Recursive fanfic: Forgotten Realms
Aug. 10th, 2022 06:12 amChampion and Pegasus (2898 words) by Somariel
Chapters: 1/1
Fandom: Forgotten Realms, The Legend of Drizzt Series - R. A. Salvatore, Wheel of Time - Robert Jordan
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Characters: Drizzt Do'Urden, Laeral Silverhand, Bruenor Battlehammer, Ysolde Veladorn, Original Characters
Additional Tags: Alternate Universe - Fusion, Implied/Referenced Canon-Typical Violence, Fluff
Series: Part 7 of A Crossing of the Realms, Part 3 of Ranger and Pegasus in the Wheel
Summary:
Inspired by![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
senmut and ilyena_sylph's fics Ranger and Pegasus and Champion of Mielikki, Champion of the Light.
This fic contains some minor borrowing from "Champion of Mielikki, Champion of the Light".
If you are confused by this fic, please go read "Champion of Mielikki, Champion of the Light" and the previous fics in my series Ranger and Pegasus in the Wheel, as this fic very much assumes familiarity with all of them.
1347 DR
Drizzt was not pleased that the warning from Mielikki and Gwaeron drew him to the east when whatever it was that he had come up here seeking was pulsing so clearly just a bit to the west, but that it had been so clear, and from both of them, meant he could not afford to ignore it even for just long enough to deal with the thing, so he got on Bright Eyes and directed her to the east.
Three Darkhounds, two Trollocs, and a Fade, however, certainly justified the urgency of the warning, as they could only be a scouting party for a much larger force. The Tribe of the Wolf was the closest of the Reghedmen, and he would need allies to deal with the larger force, so he signaled Bright Eyes to turn about and head for their camp.
The meeting with King Beorg had gone just as he hoped it would, and when he left their camp, he deliberately did so on foot, so that the three warriors the king was sending immediately would be able to catch up with him, as dealing with the scouting party would be much easier if it was not just him and Bright Eyes.
Only two of the promised three actually did catch up—which, on second thought, made sense, as the king was also sending a woman to tend the camp they would make, so one warrior would have to wait and come with her—and with them focusing on the Darkhounds, Bright Eyes focusing on the Trollocs, and Drizzt himself handling the Fade, the scouting party was easily dealt with.
Moonrise had reminded Drizzt that Mielikki was not the only deity that he could appeal to for aid, and his appeal to Eilistraee had, in quick succession, generated contact with both Qilué and Laeral, and then Laeral’s arrival, with the promise of clerics being brought before the fight against the approaching army began.
Bright Eyes had been as pleased as Drizzt to see their friend again, and when Laeral and Drizzt had left the camp so that Drizzt could show Laeral the terrain, she had come with them. And now, on top of the glacier, Laeral was acting as eyes for two of her nephews to teleport up.
The air around Laeral shimmered in an uncanny synchronization and two half-elves, as silver-haired as their aunt and every bit as tall, stood a few steps away from her, quickly turning to her. One blinked, startled, and then stepped towards Drizzt with his hand extended to clasp or shake. “Good to see you again, Drizzt,” he said.
Recognizing the half-elf as the one who had taught him how to ride and properly care for Bright Eyes during her first winter, Drizzt gave the extended hand a friendly clasp and said, “It’s good to see you too, Andelver.”
“Just Andy, remember? And this is Naerond, Nae. Damn, it’s cold!”
“There are spells for that,” Laeral sing-songed at him, even as Bright Eyes came over and bumped her head against Andy’s chest.
“Yes, yes, I’m pleased to see you too, Bright Eyes,” Andy said with a laugh, digging a piece of dried fruit out and offering it to her.
When Drizzt woke from the rest that Laeral had sent him to get, it was obvious that the sun had not yet risen, but the slowly lightening sky also made it clear that first light was past and sunrise was on its way.
Uncurling himself from against Bright Eyes’s side—to which her only reaction was a sleepy snort—he got up and went to find Laeral.
