Chapter 2: The White Samurai
"Berserker? Are you telling me that your friend over there is a Servant...How interesting." Rin said so with a sense of obvious sarcasm in her voice.
"Don't play dumb with me Tohsaka!" exclaimed Tanaka, his face riddled with rage, "You and Emiya already knew about this!"
"Knew about what? I have no idea what you're talking about," she continued to smirk casually at Tanaka only serving to heighten his evident fury.
"Enough! Where is Emiya? I will not ask again!"
"I'm afraid you'll have to. I couldn't hear you over the wind."
After a brief moment of silence Tanaka broke into a wild fit of laughter as if Rin's taunts had shattered the man's sanity. His mad cackles echoed throughout the empty street in front of her and Hisashi. Pausing to catch his breath, he adjusted his slipping glasses and glared at Rin, a murderous intent in his eyes.
"You are nothing but a fool Tohsaka. And you and your family shall suffer for it!"
The white samurai rushed toward Rin and Hisashi, his hand firmly on the hilt of his blade. As he approached, the wind screeched, as if nature itself was afraid of the samurai's very presence.
With a flick of her wrist, one of the many jewels in Rin's hand flew straight into Berserker. The once silent night was interrupted by a cacophonous roar. Smoke and pieces of pavement replaced where Berserker once stood.
"Listen closely Hisashi," said Rin, her eyes focused on the plume of smoke where her foe once was, "I want you to run to the shed where your sister is."
"What? Are you serious? There's no way I am going to leave you here, I can help!"
"No you can't, not with your condition! Now stop arguing with me and help Natsumi!"
"But that thing is a monster!"
"I've seen worse." With that final statement Rin shoved her son to the doorway. Hisashi himself took one last worried glance at his mother and ran into the house, darting to the direction of the shed as quickly as he could. He ignored the sounds of battle taking place outside, he did his best to resist the temptation of helping his mother.
Rin gave a long sigh as she saw her son off into the house. She got him out of harm's way, now she could focus all of her attention on her opponent, Berserker. She was fully aware that there would be no way she could defeat a Servant, especially one she knows nothing about. Brushing away her doubts she gripped her handful of jewels firmly. She did not need to beat him, just to draw his attention away from her children.
She counted her gems, 3 left, how she used them from here on out would mean either life or death for not just her, but for her family. She had already wasted one on a distraction. She had purposefully aimed for the ground at Berserker's feet. The smoke from the explosion gave her more than enough time to secure her son's safety.
"Attempting to hide are we Tohsaka?" stated Tanaka through the vapor, "A cowardly strategy."
From the receding fumes emerged the white samurai, his once pristine armor now speckled with patches of soot and ash. And then, as if he were lightning, Berserker seemed to vanish like a phantom and in an instant he reappeared in Rin's vision. Gasping, Rin leaped backwards and away from the samurai. However, a gash slowly appeared across her right cheek and a small streak of blood flowed down from it. She didn't even see the blade touch her.
Landing on her feet she couldn't help but feel surprised, how was she still alive? That sword was well within the range needed to kill her, all it would take is one blow. She studied her opponent, his black blade held high in the air after it's strike had landed. A trickle of blood could be made out on it's tip. He was toying with her. If this was not a life or death situation she would have been insulted, but Rin decided to use this to her advantage.
With an immediate gesture she raised her left hand and fired her perfected Gandr shot. It's black form could barely be seen in the darkness and it's loud gun-like tone reverberated through the night. As she expected, the samurai dodged the myriad of shots with ease and she determined that now was the time to act. She flung her remaining gems at Berserker and in an instant the white samurai was engulfed in a large, destructive explosion. However, as the smoke cleared, the samurai was still locked in place, his armor intact save for his helmet. Rin could now make out the Servant's face, or what was left of it.
What had probably once been the face of a man was replaced with numerous scars, a number so great that Rin could barely look at it without being disgusted. His eyes were as black as an abyss and simply looking at them caused Rin to cringe. Then, without so much as a stir, the samurai bounded towards Rin. His black blade streaked across her abdomen at an incredible speed. Before she could even react to the blow, blood had begun to ebb from Rin's stomach. The wound was deep this time and the injury caused Rin to fall to her knees.
"I apologize if Berserker is taking his time killing you Tohsaka," said Tanaka, as he approached the bleeding woman, "He seems to love the sight of blood, I myself used to be quite disgusted by it." He paused momentarily and a sickening smile spread across his face, "But lately I have begun to enjoy it."
As Rin clenched her wound, she glanced up at the samurai, his blade raised high above his head to provide a finishing blow. However, before his midnight black sword could sever her neck, he halted. In that moment the samurai leaped onto the roof of her home and vanished into the dark.
"I knew you and Emiya were prepared to enter this war," said Tanaka, irritated, "It seems your children have summoned the Servant you were preparing. No matter, they will die at the hands of Berserker." Tanaka briskly walked into the house to follow Berserker, leaving her behind.
Rin attempted to get up, but her vision grew blurry and she slumped to the ground. She could do nothing but pray that her children would be alright.
Upon reaching the shed Hisashi threw open the doors in a hurry. Before him was his sister poised amidst a glowing red circle. Hisashi could tell that it was a form of summoning circle, he remembered hearing about them in his father's stories. Natsumi was concentrated on the circle and she began to recite an incantation, an object in her hand.
On closer inspection Hisashi recognized it as some sort of old, worn out book. The cover was of a dark brown and it looked to have no title whatsoever. Suddenly, a large quake shook through the ground, causing Natsumi to blunder and fall. The book slipped from her hands and was catapulted into the air.
In a panic, Hisashi jumped for the book and instantly his eyes were assaulted by the bright light that flared afterward. He landed onto the cold, hard ground, rolling for a few feet before he managed to collect himself. To his amazement the book had disappeared and so did the summoning circle. Something else had taken it's place.
It was none other than a young girl with long, raven hair that reached her knees. She was incredibly beautiful and looked to be no younger than Hisashi himself. Her dazzling eyes were of a bright and spectacular sapphire that seemed to light up the darkness of the shed. She wore a black uniform of sorts that covered her thin, stunning figure. On her forearms were silver gauntlets and across her back was strapped a straight sword inside of a sleek, dusky sheath. To Hisashi, she looked exactly like a ninja.
She took a quick look at Hisashi, her very gaze seemed to chill the air around him. Hisashi flinched a little, as if expecting the ravishing girl to simply kill him out of cold blood. Instead she turned to him and gracefully bowed.
"Who are you?" he asked, slowly getting up to meet her at eye level.
"I am Servant Archer. What would you have me do, Master?"