All right now! Here is the second chapter! Go me! ::crickets chirp:: yup so anyways, the story actually starts to get interesting and this is a few months after the first chapter took place, so don't think you like missed any parts! Lloyd has his shirt off in this chapter!!!!!! Eeeeeeeeee! ::screams and huggles her Lloyd-chan::
Lloyd: …………………. ::sweat drop::
Oh yes, and to Rap's, I saw you used the term 'runner' for the animal riding things in LoD in some of your stories. I didn't see anything saying you made up that word and I don't remember if that was what they really called them or not, so I used in my story for lack of a better name! If you want me to take it out cause you did make it up I will with no complaints!
Winter was harsher on the mainland, blizzards came, one after the other, bombarding the two young travelers in feets of snow. Sleet and ice poured down from the heavens, causing traveling to be futile. Shelter was hard to find, near impossible on the flat trails, and food scarce. Lloyd knew all too well what a burden winter was on someone. The landscape of white, noiseless and without depth, it could play horrible tricks on one's mind. More than once Lloyd had found himself just wanting to give up and fall to the numbing ground. Traveling had taken longer than expected; Lloyd had estimated that he and Meru would reach Seles by the mid to late autumn. Winter, though, had come early and they were only in the beginning of northern Serdio.
"Lloyd, I think I see smoke, do you have the map, maybe there is a town near here?" Meru trudged ahead of Lloyd, as usual, walking carefully as to not step in any unseen crevices or holes on the narrow trail.
Pulling out the worn cloth map of Endiness, Lloyd trailed a finger along the chosen route they were taking until he reached where he estimated them to be. Trying to read through the heavy snow and having to shake the white flakes repeatedly off of the map, he saw that there were two towns nearby, the closest one, Dorin was only three miles, about, away, "Dorin, ever heard of it?"
"Um, no, I don't think it sounds familiar, is it close?"
"Yes, only about three miles away, there should be a small trail leading off of this one to our left coming up that leads to it."
"All right, I'll looks for it, stay here a second," Meru trudged off down the trail, out of Lloyds sight, his vision blurred by the continuous falling of snow. Meru was gone for a while which gave Lloyd some much needed time to himself. They had been traveling for about 2 and a half months, it wasn't that the weather had been all that bad, just only now that winter came, but not even Meru had seemed to slow him down. Trying to figure out just what had been causing them such a long journey was impossible, Lloyd simply didn't know.
Sitting slowly down onto a large snow blanketed rock, Lloyd ran a hand through his platinum hair, flakes of snow clumped together and attacked themselves to his silky locks, Lloyd too the time to work at pulling them out and melting the larger more stubborn ones. The snow shown a bright white in the early day, oh how Lloyd hated snow. Waves of grey rippled through the ripening snow, swirling in with the purity and seeming to add a bit of taint to the once perfect landscape. Shadows moved, bare branched trees dropped cascades of the white essence from their bows and casting their eerie arms out in all directions, stretching, reaching. They pulled him in, into their eternal silence; the endless slumber tempting him to climb into its soft cold blankets, teasing his weary traveling soul…
Lloyds head shot up at the sound of footsteps, they were too heavy to Meru's and there was more than one set of them. Standing up, Lloyd grabbed the hilt of his sword, ready to draw it if need called. The pair was about an eighth of a mile down the trail, coming from the direction Meru had gone down in search of the side trail. They were both definitely male, probably in their late twenties to early thirties. The footsteps were not friendly ones.
The two men emerged from the bending trail into Lloyd's vision, they had yet to spot him but he could very well tell that they were thieves. A small bottle of rum was being passed between the two and they both laughed hard, hiccupping, drunken laughs. Covered in simple brown cloaks, the men stood out against the white ground. Lloyd smelled a fight approaching. One of the men turned in Lloyd's direction, waving his hand to his probable partner.
"So, we've gots a –hic- lone traveler –hic- ehhhhh…"
"It seems to be –hic- -hic- I wonder if he may have any things of –hic- interest in that pack of his."
"I suggest you both keep on your way."
