Once, there was a black void.

	From the black void emerged the Beginning, the eternal clash of the
Sword and Shield against each other for dominance, and in the final blow
they destroyed each other, creating the Runes, the firmament, and the Earth
itself. From the very beginning, it was a world steeped in the fires of war,
be they the combat of forces eternal and lasting or the simple arguments of
Man, whose flickering existence on the planet is but a trifle compared to
the everlasting gaze of stars.

	This world has no name, yet it is familiar to every teller of
stories. It is a world where seemingly small people, living to their
fullest, can somehow ascend into the flow of history. As a famous strategist
once said, "History does not flow like a river. It leaps, in fits and
spurts." The people who spark these changes in history are often called the
"Stars of Destiny". Just as the sparks of Sword and Shield became the heaven
and earth, so too do the Stars of Destiny represent these products of war
that bring about change.

	These changes are well documented in history. The Scarlet Moon
Empire became the Toran Republic when these stars gathered; a scant three
years later their influence was felt again to the north in the City-State of
Jowston. At the heart of both of these stories is conflict, the sliding of a
sword across a shield, which sparks change. The same story, retold forever
in history.

	Far away from the lands where the Gate Rune Wars and the Dunan
Unification War took place, history is beginning to change again.

	Across vast seas and stretches of land is the Seluria Archipelago,
in the middle of the Kalan Ocean. A land which developed far differently,
the majority of civilization is based on the two largest islands, each
slightly crescent shaped and situated very close, touching in many places
and giving the impression of a giant "S" drifting in the ocean. These
islands are the homes of two great kingdoms, Tir Eselyn and Leirstam.

	Both kingdoms had a history of conflict and aggression. As years
passed and more and more children were born in both kingdoms, the need to
expand and conquer burned in the minds of their lords. Countless campaigns
were made, and most hard hit were those cities on the borders of the two
kingdoms, where the islands met. Eventually, the residents of these border
cities became tired of kings in distant cities waging war at their
expense. Peasant revolts in both kingdoms brought old aristocracies to an
end.

	The common folk, now in command, drafted terms of peace. Ten years
passed, and that peace continued, bringing both Tir Eselyn (now the Nation
of Heresha) and Leirstam to a sort of balance. The citizens of both nations
began to settle back into a peaceful routine, though they soon lost touch
with the "new aristocracy" of those who rose from their ranks. The
enduring peace was enough for them, and so life returned to normal.

	One of the border cities, Bristow, was home to the most prestigious
school for young adults in the whole of Heresha, Heimdall Academy.
Originally founded as a way to train the sons of farmers to fight for the
Tir Eselyn army, in time of peace it became more focused on the scholarly
arts, though tradition demanded a military aspect to it as well. Heimdall
Cadets became known throughout Heresha as capable, intelligent scholars
with a mind for tactics that often became famous politicians later in
life. With the Imperial Capital, Lindael, only a short distance inland,
this meant Bristow soon became a medium-sized, wealthy, quiet town.

	If you listen closely, though, in Heimdall Academy, you can hear
it. The sound of metal on metal. The flashing brilliance of sparks that
shine brightly but fade instantly.

	The sounds of war.

			       ----------
		      Rocketarian Pictures presents
		     in association with Improfanfic
			          [*]
		         Suikoden: Distant Shores
		        by Illyria and Todd Harper
			       ----------

	The process of forging a sword is a complex one. Raw, flawed ores
are carefully distilled into their purest essences, then crafted into a
shape usable for both protection and offense. A master blacksmith can then
hammer the still-blazing edges into their final forms, creating through a
combination of his own skill and the inherent strength of the metal a
perfect weapon. It is an analogy that is often applied to the training of
young recruits, turning them from the soft civilians into gleaming, polished
models of military pride.

	At the moment, however, picturing the forging process as an analogy
was not at the of foremost Tavia Reinschild's mind. No, she was seeing it
as the source of the extremely deadly weapon hovering barely an inch above
her nose.

	The blade hung there for a moment longer, then withdrew safely to
the side of the figure standing above her. Tavia fought down the flash of
hot embarrassment that colored her cheeks, then accepted the girl's help to
stand. She quickly brushed away the dust of the training yard from the
crisp pleats of her uniform and favored the girl with an abashed smile.
"Left side on the turn?"

	"Left side on the turn," the redhead replied with an amused
expression, sheathing her sword with a sharp motion. "I thought you were
going to work on that, Tavia."

	Tavia scrubbed at her closely-cropped hair with the heel of her
hand, grumbling. "I thought I had, Adele. I'll try again after lunch."
She turned on her heel to leave the practice yard, then paused, snapping her
fingers. "We'd better grab Li before we head to the kitchens."

	Adele let out a silent chuckle. "You didn't enjoy the silent
treatment for two days after we forgot the last time?"

	"Surprisingly, no." Tavia fell into an easy stride, though moving
her feet with purpose to match the taller girl's pace. They made an odd
duo. She, the petite brunette with round -- though attractive features --
her golden-brown hair cut short; Adele, a statuesque young woman with
sculpted features that spoke of an aristocratic heritage. She ran a hand
through her glossy auburn hair, turning the motion into a stretch as it
passed through the shoulder-length strands.

	"Don't tell me you're tired already," Tavia snorted, glancing at
her from the corner of her eye.

	"Of course not!" Adele snapped, though in the sense of a soldier
leaping to attention rather than a perturbed target. "Malespoirs never
tire!"

	"Say that enough, you'll start to believe it," Tavia joked.
Adele's pleasant expression fell, and Tavia swallowed. "Sorry."

	They walked in silence out of the yard, the training ingrained in
them directing their feet away from the first autumn leaves that had fallen
to the paving stones. Such casual errors could give away a hidden position
in battle, and no one graduated from Heimdall Academy if they were prone to
such stupidities. When they entered the building proper, they relaxed
slightly, shoulders dropping.

	The Academy was a place of pride; the students, the faculty, even
its initial constructors based no small part of their personal honor on
seeing it respected and maintained. It sat atop the central hill of
Bristow, balanced on either side by the two keeps that had maintained watch
for so long between the capital to the east and the foreign land to the
west. The stone buildings of merchants and monied families clustered around
the hills' bases, the thatched roofs of farmers laying beyond them. After
the decade of peace, the farmers' influence had spread farther and farther
beyond the relative safety of the town walls, favoring any who looked upon
the vista from on high a beautiful patchwork view of greens and golds.

	It was that view that Tavia looked upon with a smile as she walked,
turning her attention away from Adele to look through the arched windows.
If not for the support of the government for this school, she would still be
living in one of those houses, though it was not a life she would dread.
This one, though... this one was far more fulfilling.

	With some surprise, she realized Adele was looking out the
windows, as well. Tavia blinked. "You don't often look at the farms."

	"Such a simple life." Adele smiled, a faint tinge of wistfulness
creeping into the expression. She shook her head and turned her gaze back
down the sandstone-floored hall. "Lierni's waiting."

	The faint smell of sulfur drew coughs as they turned into the area
where students who'd chosen to pursue magical studies above the physical
spent their days. As always, those who were used to the smell of
experiments and failed spells got a laugh at the fighters' expense; Tavia
and Adele simply let out exasperated sighs and brushed past them.

