Note One: This story is placed in the time in The Soulforge several months after Raistlin caught Caramon and Miranda together.
Note Two: Dalamar and Caramon are coming from the time in the book after The Test of the Twins.
Note Three: This is yoai/slash. If you're slash-a-phobic, then don't read.
Chapter One:
The rain fell steadily, the road turning to mud and citizens running for shelter. A group of young boys laughed as their feet splattered into forming puddles upon the road. One boy squinted through the drizzle, a bit frustrated from the slow progress of the horse's hooves struggling within the mud.
"Stupid rain," he murmured under his breath, his brown locks plastered down; his already soaked cloak chilling his skin. "I'm going to be late."
Toned muscles bulged slightly as his arms lifted and tapped the side of the horse gently with a stick, but the horse continued her slow progress. Usual cheerful face, now frowning, the boy leaned back and forced himself to be patient.
'Please hurry,' he thought, gnawing his lower lip.
"It seems your slow progress could use some help," came a sudden voice.
Startled, the reins were jerked back and the horse came to a halt as the young man whipped his head around and his eyes widened slightly as he saw a black hooded stranger standing near the side of the road. Blinking, to see if he was seeing correctly, the boy drew himself up and jutted his lower jaw forward while making his eyes squint in suspicion to make himself look tough and menacing. But the stranger let out a soft snort deflating the boy's confidence in his "menacing" appearance. A bit put down, he righted his jaw and cocked his head to one side, noticing the stranger had pouches and unusual items hanging from their belt.
"Who are you?" he asked.
"I am only a stranger seeking refuge from the rain. My magic can help your slow progress in the rain, if you could kindly let me ride with you in exchange."
The boy's suspicion didn't ease much but an interest came into his eyes.
"You're a spell caster?" he asked curiously.
"I am indeed," the stranger said nodding but then their smile wavered before their body almost fell forward.
The boy immediately scrambled from the wagon and caught the falling mage.
"Are you alright?" he asked in concern.
"Forgive me, I've been traveling for some time, and then it began to rain…I fear I don't feel well."
"Maybe you should lie down?" the boy said, indicating to the wagon.
"I would be most thankful if you let me rest for a moment."
The boy helped the stranger, who happened to be three feet taller then him, up and they slowly headed for the wagon, before he heard a snap of a twig from behind and glanced back just in time to see a huge shadow. Before he could cry out, something smashed into his skull and he crumpled into the ground. As he lay there upon the mud, he felt the ground beneath him tilt and through his fading vision saw the stranger and a giant standing over him.
"Raist…" he whispered before the world went black.
:III:
"You didn't have to hit him so hard, Caramon," came a slightly irritated voice as he turned the boy over and touched the unconscious boy's wound with long slim fingers.
The big man shrugged. Rolling his eyes, the hooded stranger murmured the language of magic under his breath before the boy's body glowed faintly, then vanished.
"Ah!" the big man shouted.
Wearily, the hooded stranger sunk to the ground, flicking a glance at the blundering man.
"What?" he asked, annoyed.
"Where did he go!" he shouted, looking around frantically. "Dalamar, where did he go!"
The hood was pulled back slightly to reveal an elf…a dark elf, with slanted eyes, and dark black hair falling into a pale face. The elf looked at the man with scorn.
"You panic when the boy disappears but you don't as much as worry that you could have bashed the boy's skull in."
"Where did the boy go!" Caramon shouted again.
Dalamar sighed as he struggled back up to his feet, looking in distaste at the mud that had stained the hem of his black robes.
"Justarious has reminded you about the rules of going back into the past, didn't he?"
Caramon nodded slowly.
"Then he should have explained about how it would not be wise for the boy not to meet his self from years after. Understand? I have placed him somewhere where he shall sleep until our business is complete. Then I shall summon him back and he shall awake, remembering nothing of meeting us."
