Well, 4 people voted, and I likely won't get anymore. At least, not until I start releasing the conjoining Servants. Anyway...
In the Realm of Daemons.
Good or Misfortune?
Camp of Apathy.
A Subtle Urge.
*laughter*
You gotta be fucking kidding me! This must be a dream come true for you then.
I have to agree with him for once. Oh, darling, don’t glare at me like that. I just think it’s a strange coincidence.
We were all frozen anyway. It’s not like he could’ve done anything about it while on ice.
…I cannot believe even the thought that I somehow called an alien god to our world is happening.
You’re the one with the crazy wish.
Yes, but unlike you, Beryl, I’m smart enough not to implicate myself.
Who wouldn’t want to brag about that?
Someone who wants to live.
I think this meeting has gotten off track.
”We’re almost there, Ritsu!”
“I can see that.”
He wasn’t being sarcastic. It’s just hard to miss the mountain they’d been walking to for the last hour, especially since the land around them was mostly sand and hills. He couldn’t remember the last time he’d been somewhere so empty. Maybe one of the singularities.
That was until he saw the lush greenery that spread out around the mountain’s base. It was as though the land was suddenly cut along a circular line that further emphasized the monolith towering above the plains.
“Why is this place so green?” Ritsuka asked his new guide.
“I’m not sure,” Sao replied, peering closely at a particularly interesting patch of flora. “Airyanem Vaejah used to be a lot like this, but now only Pārsa, Gaokerena, Kansava, and Damāvand have any plants.”
Sao seemed to grow more disheartened with every word, sad about the sorry state his home had fallen to.
“Kansava was that lake I was in, right?”
“Yep.”
Sao had returned to his feet, giving Rituska his attention.
“That river that flows into it comes all~ the way from Gaokerena. I think that’s why it has plants.”
Ritsuka thought about this as they continued on towards the mountain.
“What about Kuuirinta? That’s the city with this Zahhak, right.”
“I haven’t seen it, but I don’t think so. Somewhere with so much druj couldn’t have life like that. …At least, I don’t think so.”
“Druj?”
Sao began walking backwards, which worried Ritsuka because they were approaching a path that lead up the mountain’s face.
“Druj is… druj. It’s the opposite of aṣ̌a. It’s… All the World’s Good and All the World’s Evil… in a sense? Ah… It’s hard to say~. But nothing this pretty can come from druj.”
Ritsuka accepted this answer for what it was. He should know by now that there are a lot of concepts in this world that are harder to say than experience. Not to mention he’s asking a child to describe it, and they’re not known for their vivid descriptions.
They ascended the rocky face along the seemingly natural path, Sao almost dancing as he stayed ahead of Ritsuka. Despite the current situation, he couldn't help but smile at the boy's enthusiasm. There was something infectious about it, like Sao's happiness reflected onto everything else. In this barren world, he, and hopefully the people they were steadily approaching, was full of life.
And yet...
looking out at the world growing farther beneath him, he couldn't say there wasn't something beautiful about it. Just empty.
They continued upward, the air growing slightly thinner with every step, but not enough to cause great struggle in breathing, which definitely would've put a cap on Sao's enthusiasm. Still, plant life faded away as they began to reach a point that the pathway leveled out, bringing them within sight of two men relaxing off to the side. The men held spears lazily in their hands, tightening their grips as the noticed the travelers. They loosened, however, when they realized that a teenager and a smaller child were a pretty poor invading force.
"It's been a while since anyone made their way here," one of them said as they drew close. "I was beginning to think no one else managed to get away."
"But we did!" Sao exclaimed proudly, something almost visually taking the worry from the guards.
"Well, I'll take you to the boss. He'll get you settled in."
Ritsuka thought about objecting, but his reason for being here didn't change that he should talk to Kāve. In fact, that was the reason, so he and Sao followed the guard while the other went about the business of watching the path. Sao wasn't dancing around anymore, instead sticking close to Ritsuka for the first time since they arrived at the mountain. Was he worried about something?
Their eyes finally settled upon the village set high in the mountains. Several tents and simple buildings were spread out before them, people quietly moving about and hardly giving the new arrivals a glance. A soft tension was in the air, the people holding their breath for things to suddenly go wrong. After being driven from their homes into the mountains, Ritsuka understood that their worries were far from over.
The guard brought them to one of the makeshift buildings, though Ritsuka noticed this one looked better constructed than the others. He also noticed the rhythmic clanging of metal coming from within.
"This is where I leave," the guard said with a apologetic smile. "The boss prefers to speak to new arrivals alone. Don't bother knocking. He won't hear you. Just walk in."
"Thank you for your help."
The guard gave him a nod before going back the way they came, leaving Sao and Ritsuka standing before the door.
“I can’t believe I’m going to meet Kāve,” Sao said, awe and apprehension mixing in his words.
“What do you know about him?”
“He’s the one who rose up against Zahhak,” Sao said excitedly. “When Yamah Xšaitah sealed the gates of Pārsa, Kāve gathered up everyone he could and brought them here, fighting off Zahhak’s army the whole way.”
“He must be pretty strong then.”
“He’s amazing! A master blacksmith and a warrior. If we get him to help, there’s no way we can lose.”
Ritsuka had a funny feeling one Servant alone wasn’t going to be enough, mostly because it’s never enough, but they always had to start somewhere. With that thought in his mind, he opened the door to the building.
