"No one is certain when the ability for a person to use powers of the Runes was 
discovered.  Some say that it was always there since the creation of the world.  
Others say that it took years of study, both theoretical and practical, before 
the first Rune crystals were created and their Runes imbedded in the chosen 
wielders.

"But all can agree on this: the common Runes used for both spells and 
enhancements are but pale reflections of the 27 True Runes, created from the 
jewels that adorned the Shield and Sword in the time of the Beginning.

"The True Runes themselves remain steeped in mystery.  No living person can name 
all of them.  Only a few have ever been recorded, and their purposes are still 
unclear.  All who have studied them, however, believe that while the True Runes 
do indeed grant great power, it comes at a terrible price.  This leads some of 
the most renowned Rune scholars to refer to them as 'the Cursed Runes...'"

-- From "A Practical Study of the Runes," by N. DuNord

----------
Westwind Dreamings presents
A Rocketarian Pictures production
in association with Improfanfic

Suikoden: Distant Shores
created by Illyria and Todd Harper

Part Two: Destiny's Faint Glimmer
by Kate Malloy
----------

Tavia awoke shivering.  For a brief moment, she considered asking Adele how on 
earth it had managed to get so cold.  Then everything came crashing back to her.  
The attack on the Academy.  The fighting, and their subsequent capture.  And 
Adele... she...

Biting her lip, she sat up and looked over at Lierni.  Li lay flat on her back, 
her eyes half-open.  Casting a quick glance around the tent, she noted with some 
surprise that Reid was not there.

"Lierni," she said quietly.

Li sat up and checked her surroundings.  "It appears that our gracious host is 
nowhere to be seen."

"I'm sure he'll be back," Tavia answered.  "So what do we do now?"

Gracefully stretching her shoulders, Li considered their situation.  "Escape is 
definitely out of the question.  For the moment, at least.  I severely doubt 
that they are going to take us to the nearest town and let us go.  Not until we 
have worked off our debt to them."

"Debt?" Tavia asked, puzzled.  "Oh.  Yes."  She sighed.  "It's not like we had a 
choice..."

"Tell that to them." Lierni gave a curt nod towards the tent flap.  "I'm certain 
that they will be glad to listen."

"I know." Tavia stared down at the ground.

"Shh!" Lierni hissed a warning.

Tavia jerked her head back up just in time to see the tent flap start to move 
aside.  Her muscles involuntarily tensing, she prepared to defend herself by any 
means necessary...

"Ah, you're awake," Reid said as he entered.  He carried a small tray with 
three rough tin cups and a steaming pot of water in one hand, and several small 
loaves of dark bread in another.  He placed both down on the rough camp table, 
then motioned to the two young women that they should join him.

Tavia started to rise, then hesitated.  Li hadn't moved at all.

"It's not poisoned," Reid explained with a hint of frustration.  "Look, there's 
a lot that needs to get done today, and you're going to be helping us.  You'll 
want this."

"Helping you," Lierni stated in a flat tone.

Reid nodded as he poured himself a cup of tea.  "Yes.  Either you can help out, 
or we can just tie you up and get one of the men here to carry you like a sack 
of grain.  Your choice."

Tavia stood up.  "So letting us go isn't an option, then."  She walked over to 
the camp table.

"I'm afraid not."  Reid tore a piece off of one of the loaves, chewed 
consideringly for a few moments, then took a swallow of tea.  "Apparently Senrou 
seems to think that you're my responsibility, at least for the moment."

"Wonderful." Lierni rolled her eyes.  Stretching slowly, she stood up, walked 
over, and reached for a cup.  "So what exactly are we to do for you?"

"Mostly carrying.  We're moving out today, now that we're finished here."

Tavia and Lierni both fixed him with glares of hatred.  He continued eating for 
a minute, then looked back at them.  "I'm sorry.  Like I said, to the best of my 
knowledge the rest of the Academy students are safe.  But I will make no 
apologies for the actions of these men here.  We are fighting for what we 
believe in."

Tavia bit her lip again, absently noting that she seemed to be forming a habit 
of doing it.  Lierni continued to stare at him.

"Eat up," Reid finally said, putting his cup down and standing up.  "We'll need 
to get going soon."

