Renewing The Vow

Tohsaka Rin turned uneasily in his unconsciousness, his head throbbing like crazy and his eyelids feeling as though they were made of lead. Try as he might, he couldn't open his eyes, and even the faint light coming through his eyelids intensified the pain in his head. But he forced himself to sit up despite being unable to open his eyes. His body was a lot more cooperative, thankfully. He was still disoriented, though. The throbbing in the back of his head made it almost impossible to collect his thoughts and memories.

He rubbed his eyes and then cradled them in his palms. The pinkish-white of the light coming through his translucent eyelids were replaced by a faint pink before being replaced by a pitch black. The throbbing, while still present, stopped feeling like it permeated his whole head and began to recede after a few minutes while he became more and more aware of what had transpired before his slumber.

Yes… He was with Emiya and…

His head snapped up in an instant, almost causing his head to swim again in a way that made him feel like vomiting. But he ignored it and forced his eyes open to see an unfamiliar Japanese-style room. The light made him squint as he impatiently blinked to get his eyes accustomed and attempted to get out of the bed. As he turned to get off his bed, a pair of hands firmly held his shoulders and kept him in place. Astonishingly blue eyes framed by blond hair like the beams of the midday sun filled his sight. They sported a worried and somewhat apologetic look as a boyish yet refined voice said, "Please, stay still. You were hurt quite badly then, so it'd be unwise to move so suddenly."

Rin stopped struggling, but nonetheless pushed away the hands of the boy from his shoulders and backed away a bit. He couldn't quite recognize the person, but the intensely inhuman aura he radiated indicated that he couldn't be anything but a Servant.

"…You're Emiya's Servant, aren't you?" Rin asked in an almost defeated manner.

The boy… or perhaps "Young Man" would be more fitting, looked startled. He opened his mouth once, but no sound came. Rin raised an eyebrow, wondering what part of the question was so shocking to him.

"But- this can't… How do you know?!" He finally spluttered after a few moments, a touch of hostility in his voice evident. Rin simply raised his eyebrows higher in response,

"Um… I distinctly remember that the only Master without a Servant within a few miles is Emiya." Rin replied drily, quite tired of the amount of unexpected surprises he had to face that day. Thankfully, as indicated by the Family Crest engraved on his left forearm releasing prana within his body, the injury to the back of his head was being healed and the pain subsiding. At least that was one less ache to handle.

A look of understanding and faint horror appeared on the youth's face before vanishing into a dignified and stoic mask. "Ah, so you're referring to Mashiro." He said, (Rin noted that he was mispronouncing her name), "My apologies, I wasn't told her full name. It was a mistake on my part."

He straightened up, his posture impeccable, and said, "Accept my apologies again, I assaulted you without a second thought. I was under the impression that you were threatening to assault Mashiro."

"…What if I don't forgive you?" Rin asked rather drily, wondering where Saber was. "I might just be a very spiteful person."

"It would be unfortunate," The Servant replied smoothly, "however, it is unwise to assume that one would receive closure in every kind of situation. So, I would simply accept it and move on. However, I shall show you no mercy if you attempt to harm me or my Master due to that spire."

"Wow, I see that Sir Stick-up-his-butt doesn't understand sarcasm." A snide female voice came from the open window. Saber materialized, perched atop of the windowsill with her legs hanging outside while she looked over her shoulder towards the two young men in the room.

The Blonde looked unfazed, "I was simply assuming that he was being serious based on the fact that we weren't having a conversation that would usually solicit sarcasm."

Before Rin could retort, Saber replied, "You'll find that my Master has a very hard time with the concept of "prudence" when he's not trying to project the image of a prissy honor student." She said it with the same formal air that Saber had but was obviously making fun of both of them.

Rin sighed, not feeling well enough to snap at Saber and addressed the young man in silver and blue wearily, "Could you call Emiya for me? I need to speak to her about the situation at hand…" He gave a look at the blonde and he understood as he replied with a slightly inclined head,

"Lancer. I shall notify Mashiro and Lady Sakura posthaste." He walked out the door gracefully and closed it behind him, giving the swordswoman in red perched on the windowsill a last look and nod.

"Ah… Damn it!" Rin whined as he threw himself face-first into the pillow as soon as Lancer's footsteps couldn't be heard.

"Damn it all! Why is this happening to me?! Whyyyyyyy!?" his voice was muffled but still audible to the Servant.

"Because you're awfully idiotic for a self-proclaimed genius." Saber stated in a mock-chipper voice. "Maybe if you were a little less cocky… Or, I guess had less of a moral compass-" She added the last part after a thoughtful pause.

"Yes, yes, it's all my fault." Rin said in a defeated tone. "I give up… Nothing goes my way even when it goes my way…"

Rin heard Saber sigh audibly. "Come on now… The Holy Grail War has barely started and you're already whining like a child."

Rin slowly sat up and looked at Saber with a sour expression, "I understand that… I'm just really not sure I'm cut out for this. I can't get into that mind frame of a Magus without acting like it was some kind of game."

"…So that's why." Saber said, and Rin could've sworn that there was a touch of affection beneath that tone of understanding. "I guess it was odd how… immature you acted randomly."

"But Master," Saber said seriously, climbing into the room and sitting on the bed, "This isn't a game. I know that you also understand what the stakes are."

Rin simply nodded in acknowledgement.

"Being… Well, I dabbled a bit with magecraft myself in my lifetime. My teacher was a lot like you, but he was still achieved a lot of things despite not being able to act as that ideal Magus obsessed with reaching the Root at all costs." Saber said after a bit of hesitation.

"Hmm…?" Rin was somewhat shocked by the revelation, but nonetheless noted to keep that information in his mind.

"You can do a lot of things other Magus would be unable to do because of your qualities… And I assure you, most Heroes would be a lot more cooperative with you compared to that ideal "Traditional Magus" archetype." Saber continued, "So keep your head up. If you have a wish you think is worth fighting for, that's all the justification and qualification you need to participate in the War."

"Thanks, Saber." Rin said after a few moments, looking at the back of his hand where his two remaining command seals were etched. "I'm sorry… I'm sorry that I'm the ass you're stuck with. And everything."

"Come on," Saber said, half-flustered, half-exasperated, "there's no need to get sentimental. We're stuck with eachother, so let's make the best of it."

Rin smiled, and extended his hand towards the Woman in Red, "Let's fight for eachother's wish."

Saber gave an amused sigh and shook his extended hand, "Let's fight your terrible luck together."

"Considering you answered my summons, I wouldn't be too thrilled about your luck either." Rin retorted drily, but smiling nonetheless as they broke their handshake.

"Fair point." Saber agreed.