Caramon looked doubtful; he had long ago stopped fully trusting magic users after the death of his twin brother, Raistlin, but didn't complain anymore about it. Glancing around, he started for the wagon and took up the reins as Dalamar climbed on more slowly. Sitting down gingerly upon the wet seat, he placed the hood of his black robe low over his face and pulled the robes tighter around him.
A shiver ran down Caramon's back at the familiar gesture that he'd seen too often on cold or rainy days when his twin occupied the seat that Dalamar sat upon now. Shaking his head to clear it, he flicked the reins and the horse made her slow progress again. The both of them were silent for a while, until Caramon glanced at his still companion.
"Dalamar…why did you agree to come with me?" Caramon asked.
A half closed eye glanced at him briefly.
"I have my reasons Caramon Majere, as you have yours," he said coldly. "Although, Justarious has tempted me with a sweet reward if I assist you…but he did warn you that your effort may be fruitless. Time is like a river. What you try to do will be a ripple upon the surface, not changing anything in the years to come."
"They're wrong," Caramon said heatedly. "Tas changed time once."
"He is Kender. Kender are capable of changing time, if you haven't forgotten," the elf said bitterly.
"But Raist almost changed time, and I've changed time before, remember? The world would have become chaos and death. But now look at it."
The elf nodded slowly.
"True," he murmured. "True…This is probably why Justarious let you go back to this date. Otherwise he would have flat out refused your request. But heed my warning Majere; you are most likely to fail."
"I won't Dalamar," Caramon murmured under his breath. "I won't."
As the wagon slowly splashed through forming muddy puddles upon the road, Dalamar glanced at Caramon again from under his hood, studying the determination upon the now eighteen year old face. It was impressive how effective the de-aging spell worked upon the once sixty year old man, and it was more impressive that it was able to shape the voice along with it. A new invention of Dalamar's that he was quite proud of, and doubted anyone, even his once shalifi, could possibly create something more perfect. Turning away from admiring his work, he grinned.
'Soon, it'll beI who will be theshalifi.'
:III:
A jerk of the wagon awakened Dalamar from his light slumber and he blinked a few times before he spotted a run down looking house that looked about to collapse any moment. A sneer appeared upon the elf's lips.
"I've seen gully dwarfs live better," he murmured.
"Home is home," Caramon snapped, as he pulled the reins up.
Dalamar only continued to glare at the "house" as he slowly climbed down from the wagon. The quick breathing could be heard close by and he glanced in annoyance at Caramon, whose frame shook slightly as he put the horse away in a shed and slowly went towards the door.
"Why so nervous?" the elf asked, with a bit of a smirk upon his lips, coming up behind Caramon. "You can't be this nervous to see your dead brother again. I'm surprised; I expected more of anger and hate to come from you. After all…he did kill you quite a few times and almost brought destruction to the world."
"No!" Caramon hissed. "Not anymore. I'm going to change all that. He'll never meet that damn wizard…he'll never have his body shattered…he'll never suffer with those accursed hourglass eyes…he'll never become a black robe."
Three knocks were pounded upon the door, and Dalamar could practically hear Caramon's beating heart. The door opened, and Dalamar's slanted eyes widened slightly. For the first time since he met his shalifi, he saw him without the curse. He was tall, almost as tall as Caramon, with brown hair that fell to his thin shoulders. Pale blue eyes stared at Caramon, contrasting with the pale skin. He wore white, which was a bit unusual for Dalamar who always saw his shalifi dressed in black robes…but one thing didn't change. The skinniness of his shalifi and the long fine boned fingers.
Turning his eyes away, he glanced at Caramon, who was trembling badly; eyes becoming wet. A delicate eye brow rose in slight concern, which looked foreign upon his master's face.
"Ca…"
"RAIST!" Caramon shouted and the boy was engulfed in a bear hug.
Squirming slightly, Raistlin struggled within his twin brother's grasp and pulled away, looking at him oddly.
"Caramon, what is the matter with you! I don't know whether you've been possessed or you've hit your head again!"