A few questions to some of the Reghedmen who had arrived pointed him in the right direction, but before he reached her, Bruenor joined him. “Quite a to-do ye’ve got goin’ on here, elf,” his friend said. “Wasnae expectin’ tae find even one of the Chosen of Mystra runnin’ things for ye when we got here, ne’er mind four, but the clerics they brought are certainly welcome.”
“To be honest, I wasn’t expecting such to happen, either,” Drizzt said, even as he continued towards where he had been told Laeral was, “but an appeal to the other goddess one of them serves quickly led to Laeral arriving, followed by two of her nephews, with a promise that clerics were being recruited.”
Bruenor halted abruptly and stared at him. “The Laeral ye always be talkin’ of was the Laeral who is a Chosen, an’ ye never thought to say such?” the dwarf demanded.
“Didn’t seem worth mentioning.”
“Didn’t—” Bruenor cut himself off before his voice got too loud, then muttered, “S'pose I shoulda expected that, little as ye like talkin’ about yer own deeds.”
They soon reached place where Laeral was, and on seeing them, she broke off the conversation she was having with another silver-haired woman and a solemn, watchful man in a cloak embroidered in silver, with a sword at his belt.
“How are you feeling, Drizzt?” she asked as she came over to them.
“Well-rested,” Drizzt replied. “Have you met my friend here yet?”
“We spoke briefly when he arrived with his people, but I haven’t had a chance for a proper introduction.”
“Then allow me to make one. Laeral Silverhand, Chosen of Mystra, this is Bruenor Battlehammer, Chieftain of Clan Battlehammer.”
“A pleasure to meet you, Chief Battlehammer,” Laeral said. “Any friend of Drizzt’s is a friend of mine, so please call me Laeral.”
“Same,” Bruenor rumbled. “An’ ye can call me Bruenor.”
“Thank you. And before I forget, I or one of my sisters needs to have a talk with you sometime after the battle is over.”
“Mighty curious as to why, but since ye think it’s best left fer later, I won’t ask now.”
“It’s nothing bad, if that’s a concern,” Laeral said, “it’s just something that you should know, as the chieftain of Clan Battlehammer.” Turning her attention back to Drizzt then, she asked, “Did you have a particular reason for seeking me out, or did you just want to check in with me?”
“I wanted to check in on how the preparations are going, really” Drizzt said.
“Of course! Why don’t I start by showing you the area we’ve screened for the healers, and how to enter it?”
The tour Laeral had given him had been quite thorough, including meetings with the leaders of the various groups of clerics that had come, and with Elkantar, who was leading the fighter escort Qilué had sent for her clerics—though he had been surprised to hear that Ysolde was one of the ones who had come, given her age—and once it was finished, Drizzt settled in to helping where he could.
Shortly after sunrise, though, he stopped what he was doing, feeling the pull of someone firmly connected to the wilds. Knowing that such a person was most likely the Wolfbrother—and his pack—Drizzt made his way toward them.
When those greetings were over—and oh, he had been surprised to hear the Wolfbrother call him Chain-breaker—Drizzt went and found Bright Eyes, who had been socializing with the three pegasi who had come with some of the Tall Ones, and started looking for the best place for her to hover while he addressed the assembled forces about the dangers of fighting Shadowspawn.
A spell from Storm aided him in making sure as many of them as possible heard his warnings, and once that was done, all that was left was to continue working on the preparations while they waited.
After the battle
Bright Eyes knew what it was like when her person was making an effort to not fuss, and she could tell he was doing so when he spoke with the elf who smelled like the friend he had brought to meet her a few times, even if the elf didn’t look right.
So once he had settled down to sleep, she went off to find the friend again.
The friend was pouring water out of the air when Bright Eyes found her, flanked by two of the silver-haired male friends, so the pegasus waited until the pouring stopped, then gave a snort.
