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tales_of_faerun2024-11-13 06:42 pm
senmut) wrote in tales_of_faerun2024-11-13 06:42 pm
A Family Reunited
A Family Reunited (3363 words) by Sharpest_Asp
Chapters: 1/1
Fandom: Forgotten Realms, The Legend of Drizzt Series - R. A. Salvatore
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Characters: Zaknafein Do'Urden, Vierna Do'Urden, Drizzt Do'Urden, Original Drow Character(s)
Additional Tags: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Fluff
Summary:
He'd done it. Zaknafein had managed to escape the House with the son who had survived, somehow, without having to slay every woman in there. No doubt, if he'd planned for that, he could have… but it might have set the city on his trail. Now, though, he had to get them fully out of the Underdark. He suspected Malice would not stop hunting them until she had her prized son back and Zaknafein on the altar.
He had an old map in his head, one he'd seen a long time before. All he had to do was follow that, up and out, with his small son, keeping them fed and protected.
It would not be worth thinking on the price of failure, so he did not. His son's life, whole and as he was, so bright and warm and gentle was all that mattered.
Vierna called a meeting of the adult drow only, those that most often helped with shepherding people up out of the Underdark. She smiled at them, hiding her unease over this coming venture. As always, it would be up to the individuals, but she already knew she wanted to see this one through, if only because it might mean eliminating a risk.
And she sighed inside her own mind about thinking in the negative. Sometimes it was hard to embody hope when her thoughts tended to run in practical fashions.
"Is this about the mystery?"
Trust Sira to jump straight to meat of it as soon as the door was closed for the meeting.
"Yes," Vierna answered. "All of us clerics have been touched by dreams of a father and child in the Underdark, somewhere near enough to us that we are the best option for them." She waited for the shock to die away. "The mystery that was relayed to me is that the father is not one of ours, that he is an apostate of all gods.
"Yet his great need to protect a boy child, one he thinks of as his son, has hit hard against our Lady's mercies and compassion."
"What of the boy himself?" Rafi asked, frowning. Apostates weren't unknown, but had a short lifespan in general.
"He does not exist on the divine plane, and that is th other half of a need for caution," Vierna said slowly. "These things are always voluntary, but this one is even more so. Please do not volunteer for the search unless you are certain you can face the potential risk of a trap."
"I will go," Sira said, shrugging. "I am most recently escaped from the Spider, and might have an advantage in discovering the edge of the trap."
Vierna inclined her head, eyes seeking Rafi. He nodded once; he would be the leader to take the others below, being the most experienced. He had both fighting skill and not a few wizardly tricks he'd picked up over the years to protect them all.
One way, or another, the mystery had to be solved.
His son could count eleven years of life, and had just made his first kill of a creature. Zaknafein felt a deep worry in his soul, until he saw Drizzt's face. There was … remorse? regret?… some un-drow emotion on the boy's features as he worked the knife loose from the smaller lizard that Zak had not seen while dealing with the larger, very territorial one.
He came to the boy, kneeling down to look for injuries. A scrape, likely from the jagged scales when Drizzt had defended himself, marred one hand.
"We need to move on, but use a little water to rinse that scrape. Are you alright otherwise?"
The boy merely nodded, and Zaknafein damned Malice and her daughters all over again for that being the boy's shield, to fall behind silence.
"Here," Zak said, handing over his smaller cleaning cloth for the knife. "Wipe the blade well, after you clean the scrape. The cloth has magic to pull all the blood off and leave no scent."
Again, there was a nod, before the pair were moving. Zak kept Drizzt just in front of him this time, instead of at his side, in case the strangeness in his son made travel harder as he thought on what had just happened.
When Zak found them a place to camp next, he used darkness on the mouth of the small cave, then brought up his faerie fire, despite the effort it took to use two innate powers so close together without an amulet. That let him see his son fully, reassuring himself the scrape was all there was and it looked to heal cleanly.
