thehometree | But my life is more than a vision--

Entry tags:

But my life is more than a vision--

| characters | Archer, Shirou, Rin, and whoever wants to join them in their endeavor. Feel free to tag multiple headers and jump threads within them!
| date/time | Monday, May 4th, onwards through the rest of the week.
| location | Outside the tree, near the mists.
| rating | PG for now, who knows later.
| summary | A complicated series of domestic scenes unfold as Archer, Shirou, and Rin set to work building a miniature kitchen out where they can have real fire, only to be interrupted by a storm.

It's been almost three weeks since Archer and Rin arrived in the center of the tree and gained their wings, only to be met by Shirou and Saber as well. That's just about enough time for it to dawn on those who might be concerned with the domestic details of day-to-day life that they have such a thing here, in between the confusion, the struggle to organize, and the fears of more giant spiders.

Archer's highest priority might be the salvation of all the souls around him, as much as he hates it, but bit by bit a new concern creeps up on him, almost unconsciously. Every time he serves Rin a subpar, barely-cooked meal, it pains him a little deep inside where he thought he was only hollow.

He decides to act.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

[the storage room had come along nicely with everyone's help- though a part of him couldn't help but think about how much time had already passed since coming here. they didn't want to get too cozy, yet they wanted to preserve the food that they earned here as best as possible. they didn't have a smoker, but a freezer was about as best as they could manage thanks to Tohsaka's help... he saw her when he could, but otherwise he spent his time supporting Saber and looking after Illya. the amber he carried with him was something that he didn't use yet, doing his best to adjust to this world before that]

I'll start with a blueberry for now... [it really did feel like this was their new home for now, wasn't it? circumstances were causing his brain to turn just about every single day, but he managed to look straight ahead regardless. he'd figure everything out eventually. for his sake, for Saber, for Tohsaka, Illya, everyone here... even,]

What are you talking about, Archer?

[he turned to face him with the large berry held in his arms as if he were holding an oversized aerobic ball]

[ One eyebrow twitches on Archer's face. ]

Just what sort of meal do you think you can make with a giant blueberry and no fire?

[he knew he was being judged. but asked by anyone else, it would have been a genuinely curious question that he didn't expect backlash for. so he answers honestly]

I was thinking of beating some egg white into a meringue. Since we don't have normal sugar, I thought I'd try adding some of the juice from this to make a dessert.

[blueberry meringue? it could work]

[ Immediately, he falls into criticizing cooking; it's only natural to him. ]

That will be difficult, Shirou Emiya. Making proper meringue requires specific materials--the egg white can't be whipped in just any bowl, or it won't form peaks correctly.

[ ...

He just started to give a cooking lesson to Shirou. Damn it. ]

Well, my point is, we need to take stock of our culinary situation and improve it.

I know that. [he hugs that berry tighter because he can't do much of anything else in front of him without dropping him] Until I can think of something better, I'm looking for the flavor right now.

[and that was when Archer said something that be really shouldn't have listened to, but...

he's listening to Archer. Damn it.]

You have a plan?

It's possible to create fire out at a distance from the tree.

[ He faces Shirou squarely and forces himself not to think too much about just who it is he's talking to, who it is he's addressing as an ally. Rin--and probably Saber too--requires better food. That trumps his petty grudge. ]

I propose we build a kitchen out by the mist.

Seriously?! [the prospect of fire and potentially greater meals for his houseguests and anyone else that may need it also trumps his uneasy feelings towards the man in red. over the time that he'd come to know and face him, one thing was always a certainty with Archer. he was honest. whether he told the full truth or not, he wasn't a liar either. which meant that even if there was more to this than he was letting on...he could at least trust what was told by him. he'd ask how he found out later, or thank whoever did discover the use of fire away from the tree] I guess it makes sense... If the tree has something like a bounded field around it that repels fire, no wonder Tohsaka couldn't do anything. [it was the best that he could do as her apprentice to rationalize the situation]

Alright. I'm in. [he still wanted to drop the blueberry off at home at least so he could try and use it later until this said kitchen was completed, but...]

The kitchen appliances are going to be a challenge...

Hmmm. For now, let's just make a room for cooking. We can attempt solutions for cleaning later. There's one machine I'd like to make, but we should be able to put that together--

[ He pauses, here, and adds something he considers important, something he can't help but bring up. ]

Incidentally, don't talk as if you know anything about Rin's magecraft; she is at a level far above you, and you'll never be suited to be anything like an apprentice to her.

