((Wow! Chapter three already? I guess I'm being kind-of prolific. Oh well, that what happens when you are a spaz like me... Anyway, in honor of the end of the prologue I have draw some random sketches and figured I might post them here for your viewing pleasure. They are really rough and messy and on lined paper, but they are essentially of the first and last images in the prologue! Yay! I would actually have written all of this as Doujin, but I am lazy and thus confined to still shots and Omakes. Which I will post more of with the next chapter. Yay! Here is the first one: http:// i640. photo bucket .com/ albums/ uu122/ Oridesu/ TheEnd .jpg and the second is here : http:// i640. photo bucket .com/ albums/ uu122/ Oridesu/ Ohheck .jpg To view them copy/paste to your browser and get rid of the spaces. Yes. That last one is supposed to be younger Kratos and yes I do fail at drawing everything T,T lol!! Also, I can indeed see that 6 or so people have read chapter two... Which means that I should have 6 reviews dammit!! XD Well maybe not six, but I would love to know what people think. So pleeease review! or I might just stop writing... and if you think I suck and should stop its okay to tell me that to... Even though I might cry a little inside... I'll tell you'all what, the first person to review gets to tell me what to draw next chapter!!))
For a moment, an air of uncertainty filled the fire lit clearing. The girl's eyes moved from the outstretched hand to the sad smile. It was the face of someone who knew her pain, someone who offered comfort and help. The warm sting of tears reached her eyes for the millionth time that day, but this time they were different. They were tears of relief that came from the hope of maybe not being completely alone.
With shaking hands she took the warm cup of whatever he was offering. It smelled like chocolate, a comforting smell, but one that made her feel even more homesick. Trying to keep her voice steady and her cheeks maybe a little dryer, she returned his smile.
"I'm Estelle..." She said and then remembered that she had a last name too, " Estelle Christivair." She looked down, not really sure what to do next.
"Its nice to meet you." Kratos was back to looking at the fire very quickly. He had never been very good at emotional things. He preferred to pay attention to the practicalities of the situation and fix what he could. After a long pause, he looked back at Estelle and motioned for her to come sit by the fire.
She awkwardly skirted the flames and sat opposite to him. After another short silence, she remembered the chocolate-smelling drink. She took a small sip and felt slightly revived by the hot liquid. Though, if she had been making it, she might have added more drink mix. It was so watery. She almost laughed at her own random thought pattern. The warmth of the fire and small bit of sugar had made her feel almost giddy after her day of trudging through the woods. She looked over at Kratos, he was much younger than she had originally judged him to be. Estelle thought that he looked even younger than her 17 year old sister. Even still, he seemed much more like an adult than anyone she had ever known.
She took a deep breath and tried to just stay in the moment, just like dad had always told her. "The world is a horrible place, but not all places are horrible." was what he would say. It was a saying the he used when she got mad about mundane things like bad weather or or a small slight. It had seemed cheesy then, but now it was an idea she clung to for dear life.
"So," Kratos started, feeling like he should say something, "You can do magic?"
The little girl looked up with as start and smiled with her teeth. "Mmhm..." her long braids bobbed as she nodded, "A little, but don't count on my ability to heal." she looked very seriously over her cup, "This morning was practically an accident."
"Got it." Kratos smirked slightly at her sudden directness. He knew that it didn't mean she was any less sacred or traumatized, but that she made a decision to overcome. When someone lost something as important as their family, it could never be forgotten but, in the end, despair would never lead to anywhere worth going to. It was something he had come to terms with over the past two years and it made him happy to see that this child, weather she knew it or not, inherently understood that fact of life.
For a while longer they sat in more comfortable silence. As the fire grew low, it became easier to see the stars through gaps in the branches. The night was very clear and Kratos could make out a number of familiar constellations. After a while he found himself yawning and when he looked over at Estelle he saw that she had fallen asleep, curled in a tight ball next to the fire.
He felt a little bad for not taking into account her exhaustion. He was used to sleeping outside, and often neglected to even use his bedroll when the weather was mild but guessed that, like most children, she had probably been sleeping in a warm house up until this morning.
He laid the afore mentioned bedroll right next to her curled form. After a few hushed attempts to wake her up, Kratos surmised that she hadn't learned to sleep lightly yet. He gently lifted the limp girl and placed her in the bed, making sure that she was well covered and picking a few leaves out of her hair. He stopped as he felt a sickening sense of Deja Vu. Her sleeping face once again brought back the memories of people long gone. How many times had he done such a thing for his own younger siblings?
He turned away from the sleeping form, willing himself to move forward, to not get caught in that dark reality. The past could only make him weak. It could only make him less useful in the present.
He paced from one end of the clearing to another trying to clear his head. After a while, the pain began to numb. It was never quite gone, but that would have to do. He went back over to the sleeping girl, checking on her one last time before settling in to go to sleep.
Leaning back on a tree, he sat cross-legged so that he could get up quickly to defend the camp. Aware of every sound in the dark forest, Kratos drifted into a fitful, restless sleep.
