Alright; time to impress the ladies. You begin to play by memory one of the
songs you listened to earlier today. With grace and skill refined through a lifetime dedicated to the musical arts, you both replicate and transcend the sheer wonder and soul that the original song had when performed by it's makers. Everyone was enraptured and allured by your music, all held under your sway; man and women looking upon you in admiration. You felt accomplished, once again claiming your position as 'King of Charisma' by virtue of being a bard. As you play the solo of the song, right at the peak of it-
You're
interrupted, a song with a completely different tone and vibe simply....
overrode yours. It was majestic and powerful; and you already knew who was playing it the moment you heard it: the golden king. With guitar of gold and strings of dragon whiskers, he rose to the challenge you declared. With a cocky grin and raised eyebrow, his message was clear; 'Do you
really think you can match
me?"
Well now, you sure as hell couldn't back down from that. So again you played another song, shifting the tides again to your favor as heart and soul was poured into every note. And again did the King match you and raise the stakes once more. It was only at either the zenith or the end of the song that the other would come in; giving you ample time to prepare and rest until you rose to retaliate once more.
The rest of the night passed on in a haze of booze and rock, and only when the King's companions motioned for him to leave did the battle end; with a final conclusion to his current
solo, he dived into the crowd and was carried off by their praising hands. Leaving you to finish up with a
final song and with the adulation of the entire bar.
But you didn't
win the battle; you were reaching your limit, but he seemed to have only just
begun to feel challenged at the end. The battle was lost, but the war has only begun. Still, it was a rock-off of the ages.
You picked up some babes and went off in a drunken stupor to enjoy the rest of the night...
You wake up, head pounding; man was that a helluva night. You're currently in a bed, with two lovely ladies on either side of you; nice. Alas, you had to leave, lest you worry the kid. So, you astralize and escape their loving embrace; though before you leave, you write a romantic note apologizing for your departure. It was a habit of yours, to leave on a good note and with your bed-mates feeling desired for more than just carnal needs. Also, apparently going into spiritual form cures all hangovers; who knew?
So you dash over to Shirou's house, all the while invisible. You see he's just gotten out of the bathroom and just bathed, so you take form once more and greet him, "Morning."
Surprised, but not startled, Shirou greets you, "Oh, hello Tandem; did you manage to gather some more information?"
"Yeah, I'll tell you later; hey can I use your bathroom? I could use a good bath right about now..."
Shirou simply smiles and replies, "Of course, of course! Feel free to do whatever you want; since we're partners, consider this your home as well." Well, since you got the all-clear; might as well wash up.
The baths in this land were kinda odd; but it was certainly comfortable to be in a nice, warm, bath right about now. Man, even on the road luxuries like this were rare. Washing yourself; you ponder on what to do from here. Alright; you know that there's another Servant holed up in a temple of some sort, capable of holding off a pissed off demigod. You know that Lancer now has free reign; and thus will likely hunt your ass down. And you know that Shirou knows the Master of Archer. That's about it.
Washing your hair, you come to a conclusion: you need allies. At least another Master would even the odds for you guys, and given neither of you have a wish for the Grail; that should only make an alliance that much easier. Another day of scouting and figuring out the remaining Masters should help out there. Once you figure out who's who, it's only a matter of finding someone you both can trust and who isn't completely bugfuck evil.
You finish up and begin to dry off; you notice that you used up the last of the soap, so you decide to let Shirou know. Garbed in only a towel for you lower half, you head to the dining room and tell Shirou, "Hey dude, I used up the last of your soap. Sorry about that, just wanted to...let...you..."
The person in the dining room was not Shirou; because the kid was taller, had red hair and not brown, and was
definitely not a woman!
Immediately she screams out, "SHIROOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOU!!!!!!!!!! WHY IS THERE A NAKED MAN HERE!!!!!!!! WHAT'S GOING ON! Wait-RAPIST!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! PERVERT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"
Oh for fuck's sake..."Who the hell are you?"
"WHO ARE YOU, NAKED MAN!"
That didn't answer your question, "Who
are you, lady?"
"Who are
you?!"
"No, who are
you?!"
"WHO ARE YOU?!?!?!"
"WHO ARE YOU?!?!?!?!?!?!?" This whole debacle has only made the two of you even more frantic, to the point where you grab each other by the shoulders, start shaking the other and yelling,
"WHO ARE YOU?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?"
Shirou, meanwhile; has come onto the commotion and is shaking his head, face in his palm.
It took a while, but eventually you all calm down and explain the situation and your alibi; you were an old friend of Kiritsugu's from afar and owed him a debt. You had only just discovered his demise, and had conferred the debt to his son. You then explain that Kiritsugu had some enemies, and that you would keep Shirou safe. The woman, one Fujimura Taiga; bought the thing hook, line and sinker. If only because you lauded on the compliments about her 'feminine beauty and ferocity'. Fun gal, especially when flustered; very emotive.
So, after getting all of that taken care of; you were now at Shirou's school, invisible and keeping watch for anything unusual. Immediately you detect some magic field over the building, and two Servants on the premisis.
Since the classes are boring as fuck, and it's going to be awhile til Lunch; were you can talk with Shirou, you...
[X] Deal with the 'magic field'
[X] See who the other Servants are
[X] See if you can find the other masters here
[X] Write-in