"Master. We desire to speak with you," Thrud said before thrusting her spear forward. Shirou Emiya leaned his head before using countering with Kanshou and Bakuya. The Valkyrie raised her shield to block one of them, while the other attempted to flank her defence. The Warrior Maiden defended with her own offensive, pushing him off with her shield and delivering a quick series of thrusts that were so fast they seemed to blend together.
Shirou knew exactly where they would hit. Part of it was adapting over time to the fighting style of his servants, (although at that point calling their relationship servant/master seemed wrong), another was his structural analysis allowing him to see her techniques, and a third was Archer's combat skills that had been unwillingly transferred to him during their fateful duel.
Yet, that still wasn't enough to win. He pushed the Valkyries much more now, forcing them to use their full arsenal except runes, but even so he could not pull a victory. They commented on his massive improvement each time, but he did not see it. Mostly because it was all mental. Yet he felt no different from the Fuyuki Grail War.
"What about, Thrud?" he asked, stepping back and using that little break in combat to take a breather. The Valkyrie and the Magus circled each other.
"Your training," she stated simply.
"What's wrong with it?" Thrud jumped as he finished the sentence, once again assaulting him with quick thrusts. He was ready, as he jumped back and traced a bow and some projectiles he used to rain arrows upon her. The Valkyrie used her mystic code to avoid them with flight and close the gap. Shirou blocked the next attack by transforming his bow into a crude copy of the Divine Iron Shield of his maidens.
"You have improved massively, and your combat efficiency has reached 123%, yet, you still don't take on as many fights as you should," with that said, Shirou pushed her off and tried to kick her stomach. The Valkyrie retreated before that.
"I told you already. I want to save people, not kill them. That's what drove Archer to despair." He stated, his memories short circuiting on his brain once again.
"But Master, in order to get to Valhalla, you must be a brave warrior and hero. And a warrior must fight with valour, often to defend others," yeah, their definitions of hero were different. That had caused some conflict and misunderstandings but, even so, the Valkyries remained with him, and he was grateful.
"I guess that's were our paths diverge, then," he answered with some sadness. Thrud's impassive face remained, but that still got a visible reaction out of her as she rushed him like a bullet. It was a predictable pathway that he blocked with another projection. Kanshou and Bakuya locked her spear in front of his face. "Did I say something wrong?"
"You know we'll never leave you, Shirou," with that, Thrud easily lodged the spear out of his blade lock and disarmed him. She used her shield to bash him, then grabbed his neck and threw him to the floor.
With that, the match was over, with the beautiful blonde Valkyrie standing above the red headed magus.
"I'm… happy to hear that," he smiled to her, and it was a true smile. After his talk with Hildr, he began to appreciate his companions more and more, to the point he could not imagine being without them. Yet, he also knew that his path may end up with him alone. He used to think he was okay with that, but all that mattered to him now was the present.
He lovingly caressed her cheek, watching as her golden strands landed upon him. Her ruby eyes softened as she returned his smile.
"Every day, it becomes harder to resist your affections, Master. I wonder what you did to us, to make us this way." she said, leaning into his hand.
"Well, you also made me better, so I simply returned the favour," Thrud leaned down, burying him in her hair as she kissed him. For a moment, everything was silky smooth. He truly enjoyed kissing her, and if she were a little closer to the ground, he would not hesitate to wrap his arms around the Servant and make love to her on the very same floor.
"Thruuuud! You're getting off track!" A voice sounded from outside. They were on a small gym on a magus workshop. Shirou had been asked by Rin Tohsaka to help him with a crisis caused by a rogue magus she had known back in London; and that was reason enough to make her consider it her responsibility. He, of course, was glad to help. And the Valkyries wanted to observe the conflict both to make sure he was valorous and heroic and find brave souls for Valhalla.
For now, things had been quiet for now, but that all could change. The only problem they faced was a Dead Apostle infestation on a medium town in India where many families perished, even if they managed to eliminate them and save most of the children.
"You could have communicated with me trough the link, Hildr!" Thrud yelled back. Soon, the pink Valkyrie's head appeared on the window.
"But that's no fun! Yelling is the best, especially when you have a battle cry!" With a groan, Thrud straightened up and offered Shirou a hand he accepted.
"I'm not much of a shouting person,"
"No, no. She has a point Master. And your yelling voice is pretty decent. But that's not what I wanted to talk about," Thrud said, once again in serious mode.
"Oh? What was it then?" Shirou asked.
"Well, true heroes not only need combat prowess, but also legacies," the Valkyrie explained.
"Legacy?" Shirou asked.
"Indeed, something or someone that remembers them and their deeds,"
"Sounds selfish. I don't want to force anyone to remember me. That's not why I want to become a hero," Shirou was dead serious on this topic. Being famous was not what he cared about in the slightest.
