Chapter 6: Opening Moves
16 Days after The Breach, Amity Coliseum, Vale
Cardin rested his mace on his shoulder, looking over at the team opposite of his own. The other team was a first year team from Atlas, which was plain for everyone in the stadium to see. Immaculate uniforms and rigid stances before battle made it obvious where they were from, and Cardin and his team took the time to rest before the match started.
Dove held his sword lightly to the side, his posture remaining calm and relaxed. Sky rested against his halberd and Russel toyed a little with his knives. Looking over the Atlesian team, Cardin took the time to study their weapons and review tactics. Two girls, two boys. One had a sword, possibly a shield, another had two knives, same as Russel. One of the boys had a what seemed to be a machine gun, with an elongated bayonet, which Cardin assumed was able to transform into a spear, and the last girl had a whip at her side.
"How much you want to bet that whip uses dust?" He said to his teammates.
"I'll take you up on that offer," Sky said. Cardin took another glance at the team.
"Alright, let's review strategy. If we're lucky we'll get something that can provide cover from that machine gun, but if we don't we're going to have to charge it. I can tank the fire, Russel you go straight for him. You don't have to take him out, just keep pressured enough that he can't shoot."
"Sky and Dove, you two keep the other members off him, make sure he has a straight shot at him." The others nodded.
"If we do get some cover from them, we split up into pairs, me and Russel and Dove with Sky. Try not to get into a dragged out fight, use hit and run tactics to whittle away their aura. If you get split up then run and regroup to the highest point of the field." The others nodded in understanding, maintaining their relaxed composure.
"What about Archer?" Dove questioned. Cardin shrugged in response, pointing his thumb behind him.
"I doubt he'll help us, at least until we find another servant. Don't expect any help is what I'm saying." Cardin looked out the corner of his eye behind him. He couldn't see him, but he didn't worry about it, Archer and him having hashed out a plan before the match.
Enjoying the view Archer?
Mhm, I've got a clear line of sight of the arena. No sign of any master or servant though.
Got it, tell me if you see anything. Cardin let out a small breath as the timer counted down to the start of the match. Holographic symbols appeared above the teams as random images were rattled off like a gambling machine. A few seconds later the symbols slowed and stopped, showing two symbols; One for a forest and one for a snowy mountain.
The timer let out a shrill buzz as both teams jumped into action. CRDL reacted slightly faster, the team splitting up into pairs, Cardin and Russel going to the forest and Sky and Dove towards the mountain. The other team followed close behind them, Machine Gun Man and Whip Girl following Cardin as he dodged behind the trees. Bullets whizzed past him, mulching up the trees around him, and he crouched behind a mostly intact tree.
Russel was to his right, crouching behind an intact tree and looked over to Cardin.
"Any ideas boss?" He shouted over the sound of the machine gun. The fire had died off as soon it began, and instead was a series of short bursts. Cardin peeked around the far side of his tree. Machine Gun Man was crouching, using a large stone as a gun rest, and Whip Girl was going around the far side towards Cardin. He turned back to Russel and pointed up towards the canopy.
"Go up! I'll be the distraction and you take him out!" Russel nodded and used his daggers to quickly mount the tree. The trunk was thick enough to hide him from the gunners view, and Cardin took another look. The gunner had stopped firing and instead was sweeping the area, and Whip Girl was gone. Taking a second to steel his nerves, he ran out into the open.
He heard machine gun fire coming towards him a split second later, tearing up the ground around him, some even bouncing off his aura. He paid it no mind, instead focusing on running in between the trees, using them for cover. The plan seemed to work, as he saw Russel moving towards the boy. He made another sprint across the forest, more bullets bouncing around him, ducking and weaving through the trees.
He let out a sigh of relief as the machine gunfire stopped, instead hearing the sounds of blades clashing. He stopped his sprint and turned around.
