Chapter Eight

(A/N:  To the dood who asked about…um…'Rebirth', I think it was, yes, that will eventually be continued.  In fact, my mum's making me start conformation classes (Even though I hate the Christian religion), so I think that's what I'll do during them - work on that.)

Discalimer:  Jander, Khelben, Laeral, Danilo, Arilyn, Caramon, and Raistlin belong to WotC.  Gar and Alea and Herkimer belong to Christopher Stasheff.  I think that's it.  You can pretty much figure out who's mine and who's not, anyways.  No money is being made, la dee da.

            Jander didn't see Nire for a couple of days.  He spent every minute of the next to nights carving, and selling what he finished for as much money as he could.  He was pretty sure he could sell enough to buy Nire that flute for her birthday, and was determined to do so.

            Nire, for her part, went and visited Raistlin.  After that, she couldn't do much else.  Raist was sick - he had influenza.  Nire managed to catch it from him, so she was now laid up in bed, only getting up to run to the bathroom to puke.  She was completely miserable.  TO top it all off, a heat wave struck, with high humidity and temperatures over one hundred.  It was complete hell for a child who planned to move as far North as Alaska, at least.

            The next time Jander saw her, her room stank of sickness, and she was tossing and turning in her sweaty bed.

            "Nire, are you okay?" he asked, immediately concerned.  Of course, he knew she wasn't, but it was the first thing that popped out of his mouth.

            Do I look okay to you? she asked crossly.  It's a million degrees in here, and I have the flu.  And be quiet.  My mom's sleeping on the couch, and I can't keep the soundproofing up.

            Okay, okay.  Well, it would help if you stopped moving around.  That's just making you hotter.   She was right, it was hot in her room.

            What would you know? she snapped, still tossing around.

            Common sense.  And open your windows.  It's probably cooler outside.   Plus, he was suffocating on the smell.

            Watch out for the safety lock.  You can only open it two inches or so before it stops.

            He opened them for her - carefully, so they didn't break - then crouched by her bed.  Stop moving.

            She threw him a withering glance, but did as he said.  I'm hotter already.  And now I'm gonna puke.

            Nire jumped up and ran to the bathroom.  Jander could hear the sound of the contents of her stomach coming up violently - and the sound of her mother stirring.  He quickly changed to a mist and drifted under her bed, just in case.  His caution was well-warranted. Her mother then put her back tog bed, the two speaking in a language he did not understand.  Once he was sure the mother was back asleep, he drifted out from the dust under her bed and returned to elven form.

            Now that was cool. To Jander's surprise, he heard tears behind Nire's mental voice.  She curled up on her side, holding her stomach.

            What's wrong, little one? \

            I hate being sick.  I hate it.  It's the stupidest thing in the freakin' world.

            Sh.  Try to sleep, little one.   He brushed the stray hairs that were plastered over her sticky, sweaty face away with a cool hand.

            You can't get sick, can you?

            No I can't, little one.

            You have no idea how much I hate you right now, was her bitter response.

            To say that shocked him was an understatement.  To think, someone actually jealous of a vampire!  Hearing those words from Nire, who tactfully avoided mentioning his affliction, set him back on his heels.  Which led him to the question of, why did she do things like that - kind things - when she didn't give a rat's ass about the rest of the world?  All through his 'deep' pondering, he continued his ministrations, laying the back of his cool, dry hand on her forehead and cheeks, cooling her off the best he could.

            Before dropping off to sleep, she told him, Don't bother coming back 'till I tell you I'm better.  Being sick makes me real crabby and hateful to be around.   She paused drowsily, more than half asleep.  I swear, I'm going to kill Raistlin.

            Of course, little one.  Sleep. He enforced his verbal command with a mental one, one of his vampiric 'gifts', the one thing he had sworn he would never do to an intelligent being.  Nire obligingly dropped off into a fitful sleep.  Jander stayed for a couple more minutes, keeping a cool hand on her forehead,  guilt already gnawing at his belly, then left.

            He sort of did what she said.  Nire was right - being sick made her grumpy and quick to lash out with her sharp tongue.  He would stay only long enough to make sure she was still alive and getting better.  People died from the flu in his world, and though (as Nire assured him) he knew in his mind that it was different in Nire's world, his heart refused to believe it.  The guilt, which surfaced anytime he influenced what anything did with his vampiric talent, was pushed to the back of his mind until it disappeared.        

