Disclaimers- I do not own any of the Tales of Symphonia names, places, etc.
Kyriss adjusted her grip on the bow. Her target, a deer, was right in front of her and she wasn't going to lose it. Her father had always said she had an amazing talent for archery, but she didn't care about anything he thought now. She pushed him from her mind and focused on her prize. She let the arrow fly just as a scream shattered the silence of the wood. Kyriss had hit the deer directly, but the young doe was gone from her mind. She straightened quickly and pushed her wavy brown hair from her green eyes.
"What in the world was that?!" she thought. She started to run towards the sound. As she drew closer, she heard weapons clashing. She froze, thinking "why would people be fighting here?" A cry of "No!" and she began to swiftly move forward again. She crept behind a bush on the edge of a clearing and watched the large party inside. A score of soldiers, some injured, were standing around a girl in a magic circle. The girl had long, straight, blonde hair, blue eyes, and oddly, purple angel wings.
"Desians!" she whispered softly to herself in a loathing voice. "And they've captured a chosen!" Kyriss also noticed six bodies on the ground, crowded together. "Her companions," she guessed, and started when a man began to speak. "We warned you, Chosen. We knew we would find you in the end. And now, you will pay the price for evading us." He raised a gloved hand holding an odd, glittering jewel. The Chosen's eyes flashed in horror. "W-what is that?" she asked in a quivering voice. "Oh, just a little trinket," replied the man, his mouth curving into an evil smile. "It will only hurt, well, a lot, I suppose." He moved closer to the helpless chosen, his hand, holding the jewel, inching to her throat.
"No Desian will succeed if I'm around!" said Kyriss to herself as she stood up. "Hey!" she screamed, fitting an arrow to her bow. The entire party looked up in surprise. Kyriss shot fast and aimed true, and the jewel in the Desian's hand exploded in a burst of power. "Damn!" I can't believe you..." Kyriss raised her eyebrows. "Argh... Retreat!" he said with an ugly look on his face. "But I'll find you again..." They vanished.
There was a silence as Kyriss's mind raced with thought, but she was brought back to earth when the frightened Chosen began to speak. "You-They-what happened-it-I-I..." "Shh;" said Kyriss as she walked toward the scared girl. "Don't worry, I'll get you out. But how..." she looked around and noticed a small generator near the circle. Smirking, she pulled an arrow from her quiver. Spinning it high above her head, she buried the point in the small machine, and the circle disappeared, but the chosen didn't move. "Who- I mean, you..." "My name is Kyriss, and I couldn't let those desians hurt you," she said firmly. This didn't seem to satisfy the Chosen. "But-Oh!" she noticed her fallen companions. "No! It can't be! Lloyd!" she shrieked, and buried her face in her hands and fell to her knees. If there was anything Kyriss couldn't handle, it was crying. She spoke over the other girl's muffled sobbing. "Oh, no... No! Don't cry, Chosen! It'll be fine!" "Not without Lloyd!' she sobbed "or Genis or Presea or any of them!" Kyriss pulled a bottle from her pouch. "Drink this, Chosen, and stop your crying, I just can't stand it." The Chosen wiped her eyes and sniffed a few times. She took the bottle from Kyriss with a quivering hand and drank it slowly. "Good, now, for your friends." The Chosen's head snapped up to fix Kyriss with an intense stare. "What?" Kyriss only smiled and pulled another bottle from her pouch.
She was about to uncork it when her eyes fell on her patient. "Lloyd Irving?! He's with you?! Oh, my God!" The Chosen looked at her like she was crazy. "It's just he-its nothing, I just.... Never mind..." Kyriss shook her head slightly and kneeled next to Lloyd. She carefully picked up his head, laid it in her lap, and opened his mouth. She uncorked the bottle and poured the contents in. There was a very short pause, and then, "What?! Where-Where am I? Let go of me!! Where's Colette?!" Colette's face brightened and she leaped onto Lloyd, embracing him tightly. "Oh, Lloyd! She healed you! Thank you, thank you, Kyriss!" "don't mention it," said Kyriss, a laugh in her eyes. "Thank the Goddess you're aright, Lloyd!!" The small clearing was filled with the joy radiating from Colette.
Stop it, Colette, I'm fine!" said Lloyd, pushing Colette off of him, grinning ever so slightly. He turned his attention to Kyriss. "Who are you, anyway?" Kyriss inclined her head. "I am Kyriss, a peasant. I live off the land in this forest. My house is not far from here, and I happened to stumble across you." "You're no common person!" said Colette happily. "You shot the jewel perfectly, and you healed Lloyd!" her face fell. "But-The others... they're still... Are they dead?" three pairs of eyes scanned the remaining bodies.
"I have no more potions, and it could take a while to make," said Kyriss uncertainly. "But we should get them out of this clearing. Colette, I'm sure you can handle the shackled guy and the pretty-boy. Lloyd, you're still weak, so I'm pretty sure all you can handle is the little silver-haired one and the spiky pink one, and I'll have to take the lady with the staff and the Japanese girl."
"That's Regal, Zelos, Genis, Presea, Raine, and Sheena." Said Lloyd irritably, bending over to hoist Genis onto his shoulder. "Yes, yes, of course," Said Kyriss. After much shuffling, scraping, and shouts of "Oops!" the odd party set off across the woods.
Note from g.m- ok, not so good, not so bad. No flaming, or feel my wrath. R&R if you feel like it...