Rin was glad Sakura couldn't look through Rider's eyes, as Rider looked upon Shirou's bloodied form. Why did it have to be him? Why wasn't she there? She could have saved him. She had a jewelled necklace with ten years' worth of prana. Oh, this was too horrible…

She wasn't sure what exactly she sent over the link, but Rider seemed to have picked up on some of her thoughts. "You can save him?"

"Yes." She sent back, clutching the red jewel to her chest. "But by the time I get there, it'll be too late. And you can't perform the spell, can you?"

"While I cannot heal others" images flashed in Rin's mind, too quickly for her to fully comprehend them, "I can get you here. Do you have everything you need on you?" She could feel Rider straighten, become more resolute.

"Yes."

"Then don't panic." As the shadows around her thickened, Rin was reminded of that time Berserker had saved her from that creature, and how he had gotten her to uncle Kariya's apartment. A shape- not even fully formed- lunged out the shadows, grabbing Rin by the collar and dragging her into the shadow on the wall. Rin was greeted by an eerily familiar feeling of rapid travel, complete darkness and strange noises.

Then it was over, and she stood at Rider's side, the shadows receding back to their proper places. "Quickly." Rider urged, snapping Rin back to the moment at hand. She rushed to Shirou's side, and began unleashing the prana stored in her gem.

"Please, don't die. You can't die. She needs you!"

Sisters Once More

After healing Shirou, they began walking back home. Rider had been the one to suggest it, and Rin had agreed, as it gave them more time to decide on what to tell Sakura.

"I don't suppose we should just tell her the truth?" Rider sighed at his Master. "She knows something happened, and that it involved Shirou."

"You want to tell her that the boy she loves got killed by a Servant and that I had to practically resurrect him? To be perfectly honest, I wasn't even sure it would work. I am not telling Sakura that."

"Then perhaps you should tell her whatever you made Shirou think happened. That way, there wouldn't be any conflicting information."

"…"

"…You forgot to alter his memories."

"No! It's just… He's a Magus. There's no point in messing with his mind- he might notice it! This way he knows something dangerous is going on and be careful."

Rider wasn't convinced. From what he'd seen of the boy, he was not the type to stand idle while people were being stabbed to death at random, even if he himself had gotten hurt. He was just about to bring it up when a thought struck him.

"Hey, what do you think Lancer would do if he figured out the boy was still alive?" Rin froze in place, standing completely still for a few seconds, before letting loose some very un-ladylike language and turning to run to the Emiya household. Rider sighed, before turning to spirit form. "Kids these days…"

Sisters Once More

Illyasviel Von Einzbern was quite irritated at the Tohsaka Master. Who did she think she was, talking to her brother? The Holy Grail War was supposed to be a free-for-all battle royale, so she had no excuse to be walking alongside Shirou in the middle of the night without even trying to kill him. Not that it would have made Illya any less annoyed, seeing how she was going to be the one to kill her precious brother, but at least then Tohsaka would have been playing by the rules.

Tohsaka's Servant was standing protectively in front of her, his sword and shield looking pathetically small when compared to her own massive Servant. Her brother's golden Servant stood guarding him as well, her empty hands held as though clutching a sword. Was it invisible?

Since they had just finished introductions, Illya figured that was enough pleasantries. "Kill them, Berserker." With a roar, her giant Servant charged forward, sword swinging. Her brother's golden haired Servant charged forward as well, intent on meeting Berserker head on. Illya was impressed at how well the Servant was holding up- clearly, Kiritsugu had taught the boy well.

Tohsaka's male Servant approached Berserker at a slightly more sedate pace, until he spotted an opening. Then he charged, thrusting his blade into Berserker's side…

…Only for Berserker to deflect it at the last moment, forcing the smaller Servant to jump back and take a glancing blow to his shield rather than get bisected. "That won't work. Berserker is the strongest- you're all going to die." Illya stated. It was an irrefutable fact. Her family had spent a lot of time, money and effort in ensuring that she got the best Servant possible. There was no way that Tohsaka would be able to scrounge up a Servant powerful enough to defeat him.