*****

Tavia adjusted the heavy pack on her back.  She looked over her shoulder at 
Lierni, who was doing the same thing.  For a moment, she considered asking Li if 
she was all right, then decided against it.  Li would never forgive her if she 
even hinted at that.  Still, the slim, graceful magic user looked slightly 
awkward carrying the huge camp pack.  Always before, when they'd gone on 
training missions, Tavia and Adele had carried the greater shares of the load.

Adele.  Tavia quickly shoved that memory to the back of her mind.  No, she did 
not want to think about her former friend.  Sooner or later, she'd have to come 
to terms with what had happened, but not now.

She looked around.  Everything was in motion.  The camp was almost completely 
packed up.  Soon there would be nothing left but the flat ground where the tents 
had been pitched and the ashes of the fires.  In the daylight, she could observe 
much more than she had been able to notice last night.  The rebels were much 
better organized than a group of bandits would be.  Some were loading horses, 
others carrying supplies back and forth.  This was no mere rabble.  This was the 
beginnings of an army.

Occasionally, one of the men would look at her and Lierni and frown, or grumble, 
or in one case, even spit on the ground.  Tavia wasn't used to that kind of 
attention and she wasn't quite sure how to react.  Lierni simply stood there, 
her face like stone, her spine like iron.  Sighing, Tavia tried her best to 
ignore them all.

Again, Reid walked over to them.  "Are you ready?" he asked.

"Yes," Tavia answered, while Li gave a curt nod.

Reid shouldered his own pack.  "Then let's go.  Follow me."

They headed out.  The pace was steady, but not strenuous, and Tavia soon fell 
easily into the rhythm of marching.  Beside her, Lierni walked in silence, her 
eyes facing forward.

In the distance ahead, Tavia could see Senrou riding one of the horses, flanked 
by several aides.  Every so often he would send one of them off to check 
something up ahead, then receive the report when the aide returned.  Tavia tried 
to notice what he was doing, then finally gave up.  She was no commander, and it 
was obvious that Senrou was quite experienced in that regard.

She continued to look for a means of escape, but none presented themselves.  
She, Lierni, and Reid were marching in the middle of the army.  They were 
surrounded on all sides.  Even if Li could manage to fire off a spell or two as 
a distraction, there was no possible way that they would be able to break out of 
the ranks quickly enough.  And she had a very strong suspicion that Senrou would 
not order his men to hold back this time.

Step, step.  She glanced over at Reid, who seemed to be completely unconcerned 
with what was going on.  He noticed her looking at him, and gave her a brief 
smile.  Quickly, she turned away and absentmindedly patted the place on her belt 
where her sai usually hung.  Would she ever get them back?

Step, step.  The morning sun shone overhead.  Tavia tried to figure out where 
they could possibly be heading.  Obviously, they were going away from Bristow.  
Mentally, she ticked off the list of likely places.  The vast Erisan Forest lay 
to the north.  That would be a good place for a small hideout, but if Reid was 
serious about eventually forming a revolution... No, probably not there.  The 
capital itself was a short distance to the west, and obviously they were not 
going in that direction.  To the east was the border with Leirstam.  So that 
left...

"South," Tavia murmured.  Indeed, that was the direction in which they were 
headed.  But where were they going?  There were a few scattered small towns 
between here and the next major city, Sorlan.  They were not following any of 
the major trade roads.  She wanted to ask Lierni if she'd heard anything about 
strange movements in the south, but Li was still marching as if she were the 
only person out in the fields that day.

Sighing, Tavia resigned herself to simply following along.

*****

Late in the afternoon, the army reached its destination: a small keep, 
abandoned since the Tir Eselyn-Leirstam war.  Now it appeared to be a thriving 
headquarters, although Tavia noticed that the returning army filled it to 
overflowing.  If the rebels were truly serious about increasing their ranks, 
they would have to find larger accommodations soon.

Reid set his pack down on the ground and wiped his brow.  "Here we are," he 
said.

"Charming," Lierni muttered, unshouldering her pack.  Tavia noticed the slight 
droop to her friend's shoulders, although Li herself would never admit it.

Tavia followed suit and looked around.  Already, legions of soldiers were 
emerging from the keep to help carry in the supplies gathered from the raid 
on the Academy farms.  Ahead and to her right, she noticed Senrou dismounting 
from his horse, his aides swarming around him.

"Reid!" A sharp female voice cut through the crowd.  Turning, Tavia noticed a 
woman making her way towards them.  She walked briskly, and the soldiers quickly 
got out of her way.

