Usual Disclaimers Apply.  Konami own Suikoden 2 and all it's respective characters, places and names.  But they are really nice people who wouldn't dream of doing anything to the poor helpless fan fiction writer who is doing this for fun, not profit. 

Other Disclaimers: None, I guess.  Minor swearing.  Little WAFF.  And a "Jaws" quote.  ^_^


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Chapter Forty Eight

Warren's Story

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"Warren?  What are you doing here?" 

The question came from Elaine, who was naturally the first of the four to recover due to her Assassin's training.  She was not the least bit surprised then when the answer came in the form of a shrug.

"Oh, well that answers all of life's little mysteries, that does…"

That rather sarcastic comment came from Kara, said while distastefully looking around the hut they were all standing in, "You're telling me you *REALLY* lived here?"

"Comfortably."

That rather stoic and humorless comment came from Malcolm, who was doing his utmost to ignore the fiery girl that he was forced, by the luck (or lack of, thereof) of genetics, to call his sister.

"I can't imagine anyone being comfy in this hell-hole," Kara retorted.

"Actually, it's not too bad for someone brought up by the lake."

Now Warren, who had been missing in action for quite a while now, made that comment.  He was looking slightly uncomfortable at the arguing Malcolm and the girl he didn't know.  Since Elaine wasn't jumping in to do anything to stop them, Warren thought it wise to try and do something.

"See?  Perfect for me then," Malcolm managed to retain some semblance of maturity by not sticking his tongue out at this particular moment, something Kara had yet to master.

"Whatever…can we get back to the task at hand now?" At least Kara knew when to give up when she was losing.

"Right, fine, finally something you two can, and *WILL* agree on," Elaine calmly said, apart from the emphasized "will" which came out rather spookily, "Everyone was worried after you disappeared Warren."

"True, Kahri was just about in hysterics," Malcolm added, "Almost over-hysterical, actually…looking back on it.  He'd acted like he'd seen ghosts or zombies or something equally icky."

"Heh, did I really worry everyone that bad?" Warren asked sheepishly, "Oops.  Just needed some alone time, y'know?  I was planning just to sail on over to Lakewest, but then I spotted this little island and this hut.  Hardly 5-star living conditions, but it gave me what I needed."

"Time alone…a wonderful commodity," Malcolm sighed wistfully, "Hence why I lived here for the past three years."

Warren raised both his eyebrows at that comment, "…You're an idiot."

Malcolm blinked in surprise, as Kara burst into laughter at practically the same time, and between chortles she managed to say, "Warren was it?  I'm Kara, and I think we're gonna get along just fine."

"Can we just get going to Lakewest now?" Malcolm said, "We still have work to do."

"Hey, coming here was your idea, remember?" Kara retorted.

"I thought I was being robbed, what would you have done?"

"Let them, there's hardly anything in here worth stealing anyway."

"Although this gizmo here is kinda neat," Warren held up what appeared to be a ball with several spikes protruding from it, "Whatever it is."

"It's designed to explode on contact with a monster…or an annoying sister," Malcolm explained, smiling at Kara at that last part, "Just press that small button and throw it."

"Ooo.  Can I keep it?" Warren asked.

"Sure, don't see why not…just be careful with it, it's quite delicate."

"Hmph, it would draw too much attention to actually use," Elaine sighed, obviously getting slightly impatient, "Not an Assassin's choice."

"Who would even make such a thing?" Kara asked, "It's so…"

"Tricky?  Yeah, I know, even with a magnifying glass it was really hard to piece it all together," Malcolm interrupted, walking over to the mini set of drawers by the bed.

"YOU made this?" Warren was über-surprised, "Wow, I take back the idiot comment from before."

"Oh, I should've known…you and your damned gadgets again," Kara shook her head in dismay, "Sheesh, get a real hobby already."

