Exploring the Woods

[Leon Magnus]

Leon made his way slowly through the thick trees of the Mystic Forest. His dark violet eyes darted left and right, catching even the slightest movements of the wind against the trees. His hand rested on the hilt of Chaltier, his sword, ready to draw it at any sign of danger.

To his left, he heard a shuffling in the brush, and instantly he drew his sword. Darting to the side, he pointed his sword at the bush, eyes narrowing slightly as he realized it was a human back there.

"Who's there?!" he shouted in a sharp voice, ready to attack whoever it was if needed.

[Kelthon Agencourt]

Chester was surprised as what he thought had been an animal moving slowly through the wood looking for food stepped into his field of vision and turned out to be a stranger. He had been ready to loose an arrow at whatever it was that had been creeping through the woods and in his surprise at the identity of the creature, he nearly fell forward in his cover, creating somewhat of a rustling before he caught himself.

After the now clearly some of kind of warrior had drawn at the sound he’d made and yelled “Who’s there?”, Chester, without lowering his bow already nocked with an arrow, came out of the undergrowth he was using as cover and said

“I am a hunter, here with a friend of mine hoping to bring back some food at the end of the day.” He looked this strangely clad interloper over for and second and asked “Who are you and why are you in this forest I would like to know. Your suspicious movement, I barely heard you moving through there, Only someone with something to hide would be so careful, your carrying a sword and waving it at every at every slight movement, and you obviously aren’t here for hunting, carrying neither a bow nor traps. What could possibly bring you here in such a way?”

edit: used knocked instead of nocked, slightly embarrassing.

[Leon Magnus]

((see? You're not bad at all! for your fist RP reply, I am, impressed =D))

Raising an eyebrow, Leon stared at the boy who'd come out of the brush. He didn't look much older then him, perhaps 17 or 18 at most. His dark violet eyes fell on the bow in the strangers hands, and he felt a small smirk tugging at his lips. A bow was no match for a top-rank soldier like himself.

"Bochan*," the blue gem on Leon's sword began to glow as a disembodied voice came from it. It was soft, gentle, and almost calming, holding an amused note to it, "This guy doesn't seem to trust you at all, does he?" a soft chuckled followed this before the sword continued, "He's accusing you of being the suspicious one here..."

"I noticed, Chaltier..." Leon muttered, glancing at the sword, before returning his gaze to the other boy in the small clearing,

"First of all, being in a forest, it's not wise to advertise your location, thus the reason for my stepping quietly. I'm not from here, and I honestly haven't a clue where I am, or how I got here, so stopping around a forest practically screaming 'look at me' didn't seem very smart. Second, of course I carry a sword, I never go anywhere without Chaltier, and again, I don't know where this is, or what's in this forest, so I must be ready for anything, as a soldier I must keep my senses alert..." he paused again, lowering his sword to the side before continuing,

"And lastly, I have nothing to hide, nor do I have ill-intent against anyone innocent, you would be the one who's still pointing the bow at me, as if I'm about to attack you, but I must warm you, shoot it if you like, you won't hit me, and I can promise I'll take you out before you have the chance to load another."

"Master Leon, I don't think threatening him is going to make him lower the bow..."

((*Bochan means, 'Young Master' in Japanese, it is a title Chaltier uses for Leon very often.

And yes, the sword talks. Chaltier, is a swordian. Pretty much, he is one of... six (I think) rare swords. They used to be humans during a great war many-a-year ago, and somehow their spirits got sealed into the swords. The swordians choose their masters, and only work for them. Futhermore, only a select few people can actually USE a swordian, thus, a Swordian Master is nothing to laugh about...

It's kinda confusing, I know, but simply put, there is an ancient war heros spirit inside a Swordian (like Chaltier, for example) and they can talk, as well as work as a very powerful weapon.

You can see what Chaltier's human form looked like before he was a sword in my signature~*)

[Kelthon Agencourt]

Considering this Chester responded “One of the out of town trainees at the academy, eh?” Chester allowed himself a wry smile at the boy, “Going out into the forest playing soldier and threatening hunters? You’re lucky I didn’t aim and fire reflexively before I realized you were a human rather than a game animal and as for advertising your location, how’s jumping 5 feet in the air and yelling at undergrowth for that purpose? I could’ve just as easily been a rabbit in there.”

