Sudden Impulse

By Red Guard

Disclaimer: I do not, did not and probably will not own Suikoden or any of the characters appearing in or associated with it. Konami owns the characters and events appearing in this work.

Author's Notes: Right, now to try my hand at a short and fluffy Suikoden story, I hope I do not do too badly.

Chapter 4: Confusion

-----IIIII-----

The storm was terrible. Thunder rolled over the plains with frightening speed and intensity, and the torrential rain pelted the roof. Luckily for him and the rest of the Karayans, their abodes were built well. An earthquake wouldn't budge the village, much less a mere thunderstorm.

Chief Hugo sat back and sighed. He was used to running in the wide open fields, to swimming in expansive lakes and hunting in the evergreen forests. Sitting in his house was incredibly claustrophobic in comparison.

A crack of thunder.

His hands gingerly crept towards his blades, and he turned towards the door. Someone was coming. Someone was close. Someone knew he was here, and intended to do the unthinkable.

A gust of icy wind.

The rain masked the scent. The thunder masked the movement. But nothing could mask the presence. He was a hunter, and whoever was approaching would soon be reminded of that fact.

A bolt of lightning.

There was the assailant. A mere silhouette in the darkness. Hugo deftly made his way to the corner of the room, drawing his blades close. He regretted sending his guards back to their homes. He didn't want sickly doormen the next day, but he certainly wanted to see the next day too.

A footstep. A very heavy footstep. This was not an ordinary man.

At least they sent an assassin of some caliber. Despite the tense situation, Hugo found him slightly flattered. But, in the end, it would be little matter. The killer would still be skewered.

'Hugo.' A male voice breathed heavily. A very familiar male voice.

Hugo frowned. Was it a traitor? Was it an enemy of old? Or was it just some angry merchant who came here to get a refund on the slightly weird game that his village sold off last week?

'Hugo.' The voice was close. Very close.

No matter. Angry merchant or not, whoever had the gall to sneak in on him would be taught a lesson. Maybe he should have let his men take shelter within his tent.

A step. A grunt. Another heavy step.

But he was the chief! How can mere guards take residence within his quarters?

A muttered curse. The clink of armor.

Maybe he could work out a deal with them tomorrow.

And in an instant, the man burst into the Karayan leader's abode. In that same instant, Hugo yelled his battle cry and lunged forward, his blades extended.

The assassin reacted ridiculously quickly. A flash of steel later, Hugo found his strike parried by a sword. It was a magnificent sword, and two warrior's hands gripped it tightly. He looked up at his nemesis and shock quickly settled in his belly.

'Lord Maximillian?' He gasped.

'Chief Hugo?' Fred's jaw fell open.

A wet thud interrupted their stunned silence. Both men looked down, and saw a raven-haired beauty sprawled over the floor, her narrowed eyes focused intently upon the two dueling warriors. Obviously, she was none to happy about being unceremoniously hurled onto the floor.

'Yumi!' Both men said in unison.

And with that, a dozen armed Karayan soldiers tore into the room. 'Chief Hugo! We have come to aid you! Where is the assassin? Your death will be avenged!'

'Sorry about this.' Hugo grinned sheepishly and shrugged slightly. 'We weren't really expecting visitors.'

-----IIIII-----

'We absolutely need to get you out of those soggy clothes.' Luce motioned towards Yumi.

Hugo muttered and buried his head in his hands. There was just something wrong about the chieftain's house being used for parley. Since the word got round that he had some visitors, almost everyone of note decided that this was a great time to pay Chief Hugo a visit, thunderstorm notwithstanding.

At least his mother wasn't here.

'But, but...' Yumi began to sputter. 'I have nothing to change into.'

'You don't need to worry about that.' Luce produced a lovely example of Karayan traditional dress. 'I'm sure this is your size.'

'But, but...' She stammered, searching for another excuse. 'I can't change in front of the men.'

'Now, Yumi.' Luce put her hands on her sides. 'You must get rid of those soggy clothes. I don't want you coming down with a cold.'

'But... but...'

