The World Tree - The Gathering of Old Friends

[Sexy_Lemur_King]

It was quiet as usual around the sacred tree, the only sounds that could be heard were the raindrops coming down harshly and an occasional grunt or two. Puddles had formed on the grass since the ground was already saturated with water, and the streams were threatening to overflow, being a possible risk to the baby tree.

The rain had been going on for days, with no sign of letting up, and the former seraphim prayed to nonexistent Goddess that it would let up soon. He had been awake the whole time, keeping a watch over Yggdrasil. He couldn't allow him to die again. As such, Yuan was on the tiny island between the streams where the tiny tree stood, uncomfortably cramped and covering the plant with his cape. His clothing and body were soaked, and his bones ached from the dampness yet he persevered silently...and alone.

It were times like this, where no monsters threatened the land and were in hiding, where the voiced of people could not be heard, where not a single bird flew in the sky, that Yuan was reminded of just how alone he was. Each second of silence dragged on for an eternity and drove him to the brim of insanity, feeding the emptiness inside of him that had appeared since the day his beloved had died, and had only grown since with the death of Mithos, and the lost of communication with Kratos.

Oh how he yearned to see his friends again. To travel back to the good old days in Asgard. Back when laughter could always be heard. Sure, he was always getting picked on by Mithos, while Martel simply laughed and cheered him up as well as she could and Kratos...Kratos would stand leaning against a tree in the background looking as cool and mysterious as he always did ever since the day they met. But with the good memories, there were bad ones. The racial slurs, the looks of disgust, and the attacks against him and his friends he would never forget. But at least they were together, and at least he did not feel the ache in his heart that he felt now.

And to know that he was the only one left out of them on the planet, that he would most likely live on forever with this emptiness in his heart, hurt him more than anything else.

As Yuan squatted there, protecting what had become of one of his dearest friends, he hoped that something would break the seemingly eternal silence to distract him from the memories that often crept into his mind...

[TurkwithStyle]

A lightning strike cracked and struck the ground, leaving nothing but a large hole. Several more lightning stikes struck the same point, breaking the earth, destroying it. Soon a large orb shaped purple mist pulsated and deepened in color to the point of pure darkness. The orb almost seemed to shatter, leaving behind the figure of an injured man. When the darkness left the man's figure, and the light shined on his body, it showed nothing more than the being of Kratos Aurion.

Kratos was injured and holding his gut on the ground, "..." He seemed to be breathing heavy.

[Sexy_Lemur_King]

Yuan was alarmed by the lightning. Throughout the whole rain storm, there hadn't been so much as a thunder. To have those bolts shoot out of nowhere nearly gave the bluenette a heart attack. Blinded by the light from the series of bolts, he hovered over Yggdrasill and clung to the tree, obviously not caring if he became a target if it meant that the tree would be out of harm's way.

When it was all over, Yuan whispered, "Oh, thank you Martel." as he slowly opened his eyes. Seeing the amount of damage that was done to the sacred land, he said another prayer to the goddess before he spotted an oddly familiar figure. He slowly stood up and approached it, groaning as the result of staying crouched in the same position for too long.

The closer Yuan got to the figure, the more he found it hard to believe who was there. He opened and closed his mouth a couple of times, trying to form words but utterly failing. Instead he ran to the other man and knelt down before him. Whether this was merely an apparition of his mind or actually real, he put behind him as this Kratos was injured.

He tried to move the older one's arms away from the injury to take a look at it when he felt warm blood against his cold hands. That was when worry appeared on his face. Kratos needed some medical attention that Yuan couldn't give him. And he couldn't move him to a place that did have it because he needed to keep an eye on the tree and make sure that it didn't drown. "Shit! What the hell happened to you?" He asked, frustration and panic evident in his voice.

[TurkwithStyle]

The red head laid there in pain, clutching the wound. He slowly opened his eyes to see Yuan and muttered, "...What are you doing in Derris Kharlan?" He tried to shrug off the pain and Yuan's question about the wound as if it was non existant.

[Sexy_Lemur_King]

"Pffft. If it's anyone who should be asking the questions here, it's me." Yuan responded in a childish manner. "You're not on Derris Kharlan... You're back where you started, friend." The half-elf took Kratos into his arms. He knew that Kratos had too much pride to let it show that he was hurt, but he at least needed to get him somewhere safe...

With strength that he had only from the cruxis crystal attached to his chest, Yuan brought Kratos over to where the knew mana tree was and laid him there before he resumed his earlier position, now covering both the human and the tree with his cape. At the same time, Yuan summoned a fog into the area, to act as a barrier to keep outsiders away (he knew that there was always a chance that Lloyd would pop up, and Kratos had made it clear in their communications that he did not wish for his son to see him anymore) and to try to help the whole rain situation.

