The serpent tangles in the lion's claw;

[swordedpast]

Characters: Archer (swordedpast) and OPEN.
Setting: Various places in the tower during the event, March 17th through March 23rd.
Format: Tagger's choice.
Summary: After a week of brooding, Archer throws himself into preparing for the worst when the weather goes wild.
Warnings: Nothing so far.

Archer is not sociable at the best of times in the tower. The most contact he's likely to have with its other residents is when he's cooking Rin's breakfast, and he doesn't exactly make a habit of being friendly then, either.

But for the past week he's been virtually invisible. Literally: nearly any time he can get away with it, he's been in spirit form, nothing more than a lurking presence around the corner. The return of his muddled memories of the Fifth Holy Grail War, and his part in it, has left him more inclined to brood than ever. So anyone with decent spiritual awareness may, in the days leading up to the start of the spring storms, notice a wandering presence, a nearby sense of power, drifting through the stairs and the floors of the tower--but shying away from making contact with anyone. On rare instances, that same presence can be spotted on one of the quieter floors, this time in corporeal form, brooding in some corner. But he speaks with no one.

At least, until the rains start. Then he's a man with a mission.

[ SPRING: floor 80 ⇒ stairs ⇒ dormitories. ]

[ It's one thing to get food when the cafeteria is empty and the restaurant not functioning, but that won't matter if none of it can be kept dry. Archer himself hardly needs to eat or stay out of the rain, but Rin does, and so he's on a quest to find materials for shelter. He finds success at the top of the fourth block, on the floor with the circus. Carefully avoiding the sinister clowns, he grabs a relatively small tent, pulls the tarp down, and sets out to carry it back to the dormitories, where he'll be taking it to room 1-15 and setting it up to provide shelter.

What? Yes, it's theft, but it's not like the worker units are around right now to stop him. ]

[ SUMMER: various floors ]

[ The heat doesn't bother Archer. He doesn't need to eat or drink, and physical discomfort has been the least of his problems for a very long time now. So the sultry and stifling heat of summer is nothing but an opportunity for him to head out searching for food and water for Rin. Any floor that might have something that can be scavenged for food falls to his attention--he searches for edible plants on floor 101, he seeks water among the crystals on floor 99, he tries to grab fish on floor 79 (though the water there seems to be salty, and not drinkable), he checks for meltwaters on floor 66, and--

--when the thunderstorms come, he is briefly trapped on floor 68, dodging lightning as he dashes up the stairs. He can't simply go to spirit form when he's carrying food. ]

[ AUTUMN: floor 89 ⇒ stairs ⇒ dormitories. ]

[ By now it's clear enough what's going on. Spring came first, then summer, and now it's fall: that means winter is next. So, with his previous brooding well and truly set aside for the moment, Archer is making a serious effort to stock up on certain supplies. That means that, once again, it's time for some judicious theft.

The hotel has the most pertinent of those supplies, which is why he can be found carting heaping piles of heavy blankets to the stairs and then back up to the dormitories. He has even less patience now for anyone who might try to stop him than he did a few days ago when it was only water he was defending against. He expects winter to be brutal, and no one will stop him from defending his Master against it. ]

[ WINTER: closed to Rin. ]

[ It's time.

Archer has barely spoken to Rin since the fairies' geas wore off. He's brought her breakfasts without a word. He's set up that tent for her during the rains. He's guarded her during the thunderstorms and the tornados. But he's been a silent presence throughout.

Now, as he appears to present her with the piles of blankets he stocked up during autumn (along with some scrounged supplies of food and drink, carefully prepared to hide their humble origins), he's prepared to finally talk in order to convince her to use them properly. ]

Comments

[angramaintsu]

[ In between naps, she's tried to express gratitude of her Servant's eagerness to provide for her with faint smiles and a pleasant demeanor. Sharing with those who she might have come across her is inevitable (even if she has a heart shrouded in darkness, she has a heart nonetheless), but when winter comes she is left with her own frustration. Anytime she tries to conjure forth flame, the winds of the blizzard come through to blow it out, leaving her to just shake in the cold. At least she was smart enough to put on her pajamas over her thigh-highs, but the rest of her clothes aren't too warm for the drastic cold. ]

[swordedpast]

[ He appears quickly. A rather large pile of blankets are dropped at her side, and then his blades are in his hands, sweeping out to knock drifts of snow away.

