As the cold wind fluttered through the broken windows, the three Masters conversed in the center of the large ballroom.
"That was the worst fight I've ever seen. It was three against one!" Rin threw her hands up, obviously angered by the results of their first battle.
"Well," Emiya began, rubbing the back of his neck, "it was our first fight together, we haven't even spent 24 hours together!"
"Well think about this Emiya, what're we going to do if another Master decides to spring a sudden surprise attack on us, the problem is your servant Kozeku! She's much too rash, and disobedient, she won't even tell you her True Name!"
As Rin continued to ramble off all of Berserker's faults, Kozeku stared at the three Servants, deep in conversation as they warmed themselves by a makeshift fire. "Look Rin," Kozeku changed his line of sight, turning to face the two Masters, "I'll get her under control. I'll definitely try."
"Tch," the twin-tailed mage crossed her arms, huffing, "you better do it soon." Standing up she wrapped her arms around her body, in an effort to stay warm. "I'm going to send Archer out to seek out any other Masters and Servants, in the mean time, Kozeku, you should show us to our rooms." With that she promptly strode away, approaching the group of servants.
As he watched her go Kozeku turned to Emiya. "She sure seems like she knows what she wants."
Laughing he responded, his eyes glimmering as he looked at the mage ordering Archer around. "Yep! She sure does." Averting his glances of wonderment toward his partner, he turned to face Kozeku, his face morphing into an expression of seriousness. "Look, I know that Rin has been lecturing you about this, but you really need to get Berserker under control."
Sighing, he rubbed his palms together absentmindedly. "I know. We got off to a rocky start. From the time when she was summoned, she seems to have despised me. I've been trying to charm her into revealing her name, or to even liking me, but she avoids all of my advances to become closer to her." He glanced once again over at the now, two servants, who seemed to be delved into deep conversation. "I just don't know how to get through to her, she finds fault in everything I do."
"I've really never had that problem, sorry." As the two male mages continued giving each other advice, both Saber and Berserker were immersed in conversation.
"Arturia Pendragon, I believe your name was after my time."
"I assume it was, judging on your clothes and the style of your hair, you seem to have a more of traditional Greek or Roman type to you. Perhaps you would be so kind as to reveal your name, so that we may converse better."
Shaking her head, Berserker stared into the fire. "That I cannot do, at least not yet. I won't pressure you to tell me about your past, as long as you cease your asking of my True Name."
Saber nodded, moving closer towards the dancing flames. "I will respect that. Yes, I prefer that we do not discuss my origin or past life. It is most troublesome to me." As she recounted her past life within her head, a hand landed upon her shoulder. Glancing up she turned to face a weary Emiya, bags lined the lower part of his eyes.
"Saber, Kozeku and Berserker agreed to take the first watch. We should get some sleep."
Nodding she stood, following Emiya. Before exiting the ballroom into the hallway she stopped, turning towards Beserker. "It was nice to speak with you Berserker."
"Me as well."
As she voiced her response, the Servant, Master pair walked off. Kozeku sat down across from Berserker, warming his hands by the makeshift fire. The once joyous and crowded ballroom was now a place of desolate destruction.
"Look, about today," Berserker began, averting his eyes, "forgive me for charging in like that. I could've harmed our allies." Kozeku couldn't help but smile a bit, was the rift between servant and master becoming smaller? "Also, I shoud've been more on guard and sensed him."
Kozeku nodded, not quite the apology he had wanted to hear, but it was better than nothing. "We're forming strategies in order to work together with the other Servants and Masters. Everything will fall into place eventually."
As they sat in the silence of a crackling fire and the wind whispering its gentle song, Kozeku opened his mouth. "What is your wish? If you obtain the Grail?" His only response was a cold glare from Berserker. Holding up his hands defensively, he began to explain. "Not that I'n trying to figure out your name, I'm just accepting that eventually you will find out."
She grunted, obviously not in the mood for sharing.
Dejected, Kozeku warmed his hands as he sat in the warmth. "My wish is for my little sister to come back." A curious glance from Berserker urged him to go on. "It was 10 years ago, I was 13, she was 7. Our father had just come home from a long business trip, and we had spent the whole day with him and mom." He smiled, recalling the pleasant memory, the shadows of the flames dancing on his face. "We were all tired out from a full day of playing, and we arrived home." Kozeku shook his head sadly, the fire seeming to de down as a cold breeze entered the room. "We should've known that something was wrong, but my sister and I were too excited. We never noticed that the door was already unlocked and ajar. We jumped out, racing each other towards the door, opening it and continuing to run up the stairs to our rooms."
Kozeku paused, becoming lost in the flames. "Then what happened?"
He sighed as sorrow entered his eyes. "I let her beat me this one time, and as soon as we got to the top of the stairs, she ran into her room." He gripped his hand tighter, his nails digging in, his shoulders tensed up, as he continued his story. "There was a bang. I ran to the room, yelling her name, and in it, was a masked man, a burglar. He had come to rob our house, and when my sister ran in, he shot her. I screamed as he shot my leg, my father running in and tackling him." The fire had almost gone out as the wind blew harder and harder, the air becoming colder and colder.
"My dad and I were both ok. We were in the hospital for a short time, but my sister, she was not."
As Kozeku concluded his story Berserker's face seemed to soften. Walking over towards him, she offered him a pat on the back. "It is a most honorable wish to revive your sister."
Their short conversation was cut short as Rin and Archer appeared in the dilapidated doorway. "Shift change. Archer didn't see any Servants or Masters around, but we need to be extremely careful."
Almost nothing was said as they changed stations, a curt nod between masters, and an air of tensions between servants. "Berserker, I need to talk with Rin to strategize, choose any room in the South Hallway."
As she turned to leave, Berserker stopped. "My son."
"Excuse me?"
"My wish, is to revive my son." With those words she nearly sprinted off towards the South Hallway.
Kozeku smiled, maybe the two had something in common after all.