"Welcome back, Reid," the woman said when she reached him.  She wore simple 
leathers, patches of them dyed green so that she would blend into both fields 
and forest with ease.  Her blue-black hair was cut chin-length, though one thin, 
long braid dangled near her right temple.  Tavia believed that she looked to be 
in her early twenties, though there was something about her eyes that made her 
seem much, much older.

The most unusual thing about the woman, however, was the fact that her ears 
seemed almost slightly... pointed?  Tavia shook her head and glanced again.  No, 
she must have been imagining things.

The woman also carried an unstrung bow, and a quiver of arrows was strapped to 
her back.  Idly, she moved her hands along the bow.  "How did things go?" she 
asked.

"A success, Kyrina," Reid answered.

Lierni gently nudged Tavia's arm.  Tavia turned to look at her.  Lierni pointed 
to her own hand, then nodded towards Kyrina.

Tavia drew a sharp breath.  Visible on Kyrina's right hand were the faint 
markings of a Wind Rune.  An archer, a magic-user, and what else?  Who was this 
woman, and why was she here?

"That's good," Kyrina answered.  She then glanced at Tavia and Lierni.  "And who 
are they?"

"A long story," Reid said shortly.  "I believe Commander Senrou wished to talk 
to you."

Kyrina nodded.  "All right.  Everything was nice and dull while you all were 
gone." She smiled.  "Just they way it should be, I suppose.  Though I'm longing 
for the day when we... Ah, forget it.  I'll hear your stories later, Reid.  
Until then."  She walked off.

"Who..." Tavia began, before Reid held up a hand to silence her.

"More on that later," he answered.  "Let's find where we're supposed to put all 
this."

*****

Lierni glanced darkly at her surroundings.  "I suppose we'll be locked in a cell 
like common criminals now," she muttered as she unloaded the contents of a cart 
into a storage bin.

Tavia didn't answer.  They had been taken down to the cellars of the keep, 
and were now helping unpack the supplies under the watchful eyes of a whole 
squadron of soldiers.

Li looked behind her and continued to frown.  The soldiers stared back, 
impassively.

"Finished." Tavia brushed her hands together, rubbing the dust from them.  "What 
now?"

"Now, you follow me," Kyrina's voice called.  The soldiers parted to allow the 
woman to walk through.  She motioned for Tavia and Lierni to come after her.

Kyrina led them up several flights of stairs and into a small bedroom.  A camp 
bed sat on one side of the room, with a small table and two chairs in the 
middle.  A small fire burned brightly in the fireplace, and two sleeping pallets 
had been laid out in front of it.  Reid sat in one of the chairs.

"Good evening," he said, rising as the trio of women entered.  Tavia nodded 
politely at him, while Lierni ignored his presence completely.

Kyrina shut the door behind them and sat down on the bed.  "All right.  For 
Winds-only-knows-what reason, Commander Senrou seems to believe that you two are 
now my responsibility.  He has suggested to me to find small tasks around the 
fortress for you to do, tasks that will not require much supervision."

"We are not common servants to be passed around like tools!" Lierni exclaimed 
angrily.  "We are cadets of the Heimdall Academy-"

"Which no longer exists," Kyrina finished.  "Now.  That is what Commander Senrou 
has suggested that I should do.  However..."  She glanced over at Reid.  "I also 
do not believe in treating soldiers like servants.  I wish to hear your story."  
She looked at Tavia and Lierni.  "All of it."

Tavia stared wide-eyed at Li.  She wanted to ask what they should say.  How much 
should they tell?  She quickly looked over at Kyrina, who sat impassively, and 
Reid, who had an encouraging smile on his face, then back at Li.  Lierni gave an 
almost imperceptible shrug.

Tavia sighed.  All right, so it was up to her.  Taking a deep breath, she began 
to tell exactly what had happened when the rebels had attacked the Academy.  
However, she tried to leave out as many references to Adele as possible.

When she finished, Kyrina nodded sharply.  "Not the entire truth, but close 
enough."  Then, surprisingly, she almost smiled.  "I can't say that I blame you.  
Were I in your place, I would have done the same."

"Really?" Tavia said in surprise, before she could stop herself.

"Yes," Kyrina answered.  "Yes, I would fight to defend my friends, my comrades, 
what I hold dear and believe in.  That is why I am here now."

Tavia and Lierni were silent.  Kyrina continued.  "My father was one of the so-
called 'barbarians' of the southern tribes.  My great-grandfather lived in the 
depths of the Erisan Forest, and from him I got these."  She pointed to her 
ears, which were indeed slightly pointed.

