Disclaimer: So this is the... sixth time I've said this? *sigh* I do not own Suikoden Three. Never have, never will. It's too bad, really. I want Ace. *drools* ...But I think you all know that by now... ^^;;

A/N: I haven't died! Weee! *dances* I'm going to have limited computer access for the next two months, although I am going to continue writing on paper (which I usually do for most of this anyway), so the updates may be a little erratic. Just thought I'd let you all know, so you know that I haven't died, hahaha! ^_^

Oh, and you also may notice that I ditched the formatting that I used for last chapter... the spacing got all messed up and annoying, so I threw the idea out the window. heh. ^^;;

And wow, Borus got a little vicious in the second paragraphy-thingie, heh. Ooops. ^^;;

* * *

Chapter Six

* * *

I love her, and I will not lose her.

*

Borus ignored the innkeeper's presence as he hurried down the Inn's wooden staircase with as much control as he could muster. The familiar heat of anger was pulsing through his blood and he greatly wished that he could run into the cowardly archer... it wouldn't be his fault when they found themselves missing a couple limbs.

"Sir?" The Innkeeper's large boots were making quite a racket in the back hall as he ambled on behind the knight.

"What." Borus demanded through clenched teeth.

"Well, Sir... We must be findin' a healer... and at this time o'night..."

"We'll get the arrow first, then determine where the healer can be found."

"Sir... There's a healer just 'round the corner from 'ere..."

Borus ignored the other man as he opened the Inn's back door and hurried into the chilly night air.

He soon found the arrow and gingerly picked it up. "Sir."

"Hmm?" Borus could see the large black shadow that was the Innkeeper approaching.

"Take this upstairs." Borus placed the arrow in the other man's hands and turned towards the street. "So where is this nurse, again?"

"Ye can't, Sir Borus!" The innkeeper didn't need to see the glare to know that the stony silence was directed at him. "'E could still be out there, that archer!"

"You -said- that it was just around the corner."

"It is, but..."

"-and if you came with me, what do you think you'd be able to do?"

"I-"

"Nothing. We are wasting time. Where is the damn house?"

"-I- It- It's the yellow brick one, with pink flowers in the window boxes. Turn left from the mouth o' the alley, and then turn right at yer first chance. It's the second house on yer right."

Borus nodded brusquely and jogged out of the alley, hand firmly on sword hilt. The aging innkeeper watched him go before he turned and quickly hobbled indoors.

Borus approached the door of the medic's house with caution... he had no idea how he was going to wake up the resident. He rapped on the wooden door and frowned when there was no sound of movement from the inside. He knocked harder. No luck. Harder. Still nothing. He was full out pounding the old wooden door when it suddenly swung open without warning. Silence swept over the street and he stepped back, suddenly feeling a trifle embarrassed. "I- erm... ah..."

A tall, middle-aged woman stood in the door frame, clad in a grey nightgown. She raised an eyebrow.

"I... need a healer?" He shuffled his feet and figured that it was a miracle that the entire street wasn't poking their heads out of their windows wondering what the racket was about.

"I am she." She turned around and headed back into the shadows of the interior of her house. "Just a moment, sir." Borus nodded dumbly and waited quietly.

The woman soon reappeared, fully dressed, with a large leather case in hand. "Should I assume, from your desperation and from the hour of your arrival on my doorstep that this is about your..." She peered at him from behind large spectacles. "...Wife?"

Borus looked confused for a moment. "My wi-"

The healer raised an eyebrow. "Giving birth, I presume?" Borus looked horrified. "...After all, that is usually the only reason I am called out by a frantic male at such an hour..." She took another look at his expression. "...But... it would appear that I am wrong."

Borus nodded.

"Well then," She continued. "What -is- the matter, then?"

"My... friend has been poisoned."

"How?" The woman replied quickly.

"An arrow."

The healer nodded thoughtfully and retreated back into the depths of her home. "I'll just need a couple extra things, then..." Her voice was dulled by distance and Borus figured she had gone upstairs.

The woman soon reappeared with another, very large, black leather case and strode with authority out her front door. "Where?"

"The Dancing Dragon Inn, Ma'am."

She nodded in response and marched towards the Inn, black hair streaming and Borus following in her wake.

