Lesson Learned

Stratch that, I was going to make this part one big long chapter but decided to cut it in half. As a result, they will probably be kind of short. Nothing quite dirty yet, don't worry, the next chapter is definitely the last... I think. Here you go.

Oh, and I really like reviews. Even if you only drop in to saw a few words, I'd greatly appreciate it. Thank you, and I hope you have a good read.

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Lloyd began to walk out of the water, gently giving his body a shake to dislodge water and wiping his soaked hair out of his face. Kratos had already climbed out, lying on his back, staring up at the clouds as he felt the sun’s warm rays on his body. The man glanced up, eyeing Lloyd as he sat down beside him.

“Any other ideas?” Kratos asked, returning to watching the clouds. It had been Lloyd’s idea to go for a swim, and he was still clueless as to what they could do together. The sun was already beginning to make its descent, and they had to leave in the morning, but perhaps they had time for another activity.

Lloyd glanced up, pondering for a moment. “I know you said earlier that we didn’t come out here to train, but do you think we could duel or something? I think it’d be kinda fun.” Kratos sat there for a few seconds, wondering if it was a good idea. He had seen Lloyd in combat numerous times on their journey, but it would be interesting to see what he could do in one-on-one combat. “That sounds great, Lloyd.”

The two spent a few minutes drying off, and then pulling their clothes back on. As the sun began to set, casting hues of orange and yellow over the area, the two swordsmen grabbed up their weapons and moved away from the camp to a small clearing, facing each other.

They stood in silence for a few moments, before Lloyd suddenly yelled a battle cry and surged forward, unsheathing his dual blades with a sharp clink. He lashed out from both sides, but Kratos easily stepped back, the swords slicing through air directly in front of him. Lloyd, keeping on the offense, proceeded to dart forward, swiping each time at his opponent from side-to-side, while Kratos’ superior speed evaded him each time.

Kratos wasn’t eager to put a beating down on his son, but perhaps it would serve as a helpful reminder that Lloyd wasn’t the best there was. Suddenly defending himself, he lifted his blade and blocked the next strike, grinning at the resounding clang of metal on metal. Lloyd, determined even more to land a blow, leaped back and thrust a sword forward.

Sidestepping, Kratos lashed out with a side-swipe of his sword, but Lloyd twisted around, tilting his sword down and matching the blow. Lloyd then brought his other sword up from the side, but Kratos quickly deflected it as they engaged in another furious duel of blades.

The father and son continued for what seemed like an eternity in a furious clash of dancing blades, each matching the other in skill, despite the weapon disadvantage. Kratos hoped that Lloyd would be too inexperienced to notice that he was obviously holding attack. At his current level of skill, it would have been no trouble at all for Kratos to kill him with relative ease. But, besting him so quickly and so easily would only have caused trouble and caused the young swordsman to doubt his ability as a fighter. But this way, he could still prove his superior skill, but at the same time giving Lloyd a confidence-booster.

After almost an hour of toying around with Lloyd, Kratos finally decided it was time to finish it. He had noticed several mistakes in the way Lloyd battled that would have given him plenty of openings, but up until now he had ignored them. Now, it was time to show to exploit. As Lloyd suddenly lashed his two blades together, coming at Kratos from both sides, he ducked and weaved out of the way. As the attacks came together against thin air, it left a seconds opening where Lloyd would be unable to react with his weapons. Kratos came from the side, attempting to knock his breath away with a blow in the side with the blunt edge of his sword. However, Lloyd’s arm flew down at the last second, catching the sword at an awkward angle. There was an ensuing tearing of flesh as Kratos’ blade sliced against Lloyd’s shoulder, and a cry of pain as the young swordsman fell back, wincing, blood pouring from the wound.

“Lloyd!” Kratos cried out, throwing his weapon to the ground and rushing forward. Lloyd wrestled from his grasp, shaking his head. “I-it’s nothing! Let’s keep going.” But it was evident in his grimace that he was in a great deal of pain and certainly unable to continue in his current state. Kratos grabbed his arm, examining the wound as he quickly muttered a few low words, ending with the common spell “Heal.” A glowing light began to envelope Lloyd’s shoulder, clotting up the blood and slightly stitching up the wound.

“Let’s get back to the camp and I’ll finish patching it up,” Kratos said firmly as he snatched up his and Lloyd’s weapons, beginning to lead them back to the tent. The sun was almost finished setting by now, and a low glow barely lit up the clearing.

Fetching a few first-aid items that Raine had conveniently packed, [assuming that they would be training and obviously getting hurt] he scooted out of the tent to where Lloyd sat on the ground, staring at his shoulder. Kratos frowned, furious with himself that he hadn’t reacted in time. But there wasn’t much he could do now.

“I’m sorry, Lloyd, I was so careless…” The mercenary murmured the apology as he took a seat beside him, beginning to disinfect the wound with a cloth. Lloyd winced as it began to sting.

“It’s alright, Kratos. I should have been a little bit better, or this wouldn’t have happened.” Kratos almost pointed out that he could have done much, much worse to the boy, but quickly decided it was a bad idea. He finished cleaning up the injury, then grabbed another cloth and tied it up.

Lloyd nodded, glad that the pain was beginning to recede. “Thanks, Kratos,” he muttered, closing his eyes as he mentally kicked himself for allowing it to happen in the first place. If he was ever going to grow stronger, he would need to start paying more attention to every aspect of the battle.

Falling back against the ground, he heaved a sigh as Kratos glanced at him, a knowing look crossing his face. It was understandable that Lloyd would be disappointed with himself.