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. Their only fault is their inability to release Suikoden 3 in Europe, but I'm not one to bitch about things like that…_
AAAAAH!!! It's chapter 50! Who'd have guessed a simple topic on a message board would lead to such utter chaos? Thanks to everyone who's contributed/read/e-mailed/reviewed/bribed/brought pudding snacks/watched the movie/bought the t-shirt/but mostly bribed me so far.
Other Disclaimers: Elaine gets a little bitchy. Chris gratuitously swears again.
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Chapter FIFTY!!! ^_^
Elaine + Internal Monologue = Bad
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Around half an hour ago...
The man trained in perfect silence, not making any sounds as he moved stealthily through the trees. The observer can only assume that the man in training is male; shadows obscure our vision of his face, almost as if it was how he intended it to be. The man could only be one of two things due to his stealthy training; an assassin, or a ninja. One must lean towards the latter, if only because he is not wearing black, but dark green to mesh with the forest surroundings. His movements seem slow, but in actuality are too quick for the human eye to see properly.
A single leaf fell from a random tree, its descent was slow, spiraling down, dancing in the air, until it was caught mid-fall by a small throwing star which embedded it into a tree trunk. The figure retrieved the star without a sound. The leaf plummeted to the ground.
Hmm?
The projectile flew towards the figure with remarkable speed and dead-on aim. The figure caught it effortlessly in his right hand, and quickly scanned his surroundings. He could sense no other presence there, whoever his attacker was had simply vanished as quickly as he/she had appeared. The figure glanced at the object he now held in his hand, an envelope. Turning it over, the figure let out a small gasp as he saw Shu's wax seal.
"Well old friend," Unmistakably a male voice, "What news do you have for me today?"
He, now we can safely call him a 'he', sat down on a tree trunk to read Shu's letter. He read silently, but urgently too. And it was all too apparent that he was not pleased at it's contents.
"Kage…" His voice was full of malice and hatred. He continued reading, seemingly growing more and more irate at it's contents.
He threw the letter down to the ground, and picked up a sword that fit into a holder on his belt. The sword was unmistakably a Katana, the sword of the ninja. And without another word, he ran off towards Lakewest town with incredible haste and urgency.
---
Elaine watched him run off from her vantage point in the tree. Waiting until he was gone, Elaine jumped down from the tree, landing perfectly on her feet, and retrieved the discarded letter from the ground. She didn't read it; instead she slipped it into a concealed pocked in her outfit. You'd be right for thinking that Elaine wasn't the curious type.
Can't stand littering...wonder who this Kage guy is anyway? Shu certainly knows how to press the right buttons on a person. Bastard.
And with just as much silence as the mysterious ninja had shown before, Elaine rushed off in the opposite direction, towards Two River City.
---
"Hey!"
Amada looked down at the figure who had hailed him. The first thing he noticed was the sword that rested in the holster on the man's hip. The second was the envelope in his right hand, the one those kids had been sent to deliver.
"I need passage to Genkaku Castle immediately."
"Uh, but what about the others?" Amada asked, where are the kids anyway?
"There's no time to wait for anyone else," The figure replied, "This is urgent, we must leave immediately. The others will have to find other means of travel."
Amada looked doubtful, but his mission was to get the man back to Shu as soon as possible. He nodded as the figure came aboard in utter silence. Amada felt slightly unnerved, but got on with the task at hand. He set sail, and soon was steering the boat back to Genkaku Castle.
---
And now...back to the present
"So let's recap shall we?" Warren Tredrea said conversationally to the others in the group, namely Kara Phillips, her older brother Malcolm and Joseph Zonestar. He continued, "The boat was obviously still docked when we entered the Inn after discovering the Zonestar parentals were out, cause we saw it, right?"
There was a round of muttered "yes's" and nods as a response.
"So in the ten, let's be generous and say fifteen minutes we were in the Inn," Warren stroked his chin in contemplation, "Amada left for some unknown reason, leaving us stranded here in Lakewest."
"At least until Riou and the others get back from Two River," Kara added, "We'll just have to go back on the boat they came here on."