            When she was better (in a remarkably short time, Jander thought, but apparently illnesses did not last as long in her world), the first thing she did was make him go see if Raistlin was better.  This was awkward, because he had only been there a few times, always in tow of Nire.

            Of course, the cursed mage was not better.  Sickly to begin with, this virus clung with a tenacious grip, leaving him weak and pale in bed, wracked with a hacking cough that was even worse than before and raging fevers.  Delirious at times, Caramon was worried sick about him.  Even Jander, who did not know them well at all, was concerned for the mage.

            When he told Nire this, her immediate comment was, "Fuck.  I have few enough friends in this world for them to start dropping like flies on me."

            "Nobody else is sick there," he was quick to reassure her, "other than sick with worry, little one."

            She gave him a witheringly sad glance.  "When people I know die, they all tend to go together.  First my grandpa, the only one who I actually liked, died.  Then my sister's cat, followed quickly by the cat I had known from the cradle and loved more than my sister.  Then, mysteriously, all my fish.  Next, my cat.  Lastly, my nana, though that was no great loss.  I hated her, her ex-husband, and my gran'pa's ex-wife.  But, still…  All within the year."  She paused for a moment, then snapped her fingers.  "Got it!  You comin' with me?"

            "Where to?  It's late, Nire."

            "So let's go wake some people up.  You're gonna meet s'more-a m' frien's, if'n ya come."

            "To get medicine for Raistlin?"

            "What else?  If you're comin', come."  She made a gate.  "Otherwise, feel free to hang around here 'till I get back."  And she was gone.

            Jander, as usual, followed her, sighing.

*  *  *  *  *

            In a little room, in a bed hot with fever, Raistlin Majere sat bolt upright.  In his fever-induced delirium, he had noticed something.  For some reason, this little fact had always managed to slip by him when he had his wits about him.  But now, fever-mad, his mind was free to realize that elf, Nire's friend, did not age in the slightest when Raistlin looked upon him.  Of course, neither did Nire - that was one of the draws she had.  But, inherently, he knew that was because she was special.  How, he still wasn't sure.  This Jander person, however, was not.

            Raistlin's fever-wracked mind led him to conclusions that anyone else would have considered insane.  Jander did not age before Raistlin's hourglass eyes, and was only seen at night.  Coincidence?  He thought not.  Nire, who also did not age, was seen at all hours.  But this elf, seemingly immortal, was seen only at night.  And he never ate or drank anything, which Nire did constantly.  Raistlin's delirious conclusion?  This elf was a vampire.

            Before unconsciousness overtook him again and he slumped back onto his sweat-soaked pillow, Raistlin began trying to figure out how he could determine the truth of this conclusion.  And, more importantly to him, if it was true, was his little prodigy in any sort of danger?  For Jander seemed harmless, so far…

*  *  *  *  *

            Gar and Alea had just fallen asleep in their separate bedrooms, on the golden ship, Herkimer, only to be woken up by the ship's voice.

            "Nire has just arrived with another…person…in tow."

            Both humans sensed the slight pause before the word 'person', but thought nothing of it.  They both threw on clothes and ran a comb quickly through their hair.

            "What could she want at this hour?" Alea asked grumpily when they met outside the lounge.

            Gar shrugged.  "Who knows, but it's probably important."  Inside the lounge, he said, "Hello, Nire.  Long time, no see."

            "Been busy.  Then I got the flu," Alea shuddered.  Disease like that still killed on her world," which is why I'm here.  Oh yeah, an' this is Jander."

            "I think we might've met before," said Gar.  Handshakes all around.  Both Alea and Gar glanced at the pointy ears sticking out of Jander's wheat-gold hair, but were too polite to stare, or ask.

            "I caught it from one of my friends, and he's still really sick.  He comes from a world sorta like yours, Alea, and I think now he's got pneumonia, too.  I mean, it probably coulda waited till mornin', but…  Just in case… Look, you guys got better medicines than I got.  Is there anything you can give me to give him?"

            "Herkimer?"

