"Well, you shouldn't blame me because you don't take better care of your belongings!" Tasslehoff yelled back to the man over his shoulder. Unfortunately, with his eyes averted from his course for that split second, he ran smack into someone in long silky black robes.
"Oh! Excuse me!" the mage said, stumbling backwards in confusion.
"Hi!" Tas greeted him with a smile. "I'm Tasslehoff Burrfoot and I'm very pleased to meet you. I'm sorry I can't talk now - would you hold this for me for a moment?" he interrupted himself, thrusting the bag of belongings into the confused black-robed mage's arms.
"Well, certainly," the mage said. As Tas hurriedly reorganized his pouches, the startled mage continued, "By the way, I'm Dalamar." Tas glanced at him and realized that he was talking to an elf. "I would be very grateful if you could point me in the direction of -"
"So!" the angry owner of the possessions Tas was handling shouted, staring at both Kender and mage with fury written all over his face. "This little thief works for you, does he? I might have known an evil black robe would be behind this!"
"Uh-oh," Tas said, grabbing Dalamar's wrist. "Time to go!" Without waiting for agreement, he hauled the speechless elf away at a run. Letting go of Dalamar's wrist, Tas shouted, "He's fast - I usually lose them in a block or two! We'd better hurry."
The black robed mage seemed to need no encouragement. He kept pace with Tas, apparently not in the mood to introduce himself to the angry man just now. "Perhaps you shouldn't have stolen his things, Kender!" Dalamar admonished him, a bit out of breath. They rounded a corner and pelted down the cobblestone street, the angry man shouting at them from close behind. As the three ran through the streets of Palanthas, people stopped to stare in curiousity.
Tas found the concentration somehow to turn a wounded, wide-eyed expression on the elf running alongside him. "Of course I didn't steal his things!" he said, shocked at the suggestion. "He had them laying out on the chair next to him in the inn, with his back turned. Just anyone could have come by and stolen them. I felt sorry for him, so I took care of his things for him while he was distracted. He didn't seem to appreciate it very much, though!"
Dalamar decided not to press that issue, concluding that it would be pointless to argue that concept with a kender. Instead, he said, "As I was saying before, I would be extremely grateful if you could tell me where I might find the tower of the wizard Raistlin Majere."
"Oh, sure!" Tas said happily. "I was just on my way to see him, myself! He's an old friend of mine. He lives in the Shoikan Grove. It's a wonderful place, and I really don't understand why he so seldom gets visitors. Maybe living so close to the Grove, everyone who lives in Palanthas has seen all the monsters and things too many times already. This way! I'll take you there myself!" Tas turned again, this time towards where the Shoikan Grove lay just outside of the city of Palanthas, and gestured eagerly for Dalamar to follow him.
"Thank you!" Dalamar called back, glancing nervously over his shoulder at the man who was still pursuing them.
"Stop, thieves!" the man bellowed, his face red from anger and exertion.
"You, there! Halt!" A soldier stepped out into the road in front of the fleeing pair, holding up a hand for them to stop. Tas and Dalamar dodged to either side and ran on past.
"I'm sorry, some other time!" Dalamar shouted back over his shoulder at the soldier, who had now joined the chase. What have I gotten myself into? he wondered. This is not what I envisioned when the great Par-Salian described my assignment...
Lord Tarinius smiled proudly at his wife and daughter. As the carriage they rode in rolled serenely along the streets of Palanthas, he said, "I feel like such a lucky man to be in the company of two such fine ladies! Crysania, my dear, you are growing up to be as lovely and poised as your mother."
"Thank you," his fifteen year old daughter said in a voice that was no less clear and strong for how quiet and sweet it was. She turned her head to look at the window of the carriage, as the sound of a disturbance reached their ears. "What was that?" she asked curiously.
Frowning, her father leaned out the window to look. What he saw appalled him: a kender and a mage - an evil black robed mage! - were running away from an angry group of people including a soldier who was shouting at them to stop in the name of the law. "Driver," Lord Tarinius snapped, turning to look at the front of their carriage, "take another road, please." The driver nodded and turned the horse to take a different route. Lord Tarinius pulled his head back inside the window and drew the curtain shut to protect his wife and daughter's eyes from the absurd spectacle. "Never mind," he told his daughter firmly in answer to her question a moment earlier. "Now, where were we? Ah, yes. How are your studies progressing, Crysania?"
