frustrated artist
Early afternoon in the streets of London. People milled about, going on with their lives, oblivious to any of the struggles that had happened prior. Among them, two figures headed down the sidewalk, their pace brisk and sure; a few of the people around them instinctively parted, as if sensing their focus to get where they needed to go. Eventually, they reached the steps of a particular apartment complex, quietly entering the lobby down below. They soon found themselves standing in front of a particular door, one of them bringing a hand up to it.
*knock*knock*
Peace. Pace. Sanity. Check out my DeviantArt! ^_^
The thing with the red gold crown.
B1 and B2 found themselves on the battle field where they had been before the events involving 666. B2 seemed to fall back into the signal's control, "Return to formation."
B1 attempted to block B2's advancement and was reward with its arm being cut off. B2 ran after B1 as it fired at the droid. The grapple droid did its namesake and tackled the B1 off the cliff. B2 landed with the sound of metal twisting and pulling in ways it was never made for.
B1 walked over to B2 as B2 started to go off line. The dying droid held B1's hand, "I'm sorry. I am sorry for trying to force you back. Please, forgive me."
B1 sat next to its companion, "Don't worry about it. It wasn't your fault. We had hell of a run, didn't we?"
B2's voice showed a little joy, "Yes. I can't believe we saw all of that. Much less survive. I'm am afraid, though. Afraid of going offline."
B1 pitied its friend, "Don't worry, your not alone. I'll stay with you."
The droid waited by the B2 until B2 shut down. It walked away from the body sad and grieved for its friend. It walked until it came to a log. B1 sat down on the log and before shutting down thought about its adventures and pondered if it would do it again. The last thought that processed through the micro processor was yes. The droid shut down for the last time for several years.
Years later two farmers came across the B1 and carried the little droid back to their farm to help.
It comes. The corrupter comes. Don't let it touch the tower lest all reality crumble.
Having spent a bit more than a month becoming re-accustomed to a relatively-normal life with Rin, Shirou once again found himself cooking breakfast for the two of them one lazy Thursday morning. Rin was just now getting a break from her research and various classes, so she actually happened to be around that morning, rather than needing to rush out the door and grab snacks between lessons.
While it had been rather lonely at first, Shirou had gotten by without the others without all too much worrying. After all, he was fairly certain that endless concern for whether or not he'd ever be found wouldn't actually do him any good. A phone call back to Fuyuki City had revealed that Kamek's theory regarding alternate worlds had been correct, and that the Sakura he'd known for the past few years was not the same one he'd known in The City. That also meant that a certain someone was still skulking about behind the scenes, but that was a bridge they'd have to cross when given the right chance, as Rin had suggested when he'd told her.
Beyond that, things managed to slow down quite a lot, as even the lingering feelings of relief as to the lack of curses dwindled before long. The novelty of not being transformed into something wears off more quickly than one might imagine.
Hearing a knock on the door, Shirou heard Rin's voice from the other room calling "Could you get that, Shirou?". Removing the frying pan full of scrambled eggs from the stove and hanging his apron on the door of the pantry, Shirou headed out of the kitchen and reached the front door, having long since stopped expecting every guest to be his family.
"Hello?" he asked as he pulled the door open.
frustrated artist
This post was thumped by the Codfish in a Derby Hat
Subaru had been almost bouncing from one foot to the other as they wated at the door of what she fervently hoped was Shirou's appartment. She unconciously adjusted the knitted hat she'd worn to at least partially cover up her hair * , her heart thumping with exitement and nervousness. She suppresed the urge to press her ear against the door when she heard a voice inside call out. Was that Rin? She thought exitedly, exchnaging a hopeful glance with Fate.
Then the door started to open, she she heard a blissfully familiar voice on the other side. Shirou would find any further greeting he had in mind put on hold as Subaru rushed over the threshold, her hands coming up to the sides of his head as she kissed him with above and beyond her usual entheusiasm. He was right there. She'd found him, and now she had a lot of time she had to make up for.
edited 3rd Jul '11 9:09:29 PM by Gaunt88
Before he could even properly see who was at the door, Shirou found himself captured by a blur of blue exuberance with all the intensity and speed of a comet. Attempting to say her name through her lips proved both fruitless and just downright less exciting or enjoyable than simply giving her exactly what the two of them obviously wanted. She was here. All of them must have been, he decided, not really caring if it were true or not. Oh, he'd had this dream a few times, but this time there was no feeling of etherealness or drowsy floating. This was so wonderfully, blissfully real.