The Servants traded several more blows. Sabre was incredibly agile, running up telephone poles to avoid Berserker's attacks and trying to strike him from behind. At one point, she stepped on Berserker's weapon and managed to force him to let go. Of course, it didn't do her much good, but it certainly was impressive. Rider was no slouch either, hopping around Berserker himself, occasionally taking strikes to his shield. Eventually, however, Berserker got a good hit on his shield, sending him flying into a wall.

"Yes! You got him, Berserker!" Illya cheered as Rin called out to her Servant. She had only been half listening to her and Shirou's running commentary, but it sounded fairly amusing. They had still believed they stood a chance. Hopefully, this crippling blow to Rider should show them their folly.

The battle between Sabre and Berserker continued, almost too fast for her eyes to follow. Sabre danced around Berserker's wild swings, directing him away from Shirou and Tohsaka even as Berserker pushed her back. She had seemed awfully unconcerned about how easily her ally had been dispatched, especially given that she was sure to be next. Although Illya had to give the Servant credit- she was certainly skilled, to have survived this long against her Berserker. She briefly wondered if her brother had summoned the same Servant as their- Kiritsugu, only to dismiss it as irrelevant. Her Berserker was the strongest.

Her maddened Servant made a sudden move, pushing Sabre far enough away that he could leap back unimpeded. Illya didn't quite catch what happened during the exchange, but she couldn't miss the lightly glowing blur that landed where Berserker had been moments ago, the dust kicked up settling to show Rider pulling his blade out of the ground. "You broke my shield." The Servant complained, shaking his shoulders and glancing at his left arm, which, indeed, now lacked a shield. "My brother made it for me, you know? Not the first time I broke it, but come on!"

"H-how?" She asked, her voice quivering with shock. "How are you unharmed after getting hit by Berserker?" Indeed, she could accept a Servant surviving such a blow, but Rider wasn't even bleeding, despite the damage done to his armour. Perhaps he had a healing ability?

Rider smiled at her- it wasn't a patronising smile, or even a smug one. It looked more like the ones her fath- Kiritsugu had given her, but sadder. As if he could see her pain, and felt sorry for her. Illya clenched her fist; she didn't need a Servant's pity.

Then the smile shifted, and Illya relaxed at the mirthful, joking smile- she could handle those. "As you can see, little princess, your Berserker isn't the only amazing Servant around. We're all Heroic Spirits- we didn't make it to the Throne for nothing. So what makes you so confident?"

Illya smiled back at the Servant, a smile filled with condescendence. She'd humour him. "Because Berserker is the strongest. He's Heracles, the legendary hero of Greece. His labours have granted him twelve lives, and his feats shadow those of all other heroes. So tell me, Rider, why shouldn't I be confident?"

Rider's reaction confused her. She had expected to see fear, or worry, or horror. She would have expected his confidence to waver, that smile to drop. She would even have accepted him looking at Berserker with respect, an acknowledgement that her Servant was superior. She did not expect Rider to look angry, for his eyes to blaze with righteous fury and (strangely enough) sadness, as if he was thinking of someone who died long ago. "Heracles, huh? You know, in life, I had been denied the chance to fight you. Now," He raised his blade, pointing it at Berserker. "I hope that Mad Enhancement doesn't prevent you from recognising this blade- although I wonder if you would have anyway. But this blade, Jerkules, used to be yours. She made this for you, right before you went ahead and abandoned her, made sure she was written out of Greek Mythology. She had given up everything for you, because she loved you, and you cast her aside once she was no longer useful. I will use this blade to slay you – twelve times did you say? - and make you regret your actions towards the fifth of the Hesperides." Rider then smiled, his fury still displayed across his visage, which frankly frightened Illya as much as his words unsettled her. One of the Hesperides had made Heracles a sword, and he had cast her aside (along with the blade, it seems) once he no longer needed her?

"I love your mother. She's a wonderful woman, and she gave me that which I hold most precious."

"What is it, daddy?"

"You, Illya. She gave me my beautiful daughter."

Illya wiped the tears threatening to fall out of the corners of her eyes. Berserker, sensing her distress, roared once more and charged at Rider, heedless of the thickening shadows…

"I heard you like dogs, Heracles. Tell me what you think of mine."

… Which solidified into a giant hound.

Sisters Once More

While Rider seemed smaller than she remembered, his hound seemed even larger now than it did when Rin was a little girl.

