Forgotten Realms: New fic
Nov. 7th, 2023 05:14 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
somarielSouls Afire (4119 words) by Somariel
Chapters: 1/1
Fandom: Forgotten Realms, The Legend of Drizzt Series - R. A. Salvatore
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Characters: Alustriel Silverhand, Drizzt Do'Urden, Original Elf Character(s), Original Human Character(s)
Additional Tags: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence
Summary:
As Alustriel accepted a new burn as the price of dodging the fighters attempting to pin her between them, she knew she was going to be receiving quite a few reproaches and "I told you so"s when she returned to Silverymoon, but even so, she could not have done any differently when this fire in the Silverwood proved resistant to the firefighting efforts of those she had initially sent.
And honestly, if it had been just the orc shaman she was facing, this fight would have already been over.
But this shaman had had the wits to bring six fighters with him, all of whom were more skilled than was typical for orcs.
And even with the aid of whoever it was who had taken out three of the fighters with well-placed arrows, the need to avoid both them and, as much as possible, the fire, had kept her from achieving the focus that would have ended the fight swiftly.
Another dodge—this time, of one of the shaman's spells—earned her another burn, and then she was in the position she had been maneuvering towards since the first arrow took down a fighter, with her back to whoever her ally was.
Then she threw another spell of her own at the shaman.
He dodged it and started to cast another spell, only to be interrupted by an arrow sprouting from his throat.
Without the need to keep the shaman occupied, Alustriel quickly took out the remaining three fighters, then turned to assess how bad the fire was in the direction that would lead her towards her ally.
But even as she did so, her balance wavered and her vision blurred for a moment, letting her know that she had truly pushed her body too far, and now she had to pay the price for that, no matter how necessary it had been.
However, she still needed to escape the fire before it was safe to let that happen, so she dredged up a bit more strength and started looking for a possible safe path through the fire.
She had not been doing so for very long, however, when she saw a tree toppling towards her.
Backing up to make sure it didn't hit her, she looked around warily to assess if any other trees in the area seemed likely to come down.
But when the tree hit the ground, she realized that it must have been felled deliberately, as it was only half burned.
And even as she thought that, she saw movement along the tree's line coming towards her.
The first thing to appear through the smoke was a much larger than normal panther, but the second was a cloaked figure of roughly average height for an elf.
But even as the figure came closer, her vision started to blur again, and she was barely able to keep herself conscious for long enough for the figure to get close enough to catch her as she passed out.
Drizzt carefully picked up his speed as the woman he had been helping wavered on her feet, and managed to get to within arm's reach of her before she fainted.
He automatically reached out to catch her, and though he briefly staggered at the sudden weight to support, he did keep her from falling to the ground.
Getting her cradled in his arms without putting pressure on any of her burns took some careful maneuvering, and even a bit of assistance from Guen, but once she was, he looked at his friend and said, "Once we're all out of the fire, I need you to go find a den close to the river for us."
He got a rumble of agreement in response, and then Guen led the way back along the young tree he had felled to give him a bridge through the fire.
The passage back out was a bit harder than the one in, given the extra weight he was carrying, but he made it without a single misstep, and as Guen headed off to do as he had requested, he carefully set the woman down.
He couldn't seriously begin treating her injuries until they were settled in whatever den Guen found, but he could at least check to make sure there was nothing that needed immediate attention, as well as get an idea of how many injuries the woman had.
Alustriel could not remember getting out of the fire, but the faint chill of the air around her, and the scent and sound of running water close by, told her that she was out, even if the strong scent of smoke made it clear that this place was still not far from the forest fire.
A slight scuff nearby caused her to open her eyes, and she was somewhat surprised to find that they were covered by a damp cloth—at least until a voice spoke.
"Please be still," the voice said, and Alustriel remembered her ally during the fight, as well as the figure who had been approaching when she lost the fight to remain conscious. "I have done the best I could to treat your burns and the other wounds you took, but you had many, and I have limited resources."
Deciding that her eyes ached enough that leaving the cloth in place was a good idea, she sighed. She wanted to go back and resume helping with the firefighting efforts, but now that she was fully awake, she could tell that she was in no shape to do so.
"How long was I out?" she asked.
"About a day and a half," the voice said. "And though the fire is not yet out, those fighting it have been having more success at doing so since your fight ended."
"That is good to hear," Alustriel said. "I had hoped that killing the shaman would have that effect.
"And on that subject, thank you for your assistance in that fight."
"I am a ranger, Lady. It was no more than my duty to do so."
"Be that as it may, I can still be grateful for it." Then, deciding that continuing to think of her savior only as 'the voice' would get quite tedious, she asked, "What is your name?"
"I am Drizzt Do'Urden, a ranger of Mielikki," her savior replied. "May I know yours?"
