Disclaimer: This story is based on characters and concepts owned by Marvel Productions, TSR Inc., WotC, Saban Entertainment, and others. It was written purely for entertainment and, alas, no money is being made.
Author's Note: Some of you may have already read this at the Darkhaven website, but I thought I would share with folks here as it has a bit of a holiday theme. This story was written for and is dedicated to my best friend "across the Pond" and fellow Unofficial H&S Advocate. *G* Merry Christmas, Fay!
The Gift by Kimmy Kenderkin
Hank and Sheila stood hand in hand before the entrance to the cave. The red light shone ominously from within, almost pulsating, as with a life of its own. Taking a deep breath, Hank geared himself up for what he had to do. He looked at Sheila, who met his gaze, her eyes shimmering with unshed tears. With his free hand, Hank lightly brushed a trailing strand of hair back away from her face, letting his fingers run through the silken red tresses. Perhaps for the last time.
He cleared his throat of the emotion that threatened to choke his words. "The sooner I go in there, the better chance we have of getting back, right?"
Sheila reluctantly nodded. "Be careful," she whispered.
Hank smiled and told her with a confidence he wasn't sure he had, "I will. And I'll come back with the Key."
"Good," she told him. "Because I have a gift I'd like to return." She smiled weakly up at him and he pulled her into a tight embrace, resting his cheek against her bowed head.
"I'll have to see about that return policy," he joked wryly.
"That's okay. I know where the receipt is." She hugged him closer knowing as well as he did, the seriousness behind the banter.
He placed a gentle kiss over her brow and bent to retrieve his energy bow. He looked at her one more time, as if memorizing her every feature, and then walked into the cave. "Well, here goes nothing," he said as he stepped through.
As his figure was swallowed by the red light, Sheila reached into her sash and pulled out the ornate silver ball. "You mean, here goes everything," she said softly, clutching the gift to her heart.
While she prayed for Hank's return, she thought back to the events that had led them here...
* * * * * *
The gang forged through the bluish-grey hedge maze. They had followed the twists and turns until they had finally come to the huge clearing that Dungeon Master had spoken of earlier that day. Numerous tiny mounds, each with a hole on top, dotted the drab, sandy ground before them.
"Huh," Eric commented. "Somebody should definitely fire the gardener. Not only do the plants not grow here, but the moles have the run of the place from the looks of it!"
Bobby went up to one of the holes with Uni and the two of them tried to see down into it. Bobby half raised his club as if getting ready to play Whack-a-Mole. "Nope. I don't see any moles."
Uni snuffled and shook her head in agreement.
"I don't get it," Diana said as she looked around. "How are we supposed to find a way home in this place?"
"What was that riddle again? Something about the shadowed suns?" Presto ventured.
Hank responded, "I think Dungeon Master said that when the suns were shadowed, the clear light would show us the way."
"Just what does that mean anyway?" Presto asked while pushing his glasses higher up on his nose.
"I don't know. Unless there's supposed to be some kind of eclipse?" Sheila shrugged.
"Oh great! So we're just supposed to stand around and wait for an eclipse to happen? Not that it'd work anyway. I mean, with four suns and three moons... Hmph. You do the math!" Eric complained loudly as he squinted up at the four suns that were directly above.
No sooner had Eric finished glaring at the offending orbs, when a loud bell rang out, followed by a terrific commotion! Soaring well above the hedge maze were thousands of large, white birds with gold-tipped feathers.
"Whoa! Would you look at that!" exclaimed Hank.
"There's so many of them!" Sheila said, her eyes wide with amazement.
"Wow, they're taking up the whole sky!" Presto pointed out.
"Not only that, but they're going to block out the suns! There's your eclipse, Cavalier." Diana grinned and motioned to the sky with her javelin.
"Awesome!" Bobby said as he looked up in wonder, still standing upon the tiny mound with Uni.
As the great birds converged in the sky, they obstructed the light of the suns causing a shadow to fall across the clearing. Over the tumult of the beating wings, another sound was barely audible. A rumbling more felt than heard.
The ground began to tremble and, one by one, bright colored lights erupted violently through the holes of the mounds like geysers, creating a new rainbow-hued landscape.
Sheila would have caught her breath at the sheer beauty of it all if she hadn't been so worried about Bobby, who seemed oblivious to his situation. He had wrenched his attention away from the birds and had been entranced by the multi-colored light show.
"Bobby!" she called out in warning, but he didn't hear. She ran towards her brother to get him off the mound. Hank also became aware of Bobby's predicament and reached him the same moment Sheila did. Together, they managed to knock Bobby out of the way just in time, but weren't so lucky themselves.
The light burst forth in a blinding ruby red and surrounded them. A sensation of dizziness followed and before they had been able to react, the light went out.
