6/7/09

A/N: This story will most likely not turn out to be as long as my other ones. It's not going to be all that short either so prepare for about twenty chapters. I actually set up an outline for this one and I've gotten through a good chunk of it already. Also I would like to apologize for the random turn to Kimmuriel, I completely forgot about him for a little while if you couldn't tell. He's so quiet you would never know he's standing right next to Jarlaxle. And for Kitana's play on words, I wrote that without realizing what I typed so when I went back to read it I burst out laughing. I know it was a lame joke but it holds true for my own grandmother who owns a bakery.

Disclaimer: I do not under anything own Drizzt and Co. They belong to R.A. Salvatore. Everyone else is most likely mine unless you recognize them as otherwise. I also own my spelling errors for which I now have names. Please don't steal my spelling errors, I love them.

Warning: See warning from previous chapter. Excessive religion bashing. I'm apologizing now to anyone who is religious and could be offended. I'm not a total hater, I'm open minded about people doing their own thing but I have never had any good experiences with religion or religious people.

Chapter Four: Her friend is a what?

He watched her as she finished her cigarette and fell back to sleep. The look on her face when she had woken up had been disturbing to see. It had been wild and scared like an animal as it sees its hunter. It was not a normal look at all. Not for her. He had only known her for two days now and he knew that. She wasn't exactly what people would call normal either but who cared? He didn't. That look chilled him to the bone.

Entreri was tired. He had managed to get a couple of hours of sleep earlier but it hadn't really done anything. He was used to constantly moving around, not sitting idle for hours. The only time he did that was when he was waiting for a target. What he really wanted to do was walk around somewhere outside. A good stretch would wake him up. Everyone else was sleeping right now, he would have time to himself. He wanted to, but he didn't.

Instead, he crept silently to the sleeping Kitana. He felt the strange desire to be closer to her for some reason. He studied her face without touching her. She looked a lot different without her usual stone-faced demeanor. She smiled before, but to him it looked almost painful. Right now she looked peaceful, there was no hint of the terrified expression she wore only twenty minutes ago.

The assassin heard movement behind him and turned around. Jarlaxle and Drizzt were both watching him.

"We heard her wake up," the ranger explained to Entreri's questioning look. Entreri nodded and shifted his gaze to Jarlaxle.

"We heard you talking to her so we waited," he said simply.

Burning under her skin. Laughter from somewhere near her. In front of her perhaps? She had no way of knowing.

A laughing figure stepped out of the darkness around her. His long robe swirled around him and even as he paused in front of her it seemed to writhe around his body She knew him like she knew the man from her other dreams, but he was not the same person. This one was cold and full of hatred. He wanted her dead, that was easy enough to see. "I see my dear poison is enjoying you," he said to her as he smiled cruelly. "It is a pity you must die. We could have used you." He continued his laughing and others joined. Her body felt frozen, something was making its way through her veins and she had no way to stop it.

She was going to die.

They all looked back to the sleeping girl when they heard her let out a small cry in her sleep. She was dreaming again. Her hands clawed at her pillow and her legs began to kick violently. She managed to kick the couch hard enough to throw herself to the floor. Entreri caught her enough so she didn't hit it too hard. She woke with the impact into his arms. Kitana's eyes widened when she saw him but she did not pull away.

Her eyes began to water and she let out a small whimper. Entreri unconsciously held her closer to his chest. Her hands clung to his nightshirt as she began to cry harder. He looked over to the others for some form of assurance that he was doing things right. Jarlaxle gave him a reassuring nod. He sat her up to put her head on his shoulder. She gripped him like a helpless child, Entreri doubted he would be able to get her off until she was ready to move. He did not even consider making her get off of him though.

Her sobs lasted only for a short time. Kitana rested one hand on the junction of his neck while the other still held the side of his shirt. After a few more minutes she was completely still. "What time is it?" she asked without lifting her head. Entreri looked over to the small clock glowing on the side table.

"It's two," he whispered softly. "Do you want to go downstairs and get something?" She nodded into his chest and he easily lifted her. Jarlaxle quickly stepped ahead of him as he carried her bridal style. He sat down in a chair in the kitchen with her still in her arms, her iron grip would not be detached right now. Drizzt found some tea and made it for her. Kitana stared blankly at the steaming cup on the table.