"Alustriel Silverhand."
The choice to leave off her titles was a deliberate one, to set things on a more informal footing, but it seemed that was not to be, as Drizzt immediately said, "You are the Lady of Silverymoon, then?"
Alustriel sighed. "I am."
"Then I will send a message to my Lady's Sacred Glade, to let them know that you are safe, and where you are."
"I... thank you." It wouldn't stop Korvallen from worrying, she was sure, but such a message ought to at least reduce his worries.
Late in the morning of the second day since Alustriel had been cut off from the rest of them by a flaring of the fire that had to have been actively controlled by someone, the sound of hoofbeats caused Niska Bentleaf to look up from the map on which those on this side of the fire were keeping track of the efforts to fight it.
And when she saw that the source of the hoofbeats was several Knights and a few squires, led by Korvallen, riding up to this northern base camp for the firefighting efforts, she excused herself from the group planning where to focus their next efforts, and went over to greet the Knights.
"Saers," she began, "have you come to assist with fighting the fire?"
"Not exactly," Korvallen replied, dismounting from his horse, "but it might be necessary in order to accomplish what we did come to do."
"Oh?"
Korvallen reached into his belt pouch, and pulled out the message that had both relieved him and provided a new reason to worry.
"Falcon brought this to the Glade late yesterday," he said as he held it out to Niska.
Niska reached out to take the folded scrap—of scraped hide, she noted upon touching it—and unfolded it.
There were words written inside, and as she read them, she let out a sigh of relief.
Alustriel Silverhand in Rauvin west riverbank den along curve to west. Burns & other wounds.
"I see," Niska said, once she had read the message. "And the location provided does mean you're going to need to help with the firefighting efforts, since we've not done much to beat back the fire on that side, given the river's presence as a natural firebreak."
Korvallen sighed heavily. He had known that was likely the case, but he had hoped it would be otherwise. "Very well. Show us how we can help."
Voices drifting down from somewhere above her were what woke Alustriel on the second morning since she had regained consciousness.
And though the light filtering through the cloth over her eyes was bright enough that Drizzt should have returned from his sunrise vigil by now, she could not hear the quiet movement of him preparing breakfast, though the cloth was damp enough that it couldn't have been too long ago when it was replaced.
"Drizzt?" she called softly, on the off chance that he had chosen to linger outside.
The lack of reply drew a sigh from her, but she couldn't quite say she was surprised, given how... skittish... he had been about the idea of any sort of recognition for his aid of her.
Choosing not to dwell on that, however, she listened carefully to the voices for any that she recognized.
And when she did, she called out, "Korvallen?", in a voice much louder than the one she had used to call for Drizzt.
"Uncle!" That was Kolarven's voice, quite close, and full of excitement. "Over here!"
It wasn't long before she could hear someone making their way down the riverbank to the level she was on, and soon after that, armored footsteps stopped outside the den she was in.
Then there was a shifting of armor, and Korvallen's voice cried "Elué!", immediately followed by the sound of those armored footsteps rushing towards her.
"Not so loud, Kor," she said. "My eyes ache, and that's giving me a headache."
"If you hadn't sprung the damn trap, your eyes wouldn't ache," Kor grumped. But his voice was quieter, and it was even gentle when he continued with "That the reason for the cloth over your eyes?"
"It is," Alustriel replied. "It's a damp cloth, even.
"As for springing the trap, I'd already given all three of the potions I was carrying to people who'd been badly burned by flames acting unnaturally near me, and wasn't going to let others continue to be hurt by someone who was clearly targeting me."
Kor sighed heavily. That was her stubborn tone, the one that indicated she wasn't going to accept any arguments against whatever she was saying.
So rather than start wrangling over what she could have done differently to keep herself safer, he pulled out the potion he had brought and uncapped it.
"I've got a potion for you," he said. "Do you need help taking it?"
Alustriel shifted so that her head was more upright, and held out her hand. "Not after it's uncapped."
Kor handed the potion to her, and watched carefully as she drank it, then let out a sigh of relief.
"Oh, that's much better," Alustriel said, then removed the cloth from her eyes.
And though she had to squint a bit at first, her eyes soon adjusted to the brighter light, and she could see Korvallen kneeling beside her, a concerned look on his face.
A look around the den proved that Drizzt had indeed left for good, as none of his gear was present, but given how recently he had to have left, there was still a chance that he had not done so unnoticed.
"Did anyone see the ranger?" she asked.
"The one who sent the message to the Glade?" Kor replied.
Alustriel nodded, and he continued. "No one's seen anyone who wasn't helping fight the fire.
"And we've been keeping an eye out since we found the orc corpses."
Alustriel sighed. "Botheration. I wish I'd at least managed to see him clearly enough to give a description. Because he's clearly spent far too much time alone, and I'd like to do something to repay him."
