![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-community.gif){kind=small}
![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
seikilosYep, I'm back to posting it. I've a second theme I need to put up here, but I only have time to post the first, so here you go.
Title: [renamed] A Fortunate Coincidence
Theme: #16 - think of me and I'll be there
Fandom: Tales of Symphonia
Genre: Genfic, slight hints of romance.
Rating: G
Words: 1257; oneshot.
Disclaimer: I don't own Tales of Symphonia.
Summary: A routine climbing exercise has a not-so-routine outcome.
Author's Notes: Yeah, I know, this is a cliché, but the way the theme's set up, there's not a lot I can do about it. I did my best to keep the clichés from being too obvious, though.
“Lord Botta, we must have been walking for hours now! Can’t we stop and take a break?” a recently recruited half-elf whined.
Botta didn’t stop walking, and nor did he turn around. “No, Private. And it has been half an hour. Silence in the ranks.”
The half-elf reduced his grumbling to a level Botta could ignore and kept walking.
It was Botta’s turn to lead the endurance training of the new recruits. It was something that nearly every officer, bar Lord Yuan and any officers disabled through combat, had to do. Everyone in the Renegades who performed duties outside the two bases had to be in excellent shape, and this was a way of ensuring that fact.
After about another ten minutes of walking, the small group arrived at their destination—a high cliff face. It was composed of multiple places where the cliff would level out into ledges a few feet wide; in a few places, the ledges would dip down into crevices that the trainees would need to climb down before climbing back up the other side and continuing on their way. There were just enough handholds to make it a doable climb for newcomers to the organisation, but they were also far enough apart to make it a challenge.
“Your task is to climb to the top of the cliff, then come back down and wait at the bottom. When everyone has completed the climb, we will return to the base.” Botta prepared himself for the complaints that he was forced to endure every time he was responsible for this particular training exercise. They were almost always the same and forever on the same theme; he dealt with them by remaining silent and unmoving until the complainers ran out of breath.
When he was certain no one was going to turn around and head back to the base, Botta started climbing the cliff.
Seeing their leader carrying out the task almost effortlessly, most of the recruits copied him right away. The few that were slow to start did so after a few embarrassed moments.
This was the part of the exercise Botta liked. He was able to climb at his own pace while occasionally checking on the recruits to make certain no one had fallen. He rarely had time to himself in the base, and so he enjoyed his solitary climbing.
He pulled himself up to a small plateau and walked across it, arriving at the edge of the largest crevice on the cliff face. He was preparing to descend into the crevice when a shriek behind him caused him to spin around in search of its source.
The sudden movement caused him to lose his balance. The dirt and rocks on the edge gave way and, with a cry of shock, Botta tumbled into crevice in a shower of loose clay and small pebbles.
He lay still for a few moments and assessed his injuries. His head was sore from where he had bumped it on the way down—fortunately not too hard, or he would have been unconscious. His body felt bruised and shaken, and his right ankle was throbbing. He had probably twisted it at the very least.
He could hear a few of the new Renegades calling his name; they must have heard him cry out as he fell.
“Down here!” he shouted.
The shouts abruptly ceased as a few of the recruits arrived. Carefully, seeing the loose soil at the edge of the crevice, they peered down to where Botta was making a few tentative attempts to stand.
“Lord Botta, are you all right?” one of them asked.
“I think I may have twisted my ankle,” Botta answered.
This was confirmed when Botta tried to put weight on his right foot and felt a burst of pain.
“Wait here,” the same Renegade said. “We’ll go get help.”
Botta sat back down to do as the Renegade said. It would be quite a while before he was rescued; none of the new recruits looked strong enough to help him out of the crevice and down the cliff.
This would be easily solved if Lord Yuan were here, he thought. He could teleport me back to the base in seconds. He could even fly me out if he needed to.
Almost seconds later, Botta noticed a shimmer in the air nearby. At first, he thought he was seeing things, but very soon, Lord Yuan appeared only a few feet away.
“Lord Yuan?” Botta asked, more than a little surprised.
Yuan quickly moved to Botta’s side and supported him with an arm. “You’re injured. Are you able to walk?”
Botta couldn’t help but stare. “No, but—how did you know I needed your help?”