*

The door burst open and Mary jumped in surprise before she realized who it was that was striding purposefully towards her. "Oh! Elizabeth! Thank goodness-"

The healer dipped her chin in greeting and rounded on the other occupants of the room. "Out!" Borus, Lucy and the Innkeeper looked at her blankly. Elizabeth stabbed her finger at each of them in turn. "You, you and you! Out! Now!" Borus opened his mouth to protest, ready to voice his growing anger with the circumstances, when the woman interrupted him. "I don't care, -Sir-, who you are, who she is, or what you want." He glared at the tall woman. "Get. Out. Now. You are wasting my time." Borus exhaled furiously and backed out of the small room, glaring fiercely at the tyrant of a healer all the way. "Good." And the door swung shut with a resounding -bang-.

Borus leaned against the wall and glared at the closed door.

"She's an amazing healer, though..." Lucy looked timidly at the angry knight. "...I mean, my brother was sick for ages, and Elizabeth just fixed him right up... He's never had a relapse... He's always so healthy now... And my neighbor, she fell off of her horse... Broke something, she did! ...But Elizabeth came and patched her all up... She's as right as rain now... No stiffness, nothin... Doesn't ride horses anymore, though." Borus showed no signs of paying attention. "...What I'm saying, though, sir, is that... well. Elizabeth will figure out what's the matter... What with the poison and everything... And Ria will be fine... I mean, if Elizabeth can't do it, then nobody can, so..."

"That's enough, Lucy." The Innkeeper crossed his arms and leaned sideways against the wall. "That's quite enough." Lucy glanced at Borus and nodded before sinking slowly to the floor in order to sit cross-legged.

Silence descended, broken only by the quiet murmur of voices behind the door of room #2.

*

"She has most definitely been poisoned, Mary." Elizabeth was bent over a small flask of purple-brown liquid. "I just can't really tell what it is." She swirled the contents of the flask around, squinting her eyes in observation. "The closest readings I'm getting from my indicators are... Mantix..." She continued to squint at the liquid in the flask. "...and Chimera..." She picked up another flask which contained a similar-looking purple-brown liquid, and swirled it around. "The indicators aren't getting anything else from the samples," The arrow stood in a pitcher of red-tinted liquid, and several other flasks were filled with the same fluid. Elizabeth picked one of these up, and poured a small amount of a runny black substance into it, swirling it gently as she did so. The fluid didn't do anything but turn a mucky black colour. "...So it's not snake venom, then..." She muttered to herself before setting the flask down in a group of others. "I'm thinking that perhaps it's a mixture of the two poisons- Chimera and Mantix... although I..." She paused and her eyes widened slightly. "...I -have- seen it once before."

"...Is it curable?"

"I... believe so. If she's strong enough. It's a slow process." Elizabeth turned away from her flasks and replaced the small towel on Chris' forehead with a new, clean one. "I'll have to make the antidote... If I can remember how... but I think it's possible. The standard antitoxens will not work on this, but, with a little time..."

"She doesn't have a lot of time, Elizabeth."

The healer's dark eyes flashed. "You think I don't know that?"

Mary bowed her head.

"I will make the antidote and bring it tomorrow. It should be done by mid- afternoon."

"Thank you, Elizabeth." The innkeeper's wife kept her eyes on her patient as the healer gathered her belongings and left the room.

"I'm staying here... until things blow over." Mary didn't act surprised at hearing Borus' voice as he strode through the doorway. "I've got the room next door to this one... paid up and everything..." He trailed off. "So... Sh-"

"It's as we thought. Poison."

"Is... Is there an antidote?"

"Elizabeth is making one... hopefully it will work."

"Hopefully?"

Mary nodded. "Hopefully."

Borus shook his head in anger and frustration. Hopefully. Just hopefully. She could still die, and he would be powerless to stop it. He turned and in a fit of temper hit the wall with his fist.

"She seems like a strong girl." Mary made no sign of having observed Borus' action. "I'm sure she'll pull through."

Borus nodded, his forehead against his fist, before turning around slowly.

"You should get some rest." Mary searched his face with her silver eyes. He just looked quietly at Chris' still form before nodding reluctantly. "Goodnight."

"...Goodnight." He turned slowly and exited the room, leaving the door slightly ajar behind him.

*

"She'll recover, but she'll have little-to-no energy for the next while- it's an effect of the poison... Perhaps it will even five to six days before she'll be back to her normal state."

