A/N: The site appears to be down at the moment, and nobody's at home, except me and my 5 year old brother. Now would be a great time to start on a new Suikoden story. Now, I tried and tried, and all I could do was grasp a vague idea on what to write. Better out than in. So, if it seems a little...hazy, bear with me ok?
OOC-NESS ensues.
A green and white clad Luc sat at the foot of the Stone Tablet, playing with the hem of his robe in deep concentration, barely taking notice of the light sound of rain dancing outside.
The day was drawing to a close, and the majority of Dragon Castle was settling down for another night's rest, getting prepared to sleep soundly for what was left of the day.
As much as he'd love to reconcile, it however, was not the case for the wind mage.
He was far too disconcerted to even consider sleeping at the moment. His head was flooded with maddening thoughts.
He was tremendously confused at this time, and he hated being so. Uncertainty made him feel stupid and and regardless of what he tried, he couldn't get his head clear. It felt like an itch that couldn't be scratched, something that wouldn't simply vanish by being left alone.
A certain brown haired, tomboy was occupying his mind and refused to leave. Even in his thoughts she was stubborn.The fact alone that one girl occupying his mind for such a length of time was absurd, but it was even worse that it was showing no signs of ceasing.
How annoying.
They had just returned from posing as Greenhill Academy students that day, and had only just succeeded to remove Teresa Wisemail out of the city of Greenhill. She was quite reluctant to accompany the party and leave her town, but inevitably in the case of her departure would be for the benefit of Greenhill.
His brain was stillworking in over time (over paltry things at that), and fresh memories of the previous nights played over in his mind.
"Let's hope the 'ghost' doesn't show up tonight." Luc said flippantly, a small smirk tugging at the top of his lip, leaning against the door of his bedroom.
Nanami's eyes widened comically at the mention of 'ghost', and after a minute or two of spluttering and stuttering, she finally managed to cross her arms defiantly and state she wasn't afraid of ghosts, her argument beingthat they didn't exist.
Luc smirked to himself at the thought of the ghost escapade. Nanami was obviously petrified out of her right mind, but not in this lifetime would she admit it, And the fact that she was clearly terrified and that she denied it, was rather amusing.
It seemed something charming that she made the kid, Pilika, out to be the one scared only a few minutes later…
Luc shook his head viciously. These were the thoughts he couldn't get out of his head. These utterly ridiculous thoughts which infested his mind, drowning out any other possibly important things he needed to think over. Notions of the leader's sister actually being appealing mortified him beyond belief. She was justa brat.
He didn't like believe that the little spitfire was actually getting to him, andthe whole situation was actually beginning to become rather tiring. Thoughts, the battle against them, the loss on his part, how many times he had to repeat this process, he didn't know.
Trying to put a halt to anymore of thesetrivial thoughts feelings, Luc abruptly stood up and left the sentinel of the Stone Tablet in an attempt to clear his mind by taking a long, decent walk.
At first his saunter was aimless; he didn't really have a destination, just to go wherever his feet would take him, but he soon found himself standing at the balcony, standing still and staring intensely at the view of the darkening sky where tiny white stars were starting to make their appearance for the night. Why he was here? He figured the dusky sky was something more inspiring than a cold floor and a tablet of stone.
He didn't like these feelings he was having. He didn't want them. That's not what he was here for. All he wanted to do was get this war over and done with, and then he could return to the Magicians Isle. That wasall. Simple as that, no interefence of any sort and everything would be just dandy. Were they even feelingshe washaving? Or was it just an irritation born from the frustration of being unable to clear his head.
Luc gracefully sat himself down on the cold, smooth stone beneath him andfolded his legs underneath him. He propped his elbow up on his knee and rested his chin in his palm. What was it he couldn't put his finger on? What was it that he hadn't thought through yet?
He ranhis sparehand through his soft brown hair in frustration. Soft drops of rain began falling on his face, deep in thought, he ignored it.
"That sure was a quick change". Luc told her, somewhat surprised at her sudden change of mood.