Ysolde looked around at the sound of an equine snort and was surprised to see a pegasus standing nearby, especially when the pegasus, having gotten her attention, walked right up to her and bumped its nose into her chest. “Bright Eyes?” she asked, feeling sure that this had to be Drizzt’s friend, since one of her cousins’ pegasi would surely have sought the attention of Rae or Nae beside her instead.
The pegasus backed up a bit and nodded.
“Were you looking for me?”
Another nod.
“Did Drizzt send you to find me?”
Bright Eyes made a movement that approximated a shake of her head, and gave a snort as well. That had to be a ‘no’, then.
“Does he need a healer?”
Another ‘no’.
“You just… wanted to be with me?”
Another nod, and Bright Eyes bumped her nose into Ysolde’s chest again.
“Alright then.” Ysolde gave her cousins a warning look, and then started to stroke Bright Eyes’s neck.
Four days later
Obtaining the vile artifact that Drizzt had been pulled up to Icewind Dale to deal with ended up proving to be simple enough—Laeral had used a flaming sphere to melt the snow covering it until Drizzt had told her to stop, then Drizzt had taken Bright Eyes down to retrieve it, dropping darkness on the crystal before touching it and wrapping it in his tunic before dismissing the darkness because his instincts said it needed light.
Once Bright Eyes had brought him back up to the ledge where Laeral, Bo, and Melaryn were waiting, Laeral had put up a mansion against the cliff-face and they had all gone in to warm up—and in the case of Drizzt and Bright Eyes, to dry off as well. Bo had taken care of drying off Bright Eyes, since Drizzt was busy with doing the same for himself, and Laeral had easily identified what the crystal was after Drizzt described it to her.
What it was, however, had made actually destroying into a thorny problem, as spells were not an option, and it would only draw strength from even the hottest fire. Laeral had reached out to consult with Elminster, Khelben, and Syluné, and now she was looking at Drizzt and Bo with a serious expression on her face.
“Elminster wants at least you and me, Drizzt, to teleport to Shadowdale with Crenshinibon, both so that he can get it into something a bit more secure, and so that we’ll be easily available for answering any questions he and Syluné have while they work on figuring out a way to destroy it.”
“Does he have any idea of how long we’ll need to be there?” Drizzt asked.
“Not yet,” Laeral replied. “He has a few thoughts on possibilities for the crystal’s destruction, but they all require some research to determine the actual feasibility, and we might well have to go elsewhere before the destruction can actually happen.”
“Hmm. It doesn’t really make sense to bring Bright Eyes along if we’re going to be teleporting around-” Bright Eyes gave an annoyed snort at that, and Drizzt got up and went to stroke her neck. “It really doesn’t, my lovely one,” he said. “It’s extra effort for the mage casting the spell, and I’m just going to be coming back here once the crystal has been dealt with.”
Bright Eyes gave what was very obviously a sigh, and lipped at the pouch Drizzt kept her treats in. Drizzt got one out and gave it to her, then continued with his original line of thought. “Anyway, I don’t really want to leave her without any company for an undetermined period of time.”
“Melaryn and I could stay up here with her, if she’d like,” Bo offered.
“Actually, I was thinking of having her stay in the cavern the dwarves have outfitted for her,” Drizzt said, “but let’s ask her.
“Which do you want, my lovely one? Bo and Melaryn,” and here, Drizzt pointed at the other pegasus, “or the dwarves and Catti-brie?” And as he said the second option, Drizzt patted his pack.
Bright Eyes responded by gently tapping one of her front hooves on the pack.
“The dwarves and Catti-brie it is, then,” Drizzt said. Turning to Bo, he continued, “Bright Eyes knows how to find the right door to the dwarf caverns, but I’d appreciate it if you and Melaryn accompanied her to them.”
“Of course,” Bo said, “we’d be happy to. Is there a special knock I’ll need to give for her, or can she do that herself?”
