First of all, I am officially on Christmas break, so chapters should be coming quicker for the next few weeks. Anyway, last chapter was too serious, so I decided to lighten the mood a little. Enjoy the fun, and please review. Reviews make the authoress happy.

…

"We're here!"

Lloyd stood triumphantly in front of the small fishing village, his friends beside him, and the adults behind him sighing.

"We're finally here! Now we can go get a boat!"

Just then, a huge wind picked up, blowing dirt and sand into Lloyd's face, leaving him to wipe his eyes furiously. He grimaced, spitting out the dirt in his mouth.

Skah scoffed. "That's real dignified, kid." He brushed past the teen and walked leisurely through the town's gates, leaving the rest of the group to follow behind him.

"Well, I don't know about the rest of you," Skah said, "but I don't think we're gonna be able to get on a boat today, so why don't I go to the inn and grab us a few rooms?"

Yuan shrugged. "I'll come." He glanced at the anxious children ahead of him, then gestured for them to go. "The rest of you can explore."

"Yes!" Lloyd exclaimed, pumping his fist in the air. "Come on, let's go!" He ran forward into the town with a blonde, two elves, and an exasperated mercenary behind him.

He soon found that Izoold didn't have much to explore.

"This place is smaller than Iselia!" he moaned as he stood at the back of the town, looking back at the entrance, which was still easily visible.

"But there's a beach," Colette said, eyeing the water in delight. "Maybe we could go swimming later!"

"Nah, it's not warm enough… Let's just head back to the inn for now." They turned and started weaving their way through the haphazardly placed houses when they heard a rather loud conversation—almost an argument—coming from ahead of them, getting closer.

"We've already searched halfway across this Goddess-forsaken place, Aster, and we're not even sure it's here! Let's face it, we just can't do this on our own! We need to find a way back and get help."

"Oh, yeah, great idea, Richter! That would totally work! 'Excuse us, we seem to have lost our experiment over in Sylvarant, do you mind helping us form a search party?' I can just see how the Pope and King would take that one. How would we even get b—OW!"

That was the moment that the owners of the voices rounded the corner, smashing directly into Lloyd. Both he and the blond teen stumbled backwards; the other boy would have fallen if not caught by the red-haired man beside him.

"Oh, Goddess, I'm sorry!" the teen said frantically. "Are you all right?"

Lloyd shrugged, smiling. "Yeah, I'm fine. Don't worry about it." This was the first good look he got of the boy; he was blonde, about Lloyd's age, maybe a bit younger. He wore a white coat over simple black garments; the only things that really stood out were the brown leather boots that reached past his knees. Lloyd, being Lloyd, felt the need to comment. "I like your boots!"

The blonde grinned up at his friend. "Thanks! See, Richter? I told you they weren't ridiculous!"

The redhead scoffed. "No, what you said was 'chicks dig them'."

"Whatever." The blonde turned back to Lloyd. "I'm Aster Morgen, this is Richter Abend."

"Lloyd Irving," he replied. "This is Professor Sage and her brother Genis, and Colette Brunel, and that's Kratos Aurion."

Two sets of green eyes bugged. "Colette Brunel, like, the Chosen?" Aster asked, shocked.

"Yeah, that's me," Colette giggled awkwardly, as she did whenever the subject arose.

"Huh. Surprising," Richter said, looking her over coolly.

"Why?" Colette tilted her head to the side curiously, then her face fell. "I guess I don't really look like a Chosen…"

"No!" Aster said quickly. "That's not it at all! We just didn't expect the Chosen to be so… sweet! Or young, for that matter…"

"I-I'm sorry…"

"No, it's not a bad thing!" Aster smiled at her reassuringly. "I mean, I'm young too. I was just a bit surprised is all."

"Excuse me," Raine said, "but we overheard that you have a problem? Is there anything we can do to help?"

"Oh great," Genis muttered to Lloyd. "She heard them say 'experiment' and now she's interested."