            "Already on it."

            Gar and Alea glanced at each other.  That was a new one for the ship.

            "Ready and waiting."

            Alea went to grab the medicines while Gar explained how to dispense them.

            "He shouldn't be allergic to any of this, but watch him, just in case.  One of the little ones twice a day, and a big one at night.  They'll relieve the symptoms."  Alea came back in and gave Alea two bottles.

            Nire smiled in relief.  "Thanks, guys.  Jesus.  My uncle died o' th' same thing, 'for I was born.  But Mom still talks about him sometimes…"

            "No problem, Nire."  Gar stifled a yawn.

            She smiled.  "Go back to sleep.  And thanks again."

            Jander went through the gates first - rather quickly, at that - and Nire followed.  Gar and Alea immediately went to their respective rooms and were asleep in minutes.

*  *  *  *  *

            Jander followed Nire, with some misgivings, through her gate.  She tended to go to really odd places, spur of the moment.  A second later, he completely regretted following her.  This place smelled sterile.  It smelled like people lived there, but…sterile, no smells of the outdoors.  In Nire's house, you could still smell the outside air - unfortunately (it stank heavily of pollution).  Here…nothing.  At all.

            He was already frightened and wanted to leave.  The absence of that common, everyday scent of dirt terrified him.  Then a voice came from nowhere, causing Jander to jump almost a mile.

            Nire heard, "Good evening, Nire.  If you wait a moment, I will wake Gar and Alea for you."

            "Thanks, Herk," was her response.

            Jander, on the other hand, heard, "Fsjd fhlkjasdhf, Nire.  Hjk sddfh fjkd d fhkds, fhds fhsdk fhskd Gar fjds Alea hfsd fdla."

            "Jbfakj, Herk."

            Nire, what was that voice?  Where'd it come from?  What'd it say?  What'd you say?  Where are we?

            Nire heard the growing panic in his mental tone, the almost childish need for reassurance.  So she said, in the most soothing tone she could muster, We're on a ship that can sail between the stars, sometime far in the future of my world.  That voice was the voice of the ship, sort of like a guardian spirit.  It came from speakers hidden in the walls.  He told me he'd wake Gar and Alea - the people who live on this ship - and I thanked him.

            Nire, I really don't like it here.  It smells wrong.  Like…like there's no smell of the outdoors.

            'Course not.  We're in a big metal ship, flying in the space between the stars.   She sent him a vivid image of the Earth from space.  Strangely enough, that didn't seem to calm him at all.  Do you wanna go back to my room and wait for me?  Gate's still open.

            Jander shook his head nervously, his eyes flickering around the room they were in.  He did not want to leave Nire alone here, no matter how safe she claimed to be.  But, deep inside of him, he had to laugh gratefully, a little.  The one thing about Nire was that she constantly had music playing in her head.  And when she 'pathed to him, he could hear it (sometimes, he could even hear it when she wasn't consciously 'pathing to him).  In the middle of answering his questions, the music had switched from what it was ("Yesterday/All my troubles seemed so far away…" to a song with just a tune, a soothing, flowing tune (if he had lived in Nire's world, he would have recognized it as Beethoven's "Moonlight Sonata").  It was the little bit of courtesy - attempt to help - that he rarely expected of Nire.

            She watched the way his silver eyes flickered around the room, the way his mental tone was that of an extremely scared man who was trying to hide the fact that he was about to wet his pants.

            "Hey, look at me, man."  She reached up and grabbed his shoulders, thus grabbing his attention, for Nire to initiate any sort of physical contact was rare.  "Chill out and trust me.  Would I be takin' you somewhere where you'd get killed?  No.  Do you want me to use a spell so you can understand them and speak their language?  Sorta like I can speak yours?"  The way the spell worked was that she could understand him, though she was conscious he was speaking in another language, and when she so chose, she could speak his language.  But it was a conscious thing, not automatic.

            Jander nodded quickly, sharply.  Nire, just as fast, cast the spell, while muttering to herself, "I gotta make a general purpose one of these that lasts a lifetime.  That'll be my next project."

