Chapter Six
Lyavain was back in the house by the time they had all woken up. Drizzt was brooding, though he did manage to smile when the others told him they would be leaving for Silverymoon later that morning.
She had brought with her two horses and two ponies, she also brought a companion . . . one Drizzt had met before. By the time they were about to set off, horses packed and waiting patiently, the elf introduced himself.
Drizzt couldn't help but smile as Tarathiel told Catti-Brie, Bruenor, Wulfgar and Regis about the short time they had been together as travelling companions. He wondered out of the blue if he was riding the same horse.
He asked the question aloud to Tarathiel, causing the Moon elf to laugh. "Yes. She likes you. Alas, I would have brought the unicorn for you to ride, but the beast won't let me see him."
At that, Drizzt beamed. The thought of the caretaker of Montolio's Grove improving his dark mood incredibly well. "A beautiful creature he was too! I cannot believe he let me touch him."
Tarathiel laughed again. "Yes, it was pretty unbelievable." After a short pause he added, "I see you are back in the saddle after all. You were positive you would never ride again."
Drizzt winced at that unpleasant thought. "My stupid quest got a lot of people killed." He stated.
"You did not cause that war!" Came an answering reply from four different voices, two carrying a strong Dwarven accent.
Deciding a change of topic to be good, before his friends started to frown at him for feeling guilty, he shrugged and patted the horse's neck. As to what to say though he had no idea, his mind going blank.
"Her name is Wind Dancer." Tarathiel stated. "A fine horse she is too!"
Drizzt nodded. "What is your black's name?"
Tarathiel laughed once again. " I call him Nightmare. He seems to like it."
Drizzt smiled at that. "I bet. Was he named for his colour or his personality?"
"Both."
Drizzt nodded again and sighed. "Well, it was good to talk to you again. We will get to Silverymoon faster now with the mounts. I would like to get there as soon as possible."
"I am going as your guide actually. While you may know the way, I think it wise if you stayed away from Quaervarr."
After seeing blank stares on all faces except Drizzt's, he explained. "The village that you carried Drizzt from. Someone there wants you alive, yet incapacitated."
Again, Drizzt nodded, a grim look on his face. "We take the long route around then." He sighed. "I just wish I could see where I was going. This is . . . infuriating." He growled, hitting his hands on his knees so as not to startle the horse he was sitting on. He felt a sudden desire to hop off Wind Dancer and run into the forest to get lost.
He shook his head, knowing there to be dangers in the Moonwood he was not yet ready to face, mainly the werewolves. He imagined his friends finding his torn up body and shuddered. Yet, there was one instant where his mind betrayed him, thinking death better than this blindness.
Sighing sadly, he stayed on the horses back as he passively waited for when they could leave. A few minutes later, everyone was settled and they set off.
Drizzt closed his eyes and lifted his head to the sky, feeling the warmth of the sun caressing his face through the breaks in the trees. He felt happy and free every time he did this and now was no exception.
When his face was becoming too warm, he lowered it and opened his eyes. For the second time in as many days, the sudden reality that he was blind hit him.
A warm summer breeze was swaying the trees gently. The forest animals were heard scampering about the underbrush going on with their lives and staying away from the six travellers. The birds were once again singing their songs to the sky. And he couldn't see any of it!
He let out a long, loud sigh and let the horse wander where she wanted to. Looking about, he was glad when he could hear the sounds of his companions' mounts. Once again he was thinking of running away. His own thoughts were beginning to scare him.
Determined not to think more bad thoughts, he let the motion of the horse soothe him. It took his memory back to the time he had spent with Captain Deudermont on the Sea Sprite, the gentle rocking of the ship while he was falling asleep.
But he wasn't asleep. His mind wandered to the third week he had spent on the ship with Catti-Brie. The woman had been seasick throughout the majority of the first week, and he had laughed. Deudermont told him then that even the best sailor gets seasick at one point.
For two weeks he never once felt sick, in fact he was enjoying his time on the sea more than he thought he would.
