[Carriac]

The portly elf whistled as he trudged back into Montfort. When the discussion had started as to how they were going to get to the Parched Desert and Traveler had suggested simply walking, Carriac had put his foot down.

"I'm not walking halfway around the world," he had said. "We're just going to have to get a wagon or something."

Mara had agreed that a wagon was an excellent idea, then promptly suggested that Carriac go and fetch one.

"ME!!! Why doesn't Traveler go? He is so much more�discreet."

But, Traveler pointed out that both he and Mara were likely wanted by the town guard for their actions earlier in the day. Carriac had been forced to concede the point and went on his way.

He didn't really mind being the one to go. It would give Mara and Traveler some time alone to get to know each other better, and, truth be told, he was happy to be away from Mara's continual stream of flirtatious actions for awhile.

The shadows were deepening as he crossed the bridge into town. More than likely, the places that sold wagons and carts would be closing down for the day. Carriac had stopped just the other side of the bridge to ponder where he would go when the sounds of cursing reached his ears. The voice was very talented, with expletives from many languages and in many a creative manner hurled about by a voice that was undeniably dwarven.

Carriac was drawn to the scene like a bear to honey.

Several blocks away he found the source of the commotion. A wrinkled, white-bearded dwarf was tugging on the reins of two mules, trying to force them to move a large wagon out of a particularly large rut of mud in the road.

"You lazy, flea-bitten, sorry excuse for a team! I could get more cooperation out of a unicorn in heat than I do from the likes of you!"

Carriac studied the scene for a moment. The wagon was similar to those the elf had seen gypsies use. It was basically a box on wheels, complete with a wooden roof, shuddered windows and a human sized door at the back. Filigreed woodwork had once graced the edges of the 'box', painted with gold leaf, but much of the trim was cracked or missing and the gold paint had mostly peeled away. Ugly runes had been crudely carved all across its sides. Carriac was reminded of the houses of a gnome village he had once visited: sturdy, but gaudy as sin. Still, even for a wagon, the size of the thing was impressive, almost too big for the two stubborn mules.

The dwarf smacked one of the mules on the rump. The blow caused the animal to jerk to the side. It pulled hard on its harness and the wagon lurched a bit, causing one of the front wheels to roll over the top of one rut and come crashing down into the next. There was a loud cracking sound. The dwarf swore again. He left the animals to peer under the wagon. Carriac knew what he would find. The front axel had cracked.

The dwarf looked at the offending mule with what bordered on murderous rage.

"Of all the gods-forsaken, bull-headed, drek-eating asses on the planet, I had to get stuck with the likes of you!" he roared in dwarven. "And you aren't even real asses!"

It was at this point that Carriac had a brilliant idea.

He approached the dwarf in a calm easy manner. He tried to smile pleasantly.

"What the #$@@!*#$% do YOU want?" the dwarf spit out, losing his 'creativity' for a moment.

"It seems you have a problem," Carriac spoke in dwarven.

The dwarf looked at him like he had just stated that milk was white.

"What I mean is," Carriac continued in a rush, "It seems you have a problem that I am in a position to solve."

The dwarf snorted. "If you're looking for a nice rare mule steak, you've come to the right place."

"Uh, no." Carriac pointed to the wagon. "Your front axel is cracked."

"You're just full of useful information, aren't you? Look, faerie boy, unless you plan on moving this thing outta the road with some kind of magical powers, I suggest you get your obese, lard-filled butt on away from here."

"I want to buy it from you."

The dwarf stopped short, a caustic comment lost as his mouth dropped open.

"You wanna what?"

"I want to buy it from you. The wagon, the rig, the mules, everything."

The dwarf looked at Carriac like he had gone raving mad. "You gotta be joking. You just said yourself the axle was broken. These two beasts are about as stubborn as they come; they won't be moving anytime soon. And you haven't even seen the inside yet! Used to be owned by some gnomish alchemist. Funny smells sometimes leak from the cabinets and so many explosions have taken place in there that it's a wonder the thing doesn't just fall apart."