"Well, your memory could inspire others to have hope. People would think about you in their darkest times. Use your deeds as a source of strength." Hildr added.
"Like I said, I don't care. As long as I save people, that is secondary," Thrud's eyes lowered, maybe it was disappointment? "Will that really disqualify me from Valhalla?"
"I –"
"– You can't say." Shirou finished for her. He had heard that many times.
"Forgive us. But it would certainly help, if you don't plan on dying in glorious battle."
"And it would certainly be glorious with your current skills!" Added Hildr once again.
"Hildr! What did we talk about?!"
"Sorry! Old habits." Shirou sighed. Banter like that was not uncommon. Each sister was getting more and more individualistic. But they remained strong and whole.
Something buzzed in his pocket. He grabbed his flip phone and answered the call.
"Hello?" He waited, hearing something distant on the other end.
"Emiya… Hello?… Can you hear me?" He recognized it, barely. It was the distorted voice of Rin Tohsaka.
"I can barely hear you. Is everything alright on your end?" He heard shuffling on the other side of the line, and got worried instantly.
"Yes… it's just… I don't know how to use this godforsaken thing," he sweatdropped at Rin's hopelessness with anything modern like cellphones and computers.
"Just touch the speaker button," he heard some more fumbling, and then Rin's voice came clear and loud.
"Is that okay now?"
"Perfect,"
"Right. Then, are you ready?"
"Always."
"Then let's move. We have to rescue those kids. Meet you where we arranged."
"Roger. See you there." With that, the line went dead. He then looked at Thrud.
"Got to get moving," he told her as he put on the red sacred cloak given to him by a curry loving Burial Service agent.
"Roger. Beginning synchronization. Entering combat ready mode." Shirou nodded as he exited their little base, followed by Thrud. Ortlinde and Hildr looked at them from were they stood, weapons ready and awaiting commands.
Shirou entered the visits room on the hospital. The mission had gone well, and all the kids were safe and sound, recuperating from their harrowing experience. He could not save their parents, they were all dead by the time his little group arrived at the town, but at least the kids had been left for last in order to be 'grown' as the Dead Apostle had stated.
The red headed man found himself disgusted at that, and he was not alone in that feeling thankfully. Rin had made that clear when she blasted his body into nothing with her rubies.
But two facts remained.
The first was that it was not over. There were still thousands of missing refugees that were suffering the same fate or worse.
The second was that these kids were without family now, at the mercy of their negligent government. He had saved them today, but what would happen when he could not?
Still, seeing them resting, and even cracking a smile even if bedridden warmed his heart, and made him happy. It made all the pain and worry worth it.
He exited the hospital. It was still noon, he had time to rest, train and prepare for the next task. However, he was surprised by three figures.
"Oi! Master! Done with your visits?" Hildr asked as jovially as ever, latching into his arm.
"Yes. You three alright?" while the pink haired sister seemed fine, the others were quite stiff.
"We ran into an inconvenient, Master." said Thrud.
"Yes. We tried to dispose of it, but it kept following us. Not even the strategies Tohsaka suggested for your stubbornness worked," Shirou raised an eyebrow.
"What are you talking about?" he asked, genuinely confused. Then, on the corner of the flaps from Thrud's battle attire he saw something. A small figure of fiery orange hair. "Is that a kid?"
"Indeed. It was quite persistent, even if it was scared. True valour! Come out now!" Hildr said, leaning towards the girl holding onto Thrud's left leg.
The girl was scared, dirty and somewhat bruised. She hid even more when his eyes landed on her. He knew her. He remembered every face he rescued from the hellish nightmare that was the workshop of the Dead Apostle magus.
"Hey, don't be afraid. I'm Shirou. Shirou Emiya, what's your name?" he asked, crouching at her level. She peeked at him from behind the Valkyrie with amber eyes much like his own.
"G-Gudako," Shirou raised an eyebrow.
"Gudako? What a pretty and creative name. Who gave it to you?" he tried his best to sound friendly, even if his voice sounded 'somewhat cold' according to Tohsaka.
The girl did not answer, only looked down with barely contained tears.
"We searched around, but found no matching origin, element or family relation. She's without guardian or blood relative, I'm afraid." said Ortlinde, who remained still like a statue.
Shirou felt a pang of pain in his chest, memories of long ago resurfacing. It did not help matters that she had matching eye and hair colour. She looked so vulnerable, so empty, so afraid; much like he did back then. But he could not allow himself to be swarmed by those feelings. Not now.
"Gudako, why did you follow them? Do you need something?" he asked. The girl retreated once again, but one glance at Hildr, who was smiling and leaning on her knees, seemed to boost her confidence a little.
