11/14/09

A/N: Alright, the last chapter was kind of rushed. The story is going to jump around quite a bit so please bear with me. I'll try not to rush so much.

Disclaimer: I do not own any characters you do not already know as mine. All of my characters have been previously claimed in my other stories and there will be a few new, but generic ones in passing. Drizzt and Co. belong to R.A. Salvatore and WotC.

Warning: This story is likely to include- violence, violent ideas, religion bashing, foul language, sexual situations, suggestive dialogue and a bunch of other stuff along the same lines. If you don't like any of those please stop reading now. If you continue, you do so at your own risk of getting offended somehow. Thank you have a wonderful day.


Chapter Two: Past Lives

Kitana tossed and turned in her sleep again. She had no idea where this dream was coming from, but part of her didn't really want to find out. It had started like the one three days ago, the woman in the white dress with no face to be seen. The woman's voice calling to her, telling her to go somewhere. The specific 'where' was still in question. No answer could be gained from the strange woman with no face.

Kitana had followed her through the forest again. Like before she kept just out of reaching distance. Her voice chimed drearily in the chilled night air of the dream. Calling, calling, but to where? A shrill cry broke her rhythmic chanting. A splash and in an instant the demoness was at the cliff's edge. The cry continued from beneath the water. Kitana looked down into the lake, the water had cleared somewhat allowing her to see the woman's tattered white dress swirling around her in a haunting dance. Her face was thrown upwards like a prisoner; open mouthed; the water swallowed her keen. Kitana stepped too close to the edge, and maybe that was what the figure had wanted in the first place. A strong force slammed violently into her from behind sending her flailing off of the cliff edge.

With another loud splash Kitana met the water. The woman had not moved an inch from her fallen place. Her hand reached out and grabbed the demoness' firmly. The woman's mouth opened but released no words, instead there was an echo of her voice in Kitana's mind. 'Return to us lost one... You must return...'

Kitana opened her mouth to retort but was gagged by the force of the water. Her sleeping body turned sharply and she was forced awake. She sat up in her bed, still feeling the shocking cold of the dark water in her dream. Her wrist was sore from where the woman had grabbed her. The warm body next to her rolled over in his sleep and sat up.

"What's wrong?" Entreri asked quietly. He didn't bother hiding his concern, she already knew how much he cared about her. Her skin was like ice when he rested his hand on her naked thigh. "You're freezing." The assassin wrapped his arms around her from behind and pulled her close. She curled into him, much to his delight, and let him hold her there. "What is it?" he tried again.

"It's nothing," she replied absently. Her tone, however, told him that she was in no mood to talk about it. Not even with him. Entreri wondered briefly if things would always be like this. Not liking the thought, the assassin shoved it out of his mind and focused on making Kitana warm again. He lay back down, pulling her with him, and tried to settle back to sleep. When Kitana was sure he was, she stepped outside and let the warm night air caress her as she thought about what her strange dreams could possibly mean.


The sun rose over the sprawling City of Splendors and with it the hustle and bustle of the place came to life. The streets were washed in the sun's vividly bright light causing more than one person to stop to admire anything that it sat upon. A cool, moist breeze brought the scent of wildflowers from the gardens of the noble district to mingle with the salty air of the busy working district. The pleasant scent wafted into the inn where Hitori and Kitana sat together, each drinking a hot cup of coffee, and discussing the half drow's current situation.

"There are just too many people it could be," Hitori was saying uncharacteristically impatient. His demoness companion nodded, it was true. Both of them, unfortunately, had more enemies than they could count.

"At least we know they work for the same person," Kitana replied calmly. "That narrows it down. Maybe if we catch them we can find out who they work for and why they're after you."

"But they said they were after you as well," Hitori reminded her. "And that they had a mistress of some sort. Does that narrow it down anymore?"

The demoness shook her head. "Not really. They said that I was in her way, right? When they were after you? But then why attack you if I was the cause of their mistress' ire? I can hardly believe that is all there is to it. There's more."

"There's got to be," her friend agreed. "I'm willing to bet it's not some jealous noblewoman who hates you because she caught her husband staring. You're too good at hiding your identity in passing. I would be a more likely candidate for that. But then if that is the cause, there would be no reason for them to involve you. That would mean it's either someone who knows both of us or-"

"Or the ones that attacked you are double agents," Kitana finished for him. "Or there's some kind of partnership of two different parties that know both of us and want something. That seems fairly reasonable to me. So who do we know that either knows both of us, or has means to organize a new party that does?"