"That's not all…" Malcolm said rummaging in the drawers, pointedly ignoring Kara as per usual, "I've mostly just made clockwork stuff, not all of them end up exploding…one of them is designed to hit an enemy on the head with a hammer…oh, right, that one's at home. It's not here…"

"Aw, darn, and I wanted to see it *SO* badly too…" Kara rolled her eyes, "I'm going back to the boat.  Hurry up or we'll leave without you."

Kara stormed out, making quite sure to let them know she really *would* leave them behind in her walk. 

"She won't be leaving us," Elaine turned back to face Warren and Malcolm, "Since we still have this."

Elaine held up the sealed envelope they were to deliver to Shu's friend.

"Now how did you get that?" Malcolm asked, taking the envelope back from Elaine, "I thought Kara had it."

"Assassin's secret," Elaine said, totally serious in voice and expression, "I'm sure you understand."

"So are we going or what?" Warren asked, "I'm all ready to go back."

"Sure, let's go." Elaine nodded, heading back to the boat.

Warren moved to follow, but Malcolm stopped him, "Listen, about before…the whole Star of Destiny thing, sorry about that."

"It's okay, I've been thinking about it…maybe I do have something to be revengeful at…" Warren replied, heading towards the boat.

And so Malcolm's surprise at Warren's statement could be summed up in one intelligent word.

"Huh?"

---

The boat set sail again relatively quickly, the wind luckily on their side.  Amada reckoned they'd reach Lakewest within an hour or so, something Joseph Zonestar was uncharacteristically excited about.  Meeting people who knew who he was beyond lucky…and now he was getting to go back to the home he couldn't remember.  Even better, the cursed rune was letting him go. 

Even though it probably won't let me stay.  I can already feel it's desire to return to that castle again.  But it's not pulling me back…at least not yet.  Is this…could this be…destiny? I wonder if I ever believed in destiny before now? 

I wonder if I'll ever remember anything before now…this rune…it's playing with my mind.

"You're pretty quiet for a kid," Amada said suddenly, breaking Joseph out of his trance, "Never met many kids who weren't rowdy."

"…I'm not a kid," Joseph replied quietly, "At least…not anymore."

"Pretty cryptic too…" Amada turned his attention back to steering, "You're like a puzzle…"

Joseph turned back to the lake; You've no idea how right you might be…

---

"I just don't get it…a guy like Warren, he just doesn't seem like the revengeful type," Malcolm whispered to Elaine.  It could have been considered an emergency conference, if you can consider two people having a hushed conversation a conference. 

"I was only kidding before about that whole Star of Destiny thing," Malcolm whispered, "I had no idea it might've been something serious."

"I wonder who it is," Elaine whispered back, employing her Assassin's subterfuge skills again, "Maybe he'll end up hiring me to…"

"Elaine!" Malcolm whispered a shade louder than before, "Be serious."

"I was…"

"You've known Warren longer than I have, who do you think he's on about?"

"How should I know?  He's always been too busy having fun to say much.  Do you think we'll ever know?"

"He'll tell us when he wants to…no point in trying to force it out of him."

---

The projectile flew straight at Kara.  It had come from seemingly nowhere, and she never saw it coming until it was almost too late.  With one quick flick of her wrist Kara drew out one of her daggers and slashed at the projectile.  It made a sort of "pfft" sound as it fell harmlessly to the ground.  Kara knelt down to pick it up.

"Hey! That was one of my best balls you just punctured!"

Kara looked up to see a slightly irate looking Warren looming above her, "Heh…whoops.  Next time watch where you throw it, okay?"

"Well, if that's the reception a poor defenseless ball gets, I'd hate to think what you'd do to guys," Warren sat down, grinning.

"Would you like to find out?" Kara smiled, "So you play football, huh?  How macho."

"Play?  It's not just a game you know," Warren replied, getting all serious, "It's an art."

"Do you really use this in combat?" Kara held up the punctured ball.

"Well, I won't be using that one anymore."