He turned serious again “Honestly though, I don’t think I’m going to be lowering this bow while you still have your sword drawn. That would really put me at a disadvantage if you wanted to try your skills and don’t think just because you’ve learned a few dodge tricks you can make me miss you at point blank range here, if you really want to be so hostile about this, I hold the upper hand here with a ranged weapon. I propose you lower your sword first, THEN I lower my bow.” he paused for a second and glanced the suns position in the sky, "Besides, this is near the place I was supposed to meet with my freind and he should be here any minute now to back me up if need be."

(hopefully the part about there being trainees from out of town is accurate, I don’t really remember it being addressed in the game and it doesn’t seem like a small town like that could supply more than a few per class, even if they made combat training compulsory, which I don’t find very likely to have been the case.)

[Leon Magnus]

Leon's eyebrow twitched as he took a step forward, raising the sword that had been hanging loosely in his hand at his side, his eyes flashing dangerously,
"Playing solider?!" he growled, "First off, I don't go to this 'academy' you're talking about, let alone whatever village it happens to be from. I am Leon Magnus, the top-ranking soldier under King Hugo of Seinegald." he took another step forward, raising the sword higher, pointing it at the other,

"I don't care if you're a hunter, villager, or soldier yourself, but if you dare insult me with such a pathetic rank as a pitiful academy student, I'll be sure to show you just how wrong you are." he flicked his wrist slightly, giving the sword a small jerk. There was a small humming noise, and just inches behind the archer, a bolt of lightning slammed into the ground, sending dirt and stones flying, leaving behind a deep, and rather large crater.

"If your friend is as weak and pathetic as you look, then I should have no problem taking you both out."

"Master Leon, while I don't approve of him insulting you, I don't think making enemies with this kid is wise. We need to find a way to get back home, I can't sense Dymlos, Atwight, or the others... I don't even think we're in Erthen anymore...it's just like when you were sent to Sylvarant..." Chaltier spoke up, his voice was quiet and distant, as if in deep thought as he spoke.

"..." Leon remained silent for a few moments, before nodding slowly, "Perhaps you are right Chaltier..." he muttered, eying the blue haired stranger for a moment, before slowly sheathing his sword and crossing his arms. Even if the other attacked, his magical skills were nothing to laugh at, "Who are you anyway?"


((*shrugs* They did, remember Cless' dad running that dojo or w/e it was? I guess that would count... although Leon wouldn't know about that, seeing as he's not from Sylvarant or Tethe'alla.

Tales of Phantasia however, starts after Tales of Symphonia (the future) however, the past part of the game is set before Tales of Symphonia. (Thats why they called that tree "The Yggdrasial tree") however the "past" part of the game, is way before the ToS storyline.

So, all in all, Leon saying he's been to Sylvarant is odd, because he IS in Sylvarant... just in a different timeline~*))

[Kelthon Agencourt]

Seeing the stranger he now knew as Leon Magnus lower his sword, Chester in turn lowered his bow. He remained wary though, since he now was aware that even if this Leon was unarmed, he would still be able to attack with his magic, not to mention he hadn't been expecting that explosion at all and was still somewhat off balance from it.

Regaining his composure Chester responded to the question "I am Chester Barklight, from the town Totus. My friend is Cless Alvein and he should be here by now." he thinks for a second, "I suppose if you don't know where you're going you can accompany us hunting, just don't get in the way, even if you are a soldier, hunting is not like war, although it could be helpful to have an extra warrior around if any of the monsters that have been popping up around the forest lately decide to attack. After that we can take you back to town and you can find your bearings from there."

[Leon Magnus]

Leon stared at Chester, his mouth handing open slightly. Looking down at his sword for a moment, he raised his gaze to Chester before muttering,

"...Chaltier... correct me if I'm wrong but... I just... threatened this boy's life... and... he's inviting me to...come with him."

"I believe you're correct, Bochan." Chaltier said in a cheery tone, "It's sort of like when you meet Stahn, hm? You were pretty rude to him too, and he just smiled and held out his hand, asking you to come along."

