Welcome back to my story. Sorry it took so long.
As for the reviews… Well nobody had any questions so I don't have any to answer.
As always thanks for the support.
Shall we begin?
Through the years I had come to a sort of understanding with myself. The world of the mage is one full of secrets. I myself have many that not even Rin knows and I had told her almost everything she used to ask me. In a way I believe she was the same about certain things in her life. She was always rather secretive about what she did with the Wizard Marshal. I was the same with some of the more disturbing apostle hunts I had been on. Some things are better swept under the rug to never be seen by others. I had gotten quite good at fabricating half truths or outright avoiding bringing things up in order to avoid Rin's cunning mind picking up on my minute tells of if I was hiding things. I was very good at it during the final days of our acquaintanceship. The only issue is that I was given ample time to devise these intricate excuses and lies to the point where I could recite them without issue.
I was never very good at hiding things on the spot.
It makes my predicament here truly dire since I have these two gentlemen staring at me with unasked questions waiting to burst from their lips. Questions I'm at my wits end to answer.
I suppose my saving grace is that Barry seems to be absolutely wonderful at situational awareness and noticed my subtle gesture to keep this interaction quiet. As to why the man was so willing to go along with it and calm down Owen is above my current understanding because I've never been one for subtlety.
As luck would have it I have a bit of time to think up something as of this moment now that Barry and Owen are busy assisting the medical team in inspecting the health of Group B. As luck would have it I needed to retreat to the break building so the raptors would come to rest their heads in the mounts that Owen and I inspected earlier. We had initially tried to get them to come there to mount up with me inside the sectioned off area, but lo and behold my mere presence meant the raptors didn't want to be anywhere near that area. It just adds more to the misery of me explaining myself to the two people I had hoped to learn from so I didn't end up in a situation which would require me to use magecraft. I swear someday I will figure out how to outplay my E-Rank luck, so shit like this doesn't happen. The past seventeen years have been enough for me.
It does make me wonder as to why exactly the raptors have such a dangerous sense about me? All I can remember is giving Blue a rather intense stare down.
Have I ever invoked that reaction from anything else?
There was a time where I had learned that the lower ranking dead apostles had a fight or flight mechanism that responded to large amounts of prana flooding the body. The focusing of prana like this seemed to act as a form of killing intent. It seemed to always bug magically inclined beings but seemed to go unnoticed by those oblivious to the moonlit world.
Did I do that subconsciously? I suppose it's feasible but I don't remember cycling a singular unit of prana in that instant, and an apex predator like that wouldn't be afraid of something so weak. I'll chalk that one down to something else for the moment then.
What did the raptor notice?
Do I smell of blood? Impossible, I have been through too many showers since my last true fight to have a noticeable stench of blood, and even if that miasma was still on me it would be mostly my blood anyway.
Do I look intimidating? I doubt a scar ridden body like mine would be considered intimidating by a creature that has an extra hundred pounds of muscle on me and razor sharp teeth. I don't even have a build that is hidden under the clothing which I am currently wearing.
Does she detect the Unlimited Blade Works? Also doubtful. I didn't even have my circuits active let alone the link to my soul open.
Did my unwavering stare make her believe I was capable of ending her? From what Owen had said I wasn't the first to glare at the raptor yet the first she decided to avoid. That doesn't seem likely then.
Weapons? I have none on my person and from what the previous raptor attacks convey they care little for them in considering a target.
Think Shirou. What do you have that others at this park lack?
Circuits inactive.
Scars. Visible.
Thousands of blades hidden.
Avalon… Do I smell of the fae? Nobody has ever told me of such a thing being noticeable before. Are these raptors that sensitive to such things?
What does that even mean?
I need answers, yet I'm not quite sure who to ask. Were I a better magi I'd simply capture a raptor and dissect it, but I have no clue where to even start.
Whatever Shirou, regardless of what the raptor is wary about it is now your problem and at this point an excuse Is necessary,
*Page Break*
It took Owen and Barry roughly an hour or so to finish the necessary medical checks that were required for the raptors. It was around this time that the pair of them walked into the building I had been patiently waiting in.
