~*Save my tears - Chp4 - Encounter*~

*Save My Tears - Chapter 4 - Encounter*
A Legend of Dragoon Fanfiction
Written by Rap's (RaptorJNB@aol.com)

Notes:

Dum de dum dum dum... uh... this is the fourth chapter! Please tell me what to improve, give suggestions for future plot elements should you like; and point out how damned bad my spelling is. ^_^ I *think* I'm getting better though.. Right!? *crosses fingers* Enjoy! Soon I'm going to be re-posting my other LOD fics; as all of them need obvious help in the grammar department. ^_^ Damned Were's and Was's!!!

I also have an... interesting idea for a really sad twist in this story. I'm not yet sure if I'm going to incorporate it; but it will have something to do w/ Rose's past. Not that she ain't a tragic character already, but the more I thought about the idea the more I was like; "Hmmmmm"

Ah well, the next few chapters will tell!

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Serdio was always a brooding sort of giant. Although beautiful in peace... when her people became restless, she too seemed an agitated country of immense dangers. Today, the notorious Mount Villude expressed her dissatisfaction with a plume of black clouds. They rose upon the horizon as pillars of darkness. Ash so heavy, that Lloyd could taste it in the air even miles from the brewing volcanic activity. From his vantage, the view was an awe-inspiring; if also menacing vision.

"It's kind of scary, isn't it?" Dart swung his legs back and forth over the edge of a rocky boulder, watching the now murky blue sky of early afternoon. "I've never seen Villude before, but I've heard it's a mountain that often kills."

Lloyd nodded, leaning back against the giant, rounded block of granite that Dart perched upon. They hadn't traveled long, now. Perhaps a few hours.... but Dart was a boy used to being on foot, and Lloyd was grateful he could keep up. The only complication he'd had, in truth, was figuring out how to get the child past Customs, and into Serdio itself. Sure, flying over the road block was easy when one had wings... but with Dart in tow, he'd used a good portion of energy simply putting all the knights patrolling Serdia's border to sleep. Explaining to the child 'why' they hadn't been awake proved another ordeal entirely.

But with that out of the way, Seles wasn't much more then a long walk. A very long walk. Here, having stopped to rest along a winding cliffside road, Lloyd needed to debate a bit about that. Perhaps he could rent a Runner beast or two down in Lohan. That would quicken their progress greatly.

"You said your relative in Seles owns a farm?" The Wingly began, motioning the boy down from his seat. No use wasting any more time...

Dart dusted both hands on the brim of his shaggy red tunic and nodded abruptly. "Yes. Just outside Seles itself, but you can reach it from the town. I Wonder if my aunt will remember me? She... I mean; she's really not my aunt. More of a really close friend of my family. I can't remember the last time I saw her..."

"You must have been very little, then." Lloyd replied. And then, as an afterthought "But Don't worry. I'm sure she will recognize you. And it won't shock her that you've come all this way... given what has happened in Neet."

"I guess she'll be relieved." Dart said solemnly."That I'm not dead, I mean."

As a depressing quiet settled thereafter, Lloyd could feel a swell of hate from the child that walked briskly alongside him. This boy would not forget, nor forgive. The Wingly could only hope that the vengeful desire in his heart would not consume him. A need such as that could both change, and kill a man. Doel was a prime example. In any event, he didn't need to be concerned with that. His objective was to escort Dart to Seles, and no more.

Lloyd honestly should have suspected his decision would be problematic...

Eleven soldiers. That he could see, at the least. Through the dense foliage of the forests around them, Lloyd cursed himself for not having noticed the men sooner. With deep brown uniforms and a black headband each, he identified them immediately as Knights of Sandora; which could easily mean trouble for he and his young companion. Doel's men were notorious both in battle, and on free range missions. True, given his involvement with the emperor, he was a superior officer over the such... but mere grunts would not know him from any other unlucky civilian of Basil whom might chance into their camp.

"They don't seem to be more then fifty yards off..." Dart whispered quietly. He hadn't so much as made a sound when Lloyd dropped to one knee and pulled him down as well. The boy stayed quietly beneath the cover of ferns and brush, looking to the silver haired man aside him with large, concerned eyes. "Will they hurt us? If they find us, I mean?"

Lloyd honestly... didn't know. A soldier belonged to an entity. His king. But on the field... a man came over the armor. Personal judgment, hurts, hates, sadness... they could all play a factor in how one would react. He and Dart were north. Above the border of Sandora. It was quite possible these vagrant troops were on a raid of some sort... and would kill anyone they encountered.

Not that a few spells couldn't knock them from here to the castle Indels, but Lloyd didn't favor the idea of revealing his Wingly origins to a human child.

"It's of no matter." Lloyd whispered back to him. "Come, we'll backtrack and then move around their location from a safer distance."

The blonde nodded.

