Author note: I do not own 'The Last Story.'

So...This is basically going to be a collection of oneshots around the main characters (and secondary characters like Therius and Horace), taking place post-game. Which means Dagran is dead, the Gurak and the people of Lazulis are working together, and the mark of the Outsider is gone (I think. That's the impression I got from looking at the end of the game. Does anyone know if Zael keeps his Gathering ability after the mark of the Outsider is gone?)

Except...One thing. I'm thinking of turning this into a multi-chapter story, too, so this collection of oneshots might turn into a sort-of multi-chapter story later on. We'll see as this progresses, I suppose...And there will be OCs, by the way. None all of them will show up in the beginning (except for one right in this first chapter), and will appear later on. Hopefully none of them will be complete Mary Sues/Gary Stus or the like, and I hope you don't mind them, either.

Warnings: Violence, OCs, Zaelista, SyrennexLowell, and probably other various pairings later on. Also contains use of alcohol (because of Syrenne), possible swearing, etc.

Constructive Criticism and/or reviews would be great, and I hope you guys enjoy! Thanks!

1. Shy

Summary: Zael, bored of being in the castle for so long, decides to go sailing for a day, accompanied by his friends. After their boat nearly sinks, though, they are forced to land on a nearby island and discover a new friend who is...Quite shy. Especially around the girls.

Characters: Zael, Callista (mentioned), Dagran (mentioned), Syrenne, Lowell, Mirania, Yurick and an OC

Pairings: Mentioned Zaelista

Honestly, Zael knew that he had work to do in the castle, with the Gurak and the people of Lazulis rebuilding the castle and all, but he really couldn't focus at the moment. He knew Callista probably wouldn't be happy about this, and that she did need his support in the duties of the island, but he really, really couldn't focus.

So, he left Callista a message, stating that he would be back by sometime in the late afternoon, grabbed his friends, and went out sailing for the day. The boat was not as massive as the Gurak ship that he, Dagran, and Callista stowed upon during the whole incident with Zangurak and all, but big enough to fit all five of them. The day so far was nice, with beautiful sunny weather, but Zael regretted not bringing Callista along. She would have enjoyed this, and she probably needed a break from all the hectic work, too.

Unfortunately, halfway through the trip, just as they got halfway close to getting back to Lazulis, that was when Syrenne accidentally drove the ship into a few pointy rocks. They were forced to get to the nearest island as soon as possible, and Lowell almost used up all his energy applying ice to the holes put in the ship on the way there.

Fixing the ship wouldn't be too much of a problem, but then Mirania had to insist on exploring the island, especially with the fact that there was smoke rising from somewhere on the island. Zael agreed to investigate, and after fixing the ship and praying that it wouldn't float out to sea without them, they started to explore.

Things started off well. The beautiful, exotic plant life was something Mirania was interested in, and Syrenne and Lowell got themselves a few decent fights with some other creatures. Yurick and Zael were alright with the exploration, and of course helped out the others whenever they encountered any creatures that tried to attack them.

Things derailed as soon as the Mystic Spider appeared, though.

No one was eaten yet, but Lowell and Syrenne both got very close to getting consumed, had Zael not used Gale to break the webbing that restrained them. It was tough fighting the beast, and Zael really did not want anyone to get hurt, considering the last time he, Mirania, Yurick and Dagran had encountered one. Poor Yurick almost got completely traumatized by the incident due to him nearly getting eaten at least three times during that battle.

Before Zael could slash at the Mystic Spider from behind, though, the sound of some sort of horn being blown. Everyone, even the Mystic Spider itself, stopped fighting and turned to where the source of the noise came from.

A large boulder rolled downwards from the cliff above, smashing into the Mystic Spider and killing it instantly. Zael rolled out of the way before he could get hit, and then he looked up, wondering who had pushed the boulder from high on the cliff. He saw a flash of long, ash-blond hair before it disappeared.

"Who was that?" Lowell asked, still looking up at the cliff.

"Whoever it was, he or she might have obviously heard us fighting the Mystic Spider and felt the need to help us." Zael responded, before rushing over the cliff and starting to climb it. "Maybe they're the one who made that fire we saw from the ship earlier!"

"Zael?" Zael looked down after climbing halfway down the cliff to see Yurick, looking up with his arms crossed. "There is a path around here to get to the other side of that cliff. Just thought I'd let you know."

Zael let out a sigh as Yurick and the others walked around the cliff, realizing that had he taken that route he probably would have made it to the other side faster...

It didn't take too long for Zael to get to the others side and rejoin his friends, however, and he was grateful for that. Unfortunately, they didn't have much of an idea about where the mysterious figure could have went. That was until Mirania noticed the smell of roasting meat, and ran off in one direction. Yurick and Zael followed suite, with Syrenne and Lowell exchanging slightly weirded-out glances before following them.