Greetings, questions, introductions, concerns...all of that could wait. Right now, all that mattered to Shirou was that they were here. He'd been found.
Well, this was it, she supposed. 'Mandatory leave until proven fit to resume service' had a thoroughly condescending ring to it, but despite the bad taste it left in her mouth, #19450 found it difficult to argue with them. She found it difficult to argue with much of anyone by this point, really. The day had been won, her sister had been locked away, everyone was free to go home...except for her. She had not been allowed to go home, but rather forced to do so. It wasn’t as though she was in any way unhappy to be able to see those closest to her again, but she still couldn’t help but feel she'd fallen far below the bar once again. Her sister had been locked up for her crimes, and while #19450 had had a hand in putting a stop to her aspirations, how many people had she failed to save? Even she, for all her information-gathering, knew not even half of what had transpired within the City.
How many people had been scarred by what had happened there? How many of her sisters could have done so much better a job than she had? The aftermath of the final battle had brought more worry than joy, as final battles tended to bring for her. How many times had she thought she had victory right within her grasp, only to ruin everything just when things looked brightest? How many times had she caught wind of people whispering about how she should have arrived sooner or how they could help themselves if only the glorious Trope-tans would share some of their mighty Multiversal technology with others? How many times had she found herself totally unable to provide for them even the flimsiest of explanations? She’d smiled and laughed through her insecurities as always, however. Spending the majority of her time with the makeshift 'family' had proven helpful in that regard, since it was so easy to let herself be caught up in their seemingly-unflinching optimism that she could at least tell herself that the Notables could clean up any messes which might be left over.
So here she was; back home. She knew they’d all be in and expecting her, since they’d obviously been contacted. She wondered how much any of them knew, a voice in the back of her head insisting that they'd be hiding some mild disappointment, which she was certain would sting far greater than outright insults and damnation. She couldn’t exactly say no to the higher-ups, though. They were right, as always – She wasn’t fit for duty right now. Not after what had almost happened. Periodic psychological assessment would begin in a few days, probably at the house. As if being reminded that she was on a mandatory vacation wasn’t enough, she would have to endure the embarrassment of explaining why the 'twice-a-week-for-as-long-as-it-takes' visits were necessary. They hadn’t judged her in the past, so perhaps this wouldn’t be so bad. She didn’t think they’d judged her, anyway. What if they had been all this time?
Taking a deep breath, #19450 steeled herself for the next 'as long as it takes'. She was certainly grateful to have been talked out of what she realized now would have been a pointless and stupid sacrifice, but at the same time, the mandatory leave and the counseling felt very much like a punishment; a punishment she honestly wasn’t sure whether or not she deserved. After another ten seconds' contemplation, decisions, mind-changing, and yet more decisions, #19450 reached out to grasp the handle of her own front door, tightly grasping her suitcase in her other hand.
Before she could reach, however, the door swung open to reveal one of her sisters beaming brightly at her. "About time you got back here, sis. We’ve missed you a lot, you know." she grinned, embracing her tightly with all the affection #19450 had remembered.
"Yeah...sorry about that. I’ve been meaning to visit, but...work, you know?" #19450 apologized sheepishly, allowing herself to be dragged inside to no doubt be subjected to near-unending greetings and updates on every little thing she’d missed while she was away. #19450 supposed that if she had to be stuck somewhere for a while, the odds of being happy here were significantly greater than just about anywhere else. The Multiverse would just have to get by with one less on-duty Trope-tan for a while.
"...There is one thing I'd like to clear up, though, if it’s not too much trouble."
"Not at all, ma’am. It's definitely an...extensive report. No one can say she isn't thorough."
A soft chuckle. "No need to mince words. Both of them are quite good at what it is they've chosen to do. Regardless of how many eggshells were stepped on, more was gained than lost. But that isn’t what I wanted to discuss…This 'Keith Matthews' fellow. Where is he now?"