* * *
When they opened their eyes, Hank and Sheila found themselves in a strange new location. The others were nowhere to be found. As they took in their surroundings, they began to get uneasy. Instead of an eclipse darkening the sky, it was now dusk where they were. A thin layer of snow had covered the ground in crystal and as they traded looks of bafflement, fluffy flakes floated gently down around them.
"Are you alright?" Hank asked in concern as he took her hand and helped her up.
Sheila nodded. "Hank, what happened? Where are we?"
"I 'm not sure. But I'm beginning to think that maybe all those colored lights were sort of portals to other places.
"You think that's what Dungeon Master meant about 'the light would show us the way home'?" she asked.
"Yeah, and I bet that with all those colors shooting up, one of those lights were clear. And that's the one we have to use to get home." Hank's eyes roved along the skyline.
"Well, we have the answer to the riddle, but it's not doing us much good here. We have to find a way back to the others. I hope they're okay," Sheila said, worry creeping into her voice.
"Me too." Hank saw a pathway on their right leading over a hill where he could discern a brightening glow as from a town or city. "Let's head this way and see if someone can't help us get out of here. Where ever here is."
As they followed the path, Sheila shivered and was glad for her cloak. "Boy, this sure is a change of scenery."
"Yeah," Hank agreed.
Sheila watched as he tucked his hands under his arms to keep warm. "Would you like half my cloak?" she offered as she undid the clasp.
Hank grinned and readily accepted a corner as she took the other end. He placed his energy bow in the same hand that held the cloak and wrapped his free hand around her waist, using their body heat along with the cloak for warmth.
She smiled up at him and followed suit, glad for his warmth and his closeness despite their plight.
When they crested the hill, they looked down upon a small village. It seemed like it was in the middle of some kind of festival. They could make out the glow of many candles gaily lining a trail through the town. Bright colored ribbons decorated many of the buildings. The sounds of music and clapping reached their ears.
"Do you think someone down there can help us?" Sheila asked.
"Let's hope so." Hank hugged her close to reassure both her and himself and they walked down into the village.
* * *
Once in the village, they had indeed been caught up in the ongoing festival. Quite literally! The locals ran past them, in pairs and singly, each cheerfully wishing them a "Joyous Night!" A call which was being repeated all around them.
One couple behind them laughed and jovially hurried them along. "Come along! You'll miss it if you walk along at that pace!" the dark-haired man chided.
"Uh, miss what?" Hank laughed as he found himself propelled forward.
"Why, the Lighting, of course!" said the man's blonde companion, doing her part by pulling Sheila after her as she quickened her steps.
"What's the Lighting?" Sheila grinned, finding their good mood to be contagious.
The couple shared a knowing look between them before the young man said kindly, "You must be new here. But you'll see soon enough!"
"Yes! Do hurry! You won't want to miss this!" the blonde told them in excitement.
The couple introduced themselves as Miles and Jonna and led them among a thick crowd standing before a great evergreen tree with ribbon tied all about it. A voice called out, "It's finally Time!" and the crowd began to cheer!
Sheila found herself moving forward with the crowd to surround the tree. Hank reached out to her so they wouldn't be separated and she clutched his hand.
The crowd formed a circle around the tree and began reaching out to one another, closing the circle. Jonna held Sheila's other hand and whispered, "Here it comes!" Everyone looked expectantly up at the sky.
"Hank," she whispered, "what's going on?"
Hank could only shrug as he looked up too, not knowing what they were supposed to see.
As he watched, each snowflake that gently drifted down around the tree suddenly began to glow with an inner light. Not only did they glow, but they moved around in a very un-snowflake-like manner.
"Look! They're not snowflakes. They're glow flakes!" She laughed softly.
Hank shook his head in bewilderment and said, "Either that, or the snow just turned into lightning bugs!"
Sheila had to smile because that's just what it reminded her of. She nodded, still looking up, thinking that the Realm would never cease to amaze her. Then she remembered that they weren't in the Realm anymore. They were... elsewhere.
Before she was able to say anything, children of various ages came up from behind the huge circle of adults and ducked under everyone's arms, yelling and laughing all the while. Each child had an ornate silver ball with designs cut into it. They somehow opened up the balls and began catching, or rather magically sucking, the glowing snow inside.
She giggled. "I think you're right. Lightning bugs."
Hank chuckled and enjoyed watching the kids try to out-do one another by catching the most lights. He got more of a kick out of the adults who were calling out pointers and cheered on their own.
When each child had finally closed their ball, they tossed it up into the air where it seemed to float. The balls then attached themselves to the tree's limbs, shining and twinkling.
Sheila blinked. "Hank.... it's--"
"A Christmas tree!" Hank finished for her, sounding as stunned as she did.
