towerofanimus | Who never doubted, never half believed. [CLOSED]

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Who never doubted, never half believed. [CLOSED]

Characters: Saber (Alter) and Rin Matou
Setting: 29th floor
Format: Prose
Summary: In the hedge maze, Saber encounters Rin in trouble. This isn't the Rin she knows.
Warnings: violence and Type-Moon characters (will update if needed)

There was a crispness to the air as Saber stepped into the hedge maze. It was both refreshing and odd as she knew she was inside a tower, yet this floor registered to all her senses as being outdoors. Whatever light source there was hung low in the sky, making her wonder how the daylight cycles worked. Was it a regular twenty-four hour cycle like on Earth or did it vary from floor to floor? If she wasn't so infuriated with the public access network, she'd ask others their opinion using it. Yet, despite Ruler's own experience and suggestion for the knight to use it, Saber found she wanted to drive her sword through those that she talked to on it.

Useless thing.

As angry as she'd been, Saber had stormed out of the dormitories and off to explore the tower. She'd heard there were monsters that roamed the place; perhaps she would be able to vent some of her anger on something stupid enough to attack her or someone hapless around. In her anger, she'd forgotten that she'd agreed to take Hakuno with her when she explored. Not that she needed the healing support. If anything in this tower was such a challenge that she needed healing, either it was another Servant or something no one should be engaging without a full company in support.

Several minutes into the maze, Saber stopped and tilted head up. Something was brushing the edge of her senses, fainter than the breeze, that was resonating within her. But that wasn't her biggest concern right then.

Blood. She smelled blood.

That distinct tang cut through the natural greenery and drew the knight just as it would hungry predator scenting what could be wounded prey... An easy meal. Turning deliberately down the next leg of the maze, more touched Saber's senses as she tried to zero in on where it was coming from.

A dead end greeted her, as did the musk of something distinctly non-human. Yellow eyes narrowed as the visor descended over them. One hand barely touched the side of the hedge maze while the other held Excalibur as she headed back the way she came, choosing a different path.

Less headstrong... more cautious. She didn't know what she was going to find. Yet.

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Only a fool would venture into a maze alone, but Rin thought if she had brought another they would have driven her mad long before the weaved complexities of brush would. With a low tolerance for others and an even lower one for her Servant (amplified further only by the fact there were now two Lancers and one wanted her dead), she would be left to investigate things on her own. Not that there were many things that could frighten a beast as soulless as herself.

No, only that stupid young-looking Lancer could do that. Feeling her blood boil, she could only long to rip his weapon from him and threaten to drive it into his heart. Oh how she would make him sing praise only for her. It bothered her to be without the closeness of Angra Mainyu, but that only meant she would have to find alternative means of acquiring what she needed.

It would only be a matter of time before he would submit and exalt before her will. Just like the other Servants who crossed her during the Fifth Holy Grail War. Once she discovered how she could make them listen, then they would be left unable to hear anything but the manic cries of laughter she would have over their plight. Heroes becoming nothing more than scum she could kick around. Such things were exhilarating to her.

Almost as much as bleeding from her shoulder. Having managed to wrangle herself free of the assault, Rin found herself leaning into the barbed greenery as she struggled to catch her breath. So far she could keep up the run if she had to, but being worn down so early on started to take a toll on her. Rin wouldn't admit it out loud, but when her knees gave in, she felt her legs curl up underneath her to soften the fall. With ragged breaths, Rin almost considered calling out for her Servant, as her lips moved but no sound came forth.

Silently, Saber moved quickly through the maze. They were close... The beasts had to be humanoid in form from the sound of their gate. Whatever they were, they were quite large and pursuing whatever or whomever they had injured with an interesting cunning. It seemed they had split off into two groups; they must have an intimacy with the maze that she - and their prey - lacked.

A few more quick turns and another dead end had pushed Saber's patience too far. Enough. With a burst of prana, Saber leaped up to stand on the top of the closest hedge and get an aerial view. She knew she wasn't going to be able to stay up there long - something about it was destabilizing her footing, but it gave her just enough time to see three of the giant creatures closing in on a lone figure from one side and two others taking a side path to cut off the girl's escape.

