Benediction

[Hello Purvis]

>Talk to them, try not to make too much noise, but hope that saber will wake up and take care of business proper.
>"What do you want?"

[Wylfred]

>Talk to them, try not to make too much noise, but hope that saber will wake up and take care of business proper.
>"What do you want?"

(OOC: :ohdear:)

>You try to talk to them hoping to whoever was listening that saber would wake up.

"Who are you guys and why are you attacking us?"

    They all replied in perfect unison

"We are true assassin. Our master needs these girls for his plans.

    All of a sudden a sword came slashing in the middle of true assassin. The true assassin jumped back to safety but not yet retreating.

"Can't a man get any sleep around here?"

    Saber said in a nonchalant manner. True assassin all threw out their cloak and got into a fighting stance. Each one of them had a raft like muscular bodies and they all held a knife in hand. What will you do now?

>(_____)

[Kasu]

> "Heh.  'Bout time you woke up."

[Hello Purvis]

>"True assassins? Does this imply there are false ones? Because I assure you, I have quite truly brought defeat to several foes as it is."
>Draw sword. "Try to leave them able to talk if you'd be so kind, Sabre. I am curious about the stories they'll have to tell."
>Business time. Midnight Madness edition.

[Wylfred]

> "Heh.  'Bout time you woke up."

>"True assassins? Does this imply there are false ones? Because I assure you, I have quite truly brought defeat to several foes as it is."
>Draw sword. "Try to leave them able to talk if you'd be so kind, Sabre. I am curious about the stories they'll have to tell."
>Business time. Midnight Madness edition.

(OOC: True Assassin is 1 soul in 19 bodies they all are classified as one servant. :ohdear:)

>You reprimand saber for not waking up earlier before entering a stance with your sword. You ponder for a moment of the existence of false assassins. You decide that after the battle you want to keep them alive. You tell saber to try and leave them alive. The air between True Assassin and you and saber was thick with tension. One of the true assassin broke the silence and dash towards your right with his dagger extended. You slash the dagger away with your sword and tried to cleave the True Assassin that came after you but he quickly dodged. Another True Assassin came from your left and tried to cut you but you barely side step it. There was a gash on your left arm now that was bleeding. The True Assassin on the right quickly came again and tried to slash your right side but you parried it with your sword again this time much slower and brought your sword down in hope of cleaving that True Assassin. Your hope came through but not by much as the True Assassin on the left came and slashed at your rib cage when you cut the one on the right across the chest. You look over at Saber for a moment noticing that he is having the same difficulty fending off his two True Assassins. You were losing a lot of blood as you parried the two True Assassins' attempts at slicing at you. Finally you were too tired to parry any longer and a slash from your right side against your shoulder sent you flying towards a tree unconscious.

    You wake up noticing that it was day and that saber was looking down at you. You decide to ask him.

>(______)

[Hello Purvis]

>"Tell me I had a terrible dream. Tell me truly."

[Wylfred]

>"Tell me I had a terrible dream. Tell me truly."

>You asked him if you were having a bad dream and he replied.

"No it was real, the girls were taken by them."

    You feel like you have more questions on your mind.

>(_____)

[Hello Purvis]

>"Do you have at least some idea what was going on? Did they get your witch, too?"

[Wylfred]

>"Do you have at least some idea what was going on? Did they get your witch, too?"

>You decide to ask saber if he knew what was going on and ask if the witch was taken too.

"What the hell happened when I was unconscious Saber? Did they also take your master?"

    He sighed and place he hands on his hips.

"Well I used my noble phantasm after you were knocked out and drove them away but not before they took the girls. As I see it, yes. We are both servants separated from our masters."

    You face palmed. As if the situation could get any worse then this. You feel like you are cursed with bad luck. You then opened your mouth to ask.

"Do we have any supplies to make it back to the village?"

    Saber looked down dropping his shoulders while sighing and said.

"We only have barely enough supplies to make it back and that is IF we conserve it."

    You sighed yourself and decided to pack everything that was useful inside your backpack. You also told saber to do the same. You are currently at the base of youkai mountain peering down into the valley standing besides Saber. What will you do now?

>Ask more questions.
>Start the journey back.

[Hello Purvis]

>Head back and ask other things.
>"I would be nice if I could remember having a worse day than this. Then I'd have something with which to take solace."

