1. For a few years, as things got bad, he fought with the various networks of resistance, striking quickly and precisely at government targets. Sometimes he worked with others, but more often, he worked on his own--or with Rin. The two of them were a team, and so they fought, even if it meant they often had to move from place to place just as they were settling in.
But as the trouble deepened, as it became more and more clear that no one was going home, things began to change. Archer had never shown much in the way of affection for the world he came from--he talked often enough of the arcane rules of its magic, but never of any fond memories from it. But he did have a goal there. Was it the loss of that which let him fall out of the heroics that had once so perversely driven him? Was that it? Or was it Rin's increasing need for someone to tend to her in this fickle world?
(It was Rin.)
In any case, the man with the swords has grown scarce of late. He's almost retired, you might say. But not quite. He still sometimes emerges from the quiet and the shadows to return to the light of fighting for what's right.
2. Most people get grey hairs as they age, the color leaching out of their hair only then. Archer? Whatever turned his hair white, he hasn't mentioned it, but with suspicion now falling heavily on any physical oddity, he dyes his hair black even though he's older. (He doesn't look quite as much older as he should. Maybe five years, but not ten. Will he ever look forty?) He also wears his bangs down for some reason. Who can say?
Oddly, he seems gentler these days, as dark as they are. Sometimes his eyes still have that profoundly empty look, but at other times, he smiles more sincerely than before. "There are people here it's not so bad to be protecting," he might have confided to someone or another, at some point, before looking away awkwardly.
So there's nothing special about him and Rin in the small, quiet town they live in. Nothing special at all, except maybe that they're foreigners. They're a part of the community, aren't they? Archer even cooks or cleans or feeds pets for neighbors sometimes.
(They have a somewhat fat orange cat themselves.)
A: YOU'RE CALLING IN A FAVOR. He's done his best not to rely on anyone in a while. But all the same, Archer has not existed in a self-reliant vacuum over the past ten years. Sometimes, he's needed help. And he refuses to take that help without stubbornly leaving an impression: someday, he will be the ally of the one who helped him. He might not be their ally forever. He might not fight the whole world for them. That's a little beyond him, you know. But he'll help in return.
So here he is, with his darkened hair and his serious eyes. He may have faded out of the hero business more than he ever imagined he could, but someone's called him in again, and he won't say no.
B: YOU'RE BEING CALLED ON FOR A FAVOR. The message arrives through clandestine pathways. It's signed with a sketch of a bow, the kind that shoots arrows (or swords, in this case), and it comes with a note that your help is needed as well as directions for how to contact him in return. A bow isn't a very specific signature, but those directions should make it clear enough who's calling. No one else of note lives in that insignificant little town.
He'll be waiting in a small park, or perhaps a little diner or cafe. He'll explain the situation soon enough, in this town so idyllic as to be dull, where since he's careful, the government never quite finds him. Probably.
C: THEY'RE ALL OUT OF FAVORS. He shouldn't be in the City again. Didn't he turn his back on this place years ago? Too close to the center of it all. Too much danger to Rin, too much chance of him being drawn back into the thick of heroics. But for some reason, a message has come. Rin was needed back in the City, and so he comes too.
He barely looks like himself when he arrives, slipping quietly amidst alleyways and through crowds. He isn't even wearing red anymore. Some people might still recognize him, though.
OPEN.
But as the trouble deepened, as it became more and more clear that no one was going home, things began to change. Archer had never shown much in the way of affection for the world he came from--he talked often enough of the arcane rules of its magic, but never of any fond memories from it. But he did have a goal there. Was it the loss of that which let him fall out of the heroics that had once so perversely driven him? Was that it? Or was it Rin's increasing need for someone to tend to her in this fickle world?
(It was Rin.)
In any case, the man with the swords has grown scarce of late. He's almost retired, you might say. But not quite. He still sometimes emerges from the quiet and the shadows to return to the light of fighting for what's right.
2. Most people get grey hairs as they age, the color leaching out of their hair only then. Archer? Whatever turned his hair white, he hasn't mentioned it, but with suspicion now falling heavily on any physical oddity, he dyes his hair black even though he's older. (He doesn't look quite as much older as he should. Maybe five years, but not ten. Will he ever look forty?) He also wears his bangs down for some reason. Who can say?
Oddly, he seems gentler these days, as dark as they are. Sometimes his eyes still have that profoundly empty look, but at other times, he smiles more sincerely than before. "There are people here it's not so bad to be protecting," he might have confided to someone or another, at some point, before looking away awkwardly.
So there's nothing special about him and Rin in the small, quiet town they live in. Nothing special at all, except maybe that they're foreigners. They're a part of the community, aren't they? Archer even cooks or cleans or feeds pets for neighbors sometimes.
(They have a somewhat fat orange cat themselves.)