He waited a bit, looking at Kratos with a thoughtful expression on his face, before saying. "...take your clothes off."8

[TurkwithStyle]

Kratos looked up into Yuan's eyes and coughed before saying, "I know you want me Yuan but that's a pathetic pick up line." "I'm...fine. Don't trouble yourself." He looked to the side and saw the tree. "Mithos...he's still standing proud." Kratos couldn't help himself from smiling at the tiny tree. Kratos clutched his wound and heaved himself up into a sitting position, trying to prove that he was okay as he said he was.

[Sexy_Lemur_King]

Yuan smiled as well at Kratos' mention of the tree. "Yeah, it's because me and that summon spirit have been taking good care of him..." As soon as he mentioned the summon spirit, the smile was wiped off of his face. Because she wasn't Martel, even though she donned her appearance. He shook his head before returning his attention back to his old friend. "Don't try to change the subject...It's obvious that you're hurt and we won't know how bad it is unless you let someone take a look at it."

He tugged at Kratos' shirt. "Lift your arms up. I'm not going to let your condition get worse just because you're a stubborn ass."8

[TurkwithStyle]

"Hmph." His eyes narrowed as he looked to the side, slowly lifting his arms. "I told you I was fine, but I guess I can't win every argument." Kratos knew very well Yuan's good intentions, and as much as he didn't want to die, he also didn't want to look weak in front of his old time friend. Kratos sighed slightly before muttering, "Thank you..."

[Sexy_Lemur_King]

"That's a good boy." Yuan said teasingly as he removed Kratos shirt, and bit his lip at the sight. "Bloody Martel..." Luckily enough, the rain had by then dulled down to a drizzle and the seraphim was able to relieve the brunette and the tree from the shade of his cape as he took it off to give it a new purpose.

Before he appointed it with its new purpose however, he ripped off some cloth from his pants. He dipped it in the stream before dabbing at the wound with it, to clean it. After he was done, he used his cape to bind it up tightly. It was the best he could do, he just hoped that it would be enough. Yuan was almost too busy tending to Kratos to hear him mumble words of thanks, but when he caught it he smiled gently, his eyes sparkling a bit. "Anything for an old friend..." He said softly. 8

[TurkwithStyle]

Kratos slightly grinded his teeth as the wound was being cleaned. He wanted to say it hurt, but he decided to just suck it up and wait till it was over. To take his mind off the pain, he opened up with convorsation, "...Any word of Lloyd? How has he been?"

[Sexy_Lemur_King]

"He's still as much of an idiot as ever." Yuan scoffed. "But as you know this world was in danger the last time we were able to communicate, and I had asked him for help. And once again he saves the world... I'm sure it would've been me taking all the glory for it if I hadn't been so busy babysitting." He huffed a bit, he didn't really like talking about Lloyd. Not only was that kid a nuisance, but it was a constant reminder of that woman that Kratos betrayed Mithos and him for.

The bluenette decided to change the subject. "What about you? You still haven't told me anything about why you're here or why you're all beaten up like hell." 8

[TurkwithStyle]

Kratos looked away, "It was the angels." he moved his back a little to a more comfortable position. "They rebelled, and all turned against me. They blame me for being stuck on Derris Kharlan." he sighed, "There were so many and they caught me off guard. I held up a good fight, but I wanted to negotiate rather than fight them. They wouldn't listen..." he looked at Yuan with a solemn face, "I actually thought I was dead. I don't know why I'm here, but Martel must be watching over me."

[Sexy_Lemur_King]

There were so many emotions mixed into Yuan's face that it was possible to identify his expression. His body trembled and he looked away as a tear slid down his cheek and landed on the moist grass. "You mean...if you hadn't been mysteriously dumped here, you would've been dead?" He asked, his voice almost a whisper. "That you would have died and I would have continued to live on without even knowing...thinking and hoping that you were off living happily?"

More tears poured out from Yuan's eyes and by that time it was impossible for him to play it off as the rain, as it had completely stopped. The clouds had disappeared as well, and light was shining down on the tiny island between the two streams as usual. Needless to say, he was embarrassed for crying uncontrollably. He always showed his weakness compared to the always composed Kratos and it made him feel even worse...8

[TurkwithStyle]

Kratos found Yuan to be over reacting, in fact, he's always found Yuan to be a little more emotional than the rest, but he decided to keep his feelings on that withdrawn. "Look, I'm alive correct? If so then there's no reason to get upset. Think about how things are instead of how things could have been." Kratos then tried to show a kind gesture by raising his hand and putting it on Yuan's shoulder, patting him. "You have to live life the way it happens, my friend."

[Sexy_Lemur_King]

Yuan sniffled, and the tears stopped as Kratos consoled him. However, his body continued to tremble and he gripped the ground below him. He couldn't help but think of what could've happened. It wasn't too long ago that the brunette almost died and then Yuan would've been all alone... all alone...

"Thanks Kratos..." He said, feigning a smile but not doing a good job of it. He sighed and put a hand through his silky cerulean hair, which was soaked and half out of his ponytail. "I should be happy that you're safe and alive...and here with me so I don't have to be alone anymore" He spokee the last bit under his breath, mostly to himself, but forgot that it was possible for Kratos to hear it with the enhanced hearing from his Cruxis Crystal.8