DISCLAIMER- Neither Rika or myself have ever owned or most likely will never own Dragonlance… if we did it would be something like what happens in this story only scarier. Now I did forget to mention last time that whoever does read this it would be greatly appreciated if you would do the review thing, ya know I don't care but it does make me somewhat happy if you do reply to what I did. I actually enjoy reading those, even the mean ones… well lets get this goin'!

Of Bunnies and Burritos

Ch. 2 Into the Game

Rika woke up first and felt like she had been run over by a truck. "Ohh…. What happened?" There was a strange pain in the back of her head and she put her hand to it, to investigate. "Oh dang, I am going to have such a lump there, hmm I wonder where I am."

After getting over the initial grogginess from her fall, she began to survey her surroundings. Natsuki was laying sprawled on the ground beside her, mumbling incoherent things in her sleep, and they were both laying in a wide green meadow. The sun was up in full and the sky was clear, not a cloud in sight. Clearly a beautiful day, however she had other more important things in her mind at the moment. As she looked to her right about 50 yards away the meadow ended and the forest began. Unlike the graceful elegant forests she was used to it was dark and foreboding, she had no desire whatsoever to go in there; not like she was an outdoors kinda person, but still no one in their right mind would go in there. Looking any where else besides the creepy forest she noticed that there was a road on her left, 'A road, YES! Civilization here I come.' Upon further reflection she added as a mental note, 'Hmm where is here?' However that question would have to wait till she could ask someone, besides Natsuki who would most likely say something along the lines of "Who cares where we are, lets find ale!"

Seconds later Natsuki began to stir. "NOOOO NOT ASPARAGUS! Hey Rika, what happened I hurt, like every flippin' where, Rika are you trying to get me to the doctors again?"
"Calm down, sheesh. You are fine. Knock it off! PULL YOURSELF TOGETHER!" Natsuki just looked at her as if she were insane, which hey she very well could be….you never know.

"Rika, where are we…. Wait never mind I doubt I want to know, lets find something to drink… ale sounds good."

"Hmm so you don't know where we are… let's take the road… it must go somewhere." She said subdued, accepting what life had thrown her into, kinda of like when she met Natsuki…. Heh.

"ZOUNDS! A dark and foreboding forest! Rika lets go there! I bet we could kill something good to eat."

"NOW WAY! You couldn't get me to go in there for the world… ok well maybe the world, but seeing as you cant offer that then no… we aren't going in there." Rika said, "besides I hate the dark."

"Fine we will follow the 'road' cause it has to go somewhere… right, like an ambush, come one then lets go get ambushed." Natsuki started walking in a random direction on the road, looking longingly at the forest behind her, "hey would you do it for, Scotland?" she questioned and Rika shook her head and just kept going.

"I am hungry, waiting to be ambushed and walking away from the one interesting thing so far in where ever we are… and I have no burritos…." Natsuki complained mumbling idly.

"We will eat soon I hope… hey uh Natsuki what are you wearing?" Natsuki looks at Rika and then looks down, expecting to find her normal ki pants, and loose tank top, both of darker colors and instead finds herself wearing a leather skirt that was just barely above her knees, a tight leather bodice over a loose fitting pirate style shirt, with riding boots and a knife strap along her upper right thigh and a sword belt with a sword in it fastened to her back.

"Why in the 7 freaking hells am I wearing a skirt!" Natsuki screamed, "That's it… now I am all kinds of &$#&! For that this worlds new name is Derf. YOU HEAR ME DERF YOU ARE SOOOOO FREAKING DOOMED!"

"Well you know besides the… heh skirt it is a pretty cool outfit, however I like mine better, I think that robes are the flippin' best. Kinda like what you would see in Dragonlance cosplays." Natsuki turned from her shouting and looked at Rika.
"YOU!" She spat out, "YOU DID THIS TO ME!" She drew her sword and started to run at Rika who barely had time to start running away.

