Chapter 6: Old Friends, Old Enemies

Disclaimer: Drizzt, Jarlaxle, my special guest and anybody else you recognize belong to RA Salvatore and the author who created my special guest.

A/N: Sorry it took so long! So many fanfic ideas for different books, so little inspiration for this one so before you kill me here's the next chapter... by the way, there's a surprise guest in this chapter, see if you can recognize her... oops! I mean... whoever it is.
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And its been awhile,
since I could... look at myself straight
And its been awhile,
since I said I'm sorry
And its been awhile,
since I've seen the way... the candles light your face
And its been awhile,
but I can still remember just the way the you taste

And everything I can remember
Is f*#ked up as it always seemed... to me I know this place
Can I blame this on my father
He did the best he could for me

It's Been Awhile by Staind
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Few travelers from the surface ever descended into the Underdark in search of Menzoberranzan and fewer still made it there, using skill and luck to bypass all of the dangers it held, though sometimes they were even slain at the hands of the drow they wished to trade their precious wares with. But those who did make it to the infamous city were inevitably shocked and moved by its beauty.

At a glance it was filled with Elvin splendor that rivaled and even surpassed that of their surface cousins. Soaring towers and pointed spires reaching upward, as if trying to tentatively touch the sky where there was only the caverns ceiling. They looked too fragile to be real, for even the slightest breath of air seemed capable of bringing them down. Those with any mage-sense whatsoever could see the purple and green aura of divine and arcane power that
ensorcelled and supported the most impossible buildings.

Indeed, Menzoberranzan was beautiful beyond compare to those who knew not or cared not that the mortar for every masterpiece was the blood of slaves. Elves, dwarves, gnomes, from both the surface and below, forced to work until they dropped.

Then there was the ever-present, inescapable darkness that not even a thousand, thousand faerie fires could disperse. It was the darkness of Lolth, brooding and foreboding it oppressed all laughter that was not cruel, all joy that was not in other's suffering and all love that was not for oneself. There was no place for comforting illusions here, no place for the pure, the innocent and the merciful.

"I'm home," Drizzt murmured to himself bitterly.


Unlike, or more accurately totally opposite to the majestic and intricate architecture of Menzoberranzan, the South Gate which Drizzt entered was shockingly plain. Built of simple blocks the only adornment lay over unnaturally small doors in the form of a giant spider, at least six feet high.

The gates were manned by but two drow guards but there was no doubt in Drizzt's mind that hidden in the shadows where even the infrared spectrum would not reveal them were perhaps ten times as many fighters, clerics and wizards ready and wary for any disturbance. For unwanted and uninvited guests there would be no audible click of a crossbow or echoes of a muttered dweomer to warn them, for death would come as quickly and ruthlessly as the drow themselves. If invaders managed to pass this wall they would find they had played right into the dark elves' hands, for every drow must be as lethal as the next if he is to survive against is worst enemy: every other drow.

Drizzt was stumped. His shorn hair and torn clothing would indicate a status much too low to claim relation to a powerful house as he had originally intended. Sneaking in was totally out of the question. That left only two options open, scout or mercenary. Scout would by highly suspicious since he was alone which left only mercenary. Banishing any remaining traces of self-preservation (for after all, what had he to live for?) that may ruin his charade, Drizzt approached the guards, his hands crossed over his chest in the symbol of peace.

The guards became, if possible, more alert. One held up a halting hand to the other and approached the waiting Drizzt. Leaning forward as if revealing a secret the guard whispered, "Do' Urden?"

Drizzt's jaw dropped, all of his fabricated identity forgotten. He nodded, a bit stupidly in what looked like the face of death.

The other elf nodded in recognition, "Jarlaxle gave us orders that you were not to be harmed. You may proceed," as if the gravity of his tone had amused him, the guard cracked a smile and said in a slightly louder and much more sarcastic tone, "Welcome to Menzoberranzan," the grin grew wider and winking one unusual gold-colored eye he added, "Enjoy your stay."

Drizzt could hardly contain his mirth but kept a straight face when he noticed the long white braid falling in a straight line down the 'male' drow's back. He realized with a shock that the laughing, golden-eyed dark elf had indeed been a girl and had to pause to compose himself once through the gate, lest he draw attention to himself by exploding into helpless laughter at his own folly.

Drizzt did not recognize the area which he entered very well. As a noble he had rarely entered the seedier parts of Menzoberranzan and this was by far the seediest. There was no comparison to the slums of human cities where if in the slums you were born, in the slums you remained. In the eyes of every drow he saw, Drizzt could see a hungry anticipation for what they believed to be (and perhaps was) in their grasp. Higher station, revenge and a willingness to sacrifice anything to gain them. In Menzoberranzan, rank was attainable if you had but the courage to seize it.

He looked away uncomfortably and kept his gaze down, pointedly ignoring the ravenous stares boring into the back of his neck, causing the short cropped hair to prickle nervously. There was no doubt in his mind that he could deal with any individual drow foolish, or desperate, enough to attack.

But their baleful gazes, filled with an animal-like malice that reminded him all too much of the savagery he felt when the Hunter possessed him, wore at his remaining defenses, wearying him until his shoulders drooped under the weight of their combined glares.

*Have ye lost yer fight, then?*

The rebuke, first said in a place darker and more miserable even then Menzoberranzan, echoed through the lost years until it seemed that his fiery love stood before him, hands on hips, her eyes flashing with frustration, fear and... love, stood before him.

"Oh, Catti-brie," he sighed hopelessly to the specter of his own loss, "If only it were not so."

And somehow, against all possibility, he felt as if this grief was shared. He shook his head roughly to dismiss the unwanted apparition but its presence remained.

*Turn back!* it called though whether it was his own subconscious or some form of madness he knew not.

And he wanted to! Oh, how he wanted to, and the need burned through him with a fire he had not experienced since that flame-haired woman had departed this life.

Drizzt stopped and slowly his gaze swept upward to the intricately carved door, partially hidden in the shadows that marked the entrance of Bregan D'aerthe.

Should he turn back? But no, he had come too far now to turn back. Despite all his efforts, the door hinges shrieked as Drizzt slipped into the lighted foyer and closed the door behind him.

Turning back, Drizzt had just enough time to glimpse to figures, one tall and thin and the other lower to the ground, ready to spring before nearly 600 pounds of black fur and claws came flying at him, pinning him to the ground.

To startled even to cry out, Drizzt stared up in shock at the familiar feline muzzle just before a large (scratchy) pink tongue started licking his face in earnest.

Behind it another face, with a head as bald as an egg and an eye-patch to cover one eye. The drow's lips were turned up in an obvious grin of sardonic amusement.

"What kept you?" Jaraxle asked.


A/N: I decided to be nicer to Drizzt in this chapter. Sorry about the delay though I can't make any promises about the date of the next chapter. By the way, the guest was Liriel Baenre and NO she won't be back. Just she has been requested so I decided to give her a whole 5 seconds in the fic. But hey, if you wanna write something on why she's here (cause I didn't work it out) feel free! Oh, and please R&R!