Disclaimer: See chapter 1.
Note: You know, I had forgotten all about the dragons! This just wouldn't be Dragonlance without them. Oh and the fight with the white dragon that I mentioned is written in detail in The War of the Lance, Tales vol. 6 : The Story That Tasslehoff Promised He Would Never, Ever, Ever Tell.
(My added note on 8-21-00: I'm sorry! I said it was Tales volume three when it's vol. 6. It's also Tales 2, volume 3.)
A Rift Between Worlds: Chapter 4
"Are you all set?" Tika asked them the next day. "I don't think that you can fly here. If Raistlin's magical energy was converted to ki energy, yours probably was converted to magical."
"Ooh!" Tas came running down the stairs, still fastening on his large amount of pouches. "Can I go? Please?"
"No!" Tika and the rest said in unison.
"Why not?" he pouted. "I know they're going to get lost without my maps!"
"Tas," Laurana began gently, "there is a pretty large path leading straight from Solace to Waywreth."
"How do you know? Have you ever been to the Tower?" Tas asked slyly.
"Er no but..."
"Has anyone here been to the tower besides Raistlin?" Gohan asked, frustrated.
"I have," Caramon spoke up. "The path doesn't go all the way to the Tower. You have to travel a lot of back trails or risk going through Qualinesti's forest. Let Tas go along, you know kender have some of the best drawn maps on Krynn." He shot Laurana a look and raised an eyebrow.
The elven maid looked puzzled for a second and then it clicked. "Oh! Yes Tas, you can go along." She started to usher the group to the door. "I'll walk you to the edge of town."
***
Tas hummed happily as he practically bounced along the trail. Every quarter mile, the kids had to gather the objects that came flying out. Both Trunks and Goten had quite a collection of odd items in the small packs that Tika and Caramon had given them.
"Wow! What is this?" Goten asked Tas as he held up flat object marveling at how it seemed to glitter in the sunlight.
Tas looked back briefly. "A silver dragon scale. I got it during the war."
"Oh cool! Are there still some dragons around?" Trunks asked.
"There should. I have no idea though where though, unless they went back to the Dragon Isles."
"I hope I see some!" He reached up to pluck a stray bird feather that had floated gently in the air for 30 seconds after being ejected from a pouch.
"Um Tasslehoff, can you wak normally?" Gohan asked. "Trunks and Goten are a little behind from picking up things."
"Sure, no problem." He slowed down almost immediately. "And please call me Tas! All of my friends do."
Goku, during this whole time, was looking around at the dense forest. "Wow!" he breathed. "We don't have much of this left in Japan!"
He was startled out of her admiring when an arrow thunked into a tree mere inches from his head.
"Oh look! The elves are here!" Tas said somewhat excitedly.
Then several elves became visible in the thick foliage where there had previously appeared to be no more than trees. All had loaded long bows and were pointing them all at various vulnerable parts of everyone's bodies. One arrow would kill them instantly.
"What are you doing here?" One elf asked bluntly in his cultured, musical voice.
"And with a kender no less!" Another one, a female, exclaimed.
"Excuse us, but we were just passing through," Gohan said a little frightened, "We'll be on our way now."
"Where are you heading?" The first one asked. The rest remained quiet, focused on the strangers.
"Why just to the Tower of High Sorcery!" Tas said. "Is that a problem?"
"You don't look like mages. And why would a kender be one anyway!" This earned a hearty laugh.
"Hey! That wasn't nice!" Tasslehoff yelled at them. "Kender are perfectly fine people!" The elves just laughed harder.
"Sure! They rank right up there with humans and dwarves."
"What about--" Goku was about to ask when Gohan smothered him with his hands.
"What about dragons? Heh heh heh." Gohan laughed nervously while he whispered to his father. "Don't say anything about saiyans, okay?" Goku nodded and he son released him.
"What about them? They haven't been seen since the war." The leader then motioned with one hand. "Be off with you, we won't allow you here."
"You won't allow anyone here," Trunks muttered. But they all started on their way again.
The leader, Jalin, motioned to the others. "Follow them to the boundary. If they act suspicious, you know what to do."
"Yes Jalin," the others chorused. Then without a backward glance, they went off after them, fading into the forest.
***
"How much longer?" Gohan asked a few hours later. The sun was just beginning to set, bathing everyting and everyone in a dull orangish glow.
"Well we can continue on until nightfall but since we might meet up with some unknown creature and I don't think that you would like that even though it would be so great!" They came into a clearing and Tas sat down on a fallen log. "Did I ever tell you about the time Fizban and I fought the white dragon?"
Trunks and Goten both shook their heads no and sat down on either side of him.
"Who's Fizban?" Gohan asked curiously while starting a fire.
Tas sighed and looked to the sky. "He was a very good friend, other than Flint of course. Flint was a good dwarf but he could never seem to keep a hold of the flask that held his dwarf spirits. I told him time and time again, 'Flint,' I said. 'If you really want something, you would know where it was.' But all he did was call me a 'doorknob of a kender' and snatch it back." Tas sniffed a little. "He didn't even tell me thank you for finding it along the road!" The little kender brightened almost instantly and began to pull things out of a pouch. "Oh well. That's in the past."
Trunks and Goten both shot each other weird looks over Tas' head. Shrugging in unison, they tried again.
"Tas, you never told us about Fizban!" Trunks exclaimed.
"I didn't? Oh! Well it was during the War of the Lance. Me, Fizban, and the knight, Sir Owen, were in a cave that had a real life dragon on the other side!"
"Really?" Goten breathed. What happened next?"
And so Tas told his story. It was the first real telling of it and even though he swore not to tell anyone, he though that telling them couldn't hurt seeing as they were from another world and all.
"But Tas! You never said who he was exactly!" Gohan mentioned again.
"Didn't I?" the small kender asked innocently.
"No!" All three shouted. Even Goku was starting to look a little annoyed.
"Well he's the god, Paladine. Didn't you know that?"
"We're from another world, remember?" Gohan asked, less than patient.
Suddenly Goku held up a hand. "Shh. I think I hear something."
Shorter than normal. Sorry about that. Ah, a cliffhanger! The first one yet. Anything to keep people reading, ne?