As I pulled my master over my shoulder and outside, I inwardly cursed. Why does the Grail love messing with my life? First it was a fire that made me lose my first identity, then it was forcing me to take part in the Holy Grail War and let's not get into the mess involved in trying to dismantle it.

Now when I finally have peace it summons me against my will... Wait a second, didn't Rin once mention that the original Heroic Spirits had to agree to the summoning. The fact that I'm here in first place implies something's different.

The question is whether that's good or bad; on one hand that means the Grail might not be corrupted, but on the other hand that means it's much more unpredictable.

As I was lost in my thoughts I almost missed the sound of a twig snapping, instantly I quickly but carefully put my master down and adapted my posture to suit my position in the case of attack. I made as if I was holding two swords, ready to trace in a moments notice after all this was a Grail War and in war anything goes.

As a slight breeze brushed behind me, I instantly spun around and found myself being rushed at by a purple haired man wearing a mask and wielding what appeared to be a scythe. While it wouldn't have been my preferred choice, it wasn't a bad weapon all things considered. A scythe could be used to incapacitate as well as maim or kill; the handle was long enough that it could be used as a weapon on it's own. From the way he was holding it: the handle being pointed at me akin to a lance, I could tell he wasn't aiming to kill.

Similarly, the breeze was also a clue. A little known fact about servants was that unless we were holding back or were the weakest among the weak, we could use the wind itself as a weapon. Merely moving without holding back is enough to break the sound barrier and cause the wind to be strong as a bullet. The fact that the breeze wasn't anywhere near that strong meant that he was conserving his strength. This could also have meant that he was masterless and trying to save on power but combined with his method of attacking it was almost a sure sign.

This meant that I could hold back as well, after all if I fought at full strength, my identity could be compromised and used against my master. Best to use my less well-known skills, such as projection or 'it'.

All these thoughts passed through my head as I said those words that I used all my life.

"Trace on!"

As I formed the words to my aria, Kanshou and Bakuya, the married blades, materialised into my hands just in time to block his first strike.

"Why are you doing this?" As the words slipped out of my mouth, I internally slapped myself for asking such a cliche question.

Naturally the masked servant I was fighting didn't answer, well unless his idea of answering was attempting to push the pole of his scythe into my gut.

As I blocked him with Kanshou and Bakuya I started to examine him in more detail. What struck me most was how similar his hairstyle was to Shinji's, that thought caused me to tighten my hold on both of my swords.

For some reason I couldn't add his weapon to the blade works, this meant a skill of his or a Noble Phantasm clouded his identity in mystery.

Alright, despite the way he moved, it was obvious he was not a Lancer, after all a Lancer was well known for its agility and while this servant did a good job, it was still obvious he was faking. As such the only servant he could be was Rider, this however meant he was holding back more than I thought. A Rider always had a mount, as I learnt from bitter experience; still he was hardly going have a Pegasus just like that other Rider servant.

Anyway, it was time for me to confirm my suspicions.

"You're holding back, Rider."

As I said this I noticed a slight tensing of his shoulders, looks like I was right. As he prepared to attack, he charged and jumped right over me heading straight towards my unconscious master, his scythe raised in the air ready to taste her blood. Thinking quickly I threw Bakuya right at him, the white blade was spinning like a buzz saw as it headed towards him. Unsurprisingly he moved out of the way just in time, though it did manage to score a deep cut on his right arm.

He turned his head to look at me and despite the fact he wore a mask, I could tell he was glaring daggers at me. He turned away and took off into the distance.

I decided that it would be best not to press the advantage, after all my master was unconscious and without me she was defenceless.

That decision would be both a blessing and a curse.

Wise Up!

Saber- Shirou Emiya (Fate AU):

Strength- D

Agility- C

Endurance- A

Luck- C

Magic- B

Noble Phantasm- ?

Class skills:

Magic Resistance- B

At this Rank it cancels spells with 3 verses or less, high level rituals or 4 verses and higher will slow him down.

Riding- D

Some mounts can be ridden on with average skill eg: Car, Bike, Horse, Plane

Personal skills:

Battle Continuation- B

He doesn't die when he's killed.

Clairvoyance- C

Allows for superior vision enabling ability to use any long range weapon.

High-Speed Incantation- D

Allows for spells to be recited at high speeds.

Familiar (Shadow creatures)- B

Allows use of familiars. While weak against servants one on one these creatures can absorb magical attacks and resurrect until recalled.

Thaumaturgy- C+

Eye of the mind (True)- B

Capable of calm analysis of battle conditions even when in danger and deduce an appropriate course of action after considering all possibilities to escape from a predicament. So long there is even a 1% chance of a comeback, this ability greatly improves the chances of winning.

Independent Action- C

Capable of independent operations and can fight without a master for one day.