[ah, so they were going to use projection to create them. for Shirou, it wasn't something he was used to, but that should have been easier for him now. for now, he'd follow Archer's lead, if not toss in his own ideas and create the little necessities. there were frying pans to consider, woks, proper knives and other utensils for pulling apart meat if they smoked it and-]

... [his gaze narrows at Archer. did he really want to argue with him over this now? he was the one that proposed they make a kitchen. even if hearing that from him pissed him off. that was his words, not what Shirou Emiya believed]

[fishing for his gemstone in his pocket, he grabs it as the dragonfly wings flash into existence on his back, holding onto the blueberry as he begins to float in the air. it wasn't heavy in his arms, but if they were going to get started, they better move. after bringing it home, he'd follow Archer's lead]

I'm going to drop this off at home. I'll follow you to where we're gonna start putting up this kitchen after.

Very well.

[ Some lingering irritation, though, pushes him to continue as he watches Shirou lift into the air before him. He hates the sight, hates seeing him fly free like that. ]

But remember you'll only bring a girl like Rin Tohsaka inconvenience and frustration if you try to follow after her.

[Archer's words bore into him... this definitely wasn't the same man that he remembered sharing his answer with. well...it was, and yet it wasn't either. it frustrated him. it was almost the same thing as Rin. they were willing to wait to piece everything together though. loath as he was to admit it, maybe the white-haired man was one of the missing pieces that he needed to look into picking up. he flies past Archer and down, expecting him to follow as he doesn't worry about having his back turned to the taller man]

Tohsaka can do whatever she wants with her life. But I won't slow her down.

[she was too brilliant to be slowed down by him even if he was going to be a problem]

Edited 2015-05-05 00:22 (UTC)

[ Grudgingly, Archer turns the gem he wears about his wrist to face his skin, and his wings spring up behind him. He jumps into the air after Shirou. ]

You've pursued the path of your ideals this time, haven't you? Shirou Emiya. It's in your eyes; you look straight ahead to a future lit by heroism.

[ Bitterness seeps easily into his voice. ]

[again, his words only seemed to confirm something that he was either in denial over or simply placing on the backburner before acknowledging. so he was like Tohsaka, than. only he and Saber seemed to be from the same existence... either Archer had forgotten or...he never received his answer]

You didn't forget, did you, Archer? [despite the nature of the question, it was rhetorical. but something else was different... his tone of voice was more level now. while this guy still had what it took to make him mad, he couldn't let him get to him. he couldn't accept him if it meant that he was to continue to be Shirou Emiya. if he was to continue to be a superhero. even if the ideal was a farce...it was the most beautiful one he had ever known- that he'd ever know]

Or I never gave you my answer at all.

Edited 2015-05-05 00:35 (UTC)

Other things concerned you in my timeline than providing an answer to the ghost of all you'd cast aside.

[ No, Archer got no answer from the Shirou he met in the Holy Grail War. How could he, a being who bound himself so utterly to his ideals that his very self fossilized within their sediment before shattering again, learn anything from a boy who turned away from that very dream?

(And yet--and yet, he remembers that at the last moment, when he could have stayed on to clean up the mess of the shadow and protect many people, instead he gave himself up to its lunging tendrils in order to save just one. As the Shirou he knew gave it all up to protect Sakura. That means nothing, doesn't it?)

He puts the thought away along with so many others. ]

But you still follow those things to your ruin, and the ruin of so many others.

You cannot be both an ally to Rin and an ally to justice, Shirou Emiya. There will always come a time when you must choose one over the other.

[what he cast aside...? the sheer thought of it caused the redhead to stop midflight, partially to readjust his grip on the berry as they were getting close to his house, but also to reflect upon that. his back was still turned to Archer all the same, his orange wings tinged like the eternal twilight that bathed his own hill of swords]

. . .

[he said nothing at first, only flying further ahead of the Heroic Spirit until they stopped a short distance away from their house. if Saber and Illya were home, he didn't want them to be involved in any of this. this wasn't something they could avoid. not now]

You're wrong. [landing on solid ground, he finally turned to face him. he already settled his score with him, and yet he was facing him again. who had more to learn from the other?]

I'm going to protect everyone. That includes Tohsaka. There's no other option for me. [he didn't want any other option] EMIYA is an ally of justice. His body is made of swords. But...

He also regreted his decision.

[if he was going to be pressed like this, he wouldn't hold anything back]

That's why I can't accept him. I understand what can happen. The ruin, the betrayal, the killing... [so why?] That's why I won't regret anything.

[it was like what he said to Rin before...]

That's why I'm not wrong. Because wanting to help others is never wrong, even if I spend the rest of my life chasing it.

[ Archer's shoulders draw up and square off as Shirou turns to face him; he means to look at him with cold eyes, but anger and frustration blaze too brightly in them for that. ]

No. There was never any other option for you.

[ The Shirou he knew from back home was no longer himself; he was a new entity, reborn and doomed in the same decision to throw away his ideals for Sakura.

