"Just where do you get the idea that you can order me around like you're the king, boy?" Cross snarled. "I should have you exiled from the kingdom." he snorted hautily.

'That would be a good idea considering the fact that there are egotistical jerks like you in the same kingdom as me...' Lloyd thought, smirking to himself, "Look, maybe you should leave these 'So-called' savages to ME." he said. "I'll talk with them so you don't have to waste your time. I'm sure you're busy elsewhere" he said, leaning forward a bit in frustration.

"...Fine" Cross waved him off half-heartedly, "do with them as you wish, show no mercy." he laughed, "come on men." The other soldiers followed after Cross, smirking under their helmets as he walked off laughing superiorly.

"... Alright, I think that they're not going to bother us anymore..." Lloyd said, turning to the two dwarves behind him, "Whoa!!" he breathed, dodging the punch that came flying straight at him.

"Wha-what are you trying to do?!" Lloyd gasped, stepping back in alarm.

"You..." the first dwarf started, "you are trying to decieve us... and try and make us lower our prices... you're probably no different from that arrogant bastard who assulted us..."

"Whoa, wait a second, I got him to leave, there's nothing to worry about." Lloyd tried to explain, frowning as the two still carried hostile auras. "I...I'll even drop my swords if that's what you want." he said, unsheithing the two blades, making the dwarves flinch, and dropping them plainly on the ground.

They lowered their guards a bit and started to relax as Lloyd started to speak.

"I... I just wanted to talk with you, is... that okay?"

"...Alright, boy. First state your name." The second dwarf said slowly.

"Give me your name and I'll give you mine." Lloyd remarked, raising one eyebrow as the dwarves glanced at eachother.

"You're starting to sound arrogant like that young man eariler."

"... I'm Deviyn." the second dwarf said, glancing at his partner once before locking eyes with Lloyd.

"I'm Lloyd," the swordsman held out his hand to him, grinning.

Hesitating to take it, Deviyn slowly lifted his hand to shake Lloyd's.

"I am Rhile." The first one said suspiciously.

"It's nice to meet you too but... please don't try to hit me again." Lloyd laughed nervously.

"Indeed... so, why do you wish to speak with us?" Rhile questioned, his blue eyes shimmering under furrowed reddish brows.

"I... wanted ot know why you're raising your prices. I'm sure that there's just a misunderstanding in the castle about it but I want to hear it from one of you personally." Lloyd said, "I'm sure that you have a reason other than just to get more money for yourselves, right?"

"...Correct." Deviyn answered, "The mines where we gather our ore and material... they are running dry, we cannot draw from it easily. Plantations are becoming futile, for our soil is growing hard and dry."

"What?" Lloyd blinked, "that doesn't sound very good..." he grimaced, "it must be tough living in that..." he trailed off.

"It is." Rhile grumbled, "for our food supplies aren't as plentiful as they used to be."

"I'm... sorry to hear that." Lloyd said, "I wish I could help." he furrowed his brows as he searched his mind for an explanation.

"... You're a kind lad." Rhile noted, "...whoever raised you did a good job."

"I actually was raised by a dwarf..." Lloyd's eyes lit up.

Rhile looked up at him with an almost-glare, "that is a joke. NO-ONE from our valley has raised humans."

"Even if it where true..." Deviyn started, "what would make us believe you?"

"Well... my father-er... well, he's not my real dad... but he made these swords for me." Lloyd said, turning and picking up the swords on the ground behind him. "he made them so I could help my friends."

"Let me see those..." Rhile reached out and grabbed one of the blades gingerly, he examined it and scrutinized the piece of work carefully. Deviyn took ahold of the other blade, which Lloyd handed over with no trouble, and started to scan his eyes over the blade's edge.

"...This blade is quite worn..." Rhile noted, slowly looking up at Lloyd who stared at him blankly. "...You've been trhough quite a battle with these, haven't you?"

"Err... well, you could say that." Lloyd shrugged.

"...It's definately dwarven-hands that crafted this... but there's no proving that it isn't from our valley."

"You've got to be kidding me!" Lloyd sighed in disbelief.

"Wait, Rhile..." Deviyn grumbled, looking over at his partner. "It has... 'Lloyd' crafted into it's edge carefully, this also was done by dwarve hands... I think the lad may be telling the truth."

"But he could have had that especially made, Deviyn, don't be so trusting of humans so easily."

"I would think... that you can tell he's not lying."

"... Aye, maybe..." Rhile trailed, becoming silent for a moment. "...Alright, boy. One more test."

"Hm?" Lloyd hummed, being thrown his swords by each of the dwarves.

"Tell me, what is dwarven vow number one?"

Lloyd sighed in relief, "Oh that's good, I thought you were going to try and make me do laps or something..." he laughed nervously.

"Answer him." Deviyn ordered.

"Well, that's easy." Lloyd blinked, looking from Deviyn to Rhile. "Dwarven vow number one: Let's all work together for a more peaceful world."

Both looking at eachother in disbelief, they finally turned to Lloyd. "Those vows are known only to dwarves... it's almost impossible that you should..."

"Heh... Dad made me memorize all of them..." Lloyd scratched the back of his head sheepishly.

"...I see." Rhile said, "well... I'll be speaking with you another day, but for now... the sun's a settin'..." he said softly but roughly, "...Please drop by dwarf valley whenever you like. You're always welcome."

"Aye'." Deviyn agreed.

"Thanks." Lloyd said, grinning. "I actually have somthing I need to take care of... my friend needs help." and with that, he left towards the castle, catching up with Cross.