"Dead end!" Dalamar groaned as he and the kender came up against a wall at the end of an alleyway. Effectively boxed in, the two whirled around to meet their pursuers. Dalamar glanced at Tasslehoff to see if he had any ideas. The kender looked back at him and shrugged. As the angry mob slowly advanced, Dalamar sighed. "I'm sorry," he told the kender. "But this is when I depart. Good-bye, and good luck." He murmured a few magic words and managed to make himself vanish from sight.
"Too bad he couldn't whoosh me away while he was at it," Tas muttered. "Oh, well. I'll have to do for myself it seems!"
"Your mage may have gotten away," the soldier told Tas sternly. "but you'll face justice yourself. Now come here!"
"Okay," Tas said calmly. He walked forward, threw the man's belongings into the shocked soldier's arms, and dodged past him. "You help him look after them! He's very ungrateful anyway." With years of skill, being one of the great Heroes of the Lance after all, Tas managed to dodge the rest of the crowd and slipped away in the confusion. Before they could decide whether or not to follow him again, Tas hurried to the edge of Palanthas and headed on his way to the Tower of High Sorcery.
The Shoikan Grove looked lovely at this time of year, the dark trees powdered with the light early-December snow. Tas made his way through the Grove with only a few close scrapes and a mishap or two, finally arriving on Raistlin's very doorstep. Tas found the front door unlocked, so he knew he would be welcome to let himself in. "Hello!" he called up from the foyer. "Raistlin! It's me, Tasslehoff!" The kender's voice echoed hollowly around inside the tower. There was no response. "That's odd," Tas said, looking around but seeing no sign of Raistlin. "Oh, well! He's probably just very busy with some new spell. I'll go find him and surprise him."
Tas eagerly hurried up the stairs that wound around the outside edge of the tower, heading directly for Raistlin's study. "Hey, Raistlin!" he called out again. "Where are you?" As Tas pushed the door to his friend's study open, he looked in to see it completely empty of people. "Maybe he's not at home at all," Tas said, a bit disappointed. He wandered into the study, looking around. His gaze landed critically on a white handkerchief laying on Raistlin's desk, wadded up and apparently forgotten. "What would they all do without me to look after their things?" Tas wondered aloud as he approached the desk. He reached out to take the handkerchief, and just as he was starting to look away at all the other interesting magical things, the handkerchief leaped out of his hand and attached itself to his hoopak. While Tas stared, openmouthed, the handkerchief began busily polishing his hoopak for him while he watched. With a bit of cunning and very quick fingers, Tas managed to capture the handkerchief and stuff it into one of his pouches. As he did so, he noticed a scroll laying half-unrolled on the desk next to where the handkerchief had been laying a moment before. He saw a few letters, without really meaning to, and was instantly curious when he thought he saw his name! Unable to help himself, Tas picked up the scroll and unrolled it the rest of the way. He scanned it quickly with his eyes, reading Raistlin's neat, flowing script: Don't read my scrolls, Tas. Whooosh!
Before he knew what was happening, Tas felt sort of funny and tingly, and the next thing he knew he heard splashing and the sound of ducks quacking. The scroll had vanished from Tasslehoff's now-empty hands - or maybe, he reflected, he had disappeared from it - and he was now standing waist-deep with his hoopak in a somewhat muddy duck pond.
Tas grinned.
After Tas had dried off, he took stock of his surroundings and realized that he was pretty close to where Goldmoon and Riverwind lived. Slinging his hoopak over his shoulder, he set off to visit his friends.
A few minutes later, he reached the village. Tas headed straight for Goldmoon and Riverwind's tent and let himself in. "Hello!" he called out, then looked around in surprise to see the tent was empty. The bedding was neatly rolled up and put aside to the edge of the tent, and most of the other belongings were also either gone - with their owners on a trip, no doubt - or neatly put away as well. The only exception was the animal skin spread out across the floor like a big, inviting carpet with a scattering of very pretty stones and a beaded bag. Tas wondered why Goldmoon and Riverwind had been so careless with them, since they took such good care of their other belongings. Tas gathered up the stones, admiring them as he did so, and put them back in their beaded pouch. He had to admit, the pouch itself was very lovely. It looked like Goldmoon's work, and the design was bright and colorful. He had just finished picking up the stones when he heard the tent flap being pulled open behind him. Tas turned around to see one of the plains people standing in the entry way. "Hello," Tas greeted him. "I was looking for Goldmoon and Riverwind."
"They have gone to visit Lord Tanis and Laurana in Qualinost," the plainsman said politely.
"Thanks!" Tas said with a grin. Slipping the beaded pouch of stones into one of his own pouches, Tas left the tent and headed for Qualinost.
