"So," Laska said while she and Rose were standing in the kitchen of the Inn, having made a deal with the chef. It was morning, before 6 o'clock, before anyone was up, mostly to hide one of Laska's most well-kept personal secrets... a secret so horrible to her she wanted to keep it repressed in the deep recesses of her mind... a secret so well-guarded she had not even told her lover about it till this day... The secret... that she could cook complex and gourmand meals... and that she liked doing it.

"Now, we'll start with something simple," Laska smiled as she picked up a frying-pan while her lover mimicked the moves. "Scrambled eggs!" she smiled. "First of all..."

"Wait!" Rose said. "Do you mean that... every time you've brought me breakfast in bed..."

"I cooked it, yes," Laska sighed. This was not something easy for her to share.

"Well, I just figured Lasalla made it, and you just picked it up and," Rose started to say.

"Nope, it was me," Laska half-grinned.

"They were very good," Rose smiled, and briefly noticed a slight flush creeping up Laska's cheeks before the tattooed elf shrugged it off.

"Okay," Laska said. "First thing you do, is to drop some butter in the frying pan and let it melt for a bit," she said and did so, stirring the butter and spreading it all over the bottom of the pan with expertise. Rose mimicked her, keeping an eye on her lover's actions.

"Now," Laska said, "you take about three eggs, maybe four, but no less or no more. Crack them over on the side and let the yokes slide out. Make sure none of the shell ends up in the omelet... they hurt the teeth and spoil the taste."

"Okay, okay, let me try," Rose said and tried to break the egg on the side of the bowl... and ended up putting too much force on it. Half the egg, including the shell ended up in the bowl... the rest of the egg ended up splashed over the front of Rose's apron.

"A little too much force," Laska said, forcing to keep herself from snickering. "Don't worry, you'll get the hang of it."

Rose's second attempt went better, and soon enough, they were ready to add the extra ingredients.

"Okay," Laska said. "Now, a good omelet has little bits of sliced ham and some bacon in the middle. We'll toss those in, and then we'll move on to the details : The herbs. Now, herbs are always a bit underrated in cooking. Remember, the right or wrong mix of herbs can make or break a meal. God is in the details."

"Sure," Rose asked. "So, what do you always put in the omelet."

"Well, the right herbal mix isn't something you can copy. You have to learn and experiment for yourself until you get a feeling for the tastes they can give," Laska said. "So, omelets need just a little bit of salt, but only a pinch of pepper. Remember pepper has a strong flavor and more or less pepper in a meat can change the dining experience completely. Then, I like to put in just a bit of nutmeg and a little bit of saffron for taste," the tattooed elf smiled while she poured some of the herbs into the bowl while Rose copied her movements.

"Now, clutch the bowl under your left arm and stir with the eggbeater with right hand," Laska smiled. "When you think you're done," Laska said, "pour the contents into the frying pan in a circular motion. Make sure the omelet is well spread over the pan."

"Woo," Rose said. "This is more difficult than I thought."

"I picked the omelet because it's one of the easiest to prepare," Laska said. "Don't worry, you'll get the hang of it."

"I ate at inns and deli's all my life," Rose said. "I never thought of actually learning how to cook."

"Don't worry," Laska smiled. "I can cook and teach you nicely. It's like fighting, only more complex," she said while the omelets were starting to sizzle.

Suddenly, the door to the kitchen opened. Two bare feet stepped onto the cold kitchen floor. The pink-haired mage shuddered a bit from the sudden cold, but Imoen, dressed in her nightshift, was not deterred.

"'Gmorning dufus," Imoen greeted Laska. "Hi, Rose!"

"Morning Im," Laska said. "Vic up yet?"

"Not a chance," Imoen grinned. "She's not much of a morning person, you know."

"Good," Laska said. If Viconia knew her secret, she'd probably end up blackmailing her into becoming her personal chef.

"You actually told someone about your cooking?" Imoen chuckled. "I only knew because we grew up together, but I figured it would take you at least ten years to get it out of her, you know?"

"I mentioned last night I wanted to learn how to cook," Rose smiled at Laska. "I saw her eyes widen briefly, so I figured she was hiding something from me... I had my way of getting to the bottom of it."