Richter gave his friend a warning glance, which Aster blatantly ignored. "Actually, maybe there is. You've been traveling this continent, right?" As they nodded their assent, he grinned. "Could you tell me if you've seen kind of a monster around here? I mean, not a normal monster."

Lloyd frowned. "I don't know, we've seen a lot of weird monsters…"

"Could you give us a description, maybe?" Genis asked obnoxiously.

"Uh, it's about the size of a wolf, maybe a bit bigger," Aster said, "and it looks kind of like a wolf on two legs, but I think it can run on four too, right Richter?" He barely waited for a nod before continuing. "It's mostly white, with red legs and eyes, and really big fangs."

"I'm afraid we haven't seen anything of the kind," Raine replied. "What exactly is this specimen? Do you know the species?"

"Well, that's rather complicated…" the blond boy replied, "I have some notes on it, if you want to take a look."

Richter placed a hand warningly on Aster's shoulder. "I really don't think—"

"I'd love to look at your notes," Raine interrupted, eyes gleaming in excitement. "Why don't you two come back to the inn with us?"

"Yeah," Lloyd nodded emphatically. "Come on, you can meet our friends Yuan and Skah and my dog Noishe!"

"A dog? Great! I love dogs!"

Colette beamed. "Me too!"

Aster started off behind Lloyd with Richter at his side, looking extremely annoyed. "Really, Aster, how in the world do you come up with these stupid ideas?"

"I don't know! Sometimes it's like my brain has a mind of its own!"

Richter only sighed.

…

"So, here are some sketches of what it looks like, and some notes on its behavior as we observed it."

Aster and Raine were bent over a table in the inn's small lobby; the table was strewn haphazardly with papers and notebooks.

"Is the specimen male or female?"

"Male."

"Standing on two legs… how does it balance? Oh, I see, this counterbalances so it won't topple over."

"Yes, exactly, and these joints work as well for arms as they do as legs for running."

"Fascinating!"

"Oh, brother," Genis groaned, "She's getting way too into this…"

He stood a safe distance away with Lloyd, Colette, and Richter, who was watching the silver-haired woman with a mixture of disgust and grudging admiration. "She is rather too enthusiastic, but she grasps the concepts quite well."

Lloyd rolled his eyes. "Well, duh, the Professor's like, the smartest person ever!"

The redhead looked at the teen skeptically over his small glasses. "I see…" He turned to Genis. "So you and your sister are…?"

"Elves," Genis replied quickly. Richter nodded once, saying nothing more.

Meanwhile, Lloyd and Colette walked cautiously forward to look at some of the sketches and drawings.

"Lloyd, it kind of looks like Noishe, doesn't it?" Colette asked.

Raine lifted her head suddenly, looking intently at her students. "Why, it almost does… is it possible that this could be related to Noishe?"

Aster shook his head quickly. "I don't think so; I believe this is one-of-a-kind."

"But so is Noishe," Colette replied.

"But Noishe is totally different than this thing!" Lloyd protested. "I mean, he definitely can't walk on two legs like this, at least not for long…"

The blond boy looked thoughtful. "Noishe is your dog, right Lloyd? Could I see him?"

"What a marvelous idea!"

Lloyd had a bad feeling about this.

…

"Whine!"

"Just… hold… still!"

The two avid—though Lloyd thought "rabid" suited them a little better—researchers were currently engaged in trying to keep the sliver and green dog with them long enough to examine, and so far the dog was winning.

"Come on, Noishe, please just stay still so I can look at you!" Aster grunted as he struggled to hold on to the beast's middle. Noishe made no sign of stopping; if anything, his struggles increased.

"Have the two of you thought of this?" Richter asked calmly as he stepped forward with a plate of bacon, holding it out towards the dog, whose eyes immediately widened. With a bark, he sprang forward, landing on Richter and sending the plate toppling. He eagerly started eating the treat off the ground.