...what. That girl... Saber only managed to catch the color of hair and that feeling on the edge of her senses before she had to jump back down to the ground. Was that Sakura? Saber knew she was receiving prana steadily from a source, but she felt no direct connection to her master. Had this collar interfered with that?

It didn't mater; she'd figure it out later. The knight had gotten enough of a look to be able to execute her next action without placing the girl in danger. Keeping the mental map in her mind, she cut a direct path through the hedge and burst through the narrow space before the hedge quickly repaired itself.

With the black and red magical energy that had become a trademark of her altered allegiance, the side of the hedge next to the three Uruk-hai was shredded. The black knight, tiny in comparison to the brutish hulking creatures, followed her entrance up by cutting one down immediately.

Pivoting, she met the attack of the second with Excalibur and watched the monster's eyes widen from behind its hood for a second as the dark holy sword cleaved its wicked-looking blade in half. Saber had to smirk at that as the remains of its sword bounced off her armor and she immediately side-stepped its unarmed attack to place herself between them and the girl.

Breathless, even in the bask of "glory" that the Servant brought with her, Rin could only gaze up at her with eyes the color of Saber's attacks. With a covered face, it wouldn't dawn on Rin just yet who this mysterious savior was, only that she would find herself in debt to yet another being in this place. Her twisted mind easily came to the conclusion to just consume these beings that insisted upon being her heroes. That boy with the thin arms. That man who looked like her Servant. Everything about them would feel good deep inside of her and only she could harvest their powers in a way they never thought imaginable.

Even now she thought about these things. On the verge of life and death, she could only lust after power denied to her in this place. Without Angra Mainyu to draw from, she felt powerless and weak in this damned place. Nonetheless, she'd watch the darkened form before her with slight admiration. The sight reminded her of a visage, although brief, had been memorable enough for her. A tiny girl adorned in silver armor from head to toe made for a quick treat of prana in a time needed, yet there is no possible way this could be the same being. Oh no. For this one before her sparked her admiration in ways never thought possible. Rin felt herself drawn in close to her hero as her vision fills her scarlet eyes to the point of drowning out the color.

"There's more coming." Yet, the only greeting she could give her would be meant to serve as a warning. Anticipation danced along the phrase though as the girl struggled to rise to her own feet. Using the brush (allowing it to claw at her clothes and skin) to steady herself, she cared not for the scent of blood that surrounded her very being. No, she could only find herself attracted to the beautiful creature before her.

"You're not going to allow them their peace after killing one of their own, are you?" Still taunting the remaining creatures that lingered around the two, Rin found strength just in her presence. After all, she could hardly be seen as weak when alongside a heroic spirit, else they would think her a poor practitioner of magecraft. "Come on, dispose of this rubbish so we may have our peace to talk."

The voice was not Sakura's. That was clear to Saber as she was greeted. It didn't make her stop, though. No, once she'd set herself on this course, she would see it to the end. And these beasts allowed her to let loose in a place where innocents weren't, unlike when she and Lancer has fought in the cafeteria.

The black knight slipped under another unarmed attack from the creature - pathetic as it was to even try to fight her unarmed - and severed its leg with one strike. As it fell to the ground, she spun around behind it to cleave its head from its body. This placed her during the flow of this battle in a position to get a good look at the girl.

Rin?

Her moment of sighting the girl clearly was interrupted. Saber brought her sword up to parry the downward strike from the third Uruk-hai and had to raise an eyebrow at the actual strength behind the attack. Another Servant might have had issue with it, but again, the creatures rough blade shattered against Excalibur. Using the the body of the fallen beast before her, she leaped up to decapitate it and landed easily.

Two more. There were two more coming and close.

Saber strode past Rin, flicking the blood off her sword as she did. Her silence was more a matter of being focused on the battle - or slaughter as it was - and trying to decide how to deal with this situation of Rin and what she could tell from a quick glance than any need to communicate then. But two words needed to be said.

One armored arm came up to herd Rin back toward the slaughtered bodies and away from the branch of the maze the other two were in.

