|
Post by Miska on Oct 22, 2015 16:52:49 GMT
The red sky grew ever red. Perhaps it was the sign of dusk. Or dawn. Or it was simply another mundane change in the light. Whatever it added little to this God-forsaken river. Even without the red sky, the sheer redness of the running water was enough to fill one’s sight for an entire lifetime. Such redness, too, filled Miska’s sight as she looked down the Mion River. He had been feeling lethargic ever since that experience in his first mission. For a few days after, there seemed to be something lost inside the young child. No, he did not become catatonic or like an empty husk. In fact, he was functioning quite normally. He did his work and smiled and socialize the way Miska Kopparsvard usually did. But there was no denying that something was off. But Miska herself would not be able to answer, even when asked. So, when he was given his second mission he did not refuse it. Nor that he could even if he did not want to anyway. This was a mission that actually had the purpose of testing the new Venetia Gear. It was a revolutionary design, something that the Laboratory technicians seemed extremely proud of. But one run with Πιο αποτελεσματική and he could tell that the suit was far from effective. It was, probably, at most only 80% of what its design could allow. Miska shuddered to think that one had gone in a mission with this sub-par equipment, and survived. A few days during the training with the suite Miska had tried to tell the Technicians about her insights about the suite. But since she herself could only understand the system without really explaining it in concrete terms, the discussions naturally did not give any conclusion. After a while Miska stopped altogether when she could sense that the technicians began disliking her. She was never a confrontational person. And besides it was not lordly at all to argue with commoners’ understanding. Secretly, he promised himself that he would truly learn the engineering system before presenting his views. That should make his words be heard. But it was in the assumption that she could return from this mission alive. She had a good start, at least. Unlike last time when she made a coordinate miscalculation more effective and put her almost three times the distance, now she had been ray-shifted to the correct location. She could not resist tampering with the system again, however, and this time she managed to make her Ray-shift process more effective. It was originally intended for Miska and her partner to appear together. But thanks to her tampering, she arrived five minutes earlier than her partner. A dangerous gambit, but at least it proved that she was quite good at what she did. Which gave him plenty of time to contemplate. Here he was transported right in the middle of the river, on what seemed to be a cruiser split neatly in half. Of what that could cut a cruiser this size Miska shuddered to think about. It was from the pointed prow of this ship that he was supposed to dive down to the murky red waters below, while his Servant covered his descent with arrows. And there she stood waiting, already ready with her Venetia Gear, looking down at the still water below in deep contemplation. The light seemed to make her shadows longer and her features sharper. She looked majestic: for once a true Lord of Kopparsvard. *** Okay, let's finish this before the other team can! Tagging: emiya
|
|
|
Post by emiya on Oct 22, 2015 19:14:16 GMT
Emiya spent a bit more time than he’d have been comfortable admitting staring at the destroyed, ruined bridge. While he was far from a stranger to the hellhole that was Fuyuki, seeing such a clear landmark in ruins brought things closer to home than he was comfortable with. He had a fair bit of memories there, times he could unabashedly look back on with a smile on his face. It was somewhat hard for him to deal with seeing it in such a state. It ended up being about five seconds in total.
That time was hard-pressed, though. It was clear that his Master had been there for a decent amount of time than he had been. “You should not have done that, Master. I don’t doubt your skills, but a human being alone in a place like this is something that could easily result in your death.” He smirks. “Besides, I’m not the intrusive type. If you wanted time to yourself, I could have waited for your signal.”
Turning back to his Master, he shakes his head, sighing. It was clear that there was some sort of dissatisfaction on his Master’s face. “Master, are you ready? Are you sure the equipment you have with you is capable of handling the deadly curses in the water?” He could all but see Angra Mainyu swimming freely in the corrupted river, wishing ill on anyone and everyone in the world, but powerless to affect people out of his touch. To willingly go down inside of the water’s depths was a suicide mission unless properly prepared.
Unclasping his Holy Shroud, he sighs. “At the very least, take this. It should protect you for a few moments in case of equipment malfunction. The curse should likely seek to destroy the object before it turns in on you.” Handing the fabric to his Master, he shrugs. “I’d prefer to get it back though, so I’d prefer things didn’t come to that. Don’t take unnecessary risks, just because you have a safety net. It’ll only delay your death for a few moments, so if you’re not in a position where i can recover you immediately, it’ll be of no help.”
