Two knifes… no, swords, spark to life in his waiting palms. He does it like he as a million times before – without a breath of hesitation, without a moment of realization – and jolts into battle.

I was going to say springs, but springs seem like slow things to me; no, this guy's tight ass catches fire, and he blitzs forward.

There is no hesitation in his eyes: fighting is a language he is no stranger to. And when you're in his shoes, it looks like it's the only language you can speak: it is either speak up, or die. Speak the serenade of death, or run and pray to live another day.

I could have blinked and he would'ov been missed by my mortal eyes, but even then I couldn't react fast enough to blink – in all literal senses of the word, he was beside me one second and twenty-four feet away the next. He slams an arm against the foe, slashing like a maniac hacking blindly at a tree, but does it with such accuracy and such in-depth thought process it is simply amazing. And the foe does just the same, right back, with the same level of extreme and unnatural intensity. The white armor flashes in the fading light as it draws closer and closer to my protector. They serenade and sing to each other, the language beyond any normal person's conversation, crashing into the lampposts, benches, and flora around us. Craters decorate the ground, accumulating like stars across a sunset sky.

They fight to kill. And here I am… what am I, in this battle, anyway? Why is Archer trying to keep me hidden? What did he mean by Servants and Masters before?

And what did he just tell me to do? Sit here, and wait? Cower and hope for the best? The foe's foot twists to support a lightening-fast shift of weight and pushes against it, a small crater cracked into the husk of the midnight pavement.

Like hell I'm going to stay here!

"No, STOP!"

I'm halfway to the bus stop in the opposite direction of their hurricane when I hear those simple little words – but I don't stop, I just can't! Like HELL I'm sticking around!

I trip, something snaring my leg as it's forced down in my panicked run. I am in slow motion, and a million years pass before what happened next.

A knife tears the atmosphere in half, ripping at the bare skin of my cheek. Blood doesn't have time to ooze out, not in the span of time that it takes for a second knife to come flying at me.

I didn't feel that one – it didn't even come close. Instead, the dark-hilted weapon snares itself in the back of my savior, and with me bundled against his chest, he bounds away. I didn't even have time to hit the ground, and here we are, up and flying away. I glance up and my eyes don't know what to look at – I almost died. The last thing they were expecting to see was the cold hard ground, and here I am.

He lands on the roof of a building and takes another flying leap.

I can't look away. Not now, now after what just happened. I almost died, and for something I can't even catch a grasp of. My eyes are locked on his, and I can feel them trembling. God, just look away! I don't want to owe this mugger anything, get over the situation! This IS NOT happening!

But I can't. I can't turn my head. I can't look forward, I can't look back. I'm frozen in the place between space and reality, my mind a million miles away.

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"Its not as bad as it looks."

We're perched on top of a roof, somewhere probably a million miles away from the park. The skyscraper is dark and cold, and the moment Archer dropped me on its heartless surface, I feel to my knees. Now, he sits, and I found myself helping him pull the knife out of his back. It sits beside me, dark hilt and razor blade glistening with blood.

"Shut up," I mumble weakly, fingers shaking in the cold, uncertain atmosphere. I'm staring dead and cold at the rich color now staining his fabric. The instant the blade is removed, teal sparks flicker around the entry point. I'm not sure if I should be mystified or dumbfounded, but either way I'm too numb to feel.

This...

This is all because of me.

"No." His voice is as powerful as ever as he flexes his back and pushes against his knee to stand up. "Leave it be."

"But I can't and you know that, asshole." I hastily whimper. He turns around as he stands, mouth open to say something else, but he stops when he sees my face; I can't see his of course, since my eyes are still glued to the place where his wound was just in front of me. He tilts a little to the side and waits.

"You are bleeding because of me, and it's not a goddammed paper cut or a splinter. It's a knife….my god, it's a knife…"

He doesn't say anything but continues to stare. We're both waiting for something worthwhile to ooze from my lips, but it's hard to tell if it'll ever come.

"You're putting your life on the line to protect me, and you can die from this. And I don't understand CRAP about this situation, and… and I can't sit around any longer like this! You've been pulling me too and from all night, telling me that movement's the only important thing…. Well, I call crap! I'm not taking another step until you tell me what the HELL is going on!"

I didn't realize I was crying; god, I must have looked like an absolute fool, crying there. An absolutely useless fool. No I didn't know I was crying, not until I felt the salt-lined water drip to the crevice of my dumb lip. And he still stands there, bleeding lightly, basking in the moonlight, silent as a recently-abandoned grave.

"And… and I can't keep doing this! I'm just a girl – hell, I don't even count for that half the time! I'm just a-"

He cuts me off by strolling away, clearly not listening to my pity case. "That was a close call, you had better listen to me from now on, you fool."

"Oh, so now you're mad at me?" I screech like the idiot I am. "As if that's justified! I should be mad at you! You didn't explain shit to me! What the HELL is going on?!"

"That was a man lost in time like myself." Archer rolls his shoulder, checking whether or not he still had the full rotation. "He was a knight – I am sure of it – most likely of the Arthurian era. He was faster than I expected with that heavy armor. I can only imagine how powerful he is if he isn't holding back."

It takes me a second before I realize what he meant by that. "Wait, he was holding back? You guys took out, like, a dozen trees!"

"He had the opportunity to land a fatal blow to me several times. I am low on energy since lack a mana supply from any Master, not that you would know," He mutters more to himself than me. Sparks rise once more from his back wound to finish the job with the most minimal mana expense, and the silk replaces itself where the tear once was. He turns around to look at me, hands on his hips. "Well, we had better continue. You're doing nothing but slowing me down with your blind arrogance."

"That is not blind arrogance," A lovely voice announces from another corner of the roof. In the hush of the dying day, I spin in surprise to the shadow lingering just out of the sun's reach. "If you truthfully are a part of this puzzle, full knowledge and cooperation is required."

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WHAT? There are other servants?! Omg who would'ov guessed.

I failed to introduce to you the resident nightmare from before; for now, I want to leave her anonymous.

For Saber, however, you are welcome to guess. I was really tempted to use the Saber we all know and love, but I thought "eh, what the hell. Lets cause some mayhem." This is the Saber of our situation, and every Servant was pulled from existing characters. But as to how or why these characters are here is for future chapters to determine.

So here we are. I'm going to slow down the releases between chapters simply because the story finally is building itself up, so I hope you wont stay all that made at me.

[BUT SWEET PECAN PIES DID YOU SEE FATE/STAY NIGHT UBW TODAY? LIKE ACTUALLY HOT DAMN MY STOMACH'S BEEN IN A KNOT I COULDNT SIT STILL AT WORK]