A/n's: Hello everyone!! I truely appreciate the reviews. If I didn't get them then this probably would have taken much longer to get out. I guess it still took a little while but my homework was killing me. lol I stayed up till 4:30 AM studying on a Saturday night/Sunday morning. It was quite fun actually. Once I got past the 'OMG I'm so tired part' I was fine and wide awake. Anyways, y'all probably want to read what's going to happen to Lloyd next. Evil people, yes you are :P lol so am I, for writing it. but oh well...
Disclaimer: I don't own TOS. Or any quotes before the chapter... unless it says so...
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'We aim above the mark to hit the mark.'
- Ralph Waldo Emerson
Chapter 4: Childish Tests
Lloyd landed on his side with a grunt. His two swords went flying as he noticed the floor beneath him beginning to glow. He rolled out of the danger area of the spell and ran to pick up his two swords. Once he had grabbed them, he found himself on the floor again. He was about to get up when a great pressure fell upon his chest. He opened his eyes to see Yggdrasill's foot holding them down with a glowing blade at his throat. Sweat beaded Lloyd's forehead as neither of them moved and the pressure on his chest continued to increase. He closed his eyes in pain and waited.
He inhaled deeply and gasped as the pressure was suddenly released. He laid on the floor, coughing as Yggdrasill watched him in disgust. He avoided looking at him straight in the eye for he knew that the lord of angels was very displeased with his progress in the arts of swords. Even though he managed to break through the main gate last year at the Iselia ranch and knocked out a few Desians his skills were nothing compared to Yggdrasill's.
"Stand, human." Yggdrasill's voice seemed to swim in hatred. Lloyd sheathed his swords and stood, focusing on the floor. He braced himself to be hit when he heard the blonde growl. He was glad that he had when a sharp pain hit him in the stomach and sent him flying across the room. He hit the wall with greater force then he thought he would which knocked the air out of his lungs. He slowly slumped to the wall, breathing in slowly.
"Fool... Go to the libraries and read for the next three hours. After that report to Yuan and tell him to teach you more on how to handle your swords. Currently, you're pitiful. Now get out of my sight," he ordered bitterly. Lloyd pulled himself up and walked out of the room. The moment the door closed behind him, he fell to his knees and held his stomach in pain. That last move had done some pretty bad damage and he could feel the blood in his body flowing strangely. He suddenly gained a headache and made a note to ask Yuan for First Aid after he had finished reading.
He clutched his head and groaned. He felt light headed and it wasn't because he wasn't learning anything from books. He felt weak and ill but tried his best to ignore it and continued to read. After two and a half an hours he began to skim through the books. He couldn't take much more of this 'learning' thing. He closed the last book and sighed. He couldn't understand why he felt so... bored. The word 'fun' came to mind but where had he heard that before? What did that word mean anyways? Having absolutely no clue he looked it up in a dictionary.
"'Anything enjoyable or amusing.' Enjoyable...?" He thought for a moment. Maybe... Yuan could let him do something 'fun'. Smiling for the first time in a little he put the books away. He observed his surroundings first before leaving. He noticed two guards at the door (to make sure he didn't leave) and a few wandering the library sections (to make sure he wasn't making any plans on leaving). He dashed to the far side of a bookshelf and shook it until some books fell. Just as he knew they would, the angels in that shelving area came to pick them up and put them in order again. He made his way to the back of the shelves closest to the door where the angels were standing guard. He pushed a couple books off and they fell from the other side. They looked in the direction of the books but didn't move at first. Lloyd was worried that they wouldn't fall for it but being lifeless angels they did and they floated over to them bent down and picked them up. They examined them carefully and put them back in their proper spots. While they were distracted, Lloyd snook out the door without a single one of noticing, execpt for a certain Seraph who had just arrived in Welgaia without Yggdrasill's knowledge... Lloyd ran off towards Yuan's sector while lightly clutching his stomach and muttering the words 'something fun' the whole way.
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"You want to do something fun? Well like what?" Yuan asked absentmindly as Lloyd sat on the floor of his room.
"I don't know what is something fun?"
"Well it depends on what you find enjoyable." Lloyd paused when he heard the last word.
"'Enjoyable?'... Well I like...exploring places, I think." Lloyd scratched the back of his head. Yuan chuckled.