"That," Imoen said and brushed some hair from Laska's neck while the elf was flipping the omelet, "explains the hickey on her neck, alright."

Rose smirked a little and tried to flip her own omelet... she barely caught it before it fell to the floor.

"She's been cooking and using me and herself as guineapigs ever since we were little girls, she loves it!" Imoen said. "I think she just compensates because she can't do magic. Magic and cooking are very alike, you know. Mixing on ingredients and stuff? She wanted to be a master of cooking to make up for her..."

"Hello," Laska sighed, "elf in within earshot here!"

"Laska, why did you never tell anyone?" Rose asked.

"Oh," Imoen answered before Laska could open her mouth, "she just thinks it would ruin her 'tough-girl' image, so she hides it from everyone."

"I'm IN THE ROOM!" Laska snarled at her sister.

"I know," Rose said and wrapped her arms around Laska's waist from behind, laying her cheek on her lover's back. "You're hard to miss," she added when Laska smiled and started to softly rub Rose's arms.

"Okay, BARF!" Imoen announced. "So, get away from that stove to I can throw myself on that omelet!"

"Hey, that's our breakfast," Laska said.

"Too bad," Imoen said and took the pan, moving the contents to one of the plates. Rummaging around for a knife and fork, Imoen's mouth was watering. "So, are you gonna make some duck-orange tonight?"

"No, I don't..."

"Rose," Imoen bubbled, "there's nothing that tastes quite like Laska's duck-orange. She keeps her recipe a secret, but it's oh-so-good! Could you..."

"No," Laska said.

"There's a duck..."

"No..."

"And there's oranges..."

"No..."

"And there's all kinds of herbs..."

"No..."

"Awwww..."

"No..."

"Oh, please," Imoen started jumping up and down. "Please, please, please, please, please, please, please, please, please, please, please, please, please, please, please, please, please, please, please, please, please," at that moment, Imoen jumped a little too high. Her head collided with one of the pans hanging from the rack above the stove. "Ow..." was Imoen's simple reply while she rubbed her scalp.

Laska sighed and shook her head. "So, if I make Duck-orange for all of us tonight, you'll stop hopping up and down."

"WOOO! Yes!" Imoen giggled.

"Complete secrecy," Laska glowered.

"Lips are sealed..." Imoen smiled.

Again, the door to the kitchen opened. Laska's heart-rate momentarily leapt to record-speed, thinking another one of her party would discover her secret. Relief swept over her when it was only the maid.

"Miss Leafwalker?" the maid, a tiny raven-haired girl, asked.

"Present," Laska replied.

"There's someone here to see you," the maid said. "Someone wants to see if you're for hire to do a job."

"Ah," Laska smiled. "Im? Shall you and I handle this one?"

"Are you kidding?" Imoen said, wiping the remainder of omelet from her face. "I'll go get my bow."

"It was horrible!" the young boy Tiris sniffed ask he spoke. He was about 18 years of age, with sandy brown hair and soft eyes. "It... it's all so terrible, I hardly know where to begin."

Laska and Imoen had spoken to Tiris' mother at the inn, and had agreed to a meeting with her son, to speak about a missing person. Tiris' lover was the daughter of their neighbor, who had been killed two years ago by a brigand. They had taken the girl in their home and slowly, Tiris and Raissa had started to fall in love. Then, disaster had struck.

"Calm down," Imoen said, sitting down next to Tiris and patting him on the shoulder. "Take a deep breath and tell us what happened."

Laska was already impatient, getting ready to give her new elven chainmail a test-drive. She didn't think she could sit through some sob-story. She wished Tiris would simply get to the point so she could kick some ass and be done with.

"My... my love, Raissa, and I... we were coming home two days ago, not far from here. It was late... and I heard a strange noise come out of the shadows," Tiris sniffed. "I thought perhaps it was another attack by the animals, but a large man leapt out of the darkness at me and knocked me out. I... I remember nothing until I woke up... When I did, I saw a man tying Raissa to a chair. He was the one who had leapt at me. I... I stirred, as my head ached, and I was not immediately aware that someone else was in the room... I suppose the other must have heard me, because he approached. I... I saw him, I turned and I saw him! He was a... a man, or a creature that looked like a man... but he had no skin!"