She stepped out from behind Thrud and quickly stood in front of him, arms stretched forward while holding something in her cupped hands. Some kind of necklace.
"Mommy told me to gift good people! So… thank you for saving me, Mister hero!" she said, loud and almost forcing it out with her eyes closed.
Shirou was left speechless. This girl was offering him something as thanks, for saving her. He did not need rewards or praise, but hearing someone thank him nearly made him tear up with happiness.
Is this what you wanted Archer? All this time?
"Thank you, little Gudako, but I cannot take it. It's yours," At hearing this, the girl looked at him strangely, before her face contorted into seriousness.
She grabbed his significantly bigger left hand, and put the necklace into his hand before forcing his fist closed.
"It's yours." she repeated. At this gesture, he smiled again. She was so vulnerable, she had nothing, yet was giving everything to him. Something like that, he could not leave it behind. He wanted to make sure it was safe. But, at the same time, duty and logic compelled him to bury those feelings.
"Very well." He stood up, and the girl once again regained her shy demeanour. Thrud walked up to him, standing at the girl's side.
"Master, may I make a suggestion?" she said. Shirou looked at her, trying to regain his neutral expression.
"What is it?" he asked.
"This girl won't survive. Not on her own." said the Valkyrie. The girl visibly flinched, and began hugging herself.
"A-Are you sure?" he asked. He instinctively wanted to help her any way he could, but his experiences helped him suppress the urge. He needed to think things trough.
"We discussed it while you were, as some say, 'having a moment'," Orltinde even air quoted with her blank expression, which was in his opinion cute as heck. "Her chances of survival are near zero, Shirou. Unless we take care of her."
Shirou's eyes widened.
"You want to take her with us?" he asked them.
"Not at all Master. We are only suggesting the best course of action for her survival. It just seems like something you would want to know," Thrud's expression was equally blank, but Shirou could tell she was just as concerned about the girl's life. The Valkyries were heroic and valorous, but they hardly focused on saving people. They were warriors, fighters. While that caused conflicts between them at times, they usually split the work.
Emiya did the saving, while the three Valkyries did the fighting. Sometimes, the roles were reversed, but that was because even when it came to saving the warrior maidens were better than him, especially because they could fly.
"It would be fun! Having another human to train with. Another perspective, don't you think?" Hildr said, patting the scared girl in the head.
"it's all up to you, as always, Master," At Ortlinde's words, Shirou turned to them with a serious expression.
"I won't do anything that you guys are not comfortable with. You know this." He said. He desperately wanted to help Gudako, but if the Valkyries didn't want her with them, he would not go against their wishes. They already had enough with following him around.
"It would be no problem at all Master! Unless you force us to take care of her all the time." Hildr said with a playful shove that had more strength in it than intended.
"Alright," Shirou took a breath before crouching in front of the girl. "Gudako, we are travelling heroes. We can take care of you, and I'll always protect you, but our life in dangerous. I would love to have you with us, but the decision is up to you." With that said, the girl looked at him with wonder.
"You… want to be my new daddy?" he looked at her with sadness.
"I don't think I can replace your dad. But I'll take care of you, always." he said.
"Don't count us out!" said Hildr, hugging the girl and burying her in her chest despite her struggles.
"We'll also watch over you." said Ortlinde with a soft smile.
Gudako eventually escaped Hildr's hug and hid behind Shirou.
"O-okay. I'll go with you, mister Hero." said the girl. Shirou, once again smiled as he patted her head.
"We've got a long journey ahead, let's get you cleaned up."
"But I hate baths!" the girl cried out. At this, Thrud scooped her up from the neck like a puppy.
"No buts. You must be clean and disinfected for battle," said the Valkyrie, strolling towards their base.
"We are not taking her to battle!" Shirou cried out, following the eldest sister, with the other two giggling behind him.
If this was going to be the next phase in his life, he dreaded it. But… he had saved someone. Truly saved them.
And that made him happy in a way that could only be compared to the happiness he felt when he was with his beloved Valkyries.
A/N: Yes, this is a child version of the Female Ritsuka from F/GO. Since the protagonist has no past, why not make up whatever. But don't worry, this is a one off and the next one shots will be set in London and/or Fuyuki; before the events of this one.
I thought Shirou might adopt a kid or two on his journey, since he wants to save people and imitate Kiritsugu, but knowing his experiences with imitating his dad and what he finds out in each route he might not do it without a push.
By the way, sorry this took so long and the poor quality of the previous chapter. I've been dealing with some stuff related to work and college and had my will to write sapped away. But now I'm back baby! Thank you to everyone who reviewed, read and followed/favourited this story. It makes me happy to know so many people love the Valkyries.
See you next chapter!