[RadiantBeam]

So I have, like, other, longer fics I should be updating, but the plotbunny for this one has latched firmly onto my mind. It's eating my brain until I update. So here, have part 2.

Spoiler for A Change in Fate, part 2:

His hand was burning.

Shirou instinctively knew what it meant. Saber was in trouble. He didn’t know what kind of trouble; he didn’t know if she was badly wounded, if she was dying, if she had depleted her store of mana, or if she had already died. He just knew that his hand burned, his hand that carried his Command Spell, and it burned because Saber was in trouble.

He quickly dismissed the thought that Saber was dead. His left hand was in agony, but if Saber had died, his Command Spell would have faded by now, or at least would have hurt far more than it did. She was alive, at the very least.

I have to find her.

Gritting his teeth and rubbing the back of his hand in a vain attempt to soothe it, Shirou lifted his head. The moonlight spilled through the room once more, bathing everything it touched silver; Zouken was long gone, and he had taken his worms and his scent of rotting meat with him. The only ones currently in the room were Shirou and Rider. The Servant in question seemed relaxed enough, at ease with the situation.

Shirou had questions, but they could wait. He turned on his heel and flew to the door Saber had shut behind her only minutes before, and this time when he pounded on it, it flew open with a slam that made Rider jump.

“Saber, are you—“

The words froze in his throat before they even left his lips. Stunned into silence, he could only stare.

A small patch of blood stained the floor; dried blood, brown blood, blood that would flake and crack under his touch. Obviously, someone had been wounded in the fight between Saber and Assassin. But it was not the patch of blood that had caught Shirou’s eye, that had made him freeze.

She lay motionless beneath the moonlight, her silver armor glimmering and flashing at the gentlest touch of light. Even her golden hair, her skin, seemed touched silver by the moon; only a few inches beyond her fingertips lay her sword, revealed from its cover of invisible air, gleaming softly.

“S-Sa…. ber.” He swallowed the lump in his throat. “Saber?”

He couldn’t tell if she was breathing.

With legs that trembled Shirou crossed the distance that separated him from his partner; he was only dimly aware of Rider at his back, the purple-haired Servant watching everything silently. In a moment that seemed to last both an eternity and a millisecond, he finally knelt down, resting a shaking hand gently on her shoulder. “Saber?” he whispered.

She felt warm beneath his touch; her armor, despite looking cold from a distance, was surprisingly warm. Taking deep breaths he slid his fingers lower, to her throat, until he finally pressed gently against her pulse.

He felt it, then. A strong pulse, a steady beat. Saber was still alive.

The strength drained from Shirou’s body then; he blew out a long, ragged breath and slumped, his shaking hand resting on Saber’s hair as he trembled, head bowed. “Thank God,” he whispered hoarsely, closing his eyes. “Thank God….”

He was distracted from his thoughts by the soft sound of rustling movement; with grace he hadn’t known she possessed, Rider knelt down beside Saber. “She’s still unconscious,” she murmured, “and you are injured. I will carry her.”

“But—“

“I will carry her.”

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX XXXXXXXX

True to her word, Rider carried Saber to the gates of the temple. Shirou was honestly surprised; either Rider was stronger than she looked, or Saber was even smaller than he had previously thought. Finally, he cleared his throat. “I’ll take her now,” he said softly.

She looked at him. Behind her mask, Shirou had the acute feeling she had lifted a brow.

“I can carry her,” he muttered. “My wounds are already healing. If I go slow and take it easy, we’ll both make it home in one piece.”

Rider continued to look at him. Just as Shirou was beginning to wonder if she would hold his Servant hostage, she sighed and shook her head. He thought she would say something then, but she passed him Saber wordlessly. “Would you like me to walk you home?” she asked as he shifted his arms, getting a good, firm grip on Saber.

He shook his head, gently checking to make sure Saber was as comfortable as she could be. “My debt to you is already deep as it is,” he said, looking directly at where he assumed her eyes were. “If I accepted anymore help from you, it would make things difficult when we meet in battle.”

There was a beat of silence; finally, the agile Servant chuckled and nodded in agreement. “Fair enough. We’ll part ways here, then.” She turned her back to him, heading into the trees.

“….” Shirou sighed. “Rider.”

She paused and looked back at him. “It’s too late to change your mind.”

“Not that.” He took a deep breath before he bowed his head to her. “Thank you. You saved my life back there. And you helped me with Saber.” He lifted his eyes and once more met her gaze. “So… thanks.”

There was another beat of silence; finally, Rider turned away. “You don’t have to thank me,” she murmured. “I simply followed my Master’s order.” With that, she disappeared into the trees like a shadow, so light on her feet that Shirou didn’t even hear her leave.

He gazed at the trees for a long moment; finally, Shirou turned away and left the temple, his grip on Saber firm and steady, yet gentle enough so she wouldn’t wake.

She never stirred once the whole way home.

For being rather.... I suppose, quiet is the right word, Rider was a lot of fun to write in this section. She doesn't say much, but there was something about writing her that I really liked.

Spoiler for Author's Notes:

1. According to the game, a Master doesn't lose their Command Spell until they lose their Servant; Shirou didn't fully lose his Command Spell, as I recall, until he said goodbye to the place where Saber had fallen. I originally had a line where he thought his Command Spell would have disappeared if Saber died, but then I remembered it didn't disappear until he actually saw the place, so instead I changed it to say that his hand would have hurt worse if Saber was gone.

2. In my head, I justified Shirou checking Saber's pulse to make sure she was alive because as they are in the game, despite being spirits, Heroic Spirits are also shown to be capable of human form; they can bleed, and eat, and breathe just like humans, so I naturally assumed that like humans they would have a pulse. Of course, whether or not they would need one is subject for debate, but eh.

3. I had a bit of a debate with myself over Shirou's "Thank God" line since it's never remotely stated that he believes in God to begin with, but to me it's more of an emotional response than a religious response, and I felt it fit.

4. I also justified Shirou going to Saber instead of just using a Command Spell to bring her to him by thinking that, even if she survived the shadow, she would have been way too exhausted to heed his command to come even if she tried, kind of like how Rider tried to obey Shinji's order to keep fighting but couldn't because she was too badly wounded.

Previous parts found here:

Part One