Chapter Four
Disclaimer: Y'all know by now which ones are mine and which aren't. No new characters in this chapter. R/R/E!
The next day, she went to Krynn. The problem with the two places - Krynn and Herkimer - was that they were both on relatively the same time as Earth, so she couldn't go late at night when she was awake. The visits had to be kept to, pretty much, the daylight hours, when discovery by her parents was most possible. She had a kick-ass session with Caramon and Flint, literally. Gar had been teaching her to handle multiple attackers - physically and psychically. Flint and Caramon could still beat her, but now they actually had to work at it. They couldn't really toy with her anymore.
Once that was over, she 'ported (instead of gated) to Raistlin's tower. There was truly little else he could really teach her - now she had to learn on her own. He had known her for roughly a year and a half, and she was already almost as powerful as him. So, today, she was helping him hang herbs for drying.
"Why did you close the gate last night?" he finally asked.
She smiles, almost making him fall off the stool he was standing on. Nire never smiled. "Ah had t', cuz some people stumbled through an' were causin' trouble."
"What sort of trouble?" Raistlin asked, immediately concerned. He had never thought someone might accidentally find the open gates - he always made them in the woods - and make it to Nire's room. What would have happened it she had been asleep? It was bad enough that he could kill his brother in cold blood, but at least that had been an illusion. To accidentally bring harm to the first person he cared about in years, other than his brother…
"Nothin' Ah couldn't handle. Coupla' fighduhs an' a mage. Bor-ring." She mimed a yawn.
About half an hour later - Nire still had about twenty minutes before she would have to go home - the girl was sitting at a table in Otik's tavern, enjoying an ice-cold lemonade. Admittedly, it was winter, but who cared? She drank hot chocolate in the middle of summer, too. It was just some more of her perverse habits. Caramon appeared with a mug of ale in hand and sat down next to her.
"Hey, Caramon. Know what? You need a nickname. Raistlin's got Raist, Tasselhoff is Tas, an' Flint 'n; Tanis 're already short 'nough. So's Nire."
Caramon had to smile at that relatively long speech for the little girl. "And I'm sure you'll come up with one. Listen, I just wanted to say thank you for, I don't know, being here and being you." His voice lowered so no one but Nire could hear him. "I worry about Raistlin, you know? He spends all his time in that tower, with no one around. But then you came along, and he seems to actually like you. We've all noticed the change in him."
"No need to thank me. I like him, I like you guys, and you're all my friends."
"But I know he's not the easiest person to get along with, especially not for-" He stopped abruptly.
"A child?" Nire finished, with her usual perceptiveness. "No, that's where you're wrong. Children are a whole hell of a lot more accepting than adults. The problem was finding one he could stand to be around. I think…I think I might remind him of himself, which is why…"
"You certainly act like him." That slipped out before Caramon could stop it, an almost comical look of dismay coming over his face once he realized what he had said.
Before he could begin to apologize, Nire, surprisingly, laughed. "I know, I do. And I think that's why we're friends. I understand him, he understands me, and it works. Even if I'm only ten." Her accent tended to disappear when she was talking of serious things.
"You sure don't act like a normal ten-year-old." Once again, the look of dismay appeared.
"Thanks, Caramon. You have no idea how much I actually and truly appreciate that." Luckily for him, Nire was not mad. "I better get back home now," she said. "Thanks for the fight earlier." She walked outside, and jogged back to her gate, going through it and closing it from the Earth side.
* * * * *
Nire carried on with the pale death she called a life, not really thinking of Jander, until the day after her eleventh birthday. She was bored, but didn't feel like going to see her friends on Krynn. Nor did she want to go visit Gar and Alea. They had landed on some planet, and were worried she would get hurt if she were with them much. Typical adults, was Nire's disgusted thought when they tried to explain this to her. She had learned to keep her shields up constantly, just incase she might meet another telepath. Better safe than sorry.
Right now, she was picking up her room. That was a testament to just how bored she was, since, under normal circumstances, she would rather die than clean her room. Since it was winter, it was early, but already dark. Her father was at some sort of meeting, her mother was doing paperwork on the kitchen table - she had recently gotten a job in the SPED department of the middle school. Nire knew than no one would be coming into her room for a while, so she quit cleaning and took out her new daggers - a gift from Caramon - and started to practice juggling them. Caramon would have killed her if he knew she was doing that, but she had a t least remembered to pad the blades so they couldn't cut anything (namely, her).
A random though caused her to put them down. She wondered what Jander was doing. It was a sheer, desperate boredom that prompted this thought - a disease that had learned to latch itself onto Nire better than most. So she sat cross-legged on her bed, going into the meditative state she needed to find someone she didn't know so well. She cast her mind through the mists that separated all worlds, sailing through to the world of Toril and the continent of Faerûn. Her consciousness flew over the land, searching fort hat single mind, the proverbial needle in the haystack.