The first day of that third week though, he woke to feel the first stirrings of nausea, by lunch that day he was as sick as a dog and was physically dragged back to his bed.
This had gone on with him for the longest two weeks of his life, him hardly budging from his bed. When his body finally got used to the continuous motion, the Captain had told him that he now held the record for worst case of seasickness aboard his ship.
Now, with the horse rocking under him and all the sounds of a forest without the visual sight of one, not being able to discern where he was, that sick feeling was returning.
Closing his sightless eyes, he tried to block out that feeling, but failed, the simple movement making it worse. Without much thought he stopped Wind Dancer, slid off and felt his way to a nearby tree, which he then leaned against. He slid to the ground and popped his head between his knees and took deep breaths.
He barely heard the others get off their mounts and join him. A hand was felt on his back, gently rubbing. A few minutes later, the world stopped spinning and the ground under him was once more had and unmoving. Lifting his head, he grinned in embarrassed humour.
"Sorry . . . the motion was making me feel sick." He announced, hearing an answering giggle from Catti-Brie.
"Anything like at sea?" She asked.
Drizzt grimaced. "Do not remind me of that. I already have been through those thoughts already once today."
He closed his eyes and groaned, pushing those memories to the back of his head and hoping they would stay there.
"Until you feel well enough to get back on the horse then, I vote we have lunch." Came the voice of Regis. Everyone actually agreed.
They set off again a half hour later.
By the time they had run out of sun with the coming of night and found a suitable camping spot, all six were miserable. The watches were set, a fire lit and their diner eaten with not one of them uttering a word.
After their meal, Wulfgar, Regis and Catti-Brie went to their bedrolls and went to sleep. Bruenor, Drizzt and Tarathiel stayed up for a little while longer. Bruenor taking the opportunity to have a chat with his friend, the Moon Elf being first on watch.
"Are ye ok?" Bruenor asked, when Tarathiel was further away.
Drizzt shrugged. "As fine as possible, considering the circumstances." With a grimace, he added, "I'm sorry for ruining your clothes."
Bruenor huffed. "If ye had stopped the durned horse, I might've known ye was goin' ter be sick."
Drizzt shrugged, sighed and slowly made his way back to his resting place for that night . . . with a little help from the dwarf. Climbing inside, he stared into the nothingness that was now his world, before he closed his eyes and fell asleep.
He never remembered having bad dreams, though a couple hours later he woke with a start. A stick was broken in two and he guessed thrown onto the fire, before he heard light footsteps. A voice followed, one with an elven accent.
"Sorry if I woke you. You should go back to sleep, as we will be leaving early."
Drizzt nodded in Tarathiel's direction, lay back down and closed his eyes. Unfortunately, he was awake now and couldn't seem to go back to sleep.
Standing up, he told the elf he was going for a short walk. He took off before Tarathiel could reply. He made sure he didn't walk into trees, by keeping his hands in front of his body and taking small steps. He still managed to fall over a log, get stuck in a bush and his hair was soon a tangled mess with twigs intertwined with his white hair.
Sitting down for a quick rest, he realised the walk had done its job, he was getting tired again. He turned around to go back, his gaze automatically falling to the ground. It suddenly hit him like a tonne of bricks.
His skills he had learnt in becoming a ranger, especially those in tracking, were useless to him right now. He had never given a thought that he might not be able to follow his own trail back to the camp.
His breathing became faster and harder as he realised that he was lost. Before he thought to call out to his friends, he darted off, running wildly in the direction he had been facing. His arm held out in font of him 'watching' for trees.
Still, he managed to once again trip over a log. He landed heavily on his arms, hearing a loud crack but thinking nothing of it. Adrenalin got him back to his feet and running again, until exhausted, he had to stop. He found a tree very near him and sat down under it. A sudden and very sharp pain in his left arm was felt and he suddenly realised what had snapped.
"Help!" He screamed, hoping to the Gods that his friends were nearby. A few seconds later, he heard his name being called and answered. A few minutes later, Wulfgar joined him.
"There you are!" The barbarian replied, going over and sitting near his friend. He looked immensely relieved. "Come on, I'll help you back to the camp."
