Chapter Thirteen
Wulfgar handed the bow he held to Drizzt, letting the drow feel the length and strength of it.
"Well? I don't know why you want to buy a bow for?" Wulfgar muttered to himself.
"I know how to use my scimitars, blind or no, but using a bow...I would like to know if I still can." Drizzt replied, almost absently, his hands done with their examination.
He sighed before handing the weapon back to Wulfgar. "Maybe you are right...why would I use a bow anyway when Catti-brie is enough of an archer for us all."
His mind now filled with thoughts of the red-headed woman, he sighed. He tried to put the bow back on the table it had come from, but heard it clatter to the ground instead. That well of anger that he had thought finally gone, sprang forth inside him, like some huge dark beast.
He leapt to where the tables were, ready to wreak everything in sight. He was stopped by a pair of large hands. He struggled wildly, trying to get out of the strong grip, but failed.
Wulfgar was in front of him then, shaking his shoulders a bit as if to wake him. "Drizzt." Wulfgar called for the fifth time, before recognition came to the drow's eyes.
"I'm sorry." Drizzt muttered before his eyes pricked with oncoming tears. No! He would not cry again, he thought wildly, but as soon as the grip of the hands of the stranger behind him moved, he fell to his feet, tears streaming down his face. He was such a wreck, as was his life as yet.
Another pair of arms, ones not familiar until he caught the scent of Wulfgar, were holding on to him, rubbing his back in smooth, soothing circles.
Drizzt clung to the barbarian wanting, no needing, the comfort. His tears were silent, streaming down his face like twin rivers in a way that was becoming all too familiar.
After a few minutes, he began to calm down. He slowly released his grip on Wulfgar, before rubbing furiously at his eyes. Again, he muttered an apology, this time for his unlikely behaviour that, by the sounds the drow was hearing, had gathered a crowd.
He blushed, thankful that most of the people likely gawking at him would not realise. Wulfgar put a hand on his shoulder and gently squeezed. "Let's go somewhere else." The barbarian said, steering him away from the crowd.
Drizzt scowled, as he walked wherever he was led. How he felt like a child! A sudden thought of how dependent he was on his friends came to his mind and, with an angry shove, he broke away from Wulfgar and ran quickly in what he hoped was out of sight of the tall man.
He ran like he had in the forest when he had broke his bone, arms outstretched searching for obstacles, his other senses stretching themselves to their limits, every tiny sound it seemed reached his ears. It wasn't long before he realised he was lost and he slowed to a walk.
Gods, he was acting childish as well! He slowly began to try and retrace his steps, but stopped when he heard the crying of a child. Following the sound, he soon heard a small gasp and a frantic scrabbling.
"I won't hurt you, I promise." He stated soothingly, trying to coax the child to him.
A sniffle was heard close by and he smiled. "What is your name?" He asked in the direction of the small noises.
"Thomas." Came the small voice of a child around eight years of age.
"Hello Thomas. I'm Drizzt." He said, hoping that the boy had heard of him.
"...Really?!" Came the answer, awe in the boy's tone. "I want to be a ranger like you when I grow up!"
Drizzt smiled. "Well, that is nice to hear. Thomas, why are you crying?"
There was an uncomfortable silence for a few minutes after he asked the question, but the child did answer when he was ready to. "I...ran away from home. I got lost."
Cocking his head to one side, a confused look crept over Drizzt's features. "Why did you run away from your home?"
A shifting sound was heard as Thomas moved out of what Drizzt could only surmise as being a hiding spot. "My Da died last week. My Ma won't play with me anymore. She just yells at me." A sob was heard then, as Thomas began to cry again. "I miss my Da."
Drizzt felt his heart go out to this child. He opened his arms and soon had the boy in his lap. He held Thomas close to him and let him cry. Once the child had settled a bit, he got to his feet. Feeling the child's face, he wiped away the tears on his cheeks, before ruffling the hair on the boys head. He noticed then slightly pointed ears, not long enough to be a full elf.
"Come. I think we should get you home. But, you will have to lead as best you can. Just hold my hand, stay close and don't move too fast."
"Why me? I am lost..." Thomas replied and Drizzt couldn't help but chuckle at the expression that he knew would be on the child's face. It was one he had seen on Colson's face time and again.
"So am I." He replied. He got to his knees and put his hands to either side of the boys face. "I had an...accident not too long ago and now I can't see. So, you will have to lead me as best you can."
"You have pretty eyes." Thomas said, before reaching out and grabbing one of the good drow's hands.