"Do you want to say anything about earlier?" Zak invited his son who swung between extremely inquisitive and absolute silence.
Drizzt peered at him, weighing the words, keeping in mind how gentle his father had been with them in all their days of travel.
"I did not want to have to kill it."
The boy squared his shoulders and jaw in a way that reminded Zak of himself, but also spoke of too many past beatings.
"But you did, because it surely would have killed or maimed you," Zak said evenly. "Necessity. I don't go out of my way to hunt more than we need, and have preferred to scare off those things we could on our path. Waste of energy and time to kill needlessly."
Drizzt slowly relaxed his posture. "I… yes."
Something in the way the boy still looked thoughtful told Zak this wasn't the end of it, but as long as Drizzt didn't hesitate to defend himself there should be no problems. He saw to a meal, checked their weapons, then settled the boy close so they could rest once the faerie fire winked out.
Drizzt was uncertain of many things, but he knew what fear was. Fear motivated him to go high, using his levitate, at Zaknafein's first shift of 'danger', given he could just make out drow ahead of them in the large cavern.
"We mean — "
The speaker's words were cut off as Zak had drawn and moved to kill, before it looked like he ran into an invisible barrier of some kind.
"Peace!" the speaker managed to say, having scrambled back behind two of the others. That was a woman, but the rest were all men, Drizzt noted, just as Zaknafein escaped whatever was stopping him, both swords at the ready.
"Peace only comes from death," Zak said, and Drizzt wondered if that was true. He didn't want it to be true.
"Warrior, we mean it," the foremost fighter said, armed with a sword in one hand… and the other in a pouch? Drizzt strained to see and hear as best as he could, wishing strongly for his father to be safe.
"Then get out of my way."
"We cannot, until you hear us," the woman said. "My name is Sira, once of Mantol-Dirith. We came to seek you and your son, to guide you."
Drizzt actually winced as his father's muscles bunched.
"Warrior," the foremost fighter called. "We follow a surface path and were guided to help. We are not like most drow you have known. You can see that, in our clothes not hiding us as well!"
Zak considered, put one sword away. The group seemed to relax somewhat, but Drizzt had seen a twitch that mean to shut his eyes.
He did, heard the cries of pain and saw the light behind his eyelids, before a hiss of his name had him dropping swiftly and running. While the group of drow struggled to overcome the light, Drizzt and his father slipped down a secondary passage, making swift progress to escape whatever trickery that had been.
Rafi checked on everyone, and Sira used minor healings to rid them of the headaches the light pellet had caused.
"What now?" she asked the elder.
Rafi considered, then shook his head. "You take everyone home."
She hissed in a breath. "First Sister would tell you not to be a fool. You saw how fast he was."
"Yes, and that is giving me an idea. I could be wrong, but somehow, it feels like our only choice. I can track them, and I can cast haste to catch up. One person alone is less a threat," Rafi reasoned. "Take our siblings home, and with luck… I will follow with our without them in a hand of days."
Sira did not like it, let it show on her face, but she did not have the skill to track them fast enough. "Don't give Vierna reason to learn the spells to bring you back," she said, before going to break the plan to the others. Rafi was handed more of their rations and vials of healing potions, before he broke off and began trying to find a man he half-thought matched tales of his dearest friend's childhood.
Zaknafein knew they were being followed, had expected it. He found a good spot where he could settle Drizzt in with their packs, told him to be silent, and waited. The party would die, and then they could move on. It was as simple as that in his eyes.
He was waiting, therefore, with his body fully hidden from drow eyes, and watched the lead fighter, the one who had magic tricks, come in — completely alone. Nor did Zak's senses tell him that any others were following.
This man was canny, Zak decided, when he stopped, looked around, and then calmly put his back to a stalagmite… after checking it for any predators or nuisances.
"I might be talking to thin air," the man began. "But if not… my name is Rafi. I have sent Sira and the others back to our home above. Yes, I have that authority over a cleric.
