Story of a lifetime

Disclaimer: I don't own Tales of Symphonia.

WARNING: SPOILERS!

A/N After getting a few reviews which told me to continue, well, here it is! I hope you like it. I'm open for suggestions as well. If you want to see something in the story, just leave a review, and maybe I'll do it. Enjoy reading!

Italics - thoughts

Response to reviewers:

MoonCannon: Thanks! The chapters will be longer than the prologue of course, so don't worry about that.

Melody of Shadow: Thanks as well! I didn't quite know what else to put in the prologue, there wasn't really anything else to tell. xD Yes I remember that line, I wanna keep it as in character as possible, so he'll cry a lot in the beginning, poor Dirk!

Chapter 1: A cruel first meeting ----------

It was a calm morning, when some birds began to sing their daily song. Soon more birds began to sing, and a few minutes later you wouldn't have imagined that it had been quiet. Everywhere little ballads could be heard, and eventually they blended into one melody, peaceful and merry.

But even though this merry song was quite loud, it could not cover the styptic cry of some creature getting attacked. A dwarf in his house nearby heard the cry, and came out of his house looking in the direction the screech came from. He saw birds flying up somewhere, and made his decision. Someone, or something, was in danger, and he would find out what had happened. The cry had made him tremble like nothing else had ever done before, and trusting his dwarven instincts, he knew that that meant no good.

He grabbed his axe, that was lying in a corner, covered with dust and only shimmering weakly, for it had not been used in a long time, and Dirk hoped he could keep it that way. The dwarf's name was Dirk, and he was only one of the few dwarfs that had decided to live on the surface, as he offered people his skills for payment.

As fast as possible Dirk made his way through the thick forest, his heavy boots not exactly helping him. He quickly began to run, because there was nothing to be heard anymore. Not even the wind that usually blew in this region, normally whistling in his ears, could be heard. He suspected the worst. That the person that had let out that screech had already been killed. He quickened his pace even more, as much as his boots let him.

Suddenly he came to a halt, and looked around him suspiciously. He could hear someone crying. Was it... a child? Maybe the infant had been scared by some monster, but he probably wasn't alone, so Dirk trusted that his parents would have taken care of the thing by now. But why did the child keep crying?

He sighed, turned around and was about to walk back when he noticed the redbrown spatter on the forest ground. Blood! His eyes widened in horror. The child's parents could have been attacked, not knowing that there were monsters in this region! He quickly turned around again and ran, while trying to hear where the child's cries were coming from, and trying to follow the trail of blood. The toddler's crying was becoming louder and louder, and when Dirk least expected it, he suddenly was no longer surrounded by trees, and stepped into the sunlight.

Blinded he held his hand in front of his eyes, and when he was used to the light he blinked and was shocked by the picture before his eyes. He blinked again, wishing that the image would go away, but it didn't, and he shook his head, still trying to get the image off his mind. Then he suddenly noticed that it was quiet, very quiet. The infant had stopped crying and was now looking at the dwarf in wonder and fear.

The infant was standing next to the body of a woman, whose clothes were drenched with blood. She lay on her back, facing the air, eyelids shut, and her long brown hair was spread all over the ground. He could see the tear in the brown fabric of her clothes, where the blood kept streaming out. And suddenly he remembered something someone said to him once. Whenever a person is dead he or she will stop bleeding immediately. It flashed through his mind, and he was horrified. The woman was still alive! Quickly he ordered his feet to walk to the woman, but they wouldn't move. "Dammit! Move!" He growled, and they ran towards the woman, never noticing the toddler backing away.

He bent over her and felt her pulse. He was right, she was still alive, but the beat was already becoming slower and slower. He looked at the wound, it was deep and she had been in this condition for several minutes. She wouldn't make it! He started to panic and wanted to scream. If only he had been faster! Suddenly the woman's eyes fluttered open, and when she saw the dwarf's worried face she smiled.

"Don't worry, mr. Dwarf." Her soft voice spoke, barely audible to Dirk. He was busy examining the wound. Even if he could get a doctor on time, he would still not be able to save her. That's when he heard her speak.

"I know I'm going to die, but please don't trouble yourself thinking this was your fault, cause it wasn't." She coughed, and some blood dripped out of mouth. Dirk stared at her, amazed she was still able to talk.