Russel swung his daggers madly at the boy, the blades turning into streaks of color as different dust cartridges were switched. Cardin began to make his way over to his teammate, preparing his mace for a swing. But before he could strike he felt pain spread across his face and his breath leave him as his body collided with the ground.
I just fell on my face in front of everybody in the four kingdoms, he noted dryly. His thoughts were interrupted by a sharp pain emanating from his leg, and he rolled over to check his surroundings.
"Fuck," he grunted, trying to catch his breath. A frost-covered whip was coiled around his leg and he followed it's cord back to the owner, who gave him a vicious smirk. She tugged back on the whip and he felt himself roll across the ground, and gasped in pain as his stomach impacted a tree.
Tears formed in his eyes at the pain, but he forced himself up to his knees. He attempted to stand, only to grasp at his side at sharp pain.
Broken rib? Great. He took a knee, one hand nursing his side as his aura quickly began to mend the fractured bone, the other hand holding his mace at a guard position. Better to lose the mace than have the whip agitate his wound.
He strained his ears to catch any sign of the girl's whereabouts but all that greeted him was the sound of Russel's fight. His breath came back to him, and he took quick, light breaths, hoping to calm his heart. He took a glance at Russel, only to see that he was now being pushed back, the spearman having been able to use his ranged advantage.
Crap, I need to help him now, he thought. He hazarded another attempt to get up, and it seemed the combination of natural adrenaline and aura was enough to stop his side from hurting enough to impede him. He took a hesitant step forward, and having no pain, he picked picked up his pace, jogging to the quickly turning one-sided battle.
The Atlesian's back was to him and Cardin began to run at him. He took his mace in both hands and made a strong swing. His mace collided with the middle of the boy's back, propelling him forward into a tree. Russel gave him a thankful nod.
"Ideas?" the mohawked boy said.
"Take out Machine Gun, then focus on Whip Girl. Work from there," he answered quickly. His breaths became quicker and deeper, and he gave a hoarse cough. Russel looked concerned but quickly made his way over to the other boy, who was starting get up from his landing.
Russel made a smooth slash at the boy's back, stumbling him away from the tree. Digging his foot into the ground to stop his momentum, he turned to face the boy and made a cross with two slashes at his chest, one dagger with ice dust and the other with fire. The other boy was unable to catch his balance and Russel continued his assault, chipping away at his aura.
With a roar, he made four more slashes and ended his rapid attack with a stab towards the boy's stomach. He stumbled backwards, where Cardin was waiting with his mace at the ready. He slammed it into boy as he was turning to face Cardin, the fire crystal activating and sending him rolling across the ground.
"And another member from Team STEL is out of the match. I must say, that was painful to watch, don't you agree, professor?"
"I do indeed Barty. An excellent show of teamwork from the members of CRDL, using their strength and speed to isolate and disorient Samuel. But what of his partner?" Cardin looked at Russel in surprise, his face mirroring his own. Cardin turned back to where he had come from in time to see the whip come and hit Russel in the chest, a small explosion emanating from the tip and sending his partner flying into a nearby boulder.
Taking a look at the screen, he saw Russel's aura deplete until it was red, officially signifying his expulsion from the match. He didn't have much time to comprehend this, as the whip came towards him. He rolled to his side, narrowly dodging the whip and the icy spikes that came from it.
The girl came out from the treeline and rolled back her whip. Cardin raised his mace to send a jet of flame towards her, but his arm was caught by the whip instead. The girl rushed him, a dagger in her other hand, similar in design to Russel's. He felt the blade impact him in his shoulder, ice and frost covering his pauldron. His arm was brought low towards the ground, and the longer the whip was attached the hotter his arm became.
He saw the tendrils of flame coming off the whip and cursed, his metal gauntlet effectively turning into an oven. The girl went around Cardin's back and kicked at his knee, forcing him to kneel. He growled in frustration and pain as the heat on his arm continued to rise. His mind raced trying to search for a solution as the girl continually stabbed at his armor and brought his aura down.