'No buts. Now follow me.' Luce placed her hand on Yumi's shoulder and unceremoniously shoved her to the rear of the room.

Fred looked on with mirth as he turned to Hugo. 'You sure you're the chief?'

'Yes.' Hugo said irritably.

'I don't recall any chief that allowed his house to be used like that.'

Hugo muttered something unintelligible under his breath.

-----IIIII-----

The thunderstorm was over, but another storm was brewing right in front of Hugo.

'And the weather isn't very promising.' Luce announced.

'No.'

'Haven't seen it so bad in a long time.'

'It's going to rain forever.'

Hugo glared at the gaggle of guards. Who had asked them anything?

'I don't really think we should overstay our welcome.' Yumi said while desperately trying to use her hands to cover herself. The dress that Luce gave her was extremely small, and extremely revealing. 'Don't you agree Lord Maximillian?'

But Fred was too busy trying not to stare at Yumi. 'Huh?'

'You will stay with us for the night.' Luce huffed. 'No one will say that the Karayans lack hospitality.'

'Definitely not.'

'I wouldn't want it either.'

'Oh all right.' Yumi gave in. 'Where do we stay?'

'We?' Luce gasped. 'You mean, you and the good knight are...'

'No!' Yumi reddened rather spectacularly. 'We're nothing like that.'

'Then come with me.' Luce led Yumi out into the village.

'I'll escort the guest!'

'Count me in!'

'On our way!'

Hugo shook his head as his guards trudged out after Luce.

'Hey!' Fred suddenly got up and ran to the door, yelling after Luce. 'What about me?'

'I'm sure the Chief can find you something.' Came the distant reply.

Hugo groaned. Loudly.

-----IIIII-----

'So, dear Yumi.' Luce said as she laid out the bed. 'How long have you and Fred been together?'

'What?' Yumi blubbered. 'We are not...'

'Don't be shy.' Luce giggled at Yumi's response. 'I've seen the looks that you give him.'

'What looks?' Yumi flushed.

'And didn't he carry you into the village? Such chivalry.'

'I... I don't know what you're talking about.'

'Oh come now.' Luce winked knowingly. 'Two people don't just find themselves alone in the plains.' She motioned towards the bed as she prepared to leave. 'Here we go. If Fred visits you, just try to keep it quiet.'

'Luce!'

-----IIIII-----

'This is really an honor.' Fred bowed low. 'Thank you for your hospitality.'

Now, if only the other villagers could treat him like this. 'It's only for one night. Make yourself at home.'

'I promise that I'll leave the village tomorrow, I do not want to trouble you any further.'

Hugo nodded and poured out two glasses of whiskey. He handed one over to Fred. 'No trouble.'

Both men took a sip and sighed contently. Fred nodded. 'Excellent liquor.'

'One of my best. Got it from a merchant sometime back.' Hugo smiled. 'So, you're with Yumi now.'

'With her? Where did you get that idea?'

'Just a guess. She has the same look that Yuiri had.'

'Yuiri?' Fred hadn't seen Yumi's sister since the great battle. 'What about her?'

Hugo took another gulp. 'You don't know? What were you doing all this while? Hiding under a rock?'

'Well...' Fred reddened a bit. 'I wasn't exactly near any of the Zexen territories.'

'The villagers consider this a very sensitive issue.' Hugo paused, wondering whether to carry on. 'But since Yumi is her sister, I'll give you the gist of what happened.'

'I still don't understand why you're telling me anything.'

'You'll see.'

-----IIIII-----

She placed her fingers on her lips. It was still swollen. She could still remember Fred's lips upon hers as his tongue explored her mouth.

She found her breathing growing heavy, and quickly shook her head to clear her mind. What was going on with her? This was Fred's fault. This was the first time she had seen him in a long while, and he chose to greet her in such a manner. A manner which made her remember the first kiss they shared.

This was Fred's fault.

But she was the one that manhandled him. She had pulled him down. With the rain falling over them, she was the one that did not want to end the feeling of bliss. What was happening with her?

She saw what Yuiri did, and she was appropriately revolted. Alma Kinan warriors shouldn't act in such a way, and yet what she did to Fred was ten times worse. But Fred was not Borus. But did that make any difference?

