Knights Rivalry by Crimson Scorpion
Disclaimer: I do not own Suikoden III…
A/N: Hey guys… It's been quite a while… but voila here is chapter II… Thanks for all those who reviewed my first chapter! I love you guys! hehe… anyway for those wondering who ends up with Chris… well that's a surprise of course! But I'm still thinking about it actually… Anyway thanks again for all the reviews and comments! Please review this chapter too ok? Thank you:)
Chapter II: First Punishment
From a distance a lone figure had been watching Chris, Nash and Borus. His intense stare focusing specifically on his captain. Percival brought his right hand to his hair combing it into place as if it had been disarrayed by the wind, but in truth it was still in its perfect form. He was glad that Borus had been able to drive Nash away without him having to interfere… But he would have been happy to thrust his sword into Nash's throat… yep it was a very tempting thought… Percival watched Borus running towards the tavern to where they would be meeting together with Leo and Roland.
"I better head to the tavern too before they realize my long absence…" Percival said to no one in particular.
But before Percival could take a step he noticed that Chris was still standing on the hill… and her gaze was following Borus…
Percival felt his heart beat faster as if he had been running a race… was she interested with Borus?... NO! It can't be! It's just not possible… yes its not possible…
Percival had strong feelings for Chris but he didn't want anyone specially Borus to know that yet… things might become complicated if he reveals his feelings for his captain.
Percival dismissed those thoughts and headed to the tavern.
---------------------------
Inside the tavern:
(Slamming of beer mugs on the table)
"You're not gonna win against me Percy!" Borus taunted Percival with his mouth bubbling with beer. The four Zexen Knights had been playing a little beer drinking competition, whoever drinks the most amount of beer before becoming absolutely drunk is the winner.
Percival sputtered a little as he tried to swallow more of his beer. He never should have agreed to challenge Borus in beer drinking… They all knew that Borus could probably empty one maybe even two kegs of beer by himself and not get drunk… That's how tough Borus' tolerance to alcohol is…
"C'mon Percival! You're our last hope to bring down mister high and mighty here!" Leo growled near Percival's ear.
Percival winced at the impact of Leo's voice in his ear.
"Hey watch it!" Percival warned as he gulped down his 10th glass of beer. He could already feel his surroundings spinning and spinning out of control…
Borus was already on his 13th glass of beer and he could still manage to taunt Percival and brag about his drinking skills.
"Give it up Percy! You're not going to beat me anyway what's the point?" Borus managed to say between swigs of beer. Percival may look really bad at the moment but at least Borus seemed to be drunk too by the way he was swaying in his chair.
"Percival! You can do it! C'mon! I'm betting on you! This'll cost me big potch with Roland!" Leo cheered Percival on.
Roland who was leaning against a wooden column raised an eyebrow at his fellow knight and smiled to himself thinking how funny the three of them looked.
Percival raised his 12th glass near his lips, the glass shaking violently in his hands… Percival blinked a few times trying to clear his vision but it was no use… It was as if there was an earthquake… everything was spinning… he could hear someone growling like a beast saying his name… he could also hear someone gurgling words telling him to give up… he glanced at the direction where it came from… the sane part him could still tell that it was Borus… Give up! Ha! In his dreams! He would never give up Lady Chris! Although Borus didn't know about Percival's hidden intention toward Lady Chris… Suddenly the glass in Percival's hands slipped from his fingers and dropped on the tiled floor… then with a loud thud he fell from his chair… then he saw nothing but blackness…
----------------------------
Percival was inside a ballroom… everything looked beautiful and elegant… He was wearing his best formal attire as he waited near the stairs… waiting for someone…
Wait… who am I waiting for?...
Percival looked up the stairs to see the most beautiful woman he had ever seen although he didn't really know who it was since she was half hidden in the shadows… slowly the woman descended the stairs…
As the woman stepped into the light Percival realized it was Lady Chris looking like a goddess wearing an indigo gown that flowed like water beneath her… her hair was in loose waves shimmering like spun silver…
She smiled at him sweetly… he smiled back but then her sweet smile changed into a menacing one… her hair became shorter changing its color into a blonde… her violet eyes turned blue… Percival realized it was Borus' face!
Give it up Percy!
Give up!
She's mine!
Give up!
Argh! Percival sat up from his bed realizing it was just a dream… well more like a nightmare actually… He couldn't believe Borus can haunt him in his sleep…
Percival shivered at the thought of his little nightmare. Hey wait a minute… how did he get in his room? All he could remember was the little beer drinking contest he and Borus was competing in… then that dreadful nightmare…
"Sir Percival! You're up! I'm so glad!" a female voice cheered happily.
Percival looked up to see who it was. The voice came from one of the women who usually cling to him whenever he was walking around the castle walls trying to flirt with him and things of that sort…
"Yes thank you for your concern. You may leave me now… I'm feeling much better."
The girl's face became disappointed… and nodded silently as she stepped outside his bedroom and closing the door.