"Yikes," Imoen said. "How'd that happen?"

"Maybe he got his ears caught in an automated rice-picker," Laska smirked. "How should I know? Let's just find it and kill it!"

"All I saw was his... his muscles and sinew! He hissed, a dreadful sound, and tried to grab me. I was frightened and I leapt back, barely out of his reach," Tiris continued, all the blood draining from his face as he remembered. The man by Raissa yelled at him to grab me, and the skinless creature shouted back at him, angry... and I fled as quickly as I could. I heard someone running behind me, but I didn't dare look," he said. At that moment, Tiris collapsed. "Oh, gods, I left her behind! I left my Raissa behind, left her to die!"

"No superman," Laska sighed.

"Now, now, Laska," Imoen said. "There's nothing he could have done."

"Sure," Laska said. "We'll try to find Raissa... but I need to know everything you can tell me."

"The... the skinless creature did say the name of the man with the knife. He shouted it when the man told the creature to grab me... he called the man 'Rejiek'."

Laska blinked. "Hold on... Did you say Rejiek? Rejiek Hidesman?"

"Very sure of that. Why? Do... do you know that name?"

"Old boyfriend?" Imoen grinned.

"I hope not," Laska said. "He's a murderer from Athkatla that skinned his victims and made a nice little coat out of their hides."

"Laska!" Imoen hissed and look at the slightly panicking Tiris. "Tact, Laska, tact!"

"Oh... oh, no! Then you must find Raissa soon! If... if he has not already killed her! Oooh, I should have saved her when I had the chance! I should have tried!" Tiris cried.

"Oh, hey, hey, don't worry! We'll get her back," Imoen said. "Don't mind the elf over there. She's about as tactless as a dagger through the head."

"So, this is the place," Laska said as they came to the grove where Tiris and Raissa had spent the night.

"Look for clues?" Imoen asked.

Laska nodded, and both sisters spread out a bit, looking for any possible leads. Laska reflected on how much happier Imoen was. It seemed their relationship was on the mend, and she was happy it was so. Seeing Imoen spiteful and angry had bit at her heart. Then, her sensitive ears picked up a sound in the neighborhood... closely followed by a sinking feeling in the pit of her stomach : There were undead near.

A seemingly normal man stepped out of the bushes. He was a middle-aged human adventurer type, armed to the teeth and armored like a rhino. Both Laska and Imoen stirred and turned towards him. "Hold! I would know what manner of creature you be, before I lower my guard!" the adventurer said. Imoen responded by rolling her eyes.

"Could you lay it on a bit more thick?" Laska snorted. "Besides, I'm just an elf, and she's just a human."

"Hey!" Imoen smiled. "You might be just any elf, but I'm IMOEN! Mage extra-ordinaire, thief magnifico, friend of all, slayer of monsters and generally nice girl.. Err, what were we talking about again?"

"I am Darsidian Moor, and I hunt a creature known as the Skin Dancer, a man-like beast without true flesh of its own. Now, will you reveal your name?" the adventurer said.

"Cagney," Imoen said.

"Lacey," Laska grinned.

"Sherlock," Imoen said.

"Watson," Laska added.

"Kojak," Imoen said.

"Columbo," Laska spoke.

"Where did we get these names?" Imoen raised her eyebrows.

"I dunno," Laska said. "Just made them up on the spot. Anyway," she told Darsidian, "I'm Laska, this is Imoen. I seek to rescue a woman named Raissa, who was kidnapped by a murderer and a man without skin... and then we want to kill the bastards what done it."

"Errr, yes," Darsidian sighed. "The murderer I do not know, but the creature you describe is none other than my quarry. And if he has this woman in his possession, then we must move quickly. Come on, I shall lead you!"

Imoen and Laska shared a look before following Darsidian at a reasonable distance. "Bit convenient, wouldn't you say?" Laska said.

"If he's honest, I'll dye my hair purple," Imoen said. "I saw you looking a bit pale back there. Think he's undead?"

"He hides it well," Laska said. "But not well enough."