"Ohhhh, a daring one it seems! 'Quite proper' if I would say –hic-"
"He thinks he be better –hic- than us, he's got a 'nother thing comin'"
The two men drew hooked, old, rusted swords from their belts and began a wobbling advance towards Lloyd. Drawing his own ancient weapon, Lloyd charged at the two. To them, he was there one instant and gone the next, both baffled by the sight and confused until pain shot through their hands holding their sword, resulting with them grabbing the injured members in cries of shock. The swords clanged muffley into the deepening snow. Lloyd appeared where he was standing a moment ago, his sword back in its scabbard, he said nothing. The two men ran, once again Lloyd was alone. A thought suddenly struck him, if those two men had gotten to Meru…
Lloyd charged down the trail as quickly as he could, calling out the young winglies name as puffs of white billowed up around him, "Meru, Meruuuuu, where are you!?"
"Lloyd, what's the matter? I'm over here!"
Swinging around, Lloyd noticed Meru coming onto the main trail from a small side trail he hadn't noticed. It was barely noticeable anyways, a small dune of snow blocking the entrance and causing it to look like just another parts of the woods around it.
"Two thieves coming from down this trail from where you were headed attacked me, I didn't know whether or not they had gotten to you before," Lloyd kicked at the dune so that he could pass through onto the trail, he grabbed Meru's wrist and polled her along behind him, the trail too narrow for them to walk side by side.
"I can take care of myself! If they had attacked me you would have known it!"
"Don't over estimate yourself, you'll end up committing yourself to defeat."
"Oh, all high and mighty, you did it yourself!"
"And look at where it got me."
"I don't think eternal life is all, that horrible of a curse, Lloyd."
"…." To most it wouldn't be, but there was something else behind the screen of immortality. This curse wasn't just a punishment, there was something else, another reason, but Lloyd couldn't place what was off.
"See."
Lloyd glared back at the young winglie, "You have no idea Meru."
"Whatever," Meru pulled her wrist out of Lloyds grasp and pushed past him so she could walk in front. The slush from the snow under their boots crunching formed a rhythmic state of mind. Everything once again blurred together and the mechanic movement, left, right, left, right…The strong smell of smoke brought the two out of their revere of silence, the town, right ahead of them on a main trail connecting to the small one they were on, loomed above the trees and branches and ocean of snow.
"Come on Lloyd, hurry up!" Meru giddily ran ahead onto the main trail, only to jump back with a yelp as a caravan of runners laced with soldiers raced down the dirt path, "Oh my gods!"
Watching the caravan with interest, Lloyd walked up beside Meru. A captain, by the uniform and rank symbol on his sleeve, rode up on his runner and stopped abruptly in front of them.
"What's going on, I thought the war was over," Lloyd gestured towards the traveling army with his right hand.
"The war is over, we are not an army of Serdio," the captain tapped the coat of arms patch on his leather armor with a finger, "We come from Tiberoa-"
"Did the king not marry your princess?"
"Yes he did, and the he murdered her. We have 'king' Albert in our custody, he is coming to Serdio for a trial, he has already gone through Tiberoa's and was found guilty."
"The hell!" Meru lunged at the man, Lloyd after her, tackling the girl to the ground and burying her face in the snow.
"Forgive her, she is an old acquaintance of the king, she acts out of emotion, not sense."
The captain nodded his understanding and turned the reigns of his runner towards the caravan. "It is understandable, this incident was completely unexpected, the trial will be held in the capital city of Basil, if you would wish to attend. It is not public, but," the man pulled out two pins of royalty, they are usually given to close friends/ acquaintances of the royal family so they can attend weddings and formal balls etc. a trial must count, "You can use these to get in."
Lloyd took the pins and studied them quickly, they were official, "Thank you, we will be there."
"Trial's in two weeks, you may want to tend to your friend," the captain kicked the runner into a fast trot, leaving Lloyd kneeling with his hand still pushing Meru's face into the wet snow, he let go.
Meru jumped to her feet with fists clenched.
"I guess we'll find out in two weeks, when the trial goes on."
"Will we be able to make it to Darts before then?"
"If we get runners we will."
"And just how will we get them, we aren't exactly full of money."
"Follow me."
"Whatever."
~ * ~
Lloyd sat patiently on a crude wooden bar stool drinking his twelfth duncee shot in the past forty-five minutes. The small room, filled with harsh burning smoke, the sharp scent of hard liquor and muffled low voices, bursting into fits of laughter and hoots every so often at the passing waitresses, one in particular.