No one really had any idea of how Mirania had such a good sense of smell, but Lowell had a few theories with her being good with cooking, maybe, or because she was raised by that Forest Guardian to recognize different plants by smell or something. No one really knew, and they doubted that they would ever find out how.

Everyone hid behind various bushes and trees, doing their best to glance at the figure. Zael recognized the long, ash-blond hair of the figure that crushed that Mystic Spider earlier, who was now sitting by a fire and turning what looked like a rabbit impaled on a stick in the fire. Mirania probably felt bad for the poor rabbit, but he supposed that the figure probably didn't have much choice of figuring out what else one could eat on this island, after all.

"How long do you think this guy has been around on this island, anyway?" Syrenne whispered to Lowell, who was high up in a tree along with her.

"Who knows?" Lowell whispered back, shrugging a bit.

"Be quiet, will you!?" Yurick snapped at the two as softly as he could as he glanced at the figure from behind a bush. "You're going to cause attention-"

That was when Zael stepped on a small branch, breaking it under his feet. Everyone else cringed as the figure turned, spotting Zael, and he was about to take out a dagger when-

"Don't!" Zael shouted, holding his hands out in front of him. "Look, we don't want to hurt you! We just-We were wondering who it was that...Saved us from that Mystic Spider just now. We're sorry for intruding on your meal."

The figure, still pointing the dagger at Zael but lowering it slightly. His facial expression turned to one of confusion and he tilted his head to the side a little. Zael looked at him carefully. The long, ash-blond hair almost went down to his waist, and he wore nothing save for some tattered animal skins that covered him from the waist down to the ankles. He looked as if he'd been living at the island for quite some time, and there were bits of dirt that caked some of his skin, particularly his toes.

"You did cause that boulder to crush the spider just now...Right?" Zael asked, taking a step forwards cautiously, still keeping his hands raised. "My friends and I, we were exploring the island because we saw the smoke from the fire from our ship. We were wondering if there was anyone that might have been living on this island, and well, you get the rest. Thank you for helping us."

The figure nodded, sheathing the blade. Zael motioned for the rest of his friends to come out from their hiding places, which was no trouble for all except for Lowell, who fell out of the tree and almost landed on Mirania in the process. It was then that the figure appeared to blush, as if embarrassed averted his glance from most of the group until after Zael introduced himself and the others.

"So, what's your name?" Syrenne asked, crossing her arms.

The ash-blond paused, hesitating, before stammering his response. "U-um..."

"What? No, seriously, what's your name?" Syrenne asked, not understanding what he meant.

"Um."

"Oi, seriously, tell me your name!" The alcoholic snapped, and the animal-skin-wearing figure cringed a bit.

"Syrenne." Yurick started, turning towards her. "I think he's trying to say that his name is Um."

"...Oh."

No one had any idea of how long Um had lived on that island, and neither did he, surprisingly. All they could figure out, from what Um told them through stammered statements was that he'd ended up on this island due to some sort of accident, a shipwreck most likely, and had been fending for himself on the island since then. Now, they were taking him back to Lazulis with them, and Zael knew he had a lot to explain to Callista as soon as they got back to Lazulis Castle. They even gave Um some spare clothing that Lowell had brought with him on the trip in case his own clothing got wrecked in battle or something. The shirt was a little big for Um's skinny frame, but the pants fit well, thankfully.

They learned quickly that he was awfully shy, especially around the girls, and was now scared of Syrenne to the point that even her presence in the same room as him would cause him to rush straight towards Yurick, to use him as a shield from the alcoholic. Zael couldn't help but understand that it would make sense for Um to be scared of Syrenne; after all, Syrenne could be a bit scary if she got into a rage when drunk or whenever when she was just plain annoyed with something, like the lack of alcohol to drink. Yurick wasn't too delighted with the fact that Um kept following him around, but there wasn't much that anyone else could do to help him with that.

"What are we going to do about him? I mean, who knows how long he's been living on that island?" Mirania asked Zael as they neared the port of Lazulis. "I suppose Yurick, Syrenne, Lowell and I could help take care of him and such, but I'm not sure what he's able to do..."

"Well, I can certainly tell you that he can definitely read and write, as well as draw." Yurick interrupted, and the two turned to face him. "He's already read all of the books I brought with me on the ship, and he's used up a lot of paper just drawing me and everyone else's portraits on the ship. And he's still hiding from Syrenne, by the way."

"Well, reading and writing is a start..." Zael trailed off awkwardly. He let out a sigh. "I just hope Callista will be okay with him staying in Lazulis for now..."

Yes, Zael definitely did have much to tell his beloved Countess as soon as he returned to Lazulis Castle. He just hoped that she would take the news well...

Author note: I own Um, as he is one of my OCs. Anyway, I hope you guys liked that, and please review! Thanks!