Well, it took more time than expected for me to finish this chapter. I'm very sorry for the delay! This chapter ended up being way longer than I would have anticipated. So hopefully the length makes up for the waiting. Time to get into the second chapter! (Note: I switched the scenes up a little to make it somehow fit together better... I hope it turned out all right.)

Spoilers: For those who have not gotten to and through chapter four, you will be spoiled!

Summary: The war approaches, uncertainties grow, people are left behind; but Chloe only wants to ask one thing: "Could you train with me?"

Disclaimer: The good folks at Namco own Tales of Legendia. I am not a good folk at Namco.

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Chapter II: Truths in Training

I lay awake that night, watching the ceiling above me. The moonlight shone into the room through its window, illuminating the walls a pale blue tint. Some of the light was veiled in the shadows of an obscuring tree, its branches swaying in the night breeze and making shadow puppets in my view of the ceiling. The moving darkness managed to form some rather eerie-looking shapes that would probably have frightened me had I not known their source. If Norma had woken up, she would surely have shrieked; but then again, when does Norma ever wake up without being screamed at as it is?

There were plenty of reasons to have been unable to sleep that night: the upcoming war, the forbidding of us teenagers from joining said war, the fate of Gadoria, and everything else along the lines of the great battle that was to come. The concern that plagued me the most, however, was a question that I wanted to ask. It wasn't a big question, nor a question that could have terrible consequences, really. It wasn't a question directed to a stranger, or a question that would make me criticised. There really wasn't anything to it, but I still hesitated because the question was for Senel. "Could you train with me?" I'd ask. I could not think of a reason for him to say 'no' when a war was fast-approaching. We had been prohibited from battle, yes; but if I knew my companions that shared my age group, then we would be disobeying orders and showing up on the battlefield anyway.

I heard the movement of a body beneath covers from across the room. My initial reaction was to dismiss the sound considering that my friends were all prone to fidgeting in their sleep, especially during times of uneasiness. I changed my reaction, however, when I caught sight of another shadow sliding along the plain walls. "It seems that I'm not the only one incapable of sleeping tonight," I mused inwardly as I tiredly sat myself up, palms pressed against the mattress for balance. Squinting through the darkness, I could identify the people who were soundly sleeping in the beds scattered throughout the room: Norma, Moses, and even Will were resting silently. The final bed—meant for Senel—was vacant.

I tossed the comforter and sheets aside and swung my feet over the edge of the bed. Silently, I reached over to the nightstand between Norma's bed and mine and felt around for my hat. After feeling Norma's barrettes about seven times, I finally succeeded in grasping my hat, which logically should have been the easiest thing to find on that tiny table. As I placed the hat on my head, Norma began to murmur in her sleep. It hardly startled me since she did it almost every night, but I always found it rather fascinating to hear what she had to say. "No no no," her voice was pleading, "We can't... that... I don't like you that way."

I closed my eyes and sighed, a light laugh escaping with my breath. The things that that girl must have dreamed of...

"...But C does."

She added those three words while I was still chuckling. My snickers, however, quickly turned into choking coughs at Norma's complete statement. I covered my mouth, hopelessly trying to keep from waking anyone else. Amazingly, no one seemed to have heard my little laughing-turned-coughing fit. "Norma, you will literally be the death of me," I thought inwardly as I breathed heavily, making up for lost oxygen. I stood up and silently crept towards the staircase that lead upstairs. Before I stepped up them, I glanced back just to make certain that no one else was awake—everyone seemed deeply asleep. I made my way up the stairs, passed through the empty room, and then stepped outside through the open doorway.

Senel hadn't gone very far after he left the sleeping quarters. He was standing only a few metres from the building, staring wistfully at the sole tree in front of the body of water that surrounded the hermitage. It must have been paining him a lot, watching a battle that was being fought with so many from his life involved. Vaclav, a man that he unconditionally hated for all of the suffering that he had caused; Shirley, his dear 'sister' that had been taken away from him many times before; Stella, the girl that meant so so much to him; Will, the only one of our group who was stepping into battle—through time, it became clear that Senel did indeed admire the sheriff. There were probably others, too, but Senel never spoke much of the scars of his past. None of us really even knew the roots of Senel's hatred of Vaclav; clearly their knowledge of one another went beyond kidnapping Shirley. It was so much deeper. What must have pained Senel the most, though, was having to watch the occurring fight from the sidelines. He wasn't allowed to do a thing to help. Like the rest of us, he was helpless.