"What time is it anyway?" Percival glanced at the sundial outside that was near his window…
"12:30!" Percival ran inside the bathroom to take a quick bath and started to put his armor on.
"She'll be totally furious…"
-------------------------
Chris tapped her foot impatiently on the hard stone floor. She was supposed to check the attendance of all knights to be going on patrol this afternoon. And the most important attendance was that of the head knights… which was Percival, Borus, Leo and Roland… Leo and Roland had already gone on patrol… While Percival and Borus were nowhere to be seen…
"I cannot believe how irresponsible those two are!" Chris fumed to herself. She had been having a really bad day and this was putting her on the edge of her patience… Nash had been bugging her early that morning trying to get her to come with him to al little "friendly" trip to Harmonia with only him… yeah right like she would... That is it! I'll count 10 seconds… after that they'll receive a punishment they won't forget for their carelessness… Chris smiled to herself… now that would be pretty interesting…
"Ok here it goes…" Chris started counting down. 10… 9… 8… 7… 6… 5… 4…
"Hmmmm… 3… 2… -…"
Borus: "Lady Chris I am here!"
Percival: "Forgive my tardiness!"
Borus and Percival said at the same time as they ran towards Chris but coming from different directions.
Chris looked at them with irritation then sighed deeply. She couldn't get herself to give them a good scolding… after all they were also her friends besides being her knights…
"Ok. Explain yourselves." Chris said to the two knights who where heaving from exhaustion as if they had just been running for their lives… It was close to the truth anyway…
Percival and Borus glanced nervously at each other… they can't tell they got drunk last night because Chris had made it clear to them that drinking wasn't allowed if they are scheduled for patrol the next day…
"Well? I'm waiting." Chris said with a hint of impatience this time. She was trying hard to sound superior to them as not to give them an idea that she's going to let every mistake they do unpunished.
"Lady Chris we deeply apologize for our tardiness… and we are deeply sorry for breaking the drinking rule…" Percival explained reluctantly.
Borus looked at Percival with disbelief. He couldn't believe he just told Lady Chris they were drinking last night! He had no other choice but to support… argh support Percival's explanation…
"Yeah… we got out of hand last night…" Borus blurted uneasily trying to back up Percival.
Chris clenched her fists… she hated to punish them but breaking that very simple rule really hit a nerve… yes she had to give them something to remind them of their responsibilities as knights…
"two pails of water… one on each hand… both arms raised on 90 degrees… on top of the hill until the sun sets… starting now…"
It took both Borus and Percival a few moments to realize that they were being given a punishment. Their very first punishment…
The two knights nodded and scrambled to go outside and fetch their pails of water…
Chris watched the two handsome knights sadly and shook her head in disappointment…
------------------------------
On top of the hill:
Arghhhh! Borus muttered to himself.
Percival glanced at Borus and he almost dropped his pails of water as he tried not to laugh at Borus. Borus had his eyes closed and his arms were shaking violently and the water inside the pails was half empty… half of the water was on the ground caused by Borus' shaking…
"This is your entire fault you know Percy!" Borus stuttered as he opened his eyes struggling with the pails of water…
"What! My fault? Now how was it my fault? You were the one who thought about that beer drinking contest!" Percival replied angrily at Borus.
"Well you could have made up a story why we were late you know! But no! You had to open that smart mouth of yours and tell Lady Chris that we had a drinking fest last night!"
"Well unlike you I'm a very honest person! Besides I can't lie to Lady Chris…"
"Since when were you concerned about honesty Percy? Huh?"
Borus looked at Percival who was now serious and looking thoughtful…
"You like her too…?" Borus asked hesitantly. He had a bad feeling that Percival also had feelings for their captain. But he was hoping that Percival would laugh and tell him that he wasn't interested with Lady Chris. Percival may be his archrival but he was also his most trusted and closest friend. They always competed about everything… but they've never actually competed for a woman… Borus didn't want to think that their friendship could be ruined because of a woman… but of course the woman wasn't just anyone… it was Lady Chris after all…
"Hey answer me Percival…"
Percival looked at Borus and decided whether he should let Borus know now or not… But Percival knew that it was time to tell Borus… well… here it goes…
"Yeah…"
"Yeah what?"
"I've fallen for Lady Chris…"
"…"
Borus felt really nauseous right at that moment… he couldn't imagine doing the things he did to Nash to Percival once Percival makes a move on Lady Chris… It was an unbearable thought…
Borus nodded in reply to Percival… and without him realizing what he was saying he had just blurted out another challenge between him and Percival.
"May the best knight win."
End of chapter 2…
A/N: well…? What do you guys think? Please if you read it REVIEW it too! Ok? That's all for now… on the next chapter the competition of the two knights begin to win their captain's heart… there will be more of Chris' thoughts in chapter III… anyway I hoped you guys liked this chapter… thank you to psycholeopard for the correction on bucks… and to all those who reviewed!