From Out of the Blue...

The Never Ending Quest - Episode 19230

Annafrid

"The name Astra and D'Honaire will probably draw too much attention by far!" Grailing finishes up, "Not that you were using it already, I know, but....."

By now, while he didn't know exactly what we were going to be putting in that note, we had already told him our names and such. Came out during casual conversation because we can see that this Grailing is a person who we can trust. Just call it an instinct we have...

"True," I put in from the side, "She might stand out right now and draw more attention than what we had initially planned for in this job. Jarlath, do you think she'd look good as a brunette? Maybe even black hair?"

"Just as long as I don't get coal grey skin to go with that hair I'll be happy," my....partner agrees, referring to how several of her sisters got stuck looking like a succubus after a bungled attempt by a novice using a Crystallic (re: 3992).

I, she and our husband laugh slightly at that one, knowing very well none of the magic users present would do that. They were all very skilled indeed to mess up in such a manner.

The elfin man known as Grailing looks like he'd like to ask what we're speaking of but decides to not, not sure he would be rude for asking or not (get the feeling that he's trying to feel out the situation with us, with us from a different reality and such).

Astra decides that being a brunette would suit her well enough, just as long as she got her natural hair color at the end of this quest. While I think that she might look good enough with dark hair like Exotica, we already have a team member (Joan) who fits that department.

That said we soon land, drawing curious glances (and a few elfin warrior/protectors) to our landing sight. Any potential mayhem is smothered with a few soothing words and vouching from our new elfin friend, Grailing. A few quiet words with several of our greeters and Tarin Gazin is quickly taken to what we are told is a facility for him to....adjust.

Fine and well, all things considered. We watch them take Tarin off in a stretcher, hearing him mutter something in his dwarven tongue. Hope that flame haired elf (former dwarf) adjusts well. From what Grailing told of him, this Gazin fellow is a good enough sort....

After stretching our legs a bit (leg cramps are common), we find we have...er....other business to attend to after our flight. Being that the facilities here about aren't human sized, we make do with bushes. Grailing, being elf sized due to him, of course, being an elf laughs a little bit at that (drawing odd glances from the other elves who know of him) and heads off to an inn (which has what he's looking for).

After we are done, we soon begin to wonder what is keeping Grailing. Curious and concerned, we duck into the inn (and except for the demifoxes, we are almost bent over double in some places) only to learn that Grailing had gone out the back for some reason after meeting a silver tressed elfin lass....that sounded very familiar!

"But she's too old to be Ti'mma," I put in, remembering that one elfin girl who'd helped our group.

That said, we thank the innkeeper as we go out back to see....just in case if something....odd is going on here. Rushing out (much to our backs' reliefs), we come upon a Grailing who has a look of a man who.....

Heck, I don't know if I can describe the look in Grailing's face. It's best described as inscrutable. What he's looking at is what we know as a blue English (not Anglish) Police Box, and an elfin woman in her late teens....with silvery hair. For a split second, a stately (but also silver tressed) image of an elfin woman can bee seen, juxtaposed over the four foot tall elfin lass.

Author's Notes: For a idea of what they see, go here for that:

http://www.elfquest.com/pubs/Bios2/Wolfriders/Timmain.html

"Ti'mma?" Andrea manages, sounding surprised, "Is that you?"

The elfin lass, returning to normal, smiles softly and nods. Then, raising a slender, graceful finger to her lips and then nods over at Grailing (who's looking at her still, silently).

"He shall explain," the elfin woman says simply before the door closes and the TARDIS (for that was what she was in) grinds out of existence.

That is about the time the adventurers notice two things. There is something different coming from this Grailing (different but familiar to the Champions). The other thing is that the grinding sound this time has brought a curious crowd of elves, wondering where the asthmatic elephant is.

Shaking off the spell he was under, Grailing motions for the deeply curious adventurers to follow him. Waving off elfin questions, he finally gets away enough to speak to Jarlath and the rest of us.

"Can't....really tell you too much for reasons you already know of," the still unsteady elf manages, "Time travel paradox and all that. But you remember what how the Rules and Agents have to them in getting Champions? After that point in time back in Nantucket Earth (and certain points concurrent on other realms connected to it), you'd only get new Champions through offspring and that?"

I blink, glancing back at the spot where the TARDIS had been. Holy #$%#, that was a time machine back there. What did that have in the scheme of things threw a whole new twist on things!

We learn from Grailing that this overlooked "loophole" was deliberate and Jenny Elf (who had a different view on things from anyone else) was right now in the process of figuring it out just that! The only qualifier was, we find out that while "outsiders" (non-Champions) can travel back in time (via TARDIS most likely) before this restriction, they had to meet two criteria in order to join the Champion ranks. First, only those people who had truly fallen in love with a Champion to the point where they would forevermore live with them were eligible for this "loophole". That and second, they faced the same challenge and danger I had faced when I'd been given the possible gift of immortality (re: 13173).

That is, if they failed to meet both criteria to Whoever's satisfaction, then those seeking to become Champions would instead......die.

"Boy, this trip is turning into a real odd-essy," Jarlath says to nobody in particular.

It was indeed.

The other thing that Ke'lan (what he sometimes can call himself now....and not raise anyone of elfin origin's attention) must head back with us to Terra Prime.

Yep, the fellow is one of US, now.

Yep.

That and I think whatever he may have asked for as a small boom in becoming a Champion including having his true name not going to automatically get him chained with the job of being the elfin Emperor of this (or any) reality.

That's nice.

That and with this time travel business he's out to greet the elfin part of himself he's been missing all these years for the first time (though she already met him in a sense....and he her....in a sense....and not....in a sense).....

Sigh....

This time travel business is making my head hurt.

Wonder if Agent 4 was involved. Was his style of doing things and fit his sense of humor, from what I hear. Wouldn't be surprised if sooner or later the now elfin Tarin Gazin somehow got into things in the future here....

He'd fit in better with his brother from Terra Prime as he is now than he'd think. Beards for dwarves are out. "Our" Tarin Gazin had his beard follicle's surgically lasered away so he won't ever need to shave again....and as an elf the ex-dwarf no longer needs to shave, either....

Whatever.

That's about up there in importance as the female dwarves of Krynn having beards while the female dwarves of Terra Prime don't...

Boy, the odd things that will run through one's head when they get faced with something from out of "left field" as Betty put it one time.....

A bit later....

Synizn

Grailing comes back from his contacts, looking disgruntled.

"Wallants was their only nearby contact," he says, "The only place we can get the kind of clandestine courier service we need is... a long journey from here by horse."

It was a shadow town similar, but smaller, than Wallants. A marginal town recently set up by the organized crime of Malbacton in an attempt to increase it's inroads into Aqualaria. It was located, according to Grailing, somewhere south of Lake Tol Nostra. The place was used to try to smuggle illegal materials from the docks there, through the lake, into Aqualaria....

Note: here's a map of the place:

http://www.geocities.com/toh1999/Images/AMap3B.gif

We had decided on travel by horse (or pony in my an the other small folks case) was best, because of the attention carpet travel would cause (i.e. too few folks did it to make it inconspicious).

"Welcome to the club," I smile, tail wagging a little as I look up at Grailing, "Adversity is the spice of the field you've chosen, of course."

  1. We had a long journey ahead.

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3/20/2002 2:20:43 AM

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