Projecting his bow, he forms a simple arrow, and then quickly reinforces it to allow it to slip through water as if it was air. Pointing it inside the river, he begins scanning for the enemies he was expected to face. “If there is no issue, I suggest beginning at once. There’s no way to tell how long the river will remain this calm.
|
|
|
Post by Miska on Oct 25, 2015 10:45:03 GMT
Miska heard steps behind him traversing the deck to the prow where he stood. But he did not move, nor did he gave an indication that he acknowledged his presence. His card given to Miska during the briefing stated this Servant’s name simply as “ARCHER”. But during that snowy night on when Miska first arrived, he had told him during that snowy night that his name was Emiya. Out of all Servants Miska had met during her short tenure at Chaldea, this “Emiya” was the one most unsettling to her. Other Servants were easy to look up or at least easy to understand, but Emiya was different. It was hard to “understand” him. Even with Miska’s special aptitude in understanding things she still was not really sure about Emiya. He was still a challenge to be understood. Miska turned his head almost lethargically as he delivered his not-so-polite greeting. Their eyes met. There were so many things going on in Miska’s mind they were almost be able to be seen. “I know,” she answered, smiling weakly, “I am sorry.”Then he returned his gaze to the red water beneath him. Unlike the first mission, Miska’s mission was not in the Mion River proper. Rather, it was at the mouth of the wide river directly bordering the sea. If he jumped from the prow of the ship he would immediately plunge some meters deep, and since this broken cruiser was the only thing not submerged under water Archer’s support to him would be severely limited in area. Unless he could walk on water. Miska sighed at the same time Archer sighed. She paused, uneasy about this coincidence. He was genuinely surprised when Archer handed him his cloak. His eyes looked at the shroud and then to Archer and then back again. It was an alien kindness Miska did not expect from his initial impression of the Servant. Her fingers touched the Farbric and lifted it. “Thank you, Archer. I will –no. I hope we do not have to use it. But, thank you.”With a flip of the switch the golden Venetia Gear opened and out came Miska. He was wearing his usual Dra Gamma outfit, with his hair let loose. He carefully draped the Holy Shroud around his slender form, pausing a little to make sure he clipped the fabric properly on his body and that it won’t slip. He looked like a comical version of Vagrant Spirit when finished. The fabric was too large for him. But she was obviously in a better mood after wearing it. When she lifted her eyes to Archer again they were not as murky as they were before. However, there were no further gratitude. A Lord never thanked more than once. He had to wear the Venetia Gear from the start again however, so the pair had to wait some more before getting into action. The fumes and buzzing sound of the Gear as it locked itself around Miska was in stark contrast to the complete stillness around the ship. It took a little over two minutes for the suit to complete the body part, and then Miska put the helmet part on. Another minute and, with a last “clank” Miska’s whole form was encased in that astronaut-like suit. “Testing.” She said to her personal receiver connected to Archer. When he arrived earlier she had not wear the headpart. “Archer, can you hear me? If you can,” -she smiled to herself, remembering her father’s exact words before- “Please sing a song.”That last lines lifted Miska’s spirit somehow. He felt more ready for the mission. More lordly like he should be. “Shoot one arrow down here, Archer.” He pointed to a spot on the river close a few steps in front of where he stood. “Make it…powerful. I'd follow behind it.”
For Emiya’s record, Miska’s arriving early was not for simple selfish reason. She needed time to “understand” , and now she was confident that she would be able to predict the flow and current of the river area around to a certain degree. She also knew that she would not be able to stop once she jumped down, so following a powerful arrow down would be her best bet in case something dangerous was lurking beneath her with open mouth.
|
|
|
Post by emiya on Oct 25, 2015 16:02:04 GMT
Archer noted her apology, but didn’t comment on it. It didn’t need a comment. In all honesty, Miska didn’t even have to apologize to him. He was just another agent of Chaldea, and while he’d have liked to have been able to watch over her as Miska did her preparations, it made things slightly more expedient for him now that he was here. As a tactical decision, while it had flaws, it was hard to totally fault her as nothing bad came of it.