"It just seems so silly…" Kara looked up at Warren, "But then there is that kid with the spatula…"

"Kahri's a good kid," Warren interrupted, "I've never seen him being serious once."

"You must have a lot of leg strength to be able to use these as weapons."

"Skill helps too.  And accuracy."

Kara nodded, "How long have you been playing?"

"Years.  More than a decade now."

"Wow, that's dedication.  So who taught you how to mix the game with the fighting then?"

A chill seemed to fill the air, and Kara realized this wasn't the best question she could've asked.

"There was a guy…"

Kara decided she might as well test her luck, "Something bad happened to him?"

"Yeah…you could say that.  He died in the middle of a game," Warren's tone of voice had lowered considerably.

"Died?"

"…murdered."

It was nothing more than a mutter, but Kara suddenly felt colder than she had done for a long time.  She opened her mouth to say something, but couldn't find the words that wouldn't sound corny or stupid.  She decided to stay quiet instead.

"It was supposed to be a friendly game.  Just a group of locals against some important Highland bigwigs.  I never even knew any of them then, turns out one of them was King Agares Blight himself."

Kara played her role as the listener well, but even she was surprised at this.  She managed not to gasp, despite her serious urge to do so.

"I didn't actually see it, well not really.  One of them Highlanders kicked the ball right at him with amazing force, hitting him in the side of the head.  He never got back up…"

Kara couldn't quite bring herself to look up at Warren directly, but she could still see a glimmer of a tear in his eye.  She let Warren continue.

"He was really famous in Kuskus, but nobody even turned up for his funeral except for me.  He was like a father figure to me…And I'm telling all this to a girl I've barely known ten minutes.  I've never told anyone this before."

"It stays between us," Kara managed to look up at Warren, "If that's what you want, I mean." 

"Thanks.  It's appreciated," Warren managed a slight smile, "That's what I was really thinking about back there, that and something Malcolm said before.  About destiny."

"He read too much as a kid about stuff like that.  All starry-eyed and stuff, not particularly serious about life.  He's a dreamer."

"Funny, he didn't come across as anything like that when I met him before," Warren responded, "He was very serious."

"Probably just a bit nervous.  He's like that with people he doesn't know."

"I have the feeling seriousness isn't something that runs in your family,"

"I'm worse than he is," Kara smiled, "I'm sorry about everything, but let's not dwell on that.  Come on, let's see what you've got…that's if you've got a spare ball with you."

Warren smiled and reached into his bag, producing another ball and spinning it in his hand, "I'll totally blitz you, you know."

"Hey, I was pretty good as a kid," Kara grinned, "Well, apart from a couple broken window incidents.  Once I think I hit a fish, easy catch though.  Tasted good too."

"Hmm, maybe I'll just use my practice ball for this…"

"Cheeky, aren't you?"

"If it goes in the water, I'm not diving in to fetch it."

Warren tossed the ball to Kara, who set it down on the deck of the boat.  She kicked it, hoping for it to go in the general direction of Warren.  Instead it veered well off course and landed in Malcolm's lap.  Malcolm quietly picked the ball up and threw it back to Warren.

"You used to be much better than that," Malcolm grinned, "Hope you haven't lost your game."

"Hey, even on my worst day I'm still better than you."

"Oh, willing to prove it?"

"Oh, it's on now!"

Warren sighed and sat down beside Elaine, who was remarkably managing to keep herself composed.

"They're not like this all the time are they?" He asked.

"Not at all," Elaine replied.

"That's a relief…"

"They're usually much worse than that."

Warren's eyes widened, as he turned to watch the two fight over the ball. 

"…we're gonna need a bigger boat."

---

Wow, a finished chapter.  Who'd have thought?  Anyway, my plan is to write smaller chapters from now on, and try to focus on one group of characters rather than all of them.  Will it work out this way?  Hey, don't ask me, I'm just the author!