Chapter 3: I Couldn't Think of a Title
A/N: No, I don't own any of the rights to DragonLance or the Slayers series, etceteras, etceteras, you know the drill.
"I am STARVING," said Lina.
"Grrrraaaaaooorrrrruuurglugglugum," added her stomach loudly.
"I know," Lina continued, comforting her stomach with a companionable pat, "I'll go help Caramon find food. Between the two of us, we're sure to get enough!"
"Want me to help?" Gourry asked.
"No," Lina scowled, "you'll only get in the way. Besides, you'll probably eat all of it before we get back to camp."
Gourry hung his head, chastised, and Lina flounced off to find Caramon.
The others waited more or less in silence. Crysania cast a few shy glances at Zelgadis, who pretended he hadn't noticed between his own timid peeks, and once or twice Amelia opened her mouth as if to say something, but Raistlin's glares shut her up. Gourry was secretly impressed. They'd all been trying to shut Amelia up for ages to no avail; Raistlin, he thought, must be pretty powerful if he can shut Amelia up just by looking at her.
Ten long, awkward minutes later, Lina and Caramon returned triumphantly to the fireside, carrying between them six rabbits, two plump salmon (despite the fact that there was no river nearby, and it is exceedingly difficult to fish with one's hands, at night, in a stream that doesn't exist), a small deer, and twelve very surprised loaves of bread.
No one bothered to ask where they had found twelve loaves of bread in the middle of both the night and a strange forest. Bread was bread.
"Yup," Lina said, stretching lazily, "I guess that'll do. Another deer or two might've been nice, but we did the best we could with what we had. The pickings are pret-ty slim out there."
Lina glanced over at Crysania, who was staring at her, slack-jawed.
"What?" Lina said, and began to prepare dinner.
It wasn't long before the Companions and their companions were tucking heartily into their supper-- some with more enthusiasm than others. Lina, Gourry, and Caramon picked the meat clean from the deer's bones just between the three of them. Meanwhile, Crysania tore idly at a loaf of bread and attempted to eat some fish, but the sight of the other three tearing at their meat like savage beasts-- Gourry reached out a hand to tear off a hunk of meat and Lina, growling, snapped at him-- made her appetite for flesh disappear completely.
Oh, well, she thought. I never much liked red meat anyway.
At the end of the meal, which took a surprisingly short time, the travelers sat comfortably around the fire and began to talk.
Caramon and Gourry, it seemed, had found kindred spirits in one another. They were comparing swords.
"My sword has battled the minions of evil for the Light," Caramon said proudly.
"Yeah, but mine is a Sword OF Light," Gourry countered.
"I'd like to say mine is, too," Caramon replied.
"No, no, no," Gourry said. "SWORD of LIGHT. Look."
He withdrew his sword, which illuminated the woods around them with the spectacular blue light its impressively large blade emanated.
"Will you put that thing away?" Raistlin hissed. "That thing could be seen miles away! You'll get us all kill--" he fell into another fit of coughing. Concerned, Crysania rushed to his side and immediately began preparing water and herbs for him. Zelgadis looked on with a vague hint of jealousy.
Meanwhile Gourry, abashed, had placed his sword back into its sheath and sat twiddling his thumbs.
"Hey, I think it's a great sword," Caramon said comfortingly.
"Thanks," Gourry muttered.
"What sort of a quest are you on, Mister Raistlin?" Amelia asked politely. Raistlin glared.
"A secret one. It's of no concern to you."
"Secrets, secrets, are no fun," Lina recited. "'Fess up, master mage. What are you three up to, out here in these woods?"
"I said it's none of your concern," Raistlin muttered coldly, and turned away, warning his companions with a glance to say no more on the subject.
"I still don't understand," Crysania said, desperate to change the subject, "how all of you got here."
"Neither do we," said Lina. "One minute we're heading back towards Seiyrune-- the kingdom of Amelia's father-- and then there was this big flash, like lightning, and the next thing we knew, we were here."
"Hm," Raistlin murmured, but said nothing.
"There is very powerful magic at work here," Crysania whispered. Shuddering, she moved a bit closer to Zelgadis, whose expression instantly crystallized. Small beads of sweat shone on his forehead in the firelight.
"Yeah, I wish," Lina spat. "This is pissing me off! What am I supposed to do without magic?"
"Make like the rest of us, I guess," Caramon said. "Plenty of people around here don't have any magic, like me, or Tika, and Tas doesn't really have any either, except what he might steal off've folks every--"
"Shut up, brother," hissed Raistlin from beneath his hood, which had gone back over his head a long time ago.