"But madame, there must be something I can do! I could--" He started, but she put one slender finger on his lips.

"Sssstt... It's alright. I only have one request for you." She sighed, and continued. "Would you please take care of my son... Mr...?"

"Dirk." Dirk quickly replied, and looked around searching for her son, whom was nowhere to be seen.

"Dirk," she answered. "that's all I ask of you, his name's Lloyd..." She was quickly starting to slip away. Dirk desperately tried to keep her awake, but her eyelids shut again, and when he felt her pulse, the only response was a dead silence. He grabbed her hands, which were already getting cold, and put them on her chest, folded. Then he backed away, stood up and looked around.

"Now where has that boy gone? He was here just a minute ago!" Still shocked about the woman's sudden death and her last wish, he promised himself he was going to fulfill it. She had put her trust in him, and he wasn't going to betray that trust. Suddenly he heard soft footsteps, and out of the bushes the little boy appeared again. He seemed to be no older than 4 years, and his hands were trembling as he looked at his mother's body.

Dirk followed his gaze, and paled. Damn! The boy made his way to his mother, and dropped on his knees in front of her face. "Mooooommy!" He yelled, looking desperately at her face, wishing for her eyes to open, to take him in her arms and tell him everything was alright, just like she used to do. But there was no response, and he threw himself on his mother, whispering words: "Mommy where did you go? Mommy! Mommy please come back! The scary monster is gone now! Mommy, where's daddy? The scary people are gone too mommy, please wake up!" He kept on whispering, obviously not knowing what happened to his mother.

Dirk stood and watched the scene with tears in his eyes. How was he ever going to tell the toddler that his mother was away, for good? He slowly walked to the child, and silently stood behind him, as the child kept whispering about a scary monster and scary people. Dirk catched the word daddy and his eyes widened. Of course the boy still had a dad! The man would probably be somewhere in the forest looking for his son. He considered leaving the boy behind, for he would obviously not like being with a stranger, but then again, maybe the monster he was talking about was still somewhere around here, and if it wasn't the monsters in the forest would take care of him.

He decided to just take the boy along with him, when he heard a whine behind him. Before he could dodge something hit him in the back and threw him aside. The flash of white and green ran towards the boy. "NO!" Dirk screamed, the boy was going to be attacked! But just before the creature was about to slam into the toddler, he stopped, and tilted his head, looking at the boy.

Lloyd looked up, saw the creature and a weak smile appeared on his face. "Noishy! I thought the big mean monster had hurt you!" He cuddled the animal, who didn't seem to mind at all, and caressed his fur.

Dirk looked at the two of them. "So this must be his pet or something." He couldn't really call the thing in front of him an animal though. It was big, the size of a wolf, but his fur was white, except for at its neck, where it was green. Its big ears were white and green as well, it was wagging its tail as Lloyd caressed him. Its eyes were extremely big, and almost black, but somehow they had this humanlike sympathy in them, as if it knew what the boy was going through, and wanted to show his compassionnateness.

Dirk examined the creature again, and came to the conclusion that he had never seen it before. But he guessed it was strong enough to protect the boy against monsters, cause it obviously cared for the boy. He left without Lloyd ever noticing he was there at all.

Lloyd just kept caressing Noishe, while talking to him. "Noishy, do you know what happened to daddy? I hope he comes soon and wakes up mommy! She's sleeping, strange huh? I mean, how can she sleep? She was awake a few minutes ago!" The toddler was clearly happier than first, mainly because his big animal friend had joined him.

Noishe kept looking at him with the same sad look in his eyes, which Lloyd couldn't understand. "Noishy, why are you sad? Do you miss daddy? I'm sure he comes and wakes up mommy and then we can go play again!" The toddler smiled at the thought, he loved playing, and always wanted his parents to join him, but they always seemed too tired to do so. Lloyd sighed, he sure hoped his dad would come soon, because just sitting there with Noishe was getting him bored.

He jumped up. "Noishe, let's play tag!" He pushed the animal in the side and rushed off on his little legs, trying to get a lead so the creature wouldn't catch and tag him. This was useless of course, since the animal was far bigger than Lloyd and at least twice as fast. Fortunately they kept running around the spot where Dirk had found them, or else he would've had a hard time finding them again.