"We haven't found him yet, ma'am. We're searching everywhere, but the spear is making him almost impossible to track by even our usual means. We're not going to stop until we’ve found him, though."
"I should hope you wouldn't. That man is holding one of the only weapons in the Multiverse which could actually kill us. I don't have to tell you why we need to get it away from him. Get some mercenaries, corner him, and get that spear away from him. But don't try to fight him yourself. Even if we were to overwhelm him, even one of our sisters dying is too great a cost."
"Understood...#1."
edited 5th Jul '11 3:15:58 PM by DoctorThunder
Shirou could see the blinding orange illumination behind his eyelids, feeling the transfer guide him away from The City; away from everything he’d known for the past three weeks. Feeling the air grow cool, Shirou opened his eyes and found that he was standing in the middle of the park near the Clocktower campus – The one he’d been passing through on the way to the store when he’d been whisked away by #666.
In the early evening shade, Shirou took in his surroundings as best he could. Was he truly back home? He’d been holding Subaru in his arms and kissing her farewell not a minute before, but if this were really his world once more, who knew how long it would take for them to find him? If they found him at all, that is.
"Have we reached our destination, sir?" Flamme Rouge inquired, flashing a soft red. Shirou sighed quietly, the Device’s presence both a welcome reminder of how real it had all been and a slap in the face when he considered just how far away Subaru and the others probably was right now. "...Yeah. Yeah, we’re home, Flamme." he answered, trudging toward 'home'. Even with Rin there, it wouldn’t feel like home anymore; not without the rest of his family.
"Shirou!?"
Speaking of a certain Magus, Shirou spun around at the sound of a desperate voice to spot Rin getting to her feet from a nearby park bench. When Shirou didn’t immediately respond, she repeated his name, frantically sprinting toward him as though she was afraid he’d take off running or disappear. Once she was just a few feet away, Rin slowed her run, making sure she wasn’t about to assault some random stranger.
"Hey, Rin..." Shirou said lamely, at a loss as to what he might be able to say to her. He’d been gone for twenty one days, after all – A simple 'How do you do?' obviously wouldn’t suffice. After it had become quite clear to her that this actually was Shirou, Rin's disbelieving eyes filled with angry tears, her fists clenching.
"Y-You idiot! Where were you!? Do you have any idea how worried I was!? I thought you’d been kidnapped or killed or..."
Shirou stood in silence as Rin continued to vent her fears and frustration, all in all quite glad to see her again. For all her bluster, it was obvious she’d really just been concerned for his safety. Once she’d gotten all her anger out of her system, Rin startled Shirou by throwing her arms around his waist and pulling herself toward him, leaning her now tear-streaked face against his chest.
"...You’d better have a damn good explanation for this, Shirou." Rin murmured, squeezing him into a tight hug. Rin, having been raised in a society where public displays of affection were often frowned upon as being too bold, had never been known as someone who was particularly open with her expressions of love for Shirou while not behind closed doors. If she were willing to throw those (relatively minor) inhibitions aside, then he must have worried her more than even he’d thought.
After several apologies, Shirou accompanied Rin back to the apartment they shared, at which point a full explanation was once again demanded of him. While Rin was certainly shocked to hear about the presence of so many different universes, not to mention the fact that there was the possibility of Shirou traveling to one, she seemed more interested in the particular piece of technology he’d brought home with him. After quietly enduring a thorough examination (during which time a polite greeting was offered to her master’s roommate), Flamme Rouge was passed back to Shirou, thus signaling him to continue with his story. Shirou was surprised to find that Rin actually seemed to take the news of his relationship with Subaru fairly well, all things considered. He suspected the fact that they’d been broken up for some time had something to do with that.
After an extremely long conversation, the two of them decided that five A.M. was probably as good a time as any to call it a night. Despite being the weekend, Rin sourly mentioned that she still had plenty of work to do, as she’d pushed everything else aside for the past three weeks to search for Shirou. After yet another sheepish apology, Shirou headed off to bed, preparing to begin what he hoped would not be too long a wait for Subaru in the morning.
edited 26th Jun '11 8:57:54 PM by DoctorThunder