"Stay here," she said in a commanding voice that others would find terrifying given the darkness coming off her in waves. But not Rin. No, not this Rin. This Rin was like Sakura.

Leaving the girl there, Saber ran down the maze to meet the two. There was absolutely no need to wait for them to come to her. She met them at the turn, leaving the partial sight of the slaughter to Rin as Saber cared nothing for the blood raining down on her.

How magnificent. A being of this nature being this close physically, yet they were worlds apart from her all at the same time. Compelled to watch every brilliant strike, Rin wouldn't heed her words in the slightest. It's only natural that she would fail to do so; having always done things her way, this situation would be no exception to the world that Rin ruled.

A pause gave away her respect as she would wait for the other woman to finish off her targets. Showing disrespect to a savior would be in poor taste and besides, she did command her to stand back. Once the spray of blood began to slow would she approach, her footsteps light and easy enough to hear.

"I noticed the way you looked at me." Rin's arrogance laced her words even in her pain. "Almost as though I were a ghost from your past, but there was enough pause as though you were considering something."

A confident greeting, but they had to be. A magus born and raised knew the importance and value placed on words due to incantations so it would be natural that they were adept in phrasing themselves when it mattered most.

And meeting someone new for the first time certainly fell under that category. Her shoulder slumped to the side as she walked, a limp arm dangling along as evidence of her injury, but she cared not for it.

No, not when faced with such a beautiful creature, one she had to know more and more about. Stopping short of a yard behind the shorter (not by much, but obvious with enough staring) woman, Rin would look her over again. The way her armor had been darkened with crimson lines pervading it only served to remind her of her own tainted skin.

"Your aura is familiar." Yet, she couldn't quite place her finger on it. "In this place I have discovered two men who are the same person, but both are from different worlds. I suspect..."

No, she hoped. "I suspect the same may be true for us."

With the Uruk-Hai laying dead at her feet, Saber half turned her head as she heard Rin approach, taking the moment to burn the blood off her with some prana. Regardless of what exactly this Rin was, she was a master and it would not do for her to be sullied with an enemy's blood when speaking with her.

"You remind me of another, Rin. I can taste Angra Mainyu upon you," Saber said, finally turning back to look at Rin, visor still in place.

Two men that are the same servant... was there another Lancer here? And if so, if he was Rin's servant, was he like her - had he listened to the dark whispers and taken the path presented? But, more importantly, why wasn't he with his master when she clearly needed help? Her eyes narrowed and she kept her sword in hand. Lancer was fast and she would be prepared in case he decided to make his appearance.

"We are from different worlds unless Sakura consumed you and then decided to let you live." She raised her head before dismissing the visor to look at Rin with her pale yellow eyes. "I am Saber," she said, recalling how Lancer had not known her upon sight as she would've expected.

"Saber." The name is repeated only for emphasis. It appeared she held little impact on the girl as she shrugged her shoulders. "The first Servant to fall in the Fifth Holy Grail War."

Dismissive of the topic, she'd bring a hand to brush her hair away from her bloodied shoulder, not wanting to stain the white with red. She'd be too late to that though, the tips already tinged with the color of her eyes.

"Sakura... consume?" The very thought brought a laugh forth. "That child isn't fit to be a magus. Even living the life of luxury under the Tohsaka family name..."

She stopped at that, not wanting to further discuss her history. Instead, she would focus on the obvious statements with a stern look on her face.

"You're not the first to say that." To claim that she was reminded of another Rin; didn't that other girl make that same statement a few days back? "This must be the work of Second Magic. Collecting many of us from parallel worlds and forcing us to stomach each other in the same place."

More importantly it meant there had been another war in which something like her existed. Holding up her hand, her gaze would follow the red lines along her pale skin in thought. A world where other Servants were like her Lancer...

"You have noticed the other one like us then, haven't you?"

Saber's expression revealed nothing of her inner thoughts as she listened to Rin speak. The first to fall in this Rin's version of the Fifth War? She scoffed at that notion; even with as incompetent as Shirou had been, she was too excellent a Servant to be the first to be eliminated. And then there was referencing Sakura as a Tohsaka when the girl had been given over to the Matou. This world Rin must be from must have had Tokiomi choose Sakura as his successor over Rin. And if she was like this, then she must have the birthright of the Matou...

