Hi, glad you all liked my first chapter. Next will be where it all begins, I don't own Tales of Symphonia. That rightfully belongs to Namco. (I think you'll like what Lloyd learns in this chapter.)
Lloyd awoke from his sleep panting heavily. "Did I just imagine somebody screaming," he asked himself. A terrible roar erupted from the forest. Lloyd quickly jumped out of his bed and dressed himself in his usual dwarven clothing. He grabbed his wooden swords and ran straight out the door in his room. He stupidly ran off the balcony and fell flat on his face. Quickly getting up, he brushed himself off. He looked up into the extremely cloudy night sky, rain was pouring with some slight hail, his only light was the lighting that struck. "Damn, I don't have time to sit around," he thought out loud. He ran into the forest leaving behind a half-awake Dirk wondering what was going on.
Lloyd ran through the forest without a single clue about where he was going, but he noticed that the further he got, the colder it seemed to get. He body started shaking as he ran, he stopped for a moment to catch his breath. He noticed that he could see it. "What the hell? It's summer, right," he asked himself. Another roar erupted through the forest. Lloyd instantly knew where he needed to go after that. He ran towards the direction of the monster's roar passing by a small pond, it seemed to freeze right as he ran past it. He was getting very close as he heard the sound of branches being destroyed and clanging metal. He withdrew his swords from their sheathes and jumped into a clearing. There he saw a girl dressed in purple that had extremely dark violet hair (that could easily be mistaken for black hair) and wore a pink ribbon around her waist. But the other thing he saw was a giant black skeleton with four huge broad-swords attached to each of it's arms. The woman was on her knees bleeding badly, the skeleton was about to finish her off.
"Demon Fang," Lloyd exclaimed sending a shockwave at the skeleton. The shockwave hit the skeleton's ankle causing it to turn it's attention to Lloyd. It moved slowly towards him. Lloyd grinned, this would be too easy. Lloyd charged towards it and tried to attack. He was instantly knocked back into a tree. He slumped onto the ground, a little blood flowing from his mouth and trickling down his face. "Damn, that thing's really strong, up close he's pretty fast," he thought to himself. "I can't use Demon Fang over and over again either, I don't have the mana." Lloyd stood up and ran at the skeleton. He ducked under a swipe from on of it's swords and jumped into the air towards it's face. "Sonic Thrust," he exclaimed as he thrust the sword into the top of it's skull. The skeleton grunted before throwing Lloyd off him by shaking it's head violently. It pulled the wooden sword out and crushed it like a twig. Lloyd twitched. "Damn it, if I do that again and lose this sword, I'm screwed," Lloyd thought eyeing his enemy. He then looked at the woman. "At this rate, I'm going to lose, so I should get her to safety before something happens."
Lloyd ran over to the girl thanking Martel that the monster was so freaking slow. "Hey, you alright," Lloyd asked her, she just stared at him. "Never mind, look, if you run in that direction, there's a village," Lloyd said pointing to his left, he immediately wished he hadn't the monster was inching towards from that direction. "Dammit, stubborn bastard, I'll distract it, do you think you can make it far enough," Lloyd asked her.
"I'll be fine, but how in the hell do you plan to kill that thing with that," the girl replied pointing to his wooden sword. Lloyd sighed.
"I'll manage, now hurry up and go," he said. The girl looked unsure but she left anyway running around the monster. "Demon Fang," Lloyd exclaimed keeping it focused on him. The plan failed. The monster turned to the girl and backhanded her, she soon fell unconscious. While she was is no real danger, it pissed off Lloyd. "You Bastard," he yelled charging at it. He swung the wooden sword so hard that the monster's arm was removed from it's body. He then kicked it in the face pushing it back a few feet. Lloyd then jumped for another attack only to be smacked into the ground, he landed on his back. Just before Lloyd got up, he was impaled by one of the broad-swords. He was pinned to the ground. He eyes widened and excruciating pain over-took him. "What the hell," he weakly spat out. Blood and nearly frozen water soaked his body as he struggled to remove the sword. He knew he couldn't lift it more or less remove it. The skeleton turned way from Lloyd, thinking it had finished him off and turned to the girl. Lloyd saw this. "N-no," he managed to spit out. He was not heard. "L-leave her alone, damn -y-you," he muttered as loudly as possible.
Though he didn't know it, the exesphere started emanating an abhorrent amount of power, clouding him in white energy. His eyes started to glow a fierce white as he eyed the monster. His face that was revealing pain soon changed to one revealing anger. "LEAVE HER ALONE," he screamed yanking the sword out of his stomach and jumping to his feet. He held the huge broadsword in his right hand. And blood poured from his body. No normal human would be able to stand after withstand such injuries. He was clouded in white aura that gave off raw power. It was almost as if he wasn't conscious. He didn't even flinch when he yanked out the giant blade from his body. He faced the skeleton and charged towards it at an insane speed. He jumped into the air and raised up the inhumanely huge sword before bringing it down, slicing the skeleton right in half.
