Feather had been flying along, minding his own business, trying to figure out where he was (and trying very hard to deny that he was hopelessly lost) when, lo and behold, he spotted an inviting-looking copse of trees, just begging for him to land and take a nap!

Never one to disagree with nature, Feather obligingly spiraled in for a landing. He hollowed out a temporary nest in the thick bed of leaves that covered the ground, and curled up for a relaxing snooze.

As he slept, he had the strangest dream he'd ever had in his entire life. Normally, he enjoyed dreams of hunting, eating, relaxing, or females - in that order. When he drifted off this time, however, he was presented with a series of bizarre images.

First, he saw his home nest, near Forest Village. Then, his view zoomed back, and encompassed the area surrounding the village. Feather found himself thinking, Okay, alright, this is very interesting and all...but why am I seeing this?

Almost in response, his vision zoomed back yet farther, taking in the entire forest. Feather thought this interesting, and rather pretty, but he again failed to see a point. Feather almost thought he felt a surge of irritation at his thoughts, which confused him. It wasn't his irritation...so whose was it?

His mind's eye backed up again, and he saw the entire continent. This, evoking still no understanding in the griffon's mind, backed up yet more, taking in the entire planet. It took the uneducated griffon a few seconds to realize what he was looking at. He wondered at the image for a bit, and then, in a burst of curiosity, wondered what the point was.

It was then that Feather heard a voice - if indeed one could call it that. It sounded more like all the sounds one might find in a forest arranged and organized into words, but somehow through it all sounding distinctly feminine.

The voice clearly said, You are just about the densest creature I've tried to talk to, do you know that? Look, I'm trying to get you to understand something here, so just shut up and listen.

Feather's dream view changed. It still included the planet, but with an addition - two figures floating in space. He recognized himself as one, but the other was just too bizarre for him to properly classify. It was a clear sphere. In the center of the ball, Feather saw one animal after the other, as well as plants, flickering from one to another so fast he could barely recognize one before it was gone again.

The voice sounded again. This is your world, griffon. All parts of it work together to exist. Everything, from your home, to the nearby village, to the entire forest and beyond; all of the natural things work together to stay in balance. Do you understand so far?

Feather's figure nodded, and the voice continued. That balance is what keeps everything alive and working well. If that balance is destroyed...well, it wouldn't be pretty. You, Feather, as a creature of the forest, are part of that balance. You have an innate understanding of how nature works to preserve balance. To put it simply, I am an expression of the balance that keeps nature working. I am an idea that has so much power and life behind it that I have taken on a life and power of my own. Do you follow me?

Feather replied hesitantly, trying hard to understand what this compelling image was telling him. I...think so...

The sphere didn't change, but Feather got the idea that it was pleased. The voice sounded a bit more gentle as it spoke again. Alright...now we get to the purpose of this whole thing. All things in nature - plants and animals - work for the balance; for me. Humans, on the other hand, do not. They are not evil - simply ignorant of the importance of balance. They do not have the innate understanding that animals do, and so they do things that damage the balance out of ignorance. Certain groups of humans are more ignorant than others, and so do more damage.

I try to incorporate humans into the pattern, but they resist quite stubbornly. I know of one human, Badeaux, who is the closest I know of to an incorporated human. But that is beside the point. I am asking you, Feather, to find Badeaux, and to give him this message:

There is no evil, save for certain expressions of insanity. Even Ruka Bright is not evil - merely insane. A person does not have to be a total lunatic to be insane, either. A man can go insane in very specific ways. Men hurt each other and the environment because they are ignorant and because some of them are insane. They do not really realize, or sometimes they don't even care, just how much damage and pain they cause...to nature or each other. However, you should not condone the insane, nor allow the ignorant to stay that way. If someone is insane enough to do evil, and will not be helped, they are a liability to all life, and should be killed as an act of mercy.

Feather blinked. He was supposed to remember all of that? He addressed the sphere. Why not just tell Badeaux all this yourself? Or even one of the animals around him?

The voice responded, For the first, I cannot speak to him directly - he is still a human, and his kind have been disconnected from my direct influence for a very long time now. He is too surrounded by forest life for me to locate directly, so I don't know which animal might happen to be around him - none of them identify him in their minds as clearly as you do, Feather. And to answer the question you're thinking about, that is why I picked you to give him this message. So don't even TRY to ask, 'why me?'! And now, sleeping griffon, it's time for you to get up and get to it. Good morning!

And before Feather could protest, he woke up quite suddenly. He blinked a few times, and thought to himself, That has got to be the wierdest dream I've ever - The voice interrupted his thought. It was quite real, griffon, so don't even CONSIDER trying to shirk the task I have put upon you!

Feather thought back meekly, Yes ma'am.

As Feather got up, he noticed something different about the area. It was deadly quiet - no birds, no squirrels, not even any noisy bugs...nothing living was making a sound. Feather knew with a predator's instinct that this meant something very very bad was nearby.