"Brilliant, Richter!" Aster exclaimed, running over to look at the animal. "Relax, I'm not going to hurt you," he murmured as he stroked Noishe's side. "I just want to admire you."

The dog gave an equivalent of a grin before licking the boy's face, leaving Aster coated in bacon-scented dog saliva, looking extremely grossed out, but the event gave Raine time to close in and examine Noishe against one of Aster's drawings. "Hmm, the patterns of the coloring are similar, as is the size, but other than that…"

After furiously wiping his face, Aster took a good look at the grinning silver animal. "There's a slight resemblance, but it's definitely not the same."

The silver-haired woman sighed. "Oh, and here I thought I may have clues as to what this creature actually is…"

Lloyd scowled. "How many times do I have to tell you, Professor, Noishe is just a dog?"

Noishe gave a laughing bark in response.

"He's extremely intelligent for a dog," Aster said speculatively, then sighed. "I'd like to look into it, but I'm afraid I don't have the time."

"He is not a dog," Raine stated adamantly, arms crossed. "There is no breed of dog this large."

Lloyd scoffed. "What else would he be?"

"I haven't quite figured that out yet."

…

"Well, this is boring," Genis complained as Raine and Aster, with Richter included this time, continued poring over notes on who-knows-what.

"We could go back to the beach…" Colette suggested; Lloyd shrugged.

"Sure, maybe we can find something to do this time."

They wandered dully back towards the water, letting Colette walk along the sand for a while before heading to the docks, where there seemed to be the most activity.

"It's a Katz!"

Genis pointed at what looked like just someone in a cat suit. "Um… what?" Lloyd asked, feeling the familiar sensation of being out of the loop.

"Katz, Lloyd, don't you know anything?"

"Apparently not."

Genis sighed. "A Katz is an inhuman creature, much like elves or dwarves, that—"

"Okay, I don't really care that much." Lloyd could feel a lecture coming on, and he wanted to avoid that at all costs.

Suddenly, the creature called out, "Hey you!" The young trio turned to see the Katz pointing at Genis. "Come here and let me teach you a game!"

The boy glanced at his friends, who nodded encouragement, then ran off to talk to the strange creature, who started explaining something with wild gesticulations.

"What the hell?"

Lloyd whirled around to see Skah behind him, arms crossed as he watched the unusual sight.

"I dunno, it just yelled for Genis go play or something. Hey, did you meet Aster and Richter?"

Skah looked blank. "Who?"

"We met them earlier. The Professor was helping them with some research or something in the lobby."

"Oh, that explains it. I heard the psycho teacher raving about something in the lobby, so I just climbed out the window to avoid her."

"Nice."

"Lloyd, come look at this!"

He turned his head to see Colette by a bulletin board of sorts, examining a poster. "What is it?"

"It's you!"

"Seriously? One of these again?" Lloyd ran over, followed by Skah, and groaned at the poster of him. "Why do they have to have these up?"

"What the hell, kid?"

Lloyd tore the poster down, crumpling it before shoving it in his pocket. "The Desians put it up," he muttered, trying not to draw too much attention.

Skah looked incredibly amused. "Let me see!" He lunged for it, Lloyd dodged, and a small scrape ensued, at the end of which Lloyd looked defeated and Skah laughed loudly at the poster. "That'ssupposed to be you?" Lloyd glared. "Well, I guess I can see that. Yeah, it does look like you!"

"Give it back, Skah."

"You kidding? I'm keeping this. I think I might frame it!" With that, the man walked away, still laughing.

…

"What research were you doing, exactly?"

Aster shrugged awkwardly. "Well, we were studying mana and those who control it—"

"Magic users?"

"No, I mean on a bigger scale. Like Summon Spirits."

"I see… and where does this creature come in?"

"Well, we… we kind of created him in our lab. We think he can control mana on a large scale, but he escaped before we could finish our research."

Richter scoffed. "Almost before we could start."

"How did you do it?"