A few moments later, Laska, Imoen and Darsidian arrived at the site were Raissa and Tiris had apparently been brought after the attack. It was deep in the woods, near several large ruins of ancient, long-forgotten mansions... In the courtyard of one of the ruins lay a moaning, skinless creature. Next to the creature stood a blonde woman, fitting Raissa's description, and next to her stood Darsidian, looking arrogant and smug.

"Look!" Darsidian smiled. "I have defeated the foul creature, but I have saved the killing blow for you."

"Yes, yes, I was so, so, so afraid!" Raissa apparently spoke in a girlish, giddy voice. "Please, please kill that awful, awful, awful man!"

Imoen and Laska shared another look.

"Say," Laska said. "Could you step forward for a bit?"

"Err, why?" Raissa blinked.

"So I can cut off your head?" Laska offered.

"Errr, you... you wouldn't kill little old me, would you?"

"Yep," Imoen said. "She would. She can detect undead, you know? You guys make her barf."

"Dammit!" Raissa spoke in a masculine voice. "We're fragged now!"

"Hsss! Rejiek, you fool!" Darsidian hissed, his voice sounding very lizard-like. "This was your only chance to fake your death and escape once and for all!"

"I have no patience for it! Let us kill them and take their skins... and we can announce my death anyway! Come, it ends here!!" Rejiek shouted as he and Darsidian removed their skins.

The two women immediately drew their weapons and took up defensive positions while the skin-dancers advanced. Laska crossed her blades and took on Darsidian, giving Imoen the chance to fall back and take aim.

Laska grinned ferally when she used Ipsiya to block Darsidian's heavy scimitar. The skin-dancer took another swing, but Laska was prepared. She jumped up into the air, grabbing both Darsidian's heavily armored shoulders and using them to propel herself over his head, kicking him in the back with both booted legs before she landed, sending the skin-dancer sprawled into the ground. Again, she turned around, grinning at her opponent as he rose to his feet to confront the elf yet again. She thrust her swords forward, but at the last moment bent away, raising her leg to treat the bare-skulled skin-dancer to a high-kick to the jaw. Crossing her blades, she quickly caught the scimitar and pushed it away, treating Darsidian to another blow from her mighty boot. Her warrior's blood soared through her veins... when fighting, she knew what life was all about... singular purpose... survival... friends... those single fleeting moments.

She was drunk with life... with focus.

From the corner of her eye, she saw the blue flashes of Imoen's arrows, and the shrieks of Rejiek showed that she had been hitting him in painful places. Again, Laska snarled at her opponent, this time slicing her sword through his armor, into his chest.

Grasping her bow, Imoen noted with dismay that Rejiek had her on the run... unfortunately, she had run into an enclosed ancient garden. Avoiding a swipe from Rejiek claws, Imoen jumped on top of a ruined wall, and from that wall, on top of a decaying column. While she tried to invoke the bow to produce a magic arrow to return fire, however, another swipe from the Skin Dancer destroyed the first column. Quickly jumping to another column, Imoen tried to repeat her attack but couldn't. Again, the column on which she was standing collapsed and again, she jumped to the next one. Suddenly, she found herself standing on the very last column with no place left to go. Rejiek grinned sadistically, getting ready to rip Imoen to pieces, but just as he was about to destroy the column he shrieked.

The skin-dancer found himself staring at his severed arm, laying limply on the ground... he looked up just in time to see an angry elf slam her strong shoulder into him, throwing him into the decaying wall. Just as Rejiek wanted to retaliate he heard someone say 'Hey, didn't you forget about something?'. He looked up at Imoen... just in time to see a blue magic flash as her arrow buried itself through his skull, ending his miserable existence.

Again, the armored skin-dancer was upon Laska, and again, Laska defended, blocking swipes from his scimitar. The skin-dancer seemed unnaturally strong, and Laska was biting down her nausea from being so close to the undead creature. But that only made her attack with more fervor. With a cry of battle, Laska slammed her swords into his armor again and again, snarling obscenities into the surprised skin-dancer's face. Finally, she managed to take him by surprise.