Jarlaxle put his hands gently on her face. "What happened?" he asked delicately. She pulled her face away from him shaking his hands off.

"She doesn't want to talk," Entreri whispered to the drow and to Kitana he said, "Drink your tea. You don't have to go back upstairs if you don't want to."

It was three days later when the events of that night seemed to vanish. She had gotten up as normal, but still looked like she was on the edge of her caution. The four companions paid it no mind though, they were happy to see her emotionally back on her feet. They still had yet to find out what the problem had been, they supposed that it had been another dream. From what Entreri had described, she could have even been having a nightmare. But her face was calm right now. She wasn't smiling but her eyes held the look of soft amusement they had contained before.

Kitana to herself was feeling about ninety percent normal. If anyone asked where the other ten percent was, she would have said that she had no idea and something to the effect of 'it ran away.' She was indeed amused, she liked seeing the others trying to figure out her sudden change in behavior. Part of the reason was that she had not had any of the dreams at all in the last three days. Kitana was still trying to figure out the last one but hadn't had the chance to talk to anyone about it, until now that is. Bringing her to the second reason she was in a better mood. She had a friend coming over in a few days.

Unfortunately, there were other things in store for her today. She had found out through her spying that her grandmother was going to have a priest come to the house for some reason she had yet to find. She was preparing for this as well. With any luck it was just a counseling call and wouldn't involve her being at the meeting. She never knew what her grandmother was going to try to pull with the priest. The stories ranged from quiet talks between him and her grandmother to attempted conversion lectures with Kitana to full blown attempted exorcism. (That only happened once and failed miserably finally convincing the priest that she was not possessed.)

"Kitana!" Her grandmother screamed from the bottom of the stairs as usual. The young woman looked to Jarlaxle who got up and unsealed the door for her. Kitana stepped gracefully down the stairs to face the stupid bitch, currently glowering at her already. "There you are! Father Macon is coming here today, you will be on your best behavior. If you try to pull anything like last time there will be consequences. Do you understand?" Kitana raised an eyebrow but offered no other indication that she had been listening. Her grandmother must have taken the gesture of one of affirmation because she hauled off in the direction of her sitting room. The young woman returned to her room shaking her head. The others immediately noticed her annoyed look and asked her what her grandmother had been screaming about now.

"Just wait and see," she replied. "This is going to be an interesting day."

Sure enough come noon, the priest was at the door and Kitana let him in. Her grandmother had already scolded her for "not being properly presentable" and was still in her sitting room sipping on her exotic tea. She escorted the priest there without saying a word to him. Her watchdogs followed them from behind trying to figure out what was going on. She was about to turn to leave the room when her grandmother stopped her.

"No. You are going to stay," she said as she poured the priest a cup of tea. "Sit down." To the others she said, "Do join us gentlemen."

Kitana sat down as ordered. She was not even fully into the chair when the priest started on her.

"Now Kitana, I know what happened last time with my acolyte but I really think you should listen. You should not have made him believe that you were possessed of a demon. I do apologize to you for his... unfortunate reaction. He is still very young after all. But it is very important for you to hear the will of the gods. You cannot simply stay here and deny them all of your life. You need this."

Her smile could have been either charming or threatening, it was too difficult to tell. A small twitch of her eye gave her feelings away to her watchdogs but the priest and the grandmother failed to notice. "Forgive me for being rude," she replied evenly. "But are wasting your time trying to convert me. I have my own ways just as you have yours and my mind will not be changed. I would have thought you would have seen that when I scared away your acolyte."

"You admit you did that on purpose?"

"I did."

"Why would you do such a thing," The priest gawked. "You could have brought on the fury of the gods!"

"I care nothing for the gods. How many times must I tell you?" Kitana was still too iron set for the priest to deal with. This meeting turned out to be the shortest one she ever had to attend. Her grandmother sent her away for her blasphemy. Kitana delightedly returned to her room and to the book she had been reading before she had been forced to go down stairs.

"What was that down there?" Drizzt inquired from opposite her sitting place.

"What was what?" she replied without looking up.

"That! With the priest!"

"What about it?"

Drizzt shook his head exasperated. "Nevermind. Why was he trying to convert you?"

