Darkday, Deepice 10, 3828

Raaja did not have to look for Thumore D'armer when she awoke in the dream world he inhabited. The moment her eyes opened, they met his ocean blues no more than a few feet away. The fog was thick around them, as always, but he was close enough to see clearly. She took a step toward him and he, too, came forward.

"Kahn?" she called and the small monkey hopped onto her shoulder, grasping the fragment. He handed it to her. "Well..." she began, "here you go..."

Thumore gently took the shard. The moment the crystal touched his fingers, the fragment melted into his flesh and his body was washed in a white glow. Raaja squinted against the pulse of light and raised her arm to shield her eyes but, as quickly as it had come, it faded and was gone.

She waited anxiously for his words—an explanation of some kind—but he just stood there. She opened her mouth to prompt him but his sudden grin silenced her.

"That is much better," he said quietly. Raaja sighed in relief. "Where was it?"

"The Tower of the Moon in Maj'Dul," she told him. "Speaking of which, you never said anything about it being guarded!"

"Guarded?" he echoed with a frown. His surprise was genuine.

"I—somehow—entered another reality inside the Tower. But I was attacked, and it was real. The moment I grasped your fragment, this altered reality went away, went away with the creatures I killed to get it."

"Perhaps my fragments are locked away in other dreams."

"I don't think these are dreams. I wasn't asleep."

"Oh?"

"It was more like a memory than a dream," she said, narrowing her gaze on him. Sensing her suspicions, Kahn affectionately pressed the top of his head to her temple. Whatever she was hoping to glean, however, was met with the shaking of his head.

"There are more pieces of me out there," he said. "I won't know more until I get them."

"Guarded as well, no doubt."

"No doubt," he agreed. Raaja sighed and gave up trying to tease answers from him.

"My coming upon the first fragment was pure chance, D'armer. Do you have any idea where the other fragments may be hidden? Even the tiniest clue is better than blind chance."

"With the first fragment within me once again, my mind and heart see new things... a palace in the sky."

She waited for more but nothing came. "...That's it?"

He shrugged. "There's nothing more."

"There must be hundreds of palaces on Norrath put against the sky." She paused in thought. "Of course, if it's literally in the sky, that narrows the search. But how many floating castles have you come across?"

"I suppose... if it's Gnomish..." He smiled. Raaja bit her lower lip to keep from smiling back. It was amusing but she couldn't let him know that, not when he was making an already difficult task harder with ambiguity.

Raaja turned her back to him and began stretching.

"I'll find no shards standing around here," she said, but he caught her arm before she could entertain any thoughts of waking up.

"I heard something," he said. She turned back to face him and his close proximity caused a strange heat begin to rise inside of her. She tried to pull away but he held tighter, so she gave in and listened carefully.

"I don't hear anything..." she mumbled, still awkwardly aware of his hand still gripping her arm. Kahn reached down and tried to pry Thumore's fingers off.

"I meant while you were retrieving the first fragment. It sounded like music."

"I'm a bard," she explained, thinking back to the incident. "There was a harp, also. I plucked a few strings, nothing more."

"It was very faint, and only lasted a moment, but it came through to me. It was beautiful, if I heard correctly."

Raaja laughed. "I hope you heard correctly, for my sake."

Kahn was still trying to pry Thumore's fingers off of her arm so he released her with a chuckle. Kahn wrapped his legs and one arm around her bicep and his other arm clutched tightly to her shirt. She patted his fuzzy head and he nuzzled his face against her skin.

"He's very protective of you," he said.

"We've been together since I was a child," Raaja explained. Thumore motioned for her to walk with him as she talked and they set off. "I was raised in the city of Maj'Dul. One day, I was being chased by some… shady characters… and I managed to evade them on the Highway. I—"

"Highway?"

"Street talk for roof-running. It's like a second street up there," she explained. "I ducked into some baskets and hoped I'd lost them. I hadn't. When they came too close to my hiding place, Kahn leapt out of hiding and startled them. They assumed he was just a distracted and went off elsewhere. He followed me home and we've been inseparable since."

Thumore glanced over at Kahn and found him staring. The moment their eyes met, Kahn hid his face against Raaja's arm.

"You mentioned a guild."

"Bloodsworn," she said. "I've been with them a while now. They're my family."

He suddenly stopped and tilted his head, brows furrowed in curiosity. "What happened to your real family?" he asked. Raaja narrowed her gaze on him.

"Why are you so curious about who I am?" she quietly demanded. "This doesn't normally go this way."

"This?"

"This. Yeah. You know. Questing. You have a problem you can't possibly solve on your own. I offer to help. You send me into imminent danger and I eventually return successful. Mission complete. We go our separate ways."

"You've given this a lot of thought."

"No, I've done this a lot," she corrected. He held up his hands in surrender.

"I'm trapped here, and you're the only soul I have to talk to. Is it so wrong to want some company?"

Raaja lowered her gaze, embarrassed. Guilt ripped through her. "Well," she began numbly then cleared her throat and turned around. "We need to get you out of here. We can't do that without those fragments. I'll be back when I find one."

"I'll be expecting you. Be safe, Raaja."

She resisted looking back and walked away until she woke up.