"We're different, those of us that choose the surface. We've left the Spider behind us, or in some cases, the Masked God," the man continued. "We chose each other, and we want to help others that wish the same."
Could Zak believe him? The mention of the Masked God stirred unpleasant memories, but this man was … scornful?… about both drow gods, and not pushing a new one in their place. Just… helping others.
One fighter. Zak was almost certain he truly was alone.
"Lies are easy to spin, stranger," he found himself saying. "Of course a cleric would send a mere male alone to bait a trap."
The fighter chuckled. "I can see how one who lived in the Spider's web would say that, even though I've seen centuries of freedom from the city I was born in. The cleric I most care to listen to will probably be aghast when she learns I chose to come alone to speak with you and your son.
"But, I think I have a small thing to offer to you… if you hail from Menzoberranzan. No, I am not prying at thoughts or anything sinister like that. I just refuse to believe that there could be two fighters using twinned long-swords in the northern part of the Underdark that have impossible speed."
"Not impossible, I suppose, but say you guessed right. Curious how any surface dwelling drow could have heard of such." Zaknafein's curiosity was aroused fully.
"Because such a man once gave my cleric friend a gift. A spider, but one that was heretical to the teachings of that city. She spoke fondly of that man, and wonders if he might even have been her father."
No one knew that. No one but he and Vierna, so long lost to them — how in all the abyss could this man know that unless he was the one that stole her?!
Before he went and demanded those answers, the fighter did one more thing that no sane drow ever did… and dropped his sword belt.
"I swear to you, Weapon Master, for you must be that man, I only wish you and your children long, good lives."
Broken blades, but what was Zak supposed to make of this?!
"I'll kill you, over days, if you lie," Zak growled before stepping out and dispelling the protections of his gear.
"I don't lie about Vierna… or pretty much anything, unless it is to protect others," Rafi said, staying where he was. "I am thankful she told me tales, so that I could recognize you, Weapon Master."
"Get your sword back on," Zak said. "Zaknafein," he added absently, before looking toward his son, finding him already slipping out of the hiding hole to come to his side. "I didn't tell you to move."
"But you chose," the boy said, shoulders and jaw firming, readying for a punishment Zak would never inflict.
"We need to talk about your stubborn streak," Zak grumbled, only to hear Rafi chuckle.
"I presume, saer, that comes from you then, as Vierna has never accepted the word 'no' without strenuous arguments," Rafi told him.
"Hmm, I think it might have come from both sides," Zak admitted, before putting a hand on Drizzt's shoulder, his swords having been put away before he stepped out of the shadows. "My son, Drizzt."
"An honor to meet both of you," Rafi said, buckling his sword back in place. "Now, I know a better cavern for rest from here, one that is small and has a trickle of water. I also have rations to share."
"Lead on," Zak said blandly, and the strange fighter did, no matter it left his back exposed.
Vierna's nerves had prickled from the moment Sira made it back to her. She knew Rafi would worry about it later, but she chose to take two of her fighters and go down the main passage leading up he was likely to use. She did not anticipate a long wait, given travel times of the original party and then Rafi himself. Nor was she wrong, as the first sign of the travelers crossing a warning strand she had prayed for let her and her fighters know when to fully cloak themselves.
Her eyes were glued to the entry point of this resting point, and she was so relieved to see Rafi whole and well… before the man from distant memories came into view. She had not truly let herself hope when Sira's descriptions stirred the few good ones for her, yet… that was the Weapon Master. That was the man she had actually missed from her birth-city.
With him was a boy, likely just past his Page Prince year, eyes glowing a cool purple that was so striking… and yet her prayer to determine alignment could not even see him. The man was shockingly neutral, but the boy just did not exist!
That would need to be understood before they went into Spirit Sanctuary, but for now, Vierna moved into view, hand at 'stop' to her pair of fighters.
"Chipped blades, First Sister, what are you doing here?!" Rafi hissed out, noting the pair that just faded into view without being aggressive in their posture. "At least you're not alone, but damn it, you take too many risks!"
