With their pockets a bit heavier, and Trey's step much lighter, the two companions left city-town. It did not take long before they were on the open road; the small city was like an island off by itself, surrounded by open wilderness. Once out of sight of the great wall, Nuitae lowered the hood of her cloak and pulled down her mask, shaking out her silver hair. Trey smiled a bit. He could not get used to her exotic beauty- nor did he think he would ever get used to seeing a drow walking beside him as a comrade!
As if sensing his thoughts, Nuitae glanced at him, her face puzzled, and slightly annoyed. "What are you staring at?" she demanded.
Trey chuckled and held up his hands. "Why, a beautiful elf-maid, nothing more!" he said. Nuitae pointedly looked away as the two continued down the road. "It's a long way to Raven's Bluff," the hunter said, "and only a few stops in between. Perhaps you should ride while we travel. You would save your strength if we run into trouble."
"My strength will be fine, thank you. I am not some pampered child."
"You certainly act like it," Trey countered, more sharply than he intended. Then he sighed. "Sorry. Perhaps we could take turns riding. I know I have certainly missed having a horse to ride!"
"Then you may ride, and I will walk." Nuitae said, staring straight ahead. Trey faltered and stopped in the middle of the road, staring at the elf as she continued walking, with the horse. Ready to pull his hair out, Trey hoped the rest of their journey would not be like this. Clenching and unclenching his fists, he hurried to catch up, just as Nuitae glanced over her shoulder and smirked. "Are you falling behind already?"
Later, the two strayed off the road a bit to set up camp. Nuitae began unpacking her things, and Trey did the same. Only when Nuitae was finished, did she turn to look at Trey. She had not seemed to notice it before- just how heavily armed the man was.
Trey was not paying attention to the elf, so she pretended to busy herself with the horse. Slowly and carefully, Trey set down the large pack he carried. Over his cloak, all that could be seen was a sheath with a longsword crossing his right shoulder, a rapier crossing his left. Removing this and then his cloak, Nuitae saw his belt- it had three or four small pockets on it, and on his right side two throwing daggers, but the majority of it was filled with crossbow bolts. She noticed Trey was incredibly careful handling them, and even wore leather armbands that protected his hand, forearm, and up to his elbow. Underneath his vest was a chest holster- and a deadly looking hand crossbow fitted neatly inside. Carefully, Trey removed the belt and the holster.
"Those are drow weapons," Nuitae said suddenly, her arms resting on the horse's back, and her chin resting on her arms.
The hunter looked around, his face strangely expressionless, and nodded slowly.
"You must hate them very much. To use an opponent's own weapons against him is truly a blow to the ego."
"I hated some of them, and as a result, I hate all of them," Trey said, handling his crossbow lovingly. "This," he said, indicating the polished black weapon, "is the weapon I stole from the first drow I killed. It lost much of its magic because of being on the surface, but I have adapted it." Smiling slightly, he put it down. "I was only counting nine years at the time. My family were traders, so everyone who traveled with us was fairly skilled, and put up good fights against the monsters of the surface world. We weren't prepared for the creatures from below."
"No one is prepared for drow. Not even we were, and we had been attacked many times in the past."
Trey continued as if he had not heard her. "We were simply in the wrong place at the wrong time. But after that attack, I swore that every drow I killed would be one less evil from the wretched Underdark. Our group managed to put one down- it was my dagger that sealed its fate but only after it had been weakened. For my reward, I took its crossbow, took the poison it carried that drow dip the bolts in. I traveled, learning everything I could learn about them, and finally got my reward.
"Drow really are everywhere, you know?" Trey asked. "No one ever sees them, or notices them, unless they want to be seen or noticed. But I discovered a way to see them, and for me to become invisible to them."
Nuitae scoffed. "That's impossible. Drow don't see the way normal elves do. They see body heat- the see a living body, rather than the actual person. I should know…" she added quietly, bitterly.
"When it gets dark, I'll show you," Trey said, grinning for the first time. "Your first lesson will be for after night falls." Nuitae nodded.
"I'm ready. I need to learn, too."
"You must hate them more than I."
"I hate one of them. It is different. Only you can truly fathom the depths of your hatred, as only I can know the depth of mine." Nuitae sat down opposite of Trey. "The drow I truly hate- the only drow I wish suffering upon- is my father. The other elves told me; during a raid, my mother… disappeared. Abducted. After that, there were hardly any raids, but she was pregnant with me. Then, not too long ago, my mother disappeared again. I hate him, I will find him and kill him. But all the paths to the Underdark that were known to us are dead; drow do not use them anymore."
"How do you know your mother was taken, not left willingly, or even killed?"
A look of unparalleled fury broke Nuitae's solemn expression as she turned towards the man. "The house was in shambles, torn and destroyed! There's no way she would have left our house like that if she went willingly!"
Trey shrugged, conceding the point. "It's still a good hour before night. How would you like some Drow 101?" he asked with a grin, completely taking Nuitae off guard.
So began Nuitae's first lesson in the language of her most hated enemy. She picked up rather quickly, repeating the name for everything around her that Trey gave, though it was difficult since the Drow language did not even have a word for many of the things that surface elves did.
"Do you know what your name means?"
"I know the first part," Nuitae responded. "It is elvish, meaning "night child," or also "beautiful night." The elf had seemed to forget all her troubles, all her problems, so focused on learning that it seemed, for a moment, her cares were washed away.
Trey nodded. "But not the second part?"
Nuitae shook her head. "My mother never told me. It is not Elvish. Well, it is, but it is of the Drow dialect. Can you tell me?"