"Because all he really wants to do is pound my grandmother from behind but he wont because I completely refuse religion. He doesn't want to be associated with someone who is housing someone else who hates religion. I wouldn't doubt that he wants to try something on me too. That man is disgusting."

"Someone would do your grandmother?" Entreri cringed.

Kitana shared his grimace. "I know. It's a scary thought." She cleared her throat and continued. "But to answer your first question, that was the usual monthly occurrence of that stupid bitch trying to force her religion on me. I hate everything that tries to control me, religion is the on the top of my list. I have my own beliefs and if they continue to refuse to see that, then I will continue with my 'blasphemous' ways."

"It is a pity you feel that way. You'll never learn will you?" an angry voice said from behind Drizzt. Her grandmother stepped into the room uncoiling a new torture device. The whip in her hand glowed with a strange energy that felt familiar to Kitana. "Since ordinary whips do not seem to hurt you, Father Macon suggested I try this one instead. I told you there would be consequences!" Her hand gripped the handle of the whip tightly as she cracked it through the air. The weapon went right around the drow ranger and found its target in Kitana. It tore through her pale flesh with frightening power, the energy surrounding it bit at her trying to devour something in her inner being.

The others watched in horror as the beating continued. Kitana's blood was flying everywhere across the room. It pooled at her feet as she tried to stand. They knew that she was not about to back down and sell out her beliefs for the sake of ending the beating. She would fight until her grandmother tired. Kitana bared her teeth trying to mask her pain. She did not scream once. Her grandmother soon grew tired of the strong defiance and gave up. She had struck Kitana sixty-seven times and the girl had not broke. Even now she was still on her feet though she was struggling to stand. Once she left the room Kitana fell to her bedroom floor, she failed when she tried to get back up then settled on just lying where she was.

By the time they got next to her a few seconds later she was lightly singing the words to a song they didn't know. She winced when they started to move her but showed no other sign of pain. Jarlaxle took out his healing orb to start her healing, unfortunately he had to leave her wounds half tended. His orb was running out of energy faster than it should have and he knew he didn't want to make her grandmother suspicious. Kitana understood this and told him she would be fine. She thanked him for what he had done and then asked the others to leave her alone for a little while.

Kitana slept for almost four hours. The companions regretted that they had no bandages for her wounds. Though they had been almost halfway healed they were still a horrific sight. They hoped that the wounds would not get infected.

While she slept, the companions thought about something her grandmother had said. What had she meant when she said that ordinary whips didn't harm Kitana? They would have to ask the girl that when she woke. If she was in the mood to talk that is. Something else that bothered them was how had Kitana sustained herself throughout the beating? Even they would be on their knees after a beating like that. She had stood through the whole thing. Sixty-seven lashes was no small thing to fight against! There was more to her survival than stubborn defiance. They had figured early on that she was not an ordinary girl, but what did that make her?

Kitana was not made to work for the next few days. Her grandmother had to keep the extent of her injuries a secret otherwise people would begin to suspect what she was really doing. Instead, she told her guests that she had 'unfortunately beaten the girl for her inexcusable rude behavior towards Father Macon.' She went on to describe how Kitana had been 'most vulgar' and had attempted to strike the priest. Her guests gave their pity as usual.

All of this made Entreri's mouth fill with bile. He hated this woman. She was too much like that filthy merchant that had taken him from his mother as a child. She was too much like Belrigger who had exploited both him and his mother for simple copper coins and alcohol. He wanted this woman dead and would have gladly killed her if he wasn't so concerned about Kitana. Once again he asked himself why he cared so much, maybe because this situation reminded him so much of his own past. Beatings included. He went back upstairs, there was no point in being down here anymore. He was quiet as he entered Kitana's room.

Kitana was able to sit up at this point even though she had been beaten only two days before. Jarlaxle's healing orb had done a lot for her but she was still fairly injured. Jarlaxle had not been able to use the orb on her again, he was concerned that it would be completely drained. What's more was, that when he had attempted to do it again the orb had refused. Telepathically it had told him that she required no further healing. Apparently, the orb had been right because she could, and was sitting up.