            At this moment, Gar and Alea came into the room.  This did not help Jander's anxiety any because they were freakishly tall - so tall, they were almost seven feet, possibly more.  Nire immediately noticed this and started a running dialogue in her head, to keep Jander distracted.  He was grateful to have something else to concentrate on.

            Okay, man.  Just pay attention to my voice.  Ya shoulda left before.  And I have already run out of things to say.  Shit.  This is harder than it looks.  Oh well, I'm good at bullshitting my way through things, this shouldn't be any different.  Let's see now…Shake their hands.  Good.  Erg.  This is harder than I thought.  Um, to be or not to be, that is the question.  Whether 'tis, 'tis, 'tis, shit, not only do I sound like a broken record, I can't remember the rest of that, either.  A man walked into a bar and said 'ouch'.  Two men walked into a spaceship.  Once of them ducked.  That's a real stupid one.  Eye of newt, toe of frog, wool of bat, tongue of dog.  Double, double, toil and trouble, fir burn and- oh, good.  We can leave now.  Through the gate you go.

            Back in Nire's room, the tension visibly ran off Jander.  Nire tried not to laugh at how relieved he looked.  She should have considered how he would react to something like that.  She sat down next to where he had immediately sat, on the end of her bed.

            "All better?"

            "I'm sorry, little one.  That was just…"

            She snorted.  "Doesn't matter.  Stupidididle on my part.  I gotta go see Raistlin, an' prob'ly get sick again.  You comin'?"

            He nodded.  Even Nire's room was a little much for him right now.  He made the gate, because Nire was looking tired.  He figured it must've been because she had been sick - her scent still had an underlying reek of sickness.

            Raistlin's room was just as bad as it had been half an hour ago.  It stank horribly of sickness and vomit.  Even Nire involuntarily wrinkled her nose against the stench.  She wondered why nobody was in the room with him, but she quickly telepathically located Caramon heading down the hall to the latrine.  Nire knelt by Raistlin's fever soaked bed, looking down on the skeletal body.  Already thin and scrawny, the fever had sucked him dry.  Nire had made a miraculous transformation.  No longer was she coarse and rough, but soft and gentle.  Her voice, always quiet, had a softer tone to it.  She turned to give Jander a stricken look, shocked by how bad her beloved teacher and friend really was.  Jander tried to breathe through his mouth as much as he could.

            "Hey Raistlin," Nire said in a voice that was not her own.  "Wake up, man.  I've got some medicine for you."

            Jander thought he was too far gone, but, amazingly, Raistlin's strange eyes flickered open.

            Nire? he mouthed.

            "Hey man.  Open your mouth.  This'll make you better.  Ya know, you really should have taught me at least some rudimentary healing magic."

            Raistlin did as she said.  "Now either let it melt on your tongue or swallow.  Here's some water."  She conjured a glass of water and let some trickle down his parched throat.

            More, he mouthed after he'd swallowed.

            "Ya got one more to take, man.  Swallow this one, too."

            Raistlin swallowed the last pill with some water, and Nire continued to trickle some down his throat.  His eyes wandered the room, lighting on Jander's figure in the corner.  Luckily, this was right after he swallowed, so nothing was obstructing his mouth.

            He shot up to a sitting position and pointed a wavering arm at the vampire elf.  "Vampire!" he hissed weakly.  Jander looked ready to flee.

            Eh.  You worry too much, was Nire's disgusted response to that look, as she pushed Raistlin to lie down.  "Well, now, that was very dramatic.  Have you been practicing?  And it took you 'till you're half dead and most likely delirious to figure this out?  Tsk tsk tsk.  I'm disappointed.  Chill out, he's cool."  Raistlin knew this to be a Nire euphemism for 'Don't worry, be happy'. "You tell anyone else, and I'm outta here, and you'll never see me again.  Wait, no.  You talk, an' you'll never get rid of me.  Ever.  There, that oughtta make you keep quiet."

            Even Jander heard the indignant Don't talk about yourself like that! at the same time he said it out loud.

            Nire's gaze slid over to Jander.  "Looks like you're not the only fiercely overprotective one."

            At this point, Caramon chose to walk in.  He had already had this particular fly, and gotten over it just fine.

            "Caramon!" Nire hailed him.  "Okay.  This is medicine from my world for Raistlin.  One of the little one's morning and night, and a big one at night."  She could see the naked relief on Caramon's face.

