A/N: Thank you people for reading and reviewing. This support means much to me. Also I recently noticed how many people have put me on their favorite lists. WOW! I'm utterly flattered!
If I don't answer your reviews in a personal note as I used to... its because I have no time. If I have so terribly long delays between the updates... its because I have no time. My final exams are taking much of my time, plus, I got myself a job. Additionally we're going to move in a month. That effectively kills what little spare time I had before. So if, finally, I turned lazy in answering mails and messages... I'm not neglecting you or have forgotten about you. Its simply because... yeah, let's say it together... I have no time!
I recommend "story alert" to anybody who wants to keep on track with this, since I can't tell when the next update will be made. Anyway, here is a new chapter, and we're nearing completion. Finally. Enjoy.
Petalwing
Part 44 -There's A New Man In Town...
All the way down to the ground, Raistlin rambled. He asked a thousand questions, reminding Caramon of Tika when she hadn't been old enough to even look over Otik's bar. Knowing that the former Raistlin had never been interested in any kind of conversation at all, this was a difference like day and night.
Despite having noted these changes, Caramon wasn't fully prepared for Raistlin's reaction to the summer market when they finally reached the ground. Some traders and shopkeepers had already gathered for the annual summer fair, selling their wares. Colorful tents, glittering wares on tables, the smells of sugary sweets, bread, and roasted meat invited the passers-by to stay awhile. The shopkeepers themselves also added to the stange allure of the fair. They praised the quality of their wares in their loudest voices and offered deals and allowances to everybody who showed the tiniest amount of interest.
The next hour passed quickly. It revealed one surprise after another and left Caramon speechless. For the first time in life, his solemn brother was not only content or moderately cheerful, he was enthusiastic to the point of plain hysteria.
"Oh, look at that, Caramon! Did you see the pretty jewelry over there? Have you seen the pottery and look, the marvellous embroidery on that fabric over here? Naranja would love it, I'm sure. And, there are toys! LOOK!"
Caramon tried to ask about the female Raistlin had just mentioned, but his brother's sole attention had by now focused on the wares of a toy maker. Raistlin had grabbed a wooden hobbyhorse and weighed it in his hands. "Would be perfect for Runino." he mumbled to himself.
Who was Runino? Before Caramon could dive further into solving that question, he felt a clap on his shoulder. Behind him stood Tarys, a local farmer and the Inn of Last Home's best supplier. They had an appointment. Caramon tugged on Raistlin's robe to get his attention. He told his brother to wait between the tents until he had settled business with Tarys. Raistlin seemed more then happy with this suggestion; he hadn't intended to go elsewhere.
"Don't go far." Caramon tried a last time, but immediately he knew that this battle was lost and Raistlin wasn't listening anymore. He had just discovered the baker's shop selling cake and sweets. Raistlin squealed in delight and was gone instantly. Caramon shook his head once more and turned to Tarys.
For the first time in days, Nima was happy. Among the tradespeople, the prowlers, and the pickpockets, she felt at home. This was her world and her element. Without even consciously noticing it, she removed her neighbor's purse from his waist and poured the content into her own, before returning the empty purse in a blink of an eye. When the man realized he had been robbed, he called loudly for the guardsmen to arrest the malefactor. Nima was busy studying the sweet products of a confectioner's art and raised an eyebrow at the enraged citizen. How could he make such a fuss about an empty purse? She would never understand that some nasty biggie people always started fussing about things. Somebody always disturbed the wonderful atmosphere of general revelry. She shrugged and focused on the sweets right under her nose. But when she grabbed a particularly tempting piece of cake to taste it, the shopkeeper lady intervened and explained her need for money, before things could be taken away.
Nima pouted until the solution struck her. Of course! She was a biggy now. And being a biggy she had to stick to biggy rules. The first rule in a biggy life was about money. That was what her parents had told her. Biggies loved money. They were so bent on acquiring money that they did the most awful things in order to make it their own. Some of them even worked! Anyway, there was one thing biggies loved even more then getting money, and that was spending it. They could engage for hours in what they called 'trade'. And they could talk about prices and bargains endlessly. In order to being able to do such talk, they had invented a lot of fine stuff to bargain about. And they had invented numerous rituals that went along with their aptness for exchanging money. They called it buying and selling. So being a biggy now, it was only natural that the shopkeeper expected Nima to partake in these basic human rituals. Now Nima had to pay. But this was where the wisdom her parent's lecture ran dry. Despite her proficiency in 'human-lore', she had never had to pay for anything before. Luckily, humans never expected the little kenderfolk to participate in their strange 'money-rites'. They just gave away their stuff to kender knowing the kender didn't suffer from the spending-coins-addiction like the biggies did. Nima bit her lip in confusion. The shopkeeper-lady eyed her expectantly.