	Long black hair greeted them as they made their way to the library
beyond; seeing Lierni was bowed over her studies, they waited for a break in
the reading. She soon turned, favoring them with a small smile. "How do
you ever expect to launch a surprise attack if you can't even sneak into a
library quietly?" She rose to her feet, expression amused. "Shall we eat?"

	The three made their way back through the lab, only pausing for
Lierni to chastise less-adept students. After the third time, Adele said,
"You don't really have to point out every mistake, Li."

	"They have to learn somehow," the slender girl replied with a shrug.
"And Lierni."

	"Lierni, Lierni," Adele nodded, rolling her eyes.

	Tavia smirked at the redhead. "I thought you were going to work on
that." She raised her nose slightly, sniffing at the air. "Well, beyond
that lovely scent you work in every day, Lierni, I'm getting a distinct hint
of beef stew." She grinned. "My favorite, and I know you two just love
it."

	Adele sighed. "It's so... heavy."

	Lierni frowned. "And terribly hard to take back to the library."

	"Aw, come on. Food's food, right? I'm starving, and I know Adele
probably is, too. Although..." Tavia paused, her voice taking on a
lecturing tone. "Naturally, Lierni isn't starving, as she made sure to eat
a filling, well-planned breakfast that would meet her needs for the day."

	The tallest and most slender of the three leveled a flat gaze at
her. "You could do with a bit more planning yourself. You're always
famished by this time of the day."

	As they rounded the corner to the dining hall, the faint sound of
distant rumbling caught their attention. They blinked, brows furrowed in
confusion. When the alarm bell sounded, however, they recognized the
noise. The great iron portcullises of the twin keeps were being lowered.

	Bristow was under attack.

				[*]

	The halls of Heimdall Academy were loud with the echoing of
footsteps and shouting, even though the fighting had yet to come any closer
to the hill at the center of town. Cadets who had been leisurely preparing
to eat the midday meal were now in a state of panic, running from room to
room, preparing for battle.

	Since the Treaty ten years previous, Heresha's standing military had
been greatly reduced. With the government exercising less and less direct
influence over the affairs individual cities (provided taxes were paid),
each town was responsible for its own defense. Bristow's ruling council
placed this responsibility with two groups: a small, standing local militia,
and the cadets of the Academy. It was hoped, with some optimism, that even
this small force wouldn't be needed ever again.

	Their estimation was, naturally, incorrect.

	"Thif if infane!" Tavia raged, though her words were muffled by a
mouthful of cloth as she attempted to pull on her cadet's uniform, a regal
and showy affair more appropriate for a parade than actual combat. She took
the green, gold-trimmed toreador jacket from her mouth and slipped an arm
into it, epaulets of the same color as the trim jangling into place as she
buttoned it up over the white blouse and green scarf she had donned. "Who
would attack us? The only city for scores of miles is Lindael!"

	"And the border towns of Leirstam," Adele said reproachfully,
straightening the cuff of her sleeve and adjusting the belt which held her
sabre at her hip. "Don't forget them. You can't underestimate a potential
opponent."

	Tavia looked up at Adele, noting the darker color of her uniform
with, she admitted, a small amount of envy. Although essentially the same
uniform, Adele's darker clothing signified a higher rank... but it was more
than that. The pleats of her hunter-green slacks seemed much crisper, her
dark black boots that much more polished. Regal, somehow. Destined to lead.

	"Oh yes," Tavia mumbled, standing up and shaking out her arms.
"Can't forget that." She reached down onto her bed, taking up her weapons --
a pair of well-cared-for sai -- and buckling them to her belt. When she
looked up, Adele was regarding her curiously. "What?"

	"Tavia..." the auburn-haired girl said, lowering her eyes a little.
Delicate-looking fingers played over the gold and black hilt of her sabre as
she spoke. "Did you really want to do this? Come to Heimdall, I mean."

	Blinking, Tavia stepped past Adele out of their shared room to look
into the hallway, watching cadets scramble out of rooms and down stairs,
hearing the yelling of teachers and upperclassmen as they rushed to defend
the city. "That's a silly question. Yes, I did. Maybe not for the right
reasons, always, but I did. Why did this come up all of a sudden?"

	"I, uh..." Adele seemed to start a sentence, then paused. Shaking
her head, she stepped forward and put a hand on Tavia's shoulder with a
smile. "Maybe I'm just being nervous. Come on, we'd best go find the rest of
our 'unit'."

	"Too late for that," came a cold, dispassionate voice from the
hallway. Both girls turned to find Lierni standing behind them, arms crossed
over her chest and a wry smile on her lips. Unlike Tavia and Adele, her
uniform was a rich shade of blue with white boots, although the gold trim
and epaulets were identical. She wore no particular weapon, but on her left
hand was a heavy leather glove, and on her right the faint tracings of a
Rune, the source of a magician's power, could be seen.

	"Presuming this is not a drill," Li continued, glancing at Adele,
"then our unit is to proceed to the west gate and hold it against intruders
or until further orders. Correct, 'commander'?" Her dark eyes penetrated
into the other girl's faces.

	Adele was not the first to flinch. She brushed down the front of her
coat, then stepped into the hallway and toward the stairs. "Griffin Company,
3rd Tactical unit!" she said sharply, turning to face Tavia and Lierni, who
unexpectedly snapped to attention. "Our goal is to reach and defend the
western gate against all intruders. Understood?"

	Both Tavia and Lierni saluted. "Yes sir!"

	Nodding once, Adele took a deep breath and half-turned to the
stairs. "We've been training, right? No worries. It's likely an unprepared
bandit gang with delusions of grandeur."

	Smiling, Tavia nodded her assent. "This may even be fun!" Lierni,
for her part, continued to look impassive and observant, saying nothing.

	"Alright, then. 3rd Tactical, move out!"

				[*]

	Tavia's lip curled in distaste as she eyed the scene before her.
Growing up as a farmer's daughter had instilled an almost holy respect for
the harvest season in her; after all the hard work that went into the land,
it finally gave up its rewards, and the farmer's family was provided for and
secure for one more year. Instead of going to the family who'd worked to
grow it, though, the food in the field beyond was being roughly ripped out
by thick-handed soldiers.

	"Tavia," came Adele's low voice.

	The brunette started to look back at her in irritation, only to
realize with embarrassment that she had indeed started to move towards the
pillagers. She took a step back. "Sorry."

	Adele peered around the side of the barn, lips moving slightly as
she calculated a plan of attack. Knowing the words she was speaking would be
heard only by her, Tavia and Lierni ignored her, choosing instead to keep
watch for any new arrivals.

	Perhaps breaking away from the main group of cadets hadn't been the
best of ideas. Whoever the encroachers were, though, they were nothing if
not swift to respond. When the cadets had poured from the west gate,
they'd found no resistance, nor evidence beyond the newly-bare land that
anyone but the normal residents had been there. Moving with the main
group had seemed like a futile proposition; beyond the absurd slowness of
their progression, it would be impossible to catch anyone without
splitting up as the enemy had.

	"I didn't see anyone from the west when I was looking at the farms
earlier," Tavia murmured to Lierni. "I would have seen a dust cloud from
their movement on the road."

	"Southern barbarians, then," Lierni sneered. "An embarrassment to
the capital... they should have taken care of that problem long ago. My
father tells me stories every month of honest merchants plagued by their
assaults."

	"I dunno," Tavia said. "They seem awfully well-trained for
barbarians."

	Lierni frowned. "There are no organized powers to the south. If
there were, I would have learned about them."