"I have felt the presence, but I have not bothered to seek the source out," Saber replied.

Eventually, she was certain the two would have crossed paths, but with Lancer and Ruler being more visible, she was content to leave this other Servant be until the rules of this new War were set before her. And then killing Lancer would be easy; she'd only spared his life earlier because of the confusion over their different memories of the Fifth War. And him bringing up Gilgamesh.

"You are of the Matou, correct?"

She wanted to confirm it so she could decide how angry she was going to let herself get for Rin's comments regarding Sakura. Yes, it wasn't the same Sakura, but her master was her master and she would defend her honor if she must.

"That's right." A question easy enough to answer, so Rin felt no worry in giving that information up.

"The family name must be familiar to you." Although it struck her as strange she mentioned Sakura, she didn't choose to expand on it. "Else you wouldn't have asked. So tell me, Saber, how is it that you know of Sakura..."

There would be a noticeable pause in her words to add more weight to the already stressful situation before Rin would continue, choosing to manipulate the conversation just as easily as she had the Fifth Holy Grail War.

"...yet you are clearly a result of my own doing."

Her voice strained as thought for a moment there, Rin couldn't picture her younger sister ever having anything to do with this. Angra Mainyu. Killing people. All of those burdens were instead left for the elder sibling to live through so that she could have a chance at happiness.

"You are incorrect; I am not a result of your doing," Saber corrected, her tone leaving no room to argue, though she was certain Rin would argue. Rin always argued.

"In the reality of my Fifth Grail War, Sakura bears the name Matou and you are of the Tohsaka." She raised her head a little. "An accomplished magus and master in your own right, you summoned the Servant Archer, following in your father's footsteps." At least she hadn't ended in her father's footsteps.

"What you see is the result of Sakura Matou once the girl decided to seize control of herself."

Indeed, Rin would always pick an argument when she could win.

"I refuse to believe that child could call forth the most outstanding Servant of them all." It wouldn't be envy in her words, but a forced distance, almost as though Rin wanted to keep her sister away.

While she would be interested in herself, she did have to assert some dominance in the situation. Gratitude? That would come with the respect of placing Saber on this level.

"In fact, you speak of a man who died years before your summoning." Adding that in, she'd stare her down intently. "So how do you know these personal things about me?"

There was a bit of a smirk on Saber's lips. "Tokiomi Tohsaka died in the Forth Holy Grail War when you and Sakura were but children. I was summoned to that War as well. And I remember."

That smirk disappeared as she decided to give this Rin a bit of truth regarding her Fifth War summoning. She wanted to see the girl's reaction, so see if, like Sakura, this Rin loved Shirou in her sister's place. The mirror aspect was... Saber didn't like it. It made her unsure how to handle this master, even as she felt the pull toward her.

"I was not summoned by Sakura. I was summoned through unexpected coincidence to an idiot. I am certain you know the name - Shirou Emiya."

It hadn't been until she saw one item in her trunk, concealed in a wooden box, here in this Tower that she understood finally how Shirou had managed to call her.

"That boy..." She thought on it before giving a nod.

"Sounds about right. I had slain a Servant the first night as well as her Master. Well..." Rin paused to think it over. "I had killed Saber in my version of the war, but Lancer had killed Shirou."

What she didn't want to admit was that she could have saved his life if she felt like it. Leaving that to herself, she didn't show any more emotion other than the loss of someone she might have watched from afar. Why would she admit she had to do it all against her will?

"So Sakura acquired you somehow. What an improper Servant... couldn't even summon one herself." Was that a hint of disappointment in her tone?

Edited 2012-10-01 12:36 (UTC)

"You are incorrect. Sakura summoned Rider."

Saber tilted her head, eyes narrowing. She didn't like the tone of voice. There was nothing to be disappointed in regarding her master other than the girl taking as long as she had and that she would never get to walk in the sun again with the man she loved.

That was disappointing considering how much she had tried to save Shirou. Deep inside, underneath the darkness, Saber felt sorrow for her. For Rin.

