FateStay night: Across Time

15

The sun is reaching dawn. The trees casted long shadows across the land as Dunstan led a search for Shirou. He had attacked the king and his knights with hundred and twenty men, but less than thirty or so had survived. Morgan would not be pleased if he would return empty handed. Their objective was to capture the visitor, but even if he did not deliver him, he had something which would at least calm Morgan's anger. Before the break of dawn, one of his men, who survived Esdelot's attack, had returned. And he had carried something with him. Something extremely valuable: the sheath of Excalibur, Avalon.

Dunstan had sent Esdelot back to the fortress with the sheath. Partially because he did not want to have him anywhere near, after that stunt he pulled last night. Esdelot had claimed, completely unconvincing, that he had miscalculated. It was quite obvious that he had tried to kill Dunstan too. Dunstan had decided that he would let him be ... for now. When the time is right, he would make Esdelot pay.
"Lord Dunstan. We have spotted some smoke in the distance." One of his men alerted him. In the distance, near the river-bank, smoke was rising and Dunstan knew instinctively that this was it.
"Alright, men. Move it." Dunstan spurred his men onward. They might just catch their prey after-all.
Gawain, Ector and Galahad were riding along the right-bank. The rain had transformed the ground in to a marsh, slowing them down considerably.
"Have you seen anything yet?" Ector inquired.
"No, nothing as of yet." Galahad replied. "Sir Gawain?"
"Nothing either." Gawain was looking for the king even more intensely than the others. He had already lost his brothers, he would not allow to let anything befall his king too. Suddenly he heard something. "Did you hear that?"
"Heard what? Have you found them?" Ector rushed over to Gawain.
"I thought I heard something? It came from over there." Gawain pointed to the trees. "It sounded like a horse."
"Hmm, could be. Some of our horses had fled when their riders had fallen." Ector gazed trough the trees, trying to discern things.
"I shall go and investigate. You two should continue following the river. I shall catch up later." And Galahad rode of in to the forest.
"Come, sir Gawain, let us continue our search."
"Yes; let us." Gawain turned his attention back to the river-bank, after casting a last glance in the direction Galahad rode of to.
At the same time, on the other side of the river, Kay and the others were also franticly searching for the King and Shirou, but without any luck so far.
"It seems that the current has dragged them pretty far." Bedivere felt deep anxiety. They had been searching for several hours already and they still hadn't found them. "Any sight yet?"
"No, not yet." Tristan answered tensely. "I don't understand. The king has the protection of the lady of the lake. He can run across water just as he could on land. It should have been easy for him to reach the river-bank, even if he had to carry Shirou."
"True enough, but since that is obviously not the case, we can assume that something prevent him from doing so." That thought only served to increase Bedivere's anxiety. He clenched his fist. -Damn it all. Please let the king and Shirou be alright. I became a part of the Imperial guard in order to protect and serve the king. What good am I, if I can not fulfill my duty as such. Further more ...-
His brooding was disturbed when Kay laid his hand on his shoulder. He looked into Kay's eyes and saw the same anxiety. "Calm yourself, sir Bedivere. We will find them."
"Hey, I see something over there!" Bedivere and Kay jumped to attention at Tristan's shout. He was pointing at the river. There was something shining stuck between the rocks and it was obviously made of metal. Bedivere hurried over. He dismounted and waded into the river. After some wringing, he pulled out a piece of armor from between the rocks. Tristan and Kay gathered around him.
"What is it?" Tristan asked. Bedivere turned around and displayed a piece of the king's armor. The atmosphere became heavy. "There is no blood on it which probably means that the king is unharmed. Hopefully."
"That is possible. Also, it looks as if it shattered like glass. This did not happen because of an edged weapon." Bedivere said as he examined it closely. "I am not really sure … but I think Shirou did this."
"How so?" Tristan blinked at Bedivere's remark.
"I once saw him training his magic. When he failed, I saw how objects shattered. Some looked fractured, like this. I cannot say anything for certain though."
"If that is true, than the mostly likely reason is that it was dragging them to the bottom." When Kay thought about it, it made sense. Arturia can walk on water only when she choses to. The most likely reason why she didn't must have been to dive after Shirou. But something must have happened that prevented her from jumping out of the water with Shirou. "They are alive. Let us hurry and find them."
Bedivere and Tristan nodded. Their eyes were filled with resolve. Bedivere hoisted himself back in the saddle and they continued to follow the river.
Kay was certain that it would not be long now before they find them to which he found solace. But he knows there was another problem. When they would find their king, she will not be wearing her armor. No amount of persuasive ability would be able to cover that up.