The spirits themselves were not much help. Their cryptic answers were never easy to figure out, but she could almost hear their approval of Yuiri's actions. That had to be wrong. She must have been mistaken.

She should have returned to the village.

She should have asked the Great Aunt for her sage advice.

But, Yumi knew that that path would be forever closed to her.

She was alone. Ever since that day, she was always alone.

She sighed heavily and collapsed upon the bed. Maybe a few hours of sleep would sooth her troubled mind.

-----IIIII-----

'I never knew that.' Fred whispered into the silence. 'I've heard rumors that Borus was never a virtuous one, but I never thought...'

'No one likes to talk about it.' Hugo nodded. 'The horror hangs heavy on the village. It will never be forgotten. But, then again, we have to move on.'

Fred sighed. Moving on. Something that he hadn't been able to do. He dreamed of the honor of being a knight. He grew up on the ideals of chivalry. He wanted to defeat great evil, save the innocent and protect the weak. He did that. He did just that. He was lauded as a hero and famed as a champion. He gathered many people and founded the Maximillian Knights.

They said he was a great captain. Many flocked to march under his banner. They said only he could captain the knights. Then the College was founded. They asked him to lead it. He couldn't. Sitting behind a desk and drilling students was not for him. He had to live the life of a knight. Even though there were no longer any brigands to fight, even though most monsters had been slain and even though the multitude of knights meant that he was not needed.

He had to be a knight. He couldn't give it up. And so, he tried to live that life once again. To his horror, he found out that no one needed a demonslayer, nor did anyone need their children rescued by pirates. He became a caravan escort. A mercenary. But the thrill was no longer there.

He had to move on.

But he couldn't.

'Fred!' Hugo's shout shattered his reverie. 'If you want to sleep, use the bed, not the chair.'

Fred smiled ruefully. 'I'm sorry. I was thinking about the past.'

'I know. I do that often. Three years is a long time isn't it?'

'Too long.'

A strange silence fell between the two men.

'So.' Hugo tried to make conversation. 'When did you meet Yumi?'

'Yumi? I met her during the Great War.' Fred raised his eyebrow. 'Weren't you there too?'

The young chief sighed in exasperation. 'No. When did you meet her after the War?'

'I met her just a few hours ago.'

'A few hours?' Hugo snorted. 'You're lying. You two seem too close for that.'

'Close?'

'She had her arms around your neck when you stumbled in. So yes, I'd say you're close.' Hugo explained. 'So now, let's try this again. When did you meet her?'

'A few hours ago. On the plains.' Fred grew irritable. He didn't like his word being questioned.

'I give up.' Hugo threw his arms up in exasperation. He poured himself another serving of whiskey. 'Let's say you really met her few hours ago.'

'We did.'

'Alright. What was she doing a few hours ago?' Hugo downed the entire glass.

Fred thought for a while. 'Sucking my tongue?'

Hugo promptly spat the whiskey all over the floor.

-----IIIII-----

Author's Note :

Damn these delays. I'll finish this off. I've only got about 5 chapters left in this, so it should be ok.

The greatest problem with continuing on with this fic was to make the Fred/Yumi relationship starkly different from the Borus/Yuiri one. I think I finally managed to get it right. Fred has nothing to move on to; while Yumi is dealing with her problems of wanting something that she thinks is forbidden.

Yep, sounds solid for some angst right?

I'm not sure whether to make this lighter than the side story, which was a bit dark, so I kicked it off with some light humor... maybe I'll darken this story a bit in the ending chapters... but eh... that'll be for later

Thanks to GreatLight432 and Renfro Calhoun for pre-reading my previous work. Unfortunately, this time, I never got the draft back from either of you. A chaser and two weeks later, I decided to post this. I'm not sure what happened, but if you're reading this and still wish to pre-read this email me and we'll get things sorted out.

Anyways, please remember to email me at [red UNDERSCORE aurum AT yahoo DOT com] for any suggestions, critiques, reviews and the like. Please don't flame me, I have a fragile ego.