"I was just saying, is all," Caramon sulked, "that lots of people around here don't have magic, and we all get along fine."
He turned back to Lina.
"Does everyone use magic, where you come from?"
"Nah," Lina answered, "not everyone. But the people who do, they're not exactly as organized as the magic-users here seem to be. What's up with those three Orders?"
"Yes," Zelgadis added, "I'd like to hear more about those, too."
Raistlin sighed. There was no helping it.
"All mages here in ... are divided into three groups, or Orders, each with its own branch of magic, its own leaders, and its own color. The Black Robes are the practitioners of black magic, the White Robes of white magic, and--"
"--And the Gray Robes practice gray magic?" Guessed Gourry. It might, just might, have been a moment of surprising clarity for him, but--
"The Red Robes practice neutral magic. There are no gray robes."
"But black and white make--" Gourry began, but Lina poked her elbow forcefully into his ribs.
"Jellyfish brain. I guess you're a Black Robe, then?"
"Yes," Raistlin replied guardedly. "I am."
"And I would guess that your unusual appearance is the result of a magical mishap?" Ventured Zelgadis, as someone who should know.
"That's none of your business," Raistlin said shortly.
"Geez, all these secrets," said Lina. "You remind me of someone else we know. He's got a lot of secrets, too."
"How nice for him," Raistlin muttered sardonically.
"Do you think maybe the others got sent here, too?" Amelia asked.
"Dunno," said Lina. "I just hope if they did, we can find them. If anyone can get us out of here, I bet Xellos can."
"Xellos?" Caramon said. "Who's he?"
"The guy with a lot of secrets," answered Zelgadis. "And frankly, I think we'd all be better off without him. If anything, he's probably part of the reason we're here."
Lina, Gourry, Amelia, and Zelgadis looked at one another for a moment, considering this.
"You know, Zel, I just bet you're right. That little creep," Lina growled.
"We shouldn't assume things," Amelia piped. "Maybe Mister Xellos has nothing to do with this. Maybe it's something to do with a monster."
"Monster?" Said Lina incredulously. "No monster we know has enough power to do something like this. I mean, the only one I could imagine being able to send us to a different world would be, I don't know, maybe Shabranigdo, but we already defeated him. There's no one left! Unless..."
"Unless..." Murmured Zelgadis.
"Unless?" Wondered Gourry.
"Unless," said Lina, "one of them came back."
There was silence around the fire for some time, and finally Caramon said,
"Monsters?"
"Oh, yeah," Lina said casually. "We've got scores of monsters. They were after us for a long time, but the last one we faced down was the Demon King Phibrizzo."
"The Demon King Who?"
"Phibrizzo. Nasty piece of work. Wanted me to cast this one spell, the Giga Slave; it's so powerful, he thought I would lose control of it and it would destroy the whole world. I refused to do it, of course, and eventually he wound up trying to kill everyone. Then I had no choice, because all of my friends were dead, so I cast it-- but I managed to keep it under control. Phibrizzo was destroyed, and everyone came back to life."
Crysania had been listening to the story with rapt attention.
"How is that possible," she breathed, "for all of you to return from the dead?"
"Ya know," Lina said, cocking her head, "I never thought of that. Huh. Cool."
"I suppose," said Zelgadis, "it was because when you encountered the Lord of Nightmares, you were able to reverse all the damage Phibrizzo had done, and the spell sort of worked backwards."
"Could be," said Lina, and then she shrugged. "Whatever. Alls I know is, we were done, we were heading back to Seiyrune after Martina's wedding, and BAM! We're stuck in this god-forsaken place."
Raistlin stood up, leaning on his staff.
"I am going to sleep now," he announced. "Caramon and Crysania, we will be continuing to the Tower very early in the morning, so I suggest you do the same. As for the rest of you... I hope you find your way home soon. Very, very soon. Goodnight."
With that, he turned and stalked off into the dark woods. Caramon and Crysania also rose.
"Listen," said Crysania softly, and she took Zelgadis's hands in her own. He began blushing furiously.
"Listen," the cleric repeated, "sometimes Raistlin can seem very unfriendly, but he's really not so bad. He's just very committed to his magic, that's all. I'm sure that if you happen to show up by the Tower tomorrow morning, Raistlin won't turn you away. We really could use your help, I think, as long as you're here-- and if you want to, that is."
Zelgadis's eyes had taken on a very glassy look.
"I'd-- I mean, we'd love to help, Crysania. What exactly do you need us to do?"