"I don't think you get to speak of my risks, my friend, when you walked into the presence of one of the deadliest men's presence, alone," Vierna said cheerfully. "Hello, Weapon Master."
"No longer… Vierna," Zaknafein said, drinking in the sight of her even as she was returning that regard evenly. "You really are alive and well."
"Oh yes, Zaknafein, I am," Vierna told him. "I knew Arach-Tinilith would have killed me, and took my life in my own hands. I have few regrets for doing so."
That seemed to be just the reassurance the man needed, prompting him to cross the distance. The boy did not… but Vierna saw that he was watching intently and staying near Rafi now.
Zaknafein came to a stop at a companionable distance, his eyes meeting hers. "I am very relieved, having mourned you these long years."
"So you are my father? As I cannot see you mourning over a potential priestess with little other than the House to matter."
Zak smiled, nodding once. "She replaced me as Patron because I challenged her over how to raise you," he admitted, holding his hands out.
She took them, gladly, squeezing as that slotted in against his lessons she could remember so clearly. "I am glad you are free now, and intrigued to meet your companion — son, yes?"
"Your full brother, yes," Zaknafein confirmed, turning — not letting go of one of her hands — to beckon. The boy came over swiftly, looking up at Vierna earnestly.
"Hello," Vierna said. "I am Vierna."
"Drizzt," the boy said, then flicked eyes to Zak, as if checking that he wasn't in trouble for speaking up.
"This is your sister, who will be kind to you," Zaknafein told the boy. "She left us a long time ago, because she is more like you are."
Drizzt's face scrunched up as he considered that, then he nodded once before tucking in against Zak's leg shyly.
"I, and all of our people, welcome you both. Come; let's get up to the entrance cave, unless you need a rest? It will be safer to talk there, and Rafi can stop glaring at me for leaving our village."
"No, the glaring stops when we're in the wards," Rafi said idly. "But we are rested; I timed it so we'd come to the entrance at night."
"Of course," Vierna said, smiling for his protective nature, before they set out for the higher points.
Before they exited the cavern onto the true surface, Vierna put a hand on Zak's arm. Drizzt had tired, and Rafi had him currently, a sign of trust in all ways. The boy had nodded off and was sleeping with the peace that few drow children ever found.
"There is a mystery around Drizzt. He cannot be perceived by my goddess, a good drow goddess," she said in a low voice. "I need to unravel that before he can actually go inside the warded village that we keep."
"Wonder what the Spider Bitch did to him when he was spared the night he was born," Zak grumbled. "What will it take?"
"Staying here a night or three, seeing if I can make it make sense, asking for help from strong allies if not," Vierna admitted. "I do not like the delay in having you both home with me, but I must put the lives of all of our people ahead of my own wishes."
Zak reached out and wrapped his arm around her shoulders, already comfortable with the causal physicality these drow used to reassure one another. "I give you my trust, daughter, to free your brother of whatever this is."
She leaned into him, a lump in her throat as she decided Rafi was right. They had gotten their goodness from Zaknafein, even if survival in Menzoberranzan had broken his down.
Zaknafein had been a little less sure when 'strong allies' proved to be faerie-and-human related people. He really didn't know what he felt about the obvious affection between the pair of siblings to his daughter… one in a sisterly fashion and the other as a lover. The very tall woman who looked human but felt like power itself had been gracious and gentle, which only added to Zak's unease. He just did not know how to handle a self-professed Witch of Shadowdale — wherever that was — being kind.
Kindness was going to take time to get used to, but Drizzt responded to it so eagerly. Which meant he needed to learn to be that way, consciously.
His son had been very aware of the power moving around him, apparently, and Zak almost wished the boy wasn't that sensitive to magic. Zak had worked to hone his sense of it, not being as noble-blooded, but it seemed to come to both children easily enough.
Now? Now, he had his stolen son, his lost daughter, and a future that didn't feel as short-lived as it once had. He could thrive… and find out all the stories Rafi would share of the woman his daughter had become while Drizzt grew up.
