The Hunt for the Vampire

Kirei pulled his car into a 24-hour parking spot and stepped out of the limousine. He took a brief glance of his surroundings to assure that no familiars were in the area. Good.

The lights of Fuyuki Bridge towered above him. Most tourists loved the scenery here, and objectively speaking, it was visually appealing. But even if he tried, Kirei found no pleasure in such things. It might as well just be another indistinguishable piece of the battlefield.

He stood by a bench in the park along the Mion River and waited for Archer to arrive at the agreed-upon time.

The servant had searched high and low and hadn't found a trace of...anything. She had assumed another servant or master might have even appeared, but no. It was if it was a calm before the storm. Though it had taken her some time to get use to such precise clocks, she arrived at the bridge on schedule. Her master stood there with a briefcase, hiding his hand in a coat pocket. Why he didn't just choose to wear gloves was beyond her, but it didn't matter. She materialized next to him, keeping to the shadows. Though she didn't need to, perse, it always had bothered her to not speaking to someone face to face. "Hello, Master," she greeted with a small nod of her head. "I was unable to find any evidence of the apostle, or any of the other servants or masters."

Kirei nodded. "I thought that might be the case. A Dead Apostle that doesn't want to be found might as well not exist. But he will have to come out for prey sooner or later."

"I am surprised, though, that you haven't sensed any other Servants."  They were dead in the center of Fuyuki and there were no opponents in sight.  He supposed that after the chaos that unfolded on the first day of the War, the other Masters were taking the opportunity to hold their ground and set up defenses.

But, somehow, something didn't seem right. Something about it all didn't quite make sense, but he couldn't put his finger on it. He shook the doubts from his mind.

"Let's begin by searching the area where most of his attacks were concentrated."

Atalanta nodded, following Kirei wherever he lead, or moving ahead to scout if need be.

Kirei started off across the Mion Bridge. As he walked, he stared down into the water rushing below. All the while, he reached out with his senses, probing the area around them for unusual presences.

Nothing.

He knew that Caster's and Berserker's Masters were likely playing it safe. With Assassin eliminated, and Rider and Archer on his side, that left only two Servants unaccounted for: Lancer and Saber.

He had seen nothing of Saber since the War's beginning, but if this was the Einzberns' Servant, this came as no big surprise; the Einzberns almost always erred on the side of caution.

Where was the Dead Apostle then? Why was it hiding? He and his Servant could easily overpower most opponents. Did it know an Executor was on the hunt for it? Or was it planning something more sinister?

They crossed the Bridge into the Miyama side of Fuyuki. They hadn't gone more than a couple blocks when Kirei stopped in his tracks.

The Servant wasn't far, to the northwest from their location. It was moving in their direction. Faster than walking pace, but not terribly quickly. It would have sensed he and Archer now as well, but didn't seem to be making any attempts to hide.

He called his Servant to his side. "Archer."

"Yes?" She queried, appearing next to him. She noticed how tense he was, and reached out with her own senses.

"An enemy," he replied quietly, nodding in the direction of the presence.

"Whether it's the Dead Apostle or not, it's best that I stay hidden. Approach with caution. I will stay close to you and out of sight. If this is our Dead Apostle or its Servant, I can strike when they're distracted."

While Archer moved ahead, Kirei kept to the shadows, darting down back alleys and across rooftops. He could sense the Servant coming closer and closer but it still didn't change direction. They couldn't really be this lucky, could they?

Archer found her way to an empty street in the rural northern part of Miyama. The Servant was close now, just about to appear...

A black sedan appeared from a turn in the road, turning in Archer's direction. Half a block away, it pulled over to the side of the road and stopped.

Two figures stepped out; one, a young woman with long silver hair and red eyes. The other was a young man in a sharp, black suit with short, blonde hair. On one hip was a long katana in an ebony sheath.

The young man stood close to the woman, one hand around her waist, as he scanned the street, ready to defend her at a moment's notice.

Archer immediately retreated to her master, concealing herself as best she could. "Kirei, another master and servant have appeared. The master has long silver hair and red eyes, the servant has short blonde hair and a sword. What would you have me do?"

Kirei frowned. "Silver hair and red eyes..." he mused. "Einzbern." He reached into his robed and rested his fingers on the hilt of a blade. The Einzbern Master was here. He would be foolish not to take this opportunity. He took a moment to extend his awareness to their surrounding area, confirming that there were no other Servants in the area.

His eyes brimmed with energy. "Saber is a force to be reckoned with. You may not be able to defeat them in one-on-one combat. But you could distract them long enough for me to strike."

------------------------------

"Saber..." Irisviel muttered with worry.

Saber tightened his grip around Irisviel's waist. "Don't worry, my lady. You are safe."  He rested one hand on the hilt of his katana.  "Come out," he called to the empty street. "There's no use in hiding."