"I'm sorry, Raist," Caramon murmured, bowing his head in embarrassment. "It's just that…I haven't seen you for a long time…"
"We just saw each other this morning."
"Well…it felt like a long time," he mumbled pathetically.
Dalamar barely suppressed a snicker, causing blue eyes to fall upon him.
"And who is this?" he asked suspiciously.
"Huh? Oh, this is Dalamar. He…uh…helped me with the wagon that broke down and I agreed to let him stay for a while in thanks."
Raistlin glared.
"We have barely anything to offer except a roof, which is barely holding. Go to the Old Inn, Otik will give you better hospitality, now good day," Raistlin said stiffly, pulling Caramon inside and was about to shut the door.
"Wait, Raist!" Caramon shouted, grabbing the door.
"What Caramon?" Raistlin asked, looking irritated.
"Um…Dalamar did help…and it would be rude to…turn…him…down…" Caramon murmured, his voice becoming smaller under his younger brothers glare.
'Fool,' Dalamar thought, suppressing to roll his eyes as Caramon glanced at him pleadingly for help.
Pulling his hood back and opening his cloak to reveal his robes and spell components, Dalamar grinned politely at the, now, gaping Raistlin.
'Now it is time for you to be gaping at my glory,' Dalamar thought bitterly.
"I have earned your brother's trust and hospitality. Perhaps I can offer some sort of favor to you too."
"You're…you're a Mage who has passed the test," Raistlin said quietly.
"Indeed, it seems so," Dalamar said.
Raistlin opened the door a little wider and Dalamar noticed that the blue eyes were calculating, before nodding.
"Very well," he said. "Come inside Master Dalamar, we don't have much, but if you insist on staying then we'll try to make do. I am Raistlin Majere."
Dalamar swept a bow before coming inside, and was offered a stool.
"Don't just sit there Caramon," Raistlin snapped. "Find something for our guest to eat!"
Caramon scrambled from his seat, knocking the stool over, and rummaged through the cabinets. As his twin brother searched for food, Raistlin sat before Dalamar, and clasped his hands together and looked at him with penetrating eyes.
"Master Dalamar…"
"Dalamar, please Sha… Raistlin."
"Dalamar, I haven't seen much of your kind around Solace," he said lightly, a slight smile appearing upon his thin lips. "In fact, I don't think Solace has ever been graced with a Dark Elf's presence."
Dalamar matched smirk for smirk, and laced his fingers together.
"Yes, I'm afraid we Dark Elves don't expose ourselves much to the people…for good reasons of course," he said smoothly, and one eye caught a brown leather bag sitting upon a chair with an 'R' branded into the leather. A faint smell of rose petals caught his attention.
"You wish to also be Magi?"
Raistlin's blue eyes became bright and feverish, as he sat up straighter.
"Of course. What does anyone wish to be?"
"Kings, priests…," Dalamar said, a sly twitch of the end of the lips as he glanced at the bustling Caramon. "Warriors."
A soft snort came from the boy, and a slight scowl came upon his face.
"I think you can see, obviously, that I do not possess any qualities qualifying myself as any of those occupations," he said, a bit stiffly. "Of course, my brother would qualify perfectly for a soldier."
"Ah, for sure," Dalamar said, nodding in agreement and was amused by the slight pout upon Raistlin's lips, and an emotion that Dalamar had seen in his shalifi's eyes many times when Caramon was ever mentioned.
Jealousy. But as quick as those emotions appeared, they were gone, and the cold mask was upon the young boys face again.
"Yes," Raistlin said. "And I'm sure that…many great things will…befall him."
Caramon paused in cutting bread, and glanced at his brother, before going back to the bread, stuffing a piece in his mouth quickly, but Raistlin still caught him and glared.
"Caramon save some for our guest!"
Mouth to full to reply, Caramon only sheepishly nodded and went back to cutting; Raistlin turning back around sighing heavily.
"And I'm sure…" Dalamar said, gaining the young man's attention once more. "That he is destined for many great things."