They looked at each other.
"Where are we?"
* * *
Author's Note: Some of you may have already read this at the Darkhaven website, but I thought I would share with folks here as it has a bit of a holiday theme. This story was written for and is dedicated to my best friend "across the Pond" and fellow Unofficial H&S Advocate. *G* Merry Christmas, Fay!
The Gift by Kimmy Kenderkin
Hank and Sheila stood hand in hand before the entrance to the cave. The red light shone ominously from within, almost pulsating, as with a life of its own. Taking a deep breath, Hank geared himself up for what he had to do. He looked at Sheila, who met his gaze, her eyes shimmering with unshed tears. With his free hand, Hank lightly brushed a trailing strand of hair back away from her face, letting his fingers run through the silken red tresses. Perhaps for the last time.
He cleared his throat of the emotion that threatened to choke his words. "The sooner I go in there, the better chance we have of getting back, right?"
Sheila reluctantly nodded. "Be careful," she whispered.
Hank smiled and told her with a confidence he wasn't sure he had, "I will. And I'll come back with the Key."
"Good," she told him. "Because I have a gift I'd like to return." She smiled weakly up at him and he pulled her into a tight embrace, resting his cheek against her bowed head.
"I'll have to see about that return policy," he joked wryly.
"That's okay. I know where the receipt is." She hugged him closer knowing as well as he did, the seriousness behind the banter.
He placed a gentle kiss over her brow and bent to retrieve his energy bow. He looked at her one more time, as if memorizing her every feature, and then walked into the cave. "Well, here goes nothing," he said as he stepped through.
As his figure was swallowed by the red light, Sheila reached into her sash and pulled out the ornate silver ball. "You mean, here goes everything," she said softly, clutching the gift to her heart.
While she prayed for Hank's return, she thought back to the events that had led them here...
* * * * * *
The gang forged through the bluish-grey hedge maze. They had followed the twists and turns until they had finally come to the huge clearing that Dungeon Master had spoken of earlier that day. Numerous tiny mounds, each with a hole on top, dotted the drab, sandy ground before them.
"Huh," Eric commented. "Somebody should definitely fire the gardener. Not only do the plants not grow here, but the moles have the run of the place from the looks of it!"
Bobby went up to one of the holes with Uni and the two of them tried to see down into it. Bobby half raised his club as if getting ready to play Whack-a-Mole. "Nope. I don't see any moles."
Uni snuffled and shook her head in agreement.
"I don't get it," Diana said as she looked around. "How are we supposed to find a way home in this place?"
"What was that riddle again? Something about the shadowed suns?" Presto ventured.
Hank responded, "I think Dungeon Master said that when the suns were shadowed, the clear light would show us the way."
"Just what does that mean anyway?" Presto asked while pushing his glasses higher up on his nose.
"I don't know. Unless there's supposed to be some kind of eclipse?" Sheila shrugged.
"Oh great! So we're just supposed to stand around and wait for an eclipse to happen? Not that it'd work anyway. I mean, with four suns and three moons... Hmph. You do the math!" Eric complained loudly as he squinted up at the four suns that were directly above.
No sooner had Eric finished glaring at the offending orbs, when a loud bell rang out, followed by a terrific commotion! Soaring well above the hedge maze were thousands of large, white birds with gold-tipped feathers.
"Whoa! Would you look at that!" exclaimed Hank.
"There's so many of them!" Sheila said, her eyes wide with amazement.
"Wow, they're taking up the whole sky!" Presto pointed out.
"Not only that, but they're going to block out the suns! There's your eclipse, Cavalier." Diana grinned and motioned to the sky with her javelin.
"Awesome!" Bobby said as he looked up in wonder, still standing upon the tiny mound with Uni.
As the great birds converged in the sky, they obstructed the light of the suns causing a shadow to fall across the clearing. Over the tumult of the beating wings, another sound was barely audible. A rumbling more felt than heard.
The ground began to tremble and, one by one, bright colored lights erupted violently through the holes of the mounds like geysers, creating a new rainbow-hued landscape.
Sheila would have caught her breath at the sheer beauty of it all if she hadn't been so worried about Bobby, who seemed oblivious to his situation. He had wrenched his attention away from the birds and had been entranced by the multi-colored light show.
"Bobby!" she called out in warning, but he didn't hear. She ran towards her brother to get him off the mound. Hank also became aware of Bobby's predicament and reached him the same moment Sheila did. Together, they managed to knock Bobby out of the way just in time, but weren't so lucky themselves.
The light burst forth in a blinding ruby red and surrounded them. A sensation of dizziness followed and before they had been able to react, the light went out.