"Well, one thing that could be done is to replace the clothing he sacrificed for your bandages," Kor said. "But we can discuss that further after you've been seen to by a cleric."
"Alright."
Early in the morning of the day after Drizzt had watched the Lady of Silverymoon be helped out of the den and up the riverbank by a faerie, he looked up at the call of a goshawk to see one steadily descending towards him.
Instinct had him raise his arm for the bird, and shortly thereafter, it landed carefully on his upraised arm.
And it was only after that that he noticed the rolled up piece of paper tied to the bird's leg.
"Is that a message for me?" he asked the bird.
A kek-kek and a nod from the bird was his answer, so he removed the roll, and then, once he had it safely tucked into Guen's pouch, he found a piece of dried meat to offer the bird.
The bird accepted the treat gladly, then after he had thanked it for delivering the message, it flapped its wings once while tensing for takeoff.
Once again acting on instinct, Drizzt swiftly thrust that arm upward, and as it reached full extension, the bird flapped hard and took to the air.
Drizzt watched it go until it was out of his sight, noting as he did so that it was headed in the direction of Silverymoon, then took the message out of his pouch and opened it.
The writing inside was neat and elegant, confirming his suspicion as to the author of the message even before he saw the signature, but the words were nothing he had expected
Drizzt Do'Urden,
Later today, replacement clothing will be left in the den you brought me to.
Alustriel Silverhand
With a sigh, Drizzt tucked the message back into the pouch. The replacements would definitely be appreciated, but he was going to have to see if Guen could fetch them without leading others to him, as he felt it was all too likely that there would be people watching to see who came to get the clothing.
"What do you mean, 'the panther vanished'?!"
Even as the other two Knights who had been watching with them flinched back, Kolarven stood their ground in the face of their uncle's anger.
"Exactly what I said. The panther went down to the den, and when it hadn't come back out after several hours, we went down to check, and not only was it not in the den, there were no pawprints indicating it had left."
Korvallen sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose. "Was there anything at all that might give a clue as to how the panther managed to vanish?"
"Not directly," Kolarven said. "But although the bundle of clothing was gone, both the salve and the potions that had been wrapped inside the bundle were still in the den."
"You think that something about however it was that the panther vanished caused the only magical items in the bundle to be left behind." It was not a question.
"Yes."
Korvallen sighed again. "Well, that at least provides an avenue for research. Thank you."
Taking that as a dismissal, Kolarven bowed their head in respect, then turned and left Korvallen's office.
Though Korvallen had been reluctant to admit it, with the obvious paranoia Alustriel's savior had about being seen, there wasn't much else that could be done to find him other than hope for someone to have a chance meeting with him.
And so, word was spread among all the druids who had come to aid in the Silverwood's recovery, to keep an eye out for a ranger—most likely an elf—with a panther companion.
In the month since Aronna Plainswind had arrived to help with the Silverwood's recovery from the terrible fire, she had seen several signs that the ranger who had saved Lady Silverhand was still in the area, helping as he could, and she knew at least some of the other druids had also seen such.
So when she followed a pull along a very faint trail leading towards the river, she was not truly surprised to hear a laughing voice saying "Guen, no. I don't need to be washed," coming from ahead of her as she got closer to the river.
And as she carefully followed the subtle trail markings down the riverbank and along the river's edge towards where she knew there was a mostly-roofless cave hollowed out by the river at some point in the past, she heard the rumbling half-purr of the big cats accompanying the laughter.
When she reached the point where she could see around the curve of the riverbank into the cave, her first impression was of a large mass of moving colors.
But as she stood there and studied it, the mass resolved into a very large panther, who was gently wrestling with... a drow?
And when the drow laughed, it was the same voice that she had heard on her approach to the river.
Well then.
Although Drizzt had been greatly enjoying the friendly tussle with Guen, the feeling of being watched caused him to bring it to an abrupt halt.
But before he could start on figuring out what do now that he'd been seen clearly by someone, the watcher spoke.
"Ranger Do'Urden? I mean you no harm."
Turning towards the voice, he saw an elderly human woman, dressed in greens and browns, and leaning on a smooth staff, standing at the mouth of the hollow, on the trail he had marked out to guide himself in reaching it.
How had a human managed to sneak up on him and Guen?
A nudge towards the woman from Guen, accompanied by a rumble and a lean into his side, suggested that maybe his friend had been aware of her approach, so rather than continue to reproach himself for his lack of awareness, Drizzt chose to reply to the woman's inquiry.
"I am Drizzt Do'Urden, a ranger of Mielikki," he said. "Who are you?"
"Aronna Plainswind, druid of Mielikki. And I think our shared Lady wished for us to meet, since I found you by following my feet, as I do to find wherever She wishes me to go."