[Wylfred]

>Head back and ask other things.
>"I would be nice if I could remember having a worse day than this. Then I'd have something with which to take solace."

>You state that you wish to remember your past so that you can find comfort knowing that you've had worse days then this to Saber. Saber nods and the two of you descend into the valley. While you were walking you and Saber were engaged in idle chatter.

"I am telling you were going the wrong way. We should have crossed over to the stream on the right."

    You said in annoyance as you watched Saber look at the map.

"No you see this path right here? We can take that path as a short cut."

    Saber said as he points at the map.

"I sure hope your right."

    You said as you sighed. Instead of arguing farther with Saber you decide to take in the scenery before you. It was as beautiful as when you had first traversed it. You then feel something strange in the air. It was that same feeling of something watching you lurking in the shadows. You decide to brush it off and continue enjoying the scenery. The village could now be seen from the horizon. As you got nearer and nearer to the village you could see that it was ablaze. You and Saber decide to pick up the pace and ran towards the village to see what was happening. As you entered the village you could see 10 shadows in the village square. You finally realize who those shadows belong to. It was True Assassin. They were staring intently at you in amidst this blaze. In the arms of one of the True Assassins was a red shrine maiden. She was unconscious and really bruised and cut from what you could tell. The True Assassin in the middle of the group looked different from the rest of them. His right arm was covered in thick cloth and resembled a flat board.

"Ah jeeze, not these freaks again."

    Said Saber frowning with his two sword extended. You couldn't agree more with him. What will you do now?

>Fight.
>Run.

[Hello Purvis]

>"That one in the middle is dressed differently. A leader, I expect?"

[Kasu]

> "This day just keeps getting better and better..."
> Attempt to engage.

[Wylfred]

>"That one in the middle is dressed differently. A leader, I expect?"

> "This day just keeps getting better and better..."
> Attempt to engage.

>You mentally sigh to yourself as you drew your sword. Before you do anything else you asked True Assassin if the leader was in the middle.

"Are you the leader of these True Assassins?"

    You could hear a deep laugh from the from him before he replied.

"How amusing, an existence like you."

    You didn't know what he was laughing about so you replied.

"What do you mean...?"

    The one in the middle dropped his laugh and then said in a deep voice.

"I'll let you in on a little secret. As a rule of thumb an evil heroic spirit cannot be summoned as a servant. You just broke this rule with your existence. The rule also extends and says that a real perfect assassin must be someone that nobody knows. Therefore only one of the 19 leaders must be summoned for each and every war under the class assassin. We are the only heroic spirits to be allowed the assassin class. Tell me false assassin, how were you summoned?"

    You try and grasp what he just told you. You then replied.

"I don't remember anything about myself before I was summoned to this world."

    The middle one laughed a deep crackling laugh.

"What fun! It'll be a pleasure to fight you one on one. I will keep you alive though for I wish to know how you became an assassin. But if you beat me I'll tell you everything I know."

    At that moment you and Saber were surrounded and enclosed in a circle of True Assassins. 3 of the True Assassins in the back threw daggers that impaled saber.

"Interferences are troublesome."

    The fire around the village was roaring as you drew your sword into a stance. True Assassin pulled out a dirk knife in his left hand and charged at you. In your eyes he seemed slower then the rest of them. You were calmly parring all his attempts to slash at you. You felt that some was wrong. You then realized that you had obtained the True eye of mind. You and True Assassin were locked in an intense battle.

"Clang clang clang."

    Your sword met his dirk knife.

"Swish swish."

    You tried to swing at True Assassin but you missed.

"Splat."

    You finally hit True Assassin across the chest with your blade. He was in profuse until the wound closed in itself. Then True Assassin did a back flip into the middle of the circle again and said.

"It seems that I've under estimated you false assassin. Now prepare to feel my unbridled wraft."

    The cloth on True Assassin's right hand exploded outwards with red mana revealing an elongated red arm. True Assassin laughed before saying.

"For you to be an exceptionally strong foe you have earned my respect. Therefore I will show you respect by using my noble phantasm.

    You dash towards True Assassin while he was charging his arm up with mana. You weren't close enough to slash at True Assassin as he finished charging up his arm.

"ZABANIYA!"