Sighing, Leon ran a hand slowly through his raven hair, making the long bangs in the front fall over his right eye,

"Fine, whatever, I'll come... I'm so tired of world jumping, I just want to get back to Seinegald..." I guess... I'll just have to go with the flow for now... he thought absently, taking a step forward, as if to move towards Chester, when he suddenly turned around sharply, drawing Chaltier, as he darted towards a bush behind him.

Reaching out, he grabbed something, before pulling 'it' to the ground in front of him, pointing it's blade at the figure's neck,

"W-whoa! Hold on!" the new-comer threw his arms up in defense, his eyes wide, "Calm down! I wasn't going to attack you! I was just walking by and I heard voices and-" the boy turned around, his eyes falling on Chester, and a shaky grin appeared on his face, "C-Chester! Help me out here! Tell your friend to cool it with the sword!"

"..." So...this... is Cless then? Leon thought, frowning.

[Kelthon Agencourt]

"Whoa there! You don't have to go pointing that sword of yours at every living thing in the forest now!” exclaimed Chester putting away his bow and moving to position himself between the two at the same time “I did tell you Cless would be here soon.". Looking to Cless now he said “The one who just attacked you would be Leon, somehow he got himself lost in this forest and I figured we couldn’t just leave him out here to die, so I offered to take him back to Totus with us after we get done hunting. Sorry for not waiting for you to make the decision and by the way, did your mother include lunches for us? I didn’t take anything from my house…”

Getting up off the ground, Cless says “That’s alright I wouldn’t want anyone to get lost out here when I could help, just make sure he loosens up a little, sheesh. Oh, and I did get lunches for us, but I think they got crushed when I fell…” He pulled out a couple dripping bags and frowns at them.

Chester glared for a moment at Leon, then says “Well, I think we should head off deeper into the forest, I think we could go after some wild boar out there.” Then looking towards Leon again he says “Just don’t try anything , I’ll be keeping an eye on you, perhaps if you’re lucky enough to be around when we bag something, you’ll even get to see what a “pathetic” shot I am.”

edit: forgot we were supposed to be using past tense at some points

[Leon Magnus]

Raising his eyebrow, Leon frowned, giving the other two annoyed looks,

"Whatever... do what you want, I honestly never say the joy in hunting, needlessly killing an animal, when there is plenty of fresh meat..."

"Bochan, perhaps their village is not as rich as Seinegald..."

"...Very true Chaltier..." Leon muttered, a slightly thoughtful, if it could be called that, tone to his voice. Brushing past Chester, Leon started down the small dirt path that lead deeper into the woods, his voice taking on a bored tone,

"Honestly Mr. Hot-shot archer, I really don't care HOW good of a shot you may be, you can have all the skill in the world..." he glanced over his shoulder, smirking, "You'd still be no match for me."

Cless watched after Leon as he started down the path again, a small smile on his face as he scratched his cheek with his index finger, his voice coming out amused,

"He's... very lively... isn't he?" he asked Chester, patting the other on the shoulder, "Maa, but don't listen to him, your archery skills are among the best I've seen, so try not to let him get to you..." the blond started down the path Leon was taking, but paused, looking back at Chester, "Ah... I don't know if it was just me or what but.... was... his sword talking? And did he call it by...name?"

[Kelthon Agencourt]

Chester gave Cless a somewhat quizical look and said "The sword talking, I don't think so, just muttering to himself." then in a quieter voice "Probably talking to his split personality, might explain why he's so shifty." hurrying to catch up to Leon now, he continued, "Alright, let's see how quickly we can find something to bring back, so we can get Leon here back to town."

"Hunting is supposed to be a time of comraderie you know." muttered Cless " I don't like having open hostility here and I could have sworn that sword was talking and he was definately talking to it..."

Chester shrugged as if to say 'he started the whole thing' and then looking around stopped and said very quietly, "Look over there, I think there's a wild boar over there next to that tree."

[Leon Magnus]

A small smirk grew on Leon's lips, but he kept his back to the others, an amused sparkle in his eyes.

"Bochan," Chaltier called up to Leon, his own vouce sounding amused, "The archer thinks you suffer from a split personality..."

