towerofanimus | Awakening

Entry tags:

Awakening

Characters: [OU] Tohko Amano,[OU] Zelda (OOT), [OU] Saber (Alter), [AU2] Madoka Kaname.
Setting: Room 1-09.
Format: Prose.
Summary: Tohko wakes up from her nice dream, only to find herself in a new room and a new life. Scared and confused, Tohko searches the room and questions any inhabitants she can find.
Warnings: Tohko might blubber up here more than once.

When Tohko woke up, she found that she wasn't in her own bed, or even in her own room. She was in a large room,and three other beds were there, along with a chest at the foot of each one. She could see an envelope lying on the chest at the foot of her bed. Tohko tried to speak, but she couldn't, so she thought instead.

'Where am I?! How did I get here? Was I kidnapped? Is someone trying to ruin my wonderful and glorious book club?!' Full of questions and no answers, Tohko managed to get up, and found that she was wearing her school uniform and that a yellow collar had been attached to her neck. She tried to take it off, but she couldn't. Getting increasingly alarmed, Tohko opened up the envelope that was on top of her chest. There were two letters. The first read 'Your world has been destroyed. I saved you. Let's all be happy here.' and the second detailed the floors of a tower, and where she was supposed to sleep, get food, and access a computer network. Tohko figured that she was in the tower, but she refused to believed that Earth had been destroyed.

"It has to be the work of those kidnappers. They're giving me this weird note to confuse me!" Tohko talked to herself in an attempt to calm her down, and opened the chest, hoping to find some clue as to what was going on. There were some clothes, a parasol,a notebook, and two books that made Tohko pause. No Longer Human and Similar to the Sky..

She hated No Longer Human. Those pages..they struck a little too close to home sometimes,and not in a sweet way. She buried that book under the clothes. Seeing Similar to the Sky, however, got her thinking about Konoha. Was he alright? Was he okay? Tohko started to wonder whether she was actually kidnapped. After all, a kidnapper wouldn't go out of his way to grab stuff for her or set up multiple beds for people. Was the world really destroyed? Was Konoha..dead?

Tears started to form in Tohko's eyes, and, scared out of her mind, she thought she saw someone come into the room. "P-please, could you tell me whether the world is actually destroyed? And why am I here? And who are you?!"

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

Saber had come back to the room to look at her prized treasure in her trunk with longing, pathetic as it was to do so, when she saw the empty bed had been filled. At least the flurry of panicked questions was easy to manage.

"I cannot answer the first two, but I can the last," the five foot tall female in black dress replied as she crossed to her bed to sit down at the foot of it. "You may call me Saber."

Tohko quickly wiped her eyes and tried to calm down so that she could talk. At least she wasn't alone here..even if the girl didn't know much either.

"I-I see. It's nice to meet you Saber. I'm Tohko Amano, a simple book girl." Tohko managed to smile for a moment before her thoughts turned back to Konoha. She had to find out if he was here. If he was safe.

"Saber, do you know if a boy named Konoha is in this tower? And what's up with these collars?" While the letters had told here where everything was, they hadn't really filled in some gaps.

"A scholar?" Saber raised an eyebrow at that. "I am a knight."

Saber opened her trunk and slipped her hand down into it until she touched a wooden box. No, she couldn't take it out - not with the new girl here. Retracting her hand, she closed the trunk and focused her pale eyes on Tohko.

"That name is unfamiliar to me. As for the collars, they appear to sustain our energy within the Tower. The liquid within gets changed once a week, whether you cooperate or not." Saber's own collar was violet.

"Well..I don't know about a scholar, but I do love books. And a knight? How did you come to be one? And who are you a knight for?" While Tohko would have loved to ramble on about how Saber could be defending this tower and it's inhabitants from dragons, she knew that this was not the time. She had to stay focused.

When she heard that Konoha was not in the tower, Tohko sighed and hoped that Konoha was alright, wherever he was. "Ah, alright then. Thank you for telling me about the collars. That helps a bit." Tohko looked at Saber's own collar, which was filled with violet liquid. Lucky. Violet was Tohko's favorite color.

"By the way, when did you get to the tower? And who else lives in this room?" She asked. She didn't care if she was asking too many questions or coming off as an airhead right now. She needed the information, and she knew that people in mystery stories tended to fail all because of a lack of that.

