Saber, the Little Dragon Girl

TYPE-MOON Universe, Earth, Japan, Fuyuki city. 

"Show yourself." The blonde Servant said in a commanding tone. "Otherwise, I will be forced to attack." 

With Shirou still leaning against the wall of the Emiya Residence's storehouse, his Servant, the blonde young woman, stood in front of him, her invisible weapon pointed at seemingly empty space. Naturally, her actions confused Shirou. Yet, when he heard the steel in her voice, he could not bring himself to question her. 

"See, I told you we should have left with Bazett and lancer." Tatsuo said as he dropped his [Stealth], his modified trench knives in hand just in case the Servant decided to attack. "But no~! You wanted to see the battle to see what happened next. And now, we've got a weapon pointed at us." 

"Hey! Don't treat me like I was the only one who wanted to see what happened next." Elicia grumbled as she, too, dropped her [Camouflage Magic]. "I was just caught up in the moment." 

"That's still no excuse." Tatsuo shot back. "We're in the middle of a War, remember?" 

"It's not like she could stop us if we really wanted to leave.' Elicia replied with a shrug. "So, what's the big deal?" 

Tatsuo's and Elicia's bickering continued, seemingly unaware that Shirou and his Servant were still staring at them. 

While Shirou was even more confused by the situation, the blonde Servant was visibly annoyed. Firstly, Elicia's words about her not being able to stop them if they wanted to leave was a shot at her honor. And second, the fac that she was being so blatantly ignored during a battle situation was just as bad. 

"Enough!" The Servant said, her tone brooking no argument. "Name yourselves immediately. Otherwise, I'll be forced to take action." 

"Oh, will you now?" Tatsuo asked, his argument with Elicia coming to a stop immediately. "And what kind of action will you take, little dragon girl?" 

The Servant's eyes widened immediately upon hearing the way Tatsuo addressed her. Then, without another word, her mana flared, increasing her speed and strength, before she pushed off towards Tatsuo. 

One of the reasons why Shirou's Servant was so sure that Tatsuo was concealed in the storehouse actually had something to do with the nickname Tatsuo just gave her. The core of her mana, or Mana Core, was that of a red dragon, making her the incarnation of a dragon. And thanks to Tatsuo's own draconic lineage, their bloodlines resonated. 

Though, with Tatsuo's vastly superior bloodline, there was a slight repressive force acting on Shirou's Servant. But thanks to her strong will, it could not affect her in any noticeable way. 

*Boom!* 

*Clang!* 

With the force of the Servant's first step, the floor beneath her cracked, adding more damage to the already damaged storehouse floor. She then, once she was in range, swung her sword at Tatsuo, aiming to cut him down. 

Tatsuo, on the other hand, smiled even wider when he saw Shirou's Servant attack. Then, with a half step to the side to avoid the downward slash, he pushed out with his right fist, the blades covering his fingers clashing with the side of the invisible weapon. 

Her balance thrown off slightly, Shirou's Servant was not slowed down for long as she spun with the momentum of her weapon and brought it back around to sweep at Tatsuo's legs. 

Leaping to avoid the sweeping attack, Tatsuo flipped around as he neared the ceiling. Then, as his feet came in contact with the ceiling, he pushed off, his arms crossed in front of his chest. 

*Swish!* 

Meanwhile, Shirou's Servant, instead of trying to block the overhead attack, stepped back, avoiding the cross-slash by a hair's breadth before swinging her weapon upwards, its blade aimed at Tatsuo's chin as he landed. 

Reacting quickly, Tatsuo bent his back, the blade of the Servant's weapon missing him by less than an inch, though he was unable to see how close he was to being cut. But thanks to his high [Perception Stat], the feeling of the wind against his skin, and his distance from Shirou's Servant, he was able to approximate the size and shape of her weapon. 

At the same time, As Tatsuo's shoulders hit the floor behind him, he pushed off with his feet, kicking up at the Servant's wrists, attempting to disarm her. Yet, she reacted just as quickly, stepping back and avoiding the tips of Tatsuo's boots. 

Shirou's Servant was then forced to take two more steps back as Tatsuo kicked forward, throwing himself off the ground and back onto his feet before swiping at her neck with the blade in his left hand. 

