In pursuit of Order

A short Suikoden narration

By: Novalon

"Maggots…"

He spat the word out menacingly, glaring at the two who barred his path.

The teenage boy, his legs shaking, stood with anger in his eyes, holding out his spear, Sigurd.

"I cannot let you pass, Yuber… this is Dragon Knight territory, and so help me, I will protect it's borders from the likes of you!"

His demonic black armor gleamed, a smile forming on the lips of the one who put to flame the village of the Soul Eater.

"I would have expected better words out of you, boy… your past leaders have not even tried to stand against me in battle, they were smart. What makes you think that your strength greatly outweighs your stupidity?"

Silence…

His insidious laugh echoed off of the entrance to the land of the dragons. However, the sound was joined by the ringing of a sword, one not his own.

"He's not the only one."

Yuber watched as the gleam of the Muramasa blade came into view. It's wielder, the tank-like knight, Humphrey, cast a stoic glare on the demonic knight.

The two stared in silence, before Yuber drew out two blades, identical to each other.

"Those blades… closely look like halves to that which Pesmerga wielded…" observed Humphrey.

Yuber snorted, "Of course, King Crimson is rather popular where both of us originate… some like myself prefer the more agile form of it, however…"

Humphrey motioned to the teenage Dragon Knight.

"Futch… it's best that you leave…"

The boy shook his head, his resolve gathering.

"You didn't abandon me when I lost Black… I won't abandon you in your fight!"

Yuber belted out another insidious laugh, "Cute… it will make you suffer that much more when one of you is the first to die…"

He smirked, waiting for effect.

"I rather enjoy a good old fashioned slaughter."

Before Humphrey could react, Yuber was already calling on the power of a rune that had been unnoticed previously.

"Power of the Eightfold… that which brings order…"

The spell itself was nothing short of horror… Yuber phased into three forms of himself, all striking at Humphrey in rapid succession.

And for the first time Futch had ever seen… Humphrey fell to one knee. His well-made Windspun armor picked up from the halls of Gregminster palace still in place, with the greatest protection known to mortal men.

The fact that Humphrey had actually been brought down shown how much damage was clearly done by the attack. Futch was thanking whoever was watching over him…

Yuber grimaced, "It seems you're still alive… the star of Tenyu protects you as well… interesting…"

He turned to Futch, outstretching his right-hand sword.

"I'll enjoy cutting up your young friend to put as much mental suffering as the physical suffering I put your body through…"

As he walked forward, intending to rip the boy to shreds with his twin blades, a grim voice rang out.

"Power of the Ninefold… that which brings chaos…"

As Futch held up his spear in defense of the sword in front of him, barely hearing the voice, he watched as three very familiar forms slammed into Yuber, knocking him into the cavern wall.

"Pesmerga!"

He hated to think it at this time, but Futch could clearly see a similarity between the two, despite the fact they were of opposing sides.

"I sense your confusion in the sudden usage of my power, Futch…" Pesmerga's cold voice could almost be mistaken for the malice spoken by Yuber.

"It's very simple, you little maggot… like the twins of Harmonia… we are but shadows of one being…"

Pesmerga nodded, "Yes, we are but created from one being, he who once held the True Rune of Balance… that of Yin and Yang… Order and Chaos…"

Yuber spoke once again, "And when one of us is defeated… the other will hold the other part of the rune high… and the runes will be joined, the result giving the victor the power of the former being…"

They both spoke the name with an odd reverence.

"Matsamura."

An odd yellowish light surrounded Yuber, his sneer lighting up in the darkness.

"We shall fight again, dear brother."

He spat out the last words with a grimace. Pesmerga nodded, gripping a fist with his rune-hand.

"I'll see to it that your running blood will truly give a name to King Crimson."

The bearer of Order vanished. Silence filled the cave once again. Suddenly, Pesmerga spoke again,

"I must depart, to follow him…"

He nodded to the two knights,

"However, it was nice to see you again, perhaps a time will come again when will we see each other…"

And he left, his heavy armor making no sound as he quickly set off into the distance.

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"Futch…"

Humphrey coughed, his voice having trouble forming words. He grimaced, laying his head back on the pillow of the bed he lay in.

"Yuber has given me an injury that will take long to recover from… but I am sure that the clerics of the Dragon Knights will take good care of me… but when I do recover, I will most likely be far too old to go up against power like that again… I am quite old even now, Futch."

The teenage knight stepped forward, concerned with the amount of words Humphrey was saying, as the warrior was normally quiet.