Borus looked sharply at the tall healer. "Five to six DAYS?"

She nodded. "I can't do anything else. I made the antidote, I brought it to you as promised. You just have to make sure she takes it, once a day, until it's finished." She glared at the blonde knight. "Do you understand me?"

Borus glared unflinchingly back. "Certainly." Elizabeth swept towards the doorway of room #2 but Borus stepped into her path and halted her. "How much?"

She eyed him imperiously. "80 potch."

Borus looked at her in shock. He had been expecting a sum in the hundreds. "Ar- Are you sure about that, ma'am?"

A nod and a frown was his reply.

"Well..." He fished the potch out of a leather pouch and dropped the sum into the healers thin hand. "Thank you. I may not like you-" She scowled. "- but I thank you for what you have done." The healer nodded and swept out of the room.

*

She was standing in the rain.

She couldn't see the droplets through the grey, but she could feel the cold water run down her neck, could feel it run through her silver hair, could hear it drum on her armor.

The fog was thick and she couldn't see the ground... and she suddenly wasn't sure there even WAS a ground. Just fog, grey and stale to taste. Holding absolutely nothing, but somehow absolutely everything at once. It was blank but it was also somehow filled with the potential of everything.

One second, she was sure there was nothing... and the next an object was looming out at her.

A tree.

A home.

A girl.

An arrow.

And somehow this gloom felt familiar, felt almost warm, when her brain told her that it should have been cold and alien.

This wasn't real.

It couldn't be real.

And suddenly the drizzle became a downpour, lashing at her with its freezing spray.

And then it wasn't raining anymore. Water was everywhere and the grey was gone, replaced by blackness, wetness, coldness.

It was soaking her.

It was choking her.

Slithering around her neck like a great, cold snake, until the pressure was unbearable.

Air.

Fire.

Water.

Earth.

Air.

Air.

Air.

And the gloom was back. And the air was back. A face loomed out at her, a woman's face, worn with grief, worn by hate and hurt alike.

An arrow.

A hand.

A knife.

An arrow.

Blackness everywhere. A voice in the dark.

Yelling.

Pleading.

Yelling.

More voices. Shouts laced with deadly anger.

Yelling.

Yelling.

BORUS!

Scream.

~

Chris woke with a sharp intake of breath. She stared at the ceiling for a moment before shuffling uncomfortably under the heavy weight of the numerous blankets.

"...Too... hot. in here..." She grumbled to herself as she began to push the heavy covers off of her chest.

"What -are- you doing?" Chris dropped the weighty blankets, startled.

"I'm getting up. I'm fine." She ignored her throbbing leg and general queasiness.

"No you are not." Borus just looked at her for a moment from the foot of her bed before approaching her bedside.

"I am getting up. It was just one arrow!"

"'Just one arrow' is enough when it's poisoned!"

Chris paused. '...so that's why...' "...I don't care. I feel fine and I am NOT going to lie in bed like some little princess!"

"You are -not- getting up." He planted his hands on her shoulders, effectively restraining her.

She glared and tried to twist away, but the blankets hampered any movement and her muscles wouldn't seem to obey. "I. Am. Fine." He just looked down at her and didn't react when she put her hands on his chest and pushed as hard as she could... and he didn't budge. Her blue eyes widened in astonishment. She had -never- felt so weak, so helpless as she did now. Years and years of training for the knighthood were insignificant, which just made her irritation with the situation triple. She couldn't even MOVE him! "Let." She pushed and twisted at the same time, trying to force as much strength as possible into her actions. "Me..." She trailed off as she realized that Borus had bent lower to prevent her escape and that they were nose-to-nose. Barely daring to breathe they both quietly regarded one another. "...Go..." Chris stubbornly whispered before Borus gently pressed his lips to hers.

She closed her eyes and threw away all reason. She was no hero, no captain, no rune-bearer.

Just Chris.

She tilted her chin up slightly, drinking in his warmth, his smell, loving the way his lips felt on hers.

Chris shifted one of her hands and Borus abruptly realized what exactly he was doing. 'She is my CAPTAIN, the rune-bearer. What do I think I'm doing? -I- may love her, but I cannot force this upon her...' He pulled back hurriedly, avoiding her gaze. "I- I'm sorry milady." He stated quietly and left the room.

