"Bye!" Taiga shouted across the hall to her children. "See you in school!" She walked backward, tangling her legs and untangling them just before tripping and waved goodbyes. Then she stepped on something, her back pushed into someone, and she winced as she heard a silent groan. Did she stumble over her invisible Servant? Taiga tensed. Before she could apologize, Shirou answered her.
"Goodbye to you, too, Fuji-nee! Hope you spend a nice day with your boyfriend!"
Sakura audibly sighed, but Taiga had more pressing worries than gossip.
"A boyfriend?" Archer asked shakily. Another shot past his aloof defenses - and a win for Taiga! "Please, do not tell me he meant…" He could not finish the sentence! Why was he not visible? His surprised face would be a sight to behold!
"Correct - you!" Taiga replied while she shifted from Archer's foot (most likely). "It's a brilliant cover, is it not? You can stay materialized around me, and we can explain ourselves if someone asks about you! What's there not to like? Now that we've decided -" she pointed to a small spot on the horizon "- let's walk to school! I can't be late for work again!"
Archer chased after her. "Nothing has been decided! You have used the excuse once; we cannot fix that. But never repeat this!"
"Why not? We don't have to act romantic. Just glance at me every once in a while - we'll lie that you rarely express your feelings. Plus, don't you prefer to talk in person?" She stopped at the red light, counted the seconds with an abated breath, and crossed once it turned green.
"First, learn the art of silence. It is a good thing that you leave earlier than everyone else. Otherwise, the entire city would have picked up our little secret."
Taiga froze mid-galloping towards the school building. Imagined stares weighted on her through the curtained windows. Her right leg - having missed the memo - kicked her left one in the heel. "I'm not that loud," she whimpered. "Am I?"
"Not anymore, no. But the former tone did not fir a master of any caliber. And no lie would salvage it. I advise you to work on that before you make plans. It would be wiser to keep me invisible and conserve mana rather than flaunt me like a trophy and attract attention."
"You have an answer for everything, don't you? I've lucked out with you."
After a brief pause - enough to cross another street - Archer replied, "It only seems so because you are quite the unprepared mage."
Ouch! But Taiga agreed. Most mages prepared for months, if not since birth, before joining the War. She had decided it almost on a whim. What were her chances against the other enemies? No, she would avoid the fights - with some luck, they could survive those two weeks.
They kept trading insults and advice until the enormous shadow of the school loomed over them. "And here we stop because somebody might see us." If Mitsuzuri caught Taiga talking to herself again, her reputation would break rock bottom and sink into the Earth's core.
"Fine with me. I will keep quiet."
"Amazi-!" Taiga entered through the gate. A heatwave hit her - much weaker than the fiery pit of the Grail's inferno but strong enough to tip her off. The air rebelled in her lungs and tried to tear itself free - no, it wanted to bind itself somewhere, vacuumed by an unknown force. If a muddy tentacle or two bound her, Taiga would believe the Shadow had trapped her again.
"Did you feel it?" Archer tethered her back to reality.
"A spell?" Taiga asked, even though she knew the answer. "Who would cast it?"
"A Master, who else? He must have quite the confidence if he has set the Boundary Field in the open."
"Weren't those for protection? Is someone barricading themselves in the school?" In such a case, the War had dug its greedy claws and soon would devour the students. They had to find the Master before he drew enemies. Once the battle royal reached them, the children would fall first to the fire.
"One can adapt them for a variety of functions if they obey the laws of the world. The mage might have caught onto you and prepared a countermeasure. If we stop coming to the school, he could remove it."
"No. It will eat, will it not?" Taiga narrated, absorbed in a dreamlike memory of melting flesh and dissolving spirits. "Strip the body of the soul and feast on it. But…" She closed her eyes and pinned down the difference. "It is far too weak?" The discreet power barely measured to the overwhelming greed in the Grail's stiff air. "Or unfinished?"
"An incomplete bloodfort. You have guessed its purpose perfectly."
"Why would a mage need it? Doesn't it attract too much attention? How will they cover up the victims?"