"Me? I'm hunky dory." She responded , giving him a nod and look of sheer determination, ready to pursue their 'ghost'.
Yet again, Luc shook his head to tried and throw the recollections out of his head. He didn't even know why hehad thoughts of her.He didn't even like her, not even as a friend. She wasas unimportant to him as everyoneelse in the damn castle. So what brought on the thoughts?Thoughts of her fear andher will to hide it, her stupid attitude and care for her brother, how much she had to learn in terms of magic, how skilled she was with her weapon.
Luc mentallykicked himself. Stupid thoughts, they didn't even matter, they were completely irrelevant. It only made him feel more confused and insecure,why couldn't he figure it out.The only thing he knew was when he thought of her or someone mentioned her name, he got this little rupture of warmth inside. He wasn't sure if he liked it though. He wasn't even sure of what it was, and was in grave doubt if he even wanted to know. She wasn't even that pretty, not to mention the motor mouth she had on-
"Trouble sleeping?" A gentle voice asked from behind Luc, who was unaware he had company and was startled out of his thoughts.
Luc, from his seated position, moved around to look at who had disturbed him from his reverie. He elegantly raised an eyebrow.
It was her.
Out of all the people, out of the hundreds occupying the castle, it had to be her. It was at that moment, he considered that he must be cursed. Did she have todisturb him, when it was her he was trying to figure out? What was her problem? What was his problem? Just because he agreed to go to Greenhill didn't automatically mean they were chums now. He was sure that nothing in his demeanor would indicate that he was prepared tohave adeep and meaningful.
"Hn, something like that." He replied, watching her from the corner of his eyes as she plopped herself down beside him, the rain falling harder, swifter.
"Me too. I just couldn't get myself relax. What 'bout you?" She asked kindly, looking at him with a small smile gracing her features.
"Something like that." He answered, somewhat more bitterly than what he intended.
I wouldn't be here right now if it wasn't for you…
She gave a small nod of understanding, with words desired already said, she was done, and took the band out her hair and started fidgeting with it.
Luc tried to ignore the fact that she was there. Why was she still here?
There were a few minutes of complete silence between the two, Nanami, fiddling constantly, almost annoyingly, and Luc staring out at the stars awkwardly. He couldn't try and resolve his little problem concerning his view on the girl while she was sitting right next to him, each getting more wet by the second as the rain continued to hit them. If she could just hurry up and decide that getting saturated wasn't quite her thing, he could get on with what he had originally set out to do.
Nanami broke the peace.
"It's raining ya know."
For the second time, Luc raised an eyebrow.
"I'm aware of that."
She giggled. "I guess so…It's cold. Hey, I've got an idea! Why don't we get out of this rain and go down to Leona's? I'm sure she has something that will help you sleep!"
Luc considered this option for a moment, it was a little cold, but decided to decline, he needed to think, and besides, he didn't mind the rain, it was to some extent calming. he was pretty sure she had used the word 'we'. If by 'we' she meant herself then by all means she could feel free to do so. Otherwise he wasn't quite prepared to put in some good old team effort.
"No, I'm fine here." He told her sharply, attempting to get his point across quickly, avoiding her eyes, and gazing at thedarkened nightsky instead. He tried to get interested in the positioning of the stars, emphasizing the point that he was clearly not interested in accompanying her, but was failing miserably to keep curiosity as more rain clouds began to block his view.
He felt a warm hand find his way onto his shoulder, and turned around to see Nanami now standing up, looking at him with pleading eyes.
"Please come. You'll catch a cold." She told him, giving him a glare, a slight frown starting to form.
Her eyes...they were vivid and asking.How he would have dearly loved to have said 'No'… he could finally get all this sorted out and he could return to something akin to a state of peace and contenment. But would she truly leave him alone if he declined? He didn't think so. This is the girl that could make the bear man cower when it came to being stubborn.
"Hn, fine."
A/N: Bah. Finally, that's over and done with. I am surprised at how lame the chapter worked out.
Edit: Yep, still surpised. I edited this chapter because quite fankly, it was horrible. Still is.