Dirk, however, was already having a hard time. He felt like he had been strolling around in the forest for forever, looking behind every tree, hoping that Lloyd's dad wouldn't have been hurt by that monster too. He kept on walking and walking. Though he knew this area very well, he felt that he was walking around in circles. So he took another direction and looked everywhere, but there seemed to be no trace that could tell him there had ever been anyone here at all. By now he had reached the Iselia forest, and was wondering whether he should go in or not. He looked back at the point where Lloyd was, and back at the entrance again. He sighed and swiftly stepped forth, his silhouet disappearing among the trees.

The suffocating darkness didn't feel normal. It was even worse than usual, and Dirk didn't like the silence at all. "Damn, where could this man be?" He asked himself, and gripped his axe tighter, because he knew that the monsters in this area were not that gentle when they felt threatened.

Suddenly he heard a scream, which caused him to fall backwards, when he hit the ground he quickly crawled behind a tree, just quick enough to not get trampled down by the metal boots that appeared next to him. The sound of metal normally gave him a comfortable feeling, he loved working with metal, but this sound made him shiver. Damned Desians! What're THEY doing here?

The boots disappeared again, and when they quickly flashed by him he had caught some of the words they had said: "We've ... them! Damn! Where's ... Angelus Project! Woman ... has! And the sound of clinging armour faded away.

Woman? Wait a minute... Holy cow! They're after that woman! But I didn't see anything unusual! Doesn't matter, I've got to get back there before they find Lloyd!

Dirk quickly got up and ran back, out of the suffocating darkness, which only seemed to become worse by the minute. After several minutes of running through the forest and trying to not bump into the Desians, he reached the spot.

He sighed out of relief, the boy was still there playing with the animal, and the woman's body lay there just like he left it. Suddenly something shimmered as the sunlight shone through the clouds that had covered it, and Dirk was blinded by a bright light. When the light dimmed, he walked towards the body, and saw something he had not seen yet. On her throat, was a round blue Exsphere.

Dirk frowned, an Exsphere on someone's throat? That was highly unusual. Normally Desians would attach the Exsphere to the prisoner's hand when they captured people. But then again, maybe this one was special, seeing as how the Desians were after her. He would have to take it from her. It was probably the reason why they killed her in the first place...

Maybe, if Lloyd was older, Dirk could give it to him.

What am I thinking? I'm standing in the middle of the forest where Desians are after a woman and I'm thinking about giving her child the cause of her death! This whole situation is driving me to insanity!

He shielded his eyes though, as his hands took hold of the blue sphere and gently pulled it out, but although he was shielding his eyes, he could not keep his ears from hearing the sucking sound as the Exsphere came loose from the woman's skin, the sound sickening him. The sphere glowed red for a moment as it left its owner, but then returned back to blue.

Dirk stroked the smooth surface of the Exsphere, and then slid the object in his pocket. Little did he know the things that this Exsphere could give its owner. He sighed as he saw Lloyd playing with the animal, whose name was Noishe, for Dirk understood that Noishy was his nickname.

Lloyd was having a good time playing with Noishe, but after a couple of minutes let himself fall on the hard ground, sighing of exhaustion, and Noishe soon followed, being sure of seeing everything, so he could guard his master.

"Pffff.. Wow Noishe that was fun!" Lloyd called out happily, hugging his big friend. "Now let's wait until daddy comes to get us!"

Dirk froze.

Damn! I forgot his dad, but I guess he ain't here anymore. The poor lil' boy, he's got no idea what lies ahead of him.

He cleared his throat, trying to get the boy's attention, but Lloyd just ignored the little man, as he called Dirk in his mind, standing there. Dirk tried it again, but Lloyd somehow managed to ignore him, either he didn't hear it or just ignored the dwarf, and he kept speaking with his fellow pet.

Suddenly Lloyd tried to stand up, but Noishe seized his clothes and pulled him down. Lloyd fell on his bum, which must've hurt a lot, because he started crying.

"Ouchie! That hurt Noishe!" He managed to call out between his sobs. As he cried he whiped his pants off, which were all dirty by now. Noishe howled, and just looked at the boy with those compassionate eyes.