"She did not wish to fight at the beginning of the War, so Shinji stood as Rider's master in her place." If Saber had been anyone else, she may have turned her head and spit upon saying that name.

That made her laugh. "Shinji as a Master?" Holding a bloodied hand over her mouth, she'd try to contain the laughter that came with the statement. He had made the attempt once to try to dominate her in their household, but once she had been declared the heir of the Matou family, she had no use for him.

"I suspect he was of little value in the war."

She should inquire more about the war, but the blood loss had already started to take it's toll on her. With a weak nod, she'd add. "He had been of no value in my own war."

"His death served a far greater purpose than the entirety of his existence," Saber replied. "Had Sakura not killed him, Rider would have."

The knight stepped forward then to grab the hand of Rin's uninjured arm with the intent of pulling the magus to her. The longer they stood there, the closer she would get to passing out. Despite not being Rin's Servant, she could not distance herself from the woman yet. It all felt too familiar, that white hair, the taste of Angra Mainyu in the air...

She could not leave her there, vulnerable.

"It is time to leave. I will escort you out of this maze."

"I don't need help."

Pride stuck to her core, but her body still went limp in her hold. Gravitating towards her, Rin couldn't help but feel drawn in. Everything about Saber fascinated her, from the familiarity of corruption down to how majestic she looked even now.

"My room... it shouldn't be too hard to find."

"I believe the appropriate phrase here would be too bad. Your mind may protest my aid, but your body knows better."

Saber lifted Rin up in her arms easily, having dismissed her sword, and held the injured girl to her armored chest. With a brisk pace, Saber stepped about the corpses of their fallen enemies to follow the maze back to the staircase before it go too dark. There was something ominous about the hedge maze itself, the darker and darker it got that wasn't just because of the creatures she'd slain.

"The number, Rin. I will take you there."

Well, how could she resist being close to another person? Her embrace was one Rin hadn't felt for years in her life. While Lancer and her were intimate, there never had been a time he was intimate towards her. Fueled by lust, they never stuck around much after the act. Arms that were strong were only meant to kill, not for whatever this could be classified as.

"One-fifteen." That would be why she'd give the room number up so easily.

Protection... Even now, Saber could not push away that damned code. Rin was an injured woman. She had to be protected. How she hated being tied to all that and yet unable to fully let it go.

Her steps were quick, but she took care not to jostle the Rin. She did not want to cause any undo pain to the girl. "Will you regenerate or will you need medical aide?"

The staircase was nearing, and the darkness had almost completely descended upon them.

"Ugh, why would I ever rely on someone else to help heal my wounds?"

Rin remained ignorant of the fact that darkness had started to fall around them, thinking it only natural due to her exhaustion. Drooping eyelids, things becoming darker, it had been an easy conclusion to make.

"I could probably take care of it on my own when I wake up." Concentrating on it now would only result in damaging it further. "So don't worry about that."

"Then I shall not."

A few more twists, turns and Saber had to shift Rin to one arm. Sword now back in hand, she cut down a small pack of creatures she didn't bother to take the time to analyze with a single cut of Excalibur. She didn't even slow down, stepping over the fallen bodies. Her concern was the hedges themselves.

Out of the corner of her eyes, she caught glimpses of them moving and she knew the longer they stayed there the more irritating getting out would be.

Growing more comfortable in her hold, she cared little for the monsters around them. If she had to fight, she could easily. All Saber had to do was ask her of her help, but Rin felt confident that she wouldn't bother.

"So they do come out more at night." In fact, her amusement stemmed from this fact alone. "I wonder if they could all be killed in a single evening."

Saber would not need help from Rin. She doubted there was anything there that would cause her to ask an injured magus for assistance.

"Not by you alone," she commented.

Just a friendly reminder that those monsters Saber had killed when rescuing her had been something the magus had been unable to handle. And with a lesser Servant like Lancer at her command, Saber was not confident at all in Rin's ability to take them all in one night.

That comment earned her ire, but not enough for her to lash out against the one helping her. Rin might be impulsive, but she retained enough sense to not bite the hand that feeds or in this case, the hand holding her body tight. Although she would contest that being a 'friendly' reminder.