Lloyd had just helped Dart to his feet when an arrow whistled by his head and implanted itself into the light bark of a tree nearby. He hadn't had time enough to be shocked, and instead reacted; twisting himself behind the large trunk. Instinctively, he forced Dart between both himself and the tree. Felt his right fist clench and a brief flicker of magic tingle at his fingertips.

~Don't. Not unless you have to.~


"Who goes!?" A voice shouted into the forest around them, rattling the leaves above. "Identify yourselves at once!"

~NOW they ask. I don't trust men who shoot first, and think later!~

"You alright?" He asked Dart quickly. The boy simply nodded, not daring to peek his head out from behind their simple cover to glance at the soldiers. Lloyd gently moved away from him, and with a quick breath walked out into full view. He raised both hands.

"A traveler, and young boy. We are unarmed."

In the distance, the grouping of soldiers exchanged a variety of glances with one another; and the man that had fired a crossbow slowly lowered his weapon. Lloyd struggled to identify a leader amongst them.

"You're Allegiance!?" One of the Knights demanded. He came to the front of what Lloyd could now tell to be a small encampment. Three tents and a fire, no more. The Wingly debated a moment; but not long enough to where one could vouch that his response was hesitant.

"To his majesty Doel. I am a civilian of Kazas!"

"And the boy!?"

"My son."

From his right, Dart glanced at him in surprise, but said nothing. He knew Lloyd was trying to get them out of this without violent confrontation. The Wingly gave him a single look, and then turned his attention back to the Sandorans. Ahead, under the flickering daylight that the tree's above chose to let shine, again the Knights seemed to debate. At last, one of them motioned him forwards with a harsh jerk of his armored hand.

"Come forth, slowly! You will explain your location!"

~Damn.~


With a somewhat uneasy sigh, Lloyd took Dart's hand and began to lead them both through the forest growth. He could admire the young boy's strength. Obviously frightened, but silent, Dart complied without hesitation. Hopefully, nothing would go wrong...

*****


That damned mountain... the thing just never shut up.

Rose narrowed her eyes and watched Villude the way one might regard an obnoxious old friend. Her ragged form and seething dark clouds of ash were old to the Dark Dragoon. She'd seen Villude explode violently in more then two thousand eruptions since her childhood; and truthfully it offered some odd form of comfort. To know that such a natural beast was even older than she; and that once, Long, long ago... the red-eyed dragon had called it his home.

Until the day Zeig came for him.

With little more then a sigh, Rose began down the steep rocky ground beneath her feet, effortlessly dodging the plantlife that snapped at her armor. Her body had become mechanical over the years, holding a second sense all it's own that would grasp the next hand or foothold. Right, left... a jump. Rose cleared a large, gnarled branch in her path and continued onwards.

No more then an hour ago, at the border of Tiberoa and Serdio, she'd come across one of the most amusing displays of magical prowess perhaps ever demonstrated. Twenty Knights of Basil, all sound asleep upon her arrival. She'd *expected* to maneuver about their border establishments and fly into Serdio by means of her Dragoon wings... but with everyone out cold? Rose walked right in.

Quite a change. She wasn't used to things turning out quite *that* easy.

In either case, this also meant that Lloyd had successfully entered Serdio. It was his Wingly magic that had put the Knights to sleep. She could sense it with ease. Needless to say, this somewhat relieved her. True, he seemed a powerful Wingly; but Serdio was not a friendly place. No other country in the world had a military of it's size and strength. For hundreds of years, Rose had awaited the day they would do as most powerful beings did; and abuse that power. She had thought Carlos, bastard that he was, would certainly take Tiberoa for his own; and perhaps Millie Sensaue in time. Oddly enough...

Well, the damned Serdians were all fools anyway. They could have used their power for so many things... and instead took to destroying one another.

Such was humanity.

Rose abruptly leapt over a small stream, avoiding the slippery rocks on the bank beside it. Enough of these musing thoughts. She had 108 years ahead of her that would consist of searching; and over 45 million people to sort through. Serdio had not contained a Moonchild in over 1000 years. It was possible that, this time, the Soul of the god of Destruction would make its appearance here. Rose knew, of course, that the actual Moonchild would not be born for quite some time. Not that it mattered. Certain energy signatures could help locate the ancestors of that unfortunate girl or boy; so that she could perhaps identify a potential family or bloodline that might yield the Moonchild over time. Best to try and find them first...

Afterall, she hadn't come here to find Lloyd.

And just then, Rose stilled amongst the brush. She could hear voices not far off, drifting up over the high tree's above.

*****

"Why have you crossed the border of Sandora, and entered Basil!? Are you a traitor?!"

Lloyd eyed the man in front of him with well-hidden disdain, and answered in a curt tone; "I am not, sir."

"Then explain your location!!!"