Carriac smiled. This kept getting better and better. "Still, I'm offering to buy it from you."

"You and what money?"

"I have something better than money that I think you'll appreciate. Do you know what this is?"

Carriac pulled a leftover coil of adamantium wire from his pocket and held it up before the dwarf. The dwarf's eyes widened slightly at the rare metal, then narrowed shrewdly.

"Can't say that I do. Looks like some kinda metal."

"It's adamantium."

"And that's supposed to mean something to me? You want to buy my valuable property with that little piece of wire?"

That fact that the dwarf's previously worthless wagon had suddenly become 'valuable property' was not lost on the elf.

"Well, if you don't want it�." He put the coil back in his pocket and turned to walk away.

"No, no," the dwarf stammered, reaching out a hand, "I didn't mean that. Just took me a moment to make up my mind, that's all. I'll take it."

Carriac placed the wire in the dwarfs trembling hand.

"It's all yours, elf." He handed Carriac a set of keys. "Those'll open the door in back. The mule with the white forelocks is Obstinate. The other one is Petulant."

The dwarf stood before the two animals and spit. "Goodbye and good riddance!"

With that, the dwarf turned and stalked off down the street, leaving Carriac in possession of a broken-down wagon and two very stubborn mules.

It was easy to fix the broken axel. Carriac made two pillars of earth rise up and brace both ends of the broken beam. A simple command then caused the wood to flow back together. Another quick command smoothed the ground and the ruts were gone. He talked sweetly to Obstinate and Petulant and the two girls were as obedient as hunting dogs. He decided then and there to change their names. Obstinate became Socks, because of the markings on her front legs, and Petulant became Petunia.

Carriac returned to the others moments later and told them what had happened. He gave the keys to Mara and invited her to check out the inside of their new 'home'.

"You see those runes on the sides," he whispered to Traveler as Mara disappeared around the back. "Those are fire wards! I guess the old alchemist who used to own this wanted to take no chances that his experiments would level his lab. Could we have made a more fortuitous find? The gods of luck must be smiling on us."

[Mara]

Mara watched as Carriac left to fetch a wagon for them to travel in. She also took notice that she was now alone with Traveler, and that made her blush.

She was starting to warm up to Traveler, finding that he was not really a harsh man, just someone that kept his feeling in check. So, she didn't speak much, only answering his questions in short, and to the point answers. She found it comforting that he was worried about her when she stepped to close to the rivers edge, and he had pulled her away. His hands were strong, but gentle as he slid her back towards the tree, his eyes ever watchful for Carriac's return, and for any trouble that might arise.

She went back and leaned against the tree, pulling her cloak back around her shoulders, sighing and looking over the river, waiting for Carriac's return. It felt like hours before he came back, with a strange looking wagon that had seen better days. Her smile grew as Carriac waved towards them, before pulling the wagon to a halt. Her eyes grew wide as she saw the small mules, and her heart went out to them, seeing that they were in need of a good brushing down. She waited and listened to Carriac, explaining how he had acquired the wagon from a Dwarf, and giggled when he told her the mule's name.

"Oh they are so cute," she cooed as she ran up to the wagon, and her eyes grew even wider when Carriac held out the keys to the back door. "For me? I get to be the first to see what's inside," and before Carriac could answer, Mara had snatched the keys from his hand and was trying the keys in the lock.

"Its not that one," she mumbled as her tongue stuck out the side of her mouth, while she tried another key. Finding the right one, she turned the key and heard a soft 'click', and felt her hand tingling. Easing the door open a little and peaking in, she was set upon by a number of strange scents, some causing her to sneeze. A few things fell out onto the ground around her feet as she pulled the door open the rest of the way and she had to jump back, to keep from getting her feet smashed by a heavy pot.

"What a mess!"

Pushing the door all the way open, she stepped in and over a number of things that were spilled out across the floor, before finding one of the windows that were shut tight. Try as she might, she couldn't get the window to open, as they looked to be painted shut.

