The Outsider
He walked through the busy streets, careful not to draw attention to himself. He clutched his injured right arm, though he made sure to keep himself concealed within his tattered cloak. Despite the injury, his eyes were quickly scanning the situation at hand, preparing for any attacks or anything that could cause him trouble. Still, he was pretty badly hurt, and had lost a lot of blood. He knew he needed a place to rest and to fix up his arm. His uninjured arm was prepared to draw a sword if necessary.
Thieves were scattered among the shopkeepers, and the constant bustle of Pokemon was enough to throw anyone off guard. But not him.
He felt someone moving towards him; a Nuzleaf. He anticipated that the Nuzleaf would grab his shoulder. He braced himself for the pain that would follow, and turned around. "What do you want?"
"Give me your money. Whatever you've got. Give it to me!"
"I don't have anything."
"Tsk. Bullshit." The Nuzleaf pulled out a dagger. "Now… one more time or I'll gut you."
"Now there. Watch it."
"What are you gonna do?" The Nuzleaf pushed the dagger against his stomach.
"This." He stomped on the Nuzleaf's foot, and whipped off his cloak. The Umbreon finally revealed his true form. Long hair partially covered his left eye, while he wore a black cloak.
"Son of a…" The Nuzleaf couldn't speak. Lloyd had already whipped out his blade, and it was up against the Nuzleaf's neck.
"Son of a what? You better back off, or you're going to need a head replacement."
"Dammit! Razor Leaf!" The Nuzleaf knocked the sword away, though Lloyd let him. A barrage of leaved flew at Lloyd, but Lloyd deflected them easily.
"My turn." Lloyd rushed at the Nuzleaf, and held out his hand. "Dark Pulse!" A small ball of darkness flew at the Nuzleaf, who was very surprised. Upon contact, it expanded into a large explosion, and once the smoke cleared, all that remained was the unconscious Nuzleaf, bleeding badly. "Tsk. That wasn't very effective," said Lloyd sarcastically. The Umbreon ignored the stares of those around him, and draped his beat up cloak over his shoulder. Through the heat of battle, he had forgotten about the pain in his arm. "I'd better get it checked," he muttered.
The crowd parted around him, though he simply sighed.
"Who is he?" they murmured. "How is he so strong?"
"He looks injured too!"
"Shh! He's turning around!"
Lloyd chuckled, then turned around. "Name's Lloyd. I'd appreciate a place to stay and fix myself up, if you guys don't mind."
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"So, you're Lloyd. Never heard of you before." The barkeeper wiped down a seat. He was a gruff Blaziken.
"Yeah, well, I travel a lot." Lloyd gulped down some water. "You're a fighting type, yet you're working in bar." Lloyd leaned on the table. "What's up with that?"
"I used to be a street fighter. Was risky. Eventually got married and went for a steady job, and here I am."
Lloyd nodded. "I see."
"You don't strike me as necessarily a fighter though." The Blaziken rubbed his chin thoughtfully. "Why don't you grab some alcohol? That's just water with a little bit of berry juice."
"I'm only 18 now," pointed out Lloyd. "Besides, alcohol's a poison. Quick way to get your ass kicked."
"True," agreed the Blaziken. "How's your arm now?"
"Using rum burns like a knife, but after dressing it up, it should be better." Lloyd adjusted the bandage a bit, then took another gulp of water.
"So you're just a wanderer?"
"I suppose…" Lloyd paused, then added, "I do have a purpose, though."
The Blaziken poured more water for the Umbreon. "What is that?"
"Purpose? Beat the living shit out of these four rulers," he said, clenching his fists. "Then have them talk to the legendries about this shitty weather."
The Blaziken snorted. "No offense at all, kid, but I've heard about what you've done. You're going to need to get a lot stronger to challenge the rulers."
Lloyd shrugged. "You underestimate me. I've trained myself to outsmart opponents, no matter how dire the situation. I know I can beat them all."
"Whatever," said the Blaziken, wiping the counter some more. "What's your plan then?" The bartender was rather curious.