Chapters: 1/1
Fandom: Forgotten Realms, The Legend of Drizzt Series - R. A. Salvatore
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Characters: Zaknafein Do'Urden, Vierna Do'Urden, Drizzt Do'Urden, Original Drow Character(s)
Additional Tags: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Fluff
Summary:
Zak stole Drizzt, many decades after Vierna stole herself.
A Family Reunited
He'd done it. Zaknafein had managed to escape the House with the son who had survived, somehow, without having to slay every woman in there. No doubt, if he'd planned for that, he could have… but it might have set the city on his trail. Now, though, he had to get them fully out of the Underdark. He suspected Malice would not stop hunting them until she had her prized son back and Zaknafein on the altar.
He had an old map in his head, one he'd seen a long time before. All he had to do was follow that, up and out, with his small son, keeping them fed and protected.
It would not be worth thinking on the price of failure, so he did not. His son's life, whole and as he was, so bright and warm and gentle was all that mattered.
Vierna called a meeting of the adult drow only, those that most often helped with shepherding people up out of the Underdark. She smiled at them, hiding her unease over this coming venture. As always, it would be up to the individuals, but she already knew she wanted to see this one through, if only because it might mean eliminating a risk.
And she sighed inside her own mind about thinking in the negative. Sometimes it was hard to embody hope when her thoughts tended to run in practical fashions.
"Is this about the mystery?"
Trust Sira to jump straight to meat of it as soon as the door was closed for the meeting.
"Yes," Vierna answered. "All of us clerics have been touched by dreams of a father and child in the Underdark, somewhere near enough to us that we are the best option for them." She waited for the shock to die away. "The mystery that was relayed to me is that the father is not one of ours, that he is an apostate of all gods.
"Yet his great need to protect a boy child, one he thinks of as his son, has hit hard against our Lady's mercies and compassion."
"What of the boy himself?" Rafi asked, frowning. Apostates weren't unknown, but had a short lifespan in general.
"He does not exist on the divine plane, and that is th other half of a need for caution," Vierna said slowly. "These things are always voluntary, but this one is even more so. Please do not volunteer for the search unless you are certain you can face the potential risk of a trap."
"I will go," Sira said, shrugging. "I am most recently escaped from the Spider, and might have an advantage in discovering the edge of the trap."
Vierna inclined her head, eyes seeking Rafi. He nodded once; he would be the leader to take the others below, being the most experienced. He had both fighting skill and not a few wizardly tricks he'd picked up over the years to protect them all.
One way, or another, the mystery had to be solved.
His son could count eleven years of life, and had just made his first kill of a creature. Zaknafein felt a deep worry in his soul, until he saw Drizzt's face. There was … remorse? regret?… some un-drow emotion on the boy's features as he worked the knife loose from the smaller lizard that Zak had not seen while dealing with the larger, very territorial one.
He came to the boy, kneeling down to look for injuries. A scrape, likely from the jagged scales when Drizzt had defended himself, marred one hand.
"We need to move on, but use a little water to rinse that scrape. Are you alright otherwise?"
The boy merely nodded, and Zaknafein damned Malice and her daughters all over again for that being the boy's shield, to fall behind silence.
"Here," Zak said, handing over his smaller cleaning cloth for the knife. "Wipe the blade well, after you clean the scrape. The cloth has magic to pull all the blood off and leave no scent."
Again, there was a nod, before the pair were moving. Zak kept Drizzt just in front of him this time, instead of at his side, in case the strangeness in his son made travel harder as he thought on what had just happened.
When Zak found them a place to camp next, he used darkness on the mouth of the small cave, then brought up his faerie fire, despite the effort it took to use two innate powers so close together without an amulet. That let him see his son fully, reassuring himself the scrape was all there was and it looked to heal cleanly.
"Do you want to say anything about earlier?" Zak invited his son who swung between extremely inquisitive and absolute silence.
