This is a random idea I got not too long ago and it turns out that for some bizarre reason it's more interesting then writing my persuasive speech that's supposed to be on resume building. I wonder why…--grins--
Disclaimer:I do not own Tales of Symphonia. If I did there would be a prequel involving the Kharlan wars.
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Title: To Count the Stars
One-shot
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"How many stars are there, master?
"Too many to count in a thousand lifetimes, kid." The swordsman shrugged off his sword belt and settled into a more comfortable position under a large oak tree. After a few seconds of silence he looked up at his student and rolled his eyes. Reaching up he tugged the stubborn boy down onto the grass beside him. "Relax a bit, will ya? You won't become a master if you spend all your time worrying about things like that. Why do you want to know about the stars anyways?"
The auburn-haired boy glared at his companion and teacher for a few seconds before turning his attention to the buckles on his shield. "…Tenka asked me."
"Your brother?"
Kratos nodded and slowly began working off the second buckle. "Yeah. It was something that Naomi said. Tenka beat her score on the last test in school so she began making fun of him. She said that if he was any good he would know how many stars there are…"
"And you want to help him?" Another nod and a soft thump as the boy's shield finally slid off his arm. The swordsman sighed and ran a hand through his red locks before shaking his head. "You should know to ignore her by now, Kratos. She was just steamed that Tenka did better then her and felt like she had something to prove. It's not often a smart girl like her gets upstaged by a kid almost five years younger. Just tell your brother to avoid her for a while." Mathis raised a hand for silence as he saw is charge begin to protest. "I never said forever. Just until she cools down."
Kratos closed his mouth and looked out across the wide plain to the city, which was painted orange by a glowing sunset. The duo sat in comfortable silence for another five minutes before the older let out an explosive sigh and hauled himself to his feet. "C'mon, kid. You father will kill me if you're not back in time for dinner."
The boy simply glanced up at the swordsman before turning his eyes back to the view. Mathis rolled his eyes and reached down to grab the kid's shield before bopping him in the head with it. "Let's go. Havard doesn't like cooking a second meal for you when you miss the first."
"I'll find out."
The red-haired man blinked then raised an eyebrow. "Find out what? I already told you he doesn't like cooking a separate meal for you."
The boy climbed quickly to his feet before snatching his shield form Mathis' hands and walking towards the pair of grazing horses. "How many stars there are. I'll find out."
Mathis stared blankly after his student for a few seconds. "It's a waste of time!" he called after Kratos, "I told you it can't be done!"
Kratos turned and smirked at his teacher. "I'll just have to prove you wrong then. Shouldn't be too hard." With that he quickly mounted his horse and heeled it into a gallop, racing away from the sword master.
Mathis took a second to curse uppity little brats before throwing himself on his own mount and chasing after his charge.
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"Hey Kratos."
The Auburn-haired guard turned his head towards the voice while still keeping his gaze fixed on the night sky. "Prince Jimoto. Shouldn't you be inside the castle?"
"Shouldn't you be guarding me?"
"I thought you said you could take care of yourself." Amusement laced the guard's tone. The sound of rustling cloth was his only answer. A few seconds later Kratos turned his head back around so his full attention was on the stars. A few more seconds and a soft sigh was heard and the crown prince of Tethe'alla plopped down on the grass next to his favorite guard.
"What are you doing?"
Kratos smirked and settled further back into the soft grass of the courtyard garden. "Proving somebody wrong."
"Hm. Sounds like a good cause," the prince glanced over at Kratos and flopped over onto his back so he could see to full expanse of the night sky…or what could be seen of it from one of the central courtyards. "Mind if I help?"
This time Kratos actually looked at the prince. He blinked a few times in surprise then let a little smile slip across his face as he shook his head in amusement. Somehow he couldn't be surprised that Jimoto had said that and offered to help him. The guard watched the prince for a few more seconds before turning back to the stars.
"…Suit yourself."
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"What are you looking for?"
"Hmm?" the mercenary looked over at one of his clients and closest friends.
Yuan sighed and tugged on his long blue bang before elaborating. "What do you expect to see in the stars?" He glanced down at his auburn-haired friend and then looked back up at the stars that held him captive every evening ever since the half-elf had met him. "You watch them all the time."
"Why must everybody be undertaking some great quest with you, Yuan? All I'm doing is simply proving somebody wrong."