Dirk wondered if this was one of those moments were he would have to comfort the child, tell him everything was alright, and hug him. He shuddered at the thought, but looking at the infant told him he had to do something to gain the boy's trust. So he grabbed together all of his courage, and stepped forward.

"Hey, uhm... lil' fella? Are you alright?" He managed to bring out, though hardly audible. He never thought that he, a dwarf, would speak words like that out loud.

Lloyd looked up at the dwarf, his eyes gaining this cute, innocent yet sad look, and he blinked. "Who are you?" He asked, blinking again, then looking at Noishe and back at the dwarf. Noishe blinked as well, and watched the dwarf with an expression Dirk had never seen before, it seemed like a fusion between curiosity and fear, but he couldn't figure out what it exactly was.

He cleared his throat again, nervously digging his foot in the ground, as the little boy continued to stare at him. Dirk felt his eyes on him, and while fidgeting with his beard, he said: "Uhm, I'm a friend of ya mom's! She told me to look, uhm, after ya till ya dad comes to pick y'up."

The burning of the little boy's eyes on him lessened, but they kept staring nevertheless. Noishe growled, and took a step forward, as if he were threatening the dwarf. Come closer and die. "Friend of mommy?" Lloyd gasped. "You're a friend of mommy, little man?"

Dirk's eyes widened at the words little man.

What! Little man? Never in my life did someone call me that! Ridiculous! I'd say this boy deserves to be punished the hard way.

"Calm down, don't let him get to ya, it's just a lil' boy." He said to himself, slowly breathing in and out to control his anger.

"Yup, I'm ya mom's friend! So, what's ya name?" He managed to bring out, still trying to control himself.

Lloyd smiled brightly, and said with a high pitched voice: "I'm Lloyd! What's your name mister little? You're not very big, are you? My dad's huuuuuuuuge!" He stood on the tip of his toes stretching his arms out as high as possible to show how big his dad was.

Dirk growled in his mind, annoyed by the boy's rudeness, and this turn of events in the last couple of hours didn't do his temper any good. Yes, Dirk had quite a temper, but he wasn't going to let it interfere with his attempts to gain the toddler's trust.

"So you have a huge dad? What does he look like?" He asked in his friendliest voice, smiling as well.

"He wears these cool purple clothes! And his hair's all messy, just like mine!" Lloyd laughed, while messing through his hair. "And he's got a sword! It's really cool too!"

"I see, is he a good swordsman?" Dirk asked, while raising his eyebrow.

If the man had a sword, how come he couldn't protect his wife from the monster or the Desians? Or he was a rather poor one, and only carried the sword to scare others, but that's not really clever.

"He's great! He can do all this cool stuff! He even-" Lloyd was about to say something else, but got interrupted by the cry of someone.

"Guys, you haven't searched here yet!" Some raw voice shouted, and soon the clinging of armour was heard, followed by loud thumps as feet in boots hit the forest ground.

Dirk froze and stared at the spot the shout had came from.

Damn those Desians! I can't let them get the boy or find out the woman's Exsphere is gone! I have to get him outta here!

Lloyd was about to talk about his dad again, but got interrupted for the second time as Dirk quickly took his hand and lead him through the forest. Noishe followed them, glaring at Dirk.

Though Dirk didn't want the woman to be found, his first priority was protecting Lloyd, he could go back and get the woman's body later.

Lloyd was dragged along, and looked at Noishe in wonder, as Dirk made his way through the forest.

"Hey, here is that damned woman! But... the Exsphere is gone!" The same raw voice shouted, filled with shock. "Damnit! Who's taken it! Everybody, search this area and find that Exsphere!" He commanded, and the sounds of armour spreading out everywhere was the only reply.

Soon one pair of boots seemed to get close, and Dirk slowed his pace, trying to walk as soundlessly as possible. It didn't help though, since the boots came closer and closer, and suddenly he heard a voice: "Hey you there! Dwarf! Stop right there!"

End ----------

A/N Well that's it for now, sorry for the cliff-hanger, I didn't really know how to end the first chapter, so I just went with this. I will be updating really slowly though, since this is my first actual story and I want to do it right. If you find any errors, please leave a review and tell me so, if not, just leave a review. Thanks for reading and hope you enjoyed it so far!