"First, I'll beat them one by one. Once I do that, I'll have them take me to the gates of the legendries, then I'll beat them and make them fix the weather." Lloyd gulped down another glass of water before standing up. "I'd better be heading up to my room." He handed the bartender some money before putting on his cloak and heading up the stairs.
The Blaziken watched him leave, then shook his head.
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Lloyd chewed on some dried meat once he returned to his room. He polished his sword with a cloth. "Don't want to get you stained," he muttered. Once he was satisfied with its shine, he pulled out his map.
"I'm on the Western region now… the princess… hmm…" He thought about what to do. "I'll beat her first, then cycle through the North, East, and finally South." He chewed thoughtfully. "I'll leave tomorrow morning. Maybe two days tops to reach the capitol of the West," he said to himself. He murmured some thoughts quietly.
Just recently, he had known exactly whom each of the rulers were. But the queen of the setting sun had recently been killed by raids from the South, so her daughter had recently taken over. He'd asked the townsfolk about her; a beautiful, but cunning Espeon. She was born with the ability to read minds, and they all said her psychic powers were astronomical. An easy target, he assumed. She wouldn't be able to do anything to him due to his immunity to psychic based moves. The townsfolk said she was fascinated in power; she'd follow anyone who could beat her in combat. Should be easy to get her to help too. He had heard that she was wicked smart too; he was careful not to underestimate her. Don't get cocky now. You got your arm cut up just against a few Scyther. Don't forget she's armed with the staff of illusions too. She's much more dangerous than anything you've faced before.
But I'm dangerous too, he thought. And I've got some unique powers as well.
He was quickly interrupted by some shouting outside, and peered out.
"Where's this Umbreon? You say he's the strongest thing you've ever seen? I'll show you all!" A tough looking Breloom was causing the commotion. He grabbed the innkeeper. "What room is this tough guy in?" he asked.
"R-room 12!"
He threw the innkeeper to the ground. "Hey Umbreon! I'm coming for you! I'll beat your ass to a pulp!" He raised a fist up. "I'm coming for you, you little-"
Lloyd launched himself out the window, sword angled downwards. Bored, Lloyd huffed, "How about some humility, eh?"
The Breloom whipped around, only to be stabbed in the shoulder. "GAAH!" He screamed in pain. A moment later, Lloyd's feet slammed on the Breloom, knocking him down to the ground.
Lloyd pulled his blade out, and flicked it, splattering blood on the ground. "Tsk. If you're tougher than me, you would have noticed all the windows I could have come flying through, and you would have seen me." Lloyd's eyes glowed pink. "Psychic."
The Breloom's screams were cut short as the telekinetic blast hit him, and he was suddenly silent.
Nobody spoke for a good minute, before someone asked, "Is he dead?"
"No," answered Lloyd. "He was drunk. Hopefully, I knocked some sense into him."
"By killing him?"
Lloyd sighed, then quickly got to work repairing the wound he had inflicted. It took him a few minutes and some water, but once he was done, the Breloom looked good enough. "There. He'll be fine when he wakes up. Don't sell him alcohol." Lloyd brushed his hands off. "I suppose that was a little drastic."
"No shit," called out someone from the crowd, and there were a few chuckles after.
Lloyd turned around and grinned. It wasn't your ordinary grin. It was the grin that made everyone there shudder. "True."
In under a minute, he gathered all his stuff, some water, food, and was on his way.
The crowd was still silent as he walked a little to the north. The Blaziken watched with his arms crossed. For a moment the Blaziken was going to say something, then shook his head, and poured himself some rum before gulping it down.
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Lloyd was sweating heavily as he trained. The noon sun beat harshly on him, and he had taken off his robe a few hours ago, revealing his very muscular yet scarred frame. His arms burned from the constant start and stop motion of his blade. Despite its thin frame, it was remarkably sturdy, but the repeated actions caused the burn. That wasn't a bad thing to him; the only thing he liked more than training or planning was an actual battle.