A knock at Kitana's bedroom door brought Entreri out of his musings. He turned to see what looked to be a drow male in the doorway. Once he was in proper lighting however, his true nature was made obvious. He was a half drow, though all elven. The half drow's eyes were wide with shock. "Kitana what happened to you?" He raced over to Kitana, fretting over her even more when the girl told him what had happened.

"Yeah. I know," Kitana was saying. "But whatever, it's done. Hitori please tell me you have some liquor. I could really use some."

"Are you sure you should drink? You're still hurt, it doesn't sound like a good idea," Drizzt said to her.

Kitana blew off that thought with a laugh. "I don't really care. I'll be fine." She turned back to the half drow, Hitori, and repeated her question.

"Yeah, sure Kitana," he replied softly and pulled a bottle out of his bag. "Just don't drink too much, okay?" Kitana nodded and took swig from the bottle.

"That's good stuff," she said grinning at Hitori. The half drow, however, didn't look too happy. "What's wrong Hitori, do you not want me to drink? I won't if you don't want me to."

"No Kitana, it's not that. If it was, I wouldn't have handed you the bottle. Tell me about the whip she used."

"I don't really know about it," Kitana replied and she took another, smaller, swig. "It was weird. It had this dark purple and black glow around it and it felt like it was biting me from the inside. It knew me. I don't know what that feeling is about I just know that it did. I knew it too. Why do you know what it is?"

Hitori looked up at her. It was obvious to her that he wanted to say something but either would not, or could not. That happened with him a lot. Hitori sighed deeply, "Yes I do know."

"What is it?" she asked only half expecting an answer. He shook his head. He wasn't going to tell her. That happened a lot too. Kitana took his silence stoically, she was used to him not answering. There was nothing she could do but hope he would tell her at one point of another. By now she had managed to down a quarter of the bottle after barely fifteen minutes that was probably not a good thing, but she didn't care. Her head was starting to spin and like every other time she had been drinking with Hitori, strange visions swam through her mind. She stumbled to her feet and walked carefully to her desk to grab a sketchbook and a pencil. Her hands became a blur as she worked. Kitana had no idea what she was doing or what she was drawing. She would look over them in confusion when she sobered up later or the next day. Hitori never answered anything about her drawings either.

The companions watched with deep interest as she covered paper after paper with intricate drawings. They looked to each other silently expressing that they would look when she fell asleep. Her drawing binge lasted only ten minutes before she abruptly stopped. She turned to Hitori and told him to dance with her as she found some music to play. It was late at night and her grandmother was sleeping. Kitana could afford to reveal her stereo system at this point. She put in one of her favorite CD's and began to dance around her room with the half drow. It went well enough before Jarlaxle decided to ask Hitori how he had gotten to be such a good dancer.

Kitana and Hitori turned to each other and laughed. "Do you want to tell him or do you want me to?" Kitana asked. The half drow told her to go right ahead. "He's so good, " she started slowly. "because he's a stripper."

"He's a stripper?" the mercenary leader asked doubtfully.

"Yep," she replied laughing. Kitana was definitely drunk at this point. "And not just any stripper. He has the highest demand from men and women all over the place, not just this town but Waterdeep too. Isn't that right Hitori?" She danced away from Jarlaxle and over to her friend who caught her and spun her around before allowing her to dip him down almost to the floor.

"That's right Kitana. And don't forget about the number of people who don't know that."

"You mean like my grandmother and all of the women who don't know that their husbands are really gay?" The two friends burst out laughing.

"Are you gay?" Kimmuriel had to ask.

"Mostly," Hitori replied.

"How can you be 'mostly' gay?" the psionicist asked. Hitori sashayed over to him and leaned into the drow's face with his hands on Kimmuriel's thighs.

"I'm bisexual," Hitori said to him licking his lips and grinning. "Why?" He proceeded to tease Kimmuriel with a small bout of purring noises and petting. He stopped when Kitana let out a loud yawn. She was tired, she said and she was going to bed now. She turned off her music and lay down on her couch again. She was asleep within minutes, most likely because of the alcohol. The companions decided that it was time to get serious.

"What do you know?" Entreri demanded from the half drow. Hitori, caught off guard threw his hands up as if to ask the assassin what he was talking about. "You know. We know you do. Now tell us about Kitana. What the hell is going on here?"