"Mages calculate the risks. It is more important to feed their Servant than to follow the law. If they kill everyone in the building, they will leave no witnesses."
Taiga gulped. "Feeding?"
"Humans, who are creatures of flesh, eat mat. What do we, creatures of spirit, eat? Too often, mages substitute energy with the unfortunate victims' souls. And it is far too efficient." Archer's voice held no emotion - no audible admiration or disgust but only merciless strategy.
"But we can avoid it." Taiga bit her lip. "Can we?" Would he offer the same? She had little power to spare, and if they… "It doesn't matter if we can afford to skip it or not!" She stomped. "I'm not allowing it!"
"I am glad you made your choice, Master, because I do not have such plans, either."
Taiga sighed and smiled. At the end of the day, heroes were heroes.
For many, lunchtime was a divine gift: freedom given from above to forget the pressure of the day, relax with friends and ignore the upcoming wave of afternoon classes. While Taiga would prefer to gossip about Kuzuki's budding love life (and suffer herself if Shirou had blurted out her secret) today, she had strategies to make. The schedule blessed her with a free period after lunch, so she sneaked inside an empty classroom.
"You can show yourself," she glanced at her Servant's probable direction. "Nobody has any classes more in this room today; we're on our own."
"Very well." It had happened a few times, but the magic kept its luster. The shining red dust colored itself brilliant white, gathered and stuck into thin hairs. Then his face formed: stern and statue-like; only his gray eyes were colder than his expression. "But I still cannot see why I should take this form."
"Isn't it more comfortable?" Taiga asked as she jumped back and plopped down on the teacher's desk. "Doesn't it feel better than being intangible all the time?" And she needed him visible - a guarantee that she had the power to avert the tragedy.
"It makes no difference to me." Archer sat opposite her, pressing the tips of his fingers. "Rarely a Master would care about the desires of their Servant so much."
"Should they not? If we work in a team, we should make sure neither of us has any problems. Say if you need anything." Taiga slapped her face. "That reminds me - I ought to tell you a story!"
"Keep it for later," Archer brushed it aside. "First, we must discuss the Bounded Field. While you would rather avoid skirmishes,…"
"Shirou studies in this school. And so do many other children." Taiga replied with a steel conviction that would never break. "We will stop the mage."
"In such a case, we have to weaken the spell at once. Also -" he tilted his head towards the unlocked door "- could you take care of that? If someone stumbles upon us…"
"I don't have the keys," Taiga admitted. "Besides, we always can lie that I've sneaked my boyfriend into the school." Archer threw her a glare that could freeze an ocean, and she shivered. "Fine, we're not yet close enough for that cover. And I'll have trouble. If a student barges... Disappear, and we'll hope they did not notice you."
"Have you tried to plan in advance?" Archer crossed arms. "Only once? If you bothered to reflect on the consequences, you could avoid many undesirable results."
"Aren't we doing it now - deciding how to deal with the Bloodfort and its owner?"
The Servant nodded. "Are there any suspects?"
Taiga rubbed her forehead. A few mages learned in the school - or at least, they had to be: the heirs of Tohsaka and Matou. But Sakura was a polite girl, cooked breakfast and dinner, laughed at Taiga's jokes, and cared for Shirou more than for herself. She would never put them at risk! And Rin was a born talent: she spoke better English than any classmate and never disobeyed her teachers. Such model students were an endangered breed.
Archer would pay no attention to those extenuating circumstances. If she dropped a single name, he would chase the unlucky girl until he disproved his suspicion. Besides, they would never cast such a spell. So, with a light heart, she told the truth. "Nobody. And you?"
"I know only that boy, Shirou. While he has protection around his house, this Field is much stronger. It has taken a considerable skill. Skill, which I am supposed to believe, he lacks."
Taiga sprung on the floor. "He would not do it! Never!" That left her with two possibilities… No, it was an unknown Master - not the girls! "You mentioned we could weaken it. How?"
"Should you not explain it? I am the Servant of the bow, not of the knowledge."