He wiped some sweat from his face, and sat down on a stone. It was ironic how the town was so dry, yet here, there was green grass and lots of trees. He stared at his sword, glad that he hadn't needed to use its true power over the past few days. With a sigh, he quickly stood up and crouched next to a pond. He cupped his hands and splashed his face, then grabbed his cloak and shirt and began washing it in the water.
He decided to just relax until his clothes dried, and sat in the shade underneath a tree. He eyed the verdant mountains in the distance, then stretched. He held hilt of his sword. Over here, the legendries are controlling the weather nicely. Do I really need to defeat them…? No, don't lose resolve. It's still their fault. He tightened his grip, and clenched his teeth. Don't ever forget or forgive those who wrong you.
Two days had passed since he had left the town. Yesterday, he had travelled throughout the day and bought some bedding which he packed away, and had slept hidden under a rocky outcropping. While he was eager to challenge the princess, he knew that training would prepare him better for whatever the Espeon could throw at him.
He sat there in the shade until the sun moved to the point where he was no longer in the shade, and pulled himself to his feet. His black cloak would absorb the sun, so he just wore his tattered outer one and put it in his bag. Lloyd became lost in his thoughts as he headed to the capitol. Plan ahead… but be ready to adapt. This was the motto his master had trained him with, and Lloyd fully embraced the concept of keeping the enemy right where you wanted them. The battle was physical, true, but Lloyd believed that more than half the fight was mental. You know your enemies' next move, you've won. So this Espeon can read minds… smart, mind-reading, illusion casting… hmm… A few minutes later, Lloyd had already come up with a rough plan of how to challenge her. Still, he needed to learn her moveset and get an idea of her personality in order to ensure victory.
Lloyd wasn't sure how long he was walking, but it must have been awhile, because before he knew it, the sun was setting. Lloyd paused, then smiled. Nighttime… my element… He continued to walk along the road to the city, which was surprisingly deserted. Normally, he'd try to conceal his face, but Lloyd was relatively relaxed right now; moreso than he probably should have been, but with both the cover of night and the lack of Pokemon using the road, this was the time for him to be lax. Eventually, the lights of the capitol cut through the night sky. Lloyd walked off the road to the top of a small knoll on the side and marveled the view. "Impressive," he conceded. A lone tower stood out among the rest; at its top was a large ball of light that was a beacon in the night sky.
He got closer to the point where he could make out the finer details of the city. There was a checkpoint at each of the entrances, and he could see what looked like metal bars spanning vertically across the entrances. It opened and closed whenever someone passed through. Shamefully, he realized he hadn't thought of a way to get into the city without getting lost or caught. "Wasn't prepared for this," he muttered under his breath, but quickly began thinking of a plan. How to get inside without causing commotion… He looked around, then grinned. "That'll work fine." He tucked his sword into its sheathe, and locked it in. This plan wouldn't involve killing or anything, just maybe a few whacks on the head.
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It turned out, that wasn't even necessary. A carriage drawn by Ponytas had a group of drunk, middle-aged Pokemon in it. Lloyd would have liked to teach them something about alcoholism, but they were his ride into the city. He hopped in without any trouble, since three of the four were unconscious while the other was just laughing.
He doubted they even noticed him, and the gatekeepers clearly thought they were harmless enough to pass through(Lloyd acted asleep). The moment they turned around a corner, Lloyd hopped out and looked around. Large buildings surrounded him. "Tsk, what a pain. Finding the tower is going to be a pain in the ass." He tucked his sword under his cloak and pulled his hood up to cover his face.
The city was surprisingly clean compared to the town, but there was still the constant buzz of voices. He watched the situation around him as he walked through the streets. The night air was surprisingly cool, and he felt comfortable. The Pokemon here were much more relaxed and organized, and the business was less chaotic. Many of them wore cloaks, and he brushed against them, not worried about what they were doing. Once or twice, he thought that they would look at him, but he kept his face concealed. He padded through the streets, taking in the atmosphere. Pokemon were all smiling, despite their apparent thinness. Even here, there must not be too much food. They should be taken better care of. But their smiles.