“She has her own signal,” Drizzt replied. “And thank you.”
1348 DR
Once Drizzt had returned from destroying Crenshinibon, he and Bright Eyes had started contributing to the dwarves’ preparations for the coming journey by gathering food to be preserved—not just fish and meat, either, but harvesting extra fodder for Bright Eyes, as she and Drizzt were going to be acting as forward scouts for much of the journey.
And when the passes to the lands below the Spine finally opened in the spring, Clan Battlehammer moved out, with Drizzt and Bright Eyes ranging ahead of the caravan.
A stop in Luskan to pick up some treats for the dwarves had gained Drizzt and Bright Eyes some companions in scouting—a halfling by the name of Regis, and his pony Socks. Socks and Bright Eyes got on well enough, and though Regis was, as he had said, not used to the wilds, he picked things up quickly enough.
Mirabar had brought more companions, in the form of Foveni Drakebow, a dwarf who was considered the foremost authority on the lands that skirted the Lurkwood—as Bruenor saw no point in following the road the entire way when months could be eliminated by leaving it just south of the Lurkwood and cutting cross-country to where the Surbrin met the Rauvin—and her war pig.
One of the Tall Ones—Dolthauvin, Andy’s twin—had stopped to speak with the caravan while they doing that skirting of the Lurkwood, and as a result, the clan could now expect to have basic billets waiting for them when they arrived in Silverymoon, as Dol had promised to arrange the rental of some empty warehouses for them. That meeting had also provided some amusement for everyone when Bright Eyes had reacted to Dol's pegasus friend Vaska demanding scratches and pats from Drizzt by going and demanding the same from Dol.
Once the Surbrin had been forded and the caravan had turned off to go to Silverymoon, it was back down to just Drizzt, Bright Eyes, Regis, and Socks. As they had managed to find one trace of a road heading up into the Frost Hills before the Surbrin was forded, Regis suggested that Drizzt might be able to find other traces, from a high enough vantage point, so just after dark, Drizzt went up on Bright Eyes, and sure enough, he did notice at least one other.
1349 DR
When Laeral had decreed that Drizzt should be taken home to the stedding to recover from facing the shadow dragon, Bright Eyes had, quite unsurprisingly, insisted on being the one to carry him. But since Drizzt was in no shape to keep himself on her back, Bo rode on her behind him and teleported back to the Hall once Voran had taken over the task of keeping Drizzt on Bright Eyes’s back.
The short trip from the border of the stedding to Lindsar’s home was a bit of a blur for Drizzt, though he knew that had answered some questions from Voran, but once Lindsar had helped him off of Bright Eyes’s back and into her home—their home, he knew she would say—things were less blurred. And so he got to watch the most amusing sight of Lindsar negotiating with Bright Eyes.
“I know you’re concerned about him,” his sister was telling his friend, “but you really can’t stay in here.”
Bright Eyes gave an exasperated-sounding snort, and Drizzt could almost hear the “Why not?” she had to be expressing.
“You have a perfectly fine shelter outside,” Lindsar said, “one that’s already set up for your needs. Drizzt doesn’t need the disturbance of me setting up a place in here for you to settle and figuring out how to manage your food and water needs in here.
“Nor can I be interrupting my work every time you need to go out, and I’m certainly not going to leave the door open.”
Bright Eyes made a motion that Drizzt would have called a considering head tilt in a two-leg, and after a moment, she trotted over to the window that had the best view of the couch that Drizzt was laying on, and bumped her nose against it.
“The window?” Lindsar said, sounding puzzled. “What about it?”
Drizzt, however, had a better idea of how Bright Eyes thought, and said, “I think she wants to know if you’re willing to leave the window open.”
Bright Eyes nodded eagerly, and nickered excitedly as well.
“If I do that, will you agree to stay outside?” Lindsar asked.
Bright Eyes nodded again, and Lindsar sighed. “Very well, then.”