"I was trained as a squire in my youth and rose to be a knight in due time." Really, she went straight from squire to king upon drawing Caliburn from the stone, but Saber wasn't keen on revealing her true identity.

"I am sworn to Britain, m'lady, as a Knight of the Round Table." Which wasn't a lie. Even as king she'd been part of the Round Table.

The girl was asking a lot of questions, that was sure, but she figured others dealt with the unfamiliar and uncertainty in different ways. Saber had tried to cut her collar off and damaged a lot of the room when she tried.

"I have been here for about a month and the other occupants are Her Highness, Princess Zelda of Hyrule and a young girl named Madoka."

"Ah, alright then. That's pretty amazing..and a Knight of the Round Table? How old are you?" Tohko loved the stories about King Arthur and his band, as those stories tended to taste like bittersweet chili, but she wasn't aware of people who were still part of the Round Table. Maybe this girl was part of some new group who had found that table and, instead of giving it to a museum, started up the group again.

Maybe.

"Ah, I see. I suppose I'll have to greet them when I run into them later. Although..since you've been here a month, can you tell me if there's anything dangerous here? Like a ghost or something?" While Tohko hated ghosts, it was best to be prepared so that she didn't end up in a horror story.

Saber wasn't sure what her age had to do with anything. "I am twenty-nine." Though she looked easily ten years younger. "I am curious why you asked."

This girl was clearly familiar with her legend. Most humans were given how great it was. That was the main reason she kept her identity secret and concealed Excalibur from sight. She did not need anyone fawning over her...

"There are shades - specters - and other monsters here. The dormitories are usually safe and most of the monsters only come out at night. It would be best to find yourself back here when night falls."

"Ah, alright then. I was curious, as tales of King Arthur and The Round Table are much older than that. I didn't think anyone was still sworn to those two things. I guess I was wrong." Tohko explained, scratching her head. Maybe she wasn't wrong in her assumption after all.

"Ah, I see. I guess I'll have to find a weapon or something before night falls. I may forget and get caught in a corridor or something. Or I may be to slow to get away." Tohko sighed. She wasn't sure where she could get a weapon, as the letters didn't explain where, and even then, she'd had to find someone to teach her. Maybe..

"Saber, can you teach me how to use a sword later? I'll have to find one first, but when we do, could you teach me?"

"Fourteen hundred years old," Saber commented. "There is no Round Table in what is now called England. Whereas the British Queen has her knights, none are of the order that served the King of Knights."

Saber opened her trunk again and removed a pair of shinai. She handed it handle-first to Tohko. "This will not hold up well in a real battle, but I can teach you the sword."

"Ah, I see. And you're part of that order that serves him." While Tohko was amazed that Saber knew how old the stories were, she wasn't quite sure how sane Saber was at this point. However, she chalked it up to Saber being part of some honor group that was trying to follow in the footsteps of those legendary knights and moved on. Besides, she was probably being rude by asking about Saber's past.

Tohko took the shinai from Saber. It felt pretty lightweight, but she doubted how good it would be in a fight, as it was made of wood. Saber confirmed her suspicions. However, they were better than nothing. "Thanks. I guess this will tide me over until I find a sword. When that day comes, I'll give this shinai back to you and take you up on that training offer."

Edited 2012-10-06 02:50 (UTC)

"You could say that..."

Won't that be the day when Tohko finds out she's rooming with King Arthur herself?

"I can teach you using the shinai. They are common practice swords in Japan. I have done so in the past and can once again. But, I warn you, I am not merciful when training, but you will find no one more skilled than I in the art of the sword."

While Tohko would have liked to poke a little bit more into Saber's past, she held her tongue and fought the urge to comment on that little hint.

"I know they're pretty common over in Japan. I've seen them there a couple of times..and if you're good at training, then I'll be your student!" Tohko wasn't very strong, but since Saber was supposed to be a tough teacher, she would have to work hard.

As Tohko was thinking about all the hard work she would have to do, her stomach grumbled. She was starving. "I'm so sorry! I'll grab some food and then meet you again for training. Where should I meet you?"

"The meadow on the twenty-fifth floor. I'll be there." That would give the girl more than enough time to find it.