Caramon was shifting from foot to foot.
"I don't think this is a good idea, Crysania. We should just follow Raistlin. I mean, maybe after we're done, you know, maybe we could try and help you guys find your way home, but for now..."
"Oh, Caramon, think: four able-bodied warriors like these--" she smiled shyly at Zelgadis "--would certainly come in handy, at least as a guard for us. I mean, you're very strong indeed, but we could surely use all the help we can get, don't you think?"
Innocent and ingenuous as she was, Crysania could be very clever in some ways.
"Well... I guess..." Caramon said slowly. He said most things slowly. Lina and Amelia glanced back and forth between Caramon and Gourry, then nodded at each other: the two warriors were like long-lost brothers. It was eerie.
"All right," concluded Caramon. "If you four show up tomorrow morning, I'll do my best to speak up for you. But no guarantees: if Raistlin doesn't want you there, you'll have to leave."
"Sounds good to me," Lina said brightly. "We'll just stay here tonight, and meet the three of you in the morning. Just let us know where we have to be."
Crysania and Caramon exchanged worried glances.
"We-ell," Crysania began, "that's kind of difficult. You see, in this forest you don't find things-- they generally find you. We want to go to the Tower of Darvish, you see; there is great evil in that place, and we are trying to rid the Tower of it."
"Hey, no prob, slaying demons is our specialty," said Lina.
"Right, well... I suppose you'll just have to want to go to the Tower, and hopefully you'll come to it eventually. We're not even certain we'll make it there. But, with Paladine on our side..."
"Who?" Asked Gourry.
"Paladine, the Great One. He is the deity all the Clerics worship. He will guide us tomorrow when we vanquish the wickedness that breeds in the Tower of Darvish."
"Oh, right," Gourry said. "That guy."
The others looked at him blankly.
"Okay," Lina said, "we'll see what we can do. See you guys tomorrow, then!"
"Goodnight," Crysania and Caramon replied.
"Goodnight," Zelgadis murmured, barely able to tear his eyes away from the cleric as she left with Caramon, the moonlight shining on her beautiful, long black hair and her clear, pale skin.
Amelia's lower lip began to tremble as she watched Zelgadis watching Crysania, her cheeks reddening, and Lina waved a hand in front of the chimera's face.
"Nothing else for it," she said, "I think he's lost to us forever."
A/N: No, I don't own any of the rights to DragonLance or the Slayers series, etceteras, etceteras, you know the drill.
"I am STARVING," said Lina.
"Grrrraaaaaooorrrrruuurglugglugum," added her stomach loudly.
"I know," Lina continued, comforting her stomach with a companionable pat, "I'll go help Caramon find food. Between the two of us, we're sure to get enough!"
"Want me to help?" Gourry asked.
"No," Lina scowled, "you'll only get in the way. Besides, you'll probably eat all of it before we get back to camp."
Gourry hung his head, chastised, and Lina flounced off to find Caramon.
The others waited more or less in silence. Crysania cast a few shy glances at Zelgadis, who pretended he hadn't noticed between his own timid peeks, and once or twice Amelia opened her mouth as if to say something, but Raistlin's glares shut her up. Gourry was secretly impressed. They'd all been trying to shut Amelia up for ages to no avail; Raistlin, he thought, must be pretty powerful if he can shut Amelia up just by looking at her.
Ten long, awkward minutes later, Lina and Caramon returned triumphantly to the fireside, carrying between them six rabbits, two plump salmon (despite the fact that there was no river nearby, and it is exceedingly difficult to fish with one's hands, at night, in a stream that doesn't exist), a small deer, and twelve very surprised loaves of bread.
No one bothered to ask where they had found twelve loaves of bread in the middle of both the night and a strange forest. Bread was bread.
"Yup," Lina said, stretching lazily, "I guess that'll do. Another deer or two might've been nice, but we did the best we could with what we had. The pickings are pret-ty slim out there."
Lina glanced over at Crysania, who was staring at her, slack-jawed.
"What?" Lina said, and began to prepare dinner.
It wasn't long before the Companions and their companions were tucking heartily into their supper-- some with more enthusiasm than others. Lina, Gourry, and Caramon picked the meat clean from the deer's bones just between the three of them. Meanwhile, Crysania tore idly at a loaf of bread and attempted to eat some fish, but the sight of the other three tearing at their meat like savage beasts-- Gourry reached out a hand to tear off a hunk of meat and Lina, growling, snapped at him-- made her appetite for flesh disappear completely.
Oh, well, she thought. I never much liked red meat anyway.