Chapters: 1/1
Fandom: Forgotten Realms, The Legend of Drizzt Series - R. A. Salvatore, Wheel of Time - Robert Jordan
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Characters: Drizzt Do'Urden, Laeral Silverhand, Bruenor Battlehammer, Ysolde Veladorn, Original Characters
Additional Tags: Alternate Universe - Fusion, Implied/Referenced Canon-Typical Violence, Fluff
Series: Part 7 of A Crossing of the Realms, Part 3 of Ranger and Pegasus in the Wheel
Summary:
The events of "Champion of Mielikki, Champion of the Light", in a universe where Drizzt and his teacher saved Bright Eyes's egg a few years before Drizzt met Laeral.
Beginning notes
Inspired by
senmut and ilyena_sylph's fics Ranger and Pegasus and Champion of Mielikki, Champion of the Light.This fic contains some minor borrowing from "Champion of Mielikki, Champion of the Light".
If you are confused by this fic, please go read "Champion of Mielikki, Champion of the Light" and the previous fics in my series Ranger and Pegasus in the Wheel, as this fic very much assumes familiarity with all of them.
Champion and Pegasus
1347 DR
Drizzt was not pleased that the warning from Mielikki and Gwaeron drew him to the east when whatever it was that he had come up here seeking was pulsing so clearly just a bit to the west, but that it had been so clear, and from both of them, meant he could not afford to ignore it even for just long enough to deal with the thing, so he got on Bright Eyes and directed her to the east.
Three Darkhounds, two Trollocs, and a Fade, however, certainly justified the urgency of the warning, as they could only be a scouting party for a much larger force. The Tribe of the Wolf was the closest of the Reghedmen, and he would need allies to deal with the larger force, so he signaled Bright Eyes to turn about and head for their camp.
The meeting with King Beorg had gone just as he hoped it would, and when he left their camp, he deliberately did so on foot, so that the three warriors the king was sending immediately would be able to catch up with him, as dealing with the scouting party would be much easier if it was not just him and Bright Eyes.
Only two of the promised three actually did catch up—which, on second thought, made sense, as the king was also sending a woman to tend the camp they would make, so one warrior would have to wait and come with her—and with them focusing on the Darkhounds, Bright Eyes focusing on the Trollocs, and Drizzt himself handling the Fade, the scouting party was easily dealt with.
Moonrise had reminded Drizzt that Mielikki was not the only deity that he could appeal to for aid, and his appeal to Eilistraee had, in quick succession, generated contact with both Qilué and Laeral, and then Laeral’s arrival, with the promise of clerics being brought before the fight against the approaching army began.
Bright Eyes had been as pleased as Drizzt to see their friend again, and when Laeral and Drizzt had left the camp so that Drizzt could show Laeral the terrain, she had come with them. And now, on top of the glacier, Laeral was acting as eyes for two of her nephews to teleport up.
The air around Laeral shimmered in an uncanny synchronization and two half-elves, as silver-haired as their aunt and every bit as tall, stood a few steps away from her, quickly turning to her. One blinked, startled, and then stepped towards Drizzt with his hand extended to clasp or shake. “Good to see you again, Drizzt,” he said.
Recognizing the half-elf as the one who had taught him how to ride and properly care for Bright Eyes during her first winter, Drizzt gave the extended hand a friendly clasp and said, “It’s good to see you too, Andelver.”
“Just Andy, remember? And this is Naerond, Nae. Damn, it’s cold!”
“There are spells for that,” Laeral sing-songed at him, even as Bright Eyes came over and bumped her head against Andy’s chest.
“Yes, yes, I’m pleased to see you too, Bright Eyes,” Andy said with a laugh, digging a piece of dried fruit out and offering it to her.
When Drizzt woke from the rest that Laeral had sent him to get, it was obvious that the sun had not yet risen, but the slowly lightening sky also made it clear that first light was past and sunrise was on its way.
