From: "Aaron Smith" Save Address Block Sender Subject: Link's, er, Finn's awakening Date: Sun, 12 Jul 1998 11:36:13 PDT {note - this takes place while Finn's passed out on the bank of whatever creeke he was floating down.} Finn opened the door and walked into the main room of the Green Dragon Inn and looked around. Something was definitely not right here. It was daylight, but there was no one else in the room. *At least Drake should be up by now...What time is it?* That's when he realized that the sun WASN'T up yet. The light seemed to be coming from nowhere - and everywhere. There was no source of light, but there were no shadows either. There was something else that wasn't quite right, either: "I can see." "Yes, you can, can't you?" Finn whirled around at the sound of the unfamiliar voice to face a young man in strange clothing sitting at one of the tables. His brown hair was long and pulled back into a pony tail, and it looked like he hadn't shaved for a few days. "Don't worry, I'm not here to hurt you... please, have a seat." Finn took the chair offered, glancing warrily at the stranger the whole time. "Okay, I'm sure you have a lot of questions, so I'll answer the most obvious ones up front. First of all, my name's Aaron Smith, but my friends call me 'Spiffy.'" "A pleasure to meet you, Mr. Smith." The stanger winced slightly at the title. "Just 'Aaron' will do, for now." Finn nodded. "Well, Aaron, my name's Finn, but I'm sure you already knew that." "Yes, I did. As to other questions you may have," He began counting off on his fingers for each point, "We're in a place called Tel'aran'rhiod. It's basicly a dream world, but don't take it too lightly, since things that happen here can carry over into the 'real' world. It's because this is a dream that you're able to see right now, but I don't think that'll transfer over to your world once you wake up. You're still blind, you're only dreaming you can see. "_My_ world?" "Yeah. We're in Tel'aran'rhiod because I'm using it as a gateway between your world and mine. As to WHY this is going on... I need your help." "Help? In what way?" Finn remained cool on the outside. He didn't want to make a commitment either way 'till he knew the whole story. Someone powerful enough to give him sight could take it... or more... away. "Well, a while back, a number of my friends dissapeared without a trace. I found them a couple of days ago, but they're in your world, and I've no way of getting them back - yet. "For reasons that I don't really understand myself, I found that I could manipulate your world in subtle ways. Not much, mind you, but some. I want to use this ability to gather them together, and eventually find a way to bring them back. "So why do you need my help?" "Because for whatever reason, I can manipulate your world more when you're the center of attention. I can't control YOU, or anyone else for that matter, but I can _push_ the plot in certain directions, so to speak." Finn felt a brief surge of anger, but surpressed it for now. He didn't like being controlled, whether directly or not. "You've been practicing this around me, haven't you?" "Yes, but not in a controlling way. You want to know what I've done? I helped you overhear what the drunk was mumbling so you'd have some warning. I pushed the odds a bit so that your staff would knock out a few bandits when you tried to get away. I made sure there was a hole in the wall for you to crawl through and escape." "You could have put it on the other side of the building, so I wouldn't have rolled down the hill and nearly drowned myself." "I said I have SOME control. If I try to change too much, nothing happens at all. I WAS able to make the stream carry you as far away from them as possible, however." The former slave spent a moment in thought. "Two questions - 1: what's in it for me, and 2: what am I supposed to do?" "I'll do my best to keep you alive and free. It's possible I may even be able to help you get your eyes healed - or at LEAST team you back up with Witt.." Finn looked up at that last comment, a look of shock on his face. "He's alive and as well as can be expected, Finn. Argnoth's got him, but all his expiriments dealt with you as a pair. He won't risk doing anything to him unless he's got you as well." "How do you know that?" "I haven't the foggiest idea - I just know it's true, that's all. It's sorta like how I can affect your world - I don't know the HOW, only that I can." "So what is it I'm supposed to do?" "Find my friends. I'll tell you what I can, you find them, hang around them, and help them out when you're able. I'll be able to do the rest...I hope. But you need to agree to this, or I can't do a thing." "And what if I don't?" "Well, thre's not much I CAN do, is there? I've little power to begin with, and if I was so immoral as to do something to you in terms of punnishment, I'd have even less. I suppose I'd try to find someone else, but that looks doubtful. Will you help me?" "..." "Please?" "I'll concider it." The strange man nodded solomly. "Tbat's the best answer I can expect for now, I guess. I'll talk to you again soon - maybe even in the waking world, if I figgure out how to. Until then, fare thee well. ---- As Finn vanished from the Dream world, Spiffy sighed in relief. Things werent's going perfectly, but it wasn't that bad a start. "I just hope that growling he's gonna hear when he wakes up is who I think it's gonna be. That MIGHT make things a little easier." {NRPG: hint hint, you know who you are, I'm waiting for your post so I can continue.} -------------LONG LIVE THE MACINTOSH!------------- Aaron "Spiffy" Smith Job 7:11, GNV // Rev. 2:13a NIV "Tir gan ealain, tir gan anam." A country without art, a country without soul. http://members.tripod.com/~Spiffykun/ --------------------------------------------------