Hitori blew out a sigh. "I have no idea. But if they know both of us, they would have to be from Calimshan. That's where both of us really have our names made."

"That makes the most sense." Kitana leant forward on the table with her chin in her palm. "I suppose we should go out and get some information." Hitori nodded then the two left the table and headed out onto the street. No one bothered to lake a lingering look at the half drow and his companion, whom they took to be a half elf. They were unhindered for most of the day until they reached a cramped, secluded alley in the poorer part of the city. Kitana looked over to Hitori who gave her an almost imperceptible nod, confirming that he too knew they were being followed. His hand traveled to his belt and hidden dagger as he kept his eyes forward and his pace even. From the corner of his eye he picked up a deformity in the natural shadows of the alley, he tensed and readied himself for the obviously coming ambush. He spun around when a sharp cry came from behind him. One of the assailants crumbled to the ground with a dagger in his chest, Kitana's, and died. Kitana turned her head to the side silently telling her friend to turn back around. Hitori did, just in time, as soon as he was facing the opposite direction again he caught the assassin's dagger in mid-swing with his own. The would-be assassin was quickly dispatched by the half drow.

Hitori stared down at the corpse and his eyes widened. He had been right about the last time he was attacked, there was a matching insignia on their clothes. The patch was square and a much lighter blue than the navy of their uniforms. The blue square was overlaid with an only just smaller gold one emblazoned with navy lines crisscrossing it and in the middle was a simple crown design. "No," Hitori whispered. "Not now. How did they find me...?"

Kitana walked up silently behind him to examine the insignia. She too was familiar with this one. Everything but the blue under layer and the crown signified the flag of Calimport. The flag was then taken by noble houses and specified by their symbol, each house had a different one. The crown marked the house of a lower ranking noble house in Memnon, the one she had rescued Hitori from a long time ago. Her friend had placed a good question. How had they found them? And why after so long would Hitori's former master come looking? Things were not looking good.


It was much later in the evening now. Hitori sat alone in the single wooden chair in the room he shared with Drizzt, leaning back and staring at the ceiling. His long white braid almost touched the floor. So his master was still alive, he mused. That was hardly a surprise. Still, he had been hoping that he had possibly been killed in some unfortunate accident or something of the like. Accident being a sarcastic term of course. Accidents never really happened in Memnon after all. But it had been about seventy-five years since he had gone. He was free now there was no true question of that. When Kitana rescued him she had made sure to take him to a cleric far away from Calimshan to remove any bindings his former master might have had on him. He was free, wasn't he?

It had been such a long time ago. Hitori continued to stare at the ceiling. That night and those before it still remained perfectly clear in his mind. Kitana had been the first person in a very long time to do something so good for him. He closed his eyes and let the visions of his past come back to him.

That day was like many, many before it. His master gripped his hair tightly and forced himself inside him violently. He didn't care if he hurt the half drow, Hitori was his property, so what if he got hurt? Toys were meant to be abused, broken, then tossed away. The master finished quickly this time, he had business to attend. He slapped Hitori again for good measure then left him on the pillow covered bed. At that point, Hitori never cried after. It had been a good while since he had done that. Almost twenty years. He lay completely still trying to make the pain pass, it always hurt worse when the master didn't take his time. He was much more violent when he took him so fast and there would likely be more of the same later. His neck was most likely bruised from having been gripped so hard, there would likely be an imprint of the master's hand there for a few days at least.

He lay on the bed for what seemed like an hour. He didn't really care if the master came back and found him like this. Many times before he had simply picked him right up off the bed and took again him without any concern, then left him there once more. Until the next time he wanted to enjoy his plaything. The half drow tensed when he felt a stray breeze dance across his bare back. There was not supposed to be any outside air in his room, the master never allowed it and had even locked the window with a spell so he couldn't open it without permission. He sat up slowly to face the intruder he knew was there.

She was strange looking, her pale skin luminescent in the red tinged desert moonlight. She dressed herself in unusual black leather armor that was fitted perfectly to her form. Her long silvery blonde hair was braided in a chain down her back. Her brooding, almond-shaped, grey eyes made him feel very conscious of the many wounds that covered his body. Some of them were still bleeding. After a few moments of staring she seemed to realize that he was no real threat to her. She stepped off of the window sill and into his room. He watched her uneasily, but managed to build up the confidence to speak to her. "Who are you?" he asked. "What are you doing here?" She regarded him curiously as though no one had ever spoken to her before, the corner of her full lips twitched as if in thought. He figured that she must be offended to have been spoken to so boldly by someone who was clearly a slave.