Lloyd turned towards the monster's remains panting heavily, dropping the sword. The white aura dissipated around him and his eyes returned to normal. He then walked towards the purple clad girl. "Alright, lets-," Lloyd never finished for he fell to the ground unconscious landing right next to the girl on the cold blood-soaked ground.
A dark figure in the trees looked unto the two and the monster. "I must report to Lord Forcystus." With that, the dark figure disappeared without a trace.
The next day...
Lloyd awoke on his bed with blurry vision. "Wow, what a dream," he said as he tried to sit up. As soon as he did, an intense pain overtook him and forced him to lie back down. He then noticed bandages wrapped around his waist. "Gah, Holy crap, that really hurts, what happened anyway," he asked himself. "All I remember was seeing this girl and a black skeleton, and then...damn," Lloyd muttered. Lloyd rubbed his eyes in a attempt to fix his blurry vision. He then saw he was in his room. "How did I get back here?" He sat up again ignoring the immense pain and got out of his bed, he dressed himself with difficulty (falling on his face) and limped his way to the stairs. He successfully made it down without falling and saw Dirk talking with his teacher Raine. He also saw the girl from last night sound asleep. "So it wasn't a dream..." Lloyd sighed. Rained and Dirk both turned their attention to Lloyd.
"Mornin' lad," Dirk greeted.
"Morning," Lloyd replied grinning.
"It's a bit surprising to see you awake Lloyd, it should have been awhile with your injuries. I'm surprised that you woke up before she did," Raine said mentioning the girl. Lloyd looked at her.
"Oh really," Lloyd said curiously. He inwardly grinned.
"Next time you decide to play the hero, you should be a little bit more careful. Well, I'll be taking my leave," Raine said standing up.
"I'll escort ye back to town miss, be safe Lloyd," Dirk said.
"Don't move around to much, you need more time to heal," Raine warned him.
"Yeah, yeah. I'll be fine," Lloyd said offhandedly. Raine and Dirk walked out the door. Lloyd walked up to the window and watched them walked into the forest until he was sure they were out of sight. "You can quit pretending to be asleep now," Lloyd said startling the girl. She sat up.
"How did you know," she asked. Lloyd looked towards her. Lloyd grinned.
"I didn't, you just told me," Lloyd replied. The girl's eyes widened in surprise. "Besides, from the way the Professor talked about, you should've been awake before I was," Lloyd explained. Lloyd now actually got a look at her. Her face was bruised pretty badly. Lloyd had a downcast expression after seeing this. He also noticed her eyes, they were a fierce brown, but they almost seemed gentle. Lloyd also saw blood-stains in her clothes and sighed. "How did you run into that thing anyway," Lloyd asked her.
"I was searching for a town to gather supplies," she answered rather quickly, Lloyd however, took no notice of this. She then grunted in pain. "Damn!"
"I know, sucks huh," Lloyd sympathized with her, his back was killing him, and he didn't even know why. She stared at him incredulously.
"How did you beat that thing with wooden sticks as weapons," she asked him. Lloyd laughed.
"Actually, I don't have a clue, I can't remember anything," Lloyd explained grinning. "I don't remember falling unconscious either, maybe dad fought it off or something, I'll ask later."
Their stomachs growled simultaneously. "Heh, sounds like we're hungry, I'll make some sandwiches or something," Lloyd said walking into the kitchen and gathering the necessary supplies. "So what's your name," Lloyd asked.
"...Sheena," she replied slowly. Lloyd maintained his happy-go-lucky grin.
"I'm Lloyd. So where you from," Lloyd asked trying to keep a conversation going.
"...Triet," Sheena replied quietly. Lloyd raised an eyebrow. He remembered a mercenary that visited from Triet, from what Lloyd knew, people in Triet did not dress like Sheena did. But Lloyd pushed it off, what did he know, it's not like he ever visited there before.
"I see, so what are you going to do for the next few days," Lloyd asked her. She didn't answer. Lloyd finished making the sandwiches and brought them over to Sheena. He took one and ate it happily. Sheena just eyed hers.
"You know, it's not like it'll bite you or anything," Lloyd said. Sheena sighed before eating hers. They sat in silence for awhile eating their food. It was boring the hell out of Lloyd but he maintained his grin since he loved eating.
"If you need, you could stay here for a few days, you're injured and you were looking for supplies, I could help," Lloyd said. Sheena thought for a second before shaking her head.
"I don't want to out-stay my welcome," she said. Lloyd's grin wasn't as forced as it was before.
"Nonsense, stay long as you like, I'll ask dad when he gets home," Lloyd said. Sheena shook her head.
"I don't want to be a burden," Sheena said.
"C'mon please," Lloyd asked. Sheena sighed.
"Alright fine, I'll stay for a few days," Sheena replied rolling her eyes.
Lloyd's grin wasn't forced anymore and he screamed in his mind, "YES!" He finished eating and would've burped but remembered a distinct Dwarven Vow in which he should maintain his manners in front of a lady or something like that.