The plainsman watched the kender leave, then looked inside the tent. Seeing the pouch and stones now missing, he smiled and shook his head but said nothing.
When Tas found Tanis and Laurana's home in Qualinost empty as well, he started to worry. "Where is everyone?" he wondered aloud. "I sure hope they didn't all go off on an adventure without time to come get me first!" He knew his friends could take care of themselves, and that thought made him feel better. He looked around the house for clues to explain why his friends might have gone missing. Everything seemed to be in order. Tas saw that Tanis had left his armour home, so he apparantly hadn't gone off to fight somewhere. Everything seemed to be in the right places. One thing caught Tas's eye - a small wooden carving sitting on the fireplace mantlepiece. Curious, Tas went over to investigate. On closer inspection, once he had picked it up, Tas saw that it was a very fine and detailed carving of Flint, who had died not long ago in the War of the Lance. Tas felt tears come to his eyes at the memory of their friendship. This was a very dear reminder of a friend, and Tas wasn't about to take any chances that Tanis and Laurana might lose something this important. He respectfully and gently placed the little carving into one of his pouches for safekeeping. Tas left the house and, almost without realizing it, headed straight for Solace.
By the time Tas reached the town of Solace it was mid-afternoon. The sun shone brightly and cut like white swords through the spaces between the leaves of the great vallenwood trees, lighting everything below in a beautiful, sharp, wintery light. Even more leaves, now brown and dry, crunched beneath a dusting of powdery snow under Tas's boots wherever he walked. It all added up to a very welcoming and comforting feel of the place. "I guess that's why they call it Solace," Tas said aloud cheerfully, though no one else was around. "It feels like home all year round!" He hurried up one of the staircases that led up to the tree-house town of Solace, and made his way directly to the Inn of the Last Home.
Tas pushed the door open before him and grinned as the scent of Otik's famous spiced potatoes greeted him. Suddenly realizing that he was hungry, Tas wasted no time hurrying inside and sitting down at the nearest empty table. As he looked around at the familiar inn, Tas's gaze fell on a small box laying forgotten on the very table by the fire where he and his friends had gathered at the start of the War of the Lance. Tas went over immediately to investigate. He picked up the box and opened it. Inside he found many hair ties, brightly colored in all different colors and shades. Tas reflected that it would be very inconvenient for whoever had forgotten this to have to go around with their hair hanging in their face, and he put the box into a pouch on his vest where it would be safe and sound until he found the owner. The door to the kitchen swung open again, and as the delicious smells poured out again into the inn, Tas remembered that he was good and ready for a meal. He turned to hurry back to his table only to see all his friends standing in front of him and smiling. Even Raistlin was leaning on his staff, smirking widely at the look of surprise on Tas's face.
"Surprise!" Tika shouted happily, holding a big pan of potatoes. Tanis waved for everyone to sit down, and they all chose their chairs around the table by the fire. As Tas bounced into his seat, he exclaimed, "Where were you? I've been looking from here to Palanthas for you all!"
"We were arranging your surprise Day of Life-Gift party," Goldmoon explained with a smile as Tika served out heaping platefuls of potatoes.
"Oh, that's right!" Tas realized, clapping a hand to his forehead. "I forgot! It is my Day of Life-Gift today!"
"Did you find all your presents?" Caramon boomed eagerly.
"Presents?" Tas asked blankly.
Laurana and Tika dived for the kender and started digging through his pouches as he squirmed in feeble protest. "Look!" Laurana exclaimed, holding up the handkerchief. "This one's from you, isn't it Raistlin?"
"Don't let it get away!" Tas warned, snatching the handkerchief before it could leap on his hoopak again.
Laughing hoarsely, Raistlin replied, "Yes it is indeed. How do you like your magic Hoopak-polishing cloth, Tas?"
"I love it!" Tas said as he stuffed it back in his pouch where it belonged. He started to have the suspicious feeling he'd been set up. "You know, I found things at all your homes..."
"That's right!" Tika grinned. "Those were your Day of Life-Gift presents!"
Everyone had a lot of fun as the two women pulled out the other presents to show them off one by one. The stones had been collected by Riverwind and their pouch had been painstakingly beaded by Goldmoon, of course. The wood carving of Flint was from Tanis and Laurana, and the hair ties for Tas's topknot had come from Caramon and Tika.
As he dug into his spiced potatoes, happily chattering away to his friends about his day, Tas reflected that this was one of the most fun Day of Life-Gift parties he'd ever been thrown.