Phew, finally a chapter again. My apologies for the long wait. I hope you'll enjoy it!

Disclaimer: Nope, I am still not in the possesion of the right of Tales of Symphonia.

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Kratos turned around, glancing at the pathetic sight of the woman at her knees, while she was trying to get the tree's bark out clumsily. Unlike her, he was able to see fairly well in the dark, but not to the degree that he could see just as well in the light. The green and white furred Protozoan whined worriedly as he also observed the host body's small wound. Kratos was also slightly concerned, but not because of the same reason as Noishe. The protozoan didn't want to see someone suffer, but Kratos simply cared about the condition of the project itself. The auburn man didn't feel guilty for treating her as such. It was his objective. His mission. He'd do what Lord Yggdrasill had ordered him to do regarding this. He'd take good care of her to help the little blue gem develop. He was smart enough not to defy the Lord's wishes this time. Or at least, not yet. Once the crystal at the back of her hand had done its work Kratos could make use of it. Then, he had a chance of beating the apprentice that had surpassed him, by using the exsphere himself rather than giving it to his superior. The thought that his skills and human abilities could become even more developed seemed unlikely, but with such a highly developed gem the stern man certainly had a chance. He'd try to make Mithos see that his 'Age of Lifeless beings' was wrong, but when Mithos refused, then Kratos would have the power to put an end to the blond half elf's life, if necessary. The tall man didn't like the idea of fighting his former friend, but for now it seemed like the best option.

The man took some steps in the Angellus Project's direction. "Get up." Noishe gave a whine as response, as if implying Kratos shouldn't be so strict to her. Kratos knew better though. "You forgot the say please." Anna mumbled as she did as he said, more because she had already been wanting to stand up since the ground was cold, although his command had given her a great urge to just remain sitting there. Besides, didn't he just say they were going to rest? Where she didn't stop with was examining her scratch with her fingers. Until Kratos grabbed her wrist, that is. Not particulary carefully he dragged her along, guiding her through the dark forest of trees. "Where are we going?" Anna asked, having not the slightest clue of where they'd be going now. She did watch her steps though, since she was afraid she'd fall again in this darkness. Though, that man's grip around her wrist was strong, surely she wouldn't fall so easily now. Because Kratos didn't reply she was ignorant of the fact that he led her to a nearby brooklet which he had heard with his keen hearing, followed by Noishe. They got out of the thick forest area, reaching the small flow of water, which pleased Anna as soon as she laid eyes on it. Finally she could drink something! Here it was also lighter too thanks to the faint moonlight. The pain seemed to disappear for a second, but returned as she automaticly smiled at the sight of the fresh cool water. Her charming smile faltered immediately after that.

"Sit, please." The angelic Lord commanded the project dryly, and it could easily be heard he didn't mean anything of the 'please' part. He gave a small gesture with his hand, as if that'd help making her sit down quicker. "I'm not your dog." Anna said hostile, and sat down on her knees, cupping her hands. She had done this many times before, and used her hands as a bowl to drink from after she held her hands underneath the water's surface so that the water would flow in. Eagerly she drunk the cool fluid, not noticing the well hidden jealous look of the numb man. "Aaaah...Much better." She mumbled to herself, to break the silence as she straightened her back again, resting her hands at her knees. The brown haired female blinked once in surprisement as Kratos sat down on his knees too, next to her, facing in her direction. "Sit still." Anna of course had no intention of doing so, and shifted away from him. Like a surveillance system she observed him, ready to kick him or anything similar if he made any suspicious movements. The man took off his fingerless black gloves and lay them next to him. Nothing overly suspicious so far. Kratos shifted a bit closer to her, reaching out with both of his bare callous hands for her face, which was too suspicious for Anna's taste, and a clumsy punch in Kratos' face was the result. What a freak! Just what did he want from her!? He was only concerned about that little crystal right?

Kratos withdrew his hands slowly from her. Her punch didn't hurt, it was more the fact he was taken a bit aback by the fact she actually had the guts to punch him. Sure, she had attempted to get away from him with violence when he had taken her from the ranch, but it felt slightly different. Awkward, really, to be punched in the face by a young female just like that. He didn't blame her, although he wasn't pleased about her behaviour. Maybe he had acted too unpredictable and scared her? He looked at the project as she backed away from him a little more and stood up, rubbing her now painful knuckles. Yes, that was most likely the case. Once more, Anna made a run for it now that she had had water. She was fed up with this half elf's company, and would prefer being on her own in this wildernis much more. Before she could get very far though she tripped in the dark, landing flat on her face. Another futile attempt to escape, pity enough for her. She crawled up, groaning. When she carefully opened her eyes and looked up in the dark she saw the even darker silhouette of the half elf. "To think, I only wanted to get the bark out..." The figure spoke, with his so far always soothing voice. Anna just folded her arms in a stubborn way over her chest, glancing in a random direction. Anything in this darkness passed muster, as long as her gaze wouldn't be directed at this man. It was unbelievably embarassing to constantly fail at escaping, and be stuck with him again. Besides, she didn't believe his words. For all she knew he had the power to abuse her, rape her, whatsoever, and that thought haunted her mind non stop, freaking her out. No wonder she'd take every oppertunity to escape.

