Summary: A series of loosely connected one shots featuring Sheena's inability to remain above ground.
Disclaimer: Anything you recognize does not belong to me. It all belongs to the genius who created Tales of Symphonia.
-Holes: Part One-
A tiny hand reached out and knocked away the shrubbery as tiny feet raced through the forest. Several dirty brown leaves mixed with short, spiky black hair perched on top of a small head. The head housed two mischievous brown eyes and a lopsided smirk. The head belonged to a small girl dressed in a dirty, torn purple dress. She had just gotten the dress a couple months ago, but she had ripped it terribly when she had been hiding in the large maple tree that morning.
Katashi and Haruna had come to Sybak to check on her progress with the summoning arts. Unfortunately, they had brought their sons, Kuchinawa and Orochi, with them. Orochi was bearable since he only ignored her, but Kuchinawa had been her greatest antagonist during her stay in Mizuho. The children of the hidden town disliked her for her ability to summon. They thought of her as an oddball with blood of the mysterious elves. When the family arrived Kuchinawa had immediately taken up his taunting, making faces at her and calling her names. This time, though, Sheena was determined to stand up to him. That was how the tiny summoner had found herself running from Kuchinawa. It seems he hadn't appreciated the spiders she left in his bed that morning.
She quickly glanced over her shoulder at the uncoordinated red blur behind her.
"Sheena! You pathetic elvish brat! You just wait until I catch up with you!"
"Sorry, Kuchi, but I don't have my whole life to waste; you'll have to do better than that!"
"Don't call me Kuchi!" he screeched as his left foot caught on a large tree root. Sheena chuckled at his blunder, but the smile disappeared from her face when she realized that she was no longer standing on solid ground. The air whistled as it brushed past her astonished face and a loud thud and a crack could be heard as she smacked into the unforgiving ground. Her eyes teared up at the enormous pain rippling from her body, particularly when she tried to move her obviously broken leg.
A face red from exertion appeared over the edge of the hole. Sheena was shocked at his apparent concern.
"Are you alright?!"
"I think I broke my leg, but I don't think anything else got hurt too bad," she replied. Kuchinawa began to turn but stopped halfway.
"I really am sorry you got hurt," Kuchinawa looked down sheepishly, "I've been kind of not nice since you came to Sybak. Would you be my friend again?"
"Sure. Just hurry and get help!"
"I'll be back!" Kuchinawa declared as he quickly took off running, the sound of his footsteps interlaced with interjections about stupid trees. Sheena allowed her grimace of pain to morph into a tiny smile.
After roughly half an hour of staring at the fascinating dirt walls of her tiny cell, Sheena began to grow thoroughly bored. She picked up a large rock and chucked it as hard as she could.
"Hey! What was that for?! I know I'm gorgeous but that's no reason to be jealous!" Sheena's eyes widened as big as a chakram at the disembodied voice. Her only warning was a quick flash of motion before a boy slightly older than her eight years flung himself into the pit. His long red hair flew in every direction as he executed a perfect forward roll.
"The great Zelos, Chosen of Tethe'alla, has arrived!" The boy wore a plain black shirt and long white pants. His mud streaked face bore a silly grin and dancing blue eyes.
"You do realize that you won't be able to get back up?" His eyes bugged out comically and a frown replaced his grin. Zelos crossed his arms and threw himself to the ground in childish irritation and embarrassment.
"How did you manage to get down here without hurting yourself?" She figured she might as well take advantage of her company, no matter how odd he seemed to be.
"Didn't you see my spectacular tumbling?"
"Oh, you mean the part where you flung your body around like an idiot?"
"You injure me, my sweet darling," Zelos flung his arms over his chest and fell backwards as if shot by an arrow.
"That was kind of the point," Sheena muttered. "Who are you anyway?"
"I told you; I'm the mighty Zelos, Chosen of this little world!"
"Yeah right," Sheena scoffed, "what would the chosen be doing in the forest?"
"Escaping from my boring tutors. I'm supposed to be on some world tour in 'the effort to instill hope in the commoners'." His voice had gone unnaturally deep as if he were trying to imitate someone.
"Whatever you say." She lay back as if she were going to go to sleep.
"Hey!" Zelos began poking her, "I'm bored, talk!"
Sheena sat up slowly to avoid the shooting pain in her leg that came whenever she tried to move it. "What should I talk about, your majesty?" she replied sarcastically.
"Well," his voice trailed off as the simple question seemed to overwhelm his tiny brain, "how did you get down in this stupid hole?"
"I fell." Zelos glared at her.
"Come on, we could be stuck here for a while, so you might as well answer me!" Zelos stuck out his lip and whined like a punished dog. An unbidden smile rose to Sheena's face but she sighed loudly before answering.
"I put spiders in Kuchi's bed, so he was really mad at me. Heh, you should have seen his face! Anyway, I hid from him in the big tree a short walk from the town, but that snitch Orochi saw me and yelled for Kuchinawa. Kuchi caught up with me after a few minutes, so I started racing towards the forest-I'm a lot better than him when it comes to agility and forests." Sheena smirked proudly at the appreciative smile Zelos was giving her, but then remembered the next part of her story. "I turned around to see how far ahead I was, but then I started falling. I think I broke my leg."
"That's not good," the boy's eyebrows furrowed in concern. "Here, let me see it."
"How is that supposed to help?" Sheena grumbled, but gingerly moved her leg so that he could reach it.
"I know healing spells," Zelos whispered this fact as if revealing the secret of life.
"Really?" the child summoner's mouth dropped in awe.
"Yup! Here, I'm going to have to stick it back in place first so it will probably hurt...a bunch." Sheena winced as her bones were set in place with a sickening crack. "You're pretty strong. Most adults would be screaming by now."
"A...true warrior...does not...show weakness," she groaned and gasped between every few words.
"If you say so," Zelos replied. He began preparing for his spell. "First Aid!" Sheena tentatively began to wiggle her newly healed leg.
"Thanks! It doesn't hurt anymore!"
"Of course it doesn't! I'm a master at all things, including healing!" Zelos reached out a hand for her to take. "Come on, we can probably get out of here if we work together."
Sheena smiled as he pulled her to her feet.
Kuchinawa, Orochi, and a young healer who had been visiting Sybak came to an abrupt halt in the clearing containing the hole. They all panted as they tried to catch their breath.
As soon as he could speak, Kuchinawa cried, "Don't worry Sheena. We're here now!" His proclamation was met with a resounding silence. "Oh no! What if she's dead!" Orochi stumbled over to the end of the ground and peeked into the hole.
"Kuchinawa! You little liar, there isn't anyone here!" Orochi sent a furious glare at his brother. "You made me and this poor healer come all the way out here for nothing!"
"No...I..." Kuchinawa floundered, utterly dumbfounded. He watched Orochi and the healer stomp off, never hearing the quiet giggles coming from a nearby tree.