Drizzt tilted his head thoughtfully. "While I am glad to meet someone willing to talk to me, rather than run away or attempt to attack me, I cannot think of any reason why She would have wanted you to meet me."
Aronna blinked several times in surprise. She could easily sense the strength of Mielikki's favor surrounding Drizzt. How could he be unaware of it?
But even as she considered how to respond, a feeling of 'caution; taming wariness' came to her as if she had asked for Mielikki's aid to understand an animal other than Gnasher.
Well. If her Lady didn't want her to say anything about that favor, she wouldn't, but she still needed to give him a reason for why Mielikki would have lead her to him.
And after another moment of thought, she had an answer.
"Perhaps She wished me to partner you, to know what areas still need the most help in the thickest part of the wood."
Drizzt shifted a little uneasily. He'd been helping as he could, but he knew he wasn't being as effective as the druids were. And he would like to do better.
But after so long being alone because of his species, he was finding it hard to believe this woman.
Turning to look at his dearest companion, he asked, "Guen?"
Guen responded by carefully pacing over to the woman and soliciting scratches from her, and Drizzt breathed a sigh of relief.
"I would appreciate the guidance," he said.
Alustriel couldn't truly say she was surprised to find Korvallen waiting for her when she returned from having breakfast with Tathshandra, but she really would have preferred to have a bit more time to settle her own thoughts on the news Tathshandra had had for her before she shared it with him.
"So why'd the Ladyservant ask you to have breakfast with her?" Kor asked, falling in beside her as she headed back to her rooms.
"A hawk delivered a message from one of the druids yesterday," Alustriel replied.
"And?" That was Kor's 'get on with it' tone, and she suppressed a sigh before continuing.
"Aronna Plainswind was guided to Ranger Do'Urden by Mielikki."
"Huh." Kor sounded rather bemused by that, and his next words proved it. "That's... rather more direct than Khalreshaar tends to be.
"Does Druid Plainswind have any idea why She did so?"
"Not directly stated as such," Alustriel said, "but her message mentioned both that Ranger Do'Urden has a very understandable reason for being wary of being seen, and that he is highly favored by Mielikki, though She has allowed him to remain unaware of that favor."
Kor hummed thoughtfully. "So She might be trying to get Ranger Do'Urden to look past whatever makes him so wary, at least enough to lean into the kinship of those who serve Her."
"That is the conclusion I was coming to," Alustriel agreed. "Especially since Druid Plainswind also said that she was going to attempt to coax him into at least spending the winter here."
As Drizzt had worked alongside her throughout the summer, Aronna had spoken to him of Silverymoon, both her own experiences and what she knew of others', and of the city's creed of welcoming all goodly folk.
He had listened to all of it eagerly, but as the weather began getting colder, her talk of the city turned more and more to what it was like to spend the winter there.
It was not that hard for him to see that she was trying to coax him into wintering there, and for all that he doubted the city's welcoming nature would actually apply to him, he was beginning to realize that Mielikki was also encouraging him to do so.
So in mid-fall, as they were settling down after the day's work, he said, "Could we, maybe... go to see the Glade tomorrow?"
Seeing the Glade was not committing to wintering in the city, after all, and if it went poorly, he would know in time to find a wintering place outside the city.
"Of course we can," Aronna replied. "I'm sure you'll love the experience."
Given what the most popular topic of conversation had been at evenfeast, Alustriel was not at all surprised to find Korvallen waiting for her when she returned from the evening festivities she had attended.
And once she had changed into more casual clothing and joined him on the divan, he launched right into the matter.
"So. Your savior is a drow." Kor's tone was full of gravel, and Alustriel sighed.
"I assure you," she said, "I had no more idea than you did.
"But it certainly does explain why he was so wary of being seen."
"It never crossed your mind at all?"
"I can't honestly say that it didn't, but it seemed unlikely enough to not be worth mentioning, especially since one of Qilué's people should have known I am one of her sisters."
"But he didn't." Kor sounded very suspicious, and Alustriel couldn't blame him for it. The idea of a good drow who was not one of Qilué's people was outlandish. And yet...
"He didn't," she agreed. "But it's not because he's not good.
"We don't know how or why, yet, but there is something blocking Eilistraee from perceiving him."
"Huh." Kor took a moment to think, and then sighed. "Can't say I like the idea that something—or Someone—can do that, but I do have to agree that it's a strong indicator that he's good, not merely neutral.
"Do you have any thoughts on how the block might be removed?"
"Not without looking at it first," Alustriel answered. "But it seems like I may well get that chance.
"As Tathshandra sent me a note saying that he inquired about wintering arrangements before he and Druid Plainswind left."
"Be interesting to see how the winter goes, if he does stay here for it."