I approached him, but he was in another world. He didn't hear me, so he didn't react to my presence. Part of me thought that I should simply leave him with his thoughts; this was rough for him as it was, and having someone else around would just stress him more. The other part of me thought that it would be better for him to have someone else around to keep his mind off of all of those deep and disturbing thoughts. The latter part of me was apparently dominating, because I placed my hand on his shoulder and spoke, "Coolidge...?" Almost immediately afterwards, I removed my hand and backed away from him.

He froze for a moment, startled back into reality. Whatever images were in his mind as he contemplated must have faded back into the tree in front of him as he continued to stare at it. Finally, he turned his head to look in my direction. "Oh, Chloe," he said, his dull voice telling me that he was still in a bit of a daze, "What are you doing out here?"

"I couldn't sleep," I answered, "And I suppose that the same could be said of you?"

Senel looked around, a frown on his face as he observed his surroundings. "Yeah. I just can't understand how the others can be sleeping like logs when... well, when..." his sentence trailed off, unfinished. He groaned in aggravation that was directed at himself; at his inability to express himself, at his lack of power, at it all...

I nodded knowingly, "It's okay. I understand." I took a few more steps towards him, yet still remained a few feet away. "You don't have to say anything."

"It's just so unwholesome, this helplessness!" Senel exclaimed at last, and I made no move to stop him. He rarely had outbursts like that one, admitting all of his doubts and frustrations. To let it all out was a healthy human thing to do. "I want nothing more than to be there, fighting for my own cause. I want to settle things one-on-one with Vaclav. I want to be there to see him die, in front of my own eyes—not end up reading it in a letter or something saying, Oh, we succeeded in defeating Vaclav without you, the one who wanted to see his death the most! I'm a fighter, and my age should not be something to stand in the way of that, especially with people so important to me in the fray—"

"Coolidge," I interrupted him, and when his attention was turned towards me I couldn't help but turn away, embarrassed. "I was just as insulted as you were when Will called us..." my voice trailed off as I relived that feeling of insult.

"Children." Senel finished with malice, "That's what he called us."

I lowered my head, basically agreeing to his statement shamefully. I had never thought of the way that I was acting as childish; I had always thought that I had grown up too fast, posing as a knight and seeking revenge that was probably beyond my level on understanding. I never stopped to think that maybe to actually grow up I would have to admit that I was not a gallant hero—I was just a kid holding an intense grudge. "I'm not really a knight," I admitted seemingly out of nowhere.

Senel stared at me, genuinely shocked for the first time since he had seen Stella in that container of water. "You're... not?" he inquired tentatively, to which I shook my head. I had to share the truth: I had been posing as a knight all along. "But Chloe..."

"The Valens family used to be a proud order of knights," I explained, my voice bursting with pride as I spoke of my family's past glory. That pride quickly dissipated as I continued, "But five years ago, my parents were slaughtered. I was the only Valens left, and I was just a young girl. My family lost its title, along with its glory." I looked over to Senel; he was listening attentively. I was amazed by his alertness to my words. Ever since we he found out that Stella was alive he had barely processed anything that anyone was saying. He himself barely spoke. And at that moment, he was making a point to hear every word that I was saying clearly. "As I have said many times before, I came to the Legacy to find someone. That 'someone' is the man that murdered my parents. My objective is to have him suffer the same fate as the final knights of my family did." I let out a sigh, my eyes shifting down to my boots as they kicked up some dirt. "That's my story."

Senel must have been staring at me. I couldn't see it, but I could only guess. It must have seemed rather strange to him, for me to have suddenly spilled out all of the truths for my reasons to be on the Legacy. "Why are you telling me this?"

I closed my eyes and thought for a moment. Why did I feel compelled to spill such a truth out of the blue? "I guess..." I lifted my eyelids open again, "Since I have learned something significant about your past, then I felt as though I should share something of mine. Besides..." I could feel a light blush spreading over my cheeks. "Good thing it's dark," I briefly mused before speaking aloud again, "If we're going to be a team, then we should be able to share such things with each other."

We grew silent for no apparent reason. When I observed Senel I could tell that he was deep in though; I could automatically conclude that Senel's mind had wandered back to the upcoming war. I wondered how I had known what he was thinking; then I realized that it was because I had been thinking about exactly the same thing. "I have to leave," Senel said suddenly, walking towards the barrier that surrounded the base.