"Excuse me sir, would you like to buy an apple?"
Next to him, a young Sentret tugged on his cloak. Lloyd couldn't resist smiling. He reached into his pocket, and handed the young normal-type some coins. "Is this enough?"
"This… this is a lot of money!" He looked up, eyes wide. "Are you sure?!"
Lloyd nodded. "Go ahead. I've got enough to be well off."
The Sentret bowed a little before running off through the streets. Lloyd crossed his arms and watched as he ran off. He was about to continue walking when he heard a feminine giggle.
"That's funny. You certainly don't seem like the giving type, Umbreon."
Lloyd froze. Nobody would ever sneak up on him. He looked his left, where a cloaked figure was silhouetted against the moon. Lloyd rested his hand on the hilt of his sword, but didn't draw it. "Huh. Strange that a princess is all the way out here at this hour."
Her pronged tail twitched. "Not bad," she conceded. He still couldn't make out her face, but he had seen enough to recognize an Espeon when he saw one, due to the rareness of eons, especially in the west. Well, he hadn't actually seen one, but he had read up on them.
"You seem uncomfortable princess. Didn't expect me to recognize you, did you?"
Her tail twitched a little more. She was clearly annoyed. "I didn't. But you didn't notice me until just now either, did you?"
He nodded slightly. "True."
"I don't think that it's really worth hiding my name from you, Umbreon, since you'll probably learn from my people. I'm Princess Sharl. You?"
"Lloyd." He bowed, half mockingly. "I've heard you're no more than 17 years old. I hope you know what you're doing."
The cloaked Espeon didn't move. She didn't answer his question. "You've got an awful lot of confidence for somebody who's lost in my city. I've been watching you wandering aimlessly."
He shrugged. "I'm in no hurry, princess."
The Espeon laughed. "You… this confidence… it's funny."
Lloyd chuckled. "You've got that condescending attitude most royalty has as well. It's funny." He pointed his sheathed sword at her, and he smiled at her wickedly. "You've supposedly never lost in battle before. Is this true?"
She crossed her arms. "So you've done some research. I'm impressed. Yes, I've never lost in combat before." With a dangerous edge to her voice, she added, "I've defeated countless dark types like yourself."
"Well, I've never lost either." He pointed his sword to the ground.
She reached into her cloak and pulled out a long rod; her staff. "Is that a challenge I hear, Lloyd?"
"No, your majesty. I don't intend to challenge you with the moonlight shining on us."
The Espeon turned around, then her voice hardened. "You got lucky, this time," she said.
She caught me off guard, but I've surprised her a few times too. "Why are you following me?" he asked.
She turned around. "You probably know about my mind reading powers, so I'll just say I picked up some interesting thoughts."
Lloyd heard it in her voice, and instantly picked out the truth. "I see. Well, you'd better be heading back to your castle princess Sharl."
The Espeon nodded, then in a moment, she vanished. So that confirms it. This meeting had given him two important pieces of knowledge, as well as an insight into her personality. How fortunate. But he also knew that she had gained some insight on him. He looked to his right, and saw some movement in the shadows. As he didn't want to draw attention to himself, he tucked his sword back in his cloak, and casually said, "See you soon, princess. I hope you're as strong as you say."
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He slept well that night. All that training meant that he needed some sleep, and he didn't intend to starve himself that way. His dreams were quite peaceful; he woke up very well rested. Umbreons typically slept during the day, but he knew that the daytime was typically more productive. Once he woke up, he stretched and did some pushups and crunches to prepare himself for the battle with the Espeon. They had a very interesting conversation last night; not just a spoken one. He had felt that the meeting had helped him finalize his plan for defeating the Espeon.
He left the inn in the late morning; he ate some dried meat and berries as he walked down the streets. He decided not to put up his hood; there wasn't a real need to conceal himself, especially when his opponent knew he was coming to visit her. After all, she had given him directions to where she was waiting.
"Just head to the center of the city. You'll see the setting sun jewel."
