Suikoden VI

Chapter Ten: Part Three

Note: Sorry for the delays. In addition to still dealing with health issues (again) this is my third time rewriting this chapter. In addition, I ended up rewriting the outlines for both Chapters Ten and Eleven (again). But I think the story will flow even better now.

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Part Three

The Three Little Pigs, Second Edition

The Cast

Narrator: Lanny

The Wolf: Ciana

First Pig: James

Second Pig: Freyr

Third Pig: Ichirou

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Lanny sighed as a spotlight shined over him. "At least I'm not one of the pigs this time..."

"Hey Lanny, Desiree is here!" A soldier shouted from the audience, earning loud laughter.

"There once was a family of three pigs who left home to start their own lives!" Lanny frantically blurted out. "They m-made their houses of straw, sticks, and brick but then a wolf came along and ruined everything!"

"Lanny, slow down!" Nāṭaka loudly hissed to him.

The stage lights came up, revealing James standing underneath the flimsy house of straw stage prop in front of the green countryside background. "There is no finer house than a house of straw!" he spoke in a proud and theatrically dramatic voice.

Ciana stiffly walked on from stage left. "Ruff, ruff," she said blandly.

"Ciana, you have lines!" Nāṭaka said desperately.

"Not by the hair of my chinny chin chin!" James declared proudly.

"Ruff, rawr," Ciana responded in a dull voice.

"Oh dear," Tidur said softly.

"Ciana didn't seem upset about being cast as the Wolf," Esther whispered. "But I guess she was!"

Despite her lack of enthusiasm, Ciana still walked over and flicked at the straw house prop. It predictably collapsed easily and the stage lights lowered.

"Uh—ah—uh—the first pig house was eaten by the wolf but the wolf was still hungry and so um, uh, he traveled and found the uh, er, stick pig's house," Lanny rambled embarrassedly.

"I don't think this is turning out the way Nāṭaka thought it would," Roen whispered.

"When has it ever?" Felicity whispered back.

The stage lights came up again, revealing Freyr standing underneath the stick house stage prop. He looked embarrassed to be onstage. "M-My house of sticks is the b-b-b-est house there ever was!"

Ciana returned to the stage, her expression still blank and bored. "Ruff, rawr," she deadpanned.

Freyr gaped at her with a frozen expression. After a moment he jolted as though he'd suddenly come awake. "Not by the hair of my chinny chin chin!"

"Grr," Ciana responded, and walked over to knock over the stick house prop and the lights lowered again.

Lanny didn't initially notice his cue because he had found Desiree in the audience and he stood frozen on the stage staring at her. In a fit of frustration, Nāṭaka grabbed a nearby stuffed animal and threw it at Lanny. The toy bounced off the top of Lanny's head and the theatre patrons shrieked with laughter. Lanny snapped out of his trance and his face turned darker crimson. "So the wolf ate the other pig but the wolf was still hungry so he went looking for another pig to eat!" he quickly shouted.