Tales of Symphonia Story, Sylvarant Chronicles (1)

QUIZ START: You were almost too scared to even move anymore. You both listened in silence to the Desians pass through the forest near you and continue moving... When it sounded like the Desians were gone, the person lowered their head next to yours.
"...If I let you go, do you promise not to scream?" they whispered. That voice sounded familiar... *That voice...is it?*
"Mm-hm." you respond, having to speak through heir hand which was still firmly planted over your mouth. The person pulled their hand from over your mouth, and loosened their arm around your waist. You quickly spin around, and...

"Kratos!" you sigh gratefully, his expression softened slightly.
"...I apologize...if I scared you." He rested one hand on your left side, "I didn't have time to think of another way to keep the two of us hidden. Are you alright? From what it looked like, you hit your side fairly hard on my sword handle."
"Hee-hee." you respond, smiling sheepishly "I'm fine, really." But then you both hear a voice from in the clearing yell,
"Search that way!" it was the Desians. "She couldn't have gotten too far, her tracks stop in the clearing!"

Kratos quickly pulled you close to him again, his arms wrapped firmly around your waist; his other hand resting on the back of your head, pressing your head beneath his. He leaned back against the tree, pulling you with him, doing his best to make you two harder to notice. You blush lightly at the action; however the blush vanished when you heard the Desians coming closer. You weren't sure why but you felt safe in his arms, and more at ease when he was near. He was carefully looking around the side of the tree, trying to find the Desians; you fearfully listen to the Desians drawing closer. Kratos quickly pulled his head behind the tree again. You begin to ask,
"Wh--"
"Sh." he told you quickly. You hear the Desians rooting through the clearing just behind the tree.
"See! There are her tracks!" one exclaimed. Fear made you push yourself a bit closer to Kratos; in response he held you tighter. He carefully, slowly, looked around the tree again just for a second; before quickly bringing his head back "...They are still there." he whispered. You let your head rest on his chest, and close your eyes. You pray in your head, *Goddess Martel, help us. Please don't let them find us!!*

You heard a small 'twang' and an arrow whizzed by the tree. Clipping the bark off of the tree, and almost clipping Kratos' shoulder. You start, involuntarily, to gasp, but Kratos stopped you; the hand that had been resting on the back of your head moved around the back of your neck, and rested over your mouth. He whispered gently,
"Sh..." many more arrows shot randomly around the clearing. When one whizzed by, you almost felt the breeze from it. You flinch, pushing closer to Kratos, he hugged you tighter comfortingly, pushing his back a little harder against the tree, "...."
"...Dammit." a Desian cursed. "So much for that." You open your eyes slightly, you could feel yourself shaking like a leaf. And now you were even more grateful that Kratos had found you.

~** Kratos P.o.v
You felt Aura shaking against you. Trying to help comfort her, you hug her tighter while pushing your back even harder against the tree. You were doing all you could to try and calm her down without speaking.
"..."
"....Dammit." a Desian cursed. "So much for that." Aura opened her eyes slightly, you felt her shaking like a leaf in your arms. She was a strong girl, but when you held her in your arms like this, she felt...fragile. The girl pressed the side of her face into your chest, shaking even more, upon hearing the Desians tearing up the forest nearby trying to find you both. If you didn't have to be quiet now, you would be talking to Aura to try and calm her... You hated seeing her so afraid...

~** You
Kratos leaned his head down against yours quietly. Just the feeling of him trying to comfort you, even without words, made you feel better. You close your eyes, waiting patiently with him for the Desians to leave.

After a little while longer, Kratos peeked around the tree again. He sighed quietly, letting his firm grip loosen,
"...They're gone." you sighed gratefully, relaxing.
"...good..." you murmur. The Mercenary looked down at you,
"Aura..." he asked, stroking your hair gently. You blushed lightly, raising your eyes to look at him, "...Are you alright?"
"Y...yeah-- yes...thank you..."
"Hm..." he sighed, allowing his arms to fall from around you. However you found yourself almost reluctant to move from your spot against his chest, but you do.
"......"
"...Alright...lets get back to the others." he suggested, you nod,
"Right."

As you both walk back to where the camp was made, Kratos explained what happened.
"You had been gone a while, and we were getting worried. I volunteered to go find you." he explained "While I was walking I heard the Desians yelling. I was trying to find them, when I found you. I apologize if I scared you." you smile a little
"You did scare me, but don't worry. Its fine. You helped me, thats the main thing." you tell him. But as you walk, your right sleeve gets snagged on a branch and is torn off, "Ah-!"
...there were scars...
The pattern is two lines, that start on either side of your wrist, and cris-cross around your arm all the way up to your elbow, but normally all of it is hidden by your sleeve.
Your arm looked horrible.... You try to hide your arm from view, but Kratos looked back too quickly.
"Aura, what--" he gasped when he saw your arm "-!" *No!* you think, still attempting to hide your arm. Your free hand clamped over a scared part of your arm, as though blocking just a bit of your arm would block the rest of it too. *H-he wasn't supposed to find out about this! No one was supposed to know!*

Kratos slowly walked over to you. You take a step back.
"...?" the man stopped, confused. Why wouldn't you let him help you? Why were you acting...afraid of him? You take another slight step back, while saying,
"N-nothings wrong!" He took another step forward,
"Y-you're hurt..." he slowly reached out one of his hands; the tips of his fingers lightly brush against one of the scars on your arm. You quickly knock his hand away, and back away more. You keep one hand firmly clamped over your arm. His expression was both confused and...sad.
"I'm fine! I've had these scars as long as I can remember, just like the scar on my shoulder!" you tell him "I'm fine, really."
"..." it took Kratos a minute to answer you "...If...If you really believe so..."
"...Don't tell them." you ask.
"What?"
"Colette and the others. Please, Kratos. Don't tell them. I don't want them to worry about me more than they already do." you say. The man was quiet, before reluctantly nodding. "Promise me." he didn't respond, he was...still confused. "Please! Promise me you won't tell them! It was supposed to be a secret!"
"...Alright, Aura. I promise. I won't tell them, I swear." he extended a hand, and gingerly touched the side of your face. You lean slightly against his hand, murmuring,
"...Thank you." Kratos pulled his hand away, and gave you back your sleeve. You snap your sleeve back into place, hiding the grotesque scars on your arm. No one could tell you had scars with this sleeve on.