Accepting the help stoically, he was soon beside Tarathiel as the elf began to bind his arm so the bone wouldn't move. He wasn't a healer though and Drizzt himself couldn't see the plants around him for something to relieve pain.
He had even a harder time trying to sleep after that and being woken up a few hours later to start off again put him in an extremely cranky mood. At least this day he didn't feel sick.
He was well aware that everyone were dancing around him, so much so that when he gave the sharp cry to stop, nobody listened to him.
He heard the sharp twang of an arrow being loosed, and Bruenor's pony gave a shrill cry and reared in fright, depositing the dwarf to the ground. When the others saw the arrow sticking out of the tree right beside the pony's head, it was their first idea that someone or something was out there with them.
"There are three out there. If I could scout around I would be able to tell you what, but unfortunately that is not going to happen any time soon." Drizzt announced, his voice dripping with hatred for this new condition that had robbed him of one of the few pleasures in his life.
Tarathiel's ears pricked at that. "How do you know?" he asked.
Drizzt frowned. "I can hear them. You are an elf, use your ears. They are as loud as mice in the walls."
Tarathiel frowned back. "I cannot hear them."
Drizzt scowled. "How bad is your hearing?!"
Tarathiel was startled at that. "My hearing is fine."
Drizzt glared in the general direction of the elf until the other . . . things in the wood moved out of his hearing.
"They are gone now." He announced.
For the rest of that day, the party hardly uttered a word, all busy trying to hear the sounds that there was something following them, or tracking them. They all had the feeling they were being hunted.
Unfortunately, none of them knew just how right they were.
A/N - Sorry this has taken so long, I was suffering from writer's block for a short while and then got a hundred ideas for short skits. Ah, well, it is updated, finally! Thanks to my reviewers. Ken - sai, Celtic-lyre, aurors, carlin Robertson (twice), tierl, LirielMe, Alexandra Dragonhart, Chichi X, and the Bladedancer. Thanks go to DragonEyeZ for beta reading!
Lyavain was back in the house by the time they had all woken up. Drizzt was brooding, though he did manage to smile when the others told him they would be leaving for Silverymoon later that morning.
She had brought with her two horses and two ponies, she also brought a companion . . . one Drizzt had met before. By the time they were about to set off, horses packed and waiting patiently, the elf introduced himself.
Drizzt couldn't help but smile as Tarathiel told Catti-Brie, Bruenor, Wulfgar and Regis about the short time they had been together as travelling companions. He wondered out of the blue if he was riding the same horse.
He asked the question aloud to Tarathiel, causing the Moon elf to laugh. "Yes. She likes you. Alas, I would have brought the unicorn for you to ride, but the beast won't let me see him."
At that, Drizzt beamed. The thought of the caretaker of Montolio's Grove improving his dark mood incredibly well. "A beautiful creature he was too! I cannot believe he let me touch him."
Tarathiel laughed again. "Yes, it was pretty unbelievable." After a short pause he added, "I see you are back in the saddle after all. You were positive you would never ride again."
Drizzt winced at that unpleasant thought. "My stupid quest got a lot of people killed." He stated.
"You did not cause that war!" Came an answering reply from four different voices, two carrying a strong Dwarven accent.
Deciding a change of topic to be good, before his friends started to frown at him for feeling guilty, he shrugged and patted the horse's neck. As to what to say though he had no idea, his mind going blank.
"Her name is Wind Dancer." Tarathiel stated. "A fine horse she is too!"
Drizzt nodded. "What is your black's name?"
Tarathiel laughed once again. " I call him Nightmare. He seems to like it."
Drizzt smiled at that. "I bet. Was he named for his colour or his personality?"
"Both."
Drizzt nodded again and sighed. "Well, it was good to talk to you again. We will get to Silverymoon faster now with the mounts. I would like to get there as soon as possible."
"I am going as your guide actually. While you may know the way, I think it wise if you stayed away from Quaervarr."