"I can't tell you," Hitori replied calmly.

"And why is that?" Entreri said, his voice taking on a slightly threatening tone.

"I would like to, believe me. And I want to tell her the truth. But I'm under a spell by the ones who put her here. I can't say anything about it directly."

"He's telling the truth," Jarlaxle informed him. "I cast a lie detection spell, he is not lying."

Hitori nodded in thanks. "Try looking at her drawings. And her poems and journal entries if she'll show them to you." He left without saying another word. Saying that last bit had hurt him enough already. He only hoped that they would figure it out and rescue Kitana.

"What do we do now?" Drizzt asked.

"Let's look at her drawings," Jarlaxle replied. "Maybe they can tell us something."

Most of the drawings contained images of a cloaked woman walking through what looked to be a desert. Some had small, dark skinned children while others had rundown looking buildings, a few held basic knives nothing overly valuable. One drawing in particular caught their attention. It was of a man, short dark hair and drawn as though someone was viewing him from behind. He was wearing a dark colored cloak but those were common enough and they could only see a portion of his right eye. A small fraction of the cloaked woman was also in the picture. It looked like she was watching him walk away. The man wasn't even looking in her direction. The drawing was still to vague for them to really learn anything from it so they put it back down where Kitana had left it.

Her ears caught the ring of steal. Somewhere near her there was a battle going on.

She approached the area cautiously, not really wanting to get involved. Soon she found the combatants, minor street thugs fighting over some wench. A prostitute most likely. The fools were not worth her time. The wench's face became startled suddenly. Realizing her mistake she faded into the shadows and was not seen again. When she was far enough away she took out her dagger, its silvered edge caught the light in a brilliant display of mirrored rays. She let herself emit a irritated sigh as she slipped it back into its sheath, then stepping into one of the many plain looking buildings forced her face to become a mask.

Her hood was pulled low as always. Secrecy was her greatest weapon. None here spoke her real name or knew her true face. The guild master drawled on about having a job for her to do. He wanted his money back; his kind always did. She would get her payment when she returned, the guild master promised, no doubt he was already thinking about how to cheat her out of it. She left the meeting room passing a man in a long red robe, the house wizard. He glared at her briefly but said nothing, he knew how dangerous she was.

She looked at the small piece of parchment in her hand, her target lived in the small part of town she had just gone through. She killed him as she had in all of her other dreams. Then like before one of the guild master's men tried to kill her.

Burning. Laughter. The cold rush of poison through her body. Blackness.

Kitana woke this night as she had a few days ago, suddenly and in a cold sweat. She didn't smoke this time but looked over to Entreri who was once again awake and regarding her quizzically. "Are you all right?" he asked.

"I just had another dream," she said without thinking. She realized her slip a moment later and bit her lip. Why had she just told him that? To her surprise, he nodded and asked if she wanted to talk about it.

"I was a woman in a long black cloak," she explained. "In a desert somewhere and I was killing someone. I don't know who it was I just feel like I actually did it. He took something from someone. The person he stole the thing from hired me to kill him and get it back. Then someone tried to kill me."

"Is that the one you had the other night?" Entreri asked. She nodded. "Is there more than that?" The assassin didn't know why he was pressing her, but what she had just said was in one of the drawings.

"I saw a bunch of men in long red robes. They hated me and needed me gone. Then I felt like there was something burning through me, I don't know what it was. That's where it stopped."

"Were you the woman in the black cloak in that one too?" Kitana nodded again. "What about the men, do you know who they are?"

"No I don't," Kitana replied. "Well, no I can't say that. I feel like I do know them but that's all I have." She looked up at him suddenly. "Can I sleep with you?"

Entreri raised an eyebrow. What exactly was she proposing? Seeming to understand his thoughts she elaborated. "I mean can I sleep next to you. Just so I can get some real rest tonight." She knew she would be made to work again tomorrow. Seeing no real harm in such an action, Entreri came over to her so she wouldn't have to move. He lay down behind her on the couch and covered her with a blanket, effectively creating a barrier between their bodies so that if anyone saw them they wouldn't think the wrong thing. Kitana took his hand and drew his arm around her, Entreri chose not to say anything about it as she curled into him. She was back to sleep not long after.