Beside him, Dart looked uneasily from soldier to soldier, wincing as they regarded him with hard eyes and lethal weapons. Lloyd, in turn, made note of each man's posture and attitude. He was cautious, although rather unconcerned, as watching those around him could indicate an immediate threat much like the tall, built Sandoran that now growled in irritation mere inches from his face.

"I was on route to Lohan, and became lost. I and my son had only intended to return with supplies. Unless I have been misinformed, Lohan is a town unaffected by the war with no prior allegiance, correct? Therefore, we should not be restricted from-"

"I know that, fool." The soldier interrupted, crossing his arms. "But you got *damn* lost. Your over 30 miles north of Lohan. If it is true you had been intending to purchase supplies, where are your Runners to transport these goods? Where is your cart?!"

"We ran into a bit of trouble with the fourth knighthood of Basil, and our belongings were confiscated." The Wingly lied.

Having mentioned Basil, Lloyd knew he'd just granted himself a foothold or two. He could use the brief hatred he saw flash behind the man's eyes as fuel for his own story. When the Knight abruptly backed down and nodded as if in sudden understanding; Lloyd was rather sure that things would now run smoothly.

"Dogs of Basil... should have known." The Sandoran looked back to his fellow soldiers, who muttered either curses or looked visibly less tense. "Fine then. I understand your predicament. You'll be let free with directions to-"

"This is absolutely ridiculous."

Lloyd sighed mentally, and then felt his jaw clench when a short, azure haired youth walked quietly up to them both. Here- was the leader of this small task force. A man no more then twenty five, but with experienced eyes and a cunning mind. It didn't take the Wingly more then two seconds to realize that he and Dart were in trouble.

"Major Hutan, the man explained-"

"Silence." Hutan demanded of one of his troop. His eyes met Lloyd's own in a cold lock of wills, and then he smiled once. Sharply. "I applaud your performance. Truly. But this is as far as the story will go."

Dart pressed closer to him as Lloyd stay silent a moment, and then answered with a brisk; "Yes. I suppose so."

A few voices let up in confusion as Hutan narrowed his eyes and continued. "I must admire your bravery; but I know a Serdian man from a foreigner, and you are NOT Serdian."

"I wasn't aware that Serdia now allowed only it's native people to live here."

"Here, yes. In Basil. Not in Sandora." Hutan said quietly. "And as you are not Sandoran, you are either of Basil or from another of the countries. In each case, there are but two outcomes for you now.... and I do *hate* dragging prisoners back to Hellena."

Dart gasped when each of the soldiers pulled their swords. Lloyd simply stood his ground, and sucked in a delicate breath.

"You don't want to do this."

"Oh?" The major lightly tossed a strand of hair from two smoky blue eyes. "I'm sorry sir, but your life ends here."

Lloyd nodded. Then attacked.

Dart had been nearly thrown aside as Lloyd forced him backwards; away from the men and their weapons. In another flash of motion, he'd leapt into the air and twisted with a perfect roundhouse kick to the small Knight's lower jaw. There was an unruly snap as the man's head curved over his left shoulder at an unnatural angle; and then his body dropped.

Silver hair gently settling over his eyes, Lloyd again stood dormant and regarded the soldiers.

Who, despite being rather stunned, immediately ran at him with swords flying.

Lloyd countered instantly, a fist thrown into the nearest face with bone breaking strength. Dart could swear he heard something shatter like glass when another of the knights came at his companion. Lloyd took his arm and jerked upwards sharply. Forced the bone backwards. The blonde had never *seen* Something move so fast, save for the black monster itself. Red eyes glinting with dangerous skill, each blow Lloyd gave was enough to send a man well into death.

However, Knights still, he could not fend off the entire group without some form of help. Not that Dart had *expected* such help to come in the form of a tall, black haired woman.

"DUCK!"

Lloyd didn't know why he'd listened, but he did. Dropping to both knees, a cruel looking weapon sliced above him and embedded itself into one of the surrounding men. It withdrew, and a second before another of his opponents lunged forwards; Lloyd felt a hand clamp upon his shoulder.

"You shouldn't hold back, Wingly." Came a sharp, cold voice at his ear.

And then Rose drew back and attacked again, leaving Lloyd to turn and stare at her in shock.

*********************************************

Okay! Done this chapter! Man... Cordis- if your reading this.. How in the goddamned HELLS do you manage to get out chapters so fast!!?? I apologize for the wait, all! I simply don't have much time to write, although I love doing so. *Sighs* Expect another chapter of "Cross the River" to be out shortly as well- as I'm almost done the 4th chapter... and I should have another chapter of this story out in about a week or so; as I've already started on it! Yay!!

Thanks for the encouragement, everyone. Also, please please PLEASE tell me if my grammar is improving at all!! I'm really trying.... _ So it you find mistakes be sure to tell me! *kicks herself*

^_^