    The elongated red arm stretched towards you. Using your true eye of mind you enter a stance and calculate the time it will reach you. At almost to the last second you jumped back and slashed at his palm with your sword. Red mana could be seen as your sword and his hand pressed against eachother. What will you do now?

>Try and finish him.
>Parry the attack.

[Kasu]

> Play it safe and parry, but attempt to strike him right after dodging.

[Wylfred]

> Play it safe and parry, but attempt to strike him right after dodging.

>You decide to play defensively biding your time for the right moment. You knocked his arm to the side then dashed towards his left side. The elongated hand came backwards and tried to sweep you but you ducked. In front of True Assassin you drew up your sword and True Assassin tried to block it with the dagger in his left hand. You then did something True Assassin would not expect. You drop down to his leg and swept them with yours making him fall backwards. As he tried to get up you held your sword up to his throat. True Assassin laughs and then says.

"It seems that I have been bested. Very well, you may ask me any questions that you'd like."

    What do you want to ask him?

>(_____)

[Hello Purvis]

>Rather than ask, make an imperative. "Explain yourself."

[Kasu]

> "Tell me everything you know."

[Wylfred]

>Rather than ask, make an imperative. "Explain yourself."

> "Tell me everything you know."

>You decide that your pissed off as it is and said.

"Explain yourself. What do you mean my existence is amusing? Is there something I don't know about? I want you to tell me everything you know."

    You decide to take off his mask while saying this. You were shocked at what you were seeing. This man's face was a skull. The skull sighed then said.

"Now you see what is truly needed to qualify for an assassin. We assassins live on for eternity having lost our own identity. Our only goal is to fight for the Holy Grail each time we are summoned."

    This man is a soul that has given up his own identity you thought to yourself. The skull laughed in that same deep voice and said.

"What I mean about you being an amusing existence is simple. You became an assassin without giving up your own identity. You were not someone who nobody knew, you were famous and a hero. Therefore you shouldn't have been an assassin."

    You try to absorb what he was saying. You then replied.

"What am I exactly? How come every servant I know remember things that I don't? Stop fucking around with my emotions. Tell me what the hell am I."

    The skull's eyes grew red and he looked at you with a solemn face before saying.

"Now I see the truth. Truly a poor soul. Your current master was keeping secrets from you. She was not your first master. Your first master was the first one to die in this war. She was a servant named Caster."

    A smoke bomb fell from True Assassin's waist and he disappeared. The rest of the True Assassins also disappeared. You looked at where saber lay. It was raining. The fire that had set the village ablaze was long gone. The inhabitants of the village were also gone; not a soul except you and Saber were left alive. You decide to carry saber inside a house that was not completely burnt down. You were soaking wet standing outside in the rain and decided to dry your clothes off. You let Saber lay on a makeshift bed that you made. You are currently by a makeshift campfire inside the house. What will you do now?

>Rest.
>Ponder.

[Kasu]

> "My first master...  Was another servant?"
> Try to absorb everything he said.

[Wylfred]

> "My first master...  Was another servant?"
> Try to absorb everything he said.

>You stared at your fire that you made and thought deeply about what True Assassin said.

"I am... A servant's servant...?"

    Everything was too surreal to you; you thought to yourself.

"So my current master lied to me...?"

    Why though, it didn't make sense to you. You turn your head towards Saber to see how he was doing. He seemed to be resting quite well when you treated his wounds. The rain outside was not letting up. You sigh to yourself as you pulled out a sleeping bag inside your backpack. Laying inside the sleeping bag you thought to yourself.

"What should we be doing now? Arggg why isn't anybody telling me anything?"

    Your are currently inside your sleeping bag. What will you do now?

>Sleep
>Think some more.

[Kasu]

> Try for some sleep.

[Wylfred]

> Try for some sleep.

>You decide to that your tired as hell and try to get some sleep.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

    In a garden full of sunflowers two figures could be seen. They were of you and your master Yuka Kazami. You shrugged your head as you got up from the ground. You noticed that Yuka was still sleeping when you got up and moved as silently as you could. You climbed a tree nearby and looked up towards the moon.

"Am I... destined to be hated...?"