*Clang!* 

After avoiding the first strike, Shirou's Servant raised her weapon to parry a follow up strike from below, aimed at slashing her from her abdomen to chin. She then slashed horizontally at Tatsuo's neck. 

In response, Tatsuo spun with the parry and ducked under the slash. Then, with the knife in his left hand held in a reverse grip, he stabbed at the Servant's left side. 

Once again flaring her mana, the Servant used her increased speed to back away from the stab, despite her posture. She then stepped in once again to attack. 

*Clang!* *Clang!* *Clang!* Swish!* *Crack!* Bang!* *Clang!* 

Meanwhile, as the back and forth between Tatsuo and Shirou's Servant continued, Shirou found himself being wrapped up by nearly invisible threads. 

"Wha! What's happening?" Shirou cried as he was lifted off the floor. 

Shirou's cry drew Tatsuo's and his Servant's attention away from the fight for a moment. And when they looked in Shirou's direction, they saw him floating away from the wall, being suspended and pulled away by thin threads. 

"Oh, don't worry about him." Elicia said while waving dismissively with a smile on her face. "I was just getting him out of the splash zone. Don't want him dying because he was too slow to avoid a stray bullet… Um… I mean slash." 

Ignoring Elicia's words, Shirou's Servant quickly abandoned the battle to free her Master, cutting through Elicia's threads with ease. 

Meanwhile, Tatsuo only shrugged his shoulders as he approached Elicia, who was pouting at Shirou's Servant who ignored her good intentions. 

"Are you all right?" Shirou's Servant asked in a concerned tone. 

"Y-Yeah… I'm fine." Shirou replied while his Servant unwrapped the threads from around him. "But who are you? And where did you come from? And why were those people trying to kill me?" 

Hearing Shirou's questions, his Servant did not know how to answer exactly. She knew who she was, obviously. And where she came from. Something inside of the young man who was now her Master was the catalyst for her summoning, after all. As for why people were trying to kill him, based on what she experienced in the past, she could guess the answer to that, too. 

Unfortunately, answering either of Shirou's first two questions would more than likely give away her identity. And that was not something she was willing to do. Especially not with a rival Master-Servant pair so close by. 

"For now, you can just call me Saber." The blonde Servant, Saber, said as she helped Shirou to his feet. "As for why those people were trying to kill you---" 

"It's because of the Holy Grail War." Elicia cut in. "But seeing as you're not even a proper Magus, I'm guessing that term went right over your head, right?" 

While Saber glared at Elicia for interrupting, Shirou could not help nodding his head blankly. 

"I bet your Saber probably can't even take on an astral form." Tatsuo muttered. "*Sigh* That will be such a pain when we take you to get an explanation from the church." 

"And why would you do that?' Saber asked in a defensive tone. 

"Because we'd rather not have to kill anyone." Elicia replied. "And if he backs out voluntarily after hearing the official explanation. Then there would never be a reason to. Even better, if he did that, the Church would guarantee his safety until the Holy Grail War is over." 

As a Servant who was summoned from the Throne of Heros, Saber already knew that. However, as a Servant with a wish she wanted granted by the Grail, she was firmly against her Master backing out of the War. Though, she would not force him to fight if he was truly against it. Her personal code would not allow her to do such a thing. 

"Anyway, before we get going, let's wait here for a minute." Elicia said with a smile. "You're gonna have some guests pretty soon. But don't worry, these ones aren't hostile… I think." 

"Your apparent uncertainty does not give me a sense of security." Saber replied in a dry tone. 

"Well, the girl that's on her way here was the one who saved your Master's life after he got stabbed by the Lancer." Tatsuo said, deciding to give a further explanation. "But her Servant, an Archer, doesn't seem to like him very much. Thus the, 'I think'." 

"I see." Saber said while lowering her head in contemplation. "And who are you? Why were you hiding here during the fight?" 

"Oh, I forgot the introductions, didn't I?" Elicia said energetically. She then pointed to herself as she continued with a smile. "I'm Elicia Taylor. You can call me Elicia or Lici if you prefer. I run a clothing business in the United States. As for him…" 

"I'm an Assassin-Class Servant." Tatsuo said, finishing where Elicia left off. "But I'm sure you noticed that already." 

Shirou and Saber both nodded in response. Though, they did not speak their thoughts aloud. But since Saber's questions were answered, they decided they could at least trust Elicia and Tatsuo until they reached the church and receive the, so-called, official explanation. 