Suddenly, Nima had an idea. Of course, she HAD money. Raistlin's money. And the money of other biggies she had met along her way to solace. That should help her out. She handed her purse to the lady.
"How much can I have for this?"
The lady smiled and opened the purse. But then, she turned white and gasped in shock. Nima bit her lip again. Something must have gone wrong with the spending-money-ritual. But what was it? She had done what biggies did, handing the shop-keeper her money. The worried kender was about to ask if everything was fine, when the lady raised her head and stared at her.
"Are-are you sure, you want to spend all of this, Sir? I- I mean, that's hundreds of steel, Sir."
Nima nodded.
"Of course its steel. And that what coins are for; giving them away. You're a biggy, I'm a biggy, we exchange coins. That's what we do. Am I right?"
The woman nodded slowly. The man was definitely disturbed, but he had just handed her more than a month's profit. A small fortune, twice the worth her whole tent. In the name of Shinare, this was a most fortunate incident, even if this customer was obviously insane. The shopkeeper smiled and made an inviting gesture.
"This is all yours Sir, you can take as much as you like."
"Really, can I?"
HA! Being a biggy was so easy! Overjoyed, Nima dove into the food, only to realize some minutes later that she couldn't eat all the sweets in the shop by herself. No even if she ate herself sick. She needn't worry for long. The solution to her problem arrived in time. In an instant, word had gone around that some strange mage had just bought the baker's sweets all at once. These news attracted the children of Solace as honey attracted flies. In a couple of minutes children of all ages had clustered at the entrance of the baker's tent, begging Nima to give them a sweet. Nima who by now had devoured seven pieces of cake, five cookies, three little marzipan pigs, two bags of roasted almonds and a big load of cotton candy signaled them to help themselves. That did it. Dozens of children rushed into the shop like a hurricane and the air was filled with cries of delight. Nima grinned widely and took a lovely chocolate bunny from a shelf. Biting off its head she shouted: "FOODFIGHT!"
When Caramon had finished his business he returned to the summer fair as quickly as he could. Raistlin was nowhere to be spotted but everybody had seen a golden man at the bakery. The first thing Caramon noticed there, were the dozens of kids running in and out the tent. They laughed and squirmed and blocked passage for everybody else. Finally, Raistlin appeared in the entrance. He was carrying several pieces of candy. When he saw Caramon he waved a hand and grinned. Caramon's mouth dropped. His brother looked incredible. The usually so composed Raistlin had spun sugar in his hair. His velvet robe was specked with cream, small crumbs of biscuit, honey and and other sweet substances and a gingerbread-heart adorned the Staff of Magius like a trophy. Raistlin noticed his twin's odd looks and grinned.
"Foodfight." he said as if this explained everything.
Caramon stumbled over his words.
"You- you really bought all the sweets for these children? And you- you... played... with the little kids?"
Raistlin nodded.
"Yeah, and I ate. But that's basically what I did."
Caramon gulped in disbelief. Watching this reaction, Raistlin's face grew worried.
"Did I do something wrong?" the mage asked.
Caramon shook his head, still stunned.
"No. No, Raist. You did everything right. I just-", he paused, searching for the right words, "I just... hadn't expected this from you."
"Oh..." Raistlin said in a subdued voice. Caramon's verdict obviously depressed him. He looked at the big warrior with big eyes as if expecting to be scolded for his act of charity. Caramon was moved deeply. All his life he had secretly wished that Raistlin would be like this. Loving and caring for others. Spontaneous. And now that he had acted this way, he was rewarded with disbelief and rejection. Caramon cursed himself for being so clumsy with words. All he could do was embrace his brother and press him to his big chest.
"That's great, Raist." he murmured, shaken. "I only wish I could have been there to see it."
Raistlin returned the embrace.
"Oh, Caramon, you are such a great brother. I'm so happy to be here."