	Adele's return broke into their conversation, and they turned to
look at her. As she talked, she absently ran her hand over the hilt of
her sabre, trailing her fingers along the gilded seal of the Malespoir
line. "They're brutish fellows, from what I can see. Strong, well-armed,
though we could outpace them if it came to that. It doesn't look as if
we'll be able to wound, though... strike to kill. This is too dangerous a
situation to pull any attacks."

	Her voice started to waiver, and she coughed to clear it. She then
crouched, trailing the point of her sabre in the soil to form rough
outlines. "There's a hollow over here where some melons are being raised.
They've yet to gather them, but I'm sure they will; those are far too
convenient a food source to leave behind." A series of quick jabs at the
dirt later, and Adele was pointing at the cornfield in-between their
location and the hollow. "There will be a period of exposure while we're
running here, but once we're between the stalks, we'll be able to wait for
the right time to attack. We'll have the height advantage, and Lierni can
shoot off an bolt or two before we reach the rim to surprise them."

	The raven-hair girl nodded, flexing the fingers on her gloved hand.
Adele turned to Tavia and concluded, "And as soon as the spell dies, we run
in. Try and take out anyone who's stunned from the attack first; no reason
to give them a chance to recover."

	She hopped to her feet. "Follow my lead."

	Tavia motioned Lierni to go before her, in the middle of the group.
Another twinge of half-acknowledged jealousy filled her as she watched Adele
fearlessly step out beyond the safety of the barn. She forced it down.
Adele being from a centuries-old military family, who was so well-respected
that they'd been granted the highest title the new aristocracy could grant,
did not make Tavia any less of a fighter. It just meant that Adele had a
prettier weapon.

	After a few feet of movement, Adele suddenly sunk to the
ground, keeping as low to it  as possible. After a weighty pause, she waved 
a hand forward. Lierni was next in formation; a rune-user was a 'commodity' 
to be protected, though Tavia knew Li scoffed at such ideas of weakness on 
her part. The blue-uniformed cadet nodded once, then crouched before moving 
forward, catlike. Whereas Adele moved with a practiced but functional 
rigidity, Lierni had a natural, flowing grace. It occurred to Tavia that she 
could remember hearing Li talk of dance lessons when she was a child, and 
how they bored her.

	The air was filled with tension as Tavia watched Li and Adele get
into position in the corn stalks, safely hidden from view. The position of
rearguard had never particularly appealed to Tavia, but considering that
Adele and Lierni's roles were immutable, it was all that was left to her.
She looked down, checking the clasps that held the sai to her waist,
fingering them gingerly. Weapons... briefly, her mind drifted back to the
farm, of days spent in back of the barn during late afternoon, swinging a
pitchfork around like a polearm, looking up at the sun painting the
Academy buildings blood red. She bit her lips as she imagined said color
dripping from the sai in her hands.

	"Tavia!" Adele whispered harshly, her voice merely a hiss but loud
enough to snap Tavia out of her reverie. She looked to find Adele
motioning at her insistently, with a tinge of what might even be called
panic in her motions.

	Nodding, Tavia looked to her sides before stepping out from behind
the barn, hands tingling with nervousness. The soft earth muffled her
footsteps as she proceeded, as quickly as was possible in her half-crouch.
Each forward motion set her heart pounding with ever more nervousness. The
real thing... the one event that training, by definition, couldn't prepare
students for.

	In the back of her mind, Tavia realized she was getting foolishly
contemplative. Anything to ease her nervousness, perhaps, but she couldn't
afford the distraction at the moment. She had to focus. With renewed speed
she scuttled into the safety of the corn, taking her place behind Lierni.

	After a cursory nod to her companions, Adele slunk to the far edge
of the stalks; a moment later, she cocked her ring finger towards her palm.
Recognizing her call, Lierni eased towards Adele, her rune-covered hand
beginning to glow with a faint bluish light in the shape of her Lightning
Rune.

	Tavia waited to see if Adele would curl her pinky, calling her
forward. With no such motion, the brunette sighed, realizing the duty she'd
been given. Dutifully she dropped to her knees and peered through the
stalks, keeping an eye for any newcomers.

	The hairs on the back of her neck slowly began to rise. It was an
unfortunate side effect of fighting alongside someone who specialized in
electric runes, but was an annoyance at worst. She shook her head, trying
to dislodge the tingle that had come to rest at the nape of her neck.
Sighing, she reached up to scratch, only to have her hand stop halfway up.

	"Ad... Ade... Adele!" she half-whispered, half-yelped.

	The redhead spun to her, eyes huge. "Quiet!" she hissed, pointing
towards the hollow. "Would you give us away?"

	Tavia scrambled through the dirt over to her, pointing behind her.
"There's more of them, a lot more! This must be a meeting place!"

	Adele looked in the given direction, an expression of utter
frustration appearing. "Oh, wonderful. We'll be safe in here -- the corn's
crow-pecked, they won't pick any after seeing the outer rows -- but there
goes our victory." She rubbed at her temple with her hand, sighing. "We'll
try again later, Li."

	"I can't."

	Adele blinked. "You can't what?"

	The rune-user looked down at her like a teacher inspecting a
particularly slow student. "I can't release the mana for the spell. At this
point, it has to be cast."

	Tavia and Adele slowly turned their gazes to the ever-brightening
sphere around Lierni's hand, then just as slowly turned their gazes towards
each other. Stray wisps of hair on both began to rise towards the sky from
the proximity to the strengthening spell.

	"I would ask," Lierni said, her voice betraying a sizable amount of
tension, "that you tell me where you would like this directed."

	"I... ah..." Adele's head whipped back and forth, indecision mixing
with her frustration.

	To the side, Tavia watched in horrified fascination as a single bead
of sweat trailed its way down Lierni's forehead, dropping down to splatter
on her cheek. She'd never seen Li perspire before. A wavering in the tall
girl's stance, and Tavia snapped out of her gazing. "Li, get rid of that!
Send it behind, and we can make a run for it!"

	The elegant girl nodded, raising her arm over her head. The sphere
continued in its dance of blue and white motes for a moment longer, then
flared blinding white. The three had a moment to see the world shift to
black and white before the intensity forced their eyelids shut, the light
still too bright until they raised arms for more shielding.

	The noise was worse. Yells had begun to arise as soon as Lierni
raised her hand, giving the unneeded confirmation that they'd been
discovered. That was drowned out by the roar of magical energy as the spell
had been loosed, then the screams. The screams of men being seared where
they stood, or thrown into the air and landing on now-broken bodies as the
lightning struck the ground.

	Though she couldn't yet see, Tavia heard Lierni crumpling, and made
a leap towards her friend. She felt the slender form come to rest in her
arms, and breathed a sigh of relief.

	"I'm fine," Lierni murmured, getting to her feet. "Thank you for
keeping my uniform clean. We should be running, yes?"

	Tavia nodded, blinking furiously to try and regain vision beyond the
rough outlines that she was currently able to make out. Taking Lierni's
hand, she broke into a run, hoping they'd each be able to compensate for
what the other wasn't able to see.

	They'd just left the cornfield when both realized that there was no
third set of footsteps behind them. Tavia drew to a halt, forcing Lierni to
stop with her. "Adele! ADELE!" She turned, listening for any sign of the
girl.

	She didn't need to listen long.