"Easier said than done," he muttered. Walls and buildings sometimes blocked his view, but by noon, he reached the base of the tower. Large doors swung open as he approached. Inside, the floor was a smooth cold marble. Mobs rushed around, while the hum of voices filled the large hall.
"Who are you?" asked one Pokemon. He assumed they worked for princess Sharl, but chose not to respond.
"An Umbreon? Could he part of the royal family?"
Lloyd took off his outer cloak, and said, "I'm scheduled to meet the princess. Where is she?"
"I'm here." She gracefully walked down the stairs, wearing a pure (albeit revealing) white dress. "It's a pleasure to meet you, Lloyd." For the first time, he saw her. She was exceptionally beautiful; arguably one of the prettiest Pokemon he had ever seen. Her eyes were a beautiful brown, but he recognized the cunning glint he'd see in the mirror each night. Her figure was excellent, though he supposed that the dress helped; it bared her midriff and exposed a fair amount of cleavage. Even around the legs, it was transparent.
"Huh. Who would have thought someone who would wear a nondescript cloak would dress like that."
"My friends, can you take his stuff to the sleeping quarters. That sword's okay. Come on, let's walk through the garden. There's a lot I've got to talk to you about."
She held his hand and led him outside the tower. They walked through a garden. Finally, Lloyd said, "Nice try, princess."
"Oh, so you picked up on it." She sighed. "You're good." She released her grip.
"I know."
"So I suppose you know the limitations of my mind reading now."
"Yeah. Dark types cannot be read unless you're touching, or unless they open up their mind to you."
She winked. "Impressive yet again."
Lloyd shrugged. "Similar to you. You just made a few mistakes last night when talking to me. I felt you touching my arm last night when I talked to your illusion. I know I must have brushed against you last night in the crowd, and you picked up my thinking of you."
"Huh." She seemed a little disgruntled at that fact compared to the others. "I'll admit, I didn't expect you to respond to my telepathy either." With a shrug, she added, "You did reveal that you know Psychic in order to respond back to me though."
"So did you."
"That's a given," she pointed out. "Very few psychic-types don't know Psychic."
The two of them stared at each other intensely as they stood off, then Lloyd sighed. "You're right."
She smiled. "I'm rarely wrong." She walked a little bit ahead. "So you want to challenge me. You said that a lot to me."
"Yeah."
"What are the conditions you want to fight me by?"
"I need you alive, and I'll probably better serve you alive as well. We'll battle until knockout."
The Espeon frowned. "I don't like knockout battles. I've only done battles to the death mostly. Knockouts are boring. Especially against a foe like you."
He shrugged. "I'd love to fight you all out, but you need to hear our conditions for victory."
"Hmph."
He continued. "If I win, you'll take me to the gates of the legendries."
"Why is that?" she asked.
"You know only the four rulers can open the gates. You're currently one of them."
"I get you're strong; I can feel it coming off of you. But if you want to communicate with them, you're insane."
"Maybe. But you'll follow me to get the other three to join me."
"That is a pretty steep requirement."
"You can name yours."
She looked at him thoughtfully, then said, "If I win…" She telepathically sent her message to Lloyd, who nodded.
"That's fair to me."
"Really? Perhaps I should make it more severe…"
"Go ahead. I'm not going to lose," he said nonchalantly.
"You go on believing that," she shrugged. "We'll have our match tomorrow morning, when the moon and sun are neutral."
"Understood. Until then…"
"You'll stay here with me as a guest of honor. Don't want you to get injured."
"Alright then."
"Let's just enjoy the garden." She took a deep breath, and Lloyd copied her. "Smells nice doesn't it?"
"It does," he admitted. "It's very sweet."
A shadow crossed her face, and she seemed to get sad suddenly. "It's still not enough to feed the people. This garden produces a good amount of fruits normally, but now…" She sighed.
Lloyd was mildly surprised. Sadness didn't fit in with the rest of her personality. "That's what I hope to fix. Fix the food problem; a little more rain and more successful harvests."
