Disclaimer: I don't own Dragon Lance.
Adam looked over as the door swung open since he hadn't been looking with the others beforehand. Well, really, most everyone looked over or had been looking over at the time and Adam was the last one to look over. In came a man with a trombone strapped to his side and dressed in armor. Two people dressed in furs stood behind him. They looked foreign and the man had a bass drum strapped around him. The other was a woman. The man stood protectively in front of her as if to keep everyone away from them. She had a regular director's baton in her hand and a clarinet was strapped to her side. The trombone bearing man said something to them but it was hard to hear as everyone went back to their meals because they weren't interesting in the couple any more. The man tried to disagree with the armored man but the woman agreed, motioning to the man. The trombone bearing man walked over to the band geeks' table.
"Kyle!" Rachel said cheerfully, reconizing their tall friend.
As Kyle greeted them, Adam's eyes went over to the couple. He couldn't help but stare at them but then he glanced away to his friends.
"Hey! Wait! When did we have a fireplace in here?" Cory yelled, just noticing the fireplace.
"We did remodling, dufus. You didn't notice that before?" Rachel said.
The couple sat in chairs by an older man who had motioned for them. They had sat down warily as if they didn't trust anyone around them and Adam didn't blame them. The man was telling stories to a younger boy who was looking up at him intently for more. The man looked familar but no one could place him. They all were brought out of staring when Rachel said something.
"Huh? I didn't hear what you were saying," Adam said.
"I said, a note came for you guys. Well, mostly for Adam. I almost forgot about it," she said, handing Adam a note.
He read it over to just get the main point of the message. "It's from Kristin...she can't make it."
"WHAT? No one breaks the band geeks' oath!" Thomas shouted.
"Calm down, youd idiot," Travis said and Thomas muttered something incoherent but Travis ignored him and continued. "Our half sister has her right not to be here. I wouldn't want to be here."
"What else did the note say?" Cory asked curiously.
"Nothing important," Adam muttered, his face going a shade of red.
The man, in the meantime, finished his story and the boy looked at him. He squirmed, not wanting to go home just yet.
"Tell me another story of the great band geeks!" the boy said, excited.
"Well, I think Ashley here can sing you a song," he said.
She looked at him perplexed and startled but she started to sing after a little persisting from the boy. It started out a little shaky and off key but soon everyone was hooked on the singing. It was about two people escaping and ending up somewhere else but the tune was catchy. This caused Courtney to stand up and yell.
"You are a liar! A witch!" she said, coming too close to the fire and her clothes caught on fire. She screamed as fire spread acrossed her clothing and she started to flail her arms. It was obvious that this girl was drunk.
The girl, Ashley, looked frightened and Cory jumped up to try to help. The older man handed him the baton. Cory touched Courtney with it and the fire went out!
"Look! He used magic, get him!" the man yelled.
"WHAT?" Cory shouted, looking at the man with a perplexed looked.
"Yeah and get his friends too!" Courtney said.
Adam jumped up as Rachel strapped on her instruments. "Is there a way out?"
"Yeah through the kitchen and down a rope," she said.
"Well through the kitchen!" he said. He ran up to the couple. "Please you must go with us."
"No!"the man said.
"Herby it might be the only way out," the girl, Ashley said. He nodded reluctantly and they followed to the back.
They all stopped in front of a wall, a dead end. Adam turned to Rachel as she stood there calmly.
"You told me there was a way out!" he said, angerily.
"There is," she said calmly, as she pulled out her clarinet. She played a C and then a G and then a E. She slid her clarinet back and a hatch swung open.
"Ok...that was never there," Thomas said.
"You have to know where to look," she said with a glitter in her eyes and a grin.
They heard someone outside the kitchen. "Hurry go! I'll stay here. Go to my house! You should know where it is!" she exclaimed quickly.
Adam nodded and Cory was already half way down the rope. Thomas looked at Travis and offered to help him down. Travis shook his head and took out his trumpet and played a little tune and jumped down the hatch. They all stared in horror as they thought of a flattened Travis. Instead they heard his voice coming from below.
"Are all you idiots going to stand up there and wait for them to come get you?" Travis snapped.
Thomas soon went down followed by Kyle and Ryan. Ashley, Herby, and Adam were about to go down. Ashley went to grab the rope to lower herself through the hole.
"I'll help you," Herby said.
"Ethan, you know I'm capable to go down myself," she said and then went down the hole.
Soon they were all standing there and Cory started off. Adam was puzzled where he was going because he had barely gone on the streets at night. Rachel's house was nearby and Cory had gone inside and Travis started a fire. Thomas was going through the cupboards for food after Adam entered.
"She barely has anything in here! She must not buy a lot," he complained.
He came up with 2 loaves of bread and half a pack of cheese. Adam shook his head and laughed. They heard something on the steps of house next to them. Cory went to peek at the window, followed by Ryan.
"Color Guard!" Ryan hissed. It wasn't hard to hear anybody since the town was in the trees and the bridges creaked often when someone stepped on them.
"Put out the fire!" Adam commanded and Travis soon had the fire out. They heard someone start to knock on the door but they found it open and came in.
"I think we can get bonus from this house!" One person said.
"Yeah...but let us explore it more," Another guard said.
They set eyes on Travis sitting in a chair and went to attack him. He sat in the middle of the room with his trumpet laying across his lap. Thomas stepped out and knocked their heads together and they both fell lifeless to the ground.
"Damn," Thomas let slip, "I didn't mean to kill them!"
"Well chop the door and make it look like a struggle. We should leave. We can head towards the lake," Adam said.
They all obeyed and wrecked Rachel's house. They made it seem like a struggle had gone on but she would have to pay to get it remodeled. Soon they were all out and heading towards the lake. Thomas stepped up to Adam.
"I don't think this is a good idea. Ryan doesn't want to go into the lake. He hates boats. It's the whole accident when at band camp break we got into the boat. It flipped and Ryan almost drowned," Thomas said.
"I'll get him into the boat. Don't worry"
"We'll see," Thomas said doubtfully as they drew closer to the lake and the sounds of the town grew farther away.