            "Thanks Nire," he said fervently.

            "Well, Raist, I gotta go.  I'm not gonna risk getting sick again.  Sorry man, I just don't love you that much.  But you better get better.  C'mon Jander."

            He nodded to the Majere twins.  "Goodbye."  Caramon returned the amiable farewell, but Raistlin just glared untrustingly, the look strangely fitting on his pasty, skull-like face.  He looked like death come walking.

            Back in Nire's room, Jander slumped on her bed, the events of the spaceship completely forgotten.  He tried not the let the look get to him - Raistlin did not really know him, he mostly quietly tagged along after Nire - but, he couldn't just let it go.

            "Why couldn't you just deny it?" he asked petulantly.  "He was sick, probably delirious.  He would've believed you."

            "Because, he wouldn't've.  And you need more people like me in your life."

            "Did you see the way he looked at me?"

            "Gah.  He'll come around.  You two are too much alike for him not to."

            He sighed.  It was no use arguing with Nrie, she always had an answer for everything.  "Do you want to go anywhere else tonight?"

            "D'ya know of any shops where I can buy spell components that'll be open this late?"

            "Only one, but it's extremely expensive."

            " 'S okay.  I got money."  And, lo and behold, she did.  A suspiciously large amount, at that.

            "Where did you get all that, little one?"

            "I worked, dumbass.  For an extremely kind, extremely rich elderly couple."

            This was a lie, and Jander could smell it.  But, he didn't push it.  He did not want to know if Nire had gotten the money illegally, or how she had done it.  Nire knew he knew, but didn't tell him the truth.  The one thing you would never expect of Nire, with her short, fat fingers (besides the fact that she was an excellent pianist), was that she was an excellent pickpocket.  Enough said.

            Jander gated them to an alleyway by the shop.  Although, in Waterdeep, nothing was considered 'out-of-the-ordinary', people would have noticed two people appearing out of the middle of nowhere, on the street.  Now, who was in the shop, but Khelben Blackstaff.  Nire did not appear to notice him (appear being the key word, for Nire noticed and heard everything, then pretended to see and hear nothing), and headed right for the dried herbs.

            Jander nodded a polite greeting and followed her.  "If you're going to buy herbs, why don't you just go find them out in the woods and dry them yourself?"

            "Duh.  This is easier.  You don't look for cost efficiency, or what makes more sense, but what is easiest and quickest."

            Nire browsed through what the store had to offer, muttering to herself.  Jander followed, not really interested in anything this shop had to offer.  Nire had been teaching him the basics of magic (for self-defense, she said), and he picked up on it almost as quickly ass he had, nut he wasn't as interested as her.  Instead, he kept an eye on the mage, who was slowly working his way towards them.

            Nire, are you going to notice him?

            Would it make you feel better if I did, Mr. I-Am-So-Paranoid-But-Pretending-Not-To-Be?

            No, just wondering.  And you have to be paranoid to survive, if you're me.

            You're paranoid about the wrong sort of things.  You're nowhere near paranoid about the right stuff to survive in my world.   Still, she humored him, turning to the mage who was now only a couple feet away.  "Hiya," she said.

            "Good evening, Nire, Jander," was the cultured response.  "And how are you this fine evening?"

            "Fine, thanks."  Nire considered going into a list of fabricated maladies - she hated meaningless questions like that.  Nobody ever really cared how you were, it was just one of those meaningless strings of words, with just as meaningless and answer.  But, thinking of Jander, she forwent her original plan and gave the meaningless answer.  The poor vampire did not understand just how friendly and nice Nire became in his presence, how much she toned down her sarcasm and cynicism for him.

            "Is there anything particular you're looking for?" Khelben asked her.

            "Yep.  I jus' don't know what it is.  But, hopefully, I will when I see it."

            "Ah, yes, the most common way to find spell components."

            "Uh-huh," she muttered, distractedly, as she moved on to the powders.  "Got it!" She grabbed a small vial of…Jander didn't even want to know what it was.  She had a habit of picking really weird things.  "The original Stuff," said Nire with a grin.  "C'mon Jander."  She walked to go pay for her 'Stuff'.