"Wait!" I exclaimed as I ran towards Senel. I came to an immediate halt when Senel stopped and turned towards me. "You can't go alone. I—I mean... Are we all honestly just going to sit back? That's..." I paused, taking a moment to consider the people in our group; our friends. Norma, so stubborn and nosy... Moses, fearless yet caring. And of course Senel, a hotheaded leader who would do anything for those he cared for. "That's not like us at all," I concluded.

Senel walked in front of me to block my gaze. There was a discreet smirk on his lips, but I noticed it. "Are you suggesting that we just show up in battle without Will's consent?"

My eyes timidly dashed away from him, "N—not suggesting it... It's just that someone else was bound to bring the idea up anyway!"

"You're right," Senel agreed, "I was about to sneak into the frontlines alone before you brought this up."

I looked at him and frowned, basically scolding him with my expression alone. I didn't like the idea of him going off on his own. For some reason, I felt that if Senel was going to go and take a risk so considerable, I wanted to be by his side. "But now," I lowered my head shyly, "we can join the war together. Fight together." As those words flowed out of my mouth, I realized that that was the ideal moment to ask Senel to train with me. With our final decision to enter the war no matter what, there would be no reason for him to refuse my proposition. "I was wondering..." I began slowly, but the final question never came out. I was interrupted for the first time in what would become a series of interruptions in conversations to come.

"Whoa! Senny, C! You're not planning on fighting without us, are ya?" Norma's voice joined the discussion and she and Moses erupted from the main building.

Senel and I glanced to each other, nodding together in an unspoken agreement. "Well..." we both let the word trail off, implying that that was exactly our intention.

"What!" Moses and Norma exclaimed in unison, causing Senel and I to laugh at the fact that they fell for our teasing. Norma pouted as she crossed her arms under her chest, "That was mean!" She stepped closer to the two of us, still holding an upset expression, "But since you laughed, I guess that means that the four of us will be a team."

Senel considered that statement as he looked at the three people in his company. "Funny," he pondered aloud, his eyes resting on me, "I thought that we already were a team."

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We stayed up that entire night, discussing how we would go about entering the war. We finally decided on confronting Will and assuring him that we would be mature, no matter in which way we ended up helping. After going to the Man-Eating Ruins and obtaining the Whisper Crystal, we were finally accepted as being part of the alliance.

As we sat around the long table inside the hermitage, I leaned over to Senel and whispered, "Coolidge, would you be able to meet me alone outside once it's dark?" He nodded, and it was set: I would finally ask him to train with me.

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Senel stepped outside and caught me staring blankly at the sole tree in front of the base. "Chloe," he spoke to get my attention. I turned towards him obediently. "Have you been waiting long?"

I gave a gentle smile as I shook my head, "No, it's fine." Without wasting any more time, I asked what which I had wanted to ask for quite a long while, "Would you like to train with me?"

It only took a few seconds for Senel to answer, "Sure." And I was very relieved.

"G—great!" I exclaimed in a mixture of a stammer and an excited squeak. When I heard the sound of my own voice I couldn't help but blush. It was hardly the time to be acting giddy over Senel agreeing to train with me; it really wasn't an appropriate time to be cheerful at all. "Ah, um..." I searched for a way to redeem myself, but I was far past the point of redemption, "Should we commence training tonight, then?" Senel gave a nod of approval. Neither Senel nor I needed to question where we would be going to train; the closest region with monsters to battle was adjacent to the hermitage, and we had learned by word of mouth that the monsters in that area were certainly estimable opponents. It seemed like an appropriate place to gather and improve our strengths before finding ourselves in more arduous combats.

Senel and I stepped through the swampy region of Maurits' hermitage. No monsters had shown their faces since we had entered the area. Either there weren't many beasts around, or they feared us; which, based on the how the villagers spoke of the strong opponents in the bog, was unlikely. I opened my mouth to remark on how desolate the place was, but before the words escaped we were both distracted by the sloshing of footsteps approaching. Senel and I turned our heads towards the sound. At first, we could see nothing through the thick fog; however soon enough a galf seemed to dissolve into place in front of us. Assisted by its fur's colours—a melange of every shade of green—it looked as though it were literally a part of the swamp's landscape.

My hand travelled to my waist on instinct, fingers closing around the hilt of my sword. "When did I become a natural killer?" I briefly wondered as I pulled my sword from its sheath. I backed up slightly as the galf approached me at a rather brisk pace. I bumped into something, which startled me because the entire area was a rather flat marsh—no trees or other tall greenery at all. Quickly, I turned around to find Senel turning to me with the same startled expression that I must have been wearing. We both sighed in relief.

