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 Boutiques was just as bustling as the saloon was, with Funghi, Kevin and Pam in the center of the room, cooking & serving food for some of the off duty Crusaders, like Aldo and Frederica who were on one side of the counter dining and chatting with each other, while Gary and Ema were on the other side, doing the same.

Jeane was currently helping Ted and Maxine with their runes since they had monster duty coming up, since both are highly capable rune masters, with Ted doubling as an archer.

Nabokov is appraising some artifacts that the mermaid sisters were kind enough to scrounge up from the bottom of the ocean.

Adrienne is busy pounding away on Selma's Evil-Slicing Sword, while Selma herself was having a little drink while she waits.

Gretchen is buying some new equipment from Chandler, who needed help from Gau since the equipment was a little heavy to lift by himself.

Bang was looking like he was going to faint because a red ball fell out of his lottery box, meaning that he has to give the winner, who happens to be Keen, his prize.

"This place is definitely lively, that's for sure." Vingerhut commented, not sure what to think about a ship having its own little shopping district.

"Considering how long this ship stays out at sea, it's not surprising. The Boutiques is a place to get things done, from eating to shopping to maintaining your equipment. The two doors at the other end lead to the hot tubs run by Taisuke. To the right is a room setup as a place to relax for a bit, mainly this floor is just a nice place to get what needs to be done before a battle of any kind." Snowe explained, while Travis was approaching them.

"Hey Snowe, I almost forgot, Phil wanted me to tell you that he has those clothes ready for you to pick up." Travis said, while making his way up the stairs.

"Thanks Travis." Snowe said, while letting his friend walk by, before looking at his father who was raising an eyebrow, "These clothes were starting to get a little revealing, so I asked Phil, the ship's tailor to fix me up some clothes that would fit me comfortable while at the same time last through any situation.

"And whatever happened to the sword I gave you?" He asked.

"Oh yeah, that reminds me, I better pick it up from Adrienne." Snowe said, before leaving his father at the spot.

Vingerhut was nowhere near pleased because of his wounded ego. Even though he is probably about half way through the tour, he was jealous because this ship was more perfect compared to his own. This ship has the same kind of things you would find at any place, while at the same time his pride was getting just as wounded as his ego because nobody on this ship has treated him the way others would treat him the same way to those of his status.

"Excuse us." Vingerhut quickly stepped aside to let Reinbach and Charlemagne through. It wasn't until when they sat down when Vingerhut recognized Reinbach.

"Say, aren't you the son of the Middleport Governor?" He started to ask, "What are you doing on a ship full of riff-raffs?"

This didn't seem to faze anyone at all, "I didn't agree with my father's choices involving the Kooluk, so I decided to volunteer my services to Sir Link." Reinbach answered back, while deciding what he wanted to eat, "And as for these people, while most of them don't come from some royal or noble family, they are anything but what you call them."

"Indeed. You think just because a title makes you better then anybody without one." Charlemagne continued.

"Indeed I am, and I deserve some . . ." Vingerhut started his usual speech before another voice intercepted his.

"If your next word is respect, then you can forget it." Helmut countered, while walking past him, "As I recall, Lino En Kuldes is a king, which means he outranks you plenty, and you didn't show him any respect. Even Sir Link is both this ship's captain and the commander of our army, and you just treated him like he was some kind of criminal. You talk about getting respect yet you don't give any makes you an ungrateful bastard."

Vingerhut was furious because again somebody stood up to him, "Are you ready to go father?" Snowe asked, trying to avoid another conflict that his father would try to provoke.

"Definitely." Vingerhut answered with a bit of rage in his voice.

Snowe looked back at his friends who all gave him a look that said 'Good luck, you're going to need it.'

Here is the latest chapter. Read and Review, and Happy New Year.