"I'll fix you," she cursed. Taking her dagger out, she started prying on the door frame, watching as the old paint peeled off, showing a rich looking wood, cherry in color that lay underneath the old paint. Before long she had one window open, running out and throwing the shutters back, locking them against the wagon, before running back around and opening the other shutter, before stopping in front of Traveler and Carriac.

"Don't even think about going back there until I've finished cleaning up. If you want to do something, get these poor things some water and a bite to eat. They looked starved," and she stepped back into the wagon, before pulling out two worn bags used to feed the mules.

"Here! Fill this up with grain and slip it over their ears. Then brush them down with this," and she threw Carriac a well worn brush, that had seen better days.

"And don't forget their manes and tails."

With that said, she slipped out of her cloak, throwing it over the seat, before rolling up her sleeves. "Well? Just don't stand there. Fetch me some water. I can't clean without water!"

Mara was starting to 'nest' and she was going to make sure that the men helped her. And it gave her an excuse to dig into the wagon a bit more. "There's bound to be something useful on all those cupboards and shelves," she thought, and she felt that the inside looked bigger than the outside of the wagon.

"It must be my imagination," she mumbled before turning back.

[Carriac]

The shaper wisely held back his laughter as Mara barked her orders. Instead, he waited for the fiery elf <> to go back in the wagon, then picked up a bucket and handed it to Traveler.

"Better get her some water before she decides to clean YOU up, too."

Carriac picked up the grain bags and peered inside. There was sufficient feed for now, and though it was a little dusty, he figured the mules would appreciate the gesture. He moved to the one he had named Petunia, on the right side of the wagon. Her nose thrust itself into the bag so forcefully that it was pulled from his hands. The mule didn't seem to mind and ate contentedly from the ground.

Socks eyed the elf warily as he approached her from the front. He reached out to place the bag over her head, but she turned away at the last moment and snorted.

"Not hungry, huh?"

Socks turned her head about and brushed her nose along her dirty matted flank, sneezed, then eyed Carriac again.

"Oh ho, so THAT'S what you want. Just a minute."

Carriac retrieved the worn brush from the ground and walked back over to the dirty mule. Tentatively at first, then with more vigor, he brushed at Socks' hide. The old mule almost crooned with pleasure, giving Carriac a soft nudge with her nose before seeking out the almost forgotten feedbag. The elf moved to pull the bag up over her ears, but she snorted angrily when he stopped his brushing.

"All right, already! I'll leave it be."

There was a muffled explosion and the wagon rocked a bit, then purple smoke came pouring out the open windows. Carriac heard Mara cough uncontrollably, then shout, "Where is that WATER!!"

The mules acted as if this was nothing out of the ordinary.

Carriac chuckled to himself. Traveler had better hurry.

[Mara]

Closing the door behind her, Mara started clearing a path from the door, to the front of the wagon, trying to make heads or tails of everything around her. The wagon was littered with shelves and cabinets, some locked. Bottles of every shape, size and color were everywhere, most littered the floor around her feet and on the bunks that were in dire need of repair.

"But first I'm going to clean up this floor so I can at least mop all this stuff out the door." stooping down, she started picking up the bottles, placing them on shelves and in the cabinets that were unlocked. Her hand went up, placing a rather small jar that held a pink powder, and she placed it on the shelf above her. Without thinking, or looking up, she rose back up, and her head hit one of the shelves, causing a bottle to teeter and fall. Out of the corner of her eye, she watched as the bottle slowly slipped off the shelf, and she turned, her hands out as she dove for the bottle before it hit the floor.

"Got yo..." but the bottle tilted away from her fingers, like something or someone had pushed it away, and it fell, hitting another bottle and shattering them both. Before she could breath, let alone blink, the content in the bottles mixed, causing a small explosion. The wagon shot up and rocked, before dropping back down and a cloud of purple smoke fell about the wagon, leaking out the windows and any crack it could find to escape. Mara was thrown backward as more bottles and things fell from the shelves and cabinets, burying her as she laid on her back, blinking and coughing up smoke.

"Where is that WATER!!"

Slowly standing up, she coughed and choked, while fanning the smoke away. Throwing the door open, she stepped out and around where Carriac was standing, brushing one of the mules, and she was a sight. Her face was purple, with silver speckles all over her cheeks, nose and forehead. Her hair, that once circled her face was pushed straight back, just like streaks of lightning, stuck like that due to the chemical reaction and the explosion. Her clothes had turned to a light shade of purple too, from her belly up to her neck.

Blinking, she stared at Carriac as he stopped brushing, and watched as a snickering smile crossed her face.

" Don't say a word! Not one word or so help me..."

Socks just happened to turn back, and she started to laugh like any mule would. Mara doubled her fists as her eyes grew narrow, before she turned and walked back inside.

"Where's that DAMN WATER!"

The next thing anyone heard was another explosion, that almost caused the wagon to flip over. This time the smoke was a bright red and orange, just like a sunset.

"Carriac..." a whiny voice called out, choking and coughing, before a hand full of bottle, books and clothes were seen sailing out the door, exploding and causing more smoke and a small fire to erupt behind the wagon.

"Where's the water...."

That voice was shrill enough to turn fire to ice...

[Carriac]

He couldn't help it. The sight of Mara standing there all covered in purple was too funny. As the young elf stalked back to the wagon, Carriac fell to the ground, rolling with laughter.

When the second explosion rocked the wagon, tears streamed down his face. His belly hurt something awful, but he couldn't seem to stop - the laughs rolled out of their own accord.

When he finally managed to get a breath he called out for all he was worth, "TRAVELER, stop messing around with the frogs and get back up here. Can't you see that Mara needs water? You can nap some other time."

Still chuckling, he managed to crawl to a safer distance. Served both of them right for making HIM take care of the mules.

[Traveler]

Traveler picked up the bucket and walked downstream a little to where there was an area guarded by bushes and some trees. He decided that it would be a good time for a little swim. He undid his leather armor, and most of his underclothes and laid them neatly on the bank. He stood on the bank for a few minutes allowing the wind to rush over his body for a moment. He dived into the river and was swimming to the top when Mara caused the first explosion. He was drifting in the water allowing the coolness to relieve some of the aches in his muscles. It was a wonderful feeling. He had just about finished when the second explosion happened. About that time a purple haze was drifting across the sky and there was seemed to be a fire in the sky and smoke on the water (ooc - couldn't help it!). He rushed from the water and quickly dressed, filled the bucket and ran back to the wagon in time to see Mara picking herself from among the brambles. The look on her face would have stopped a clock!

He walked over to the back of the wagon and set the bucket down and began to ring out his beard and hair as he walked over to Mara to see if she was ok.

[Mara]

Laying there facing the door, Mara blew a strand of multi colored hair from over her eyes, before trying to rise. "There has to be a better way," she thought while brushing glitter and dust from her face and hair. Looking up, she spotted Traveler, ringing his beard and mustache out, while a full bucket of water sat by the door.

"And just where have you been? Kissing frogs down by the stream, to see if you could find yourself a princess? Well let me tell you. They are all toads! And do not say a word! It will do you no good!" wiping her eyes clear, she coughed up a small red cloud before glaring at traveler once again.

"Men!"

Standing once again and kicking, pushing and pulling things off of her, she started to step out of the wagon, when something tripped her. She came tumbling out, Elbows and knees flying, landing by Travelers feet.

"You...You went for a swim, didn't you?" Her eyes changed red as she slowly stood up, and stared at Traveler as he held his beard in his hand. "Here, let me dry you off," and with a wave of her hand, a hot blast of air hit Traveler in the chest, sending him backwards. The blast of air was not hot enough to burn him, but it was hot enough to dry him off, causing his beard and mustache to fluff up like a poodle in heat.

"That should dry you off," and turning, she picked the bucket up, and pored the water over her, turning the water to steam as it hit her clothes and skin. The powder and smoke slowly rolled off her skin, and her hair slipped back down over her face. Running her hands along her clothes, she dried them, before throwing the bucket back at the startled Traveler.