Barry seemed as calm and cheery as ever with a graceful smile resting on his face. He seemed to be quite the calm individual. Owen on the other hand was giving me some rather unsavory glances like we were toddlers and I had stolen his favorite toy right out from under him.
"How did the rest of your check ups go?" I ask, trying to divert focus from me.
Barry glances at Owen for a second seeing if he is going to answer. Then says. "We are quite fortunate that our girls are very healthy, and don't seem to have anything wrong with them." He switches his glance back towards me as he continues. "However, due to them being in tip top shape I believe that why they are acting strange around you deserves an answer. They seem to be wary around you and that is not a good thing. They say an animal is the best judge of character, and you my friend have been judged as dangerous by a raptor."
I take a glance past Barry towards Owen who has made it a point to lock the door behind him. "I believe that that isn't necessary Owen." I say as I size up the man as he starts to lean against the door.
"I will decide what is damn well necessary and I believe at this current moment this is necessary." Owen states.
Barry's smile drops as he turns to Owen for a second and says. "Owen, I would calm down and give Shirou a second to explain. I'm sure we can all come to an understanding without the need for anything over the top." He turns back to me with remnants of his smile surfacing. "Now Shirou kindly explain to Owen why he is overreacting and then we can go on about our day, yes?"
"Well first off I would like to say that can you really judge an animal to be right all the time?" I give a strained smile as I continue. " I mean I had a pet cat that would always get mad at any woman that would enter my house except for a couple and those girls were such nice people." Taiga was just like that. I mean she didn't like Saber and she was a nice lady. So was Rin an-
Owen interrupts me by abruptly moving from the door towards the table. "Are you seriously comparing three hundred pound scaled killing machines with a common house cat?" He's staring me straight in the eyes at this point. "How Fucking Dumb Do You Think I Am? I Wasn't Born Yesterday. You Did Something To Make Her Afraid. How. No Bullshit. Just Truth."
Ah shit it looks like I need to be careful I think as I close my eyes to concentrate. I might have needed a better excuse than Taiga, but it seemed like such a good cop out. Ok time for plan B. "Magic is how." Ah that wasn't right I was supposed to tell a lie.
I heard a meaty thud then the room was dead quiet. I opened my eyes to glance at Owen only to see the man with his face slammed on the table. I took a moment to look at Barry. He had his hand covering his eyes as if he had just face palmed.
"Was that the correct answer?" I ask the room dumbly. Barry shook his head in response.
"Was that The correct answer? Really? That's what you wanna go with. Magic, don't make me laugh HAHAHA." Owen takes a second to breathe as he looks at Barry." Barry, I'm gonna kill him. This headass wants to fuck with my girls and not say shit. Nah man fuck that."
Owen leans over the table towards me as he extends a finger in my direction. "THE TRUTH. I don't wanna hear any bullshit exit your mouth. If I have to, I will beat it out of you."
"You believe yourself able to do such a thing despite the background I had mentioned when we talked earlier? I doubt the fight would go as you would want, but I really like these clothes I'm wearing so I'll oblige." I say as I adjust my seating to be more ready for a frontward assault. "I just so happen to be drenched in blood from battle. Maybe they can sense that?"
"Bullshit again. We have had people on the walkways with twenty years more experience than you on any battlefield. I doubt you've seen more blood than them." Owen says as he slams his hand on the table.
"Perhaps they sense I'm stronger than you and they fear for your safety?" I say as I adjust my footing under the table to be able to rise easier. " I do believe myself to be quite the expert at fighting. I wouldn't put it past such gracious predators to know someone strong when they see them."
Owen's face is starting to gain a redder coloring to it as if he was heating up. "Again we have people stronger than you here, and I'm sure they know how to distinguish an unarmed man and one with a weapon. You are no match to a raptor without something. What Do You Have?"
"I lack anything besides my hands at the moment, yet I believe them to be enough for this situation." I sigh in order to hide my arms shifting to my sides. "Let me digress a bit to state that I truly have no idea what set off your raptors. I have nothing on me that is lethal to them as you have said and don't have a way to really be a threat on hand. I came here to learn how to care for the animals I shall be charged with watching nothing more nothing less. I wish your raptors had simply been tolerable of my presence till I left so as to have avoided this situation in its entirety. If you are truly so short sighted as to not see the truth behind that statement then feel free to do what you believe necessary. However, I promise you I won't be the one leaving injured."
