Melancholy of a swordsman Chapter 1: Same old routine, a tales of symphonia fanfic

Disclaimer: characters used are property of Namco and not of said author, etc etc yada yada

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Too easy, the only way to describe fighting the common bandit or roaming monster now a days. After defeating Mithos, the average foe just wasn't a challenge. Over time dullness sets in and you find yourself almost standing there pitying the poor wretch as you see that glimmer of hope in their eye, the hope of victory and living to see tomorrow. You could almost say it's cruel to see that glimmer fade away as you parry their attack and cut them down. Some of their faces still haunt me to this day. Sheena tells me it's only natural to feel this way as I've become so strong and almost nothing can provide a challenge anymore, the fate of a warrior she calls it. Always searching for a new rival and to increase my strength but with the world restored there are no more foes, no more challenges. No more of a reason to try. Sheena would spar with me and at time's I would let her win, I grew fond of that smile she gave as she scolded me that I had been slacking and would later make me work like a dog to hone my skills. The truth is I've grown terribly bored, worse than normal. Several months into our journey for the exspheres and already I am looking at our progress with a grimace. Less than half of Sylvarant alone scoured and only a small handful of the gems in our bag, Martel end my nightmare, this is going to take forever. I put the idea out of using the Rheiards but the hurt look Sheena gave told me walking was a better idea. I still wonder what she got upset over; they would have made our trip go that much quicker right? I'll figure it out someday, one way or other things always work themselves out. Our latest lead brings us to Triet, the land of dry throats and uncomfortable shoes. I hope my poster isn't on that inn's wall still but with my luck…

THUNK!

'Ow…' great, I walk into said wall, lost in my thoughts again. Lloyd you have to start watching where you are going…and stop referring to yourself in third person, it's getting scary.

'Lloyd, you have to watch where you are going. Honestly, how you managed to defeat Mithos is beyond me.' Déjà vu. Sarcasm noted. Sheena loved to tease me on my clumsy ways although I find it, what did professor call it? Ertronic?

'Oh yes great Sheena, master of balance and pitfalls.' Me:1 you:0, her faced twisted into that scowl Zelos told me about so much….and damn he got it down exactly. It is very scary.

'Let's just find an Inn and rest, I'm tired and I want to have a look at your head and see if it needs a few more lumps before dinner.' She better be joking…the professor gave me way too many last time I saw her. I told her I would pay for that vase I broke, not like it really was over two-hundred years old.

Checking in, unpacking bags and drawing up my ingenious device to separate the room; a collapsing curtain with my window rod, hope dad didn't mind, we change into our night attire although I find myself drawn to Sheena's silhouette as she changed. Zelos must be giggling like mad somewhere for his curse he put on me. Knocking my head lightly to gather sense I look up to see said silhouette staring at me with a smile.

'Well doesn't that look like fun? I will have to try that sometime.' She tosses me an ice pack for my earlier head injury, to which I still didn't notice if my poster was there. Note to self: check later on tonight. 'Lloyd, I'm going to get something to drink from the bar below, anything you want?' There's that smile again. I swear, the more I see it, the more I don't want it to go away.

'No thanks I'm fine. Be careful.' Like she needed it, the girl could easily flip you over and break your arm in one motion. Not that I've had that happen to me, Zelos on the other hand…

'Aww, you're worried. That's so sweet. I promise, just for you Lloyd.' And with a wink she left. Suddenly I felt cold but I had a nice thick shirt on. Hand woven by dad for the winters with my 'elevator' setup of buttons and a red and blue pastel coloring, as much as I wished to make changes I didn't want to upset him if he ever saw it. Now's not the time to lose yourself, I have to look over the notes I took to find this stockpile of exspheres my contact told me. A local friend I made when we last came through here driving out the desians fully from the region. Told me he would do whatever he could to help our goal and to this day he hasn't let me down. The paper he gave me said that in a cave about two miles north of Triet held roughly several dozen crates of the stones. How he got that number I'm not going to question, he hasn't given me a reason to doubt him, yet. Before I could even turn the next page I feel a pair of arms wrap around me and give me a hard squeeze. Looking up I saw it was smiley.

'If you squeeze any harder I won't be able to finish my train of thought.' She giggles and makes a comment on me thinking was cute. I swear these past few months she's really opened up more, acting less shy and more like someone I could easily get lost talking to about anything. She really was a great friend.

'What's wrong Lloyd?' Unknown to me, my face gave a slight frown that she quickly picked up on. Why was it that I frowned whenever I said the word friend in the same sentence pertaining to Sheena?

'It's nothing. I promise. Just trying to plan our next move and I'm drawing a big blank.' Please, by the goddess don't be as clever as you are beautiful. Wait where did that come from? She again wraps her arms around me and tells me that she's here for me. Great now my face is hotter than the sun and the moment she lets go I'm never going to here the end of it. But surprisingly she holds onto me a bit longer than usual and I find myself not wanting her to let go of the embrace my arms acting either out of instinct or unknown urging, I put my arms around her as well bringing her closer. Unfortunately I was a bit too strong and she comes crashing down on me, my face pushed right into the bed. Yeah she definitely gives Colette a run for her money in klutz. She stammers out a string of apologies and turns crimson, a color that she pulls off very well might I add. Giving me a smile she closes the curtain and curls up under the covers. Putting my bag away I turn in as well, relishing her warmth from our brief embrace and piecing together this giant puzzle that has been constantly mixed around in my head.

'Lloyd, you loveable goof.' Talking in her sleep, one of the many cute things about her. Opening the curtain I gently stroke her cheek admiring how lucky I was to have picked the one person I related to most to go with me on my journey.

'Good night Sheena, sweet dreams.' She smiles again and my heart hurts a little as the idea of curling up next to her randomly pops in my thought process. I rest my head down but the rest of the night my head was filled with what ifs and maybes. I didn't sleep well.

'Lloyd, remind me to give you and your 'contact' a smack hard on the head after this is over.' Wanting to give a smart remark to counter I had to keep focus as my eyes watched our ambushers slowly encircle us, blades drawn, murder in their eyes and cackles in their throats. I really need to review information better.

That's the first chapter in what I hope to be a good run as I put pen to paper an idea that's been nagging my head. Told from Lloyd's POV, I always like seeing how he looks at things and interprets different events and I will do my best to not make him into the oblivious guy everyone makes him out to be. That there is a method behind his madness, so to speak . Much to my dismay my only usable source is Microsoft Office 2007, which makes everything cramped and kind of ugly  but we work with the tools we have. Hope you enjoyed the first chapter and the many others to come. CIAO!