"Yes it will."
Chapters: 1/1
Fandom: Forgotten Realms, The Legend of Drizzt Series - R. A. Salvatore
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Characters: Alustriel Silverhand, Drizzt Do'Urden, Original Elf Character(s), Original Human Character(s)
Additional Tags: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence
Summary:
When she combats magical flames, Alustriel finds a different fire building.
Souls Afire
As Alustriel accepted a new burn as the price of dodging the fighters attempting to pin her between them, she knew she was going to be receiving quite a few reproaches and "I told you so"s when she returned to Silverymoon, but even so, she could not have done any differently when this fire in the Silverwood proved resistant to the firefighting efforts of those she had initially sent.
And honestly, if it had been just the orc shaman she was facing, this fight would have already been over.
But this shaman had had the wits to bring six fighters with him, all of whom were more skilled than was typical for orcs.
And even with the aid of whoever it was who had taken out three of the fighters with well-placed arrows, the need to avoid both them and, as much as possible, the fire, had kept her from achieving the focus that would have ended the fight swiftly.
Another dodge—this time, of one of the shaman's spells—earned her another burn, and then she was in the position she had been maneuvering towards since the first arrow took down a fighter, with her back to whoever her ally was.
Then she threw another spell of her own at the shaman.
He dodged it and started to cast another spell, only to be interrupted by an arrow sprouting from his throat.
Without the need to keep the shaman occupied, Alustriel quickly took out the remaining three fighters, then turned to assess how bad the fire was in the direction that would lead her towards her ally.
But even as she did so, her balance wavered and her vision blurred for a moment, letting her know that she had truly pushed her body too far, and now she had to pay the price for that, no matter how necessary it had been.
However, she still needed to escape the fire before it was safe to let that happen, so she dredged up a bit more strength and started looking for a possible safe path through the fire.
She had not been doing so for very long, however, when she saw a tree toppling towards her.
Backing up to make sure it didn't hit her, she looked around warily to assess if any other trees in the area seemed likely to come down.
But when the tree hit the ground, she realized that it must have been felled deliberately, as it was only half burned.
And even as she thought that, she saw movement along the tree's line coming towards her.
The first thing to appear through the smoke was a much larger than normal panther, but the second was a cloaked figure of roughly average height for an elf.
But even as the figure came closer, her vision started to blur again, and she was barely able to keep herself conscious for long enough for the figure to get close enough to catch her as she passed out.
Drizzt carefully picked up his speed as the woman he had been helping wavered on her feet, and managed to get to within arm's reach of her before she fainted.
He automatically reached out to catch her, and though he briefly staggered at the sudden weight to support, he did keep her from falling to the ground.
Getting her cradled in his arms without putting pressure on any of her burns took some careful maneuvering, and even a bit of assistance from Guen, but once she was, he looked at his friend and said, "Once we're all out of the fire, I need you to go find a den close to the river for us."
He got a rumble of agreement in response, and then Guen led the way back along the young tree he had felled to give him a bridge through the fire.
The passage back out was a bit harder than the one in, given the extra weight he was carrying, but he made it without a single misstep, and as Guen headed off to do as he had requested, he carefully set the woman down.
He couldn't seriously begin treating her injuries until they were settled in whatever den Guen found, but he could at least check to make sure there was nothing that needed immediate attention, as well as get an idea of how many injuries the woman had.
Alustriel could not remember getting out of the fire, but the faint chill of the air around her, and the scent and sound of running water close by, told her that she was out, even if the strong scent of smoke made it clear that this place was still not far from the forest fire.
A slight scuff nearby caused her to open her eyes, and she was somewhat surprised to find that they were covered by a damp cloth—at least until a voice spoke.
"Please be still," the voice said, and Alustriel remembered her ally during the fight, as well as the figure who had been approaching when she lost the fight to remain conscious. "I have done the best I could to treat your burns and the other wounds you took, but you had many, and I have limited resources."
Deciding that her eyes ached enough that leaving the cloth in place was a good idea, she sighed. She wanted to go back and resume helping with the firefighting efforts, but now that she was fully awake, she could tell that she was in no shape to do so.
"How long was I out?" she asked.
"About a day and a half," the voice said. "And though the fire is not yet out, those fighting it have been having more success at doing so since your fight ended."
"That is good to hear," Alustriel said. "I had hoped that killing the shaman would have that effect.
"And on that subject, thank you for your assistance in that fight."
"I am a ranger, Lady. It was no more than my duty to do so."
"Be that as it may, I can still be grateful for it." Then, deciding that continuing to think of her savior only as 'the voice' would get quite tedious, she asked, "What is your name?"
"I am Drizzt Do'Urden, a ranger of Mielikki," her savior replied. "May I know yours?"