The clanging grew louder without the barrier, the two seeing a large man bringing a hammer down on an anvil, each strike sending sparks into the air as his work took shape. The man didn’t stop as they approached, absorbed in his art to the point that everything else faded away. Ritsuka couldn’t even bring himself to speak out and neither could Sao. They watched, mesmerized by the passion in each swing.
Finally, the man ceased, lifting the orange blade with tongs and transferring it to a bucket of water nearby, steam gushing out and filling the air around the man. No sooner had the white cloud risen that the man pulled the blade from the water. He placed the cooling metal to the side and set the tongs down before turning to face his guests.
The man’s gaze was intense as he surveyed the duo, eyes barely glazing Sao before boring into Ritsuka. The Master was used to similar evaluations from other Servants, so it didn’t bother him so much as it might’ve when he first started working at Chaldea. That was a long time ago, wasn’t it?
It was then that Kāve finally spoke.
“You should leave. We don’t need the trouble a Master brings with them.”
Kāve turned to the burning furnace nearby with the tongs in hand, reaching in to pull out a scorching rectangle of metal.
“You’re not going to help us?!” Sao exclaimed before Ritsuak could speak. “But why? You’re Kāve! You’re…”
“A simple blacksmith,” Kāve replied as he began hammering the block on the anvil. “Right now, these people don’t need a revolution or a battle. They don’t need someone coming in and trying to rally them against beings they can’t hope to match.”
The block flattened under his mighty blows, emphasizing his words.
“What they need is security. What they need is to recover after losing their homes, their families. What they need is a protector, not a leader.”
Kāve glanced over at Ritsuka.
“Or someone who’s likely to bring down the wrath of the people they’re afraid of.”
“But… but…”
The air flowed out of Sao's sails. He just couldn’t understand how such an amazing hero could refuse to stop the person hurting everyone else. Even Kāve’s stoic face cracked slightly at the boy’s hurt expression. He paused his work and let out a small sigh.
“I’m not saying I don’t want to help. I’m saying I can’t help. Not right now. Unless you can tell me you have the power to end this ridiculous war at this very moment, I think it’s best if you leave.”
While Sao was cajoled by every word Kāve said, Ritsuka was more surprised than anything. The man before him was without a doubt a Servant, not someone who was raised in this world, yet he seemed to have no drive to fulfill the duty Alaya had called him to do. At least, not at the moment.
Kāve looked out the still open door at what Ritsuka realized a moment later was how light it was outside.
“Then again, it’s getting dark out, and that means The Xrafstar will be prowling the desert. Even if I want you to leave, I will not send you out there with That. We’ve prepared several homes in case of new arrivals, though there have been few. Tomorrow, I want you”
He made sure to look at Ritsuka as he spoke.
“to leave. The boy can stay. I assume that’s one of the reasons you came here.”
“Actually, I…”
“Thank you, sir. We appreciate you doing at least this much.”
The blacksmith shook his head before turning back to his work.
“You can show it by doing what I said. And my name is Kāve. I get enough honorifics from the people here to last a lifetime.”
With that, the hammering began again, and it was clear that they were being dismissed.
Sao was distraught for the rest of the day, barely even saying a word as the people of the makeshift town fed them and showed them where they’d be staying. Ritsuka wasn’t sure what to do about it. Watching a child pout was always hard, but from Sao, it was like the world pouted with him.
Ritsuka kept in mind though that he was still a child. By tomorrow, it was possible he’d be mostly past it. Otherwise, Ritsuka would probably have to keep him distracted from his pitiful state. He would have to think on this, along with the more relevant question of “Why am I not even considering leaving him here?”
One of many questions that could be answered tomorrow.
The man walked around the lake, leaping over the rushing current of the river running into the body of water with graceful ease. He had cycled all the way back around to the scraped sand on the edge of the lake. He kneeled next to it, tracing his hand in the dirt before casting his eyes toward the lowering sun.
“It’ll be out soon.”
He rose to his feet, turning his gaze toward the distant mountain.
“But my fortune awaits. It would be foolish to let it slip by.”
He smirked as he took the first step on his latest voyage.
A mad howl echoed through the world.
Ritsuka’s opened on the dark interior of his room. He wasn’t certain as to what woke him up, but felt compelled to leave his room.
It didn’t feel malicious or favorable. It was just a slight pull that called him. Something that he felt he could ignore if he desired. That, more than anything, made him feel he should see the reason.
It tugged him gently from his room over to the room Sao was in, finding a stranger in fine clothing standing over Sao. The man gently brushed a strand from the sleeping Sao’s face, the moonlight from the window catching the white locks and making them shine brightly under his hand.
His back was to Ritsuka, but the Master was certain the stranger was aware of his presence. In fact, he was the one calling him. He could feel it in his heart, and there was something oddly familiar about him.
The man turned to face Ritsuka, and he was almost otherworldly. Ritsuka remembered the woman he’d seen on that strange bridge while gazing at him. They were different, and yet, Ritsuka felt as though they were connected.
The man’s eyes oscillated slowly between green and gold, gleaming with soft affection that Ritsuka knew on some level wasn’t only for him, but Sao as well. The man smiled, his expression piercing Ritsuka’s soul as he spoke.
"You both have so far to go, but I will be waiting for you."
The man moved forward, looking into Ritsuka's eyes as he stroked his cheek.
"Take care of one another. You're the only ones who can."
Ritsuak's eyes opened, the sun streaming through the window as he sat up.
"What is this Lostbelt?"
1. Investigate Kuuirinta
2. Investigate Pārsa
3. Investigate Gaokerena
Where do we go from here?
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Originally Posted by DelRey
