thehometree | (no subject)

| characters | Fuu and anyone who wants to fight a viper.

| date/time | Thursday morning

| location | Outside

| rating | PG? There's gonna be violence.

| summary | Fuu discovers the viper.

Fuu inspected the new stream. She had already dropped a fragment of leaf in it, watching as it was borne into the mist, and was currently pondering if the same would happen to a person who tried floating in it. It would be a risky experiment--they'd need some kind of raft, and to be a strong swimmer since the tree hadn't been equipped with safety gear like lifevests. (Unless they found that on the next level. Which reminded her, they really needed to sort out that riddle.)

She heard the slithering behind her just in time. Instinct took control and she drew her sword even as she shouted in alarm at the sight of the huge black snake. The massive blade struck its snout and it drew back from its strike with a hiss. Were those fangs?! Fuu hurriedly shoved the gem on its ribbon down her shirt and sprang into the air once her wings appeared. Fenris probably had a point about not overusing their magic equipment, but better that than trying to outrun it or fight it off on her own.

She didn't slow down until she was sure she was too high to reach. The snake flicked its tongue and turned away, but it didn't go back out through the mist. Letting her sword disappear into her glove jewel, Fuu pulled out her amber slice to warn the others of today's danger.

[amber]

[Fuu is looking quite harried and flustered. The background is moving as though she's flying, because that's what she's doing.

In spite of that, she puts on a big smile.]

Good morning, everyone! I hate to give alarming news, but there's a very large snake visiting us today. It might be poisonous. I think I saw fangs when it tried to eat me... oh, but I'm all right. I was able to give it quite a cut on its nose--hold on.

[The amber flips around to show the snake on the ground.]

I think we should really do something about this before one of us becomes Mr. Snake's breakfast.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

The calls to finish the beast off rang clear through Shirou's head as he clenched his free fist. His magic circuits were at the ready, prepared for if he needed to obtain a new weapon to do his job. Just when he was ready to do that however, he grit his teeth and dug his heel in (metaphorically speaking). In this fight, he was her support; the support of everyone that would need someone to back them up while they finished the job. If Shirou forgot about that, what would happen if there wasn't anyone left to watch over them while the others took the finishing blows? This wasn't about glory for the redhead, this was about saving as many people as he could, his faith put into the fighters that assembled here and especially his former Servant. Saber wasn't the only amazing person here. That blonde-haired girl who cast the binding spell over the serpent's mouth, the swift actions of those that slashed deep into it, and perhaps (while he raised a brow at first) even Owain's own heroic nature.

So he stayed back, witheld the compulsion to use another projection to take aim and finish the job. It wasn't that this level of magecraft was beyond him (so he would tell himself and deny Archer) anymore, it was that he had little practice in this act. After all, while he could play the part, he truly did favor the sword just like many others here did. Much like the swordmaster that circled the beast and embedded the sword into its neck- much like the shooting star that was Saber who took one of its eyes...

That was what Shirou Emiya continued to believe that he was, and yet he stood here, keeping his distance and waiting for any opportunity to intervene or play the role of defense. If he could, he wouldn't need to do anything beyond his last act, but as Owain was violently thrown from the snake, the redhead's vision sharpened on the scene before him. It was out of control and thrashing violently now, long forked tongue tasting the air in a bid to try and compensate for its loss of sight.

"!"

It wasn't very accurate as Owain scrambled towards his weapon within the tall grass, but its head turned. It had no sight anymore, but it blindly lashed out. This wasn't about obtaining its next meal anymore. It was a means of defending itself, but it came at the expense of one of their allies. With surprisingly rapid speed, the snake moved to strike where it thought one of its attackers laid.

Soaring fast off the ground with a leap and buzz of his dragonfly wings, Shirou raced up to meet the snake's lunge halfway. There was a good chance it would have missed its intended target anyway, but that was a chance that he refused to take. He would support those that could defeat this thing!

"I am the bone of my sword."

The words flowed naturally from his lips as he raised his open palm at the serpent. There was less than a split's moment remaining before it would reach him, but he wouldn't let it reach anyone else here. There was no time to think. Instead, he reaches out for his greatest defense, prepares to project it and...!

"...?"

He couldn't see it clearly- no, that wasn't true. It was more like he couldn't even pull it out no matter how clearly he could see it. Nothing came but the sight of a young man with a massive fang piercing through the boy's midsection, its mouth closing the moment it felt contact with something. It bit down hard as it effortlessly pierced through Shirou's body, but much like most strikes, it was swift to retreat as it opened its jaws shortly afterwards as Shirou slipped out of its mouth and began the hard descent towards the unforgiving ground.

