last_free_city | ITP: Wandering

[Action: Throughout Midgard]

[This was not what she'd expected when she had agreed to come here. If she's honest with herself she isn't sure just what she'd been expecting. The last Saber remembers clearly was being on Camlann Hill, her body in excruciating pain, and then.... it's a haze what the Valkyries had said to her even though she remembers the idea behind it and Hephaestus had been kind enough to answer her questions once she was able to. Saber supposes it might have been the blood loss making her delirious at the time, but she remembers agreeing. She had resolved to live without regrets, right?

So she wanders the city, her damaged armor had been repaired and sent ahead to her apartment while she'd been healing. Excalibur, on the other hand, was returned to her and she used invisible air to fashion a sheath at her waist so that she could carry it with her unseen now that she could no longer summon it out of the ether like before. It was always best to be prepared though she felt naked walking like this without her armor on. Light as it was, getting into it would be a hassle now. And she'd enjoyed being able to skip the chore of tying her armor on and removing it at the end of a battle, but that was a fair price to pay for being human again.

That was another she she knew she'd have to get used to, being human again. Saber had expected to die on that hill not get another chance, a proper chance, at living out her life. Everything about life before felt so distant now. Could she even call herself Saber anymore?

While these thoughts go through her mind she looks through the city to get the best feel for the terrain. If she's truly meant to fight for this place she fully intends to get to know it well. It could very well be her home for years before they managed to make even a dent in their enemies' forces.]

(ooc: Putting this up while I have a moment. Will tag replies to both this and Goku's post once I get home from work later on.)

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

If you do not, then neither do I.

There is one question I must ask first. I can tell that you are not a Servant right now. How, then, do you have recollection of the Holy Grail War?

[The tough one, the one she kept to herself unless absolutely necessary. However, there is nothing to lose or gain here beyond trust and considering their history it's important to show some kind of trust. Saber doesn't need to give all the details.]

I can understand the confusion. My situation in the Grail War was unique to say the least. [Deep breath as she thinks of how best to phrase it.] I made my pact as I was on my deathbed to attain the Holy Grail and serve as a proper Heroic Spirit after I had my wish granted. For this reason I did not go to the Throne of Heroes after the end of the Grail War as most Heroic Spirits do but back to my dying self. When I finally gave up on the Grail I was approached by the Valkyries and brought here where I was healed. In return for this I must serve Thor to protect this city. Thus I am human again and not a Heroic Spirit.

...Gaea does seem to break as many rules as she sets. And not only that, this would also mean that we come from parallel worlds.

[Rider isn't ready to tell Saber what became of her in her world. Not even a former adversary deserves that.]

[Saber shouldn't be surprised. If the "Bifrost" as it's called can bring people from largely different worlds together, then why not similar worlds?]

I suppose it does.

If you do not mind me asking, is your Master still Shinji Matou in your world? You do not have to tell me who if it isn't. Your wording of your desire and who I knew to be your Master in my world seemed strange.

That vile boy was never my true Master. He never summoned me, and wormed his way into that role. My true Master is someone far more deserving.

I should have realized given the nature of his Command Spell. Seeing as how he was never your true Master--[If the case was the same in her world as it is in Rider's]--then there should be no cause for conflict between us.

Good. Meanwhile, my Master has asked me to protect Shirou. Even if the Shirou here is one from a parallel world, I intend to fulfill my Master's request.

Shirou's here?

[Oh geez. Did her voice actually crack a little there? She'd come to terms with the idea of never seeing him. True, she'd missed him, but she hadn't expected him to be here, of all places!]

You have yet to meet him here?

[Rider wasn't expecting Saber to not know of Shirou's presence in Midgard. Needless to say, she was surprised.]

I only left Hephaestus's healing chambers a couple hours ago and have yet to run into him.

[Mentally flailing! What's she going to say to him? Is he even the Shirou she knew? How would he react to her not being a--okay, he'd likely be very happy about it, but still!]</small.

Thus you were not in the battle that was under way when we emerged from the Bifrost...that would explain that. That was where I encountered him.

Yes, the Valkyries brought me straight to Hephaestus since I was not at all fit for battle when I arrived. [She could barely even move, much less fight.]

I shall have to check in with him later. Even if he is no longer my Master, he is a.... [Ally is too impersonal and she's uncomfortable calling him her lover when she had told him she loved him just before she was to disappear. Even without that she wouldn't call him her lover in public. So, best word?]

....a friend I hold dear. I fully intend on protecting him if he is here to repay him for all he has done for me.

[And if Rider is also going to protect him then they were allies indeed.]

Then we have absolutely no conflicts of interest.

[Rider is secretly relieved. She had needed Shirou's assistance to beat Saber Alter's Excalibur, and didn't want to have to fight the light version.]

[Saber is secretly relieved as well. If there is no conflict of interest involved then that is one less thing to worry about. Despite their history of battling one another she is inclined to believe her and Saber believed herself to be a decent judge of character.]

In which case, I must admit I'm relieved there is another watching his back. I trust my skills as a warrior, but since I am no longer a Servant I fear I might be inadequate in some areas. [She really wants to test out if she can still drive a motorcycle, for example, stupid as she knows it is.]

The Once and Future King, inadequate?

[Rider looks doubtful of such a claim. Someone has been doing her research over the past two years.]

[Considering she used her Noble Phantasm on her? Saber is not surprised, though she does raise a hand.]

Perhaps, perhaps not. I told Shirou enough times he could never best a Servant. I do not wish to be hypocritical in that regard until I properly face one in battle and can gauge my skills.

...Clearly events as we remember them are different. In the past I know, Shirou did best a Servant, and it was thanks to his aid that I defeated another.

[Of course, Shirou had Archer's arm at the time, but that's opening a whole other can of worms.]

They must be. After all, we only did battle twice in the events I remember and Shinji Matou died shortly after I defeated you.

I see. Though Shinji did die in my world, I lived on beyond the end of the Holy Grail War.

Your Master must be fairly powerful, then, to be able to sustain you.

[Thank the Heavens whoever Rider's Master is wants to protect Shirou.]

Indeed. Only one magus has ever stood in my Master's way.

[Though it's not like Sakura asked for that power...]

ITP: Wandering

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