"Um...ah damn I can't read this map at all!" Shirou gripped the sides of his head as he angrily threw the map he had been reading to the ground. He stared at it, lifted his boot, and slowly grinded his heel against the paper. After he was done he quietly picked it back up, neatly folded it, and stored it in his inventory. That thing cost too much money to lose to a tantrum.

Watching him with a brief tilt of her lips was Arturia who seemed less than pleased with Shirou's mannerisms. "There is no need for a map Emiya Shirou, I am familiar with the way towards Tuskani village and can guide us there without trouble."

Shirou threw his hands up in the air and turned to her with an expression of annoyance. "Then why didn't you tell me?! I wouldn't have wasted money to buy the damn thing."

Arturia's frown deepened and she stood up to Shirou with the stature that befitted a king more than an ordinary young woman. "Even if I had informed you, it would have not provided a solution as you had already bought the map before I could say anything."

"Then why did you let me lead half the way here?" He stood up now, easily standing just above her head as he crossed his arms across his chest. Silently he regretted his brief rebellion over the tiny swordsman as she glared at him with enough pressure to flatten him. But still he held his ground and stood straight.

The staredown lasted a minute before Shirou broke it to stare at his feet. Though he failed to notice Arturia doing the same as she stared off into the distance and puffed out her cheeks. "You appeared to be having fun and I did not wish to disturb you," she said quietly.

Shirou scratched the back of his neck, that sounded like Saber. No, actually it sounded like something he'd do too. But there's a difference when he does it and she does it!

"..." The silence stretched between them. Shirou was still angry about the map and Arturia had her pride to contend with. After a moment Shirou broke it with a sigh.

"Ah...I think I left the heat running at the shop..." Shirou said with despair. All that money, he felt sick thinking about the bill. He should still be in high school dammit! Taxes should be the furthest thing from his mind.

He heard a soft sound, a brief melodic tune in the wind that rose with the intertwining rustle of leaves. Shirou glanced at his side and noticed Arturia pressing her fingers against her lips, a single finger of the braces hiding nearly a quarter of her face from view. "I didn't know my situation was so comedic," he said drily.

Arturia shook her head and tilted it as she dropped her hand to her side. "We could always return to the shop if you like, the quest can wait." Even though she said this Shirou knew she didn't expect him to return to the shop, same as how he knew she would insist on paying half of the bill.

"No," Shirou sighed, "I'm good." Arturia rose her chin slightly, not haughtily but more of a teasing glint. She moved forward and grabbed his arm. She tugged at it and what would have been a gentle gesture might as well have been a martial artist trying to dislocate his shoulder.

Shirou bit down on his lip, noticing how his health got knocked back a couple points, and discreetly applied a healing salve. Arturia led him deeper into the forest, trekking off the beaten path as they climbed up a cropping of rocks. Shirou followed closely behind, tapping his armor anxiously as he jumped up to follow her.

They walked in silence for a little while longer, Shirou following behind carefully. Come to think of it, this would mark the first time Shirou would in any extended meeting with Arturia beyond his shop. Certainly, seeing her now, he could say that she played every bit the knight that she portrayed herself to be.

Her back was straight, impossibly rigid-like as she marched down the forestry, and her arms were kept to her sides with her right hand hovering inches above her hilt. While she walked her head was confidently perched atop her shoulders, a face chiseled from stone but smoothed by a gentle brush, rested on her head. Yes, the more Shirou looked at her, the more she resembled a knight of old.

And yet there was no mistaking the calm beauty she radiated. The gentle strokes that only a woman could achieve, her soft pale skin, her shining eyes that pierced through the thick foliage. Her presence was demanding but generous as well. Emiya Shirou found himself particularly soothed by the sway of her dress, a bell-like jingle emanating from their movement that he doubted he would forget.

Not even in hell would he forget it.

It wasn't long till the dull thuds of dirt beneath them gave way to the hard clacks of cobblestone roads. Shirou had only barely realised that they had entered a village when he snapped back to attention.

Arturia glanced back at him often, making sure that he was following her as he should. When it seemed like he would stop to stare at something, she would likewise halt in her movements and wait patiently.

He didn't make it a habit but he wouldn't lie and say he didn't stop on purpose a couple of times to get a rise from her. But in the end it never came, she merely waited till he was done before continuing on her way. Shirou felt that the action was awfully considerate of Arturia.

He busied himself by checking the supplies at regular intervals. If to do nothing but stem the tide of boredom as they walked. Arturia was silent, save for the soft echoes of her boots, and Shirou wasn't versed in conversation or knowledge in Arturia's life that he could open conversation to easily with her.

So he decided to test the waters...and that meant asking the most outrageous question. "How did you get Excalibur Saber? I don't remember you telling me the story," Shirou asked curiously. Indeed, this was something he really did wish to know.

Arturia did not stop her movement but he could see the slight minute tilt of her head as she watched for any eavesdroppers. "It is not much of a tale, I'm afraid." Shirou shook his head.

"I would still like to know regardless." Shirou stated. Arturia glanced at him from over her shoulder. Shirou found it difficult to read her expression, it seemed to have turned as blank as a piece of paper as she still led them through the village.

After a moment she averted her gaze back to the front and spoke, her voice oddly nostalgic. "It is much like the legend of King Arthur, the king of knights," Arturia said, "I had pulled Caliburn from the stone from which it was placed, left alone for someone to find."

"Caliburn?" Shirou asked. Arturia shook her head, quickening her pace as they entered a crowded area.

"The first instance of Excalibur that had existed," Arturia explained, "It is similar in appearance to Excalibur however Caliburn did not have the power that Excalibur was blessed with. When I pulled the sword free, I found that it was only slightly stronger than the strongest sword but what it lacked in it's fundamental properties it provided with additional skills."

Shirou tilted his head, a universal sign of confusion that Arturia had deciphered almost immediately. "Caliburn had greatly increased my base statistics, providing me a greater strength and agility level than what I previously had. It also had passive healing properties." Shirou seemed amaze at such a swords existence, it also helped explained Arturia's monster strength. "However Caliburn was precariously fragile and I had lost it in battle. I had obtained Excalibur and Avalon not long after, they were two seperate existences that replace Caliburn's. Excalibur does not provide me any more strength beyond that which Caliburn had already given me and Avalon heals my injuries whenever I sustain damage though only when outside of combat."

Shirou noticed how Arturia seemed mournful at the lost of Caliburn. How she lowered her gaze to the ground in some form of shame. She must have gotten attached to the first sword, Shirou couldn't honestly fault her, he could only imagine the experiences that Arturia had shared with the blade.

"I'm sorry. I didn't mean to pry open old wounds." Artura shook her head, turning to Shirou fully this time as she looked at Shirou.

"Old wounds heal. Caliburn's lost is but one event in my life, one that may be overshadowed by others." She seemed to look at Shirou expectantly before returning to her walk.

Shirou scratched his head as he followed. He too hoped that one day his own wounds could heal like that, that one day he might be able to forget it.

But even he knew, hell would not let him forget.