She finally found it, the mind of the elven vampire, tinged with permanent sadness. Surprisingly enough, he was thinking about her.
So she had just said it to get me out of there, was the thought Nire heard in his public mind. I should have known better than to hope that she actually meant it. Gods be damned, why should I care so much?! I knew the girl for less than an hour!
With a jolt, Nire realized he had been serious when he said he wanted to come back. Intrigued, she listened to Jander's self-pitying thoughts, regardless of how rude it was.
After all, why should I have thought she was serious? Who would want to spend time with a vampire of all things? I should be grateful enough that she could stand to be around me for that one short period of time, and make me feel semi-normal for a little while. Ah, yes, the story of my life - people who pretend to be friendly until they find out what kind of monstrosity I really am.
Nire was surprised - for these thoughts paralleled her own on many an occasion, albeit a few slight modifications. She couldn't really believe that someone wanted to be in her company. With another start, Nire realized that the reason she could read his public thoughts so well what that he was projecting slightly. Perhaps here was another Raistlin, another soul who would understand her better than most.
Jander?
She felt his mental start. Who…?
'S Nire.
Oh, fuck, was she reading my thoughts just now? was what she heard, albeit quieter. Is she reading them right now?
No to the first question, yes to the second, but only the surface thoughts. Just how serious were you the other day about wanting to come back?
Deadly. Why?
Cuz I'm bored out of my mind right now and could dearly use some company.
Sure. Nire felt the surge of elation that Jander tried to muffle, and heard his brief wondering of why he felt so strongly.
Where are you? she asked, and got the visualization from him. He was on a deserted road, going through a field of grass and flowers. Hull'on, I'm makin' a gate.
She soundproofed her room first, thanking God that she knew how to do that. Otherwise, visits from anyone would be harder, in fact, nigh on impossible. Then she made the gate, glad she was hyped up on soda, so it didn't use much energy. Jander sensed the magic in front of him and stepped through, very suddenly in her room, facing her and her bed.
"Hi."
"Hi."
They stood in awkward silence for a moment, the silence of two people who aren't used to having to start a conversation. Finally, Jander's eyes lit on the twin daggers on Nire's bed. He let out a low whistle of appreciation.
"Those look to be some fine daggers."
Nire smiled and nodded. "Sure as hell are. Got them yesterday for my birthday. Best damn set I ever had th'onor of holding."
"Yesterday was your birthday?"
Nod. "Eleven years old, now."
"Happy birthday."
"Thanks."
Jander silently asked permission to tough her daggers with a raised brow, to which she nodded. Picking them up, he whistled again. The balance was almost beyond perfect. He slipped off the padding to see the blades. They weren't fancy - plain hilt, uncarved blade - but the blade looked to be of the finest steel. He made a few testing jabs, and was highly impressed - the balance was perfect, and the weight seemed to be just right fort he girl. He recovered them and handed them back.
"From one of your parents?" he asked.
"Hell no!" Nire almost laughed as she started to almost absentmindedly juggle the blades. "If they knew I had any of this, they would freak out. No, these were from one of my friends from a world like yours."
Jander knew that there were different worlds than his - hell, he was on one right now, and Nire was certainly not wearing clothing that came from his world - but he had never thought there might be similar worlds. This idea intrigued him.
He watched Nire juggle the daggers for a few minutes, then asked, "Was it really telepathy you used, or just some kind of spell?"
"Telepathy, straight and simple. No spells involved. An' I think you got some talent fornit." Jander just raised an eyebrow. "No! Seriously! What am I thinking of right now?"
He decided to humor her and play her game. "An orange. Dripping blood." That had just popped into his mind.
"Yepper deppers. How 'bout now?"
"You're projecting, aren't you?" Jander asked with sudden suspicion.
Nire looked surprised, then pissed. "Hell, no. That would make this little exercise totally pointless."
"Okay." Surprisingly, he did not think she was lying. He did not sense that she was lying. "You juggling your daggers?"
"Yippy skippy, ya got it right! Last one"
Jander's face creased in a puzzled frown. "I…I don't know. A…A swirling cloud of purple and black with…with lightning flashed? That's all I can get."
Nire's face lit up in a brilliant smile, making her almost pretty. "Uh-huh! Brilliant! That was behind a light shield."
"So, you're saying I'm a telepath?"
"Well, see, everyone's telepathic. But some people have learned to use it a little."
Jander realized that he had the perfect golden opportunity floating in front of his face, ready to grab. If only he could screw up the courage to ask. If only! But, what if she said no? Jander did not think he could take that. She was only human, true, but she seemed to actually accept him. As normal, and feel no qualms about being around him. If only!
Nire seemed to be reading his thoughts, an occurrence that would come to be almost commonplace, happening both ways, over the next few years. "You wanna learn hot t' do it even bedduh?"
"Sure." Jander fought down an ear-to-ear grin. "I would love to."