Still he says nothing. He wants to speak to her, really, he does. But when she stripped down during the summer days, he saw those bruises on her, and he remembered. His throat tightens every time he tries to say something now. ]

[angramaintsu]

You know those won't do it.

[ If anything, she's always willing to speak up when he's unable to. Rolling her head lazily to the side to look down the blankets, she doesn't make any other movement towards them. ]

They may stop the wind, but nothing more.

[swordedpast]

[ Well, he doesn't really have a choice but to speak now. He glances into the snowy room. ]

If the tent is still intact, build a fire in it and cover yourself in the blankets. I'll watch to make sure it burns safely.

[ ...it's actually a nice thought. Watching over her as she ekes out a tiny space of domesticity in this misery. Maybe his neutral, stony expression softens just a bit. ]

[angramaintsu]

You'll watch inside with me?

[ Adding after with a nervous laugh: ] Because it'll be easier to remain warm if there's other body heat nearby.

[ Not that she has any idea she's asking to curl up alongside steel. ]

Autumn

[no_longer_a_king]

She'd noticed him stealing the tents back in that false Spring a few days ago. She had not said a word then, having taken one herself with the intent of returning it once the Tower was properly functioning again. Lancer could go into Spirit Form if need be, but she couldn't and she needed to be able to secure the map they'd been putting together.

But after the rains, the map was secure, though the supplies had dwindled. Arturia had felt slightly ill during the rains with little in the way to protect herself, but had endured. Arturia was from Britain. Rain was nothing but an inconvenience to her. The summer heat had almost gotten to her, but she had endured. And now here they are in the Autumn with leaves everywhere and signs pointing to winter being on its way.

She's going to the hotel floor to check if anyone needed assistance with all the hazards the Tower was giving them when she spied Archer attempting to sneak out of one of the hotels doors with a huge pile of blankets. It's a bit of a comical site, seeing him hold so many piled high, but she moves aside so he can easily get by and, once he's past her, she speaks up:

"What are you doing?"

[swordedpast]

He's prepared to walk past her with only the briefest of glances. He'd just walk on by, but actually ignoring her when she calls out to him is beyond even him. His shoulders slump slightly beneath the pile of blankets.

"What does it look like, Saber? I'm readying myself and my Master for winter."

[no_longer_a_king]

'His Master' meant Rin and, while she did have moments of wariness about Rin, she did want to make sure she was well. Especially now that she knew some more of the specific situation the Rin here was in as well as Sakura. That and Archer was firmly considered a trusted ally now. If he was helping his Master, then she would do what she could to aid him.

"Would you like some help?" she asked, reaching out to take a few of the blankets from him. Yes, he was stealing from the hotel, but the longer she was here the less inclined she was to care about taking things from the tower the Administrators deemed for their use to begin with.

[swordedpast]

"Ah--" Surprise flickered onto his face. He wasn't used to having people offer to help him with such simple tasks. Everything had to be done alone, in his world.

But she'd already begun to offer the help she'd suggested, so it was too late to object too strongly. He simply frowned. "Don't you need to make your own preparations? If I recall, you can't simply become a spirit and forget about the elements."

Autumn -> stairs

[miseris_socios]

[There's someone else carrying fabric, nearly hidden by the large pile he's gathered. Ken staggers up the stairs, and trips over one of the steps, dropping the pile. He stares at it for a moment and sighs, slowly trying to gather them up again.]

[swordedpast]

[ It's one thing to pass by any random person in need, but this is a small child. Archer starts to slow down a little as he passes him. After a moment, he reluctantly stops. ]

Surely you don't need so many.

[miseris_socios]

I'm trying to get some for other people. I don't want them to be cold.

[Even if they will tsun terribly about it.]

[swordedpast]

Hmph.

[ He sets down some of his own blankets so that he can properly frown down at Ken. ]

That's not a path you wish to walk, kid.

summer // might as well

[linesofdeath]

[...The sight of a guy running past the thunderstorm does have that comical value to it, but.