            "Nire, do you even know what that is?" Jander asked.

            "Nope.  Most likely something extremely poisonous that will kill me if I inhale a single grain."

            "Then how do you know it's what you need?  And that it's not toxic?"

            "Um, duh, instincts."

            "You needn't worry about the toxicity of that particular powder.  It's completely harmless, whether inhaled, ingested, or injected."  That was Khelben, assuring Jander.

            Nire mentally stuck her tongue out at the vampire, while out loud she said, looking Khelben up and down, mock-suspiciously, "I don't trust people who use two many words that begin with 'in'."

            Khelben let out some low laughter.  Even Jander issued a tinkling burst of light elven laughter.  For him, that was a welcome respite from Nire's usual, extremely morbidly sarcastically dry sense of humor.

            "So," Khelben said as Nire and Jander walked out, "have you considered our offer of dinner, some time?"

            Nire turned to answer him.  "I'm telling you.  I am a horrendously picky eater."

            "Well, what about tea?"

            "Would it require me having to drink any of this aforementioned 'liquid'?" She made quotes in the air with her hands.

            A smile from Khelben.  "Not if you didn't want to."

            Nire considered for a moment, as Jander reminded her, Tea equals daytime.  Not especially good for me.

            You don't even like it there.  It makes you too damned jumpy.  I can just say that something came up, or some sort of shit like that.

            Before he could come up with a suitable response to that, she had told Khelben that that was fine, and had set a date, a little bit more than a week in the future.

            Walking out with them, Khelben asked Nire what she was planning to do with the powder she had bought.

            "I'm gonna make some sorta poison that'll kill ya with one drop," was her morbid, flippant response.  She waited a beat for what she had said 9in dead seriousness) to sink in (and she had this down to an art) before saying, "Nah, I'm just kiddin'.  I'm workin' on a…thing that'll let me speak the language of any world any town, and creature I happen upon, without having to hear it first.  Hopefully, I can make it so it'll last a lifetime."  She glanced at Jander.  "Or, maybe several."

            "That seems like a pretty big undertaking, sure to last several years," Khelben said, a bit disbelievingly.

            "Yeah, it porb'ly is, but it won't take that long.  But, oh well.  I'll figure it out eventually.  Let m' instincts guide me, an' it'll all come toge-" this word was broken off by a huge yawn "-together."

            "Ready to go home to bed, little one?"

            "Yeah."

            "Where exactly do you live?" asked Khelben, curious.

            "In a house.  Come see it - at least, my room, if ya want."  But she yawned again after that statement.

            Still, Khelben accepted.  Jander, of course, created the gate to take them there.  Nire was, as usual by the time she was ready to go back to her room, much too tired to create a gate. M Nire stepped through first, Jander last.  The vampire did not bother to close this gate, planning on going straight back through.

            "What's that?" Khelben asked as Nire stripped herself of her weapons, pointing to the light on her ceiling.  Jander recalled going through much the same thing, the first couple times he had visited Nire.

            " 'S a light.  Sort of like a lamp.  But no fire.  And there's no way in hell I'm gonna try to explain how it works this late at night."

            "How about that?"  Now, he was pointing to a white, box-like thing.

            " 'S a computer," Nire responded from under her bed, where she was secreting away her pile of weapons.  She always managed to get them off with preternatural speed.  Jander suspected that she had all the buckles connected together somehow, she all she had to do was untie one thing (or something like that) and the whole ensemble would come off.  "It's a…a machine that…give me a sec t' figure out how to explain it while I get on m' 'jamas."  She quickly grabbed them and was off to the bathroom.

            Khelben continued looking around her room, puzzling over this or that, passing by others.  He had to pick his way carefully because Nire's room was a pigsty, as always.

            When Nire came back in and tossed her clothes into the back of her closet, she said, "Got it.  It's a thing that let's you do a whole bunch of different stuff."  Then she sent him a whirlwind of telepathic images of her doing stuff with it.  It was much the same treatment Jander had received.

            "What was that?" Khelben asked, amazed, after she was done.

            "Tele-" big yawn.

            Jander finished for her.  "Telepathy.  It's the easiest way for her to explain things to people like you and I."