Drizzt peered at him, weighing the words, keeping in mind how gentle his father had been with them in all their days of travel.
"I did not want to have to kill it."
The boy squared his shoulders and jaw in a way that reminded Zak of himself, but also spoke of too many past beatings.
"But you did, because it surely would have killed or maimed you," Zak said evenly. "Necessity. I don't go out of my way to hunt more than we need, and have preferred to scare off those things we could on our path. Waste of energy and time to kill needlessly."
Drizzt slowly relaxed his posture. "I… yes."
Something in the way the boy still looked thoughtful told Zak this wasn't the end of it, but as long as Drizzt didn't hesitate to defend himself there should be no problems. He saw to a meal, checked their weapons, then settled the boy close so they could rest once the faerie fire winked out.
Drizzt was uncertain of many things, but he knew what fear was. Fear motivated him to go high, using his levitate, at Zaknafein's first shift of 'danger', given he could just make out drow ahead of them in the large cavern.
"We mean — "
The speaker's words were cut off as Zak had drawn and moved to kill, before it looked like he ran into an invisible barrier of some kind.
"Peace!" the speaker managed to say, having scrambled back behind two of the others. That was a woman, but the rest were all men, Drizzt noted, just as Zaknafein escaped whatever was stopping him, both swords at the ready.
"Peace only comes from death," Zak said, and Drizzt wondered if that was true. He didn't want it to be true.
"Warrior, we mean it," the foremost fighter said, armed with a sword in one hand… and the other in a pouch? Drizzt strained to see and hear as best as he could, wishing strongly for his father to be safe.
"Then get out of my way."
"We cannot, until you hear us," the woman said. "My name is Sira, once of Mantol-Dirith. We came to seek you and your son, to guide you."
Drizzt actually winced as his father's muscles bunched.
"Warrior," the foremost fighter called. "We follow a surface path and were guided to help. We are not like most drow you have known. You can see that, in our clothes not hiding us as well!"
Zak considered, put one sword away. The group seemed to relax somewhat, but Drizzt had seen a twitch that mean to shut his eyes.
He did, heard the cries of pain and saw the light behind his eyelids, before a hiss of his name had him dropping swiftly and running. While the group of drow struggled to overcome the light, Drizzt and his father slipped down a secondary passage, making swift progress to escape whatever trickery that had been.
Rafi checked on everyone, and Sira used minor healings to rid them of the headaches the light pellet had caused.
"What now?" she asked the elder.
Rafi considered, then shook his head. "You take everyone home."
She hissed in a breath. "First Sister would tell you not to be a fool. You saw how fast he was."
"Yes, and that is giving me an idea. I could be wrong, but somehow, it feels like our only choice. I can track them, and I can cast haste to catch up. One person alone is less a threat," Rafi reasoned. "Take our siblings home, and with luck… I will follow with our without them in a hand of days."
Sira did not like it, let it show on her face, but she did not have the skill to track them fast enough. "Don't give Vierna reason to learn the spells to bring you back," she said, before going to break the plan to the others. Rafi was handed more of their rations and vials of healing potions, before he broke off and began trying to find a man he half-thought matched tales of his dearest friend's childhood.
Zaknafein knew they were being followed, had expected it. He found a good spot where he could settle Drizzt in with their packs, told him to be silent, and waited. The party would die, and then they could move on. It was as simple as that in his eyes.
He was waiting, therefore, with his body fully hidden from drow eyes, and watched the lead fighter, the one who had magic tricks, come in — completely alone. Nor did Zak's senses tell him that any others were following.
This man was canny, Zak decided, when he stopped, looked around, and then calmly put his back to a stalagmite… after checking it for any predators or nuisances.
"I might be talking to thin air," the man began. "But if not… my name is Rafi. I have sent Sira and the others back to our home above. Yes, I have that authority over a cleric.
"We're different, those of us that choose the surface. We've left the Spider behind us, or in some cases, the Masked God," the man continued. "We chose each other, and we want to help others that wish the same."