Archer's sharp arrows shot Taiga's hopes for a diversion. She twitched. Bounded Fields, Bounded Fields… Iri had skipped the topic; it had little to do with the War. Taiga twisted her fingers together. An idea came to her lips; then they closed as soon as she considered it. "I give up," admitted she in the end and sat again. A crumpled paper had more liveliness than her. "I know nothing."
"We lose the luxury of choice. One possibility is to avoid the school altogether. We will save no one, but neither will the effect catch us." Coldly pragmatic, Archer explained his sensible, heartless reason.
"I object," Taiga answered - her only absolute certainty. If the spell devoured Shirou, or Sakura, or Mitsuzuri when she could have prevented it…
"You have conviction." Archer stood. "However, it does not win Wars on its own. Without any knowledge, we cannot do much."
"Then we will gather intel! For example -" Taiga cupped her chin, waiting for the golden inspiration "- we might stay until most people leave. Whoever remains must be the guilty party!"
"Unless the enemy plans to hide until they finish the spell."
Strike one!
"Can we find any marks? To give us clues."
"We would traverse the school grounds, clearly looking for a sign we cannot recognize. The Master would notice."
Strike two!
"Kiritsugu could have left information about Bounded Fields in his house." Taiga aimed her eyes at the ground because Archer would shoot down her last idea.
"Just as unlikely, but far less risky. We could try this plan. Once the classes end, we will check in his home."
… No out?
Taiga clasped her hands. They would save the school and fix everything. "Then we have a plan!"
"Nothing!" Taiga cried, bent over Kiritsugu's bookcase. She dragged a thick tome, flipped through it so fast that the pages would tear off, and threw it on the endless pile behind her. "Another parenting guide!" Its contents hid no information about Bounded Fields nor instructions on how to break them. A single page - even a sentence - would save her kids, and she lacked it.
At least, the students were at no risk for a few more days. The spell was unfinished, but its completion would come one morning. Cold chills, like a witch's old, bony fingers, crept over Taiga's back. And - as Sakura had gently told her - Shirou stayed at school to fix broken equipment. He had done it many times, but before, the carnivorous building could not devour him alive.
"Don't think of that!" Taiga reached for the next book - a quick distraction - and touched only wood. She had passed through the entire collection and found exactly nothing. Zero. No help. The emptiness left her to stew with ugly, horrifying, tragic outcomes. What could she do without leads? Talk to Rin and hope her star student would cooperate? But - the nagging fear did not leave - who could cast the spell if not her?
If Taiga acknowledged it and Rin admitted…
"Archer's paranoia is hitting me in the head! I need fresh air!" She left the room, pushed the doors behind herself, and ran to the front door before the echo chased her.
There stood her invisible watchman. The search must have gone well," he gave his so necessary opinion, "if you are in such a hurry to deliver the news."
Would it be an improper use of a Command Seal to make her Servant speak honestly for five minutes? "Not at all." Taiga leaned on a solid stone slab, colored orange by the sunset rays. "Kiritsugu has too many contradicting guides for parents and too few useful books. What should we do, Archer?" She tugged her sleeves down as the late winter coldness stung her hands.
"We can hope that other mages also inhabit the school and will break the spell on their own. If you meant something beyond relying on fate," he gloated at Taiga's frown, "I am afraid I have no tips to offer. Why does single Bounded Field trouble you so much after you have broken into the Grail, Master?"
The acidic quip pierced Taiga's heart. "I know nothing! My studies consisted only of the War - classes, Servants, history. Irisviel suspected I was a Master who had lost her memories and taught me only the basics. We had no time because…-"
"The more you tell of your story, the more outlandish it becomes. Either you have a strange sense of lying, or you are telling me an impossible truth. Am I supposed to believe you entered the Grail by pure luck?"
"It happened so." Taiga nodded. "One moment, I was choking on a huge bite of food, almost dead. The next, I closed my eyes and woke in the Grail Mud."
Dusk conquered the red, and the weather cooled.
Archer threw no unsurprised remark nor a sarcastically sharp response.