Drizzt stood up again, but noticed that his 'guide' wasn't moving.
"If you can't see, why are you here by yourself?" Came the innocent question in that voice only a child could ask it in.
A sheepish grin made its way onto Drizzt's face. "I got upset and ran away." He replied, a slight blush creeping up his cheeks again. The small giggle from Thomas soon made his embarrassment go away.
A few seconds later and they were moving slowly through the crowd. Every now and then, Thomas would stop as if to think in what direction to go in. Once, they even turned around and went back to a place they had already been, Thomas saying something about that way being the wrong way. Drizzt took note that the child would probably make a good ranger.
"Hey! I know where we are now, I play here sometimes." Thomas stated after an hour of what felt like aimless walking to Drizzt. The tugging on his hand became more rough as Thomas began to speed up.
"Slow down, please." Drizzt said, before a loud "ow" passed his lips as he was lead into a bench by the side of the road.
Laughter was heard off to one side, before another child spoke, this one distinctively Elven if the musical lilt in the voice was anything to go by. "Aww, look, little Tommy has bought a gift home for his mother. What, you would like a drow for a father would you? Hey, at least its not human like your real one."
The tugging on his arm became more insistent as Thomas was trying to get away from the other child. Unfortunately, Drizzt's knee was now throbbing and he sat down before Thomas could lead him away, massaging the sore spot.
He was about to tell Thomas to ignore them when the next insult went flying straight at the boy. "I heard your father died. What of? Old age? I mean, he was in his fourties...that's old for a human." A pause followed this, before the talk continued. "No, that isn't it, is it? No. Your mother probably hired an assassin. I mean, no elf could live with a human that long right?!"
This went straight to Drizzt's head and he found his free hand falling to his belt where his scimitar's holster lay. Icingdeath was in his reach now and, though he had never been particularly cruel, this child was asking for a lesson in manners.
This boy, this child had just hit the one problem he had ever faced with Catti-brie, the only obstacle. "At least his mother was kind enough to teach Thomas good manners. Something you obviously lack." He spat out, listening to the stunned silence. A few seconds later grumbling came to his ears, too low for him to discern words, before Thomas sighed, an indication the young elf had left.
"Friend of yours?" Drizzt asked, his hand once again dropping to rub at his knee. He was sure it would bruise, but he wasn't about to blame Thomas. The boy was obviously trying to avoid an unwanted encounter.
"No." Came the reply, the small voice he heard now an indication of how much the other child's words stung.
Sighing, Drizzt stood again, lightly placing weight on his sore leg to see if he could walk without to much discomfort. Luckily he could walk with only a slight limp and not much pain. His leg was not as bad as he thought.
Soon the two were once again on the move, this time, Thomas staying at Drizzt's side, calling out directions softly and steering him away from any obstacles.
In a few minutes they stopped. Thomas hid behind Drizzt's legs, making the drow understand that this was the house they were looking for.
Drizzt walked in what he hoped was the direction to the door, surprised when he was steered in the right direction by the boy behind him.
Knocking on the door, it soon opened and a surprised gasp was heard. "What do you want?!" The female elf demanded to know.
"Are you the mother of Thomas?" He asked quietly, not wanting to seem thatening in any way.
"Yes, but he is missing. I am so worried!" The woman replied, a hint of more than worry in her voice.
Drizzt smiled, before reaching behind him and grabbing one of Thomas' hands, making the child walk out from behind him. A flurry of movement later found Drizzt on the ground and a rellieved mother hugging her son close.
"Don't you never do that to me again, you hear young man!" She scolded.
Drizzt suddenly remembered his earlier conversation with the boy. "Ma'am, may I suggest not yelling at him. He thinks it is his fault that you are angry." After a small silence, in which Thomas stated afterwards that his Ma had nodded, it was as if lights went off in his head.
"See, you made it home, safe and sound. Unlike me. I am still lost." He stated, a sudden fear of never finding his way back to the Palace filling him.
"He can't see." Thomas said to his mother, making Drizzt look to the ground.
"I cannot find my way back to the Palace unaided." He muttered, wishing that simple fact not to be true. Sighing, he got back to his feet, but didn't move from the spot.
"I could send a message to the Palace for someone to come and take you back." The elf said, before quitly moving past him and outside to talk to a passerby, who was more than happy to pass on the message.
Drizzt was now aware of the slight pain in his knee again, wincing as he began to rub the tender flesh there. Thomas stayed by his side, waiting for his mother to come back.