"I can definitely do that for you, Master."
Atalanta condensed herself into spiritual form and quickly leapt to a place just under a mile away, where still she could see the opposing servant. She readied her bow and arrow, drawing it fully and let loose directly at the servants head. This battle may only be a distraction for now, but she was going to make the hit count if it happened to strike instead of being blocked.

Saber saw a streak of light screaming toward him, and at the last second pushed Irisviel to the side and drew his sword.

Damascus carried out 1 launched of one (CLASH.) :

With a lightning-fast swing of his katana, Saber deflected the arrow. Sparks showered him as it rocketed off to the side and took a chunk out of the wall of a nearby house.

Saber sighed and positioned his katana, smoke still wisping from the part of the blade the arrow hit.

"A sneak attack? Not very sportsmanlike." Saber pointed the tip of the sword in Archer's direction. "Why don't you come down here and fight me honorably?"

(Saber not attacking this round)

Archer smirked, fully drew, and fired again.

Kittenboxxing carried out 1 launched of one (CLASH.) :

Ready for the next attack, Saber frowned and moved to intercept again.

Damascus carried out 1 launched of one (CLASH.) :

Saber deflected the second arrow with little trouble, diverting it up into the sky. He scowled and focused in Archer's direction, seeing the Servant perched up high, her bow still leveled in his direction.

"So be it."

With his free hand, he reached into his back pocket and drew out a small handgun. He pointed it in Archer's direction and pulled the trigger.

Damascus carried out 1 launched of one (CLASH.) :

(The bullet is surrounded in a dark red aura. It travels much faster than a modern handgun should be capable of, but still slow enough for a Servant to react to.)

"So modern," Archer scoffed. She dodged easily and fired again.

Kittenboxxing carried out 1 launched of one (CLASH.) :

Saber leaned to the side, firing again in Archer's direction.

Damascus carried out 1 launched of one (CLASH.) :

His bullet missed, and Archer's arrow sliced across his shoulder. Saber sucked air through his teeth.

Saber
HP: ?͔̄ͧ̐́?͕͙͙ͣ̆̿̎̀?͚̘̝̝̜̮̞͒̅̉̋͜?̡͈̖̐ͨ̎̓͂?̐̈҉̙?̘̈́
MP: ?̡̘̻̗̏ͦ̄ͥ̎ͯ?́ͦͥͪ̾̕ͅ?͓̟͕̥̼̜͓̀ͦ̚/͎̣̮͛͌͆ͮ̄̔̚?̦̚?̙ͦ̇̒?̨̝͛̈́͐̾

Archer
HP: 100/100
MP: 400/400

Saber tried to ignore the wound, leveling his gun and firing another bullet in Archer's direction. (no clash since archer will dodge it anyway xP)

Kirei peered around the edge of an alley, finally coming into sight of Einzbern and her Master. So far, they were both unaware of his presence. He focused on the Servant, trying to get a read on him.

As he scanned the Servant, though, he furrowed his brow. Something was wrong here. He had trouble fully focusing on the Servant, as though trying to view him through fog or thick glass. His perception was bent somehow, preventing him from truly analyzing him.

Atalanta fired again, taking time to fully draw.

Kittenboxxing carried out 1 launched of one (CLASH.) :

As Archer took the time to fully draw, Saber gritted his teeth and gripped his weapons tight in both hands.

"Stay here, my lady," he whispered to Irisviel, then leaped forward, trying to close the distance between he and Archer. As he rushed toward her, Archer fired, and he swerved to the side to try and dodge the shot.

Damascus carried out 1 launched of one (CLASH.) :

She moved back more, to a place safe enough to have time for another fully drawn shot before Saber reached her.

Kittenboxxing carried out 1 launched of one (CLASH.) :

Saber dodged the shot and closed the distance, swinging his sword toward her with all his might (attack no clash )

Kirei watched Saber jump away and smirked. Einzbern was totally vulnerable.

He reached into his coat and pulled out what appeared to be a small, empty dagger hilt with no blade. Tucking it in between two fingers, he raised his hand and prepared to strike. This was much too easy.

He saw the glint of glass to his left just in time, but still wasn't quite fast enough to dodge. Another gunshot rang out, audible to both Servants.

(Archer dodges, and it's her turn to attack again. If she wants to use her attacking turn to fully draw instead, Saber will attack again.)

Archer's brow furrowed. That shot was not the gun in front of her. She was done with these games. She aimed her bow at the sky, knocking two arrows.

"Artemis! Apollo! I call for your protection and send you this calamity for your aid!" She fired the two arrows into the air. They left a glittering trail as they shot towards the clouds with incredible speed.