Taiga continued. "Not quite Mud - more like a heavy Shadow. But it made no difference. I could not move, and something chased me - a tall, tentacled monster. Then Irisviel - the Grail spirit - saved me. She explained the War, and we met the slain Servants." She rubbed her hands to warm herself. "Eh, not all of them. Before the Archer and the Saber could come…" Taiga gulped. "Before that…" How should she admit it? She escaped, abandoning her dearest teacher alone with the beast which had possessed her.
"I left." No details: her best chance. "But that's a trifle! It matters only that the Shadow had corrupted almost everything. And after ten years…" Only Iri had survived - radiant as ever, unspoiled by the ravishing evil! "After ten years, it must be even stronger. We should let no one find it."
A sigh broke the stiffness. "As promised, I will abide by your wishes. However, such words would never convince a mage. Whether you like it, we have to defeat the Masters and stop them."
"That would send their Servants to the Grail and empower the Shadow! If it gathers enough, it will wake up, and…" Her back fell on the wall. "Is there a happy ending? A way everything can end fine?" Had she entered a doomed fight?
"We must rely on your natural charisma and make everyone surrender. It is," Archer paused and picked the correct words, "not outright impossible."
"Yes." Taiga perked up, digging nails into the idea so that it would not fly away, but her voice stayed flat. "The families who maintain the War should have noticed the defects. Maybe the will lend us an ear!"
Tiny, brilliant stars lit the dark sky. The streetlights - never to be outdone - bombarded her eyes with their shine. Had it become so late?
"We have the start of a plan. Tomorrow, we can find them. For now… -"
"For now, we need to find Shirou! Night fell, but he has not come home yet!" Taiga's heart clenched into a tight ball. While she was dealing with her problems, she had forgotten her boy. "The school - he could still be there! Let's go!"
"I will check on him alone," Archer advised her. "I can reach him much faster. Besides, one of us needs to stay here if he comes home."
"Do it."
The knight disappeared into the town, running with his inhumane speed. Taiga stood in the door frame and watched as the leaves rustled and the dust rose in his trail.
Where, where, where? Taiga paced around the door, digging her feet in the asphalt, spun dizzyingly fast whenever steps came down the road, and groaned (at this stage - roared) when it was not Shirou. How many people had gone on a chilling night walk? Archer had left hours ago - or half an hour? Time extended into a game of waiting, where every passerby dragged a knife out of her wound only to stab her twice. Her patience stretched to the breaking point and tore violently, leaving pitch black worry in the pits of her heart.
The cursed repetition of steps played once again, and Taiga faced the vast, empty street. Shaking, as if a windstorm was whipping him, a slow boy in a school uniform waddled with an unfocused, strange gait. Her soul burnt as the flames of hell because he had that red, unique hair. "Shirou!" She waved at the front door. "What has happened with you?"
He paid no notice: no reply, not even an expression on his face. As if he forced himself to make every step - his bent legs swaying and wobbling - Shirou rubbed his eyes and coughed. Whenever he breathed, furious whirls of mist left his mouth, like a dragon puffing out smoke. Crossing one leg before the other, he stumbled towards his house and pushed into Taiga. The weight of the world collapsed on her shoulders.
"Shirou!" Taiga pulled her boy closer in a hug. "Why are you coming home so late?" His body burnt hotter than a furnace. "And in such a state?" A thousand accusations sprung in her chest, and a thousand worries swallowed them.
"Fuji-nee?" He blinked. His voice hauled itself through his teeth, empty and minuscule. Shirou barely stayed awake, and a powerful force dragged him into a cursed dream with curved black talons. "I could ask you the same."
"You can't!" Taiga put a hand on his forehead and jerked it away. "I'm not turning up in the middle of the night with a scorching fever! Come!" She tugged his arm and helped him walk. "You're coming inside to rest! Doctor's orders!" At each step, her boy swayed: sometimes to the left, sometimes to the right. A dash, which took less than a minute, stalled into an impossible slog.
"Just… A moment." Shirou struggled to free his dilapidated ribbon of an arm from Taiga's grasp. She let him. With weak, uneasy steps, he staggered into the kitchen and collapsed on his knees. "I need to rest."