Could Zak believe him? The mention of the Masked God stirred unpleasant memories, but this man was … scornful?… about both drow gods, and not pushing a new one in their place. Just… helping others.
One fighter. Zak was almost certain he truly was alone.
"Lies are easy to spin, stranger," he found himself saying. "Of course a cleric would send a mere male alone to bait a trap."
The fighter chuckled. "I can see how one who lived in the Spider's web would say that, even though I've seen centuries of freedom from the city I was born in. The cleric I most care to listen to will probably be aghast when she learns I chose to come alone to speak with you and your son.
"But, I think I have a small thing to offer to you… if you hail from Menzoberranzan. No, I am not prying at thoughts or anything sinister like that. I just refuse to believe that there could be two fighters using twinned long-swords in the northern part of the Underdark that have impossible speed."
"Not impossible, I suppose, but say you guessed right. Curious how any surface dwelling drow could have heard of such." Zaknafein's curiosity was aroused fully.
"Because such a man once gave my cleric friend a gift. A spider, but one that was heretical to the teachings of that city. She spoke fondly of that man, and wonders if he might even have been her father."
No one knew that. No one but he and Vierna, so long lost to them — how in all the abyss could this man know that unless he was the one that stole her?!
Before he went and demanded those answers, the fighter did one more thing that no sane drow ever did… and dropped his sword belt.
"I swear to you, Weapon Master, for you must be that man, I only wish you and your children long, good lives."
Broken blades, but what was Zak supposed to make of this?!
"I'll kill you, over days, if you lie," Zak growled before stepping out and dispelling the protections of his gear.
"I don't lie about Vierna… or pretty much anything, unless it is to protect others," Rafi said, staying where he was. "I am thankful she told me tales, so that I could recognize you, Weapon Master."
"Get your sword back on," Zak said. "Zaknafein," he added absently, before looking toward his son, finding him already slipping out of the hiding hole to come to his side. "I didn't tell you to move."
"But you chose," the boy said, shoulders and jaw firming, readying for a punishment Zak would never inflict.
"We need to talk about your stubborn streak," Zak grumbled, only to hear Rafi chuckle.
"I presume, saer, that comes from you then, as Vierna has never accepted the word 'no' without strenuous arguments," Rafi told him.
"Hmm, I think it might have come from both sides," Zak admitted, before putting a hand on Drizzt's shoulder, his swords having been put away before he stepped out of the shadows. "My son, Drizzt."
"An honor to meet both of you," Rafi said, buckling his sword back in place. "Now, I know a better cavern for rest from here, one that is small and has a trickle of water. I also have rations to share."
"Lead on," Zak said blandly, and the strange fighter did, no matter it left his back exposed.
Vierna's nerves had prickled from the moment Sira made it back to her. She knew Rafi would worry about it later, but she chose to take two of her fighters and go down the main passage leading up he was likely to use. She did not anticipate a long wait, given travel times of the original party and then Rafi himself. Nor was she wrong, as the first sign of the travelers crossing a warning strand she had prayed for let her and her fighters know when to fully cloak themselves.
Her eyes were glued to the entry point of this resting point, and she was so relieved to see Rafi whole and well… before the man from distant memories came into view. She had not truly let herself hope when Sira's descriptions stirred the few good ones for her, yet… that was the Weapon Master. That was the man she had actually missed from her birth-city.
With him was a boy, likely just past his Page Prince year, eyes glowing a cool purple that was so striking… and yet her prayer to determine alignment could not even see him. The man was shockingly neutral, but the boy just did not exist!
That would need to be understood before they went into Spirit Sanctuary, but for now, Vierna moved into view, hand at 'stop' to her pair of fighters.
"Chipped blades, First Sister, what are you doing here?!" Rafi hissed out, noting the pair that just faded into view without being aggressive in their posture. "At least you're not alone, but damn it, you take too many risks!"
