Yaaaaaay an update….so tired, lol

Sorry it took so long :/ I was having so many problems with this chap…meh

Disclaimer: I own nothing

He groaned tossing onto his other side, stuffing his face in his pillow. What…happened? His mind scampered to collect his thoughts, trying to recall- well that couldn't be right. He frowned, his eyes still shut. He must've been dreaming, because those 'memories' didn't make any damn sense at all. When did he hit his head? It was pounding after all, so maybe he just like…hallucinated all of that…

He stretched- or at least, he tried to.

"Agh-!" he jolted upright, finding he had had his knees bent, curled up on the bed...and that because of that he just barely fit.

The bed was far too short.

"Wh-?"

"Ah, Ah see yer up, laddie?"

Lloyd whipped his head around, staring at the short, stout man that had entered into the small- very small, seeing as his head was brushing the ceiling- room.

"Wh- who-?"

"Found ya washed up down the river," the short man said, crossing his thick arms over his torso. "Well that's not quite right, Noishe found ya."

"Noishe-?"

The poor teen barely got to register the blur of white and green that sped through the doorway that tackled him back down onto the bed, licking him violently.

"Ah-! What the-! Get it off-!"

He instinctively grabbed at it, his fingers catching handfuls of thick fur. A loud whimper escaped the 'attacker' and Lloyd blinked, looking up at the creature. A dog-? No…no wait, way too big, and- ..green, and-…what the hell were with its ears?

"Noishe!" the man snapped, pulling the creature off him. ""Leave the lad ta get his breath first!"

Lloyd sat up again, staring at the large wolf-like creature that sat there whimpering like a kicked puppy. Its eyes swept to his own brown ones, the tail wagging rapidly.

"N…oishe…wh- what is that thing?" Lloyd stared, unable to shake the strange feeling he'd seen the animal before.

But where the hell would he have seen something like that? Its ears were the size of jetplanes!

"Sorry abou' that, lad," the short man said with a grin. "Usually 'e's not that friendly ta strangers. Guess 'e likes ya."

"I…where am I?" Lloyd frowned, looking around.

"Yer at my house 'o course, near Iselia. I found yeah half-drowned in the river, not the best place fer a feller to be laying, y'know." The man grinned. "Name's Dirk, sonny, what's yers?"

"Er, Lloyd," he said.

He scanned the room; everything in it was smaller-well not 'smaller', more like stouter. Everything was built for a shorter but wider person, which made sense, if this man lived on his own.

"Lloyd, eh? Well yah best be gettin' some rest if yer still not feelin' right, had quite a brush with death ya did," Dirk said, scanning the boy. "Are ya from the village? Ya don' seem like it."

"Well I'm not, but is it that obvious?" Lloyd frowned, looking at him. "Er-nevermind dumb question."

Dirk chuckled, a grin splitting his hairy face.

"Ya needn't be so uncomfortable, boy, don' matter to me where yer from. Ya need help, so I help ya. Dwarven vow #2, never abandon someone in need. Now then, I got some stew cookin', bet yer hungry, right lad? I'll get ya some."

"I- thanks." Lloyd nodded, a little surprised at the hospitality, but grateful. "I should go though. My dad's going to be worried about me."

"Nonsense, there's no sense'n goin' through the woods a' night, yer either gonna git lost or git eaten, especi'ly if yer not from around here. Ah'll take ya back to the village first thing in the mornin'. Until then ya just git some rest, nip in the bud any cold ya might've gotten from near drownin' yerself."

"I- Night? It's already night?" he jerked, quickly trying to locate a window.

"Aye, it is lad, now calm yerself before ya give yerself a headache," he said.

Lloyd barely looked at the dwarf before the large 'dog' tackled him again, licking his face furiously.

"Noishe! Bad dog! Dammit Ah dunno what's wrong with him-"

"It's- it's okay- geez! DOWN!" Lloyd snapped, pushing the large animal back with a frown. "He sure seems to like me for some reason…"

The canine whimpered, sitting with his ears down as Dirk lectured him. Lloyd couldn't help but feel a little uncomfortable about the oddly intelligent- almost familiar, look in the dark eyes. It made him fidget, trying to place where he had seen something like it.