I can try and rip it off… he thought. But everything he was taught at Beacon screamed at him to stop, to think of a different way. Every lesson revolved around the idea of conserving as much aura as possible, to be the ultimate survivor and live to fight another day. By trying to rip off the whip he would more than likely bring his aura dangerously close to elimination.
Currently, his aura was a little over half full, the healing and beatings taking its toll. He continued to wrestle between the two thoughts as he was hit more and more often.
Archer had told him to be aggressive during training, but surely being aggressive was different than headstrong, right?
He also said that the only reason he got out of fights alive was by risking it all, he thought. He didn't waste anymore time after that thought. Without thinking, he grabbed the whip coiled around his arms.
White hot pain spread across his hand and he nearly let go of his grip out of reflex. He grit his teeth and held on, the heat scalding his hand. He watched in dismay as the whip refused to budge at his first couple of tugs, seemingly growing tighter with every attempt.
Changing tactics, he moved his arms as much as possible in one direction, and instead of pulling it loose, attempted to rip off one section of the whip. A grin made it onto his face as the he felt the whip begin to break. He filled his hand with aura, doubling his strength, and heard a satisfying snap as the whip broke into two.
Keeping his grip, he yanked the cord forward, intent on flipping his opponent on the ground. To her credit, she kept herself grounded, instead breaking off from Cardin as he made a wild swing behind him with his mace.
He picked himself up and checked his hand. It was a bright shade of red, but his aura was already under way of healing any skin damage. He tentatively touched his mace hilt, only to fling his hand back as the pain flared up.
Got to do this one handed then. He twirled his mace in one hand and checked the stadium screen on any updates. Sky had been eliminated, Dove was still going strong and they managed to take out one of their opponents, with dove having significantly more aura than his opponent.
Cardin's aura was much closer to the expulsion limit, being a little less than a quarter left and his opponent was around half.
The dangers of putting your aura into your equipment.
He uncoiled the remaining length of cord around his arm, it having quickly lost its heat after being ripped off. A dark scorch mark lay where the cord had been, and his gauntlet was slightly warped from the intense heat. He rolled his shoulders and wiped off the frost that had accumulated on it.
The girl across from him eyed him warily, keeping her knife raised in front of her. Cardin slowly approached her, waiting for her to make the first move. If she lost that much aura from her weapon breaking then her pool of aura must be limited.
All I need is a good hit or two. She lunged towards him, her knife leaving a red trail in the air. He deftly dodged it and made a half-hearted swing, which she in turn dodged. He kept himself on the defensive, mostly dodging her attacks where he could and parrying the few he couldn't.
He kept retreating until they were covered under the shade of the forest canopy. Taking a step back from a sideways slash, he heard a faint click from behind him and instinctively jumped away. An explosion of dirt and fire appeared a second later, blocking his vision.
He held up his bad hand to shield his eyes and dodged from another lunge. From the corner of his eye he could make out faint lights and disturbed earth all around them.
Traps. Shit.
It explained why he wasn't attacked during his tag-team with Russel then. He would have to end it here then or risk getting blown up from a trap. He dug his foot into the ground and put a defensive stance with his mace.
He remembered a stance Archer had used back in his fight with Lancer, where he had made a gap in his defenses so obvious that even a freshman at Signal could recognize it. He kept his bad arm limp, and favored his good side, waiting for her strike.
Fortunately for him, she took the bait and made a lung at his exposed side. He twisted his body painfully to the side and gripped her arm with his burnt hand, pain filling his senses as the wound became agitated.
He seemed to catch her off guard with the move, and took advantage of it by slamming his forehead into her own. He ignored the pain and followed up his headbutt with a quick jab from his mace. Using the same tactic Russel had used with the boy, he made more and more quick jabs, sacrificing his power with speed.