Nire fought down her own happy smile. "When…?"
"Whenever would be best for you," was Jander's complacent reply.
Nire paused to think, mumbling to herself. "Sunday to Tuesday is Raist and the guys…Wednesday, Thursday, and Saturday is Gar 'n' 'Lea. That leaves…Friday! Yes, I am a genius for being able to figure that out in such a short time," she added sarcastically. "Friday nights okay? And, really, any other nights. Doesn't matter, really - no one's awake anywhere at night but me." She cocked her head at him.
"Of course. Friday nights. So, did you get anything else interesting for your birthday?" Jander silently congratulated himself, and simultaneously started to quake in his boots. This was possibly the start of a friendship, his first true friendship in centuries.
For the rest of the day - night - Jander went through Nire's arsenal of weapons with her, marveling over the quality of them. She did not seem to realize how highly her friends must think of her to give her these weapons. They were some of the finest ones he had ever seen. She also had a whole wardrobe of clothing that would be fit for his world, not her own. It was an enjoyable time, for them both.
* * * * *
Over the next few weeks - a month and a half, to be exact - Jander and Nire slowly became friends. Jander no longer came to Nire's room just when invited. He picked up on telepathy just as quick as Nire had, and she taught him to make a gate.
"Okay, here's how you do it. You put your right foot in." She stuck her right foot out in front of her. "You put your right foot." She stuck it out behind her. "You put your right foot in and you shake it all about." She put her foot in front of her again, and shook it around in the air. "Now you do the Hokey Pokey and you turn yourself about." She demonstrated this for him. "That's what it's all about." When she said this, she did a clapping rhythm, and then burst out laughing. "I guess the Hokey Pokey really is what it's all about. Now you try."
He copied her motions exactly, even said all the words right, and nothing happened. "Okay, why didn't anything happen?"
"When ya do it for real, ya gotta visualize where you want to go, or who you want to see. But don't do that now, cuz, trust me, it's really wearing."
Now Jander checked her room first, to make sure no one but her was in there, and he came whenever he wanted. If she didn't want to see him just then, she would tell him to go away, and he would. Tact was a lost art with the girl, but he didn't mind. He started spending at least two nights a week there, loving every moment of it, because with Nire, even though she knew what he was, she didn't give a shit. It was like, for those brief moments, he was back before.
He didn't really know how he felt about this friendship. Nire was the first person that he could truly count on in centuries. It scared him, down to the marrow of his bones. He was used to being solitary. He hated it, but he was used to it, and this change scared him. His first instinct, when the friendship started to blossom, was to run, and never come back. She was only eleven, she would forget about it. Something kept him from doing that, however, and kept him coming back. His goal, whenever he saw Nire, was to get her to smile or laugh one time. Sometimes, he was successful, sometimes not. Deep in Nire's eyes, where few would see it, was a sadness that never seemed to go away. Jander wondered what it was, but did not pry, knowing she would tell him in time if it was meant for him to know.
Whenever he was there, he was very careful about what he did and said. He did not want to run the risk of alienating Nire. Never once did he criticize, never once did he say anything that could be taken in offense. He was meticulously careful about this. And he had been lucky. Not once, so far, had he, personally, been the object of attack by her caustic tongue. One thing about her was that Nire had a caustic wit and a sarcastic tongue. She did not waste tact or niceties on anyone, or anything, he was soon to learn. She said what she thought, and if someone didn't like it, too bad. Then they weren't worth having around. This was probably one of the reasons she had so few friends. Jander learned more about her by listening to her and reading between the lines of what she said, than asking questions. So he knew that she held most of her peers in contempt, hated her father and sister, and wished dearly she lived with Raistlin. He also knew what she would never admit, even to herself. She was lonely, probably suicidal, and hated life and people in general with a passion. She saw life and people as a scourge on the earth, best to be ignored. He felt honored to be one of the few exceptions. He also so how she strived to act happy and 'normal' around him, and he guessed around people in general. She never complained about her life, she always seemed happy about it, but he learned more by listening to her and watching her facial expressions.
Nire knew exactly how she felt about Jander and his friendship. She had never been more glad of meeting someone and becoming their friend. Jander actually treated her like an adult, even more than Raistlin did. He talked to her, and listened to what she had to say, never criticized, never said anything bad about her. She came to look forward to his visits. She was closer to him, than to anyone else. Yet, she was slowly growing closer to her other friends. They all noticed the change in her, and were glad of it. She was less sarcastic, talked more, and more pleasant to be around. As long as they didn't treat her like a child.
She was closest to Jander, but was nowhere near as close as they would become. Their relationship would change, and become deeper, soon. After this event, they would be inseparable, for Jander proved just how much he understood her. It would be a small act to other people, but a large one to Nire. She would introduce him to her other friends, and he would take her to visit places on Faerûn. Jander would become the most important person in Nire's life. And this would herald the beginnings of The Band.