The pain from his ankle and various bruises was not fading as time passed. In fact, it almost seemed as though the pain was increasing. Worn and sore, Botta had to resist the surprisingly strong urge to rest his head on Yuan’s shoulder.
Yuan tightened the arm encircling Botta’s shoulders in what could almost be termed a half-hug as he helped Botta rise. “I did a routine check of your location. Not even a minute later, your transmitter must have died, because everything suddenly went blank on my end. I checked to make sure it wasn’t that my machine had broken, and then came for you as fast as I could.”
Botta glanced down at the small transmitter at his side as he balanced against Yuan. It didn’t look to be in the greatest of shape.
“I must have landed on it when I fell,” he said.
“I’m guessing that’s the case.” Yuan gave Botta one more look to assess him for damage. “I should get you back to the base to be treated. I’ll look after the exercise from here.”
“Are you sure you want to do that?” Botta asked, tentatively trying to put weight on his ankle. He winced as pain blossomed, rewarding him.
“I don’t see why not. After all, I came up with the exercise. I should think I’m capable of carrying it out.” He added, “And stop trying to put weight on your ankle. You’ll only make it worse.”
“Yes, sir. And be careful, s—Yuan,” was all Botta said.
“I will, after seeing what happened to you.” Readjusting his grip on Botta, he said, “Come on. I had better take you back, now.”
The two vanished.
* * *
Botta was working in his room, his twisted ankle bound up tightly, when Yuan returned from the exercise. He looked up when Yuan entered briskly.
“Welcome back, sir,” Botta said, a smile hiding at the corners of his lips as he took in his superior’s appearance.
Yuan was absolutely filthy. The good clothes he had worn that day were covered in dirt and torn in a few places. The older man looked put out, but, Botta was oddly proud to note, not the least bit tired.
“I am never doing that again,” Yuan said, sounding cranky. “It’s tedious, hot, and dirty, and I’d even prefer paperwork to climbing that damn cliff.”
“Very well.” He made certain to keep his face blank.
Yuan gave him a suspicious look. “Humph. I’m going to take a shower.”
And as Yuan headed off for his destination, Botta made sure to keep his smile hidden and his mind focused on the work in front of him—not on where Yuan was going. Only when he was sure Yuan had left did he allow himself to smile to himself.
Title: [renamed] A Fortunate Coincidence
Theme: #16 - think of me and I'll be there
Fandom: Tales of Symphonia
Genre: Genfic, slight hints of romance.
Rating: G
Words: 1257; oneshot.
Disclaimer: I don't own Tales of Symphonia.
Summary: A routine climbing exercise has a not-so-routine outcome.
Author's Notes: Yeah, I know, this is a cliché, but the way the theme's set up, there's not a lot I can do about it. I did my best to keep the clichés from being too obvious, though.
“Lord Botta, we must have been walking for hours now! Can’t we stop and take a break?” a recently recruited half-elf whined.
Botta didn’t stop walking, and nor did he turn around. “No, Private. And it has been half an hour. Silence in the ranks.”
The half-elf reduced his grumbling to a level Botta could ignore and kept walking.
It was Botta’s turn to lead the endurance training of the new recruits. It was something that nearly every officer, bar Lord Yuan and any officers disabled through combat, had to do. Everyone in the Renegades who performed duties outside the two bases had to be in excellent shape, and this was a way of ensuring that fact.
After about another ten minutes of walking, the small group arrived at their destination—a high cliff face. It was composed of multiple places where the cliff would level out into ledges a few feet wide; in a few places, the ledges would dip down into crevices that the trainees would need to climb down before climbing back up the other side and continuing on their way. There were just enough handholds to make it a doable climb for newcomers to the organisation, but they were also far enough apart to make it a challenge.
“Your task is to climb to the top of the cliff, then come back down and wait at the bottom. When everyone has completed the climb, we will return to the base.” Botta prepared himself for the complaints that he was forced to endure every time he was responsible for this particular training exercise. They were almost always the same and forever on the same theme; he dealt with them by remaining silent and unmoving until the complainers ran out of breath.
When he was certain no one was going to turn around and head back to the base, Botta started climbing the cliff.
Seeing their leader carrying out the task almost effortlessly, most of the recruits copied him right away. The few that were slow to start did so after a few embarrassed moments.