"Hey sweet thing, why don't you bring some of that stuff over here to us, on the house."
Meru ground her teeth together; imagining the reaction the man would have if she accidentally spilled her near boiling coffee in his lap. It wouldn't be the first, there had been six other such 'accidents' by her own doing earlier in the evening which came to a halt once the manager of the petty bar took her in the back and threatened to fire her. Meru, walking over to the man, smiling sweetly, "How may I make your night more pleasurable, sir?"
The man let out a hearty laugh, clapping his large, dirty, hairy hands against his thighs. His weeks stubble twisted in fits of grey and black stood out against his red sun-stained skin, the round peeling cheeks tinted brown with dirt and grime with a rank scent of alcohol and general filth, Meru was surprised that flies weren't hovering around his head. "Well, you could escort me up to my room and maybe keep me company for the night," the man stated in a false sincerity while slapping Meru on the butt.
The little winglie jumped back in surprise, she was used to the comments but no one had touched her as of yet. "Hands off, sir, or you'll be going back to your room in a state where you wouldn't know if you even had company or not."
"Just so long as you're the one tending to me, hun."
"You humans are so gross!" Meru mumbled under her breath as she turned to leave the stinky man behind. Making her way through the bustling wooden tables, Meru slammed her tray onto the bar counter right next to Lloyd. He glanced at her and went back to his thirteenth duncee shot.
"Yeah, so, hey, Lloyd, what's goin' on, did you just happen to see what just happened to me over there?"
"No."
"Well, I guess I'll tell you then, some gross repulsive man just slapped my cute little ass, how do you like that?"
"Did you kill him, Meru?"
"Kill him!? That's what you think when I tell you that!? Not 'did he hurt you' or 'do you feel violated!?"
Lloyd slapped Meru's butt, "Get back to work or we'll never get enough gold to buy runners."
Meru stood gapping in shock at Lloyd, "Y-y-you smacked my butt!"
"Well it worked for that other man to make you get away, so why not for me?"
"I hate you!"
"I'll add you to the list of many."
Meru roared off with her tray after hitting Lloyd with it on the back of his head. He barely noticed though as the shots were finally starting to take their desired effect and dull his senses.
~ * ~
Pain throbbed through Albert's shoulder as he was shoved into an iron-gated cell in the Bale Prison. His arms shackled behind him and feet in chains themselves kept him from sustaining balance for extended periods of time sprawled in an undignified fashion across the floor. Groaning from the sharp shooting pain in his right shoulder, Albert struggled into a kneeling position.
"Why are you doing this?"
"You were found guilty of killing out beloved princess Emily, this is kind treatment for a murderer, there are not rats."
Albert felt a shudder rush through him at the thought of rats.
"But if you wish, I'm sure it can be arranged to have a few let loose, you know how quickly they multiply."
The king was silent; he truly believed that the soldier would see to it that those rats were brought in. *Why am I always being put in prisons…this is inconceivable!* Laughing to himself, Albert rolled onto his side and laid his head onto the cold stone, it had been days since he last slept. He flinched when the iron gate slammed behind the soldier as he left, the vibration rocking his sore ears and weary muscles. The blonde-brown long hair that was once well kept and the pride of the young king was now quite disheveled, falling across his face in oily clumps in need of a thorough washing. He could almost feel the grime on his face moving around and the bugs he knew were everywhere eating away at his clothes. His armor was the only thing relatively close in appearance as it was when he was well groomed, and even that was now scratched and dull.
Deciding that the position on his side was more uncomfortable that that sitting, he rolled over onto his stomach and sighed, hazel eyes scanned the simple cell, in the corner a ditch had been dug before cement laid that served as a privy and that was it, not even a simple straw mattress. Albert suspected that the Tiberoan soldiers specifically had it taken out of his cell. One week and five days until his trial and time remaining for the army to sway the people into voting against him.