He can't help but stare as he saw the guy blitzed through towards the stair while carrying food.

Yeah, that was p cool, ngl.]

[swordedpast]

[He stops at a point on the stairs that's slightly sheltered by an overhang. Unfortunately, this leaves him not that far from this other guy. Who is staring at him.]

What.

[linesofdeath]

You're agile for a guy carrying a bunch of things.

[stating the fact.]

[swordedpast]

[He looks down at the stuff in his arms. A large bundle of vegetables, wrapped up with a vine; a covered bucket full of meltwater; another covered bucket full of just-caught fish.]

This is nothing.

[Only to someone used to being a beast of burden.]

[Spring -> Stairs]

[doesnotgetit]

[On his way up to the dormitories, Archer will run into a familiar face - Hakuno, in the midst of pulling her wet hair up into a ponytail. She can't avoid the rain, and it's getting pretty annoying having her long hair sticking to her face every time she moves, so it's time for a temporary change!

... She pauses a few steps above him, though, raising an eyebrow at the thing in his hands.]

... What are you doing?

[swordedpast]

[In another life, Archer might tell Hakuno that she looks cute like that. He'd probably say it in a stupid way, though.

In this life, he just frowns at her over the rolled-up tarp and tent-poles he's carrying.]

It should be obvious. I'm retrieving shelter for my Master. Has no one brought you any? How unfortunate.

[doesnotgetit]

[Gosh, sometimes she just wants to... do something. Smack him? No. Who knows. This guy gets under her skin in a way few of her enemies have. But it doesn't really bother her more than usual because, well... he says these things to be harsh, yeah, but she doubts he knows just how harsh his comments really are.

... It wouldn't help to let him know, though.]

Yeah, it kind of is unfortunate. Waking up and finding my beloved Servant was sent back home without me and likely disappeared because of it sure puts a wrench in my plans to stay safe here.

[She didn't mean to sound bitter, or any harsher than her usual level of snark, but it just... kind of slipped.]

[swordedpast]

[He tries to cover up the sudden awkward look of realization and regret that flashes into his eyes. He mostly succeeds--it's only there for a split-second.

Still, he wouldn't have blamed her one bit if she did smack him.]

...I see. Jeez, it's a wonder you're even well enough to stand on your feet and fix your hair. I knew you were hopelessly stubborn, but this seals it for sure. Most Masters would be hiding in their rooms in your situation.

F66: Summer

[canofworms]

[On floor 66, at some point, he might want to watch where he puts his feet or he might trip over the huddle of Kariya on the floor at the bottom of the staircase. The steps themselves are a little slippery with melted water, too.

He might be sitting in a puddle, but he doesn't seem all that bothered -- instead, he's staring out at the floor in something of a daze, expression shuttered.

Actually, unless you've tripped over him he might not even notice you. The lone Blade Wing Worm on his shoulder twitches a bit at a foreign presence, but its turn is slow and the glow of its eyes a little dimmed.]

[swordedpast]

[ Archer isn't much for tripping. He's pretty graceful in his own way these days. But he is carrying a large bucket for gathering water, and...

...he nearly swings it right into Kariya's head. ]

--you.

[ He's seen Kariya Matou around. He has to have, considering that he follows in Rin's shadow often enough.

But this one looks different. ]

[canofworms]

[He ducks his head, belatedly and probably long after Archer's already stopped his hand. It's a small, useless motion; his posture is a little more alert when he turns his head, though he doesn't bother uncurling.

He's never sure what to expect from one of the Servants; but this one, at least, usually has a steadier temperament and a slower hand. Assuming he is anything like the Archer Kariya knows of.

Really, it isn't the season for much of anything, even suspicion.]

... Me. [A quick flick of his fingers sends his Blade Wing Worm into his lap, out of sight. A careful retraction of any threat.] And you are Archer, of the Fifth Grail War.

[swordedpast]

I don't recall you surviving until the Fifth Holy Grail War.

[ His words are blunt. There's no sympathy or pity in his eyes as he looks down at Kariya.

After all, this guy almost made him spill his water. ]

Then again, you do look different. Hmm. Second Magic again, I'd wager.