Kratos just glanced down upon the female as she stood there, obviously rejecting his help. Well, like he cared. Sure, of course he wanted the crystal to develope properly in her body, which was why he had to make sure she was all right, but if she didn't want him to help she might as well help herself. He had done his best. In silence as almost always Kratos just walked past her, not thinking she'd be willing to try and escape another time. The auburn haired man sure thought she was slow to notice she really couldn't escape. She was so rebellious, yet when under the watchfull eyes of Kratos no one could possibly hope to escape...Well, no one, except for Anna, that is, who still was determined on making an escape sooner or later. Noishe's tail wagged as he saw his master approach, his long Protozoan tongue hanging half out of his snout. The man with his brown-belted costume picked up the black fingerless gloves from the ground. Now that he didn't have to help and get the bark out there was no need for him to keep them off; she had had her chance.

Anna's eyes narrowed lightly as he walked past her just like that. Tensely she turned around too, making sure she wouldn't lose the man out of sight, so that she would be sure of his whereabouts. Then, he couldn't do anything to her without her seeing it coming. She saw how the man put his gloves back on, and how he afterwards patted the large creature named Noishe on its head. She kept an eye on him as she brought her hands up to her heek again, carefully touching the scratches to find out where the bark was exactly stuck. With a lot of effort she managed to get one of the bigger pieces out, being glad she was able to do so without that half elf's help. Her chocolate brown eyes were teary because it stung so much. It was just a natural reaction of her body to pain; it wasn't like she'd burst out in tears all of a sudden. She still kept her attention focused at the man who had chosen to sit down against a tree meanwhile. Noishe lay next to him, having its furry head placed in the man's lap, being gently and steadily stoked by his gloved hands. The half elf seemed to be on his guard, even when he was so stroking the beast so relaxed...It was a strange contradiction, and she found it strange to be witness of this man's tense yet calm behaviour. At last, she managed to get out the small pieces of wood, or at least, a big part of it. She was unable to get the really small parts out, and she was sure that if she'd continue trying to pulk them out the tears would flow from her eyes. She'd wait a little while until she'd feel good enough to get out the rest too.

She lowered her hands again, and sat down at the ground, quite far off from this man named Kratos. She had no intention of getting closer to him at all... But, even so...Maybe he had some sort of weakness that she could make advantage of somehow? So far she hadn't discovered anything like that, much to her dismay, but it wouldn't hurt to try. She'd have to talk to him in an attempt to gain more personal information about him. Who knew; there might actually be some usefull information. She refused to go with him like he pleased; she wanted to get away from this all, as soon as possible. "...So you're one of the big bosses, huh?" She said in an attempt to start a conversation, this way indirectly telling him that he had heard one of the half elf's adress him as 'Lord Kratos' earlier at the ranch he had taken her from. She waited for an answer, but to her it didn't seem like he had heard her, for he simply continued to stroke Noishe. "I'm talking to you." She said a bit louder, making sure that she would be heard. What she didn't know was that Kratos had already heard her the first time, but simply had chosen to ignore her.

She took in a sharp intake of breath, clearly being offended by the machine-like man. She was honestly fed up with his behaviour. He had rescued her from that horrible ranch, but she doubted if the end result of this 'Angelus-project' would be different despite that. Sure, he made sure she got to eat and all, but obviously she had all reason to question his intentions. For Martel's sake, he was one of their higher ups! ..Maybe that was the exact reason why he treated her like dirt, even though in comparison to the caretakens in the ranch he did care better for her. But then again, that may say more about the ranch than about this man. She just wanted to be treated normally, even though according to the situation she had as good as no chance to achieve that goal. She stood up from her spot, clearly annoyed as she quickly paced over to Kratos. She stood still abruptly, placing her hands at her hips, trying to seem more intimidating when she stood in front of him like this. "Listen up, 'Lord Kratos'." She said, mocking his title rudely. "I want to be treated normally, which means you'll have to answer my questions more often." Pity enough for her, she didn't seem to succeed in looking convincing. Not convincing enough for the angel, that is.

Kratos listened calmly to her, not stopping his activity of petting Noishe, nor looking her in the eyes, like she didn't excist for him. Nothing than a small gust of wind. Who did she think she was? The Princess of Meltokio? Most likely not, considering she never would've heard of Tethe'alla...He found her request unreasonable. Kratos was already treating her better than he treated anyone else, with an exception of Yuan and Lord Yggdrasill, but it was obvious he'd treat his superiors with respect. The man didn't really take care of anyone but himself, and he already found it outstanding of himself to actually take care of this project, giving her food and the like. And now she was complaining? He wouldn't conceed to her will. There simply was no need for. Slowly he raised his well formed chin up in the air, temporarily stopping to pet Noishe's head. "Get some rest." Was all that he said to the host body, glancing up at her through his silken bangs with his stoic expression. It was clear that he would give no heed to her request. He didn't like conversing, let alone he'd answer most of the questions she'd ask. There was no use in doing so, and so he wouldn't do it. It was as easy as that.