"I know... I heard him Clal," Leon muttered, holding back the strong urge to laugh, "It's amusing, in a way, they seem to, at least Chester does anyway, think I'm crazy, and some sort of armature..."

"Don't go too spell-happy on them now master Leon, obviously, they came from somewhere, and if they don't return home, they are sure to send others to look for them."

"Don't worry..." Leon muttered, turning his gaze to look behind the tree Chester had mentioned earlier, "I wasn't going to attack them, I've better use for them..."

"Use, Bochan?"

"They might be able to help me bet back home..."

Cless turned his attention to the tree his friend was friend was looking at, narrowing his eyes slightly as he tried to see the boar,
"I don't see it but..." he trailed off as he hear Leon begin to speak to Chaltier again, and he nudged Chester in the side, "Look!" he hissed, gesturing at Leon, "He's talking to the sword again! Listen! He just called him 'Chal' and Chaltier responded! Listen!"

[Kelthon Agencourt]

Humoring Cless for a moment, Chester listened to Leon ad whispered "I just heard something about going home. Now see, the winds changed, I think its caught our scent." At this point Chester nocked a new arrow and began to bring his bow up when the boar suddenly bolted out of view.

"Blast." muttered Chester as he lowered his bow. He walked over to the spot where the boar had been a moment ago and motioned for the others to follow looking at the ground he followed the tracks for several yards before stopping and saying and confusedly saying, "The trail seems to split here, I only saw one of them though..."

Looking at the ground without seeing any sign of either trail, Cless says "How about we follow that one that leads deeper into the forest, you always say that the better game dwells farther from town." looking up now "One of them does lead deeper, right?"

"Yes, but looking at it again, one of them is slightly different..." His eyes went wide, "In that brush" he hissed and suddenly a bugbear rand out of the bush towards them, brandishing his club.

(hopefully you don't have anything against me creating a random battle, I'm sure you'll have no problem dealing with it in your post though.)

[Leon Magnus]

"Get ready!" Cless muttered, drawing his sword, darting forward, "I'll distract it, you take him out, Chester!" He ran forward, swinging his sword out at the last moment, but the BearBug had done the same, and both it's club and Cless' sword went flying several feet to the right. Shoot! Cless thought, frantically looking around for something to defend himself with.

Seeing nothing, he ran behind the creature, throwing his right first forward, hitting it square in the back, effectively earning it's attention. As the creature turned around, Cless looked over at Chester, mouthing, 'Get him now, I'll be fine.'

The smile on Leon's face widened as he saw the creature run forward. Amusement dancing in his eyes.

"Chaltier?"

"Yes, Bochan?" the sword replied, his voice holding the same tone of vague excitement as Leon's.

"...looks like another game has begin..."

[Kelthon Agencourt]

As Cless charged forward, Chester readied his bow and waited for a clear shot on the Bugbear. He caught some of Leons muttering to his sword and though that perhaps Cless isn't just hearing things. As the Cless clashed with the beast however, all his concentration went to the fight in front of him. At Cless' signal he nodded slightly and loosed an arrow at the Bugbear, catching it in shoulder as it brought itself up to face Cless opposite him.

The Bugbear, howling in pain from the more substantial wound inflicted upon the by the archer, directed a slam at Cless who dodged out of the way towards his fallen weapon. The Bugbear then turned back towards others and bounded towards them.

[Leon Magnus]

"I suppose... I should help them hm?"

"It would help them get their game faster, which would get us to the village faster, and in turn get help and home faster..." Chaltier spoke up form his sheath, agreeing with Leon.

Putting his hands together, Leon shut his eyes slowly, a circle of mana appearing under him as he chanted softly and quickly under his breath,
"O darkened storm cloud, loose thy blade and run mine enemies through!
Thunder Blade*!" the area seemed to darken slightly, as a second circle of mana appeared under the bearbug, shooting lighting upward, as a large sword that appeared to be made of pure electricity slammed down upon the monster, stopping it in it's tracks completely as it let out a scream of agony, dropping to the ground.

"...hmph... easier then I thought..." Leon muttered, frowning slightly, "...I was hoping for more of a challenge..."

((*You should know this move from ToS, Kratos learns/uses it often))