"I'm here to kill someone," she answered simply. "One of the guild lieutenants." Hitori could not understand why or how she could be so open about her business. He didn't honestly care about it though. So what if she was here to kill someone? The lieutenants abused him just as much as his master did. One less of them would be good for him. He settled back against the wall. After a few minuets he looked up again and was surprised to find her still standing in his room. "Who hurt you?" she asked calmly. Cold as her voice and expression were, he could still hear a hint of compassion. This only served to surprise him more, compassion was not usually something found in an assassin. If it was there, it was never good for the one on the receiving end. But this one was different somehow. He looked at her more closely, she looked like a half elf, but there was something more about her, something else she was hiding. He let out a sigh not particularly caring about how she saw him, he was far from at his worst at the moment.

"My master did." he replied. "And most of the guild members."

"You are a slave here?" she asked.

"Pleasure slave. They use me when they feel like it." He sounded bitter and sad at the same time. Hitori winced in pain as he tried to stand then fell back onto his bed. He watched as she crossed his room silently convinced that she was about to kill him He knew he wouldn't hate her for it and in fact welcomed the idea of getting killed so he could escape this place forever. She didn't kill him, but instead took out a few small jars from her belt pouch and placed them on the bed in front of him. She left as silently as she had entered. He didn't see her for the next several days. He wondered on and off if she would come back.

The window cracked open late one night three days later. Hitori could tell that she had made the noise on purpose to alert him. He was feeling much better than he had been the last time they had met and greeted her politely inquiring about what she needed. He was ready to give her anything she could possibly want for helping him. The one she had killed had been almost as bad as his master. "You're back," he stated. She nodded. "Is there something you need?"

"Tell me about this house." she replied. "I want to know as much as you can tell me, specifically the soldier count, any wards and traps around the place and any wizards that may be here." Hitori nodded and began explaining everything she had asked for in detail. After he finished half an hour later she handed him more healing salves and a few potions then left. They continued to meet like this for a few weeks in the confines of his room, long after the master had gone to bed. He was amazed that his master never picked up on this intruder. Then one night, everything changed. She came to him as usual, but she carried supplies.

"What's going on?" He asked, sure that something was about to happen.

"We're leaving," was her simple answer. Before he could get anything else out of what she had said, she took his hand and leapt out the window. He clung to her and tried not to scream as she carried him away into the night. He had no idea how someone could move so fast. Time lost all meaning as they ran finally they stopped suddenly in a completely new place. They were in a city far to the north; the chill wind bit at his desert acclimated-skin and barely-covered body. No place Hitori had ever been before. "Where are we?" he asked.

"Waterdeep. A city in the north. No one should trouble you here as long as you behave. I'll have to spread some word around for people not to bother you. You should be fine soon enough. You can have my apartment here, I don't usually use it. I might drop in from time to time."

"That shouldn't be a problem," Hitori replied amazed. "Why did you do this?"

"I didn't like what they were doing to you. It's sick and no one deserves that. Here's the key to the apartment. There are a few different traps I left here you can use if you want to." She handed him the key and turned to leave. "I'll be back in the morning."

Hitori opened his eyes. They had been friends ever since that night. It was hard to believe that it had been almost eighty years. He remembered the first morning in Waterdeep, it was large back then, though still smaller than its current size. She had come back with a good amount of food and some clothing for him. He remembered how young she looked in the clear morning light, and at that point she had been. She was twenty-seven he recalled. Then he had noticed her hands. He had asked and she had told him the truth. She wasn't a half elf like he had mistaken her for. After the first day things were relatively easy. As she had promised, no one bothered him. He got a job working at a bar and later as a dancer. That had began his ongoing career as a stripper, which he still found highly amusing.

He was broken out of his musings when the room door opened. Hitori almost laughed at the irony, Kitana stepped into the room. "What do you think we should do?" she asked calm as ever.

"I don't know," he answered.

"I think it would be best if I went and took care of him. This won't stop until he's gone, regardless of the fact of how long it took to send someone for you. We can worry about who's after me later."

Hitori nodded. "If you think that's what's best."

"I'll hire a wizard and go to Memnon in the morning." Kitana left the room as Drizzt entered. The two males said nothing to each other and lay down for Reverie together.