With my piece said I diverted my focus towards Barry who seemed to study my face for any lies. I thought I was in the clear as the more reasonable of the two seemed to deem me trustworthy as I noticed his mouth moving. I didn't see the fist until it had collided with the side of my jaw.
It would seem I had misjudged how hot headed Owen truly was. I thought as I redirected my focus towards the man rearing his fist back for another blow.
Noticing the trajectory of where his hand was destined to fly I decided to play with the man in front of me for it had been a long day and I wanted to blow off some steam.
I simply grabbed Owens' flying fist as it reached the halfway point as I began to stand knocking the chair behind me to the corner of the room. With my momentum backwards I drug him forward and over the top of the table. From the look in his eyes as he found himself airborn it would seem he had thought his footing a lot more secure than what was revealed.
After his body reached where I had previously been sitting I looped my unoccupied right hand underneath his jaw to drag his body further into the air as I upercutted him with a lot less force than what I would usually put behind my blows. I didn't want to kill the man who I had just met after all. However it seems I had held back a lot more than I should have as I managed to assist him in standing back up and hadn't knocked him out like I had initially intended. Silly me I guess I get to hit him again. I stepped back a bit letting the man in front of me catch his breath as I raised my fists into a relaxed guard. "I'm not a big fan of cheap shots I'll have you know."
Owen looked quite shook up as the anger that had radiated from him seemed to have drained from his face a bit as he spit out a bit of blood. "First rule of fighting is to never look away from your opponent dumbass. Some merc you are."
I gave him a smirk. "Wanna continue or you gonna puss out after getting your shit rocked?"
Barry tried at this moment to speak. "As fun as this looks, you two should stop."
Owen raised his fists to a boxer stance." Fat chance Barry. Best way to see if he's lying is through a good fight."
"If you want a good fight then could I get a better opponent? " I ask as I bring my guard up fully.
Without a reply he charges at me to begin our little sparring match.
He began his frontal assault with a very telegraphed right left right combo that would probably be considered quite lethal to an inexperienced fighter and maybe even an apprentice. To me however the fists were just so slow. I guess regular humans still can't compare to a magi.
I decided to block the swings with my guarding hands as I mulled over whether to fight to end or fight to enjoy. I saw the merit in both honestly. I like to give credit where it is due and the man in front of me really loves his raptors. I can't hate him for wanting to protect them at all costs. I almost died doing the same for Sakura once upon a time.
Screw it, I'll give him a good fight.
I let my guard slacken a bit as I dropped my left hand to let his second right slip past my guard to graze my cheek as I lowered to go for a low power kidney shot just to make him feel contested.
With a meaty thud I feel my hand make contact as he twists his body to let the momentum bleed out the rest of the way.
As he twisted his body to lower the damage my left was doing he brought his left hand along with the momentum of his twirl to throw a pretty gnarly haymaker at my right temple.
In order to take away some of his momentum I kicked his forward most leg back which led to his swing just being shy of connecting.
With his posture and base being off I followed his lead and threw a haymaker at his left side which connected enough to jerk his head to the right a bit. The momentum carried through made him fall backwards towards the table behind him.
I stepped back a bit to let him recover from his compromised position, and readied myself for another bout. I rotated myself to the side so he could line up parallel to the table so it wouldn't be behind him anymore.
Owen looked at me with a frown. "I appreciate being nice and letting me get back up, but it's really putting a stop to me hating you on the raptors behalf." He gets up and aligns himself parallel with the table and gets back into stance as he favors defense this time and nods towards me.
"I like to fight fair if the opponent is willing to do the same." I say as I started approaching him from the front. "Besides, I figured you needed a handicap. I don't want to have to take care of two raptor packs."
I started my offense with a light jab directed at the kidney which I had hit in our previous bout, and with little hesitation Owen lowered his hand to redirect the swing so it would be a glancing blow.
With my left hand occupied my right went for a straight jab aimed at his head which he batted away with his left hand. With both my hands away, Owen went for a very cordial and respectable bitch slap which stung more than I had expected as he seemed to smirk a bit at me.
