towerofanimus | arrival

Characters: Sakura Matou and YOU
Setting: Dorm Floors, Library, and Cafeteria though meeting her in between floors works as well.
Format: Action, while I can do prose it takes me longer
Summary: Sakura arrives, becomes confused, and then becomes even MORE confused after meeting the people she meets. And then she solves her problems with cooking. That's legit, right?
Warnings: None for the actual post but I know the thread between her and Rin is probably going to get violent. I'll add more if needed.

[Dormitory Floors]

[ After arriving and eating her god awful oatmeal, Sakura enters room 1-01 to find her things and take stock of everything that she's arrived with in her trunk. Not a lot, but it's still comforting to find that she has some things from home. After perhaps talking with a few roommates, she exits her room and wanders on the other dorm floors, mostly to try to find anyone she knows. Particularly Senpai, Nee-san, or Rider, but for some reason she has a feeling that they aren't here. ]

[Library]

[ While she's not a book worm by any means, she knows that being here without any knowledge is a bad idea. Sakura's a smart girl so she hits the books, trying to flip through and find any information about where she's stuck at.

Of course, she's not having much of any luck. ]

[Cafeteria]

[ After all of that, she decides to relax a bit by cooking a meal later in the day. Fried rice is on the menu, served over the best cuts of fish she could find in the Tower's stock with tons of veggies and other goodies stuffed into the rice. She's even cooked a sauce with a bit of spice to it to serve over it. She made enough for multiple people, and she doesn't particularly care who comes to eat, so feel free to serve yourself and join her for a meal. ]

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

[Saber automatically tenses when she feels a Servant arrive. Of course, it was Archer and she was half-expecting him to attack. After all, his master had been on the attack. For that reason, Saber doesn't lower her sword at all.]

Your job is to serve her, Archer. Sakura has lived through what was done to Rin. She has also overcome it. She knows the madness Rin feels. All of it.

[ He keeps his face a mask. After a brief glance at Saber with her sword out, he looks over her shoulder to the girl beyond. ]

I know she would have regretted harming you. She has too much to regret here and I don't intend to let anything be added to it.

[ He hesitates for a second. Can it be that Sakura, this forgettable-looking girl

(the warm domestic presence he remembers only as a harmless smiling blur)

could really ever have had the darkness within her that this Rin does? ]

I won't attack either of you now. I'd be an idiot to try Saber, and when she comes to her senses, Rin will be harsh with me if I hurt her sister.

I suppose I can at least thank you for helping us resolve this peacefully.

[ Sakura is still cross with him, but she's grateful in her own way. ]

Saber, please let the two of them go unharmed.

[At that, Saber lowered her sword and stepped back, turning sideways in the hall to allow him to pass without losing sight.]

I said it to her before, but I will say it to you now, Archer. I will not allow Rin to harm Sakura. Nor will I allow her to 'fix' her as she believes it is. I do not want to be in conflict with her. Understand that.

[ He starts to step away, Rin still cradled in his arms. But Saber's words give him pause, and as he passes her, he slows to a halt. ]

So this is the better Master you found, Saber.

[ He glances between her and Sakura, putting pieces together in his head. ]

I'll oppose you if it's the only way to protect my Master, Sakura Matou. I'll kill you if it comes down to that, but it's best if it doesn't. We should be allies from a distance instead. You know if Rin breaks this whole place will go down in shadows. She'll break faster if she lets herself hurt you, so I'll work to stop that.

[ His voice is flat and cold as he speaks, his face possessed of all the expression of steel. ]

I agree that we should be allies if at all possible. Our goal is the same, after all. But I know being close to Saber and myself will help her. She needs people who can understand how she feels.

[ Sakura manages one of her distant smiles. ]

I don't mean that as a bad thing. After all I think it's best if there's less people like me roaming about the tower.

Sakura is stronger than she looks.

[And that's all Saber is going to say on the matter.]

[ He looks hard at both of them for a long moment, keeping his eyes carefully empty of feeling. ]

I'll speak with her about it. But if it seems she can't handle it, I won't let you approach her.

We can agree on that for now.

[ She doesn't particularly agree with Archer being Rin's watchdog, but there's nothing she can do about it, much like she can't dismiss Saber even if she wanted to. ]

[Saber just gives a nod. She didn't think Archer would be able to judge that properly, incapable of truly understanding what happened to Rin and what goes on inside her, but this was an acceptable compromise.]

[ He hesitates for a second. But that's all he needs to stomp down on the part of him that wants to reach out for help, to ask just how to make things better for Rin and the entire tower. The instant of uncertainty vanishes from his face, and he's cold again.

Archer nods once. Then he takes off down the hall. ]

[ Once Archer is gone, Sakura relaxes a bit. ]

Saber, I... I tried.

[Saber watches Archer leave and, once he's gone, she dismisses her armor and turned to her master.]

He is an idiot. [Once an idiot, always an idiot.] He realizes he cannot help her on his own and still thinks he can save her from herself. We both know how foolish that is.

We do. I agree with you.

... I just wish I could have done more.

In time, Sakura.

...I ask that you never allow yourself to be killed. Ever. I will overlook it this time.

[ She was hoping that Saber hadn't caught that, looks like she didn't get so lucky this time. ]

I apologize for my shortcomings.

Apology accepted. [This time.]

arrival | open

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