"Over there," Senel whispered hoarsely, pointing towards the direction that I had previously been backing towards. "Another one." I had to squint to identify even a blur through the fog, but after straining my eyes enough I saw it: another galf of the same camouflaged nature.

"Should we each take one?" I asked in the same hushed tone that Senel had addressed me in, "...Or team up?"

Senel turned to face away from me, towards the newest galf; I followed suit and turned around the face the first galf that we spotted. I assumed that that was his silent gesture saying, 'each take one'. Then again, I must have had a lot to learn about reading people's actions. Senel gripped the wrist of my hand that was clutching my sword, holding it back so that I would not attack. "We'll fight together," he told me, and then cautiously began stepping towards the galf that I was facing—backwards for him. I watchfully moved in rhythm with him until we were but a few metres from the galf. It seemed larger than the galfs that we had fought previously, but perhaps that only my subconscious mind expecting these enemies to be somehow different than the others. A low, gurgling growl was emitted from the beast. Senel swiftly released my wrist and turned to face the galf. "Now!" he exclaimed, and it didn't take the slightest thought to step into battle.

We dashed forward without any hesitation to get as close to the monster as possible, just as though we were in battle with Will and Norma backing us up. That time, however, we could not afford to make any drastic errors because there was no one there to heal us. Senel rushed right into the galf's face, slamming his bracer-clad fists into its chest and chin. I slipped around to the back of the beast, poised to make the final strike once the beast was tired. I would normally have no hesitation to onslaught an enemy with slashes and stabs, but I always tried to avoid causing any unnecessary pain when facing a galf. I suppose that I had grown sympathetic towards them because through Giet I had seen how gentle they could be. It was an error in judgment on my part to hold back, though, because I wasn't prepared for the need to defend or counterattack.

I assumed that the galf was placing its full attention on Senel, and had neglected my existence; and for some time that was true. Soon enough, however, Senel's fists had pushed the monster back enough so that it could catch sight of me in its peripheral vision. It let out a protesting roar and hastily bucked away from Senel, its front paws—claws out—rising up and skimming the marine's skin. I let out a sharp gasp as blood almost immediately reached the surface of Senel's skin; thankfully, the cuts didn't seem to be deep, so the blood was not rushing out. The galf suddenly turned towards me, the tip of its snout was only inches from my face. It bared its teeth as it growled once more, but the display of anger only lasted a moment before it began to pant. Senel had worn it out enough already. I clutched my sword tightly and leapt onto the creature's back. As expected, it lifted itself to its hind legs again; I made certain to hold onto its fur securely. Once it lowered itself to all fours again, I pointed my blade straight down and then plunged it through the monster's back with as much force as I could muster. It needed to get in there deep. Based on the galf's initial frantic reaction, and rather swift collapse to death, I would say that my sword went in deep enough to pierce its heart.

"Impact!" The sudden shout from Senel startled me with the reminder that there was another galf to defeat, and it sounded as though it had finally caught up to us.

I closed my eyes and yanked my sword from the first galf's corpse, cringing slightly at the suction-like noise that it made. Once I felt my blade moving through the thinness of the air, I opened my eyes and ran to Senel's side. "Make it rear up!" I commanded as I saw the blood trickling along Senel's abdomen, "I can quickly stab it in the heart and end this."

My companion gave a rushed nod and then charged the beast, circling it and occasionally throwing in a punch. The monster was growing agitated very quickly, and both Senel and I could read its movements well; it was acting just as the last galf had. It roared. Instead of standing there flabbergasted, Senel ran back to where I stood, "Take him, Chloe!" We watched as the beast rose to its hind legs and flailed its claws threateningly. I ignored the threats and dashed forward, and without watching any time at all I drove the end of my sword into the left side of the galf's chest. Before it began to grow frenzied over the realization of its own death, I yanked my blade from its body and sprinted back to Senel. We both observed the creature fall, motionless. Suddenly everything seemed so silent. "Let's rest for a bit..." Senel suggested wearily.

I nodded. We walked some ways back towards the hermitage before we actually took a moment to rest, though. There was no way that either of us would spend our relaxing time next to two carcasses. When we were a good distance from death, we dropped to the ground tiredly. After savouring a moment of tranquility for myself, I looked over to Senel who was using a lemon gel to take care of his wounds. As soon as the translucent gel made contact with his wound, flesh formed over it at an abnormally rapid speed. The one negative aspect of gels was that the new layer of skin formed was rather thin, and easy to be broken again. "Will is surely going to notice the tears in your clothes," I commented as I took notice of the sheared look that Senel's clothing had taken on.