He finally brought his mace to bear and slammed it into her chest with a swing, activating the dust crystal at the tip. The explosion sent her rolling on the ground and into the tree, a buzzing occurring a second later to signify her aura dropping. He checked the screen and saw that her aura had just barely dropped into the red territory, while a second later Dove's opponent's picture faded and another buzz sounded.
He smiled as the crowd cheered the end of the battle, raising a fist in victory. He hooked his mace onto his belt and made his way over to the girl, holding out his good hand for her. She managed to make it onto her knees and took his hand. Hoisting her up, he let dropped his grip and patted her on the shoulder.
"Nice work with that whip, by the way. Gave my arm a good burn." They made their way off the field, he nursing his wound and she holding an arm on her stomach.
"You and your teammate had some good hits on Samuel back there. I've never seen him be pushed back that long before." Cardin gave a small shrug.
"That's Rus for you. That tree hurt like a bitch by the way," he responded. She chuckled softly.
"I can say the same." She sighed a little at that, holding her broken whip.
"It's going to cost quite a few pennies to fix this though," she said sadly. He rubbed his head nervously at her tone.
"Sorry about that."
"Eh, it'll be okay. Atlas'll pay for any repairs caused by the tournament." The got off the fighting stage and entered the stadium, with Dove appearing a short while later. Cardin nodded to him and made his way with him. He stopped himself though, and turned back to the girl, holding out his hand.
"I'm Cardin, by the way. I didn't have a chance to learn your team name," he said sheepishly. She looked a little stunned, but gripped his hand and shook it.
"Lavender," she replied.
"It's been a good fight," he said, a smile on his face. She smiled too, and Cardin gave a single wave as he and Dove made their way to the stadium infirmary.
16 Days after The Breach, Amity Coliseum, Vale
Shirou sat on the roof of the coliseum, one leg hanging off of the side of the roof, watching as festival goers went to and from their seats, taking advantage of the thirty minute break periods in between the fights. His eyes followed his master as he helped up the girl who had nearly beaten him a minute prior.
He was both proud and glad for his master, proud for them winning and glad that he was able to help up those he fought. He knew a little of the plight his master faced with his peers, and seeing them work together and win in the first round of the tournament would doubtlessly help their standing at the school.
He turned his attention back to the crowd of people, sifting through the mass of bodies. The one benefit to having this many people in one spot was that they were all stuck in place for quite a while, giving him ample time to search them for command seals.
There wasn't any sign of Lancer or her master, giving him some relief. But he hadn't found much evidence of any master being at the stadium, aside from one.
The white-haired girl sitting with three other girls. The resemblance to Lancer's master was obvious and enough to warrant his suspicion. She was undoubtedly related to her, not even his own luck skill could make an improbability like that. Her bandaged hand being the correct hand for command seals, along with the faint red symbols bleeding through it, sealed the deal. He only hoped she would be able to listen first, rather than fight at first sight.
What was also curious was the blacked-haired girl next to her with a similar bandage. It was possible both of them could be masters, but better to be safe than sorry,
Master, I think I found two possible masters at the tournament.
Two? He heard his master respond incredulously.
Yes. One looks very close to Lancer's master, and the other is wearing a red cape. Do you know them? He heard his master sigh.
Shit. Yeah, I do. Weiss is the white-haired one, and that probably means Lancer's master is her sister if they look that similar. And the girl in the cape is Ruby. Shirou mulled over this new info as he watched the four get up from their seats and exit the stadium.
Think they'll be willing to talk?
Maybe. Ruby probably will, she wants to be a hero, like, uh...you, I guess. Weiss on other hand…
Well, let's just say that she was a stuck up snob when she got here, and she's gotten only slightly better. Shirou picked himself up from the roof and went into his astral form, making his way down to the floor level.
It's probably best to confront them tonight then. At the very least we'd be able to find out who their is. Most everyone has cleared out from the stadium. I'll make my way to you and head back up when the next match starts.