After seeing blank stares on all faces except Drizzt's, he explained. "The village that you carried Drizzt from. Someone there wants you alive, yet incapacitated."
Again, Drizzt nodded, a grim look on his face. "We take the long route around then." He sighed. "I just wish I could see where I was going. This is . . . infuriating." He growled, hitting his hands on his knees so as not to startle the horse he was sitting on. He felt a sudden desire to hop off Wind Dancer and run into the forest to get lost.
He shook his head, knowing there to be dangers in the Moonwood he was not yet ready to face, mainly the werewolves. He imagined his friends finding his torn up body and shuddered. Yet, there was one instant where his mind betrayed him, thinking death better than this blindness.
Sighing sadly, he stayed on the horses back as he passively waited for when they could leave. A few minutes later, everyone was settled and they set off.
Drizzt closed his eyes and lifted his head to the sky, feeling the warmth of the sun caressing his face through the breaks in the trees. He felt happy and free every time he did this and now was no exception.
When his face was becoming too warm, he lowered it and opened his eyes. For the second time in as many days, the sudden reality that he was blind hit him.
A warm summer breeze was swaying the trees gently. The forest animals were heard scampering about the underbrush going on with their lives and staying away from the six travellers. The birds were once again singing their songs to the sky. And he couldn't see any of it!
He let out a long, loud sigh and let the horse wander where she wanted to. Looking about, he was glad when he could hear the sounds of his companions' mounts. Once again he was thinking of running away. His own thoughts were beginning to scare him.
Determined not to think more bad thoughts, he let the motion of the horse soothe him. It took his memory back to the time he had spent with Captain Deudermont on the Sea Sprite, the gentle rocking of the ship while he was falling asleep.
But he wasn't asleep. His mind wandered to the third week he had spent on the ship with Catti-Brie. The woman had been seasick throughout the majority of the first week, and he had laughed. Deudermont told him then that even the best sailor gets seasick at one point.
For two weeks he never once felt sick, in fact he was enjoying his time on the sea more than he thought he would.
The first day of that third week though, he woke to feel the first stirrings of nausea, by lunch that day he was as sick as a dog and was physically dragged back to his bed.
This had gone on with him for the longest two weeks of his life, him hardly budging from his bed. When his body finally got used to the continuous motion, the Captain had told him that he now held the record for worst case of seasickness aboard his ship.
Now, with the horse rocking under him and all the sounds of a forest without the visual sight of one, not being able to discern where he was, that sick feeling was returning.
Closing his sightless eyes, he tried to block out that feeling, but failed, the simple movement making it worse. Without much thought he stopped Wind Dancer, slid off and felt his way to a nearby tree, which he then leaned against. He slid to the ground and popped his head between his knees and took deep breaths.
He barely heard the others get off their mounts and join him. A hand was felt on his back, gently rubbing. A few minutes later, the world stopped spinning and the ground under him was once more had and unmoving. Lifting his head, he grinned in embarrassed humour.
"Sorry . . . the motion was making me feel sick." He announced, hearing an answering giggle from Catti-Brie.
"Anything like at sea?" She asked.
Drizzt grimaced. "Do not remind me of that. I already have been through those thoughts already once today."
He closed his eyes and groaned, pushing those memories to the back of his head and hoping they would stay there.
"Until you feel well enough to get back on the horse then, I vote we have lunch." Came the voice of Regis. Everyone actually agreed.
They set off again a half hour later.
By the time they had run out of sun with the coming of night and found a suitable camping spot, all six were miserable. The watches were set, a fire lit and their diner eaten with not one of them uttering a word.
After their meal, Wulfgar, Regis and Catti-Brie went to their bedrolls and went to sleep. Bruenor, Drizzt and Tarathiel stayed up for a little while longer. Bruenor taking the opportunity to have a chat with his friend, the Moon Elf being first on watch.
"Are ye ok?" Bruenor asked, when Tarathiel was further away.
Drizzt shrugged. "As fine as possible, considering the circumstances." With a grimace, he added, "I'm sorry for ruining your clothes."