As his Master took the cloak, Archer smirks. “I completely agree. Going without my Holy Shroud after all this time is a bit of an irregularity for me. I’d much prefer it didn’t become a permanent one.” He watches Miska struggle to put it on, and contemplates offering his help, but she seems to get it on just fine. The placement didn’t really matter, the only way that’d make it more effective than it was just holding it in her hand was if her entire body was covered by it. Still, the increased resolve and determination in Miska’s eyes was likely worth more than the protection it provided. That resolve would be necessary here.
As Miska sinks into the cursed water, Archer renews his scan for enemies, with the water freshly disturbed by a new magical presence. Just as he expected, a wraith begins to stir, and he skewers it with an arrow. He made sure this one had no magical properties aside from a basic reinforcement, the longer they could operate on stealth, the better. It was then that Archer received Miska’s...unexpected...request. A curious mood comes over Emiya, and he decides to humor the request.
“You load sixteen tons, and what do you get? Another day older and deeper in debt. Saint Peter don’t call me ‘cause I can’t go, I owe my soul to the company store.”
With that, he projects a much more powerful arrow. Or, sword, rather. The sword of the red plains, Hrunting, appears in his hands, before it’s morphed into something all but unrecognizable. Drawing it, he charges it very slightly with mana, before loosing it down to impact with the river bottom. Immediately, he charges another one, this time with more mana. Hrunting as a weapon was more valuable for its properties than its destructive power. As a projected arrow, it’s best property was that it would not miss. It would always impact with the target. While normally, he’d bolster that ability by Breaking the phantasm and overcharging it with prana, against enemies like this, a simple, inexpensive, kill-confirming arrow was of far more value.
“Be careful, Master. I tried to limit it, but that shot is likely to attract some unwanted attention.”
|
|
|
Post by Miska on Oct 27, 2015 17:46:22 GMT
Note: It is just a little thing but… when testing the communication Miska was still on the wrecked ship. But it is alright! We’ll find a way around.
***
When the bowman sang the lines, there was an audible chuckle heard from the communication line. Hearing the song Miska could not help but smile., although since he was facing away from Archer he would not be able to see it. He was glad, however, that Archer seemed to be far kinder than he actually looked. “Oh, Archer, you have a good voice-
...Thank you."
It was amusement creeping in for the first time in Miska’s somber mood. But more importantly, it was gratitude. A genuine gratitude from a human. Then, she looked at the river and fell silent, waiting for the right time to move. "Shoot one arrow down here, Archer.” She pointed to a spot on the river close a few steps in front of where she stood. “Make it…powerful. I'd follow behind it.”Soon, the Servant made an arrow from a sword ( ‘or a sword from an arrow? Its hard to understand the mechanism...’) and charged it very slightly with mana, before let it loose down to impact the river bottom. Immediately, he charges another one, this time with more mana. “Be careful, Master. I tried to limit it, but that shot is likely to attract some unwanted attention.”
Miska nodded. Although in his stiff suit his nod would not be able to be seen. “I will. Cover me, Archer.”
And with that, she jumped down the prow of the ship, straight down the deep red water of the mouth of Mion River and following the path of the arrow shot earlier. Thankfully, she and the lab team had made some improvements based on the data from the first mission. Now the suit had far more impact resistance and far less cumbersome to move on, in part courtesy of Miska understanding how to best link the suit material in the joints. It’s protection was still limited, however. That’s why Miska asked Archer to shoot one powerful arrow first. If something was waiting under her there would be a good chance that thing would have died by now. But just as Archer expected, no sooner than Miska entered the water that a wraith begins to stir. Archer skewered it with an arrow. He made sure this one had no magical properties aside from a basic reinforcement, the longer they could operate on stealth, the better. As for Miska, he had not turn his headlights on yet so he did not have the slightest idea that the first victim had fallen. The descent through the deep water took several seconds. When Miska landed on the riverbed, she could feel that the sandy bottom beneath her was soft. Terribly soft. She turned on her headlight and saw that, while the river was bright red the bottom was colored deep red like a pool of dried blood. She tried to walk and found that even the consistency of the riverbed was like thick blood, or more accurately, like a bubble gum colored blood red. It stuck on the sole of Miska’s shoes as she lifted her feet, before dropping back in several big blobs. Which made Miska worried. He gazed upwards to the faintly dimmed river surface, several meters away from him. The stickiness of the river bed would made speedy extraction a little more difficult. “Archer, please check the Safety Line? The ground is sticky and it’s difficult to get off quickly.”