Tavia gasped in shock.  "But I thought that the elves were only a myth!"

Kyrina shook her head.  "Not a myth.  They simply grew so disgusted with the 
affairs of the humans that they withdrew from the rest of the world, like their 
distant cousins on the other continents.  At any rate, both of my peoples have 
been persecuted and shunned.  Not only by Tir Eselyn, but Heresha as well.  I 
was sent to school in Kesshin in an attempt to 'civilize' me.  That is where I 
met Reid."

Reid nodded in response.

"At any rate..." Kyrina finished.  "I don't believe in holding you here against 
your will.  After Commander Senrou decides that your punishment has been served, 
we will release you, under a few conditions."

"That is brilliant strategy," Li said acidly.  "Letting two people wander loose 
with knowledge of your fortifications, the numbers of your men, perhaps even 
your attack plans?"

Kyrina frowned.  "I think you will find, Miss Totorika, that things are not that 
simple."  She looked over at Reid again.  "Tomorrow morning, Reid?"

He nodded and stood up.  "Good night, Kyrina.  Good night, ladies.  Sleep well."  
He turned and left the room.

Lierni glared at her.  "So, I will bet that you're hoping that we'll see how 
corrupt the kingdom really is, and thus, out of the goodness of our hearts, we 
will join you."

Kyrina shrugged.  "I would not force you to fight for something you don't 
believe in.  But tell me, Miss Totorika... how fair was it that you were always 
looked down upon growing up because you weren't 'noble?'"

Lierni looked shocked.

"Commander Senrou isn't the only avid student around here," Kyrina said with a 
smile.  "Now... your sleeping pallets are over there.  I'll trust that you have 
a good night.  And please, don't think about trying to escape.  There are quite 
a few soldiers stationed in the hallway, and I'm a very light sleeper."  With 
that, she held up her right hand.  Her Wind Rune glowed briefly, and the fire 
dimmed down to embers.  She laid down on the bed and closed her eyes.

Li stared at the remains of the fire.  Tavia knew that she was admiring the 
woman's control over her magic, even if that was the only thing about Kyrina 
that Li would admire.

Tavia laid on her back and stared up at the wooden ceiling.  What now?  Her hand 
went to the Rune crystal on her pendant.  She held it up and gazed at it, then 
clutched it in her hand as she drifted off to sleep.

*****

"Tavia."

Tavia stirred groggily.  The voice calling her name was unfamiliar.

"Tavia."

She opened her eyes and sat up.  Li and Kyrina were still asleep.  On the other 
side of the room, however, stood a strange woman.  She was dressed in flowing 
blue robes.  Her long black hair fell from the hood of her cloak to rest on her 
shoulders.

"Who... who are you?" Tavia asked quietly.

The woman looked at Tavia.  With a startled gasp, Tavia realized that she was 
blind.  "I am Leknaat, Tavia.  Once the Seeress of the Scarlet Moon Empire, and 
now the keeper of the Gate Rune."

"The Gate Rune?" Tavia burst out.  "But that's impossible!"  She looked around.  
Neither Lierni or Kyrina showed any signs of waking up.

"The Stars of Destiny gather once more, Tavia.  They seek a guide.  Someone with 
strength, courage and dedication.  Someone to lead them."

"Why are you telling this to me?" Tavia asked.  "I'm the daughter of a farmer.  
I was a cadet in the Academy.  I'm no one special, or important.  Go find the 
commander here.  I'm sure he'd be happy to hear this."

"Everyone has the potential to be special and important, Tavia.  Not everyone is 
a Star, but each person has his or her own destiny.  No one is insignificant.  
Even at his most powerless, man's existence is never without meaning."  Leknaat 
raised a hand.  "Let the Victory Rune guide you, Tavia.  Shine brightly."  With 
that, she vanished.

Tavia shook her head.  "I must be dreaming," she muttered.  "Stars of Destiny... 
Victory Rune?  This is silly.  I've been listening to too many stories."

She laid back down and closed her eyes, then quickly sat back up.  The entire 
time she had been talking with Leknaat, she'd been holding her Rune crystal.

"Could it be?"  She let go of the crystal and looked at her palm.  No Rune 
markings had magically appeared on it.  The golden wreath of leaves still 
remained inside the crystal.  "No."  She shook her head.  "Sleep, Tavia.  Forget 
silly dreams.  Tomorrow's sure to be a long day."