"A-Augh..." It wasn't a cry for pain, the hole in his abdomen was far too large and looked decisively fatal; it was more of a gutteral response as blood spilt up from his mouth and flowed without relent from his wound. In a blink, it felt hot, and whether someone caught him before he hit the ground or not, he wouldn't feel any of it anymore as he faded into unconsciousness.

She had presumed the battle was over by the swordsman’s assault at the viper's head. They should stay at the distance and wait for it to die, perhaps give a last merciful strike to spare it from agony. She was about to fly at Shirou's side when, in her lapse, she made the mistake to underestimate not the dying animal, but the boy’s lack of self-preservation by throwing himself into the snake’s path so needlessly. Because of her mistake, she could only stare in horror at the sight of the pierced body of her Master falling to the ground with a gaping hole in his abdomen.

"MASTER!"

Was this enough dramatic build-up, but the sheer fury at a fallen companion? Wind raged from the hilt of her invisible weapon, sharpening the hood made of compressed air that concealed Excalibur timeless glow. Saber did not need to flap her wings to dive down, but they aided to her speed. She did not mind to burn her prana off to reach for Shirou before he hit the ground, but the snake was on the way, about to expire its last breath, but still potentially dangerous to the unconscious boy. She brandished her Noble Phantasm and pushed forward through the snake, her arms were engulfed by a violent typhoon, cleaving most of its neck with that vicious charge. She did not turn to stop and finish the decapitation, Saber had another target. The squirming and writhing beast whose life was expiring ceased to be her main concern. Her gaze was fixed only on the redhead boy who was about to hit the ground, she clenched her teeth and fell faster.

Guh—! Her silver armor was gone, scattered in thousands of silver fragments, her sword had also disappeared to increase her speed; her arms stretched to catch Shirou… She drew closer and closer… Arturia extended hands until she grasped him and brought him close to her as they hit the ground together. Her landing was not graceful because she had no time to stop and steer around; the spot they had fallen had opened a small fissure on the earth, testament of the speed she had employed. During the fall, she embraced the boy and rolled him over, utilizing her own body as cushion to absorb the impact. She did not have time to catch her breath after this, her priority to corroborate if Shirou lived. She placed him gently on the ground to check the damage done. She was disheveled, covered in dirt and blood, and breathing heavenly, but there were no bruises in her body. She was a Servant, the mundane did not injure her. Had the snake been a magical creature, it would have been a different tale, but it was a snake. Large and monstrous, yet still an animal.

"Shirou!" shouted Saber again in desperation, placing an ear on the left side of his chest to corroborate his heart still beat. It did. He was breathing too. He was alive and this filled her with relief. She had to stop the bleeding, but how—

Fuu reached out as Owain scrambled for his sword, reading to cast Binding Wind again to whisk him out of the way. But before she could form the spell, Shirou was in front of the snake, raising a hand to do something, a shield of his own maybe--

--no.

"No!" Fuu raced towards the stricken boy, but Saber was much too fast. In an instant, the snake's head was halfway off its neck and the two of them were a distance away. Fuu followed them and landed next to them. Could her magic heal poison? It didn't heal sickness... but it had healed Umi's clothes. This wasn't Cephiro, where the believing heart shaped the world, but it was better than watching him bleed to death. She would give it all she could.

There was no time to ask permission, either. "Healing Wind!"

It was all so dull to him... He thought he could hear something, but it was drowned out by his body forcing him to not wake up. If he woke up, the trauma would be too much for his mind to handle. Though Shirou wouldn't wake up for some time, it seemed that Fuu's intervention seemed to work in time. It wasn't pleasant, but the hole that was previously gaping now was beginning to show signs of life. The bleeding soon stopped too, flesh beginning to overwrite the previous inflicted injury. It was slow, one could look away and look back and not notice the difference immediately due to how terrible the wound was before.

Whatever soothing feeling that overcame Shirou, his gargled breathing after having spilt blood eventually settled. It was a miracle- but was it by Fuu's intervention alone? Or was there something else at play here?

Unbeknownst to everyone...or perhaps it didn't really matter, Shirou was breathing softly now, unaware of anything anymore.

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don't mess with shirou man

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the award for latest tag goes to...