Got it. Shirou continued on his way to his master, formulating strategies for dealing with the two could be masters. He internally sighed at the prospect of a fight between the three students, but quietly made his way to his master's side, ready to protect him from any threat.
16 Days after The Breach, Vytal Festival grounds, Vale
"I can beat anyone of you pransy hunters with a broken arm and one eye!" Carmine watched the commotion his servant was causing with amusement as his servant riled up more and more people.
It was close to nightfall, and once the matches at the coliseum were over everybody went to the festival grounds, where entertainment, food and amusements of all kinds were gathered. He could get fish from Mistral, weapons from Atlas, literature from Vacuo and trinkets directly from Vale at these grounds, and every festival was packed with tourists and merry goers at all times.
It would even be safe to say that every night for three weeks a whole new city sprang up from the festival grounds. Currently though, he and his servant had gone to the more adult section of the festival, with bars and other stands being set up for both huntsman and citizens alike. It'd taken only a couple of drinks before Saber had gone to the nearest gathering of huntsman and challenged them to a brawl.
"The hell're you talking about? You don't look like you could take on a beowolf, let alone three huntsmen," said one man, his voice slightly slurred. The scarred woman next to him snorted and sipped her drink, paying more attention to the bar television than to the conversation.
Another man in a nice suit listened in on their conversation, drink waiting in between his hands. He leaned next to Carmine, a hand covering his mouth.
"Your friend is quite the hunter, it seems," he commented quietly. Carmine nodded, taking another sip of his drink as the two men proceeded to try and out do the other in showing their many scars.
"Yeah, he's been like this for as long as I can remember."
Which has been for less than a week. The suited man didn't say anything after that, backing away from Carmine and was content to watch Saber and the hunter continue their argument. The woman looked over at Carmine, and he mentally smirked a little as he saw her eyes widen slightly. She shoved her friend on the shoulder, breaking his concentration and pointed over at him.
"You know who that is, right? He's the Phoenix of Vacuo." Her friend sobered slightly at that, suddenly getting sheepish around him, while Saber gave him a blank stare.
"The what?" he questioned evenly.
"It's a nickname people gave me, on account of the fact I'm really hard to kill," he responded calmly. He didn't mind the name much, and he had to admit, he was kind of glad that a lot of huntsmen knew about him. Saber clapped him on the shoulder and his grasp on his drink slipped, alcohol going over the side of the cup.
"Ha! I knew it, someday you'll be a hero like me master!" He was glad the other huntsmen were too engrossed with his presence to notice Saber's slip of the tongue; Vacuo was the most progressive of the four kingdoms when it came to civic laws, disbanding slavery decades before the other kingdoms.
"Wow, this is uh...this is pretty amazing," the hunter said. The suited man coughed politely, pointing a questioning finger to Carmine.
"Extraordinary as this is, why are you in Vale? The festival is one thing, but the matches between graduated huntsmen doesn't start for a week."
"I got called in as a proctor, make sure those kids don't kill each other on accident." He shrugged his shoulders nonchalantly.
"You know how it is, hormones and everything." Saber made a move to his cup when his hand stilled. He turned his head to look behind him and Carmine followed his gaze. A black-haired girl in the uniform of a Haven academy student was nearby, browsing through the other booths. The question rising through his throat died as his servant spoke up.
"Master," he near whispered. He moved away from the table and made his way to the girl. Carmine excused himself, much to the dismay of his companions, and quickly caught up with Saber.
"Is she a master?" he asked quietly. The girl hadn't noticed them so far, but in the time it took for him to catch Saber, another black-haired woman, older and in metal armor, stood next to her, placing a hand on her shoulder. Saber nodded, muscles tensing.
"Shit, too many people around. Think of any way to bring this fight to the woods?" he questioned. Saber said nothing, but changed course to a section of the forest that lead away from the grounds. Carmine gave a small sigh of relief, but quickly prepared himself for a fight, a hand on the longsword at his waist.