	The sound of metal on metal rang across the farm, muffled slightly
by the bowl formation Tavia knew it arose from. She growled, turning back to
run the way they'd come. "What is she doing?" she demanded, drawing her sai
from her belt. "We had a safe path! Hey Li, can you cover us?"

	"My mana's depleted for a bit," she crisply replied, following
behind Tavia while keeping an eye on the stunned men by the barn. "Arrano
will have to do for a distraction."

	Tavia nodded, taking a moment longer to regain her sight before she
headed into the thick of the battle. As she waited, Lierni brought her
gloved arm perpendicular to her body, clenching her hand into a tight fist.
A keening cry echoed across the countryside, precursor to the appearance of
a golden form perched on her wrist. Translucent wings spread, flapping
against the unfamiliar wind of the physical plane. The sharp-beaked head
cocked an intelligent gaze at its master, seeming no less intense for the
lack of solidity to the form.

	Seeing Lierni was prepared to take care of herself, Tavia took off
through the cornfield. Her feet fell rapidly and surely on the soft mounds
of earth, soon finding the firmer surface of the open field beyond. With a
strangled cry, half to strike fear, half to relieve her own, she launched
herself over the rim of the hollow.

	Red was the first thing she saw. The red of Adele's hair, the red
dripping from her sabre, the red coating that man's chest... Tavia turned
away despite herself. No, she reminded herself. She could do this.

	Though Adele might have seemed still when she viewed her, it was
soon apparent that that was only true in Tavia's own mind. The girl was
moving smoothly among the men, not only their equal, but the equal of
several at once.

	Surprise attacks, though, could fell even a skilled opponent. Not
taking the time to yell a warning, Tavia leapt for the man sneaking up
behind Adele. He spun to meet her attack, and she barely turned his sword
with her sai. His blade was cheap, though, and a turn of her wrist and
shifting of her weight snapped his blade near the hilt. He turned to run,
and she slashed forward with the other hand, hamstringing him. No more a
threat, and still alive. Tavia nodded, breath coming quickly.

	"I told you not to pull attacks," Adele snapped.

	Tavia blinked. She hadn't thought Adele would have been able to see
that. "Why didn't you run?" she demanded, spinning to turn another blade
with her sai.

	"It was my order to give, and my retreat to call. And I didn't.
Malespoirs never retreat!"

	Tavia's face grew incredulous at the conviction in the girl's voice.
"Well, maybe they do when they're still students! Come on, Adele, we've
gotta get going before the rest of those guys wake up. Li won't be able to
hold them for long!"

	Whether the effort of fighting off three men had caused her not to
hear, or the simple act of ignoring the words, Tavia wasn't sure. She
suspected the latter, though. "Adele, come on. We have to go, now, or things
are going to get a lot worse."

	"I won't retreat. Gabriel Malespoir did not retreat at the Battle of
Firulth, Nicole Malespoir withstood a siege of three hundred days without
bowing to the enemy." The fierce conviction had left her voice, replaced by
a drumskin tautness.

	From one step to the next, Adele's position changed, and the three
men fighting her gained the upper hand. Though she tried, Tavia couldn't
disengage from her current melee to assist her.

	A cry, seemingly echoed off the distant hills, greeted her ears. A
golden form darted down and struck the central figure threatening Adele,
sending him prone to the ground with an ugly scar on his neck to mark the
attack.

	Lierni ran forward, holding her glove hand up to retrieve Arrano.
"They're all awake, and I can't hold them off any longer. We must retreat."

	Adele's expression darkened, and she threw her head angrily to one
side. "I... fine. 3rd Tactical, retreat and regroup at the gate." With one
fierce swipe of her blade she cleared a space for herself, then ran for the
sides of the hollow. Tavia followed form, though running for the side
Lierni was on rather than the far slope Adele had chosen.

	The last few feet were particularly steep, and Tavia was very
grateful when Lierni reached down her free hand to give assistance. She fell
over the side, onto her knees, then quickly clamored to her feet, once again
helped by her friend. They turned to run, escape the only matter on their
minds.

	As they turned, they saw they were surrounded.

	Training, it turned out, did have some use when it came time for the
real thing. Tavia's analytical mind sprang to action, looking for an
escape. There was none in front, for they were grossly outnumbered. There
was none behind, for the men in the hollow were waiting for them. On the
other side, though... on the other side of the hollow, there was Adele.
Between the three of them, they could break one side of the crescent and
escape.

	The man in the center took a step forward, raising his sword to
Tavia's eye level. "Release the familiar, and drop your weapons."

	Tavia and Lierni looked levelly at him for a moment, to which he
thrust the point of his sword a few inches closer. With a barely muffled
sigh, Lierni opened her fist, watching Arrano disappear in a flare of yellow
light. Tavia, for her part, dropped her sai, listening with despair as they
clattered against each other on landing.

	"Someone get the other girl," a voice from the crowd demanded. The
edges closest to the hollow peeled away, advancing around either side
towards Adele. Tavia craned her head over her shoulder to look back at the
girl, gut churning. She held her sabre at the ready, and with how spread
out the men were getting as they advanced, it was possible she could take
them on as they came. Her lips were moving... even from this distance,
Tavia knew they read "never retreat."

	Adele's gaze whipped back and forth as the enemy approached. The
fellow to your right, Tavia thought. He favors his left leg, and he'll be
easy to take out. The whole right line looked weaker than the left, so if
she could just- Tavia blinked.

	She was shaking. Her sabre moved up and down like the arm for a
well, every quiver magnified in its perfectly shaped tip. Tavia looked on
with confusion. What was wrong? The mantra still came, never retreat, never
retreat. She had to get herself under control if she was to fight off all
those men, though.

	With a visible effort, Adele quelled her shaking, turning her head
to meet the approaching mens' gazes in turn. Tavia breathed a sigh of
relief.

	A moment later, Adele turned and ran.

	The entire world seemed to come crashing down into chaos in a split
second. Dumbfounded, both the bandits and the cadets of the 3rd Tactical
Unit could only stare as Adele broke into a gangly, desperate sprint, sabre
slashing wildly in front of her.

	"D-don't let her escape!" the voice from before -- obviously a
commander or leader of some form -- shouted, although it hardly reached
Tavia's ears over the rush of blood pounding through her skull. Adele...
"never retreat" Adele, was running away, at full speed, heedless of the
people she had trained with, was friends with... all of it gone. Her pride
as a soldier, her worth as a friend, all abandoned in a single instant. Why?
Why would she do that? Didn't Tavia or Lierni mean anything to her? What
about the great Malespoir family? Conflicting feelings of anger and betrayal
surged through her, but she was too stunned to do anything but stand there,
eyes wide.

	Lierni, on the other hand, was livid with rage, her delicate
features curled into a snarl of such utter hate that it made Tavia flinch
backward, though it wasn't enough to completely snap her out of her
trancelike state.

	The rune-user's voice, thick with rage, carried over the confused
shouts of the invaders as they tried to catch up with a rapidly-disappearing
Adele. "Coward! You leave us to die with these mongrels? Where is your
pride? Where is your 'noble spirit' now, Adele?! COME BACK AND STAND FAST
WITH US, TRAITOR!" Li's knuckles dug so tightly into her fist that her hands
went sheet-white with the strain. With shocking suddenness, the rune on her
hand flared to life in an instant as the dark-skinned girl whirled in the
direction of the commander's voice. "I'll defeat you, and then deal with
her!" she hissed, raising her glowing hand high.

