I was riding home in the car with my dad, playin 'Final Fantasy Tactics: Advanced' when this idea struck me. I thought it was a good, so here goes.
Disclaimer: I don't own Tales of Symphonia, Namco does. Lucky!
Chapter 1
The sun was beginning to rise, welcoming a new spring day. Birds being roused from their sleep by hungry chicks trilled in the morning sunlight. Flowers openned their petals, revealing a menagery of color to all who saw them. the entire land was at peace.
almost.
"Lloyd, wake up." The young Eternal Swordsman, the hero who defeated Cruxis and reunited the two worlds, the revivor of the great tree, lay on top of a sleeping bag, his short brown hair a mess, and a snot bubble coming in and out of his nose as he snored loud enough to drown out the birdsong.
Kratos put a hand to his head. He wore his usual atire, a purple sleeveless shirt and pants, with two pieces of cloth covering his shoulders. His hair was still reddish-orange, but had been trimmed down, to the point that it was only slightly longer than Lloyd's. He didn't mind it in his eyes, but since the rejoining of the two worlds, he had wanted to put his past behind him and move on.
Moving, however, was something Lloyd didn't intend on doing anytime soon. "Lloyd! wake up!" Kratos said, nudging him with his foot. Lloyd moved over, out of range of the foot, and continued to sleep. Was I ever this lazy? he thought to himself, watching a moth hovering around Lloyd's open mouth.
Recalling what his companions from the Kharlan war said about him, an idea struck him. It had always worked on himself, so maybe it would work here. Drawing out his sword, he slowly placed the cold steel tip under his son's chin.
It worked like a charm. Lloyd came instantly awake, his eyes snapping open, (and the snot bubble popping) as he looked towards the person threatening his life. What he found was Kratos standing over him, laughing, (in itself, a rarity) as he sheathed his sword.
"Wh-what was that for!" the youth demanded, sitting up and rubbing his chin, as if to check for bleeding. Kratos, smiling now, shook his head before replying. "I was testing to see how you'd react to a night attack." This was a little off of the truth, but he didn't want to tell him that Mithos used to pull the same trick on himself.
Lloyd, as oblivious as ever, seemed to take this as the truth. "Oh, uh... ok" he said, pulling on his trademark jacket and building up the previous night's fire. After a light breakfast, wards, he went over to his pack and pulled out a map of the new world of Symphonia. It wasn't complete yet, there were still spots that were blank, but they were filling them in as they went.
Kratos sat beside him to look at the map as well. They had started in Iselia, which was in the northeast corner, and had moved south towards Triet. From there, they had borrowed rheiards from Yuan and flown to the Linkite Tree, where New Mizuho was being set up. They had stayed for a few days, helping with the construction and catching up with Sheena.
After returning the rheiards, LLoyd had wanted to visit Genis and Raine, who were in Heimdall, helping with the reconstruction. They were also still busy on their quest to end discrimination, and had set up headquarters in the Elder's house, which had been expanded. Most of the villagers viewed them as honorary citizens, because of the journey they went through as well as participating in the rebulding.
At the moment, Kratos and Lloyd were west of Heimdall, and moving towards Luin. They planned on seeing how the rebuilding was going, then move on to Altamira to see Regal and Presea. Genis, (blushing as he usually did when Presea came up in anything), had given Lloyd a letter addressed to her. Even though he was dying to, Lloyd hadn't openned it out of respect for his best friend's wishes. Kratos had caught him holding it in front of the fire on more than one occasion, though, trying to see what was written through the envelop.
"Well, let's get going." Kratos said, standing up and shouldering his pack. Lloyd followed suit, though grumbling. He was not a morning person. "Why do we have to walk everywhere?" he asked. Kratos shook his head again, then started trudging off, Lloyd at his side. "Walking builds discipline and patience, something you still need to develop." he said, glancing over his shoulder at Lloyd. "riding to everyplace on Noishe or the rheiards would take less time, but you wouldn't gain anything from it. Besides, we wouldn't be able to train together as much."
Kratos had been teaching Lloyd how to use simple magic attacks, like first aid and fireball. It was a little more complicated than when he learned them, because Lloyd insisted on being taught with two swords, instead of the recomended one. Twice, he had nearly set his own hair on fire.
With the new pair of wings he had aqcuired upon reviving the great tree, Lloyd had also become interested in the angelic arts. These were easier, as the spells didn't change, no matter who used them. He had already mastered Angel feathers and was working on Judgement at the moment. Kratos was pleased with the effort Lloyd put into the lessons, but worried that he would overexert himself before the journey was through.