This was the part of the exercise Botta liked. He was able to climb at his own pace while occasionally checking on the recruits to make certain no one had fallen. He rarely had time to himself in the base, and so he enjoyed his solitary climbing.
He pulled himself up to a small plateau and walked across it, arriving at the edge of the largest crevice on the cliff face. He was preparing to descend into the crevice when a shriek behind him caused him to spin around in search of its source.
The sudden movement caused him to lose his balance. The dirt and rocks on the edge gave way and, with a cry of shock, Botta tumbled into crevice in a shower of loose clay and small pebbles.
He lay still for a few moments and assessed his injuries. His head was sore from where he had bumped it on the way down—fortunately not too hard, or he would have been unconscious. His body felt bruised and shaken, and his right ankle was throbbing. He had probably twisted it at the very least.
He could hear a few of the new Renegades calling his name; they must have heard him cry out as he fell.
“Down here!” he shouted.
The shouts abruptly ceased as a few of the recruits arrived. Carefully, seeing the loose soil at the edge of the crevice, they peered down to where Botta was making a few tentative attempts to stand.
“Lord Botta, are you all right?” one of them asked.
“I think I may have twisted my ankle,” Botta answered.
This was confirmed when Botta tried to put weight on his right foot and felt a burst of pain.
“Wait here,” the same Renegade said. “We’ll go get help.”
Botta sat back down to do as the Renegade said. It would be quite a while before he was rescued; none of the new recruits looked strong enough to help him out of the crevice and down the cliff.
This would be easily solved if Lord Yuan were here, he thought. He could teleport me back to the base in seconds. He could even fly me out if he needed to.
Almost seconds later, Botta noticed a shimmer in the air nearby. At first, he thought he was seeing things, but very soon, Lord Yuan appeared only a few feet away.
“Lord Yuan?” Botta asked, more than a little surprised.
Yuan quickly moved to Botta’s side and supported him with an arm. “You’re injured. Are you able to walk?”
Botta couldn’t help but stare. “No, but—how did you know I needed your help?”
The pain from his ankle and various bruises was not fading as time passed. In fact, it almost seemed as though the pain was increasing. Worn and sore, Botta had to resist the surprisingly strong urge to rest his head on Yuan’s shoulder.
Yuan tightened the arm encircling Botta’s shoulders in what could almost be termed a half-hug as he helped Botta rise. “I did a routine check of your location. Not even a minute later, your transmitter must have died, because everything suddenly went blank on my end. I checked to make sure it wasn’t that my machine had broken, and then came for you as fast as I could.”
Botta glanced down at the small transmitter at his side as he balanced against Yuan. It didn’t look to be in the greatest of shape.
“I must have landed on it when I fell,” he said.
“I’m guessing that’s the case.” Yuan gave Botta one more look to assess him for damage. “I should get you back to the base to be treated. I’ll look after the exercise from here.”
“Are you sure you want to do that?” Botta asked, tentatively trying to put weight on his ankle. He winced as pain blossomed, rewarding him.
“I don’t see why not. After all, I came up with the exercise. I should think I’m capable of carrying it out.” He added, “And stop trying to put weight on your ankle. You’ll only make it worse.”
“Yes, sir. And be careful, s—Yuan,” was all Botta said.
“I will, after seeing what happened to you.” Readjusting his grip on Botta, he said, “Come on. I had better take you back, now.”
The two vanished.
Botta was working in his room, his twisted ankle bound up tightly, when Yuan returned from the exercise. He looked up when Yuan entered briskly.
“Welcome back, sir,” Botta said, a smile hiding at the corners of his lips as he took in his superior’s appearance.
Yuan was absolutely filthy. The good clothes he had worn that day were covered in dirt and torn in a few places. The older man looked put out, but, Botta was oddly proud to note, not the least bit tired.
“I am never doing that again,” Yuan said, sounding cranky. “It’s tedious, hot, and dirty, and I’d even prefer paperwork to climbing that damn cliff.”
“Very well.” He made certain to keep his face blank.
Yuan gave him a suspicious look. “Humph. I’m going to take a shower.”
And as Yuan headed off for his destination, Botta made sure to keep his smile hidden and his mind focused on the work in front of him—not on where Yuan was going. Only when he was sure Yuan had left did he allow himself to smile to himself.
