Disclaimer: Koroku leaped into the fan fiction writer's lap with a sharp AROO! "Huh? What's wrong, Koroku? I know, I haven't finished your last adventure yet but I'm about to and-"

"AROOO!"

"Oh! I know! I know! I still don't own you, Suikoden, or any of its characters and they are, and always will be, Konami's property."

Koroku nodded in his doggy manner and wagged his tail happily as he sat patiently in her lap for the conclusion of his next little romp through Budehuc castle…

Vegetable Delivery

Koroku, Mamie, and Scott

Guest Starring: Scott's parrot Waurenhyte

"Aroou! Aroou!"

Koroku's ears went up as he raised a non-existent doggy eyebrow. That was certainly not his bark; it was not even remotely like his bark.

"Aroou! Aroou!" the squawky mimic continued.

"Aroo?" Koroku barked in confusion as he followed the sound to fulfill his growing curiosity. He instinctively lowered his stomach to rest entirely on the ground in an attempt to remain unseen and slowed his pace to a crawl. Although he had become well overdo in his delivery of vegetables to Mamie from Barts' field, he was much more interested in discovering the source of this incorrect imitation. The nasal barks only continued as Koroku neared its origin, which was nothing other than someone within the Budehuc trading post. Koroku, still attempting stealth, crawled through the open doorway on his belly and found the shop seemingly void of life from his low vantage point. The trading post was covered in foreign scents of various cloths, exotic foods, and candles. Most of these scents Koroku had become familiar with during his time in the castle enough not to be alarmed, but they were still unidentifiable by even the very intelligent canine. He had only just become brave enough to enter the trading post, while he had before just remained outside and snooped about its garbage for spoiled foods.

"Aroou! Customer! Aroou!" the almost mocking voice came again.

Koroku looked up and behind himself to find a wooden object with a colorful, green parrot perched atop it, obviously the culprit of the Koroku imitations. The dog wrinkled his nose at the base of the perch. He certainly despised the scent of birds and all the other unpleasenties they involved.

"Who is it, Waurenhyte?" Scott, a trader who wore a ridiculous red beret and stripes of all sorts, asked as he appeared from the back room and closed the door with a thud. The man scanned the room with a puzzled expression, "I don't see anyone here."

"Aroou!" the bird answered, flapping its clipped wings and bobbing up and down fanatically. This caused Koroku to stand on his hind legs in an attempt to nip at the bird's tail feathers, but he had to quickly go back down to all fours to balance the vegetables he was carrying.

Scott gave a cheerful smile as he watched the interaction. "It's only Koroku! Waurenhyte, why didn't you say so sooner?" Scott chuckled as he came closer to investigate the bulging pouches the dog wore. "Is that a carrot top sticking out of that pocket?" Scott amusedly opened the pouch in question as his smile grew larger. "It is a carrot!"

"Aroo!" Koroku barked with his tail wagging slightly.

"Aroou!" Waurenhyte squawked, only to be followed by a shushing from the still smiling trader who had already begun unloading tomatoes and carrots to the wooden floor from Koroku's many leather pockets. The dog kept wagging his tail in relief from the loss of weight.

After taking a few moments for calculation on an appropriate price for the goods Scott nodded. "I'll pay 350 potch for all of this".

"Aroo?" Koroku tilted his head to the side.

Scott, ignoring the questioning canine, had already claimed the fresh vegetables for himself and took them to the trading counter where he began counting out pouch from an old, antique register. Koroku looked up at Waurenhyte with a puzzled expression and then turned the same look to its owner. Wearing a ridiculous smile that went well with his colorful clothing, Scott came over to Koroku's side and placed the 350 potch within Koroku's right pouches. "I would ask how you got a hold of the vegetables, but I suppose you have a good standing with Barts and he gave them to you. So, there you go, Koroku, our transaction is complete and you can get going." Scott patted Koroku's head once as the dog blinked a bit. Koroku never remembered declaring any indication that he wanted to trade anything with Scott, but since the trade had already been made, it really did not matter to Koroku that the vegetables were gone, but more that the weight of a few coins was better than the cumbersome vegetables.

"Aroo," Koroku barked happily as he sniffed Scott's hand which smelt of Barts' vegetables and various other exotic items.

Waurenhyte mimicked back once more with a more accurate "aroo" as Koroku, slightly leaning to his right side, began to trot out the doorway.

Mamie took off her hat and wiped the sweat from her forehead tiredly. She had been cooking throughout the morning and had seen no sign of her canine errand runner. Taking a moment away from the stove to look about again, Mamie heard a slight panting and light swooshing of air which she recognized as that of the very overdue Koroku. She looked below the counter and found her tail wagging employee looking back at her with large, wet, puppy-dog eyes.

Putting her hands on her hips, Mamie gave Koroku a very serious look. "Where have you been? I needed those vegetables hours ago!"

"Aroo…" He put his head down and his tail between his legs in shame.

The chef left her kitchen and came to stand beside the whimpering animal. She studied the pouches for a moment and shook her head in disappointment. "Where are my vegetables, Koroku?" Koroku barked and responded with an effort at undoing a pouch strap with his hind leg. "What do you have in that pocket?" Mamie asked as she noticed something jingling in his pouches. Koroku shifted his body to try and compensate for the weight on his right side, which resulted in another jingling of coins. "Potch?" Mamie reached over and unsnapped a pouch to pull out a hand full of coins.

"Aroo!" Koroku's eyes lit up as he sensed forgiveness, but Mamie only shrugged and continued to unload the coins.

"Don't think this makes up for not doing your job, although I must admit…it's not too bad." Mamie smiled slightly and patted Koroku's side. "And by the way, don't show up for work here tomorrow. You're fired."

"Aroo!" Koroku ran off happily with the removal of his restaurant duties.

"Doesn't he want me to take off the saddle pouch?" Mamie asked herself. She put a finger to her lips in thought but shrugged off the questioning of Koroku's odd behaviors. She was simply too busy to run after the dog, so instead, she replaced the oversized chef's hat atop her head and went back to work. He'll be back, she thought, it's only a matter of time before he decides he's hungry for my gourmet cooking.

As Mamie went back to work, she laughed to herself at the sound of a loud "AROOOOO!"

Author's Note: Well, there's another addition to my silly Koroku adventures. The only problem I had with this one is that I could not remember a single thing about Scott's personality or if he really had much of one to build on. I hope anyone who read it enjoyed it. Bye for now!