Uncurling himself from against Bright Eyes’s side—to which her only reaction was a sleepy snort—he got up and went to find Laeral.
A few questions to some of the Reghedmen who had arrived pointed him in the right direction, but before he reached her, Bruenor joined him. “Quite a to-do ye’ve got goin’ on here, elf,” his friend said. “Wasnae expectin’ tae find even one of the Chosen of Mystra runnin’ things for ye when we got here, ne’er mind four, but the clerics they brought are certainly welcome.”
“To be honest, I wasn’t expecting such to happen, either,” Drizzt said, even as he continued towards where he had been told Laeral was, “but an appeal to the other goddess one of them serves quickly led to Laeral arriving, followed by two of her nephews, with a promise that clerics were being recruited.”
Bruenor halted abruptly and stared at him. “The Laeral ye always be talkin’ of was the Laeral who is a Chosen, an’ ye never thought to say such?” the dwarf demanded.
“Didn’t seem worth mentioning.”
“Didn’t—” Bruenor cut himself off before his voice got too loud, then muttered, “S'pose I shoulda expected that, little as ye like talkin’ about yer own deeds.”
They soon reached place where Laeral was, and on seeing them, she broke off the conversation she was having with another silver-haired woman and a solemn, watchful man in a cloak embroidered in silver, with a sword at his belt.
“How are you feeling, Drizzt?” she asked as she came over to them.
“Well-rested,” Drizzt replied. “Have you met my friend here yet?”
“We spoke briefly when he arrived with his people, but I haven’t had a chance for a proper introduction.”
“Then allow me to make one. Laeral Silverhand, Chosen of Mystra, this is Bruenor Battlehammer, Chieftain of Clan Battlehammer.”
“A pleasure to meet you, Chief Battlehammer,” Laeral said. “Any friend of Drizzt’s is a friend of mine, so please call me Laeral.”
“Same,” Bruenor rumbled. “An’ ye can call me Bruenor.”
“Thank you. And before I forget, I or one of my sisters needs to have a talk with you sometime after the battle is over.”
“Mighty curious as to why, but since ye think it’s best left fer later, I won’t ask now.”
“It’s nothing bad, if that’s a concern,” Laeral said, “it’s just something that you should know, as the chieftain of Clan Battlehammer.” Turning her attention back to Drizzt then, she asked, “Did you have a particular reason for seeking me out, or did you just want to check in with me?”
“I wanted to check in on how the preparations are going, really” Drizzt said.
“Of course! Why don’t I start by showing you the area we’ve screened for the healers, and how to enter it?”
The tour Laeral had given him had been quite thorough, including meetings with the leaders of the various groups of clerics that had come, and with Elkantar, who was leading the fighter escort Qilué had sent for her clerics—though he had been surprised to hear that Ysolde was one of the ones who had come, given her age—and once it was finished, Drizzt settled in to helping where he could.
Shortly after sunrise, though, he stopped what he was doing, feeling the pull of someone firmly connected to the wilds. Knowing that such a person was most likely the Wolfbrother—and his pack—Drizzt made his way toward them.
When those greetings were over—and oh, he had been surprised to hear the Wolfbrother call him Chain-breaker—Drizzt went and found Bright Eyes, who had been socializing with the three pegasi who had come with some of the Tall Ones, and started looking for the best place for her to hover while he addressed the assembled forces about the dangers of fighting Shadowspawn.
A spell from Storm aided him in making sure as many of them as possible heard his warnings, and once that was done, all that was left was to continue working on the preparations while they waited.
After the battle
Bright Eyes knew what it was like when her person was making an effort to not fuss, and she could tell he was doing so when he spoke with the elf who smelled like the friend he had brought to meet her a few times, even if the elf didn’t look right.
So once he had settled down to sleep, she went off to find the friend again.
The friend was pouring water out of the air when Bright Eyes found her, flanked by two of the silver-haired male friends, so the pegasus waited until the pouring stopped, then gave a snort.