"Make sure to consume the oatmeal this meal, no matter how much you do not wish to eat it. Otherwise, your stomach will not accept the food. I do not understand the reasoning why, but I do know it is required."

"Alright then. I'll meet you there after I grab some food. And don't worry! The note spoke a little about the oatmeal, so I know. Thanks though. I'll see you later!" Tohko quickly yelled before running out of the room. Not that she was worried about the taste of the oatmeal. After all, food, no matter if it was burned or made by the best restaurant, always tasted the same to her. Her main problem would just be finding the cafeteria and the meadow..

Saber watched the girl go. After a few minutes, making sure she wasn't going to come back, the knight opened her trunk and pulled a long wooden box out. Opening the lid, she gazed at the item inside.

...how she longed to hold it again.

Ah, but that was a yearning of the past. She closed the box and tucked it underneath her clothing in the trunk. Saber headed to the meadow with the other shinai, looking to enjoy the sun before Tohko managed to find her way there.

Tohko quickly ran to the meadow, feeling like a fool. Yes, the oatmeal looked and tasted terrible, and it would be nice if newcomers knew how to improve it. Still..she was pretty sure that her advice would be terrible, considering her defects. Oh well. At least she had learned how to operate the network and had managed to snack on a copy of First Love that she had sneaked out of the library. Hopefully no one had noticed. Hopefully.

Finally, she made it, and Saber had been telling the truth. Floor twenty-five was a beautiful, flower-covered meadow, and while Tohko would have loved to pick some flowers or have a picnic there, she would have to save it for later. Saber was here. It was time to begin her training.

Saber was laying on her back, bouncing her foot on a knee, with the shinai on the ground beside her. She looked back when her roommate arrived.

"This meadow is an anomaly. It is the only place I have not seen any monsters, even at night."

Tohko smiled and walked toward Saber. She would have loved to lie down and enjoy the sunshine, but she didn't, as she knew that even if she did, she wouldn't be able to do it for very long.

"That's pretty useful. That way, we can train here all night..or if we have a monster chasing us, we just have to run into this room." Tohko replied.

"The monsters here are not a challenge to me." It was the other Servants that were. "It is still best to not be out after dark."

Saber got to her feet and rest the shinai on her shoulder.

"What skills do you possess?"

"Ah, I see..you must be pretty strong then. And yeah, it probably isn't safe to be out after dark." Sadly, the monsters were going to be a challenge for Tohko. However..hopefully, after today, they'd be less of a threat.

"Let's see..I'm the best at reading books and using their plots to help people and solve mysteries!" Tohko replied. She knew it wasn't a strength-oriented skill, but she was proud of it, as it helped her eat something and it helped her solve the mystery at school. That seemed like such a long time ago..

Saber tilted her head as she tried to wrap her mind around that skill.

"Hmm. It sounds like you have a good eye for detail and intuition given that skill. Such is needed for battle as well. The inner eye needs to anticipate an opponent's actions and attention to detail will let you analyze where your opponent is vulnerable and let you read their movements," she said after a moment.

"There are parts of an opponent's body that will always give away the attack if you know how to read it."

Tohko scratched her head. She was good at detail..but she wasn't so sure about her intuition skills. Oh well. At least her talents weren't as useless as she thought they would be.

"Let's see..like the eyes, or a tilt of the head or hand? Will those give away where the opponent is going to attack? And how do you tell where your opponent is vulnerable? Will he be covering up that spot or trying to defend it?"

"One step at a time, Tohko." Saber walked around the girl, looking her physique over. It was an appraising gaze and the knight nodded to herself from time to time.

"Let us start with holding the shinai properly and becoming comfortable with it. Then we will move onto more advanced things. Now... hold the shinai like you believe it should in a ready stance..."

[ooc: Since I know very little about teaching someone to use a sword, I'd like to handwave the lessons. Assume Saber takes her through daily training for a few hours a day.]

"R-right." Tohko sighed. One step at a time. After all, any great hero, like Ged or Arthur, didn't learn everything in a day.

"Alright then." Tohko nodded at Saber, and held the shinai with both hands in front of her face. She didn't know how she'd do at these lessons, but she would give it all she got..

[ooc: That's completely fine with me.]

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

Awakening

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject