Coinless Packs & Fanciful Tales
The Never Ending Quest - Episode 60733
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Fred and Astra Thesamar had been in this "timeband" for all of
fourteen days. They wanted to get home, their real home, and the only way
to do that was to get a long lost book that just might be in the ashes of
the old Empire whose long dead heart lay in what both timebands named: The
Desolation. They had been making good time moving southwards from the
Black Tower of Doctor Priceless but today proved a poor one. They awoke
to find themselves robbed of their gold and now they were staring down the
barrel of two well-oiled crossbows.
"Well, I'll be an uncle’s monkey!" he whistled. "Tis true, you have no gold, no silver, no copper or lead. That means no loot for me and mine, and that I do not like." "You, uh, said that you take from the rich and give to the poor," said Fred quickly. "If I were you I’d find a trapper named Jarvis, and while we’re here, we could do with a loan." The bandit looked Fred in the eye. Then he laughed, a heartier sound there never was. "You’ve got balls, that I’ll say!" The other robbers also began to laugh except for the two crossbowmen. "You're poor, granted, but we’re not into giving loans. And as for Jarvis, well, he's well known to us. We’ll get yer gold, but I'm afraid that doesn't mean you’ll ever be seeing any of it." "What kind of cheat is Jarvis?" asked Thesamar. "A mighty good one by the looks of you two," answered the bandit to the left. "He’s a trapper who specializes in dumb prey." The whole company of men laughed at that. "We’ll be on our way, then," said Thesamar Astra. "Will ye now?" said the man to the left. "We have nothing of value," answered Fred. "You have no gold or coin," said the first man. "But I never said you were worthless. Why, we might take you for ransom." At that the two heroes began to laugh, and laugh, and laugh. The bandits were a bit taken back by that. Even the two crossbowmen. "What’s the deal here?" yelled the leader of the troupe. "We’re cursed," said Fred with a glint in his eye. "No one in this world wants us," added Astra Thesamar. The bandits took two steps back from the heroes. "Explain," said the man on the left. Without going into the whole story, nor giving up too much of their identities, Fred and Astra told the tale of their coming from a different world, of being banished to this world, of having no home or people – no one who would redeem a ransom note. They also told of the lost book and the power to send them back home. "So..." said the man on the left. "You’re going south, headed to the Deadlands?!?" "Yes, we have to," answered Thesamar Astra. The bandits huddled then and had a quiet discussion. After the huddle the quiet man who had been standing to the right of the leader spoke up: "M'name is Thibodeaux. I am a tracker and know these lands. I'll be yer guide, I'll lead you in safe paths fer I know which they are, I'll signal others of our ilk to leave us be. In payment we take any loot." Fred and Astra had not expected this turn of events.
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7/29/2006 2:01:02 PM
24914586 episodes viewed since 9/30/2002 1:22:06 PM.