Over the next few days, Sheena started to talk more and though she wouldn't admit it, was becoming close friends with Lloyd. The time when Dirk served his Dwarven Pot Luck Surprise ignited an argument in which Sheena refused to eat seeing how Dirk cooked the meal blind-folded throwing random items into the pot and stirring it. Then seeing Lloyd removing inedible things from his bowl (socks, horseshoes, keys, etc.) almost made her throw up. Lloyd reluctantly made her a sandwich before going back to his stew. Another weird moment was the sleeping arrangements, since Dirk slept on the only couch downstairs, and there was only one bed, Lloyd and Sheena panicked. However, Lloyd eventually decided to sleep on the floor trying to be a gentleman which sparked another argument in which Sheena insisted Lloyd sleep on the bed when she should sleep on the floor because Lloyd was fatally injured when she wasn't. Lloyd insisted upon being stubborn and taking the floor. This eventually ended when Dirk screamed at them to share the freaking bed which made them shut up and let Lloyd take the floor. That in turn brought up an awkward argument with Dirk the next morning where Lloyd and Sheena completely agreed to blaming Dirk for. Then Dirk made things awkward when he mentioned something about them acting like they were a married couple. Lloyd for once couldn't say anything while Sheena told herself that she couldn't kill the person who was showing her hospitality.
"So, how come you were being raised by him anyway," Sheena asked him.
"I'm not sure, I never knew my real parents, my Dad found me and took me in," Lloyd said. Sheena suddenly found her feet interesting. "Just like me...," she thought.
"I see, I'm sorry," she replied. Lloyd grinned.
"Don't apologize for it, it's not like it's your fault. Besides, as long as I have Dad and my friends, nothing could go wrong," Lloyd said. Sheena still found her feet interesting.
"He's luckier than I am though, or maybe...," she thought before being interrupted.
"Hey, don't be so sad about, that's in the past, we have the future to worry about, right," Lloyd asked. Sheena grinned.
"Right." Lloyd stared at Sheena, that was the first time he saw her smile the whole time she stayed. He grinned widely. Though they didn't know it, Dirk overheard their conversation.
"So what do you want to do, we could head out to the village today since I'm nice and healed or maybe you could train with me," Lloyd suggested really wanting to train. Sheena could tell just by looking at him.
"Well, I do need to get some new clothes so we might not have much time for training," Sheena joked. Lloyd paled.
"Oh god, shopping?! No, anything but that," Lloyd thought frantically. He remembered when Colette wanted a few things from the store. "Never again, I don't make enough Gald as it is."
"But I suppose I could put that off till tomorrow, let's go train," Sheena said. Lloyd sighed in relief.
"There is a goddess," he thought to himself. They both headed out onto the field where Lloyd trained the other day. Lloyd started doing pushups for ten minutes straight before switching to sit-ups and numerous stretches. He felt really tired. "Damn, why is it that you lose strength three times faster than you gain it," Lloyd said panting for air.
"That's what happens after a few days of sitting around injured," Sheena replied. Lloyd laughed.
"And I'm sure risking my life for you had nothing to do with this," Lloyd replied jokingly. Sheena found her feet interesting again.
"Thanks," she said suddenly. Lloyd raised an eye. "I never did thank you for what you did."
"Don't worry about, Dwarven Vow Number Two, Never Abandon Somebody In Need," Lloyd replied grinning. Sheena looked up and stared at Lloyd thoughtfully before grinning.
"The world needs more nicer people like you," she said. Lloyd grinned sheepishly.
"Nah, I'm not that great, I just do what I feel," Lloyd replied. He reached for his swords before realizing something. "Damn, my swords, where'd they go," he thought out loud. He then remembered the monster destroying one of them.
"You know, you should probably learn how to defend yourself without weapons incase something like this happens," Sheena said giving Lloyd an idea.
He ran out to the middle of the field and charged his mana into his fist. Sheena looked on curiously. He finished charging mana into his fist and ran up to a random tree. He punched the tree while releasing all the mana in his fist. The tree exploded on impact surprising Lloyd and Sheena.
"Whoa," they both said simultaneously. "That was cool," Lloyd said grinning, he just invented his new way of fighting. He dubbed his move Impact. He wondered if he could re-create Demon Fang without using a sword so he decided to try it. He charged his mana to his fore-arm and wrist and lowered it to the ground. He then brought his arm to the ground before raising it back up while releasing his mana. It created a shockwave of energy (though it did not travel as far as Demon Fang). He and Sheena were surprised yet again.
"AWESOME," Lloyd exclaimed loudly. He dubbed his other technique Demon Fist. He grinned, he learned, no, created two new techniques of his own in the span of a few minutes. Before heading home, he practiced his two new techniques some more and received instructions from Sheena on how to fight with his hands and feet. Then once he finally got the hang of it, they headed home and got ready for a long day tomorrow. They fell asleep ready for whatever would come.
That's the end of the chapter, I thought it would be cool if Lloyd could learn some of Senel's moves from Tales of Legendia. I hope you all liked and if you have any suggestions for crossovers, then shoot away, I already have an idea for two of them.