At the end of the meal, which took a surprisingly short time, the travelers sat comfortably around the fire and began to talk.
Caramon and Gourry, it seemed, had found kindred spirits in one another. They were comparing swords.
"My sword has battled the minions of evil for the Light," Caramon said proudly.
"Yeah, but mine is a Sword OF Light," Gourry countered.
"I'd like to say mine is, too," Caramon replied.
"No, no, no," Gourry said. "SWORD of LIGHT. Look."
He withdrew his sword, which illuminated the woods around them with the spectacular blue light its impressively large blade emanated.
"Will you put that thing away?" Raistlin hissed. "That thing could be seen miles away! You'll get us all kill--" he fell into another fit of coughing. Concerned, Crysania rushed to his side and immediately began preparing water and herbs for him. Zelgadis looked on with a vague hint of jealousy.
Meanwhile Gourry, abashed, had placed his sword back into its sheath and sat twiddling his thumbs.
"Hey, I think it's a great sword," Caramon said comfortingly.
"Thanks," Gourry muttered.
"What sort of a quest are you on, Mister Raistlin?" Amelia asked politely. Raistlin glared.
"A secret one. It's of no concern to you."
"Secrets, secrets, are no fun," Lina recited. "'Fess up, master mage. What are you three up to, out here in these woods?"
"I said it's none of your concern," Raistlin muttered coldly, and turned away, warning his companions with a glance to say no more on the subject.
"I still don't understand," Crysania said, desperate to change the subject, "how all of you got here."
"Neither do we," said Lina. "One minute we're heading back towards Seiyrune-- the kingdom of Amelia's father-- and then there was this big flash, like lightning, and the next thing we knew, we were here."
"Hm," Raistlin murmured, but said nothing.
"There is very powerful magic at work here," Crysania whispered. Shuddering, she moved a bit closer to Zelgadis, whose expression instantly crystallized. Small beads of sweat shone on his forehead in the firelight.
"Yeah, I wish," Lina spat. "This is pissing me off! What am I supposed to do without magic?"
"Make like the rest of us, I guess," Caramon said. "Plenty of people around here don't have any magic, like me, or Tika, and Tas doesn't really have any either, except what he might steal off've folks every--"
"Shut up, brother," hissed Raistlin from beneath his hood, which had gone back over his head a long time ago.
"I was just saying, is all," Caramon sulked, "that lots of people around here don't have magic, and we all get along fine."
He turned back to Lina.
"Does everyone use magic, where you come from?"
"Nah," Lina answered, "not everyone. But the people who do, they're not exactly as organized as the magic-users here seem to be. What's up with those three Orders?"
"Yes," Zelgadis added, "I'd like to hear more about those, too."
Raistlin sighed. There was no helping it.
"All mages here in ... are divided into three groups, or Orders, each with its own branch of magic, its own leaders, and its own color. The Black Robes are the practitioners of black magic, the White Robes of white magic, and--"
"--And the Gray Robes practice gray magic?" Guessed Gourry. It might, just might, have been a moment of surprising clarity for him, but--
"The Red Robes practice neutral magic. There are no gray robes."
"But black and white make--" Gourry began, but Lina poked her elbow forcefully into his ribs.
"Jellyfish brain. I guess you're a Black Robe, then?"
"Yes," Raistlin replied guardedly. "I am."
"And I would guess that your unusual appearance is the result of a magical mishap?" Ventured Zelgadis, as someone who should know.
"That's none of your business," Raistlin said shortly.
"Geez, all these secrets," said Lina. "You remind me of someone else we know. He's got a lot of secrets, too."
"How nice for him," Raistlin muttered sardonically.
"Do you think maybe the others got sent here, too?" Amelia asked.
"Dunno," said Lina. "I just hope if they did, we can find them. If anyone can get us out of here, I bet Xellos can."
"Xellos?" Caramon said. "Who's he?"
"The guy with a lot of secrets," answered Zelgadis. "And frankly, I think we'd all be better off without him. If anything, he's probably part of the reason we're here."
Lina, Gourry, Amelia, and Zelgadis looked at one another for a moment, considering this.
"You know, Zel, I just bet you're right. That little creep," Lina growled.
"We shouldn't assume things," Amelia piped. "Maybe Mister Xellos has nothing to do with this. Maybe it's something to do with a monster."
"Monster?" Said Lina incredulously. "No monster we know has enough power to do something like this. I mean, the only one I could imagine being able to send us to a different world would be, I don't know, maybe Shabranigdo, but we already defeated him. There's no one left! Unless..."