"Alustriel Silverhand."
The choice to leave off her titles was a deliberate one, to set things on a more informal footing, but it seemed that was not to be, as Drizzt immediately said, "You are the Lady of Silverymoon, then?"
Alustriel sighed. "I am."
"Then I will send a message to my Lady's Sacred Glade, to let them know that you are safe, and where you are."
"I... thank you." It wouldn't stop Korvallen from worrying, she was sure, but such a message ought to at least reduce his worries.
Late in the morning of the second day since Alustriel had been cut off from the rest of them by a flaring of the fire that had to have been actively controlled by someone, the sound of hoofbeats caused Niska Bentleaf to look up from the map on which those on this side of the fire were keeping track of the efforts to fight it.
And when she saw that the source of the hoofbeats was several Knights and a few squires, led by Korvallen, riding up to this northern base camp for the firefighting efforts, she excused herself from the group planning where to focus their next efforts, and went over to greet the Knights.
"Saers," she began, "have you come to assist with fighting the fire?"
"Not exactly," Korvallen replied, dismounting from his horse, "but it might be necessary in order to accomplish what we did come to do."
"Oh?"
Korvallen reached into his belt pouch, and pulled out the message that had both relieved him and provided a new reason to worry.
"Falcon brought this to the Glade late yesterday," he said as he held it out to Niska.
Niska reached out to take the folded scrap—of scraped hide, she noted upon touching it—and unfolded it.
There were words written inside, and as she read them, she let out a sigh of relief.
Alustriel Silverhand in Rauvin west riverbank den along curve to west. Burns & other wounds.
"I see," Niska said, once she had read the message. "And the location provided does mean you're going to need to help with the firefighting efforts, since we've not done much to beat back the fire on that side, given the river's presence as a natural firebreak."
Korvallen sighed heavily. He had known that was likely the case, but he had hoped it would be otherwise. "Very well. Show us how we can help."
Voices drifting down from somewhere above her were what woke Alustriel on the second morning since she had regained consciousness.
And though the light filtering through the cloth over her eyes was bright enough that Drizzt should have returned from his sunrise vigil by now, she could not hear the quiet movement of him preparing breakfast, though the cloth was damp enough that it couldn't have been too long ago when it was replaced.
"Drizzt?" she called softly, on the off chance that he had chosen to linger outside.
The lack of reply drew a sigh from her, but she couldn't quite say she was surprised, given how... skittish... he had been about the idea of any sort of recognition for his aid of her.
Choosing not to dwell on that, however, she listened carefully to the voices for any that she recognized.
And when she did, she called out, "Korvallen?", in a voice much louder than the one she had used to call for Drizzt.
"Uncle!" That was Kolarven's voice, quite close, and full of excitement. "Over here!"
It wasn't long before she could hear someone making their way down the riverbank to the level she was on, and soon after that, armored footsteps stopped outside the den she was in.
Then there was a shifting of armor, and Korvallen's voice cried "Elué!", immediately followed by the sound of those armored footsteps rushing towards her.
"Not so loud, Kor," she said. "My eyes ache, and that's giving me a headache."
"If you hadn't sprung the damn trap, your eyes wouldn't ache," Kor grumped. But his voice was quieter, and it was even gentle when he continued with "That the reason for the cloth over your eyes?"
"It is," Alustriel replied. "It's a damp cloth, even.
"As for springing the trap, I'd already given all three of the potions I was carrying to people who'd been badly burned by flames acting unnaturally near me, and wasn't going to let others continue to be hurt by someone who was clearly targeting me."
Kor sighed heavily. That was her stubborn tone, the one that indicated she wasn't going to accept any arguments against whatever she was saying.
So rather than start wrangling over what she could have done differently to keep herself safer, he pulled out the potion he had brought and uncapped it.
"I've got a potion for you," he said. "Do you need help taking it?"
Alustriel shifted so that her head was more upright, and held out her hand. "Not after it's uncapped."
Kor handed the potion to her, and watched carefully as she drank it, then let out a sigh of relief.
"Oh, that's much better," Alustriel said, then removed the cloth from her eyes.
And though she had to squint a bit at first, her eyes soon adjusted to the brighter light, and she could see Korvallen kneeling beside her, a concerned look on his face.
A look around the den proved that Drizzt had indeed left for good, as none of his gear was present, but given how recently he had to have left, there was still a chance that he had not done so unnoticed.
"Did anyone see the ranger?" she asked.
"The one who sent the message to the Glade?" Kor replied.
Alustriel nodded, and he continued. "No one's seen anyone who wasn't helping fight the fire.
"And we've been keeping an eye out since we found the orc corpses."
Alustriel sighed. "Botheration. I wish I'd at least managed to see him clearly enough to give a description. Because he's clearly spent far too much time alone, and I'd like to do something to repay him."