But Archer's voice is heavy with bitterness and regrets. He sees this boy before him, this old echo of all his mistakes, burning so brightly with determination and fearless hope, and he does not know how it came about. He does not have the experience of that fight and the answer he received from it. He sees only the aftermath, and he hates it as he always has. ]

Perhaps--

[ 'Perhaps you cannot judge what's wrong, heroic spirit Emiya,' whisper his new experiences treacherously at the back of his head. It might be true; after seeing Shirou part way with the dream he once bound himself to, he cannot know anything for certain any longer. But he also can't show that to the Shirou he faces now. ]

--you've closed your eyes to your ruin for now.

But I will not have Rin's blood on your hands be what opens them.

[ He's sacrificed himself once for Rin already, when he could have stayed fast to save more instead. He won't back down from protecting her now. He can't. Even if the dead scraps of his dream still cling to his empty heart, inescapable, his feet carry him after his Master now. ]

There won't be any.

[his answer came swiftly, leaving no room for doubt or contemplation]

You and I both want the same thing. So... [he turns one more time, ready to leave Archer to drop off his berry before they continued on to where this new kitchen would be formed] The same goes for you, Archer. I may not let it happen, but if something happens to her on your watch...

[you better believe he won't stand for it. even if he knew the reason why he did what he did in his time]

[ Discontent flashes in Archer's eyes--not the deep and abiding bitterness of before, but a more banal irritation. There's something about the way Shirou speaks of Rin.

He throws one last challenge to him as he turns away. ]

And just what is Rin Tohsaka to you, that you could possibly take care of both her and your ideal?

[ It's a rhetorical question, or meant to be, and yet-- ]

I'm done talking to you, Archer. [that pissed him off. he didn't want to be angry even after he explained his stance. but it looked like it wasn't good enough... he wasn't done "talking" to him persay, they still needed to create a kitchen and help Rin, Saber and anyone else that needed better meals, but,]

I'll listen to you as much as you want after. Right now we have a job to do.

[dipping into his house, he drops the berry off before returning to Archer. she was someone that he cared about. somebody that he loved and wanted to protect. she was someone who would help him become a proper magus, to catch the back of the man he was currently mad at right now. he couldn't doubt anything, not when he was being pressed like this. it wasn't a matter of 'could' Shirou Emiya take care of her and his ideal]

I'll follow you.

[Shirou Emiya would take care of her and his ideal]

You cannot protect both human beings and ideals, Shirou Emiya. You know that. It's the choice you have made.

[ That's all he says, before turning to head out of the tree, his huge red and grey wings spreading behind him. ]

[he stands there for a moment as Archer turns his back to him again... he wants to be mad at him still. and maybe some part of him deep down still was... but seeing that back, even with the huge red and grey wings spread behind him, they only seemed to accentuate what he was following. his seemingly more frail wings by comparison buzzed on his own back.

he was following him again. when he realized that he was staring again, the redhead shook his head and picked up his pace, heading out of the tree with Archer as they made their way to where their new kitchen would be]

Edited (whoops forgot the spoilers) 2015-05-05 19:03 (UTC)

[ He lands some distance away from the tree, with the mist looming high above them, and turns to survey the ground. ]

Yeah, this is fine.

We should gather materials and reinforce them to be strong for building. Are you still inept at that magecraft?

[it looks simple enough...but with enough work, it would be no different from the storage room. could they store some here as well as the tree? he wondered... he didn't want to muse any further outloud least they brought up Tohsaka again]

I can keep up, Archer. [he almost wanted to find something and reinforce it in front of him just to prove his point, but he'd let his words and actions towards the cause speak for themself. with both his training under Rin and his own (unnatural) progress thanks to his connection to Archer, he should have been able to manage. heck, if he could reinforce a desk in a panic to protect himself from Rin's wrath at school, he could make strong enough foundations when concentrating]

So we gather everything first before we dig out the foundation. If we can strip off pieces of bark, that might be good for boards.

[and branches of course]

Edited 2015-05-06 00:46 (UTC)

[ There's no response to that--'I can keep up.' Perhaps he can; perhaps that's the choice he made in that timeline. And what of Sakura, then? What of Rin? If Shirou has dedicated everything to his ideals once again, the people who will fall by the wayside--

Archer is silent and still for a moment, dwelling a little too long on a thought like that which would once have never occurred to him. Before, he only thought of how his ideals ruined his own existence, and not what they did to others. Now, having seen what he saw--

He speaks abruptly, to chase his dire thoughts away. ]

Yeah, though we should be sure it's not rotted or weak; that would be your luck, Shirou Emiya.

But my life is more than a vision--

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