"I don't know if I can arrange for you to go down to Sylvarant or Tethe'alla at the moment." Lloyd nodded and suddenly gasped as he felt a trobbing pain in his head. "Are you alright? You seem kind of pale."
"Oh, Lord Yggdrasill defeated me in my sparing test today. I think I didn't block correctly and was hit pretty hard."
"First Aid..." Yuan muttered as a green slowly flooded over Lloyd. When it faded he felt no pain.
"Yuan, may I come in?" a voice asked as knocking could be heard at his door. Yuan sharply looked up then shot a look at Lloyd who froze. Yuan mouthed the words 'Get into the closet and stay there' and the boy did as he was told even though something was telling him that he'd heard that voice before.
"Alright, come in." The door slowly opened and a aurburn haired man walking in with the normal outfit for high ranked angels on. The rank of a Seraph. Lloyd nearly gasped when he saw him. He'd seen him exactly a year ago when he had made his first attempt to infiltrate the Iselia Ranch, even though he didn't get too far he had managed to break through the main gate. That man had saved him when he was trying to get away. He knew him from somewhere but since when was he one of the Seraphim? Why didn't he know about him? Was this man the one that Yggdrasill had been talking about?
"Yuan, I'm sure I saw him here, in Welgaia." His posture was serious but his eyes were pleading with Yuan to at least admit something that would give him a clue as what was going on. Yuan sighed and looked away.
"Was it near the libraries?" The man nodded and Yuan shook his head. Lloyd heart seemed to drop. Did he get Uncle Yuan in trouble?
"Kratos, please be patient. At the moment I don't have any information that I can give to you. All I can tell you is that for now, he's fine." Kratos sighed in defeat.
"Alright. Yuan don't forget that I'm trusting you here." The man left and Lloyd didn't move. He was lost in old memories that had been abandoned. They were too fuzzy and he couldn't see them well. Yuan sighed with relief.
"Lloyd, you can come out now." The boy slowly walked out and looked around.
"Who was he?" Yuan hesitated before answering.
"... The other Seraph. He's...rarely around. Anyways, what are you going to do now?"
"I don't know. I guess I'll wander a bit." ...or maybe I could look for that Seraph! Lloyd thought slyly without a change in his expression. He bowed to Yuan before leaving and headed into the central area of Welgaia. He stopped on top of one of the balconies and looked down into the central where he spotted him walking towards his own sector.
"...Kratos... I wonder what you're like..." He prepared to jump into the central area when he felt something pulling him back.
"And just where do you think you're going? ...Human..."
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Lloyd cried out as he was shoved into the floor of the forest. He spat out some leaves that had got into his mouth and looked up to see Yggdrasill staring down at him.
"You will remain here until I see fit. Who knows... maybe this will help you learn. I will not have an idiot wandering Welgaia. Learn to survive on your own or die trying!" The angel warped away leaving Lloyd on his own in a forest full of monsters. Lucky for him he still carried his swords since he hadn't taken them off after his sparing match with Yggdrasill but his skills...weren't that good. He sighed as he stood up and began wandering the forest. He would need food, shelter and water. He also needed to protect his food and himself from the monsters in the forest.
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The moon sat high above the clouds and cast it's white light upon them. The dwarf turned off his stove and prepared a meal for him and the lady who was visiting for the day since Desians had been seen near Iselia. They were just too close for comfort so the elf who was looking after the women brought her over to his place. He had only just recently moved above ground to retire from his works slowly and it would be much easier to do that above ground. He placed a bowl of soup in fornt of the woman as she began to eat slowly. The dwarf heard a strange noise from outside.
"What was...? I'll be right back, miss." He walked out the door and a little ways from his house when he saw a pack of wolves running away with some broken swords and a small pack. He walked a little farther into the forest surrounding his home when he noticed a bundle of brown hair. He wandered over to it and realized that it was a young boy, probably between the ages of 5 and 6. He was unconscious and badly injured.
"Dirk, is there something out there?" The lady called from his house.
"Can you come and help me here, miss? There's an injured boy here?"
"Coming!" The woman hurried over and gasped when she saw the boy.
"Ll-Lloyd!?"
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Me: I'm ending it here for I felt it was a good spot to end it. lol this'll have to be a double part birthday chapter then huh :P anyways review please.
Anna: ... Wat have you done to him this time?
Me: whistles
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Preview: Chapter 5: Childish Meetings
"Kratos, you need to save him!"
"But Anna... you-"
"GO!"
