Disclaimer: I do not claim to own anything that is from the Tales of Symphonia franchise, and only claim ownership of my OC(s) and the plot, where ever it goes. All rights to the game belong to Namco and the writers of the Tales series.


Time means nothing to one where everything blends together. Hours run into days, to months, and even into years. Events along the road fade away to only the most frantic leaving their mark. Skylar, the beloved older sister to one Lloyd Irving was no exception to such a fate. The time she spent alone traveling what was thought of one world, no two, wore away the thoughts of time. With each leg of the adventure, something was lost and gained alone with the multitude of scars that she now bears, with the promise of more everyday.

When the world is changing, the most that a person can do is to be prepared for the worst. Problem is, not everyone realizes that change is coming, and they pass life by and don't think twice. However, those that see the turmoil in the land around them, prepare for the worst in every way that they can. Living off of the land for the longest time, tunes a person even further into the state of the world that one lives on. Since leaving home, so many years ago, such has happened to many. Traveling around Tethe'alla has opened eyes to the world dying, as the uptick of monsters and their ferocity means that the world is beginning to change.

Such change lead to where things stand now, with a young woman battling for her life alone. Surrounded by foaming ravenous wolves and eggbears. Wielding naught but a worn sword, too large for her hands, no armor, Skylar was doing her best against the onslaught. Blows being traded back and forth with fatalities lettering the field making the footing slick and treacherous. Such cost the young woman when she slipped on the blood soaked grass, allowing an eggbear to rake its claws along her left side and hip, slowing her down but not stopping Skylar from felling the last of the swarm. Just after she let the tip of her battered weapon lower to the blood soaked earth beneath her feet. Adrenaline made all the scratches and torn gaping flesh easy to ignore, thus when a massive thunderhead formed suddenly over the nearby forest village of Ozette, Skylar was able to sheath her sword and sprint off toward the quiet settlement.

'Why is judgement being wrought upon a peaceful town?!' She thought as she ran. 'This must have something to do with the increased monster activity and drop in mana levels as of late. If this is telling of what is to pass, then it is going to be one hell of a ride.'

On her route there, Skylar encountered few monsters and bandits, but quickly dispatched them, as in her haste to make it in time to Ozette, mercy was forgotten and the ferocity from blood lust drove her onward.

Skylar kept her pace as best she could, and made good time to Ozette, but not before disaster had struck the kind people who lived there. When she crossed the village border, she was brought to her knees by the sight of the town engulfed in flames. The gargantuan trees were alight and littered with the corpses of the townsfolk that they once protected. Within the oppressing heat, the cold feeling of sorrow smothered everything with a thick haze, helped my the heat of all that burned. There was no help needed here, for hope had abandoned this place. It was watching the village burn in front of her that opened Skylar's eyes to what had really caused this catastrophe.

Cruxis.

Skylar had learned about this shadow organization whilst still traveling Sylvarant years ago. She had been following a lead that had taken her to the human ranch of Palamacosta, where she had first heard the half-elven guards speak of the leader of the Five Grand Cardinals, Yggdrasil. Needless to say, she had cut that "visit" short as soon as possible once she had figured out that the answers she sought were not there. But after she had left the infernal place behind, Skylar did not immediately continue looking for the next lead. That ranch and all that the Desians had spoken about, stuck a cord within her, prompting her to look deeper into the religion that many people of the world mindless followed.

The sound of running footsteps broke Skylar from her reverie. In fear of someone from Cruxis discovering her, in a place where there should be none alive, she stumbled to her feet. The adrenaline that had helped her earlier was fading, making the injuries that she had sustained earlier howl in protest, but she knew that staying may spell her death. So she pressed on, and fled into the woods just off of the mountains to remain unseen leaving only a small pool of her own blood behind.


It was little time before Skylar's endurance succumbed to the agony that her body was in, a thankful distance from Ozette. She was brought down once more to her knees when the pain registered to her fatigued mind, and when she gingerly pressed a hand upon the worst of the injuries only to have it come away slick with her own blood, she hissed.

'Damn it to Hell!' she thought, swinging her pack off and bracing her back against a nearby tree. 'This is the worst time for this!'

Bolstering her weak left side with one arm, Skylar managed to rummage though her belongings for her medical kit, a necessity as she could not afford the apple gels that most travelers carried. Locating the kit, she pulled what she needed, and began patching herself up as best she could. It was slow going, but in the end her shirt and the majority of her canteen were sacrificed, but Skylar's wounds were attended to enough to continue on, at least enough to find a better spot to set up camp. She pulled her coat back on over her chest bindings and bandages, and gingerly hoisted her pack back onto her right shoulder before limping off further south into the mountain.

It was well past nightfall before Skylar decided upon a location to set up camp in a clearing with accessible fresh water, and plenty of fallen wood for a fire. Carefully moving about the quaint clearing, Skylar did the best she could in catching a few small fish and cooking them over a small campfire before finally settling against a stump close to her fire for the night. Lulled by the warmth of the fire and the chorus of the nightlife around her, she quickly succumbed to much-needed sleep.


Her tiny legs propelled her outside, away from the small cabin as fast as they could, delighted as she was to finally be back outside after the rain. There was only so much that one could handle with being cooped up all day at her age. To Skylar, the best place to be was out-of-doors, especially on clear, warm, summer nights. The feeling of the rain-sodden earth beneath her bare feet did little to distract the youth from what she sought on that warm moonlit night. Eyes open wide with a magnificent grim upon her child's face, all of her attention was given to the heavens high above. Each gem in the night sky were all her own, the friends that would never leave her no matter where she was, she believed anyway. Skylar was so lost in the wonders above at that moment, that she didn't notice a presence approaching from the cabin that she had just fled from, until a pair of hands grabbed her small waist, lifting the child's body into the air.

Skylar started and screamed a small bit, but the fright turned promptly into giggles and delightful sounds of childish mirth as she was set upon the shoulders of her father. Together, that night was spent gazing at the stars and learning all the constellations that her father could instill upon her for the evening.

The scene faded, and quickly morphed into another, this more somber than the last, but not lacking memories. No longer was the familiar cabin at her back at night, but instead a warm fire in front of her as the small family camped outside for the night on the way to a safer location. Skylar's mother was putting Lloyd down for the night, and her father's back was turned, allowing her to wander a small distance away. Though she made sure to stay within the sights of the fire, Skylar felt the need for space and comfort from the stars.

This time she knew when her father approached and sat in the grass beside her. Neither said anything, just sat in silence, staring at the sky for some time. It wasn't until much later that her father broke the silence with something Skylar only saw him do on the rarest of occasions. Her father had brought with him a small flute, made from some precious material, according to her mother anyway. He didn't play music that often, only seeming to do so when they were traveling or when the mood seemed to strike, and the music had always been a bit solemn whenever he did. However, the music tonight was different. Skylar didn't think that her father knew how to play anything that had even an inkling of a playful melody, but was proven quite wrong that night. Time skipped as the scene began to fade to her father handing her the flute, listening to her try to play with a small secretive smile upon his face, and he promising to teach her how before all faded away.


A/N: Alright! Took me some time to get this one rewritten but it is finally done, at least for now. Things have been changed and moved around a fair amount as compared to the original, and my hope is that this one is better than the last. I will be altering the chapters ahead to accommodate this change, as I have combined two chapters into this one. Please leave a review or PM me if you see any errors in this rewritten version as I do not currently have a proof-reader other than myself.

Thanks for reading!

Rewrite posted: 12-13-15