"I want you to… take my sword, Futch. Wield the Muramasa… if I cannot go up against Yuber again, then I want you to bring honor to my blade by sating it's thirst for his blood. I think I will relax here… perhaps I will even see you grow to be a great knight… and maybe I will see you become a high ranking knight yourself… Bright should serve you well, it was a good dragon that we saved along with Kent…"

He coughed again.

"Give… Lord Riou, grandson of Genkaku… and Lord Tir, son of Teo, my regards… one day I will see their forever young faces once again…"

A small chuckle unbecoming of him bubbled from the tired lips.

"Hopefully your knighthood will be better than it has been recently… your babysitting of Lady Milia's daughter… Sharon… is rather humorous, but it is unbecoming of a knight that I know will do well."

His eyes began to close.

"Become a great knight… Futch."

He fell into a deep sleep, Futch thankfully noting that Humphrey was not yet to pass from this world. He picked up the blade from the bedside in awe.

"I will… avenge your injury, Sir Humphrey."

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The lakeside castle of Limberry stood high, the beating sun shining on the champion of Flame.

"Sir Futch, I must truly thank you, in all the honor I can show as a warrior of Karaya, that your aiding the Fire Bringer was probably the best that we could have ever hoped for."

Futch, 4th rank Dragon Knight smiled at the young bearer of the True Fire Rune, "Not a problem, Hugo, it was great to aid in yet another struggle against the forces bring destruction… even if I did have a connection with one of them on a more personal level… and it was nice for my sword to taste the blood of Yuber too…"

The last one made him smile, yet he still felt unfulfilled that Yuber was still alive. He had gone with Geddoe in securing the True Lightning Rune, and the teleporting away of Yuber did not make him happy.

A young Zexen soldier ran up to the two, his voice shaking.

"Sir Futch! Th-the legendary warrior of the Liberation army… the Tank of Liberation himself! Sir H-H-Humphrey is here to see you!"

Futch's eyes grew wide, he had not seen Humphrey since he departed to Gregminster to aid Kai in the training of President Lepant's army of the Republic.

"Futch…"

He turned to the aging knight, surprised that he still had the strength to make such a trip on his own.

"Sir Humphrey…"

The knight nodded, "I hear that you have crossed swords with Yuber once again…"

Futch nodded, "Yes, but he still lives. On my honor as a 4th rank Dragon knight… after I test for my 3rd rank once I return, I will track him down and destroy the monster."

"Reminds me a bit of Pesmerga…"

He nodded, turning around, "Speaking of which, he journeyed here with me."

They watched as the knight in black armor strode silently up to them, nodding to the bearer of the True Fire Rune.

"You are Hugo, I gather… I have heard of your recent conflict with Luc… as a former companion in battle, I have my regrets… but the fact that he sided with Yuber has confused me greatly…"

He then turned to Futch, acknowledging him, "And I hear you still wish to avenge Humphrey's injury from the Eightfold rune… if you wish to accompany me, I suggest you speak up now."

Futch nodded, "All I need to do is make a quick stop at the Dragon Knight's fortress before I go. I trust we will be ready for him when the time comes, he seems to weaken as I fight him again and again."

Pesmerga nodded, "That is merely a misconception, you are, in fact, much stronger than you were before, Futch."

The Dragon Knight was truly much stronger than he had been as a teenager, it helped also that he was at his peak physical strength. He nodded to Yuber before mounting Bright.

"We must do this quickly then…"

He turned to Humphrey, "Sir Humphrey, it has been an honor seeing you again."

To Hugo, "Hugo, I hope you use the True Rune to the best of your ability."

Bright let out a screech and was off to the air.

Pesmerga turned, Humphrey nodding to Hugo in the form of a goodbye before following him.

The Knight of Chaos turned to Humphrey, a smile on his features that had never been seen before, "Come, we must hurry to the fortress… I am sure the Dragon Knight will prove to be a great ally in the fight against Yuber…"

The two walked off into the distance, warriors of an era long ago, and those whose lives were touched in the pursuit of Order.

Author's Note: My first Suikoden fan fiction should prove to be interesting, I hope that many a review could come out of this short narration. I know I am not really one to continue my stories, especially from lack of reviews (especially on the friggen Chrono Trigger poem I've worked so hard on), but perhaps I just need to write more to improve my credibility. I hope that you enjoyed this work, and will read (and hopefully review) my other works.

- Novalon