Ysolde looked around at the sound of an equine snort and was surprised to see a pegasus standing nearby, especially when the pegasus, having gotten her attention, walked right up to her and bumped its nose into her chest. “Bright Eyes?” she asked, feeling sure that this had to be Drizzt’s friend, since one of her cousins’ pegasi would surely have sought the attention of Rae or Nae beside her instead.
The pegasus backed up a bit and nodded.
“Were you looking for me?”
Another nod.
“Did Drizzt send you to find me?”
Bright Eyes made a movement that approximated a shake of her head, and gave a snort as well. That had to be a ‘no’, then.
“Does he need a healer?”
Another ‘no’.
“You just… wanted to be with me?”
Another nod, and Bright Eyes bumped her nose into Ysolde’s chest again.
“Alright then.” Ysolde gave her cousins a warning look, and then started to stroke Bright Eyes’s neck.
Four days later
Obtaining the vile artifact that Drizzt had been pulled up to Icewind Dale to deal with ended up proving to be simple enough—Laeral had used a flaming sphere to melt the snow covering it until Drizzt had told her to stop, then Drizzt had taken Bright Eyes down to retrieve it, dropping darkness on the crystal before touching it and wrapping it in his tunic before dismissing the darkness because his instincts said it needed light.
Once Bright Eyes had brought him back up to the ledge where Laeral, Bo, and Melaryn were waiting, Laeral had put up a mansion against the cliff-face and they had all gone in to warm up—and in the case of Drizzt and Bright Eyes, to dry off as well. Bo had taken care of drying off Bright Eyes, since Drizzt was busy with doing the same for himself, and Laeral had easily identified what the crystal was after Drizzt described it to her.
What it was, however, had made actually destroying into a thorny problem, as spells were not an option, and it would only draw strength from even the hottest fire. Laeral had reached out to consult with Elminster, Khelben, and Syluné, and now she was looking at Drizzt and Bo with a serious expression on her face.
“Elminster wants at least you and me, Drizzt, to teleport to Shadowdale with Crenshinibon, both so that he can get it into something a bit more secure, and so that we’ll be easily available for answering any questions he and Syluné have while they work on figuring out a way to destroy it.”
“Does he have any idea of how long we’ll need to be there?” Drizzt asked.
“Not yet,” Laeral replied. “He has a few thoughts on possibilities for the crystal’s destruction, but they all require some research to determine the actual feasibility, and we might well have to go elsewhere before the destruction can actually happen.”
“Hmm. It doesn’t really make sense to bring Bright Eyes along if we’re going to be teleporting around-” Bright Eyes gave an annoyed snort at that, and Drizzt got up and went to stroke her neck. “It really doesn’t, my lovely one,” he said. “It’s extra effort for the mage casting the spell, and I’m just going to be coming back here once the crystal has been dealt with.”
Bright Eyes gave what was very obviously a sigh, and lipped at the pouch Drizzt kept her treats in. Drizzt got one out and gave it to her, then continued with his original line of thought. “Anyway, I don’t really want to leave her without any company for an undetermined period of time.”
“Melaryn and I could stay up here with her, if she’d like,” Bo offered.
“Actually, I was thinking of having her stay in the cavern the dwarves have outfitted for her,” Drizzt said, “but let’s ask her.
“Which do you want, my lovely one? Bo and Melaryn,” and here, Drizzt pointed at the other pegasus, “or the dwarves and Catti-brie?” And as he said the second option, Drizzt patted his pack.
Bright Eyes responded by gently tapping one of her front hooves on the pack.
“The dwarves and Catti-brie it is, then,” Drizzt said. Turning to Bo, he continued, “Bright Eyes knows how to find the right door to the dwarf caverns, but I’d appreciate it if you and Melaryn accompanied her to them.”
“Of course,” Bo said, “we’d be happy to. Is there a special knock I’ll need to give for her, or can she do that herself?”