"I have a spare uniform," Senel assured, analyzing his torso for any missed scrapes, "I'll wear that until this outfit can be patched up." I remained silent, which was essentially a silent agreement with Senel's plan. "Can I ask you something?" Senel suddenly blurted the question out.

I looked at him and gave him a tired smile, "Of course, Coolidge. Anything." Inwardly, I wondered what inquiry he had in mind.

"It's, uh... I was thinking about what you told me about your family," he stuttered and jumbled a few words out, searching for a way to word his question without offending me, it would have seemed. I had to stifle back a snigger at Senel's uncertain tone. Even though I could tell that he was trying to say something serious, it was still comical to hear him struggle to get words out; he was usually straightforward. And besides, he had no reason to tiptoe around subjects with me... I trusted him. "The person who... who killed your parents," he continued, "It was Stingle, wasn't it?"

"Yes," I admitted without wavering at all, "I wasn't certain at first, but in the Forest of No Return I was positive. That is why I acted the way that I did..." My mind momentarily drifted to the last one-on-one conversation that Senel and I had, "I was planning on telling you the last time that we stayed overnight at the hermitage, but Norma and Moses came out before I had the chance." I noticed that Senel had begun looking around the area; my guess was that he was seeing if there were any more monsters around. I voiced my assumption, "Do you want to have another round of training?"

Senel looked to me and smiled, "Yeah. That sounds good." He pushed himself up off of the ground and then walked over to where I still sat, "I like fighting alongside you like this, Chloe," he told me as he held his hand out. I had to turn my head away shyly as I accepted his hand and he pulled me up to my feet. I was not only left in a timid state because of his kind action, but also as a result of his words. "I never realized it before, but it's really comforting to have someone else by your side in battle."

"I understand completely," I agreed, "I always used to fight alone, but now finding myself in combat next to you... it's so much better."

I perceived the smile on Senel's face once more. It was soft and genuine. "It's reassuring to have you by my side," he told me. It felt inexplicably good to hear him say that to me. "You ready for another brawl?"

I gave him a smile that mirrored his own, "Definitely." Senel turned and started walking into the swampy region again. As he hiked away from me, a thought shot into my mind unexpectedly. It was a question for Senel, and although it was rather risqué by a stranger's standards, I had become far from a stranger to Senel. "C—Coolidge?" He stopped in his tracks and turned to me, his head tilted just slightly in puzzlement. "Before we train again, would you mind if I asked you something?"

"A question for a question," he remarked, making reference to the query that he had made a few minutes prior, "Go ahead."

I looked downwards at first, but rather quickly came to realize the withdrawn habit that I was developing. I lifted my head and stared Senel in the eye. "What kind of a person is Stella?"

Senel didn't seem at all taken aback by the question. In fact, his body seemed to completely relax at the mention of Stella's name. I unmistakably saw in that moment just how much she must have meant to him. "She's very kind," he began to speak, his voice distant as though it were lost in a world where only memories resided, "and caring," a sharp, light laugh escaped Senel's throat, "But she could be really stubborn at times. And she was always so strong when she was resolved to do something..."

I kept my eyes on Senel as he stood, living in his own reminiscences. Based on his way of describing Stella, and the overwhelming fondness in his voice, I could tell that she must have been truly amazing person. Not only for Senel, but also for everyone that had the privilege of meeting her. "It sounds like she is a wonderful person."

"She..." Senel paused for a moment as a grin like none other appeared on his face, "She is." I felt a pang of something against my stomach walls, but I brushed it aside. I sincerely hoped, for Senel's sake, that Stella and Shirley would both be saved... At least, I had wanted to believe that that was my deepest hope, but I was beginning to visualize other possible outcomes of our journey—Other outcomes that may have selfishly been more ideal for me.

I shook my head to myself, ashamed. "Come on, Coolidge. Let's train some more before morning arrives." Senel nodded to me, and then the two of us entered the swampy region once more to train together. Side by side.

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Whew, done! I hope that you enjoyed reading that all. (I still wonder how the fight scene with the galfs ended up being so long...) Please leave a review to let me know what you thought of it! Chapter three is going to be more light-hearted and humorous than the first two, so look forward to that!

Next chapter: Girl Talk