She was speaking about the Safety Line, another improvement for the Gear. The thin, prana-infused metalloid fiber was wrapped around the shoulders of Venetia Gear like safety harness while the other end was on the Servant. Or, in Miska’s case, it was tied to the rail of the sunken cruiser. The thin cable-like substance was thin but extremely strong. In emergency cases a powerful enough Servant should be able to yank the cable to pull the Master up the River, which was theorized to be able to speed the ascent. Besides, it would prevent the Master from straying away from the Servant. As Archer checked the Safety Line, Miska stooped down and pinched a little of the sticky riverbed. He brought out one of the many specially designed pouch stored on his waist and put the gum-like ground in as a sample. He put the filled pouch in a separate storage on his waist, to be researched later. Finishing the deal, Miska straightened herself and looked around. ‘So, where to start?’ Other than the sticky ground all around her were debris and junk that had accumulated in the mouth of the river for years. There were empty cans and bottles and countless plastic bags, all of their original colors had been subdued by the redness. There were also tires and metal bars and even one seemingly functional bicycle sunk halfway among the riverbed. Near his right was an old-model TV that was still displaying a stand-up comedy show… Miska blinked. Oh no, she was mistaken. The TV was broken and surely could no display. Wait- A shiver ran up Miska’s spine. He was sure that he saw someone inside the TV before. And it moved, like a stand-up comedian in a show should. Perhaps it was just his imagination? Yes…that must be. Miska bended down and looked closer at the TV. It sure was broken… It had not even been one minute, but Miska already felt uneasy down here. But he had to begin the search somewhere…. Chaldea said the coordinates of the Noble Phantasms was somewhere around here, in a at least 25 meter radius. An effectiveness boost from Miska and he was confident that he was no more than 15 meters around the objects. But it was still a good distance to cover. Miska looked around, before deciding to start his search West. So, he would start downstream and then upstream while his suit still have much power before finishing it downstream in a round-clock way. “Archer, I am moving West. Is there any-“ she tried to see at the direction, but it was useless. The headlight only allowed her to see no more than two or three meters ahead. “- Is it safe to go there?”
*** Let's make this a contemplative journey Tag: emiya
|
|
|
Post by emiya on Oct 27, 2015 22:17:16 GMT
The gratitude in her voice was apparent to the veteran, and Emiya smiles simply. Even if he couldn’t have seen the smile through the helmet, he could hear it in Miska’s voice. That kind of thing was something dangerous to him, he could get addicted to it, all too easily. “Glad that I didn’t embarrass myself too much.” As his Master gets into the water, Emiya scans around the water. Though the curses make it difficult for even his enhanced senses to peer through. While he successfully intercepted one wraith, he required intense focus to see anything else.
As his Master asked the question, he looks away from the water to check the line. His strength was never particularly fantastic, he was very much an archetypal Archer, and though he tried to go head to head with other Servants with his swords, he was near universally outmatched, relying on skill and tricks to overcome the disparity between a true hero with an idealistic fool who took a wrong turn in life. So, he had a bit of difficulty pulling his Master up from the somewhat sticky bottom. It took about a second to pull Miska up from the muck. “Well, that’s not going to be acceptable. Perhaps something different would work better…” A few quick adjustments, and he’d engineered a solution. Theoretically, firing an explosive Broken Phantasm at the prop would near-instantly pull Miska up in an emergency situation. He might not be fortunate enough to survive without impacting the water, but the Master’s life was far more important in a mission like this than his own. “I found a solution, feel free to proceed.”
When he turns back to the water, his eyes grow wide. A group of ghouls and wraiths had gathered, attracted by his first arrow, and pulling back his arrow, he sights an impossible line, one that would cut through the spiritual cores of five of the wraiths at once, though would require an arrow who’s path curved. “Hrunting!” The arrow slices through the water, dispersing the wraiths, and then exploding, destroying the ghouls along with it when it strikes the riverbed.