            Khelben looked impressed.  "Do you think I could learn this?"

            "Telepathy?" Yawn "Sure, why not?  A'ight.  I'm fallin' asleep here.  Y'all gotta leave."

            "Goodnight, little one," said Jander.

            " 'Twas a pleasure seeing you again," said Khelben.

            "Yeah yeah yeah.  Leave so I can sleep!"  Good night Jander.  I'm sorry, and thanks.

            Once more, Jander was floored by her apology.  He knew it was for telling Raistlin, that went unsaid.  The fact that she was sorry usually went unsaid, also.  Each day Jander saw Nire, she became a little more human towards him, and a little less towards the rest of the world.

            Khelben had already gone through the gate.  Jander flicked off Nire's lights, while saying, "That's all right.  And you're welcome.  Sweet dreams, little one."

            Even with his ability to see in the dark, Jander did not catch Nire's sad, slightly wistful smile.  Her dreams were rarely sweet, more likely to be nightmares, if she remembered them at all, which she usually didn't.  This was one reason for her insomnia, and want for Jander to usually stay until she fell asleep.  Sometimes, if someone was there right before she dropped off, her nightmares weren't as bad.

            Jander went through the gate, closing it behind him.  Khelben was still standing on the street, seemingly wanting to talk to him.

            "Does she have parents?" was the first question the mage asked him.

            Jander nodded.  "And a brother and a sister."

            "And do her parents know about you, or this?"  Khelben swept his hand around to indicate the world.

            Jander shook his head.  "Her world is not one of magic.  If she told anyone, she would be met by disbelief, and possibly thought to be insane.  If she showed them…well, it wouldn't be good."

            "So, if I may be so bold, what are you to her, and vice versa?"

            Inside, Jander was wondering, Why do you care?  Still, he answered.  "Friends.  I'm to adult she needs to get around here with minimum trouble."

            "You two seem more than that.  She doesn't have a very good family life, does she."  Khelben was hoping, by this abrupt question, to glean some information.

            "That's not for me to say.  I have to go now, if you'll be excusing me."

            "Of course.  I suppose I should be returning to my home, also."

            The two parted ways, Jander extremely relieved.  That feeling of imminent disaster had persisted and was growing stronger every day.  At this point, the only time he relaxed, was when he was alone or with Nire in her room.

*  *  *  *  *

            Raistlin got better quickly within the week, not entirely due to the medicine.  Once he became coherent enough to remember where his books were, he directed Nire to one that was filled with healing spells.  She barely saw Jander that week, for every night she was exhausted from working the spells on Raistlin.  She spent every spare minute she had with the mage, so Caramon could take a break.  The more robust twin had been bearing the brunt of Raistlin's illness for almost the entire length of the sickness.

            When the sickly mage was awake, most of the time was spent with him lecturing Nire, explaining to her how vampires were evil, and couldn't be trusted; explaining that she should get rid of this one, like Jander was some nasty dog that had followed her home.  Nire was beginning to think that she had made a mistake, and that Jander was right.  As usually, however, Nire came out on top, making Raistlin 'see the light' the day before she was supposed to go for tea at the Blackstaff Tower.

            "Good gods, Nire!  He's a vampire, the epitome of evil!  And, yet, you are so foolish as to trust it with your sleeping body!"  Nire had tried to explain how her friend could be trusted because he had often read her bedtime stories until she fell asleep.  "I had though you to have more intelligence than that!"

            Nire had tried to be patient with him.  She had more sympathy and patience with people who were sick.  But, by know, she had had enough.  "Oh?  He is the epitome of evil?  What of the stories I've heard of you?  Do you think I only come here to visit you?" she asked scornfully.  "And to Solace?  I've been all over Krynn, heard all about you, the cursed mage.  The power-hungry mage.  One who would do anything to gain more power.  How are the two of you any different?  How?"

            Raistlin was immediately transformed.  He had a sad, defeated look in his eyes, still wasted and sick.  "Yes," he said softly.  This is what he had feared all along.  In truth, he cared as much for Nire as he did for Caramon.  More so, in some ways.  "Yes, you are correct.  I, a power hungry mage who would kill his own brother; he, a creature of the night who feasts on the blood of innocents.  No, we are not so different.  You should not come back here."  And he turned away from her on his bed.