Once the previous war had ended, Rin had looked up all mythologies that she could about giant dogs composed of pure darkness. The stories of hellhounds spread across many mythologies, and all had several traits in common- black furred hunting hounds with sharp teeth and red eyes. They also had a variety of ghostly abilities and were always associated with death and the afterlife. Sometimes they had deadly gazes, sometimes fire powers, sometimes three heads. But they were all death omens, and almost always evil.

Rider's hound was definitely not evil. Rin still remembered how it had babysat her and another girl during the last war. She was so gentle and kind, and Rin figured she was good with children because she had plenty of practise- Rider clearly never had to pay for a babysitter. But it was kind of hard to associate that gentle mound of fur with the savage beast currently tearing into Berserker. She had leapt out of the shadows to intercept Berserker's charge, her teeth creating deep gouges in his sword arm. When the maddened Servant began to wrestle with her, Rider joined in, his sword swinging at the giant's head, who somehow managed to shift so that it dug into his shoulder instead.

It quickly devolved into a wrestling contest, as Berserker's and Rider's blades lay forgotten on the ground as the two Servants wrestled with each other and a dog that looked like it could play fetch with an African bull elephant. Shirou's Sabre stood looking at the mass of limbs and fur, an expression of disbelief and mild disgust on her stunning features. Clearly, she was a lady and a knight, a firm believer of honourable conduct on the battlefield. Rin could somewhat sympathise- wrestling on the ground did not seem like how a Servant should fight.

Looking away from where Mrs. O'Leary was gnawing on Berserker's forearm and Rider was apparently trying to choke the life out of Heracles, she turned her gaze on their human opponent, although calling her that may be pointless flattery. The Einzbern homunculus seemed to be captivated by the battle, and Rin couldn't help but notice that Rider's words had shook her earlier- the construct clearly wasn't happy to learn of her Servant's treachery. She briefly wondered if Rider had been telling the truth or just trying to shake up their foe (in which case, he was doing a damn good job) before dismissing the thought- it didn't matter in the long term, and she could ask him later.

She pointed her finger at the fae-like girl, a black orb gathering at the tip. While a major part of the war was a battle between Servants, the Masters would also battle one another. It was in this way that her father met his end in the previous war- killed in their home by an enemy Master. Rin, as an opportunist, would take this chance to kill their foe while she was distracted.

As she unleashed the Gandr curse that had gathered at her fingertip, Berserker let out a loud roar. In a burst of energy, the Servant of Madness flung both Rider and his hound away, before rushing to block the blow heading for his Master. Rin watched in shock as her curse burst against the Servant's body- she had not expected him to notice her attack, at least not in time to react with Rider impeding him. Both her and Shirou's Servants leaped to stand between their Master and Berserker, although the giant seemed content to just stand before his Master.

"So you can fight like a magus, Tohsaka. Good to know. But I've had enough for tonight- I think I'll head home. You may live for now." Einzbern announced as her Servant picked her up, placing her on his shoulder. Rider and Sabre both relaxed their stances, content with letting their foes go. Rider's hound skulked back towards them, causing Sabre to take a more ready stance and shift her body towards her as Berserker began walking away.

"Well, that certainly was an evening full of excitement. I think I'll be going back home now before another Servant decides to pick a fight." Rin declared, walking past the tense Sabre to stand besides Mrs. O'Leary, giving Rider a pointed look. The Servant seemed to get the message, lifting Rin up as though she weighed nothing and placing her on the hound's back, before hopping on himself.

Shirou blinked, seemingly coming out of his stupor, stepping forward and reaching an arm out towards her, as though to grab her arm, despite her sitting astride a pile of shadows shaped like a dog that would dwarf any mundane tank. "W-wait a moment, Rin!"

She didn't wait to hear what he wanted. "When we next meet, Shirou, it will be as enemies. You need to take this war seriously, or else you will find yourself at my mercy after Rider slays your Servant. I suppose I'll see you tomorrow, but you better be prepared." At that cue, Mrs. O'Leary ran straight into the nearest tree, passing through the shadows.

Sisters Once More

I'm alive. I've actually been working on this snippet on and off for the past year, but I was always too lazy to just finish it. The line about Heracles liking dogs was stolen off of the Third Fang's "From Fake Dreams", which I strongly recommend. Since I'm lacking in plot, I will probably be bouncing around when I do update- if I update.