“It’s safe now, master. Keep moving, I don’t think I need to inform you of how much danger you’re in down there.” He sighs. “Do you have visual on any of the targets? I was hoping I could give you one, but I haven’t seen anything yet from my perspective. I’ll keep looking.”
|
|
|
Post by Miska on Nov 1, 2015 5:03:27 GMT
“I found a solution, feel free to proceed.”“A solution?” Somewhat uselessly, Miska looked up to the shimmering river surface far above her, as if somehow wishing to see the ‘solution’ spoken of. The curiosity in her voice was apparent to Archer “What –kind- of solution?” It ran in her blood, but Miska always felt the reflexive urge to understand something. More so if it concerned her own safety. *** And just as he finished asking about the west, he faintly heard an explosion some distance away reverberating in the water. Here around Miska he could see no movement. No lives. No presence. No special features except the various junk. No…nothing other than the deep swirling red of the murky river. She could only hope that the explosion was not a sign for hazardous things to come. Then Archer’s voice intruded the stillness. “It’s safe now, master. Keep moving, I don’t think I need to inform you of how much danger you’re in down there.” A sigh was heard. “Do you have visual on any of the targets? I was hoping I could give you one, but I haven’t seen anything yet from my perspective. I’ll keep looking.”
“I cannot see anything,” She affirmed, again squinting uselessly at the reddish darkness around, “Keep looking, Archer. I’ll rely on your sight.”
A good Lord know when to praise their followers. Miska was learning the ropes in this one. He shook his head slightly to clear his mind, and then began taking a small step forward. The mucky, painfully slow exploration had commenced. For several minutes there were no action on Miska’s part except how in his mind the riverbed became even stickier. With such hampered walking speed, even the 15 meters exploration would be quite a chore. He had counted that if everything went smoothly, there will still be around 1/20th power left by the time he finished his round-clock walking. Assuming he did not have to use energy to fight, and that Noble Phantasm is much lighter than it sound. And soon it became boring. Lifting left leg… Moving it… Planting it… It stuck on the mud… Pulling right leg… Much effort… Lifting right leg…. Moving it… The gum-like riverbed made a simple act such as walking requiring extra consciousness on Miska’s part. The dead stillness of the murky water did not help either, and her limited sight meant that a harmless silhouette could appear to be something else. Once or twice Miska thought she saw something moving but turned out to be an old iron bar or bicycle buried half in the mud. It was maddening, the swirling red, and the monotony of her movements quickly pulled her in an almost meditative silence.
Left… Right… Left… Right… Left… Right…
And another step. And another. And another... Left… Right… Left… Right… Left… Right…
There was no sound. Nothing was moving. Everything was dead. Left… Right… Left… Right… Left… Right…“Hey, Archer”, he said suddenly, breaking the binding silence, “When you were alive –I mean, during your time as Heroic Spirit- do you also have parents? Parents, like Father and Mother?”There was something contemplative in her tone, more like she was speaking to herself rather than Archer. “I never knew my Mother,” she continued without really waiting for reply, bending down to check underneath a rubble. “But I love my Father very much. He is kind, brave, and really smart. He likes to help people. He said-,” even though Archer could only hear her voice, it was clear that she was smiling, “He said that seeing people smile made him feel better. He is a Hero to me, and also to my Mother I think. He taught me everything I know...”
Dropping the rubble down, he continued his walk, still in a contemplative mood. “When I was little, I wanted to be like him. I did everything he did. Talked like how he talked. Trying to behave like my father behaved.” A sad chuckle escaped Miska lips. He shook his head in silence. “My Father never encouraged me, but he didn’t say no either. The only thing important was that I could play the part of my title right. I thought, there is nothing wrong to be like your Hero. Isn’t that right, Archer?
“But sometimes I think, ” she went on, seemingly forget she was talking at all, “That maybe it’s wrong. My Father and I are very different.” There was a small vibration in Miska’s voice as she said so, a mixture between sadness and hopelessness. “For one thing, I am- but more importantly, I am not like him at all. I am not brave. I am not smart. And I can never act so properly the way Father could. Sometimes- sometimes its painful… Painful when I try to fit something I am not, I think…"
He lifted his head as he walked. Unseen, but almost felt like declaration. “But then, I believe I can do it, right? There is nothing wrong to wanting to be like your Hero. There is nothing wrong… Nothing wrong… Nothing wrong...”