"I'd rather not say—"

"Shut up, Genis!"

Raine looked up to see her brother and students enter, laughing about something or other—who knew with them?

"Having fun, Professor?"

"Yes, Colette dear." She smiled at the girl, who beamed back. She was so easy to please…

"So Professor Raine, do you know anything about the subject?"

Ignoring her students, she turned back to the boy. "I know some, yes, although it's not something I've studied in detail. I've never had the resources." She shot the males a suspicious glance; Richter seemed indifferent, but Aster looked slightly self-conscious.

"Anyway, since you're a… an elf, you'd notice mana anomalies, right? Have you felt anything like that?"

"Actually, we found something when we released the Seal of Fire, a strange gem…"

"Really? Can I see it?"

Her eyes widened in surprise as she looked at the blonde; his emerald eyes had lit up, an extremely excited expression was on his face. Even Richter looked interested; jade eyes glinted behind his glasses.

"Do you know something about it?"

"Yes, actually. It has a lot to do with our research—"

"Professor!" Lloyd came running up to her. "Come on, we're going to the docks to see if we can get a boat, and Kratos and Yuan said you had to come! We can't go without you."

She looked wistfully at the notes before her. "I'll be there in a minute, Lloyd." The boy ran off, leaving her with the two researchers. "I suppose we will finish this conversation later."

"Yeah, Professor, there's a lot I want to talk to you about."

…

"So, Professor…"

The woman sighed. "Yes Lloyd?"

The teen shifted uncomfortably, not looking at her, but instead watching Yuan and Kratos try to bargain unsuccessfully with some of the captains at the docks. "What were you and those guys doing?"

"Research, Lloyd. We were examining their notes."

"Okay…" He scuffed his foot against the wooden boards beneath him, glancing around. Genis was playing with the Katz again as Colette watched, and he hadn't seen Skah since earlier. "They seem pretty nice and all."

"Yes, so it seems." She sighed. "What is it you want to know, Lloyd?"

He could feel his face heat up. "Nothing, really, I mean—"

"This is completely useless!" Yuan had come storming back. "None of them want to travel, 'too many monsters', they say, and they won't listen to any argument!"

Kratos walked sedately back. "I have had no luck either; it seems we may be staying here for a while."

Raine sighed. "Lloyd, go get Colette and Genis, we can head back to the inn. I should go talk to Aster again…"

"I don't think so!"

They all turned to stare at him; he could feel his blush again. "I mean, Professor, shouldn't you do something else? You've been in there forever, just looking at papers and stuff. Wouldn't it be better if you stayed out here, to get some fresh air or something?"

Raine stared at him for a moment, then shook her head exasperatedly. "Let's go."

…

"Look at that kid!"

"What about him?"

"Well, doesn't he look kinda like this?"

The man held out a poster: a badly drawn picture took up most of the space, along with a small description of his appearance and his crimes, and a reward. The name was printed in bold letters: LLOYD IRVING.

"Well, yeah, I guess."

"Has anyone heard his name?"

"Why?"

"Well, it looks like there's a pretty big reward up for this kid and if this is really him…"

Murmurs went through the small group as ideas spread, plans began to form. "Here he comes, listen to them…"

The voices were faint, but still easily understood: "Geez, Lloyd, you can be so stupid sometimes!" "Genis, be nice, Lloyd's smart in his own way."

"It's him."

"It is!"

"Let's do it; we'll split the reward evenly between the lot of us…"

None of the sailors noticed that the man who had started the plot had disappeared.

…

Aster and Richter were waiting in the lobby when they got back.

"There you guys are! Did you have any luck getting a boat?"

"No, unfortunately," the Professor replied, shaking her head. "It seems we'll be here for a while longer."

"That's too bad." The boy looked anxious, and quickly broke into the subject he was obviously worrying about. "About what we were talking about earlier, Professor, can we—"

Yuan started, glancing toward the window. "It looks like we might have a problem," he said before approaching the glass. "Shit," he muttered suddenly, pulling back. "Lloyd, did you find another Desian poster here?"