At this point both of the women had seen them, and the younger girl had similar thoughts to his own. Once safely in the forest, the only light they had was from the full moon, partly shattered as it went through it's cycle. Saber had materialized his mail armour, leather gauntlets and greaves appearing a moment later.
A sword appeared in his hand, a slight shimmer of flames dancing on along the blade. The other servant smirked confidently, an armored warhorse appearing alongside her. Carmine tightened his hold on the sword as he drew it from the sheath and prepared himself for battle.
In an instant Saber and the other servant, undoubtedly Rider, disappeared from view. Before he could blink, both reappeared, dirt and earth rising around them as the ground shook from their clash.
The second battle had commenced.
16 Days after The Breach, Forever Fall forest, Vale
Cardin paced around the tree he and Archer were waiting at, forming a small dirt path as he revolved around the tree for what seemed like the hundredth time.
Archer had remained quiet for most of the time they were out here, aside from informing Cardin of lone Grimm wandering the forest, quickly followed by a single speck of red shooting through the air.
Eventually though Archer broke the silence, sitting down on a branch just above Cardin's head.
"So, these other masters. Tell me about them."
"Why?"
"Might help me anticipate their actions," he replied shrugging his shoulders. He then rubbed his head awkwardly, a sheepish look adorning his face.
"Also, I'm kind of bored." Cardin sighed, but welcomed the distraction.
More time spent talking is less time being nervous.
"Well, Red's an energetic person. She'll probably not even try to hide any type of secret plan, if there's even one."
"So, she's an honorable sort then." Cardin leaned against the tree and shrugged his shoulder slightly.
"More like a naive sort. But, she's real good with her scythe, seeing as she's two years younger than the first-years." Archer raised a brow at that.
"Two years? She must be a prodigy, then. What about the other one?"
"Weiss Schnee, which would make her sister Winter Schnee, who we think is Lancer's master. I wouldn't put it past her to try to have us do some dirty work for her, but I doubt she'd try and fight us without talking first." Archer hummed softly, mulling over the information.
"So, a young, idealistic prodigy along with a deceitful heiress who could possibly be working with another master, who happens to be her sister." Archer leaned back, sighing softly.
"The Grail wars always were interesting," he muttered. Cardin shook his head, frowning.
"I doubt schnee would work with her sister. When I was talking with Red in the hospital she mentioned that their team was getting called in by her family, and Schnee wasn't happy, to put it lightly."
"Still, it's a possibility," Archer said evenly. The two remained silent for some time, and Cardin grew restless once more. His message to Ruby had said to meet him with Weiss in the forest after dark at this spot, and he'd been waiting for nearly an hour now.
As he began to pace once more, Archer lifted his gaze and let out a low whistle, getting Cardin's attention.
It seems like they're here. What's the plan of action?
I'll try and talk to them first, find out if they're masters. Stay invisible for now, if they are masters then it might keep this from escalating.
As you wish. At that Archer dematerialized, leaving Cardin alone. He was in his uniform, jacket unbuttoned and his mace hidden behind the tree. He knew that alone he couldn't win against either of them one on one, and both was suicide, but hopefully Archer could cause a big enough distraction to give him time to escape, if things got messy.
The two came up to him, standing away from the tree, both in their uniforms as well. It didn't go unnoticed to Cardin that they had weapons at their hips.
Undeterred, he raised a hand in greeting.
"Hey Red, glad to see you've got my message." Ruby nodded nervously, giving a wave to him. He turned his attention to Weiss.
"Schnee."
"Winchester." She took a look around them, crossing her arms and walked around in a small circle.
"So, what did you want to talk about? It's getting late," she snapped. Cardin leaned against the tree and put on a relaxed demeanor.
"Expecting trouble?" he said, nodding his head towards their weapons. Weiss huffed, visibly getting irritated.
