#colloydweek2021
Lloyd and Colette leave for Gaoracchia Forest together to rescue a lost dog, but the creepy place seems to be even creepier when it’s just themselves…
Fandom: Tales of Symphonia
Characters/Pairing: Lloyd Irving/Colette Brunel
Rating:G
Mirror Link:AO3
Notes: Written for Colloyd Week, Day 2: Sidequest! This isn’t referencing any specific sidequest in-game, but just making one myself because I’ve actually had this silly idea in my head for a while. Fair warning that a certain point of this fic might have a claustrophobia trigger? It’s mainly emphasizing an action that happens in battle actually and is mostly brief, but just to be safe. (I’m sorry, Lloyd) :’D–
It all started with a lost doggy.
“Tiggy!” Colette called out, walking in-between the thick roots that snaked across the forest floor, completely unmindful to the chill that whistled through the boughs overhead. “Where are you?” Her shout reverberated against the trees, echoed back at her like a wandering ghost in search of something precious.
Such a sound would usually send a shiver down one’s spine, but Colette happened to enjoy the acoustics, calling out another “Hellooo Tiggyyyy!” When she heard her own voice come back to her, warbly and almost breathless, she giggled against her hand. “It sounds so silly! Don’t you think so, Lloyd? …Lloyd?”
The usual red she was used to seeing was nowhere near her, and so she had to look farther down the path that led out to Mizuho. Only a little bit away, but right there, in the middle of the path, Lloyd was standing, rubbing an arm as he gazed up at the curled trees that lined the road.
“…Huh? Uh, y-yeah, yeah! Definitely…um…”
Though just a few steps back, he was looking wistfully from the path they came through. The sunlight was just out of reach, gliding along the ground before being abruptly stopped by the shadows of Gaoracchia Forest’s trees.
From where he stood, he looked towards Colette as if he were a lost doggy himself, making her heart flutter in her chest.
“Oh! Are you scared, Lloyd?”
“No way!” Lloyd answered instantly – with maybe a little squeak to this voice. “I mean… nah. I go through these kinds of woods all the time!” He then flinched when he heard a particularly weird-sounding bird call from above them, complemented by the rustling of leaves. “Just…not usually at night…”
“It’s okay to be scared!” Colette walked back to him, taking a hand of his gently. “You’re still thinking about Zelos’ stories?”
A grumble as he instinctively tightened his fingers around hers. “…Maybe…”