"NATSUKI WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU DOING! What do you mean I did this to you!"

"It is your game we're in! Your fault I am wearing a skirt…. YOU ARE DOOMED! L337 l)347l-l /V\01)3(elite death mode)" She lunged at Rika

"You know miss I think that you look quite stunning in that skirt. It shows off your lovely figure."

'Crap now he's done it, I remember the last guy who said something like that to her. Hmm I wonder if they were able to find his fingers?' "Natsuki… whatever you do please don't kill him."

Natsuki growled, "No promises, that I may not keep." 5 minutes later and the man lay on the ground twitching. "You're welcome, he isn't worth killing, too lame. Besides, if we killed him then we wouldn't know where the closest place to get some ale is."

"Alright then, lets see if you turned him into a quivering ball of mush yet." Rika joked, 'although she did turn what's his name into something like that once, never wanna see that again.' "Uh excuse me sir, you are alive so say something."
"Greetings fellow Mage, Lady Warrior. Heh miss Mage your friend seems to be quite spirited." He said, as if he had not just been beaten to a pulp. "Greetings to Solace."

Struck speechless for the moment Rika and Natsuki only stared, open mouthed, at the strange man before them. He dressed in the typical attire of a Kyrnnish mage. Plain looking pouches adorned his beautifully tooled leather belt which he wore around his waist and it added some color to the otherwise white clad man. He had kind average looking features with light eyes that sparkled with intelligence.

"Solace? Hmm wow Natsuki you were right… were in the game." Rika whispered to her friend, "Er… hello I am Rika and this is Natsuki."

"Who the devil are you?" Natsuki interrupted quite brazenly seeing as this was the man… mage… whatever that she had beaten up just a few minutes before. "Wait better question, where the devil can we get ale… and WINE?"

"Ah the lady knows what she wants. Follow me I will lead you to the inn, that has the best wine and ale around. Oh yes and I am Derek." Natsuki nodded for him to lead the way. "So miss Rika, you are a Qualinesti elf am I correct?" When she nodded he continued, "Then why do you travel with a Kagenesti elf, she is not your servant, or else she would not have tried to attack you."

"Listen buddy I am nobody's servant, I live my own life my way." Rika just looked at her.

"I don't think I would want a servant like her, way too headstrong." Rika decided to make up a story on how they met. "A few years after I left Qualinesti, I think it would be fifty of your human years, I…" Natsuki interrupted her. "She, wandered into forbidden territory, I found her; curious as to why a different elf would be wondering there I watched her, one of our children ran through and hurt themselves. I waited to see her reaction, she bent down and healed the little girl." Soon others came from our tribe, and took her prisoner. I demanded that she be let free, because she helped one of our own. They didn't agree saying that she would capture us the first chance she got if she was allowed to go free. I took it to the council, they said that she could go, I went with her." Rika observed her, with a strange look one that read, 'where the hell did that load of bull come from?'

"Aha here we are," the two girls just looked up to see, the stunning vallen wood trees. "Breath taking aren't they?" He comments, as he studies their expressions, Rika wholeheartedly agreed with him eyes glistening with tears from the sheer beauty of it, Natsuki just looked at them her light eyes hiding any feeling of wonderment that she may have had, which I can assure you she didn't have much, even though she was a Kagenesti elf she had more than her fair share of trees for the time being, and desperately needed to either get some ale, wine or possibly both to make her forget that she was wearing a (ugh) skirt.

"Uh… heh, Natsuki how are you going to get up these trees? You are in a skirt." Rika said pointing out the obvious, trying to see if her friend would forget that there are stairs.

"Rika, you better thank your lucky stars that I don't have a mages power cause I would blow you from here to the abyss and back, besides they have stairs…" She mumbled something more about how the wine better be damn good for her to be climbing up stairs in a skirt to get it.

Sorry for the long wait... well I AM! yeah I bet no one is reading this... well oh well I happen to like writing it... laters to whomever read this far