Caramon paused in his cutting and shot Dalamar a look, which Dalamar responded by grinning.
"Maybe," Caramon said. "But not without Raist. Raist and I will always stick together, right?"
A small amused smile came upon the young man's lips.
"Of course, brother."
Dalamar frowned. Obviously this was a time when his shalifi and Caramon were still close…which would not go well in his plan.
'But…he's still showing jealousy of his older brother, so…everything might not be at loss.'
"Caramon," Dalamar said. "I couldn't help but notice how the eyes of females turn towards you. You must have quite…a harem."
The older twin slammed the blade over the bread, and Raistlin's features darkened, his eyes immediately were adverted.
"Although…I can't blame them. A tall, handsome, young man with a cheerful face and luscious locks of amber hair…" Dalamar drawled and suppressed a smirk as Raistlin unconsciously touched one of his own locks. "Attract anyone worthy these days?"
Raistlin's face became cold and Caramon was glaring at Dalamar with barely suppressed fury.
"Yes," Raistlin said coolly. "I believe Caramon has been seeing…Miranda."
Caramon flushed and looked at his brother.
"Miranda?" Dalamar said, eyes widening slightly in interest.
"A daughter of a clothier, very pretty…" he said, and it seemed he wanted to add something else, but held his tongue.
"My, my…Caramon, quite a catch I would say."
Caramon's cheeks became redder, and he cleared his throat roughly.
"I've learned my lesson, she wasn't worth it…"
"What is with the past tense, brother? Tired of her already?"
Caramon flinched at the nasty tone in his brother's voice, and nearly kicked himself for forgetting.
"I mean…no…um…"
"Just get the bread on the table already!" Raistlin snapped, turning away from his brother, his cheeks red with fury.
"Jealous?" Dalamar asked, and Raistlin started.
"Why would I be jealous of my brother?" Raistlin asked, but his eyes would not meet the elf's.
"Yes, why would you be?"
A plate crashed onto the table, causing the two to look up, as Caramon sat in a stool beside his brother and shoved the plate to the elf.
"There," he grunted.
"Caramon," Raistlin said sharply giving his brother a disapproving look.
"I thank you," Dalamar said, picking up a piece of bread and eating it slowly and delicately.
It was silent, except for the silent chewing, and sipping of tea that Raistlin had made previously before the two came.
"Hey, Raist!" Caramon suddenly shouted, breaking the silence, grinning. "Tomorrow why don't you and I go visit Flint and Tas!"
Raistlin paused in sipping the steaming tea.
"Not tomorrow Caramon."
"Oh, okay…how about the day after tomorrow?"
Raistlin grimaced.
"I think not."
"Why? Are you not feeling well?" Caramon asked in concern.
"Of course I'm feeling well," Raistlin hissed and gulped down a sip despite the hotness. "I'm perfectly healthy and fine."
"You look pale…" Caramon said, his hand moving towards his face.
Raistlin pulled back and suddenly flinched as cold fingers brushed his forehead. Whipping around, he turned in surprise at Dalamar. Frowning, the elf moved his hand upon his forehead.
"You're warm," he said, and the hand moved to his temple. "You're trembling. You should go to bed."
Raistlin's eyes widened, and Dalamar suppressed a snigger as he played with a piece of his hair.
"Or, I could take you up there myself…"
"Get your hands off of him you leech!" Caramon roared, smacking Dalamar's hand away from his brother.
"I was only offering a helpful service."
"If you want to give someone a "helpful" service, then go find Kit!" Caramon shouted, and grasped Raistlin harshly by the wrist. "Come on Raist, I'll take you upstairs!"
Raistlin stared at Caramon with wide eyes. This unusual burst of anger unsettled him, and he didn't protest as Caramon led him up the staircase, shooting Dalamar a dark look.
Once the two were gone, Dalamar smirked as he sipped his tea.
"So the game begins."
:III: To Be Continued...
Review Please and tell me if anyone seems off or out of character...although Caramon and Dalamar may seem a little...off...