	Tavia blinked, finally awakened from her delirium by the pulsating
blue-white flare of Lierni's rune. The first sounds her returning senses
were greeted with, however, were shouts of warning. "She's preparing a
spell! Take them down!" Spinning about in confusion, she mistakenly reached
for sai that were not in their holsters, and only had time to shout Lierni's
name before the group of bandits converged on her, and everything went
white, then down into a bound darkness.

				[*]

	"Tavia."

	The name, spoken flatly and without kindness, could only be coming
from one person. Groaning loudly, Tavia made an attempt to sit up and open
her eyes. Every part of her body ached, though the only lingering pain was
in the back of her neck, which felt stiff and thick, as if stuffed with
cotton. Her mind reeled with the last things she could remember, and though
her vision was blurry she knew she could depend on Li to help her take
stock. "The attack went badly... we must have been captured." There was a
pause, and Tavia frowned. "Adele ran away." The words sounded hollow and
far-away, as if it were someone else saying them through her.

	"That she did," Lierni snapped. Her blue-clad form was partially
distinguishable as Tavia's sight came back to her, watching something in the
distance, arms folded across her chest. "Adele most certainly did run away,
and left us at the mercy of our captors."

	Once she could fully see again, Tavia realized that they were in an
enclosed space with high wooden walls that smelled very strongly of
something familiar... "A horse-breeding stall?" Blinking, Tavia fought to
stand up and looked around. "We're on a farm, Li. The only farms outside of
town aren't for many miles... unless we were both out a long time, we must
be close to Bristow."

	Li turned to look at Tavia with a faint smirk. "We were not out
long. Or, rather, I wasn't out at all. You did something foolish again and
dove in front of someone who was going to cut me down. He panicked and his
hilt struck the back of your neck. I had no choice but to surrender." A
flicker of annoyance passed across the rune-user's features at the thought
of that, and Tavia was suddenly and painfully struck with an image of
Adele's family mantra.

	Tavia blushed faintly at the unspoken rebuke, but managed to find
the energy to grin. "I'm guessing a thank you is too much, so I'll give you
a pre-emptive 'you're welcome'," she joked, stretching and eyeing their
cell. "Naturally, they took your glove and my sai. The walls are too high to
vault... magic?"

	Lierni shook her head. "I had considered it, but I've been
listening. Even if I managed to destroy the door, there are bandits
everywhere. We wouldn't make it out without weapons." The blue-clad girl's
face darkened and she looked skyward at the sloping roof of the barn.
"Unlike some others, we can't run away."

	Sighing, Tavia let her back fall against the door and slumped to the
ground. "I don't understand. Why would Adele leave us like that? We were
friends." She paused, then shook her head and bit her lip. "We *are*
friends. Why would she do it?"

	"To save her own skin, naturally," Lierni snapped in response,
fixing a harsh gaze on Tavia. "It is one thing for noble to espouse chivalry
and bravery, when they have legions of dupes such as ourselves between them
and a sword's point. Unfortunately, Miss Malespoir didn't learn that lesson
in charm school." The venom in her voice was unmistakable, and seemed
especially rancorous, even for Li.

	"That's not right..." Tavia said quietly, forcing herself to stand
up. "She took down how many men with her sabre? She wasn't going to retreat.
All she needed to do was give us some time... there's got to be an
explanation."

	Lierni sighed, and moved across the narrow stall to a short bench,
sitting down upon it and running a hand through her sable hair. "Believe
what you want, Tavia. I refuse to be deluded by the false premise that our
'friend' would value us so little as to abandon us. Our current situation is
considerably more pressing, don't you think?"

	Nodding, Tavia stepped away from the door. "You're right. We'll have
time to worry about Adele once we've figured a way out of here..."

	Suddenly, the scraping sound of footsteps on hay and gravel rang out
behind the door, and both Tavia and Lierni turned toward it, Li standing as
she did so. The sound became louder as the footsteps drew nearer, then
stopped. "Ah, excuse me, ladies?" a voice rang out, obviously male but
youthful. "We'll be opening the gate, but I should let you know that there
are five of us watching you from various sides, and we are armed."

	"How polite," Lierni murmured quietly, "for a murdering thug."

	The stall door, with an almost invisible seam, made it appear as if
the wall were sliding open by magic. Outside the stall stood three men close
together, and two others could be seen hiding in the rafters, shortbows in
their hands. Four of them were dressed in very well-worn leather armor and
dark green breeches, likely middle-aged and typical of the men the cadets
had faced the night before.

	The one who had unlatched the door, and who Tavia guessed was the
speaker, was quite different in appearance. Compared to the other men around
him he was fairly short, perhaps only 5'8". His dress was more like a young
squire's than a bandit: chain mail and unpolished but sturdy greaves covered
a pair of dark violet leggings and a grey undertunic. His hair was a sandy
blonde color, which offset the dark, stormcloud-grey of his eyes. His
features were well-defined, almost feminine, and Tavia could place his age
at perhaps 18 or 19. Her trained eye noticed the sheathed long sword at his
side, the scabbard ornately decorated but obviously old and worn.

	"Thank you for cooperating. My name's Reid," the squire said with a
faint smile. "I'm sorry for the harsh accomodations, but all things
considered you got the best we could offer." He tried to smile, and found it
quickly shot down by a piercing gaze from Li. Coughing, he attempted to
continue, beckoning the girls to follow him, the guards falling in behind
them. Cracks of orange daylight bled into the building through the slats of
the boards. Outside, more bandits broke camp, collecting supplies.

	"I can understand your tactics," Lierni said coldly. "Please excuse
me if I do not throw streamers with joy."

	Ignoring Lierni, Tavia coughed and spoke up, voice thick with
insistent curiosity. "What are you doing, attacking a peaceful academy town?
There's nothing here but farmers and students."

	Reid turned his head slightly to answer as he led the captives
through the fields toward the Capitol Road that lead away from Bristow in
both directions; one path toward Lierstam, the other farther inland. "That's
right. We're not here to sack and pillage, believe it or not. Look for
yourself."

	The squire came to a stop and pointed in the distance. Tavia and
Lierni both turned their heads, and blinked at what they saw. Bristow was
close, perhaps only a half-mile distant. The farmer's town which circled the
hill appeared to be in reasonable shape; the smoke of fires or the shadows
of hallowed-out buildings was not to be found... with the exception of the
Hill. Heimdall Academy, a once proud edifice, was now a complete ruin, down
to each and every building. The destruction seemed an odd scar on the hill
and the town, like a reddened blister.

	Tavia bit her lip, then glared at Reid with undisguised hatred.
"What a horrible thing to say!" she shouted, making a step forward and
finding the point of a spear in her way, held by a nearby guard. Swallowing
a sudden burst of fear, she pointed her hand at the city in the distance.
"My school ruined, my friends likely dead! Even that is too much to bear!"

	Reid shook his head, waving the spear point out of the way, an act
which caused Tavia to blink and recoil in surprise, and even got a raised
eyebrow out of Li. "We didn't kill any Academy students," he said in a
reassuring tone. "We aren't murderers."

	"Please excuse my cynicism," Lierni cut in, tone icy and arms folded
across her chest. "But what reason do we have to believe you? You destroyed
our home and our path to future service to our nation. You trap us in
this... this FILTH..." she snapped, waving a hand to encompass the farm, a
comment than made Tavia's teeth grind. "Why should I take your word?"