"Well, one thing that could be done is to replace the clothing he sacrificed for your bandages," Kor said. "But we can discuss that further after you've been seen to by a cleric."
"Alright."
Early in the morning of the day after Drizzt had watched the Lady of Silverymoon be helped out of the den and up the riverbank by a faerie, he looked up at the call of a goshawk to see one steadily descending towards him.
Instinct had him raise his arm for the bird, and shortly thereafter, it landed carefully on his upraised arm.
And it was only after that that he noticed the rolled up piece of paper tied to the bird's leg.
"Is that a message for me?" he asked the bird.
A kek-kek and a nod from the bird was his answer, so he removed the roll, and then, once he had it safely tucked into Guen's pouch, he found a piece of dried meat to offer the bird.
The bird accepted the treat gladly, then after he had thanked it for delivering the message, it flapped its wings once while tensing for takeoff.
Once again acting on instinct, Drizzt swiftly thrust that arm upward, and as it reached full extension, the bird flapped hard and took to the air.
Drizzt watched it go until it was out of his sight, noting as he did so that it was headed in the direction of Silverymoon, then took the message out of his pouch and opened it.
The writing inside was neat and elegant, confirming his suspicion as to the author of the message even before he saw the signature, but the words were nothing he had expected
Drizzt Do'Urden,
Later today, replacement clothing will be left in the den you brought me to.
Alustriel Silverhand
With a sigh, Drizzt tucked the message back into the pouch. The replacements would definitely be appreciated, but he was going to have to see if Guen could fetch them without leading others to him, as he felt it was all too likely that there would be people watching to see who came to get the clothing.
"What do you mean, 'the panther vanished'?!"
Even as the other two Knights who had been watching with them flinched back, Kolarven stood their ground in the face of their uncle's anger.
"Exactly what I said. The panther went down to the den, and when it hadn't come back out after several hours, we went down to check, and not only was it not in the den, there were no pawprints indicating it had left."
Korvallen sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose. "Was there anything at all that might give a clue as to how the panther managed to vanish?"
"Not directly," Kolarven said. "But although the bundle of clothing was gone, both the salve and the potions that had been wrapped inside the bundle were still in the den."
"You think that something about however it was that the panther vanished caused the only magical items in the bundle to be left behind." It was not a question.
"Yes."
Korvallen sighed again. "Well, that at least provides an avenue for research. Thank you."
Taking that as a dismissal, Kolarven bowed their head in respect, then turned and left Korvallen's office.
Though Korvallen had been reluctant to admit it, with the obvious paranoia Alustriel's savior had about being seen, there wasn't much else that could be done to find him other than hope for someone to have a chance meeting with him.
And so, word was spread among all the druids who had come to aid in the Silverwood's recovery, to keep an eye out for a ranger—most likely an elf—with a panther companion.
In the month since Aronna Plainswind had arrived to help with the Silverwood's recovery from the terrible fire, she had seen several signs that the ranger who had saved Lady Silverhand was still in the area, helping as he could, and she knew at least some of the other druids had also seen such.
So when she followed a pull along a very faint trail leading towards the river, she was not truly surprised to hear a laughing voice saying "Guen, no. I don't need to be washed," coming from ahead of her as she got closer to the river.
And as she carefully followed the subtle trail markings down the riverbank and along the river's edge towards where she knew there was a mostly-roofless cave hollowed out by the river at some point in the past, she heard the rumbling half-purr of the big cats accompanying the laughter.
When she reached the point where she could see around the curve of the riverbank into the cave, her first impression was of a large mass of moving colors.
But as she stood there and studied it, the mass resolved into a very large panther, who was gently wrestling with... a drow?
And when the drow laughed, it was the same voice that she had heard on her approach to the river.
Well then.
Although Drizzt had been greatly enjoying the friendly tussle with Guen, the feeling of being watched caused him to bring it to an abrupt halt.
But before he could start on figuring out what do now that he'd been seen clearly by someone, the watcher spoke.
"Ranger Do'Urden? I mean you no harm."
Turning towards the voice, he saw an elderly human woman, dressed in greens and browns, and leaning on a smooth staff, standing at the mouth of the hollow, on the trail he had marked out to guide himself in reaching it.
How had a human managed to sneak up on him and Guen?
A nudge towards the woman from Guen, accompanied by a rumble and a lean into his side, suggested that maybe his friend had been aware of her approach, so rather than continue to reproach himself for his lack of awareness, Drizzt chose to reply to the woman's inquiry.
"I am Drizzt Do'Urden, a ranger of Mielikki," he said. "Who are you?"
"Aronna Plainswind, druid of Mielikki. And I think our shared Lady wished for us to meet, since I found you by following my feet, as I do to find wherever She wishes me to go."
