Thanks too all reviewers, you motivate me to update quickly.

Ahn-Li: Yes. I had something like that in mind. But think further:

Tika picking up frying pan - "I can help"

Caramon and Dalamar as Tika swings pan at Raistlin - "No!"

Nima: "Oh, hi sister-in-law! I'm so happy to see you, I missed the family so much and you are all so very nice, and how about us making some scrambled eggs in this nice frying pan I have here?"

Tika: "Hey, that looks exactly like my fry- hey! Where is my frying pan???"

Nima: "Don't know, I just found this one recently."

Dalamar: Shalafi, may I borrow this frying pan for a second?"

Nima: "Yes, sure!"

bonk

Caramon: "Dalamar, you treacherous elf, why did you knock out my brother?"

Dalamar: "Sorry. But from time to time I have to remind HIM and MYSELF that we're EVIL."

Guan: Just give poor Dalamar the credit that the situation is really confusing...

Orange?!: Jep. And it gets even worse, her mother is named grapefruit! Seems, I had too much DragonballZ in my tender youth...

Blackjack: Oh Dear. People in fiction never go to the toilet, even less they have menstruation. Regarding the gobling-issue: NO!

--

--

Part 8 - A Brother's Gift and a Strange Meeting

"Three! I can get at least three!"

Sweat poured down Nimas forehead, as she desperately tried to produce some decent pushups in Raistlin's sleeping room. After Dalamar's and her mutual decision to leave the tower the next morning, she had withdrawn into Raistlin's quarters, and begun to accomplish plan A. Getting this body in shape. Soon she had realized what amount of training she would need. Just by sheer stubborness she made these muscles obey her will. Then she sagged on the floor, panting. Nima wondered if she would ever be able to stand up again, when Dalamar knocked at the door. Either to spy at her or to bring her lunch. Maybe both. Aching she raised herself from the fine carpet and opened the door. Dalamar raised just an eyebrow when he saw her standing in the door like she was, exhausted, sweaty and panting. Nima didn't know how to explain everything without making it all worse, so she just grabbed a bowl with soup from his hands, hissed "Thanks!" and shut the door again. She just didn't want to know what he might think of her now. But whatever it was, it could not be as bad as: "I'm sorry, Dalamar. I trained my muscles maybe for the first time in years, but you know what, I'm not Raistlin, I'm just a frustrated kender who wants her former strength and agility back."

No, let him think what he wanted. She had other things to worry about. A soup getting cold before being eaten, for instance...

After having her stomach filled, Nima let herself fall on the bed. She felt full from the soup and exhausted from the exercise. With nothing else to do at the moment she closed her eyes and was about to fall asleep when she remembered something. The chest under the bed! She had totally forgotten to investigate it further. Well, that was something to do.

Nima jumped from the bed, reached for the wooden box and turned it in her hands. It was covered with slight traces of dust. Highly curious she lifted the cover.

The box contained two little carved figurines. The handicraft was more or less primitive, obviously the work of a beginner. But the figures were painted. They looked similar, only different in clothing. The first figure, was supposed to wear a robe, if Nima guessed correctly. The second figure was painted in a way that implied armor or something like that. The tiny wooden figures were primitive but cute. After all Nima had seen so far, she wouldn't have expected the mage to keep something so sentimental like childhood toys. Maybe even he had a sentimental side. Even if he seemed to hide it very well. Since these figues were the only things in here she really liked, she didn't want them to break by chance. Carefully she stored the chest under the bed again. Nima didn't notice that the figures had slid trough her fingers right into a tiny pouch on her belt. She laid down on the bed again wondering if the figures had a special meaning to the mage, when the quietness of the room and her full stomach made her tired again.

She was in a hall of glass or crystal. The walls, the floor, the ceiling, everything was made of a strange crystalline texture. Sun shone through it. Hundreds of lightbeams were broken and reflected, bathing the room in light and myriads of colors. It was like being inside a rainbow. Or a caleidoscope. It was beautiful and warm, but with all the light swirling around it was impossible to figure out how big the room was or how it was built. She wasn't able to distinguish were the walls ended and the ceiling begun.

A closer look around revealed one dark spot among the glittering colors. Whatever it was, it didn't belong here. It disturbed the perfection. Nima went into the direction of the disturbance. As soon as she moved she realized that something had changed. She looked down on herself and smiled. She was herself again. Tiny, cute, kenderlike... She had reached the spot. This had to be the center of the crystal hall, she didn't know where this realization came from but she was sure she was right. And there, right in the middle of it all, stood somebody. Untouched by all the light surrounding them. A man. A human. He wore a black robe, the same she had seen so often these days. He looked into another direction and the only thing she could see was his back. White hair flowed down on his shoulders. A slender golden hand lingered casually around a mage's staff. Could that be him? Raistlin?

She heard a soft dark voice, speaking only one word. "Shirak."

An dark orb on the tip of the staff burst into light and the ever present colors grew even brighter. Suddenly he turned and focused on her. She had seen this stare once. In a mirror. Directed at herself. Hourglass eyes stared at her in anger, pierced her thoughts and looked into her soul. Ui, this man was really eerie. But the eeriness went along with a strange kind of attractiveness. The furious look of his golden face made her skin crawl.

"Kender!" he snarled. "You have something that belongs to me. Give me my body back!"

Nima jumped two steps backward.

"I didn't do it!" she cried. Swiftly, he moved towards her. She couldn't see his feet moving under the long black robe which gave her the impression of him floating above the ground.

"This was not supposed to happen!" he hissed into her face. He had grabbed her by the sleeves and she felt a strange heat radiate from him. "What did you do, stupid kender?"

Nima panicked. He was too near and the pure scorn in those dark eyes sent shivers through her backbone.

"It was you! You alone and your stupid ritual! Make it change back! Back as it was!" She shouted at him and struggled against his grip. When she successfully placed a kick against his left leg, he let go of her. And screaming she fell... fell into darkness once more.

With a muffled cry on her lips, Nima shot into a sitting position. She was back in the mage's sleeping quarters. Back in his body. A dream. A strange dream that was all. Nima took some deep breaths and relaxed a little. Then she felt a aching in her left leg. Wasn't that the spot where she had kicked Raistlin in her dream? Hastily she shoved the clothing back and investigated the aching spot. It was nothing to worry about. Just a slight bruise. But where did it come from? From the dream? No this couldn't be. It had been just a dream after all.

All of a sudden a single insight set her mind at ease. That had to come from yesterday. From her awkward efforts to get into a bathtub with closed eyes. Relieved she sank back on the mattress. That was it. Just her own clumsiness and nothing more...

She sighed. Back to the training...