I raised my leg to hit him in the nuts in a far more respectable and dignified manner. He was lucky that I seemed to be poor at aiming and hit his inner thigh instead.
He sagged a bit in response as I'm sure my hit made him a bit sore on the sensitive inner thigh.
I waited for him to reposition as I decided to test his endurance.
When he started to form his guard in front of his face I had noticed it seemed a tad weaker than prior so I decided to drive my right arm forward to slam directly into his guard as I brought my left in to follow the gap my right would create.
It was in this moment that I was surprised by Owen ducking underneath my drive to go for a charged uppercut with his right arm. The blow landed perfectly into my chin as I subconsciously hardened my underjaw.
The sound of his bones landing against the hardened steel in my skull was a bitter sound to hear grace the room. And from the look on Barry's face that I glanced he had heard it too.
I decided to not let Owen dwell too much on his probably broken hand as I dropped to the floor to go for a leg sweep on his unguarded lower limbs.
His focus seemed to be elsewhere as he toppled to the floor with little protest. I drug his legs above his back, and with little hesitation Owen tapped out.
With our fight over I stood up and backed away from Owen as I went to study the state of his right hand, and truthfully it was in better shape than I had expected it to be in. There was blood trickling out of where my jaw had cut him open a bit from the brief contact. From my position I could see that his hand was at least not broken so that's quite lucky.
"Holy shit Shirou what the hell is wrong with your jaw line it felt like punching a brick wall." Owen says as he gingerly holds his bruised and bloody right hand delicately in his left.
I give him a strained smile as I say. "Perhaps you shouldn't be punching brick walls."
He shakes his head at the verbal jab. "Whatever man just remind me not to pick a fight with you later down the road. Now I might have a broken hand and those always suck to recover from."
"I did warn you." I reminded him cheekily. "Would you like me to look over your hand for you? I happen to be a decent field medic. I can dress your wound and tell you if it's broken if you'd like."
Owen gives me a glance and pauses for a second to think then looks at Barry. "Barry, will you get the med kit for Sirou?"
"I'm going to save the I told you so's for later just for you Owen, but I did tell you to stop. Yes, I shall get the kit for Shirou. Do I take it you have decided to trust him after getting your ass kicked?"
Owen waves Barry off with his good hand. "Yeah. Yeah I believe him now would you hurry up with the kit? I'm kinda making a puddle on the floor over here. I also don't want the girls to smell blood. It makes them act kinda crazy as I'm sure you are aware of Barry."
With a sigh Barry moves to a corner of the room and leans down. After a few seconds of pushing stacks of paper off the top of the med kit Barry brings it towards me.
I took a good few seconds to glance over the hand. It looked badly bruised but still well within working order. It would appear that Owen was lucky and had managed to not break anything in his hand. With the inspection done I began to clean the wounds and then dress them. "It would appear other than a lot of bruising and some busted blood vessels your hand is going to be okay. I would recommend getting some ice on it as quickly as possible to avoid swelling, and also be mindful to keep disinfectant on it whenever you replace the bandages."
"Thank god. I would hate to have to go up to the hospital to get a cast." He says as he grimaces from me applying the final touches to the bandages I had wrapped around his hand.
"So, are we cool now? I really mean no harm or ill will to your raptors. I just want to live out a secluded life on this Island." I say as I stand from my seated position on the ground. Truthfully I just wanted to make sure he was game for letting bygones be bygones. I had fun fighting him and it made me feel more relaxed. I extend a hand towards Owen for him to take so I can lift him to his feet.
He glances at Barry to see what the darker man has to say asking. "Thoughts?"
"I could have told you ten minutes ago what my thoughts were and saved you the pain." He jokingly says. "He seems truthful."
Owen seems to deflate a bit as he extends his good hand to reciprocate my extended appendage. "I can't say I trust you fully, but I'm willing to start out as acquaintances and go from there. Sound good?"
"Sounds good enough for me." I say as I drag the man to his feet. "So now that we have come to an understanding, can I ask a question to both of you?"
Owen and Barry shoot each other a glance before Owen says. "Shoot."
I glance at the watch on Owen's wrist as he looks at me. "What's for lunch?"
Owen looked at me dumbly, and Barry's contagious laugh could be heard echoing around the building