"The least I could do is offer you some place to rest your leg." The she- elf stated, gently steering him to a couch. "Sit. Make yourself comfortable. Someone should come for you soon."
"Thank you." Drizzt replied, smiling slightly. Soon he was talking once again to Thomas this time about earlier adventures.
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Shade growled low in his throat as he watched the fight that had broken out between two of his more powerful males. The infighting in his pack had been growing of late, each of the werecreatures wanting a higher rank in his eyes.
The females were not as bad, but even they had been scrabbling for their own higher ranks, or their mates. He had lost three wolves and most of the rats in his back. The bears had been watching, only fighting with others of their own kind and not as often.
He made his way to the two fighting males and pulled them off of each other, hitting each hard enough to stun.
"Stop this fighting now!" He screamed, his teeth gnashing at the air before his two disobedient pack members. He shifted into his natural wolf form and ripped the throat out of the weaker of the two.
He growled and made for the abandoned Elven village that they had taken residency in. His mate, Nightshade waited for him in her human form, a scowl on her face.
No words were needed. These two had been a pair for so long, they knew each others actions well. Nightshade immediately knew what had happened and changed into her own wolf form.
The rest of the pack followed not long after, moving to the places they had claimed as their own. Of course, they had fed that day. On the flesh and meat of one of their own. The symbolism was not lost on the wereanimals. Either the fighting was to stop or they would be the next meal.
The pack was determined to be well behaved from now on.
A/N - Sorry if this chapter took so long to come out. I have been sick and my brain had fried because of that. Ah well. I might not be all better yet, but I am now back to my writing again. Even though this is totally different to what I have planned, I think it to be better than the last few chapters.
Hmm, it seems half the people who read the last chapter liked it and the other half didn't. Hmmm, well, to each his own...even though I am female. As to Innovindil...I have not yet read the Lone Drow, although I have finally read 1000 Orcs. So, as far as I know, she has only ever been with Tarathiel.
Oh, also, I added Tarathiel into this story and wrote about his family before reading 1000 Orcs, so had no knowledge he would be in it at all. Hey, he has been one of my favourite characters since his small cameo appearance in Starless Night and could not resist.
Ok, enough rambling from me now. Thank you to my reviewers once again. BelleDayNight, PsychoCatGirl, ChichiX, Sirithiliel, Carlin Robertson, She- cat and Rebma Esined.
Wulfgar handed the bow he held to Drizzt, letting the drow feel the length and strength of it.
"Well? I don't know why you want to buy a bow for?" Wulfgar muttered to himself.
"I know how to use my scimitars, blind or no, but using a bow...I would like to know if I still can." Drizzt replied, almost absently, his hands done with their examination.
He sighed before handing the weapon back to Wulfgar. "Maybe you are right...why would I use a bow anyway when Catti-brie is enough of an archer for us all."
His mind now filled with thoughts of the red-headed woman, he sighed. He tried to put the bow back on the table it had come from, but heard it clatter to the ground instead. That well of anger that he had thought finally gone, sprang forth inside him, like some huge dark beast.
He leapt to where the tables were, ready to wreak everything in sight. He was stopped by a pair of large hands. He struggled wildly, trying to get out of the strong grip, but failed.
Wulfgar was in front of him then, shaking his shoulders a bit as if to wake him. "Drizzt." Wulfgar called for the fifth time, before recognition came to the drow's eyes.
"I'm sorry." Drizzt muttered before his eyes pricked with oncoming tears. No! He would not cry again, he thought wildly, but as soon as the grip of the hands of the stranger behind him moved, he fell to his feet, tears streaming down his face. He was such a wreck, as was his life as yet.
Another pair of arms, ones not familiar until he caught the scent of Wulfgar, were holding on to him, rubbing his back in smooth, soothing circles.
Drizzt clung to the barbarian wanting, no needing, the comfort. His tears were silent, streaming down his face like twin rivers in a way that was becoming all too familiar.
After a few minutes, he began to calm down. He slowly released his grip on Wulfgar, before rubbing furiously at his eyes. Again, he muttered an apology, this time for his unlikely behaviour that, by the sounds the drow was hearing, had gathered a crowd.
He blushed, thankful that most of the people likely gawking at him would not realise. Wulfgar put a hand on his shoulder and gently squeezed. "Let's go somewhere else." The barbarian said, steering him away from the crowd.
Drizzt scowled, as he walked wherever he was led. How he felt like a child! A sudden thought of how dependent he was on his friends came to his mind and, with an angry shove, he broke away from Wulfgar and ran quickly in what he hoped was out of sight of the tall man.