“She has her own signal,” Drizzt replied. “And thank you.”
1348 DR
Once Drizzt had returned from destroying Crenshinibon, he and Bright Eyes had started contributing to the dwarves’ preparations for the coming journey by gathering food to be preserved—not just fish and meat, either, but harvesting extra fodder for Bright Eyes, as she and Drizzt were going to be acting as forward scouts for much of the journey.
And when the passes to the lands below the Spine finally opened in the spring, Clan Battlehammer moved out, with Drizzt and Bright Eyes ranging ahead of the caravan.
A stop in Luskan to pick up some treats for the dwarves had gained Drizzt and Bright Eyes some companions in scouting—a halfling by the name of Regis, and his pony Socks. Socks and Bright Eyes got on well enough, and though Regis was, as he had said, not used to the wilds, he picked things up quickly enough.
Mirabar had brought more companions, in the form of Foveni Drakebow, a dwarf who was considered the foremost authority on the lands that skirted the Lurkwood—as Bruenor saw no point in following the road the entire way when months could be eliminated by leaving it just south of the Lurkwood and cutting cross-country to where the Surbrin met the Rauvin—and her war pig.
One of the Tall Ones—Dolthauvin, Andy’s twin—had stopped to speak with the caravan while they doing that skirting of the Lurkwood, and as a result, the clan could now expect to have basic billets waiting for them when they arrived in Silverymoon, as Dol had promised to arrange the rental of some empty warehouses for them. That meeting had also provided some amusement for everyone when Bright Eyes had reacted to Dol's pegasus friend Vaska demanding scratches and pats from Drizzt by going and demanding the same from Dol.
Once the Surbrin had been forded and the caravan had turned off to go to Silverymoon, it was back down to just Drizzt, Bright Eyes, Regis, and Socks. As they had managed to find one trace of a road heading up into the Frost Hills before the Surbrin was forded, Regis suggested that Drizzt might be able to find other traces, from a high enough vantage point, so just after dark, Drizzt went up on Bright Eyes, and sure enough, he did notice at least one other.
1349 DR
When Laeral had decreed that Drizzt should be taken home to the stedding to recover from facing the shadow dragon, Bright Eyes had, quite unsurprisingly, insisted on being the one to carry him. But since Drizzt was in no shape to keep himself on her back, Bo rode on her behind him and teleported back to the Hall once Voran had taken over the task of keeping Drizzt on Bright Eyes’s back.
The short trip from the border of the stedding to Lindsar’s home was a bit of a blur for Drizzt, though he knew that had answered some questions from Voran, but once Lindsar had helped him off of Bright Eyes’s back and into her home—their home, he knew she would say—things were less blurred. And so he got to watch the most amusing sight of Lindsar negotiating with Bright Eyes.
“I know you’re concerned about him,” his sister was telling his friend, “but you really can’t stay in here.”
Bright Eyes gave an exasperated-sounding snort, and Drizzt could almost hear the “Why not?” she had to be expressing.
“You have a perfectly fine shelter outside,” Lindsar said, “one that’s already set up for your needs. Drizzt doesn’t need the disturbance of me setting up a place in here for you to settle and figuring out how to manage your food and water needs in here.
“Nor can I be interrupting my work every time you need to go out, and I’m certainly not going to leave the door open.”
Bright Eyes made a motion that Drizzt would have called a considering head tilt in a two-leg, and after a moment, she trotted over to the window that had the best view of the couch that Drizzt was laying on, and bumped her nose against it.
“The window?” Lindsar said, sounding puzzled. “What about it?”
Drizzt, however, had a better idea of how Bright Eyes thought, and said, “I think she wants to know if you’re willing to leave the window open.”
Bright Eyes nodded eagerly, and nickered excitedly as well.
“If I do that, will you agree to stay outside?” Lindsar asked.
Bright Eyes nodded again, and Lindsar sighed. “Very well, then.”