	Sighing, Reid looked at Lierni closely, locking gazes with the
steel-eyed rune-user. "You seem to like logic, so let's look at it
objectively. When we were escaping, some of my men... men with families and
lives... were cut down by your friend..."

	"She is no friend of mine!" Li snapped with vehemence, flinging her
arms to her side and making Tavia and Reid both cringe. The guards around
her snapped to ready positions, until Reid recovered and waved them down.
Tension hung into the air until Lierni brushed a lock of hair from her brow.
"She is merely someone who was with us at the time."

	"They were killed by someone, friend or no," the squire said softly.
"You were outnumbered. We were already in a rush and you were prepared to
strike some of the men down with a spell... we could have, and in your mind
probably *should* have just killed you. Correct?" He paused, waiting for a
reaction, and Li gave him a curt and grudging nod. "We didn't. I'm not in
the business of killing children."

	Tavia frowned, glancing out of the corner of her eye at the armored
youth. "You say that, but you can't be much older than us. What are you
doing with these people? What's going on with all this?"

	Laughing, Reid rubbed the back of his neck with his hand and smiled
faintly. "You're right, we're fairly close in age. As for why I'm here...
you'll be seeing that soon enough. We're leaving shortly for the camp." He
signaled to the guards, and started the procession moving again toward a
cluster of horses. With another motion of his hand, two bandits produced
rope to bind the cadets' wrists.

	Lierni frowned as she was bound, her spellcasting ability -- their
only ace in the hole thus far -- now out of the question, as she couldn't
make even the slight gestures required to focus her strength. She turned her
gaze on Reid once again. "I'm surprised that these men follow your orders so
readily," she observed casually as she and Tavia were placed together on a
horse, which was brought alongside the squire's. "You said your name was
Reid...?"

	"Arondight," he said casually, taking the reins of his horse and
signaling for the ragtag bandit company to move out. "Reid Arondight."

	"Arondight!" Lierni gasped, knitting her brow.

	Blinking, Tavia turned her head to look at her companion, curious.
"Do you know him?"

	Li's eyes focused on Reid unblinkingly, shock and a bit of awe in
her tone. "The Arondights are the mayoral family of Kesshin, a trade city
far to the south of here. They're one of the older and more influential
noble families that can trace their roots back to the old monarchy..."

	It was Tavia's turn to open her eyes wide in shock. "That's...
impossible! What would someone from that family be doing with this scum?"
she hissed, looking around at the dirty men in their mismatched leather
cuirasses and carrying rusting, ancient weapons. She and Li both fixed their
gaze on the squire, but he was distracted giving orders to a subordinate.

	"I guess we won't know the answer until we reach this 'camp' he
spoke of," Li said quietly, furrowing her brow. "Something doesn't make
sense about this situation."

	Tavia nodded. After a short, silent pause, she turned to Li's gaze
again. "Do you believe him? That they really didn't kill the Academy
students?" She felt tears well up in the corners of her eyes at the very
thought, but fought them down; crying was not going to get her in Lierni's
esteem, and Li was the only rock she had to cling to at the moment.

	Li sighed. "I don't know. It's certainly possible that he's telling
the truth. His point about leaving us alive was well delivered," she said,
her tone grudging but respectful. "He could have and, yes, *should* have
finished us off. And they did leave the farms intact... did you notice the
crops at the one we were being held on?"

	Tavia nodded. "Not touched. I'd have noticed if they'd even
attempted to enter those corn fields, and they didn't." She paused. "We were
in the Academy's agricultural district when we fought them off. Everything
up to that gate is owned..." She paused. "...WAS owned by Heimdall."

	Sighing, Lierni closed her eyes and took a deep breath. "For now,
all we can do is wait."

	Nodding her assent, Tavia turned her eyes forward toward the
approaching horizon, wondering where this would all lead, and hoping that at
the bandit camp, she could find some answers.

				[*]


	"You," said the imposing man before them, "have some explaining to
do."

	Tavia and Li took the chance of looking at each other in mingled
confusion and apprehension. What did he expect them to explain?

	Reid answered their unspoken question by stepping forward towards
the man, then coming to a halt when it became apparent the figure wouldn't
turn around to greet them. He sighed. "We got ambushed."

	"Yes, I know that," came the curt reply. One gloved hand was thrown
to the side; looking over there, Tavia saw the man she'd lamed. He shot her
a baleful, accusatory look, then adjusted the grip on his impromptu crutch.

	Not wishing to hear Reid replay all that had happened to the man who
appeared to be in command of the bandit group, she instead distracted
herself by looking around the tent. The men escorting them had made no
efforts to disguise the path they were taking to their camp; she'd realized
that probably meant that they didn't expect them to escape. It had been
pretty much what they'd expected: a group of worn tents clustered under the
tall firs of a nearby forest, lit by the light of a campfire and populated
by brutes who thought that looking up from polishing their swords served as
a greeting.

	Were it not for Reid deferring to the man before them, she wouldn't
have known this to be a place of any importance. The tent was larger than
the rest, but it was filled with maps and books, not any comfortable
trappings that a leader might demand for himself. If not for the hammock to
the side, she'd have guessed that it served solely as a library and war
room.

	"So, why?"

	Tavia looked up and blinked. The man's last question had been
directed towards her, and he'd since turned to face them. Shoulder-length
black hair was, for the most part, pulled into a ponytail, with a few loose
strands framing his worn face. Looking at his eyes, she put his age at
around thirty, but the haggard nature of the rest of his expression looked
to be far beyond that. His clothing matched his quarters: spare, functional,
and all in shades of brown.

	"You burn our school, and you ask us why we would attack your men?"
Lierni sniffed haughtily at him. "We knew what sort of people we were
dealing with, and we know the proper course of action is in a situation like
that. The attack on Heimdall was simply a confirmation of what we already
knew."

	Well, it was now apparent what the question had been. Tavia had to
fight, though, from shooting a glare at Li. This was not the time for her
to stick to her concept of total and absolute moral surety.

	"Senrou," Reid's voice cut in before the older man could respond.
"They did put up a very respectable fight before they were taken. They
deserve the respect given to captured warriors."

	"Respect?" Li asked, quirking an eyebrow. "Funny, I didn't think
that was a word bandits were familiar with."

	Tavia sighed. Lierni was, as always, the soul of tact.

	"Ignoring the fact that respectable warriors wouldn't launch an
ambush attack," Senrou directed at Reid before he continued, "I think you
need a lesson in two things, miss." He turned to Lierni, a slight smile on
his face. "This is how you read someone. That friend of yours carries
herself two ways: first as a warrior, second as someone who grew up a
farmer. And you..." He trailed off, putting a finger to his chin. "You look
like you grew up in a rich family, though not a noble one. A rich merchant
family, who would now be titled if not for one of their line selling out the
revolutionaries ten years ago to the royalty at the battle of Gen's
Crossing."

	Lierni's mouth opened and closed wordlessly. Taking the silence as a
prompt to proceed, Senrou finished, "The second is to be more observant.
Bandits don't typically have colors flying from their tents. And nor am I a
mindreader. Your name is in the cuff of that falconer's glove of yours, and
I was told of it." His smile grew, and he quirked an eyebrow to match
Lierni's earlier expression. "I'm not a mindreader, Miss Totorika, but I am
a student of history."

	"Well," he finally said after it became apparent Lierni wouldn't be
responding. "We need to figure out what to do next. I'd let you go, but my
men will be demanding satisfaction for the death of their comrades. You'll
be staying with us until I figure out what to do with you."