Tears swelled up in the warrior's eyes. So long had he waited for Raistlin to return, so long had he waited for his brother to leave his path of darkness and suddenly, unexpectedly the gods had sent Raistlin back. And he was innocent and pure, just as he was supposed to be. Strong emotions overwhelmed him. Still, he realized that he mustn't let it show to Raistlin. Raistlin would probably misunderstand and the last thing Caramon wanted, was to ruin their fragile relationship.
"Raist, why don't you just take this basket and bring it to Tika, I'm going to get the rest of the stuff from the list she gave me." Caramon said the first that came into his mind. His voice was raw from suppressed tears. Raistlin didn't seem to notice it, though. He was obviously in a cheerful mood and agreed to help. Caramon quickly handed his twin a basket wich contained some herbs and spices he had bought from Tarys. He bid Raistlin goodbye and watched the mage leave. Meanwhile the children had ravished the bakery like locusts infesting a field. The shop was completely sold out by now and the kids scattered again. However, they would talk for days of their black-robed friend who had made a dream come to life.
Meanwhile, Nima made her way back to the Inn of Last Home. She still indulged in the joys of this afternoon and daydreamed about her friends at home. What would Naranja have said to this? Paying like a biggy and having a food fight with the youngsters. Thus occupied, she barely watched the bridge she was crossing. The next thing she noticed was a loud gasp and somebody bumping into her. Loosing her balance, Nima yelled and waved her arms. As if fate had just decided to toy a little with her, the basket slipped out of her hand and slid between the planks of the bridge and the railing. It stayed there for a second, wobbling a bit, until it finally toppled and fell. Nima cursed. At least she had her hand free now to grab the handrail and regain her balance. The other person apologized several times.
"I'm sorry, to have troubled you, noble magus. I was dreaming, not watching where I went, this is all my fau- oh my... Raistlin?"
The other person, a female, broke off her speech in surprise. Hearing Raistlin's name, Nima looked up and stared in a pair of impressive green eyes with long eyelashes fluttering over them. It was a handsome woman with full lips and long, blond hair. She wore a very elegant blue summer dress that emphasized her slender waist.
Nima shrugged helplessly. The woman must be an acquaintance of Raistlin of course. But most interestingly, she was the first person in Solace besides the Majeres who had recognized him. Nima nodded, a cautious smile on her lips.
"Yep. That's me. Do we now each other?"
The woman smiled and looked a bit sad, though.
"You may not remember me, because it has been along time. My name is Miranda."
"Oh, Miranda. Nice to meet you."
Miranda smiled again.
"You have been away for years, Raistlin. And now that you come here, I am the one to run in you and possibly ruin whatever was in the basket."
"Please take my honest apologies."
Nima motioned for the woman not to worry.
"Bad luck. That happens. I'll just go downstairs and look if some things are still intact. Maybe not all of it is broken."
They both bent over the railing and looked out for the remnants of the basket. It lay in the grass, several feet below them. Some of the spices lay scattered on the ground. Those were irrevocably lost. Others had "survived" the downfall and could still be put to use.
"The least I can do is help you get them back." Miranda said. Suddenly the woman chuckled.
"That reminds me of a similar incident years ago." she said when they strolled to the next stairway leading downwards.
"We bumped into each other and the fabric I carried learned how to fly."
Nima grinned.
"Really? Can you tell me about it? You see, I can't recall it since I have a problem with my memory, but that sounds funny."
Miranda's green eyes looked worried at Nima.
"A memory problem? That sounds serious."
"Ah, it's not as bad as everybody thinks."
They chatted all the way down. And when they finally parted, Nima had an invitation to visit Miranda in her home one of these days, where she would tell more stories of their youth in Solace. Nima liked the woman. What a nice person. This night, she had to tell Raistlin about her.
For Nima, the day had been a success. When she finally reached the Inn of Last Home, she gave the last cookies away to a very cheerful Raf and presented the gingerbread heart to the Dezra, the nice housemaid. For some strange reason the girl blushed, stuttered and excused herself quickly. The only person in the Majere household who wasn't very happy, was Tika. What should she spice the soup with, over the course of the next weeks? Nima went to bed early, waiting eagerly for nightfall when she would meet Raistlin and tell him of her adventures...
tbc
PS: You may have noticed that the events in this chapter resemble a certain adventure of Pippi Longstocking. Yes, this is a homage to the great Astrid Lindgren. And Miranda's appearance was (/is) inspired by "The Reason", a story by ChildlikeEmpress.