***
OOC: What Miska said is a long monologue, uninterrupted. Tagging: emiya
|
|
|
Post by emiya on Nov 1, 2015 17:27:23 GMT
“Nothing to concern yourself with. I simply found a way to ensure proper retrieval of you through the line. Unfortunately, I’m not a particularly strong Heroic Spirit, so I simply found a way to use the skills I have to ensure you don’t die in the muck if possible.” He didn’t want to burden Miska with the knowledge that it would likely lead to his own death. That wasn’t necessary, and could be distracting.
As his Master continues moving after he cleared the way, he continues to scan the riverbed. The river’s contamination makes it difficult, but he doesn’t exactly play by the same rules as everyone else. Seeing just a faint glimmer of gold light against the red, he instantly is able to confirm it is a Noble Phantasm he has in his foundry. Durandal, the Peerless Sword. “Hmph. And he complains about my copies, when he wastes the treasures so freely?” He fires additional arrows, reinforced to glow with a soft, blue light, an attempt to counteract the oppressive redness present. “I have located a Noble Phantasm. Try to make your way where I lead.”
At an attempt to break the stillness, Emiya listens to Miska say his piece, clearly an attempt to keep going. To make sure Miska knew that he wasn’t just talking to himself, he murmured affirmations every now and then, but did nothing else to interrupt the train of thought. It was often vitally important to allow someone to think they were listened to, it helped make an arduous task bearable.
Still...it was somewhat difficult for him to confine himself to the role of a listener. He didn’t know if she had knowledge of his life, or if she just had incredibly suspiciously similar circumstances as him, but their lives seemed extraordinarily closely aligned. When Miska finally ended her speech, he grunts. “Stop talking nonsense. Of course there isn’t anything wrong with that.”
If, in the service of the World, he wasn’t granted knowledge of a particular happenstance situation, his answer would have been entirely different. He might have gotten disgusted at the very notion of trying to be like a hero that you couldn’t reach. That desire, after all, had been what led him down his cursed path. However, he’d been forced to see that a life lived pursuing a beautiful dream without regrets, no matter the consequences, isn’t something that should be cursed later.
“Be careful, though. Don’t lose sight of who you are, just because there’s an ideal you want to reach. There are people who made that mistake, and suffered for it.” If he’d taken greater steps to establish a “himself” to be, made the effort to be happy along with pursuing his path, he likely wouldn’t have ended up at the situation he reached. While his dream was not a mistake, the path he pursued it by was, but that was no one’s fault but his own, specifically. “Wanting to be someone relied on, someone who brings smiles to people, someone who is brave, smart, and kind...those are beautiful things. Become the Miska Kopparsvard that can be that.” His voice softens. “If you do that, I’ll keep trying to be the Emiya Shirou that can protect everyone.”
Without breaking his tone, he shot a quick arrow that punched a hole in a wraith's spiritual core that tried to sneak up behind Miska. "The first Noble Phantasm should be three meters in front of you. Try to keep proceeding forward. I have located another, and will continue laying a path." He fires more glowing-blue arrows in front of Miska, before they curved off to the side, leading in an entirely different direction to Miska's left.
|
|
|
Post by Miska on Nov 2, 2015 4:59:54 GMT
Archer’s explanation about the “solution” was suspicious at best, but there was nothing Miska could do. He was several meters above her separated by this suffocating redness. So, she simply nodded and hoped for the best. If she had time later, she might try to see into the system of this LifeLine and trace what the “solution was about”. For now though, there were more important things to conserve energy for. Each step could be danger. But hearing Archer affirmed that there was nothing wrong with her ideals, that somehow imbued a strange joy to Miska. His peers and bullies always told him it was useless. That he lacked the guts. The brain. The ability to be a peerless Lord like his Father. And deep down, Miska himself knew, but he kept denying himself, keep believing that there was nothing wrong with trying to become like someone he admired even though it was nothing like him. But it was hard, when not even the “Hero” acknowledged his desire. It was hard just believing in himself. But here, in this murky redness, in this forsaken silence a complete stranger said there was nothing wrong with her views. Miska’s throat became wet all of a sudden. “I know.” She answered simply. “Be careful, though. Don’t lose sight of who you are, just because there’s an ideal you want to reach. There are people who made that mistake, and suffered for it…
Become the Miska Kopparsvard that can be that.”