"Of course not." A sigh to show her frustration. "I just think if everyone got together to fight them at once, we could purge this tower of them fully. If there are other heroic spirits here like yourself, then who knows how powerful other beings from alternate worlds are?"

"Such would needs a strong leader to unite them in a common goal."

Saber cut some more monsters down and, upon turning a corner, halted suddenly. Her grip of Rin tightened slightly as she turned her gaze onto the brambles of the hedge wrapped about her sword arm. With a creaking sound and rustling of leaves, the hedges surrounding them started to move, converging upon them.

"I have no desire to step into such a role again." And she knew Rin wasn't suited to it. It would take another. Probably someone 'good'.

Ripping her arm free, the sound of metal scraping over metal, Saber moved faster. "Hold onto me with your free arm. The hedge is alive."

The idea of manipulating others to kill and kill at her command is all too enticing of a though, but dismissed when Saber spoke. It left her dazed momentarily as she tried to comprehend he absurdity of her words. Of course a plant had life to it, but the tone she spoke made Rin think 'alive' in another sense.

"Could I just light it all on fire?" While she would be unable to remain focused in pain, would it matter if she was igniting the entire maze? Maybe it would be better to wait until the exit had been found before they trapped themselves in a blazing inferno.

A spark or two wouldn't hurt, would it? As tempted as she might be, listening to Saber seemed a better way to earn her respect.

And when you're in the arms of a spirit that could snap you in two without trouble, you sort of had to listen to what little manners there may be present within the mind. Shifting her weight, she'd instead choose to hold onto Saber with both of her arms, draped over the shoulders and clasped behind her upper back.

"I almost feel as though I'm a princess in this position." A jest, hopefully to lighten the mood. She would be in pain and her low tolerance started to show with agitation in her voice. "Let's get out of here quickly."

"Heh. I am a knight, Rin. Many a tale is written of a knight saving a princess." That was the best Saber could come up with right then as much as she was watching the hedge converging on them.

With Rin holding on, Saber greatly increased her speed to avoid being captured by the hedge's barbed tendrils. She cut a few branches down when they got too close, but there was the sound of scraping metal occasionally as the brambles brushed against Saber's armor, unable to grab on due to the speed she was moving at.

"Light it on fire if you wish. I do not care."

"I'm not much of a princess however." A honest statement once more, but she found it to be the truth. A princess didn't endure what she had to (or at least she wanted to believe that), so Rin would disregard ever thinking of herself along those lines.

Although now that she had Saber's blessing to burn the entire floor, the thought brought some excitement. She watched as it tried to grab at Saber and how her armored appeared to strike it down with each step. With a raised arm, she murmured an incantation she must have learned from her father early on. The embers leap from her fingertips along the brambles, Rin watching it with an all too eager smirk.

Saber wasn't sure if the hedge would even burn, not with the way it scraped against her armor as if it was metal. It mattered not one way to her, but a part of her wanted it to work to make Rin feel better. Fire had a way of being hypnotically fascinating to those that used it.

"That depends on what one thinks a princess is," Saber commented, slashing through some brambles trying to close off the path she was following. "Not every princess' story becomes a fairy tale. At least not the whole tale. Queens were once princesses, Rin."

"Hoh, so do you associate me with a queen already? That was a fairly quick jump to make."

Another jest, but it kept her from being infuriatingly frustrated at the lack of damage she inflicted on their surroundings. At least what little there had been calmed her, the warmth causing her to settle back down into Saber's hold.

"This place is much larger than I recall. I imagine if I were to be trapped here alongside an ally, I would never be able to find them. We'd just scream at each other endlessly."

"No." That was a flat and immediate reply. "You are no queen; you simply possess the potential to be one should your ambition take you there."

And Saber's frustration with the hedge was growing. She leaped over one whole bramble wall to sight her end destination. There. Now she had a better path in her mind's eye to take. This shouldn't take more than a few more minutes.

"It is in the nature of mazes to make one think such. I suggest heeding caution the next time you are here. I will not save you again."

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Who never doubted, never half believed. [CLOSED]

one ice cream later

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