He ran like he had in the forest when he had broke his bone, arms outstretched searching for obstacles, his other senses stretching themselves to their limits, every tiny sound it seemed reached his ears. It wasn't long before he realised he was lost and he slowed to a walk.
Gods, he was acting childish as well! He slowly began to try and retrace his steps, but stopped when he heard the crying of a child. Following the sound, he soon heard a small gasp and a frantic scrabbling.
"I won't hurt you, I promise." He stated soothingly, trying to coax the child to him.
A sniffle was heard close by and he smiled. "What is your name?" He asked in the direction of the small noises.
"Thomas." Came the small voice of a child around eight years of age.
"Hello Thomas. I'm Drizzt." He said, hoping that the boy had heard of him.
"...Really?!" Came the answer, awe in the boy's tone. "I want to be a ranger like you when I grow up!"
Drizzt smiled. "Well, that is nice to hear. Thomas, why are you crying?"
There was an uncomfortable silence for a few minutes after he asked the question, but the child did answer when he was ready to. "I...ran away from home. I got lost."
Cocking his head to one side, a confused look crept over Drizzt's features. "Why did you run away from your home?"
A shifting sound was heard as Thomas moved out of what Drizzt could only surmise as being a hiding spot. "My Da died last week. My Ma won't play with me anymore. She just yells at me." A sob was heard then, as Thomas began to cry again. "I miss my Da."
Drizzt felt his heart go out to this child. He opened his arms and soon had the boy in his lap. He held Thomas close to him and let him cry. Once the child had settled a bit, he got to his feet. Feeling the child's face, he wiped away the tears on his cheeks, before ruffling the hair on the boys head. He noticed then slightly pointed ears, not long enough to be a full elf.
"Come. I think we should get you home. But, you will have to lead as best you can. Just hold my hand, stay close and don't move too fast."
"Why me? I am lost..." Thomas replied and Drizzt couldn't help but chuckle at the expression that he knew would be on the child's face. It was one he had seen on Colson's face time and again.
"So am I." He replied. He got to his knees and put his hands to either side of the boys face. "I had an...accident not too long ago and now I can't see. So, you will have to lead me as best you can."
"You have pretty eyes." Thomas said, before reaching out and grabbing one of the good drow's hands.
Drizzt stood up again, but noticed that his 'guide' wasn't moving.
"If you can't see, why are you here by yourself?" Came the innocent question in that voice only a child could ask it in.
A sheepish grin made its way onto Drizzt's face. "I got upset and ran away." He replied, a slight blush creeping up his cheeks again. The small giggle from Thomas soon made his embarrassment go away.
A few seconds later and they were moving slowly through the crowd. Every now and then, Thomas would stop as if to think in what direction to go in. Once, they even turned around and went back to a place they had already been, Thomas saying something about that way being the wrong way. Drizzt took note that the child would probably make a good ranger.
"Hey! I know where we are now, I play here sometimes." Thomas stated after an hour of what felt like aimless walking to Drizzt. The tugging on his hand became more rough as Thomas began to speed up.
"Slow down, please." Drizzt said, before a loud "ow" passed his lips as he was lead into a bench by the side of the road.
Laughter was heard off to one side, before another child spoke, this one distinctively Elven if the musical lilt in the voice was anything to go by. "Aww, look, little Tommy has bought a gift home for his mother. What, you would like a drow for a father would you? Hey, at least its not human like your real one."
The tugging on his arm became more insistent as Thomas was trying to get away from the other child. Unfortunately, Drizzt's knee was now throbbing and he sat down before Thomas could lead him away, massaging the sore spot.
He was about to tell Thomas to ignore them when the next insult went flying straight at the boy. "I heard your father died. What of? Old age? I mean, he was in his fourties...that's old for a human." A pause followed this, before the talk continued. "No, that isn't it, is it? No. Your mother probably hired an assassin. I mean, no elf could live with a human that long right?!"
This went straight to Drizzt's head and he found his free hand falling to his belt where his scimitar's holster lay. Icingdeath was in his reach now and, though he had never been particularly cruel, this child was asking for a lesson in manners.
This boy, this child had just hit the one problem he had ever faced with Catti-brie, the only obstacle. "At least his mother was kind enough to teach Thomas good manners. Something you obviously lack." He spat out, listening to the stunned silence. A few seconds later grumbling came to his ears, too low for him to discern words, before Thomas sighed, an indication the young elf had left.
"Friend of yours?" Drizzt asked, his hand once again dropping to rub at his knee. He was sure it would bruise, but he wasn't about to blame Thomas. The boy was obviously trying to avoid an unwanted encounter.