Taiga twitched, moving from one foot to the other. "I will bring cold medicine. And once you are better..." She leaned through the door and felt as if her life had been punched out of her. Even the suffocating Mud hurt less. She flared up with pain, and she ran - crashed into - the horrible boy who would lead her in an early grave!
A large splotch, dark red and dry, stained Shirou's shirt. "Wound! What happened? No, tell me after I've called an ambulance! No wonder you are dizzy with so much lost blood. How did I not notice earlier?" Tears wet her eyes; no, she had no time to cry! Not when her boy's life was in danger. "First aid supplies - the cupboard near the sink!" She would jump for the phone, but a weak, pathetic tug - a flea had more power - held her.
"Do not." Shirou pulled the shirt over his chest cleanly. There was no open wound. "I'm just a little…-" An ugly grimace crumpled his face; his nose wrinkled, and a coughing, rough fit left his lips. "A little dizzy." Under the yellow light, he looked ghastly pale: a lonesome soul on the borders of death.
"Shirou. People do not recover from such wounds like nothing." Her voice dried into a harsh wind. "What happened?" She sat next to him, as tense as a spring. If she let it for a moment, she would collapse over him; the last thing that would help her boy. "Tell me the truth."
Chilling fear poisoned her senses. Needles struck through her body. Could she have failed? Once that smug hero came back, Taiga would force him under the three Seals and make him explain himself! Where was he?
"It's nothing big, Fuji-nee. I woke up like this in school, cleaned the puddle of blood, and went straight home."
Tomorrow, Taiga would curse herself for her choice. She would regret it and weep, but once one set the present in the stone, it became nonvolatile and stiff past. She would ask herself why she threw Shirou in the unlimited ocean of lies and uncertainty. But that would happen in the future. Today, she had to discover the truth because, without it, she could not keep her boy safe.
"Magic, is it not?" The word slipped through her mouth, lighter than air and heavier than oil. Shirou should brush it off as a joke, ask if she had hit her head worse. And, perhaps, had she asked it with a less guarantee in her voice, he would have.
"How long have you known?"
In vain. Her efforts have been in vain.
Taiga's legs buckled. A vast emptiness tore her soul open and feasted on it. She prayed for Archer not to return - not soon - because he would gloat how he had been right; how she did not save Shirou; how she was doomed to fail. Taiga hugged her dearest boy again, laid head on his shoulder, and wept. Pathetic, was it not? He needed her protection, and she could do nothing.
"Fuji-nee," Shirou said, but she stayed quiet. She would not move until the dawn broke, the nightmarish night came to an end, and they would try to pick up the pieces of truth again.
But the boy tensed, pushed her to the left, and jumped to the right.
"Fuji-nee, run! Now!" Shirou rose on his feet, now more stable. "No, he has broken into the house. Hide somewhere - anywhere! He is chasing after me, not you!" The boy shook his head, seeking something so fast that Taiga felt vertigo. "Weapon; what can I use?" He took the cheap self-defense force poster, rolled it, and faced her. "Why are you still here? If he catches you, he will kill you!"
"Who is he?" It did not matter, did it? Her heart would explode in her chest. She would resist any enemy who dared attack her boy. "Together, we have better chances! Who's the one trained to fight between us two?"
"You will die against him!" Blueish-green lines flared on Shirou's arm. Magic circuit. It was true - she had lost. Shirou winced, then swung the poster a few times. "Hide - and pray that he does not find you."
"A mage?" They were gullible: so absorbed in their superiority that Taiga could try tricking them. Or, if everything else failed, call her Servant.
"No! He's like a beast that… -" Shirou rolled forward, clutching the paper - his lifeline.
A red spear stabbed the floor where he had stood. A man in blue, who radiated powerful mana, jumped along with it and pulled it. "I wanted to kill you before you noticed me. Quick and painless. Why do you insist on drawing it out?" A Servant; only they had such power! Shirou would die against him. "I've never killed the same person twice before. The human world is full of bloodshed, I guess."