"It means…" Trey paused. In Nuitae's rage she did not seem to fit together the same puzzle that Trey was quickly forming. He wondered if he should have shared his thoughts with her, but decided instead to see where events led them from here. "It means 'center' in Common, that word being the closest translation. Put together with your name, it doesn't really mean anything. But I thought you might like to at least know."
Nuitae smiled. It was growing dark. Trey was becoming less human and more a blur as Nuitae's vision slipped into the infrared spectrum. "It's night, let us begin the second part of my lesson!" Nuitae stood up, reaching for one of the bladed weapons, expecting her lesson to be in sword play. Trey stopped her hand, however, and when she looked at him questioningly, he made a strange motion with his hand.
Cocking her head to the side, she saw him repeat the same motion. Slowly, not understanding, she repeated the motion, causing Trey to laugh aloud. "Good, very good!" he said in Drow. Then, in Common, he continued. "Language will be your only lesson for a while, at least until we get to Raven's Bluff. We'll get you your own good weapons, and then your lessons with those will begin."
"So what can you teach me after dark?"
"Drow have more than one language, Nuitae'neth. They usually speak Undercommon as another spoken language, but they have something that most other races do not- even other creatures from the Underdark. A sign language. A language that can only be seen in the infrared spectrum."
For perhaps the first time, Nuitae was completely amazed, and in awe, of the drow. "But how do you know it? You do not have dark vision like myself or other drow."
In answer, Trey lit a candle, and handed her a strange pair of spectacles. "They won't do anything for you, but for humans and elves, those who cannot see in the same light frequency as you, they allow us to see as drow see."
"You are very well prepared," Nuitae said, "to fight drow. You practically have become one."
Trey laughed loud at that. "Don't insult me! But that's not all of it. That black cloak, it hides me from that same infrared spectrum." Without allowing the elf to reject that idea, Trey pulled the cloak on, and just as he said, he was completely blocked from Nuitae's vision, except for his head. Then, he raised the hood of the cloak, and that, too, was gone.
"That's simply amazing!"
"Only against drow. It does little good against surface elves and other creatures. Not that I need it against them, mind you." Nuitae nodded. "Now then," he said, removing the cloak. "The Drow Sign Language."
The two sat opposite each other for quite a few hours. Trey would hold an active conversation with Nuitae, signing everything he said as he said it, or as close to translation as he was able. Nuitae found herself picking up on the sign language much more quickly than the spoken; it was both complex and simple, but it was a language that no other creature on the surface could learn, and that filled her with pride, despite the fact that it came from the people she hated most. Her mother might have been able to learn some of the drow dialect, but she could never learn the sign language, or at least not see it the way Nuitae could.
"I go to sleep," Nuitae managed to sign, then, speaking in drow, "Light set." Trey smiled widely. She was certainly a fast learner. The drow had no word for "sun" seeing as how they lived in a virtually lightless world. He nodded.
"It is time we got some sleep. There's a town in a couple of days. Word got around that they are a favorite for rogue drow raiders."
Nuitae returned his grin, though with a slight smirk to it. As they turned over, Trey thought about many things. One thing he thought about was Nuitae's name.
The drow portion of her name, neth, had a second meaning. It meant "heart." Though it most likely referred to the center of something, or the actual heart, it was interesting that her mother would use that ending. Nuitae seemed to see everything the way she wanted to- but Trey was beginning to piece together a different picture. But telling Nuitae would only cause her to be angry with him, and she certainly had a drow's temper, even if it was the only aspect of her personality she seemed to inherit. But not only would it anger her, it would shake the very foundation of everything she believed, everything she grew up simply knowing.
It also intrigued Trey, however. He was curious now, truly curious, about this half-drow's story. He decided that night, that he would help Nuitae find her mother, and her father if she wished, if only to see the ending to this thrilling tale. It would not interfere with his work, and he felt it would be nice to have some company along for a change, company that could even help him.
Trey kept certain parts of his tale from Nuitae. She would learn them in time. He saw no need for her to know his life story, even if he knew hers. One thing was certain- the two shared one common hatred, and one common enemy, and together they would destroy every drow they encountered.
A/N:
Alright, so seventh chapter in. How are you liking it so far? I have a few things to note about this chapter:
According to the "Drow of the Underdark" D&D 3.5 companion, the suffix "neth" does mean "center" or "heart." Like I said in the chapter, it is most probable that "heart" is in reference to the heart of something, like the center of something, or also the actual organ. Drow do not have such words in their language, but for this story, I want to make it known that I use "neth" meaning "heart" in the context of a beloved person.
On that same note, but other hand, I do not know if the name Nuitae really would mean "night child" or "beautiful night." I made up the name Saedre for her mother and wanted to make a name similar to that for the daughter. Nuit (silent "t" in this word though in Nuitae's name it is pronounced) is French for "night" and the "ae" is from Saedre's name.
Also, according to the Legend of Drizzt series written for Forgotten Realms by R.A. Salvatore, the drow do not have words for many things on the surface. In Book 3, Sojourn, Drizzt commands Gwenhyvar to bring him "tree" because there was no word for "wood." SO I assumed the drow would not have a word for "sun" seeing as how some drow may grow up and never see, hear, or know what a sun is.
I put these disclaimers in here really for one simple reason:
I am a D&D nut, and huge fan of the Drizzt series. I have read my "Drow of the Underdark" book many times through. But I do not know everything, and as a writer, I need to improvise. This means that, because I put these disclaimers in here, I would appreciate it if I don't get flamed for having something in here that is wrong.
That being said, thank you for reading, and I hope you are enjoying! Let me know how I'm doing!