* * *
When they opened their eyes, Hank and Sheila found themselves in a strange new location. The others were nowhere to be found. As they took in their surroundings, they began to get uneasy. Instead of an eclipse darkening the sky, it was now dusk where they were. A thin layer of snow had covered the ground in crystal and as they traded looks of bafflement, fluffy flakes floated gently down around them.
"Are you alright?" Hank asked in concern as he took her hand and helped her up.
Sheila nodded. "Hank, what happened? Where are we?"
"I 'm not sure. But I'm beginning to think that maybe all those colored lights were sort of portals to other places.
"You think that's what Dungeon Master meant about 'the light would show us the way home'?" she asked.
"Yeah, and I bet that with all those colors shooting up, one of those lights were clear. And that's the one we have to use to get home." Hank's eyes roved along the skyline.
"Well, we have the answer to the riddle, but it's not doing us much good here. We have to find a way back to the others. I hope they're okay," Sheila said, worry creeping into her voice.
"Me too." Hank saw a pathway on their right leading over a hill where he could discern a brightening glow as from a town or city. "Let's head this way and see if someone can't help us get out of here. Where ever here is."
As they followed the path, Sheila shivered and was glad for her cloak. "Boy, this sure is a change of scenery."
"Yeah," Hank agreed.
Sheila watched as he tucked his hands under his arms to keep warm. "Would you like half my cloak?" she offered as she undid the clasp.
Hank grinned and readily accepted a corner as she took the other end. He placed his energy bow in the same hand that held the cloak and wrapped his free hand around her waist, using their body heat along with the cloak for warmth.
She smiled up at him and followed suit, glad for his warmth and his closeness despite their plight.
When they crested the hill, they looked down upon a small village. It seemed like it was in the middle of some kind of festival. They could make out the glow of many candles gaily lining a trail through the town. Bright colored ribbons decorated many of the buildings. The sounds of music and clapping reached their ears.
"Do you think someone down there can help us?" Sheila asked.
"Let's hope so." Hank hugged her close to reassure both her and himself and they walked down into the village.
* * *
Once in the village, they had indeed been caught up in the ongoing festival. Quite literally! The locals ran past them, in pairs and singly, each cheerfully wishing them a "Joyous Night!" A call which was being repeated all around them.
One couple behind them laughed and jovially hurried them along. "Come along! You'll miss it if you walk along at that pace!" the dark-haired man chided.
"Uh, miss what?" Hank laughed as he found himself propelled forward.
"Why, the Lighting, of course!" said the man's blonde companion, doing her part by pulling Sheila after her as she quickened her steps.
"What's the Lighting?" Sheila grinned, finding their good mood to be contagious.
The couple shared a knowing look between them before the young man said kindly, "You must be new here. But you'll see soon enough!"
"Yes! Do hurry! You won't want to miss this!" the blonde told them in excitement.
The couple introduced themselves as Miles and Jonna and led them among a thick crowd standing before a great evergreen tree with ribbon tied all about it. A voice called out, "It's finally Time!" and the crowd began to cheer!
Sheila found herself moving forward with the crowd to surround the tree. Hank reached out to her so they wouldn't be separated and she clutched his hand.
The crowd formed a circle around the tree and began reaching out to one another, closing the circle. Jonna held Sheila's other hand and whispered, "Here it comes!" Everyone looked expectantly up at the sky.
"Hank," she whispered, "what's going on?"
Hank could only shrug as he looked up too, not knowing what they were supposed to see.
As he watched, each snowflake that gently drifted down around the tree suddenly began to glow with an inner light. Not only did they glow, but they moved around in a very un-snowflake-like manner.
"Look! They're not snowflakes. They're glow flakes!" She laughed softly.
Hank shook his head in bewilderment and said, "Either that, or the snow just turned into lightning bugs!"
Sheila had to smile because that's just what it reminded her of. She nodded, still looking up, thinking that the Realm would never cease to amaze her. Then she remembered that they weren't in the Realm anymore. They were... elsewhere.
Before she was able to say anything, children of various ages came up from behind the huge circle of adults and ducked under everyone's arms, yelling and laughing all the while. Each child had an ornate silver ball with designs cut into it. They somehow opened up the balls and began catching, or rather magically sucking, the glowing snow inside.
She giggled. "I think you're right. Lightning bugs."
Hank chuckled and enjoyed watching the kids try to out-do one another by catching the most lights. He got more of a kick out of the adults who were calling out pointers and cheered on their own.
When each child had finally closed their ball, they tossed it up into the air where it seemed to float. The balls then attached themselves to the tree's limbs, shining and twinkling.
Sheila blinked. "Hank.... it's--"
"A Christmas tree!" Hank finished for her, sounding as stunned as she did.
They looked at each other.
"Where are we?"
* * *