So focused was he on his prey, that he did not notice the remnant of an ancient staircase behind him. With a yelp, he fell backwards on top of the staircase... and Laska saw her chance. Quickly, she put her boot over the armored skin-dancers unprotected neck and put all her, admittedly slight, weight into her step. She grinned gleefully when she heard the creature's neckbones shatter under the pressure of her boot. Darsidian Moor's body went limp... he would bother the living no more.

"Nice one, sis," Imoen said. "Where's Raissa?"

Viconia was tired... very tired... Yawning once, she stretched and turned around. Imoen had kept her up with chatter most of the night, and it didn't do much for her mood. Suddenly, she felt something sticky and wet in her bed neck to her. For a moment, she thought Imoen had returned to bed and was having another one of her nightmares... but when she tried to feel Imoen's skin, she felt... bare sinew?

Opening her eyes, she saw a skinless woman lying in her bed.

"AAAEEEEEIIIHHHHHHHH!" Viconia shouted and tumbled out of bed, dragging the sheets with her.

"So, what did you expect?" Laska said as Viconia recovered. "A horse-head or something?"

"You... you BITCH!" Viconia shouted. "I'll KILL YOU!" she shouted at Imoen and Keldorn. "I'LL KILL ALL OF YOU! I'll break your bones, drink your blood and RIP YOUR SKIN OFF YOUR BODIES!"

"Actually, that's what we want you to fix," Imoen said, and Viconia noticed that Laska was holding a neatly folded living skin in her hands. Her eyes drifted to the woman, a frightened, sobbing creature.

"We need you to do a restoration-spell," Keldorn said.

"Oh, great," Viconia sighed. "That spell always makes me feel like I've been turned inside out."

"Ahum," Keldorn said. "How do you think she feels?"

Viconia sighed.

"So," Laska said while slicing the Duck-oranges for her friends. "Tiris and Raissa are getting married. So our escapes were good for something."

Already her friends were enjoying their meal, and Laska took incredible satisfaction in knowing her friends loved every bite of the food she had prepared.

"Say, I must ask the cook for the recipe," Jan said. "It's not as good as Duck-turnip, of course, but then again, nothing is."

"Yeah, Las," Imoen said. "You've really outdone yourself this time." Immediately, Imoen's eyes grew wide as she dropped her leg-of-duck.

All eyes of the party, including little Lise's turned to Imoen... and from Imoen to Laska, a very, very wide-eyed, startled and embarrassed Laska. Then, the eyes turned back to a nervous Imoen... and from Imoen to Laska, an intensely angry, furious and snarling Laska.

"I let the secret out, didn't I?" Imoen gulped, noticing steam was about to explode from Laska's ears.

"Oh, Imoen," Rose shook her head and went over to support her lover.

"Errr, I'll be in my room," Imoen said, standing up and walking towards the door... at the last moment, she turned around, took her plate, loaded a few more pieces of duck, and then ran back to the door. "I'll just take this up to my room and stuff this down my big fat mouth."

A deep silence fell over the table.

"So," Keldorn spoke. "You prepared a wonderful..."

"YES, I CAN COOK! I CAN COOK!" Laska shouted. "YOU WANNA FIGHT ABOUT IT?! DO YOU?!!!"

"Err, no," a slightly intimidated Keldorn gulped. "I was just thanking you for..."

"Ar," Korgan chuckled. "To tha kitchen, woman, to make me dinner. Now, or I be pushing ye in!!! HAR! HAR HAR!"

"Thou meanest," Dynaheir said, "that all the time we were eating crappy field-rations, we could have been eating your gourmet dinners?"

Laska nodded briefly.

"You mean," Korgan snorted, "we could 'ave been eatin' classy slop instead of Jansen's turnip-crap?!"

"Can you do anything with turnips?" Jan asked. "If so, I have some requests."

"Boo wants to know if you can do nuts," Minsc asked.

"You know," Keldorn said. "I would kind of like a slice of fresh Elderberry pie."

"Couldst thou prepare Rashemi Upside-Down cake?" Dynaheir smiled.

Viconia said nothing... but she intended to make Laska her personal chef before the day would be done.

Laska just sighed and buried her hands in her hair. "Oh, Imoen?" she sighed. "You are so DEAD!!"

She decided she would over-pepper Imoen's omelets for at least a month... Rose's comforting embrace was becoming quite soothing right now...