"No." Came the reply, the small voice he heard now an indication of how much the other child's words stung.
Sighing, Drizzt stood again, lightly placing weight on his sore leg to see if he could walk without to much discomfort. Luckily he could walk with only a slight limp and not much pain. His leg was not as bad as he thought.
Soon the two were once again on the move, this time, Thomas staying at Drizzt's side, calling out directions softly and steering him away from any obstacles.
In a few minutes they stopped. Thomas hid behind Drizzt's legs, making the drow understand that this was the house they were looking for.
Drizzt walked in what he hoped was the direction to the door, surprised when he was steered in the right direction by the boy behind him.
Knocking on the door, it soon opened and a surprised gasp was heard. "What do you want?!" The female elf demanded to know.
"Are you the mother of Thomas?" He asked quietly, not wanting to seem thatening in any way.
"Yes, but he is missing. I am so worried!" The woman replied, a hint of more than worry in her voice.
Drizzt smiled, before reaching behind him and grabbing one of Thomas' hands, making the child walk out from behind him. A flurry of movement later found Drizzt on the ground and a rellieved mother hugging her son close.
"Don't you never do that to me again, you hear young man!" She scolded.
Drizzt suddenly remembered his earlier conversation with the boy. "Ma'am, may I suggest not yelling at him. He thinks it is his fault that you are angry." After a small silence, in which Thomas stated afterwards that his Ma had nodded, it was as if lights went off in his head.
"See, you made it home, safe and sound. Unlike me. I am still lost." He stated, a sudden fear of never finding his way back to the Palace filling him.
"He can't see." Thomas said to his mother, making Drizzt look to the ground.
"I cannot find my way back to the Palace unaided." He muttered, wishing that simple fact not to be true. Sighing, he got back to his feet, but didn't move from the spot.
"I could send a message to the Palace for someone to come and take you back." The elf said, before quitly moving past him and outside to talk to a passerby, who was more than happy to pass on the message.
Drizzt was now aware of the slight pain in his knee again, wincing as he began to rub the tender flesh there. Thomas stayed by his side, waiting for his mother to come back.
"The least I could do is offer you some place to rest your leg." The she- elf stated, gently steering him to a couch. "Sit. Make yourself comfortable. Someone should come for you soon."
"Thank you." Drizzt replied, smiling slightly. Soon he was talking once again to Thomas this time about earlier adventures.
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Shade growled low in his throat as he watched the fight that had broken out between two of his more powerful males. The infighting in his pack had been growing of late, each of the werecreatures wanting a higher rank in his eyes.
The females were not as bad, but even they had been scrabbling for their own higher ranks, or their mates. He had lost three wolves and most of the rats in his back. The bears had been watching, only fighting with others of their own kind and not as often.
He made his way to the two fighting males and pulled them off of each other, hitting each hard enough to stun.
"Stop this fighting now!" He screamed, his teeth gnashing at the air before his two disobedient pack members. He shifted into his natural wolf form and ripped the throat out of the weaker of the two.
He growled and made for the abandoned Elven village that they had taken residency in. His mate, Nightshade waited for him in her human form, a scowl on her face.
No words were needed. These two had been a pair for so long, they knew each others actions well. Nightshade immediately knew what had happened and changed into her own wolf form.
The rest of the pack followed not long after, moving to the places they had claimed as their own. Of course, they had fed that day. On the flesh and meat of one of their own. The symbolism was not lost on the wereanimals. Either the fighting was to stop or they would be the next meal.
The pack was determined to be well behaved from now on.
A/N - Sorry if this chapter took so long to come out. I have been sick and my brain had fried because of that. Ah well. I might not be all better yet, but I am now back to my writing again. Even though this is totally different to what I have planned, I think it to be better than the last few chapters.
Hmm, it seems half the people who read the last chapter liked it and the other half didn't. Hmmm, well, to each his own...even though I am female. As to Innovindil...I have not yet read the Lone Drow, although I have finally read 1000 Orcs. So, as far as I know, she has only ever been with Tarathiel.
Oh, also, I added Tarathiel into this story and wrote about his family before reading 1000 Orcs, so had no knowledge he would be in it at all. Hey, he has been one of my favourite characters since his small cameo appearance in Starless Night and could not resist.
Ok, enough rambling from me now. Thank you to my reviewers once again. BelleDayNight, PsychoCatGirl, ChichiX, Sirithiliel, Carlin Robertson, She- cat and Rebma Esined.