"One can hope." She shook her head, as if to forget about it. "So I already know you're a thinker, like me. We always plan ahead. You've beat me in planning a few times now… how did you learn?"
Lloyd didn't feel like telling her too much yet, so he simply said, "I trained with a master swordsman way in the West. Years of training have taught me to plan very far ahead."
"Huh, you sound like you don't trust me enough," she commented. "Fair enough."
"You?"
"I studied on my own in order to become strong enough to defend our land from enemies. I trained hard to mentally beat opponents." She added, "I wore this 'dress' as a trick to distract you."
"Why tell me that then?" He did have to admit, it was rather distracting.
"Well, it's not something you can choose not to be distracted by. It's more biological than anything."
"Huh. That's sneaky."
"And effective. I saw you look at my boobs just now."
Lloyd sighed, before admitting, "Yeah." That was a defeat for him right there; no doubt she'd wear that dress tomorrow during their match just to distract him. "I heard your mother recently passed away. How are you handling it?"
She shrugged. "My mother always fought alongside the people. The Southern region has been attacking a lot recently, so while it was unexpected, I was prepared. She rarely spent time with me though. My father passed away shortly after I was born. I'm prepared to do what's best for my people."
"At least you knew one of your parents," he said, a little enviously. "I never knew any of my parents."
The Espeon's eyes softened. "I'm sorry to hear that."
"Yeah, well…"
A long silence followed, and both of them sat down on the soft grass. Neither of them spoke as they watched the birds flap across the sky for the remainder of the day.
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There wasn't a whole lot of talking as they ate. There was good food, but neither of them took much. Thankfully, Sharl had taken off that ridiculous dress and put on a similarly colored yet infinitely more conservative one.
It's natural, reasoned. You never eat too much before a battle. Sharl probably knew it too, since she didn't take any meat and just nibbled on some berries. Normally, Lloyd would be cautious about eating most foods, especially those given from an opponent, but it was clear the Espeon was just like him, wanting a tough opponent.
Some members of her council ate with them, and they were a lot more outspoken. He heard them discussing strategies for food and war, and it was all relatively interesting; Lloyd just didn't think much of what they said.
"Princess Sharl, how many should we have work the fields?"
The Espeon thought about it, then said, "What's our current population?"
"About 2000."
"Put about 400 on harvesting food." She looked at her plate guiltily. "We don't really need all this food." The council, being mostly large males, ate a lot of food, and Sharl looked at them uncomfortably.
Lloyd looked at his plate, which didn't have much food to start with, and ate one last berry before standing up. "I'm finished."
Some attendants took the food out of his way, and he grabbed his cloak and walked up the stairway. He quickly heard some footsteps behind him. Sharl was following him, and he turned around. "Don't you have important matters to discuss?"
"Yes, but as the ruler, it's for me to take a guest to his room." Glancing backwards, she added, "They are reliable."
"So how hard has the famine hit here?"
She looked away uncomfortably. "We're getting water, but our plants just aren't producing. They grow, but most of it just isn't edible. Even our best grass-types can't really do anything."
"I see. Must be the legendries not doing their jobs."
The Espeon didn't respond; it was clear she was considering the possibility.
"Ironic isn't it that an outsider like me is the one who you can talk easiest too, isn't it?"
Sharl shrugged. "As a ruler, I can't afford to be too carefree. Battling is so much easier than running a nation. Most of the others don't understand all the challenges. You of all Pokemon shouldn't be able to understand. But you do."
"I know how my mind works, and you think very similarly to me. If I was suddenly thrown as ruler during these times, I'd be stressed too."
"Understandable," she admitted. "But my best friend isn't here right now. That's why I'm trying to make casual conversation with you."
Lloyd decided not to push, and said, "Is that so?"
"Yeah. Here, this is your room." She pushed open a door, revealing a bed with Lloyd's belongings on it. His sheathed blade rested atop his pack.
"Thanks," he said with a nod.
The Espeon smiled at him, before saying, "The hot springs are in the garden. Feel free to use it whenever."
"Thanks."