"Like ah was sayin'," Dirk spoke up. "Ya just rest for a bit an Ah'll give a holler when the food's done. After that we can talk abou' what ya gotta do, all right, laddie?"

"I-…" He thought a moment and then nodded. "All right, my dad's probably worried but I don't know how to get back anyway, like you said…thanks for helping me."

"Not a problem at all, Lad," Dirk said with a grin. "Now I'll fetch ya when it's done and in the meantime if Noishe here gives ya any trouble ya just give a holler, a'right?"

Lloyd nodded and the stout man left the room, leaving the large white animal staring at him. The teen nearly went to shoo the animal away before letting out a sigh of exhaustion instead, plopping back on the small bed and staring at the too-low ceiling.

His dad was going to kill him.

Well it wasn't like it was really his fault, was it? Well okay he had wandered off like that but he had just been making sure Genis was all right. …That reason wasn't going to help him at all. He sighed, eyes drifting around the room. There were a variety of crafting goods here and there, he noticed, a lot of strange little charms engraved into some half finished projects here and there- Well, that was kind of weird…

He sat up, frowning as he scanned the half finished objects on the desk at the side of the bed. The engravings all looked like something out of Lord of the Rings or the like…it kept astounding him how on an entirely alien planet there were so many similarities to things he'd seen back on Earth. Well, when he thought about it, it probably wasn't as weird as he was making it. This world was just not as advanced, so really it couldn't be that impossible that it was similar to old stuff from Earth…

A whimper from the animal to his side made him flinch, eyes darting over to it and then back at the strange little charms. Then again…it could be this all looked familiar because he had seen it all before. Lloyd sighed a bit at the thought, frowning as he bitterly recalled that little fact. How old had he been then, when they left this place? How did they even do that to begin with? This place didn't even have electricity much less a spaceship of any kind. Well…at least, from what he had seen. It was obvious that someone, somewhere on this planet had that kind of technology- …even more than anything on Earth, that was how that blue-haired guy had gotten him into this mess, hadn't it?

Hesitantly he picked up one of the charms, scanning it intently. He had always had a liking for hand-crafted things, it had been a fun enough hobby. Woodshop in school was always one of his favorite classes (maybe one of his only favorites) and these were very well made. He scanned the one in his hand intently, taking mental notes of how it looked, imagining the movements needed to carve the different strokes. After a moment he picked up another.

He must have really lost track of how long he spent examining them because he heard a deep laugh that made him jump and nearly hit his head on the low ceiling.

"Admirin' my crafts, eh? Ya got a liking fer craftin' yerself, maybe?" the dwarf smiled, teeth oddly white in the bushy facial hair.

"Oh- oh! S- Sorry, I was just looking, I mean- they looked really nice so I was just-"

"Ya don't have ta say sorry, Lad," Dirk said. "We got o'bit before the food's done, if ya want I wouldn't mind teachin' ya a few carvin' techniques."

Lloyd blinked, scanning the odd charms and the dwarf, eyes briefly darting over to Noishe and then back.

"I-…Yeah, I'd like that- if it's no trouble."


He was going to beat him upside the head; that is if he was still alive.

For the love of all the spirits please let him still be alive.

Kratos frowned as he made his way through the forest, straining his angelic senses to find any trace of his son. The young half-elven boy had explained what happened and he'd been searching the forest ever since then. He tried not to think about it, his son, lost and injured in these woods- or worse.

Just like his mother-

No. He shook his head. He wouldn't let himself be distracted by that right now, he had to find Lloyd, that was his top priority. There had to be some trace of him here somewhere…unless…

Could he have been taken to the ranch? Used as a host body? Killed? No matter what he thought of his thoughts all inevitably led to the worst-case scenario. Damn Yuan, bringing him back into this. He would have much preferred worrying over his son finding a college that'd accept him then whether or not he was locked up in some cell or-

Damn it, there he went again.