~ * ~
Meru opened the door to the small room they got in the bar that Meru now worked in, they had enough gold for two runners, if they could get a bargain. She had made good money, eighty-two gold between her waitressing and Lloyds aid in repairing many of the stools, tables, and leaky roof of the bar. She shut the door quietly behind her and began stripping out of her suggestive waitressing outfit and into a large short sleeved white cotton shirt Lloyd had bought for her when they first arrived in the town and had gotten some money. Lloyd had bought himself simple black baggy trousers of cotton which he now wore as he slept spread out across his bed. One pillow was tucked against his chest with his left arm and leg curled around its length, the other under his silver haired head. Meru thanked the gods every night that he didn't snore.
The window was cracked and the cool winter air blew a gentle breeze in, rustling the sheets around Lloyd's ankles. Meru walked over and pulled the sheets and the blanket up to the older winglies shoulders, the last thing they needed was for one of them to become ill. Lloyd moaned and pulled the pillow closer to him at the newfound warmth and Meru could only guess at what was going through his dreaming mind.
Shadows danced across the simple yet cozy room as the shades ruffled in desperate attempts to keep the breeze from entering, surprisingly Meru felt content in the little town with her job and the straight forward life that didn't really leave you guessing, she had changed over the past years, having well over her fill of adventure. Her heart sank when she realized this was her last day in this tempting lifestyle. Slipping under the soft lavender scented sheets of her bed, Meru curled up into a ball to keep warm as she let herself be taken over by sleep.
Lloyd once again shifted uneasily in his bed, dreams bothering the once peaceful slumber, his breath speeded up as the grip on his pillow loosened and he rolled over unsteadily, the sheets entangling themselves with Lloyd's limbs. In his mind he was running, the dark shape of shadows calling out to him, beckoning him into their embrace. He tried to ignore them, heading towards rose colored light ahead of him, panting in exhaustion. He stumbled many times, panic crossing his sharp features, as he feared the shadows would drag him into their bitter darkness. The rose light though, was getting closer. As Lloyd neared the beautiful, humming area, which seemed more a sensation that an actual place, he was pulled in by its soft demeanor.
The rose light wrapped him in a cool air, the most pure, refreshing, and inviting environment he'd been in, untainted by outside influence. A figure began to emerge in the light, wings of an angel, which flowed into those one may see on a dragon, or a demon formed a sort of cocoon around the figure, which appeared to be female. Lloyd, just as he was drawn towards the rose light, was even more pulled to the figure. He stretched towards it, he felt paralyzed, his yearning to be near the angel overwhelming all other needs. The angel's wings in a silent response unwrapped from around the figure as an arm reached out to Lloyd. So close he was, but he knew that by himself he would never reach it. Suddenly the outstretched arm grabbed his hand, pulling him gently towards the owner.
Lloyd groaned as he was drawn into a loving embrace, he buried his head into the crevice between her neck and shoulder. Sighing, his hands slipped around her waist, pulling the woman closer as a flood of warmth rushed through him. Slender legs brushed against his and hands ran through his layered platinum locks. Lloyd lifted his head to peer at the face of the figure, he saw the beautiful features, but could only comprehend their beauty and nothing lese but that. And a smile. A hand touched his cheek, trailing thin fingers down his jaw and to his chin, holding it still as the figure leaned her head towards him, lips brushing his own, tickling his senses. Lloyd groaned again in protest and he tried to return the affections only to have the head tilt away. Her mouth returned again to tease his quivering lips, the hand moved from his chin to the back of his neck, stroking the dip right at his hair line, the other resting at the small of his back. She kissed him finally, Lloyd sagging in relief as he whimpered against the gentle action, hands moving to the back of her own head to deepened the kiss. A tongue roamed over Lloyd's lips, begging for entrance only to slip in as Lloyd allowed, running along his own, exploring that landscape of his mouth. As he was released from the storming kiss, gasping for breath, the figure began to withdraw back into the rose light. Lloyd faltered from the loss of sweet contact, struggling against invisible bonds to reach the beautiful figure again; to have her back in his arms.
Almost sobbing from not being able to reach the perfect entity, he managed to call out in a hoarse passion filled voice 'who are you?'
The female cocked her head in reply, a soft laugh reverberating through the rose light environment, "You shall see soon…"
"What do you mean?!"
The figure just smiled, a hand rising in a silent farewell as the rose light, along with her, faded into the grasping shadows hovering around them.