She closed the door to his room, and Lloyd listened to for her nonexistent footsteps. Graceful and silent… sexy but deadly. Huh… I haven't even battled her yet and she's earned my respect. The more he thought about her, the more he realized that the Espeon was on his side; he'd won her over easily because she was like him, bored. There was nothing better than a good fight, and he knew that she felt the same way.
His master had once said that the strong have a certain gravity that draws the powerful to them, so he really shouldn't have been surprised that he had met her. He had not expected her to be so much like him though. A princess and an outsider; who knew? Enough admiration; tomorrow, you'll still need to impale her with that sword. Lloyd knew he was accurate enough not to hit any organs, and Dark Pulse, while relatively damaging physically, did more damage to the opponent mentally, which was a big benefit in KO matches.
He grabbed a towel that had been left on the bed for him, and slowly made his way down to the hot springs. His entire body was feeling tired, and the hot spring sounded very nice. Public hot springs always made him uncomfortable; actually, water in general made him uncomfortable. You never knew when something could pop up from under it. And the closest to death he had ever been was water-related.
But it certainly sounded good. He slowly undressed behind a large rock and laid his towel on the ground. He slowly walked in, ears ready to pick up any distinct noises from the slight bubbling. But nothing caught his attention. He peered down into the clear water, and didn't see anything suspicious. He slowly lowered himself in.
"That's twice now, Lloyd. You'd probably pay for it if I wasn't your ally."
"Huh." He turned around. "Came to see the show?"
Sharl had a towel wrapped around her. "Maybe. You're pretty well built," she complimented.
"You've got a nice body, too."
The Espeon smiled at him as she unwrapped the towel, but Lloyd held her gaze. "You've got a stronger mind than I expected. Didn't even look down this time, and I'm completely naked too." She slid in next to him. "The water does feel nice, doesn't it?"
"Really does."
She moved closer to him, and he felt her breasts press against his body. He took a deep breath. "Trying to distract me now?"
She was silent, before saying, "I don't believe it. You don't have any perverted thoughts… are you gay?"
"No."
She shook her head. "You really are determined. Right now, you're trying to think of a way to extract more information from me." She paused. "Why don't you let yourself enjoy this? You're in a hot spring with a young, attractive princess." She pressed harder against him, and he felt her nipples this time.
Slowly, he looked up to the night sky, and wrapped his right arm around her. "Calm down," he said. "Why are you being so lewd? This isn't optimal for planning."
"It's not," she conceded. "But what if this was just a plan to distract you?"
"I doubt that," he argued. "Really, what's up with you?"
She sighed. "Fine. I've just never been attracted to males. Or females for that matter. But you… your similar way of thinking… and your ability to dissect my thoughts… that's impressive. And watching you undress… that was nice."
"So you're horny. Huh." He thought back to what he knew previously about her. She's attracted to power. "I'll warn you that no part of you should touch below my waist."
"I know." She wrapped her arms around him. "It's just nice to have someone I can trust right now."
"Really? You shouldn't trust me."
"But I do."
"That's illogical, and you know that."
"I know."
He tightened his arm around her. "I guess that's fine." They both looked up at the stars now. "You're lonely, aren't you?"
"I could have told myself that," she said. "You're lonely too, and you know it."
They lay in the spring, then Lloyd asked, "What's a friend? I've never had one before."
"A friend is someone who you can trust. Trust is dangerous, but… it's a good feeling."
Lloyd ran his fingers through her hair. "Are we friends?"
"That's up to you." She stood up, and pulled herself out of the spring. She began drying herself off. "We'd better get to bed. We wouldn't want to fight each other in less than top shape."
"Sharl…" He dried off next to her, though they didn't look at one another. "Tomorrow, we owe it to each other to go all out. As friends, that's the least we can do."
All dressed now, she sighed. "I thought that was a given. Well then, let's get ready."
"Tsk. Don't need to tell me that."
Meh, I'll probably work on this from time to time:P Long chapter that I hope you find interesting. This was just an idea I came up with one night, and I just kept writing. Mirrors is still my primary story; no worries.