob the person you tried to save an ally, and lessen their chances of survival. And for what? You can't exactly save people if you're dead."

"What would you know? You seem more keen on taking out allies instead of helping them." Shirou bit back.

Archer's brow rose. "I assume you are referring to the battle on the first night?"

The boy's glare was all that Archer needed in confirmation.

"This is a war, idiot, if I have the opportunity to achieve victory, I will take it. Besides, you got Saber out of range in time. Albeit taking a blow to the chest for your trouble."

"Right, because where's the risk in allies if you kill them with your opponent?"

"Hmph, you seem to be getting it now." Archer said, turning away from the boy and summoning his bow.

The boy was quiet for a few moments, and Archer would have enjoyed the silence if he didn't feel his eyes staring into the back of his head. In truth, Archer didn't have much of a reason to summon his bow, he merely wished to have something to occupy his hands and thoughts, but it appeared the idiot didn't get the message and remained where he was.

"Do you want something? I assume so, otherwise you wouldn't be standing there like an idiot."

"I'm just trying to figure you out."

Archer raised a brow but didn't turn towards him. "Oh? And why's that?"

"You could have dueled Saber the first night, with her limited reserves, you could have outlasted her in combat and beaten her." Shirou stated simply.

"If you have a point you should get to it soon."

"You held back when you fought her," Shirou stated boldly. "Why? Why didn't you fight her at full strength?"

"That's for me to know boy, and for you guess at when you're not trying to get yourself killed." Archer huffed, internally musing at the inquisitiveness of this boy, it was strange. He wasn't supposed to be so interested, he had noticed a few quirks that shouldn't have been there. For one, Rin had informed him of the boy's Magic Crest, interesting as the boy wasn't related to Kiritsugu by blood. As well as his acclimated skills with the crest. Still, he was an idiot.

"But I suppose I can say that I have my reasons," he said, turning and fixing Shirou with a cold steel gaze. "Anything else?"

"One thing, why do I get the feeling you want to kill me?"

"Ah noticed that did you?" Archer chuckled lowly, he hadn't exactly been hiding his hostility towards him, but nor had he been exactly forward with it. "For now I'll just say I know what path you're going down, and the means you go about it is something I cannot abide by. I would try to convince you, but we both know that wouldn't work." Archer turned away, willing himself into Spirit Form.

"Do yourself a favor, and don't let your incompetence get other people killed." Was Archer's last piece of advice before leaving Shirou alone in the courtyard, staring at the last spot Archer had been.

Author's Note- I apologize for getting this out later than usual (not even 24 hours, but still late!) I've been getting settled in at College and I'm afraid that it'll take up most of my time soon. I currently am writing chapter Eight, but its slow going, that chapter will be a behemoth and will be a major kick in the ass to take care of. Hopefully, it'll satisfy. Might make it extra long for compensation. I'll try to get it out next week, but only time will tell, I am no longer chapters ahead, and am writing as I go.

For this particular chapter, I can't really say much either than I enjoy writing Rider, mostly because the mythical figure of Medusa interests me so much, and getting a chance to write for her in this format is amazing. Granted, I'm pretty sure I'm following the original myth canons in her backstory, just because it's the most natural and organic for me to work with, especially with her relationship to Sakura. Also, yay! She gets a little scene in this chapter, mostly because I wanted a scene with her and Rider. Sakura, I imagine acts differently as a Master than she would normally, obviously, as with Shirou and Rin it's like adopting a different persona, so while she's still shy, she gets her point across and gets her way, though she doesn't like doing it at the expense of Rider's freedom.

You'll notice I cut the little scene in canon which points obvious fingers at Shinji about Mitsuzuri's dissapearance. In all honesty, I kind of feel the dissapearance of her is more just to establish Shinji as a villain. Which...he really isn't in this fashion, don't get me wrong, he's an arrogant pissant who I'd love to see get the living shit kicked out of him (foreshadowing grows) but aside from supposedly controlling Rider, he doesn't have much purpose in the case of this story. Though, I'm debating on whether or not I should kill him, while he's a despicable human being, he's just a punk with a complex revolving around his inability to get anywhere. Whether it's getting Tohsaka or his inability to even fight or have a reason to fight as opposed to just getting power. Yeah, I'll take some ideas/feedback on this one, it might be interesting to see if Shinji could potentially get redeemed, but with all he does to Sakura and everyone...yeah death to him sounds better. I'm indecisive. But back to my original point, Mitsuzuri is not drained of Mana, so she's up and about doing her thing, yay!

Finally, we got Archer, I just wanted a short interaction between him and Shirou to add some meat to the ending, and give some development for their conflicting personalities, as well as aftermath to the cemetary battle and first night, you'll notice they aren't exactly chatty with one another. So I wanted to get that out of the way.

As always, reviews and pm's regarding the story or questions on it's directions are welcomed and appreciated.

Till next time,

~ArgoGladius