	"Let me watch them," Reid cut in, taking a step towards his
commander. "They can be held in my tent."

	The black-haired man looked at him for a moment, then roared a
laugh. "Your intentions are pathetically transparent, Arondight. Ah well,
you could do worse. Get their permission for anything you do, or I'll remind
you of the manners a lady deserves."

	Face crimson, Reid turned to Tavia and Lierni and grabbed them by
the ropes binding their hands. He left the tent in all possible haste,
pulling them roughly behind them from the speed of his progression.

	Tavia took the chance to look at the tents again. Indeed, they were
flying colors, though of no nation or lord she recognized. Glancing over to
Lierni, she saw her friend was staring blankly ahead, an unfamiliar
expression clouding her eyes. Try as she might, Tavia couldn't quite place
it.

	The journey to Reid's tent was a short one, and they soon found
themselves alone with the young man inside. It seemed small at first, but
it was soon apparent that that impression was only that; quite a lot of
space was held under the cloth, visually broken up by the tree trunks that
supported it. At the back, several crates were stacked, but Tavia and
Lierni's gazes were focused only on the stack of rugs that they knew served
as the fighter's bed.

	He saw their expressions and sighed in irritation. "I'm not going to
touch you, all right?" Reaching out, he freed a hand for both of the girls,
tying the loose end of the ropes to the nearest trunk. "Senrou's not quite
as good at reading people as he'd like you to think from that little
bragging session back there."

	Tavia leaned forward, trying to find a comfortable position to sit
in with one hand tied back. "Then why are we here?"

	Reid smiled and ran a hand through his hair. "Those fellows out
there aren't bandits, they're a new round of revolutionaries. Listen to them
for even a minute, and they'll give you the stock phrase that even if it
only takes a decade to set in, corruption is corruption. Really, you'd think
they'd have come up with something a little more catchy by now."

	Ignoring the startled looks on the girls' faces as he did so, Reid
then stripped off his shirt, folding it neatly and setting it aside. "As for
me, I'm tired, and I'm going to sleep." He paused, a quirky smile spreading.
"Wait for the right moment, girls. Believe it or not, we're on the same
side. I'll help you."

	Tavia and Lierni shot Reid shocked looks as he slid under the top
blanket, pulling his bundled jacket under his head to serve as a pillow. A
moment later, he sat up, and passed over two of the blankets serving as his
bedroll. "It can get cold during the nights out here."

	Tavia shot him an even more bewildered look; Reid simply smiled in
return. "Good night, miss," he offered as he blew out the lantern.

				[*]

	When she awoke, Tavia was drenched in sweat, her breath rapid and
shallow. Dreams -- fitful dreams, angry dreams -- had pierced through her
consciousness like knives, images of her home in flames, of Adele dressed in
rags, cutting down men who ran at her, and Tavia being helpless to do
anything. Trembling, she forced herself upright and attempted to control her
breathing. Lierni, face twisted into an angry scowl even in sleep, lay
beside her, while across the tent Reid was on his side, his back to her.

	Tavia closed her eyes with a sigh and leaned back slightly, feeling
the fabric of the tent yield slightly, then push back enough to support her.
She realized she'd fallen asleep with her uniform still completely on, and
brought up her free hand to unfasten the brass buttons of her once-proud
cadet's jacket, now stained with mud and blood. She breathed out slowly as
the last button was undone, the jacket falling open and revealing the white
shirt underneath.

	Reaching into her shirt, she produced a small, mostly translucent
crystal sphere, on a chain around her neck. Looking down, Tavia sighed and
locked her eyes on the object inside the sphere: an interlocking chain of
golden leaves, a laurel wreath. Clutching it in one hand, she leaned her
head back as far as she could and sighed. So many things to consider...
these may be 'revolutionaries', but against what? The new government had the
support of all the people. Life was good for even farm families like hers.
The government had given her hope for the future, let her into the
prestigious Academy, and these men had taken that away from her.

	And Adele... Tavia bit her lip, clutching the pendant tighter at the
thought of Adele. Why did she run away? Brave, strong, skilled Adele. The
darling of her class, the golden child of her family. She had everything
right. She could have made a difference... and she fled. Why? With a sigh,
Tavia wished she had Li's venom; it was hateful, but it gave her purpose.
She understood the situation, wasn't waffling back and forth. She wondered
if she hated Adele for what she did, and found that she didn't have an
answer.

	"Can't sleep?" came a voice, and Tavia's eyes snapped open in alarm.
Rushing to sit up, she wrapped her arms around herself protectively, the
crystal in her grasp slipping out of her hands and dangling free. Reid,
shirtless and rubbing his eyes, faced her, sitting crosslegged and upright.

	"It's nothing," Tavia said quietly, looking away, though her arms
eased slightly to her sides when she began to calm down. Having grown up on
a farm with brothers and sisters had made her relatively at ease with her
body, though a faint flush colored her cheeks. "Just... I..."

	Reid nodded once and leaned to get his sword and a whetstone from
their place on the floor nearby, picking them up and staring at the blade
thoughtfully as he pulled it from the worn scabbard. "It's hard to sleep
after something like this, especially when it's happened so fast." There was
a pause, and after the silence Reid sighed, bringing the whetstone across
his notched longsword in a rhythmic fashion. "That's a nice pendant," he
offered, hopeful.

	Blinking, Tavia looked down at the crystal about her neck, and then
at Reid for the first time. She found it difficult to meet his gaze in the
half-light of the moon filtering in from above, and decided to focus on the
sword instead. "It's a rune crystal, actually," she explained. "An heirloom
in my family. No runemaster we've ever met knows what rune it is, and none
can embed it either... so we've kept it as a sort of good luck charm." She
paused. "For all the good fortune it's brought me."

	Sighing, Reid nodded and lay down his sword and whetstone, looking
at Tavia closely. "I wish things hadn't turned out the way they had. But
it's a war, Tavia." She blinked and turned to face Reid as he used her name,
and he knit his brow. "Sometimes people and things need to be sacrificed for
a greater good. I know it sounds hollow right now, but you'll come to
understand eventually."

	"What will I come to understand?!" Tavia snapped, suddenly vehement
and angry, her pent-up emotion pouring out in an uncontrollable burst. "You
destroyed the only thing this world ever gave me. A chance! You took away
all my chances and you took my friend from me, and now you're going to take
my life! All for what? Some 'revolution'! What are you fighting for that
gives you the right to take things from me like that?"

	There was a pause, and Reid bit his lip. Tavia was suddenly overcome
with a wave of guilt and remorse for snapping at him, but before she could
apologize he opened his mouth to speak. "I don't know for sure," he said
softly, looking away. He paused. "I have a fiancee back in Kesshin, did you
know that? An arranged marriage, and we're both only 19. My father, the city
council chairman, did it to gain power. Because that's the only way to do it
in this system, Tavia, and that's to give and take and wheedle and deal and
that's *not right*," he snapped, voice suddenly full of the same anger Tavia
had expressed only moments before.

	"You may find this offensive, but you don't even realize what's been
taken from you, Tavia. This government was supposed to be about the people,
about removing the greedy monarchy," Reid said after a moment, taking a deep
breath. "But they're no different now than they were before. I see it up
close with my father... they're taking away your right to make decisions for
yourselves. The rich are in control and the peasants will do as they're
told. And they do, and it just keeps going. Your family, your whole *town*
could be bought and sold, Tavia. Just like *that*," he finished, snapping
his fingers. "So when Senrou came to me, said he was setting this up... I
was ready to join in an instant. I don't want to become my father."