"So, did you beat those brutes to the ground?" He smirked.

"No, better." Lloyd grinned, "I sure taught them..." he laughed.

"Excellent, it is crucial that they fear us!"

"...Huh?" Lloyd blinked in a bit of confusion.

XXXXXXX

Drip...

...Drip...

Her head hung over forward, she slept in a slouched-over sitting position. Her legs folded under her and her hands tied behind her back. Bluish silver curls misplaced around her face. "Nhh..." She groaned, shifting and letting her lids expose her eyes to the dim, brick room.

"Hello there." A cheerful voice woke the sleeping girl. "Are you awake?"

"H-huhn?!" Wide eyes fixating on the blonde beside her. "Wh-who are you! Let me go, now!" she demanded, struggling and trying to pull her hands apart.

After a few moments of struggling and Colette leaning forward, concerned and a little speechless as the girl started to growl in frustration. "release me!" she hissed. "I am the princess of Radiata and I demand that you do it now!"

"But I can't." Colette said, blinking.

"What?!" she bare her teeth and fully faced her.

"I can't release you... we're both stuck in here together." Colette said softly, motioning around the room with her eyes.

It was then that the other girl noticed the bindings around Colette's wrists and feet. The blonde was smiling regardless of that fact though.

"Why are you so happy? we're trapped here." The girl asked, blinking.

"Well, I know that we'll be fine... but it's just a trap! I heard them talking when they thought I was knocked out... they're planning to make Kratos loose his job... "

"Who's Kratos?" the princess questioned.

"He's... a friend of mine... but anyway, I'm just a distraction... they're going to say that he took you from them..." Colette spoke slowly and looking at her with a sad face. "They said... he's been getting all of the jobs and putting them out of business or something... that he'll get in big trouble with their boss if he messes up their mission...

"Yes..." A low, musing voice arose from behind them. Both girls gasped. "And that's why you two are going to be good little girls and behave while we get rid of him."

XXXXX

"...Lloyd." Kratos said, meeting with his son in front of the Theatre vancoor building.

"Hey, dad." Lloyd waved to him casually. "So are we... going now?"

"Yes, but it's important that we keep our guards up... I don't want you getting hurt."

"Don't you trust me?" Lloyd crossed his arms and raised an eyebrow.

"...Yes, right well... we should move on."

"...Yeah."

The two swordsmen went to a different part of the town, they came to a house and walked in.

"Hey, I thought we were going to the sewers?"

"We are. I came to this as an exit as I was just finishing up."

"Er... oh..." Lloyd said, walking in after him. The house was vacant, and there was a large opening in a wall to the left of the staircase. "We're going down there?"

"...Yes."

They followed the staircase and came to a damp, dim room.

"...The sewers is just ahead, keep on your toes, Lloyd, remember, we don't have much backup..."

"Got it."

XXXXX

They were in the sewers, it was very dim but there were torches lit. meaning people were down there. Lloyd kept his swords up as they traveled deeper and deeper in.

"Ugh.. it's really gross in here... worse than that stupid path Zelos made us take that one time in--Whoa!" Lloyd gapsed, seeing two people coming his way.

"...Lloyd?" Jack trailed. "...For a second I thought you were those..." he sighed, whiping his forehead in relief.

...Silence.

"Hey, what are you doing here?" Lloyd blinked, sighing and lowering his swords.

There was A taller man who had armor on and a dark mustache under his helmet that had a blade in the top of it like The cheif's. His brows were furrowed constantly in a sterm expression. He was behind Jack who seemed to be leading them through the sewers, being the one who looked closest to 'in-shape'.

"Our lady who we were escorting... she's been kidnapped."

"...Yeeeah." Jack trailed, "We have to find where they took her so..."

"That's great!" Lloyd cut him off, "if it's the same people who took Colette... then maybe we can find them together! It's better than going alone, right Kratos?" Lloyd looked over his shoulder back at Kratos who stepped forward. Making the two take a step back, highly intimidated.

Lloyd took note of their vonerable positions and grim, fear-struck expressions.

"...Guys... he's not going to kill you..."

"I think it's best that we stay together, even though this may be what they want."

"What?" Lloyd faced Kratos again with a confused expression. "What do you--"

"The bandits who kidnapped Colette are probably setting a trap for us. If we aren't careful, they will most likely strike when you least expect it." Kratos stated, looking downward into the eyes of his son.

"Yes I see." Jarvis stepped forward, "for someone so young... you're pretty sharp." he said, "but... of course, you have nothing compared to my advanced intellect I've collected over the years..." he remarked, smirking.

Kratos shifted uncomfortably as his son choked.

"C-cough-WHAT?!" he breathed, holding in hysterical laughter.

"... You think you're smarter than me, kid?!" Jarvis snarled, leaned forward.

"Hahaha!" The boy started, but froze when his father jabbed him in the side sharply. "Ow..." he muttered.

It was thent that Kratos spoke. "...He's just acting that way because I was his school teacher for a while."

"Ah, I see..." Jarvis trailed, glancing at Kratos suspiciously before watching Lloyd warily, "respect for your superiors eh?"

"Erm... Yeah..." Lloyd swallowed, getting the feeling of Kratos's eyes burning holes in his face.

"...Hmm..." Jarvis eyed them both suspiciously, "...well, lets move on then."

XXXXXXX

Umm... that's all for now... I guess I'm done tonight...

Review please! It helps me think about how much you guys love reading...?

...Cricket cricket...

Er... right...

Well! g'night... I'm off to bed...