Bruenor huffed. "If ye had stopped the durned horse, I might've known ye was goin' ter be sick."
Drizzt shrugged, sighed and slowly made his way back to his resting place for that night . . . with a little help from the dwarf. Climbing inside, he stared into the nothingness that was now his world, before he closed his eyes and fell asleep.
He never remembered having bad dreams, though a couple hours later he woke with a start. A stick was broken in two and he guessed thrown onto the fire, before he heard light footsteps. A voice followed, one with an elven accent.
"Sorry if I woke you. You should go back to sleep, as we will be leaving early."
Drizzt nodded in Tarathiel's direction, lay back down and closed his eyes. Unfortunately, he was awake now and couldn't seem to go back to sleep.
Standing up, he told the elf he was going for a short walk. He took off before Tarathiel could reply. He made sure he didn't walk into trees, by keeping his hands in front of his body and taking small steps. He still managed to fall over a log, get stuck in a bush and his hair was soon a tangled mess with twigs intertwined with his white hair.
Sitting down for a quick rest, he realised the walk had done its job, he was getting tired again. He turned around to go back, his gaze automatically falling to the ground. It suddenly hit him like a tonne of bricks.
His skills he had learnt in becoming a ranger, especially those in tracking, were useless to him right now. He had never given a thought that he might not be able to follow his own trail back to the camp.
His breathing became faster and harder as he realised that he was lost. Before he thought to call out to his friends, he darted off, running wildly in the direction he had been facing. His arm held out in font of him 'watching' for trees.
Still, he managed to once again trip over a log. He landed heavily on his arms, hearing a loud crack but thinking nothing of it. Adrenalin got him back to his feet and running again, until exhausted, he had to stop. He found a tree very near him and sat down under it. A sudden and very sharp pain in his left arm was felt and he suddenly realised what had snapped.
"Help!" He screamed, hoping to the Gods that his friends were nearby. A few seconds later, he heard his name being called and answered. A few minutes later, Wulfgar joined him.
"There you are!" The barbarian replied, going over and sitting near his friend. He looked immensely relieved. "Come on, I'll help you back to the camp."
Accepting the help stoically, he was soon beside Tarathiel as the elf began to bind his arm so the bone wouldn't move. He wasn't a healer though and Drizzt himself couldn't see the plants around him for something to relieve pain.
He had even a harder time trying to sleep after that and being woken up a few hours later to start off again put him in an extremely cranky mood. At least this day he didn't feel sick.
He was well aware that everyone were dancing around him, so much so that when he gave the sharp cry to stop, nobody listened to him.
He heard the sharp twang of an arrow being loosed, and Bruenor's pony gave a shrill cry and reared in fright, depositing the dwarf to the ground. When the others saw the arrow sticking out of the tree right beside the pony's head, it was their first idea that someone or something was out there with them.
"There are three out there. If I could scout around I would be able to tell you what, but unfortunately that is not going to happen any time soon." Drizzt announced, his voice dripping with hatred for this new condition that had robbed him of one of the few pleasures in his life.
Tarathiel's ears pricked at that. "How do you know?" he asked.
Drizzt frowned. "I can hear them. You are an elf, use your ears. They are as loud as mice in the walls."
Tarathiel frowned back. "I cannot hear them."
Drizzt scowled. "How bad is your hearing?!"
Tarathiel was startled at that. "My hearing is fine."
Drizzt glared in the general direction of the elf until the other . . . things in the wood moved out of his hearing.
"They are gone now." He announced.
For the rest of that day, the party hardly uttered a word, all busy trying to hear the sounds that there was something following them, or tracking them. They all had the feeling they were being hunted.
Unfortunately, none of them knew just how right they were.
A/N - Sorry this has taken so long, I was suffering from writer's block for a short while and then got a hundred ideas for short skits. Ah, well, it is updated, finally! Thanks to my reviewers. Ken - sai, Celtic-lyre, aurors, carlin Robertson (twice), tierl, LirielMe, Alexandra Dragonhart, Chichi X, and the Bladedancer. Thanks go to DragonEyeZ for beta reading!