He thrust his lance towards Shirou. It would pierce the poster and tear into his skin, break his body! Bile rose in Taiga's throat. No, not when she could stop it! Only a miracle would save him - and she carried three. "Archer!" she ordered. "Come and protect Shirou!" The back of her palm burned scarlet, and the heart of the sun disappeared.
The paper deflected the weapon. It grazed Shirou's arm and cut open a wound. The blue man - Lancer, most likely - pulled it. "A second one?" His red eyes locked on the hand, which hid Taiga's face. With a grin, he swung his lance in a wide, almost impossible arc. "It seems I lucked out."
A freezing dread passed through Taiga. She crossed her arms in front of her chest as a useless make-do shield. The draft made all her hairs stand. He would slit her open and kill her. She could not gulp.
A red coat impeded her vision. He had finally come!
Archer slammed a sword - pitch black - at the enemy. Lancer's weapon drew a huge semicircle. He blocked the slash, crouched, and pushed Archer back.
"The Servant of the bow, huh? Take it out, then. I will give you that chance."
No reply. Archer swung again.
"An Archer wants to fight me in close combat?" The red spear deflected his attack. "You're making me laugh! There's no way to win!"
"I need not win." Archer's stare passed his enemy through the window.
"Tsh!" Lancer's form wavered, and he - a blue flash - jumped after Taiga's boy. "Once the job's done, I'm coming for you!"
Archer chased - a red storm, but a second too slow.
"Shirou!" Taiga shouted. Her hands formed a funnel around her lips. She ran, as weak as a snail when competing with those forces of nature. But she did not stop!
The lance broke the air and aimed at her boy - with much less force and speed than the deadly hits for Archer. He hit it with the poster. Saved! Thank gods!
"You are nothing compared to the Servants." The blue man smirked like a cavernous beast. "But you have power. And I thought I'd only fight that sneaky murderer tonight." He slammed the spear towards Shirou. So fast did the weapon move that it looked like a blur. Her boy blocked with the makeshift sword, and the impact threw him as if he were a rag doll.
"Or not. It must be some luck to die twice in a single night." The monster aimed at Shirou's heart. He held the rolled sheet in his hand, pathetic and close to breaking.
Taiga gulped. A kitchen tool should serve as a weapon! If Shirou fought back with his magical poster, she - who had training - could help! Her stare flickered. Nothing! She leaned over the window. A single rake was not left in the yard. Everything was too far away!
Sparks flew as Archer parried the deadly attack. "Do not worry, Master. I will not let the boy die here," he said, coldly certain. Almost in Lancer's face, he would defeat him with one strike! To fight, his opponent had to put more distance between them.
Archer attacked. Lancer spun his weapon in a wide arc behind his back, caught it in the other hand, and blocked - while Taiga took a single breath. The black sword shattered.
A Noble Phantasm broke. Taiga felt lightheaded. The Servant's strongest tool - one of a kind - broke. Was she that pathetic? Her Servant could not defend himself with her as a battery. She hoped her will to win; her wish to protect Shirou would drag them through the massacre. Her palms sweated. Would they die on the first night?"
"It's over." With a bloodthirsty smile, Lancer thrust his weapon. A single stab would end the fight. "Goodbye, fake Archer."
Another sword formed in Archer's grasp - as white as the moon - and blocked the deadly point. The impact shattered it. But it did not matter because her Servant held a new one ready in his other hand - perfectly black.
"Cheater!" Lancer protested. "What Servant can recreate his sword - and an Archer, of all things!"
"Must you know my name? I suppose you would need every help possible to match me, but I am afraid I will keep it to myself."
Furious and fuming, Lancer threw himself towards Archer like a lightning. A wide swing of the lance slammed into Archer's ribcage and sent him flying across the yard. He fell and did not stand up.
Lair, lair, lair! Had he not promised to win?
In a single moment, the bestial Lancer reached Shirou's shed. The boy blocked the Servant's thrust, but the impact pushed him back. Taiga's bones vibrated as she heard him smash in the wall. Lancer chased after him.