"Ha! So you do expect to see something!" The half-elf grinned triumphantly and automatically looked back to see if Martel had seen his victory, even though logically he knew that preventing Mithos from setting their dinner on fire was absorbing all of her attention.
Kratos rolled his eyes as he saw that action from the corner of his eye. Typical. "If it will make you leave me alone, then yes."
Yuan looked down at his companion in silence for a few seconds before sitting gracefully beside him and arranging his cape into a make-shift pillow.
"…What are you doing, Yuan?"
"Getting comfortable. I might be here a while." He grinned again as his comment caused Kratos to actually look at him in confusion instead of staring up at the sky. "I'm going to stay until I understand what's so special about these stars of yours." He added helpfully when he saw Kratos wasn't going to suddenly catch-on to his reasoning. The swordsman blinked at Yuan before deciding he was serious and looked back up at the stars.
"Do as you will."
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"…"
Kratos sighed before turning to look at the boy standing behind him. "Yes, Lloyd?"
The red-clad twin blade jumped and tore his eyes away from the stars to look at Kratos in embarrassment. "Oh! Sorry, Kratos. This just reminds me of something…I can't quite remember what though…"
The auburn-haired man briefly closed his eyes in order to beat down the tide of emotions that welled up at Lloyd's quiet words. He couldn't allow such things to get in his way anymore. Kratos opened his eyes and fixed them on the stars while making a soft non-committal noise in the back of his throat.
"It's really relaxing, huh?" the boy said with a grin as he jumped up on the rock Kratos was sitting on so he could join him. "Just kickin' back and watchin' the stars after a tough day of kicking monster butt…" Then Lloyd noticed something.
"Hey! What are you smirking at?! This better not be some comment on my swordsmanship!"
"I suppose that after a time it does become relaxing," Kratos conveniently ignored the comment about Lloyd's swordsmanship. "It's the one constant in this world."
"Becomes relaxing? I didn't know just watching stuff was work."
"Ah, but I'm not 'just watching' the stars. I'm counting them."
"Ohhh…but that will take forever!"
"Then I suppose that eventually I will have counted them all."
Lloyd grinned and rolled his eyes at the mercenary before landing a playful punch on his shoulder. Kratos stared at Lloyd in surprise as the boy laughed as if he assaulted the mercenary in such a manner everyday. "Aw, come on, Kratos! We're not that slow! We're only staying in Luin three more days! I promise!"
Kratos shook his head before looking back at the sky. "I'll hold you to that."
A silence descended on the duo as they gazed up at the stars then suddenly, "I'm on thirteen. What about you?"
"Two thousand three hundred eighty five."
"Two thousand three hundred sixty four?!"
"No, two thousand three hundred thir- …"
"…"
"…"
"…You lost count, didn't you?"
"…Yes."
"Heh. Sorry about that." Lloyd rubbed his head sheepishly before suddenly brightening up. "Hey! I'll help you this time! Alright! I got those thirteen there already," he exclaimed waving his hand vaguely at the Big Dipper constellation. "So-"
"That's not thir-"
"-I'll count this side of the sky and you can count that side!" Lloyd plowed on and continued waving his arms at random parts of the sky. "Got it?" He looked hopefully over at the older man.
Kratos sighed and nodded his head. Why not indulge the boy before he realized the truth? Besides, it has been a long time since he had the chance to share his hobby, his 'quest' as Yuan put it, with anybody over the age of three. "Very well."
Lloyd grinned and happily went back to counting the stars, glad that the mercenary was finally beginning to really open up to him.
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I originally had Anna and little Lloyd in here too, but I didn't like it because Anna sounded like a whiny little girl, and we all know that is one thing she isn't. Hopefully you all aren't too disappointed I didn't rewrite it, but I'm lazy and this never would have been posted if I had to do that.
I know that two of the characters are original, but come on! Mithos, Martel, Yuan, Anna and Lloyd can't possibly be the only people that had influence on Kratos' life. …I also admit that I'm thinking of writing a pre-ToS story that involves Kratos' past and those characters are in it... Please, kill me now.
Oh, yes. I do know that the Big Dipper isn't a constellation, but differentiating between asterisms and full-blown constellations interfered with the story. Besides, some people –coughmyfamilycoughcough—don't know it isn't and I wanted to make this story as user friendly as possible. This little part of the author's note is so you people don't think I'm a complete moron. That could be a bad thing...
Anyways, constructive criticism is always welcomed.