五輪書

     Perhaps it was coincidence that she would run into other Servants so frequently, perhaps divine intervention. In the end, were they not naturally drawn to each other? Despite the vast array of different origins, their contract would forever serve as unseen strings tying them in obscure matrimony, so to speak.

     But for Martha, it was not so much the Servant part that drew her in but the other’s basic need for food. How this city humanized them, dolls painted with the souls of worthy adversaries… it would never get old.

     Really, it might as well be her mission to be the entire Servant population of Hive City’s older-sister-mom figure… Hands on her hips, she answers the other.

     “There is no need for that. I won’t condone violence, but that wooden sword is your adversary when this city becomes less-than-amicable…”

     “Just follow me.” Turning on her heel, Martha swiftly heads towards the church she so dearly coveted, trusting the other was desperate enough to follow.

‘Less than amicable’... so this town had its dark spots as well. The only dark spot on Musashi’s mind right now was the pit of emptiness that made up her stomach. The Servant was beckoning her to follow, and as she didn’t really have much else going on, she obeyed.·

“I realized I had no money in this place yet, and it’s been a while since my last meal...” The swordwoman who had frequently jumped between worlds was expecting this ‘visit’ to be a brief one, and when no new portal had opened to whisk her away to a new land, she realized her situation might be more dire than she originally thought.·

@nitoujutsu

There was an arcade, hidden in the niches of Sector Five. Nothing out of the ordinary, really; the walls lined with claw games and chance based challenges that left most cursing, crushing their tickets in hand. Well. Almost everything was ordinary, at least.

One game – an arcade shooter with a burly, poorly drawn cowboy kicking high overhead – had drawn a small crowd. At the centre of the tumultuous ring was Mordred, hefting the plastic rifle over her shoulder. The sign above her had glowed a horrendous red, the scores spelling MOR over and over again.

“Alright, who’s next?” 

“How about… you.” Mordred pointed the faux rifle at a woman; blonde, giving off the same, gentle call all Servant’s exuded. “Do you have the guts to beat me, the Knight of Treachery, at a shooter? Or are you chicken?”

Scoping out the strange areas and artifacts of this world was proving to be both beneficial and confusing to Musashi. It was an amalgamation of things from many worlds, yet it all seemed to effortlessly blend into one. On one hand, she was interested by all of the shops and items the city had to offer. On the other.. it was mildly overwhelming to the swordswoman, used to the relative peace and quiet of her homeland. However, there was seemingly nothing that could compete with the amount of blinking lights and shrill sounds assaulting her senses in the arcade she found herself in.

Musashi was just taking a quick look around the place when she noticed a crowd -- not too big, but enough to be noteworthy -- forming around a single machine. Curiosity got the better of her, and as she moved toward the front of the line to get a peek at what the fuss was about--

“How about... you.”

A fake rifle pointed directly at her by a fellow Servant, egging her on to play.. whatever this game was. 

“Honestly, I’m not really much of a gun person myself, but if I’m called out, it looks like there’s no running away from this!” Musashi picks up the matching gun on the other side of the machine. 

Personal space was something Yusuke never took notice of, often coming too close for comfort with people that he found interesting. This woman was no exception, as he stood close enough to her to be able to admire every fine detail. She was beautiful, truly. And beautiful people of her kind were hard to come by in this city. Actually he doesn’t remember seeing someone so beautiful ever since he had laid eyes on Ann.

“My apologies…I simply had to be close to you.” Poor excuse, even borderline creepy as he looks at her, hand clasped over his chest as he explains. “I’m an artist, you see…and I seek only the greatest forms of beauty.” And now, he reaches forward taking her hand into his own.

“You must let me paint you.”

Musashi could usually sense when people stared at her figure, some were more subtle than others. But here we had someone straight up ogling her. Although this time felt different... There didn’t seem to be any malicious intent in the man’s eyes, and his demeanour seemed to back this up. Nevertheless, it was still very off-putting, and very creepy.

“An... artist, huh?” Musashi took a small step backward from the man who still seemed to be drinking in her entire form. “Honestly, art was never really my strong suit, unless you count the art of... swordplay......” Her words trailed off, as the stranger took her hand in his.

She had half a mind to draw her wooden sword to protect herself from his... forwardness. What was he doing? Was he going to propose to her? They just met! Chill out, random stranger!

“You must let me paint you.”

Oh.

nitoujutsu:

▊狐 This was clearly a Japanese Servant of some nature. A swordswoman? Were there any legends such as those? Tamamo supposed it could be possible considering the state of Souji Okita. History did not always remember things accurately.

Her identity aside… Those hips. That bust. Dare another Japanese Servant infringe upon her terrain as sexiest!? She was miles above the oni, or even Oda Nobunaga’s lacking form, but this woman… She might have to acknowledge this woman as a rival!

“Cat gloves!? I see… so you bumped into that girl…” She didn’t necessarily like the idea of someone meeting one of her Alter Egos before meeting the original. “And wait! ‘Monster’!? Such a rude assumption to make of this beautiful and cute Casko! I might label you a monster are well for that dense aura you give off!”

     "That girl...? Oh, could you be twins?” A logical assumption to make due to their appearances, but Musashi would slightly miss the mark on that one. Nevertheless, she was still intrigued by this Servant, even in her limited knowledge of Chaldea and whatnot. 

     “Ah, my mistake. ‘Monster’ was probably the wrong word to use.” Although, this fox girl and the other certainly do raise a lot of questions. Why are they both here? Was this another one of those Singularities she was taught about? 

     It had been a while since Musashi had appeared in this world, and no sign of an exit portal has shown up since she awoke. Normally she’d be on her way to some other fantastical universe and feasting on the delicacies of their world… but no such luck so far. Therefore, the gifted samurai found herself walking the streets of Hive City, stomach rumbling ferociously, with a painted expression on her face.

     “Oogh…” is what escaped Musashi’s lips as she walked past a woman who, if she was more attentive, she’d fully recognize as a fellow Servant. Unfortunately, she was too hungry to notice.

     “Ah, that fox is here too- wait, no…” The appearance of the two is similar, but this one seems less… wild. Could they be one of Guda-kun’s friends as well?

     “Hey, fox stranger! You’re a… Servant, right? This might seem like a stretch, but are you related to a certain monster fox I saw in another world? Seems like forever since I last saw that weird fox with cat gloves…”

     “’The Book Of Five Rings’…”

     Musashi found herself in Sector oo4, perusing the books at a local bookstore. The dusty tome she held in her hand caught her eye, since, well… this was hers. Or at least, some version of her had written it. She had heard stories about who she was in another timeline, and she couldn’t deny that she wasn’t at least a little bit curious as to what her inter-dimensional self had to say..

     She was so engrossed with her book she failed to notice the man standing dangerously close to her. Mild embarrassment bubbled up in her at the half self indulgent act of reading her own history.