"So, why don't we patch up that cut on your shoulder before your guests get here?" Elicia asked while pointing her finger at Shirou's left shoulder. 

Shirou, having forgotten about the cut thanks to the adrenaline, quickly turned his head to look at his left shoulder, where there was a cut in his shirt and blood stains trailing down his arm. He then subconsciously raised his right arm to cover the cut. 

"*Smack!* 

"Don't do that, you might get it infected." Saber said sternly as she clamped her hand around Shirou's wrist. 

"Oh yeah, right…" Shirou said as his eyes flicked up to meet Saber's. "Sorry." 

"Oh, I've got some hand sanitizer here somewhere." Elicia said as she started rummaging through a small satchel she was carrying around her waist. 

"That's not the point, Lici." Tatsuo replied with exasperation. He then turned to look at Shirou as he continued. "Anyway, do you have a first-aid kit in here?" 

"No, but there's one in the main house." Shirou replied. 

"Then, let's take care of that before that Tohsaka girl and her Archer show up." Tatsuo said with a nod. 

With that, Tatsuo turned around and dragged Elicia, who was still looking for hand sanitizer, out of the storehouse. Meanwhile, Saber supported Shirou as they followed Tatsuo and Shirou. 

However, as they left, Shirou could not help taking a look back at the mess that was created during the fight. 

"*Sigh* Cleaning that up is gonna be a pain later." Shirou muttered. 

Saber could only smile awkwardly at her Master's priorities. 

With that, Shirou led the others into his house so that he could get the first-aid kit. Then, Saber dressed his wound, which she noticed was already healing. Then, the group of four left the house to wait for Rin and Archer at the Residence's gates. And they did not have to wait for long. 

"Huh? Tohsaka-San? What are you doing here?" Shirou asked when he saw Rin approaching from the distance. 

Relieved to see that Shirou was all right, Rin breathed a quiet sigh of relief. However, when she saw Elicia and Tatsuo standing next to him, she was surprised. And when she saw Saber, who she knew was a Servant, her eyes widened to a comical degree. 

"I told you that you should have let him die, Master.' Archer said as he materialized next to Rin. "Not only was it a waste of resources to bring back someone from the brink of death that only seemed to be a civilian. But now it turns out he's another Master like you. You could have killed two birds with one stone if you had just left well enough alone." 

"Shut up, Archer!" Rin barked in annoyance. She then turned back to look at Elicia. "And what are you doing here, Taylor-San?" 

"Nothing really." Elicia replied casually. She then continued while pointing a finger at Shirou. "We just wanted to see what would happen after you saved this guy. So, we followed him back home. Got to see him try to fight a Servant, too. But he was no match for Lancer." 

"I see…" Rin said quietly. "Then, we were too late." 

"Yup!" Elicia said energetically, popping the P as she did so. "Just like the police." 

"Anyway, we're taking him to the Church so that he can get a proper explanation about what he just got thrown into." Tatsuo said with a shrug. "And if he decides to keep being a Master, we'll give him the same explanation we gave you. But I don't think his little Dragon Girl will agree to work with us." 

"Will you stop calling me that?" Saber asked in an irritated tone. 

"Why?" Tatsuo asked in a tone of mock confusion. "I mean it fits, doesn't it? Your mana core is that of a dragon. Actually, now that I think about it, a dragon mana core, a knight's armor, and a longsword for a weapon…" 

With every word Tatsuo muttered, Saber was getting closer and closer to drawing her sword again. If anyone knew anything about her legend, they would be able to piece together her identity from his mutterings before long. 

Her only saving grace was the fact that she was a man in her legend. So, most people would not be able to put two and two together. 

And just as Saber expected, Rin and Shirou were looking at Tatsuo with confusion while Elicia was giggling at Tatsuo's way of getting under Saber's skin. Archer, on the other hand, looked at Tatsuo with an eyebrow raised. However, he eventually shrugged his shoulders while wearing an uninterested expression, seeming to not care about the Assassin Servant's muttering. 

However, if one were to look closely, they would notice that there was surprise in Archer's eyes. But the only ones who noticed this detail were Tatsuo and Elicia. 

Eventually, Tatsuo stop muttering to himself and the group set off for the Fuyuki Church located in the Shinto Business District.