"AND in the midst of losing the boat, Elaine has also gone missing with the message we were supposed to deliver to Shu's friend," Warren sighed, "How can a simple delivery mission go so horribly wrong?"
There was no reply to that. The group simply walked on in silence, very solemn and incredibly depressed.
"Shu is going to go absolutely spare," Malcolm moaned, "I just hope Elaine doesn't lose that letter…wherever she went to."
A collective sigh rose up from the four companions. Kara seemed to be the only one who was slightly happy at the turn of events, "Hey, at least we have a place to stay until they get back. For free too."
"I just hope we don't miss them coming back," Malcolm rubbed his temple, "Then we'll really be screwed."
But Warren shook his head in disagreement, "I doubt we'll miss them, Nanami's loud enough to wake an entire village with a whisper, and if it's not Nanami speaking it'll be Avara blowing up again. You're pretty quiet, what's up?"
That last comment was made to the unbelievably shy Joseph Zonestar, who was quite content to just lag behind the other three and let them talk. But now all three were glancing, thankfully not staring, at the young amnesiac. Truth be told, he was quietly thinking to himself, happy in his own little world.
"Well...maybe Elaine did deliver that letter to that guy already," Joseph half mumbled, but was just clear enough to form legible words, "And then he took the boat back to the castle."
"That might be it!" Malcolm unnecessarily yelled, banging his right fist into his open left palm, making a sort of "fap" sound, "After all, that guy was supposed to go back and see Shu A.S.A.P. Good thinking Joseph."
"Oh, it was nothing really," Joseph started to cringe under the attention, "Common sense."
And Joseph said no more, turning away from the stares of the other three. Which was a slight mistake, as he nearly walked right into the back of Kara, who had stopped in front of one of the houses, which looked pretty much like the rest of the houses in Lakewest.
"We're here," Kara said flatly, looking at Malcolm who returned her look with a shrug, "Home."
"Knowing our luck, your parents will probably be out too," Warren said, only half joking.
Malcolm said nothing, but stepped forward to the door and knocked on it three times...shaking his head as he did so.
"You know you're doing the right thing," Kara said softly, with a reassuring smile.
"We'll see, shall we?" Malcolm responded, without spite, but with something he had long given up on.
Hope.
---
Elaine charged through the terrain, quickly heading west towards the Two River City. She was not moving slowly, and anybody watching would perhaps have noticed a human shaped blur pass them by. In short, the assassin was in a hurry. Being alone gave Elaine a chance to think clearly, without any of the others to distract or disturb her.
I had almost forgotten how blissful solitude could be...I can't remember the last time I was alone for so long. Before the boy...before the war...before Andrew...before...emotion.
Elaine knew she had to make stops to rest; otherwise sheer exhaustion from traveling so quickly would overwhelm her. An ordinary person would have had to stop long before Elaine did; she chose her resting spot carefully, a small secluded spring, where no-one would disturb her, except perhaps the eyes of curious animals. Elaine sipped the cool water from the spring, she immediately felt refreshed, almost rejuvenated by the cool water.
Urgh, I should have brought a flask or a bottle...can't go and dehydrate myself now can I?
Elaine splashed the water on her face, happy for the chance to cleanse it. She glanced at her reflection in the water for a second, self consciously fixing a stray strand of her blonde hair. It was mid hair fix that she stopped, and suddenly looked very disgusted with herself. Elaine backed away from the spring, frowning.
Have I changed so much...? Did I...make a mistake coming here?
No...no, of course not. Paranoia, that's all this is.
Elaine resumed her journey to Two River; worry still etched on her face, complete with a loose strand of blonde hair...
---
Meanwhile...in Two River City...
"The town hall's right there," Fitcher half moaned, not liking being
flanked by Chris and Millie, "Then you can get your money and leave me alone."
"That suits me just fine," Chris replied with a snort, "I can't wait to see the back of you."
The three reluctant companions walked towards the Two River City town hall, and while Chris and Fitcher were quite happy this whole experience would be over soon, Millie almost looked sad.
"Aw, you two shouldn't argue like that," She said, "It's upsetting Bonaparte."
"Can that...THING...even get upset?" Fitcher tried not to look at the bug-eyed monster, and failed miserably.