"We're in the middle of a forest infested with Grimm, at night. Why wouldn't we bring weapons?" He raised his hands in defeat.
"Just curious is all. I mean, only a few Grimm species are known to be nocturnal, none of which live in the forest." Weiss began to speak, but he cut her off before she had a chance.
"I actually listened to Port during that lesson, so don't try to debate it. And the amount of Grimm active at night is so miniscule and spread out that given how I've been here for nearly an hour and left untouched, makes me wonder why you felt the need to bring weapons." He got up from his position and moved towards them.
"Ruby's fast enough to speed both of you away from anything in this forest, so you don't need to fight." Weiss had gone quiet, and Ruby awkwardly stood nearby, uncertain of what to do.
"I'll ask again; Why do you have weapons?" When she didn't respond, he raised his hand and showed them his seals.
"Might it have anything to do with these?" He saw both of their eyes widen in shock, and gave himself a self-satisfying smirk. It was short-lived however, as he narrowly dodged a quick swipe from Weiss's rapier, keeping his body close to the tree trunk.
"Weiss! What're you doing?"
"Come on Ruby, he has the seals! You heard what Caster said, he's going to try and fight us." Cardin raised both of his hands in front of him, slowly backing up to his mace.
Hold on Archer, I think i can salvage this.
Not a smart move master, but alright.
Thanks.
"Woah now, I don't want to fight! That's why I asked you both out here. Am I right to think Ruby is a master." Weiss didn't say anything, holding her rapier at the ready, but nodded.
"Alright, can we put our weapons down? We don't need to resort to violence."
"Come on Weiss. He doesn't want to fight, and we don't want to fight." Weiss looked over to Ruby, who had one hand on her weapon arm. She kept her gaze for a few more seconds before looking away, closing her eyes and sighing.
"Fine. But talk quickly, before I change your mind." He lowered his hands and straightened, visibly relaxing himself.
"As you know, we're in the middle of a war, one we can't leave until it's conclusion is reached. Since we are all students at Beacon, I was thinking we form an alliance," he said.
"At least until we're the only ones left standing. After that, I don't know. I guess we can see in time."
"And if we refuse this alliance?"
"Then I guess we're enemies, though I don't want to fight you just now." Weiss looked back to Ruby, and then back to him. The silence that filled the air was deafening, and Cardin began to sweat slightly despite the cold night air. He inched his hand closer to the handle of his weapon.
Finally, Weiss sheathed her weapon, albeit reluctantly.
"Fine, we accept. I guess it would be best to show our servants then. Ruby, you first." Ruby sprung up in surprise at the mention of her name.
"Oh! Uh, yeah, my servant...Assassin, please." A man shimmered into existence behind Ruby, wrapped in a black cloak, shadows disguising all of his features aside from two bright spots of light that Cardin could only guess was supposed to be eyes.
"And now, mine. Caster, if you please." A woman appeared aside Weiss, and Cardin jumped in surprise at the noise of surprise his servant made. Caster seemed to notice this, and raised an eyebrow at him.
Archer materialised behind him, a look of shock filling his face. Caster herself was in shock too, and the pair stayed like that for moments, to the surprise and concern of their masters. Archer broke the silence, his voice sounding like a horn in the silence.
"Rin?"
A/N: Hey there guys, here's chapter six. I wanted to start off the chapter with a fight in the tournament mainly because it would make for good story, but also because it'd be kind of fun to write both Cardin and Russel, as well as random characters fighting with weird weapons. I was originally going to have the Saber v Rider fight in the chapter, but I decided to save it for next chapter, so that I could make it more on the forefront. I enjoyed writing the clandestine meeting between the three masters, and I'm going to enjoy writing the meeting between Rin and Shirou.
As always please review, every review helps me write the story and improve my writing style.
Thank you and have a nice day.
-Collaredblock4
Words: 5,750
Pages: 14