‘Become the Miska-?’That sentence so greatly stunned Miska that he even stopped his steps. No one had ever told him to be ‘Miska’ before. With his Father, it was always “Lord Kopparsvärd IX”. With his GrandFather, it was always “A Worthy Successor.” With his nanny it was “My Darling Child” and with others there were “Third Family Member” or “Lord of Malämo” or “Effective at Best”. There was no Miska. There never was Miska. Miska could never be Miska but the title Miska carried. Miska could not simply be Miska Kopparsvärd… She did not know why but she suddenly felt those string of letters sounded beautiful. There was a lump in her throat, and somehow her sight became even murkier than before. But she shook head silently and continued walking, although she could not filter the gratitude that once again filtered through her tone. Smiling to no one, he replied, “Then…it is a promise…? I will try my best to be what I believe I should be. A proper Lord. One that can be relied upon by everyone. While you, Archer, you will do that too… … be the Shirou Emiya that can protect everyone. We’ll help each other.”
Feeling somewhat lighter, Miska continued her walk in a more energetic pace. So, Archer’s name is Shiro Emiya. He’s… a stranger persona. Miska had met a Servant who was stern but truly kind before, someone that went by the name of Temujin. But Shiro Emiya…he wasn’t kind. Yet there was something in his words that made her felt he knew what he was saying. Temujin was kind to a fault, a lofty Emperor, but Shiro Emiya had that plebeian aura that showed he understood. “I can see a Sword, Archer. Yes, it looks like a relic.” He reported a while later. There was a small wrecked fishing boat buried in the sands, and a magnificent sword was stuck very straight on its roof as if pinning it down. The fishingboat’s torn flag indicated Spain. “It is stuck in a fishing boat. I can pull it up, I hope. Tug a little on the LifeLine, Archer. It should help me jump out of the mud- wait-”
There was silence for a while. And then Archer would hear the sound of something creaking. Although muffled by the water, it seemed that a steel blade was being drawn out of steel plate. “Hey, Archer,” came Miska’s voice, “Can all Noble Phantasm move by itself? The sword is moving towards me…”
A Spirit. An invisible one, had somehow drawn the sword and was floating towards Miska. And unfortunately, Miska could not see the apparition. Her only hope was in “understanding” the Noble Phantasm. Thus the question.
|
|
|
Post by emiya on Nov 2, 2015 7:13:47 GMT
Archer smiles in spite of himself. It seems his words had an effect on his Master. How troublesome. The next thing he knows, he’ll find out Miska ended up following an impossible an foolish dream to the grave. He shrugs off the thought almost immediately. It wasn’t like he didn’t have a host of regrets. What was one potential one lied down on top of them compared to keeping his Master moving through the hell of the Mion river?
“Yes. A promise. Keep trying, and don’t lose sight of what you hold in your heart. Live a life in the pursuit of a beautiful ideal, and while there might be regrets, you won’t be wrong in doing so.” Her offer to help him made him laugh, which might end up making Miska insulted, but he didn’t particularly care. “Of course. I’m glad we’ve come to an understanding.”
When Miska reports that she located a sword, Archer voices assent. “Yes, that should definitely be it. Retrieve it immediately, I shouldn’t have to repeat why you want to be urgent about this.” Her question struck him as highly unusual. Did swords tend to move on their own? The only ones he could think of were his twin swords with their peculiar magnetism. Then, he realized the significance of the question, and drew his bow back immediately, hunting for the movement. “Move!” he calls, no time for further warning. How did a wraith get past his eyes?
Finding the glint of moving gold among the murky river, he fires three arrows in near-immediate succession, dispersing the wraith. “Apologies. Was the sword blown particularly far away? We’ll need to get it again if at all possible.” Needing to wonder if it would have been destroyed was pointless. He knew the quality of Gilgamesh’s treasures. They wouldn’t shatter from something as measly as that. “I think I see something two meters to the south. If you lost visual, try checking there.” He focused his scan. He allowed himself to grow complacent with their conversation. He wouldn’t allow that to happen again.
|
|