"Hey! Don't talk about Bonaparte like that!" Millie actually scowled, Fitcher jumped back in surprise...
And proceeded to accidentally collide with Chris. Chris let out a small gasp of surprise as he and Fitcher tumbled to the ground in a very unceremonious way.
"Get...the hell...off of me!" Chris yelled.
Fitcher hastily got back to his feet, almost slipping on Chris' staff which had detached itself from the holster on Chris' back. Chris stared angrily at Fitcher as he regained his footing and retrieved his staff, his eyes not leaving Fitcher's for a second. Millie had backed away from both of them, now looking concerned. All of a sudden Bonaparte leapt out of her arms.
"Aaah! Bonaparte!" She yelled, chasing after him.
But the yellow groundhog didn't travel far. It quite calmly trotted towards Fitcher, and proceeded to bite him on the foot. Fitcher leapt into the air, letting out a cry of pain. Fitcher ran off.
"Hey! Get back here!" Chris yelled at the retreating Fitcher.
"No chance! I'm getting as far away from that monster as possible!"
Chris moved to chase Fitcher, but was cut off by Millie's screaming.
"Oh no! Bonaparte ran off into that forest!" She cried, running off in the opposite direction.
Chris turned to look in the direction of the retreating Millie, then back in the direction of the retreating Fitcher. There was only one thing he could do now...
"Shit..." he muttered to himself as he chased after Millie.
---
Elaine continued running towards Two River, but it was obvious she wasn't in quite so much of a hurry to get there. Her pace had slowed substantially, although she was still moving quicker than an average person could. She was deep in thought as she ran, canceling out any and all sounds and distractions to do so. Many monsters were left perplexed as their prey stormed past them, not even registering their presence. Elaine was too busy fighting another dangerous creature.
Her inner thoughts.
Why am you doing this...seriously?
Because.
Because? Do you even have a valid reason for storming off, leaving the others behind AND stranded in Lakewest?
They'll be fine. They just have to wait until we get back.
So are you really going just for him?
...yes. She realized how grudgingly it was that she admitted that, and frowned even more.
You wouldn't have done this before.
Elaine screeched to a halt. She could feel a small tear forming in her eye, she quickly rubbed it away. Her breathing had become much heavier, and beads of sweat started to form on her forehead. Elaine could feel herself losing this inner battle.
No...I wouldn't have. Not for a man...not for anyone. But that's not who I am anymore!
But it's who you long to be again.
Elaine could feel herself becoming dizzy, she fell to her knees, her energy depleting too rapidly.
No...
You know emotions have made you this way. Pathetic and weak!
I'm not pathetic...but there was no sense of convincing in that thought. She wasn't sure of her answer, and worse for her, she knew it.
Elaine...you're nothing more than a slave to these unnecessary emotions...you're going against everything you've been brought up to know.
Shut up! Just stop it! Leave me alone!
You know I'm right. And it's tearing you apart inside.
"SHUT UP!!!"
And all because of that thief. He's turned you into his little bitch.
"That's not true!"
Submissive, vain and caring...how dare you still call yourself an assassin!
Elaine couldn't find the energy to reply...she slumped forward, her elbows only barely keeping her from falling into the ground.
You used to be strong! And now you're running around the country just to see HIM again! You're just like a loyal dog! You're nothing more than his little subservient plaything!
I...am. Aren't I? What am I thinking? He's just...a guy. And I'm...chasing after him like a little girl. What have I become? I can't...be like that!
And in that very moment, Elaine Johnson began to slip into unconsciousness. The last thing she saw was a small yellow thing running towards her. Her eyes closed over, and darkness enveloped her.
You're doing the right thing...
I know...
"Elaine!"
The voice was familiar, but she couldn't tell who it was. Unconsciousness finally took her over, and Elaine became lifeless.
---
Ooo, I was shooting for angsty, but I don't know if I quite pulled it off...ah well, I think I managed to do what I set out to do. What will happen next for our intrepid heroes? Well, you'll just have to wait and see. I honestly hope you don't have to wait too long! And don't worry Andrew fans, he'll be back next chapter! =D
