[color=6ecff6][center][h2]Cleo Forsberg[/h2][/center][/color]
[color=6ecff6][center][h3]First Encounter[/h3][/center][/color]

Cleo’s legs were unsteady as Shielder placed her on the rooftop. The mage lamented her lack of fortitude as she reached out a hand to steady herself on the top of the wall surrounding the building’s edge. Travelling by Servant might have been the singularly most unpleasant experience of her life; the Servant, in his eagerness to battle, hadn’t given much thought towards providing her with a smooth journey and the crook of a giant’s arm was hardly the most comfortable place to be in the first place.

The journey had left her with a pressure in the centre of her chest, a feeling of dread foreboding that had begun to form as they grew closer to Tokyo Tower; even now she found it harder to breathe. She had thought herself made of sterner stuff than this, better than to be brought low by travel sickness or fear or whatever this was and to accept otherwise was a bitter pill to swallow. Better travel arrangements would need to be made in the future; she couldn’t imagine herself winning this war if she arrived at every battle out of breath and barely able to stand. 

[color=6ecff6][i]If this is the most unpleasant thing happen tonight however[/i][/color], she mused, [color=6ecff6][i]then I suppose I’ll consider this night a success.[/i][/color]

Before she could compose herself Shielder leapt from the roof, communicating a war cry of sorts through their link before leaving her to her own devices. A glance in the direction he had gone, towards the ground and the plaza around the base of Tokyo Tower, showed her just how close to the action Shielder had brought her. Spotting the massed ranks of soldiers and archers below her, Cleo ducked out of sight and hastily threw up a bounded field to hide her presence, catching a glimpse of the shining presence that could only be a Servant leading them from the rear before her view was obscured. The brute could have left me somewhere further from danger. This is far too close.

The feeling of dread still hadn’t passed, even as she caught her breath and steadied her nerves, leaving Cleo to think that it was something more than just fear at work. There was a pressure in the air that felt as unnatural as it did oppressive, either the work of another Master or more likely an effect of one of the Servant’s below. Activating her magic circuits Cleo reached for the connection to the spirits she had brought with her, weak apparitions taken from the graveyard before they had left, and sent three of them out from her bounded field. Two she sent out to circle the area around the Tokyo Tower, searching buildings and alleyways for people or traces of magic, while the other she sent straight up so that she could observe the fight between Servants without needing to expose herself.

[color=6ecff6][i]“Keep them occupied Shielder; find out as much as you can about their capabilities without putting yourself at risk”[/i][/color] Connecting her vision to the spirit above her position, the Seidr witch watched as a woman in knightly attire lowered her weapon and began to back away from the fight. [color=6ecff6][i]“Let her go and focus on the other tw-“[/i][/color] Cleo let out a pained gasp as he link to her spirit was shattered, the feeling of dread in her chest spiking in intensity as the spirit was torn to shreds by the pressure.

She fought to bring her breathing under control as the last image she had seen through the link lingered in her mind, the figure only visible for a brief split second before the pressure he exuded overwhelmed her fragile apparition. [color=6ecff6][i]“Forget what I just said. Whoever that man is Shielder, end him.”[/i][/color]

[@Crusader Lord]