TRUE COURAGE FOUND

Disclaimer: I don't own the characters or anything else, except this story, on Suikoden IV.

Author's note: The names I chose for the game are as follows; the hero's name is Link, the ship's name is the Dauntless, and the army's name is the Crusaders.

"The fact that this crew, and their captain, is all willing to fight to the very end." Lino said, taking his place next to Link.

"Lino En Kuldes, why am I not surprised to see you here?" Vingerhut said, with a little hint of venom in his voice, "Now I have to give all my soldiers extra pay."

"And this time, they made sure to have you write it down on paper so you don't back out, right?" Link said, causing the older man to growl, "A little trick that me and Glen came up with when we got tired of our superiors using their little wild cards in order to get us to pay them for their loses. That is one of the main reasons why they try to keep us separated." The people on both ships, except Vingerhut, gave off a little laugh, even the Gaien soldiers.

"And you're still giving me problems!" Vingerhut said, "I still don't know why Glen chose you over my son to train personally." Carrying a chip on his shoulder big enough to overshadow the Scarlet Moon Empire.

"I'll tell you why," Konrad said, deciding to come to his late friend's defense, "Glen told me this while I was visiting him in his room after he got that rune from Brandeau. He told me that how while watching Link and Snowe practicing on their swordsmanship; he saw how much potential Link had compared to your son. Even when he was fighting a friend, he never went easy on anybody. That was when my old friend decided to take that young man under his very wing, and train him in everything, including things that only he himself knew." He then looked at the Captain, who was keeping a brave front, "And after spending so much time together, he admitted that he started to feel as if though the young boy he helped raise was like his own son." He then watched as Link lifted up his left hand, "After he came to rescue you from Brandeau, only to find that you already defeated him, and he couldn't be anymore prouder to have raised you."

"Yeah, well, the feeling was mutual." Link said, "Although his gaining the Rune of Punishment was just case of showing up at the right place at the wrong time."

Vingerhut was starting to get even more impatient, "And if it did I would finally have something to use against the Scarlet Moon Empire."

"I truly doubt that," Katarina said, standing on Konrad's right side, "Glen might have served you with loyalty and devotion as the commander of your knights, but the one thing he would never allow is to have one of his Knights become some sort of 'special weapon' for some personal vendetta that Gaien has had with Scarlet Moon for god knows how long, and he would gladly give up his commission if it meant making sure that Link would have chance at a decent life."

Vingerhut decided to see how many nerves he can push, "And if I were to recall, you were the one to who was more than eager to make sure that somebody pays for the loss of the commander."

"That was because we only heard Snowe's side of that incident, and that was enough for you to get rid of any body that would be considered a threat to your son's chances at advancement." Katarina said, pressing his nerve instead.

"And I could see why whenever I see them training together inside Reinhold's training room, considering how a big a gap there is in their fighting skills, among other things." Konrad said, "But I'm pretty sure you already knew this considering how Sir Link always ended up being reminded of what his social status was."

"This was all doomed to fail anyway, considering where we're at now." Link said, "Here you are, trying to get revenge over your pride."

"And here you are leading a bunch of rift rafts with petty dreams trying to change the world." Vingerhut said, getting annoyed.

"I wouldn't underestimate them if I were you, Father," Snowe said, catching the old tyrant off guard, "or else it would be your immediate downfall as it was mine and Kooluk's second fleet."

The murmuring coming from his crew couldn't be helped, but he decided to call a bluff, "Oh, really?" He started out, "You mean to tell me that a bunch of pirates were able to defeat Colton and his fleet, which are considered to be among the strongest in any sea?"

"You could meet him in our brig, which is included with a tour of our ship, only if you would agree to hold off whatever hostilities you might have towards us until afterwards." Link said, "And hopefully, on our part, you might realize what we're really about."

"And it might bust the morale of your men if they didn't have to face people who used to be their comrade not too long ago." Lino said, "Besides, I'm pretty sure you would want to catch up with your son."

Vingerhut only thought for about a second, who worried those who knew him will enough, "I'll agree, but how do I know that you won't pull something?" He asked.

"To put it simply, when push comes to shove, we're the ones who do the shoving whenever somebody decides to push." Link said, "Snowe, he's all yours." He told his 'friend' before he and Lino headed towards the bridge.

"Thanks, Link," Snowe said, before turning towards his father, "Shall we get started father?" He asked his father before following the two men.

Tour starts in the next chapter. Read and Review.