She lay down once more and quickly fell asleep.

*****

Adele had no idea how long she'd been walking.  It was nighttime again, but she 
didn't care.  She hadn't eaten anything all day, but it didn't matter.  She was 
a failure and a reject.  If she starved to death out here, that was fine.  She 
deserved it.

The cut on her finger still throbbed, but she paid it no mind.  If she died from 
her wounds, that was all right... wasn't it?

"No," she growled.  She had to find them.  She had to make them pay.  They'd 
made a liar out of her.  All of them.  *All* of them.

Giggling insanely, she collapsed onto the ground.  "All of them," she repeated.  
"All pay."

She didn't even notice the patrol of Lindaelan soldiers approaching on 
horseback.  The soldiers had been sent from the capital to investigate the 
attack on Heimdall Academy.

"Hold!" The captain reined in his horse.  "Who are you?  State your name and 
your business here!"

"What's in a name?" Adele babbled.  "It doesn't matter any more..."

One of the soldiers dismounted and walked over to her.  "She's wounded, 
Captain," he reported.  "It looks like she's been wandering all day.  She's 
wearing the uniform of a Heimdall cadet."

The captain himself dismounted and knelt next to Adele.  He held a canteen of 
water up to her face.  "Drink," he ordered.

Adele instinctively did so.  "That's... better," she slurred.

"Can you recall what happened?" he asked her.

"Attack..." she murmured deliriously.  "Fought hard... couldn't win... in the 
end... failure..."

"Why now, miss, I wouldn't say that you were a failure at all," the captain 
replied.  "You fought off those scum and then you were making your way to the 
capital to warn us, weren't you?"

Adele gazed at him in wide-eyed shock.  He didn't believe she was a failure, or 
a coward?

"In fact, I'd say that you sound like a hero to me," he continued.

"Hero?" Adele laughed bitterly.  "Oh, no.  Not that."

The captain lowered his voice and spoke directly into her ear.  "I'd say that 
you are, miss.  Believe me, I would.  And even if you weren't exactly, well, 
who's to know the difference?"

"I can have it back?  I can have it back!" Adele laughed again.  "No more 
failure!  Hah!"

He nodded and murmured to her again.  "Of course, miss.  Though perhaps when we 
return to the capital, you'd be willing to put in a good word for me about how 
my men and I saved you?"

Adele smiled a bit.  "Of course..."

The captain stood up.  "The young lady needs rest," he stated.  "We'll camp here 
for the night.  I'm sure that once she's feeling better, she'll be more than 
willing to fully cooperate with us."  He looked back down at Adele.  "Right, 
miss?"

"Oh, yes."  Adele grinned.  "Oh, yes."

*****

Author's Notes:

Wai. ^_^  I loved writing this chapter.  Suikoden is my second favorite RPG 
series (next to Final Fantasy, of course).  I was absolutely thrilled to find 
out that Distant Shores had won the sweeps, and extremely excited that I was 
going to write the second chapter. ^_^  (And a bit nervous, since it made two 
chapters in one week, but luckily it coincided with Christmas holidays.)

Thanks go to Illyria and Todd, both for the wonderful job they did writing the 
starter, and for their helpful suggestions and comments in prereading.  More 
thanks go to Scott Schimmel for prereading as well.  And finally, thanks go to 
the Konami Kukeiha Club for composing the Suikoden soundtracks, which made quite 
pleasant background music for the writing and proofreading of this chapter. ^_^

A brief note about Leknaat, for the Suikoden-uninitiated.  Yes, she's from the 
games.  She's sort of the mysterious wise-woman type, who shows up *very 
occasionally* to guide the hero with regards to his (or her, in this case) True 
Rune.  In other words, please don't have her show up every other chapter.  Just 
on important occasions. ^_^

Although in the games you usually don't get the tablet that lists the various 
Stars right away, Illyria and I whipped up a handy table omake-type thing for 
Distant Shores.  Hey, just because the game does something one way doesn't mean 
we have to do it the same way if it leads to confusion for the authors. ^_~  
Future writers, when you do introduce new Stars in your chapters, could you 
please list them at the end in your notes?  It'll help me with the maintenance 
of the list. ^_^

Again, I had a great time writing this chapter, and I hope to sign up again in 
the next queue.

-- Kate

New Star(s) Introduced:
Kyrina - Tenko Star (Heavenly Loneliness)