"Yeah, why—no. Don't tell me there's Desians."

"No, but—We'd better get out of here. Looks like some people want the reward for turning you in."

Outside, shouts started to grow. Lloyd glanced out and saw fire; torches, but from the looks of those people, they wouldn't hesitate to start up something else. "We've gotta go." He wouldn't let this be another Iselia. "We need to go before anyone gets hurt."

"Agreed." Kratos took hold of Colette's wrist, looking towards the others as he gave instructions. "We'll leave through the back; you two," he glanced towards Aster and Richter, "after we're out, let them in, let them see we're not here. We head out, go whichever way seems safest."

The group nodded solemnly.

"Good luck," Aster murmured.

Yuan scowled. "From the looks of things out there, we're going to need more than that."

"You'll be fine." The blond boy grinned. "Courage is the magic that turns dreams into reality!"

Genis scoffed. "That's even dorkier than those Dwarven Vows Lloyd spits out all the time!"

"Time to go," Kratos interrupted before any argument could start.

"Where's Skah?" Colette gasped as they dashed around houses. They had tried to get to the gates of town, but their pursuers had obviously expected that and posted guards; they were attempting to hide, but given the size of the town, it would only be a matter of time until they were found.

"Looking for me?" The man appeared in a small gap between two buildings. "Come on, I've got a way out for us." He turned, darting quickly away, leaving the others no choice but to follow.

They found themselves near the dock again; a few frightened villagers huddled, fearful of the sailors ransacking their town. A few sailors prowled as well, eyes open for their target.

"Why are they doing this?" Colette's eyes were wide and troubled. "Lloyd didn't do anything to them, so why would they try to give him to the Desians?"

"Chosen, these people are desperate," Kratos explained softly. "Times are hard, and there are those who would do anything to get ahead."

"Come on Colette, we'll talk about it later," Lloyd told her, his hand comfortingly on her shoulder. "We just have to get out now."

"Let's go!" Skah hissed before leaving their shelter; the sailors were distracted by the children crying in their mothers' arms; they gruffly demanded that the children "shut the hell up." He ran to a boat on the pier, a boat that had already been mostly untied; only a single line held it in its place. He hopped over the railing, gesturing for them to follow, which they did. "Now let's get out of here!" He untied the line, pushing them away from the dock. "Let's get this thing moving," he grunted, moving to adjust a few things.

"We have to get Noishe!" Lloyd searched for his dog; they had left him outside the town, as most people didn't feel comfortable around a creature that size.

"No, we have to leave!"

Lloyd whistled, high and clear, and almost immediately saw his best friend come running towards the pier. With an incredible leap, he cleared the growing space between the boat and its dock, landing with a thump that rocked the whole craft. "Good boy," the brunette murmured as he scratched his dog's ears. Noishe's tail wagged happily.

"There they are! They're getting away!"

It was too late; they were already moving, and as the sailors ran to their boats to follow, they found strategic damages; none of the vessels were capable of sailing.

"Skah, may I ask who this boat belongs to?"

Heads turned to look at Raine, then to Skah for an answer to her question. He shrugged. "Some of those bastards back there. Who cares?"

"You stoleit?"

Skah's crimson eyes widened as he raised an eyebrow incredulously: he had never heard Colette sound so angry.

"How could you steal someone's boat? That's… that's wrong!"

"What's your issue? If you didn't notice, they were kind of after our hides. Would you rather I let them find you?"

"Chosen, while you may not agree with his actions, we didn't have many options," Yuan stated coldly. "While it may offend your morals, we didmake it out of there alive."

She only turned her back.

Skah sighed. "We can have someone bring the boat back once we get to Palmacosta. Does that make you happy?"

He still received no reply. There was a long silence before Lloyd asked something he deemed rather important:

"Do any of you even know how to sail a boat?"