Kratos stopped, forcing himself to take several deep breathes. He had to remain calm, he had to think clearly. He had been searching the paths, around the ranch where he could, it hadn't looked like he had been dragged off. After a moment of thinking he decided to follow the river he had passed by not long ago. Perhaps if he had gotten lost he would have found the water and stayed near there, or at least left some trace of where he had gone.

As if reading his thoughts, he found something. It wasn't exactly 'close' to where he was but he could see it nearly clearly with his angelic vision. Lloyd's jacket, his favorite plain red one, caught on a rock midway down the river. Kratos quickly crossed the distance, pulling the tattered cloth out and quickly searching the area around him.

Still further down the river he spotted footprints; they weren't Desians, there was only one and the feet were too large- a dwarf, most likely, he had heard that one lived in this area. A dwarf and-…paw prints, very familiar paw-prints as a matter of fact. Noishe? Had Noishe found Lloyd? He wasn't sure about this dwarf, but Noishe would never had let Lloyd get taken unless he trusted the person he was with, and there was no sign of a struggle of any kind…

Well, he had his lead, that was the important thing.

Kratos followed the trail further into the woods before he came across a door built into the side of a hill, several potted plants and cut trees surrounding the 'yard'. It was definitely a dwarven home… The ex-Seraph frowned, approaching the hefty door and giving it a hard knock. The curtains were drawn in the single window but there was a light, despite the late hour. His advanced hearing picked up the heavy footsteps as the dwarf approached the door, swinging it open and looking up at him. Kratos and Dirk scanned each other a moment, Kratos' grip on his hilt and Dirk with his other hand wrapped around the handle of a very large hammer.

"Can ah help ya?" Dirk asked.

"I'm looking for a boy named Lloyd, seventeen years of age, dressed rather strangely."

"Ah, an' who might you be, hm?"

Kratos didn't get much chance to answer because a blur of white and green barreled to the door, leaping clean over Dirk's head and tackling Kratos square in the chest. The Seraph choked in surprise as Noishe whined, licking viscously and his tail a blur of white and green.

"Noishe!" he snapped, pushing to his feet. "Get down!"

The canine whimpered, sliding back onto his four paws as Kratos got to his feet, brushing himself off. Dirk had an eyebrow raised but didn't get to comment on the scene before Lloyd came into view in the doorway.

"Dad!"

Kratos looked up and sighed in relief, praising every deity he knew of that the boy was safe. Dirk stepped aside, allowing Lloyd to go to his father.

"Dad-"

"Do you know how worried I've been?" Kratos snapped, grabbing the boys shoulders and scanning him over for injuries. "I told you not to wander off, much less antagonize the Desians! Genis told me everything, Lloyd, how could be so reckless? You-"

"I couldn't just let them do that! They were beating the life out of an old lady, what was I supposed to do, let them?!"

Kratos went to speak again then frowned, glancing at Dirk and then back at his son.

"We'll discuss this later," he said coldly, then turned back to Dirk. "I apologize for causing a commotion in your home, sir, and I thank you for taking care of my son. I also apologize for any trouble he's caused you, as he seems prone to doing such."

Lloyd winced at the sharp edge of his father's last few words but said nothing, averting his eyes to the corner of the room.

"Not a'all," Dirk replied with a shake of his head. "The lad's been very polite an' quite good company. Ah must say Ah appreciate how ya raised'im, most humans get rather snippy 'round dwarves."

Lloyd frowned. He had gotten they were a pretty backwards society, but surely they weren't still at the point where they were prejudiced against people born with dwarfism or other deformities, right?

"What does that matter? You're still h-"

Kratos grabbed his arm and yanked him aside.

"Hey-!"

"Excuse us, sir, I need to have a word with him in private," Kratos said flatly, pulling Lloyd around to the side of the mound that was Dirk's home.