"well, that's true, I guess," Lloyd said, glancing over to the big dog-like creature that trotted beside them. Noishe had been Kratos' faithful companion for over four thousand years, and had stayed with Lloyd as he grew up. Now that both Kratos and Lloyd were together, the Protozoan seemed happier than ever, frisking about them constantly. watching him play in the morning sun seemed to lighten Lloyd's mood, and he smiled as they walked towards Luin.
They had been traveling for a few hours when Kratos began to get a funny feeling about the woods around him. Pausing for a moment, he listened hard. Lloyd stopped also, and looked at him quizzically. "what's wrong?" he asked.
"Listen. Do you hear anything?" asked Kratos, his hand reaching for his sword. Lloyd cocked an ear, and the eerie silence of the surrounding forest hit him instantly. drawing out the Flamberge, a sword of fire given to him by Kratos, he scanned the trees for signs of an ambush. using his intensified hearing, he heard the sound of leaves rustling under heavy boots.
"Fighters," cursed Lloyd, drawing out the match to the Flamberge, an Ice sword called the Vorpal. Listening again, he was able to count how many there were. "six of them."
"Seven. one's up in that tree over to your left," corrected Kratos, standing stock still as he assesed the situation. They could easily take a few at a time, but if all seven attacked at once. . .
"we need to call them out, get an idea of their strength," he said, glancing at Lloyd. Lloyd nodded. "May I do the honors?" he said, joking around like he did in situations like this. Kratos smirked, and nodded. Lloyd rose to his full height, and yelled out into the surrounding woods "hey, you bastards! why are you sneaking around like rabbits from a wolf? come out where we can see you!" Kratos shook his head in amazement. Lloyd definitely had a good idea of what to say to enrage enemies.
From behind trees and bushes, seven fighters came rushing out, surrounding the two swordsmen. Each had the same black armor, with red patterns embossed on the breast plate. they all had the same weapon, a double-ended sword with the same red markings on both blades.
One of them, who seemed to be the leader, stepped forward and pointed his blade at the 'prisoners'. "are you Lloyd Irving and Kratos Aurion?" he asked, in a voice full of anger. He must have been really riled up by Lloyd, Kratos thought.
"Give me your name, and I shall give you mine." Lloyd said, smirking. He had always liked that line.
"I am KazanJian, Captain of the guard of my master. You do not need to know my master's name, for it will be known to you eventually," the Captain said. "My master has ordered you two to be captured. You will come peacefully, or will suffer the consiquences." As he had been talking, Lloyd and Kratos had been silently building up mana, preparing a spell. they each knew what the other would do, having traveled together for quite some time. A glance between them told each other that they were ready.
Too late, KazanJian felt the built up mana, and before he could shout a warning, they both unleashed it! "ANGEL FEATHERS!" they cried, and disks of light erupted from their bodies, smacking straight into the soldiers. KazanJian was floored, along with four of his men, completely knocked out. The other two had managed to stay upright, but were knocked out by two consecutive demon fangs.
"Well, that was fun," Lloyd said, sheathing his swords and dusting off his hands. When Kratos didn't respond, he looked over at him. Kratos was staring at the design on one of the soldier's armor. A voice inside his head told him he'd seen it before. I know this from somewhere, he thought, racking his brains to find the solution. His thoughts were jarred, however, by Lloyd placing a hand on his shoulder.
"Dad, are you alright?" Lloyd asked, a look of concern on his face.
Bringing himself back from his reverie, Kratos whistled for Noishe, who had run off somewhere. "I think we should skip Luin for now," he said, glancing around. "We need to find the others, make sure they weren't attacked. Then, we can sort out what's going on."
Lloyd nodded. Just then, Noishe came running up to meet them. He looked at them almost questioningly at the sight of the men lying knocked out on the ground. "Don't worry, they won't be coming after us for a while," Lloyd said, climbing up onto his back.
Kratos pulled his wings out and flew straight up, so he could view the land for a good distance. Lloyd waited for him to return, which wasn't long. "the closest place to us right now is Altamira, north of here," Kratos said, pointing in the direction they should take. "It should take us about a day and a half to get there, so we'll be traveling through the night."
Lloyd nodded. pointed Noishe in the right direction, and took of through the trees, with Kratos flying overhead.
Well, there you go! I didn't have Lloyd flying at the end as well because he's just getting used to this angel power, while Kratos has had 4,000 years to get used to it. Also, Noishe would get lonely. you know the drill people, Please R&R!