	There was a long pause, before Tavia looked down at Lierni. "I don't
know how she does it. She's slept through everything so soundly."

	Reid nodded slowly, trying to read some response out of Tavia's
face, but she kept it well hidden in the shadows. "She's lucky. Try to get
some more rest. You'll need it." Placing the sword and whetstone back where
he'd found them, the squire pulled on a heavy tunic and stepped outside,
closing the tent flap behind him.

	Tavia watched him go for a moment, his words ringing in her ears,
before she closed her eyes and lay down again, attempting to find some peace
in an otherwise chaotic world.

				[*]

	The silver moon hanging in the sky did not shine solely on the
revolutionary encampment. In the silver-limned darkness, a lone, dark figure
strode its way along the banks of a shallow river surrounded by grassland in
all directions. Beside the crunching of gravel under its feet, there was
nothing but the echoing backdrop of the wilderness to listen to.

	Stumbling, Adele finally collapsed near a small clump of three trees
by the riverbank, the coarse ground digging into her flesh through the
fabric of her uniform, which had obviously seen better days. Caked with dirt
and blood, torn in various places, but still holding together, the brass
buttons shining vainly in the moonlight.

	Tavia and Lierni... probably dead, she mused, wiping a hand across
her tear-stained face and staring into the gaping maw of plains that seemed
to stretch everywhere. She had managed to escape with her life, but the
bandits held Bristow and she had nowhere to go but into the fields and
beyond. Her life was safe, but what was it worth now?

	"The first failure in generations..." she said, the words spit out
from behind clenched teeth, as much to hear some noise at all than anything
else. Adele held up the blood-stained blade of her sabre, noticing the blade
with a detached, almost dreamlike air. "The first Malespoir to fail. Friends
and home, all gone. Heheh! Failure." The pitch of her voice modulating
wildly as she spoke, the cadet ran a finger along the edge of her sword,
drawing a claret stain of blood along her hand.

	Blood... she remembered a lot of blood. She killed men. A few, at
any rate. She'd told Tavia not to hold back... and then when it counted, she
couldn't toughen up. She ran away because she was afraid of seeing the blood
again, scared of how it made her feel. Dirty and grimy, unclean, inhuman.
But now she was caked in mud and felt the warmth of her own blood on her
hands. She was one of them, now. A failure. One of society's failures.

	With a snarl, eyes wide and gleaming, Adele drove the sword deep
into the ground, letting her blood glisten silver-red on the hilt, pooling
at the cross-guard. She would find the people that drug her down. She would
find them and she would make them pay. All of them, for robbing her of her
heritage, her identity. "I can't run away... I can't be a Malespoir again,
not anymore..."

	Her body trembling, Adele finally gave into fatigue, slumping to the
ground next to the river, unconscious. Slowly, quietly, the red of her blood
dripped into the river as her hand brushed the water, staining it with
crimson and carrying that scarlet tide downstream...

			    [To be continued]

				   [*]

Author's Notes:

<Illyria>
	A few months ago, I made someone promise me to never let me write a
starter. Oddly enough, that person was Todd. I didn't want to get into the
whole competition of starter sweeps, but when this one was announced, we
started talking about a Suikoden starter and realized how much fun it could
be to write. So, a month or so later, here we are. And we were right, it was
fun. Todd's great to work with, aside from him being the best writer I know.
Here's someone I can honestly say it was an honor to work with. And no Todd,
I won't let you edit this note out. ^_^ Thanks also to Kate, Calculus, and
Mechalink for prereading.

	For the uninitiated, here's a quick and dirty guide to Suikoden:
Sui's an series that, while not anywhere near as insanely popular as Final
Fantasy or Dragon Quest/Warrior, does have a loyal following and a distinct
feeling of its own.  There's been novels, two standard RPGs, and a text
adventure which was recently released. The basic plot is this: lowly fighter
winds up in control of a rebel army, gets pulled into the political
manueverings of the nations around, and ends up waging a campaign from a
castle they've acquired. Naturally, the person often gets a little
overwhelmed by all this, and the trust people put in them. They're helped
along the way by the rest of the Stars of Destiny... of which there are 108
total, including the hero.

	Stop running, really. Not all the Stars are war heros, noblemen, or
the greatest fighters of their generation. Some of the Stars from Suikoden 2
were the owners of the bar, armory, and storeroom of the hero's castle.  The
real fun of Suikoden comes from the interaction of the hero with some of
the... really out-there personalities he/she comes across, and convincing
them to join.

	Another thing that keeps down character bloat is that characters
die. If the plot requires it, you can bet someone will kick off, without a
silly plot device to have them turn up in a village later with no knowledge
of their past, etc. Despite this, Suikoden can also handle humor, both broad
and subtle.

	We tried to keep this as accessible as possible to those who've
never played the games, while also keeping in line with the spirit of the
games for those who have. So, if you think we managed to do this and make a
fun story from within those boundaries, you know what to do. ^_^

Illyria (illyria@redshirts.net)


<Todd>
Wow. What a long, strange tri... oh, this isn't high school graduation? My
bad. ;)

The idea of a 'Suikoden Impro' has been floating around for at least a
year, but as is typical of ideas, it tended to swim and swim and not get
anywhere. ^_^ When this starter sweeps came up, Illy and I randomly
decided to write one together. It actually came together really easily.
Illyria is a delight to work with (as well as being a damn talented and
capable writer, I snuck this in after she added her author's notes, so NYAH
ON YOU, Illy!). And I'm actually really proud of this thing, so NYAH! No
self-effacement here, hoody hoo. A big thank you to Illy for being such a
genius, to Kate, Mechalink, and Calculus for prereading, and my friend Julie
for being an insane bank of Suikoden world knowledge. Also, thanks to all my
friends who gave moral support. I needed it. ^_^ I think the biggest
challenge we had to overcome was making the story accessible to people who
aren't fans of Suikoden, which I hope we have done.

In terms of suggestions for this story? I don't wanna make too many
because that sounds heavy-handed. But I do have a couple. For starters, I
know the big thing people will say about this story is character bloat.
Well, I won't deny that the possibility exists, especially with 108 Stars
of Destiny. I think the best way to approach it is to look at the story in
terms of "arcs". The game does the same thing: it has a major plot point
with minor plot points under it, and inside that major point you can
recruit <x> number of Stars. It requires a little interqueue
communication, but I think that's probably the best way to handle it.
Maybe even 1 arc = 1 queue? Just some ideas. Remember, moderation is the
key.

Oh! Some good websites to look at, if you want more about the Suikoden
world even after Illy's note:

http://vivi.seiryuu.org/Suikoden -- Vivi's page with a TON of info on
Suikoden's world and history direct from the Japanese and Chinese sources.
http://www.souleater.org -- The Rebel Hideout, a very nice page which is
mainly dedicated to Suiko2, but which has some world info.
http://www.gamefaqs.com -- If you want game dynamics, check out the FAQs
for Gensou Suikoden and Gensou Suikoden 2 at GameFAQs.

Anyhow. Thanks for reading, hope you enjoyed it. And, naturally, vote if you
like it. ^_^_v

-Todd Harper (lina@sandwich.net)