"I don't think you get to speak of my risks, my friend, when you walked into the presence of one of the deadliest men's presence, alone," Vierna said cheerfully. "Hello, Weapon Master."
"No longer… Vierna," Zaknafein said, drinking in the sight of her even as she was returning that regard evenly. "You really are alive and well."
"Oh yes, Zaknafein, I am," Vierna told him. "I knew Arach-Tinilith would have killed me, and took my life in my own hands. I have few regrets for doing so."
That seemed to be just the reassurance the man needed, prompting him to cross the distance. The boy did not… but Vierna saw that he was watching intently and staying near Rafi now.
Zaknafein came to a stop at a companionable distance, his eyes meeting hers. "I am very relieved, having mourned you these long years."
"So you are my father? As I cannot see you mourning over a potential priestess with little other than the House to matter."
Zak smiled, nodding once. "She replaced me as Patron because I challenged her over how to raise you," he admitted, holding his hands out.
She took them, gladly, squeezing as that slotted in against his lessons she could remember so clearly. "I am glad you are free now, and intrigued to meet your companion — son, yes?"
"Your full brother, yes," Zaknafein confirmed, turning — not letting go of one of her hands — to beckon. The boy came over swiftly, looking up at Vierna earnestly.
"Hello," Vierna said. "I am Vierna."
"Drizzt," the boy said, then flicked eyes to Zak, as if checking that he wasn't in trouble for speaking up.
"This is your sister, who will be kind to you," Zaknafein told the boy. "She left us a long time ago, because she is more like you are."
Drizzt's face scrunched up as he considered that, then he nodded once before tucking in against Zak's leg shyly.
"I, and all of our people, welcome you both. Come; let's get up to the entrance cave, unless you need a rest? It will be safer to talk there, and Rafi can stop glaring at me for leaving our village."
"No, the glaring stops when we're in the wards," Rafi said idly. "But we are rested; I timed it so we'd come to the entrance at night."
"Of course," Vierna said, smiling for his protective nature, before they set out for the higher points.
Before they exited the cavern onto the true surface, Vierna put a hand on Zak's arm. Drizzt had tired, and Rafi had him currently, a sign of trust in all ways. The boy had nodded off and was sleeping with the peace that few drow children ever found.
"There is a mystery around Drizzt. He cannot be perceived by my goddess, a good drow goddess," she said in a low voice. "I need to unravel that before he can actually go inside the warded village that we keep."
"Wonder what the Spider Bitch did to him when he was spared the night he was born," Zak grumbled. "What will it take?"
"Staying here a night or three, seeing if I can make it make sense, asking for help from strong allies if not," Vierna admitted. "I do not like the delay in having you both home with me, but I must put the lives of all of our people ahead of my own wishes."
Zak reached out and wrapped his arm around her shoulders, already comfortable with the causal physicality these drow used to reassure one another. "I give you my trust, daughter, to free your brother of whatever this is."
She leaned into him, a lump in her throat as she decided Rafi was right. They had gotten their goodness from Zaknafein, even if survival in Menzoberranzan had broken his down.
Zaknafein had been a little less sure when 'strong allies' proved to be faerie-and-human related people. He really didn't know what he felt about the obvious affection between the pair of siblings to his daughter… one in a sisterly fashion and the other as a lover. The very tall woman who looked human but felt like power itself had been gracious and gentle, which only added to Zak's unease. He just did not know how to handle a self-professed Witch of Shadowdale — wherever that was — being kind.
Kindness was going to take time to get used to, but Drizzt responded to it so eagerly. Which meant he needed to learn to be that way, consciously.
His son had been very aware of the power moving around him, apparently, and Zak almost wished the boy wasn't that sensitive to magic. Zak had worked to hone his sense of it, not being as noble-blooded, but it seemed to come to both children easily enough.
Now? Now, he had his stolen son, his lost daughter, and a future that didn't feel as short-lived as it once had. He could thrive… and find out all the stories Rafi would share of the woman his daughter had become while Drizzt grew up.