Chris stared for a moment before she buried herself in the heavy covers. It was suddenly far too cold in the room.

*

"Can I help you, Ma'am?"

The woman started slightly at the voice and at the small silhouette looming out of the night. "No. Thank you."

"The door is locked, Ma'am."

"I realize that." She turned away from the Dancing Dragon's back door to face the short stable boy. "Would you happen to know what time it is?"

The boy shook his head.

"Fine." 'It-must- be past midnight, it must be.' Anna peered through the darkness at the boy and frowned. 'She'll have fallen asleep by now.' "Well... Could you let me in?"

"Oh! I am so sorry Ma'am!" The boy looked chastened as he nodded, but he couldn't resist trying to peer through the darkness under her hood. "Did you know, you are the -second- patron in two nights to wants to get in the back door? I don't think we should even -lock- the back anymore! Or, at least, give me a key, even though Rick says I'm too little and I'd lose it... But just last night, th-" He sounded almost excited.

"I don't care, child." The boy looked slightly stunned before he nodded and dashed off to the front door.

Anna waited silently for the boy to return through the interior of the Inn, and merely frowned at the child when he managed to get the door open. She strode through it and waited for the boy to leave before climbing the wooden stairs that lead to the rooms. Room #2 specifically.

She paused before the numbered door, listening intently so as to be sure that Chris was the only one in the room beyond. Anna crept silently into the darkness of the chamber, closed the door behind her and locked it securely.

It was time.

*

Chris woke suddenly and silently from another strange dream; she had been told by Mary that the dreams were fever-induced, and Chris wasn't going to argue with the theory. She cast her eyes around the pitch blackness of the room, waiting to adjust. She heard a lock click. A footstep. A tall form seemed to be... moving? Chris stayed dead still. Yes, it was most definitely moving... towards her.

'My dagger...' Chris thought wildly. 'Where is it?' She cast her eyes around desperately, but couldn't see anything. She had been sleeping on her side, with her right hand under her pillow, and she could barely suppress a smile when her fingers brushed against metal. 'Thank you, Borus.' She waited silently and pretended to be asleep, watching the shadow through her eyelashes.

The stranger was cloaked and hooded, and Chris was getting increasingly suspicious. What were they planning? Her fingers curled tighter around the hilt of her dagger as the figure loomed above her.

She heard the unmistakable sound of a blade being drawn and whipped out her own. She was stunned when her drained muscles didn't respond: the dagger was barely out from under the pillow when a similar blade was pressed to her own throat.

"Make ONE sound, ONE move, White Maiden, and I slit your throat."

* * *

A/N: Well, I wrote that in about three sittings... and I think it shows. Heh. Well, I am definitely going to finish this story... although I still haven't picked an ending yet. ^^;; I've kinda narrowed it down a little. There's two options now. Ugh. -_-;

Oh, and Elizabeth's 'indicators' are kinda like pH indicators, if anyone takes chemistry... I figured it would be possible to get some chemical that would react a certain way with one poison, and not with another, which is the essence of what's she's doing with her indicators. ^^;;

Alrighty... I have just spent four hours straight in this uncomfortable chair writing, so I am going to conclude this author's note now, with, of course, The People I Officially Adore. ^__^

Mika Blue Eyes: I'm glad you didn't think it was cheesy, although this chapter may change your mind on that statement, haha! ~_^ ^_^ I adore fluff, but I -really- can't write it. *sigh*

Eiji: Hehehe, yes Borus is SO lovable. ^_^ *huggles Borus* I think he's great. Second only to Ace... and tied with Futch. But that's another matter. ^^;;

Sticky Rice: Your review was really sweet: it really gave me motivation when I was getting irritated with the fic. Thank you! ^_^

Quadrono: Heh, so much for the whole 'update soon' thing, huh? ^^;;

Fallen Dragon: Thank you! ^_^

kaineko: I agree: Borus is totally head-over-heels for Chris throughout the game. Squee! SO cute. ^__^ Did you see the scene with the Zexen knights in the Cyndar ruins before Chris fights Sarah? Borus was -SO- cute. ^__^ I like Jaques/Aila, too- they have great fluff potential, although I haven't really come up with a good plotline... maybe during the summer something with occur to me, hmm? ^_^

******* Thank you all SOO much for reviewing!! *******