            Nire slammed her fists down on her knees in frustration.  "God damn it, you stubborn ass!  That was not the point I was trying to make!"

            "But it was the point I took."  Nire had never heard the proud mage sound so lost and small, and it scared her a little.  She almost regretted doing that to him.  "You were right in what you said.  I should be wearing black robes, not red," he said suddenly and viciously.  "I killed my own twin!  I have less ties to you, so how can you presume to be safe?"

            Nire sighed.  "In case you haven't noticed, or that fever has addled your wits more than you will admit, Caramon is hale and hearty."  When people had told her he killed his brother, she assumed he had had a younger or older one he didn't talk about.  It never occurred to her to press either of them for information.

            "It was only an illusion of him.  But I did not know it at the time.  Thus I am guilty of murder."

            "Ay yi yi." Nire sighed.  "Tell me the story."

            "It was at the very end of my Test…" Raistlin related to her, in words and psychic images, the story of how an illusion of Caramon had 'saved' him, using magic, and the weaker twin had murdered him in a fit of jealousy.

            Nire was silent for a minute, as if waiting for him to continue (in reality, she was putting her thoughts in order).  "That's it?" she finally said.

            "Isn't that enough?" he asked quietly in a voice wracked with guilt and tears he was too strong to shed.

            "Hell, no!" Nire said.  She was glad now that she had a mind that could fabricate believable lies very quickly.  "Really look at the big oaf next time he come in here.  Does he really look like someone who could do any sort of magic?  Much less 'pick it up' as a little extra something?  Your heart knew it was so, even if your brain did not, and recognized the illusion.  If that had happened in real life, you would have done nothing, except become extremely bitter.  Duh."

            Raistlin was not convinced.  "I don't believe a word you're saying.  Do not come back here.  It's not safe for you."

            "Fuck you," Nire said calmly.  "I'll go where I please, visit who I want to.  Now, the point I was trying to make was, I met you, and you weren't half as bad as they later told me you were.  In fact, I get the feeling you would no be very likely to use me in any of your schemes, or try to hurt me."

            "Or course not!" he interjected quickly, looking incensed at the very idea.

            "Then give Jander the chance I gave you, okay?  My gawd, we're a trio of misunderstood loners, perfect for each other."

            Raistlin sighed pensively.  "Yes, I suppose you are right.  And you are a pretty good judge of people, I suppose.  If it will make you happy-"

            "It will."

            "-then I will give him a chance.  All right?"

            Nire grinned and hugged the bony mage, a rare act for her.  "See?  You have a soft spot for ugly girls who're good mages."

            Raistlin smiled at her, then asked, "Why do you care so much about finding friends for one vampire?"

            Nire smiled rather sadly.  "He is not an outcast by nature, like you and I.  Cruel fate made him so."

            "Apparently you do have a drop of pity in you." Raistlin sighed and shook his head.  "You are insane, Nire."

            "That's why you love me."

*  *  *  *  *

            Nire arrived promptly on time for 'tea' at the Blackstaff Tower.  Khelben was outside waiting for her, and he ushered her through the invisible door.  Nire gave him her read-made excuse about something having come up, which Jander had to attend to.

            Khelben's cryptic comment was, "I'm not surprised."  Nire thought he looked strangely relieved to see her.  She considered probing his mind, but decided it wasn't worth the effort.

            Up in the sitting room where they were to take their tea, were Laeral, Danilo, and Arilyn.  Nire thought it a bit odd that the married couple were there again, knowing that they did not live in the tower.

            "Glad to see you're okay," Danilo said immediately.

            "What?" was Nire's confused response as she sat where Khelben motioned her to.  "Why would I be in any sort of danger?"

            "Well, you see-" began Laeral.

            Arilyn interrupted her.  "Your elven friend is a vampire," she said bitterly.  I knew there was something wrong with him, Nire could read clearly on the top of her mind.

            "But have no fear," Laeral said quickly.  "Professional vampire-hunters are dealing with him right now."

            "What?!" was Nire's shocked response.  Jander!  You've got to get out of there!  They know!  People are coming!   But she could not be sure if he had heard her or not.