Shield

Pre-TOS (Double Edged Sword timeline) fanfic one shot…

Looking up from the pot of stew he was making the seraph smiled. One chubby hand rose from the rim of his spare shield, pushing aside a flap of purple that was perhaps a folded up cape or tunic. It hardly mattered, he watched, then satisfied that Lloyd would not tangle himself or smother in the fabric he went back to watching the stew. Satisfied, he picked up the lid from the forest floor and set it over the bubbling food.

"Good morning, Lloyden."

"Gah!"

The Seraph chuckled. "I'll take that as a good morning."

"Ahahg!"

Smiling the Seraph abandoned the food and walked to the shield that was his son's crib. They didn't really dare be weighed down with a real shield, and frankly buying one was beyond their means, so Kratos had altered one of his spare shields. It wasn't much of a crib; Lloyd had cried and howled at first when he'd been set into the cold unfeeling metal, but now the Seraph's child seemed more at ease. The mess of spare tunics and capes stuffed along the bottom might have had something to do with that.

Lloyd giggled, squealed with delight as Kratos bent down and scooped the metal from the ground. Small hand reached up and tugged and the Seraph sighed.

His hair would grow back; it was only a cosmetic really...

He winced as Lloyd tugged harder and laughed with glee.

X

"No." Arms crossed in front of his chest the Seraph glared at his wife, but had to admit before the wide puppy eyes that his son was pinning him with he was soon going to fold. Knowing this Anna grinned, she'd at least wait until Lloyd was gone to tease him, but that grin told of many hours of teasing in his imediate future…

Best to hold fast, cling to what dignity he had left, to do otherwise would give her even more anumition.

"No, not in one of any Efreet's nine hells will I allow…"

"Please Daddy?"

He studied the floor, glowered, and he damned well knew that Anna was trying her damndest to stifle her laughter.

"Fine." He growled.

Whooping Lloyd dashed out the door. Noishe howled as he took lead, the protozoan's tail was all a-wag and his long teeth bared in a smile.

Damn it, now even the family dog was laughing at him, it wasn't…

Arms slid around him, her scent teased him. He cracked an eye open and she gently pecked him on the cheek.

"My poor poor Seraph, was that so hard?"

"Not really, still I shouldn't make it easier then it is for Lloyden to make me give in."

Anna laughed, nestled against him, her chin finding its favored perch upon his shoulder.

"Anna, you don't see anything wrong with using a shield as a sled?" The Seraph managed at long last.

"None whatsoever." She answered. "But then I don't have your martial upbringing to play with my head."

"Bite your tongue, my head is working perfectly fine. It's you civilians that are all tweeked in the head."

She laughed, teasingly carresed his cruxis crystal, traced the winding metal that obscured a good portion of his chest. He sighed, pulled her close, and outside he heard the happy barks and cries of their son as the playful Protozoan dragged the battered kite shield down the snowy streets of Falnoir.

X

Battered, worn, he rolled the featureless steel in his hands. It seemed a shame to use it in combat, even mock combat, but it was needed. Sighing he stood, gripped the old kite shield in his hands, and looked around. The Sages were arguing over the camp fire -Genis was trying to keep his sister away from the curry, Raine with a handful of green pepers was trying just as hard to give the food a little 'kick'. She'd likely give her little brother a smack and ruin the food in a few moments time, and having watched that scenario out time after time he wasn't eager to do so again.- Colette was talking to the Assassin and seemed to be trying to teach the Mizuhoian girl how to sew.

The purple clad girl was prooving to be something of an incompetant but with Colette's endless praise and calls for persaverance Sheena was getting marginaly better -her hands weren't as bloody as the first time and there appeared to be a semi-straight line forming on one of Lloyd's old socks. If he was any judge the activity looked like it was going to consume the bulk of the evening. Spying Lloyd resting sprawled agaisnt the annoyed Noishe, Kratos smiled.

Somethings never changed.

"Get up, boy." Kratos mock growled, and Lloyd cracked open a weary eye.

"Why? I was sleeping." The sulkiness in the boy's tone was as mock as the mercenary's ferocity.

Noishe -heartily annoyed with thier game- merely rolled over. Lloyd yalped, fell, and cursed the Protozoan. Rolling his eyes, Noishe shook himself then trotted away.

"Evil dog." Lloyd grumbled.

""Eyes open, blade out." The mercenary barked, he threw the boy the old kite shield, and Lloyd caught it with an easy grace that Kratos had all but pounded into the once awkward adolescent. "We're training, your defence is poor so we'll be focusing on that."

"Yessir..." Lloyd mock saluted him.

Sheena looked on them in confusion, Genis rolled his eyes, Colette and Raine only sighed in mutual frusteration. Neither elf or Chosen approved of thier mock battles, Sheena just didn't understand... Shockingly, perhaps out of all of them, only Genis understood. Only Genis did not fear or despise thier mock wars.

Steel could break, would break, his teaching would however never do so. Kratos had four thousand years of life to make sure of it. The steel would one day break, the shield was worn, but even when it did fail Kratos would be there so that Lloyd would not.