    The moon seemed exceptionally beautiful to you tonight. Your peace was interrupted however when you saw that servants in cloaks were nearing your master. You just down from the branch that you were on and swiped at the servants in black cloaks. The servants were circling you trapping you inside. Your master seems to still be asleep. What will you do now?

>Try and reason with them.
>Screw it, kill them all.

(OOC: This is the second half of the story~. :3)

[Kasu]

> Reason with them.

[Wylfred]

> Reason with them.

>You decide that your in a merciful mood today and try to reason with them.

"Aye, who the devil are you freaks? Damn servants all gotta be up in my grill."

    They stared intently at you before replying in perfect unison.

"We are True Assassin. We've come to take your master."

    You start laughing at how they thought they could escape with your master alive.

"Well then True Assassin or should I say True Asses. You just try and take my master while I'm still here."

    Just as you said that one of the True Assassin pulled out a shiny blue dagger and then disappeared. He reappeared behind you and stabbed at your back once. Blue lightning sparked throughout your body as you screamed in pain. This seemed to rouse your master from her slumber but it was too late. The True Assassin stabbed your master in the stomach before she could respond and kept it in there. Your master fell over screaming in pain as the True Assassins carried her away. You screamed.

"Damnit. Fucking damnit."

    You then fell down unconscious. The next morning you were greeted with the sight of the sun glaring down on your face. You thought about the events that happened last night and pondered for a moment on what to do. You then noticed that the True Assassins left two trails of footprints with one heading towards the forest and the other in the opposite direction. What will you do now?

>Go north to the forest
>Go south

[Kasu]

> Head for the forest.

[Wylfred]

> Head for the forest.

>You decide to head in the direction of the footprints leading to the forest. The sun was really glaring at you today and it was pissing you off. As you walked towards the forest you could hear the sound of bird chirping. The sound of water splashing and other ambient sounds. It seemed to calm you down as you walked closer to the forest. Trudging your way along the thick leaves you could see a temple in the distance. The temple was huge compared to you and you stand in awe in front of it. Then a man riding a horse came out from the temple with his sword extended. He stopped right in front of you and said.

"Who are you and what business do you have here?"

    You scoffed at him and replied.

"Who the fuck wants to know?"

    The man's face grew a hint of annoyance as he said.

"It is I the servant Rider. I am known as Roland."

    You stuck your tongue out at him then said.

"Roland eh? That sounds like some peasant's name."

    Roland tried to swipe at you with his sword but you blocked it with your daggers. You then swiped at his horse's feet causing it to fall over with him on it. Just as you were about to slash rider a pole arm stopped you from doing so.

"That's enough from you."

    A tall woman wearing tiger skin skirt said.

"What business do you have with us?"

    You thought to yourself what you could say without giving off that your a servant. You replied.

"I'm just a traveling mercenary up for hire."

    The tall woman smiled at you before saying.

"We could use someone like you. We are preparing an army to take over Gensokyo in order to bring peace to it."

    You thought about what you should do next in order to find out where your master was.

>Play along and hope that they have information that you need.
>Try and force the information out of them through torture.

[Kasu]

> Play along.  It'll be a lot less lethal for both parties.

[Wylfred]

> Play along.  It'll be a lot less lethal for both parties.

>You decide to play along with them because it would be too troublesome for you to do it the other way. Along the way inside the temple you saw a lot of monks using wooden swords. At the other side of the temple you saw a huge statue of a buddha and below it a very beautiful girl kneeling praying for benediction. She got up from her kneeling position and walked towards you gracefully. You were afraid; for the one time ever; you were afraid. This girl seemed to radiate goodness. She then takes a bow and smiles at you and says.

"Welcome wanderer, to the Temple of Myouren."

    You couldn't help but gawk in awe as you heard her voice. It was soft yet powerful. She continued and said.

"Please feel free to make yourself at home."

    You took your eyes off of her long enough to noticed that there were two figures tied up on the floor behind the statue. You decide to check it out after you get rid of these guys. The girl then told rider to show you to your quarters. You follow rider to your room and and he handed you the keys. Upon opening the door to your room you were greeted with the sight of a bed and table. Rider exited the room and left. What will you do now?

>Back to the statue
>Explore
>Rest your tired from traveling.

[MysTeariousYukari]

> Explore, heading in the general direction of that statue.

> Isn't Rider the one who nabbed Remi and Patchy? If so, then they could be here.