Taiga clenched fists, prayed to whoever would listen - even that cursed Grail - and spoke, "Archer… -" What was a second Command Seal when Shirou's life could end? She would tether her Servant only with one!
Another miracle happened first. Soft light filled the shed; the enemy was pushed back. An angelic girl fought him, was stabbed, and survived, then the Lancer fled. Taiga should have been happy. Happy that someone had saved Shirou. Happy that someone had chased away Lancer. But she recognized her - the same vivid blue armor, the same blond hair, the same stiffness, and coldness. The same Saber who had protected Irisviel.
A Heroic Spirit had helped them. Only one person could have summoned her.
Taiga ran towards her boy.
Saber took a fighting stance. Her strike would kill Taiga. The girl - she did not look a second older than her teens, even if her age reached centuries - spoke. "Are you Lancer's Master?" Her fingers tightened around Excalibur's invisible handle.
Taiga shivered. The adrenaline rush was wearing off, and her thoughts cleared. Shirou had almost died. And even though her head lay on the line, even though she realized the consequences - a bloody, merciless death - no fear swayed her. Not when a dangerous possibility hung in her nightmares. "Are you Shirou's Servant?" The name Arthur settled on her lips, but she did not say it. It would only open more questions, which she did not intend to answer. "Speak up, Saber."
"My Master's identity matters not. I will ask you only once more. Are you Lancer's Master?"
"Wait!" Shirou shouted. "Don't attack her!"
Taiga dashed past Saber. She crashed into her little, horrible, wicked boy, hugged him suffocatingly, and blurted out her mind. "How much did he hurt you? Any wounds? Everything alright? Did you summon Saber? Will you fight?"
Shirou threw back his questions - an anchor, lest the torrent sweep over him. "How do you know this, Fuji-nee? Who were the two men? And -" he turned to Saber like a sailor, enthralled by a siren "- who are you?" His voice quietened.
"I am your Servant, Saber," she replied in a measured manner. Her grip did not loosen, and she did not let Taiga out of her stare. "If that woman is not an enemy, heal me so that I can fight the other one."
"Why?" Shirou extended his hand over Taiga's shoulder. He pried the hug open and walked towards Saber.
Taiga wished she had dug her fingers in the brown uniform and kept pulling - as if that woman was a danger. Because he was slipping away, whisked by her mysterious allure and his wish to save everyone. Once he learned the details and her nature, he would never abandon that exalted goal.
"You are not the usual Master. However, I will obey my oath, and I swear to bring you the win. Now heal me before he has recovered and attacked us."
"I do not know such advanced magic," Shirou apologized. "Besides, it seems you healed yourself, so…"
He froze as the girl frowned. "I patched myself only on the outside. But it should be enough to finish a weakened enemy."
With his perfect sense of timing, Archer had picked that moment to recover. "Did I miss the skirmish, Master? My apologies." He summoned his Chinese swords. "I will compensate by defeating the Saber."
"Do not, Archer." Taiga sighed. "Saber, please spare my Servant the fight."
She turned to Shirou for confirmation. He tensed but replied, "Listen to her."
"If my Master trusts you enough, I will restrain myself for the time being." At least she was as sensible as Taiga remembered. One worry less on her chest. Yet the major disaster remained, and it would take harsher actions. Namely: "Shirou, you can't join the War."
Saber moved between them like a barrier. "Make no mistake. My Master might have allied with you, but he will not accept orders…"
"War?" Shirou cut her passionate speech. "What are you saying?"
He did not know. Shirou summoned a Servant by sheer chance. If Taiga had protected him better, they could have avoided the tragedy. She took the news as stoically as the King of the Knights. Almost.
"Then how did you summon her?" She clenched her fists and screamed. At least, Caster's Master had attempted to bring forth something - if not exactly what he got.
"We have more pressing matters," Saber decided and ended the talk. "An enemy is coming. It should take seconds to defeat them. I need no help." She leaped over the wall, leaving the three of them.
Another? Now?
"Archer!" Taiga ordered. "Chase after her and make sure she does not kill the opposing Servant!"