"Dad, what did I-?"

"You were about to say he was human," Kratos interrupted quietly, though the scold in his tone was all too clear. "Lloyd, that will likely offend any non-human person."

"What? What are you talking about-? …."

There was a moment of silence in which Lloyd stared at his father, his brain slowly making the connections.

"Wait-…you mean he actually is a dwarf? Like a- dwarf-dwarf? Like a Lord of the Rings type different species kind of dwarf?" he said, staring at his father.

"Yes."

For about a minute, Lloyd wasn't sure whether he thought that was incredibly awesome or if he was panicked as he tried to go through everything he had said with the dwarf and decide whether it had come across as insensitive.

"Now don' be rough on the lad, ah already gathered that he didn't get the difference."

Lloyd flinched and Kratos frowned, looking to the side as Dirk walked up to them, Noishe right beside him.

"Ah hope ya won' be too mad a me fer interruptin', but I figured yah were gonna get after the lad," the dwarf explained. "I don' mind a' all that he didn't think of me any diff'rent, in fact it's rather nice to see a young human that don' care about that sort of thing. I ain't offended or nothin' like that, so don' get after the lad, he's a fine young man."

Kratos frowned a bit and Lloyd shifted his weight uneasily, rubbing the back of his neck as a tinge of a flush appeared on his face.

"Now Ah gotta ask ya two something…Noishe here seems to know both of ya, an' given how ya knew him by name." Dirk looked at Kratos. "Ya know this big mutt too, don'tcha?"

"That is correct," Kratos answered.

"Huh-? Wait, Dad, we do know that weird dog thing?" Lloyd frowned, looking up at his father.

Kratos didn't respond, eyes scanning the dwarf and then the large 'dog', seeming to consider something. Likewise, the dwarf looked like he was seriously thinking about something as well, his dark eyes focused.

"Did ya know a lass by the name of 'Anna'?"

Lloyd flinched and Kratos' frown deepened.

"That's my mom's name." Lloyd said quickly.

"Ah…ah thought so, she did mention a 'Lloyd' an' given how Noishe here knew yah…"

"You were in contact with my wife?" Kratos frowned, eyes on the dwarf.

"…Aye, ah found her at the base o' the cliff…she asked me whether ah'd seen a wee lad or a tall man, ah told her ah hadn't, I did what ah could for her but…"

He didn't need to finish that sentence, they both knew what happened- or rather…what ultimately happened. Lloyd's fingers curled, furrowing his brown in a frown. She had died around here, his mother had died in the middle of some forest on a completely different planet, without either of them there. His eyes narrowed on his father, who didn't meet his gaze. He didn't even know- he still didn't know, how his mother had really died. He-

"If ya want ah can take yah both to'er grave...would've offered earlier, had ah been certain but ah wasn't really quite yet."

Lloyd stared.

He had always wondered why his father had never gone to her grave, why he had never been, why he had never even known where she was buried. Well, it made sense now, he thought bitterly; that never happened because even his father didn't know where she was buried. Kratos went to say something but Lloyd quickly cut him off.

"Yes, please, can you take me to see her?" he said, ignoring the slight hitch in his voice when he spoke. "I've never been to visit her, obviously."

He deliberately put a rather large degree of ice in that sentence before continuing.

"So yeah, please, show me where…she is."

Kratos was silent, as was Dirk while the short man scanned the father and son pair.

"A'right, come along then, it's not far from here a' all."

"Thanks," Lloyd replied.

Noishe gave a low whine, his tail tucked between his legs.

Okay. Updated. Finally. YAAAAAY (falls to the floor in exhaustion) …College is tiring on so many levels…

Oh well, reviews? If you'd like…again, sorry for the wait, hope you liked it though. Hopefully I'll get the next chapter up MUCH sooner, like I said, just at this point I was so unsure what I wanted to happen…since it'll impact the entire course of the story and all. But I've got a sure plan figured out finally, so hopefully it'll go smoother from here.

And now I shall go play videogames (runs off)