"Now I need a bucket for the wagon. And no more kissing the toads! If you want to kiss something..." and she looked around he wagon at Carriac, "then kiss his ass."

What she meant to say was to kiss one of the mules, but it just came out all wrong. Turning on her heels, she stepped back into the wagon and slammed the door closed behind her.

This time only a few choice words could be heard in elvish, and they were not words that any children should ever have to hear. That and the sound of keys rattling in locks could be heard chattering like a pack of squirrels. "Going for a swim when I ask for a simple bucket of water. And Carriac, with him crawling all over the ground laughing at me. They'll have to sleep sometime, and if they think I'm cleaning this wagon up for them, then they have another thing coming..."

And Mara went on and on, babbling to herself as she cleaned. And she made sure to lock away any bottle that was full. The empties she threw out the window, thought a few still exploded anyway.

But the mules didn't seem to mind. Carriac on the other hand was to slow, and he was soon covered in dirt and weeds.

Served him right for laughing...

[Traveler]

Something snapped in Traveler's head, or rather it came together for a brief moment. He had a memory of someone berating him incessantly with questions until he could no longer stand it. Then he had simply put a silent spell on her, now it was much worse. The threat of physical harm to both him and Carriac had intensified. The threads of the spell began to form in his mind as he walked back to the wagon. He raised the bucket to the back of the wagon and turned to Mara.

He smiled at her and she seemed to be taken back by the sudden change in his demeaner. He said, "Mara, the past few days have been extremely... Difficult for me. I really don't need any more stress." He reached up gently and stroked her cheek as he released the sleep spell. Before she slipped to the ground he put his arm under her head and gently lowered her to the ground.

He turned to see a livid Carriac looking at him in horror. He said to Carriac, "Don't worry, she's not harmed. It's a simple sleep spell that will keep her out of trouble for a while. At the rate she was going she was going to call more attention to us than we need.

Have you noticed how she suddenly seems to be able to control her powers. She very gracefully dried me without much seeming problem."

[Carriac]

Carriac was shocked. At first it was because he was afraid something terrible had happened to Mara. That feeling passed into outrage as he realized that Traveler was the source of that 'something'. The anger and hurt drained away as Traveler explained himself to be replaced by something else. Curiosity.

Traveler had used magic. He had never SAID anything about being able to use magic. Carriac was struck suddenly by the the thought that he didn't really KNOW either of his companions. Traveler's words burned through him. Carriac had forgotten what a dangerous situation they were in. Someone was out to get Mara and both she and Traveler were probably wanted by Montfort's town guard. They were sitting here, enjoying themselves beside the river when they should really be moving away from Monfort at all possible speed.

The elf berated himself for his lack of caution. He knew better than put himself in such a compromising position. Why had he allowed himself to forget? THe answer was simple. As much as he told himself that he was being impartial towards Mara, he found himself really liking her. He fooled himself by calling her 'girl' and 'young elf', but truth be told, they were closer to an age than he wanted to admit. And it had been so long....

Carriac gave himself a mental slap. He would have time to muddle through his feelings and motivations later. Right now, they needed to be on the move.

"What do you think we should do next?"

[Traveler]

I suggest we clean everything out of the wagon, and bury it along the way before we wake her. Then she should be able to _Nest_ to her hearts content."

[Carriac]

"Some of that stuff might be useful," the elf pointed out. "Perhaps we should store those things and then toss the rest into the river. That would take less time than burying it and would throw potential pursuers off our trail.

"You finish cleaning out the wagon and I'll get Socks and Petunia ready to go. We'll leave within the next ten minutes."

He intentionally failed to mention that it would be just as simple for _him_ to bury the items. After all, Traveler _had_ used magic on Mara without her consent. Let him do the dirty work.

"Oh, by the way," he called out over his shoulder as he went to the front of the wagon, "You're the one who gets to explain to Mara why you didn't like her decorating."

(to be continued...)