Disclaimer: Now and forever, ToL only belongs to Namco, and no one else.

Author's Note: This idea just came to me while I was playing ToL for the first time in a while. And I just had to get it started.

Chapter 1

"Put more anger into it, Shirley," Senel instructed.

He and Shirley stood side by side in Senel's front yard. The two of them were practicing their punches.

"All of the power comes from the gut," Senel told her. "Exert the power from your gut and into your punch, like this...hmph!"

He threw a hard thrust punch forward.

Shirley nodded. "Okay. Ha!" She threw a forward punch as well.

"That's good."

"R...really?"

"Sure. Here, punch me in the stomach. I want to see just how powerful your punch is."

"But...but I can't do that..."

"Sure you can." Senel straightened himself. "Don't worry, Shirley. I can take it."

"Um...all right." Shirley stood in front of him, pulling her fist back.

"Remember, right from the gut, like I told you."

Senel stood up straight, bracing himself for the attack. Shirley threw a fierce uppercut to his abdomen, immediately knocking the wind out of him.

"Oof!!" Senel hunched over, collapsing to his knees.

Shirley knelt down next to him. "Oh no! Senel, are you hurt!?"

Senel took a moment to regain his breath. "Damn...that was powerful..."

"Really?"

Senel stood up and shook his head. "You know, that reminds me of something. Chloe told me what happened at that disco party."

"She did?"

"Yeah, she said that Solon and Melanie attacked. Is that true?"

"Um...yes, that's right."

"Chloe also said that you fought Melanie really well."

Shirley blushed. "Well, I don't really feel like I did much...Jay said that they gave up too easily."

"I wasn't there, so I wouldn't know," Senel said. "But the point is that you fought Melanie. Which means that you're a lot stronger than you're letting on. Hell, I know that now from the way you punched me. You probably don't need me to train you anymore."

"Oh...okay."

"In fact, I may need to train more just to keep up with you. We ought to have a sparring match sometime."

"Sparring? Is that where people fight each other?"

"Well, kinda. Yeah, people fight, but it's not real serious. Just friendly competition. It's how fighters help each other to improve."

"Okay...I guess I can try sometime."

Senel nodded. "All right. Well, I guess I'll call it a day and have some lunch."

"Oh yeah, Norma said to tell you that we're having a picnic at Lumen Spring."

"All right, I'll be there."

----------------

Chloe Valens stepped outside of the hospital and took a breath of fresh air.

"It sure is a nice day today," she said to herself. "It's a nice day for a picnic at Lumen Spring."

Suddenly, she heard clanging sounds from behind the building. As a swordfighter, Chloe knew these sounds all too well – it was the sound of swords clashing. She drew her sword and pressed herself against the building, slowly moving towards the back and then peeked into the backyard. There, she found Arnold and Elsa Alcott engaged in a sword battle.

Elsa cried out as Arnold knocked the sword from her hands. The sword flew through the air before sticking into the ground behind her. Arnold moved up to her, putting his sword to her throat, and then backed off.

"Okay, Father, you win!" she said in between heavy breaths.

"Elsa!" Chloe ran up to join them.

"Oh, Chloe!" Elsa said.

"Good morning, Chloe," Arnold said.

"What's going on?" Chloe asked.

"Nothing much. Elsa and I were just sparring."

"Did you see me, Chloe? Did you?" Elsa asked.

"I'm sorry I didn't," Chloe told her. "I only saw Arnold knock the sword from your hands."

"Oh..."

"You were holding the sword too tightly, Elsa," Arnold added. "When you're in battle, you have to hold it gently."

"Gently? Okay..."

"I see...so Arnold is teaching you to use a sword," Chloe said.

Elsa nodded. "That's right. I'm going to follow in his footsteps and make medicines for a living. So I'm also going to need to protect myself when I search for herbs where the monsters are."

"I see. It's nice to know that your father inspires you so much."

"Yes, he does."

"Elsa's showing some excellent potential," Arnold said, "but she still has much to learn."

"Yeah, that's true," Elsa agreed. "I'm still not that good yet."

"Well, swordplay takes practice, just like everything else," Chloe told her. "You just need to have more confidence."

"That's right, Elsa," Arnold said.

Elsa pondered for a moment. "Confidence..."

"It means to believe in yourself," Chloe said. "Encourage yourself to succeed, no matter what obstacles stand in your way."

"Ahh...you're right! Thank you, Chloe!" Elsa ran up and hugged Chloe. "I'm so glad you're my friend!"

Chloe only blushed and giggled.

"Well, I think that's enough training for today, Elsa," Arnold said. "You've learned quite a bit already, I see."

"Okay, Father! So, what are you doing today, Chloe?"

"I'm going to meet the others at Lumen Spring for a picnic," Chloe replied.

"A picnic!? Can I come, too?"

Chloe scratched her head. "Well, I don't see why not. You should ask your father, though."

Elsa turned to Arnold. "Father, may I go with Chloe?"

Arnold nodded. "Yes, you may. Have fun."

"All right!" Elsa joined Chloe, and the two of them began walking down the road. "So Chloe, do you think you can spar with me sometime?"

"Well, I don't know..." Chloe said. "I can be very serious when I spar. I wouldn't want you to get hurt."

"Oh yeah, you can use eres, huh? You'd beat me in a heartbeat."

"Well, even without eres, I can be serious."

"Okay...how about if you teach me some things?"

"Hmm, I suppose I could do that."

"All right, I'm looking forward to it," Elsa said. "I swear I'll become stronger!"

Chloe smiled slightly. "I'm looking forward to it as well."

They reached the other exit in the west side of town and began walking up the path toward Lumen Spring.