He stealthily got up and snuck around, trying to spot whatever it was that had scared the other animals so. Such was his care for stealth, that he didn't even rustle a leaf or break a twig. Finally, a few dozen feet away from the copse of trees, he spotted an encampment. From the smell of blood lingering from the camp, Feather guessed they were humans who had seen fighting, and from the slight stench of an ill-kept camp that wafted to his nose, Feather knew they must be bandits. Human bandits and criminals tended to not keep themselves or their property too clean most of the time.

Feather squinted his eyes at the now-setting sun. He'd slept through most of the day already...staying around for the night would be a good idea. He looked at the bandit encampment. Definitely a good idea. Feather's griffon face twisted into a mischevious grin.

* * *

Boldun was pulling sentry duty that night; he'd drawn the short straw just an hour before. He hated sentry duty. He didn't get any sleep, and if he tried to sneak some sleep, the boss always seemed to know where he was sleeping. The boss took great delight in waking him up very suddenly - with his boot.

Boldun pulled out a small flask and took a swig of the ale contained therein. It was going to be a long night. He sighed and muttered to himself, "Well...time to make some rounds..." With a grunt he brought himself to his feet and picked up his spear. He walked for the edge of the encampment, glad for the large central fire that kept the entire area lit. It kept the night at bay.

Boldun would have continued his running commentary of thoughts and feelings, but for two things. One of them was the griffon waiting just outside the light of the fire, and the other was the griffon's claw, curled into a fist. The second item struck Boldun on one side of the head, and knocked him out cold. He didn't even have time to cry out.

Hirriam was an archer. She was a very good archer too. That's why the boss had hired her. Given enough time, she could hit anything within a hundred yards with her longbow. Her ability, however, depended on a good night's sleep. Which is why she was most annoyed when she was woken up by a loud THUMP near her tent. Her tent was near the watch-fire, which was an indication of her status in the boss' group.

After a few seconds, her bleary mind registered the absence of said watch-fire's light. "What the..." She climbed out of her tent, pulling on a robe. She had just a moment to register that someone, namely Boldun, had fallen onto the watch-fire, knocking it apart and effectively putting it out. Her moment expired, and the same claw that knocked out Boldun sent her into peaceful unconsciousness as well.

The boss' real name was unknown to his 'employees', as he thought of them. He was actually quite embarrassed about it. Even being as distantly related as a fourth cousin (and twice removed) was not enough to totally stifle the shame of being related to the infamous narcissist, Milich Oppenheimer. The boss shuddered, remembering anew the shame he felt whenever he saw Milich. The boss had been kicked out of the family and disowned for being so, as they thought of him, 'strange'. After that, the boss had fled the country, taken to wearing a disguise, and even changed his name. He had hated the name 'Percival' anyway.

Now he ran a very successful 'business' of relieving stray travelers and caravans of their excess funds. He was actually getting quite rich. As he lay in his tent, staring up at the top, he chuckled to himself, gloating over how successful he was these days. Then the watch-fire went out. The boss blinked, wondering what could be going on now. He was in a good mood, so he decided that whoever it was that had put out the fire would only receive a few kicks instead of his customary ten lashes.

He got up, and put on his robe. He started to walk towards the door in his tent, when something stopped him. Or, rather, someone. Hirriam, to be exact. Her unconscious body flew in through his door, smacked into him, and propelled the both of them into the other side of the tent, knocking it down around them. The boss was knocked out cold by the impact.

Feather was having the time of his life. He ghosted around the bandit camp, leaving a wake of broken tents and unconscious bandits behind him. A few of them tried to pick up weapons to use against whatever it was that leapt out of the night to attack them, and in some cases Feather had to break their arms before knocking them out. The outcome was the same, however. Every last one of the thirty-unit bandit group was knocked out cold without knowing what it was that had hit them.

Feather then went around, breaking all the tents and weapons he could. He chased off all the horses. He even rummaged around until he found the chest that contained the bandits' ill-gotten gains. Feather broke apart the chest and scattered the coins far and wide. Anything he couldn't break, he threw off into the distance.

After wreaking all the devastation that he could, Feather moved off a little ways and lay himself down.

And waited.

The moon set, hiding its bone-white face behind the horizon, and still he waited.

Finally, the sun began to rise, and Feather's patience was rewarded. The bandits began to wake up, groaning and clutching their heads. Feather waited a short bit, until he guessed that most of them were nearly awake, then he stood up, drew in a deep breath, and bellowed at the top of his rather considerable voice. Every single bandit, even those who hadn't been conscious, snapped to full alertness, and ran for the hills as one. And every single one, Feather noted with mischevious pleasure, was holding their ears from the sound.

Feather felt quite pleased with himself as he went back to his nest in the copse of trees nearby. As he chuckled and congratulated himself, the voice said in a rather dry tone, Very nice Feather...quite childish. Now get some sleep.

He sighed to himself and curled up in his premade nest, promising the voice in his head that he'd continue to look for Badeaux...as soon as he replaced last night's lost sleep.

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"Feather" and "Suikoden 2" are (C) Konami. This chapter was posted on March 27, 2000 Feather's author is no longer active