Drizzt tilted his head thoughtfully. "While I am glad to meet someone willing to talk to me, rather than run away or attempt to attack me, I cannot think of any reason why She would have wanted you to meet me."
Aronna blinked several times in surprise. She could easily sense the strength of Mielikki's favor surrounding Drizzt. How could he be unaware of it?
But even as she considered how to respond, a feeling of 'caution; taming wariness' came to her as if she had asked for Mielikki's aid to understand an animal other than Gnasher.
Well. If her Lady didn't want her to say anything about that favor, she wouldn't, but she still needed to give him a reason for why Mielikki would have lead her to him.
And after another moment of thought, she had an answer.
"Perhaps She wished me to partner you, to know what areas still need the most help in the thickest part of the wood."
Drizzt shifted a little uneasily. He'd been helping as he could, but he knew he wasn't being as effective as the druids were. And he would like to do better.
But after so long being alone because of his species, he was finding it hard to believe this woman.
Turning to look at his dearest companion, he asked, "Guen?"
Guen responded by carefully pacing over to the woman and soliciting scratches from her, and Drizzt breathed a sigh of relief.
"I would appreciate the guidance," he said.
Alustriel couldn't truly say she was surprised to find Korvallen waiting for her when she returned from having breakfast with Tathshandra, but she really would have preferred to have a bit more time to settle her own thoughts on the news Tathshandra had had for her before she shared it with him.
"So why'd the Ladyservant ask you to have breakfast with her?" Kor asked, falling in beside her as she headed back to her rooms.
"A hawk delivered a message from one of the druids yesterday," Alustriel replied.
"And?" That was Kor's 'get on with it' tone, and she suppressed a sigh before continuing.
"Aronna Plainswind was guided to Ranger Do'Urden by Mielikki."
"Huh." Kor sounded rather bemused by that, and his next words proved it. "That's... rather more direct than Khalreshaar tends to be.
"Does Druid Plainswind have any idea why She did so?"
"Not directly stated as such," Alustriel said, "but her message mentioned both that Ranger Do'Urden has a very understandable reason for being wary of being seen, and that he is highly favored by Mielikki, though She has allowed him to remain unaware of that favor."
Kor hummed thoughtfully. "So She might be trying to get Ranger Do'Urden to look past whatever makes him so wary, at least enough to lean into the kinship of those who serve Her."
"That is the conclusion I was coming to," Alustriel agreed. "Especially since Druid Plainswind also said that she was going to attempt to coax him into at least spending the winter here."
As Drizzt had worked alongside her throughout the summer, Aronna had spoken to him of Silverymoon, both her own experiences and what she knew of others', and of the city's creed of welcoming all goodly folk.
He had listened to all of it eagerly, but as the weather began getting colder, her talk of the city turned more and more to what it was like to spend the winter there.
It was not that hard for him to see that she was trying to coax him into wintering there, and for all that he doubted the city's welcoming nature would actually apply to him, he was beginning to realize that Mielikki was also encouraging him to do so.
So in mid-fall, as they were settling down after the day's work, he said, "Could we, maybe... go to see the Glade tomorrow?"
Seeing the Glade was not committing to wintering in the city, after all, and if it went poorly, he would know in time to find a wintering place outside the city.
"Of course we can," Aronna replied. "I'm sure you'll love the experience."
Given what the most popular topic of conversation had been at evenfeast, Alustriel was not at all surprised to find Korvallen waiting for her when she returned from the evening festivities she had attended.
And once she had changed into more casual clothing and joined him on the divan, he launched right into the matter.
"So. Your savior is a drow." Kor's tone was full of gravel, and Alustriel sighed.
"I assure you," she said, "I had no more idea than you did.
"But it certainly does explain why he was so wary of being seen."
"It never crossed your mind at all?"
"I can't honestly say that it didn't, but it seemed unlikely enough to not be worth mentioning, especially since one of Qilué's people should have known I am one of her sisters."
"But he didn't." Kor sounded very suspicious, and Alustriel couldn't blame him for it. The idea of a good drow who was not one of Qilué's people was outlandish. And yet...
"He didn't," she agreed. "But it's not because he's not good.
"We don't know how or why, yet, but there is something blocking Eilistraee from perceiving him."
"Huh." Kor took a moment to think, and then sighed. "Can't say I like the idea that something—or Someone—can do that, but I do have to agree that it's a strong indicator that he's good, not merely neutral.
"Do you have any thoughts on how the block might be removed?"
"Not without looking at it first," Alustriel answered. "But it seems like I may well get that chance.
"As Tathshandra sent me a note saying that he inquired about wintering arrangements before he and Druid Plainswind left."
"Be interesting to see how the winter goes, if he does stay here for it."
"Yes it will."