"Unless..." Murmured Zelgadis.
"Unless?" Wondered Gourry.
"Unless," said Lina, "one of them came back."
There was silence around the fire for some time, and finally Caramon said,
"Monsters?"
"Oh, yeah," Lina said casually. "We've got scores of monsters. They were after us for a long time, but the last one we faced down was the Demon King Phibrizzo."
"The Demon King Who?"
"Phibrizzo. Nasty piece of work. Wanted me to cast this one spell, the Giga Slave; it's so powerful, he thought I would lose control of it and it would destroy the whole world. I refused to do it, of course, and eventually he wound up trying to kill everyone. Then I had no choice, because all of my friends were dead, so I cast it-- but I managed to keep it under control. Phibrizzo was destroyed, and everyone came back to life."
Crysania had been listening to the story with rapt attention.
"How is that possible," she breathed, "for all of you to return from the dead?"
"Ya know," Lina said, cocking her head, "I never thought of that. Huh. Cool."
"I suppose," said Zelgadis, "it was because when you encountered the Lord of Nightmares, you were able to reverse all the damage Phibrizzo had done, and the spell sort of worked backwards."
"Could be," said Lina, and then she shrugged. "Whatever. Alls I know is, we were done, we were heading back to Seiyrune after Martina's wedding, and BAM! We're stuck in this god-forsaken place."
Raistlin stood up, leaning on his staff.
"I am going to sleep now," he announced. "Caramon and Crysania, we will be continuing to the Tower very early in the morning, so I suggest you do the same. As for the rest of you... I hope you find your way home soon. Very, very soon. Goodnight."
With that, he turned and stalked off into the dark woods. Caramon and Crysania also rose.
"Listen," said Crysania softly, and she took Zelgadis's hands in her own. He began blushing furiously.
"Listen," the cleric repeated, "sometimes Raistlin can seem very unfriendly, but he's really not so bad. He's just very committed to his magic, that's all. I'm sure that if you happen to show up by the Tower tomorrow morning, Raistlin won't turn you away. We really could use your help, I think, as long as you're here-- and if you want to, that is."
Zelgadis's eyes had taken on a very glassy look.
"I'd-- I mean, we'd love to help, Crysania. What exactly do you need us to do?"
Caramon was shifting from foot to foot.
"I don't think this is a good idea, Crysania. We should just follow Raistlin. I mean, maybe after we're done, you know, maybe we could try and help you guys find your way home, but for now..."
"Oh, Caramon, think: four able-bodied warriors like these--" she smiled shyly at Zelgadis "--would certainly come in handy, at least as a guard for us. I mean, you're very strong indeed, but we could surely use all the help we can get, don't you think?"
Innocent and ingenuous as she was, Crysania could be very clever in some ways.
"Well... I guess..." Caramon said slowly. He said most things slowly. Lina and Amelia glanced back and forth between Caramon and Gourry, then nodded at each other: the two warriors were like long-lost brothers. It was eerie.
"All right," concluded Caramon. "If you four show up tomorrow morning, I'll do my best to speak up for you. But no guarantees: if Raistlin doesn't want you there, you'll have to leave."
"Sounds good to me," Lina said brightly. "We'll just stay here tonight, and meet the three of you in the morning. Just let us know where we have to be."
Crysania and Caramon exchanged worried glances.
"We-ell," Crysania began, "that's kind of difficult. You see, in this forest you don't find things-- they generally find you. We want to go to the Tower of Darvish, you see; there is great evil in that place, and we are trying to rid the Tower of it."
"Hey, no prob, slaying demons is our specialty," said Lina.
"Right, well... I suppose you'll just have to want to go to the Tower, and hopefully you'll come to it eventually. We're not even certain we'll make it there. But, with Paladine on our side..."
"Who?" Asked Gourry.
"Paladine, the Great One. He is the deity all the Clerics worship. He will guide us tomorrow when we vanquish the wickedness that breeds in the Tower of Darvish."
"Oh, right," Gourry said. "That guy."
The others looked at him blankly.
"Okay," Lina said, "we'll see what we can do. See you guys tomorrow, then!"
"Goodnight," Crysania and Caramon replied.
"Goodnight," Zelgadis murmured, barely able to tear his eyes away from the cleric as she left with Caramon, the moonlight shining on her beautiful, long black hair and her clear, pale skin.
Amelia's lower lip began to tremble as she watched Zelgadis watching Crysania, her cheeks reddening, and Lina waved a hand in front of the chimera's face.
"Nothing else for it," she said, "I think he's lost to us forever."